"We leave for Boston in half an hour" the social worker said while pouring Zack some orange juice. Zack said nothing in reply chewing methodically on the microwaved pancake on the fork in his left hand while writing down the number eight just as slowly on the right upper corner of the Sudoku square he was working on.

Rather than reprimanding him from his lack of response the social worker smiled warmly at him. Reaching out to ruffle his hair only to have him duck away -still not looking up from the paper. Temperance rolled her eyes as the social worker ignored this obvious sign that Zack had very little liking for physical contact . -really it had taken her all but the one night they shared a room to figure that out. But she supposed the woman did get a lot of cases, she was one of the only people in the foster system Temperance saw as competent ( having known her for a year and a half by now) but specifics about every child she worked with were bound to escape her without a photographic memory or at least above average memory recall.

"Zack I see you beat Temperance to the morning paper" she couldn't hep but sound surprise. It wasn't the first time Temperance was unexpectedly removed from a home an the social worker knew the puzzle was part of Temperance's routine -and apparently Zack's as well-

"I'll need that back when you're done with the puzzle"

Zack mumbled something that may have been a 'yes' or 'I guess' not looking up from the task at hand.

The truth was Temperance had let Zack have the paper -even though the change in routine put her slightly at odds. So far, Zack had blown past the beginners'' and 'intermediates'' Sudoku and was midway trough the advanced one.

She had no clue why she was suddenly so interested in Zack who was most likely going to be out of her life after a month or less though she had a few theories. Maybe it was the lack of intellect around her or the fact that Zack had been the first person she'd talked to in a long time who actually seemed to listen to reason. For all she knew, it could all be chalked up to scientific curiosity.

All that she knew was that, now that she was aware Zack was smart she wanted to know just how smart he was.

Not that Sudoku was particularly hard it was logic-based, almost common sense.

But there weren't many kids Zack's age who could solve the beginner Sudoku puzzle let alone the intermediate and advanced. And definitely not as fast as Zack was going without hesitating even once.

"Its harder t to focus with you watching over my shoulder like that"

Temperance snapped out of her thoughts to find Zack had stopped working on the puzzle and was now staring at her. Shifting self-consciously under the prolonged attention Zack made an attempt to divert it by doing what he guessed was the reason behind it.

"If you want to try I can copy the puzzle down for you"

"No that's fine" Temperance said finishing her own toast and milk and glancing at the puzzle.

"That eight doesn't go there"

Zack blinked up at her confused.

"I'm sorry?"

"That eight you put down. It doesn't g there"

"Yes it does"

"no it doesn't"

"Yes it does"

Temperance raised an eyebrow at how…determined -stubborn- Zack had suddenly become. Had she been wrong in her observation? Was he as irrational as everyone else?

Then again maybe he was simply defending his own thinking. She could certainly understand that.

Deciding to pursue that thought she reached over and took the pencil from him then erased the eight and replaced it in the middle square.

"You jumped to conclusions ahead of time and put the eight down too soon" she explained "If you had kept going like this you would have never solved the puzzle"

Zack's face looked as if she had told him his puppy died.

"I'm guessing you aren't corrected that often" Temperance said, it was a statement not a question.

Zack shook his head, though his attention was entirely focused on the puzzle as if it held a hidden message that would reveal to him just how he could have overlooked something and made a mistake.

"Are you always so surprised at being wrong?" Temperance stood to place her plate on the sink the returned back to the table.

"I'm not usually wrong" Zack said ducking his head like he had the other day in an attempt to hide the faint blush on his face.

"It's nothing to feel bad about" Temperance said trying her best to sound consoling and not quite succeeding "there aren't many kids your age who even know how to solve a sudoku puzzle. Much less do advanced one."

"Not many kids your age can do the advanced one either" Zack replied stabbing his pancake as if it were to blame for his mistake, then left the fork stuck to the pancake and turned to look at Temperance.

"But you knew where to put the eight, you knew where everything went all along. Didn't you?"

Temperance nodded startled that Zack knew she'd had been doing the puzzle in her head as he did it on the paper. -though in retrospect she really shouldn't be. She then shifted in place as Zack's expression turned from disappointment to deduction and then to complete awe.

"Well yes" she said trying to avoid the big brown eyes that suddenly seemed to be entirely focused on her and wishing the social worker would walk back into the kitchen. "but Zack I'm sixteen. Don't you think it makes sense for me to know something you don't"

Zack nodded grudgingly unable to argue with the logic even as he wanted to.

"Maybe once we get to Boston" Zack said keeping his eyes on the paper once more and sounding like he'd stop talking any second "maybe then..you can show you knew?"

Everything told her to refuse, she even went as far as to open her mouth, the word on the figurative tip of her tongue. But there was something in the way Zack had asked, like it had taken everything in him to get the words out, and even as everything told her to say no there was also something fighting against it,making her hesitate.

She figured it was scientific curiosity after all, she wanted to know how smart Zack truly was, what better way to truly be the judge of that than to test his abilities herself? And wasn't that why Zack had asked? Because he wanted his own curiosity satisfied? This way they could both benefit.

Drawing her conclusion she finally settled for a nod, choosing to overlook how Zack's eyes had seemed to light up a bit at the thought, 'Yeah maybe" she said in a voice that was noncommittal. Zack however didn't seem to catch on to the tone he had the night before. Instead he swallowed the last of his pancake and ran upstairs -presumably to pack. half-mumbling an apology when he almost ran into the social worker.

"It's so nice of you to take the time to talk to him" she told Temperance once Zack went upstairs. "when Zack was first brought here he wouldn't say more than two words to anyone and refused to make eye contact, you've obviously made an impression on him"

Temperance said nothing, suddenly thinking that maybe Zack's intelligence had misled her. In all the scientific curiosity and how refreshing someone who liked her favorite movie and even `understood some things like she did she had overlooked the fact that Zack was still a child -albeit a very logical one, but a child nonetheless and now they would be going to the same home in a new city and Temperance knew that -logically- Zack would, like most children want to stay near someone familiar.

Someone he was attached to.

Zack couldn't get attached ton Temperance. She couldn't allow it to happen. Because Temperance could not get attached to him.

She couldn't shouldn't and wouldn't get attached to anyone. Not ever again.