And somehow he's still surprised Natasha's together enough to address the elephant in the room: he'd pinned her as being too shellshocked about the Games. A muscle tightens in Alex's jaw as he debates what to say. There was a reason he'd never been picked to do a whole lot of public speaking for the DPD.

"Not as much as I'd like," Alex admits. "But it's worth a shot. Just hang in there, I'll get back to you."