"Here's to my retirement!" said Joan Hunt, clinking her wine glass with that of her daughter's, Dr. Megan Hunt, and Megan's boss, Dr. Kate Murphy. Kate was only there because Megan didn't want to have to deal with a drunken mother all by herself. Megan also said she'd treat her to a movie later after her mother had gone to bed.

"Now, Kate." Joan began, taking a sip of her wine. "Did Megan or I ever tell you about the time she put the bird in the freezer, and I found it?" Kate laughed, and Megan shook her head.

"Mother, do you always have to do this?" asked Megan, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why not?" exclaimed her mother, who continued talking to Kate about the time she found the bird that Megan had put in the freezer. "Apparently, Kate thinks it's funny." Joan continued, and Megan poured herself another glass of wine. Just as Joan got to the part where she was talking about 'the jury still being out on that' on whether or not Megan might grow up to be a serial killer, a mischievous smile came across Megan's face.

"Excuse me a moment you two, I'm going to step outside." Megan said, taking a sip of wine and kicking her shoes off. Kate didn't seem to notice that anything was up, but Joan certainly did.

"Megan! Megan Hunt! Come back here!" shouted Joan to the outside, moving closer to the screen door. It was too late though, Megan had run off and her mother knew exactly where. Kate, who had just taken the final sip of her wine glass wasn't really paying attention to what was going on until she heard Joan shouting. "Joan!" Kate said, coughing and nearly choking on her wine. "What's going on?"

Megan's mother came back inside and briefly told Kate about Megan and this thing that she does. "Ever since her father died, whenever she didn't want to hear me fuss or wanted out of a conversation, she'd kick her shoes off and run out into the yard. For a while I never knew where she went. Then one day when she had run off, I went looking for her and I found her jacket hanging on a tree branch. I looked up at the old tree over there" Joan was now pointing to a tall, old oak tree way in the back of her yard. "There she was…just sitting there looking up at the sky. It was a means of escape for her." Joan went back to doing her own thing now, moving their plates from dinner into the dishwasher and taking a sip of her wine. "She ruined quite a few dresses that way…" Joan wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying now, but Kate held onto every word.

"I think I'll go talk to her. I bet I can get her to come down." Kate said, kicking her own shoes off. She walked out into the backyard, and then saw the tree Joan had been talking about. She saw a single foot dangling from a tree branch, and moved toward where she saw Megan.

"What was that all about?" asked Kate, beginning to climb the tree. She really didn't see how Megan was able to do it these days. "Did she tell you the story of how it began?" Megan asked, helping Kate up to the branch she was sitting on. Kate nodded, and Megan smiled a rather weak smile. "I used to do it to escape from her. She would go into these rages, and I just couldn't stand it. Now, I just do it to piss her off and I still get to be away from her." Kate giggled, and asked, "So she still thinks you are using this as an escape?" Megan nodded, looking up at the stars. "Sometimes, when I'm over here I'll come out here just to see if I can still climb this old tree. I took Lacey up here once, too. But, I've grown to move past the whole 'escape tree' phase. I think when I was younger; it helped me feel closer to my dad."

Kate nodded, and just sat there, listening to Megan talk. She too looked at the stars, thinking about her own parents. "Also, it makes me feel like a kid" said Megan, interrupting Kate's thought.

Megan suddenly felt a vibration, and looked at her phone. "Oh, mother's gone to bed." She said, showing Kate the text message from her mother. "Come on, let's go in." She said, putting her phone back in her pocket and beginning to climb down the tree. "If we stay out here another 30 minutes she'll come out here in her nightgown and slippers, and I don't think I can have you see that side of her. Not just yet, anyway." Megan climbed down from the tree, and helped Kate down as well, noting the scrapes on Kate's knee as she hit the ground.

"We need to make sure we get that cleaned up when we get inside." Megan said, pointing to Kate's bloodied knee as they walked in. "Oh" said Kate, looking down at her wound. "I didn't even feel it. I guess after so many scraped knees as a kid, I don't even recognize it anymore."

Megan had Kate sit on one of the barstools while she said good-night to her mother and got some antiseptic and band-aids. "I almost expected you to bring out a full emergency kit, Megan. Since you were a doctor since you were a kid and everything." Kate said, laughing, until she felt the sting of the alcohol on her cut. She hissed at it, but felt more at ease when she felt the cool Neosporin go on her knee, followed by a band-aid. Kate felt Megan's soft fingers brush up against her knee as she put the band-aid on her. Her thoughts then began to wonder about Megan's parasthesia; and other things as well…

"Scientist" Megan said, knocking Kate out of her brief day dream. "I'm sorry, what?" Kate asked, looking down at Megan. "I said I was a scientist since I was a kid. Not a doctor." Megan then stood up and threw away the trash, and placed the small first aid kit under the sink. "Now", Megan said, taking Kate's hand, and escorting her to the couch. "How about that movie?"