For my own good? [ The look he gives her is a blank one, as if Alan isn't quite sure what that means. His focus has been on improving himself for her, so that he can be a good partner to her. He hadn't thought of it in terms of doing it for himself. ]

I think Barry's long gone. He's moved on, probably to bigger and better things. Barry always had the crazy ideas and the crazier, bigger dreams.

[ I think I just have her. And I could be all right with that, but can she?

She squeezes him and he shifts slightly, but out of pleasure, not discomfort. Her touch makes him feel good. It keeps him grounded when his worries threaten to take him over. Still, he can't quite push aside the questions he still has about Scratch, but maybe he shouldn't ask Jesse about them. ]

Can anyone see the Altered Items that you have, or are those classified? I know it's just a duck, but- [ He shrugs. ]

I think he wasn't ready to accept that this is the way the world is. It's weird, it's full of things you can't explain, and there's a lot of things out there that might try to kill you. I wouldn't blame him for that, except- why did he feel like he had to distance himself from her?

[ Alan shakes his head. He knows he thought about what he could do to protect Jesse: if maybe it was better for her if he didn't keep dragging her into his problems, but he'd never purposefully pull away from her like the Alan in the dream did. ]

Actually, now that you mention it, she did think it was because of her. I- I wanted her to see that it wasn't her fault. I know, it's crazy, to want to help someone I dreamed up while asleep, but...

[ It was Jesse, even if she went by the name Beth. I only wanted to help. ]