Alex just nods, too familiar with the concept, trying to just listen and hold his own guilt back, but it's still there, right at the edge.

"... Don't think I'll ever be who I should have been, to him," he admitted quietly. "I wasn't there from the start - was still in the Navy - and by the time I got there... I just couldn't connect with him. Didn't know how. The only time he seemed interested in me at all was when I lied to him and told him stories 'bout fighting pirates on a gunship. When I retired and settled down with 'em, he didn't... hell, he didn't even recognise me."