It wasn't in his nature to stop asking; there were things he realized he was better off not knowing, but there'd always be some part of him willing to dig deeper, to push the boundaries of whatever situation he'd found himself in, and in that moment, that part of him was screaming. The desire to know why this was happening was overwhelming, but it was the same old song and dance he'd always gone through Layla; he asked a question and she couldn't give him an answer.

The only difference was that this time she legitimately didn't know.

He waited a few seconds in tense silence, then positioned himself on the dupe's other side, hoisting the dead weight to take the brunt of it off Layla.

"As I'll ever be."