Case Reopened

Finding A Reason - Zander's POV

This chapter comes after and references the chapters Finding Understanding and Drawing the Line, so be familiar with those before reading this. Or don't, it's up to you.

***********************************

She was the weather. The weather never doubted what it was, it simply was. People could be annoyed with what the weather was and wished it to change but that never affected the weather. The weather continued to be what it was, unapologetic to the world, unbothered by their words, and glances.

Zander wished he could be like the weather.

Instead, he was a boat on the waves of life, feeling pushed, tossed, and pulled about by people around him. Eyes didn't glance off him, instead they stuck to him leaving imprints of the gazer. Words didn't fall on deaf ears, instead they filled his head. The good, the bad, the in-between, he heard, thought, and felt them all.

But she was the weather. Sunshine and clear days, she was who she was. Stormy, gray, rainy days, she was who she was.

People could hate the gray day, despise the rain. But it didn't affect her. And it made sense, perspective changed from person to person. Zander liked gray rainy days. It felt like the world was being tucked into bed and hushed to sleep. He liked the rain, the way it sounded on the windows, like friends tapping on the glass to check in on him as one artist put it.

That's what Sophia was. The weather. Unbothered. Unaffected. Unapologetic. Wholly herself. A comforting gray day.

"Hey there, Zander."

Zander retreated from his contemplation to see Julis, who bent down to peer into the back of the car.

"Hi, Julis," Zander said, waving to the gate guard.

Agents leading their dogs rounded the car. Zander pressed his nose to the glass, trying to see if Bartholomew's paw was completely healed. He smiled when he saw the German shepherd easily walking on all four paws.

"Bart is doing better," he said to Julis who chatted with George.

"He has. Made a full recovery," Julis said.

"Good. I was worried that he'd have to be given away but it's a relief that he's still here. Though I don't know maybe going to live with a nice family would be something he'd enjoy more. But I think he'd probably miss his family if he left us. Dogs can miss people, can't they?"

Julis smiled warmly at Zander. "They can." Gerald and Felix gave Julis a thumbs up and Julis tapped the window seal once. "Okay. You're all clear."

"Give Bart a dog treat for me," Zander called out as George guided the car through the gates.

Zander twisted around in his seat to check that Julis had heard his message. He received a thumbs up and knew that Bart would have one more reason to want to stay with the service.

George trailed Zander as he made his way through the ever-moving chaos of the West Wing. Where normally George would take the lead, his bulk and imposing nature naturally clearly the way, Zander took the lead in the West Wing, his position doing a swifter job than George's bulk.

"Hey, Zander."

"Hi, Nick." 

"Good day at school, kiddo?"

"Yeah. It wasn't too bad, Tess."

"You look very sharp in your uniform, young man."

"Thanks, Margaret."

Though each response Zander had contained two dozen more words, he'd learned early to cut his replies down to single sentences of no more than five words. After all, these people had lives that affected millions of others, their attention was best spent on their tasks.