#//Is this mostly Heartman venting? Yes. Sam's disappearance at the inauguration had a very sour impact and my man is *Talkative.*

[tellescope]

@hauntedreality said: “You’re right, I don’t understand, yet. Will you help me?” / Sam for Heartman

>>From this meme

     He should be angry. He wants to be. He was when Sam came back out of the blue. But the moment Heartman saw the baby he understood why Sam had vanished without a trace. Yet even so there is a lingering resentment, and the confirmation brings it forth. Yes, he can certainly do his best to explain the problem, but he makes no promises on account of attitude.

     ❝You should have said something, Sam. After everything you couldn't manage a 'goodbye'? I came back just in time to see you leave the room and I thought, 'Well he's been through quite an ordeal. I'll give him some space and talk to him after the speech.' Yet by then you were nowhere to be found and no-one could tell me where you'd gone.❞      Months of radio silence. Not a single codec call. Not even an email. As if Sam had just dropped off the face of the Earth. Quite frankly, it hurt. Sam was... It's difficult to put into words, but Sam had asked to understand and this may be Heartman's only chance lest the man walk out of his life with no warning yet again.

     ❝Sam, you were the one who—who pulled me back from the edge. You inspired me. Despite our similar circumstances I was... trapped, in the past. Caught in a hopeless cycle. Yet you, you kept pushing forward, keeping on, working toward a future. I hesitate to think where I'd be had we not met. You showed me connections matter. We all saw that thanks to you. And then you vanish without a trace.❞      Hands ball at his sides, AED beeps just a little faster, frustration mounting as he tries to hold it back, keep his tone as level as possible. Sam may have earned his ire with that stunt but the child is innocent and does not deserve to be woken. ❝So I wondered, did it actually mean anything? Was Sam wrong? Was it all just a means to an end? And I nearly stepped back toward that shoreline.❞      Frown deepens but hands relax, gaze falling once again on the baby Sam had brought. ❝I understand now why you left. That's your BB, isn't he?❞ That's the reason he'd spoofed the security monitoring when Sam had arrived, just like the last time the porter had been here. Bridges will never know. ❝But really you should've said something back then.❞ Gaze shifts back to Sam, still just shy of eye contact though, same as always. A question lingers, unsaid, but potent all the same; Do you understand now?