Title: Riddle Me This
By: nixa_jane
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG
Summary: And so you lean back and you say, "Repeat after me, silk, silk, silk."

So you put him with Sara, or Warrick, or Catherine, and you keep him with you. And when he looks at you, you know he knows exactly what you're doing. He may be young but he isn't stupid, you've never thought that. That isn't the problem at all.

You just feel better if there is someone else there. Someone to keep him focused, keep him grounded, keep him from getting too involved—keep him from getting shot. You know that it's selfish and self-serving, you know all of that, and you keep telling yourself that you'll stop. You don't.

He tells you to treat him like a man, and you wonder, if all this time you've been treating him like a child. It's a disturbing thought, and unfortunately quite possible, and you suddenly have trouble meeting his eyes.

And so you lean back and you say, "Repeat after me, silk, silk, silk," because you know already the forth word he'll say, when he answers the question that would have been better left unasked.