John had been standing outside, leaning up against the wall not too far away from the entrance to Jack's building. In fact he'd only been there about as long as it had been since Cole returned from his earlier walk. Now, the young and usually quiet Eva was outside and had been followed by both Cole and, soon after, Cia. John listened in to the conversation up until Cia began to yell in anger, then moved from where he was standing to intervene in the matter.

[color=00aeef]"That's enough, Cia! Don't take your anger out on her...if she's gonna act like that then she doesn't even deserve it..."[/color] He said sternly, looking at Cia for a moment before turning to face Eva. [color=00aeef]"Okay, look, so you want a reason to stay? Here, I'll give you one; if you walk away, you're [i]dead[/i]. That's [i]it[/i], [i]the end[/i]. But...if you stay with us, you have a chance to make a difference...you can help people. Do you even know what we're fighting for here? We're fighting for an entire race; the Gifted race. If you want to go off alone and die quietly, then I'm not gonna stop you. But if you want to do the most with your life, I suggest you stay here with us."[/color]

Truth be told, John didn't quite seem to be the same person that he had been several months ago...something was different. He seemed to have become more assertive following the attack on the blacksite, and had since gradually become less fearful of Cia...though he still had not talked to her all that much. He had spent most of his time thinking, daydreaming even...about the past, the present, the future...about what could've been and what could be. Hell, even little Mayumi, who he hardly knew, managed to cross into his mind quite a few times...and as of late, she began appearing in his dreams and nightmares. He felt a sense of guilt any time he though of her, due to his close association with the death of her parents, and after a month of thought he was now considering adoption...though he had not gone to Cia about it. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but more so that he wasn't sure if it would be a very good idea right now...