Mary had done the best she could to help the kid who was a newcomer. She still wasn't convinced that she'd helped all that much, but this wasn't the sort of situation that she could really sugarcoat or make better. She'd spent some time looking around the hotel to see who else was here. She was trying not to panic at not seeing her parents or Rob right away. She hadn't seen many people, and they could still be here.
She thought that she'd head back to her room and maybe raid the minibar before she looked some more. The sinking feeling that someone she cared about had been sent away yet again was there, but she was going to try to drown it in some whiskey.
Instead, she'd just gotten off the elevators when she heard someone shouting her name. Someone very familiar. Someone who wasn't supposed to be with the group anymore. Were the aliens just screwing with her yet again? If they were yanking her around, it worked. She picked up the pace until she was practically running around the corner and toward that voice. She stopped short when she saw him and just stared, tears forming in her eyes.
She shook her head.
"You're not really here. The aliens are just fucking around, like always."
It didn't make sense that they'd send someone away for several planets and then bring them back. Did it?