Rory tried very hard not to flinch but knew he wasn't entirely successful. "Right. Right. I'm sure you did great." And how much better would he have been done if they hadn't just created him to fill a role and packed his head full of all they thought he should know?

He shifted, automatically intending to offer some reassurance. Like he would with any abandoned teenager coming into the hospital. Talk about homes and places where no one would hurt him, safe places where he could grow into his own person. The words died on the tip of his tongue. He wasn't home. No matter how much he wanted to help him, to give him something beyond the whims of his creator, he couldn't.

It was one of the most helpless moments of his life, that realization. "I'm sure there was somewhere. Even if it doesn't seem like it right now, I'm sure there is somewhere for you to go."

He swallowed, knowing this defense mechanism too. It wasn't something he wanted, so it didn't hurt so badly that he didn't have it. Lone wolves, one of the residents used to call them, tough guys. Lonely kids who had nowhere to go and hadn't had anyone to rely on and pretended like they didn't need them, or the help of any adult, because they could do it themselves. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out. What do you want to do, after Cadmus? Any careers you're looking at? Goals?"