You were gone for so long. And I wasn't sleeping. And they were there.

[Alex is shaking and she's crying silently, but she doesn't pull away from him, even if she doesn't look at him. She can feel his panic and his grief through the bond, but all it does is fuel hers all the more. With her chest rising and falling so rapidly, and her pulse thudding in her ears, Alex is very aware that she's having a panic attack. Dr. Bernier wasn't good for much, but she was good for somethings, and Alex is trying the grounding techniques she'd taught her. Five things you can see: Richard's eyes on hers. The wine glasses in front of them, the pizza, the panic in him... Four things you can feel: The chair beneath her. The sensation of her arms on the table. His hands on hers. Her hands on his. Three things you can hear: her breath, Richard's voice. The sound of the clock from the living room. Two things that you can smell: Richard, all musk and old books. Her own scent of coffee and rain. .One thing that you can taste: the wine and the pizza below the adrenaline bitterness in her mouth.

But it works, Alex is a bit calmer and she just softly says:]

I don't know what to say, Richard. I really don't know what to say to that. Are they... Are they around us now?