She couldn’t let his vacating the scene close the evening for her. “Just like him to pick up on my game,” she thought to herself as she checked through the glass at the party-goers. Stevens wouldn’t know she was gone for at least fifteen minutes. He was getting his drink on in there. The poor bastard deserved it after what she had put him through.

She floated down the hallway toward the elevator. A smirk developed on her face, an expression she had not made since she had met Stevens back at the institute last month. God it had been a whole month! One last glance at the perpetual lameness of the gathering and then out of sight.

“Well here we go, off the reservation…” She hesitated at the elevator bank. The down button was slightly warn and reminded her of the pre-Panic days when worn out things just existed, happily reminding us of the passage of time. She pressed, it lit up, as did her face with a larger expression than a smirk. She was in full on smile mode now. Had he really made that happen?