Alpha waits, as patient as ever, until Howard is near enough for Alpha to slap a hand onto his shoulder, to pull him, gently, closer, to stand by his side. "Well, kid, we both kinda screwed the pooch on that one," he says cheerfully. "I wasn't expecting you to get killed quite that fast, but hey, I bought you a little extra time didn't I?"

Somewhere in his head Ballard is screaming and Alpha's smile widens.