Neal wants to believe him. He really, really wants to believe him. He can't manage to get himself around the mental roadblock of not being one of the ones who was present, one of the ones Malcolm picked when he couldn't have everyone. He can't stop wondering what he might have done to increase his relative value enough to have passed that threshold. How much it's going to take for him to fall lower in the ranks of consideration. He needs to say something before Malcolm figures out exactly how weak he is.

"I know." It's too quiet. He clears his throat. "It's fine, I'll be fine."