They were more than halfway to the next stop, but Dash’s patience was wearing thin.

“Why a train?” he asked, slumping dramatically in his seat. “They could get where they’re going a hell of a lot faster by flying.”

“Not if the destination doesn’t have an airport,” Riley countered. “And security's tighter getting on and off a plane.”

“Ugh, logic,” Dash groaned. “We're just moving so slow.”

Riley’s eyes darted out the window, where the foreground scenery whipped by in a blur. 

“I know, I know,” Dash said. He dragged himself back upright. “I’m impatient, I’m hyper, I’m annoying-- I’ve heard it all.”

“I wasn’t going to say annoying,” Riley said honestly, and was rewarded with Dash’s laugh.  

“But you’ve thought it,” Dash teased, bumping Riley's shoulder. “I know myself. God, my coworkers are probably all in zen heaven this week with me gone. I mean, they do like me, but I’m a lot.”

Riley had thought he was annoying, but really only at their first meeting. Dash reminded him a little of Taysha, the way he could be so exuberant but didn't seem to expect Riley to be the same. Her acceptance was the reason she was one of the only people at work he was truly comfortable around.

“Where do you work?” Riley asked Dash, realizing he had no idea. They’d really skipped a lot of the get-to-know-you basics.  

“The registrar’s office at the City College,” Dash said. “I mostly do course scheduling and registration stuff.  It’s cool, although sometimes it can be a little boring. But it pays the bills, and my coworkers are nice.”

“Where do they think you are now?” Riley asked.  

“I told my boss I’m sick,” Dash said. “Which isn’t even technically lying, because I have been actually sick to my stomach since the minute I realized Gabriel was gone.”

Riley felt a pang of guilt, a reminder of using the same line with his own boss just that morning. 

“Hey,” Dash said, his gray eyes worried. “Are you… you’re not going to get in trouble for being here with me, are you? I know we're keeping things, like, off the books, but you government agent types can go off to like, investigate a case or something, right?”

Riley was likely in a whole mess of trouble, especially if his adventure to his boss’s office was discovered, but there was no sense in sharing any of that.

“My boss had already offered to extend my leave of absence,” he explained. “It’s fine.” He knew at some point he'd need to check to make sure Director Phelps had gotten his message, but the idea of looking made the uneasy feeling in his stomach grow stronger.

“You were on a leave of absence?” Dash asked, pulling Riley's focus back to the moment. He’d revealed more than he’d meant to.  

“I was,” he admitted.  

"Are you OK?" Dash asked. He leaned in a little closer, like he could figure out what was wrong if he looked hard enough. 

"Yeah," Riley said, finding it hard to break free of Dash's intense stare. “Someone I… there was a guy, he tried to hurt some people. My brother and aunt put a stop to it. But I was there, and had to, you know, testify and stuff.”  

Dash’s gray eyes were brimming with curiosity, and Riley hurried to bring the story to an end. “It took a while, so my boss approved a temporary leave of absence. And now it’s just… a bit longer.”

“Damn, dude,” Dash said once Riley had fallen silent. “For a quiet guy, you actually have kind of a dramatic life, don’t you? No wonder you didn’t write me off when I called you-- this is just another day for you.”

“Trust me, you’re the first stranger who’s ever called me up and demanded my help,” Riley said, shaking his head.  

“Aww, I’m your first?” Dash teased. “Sorry I wasn’t more gentle.”

Riley shook his head, leaning back against his seat. He liked Dash's sense of humor, but more often than not he didn't quite know how to respond to it. Fortunately, Dash didn’t seem to mind filling in the gaps. 

“So you’ve got a brother, huh? Older or younger?”

“Younger,” Riley said. “He’s the baby of the family.”

“Aw. Is he totally spoiled?” Dash's grin made Riley think that was certainly the case in the Reyes family. 

Riley shook his head. “He’s the best of us,” he said seriously. Dash looked up at Riley, a considering expression on his face that Riley couldn’t quite read.  

“He’s lucky, to have grown up with you looking out for him,” Dash ventured at last.  

Riley knew he’d said it in kindness, but his stomach still flipped uncomfortably; Dash had no idea how off the mark he was.  

“I’m still tired,” he said, shifting around in his seat. “I think I’ll nap, before the next stop.”

“Oh,” Dash said, surprise flashing in his eyes. “O-OK, um, me too. We should really get all the rest we can before the next crazy thing happens.”

“Right,” Riley said, reclining his seat back and closing his eyes. He heard Dash settling in beside him.  

Riley was committed to repairing the damage he'd done to his relationship with his brother. He wanted Reid to be able to depend on him, needed to earn his trust back. But he couldn't for his life think of a way to explain his past to someone like Dash. Someone who'd clearly never had that bond damaged, as evidenced by the fact that he was willing to go to any lengths to get his brother back.