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"I am the mess you chose
The closet you cannot close
The devil in you, I suppose
'Cause the wounds never heal."
 —Aaron Lewis, Everything Changes

"  —Aaron Lewis, Everything Changes

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"This is just so not fair. I never signed up for this."

Banks snorted. "Oh, just shut up and take it downstairs!"

Hank grabbed the box overflowing books and comics and grumbled his way from Connor's room to the garage. There, Ron set it in the trunk of Gillian's car.

"Jesus! Looks like he's moving to another planet, not across the river!" Hank said.

"And you sound like you never lived in a dorm," Fred replied, bringing another box. "Here, this is the last one."

Ron looked down at the trunk. "Three boxes and two bags is not that much, considering Connor is a single mom's only child."

"Living not a mile away from college!" said Hank.

Kurt showed up at the door. "Lunch's ready, guys."

Hank scowled at him as they headed to the family room. "Hey! How come I didn't see you lending a hand?"

"Me? Heavy lifting is outta the question. You know, back issues."

"Yeah, sure. Back issues. One day I'm gonna show you back issues."

"Are you hitting on me, Doctor Schwarz?"

"What? Go back to your meds, Kurt!"

It was raining, so they'd set the grill under the backyard awning near the door, and laid the table inside. Aldana and Connor brought the salads from the kitchen. Gillian followed with two six-packs. Cassidy came in with two plates, one full of meat and the other full of grilled vegetables.

The Section Chief had arrived on Friday, to spent a couple of hours in a private meeting with Cooper. He didn't have anything to discuss with her. But the Iron Lady's pride needed some hugging, because she'd felt stepped over during the copycats case. So Cassidy came to Boston, sat down with her, and did his best to make her feel on top of things again.

But what he actually did first at the field office was dropping by the team's office without warning. To check on Gillian's outfit. She wore black slacks and boots. So she faced him with a mocking smirk and asked if he needed directions to find Cooper's office.

Now she wore jeans, flannel and sneakers to sit down between her son and her boss. Russell came in with the last plate of food and they all sat at the table.

"T, your veggies," said Fred, handing over a dish to the girl.

She set it before her on the table and kept doing something on her tablet.

"What're you up to, T?" asked Aldana.

"Just a minute."

"Still restoring your system?" asked Gillian, ironic.

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