Head Examiner

Hearing Misty's voice, Carson dragged his mind back to reality and mumbled an, "Mm-hmm," before burying himself a little deeper into the couch. As she returned with something to eat though, he knew better than to argue. Doctor's orders, after all. 

Sitting up slowly, he just sat a moment, as the pounding in his head subsided a little. Squinting up at her, he offered a sleepy smile. "Hi..." Settling back, he took the bowl of soup in his lap and took a bite, letting the hot liquid slide down his sore throat. Sighing, he nodded. "Even when my taste buds are off, your cooking tastes good." He grimaced. "I've had way too much pizza for way too long." Some days he just skipped meals altogether after being around pizza all day. 

Just eating quietly for a few minutes, he did manage to eat most of the bowlful, and drank some of the ginger ale. Even just that seemed to wear him out. Sitting back again, he just leaned over to put his head on Misty's shoulder and closed his eyes. "Do you have to go back to work?" 


Seeing Ryan was in good hands, Hunter eased quietly out of the garage and let them be. He'd come back later and see how things were if he didn't see Ryan first. Heading back to the barn, he spotted Dylan exiting with a horse, saddled up. "You dad said you had a new mount. This him?" 

Dylan didn't respond but just kept walking.

Hunter's bewilderment turned more towards irritation. "Hey...Dylan..."

Dylan stopped and sighed, throwing a look over his shoulder. "What?" 

"I was talking to you."

"And?" 

Hunter blinked, and approached the rest of the way. "Did I... do something wrong? What's with the cold shoulder all of a sudden?" 

Dylan rolled his eyes. "As if you don't know."

"Well I don't." Hunter set his hands on his hips. "What gives?" 

Dylan played with his reins as Seven impatiently waited for his rider. "I guess when I heard you were bringing a friend along, I didn't realize it was a friend with benefits." 

Hunter's eyes went wide. "What? No! What are you talking about?" Innocent or not, the topic alone sent heat to his face. 

"You tell me," Dylan retorted. "I saw Ryan coming from your bunk this morning. Think nobody would notice, or what?" 

Hunter's mouth hung open as he tried to come up with a believable answer, but in truth... it did look really bad. "Look, there's nothing-"

"I got riding to do." Dylan turned and aimed for the corral with Seven.

"Dylan, wait." Hunter growled and threw up his hands. He'd just have to catch him later. He knew better than to start an argument around one of the horses. 

"Everything okay?" 

Hunter spun around to see Mick who had just come from the barn. "Yes. No. I don't know. Yes." 

Mick lifted his eyebrows and chuckled. "Uh-huh. Wanna come help me patch a fence out back."

"Gladly." Hunter pulled his gloves from his back pocket and followed Mick out behind the barn to the pasture where a horse had torn down the top wire of one of the electric fences. They hadn't been working too long, when Mick finally spoke. 

"Couldn't help but overhear some of that little conversation with Dylan..." 

Hunter sighed. "He doesn't understand. I don't get why he's mad at me anyway."

Mick was quiet for a few moments as he worked with the wire. "In a way, I think he looks up to you a little. He got to know you pretty well when you were here before and I think he figured you had different standards than that. He's disappointed." 

"Well there's nothing to be disappointed about." 

"Isn't there?"

"No!" Hunter dared a scowl at Mick. "Of course not. You know me better than that." 

"Alright." Mick focused on the fence post and took a moment to pry out a couple old nails. "So why was Ryan coming out of your bunk in her pajamas this morning?" 

Hunter stabilized the post for him and huffed another sigh. "Because she was sleeping with me." He stopped as his face flushed. "Not sleeping with me sleeping with me. Just... sleeping. In my bunk. She fell asleep in my bed." He stopped and cringed. "This is all so wrong."

Mick tried to withhold his laugh and almost choked on it. "How about just telling me what happened?"

"Ryan's going through a rough time, like I told you. She... gets nightmares too, I guess. Bad ones. So... the last couple nights she's just needed a friend."

Mick's eyebrow arched. "Last couple?"

"Yeah. On our way here, then last night." Hunter fiddled with a pair of pliers. "Nothing happened, you gotta believe me."

"I believe you," Mick assured.

Even so, Hunter found himself continuing to explain. Or at least try to. "It was nothing. I mean, at the hotel, she just came in and we just curled up and fell asleep. That was it, nothing more. And last night was the same. She couldn't sleep. I was still up, so she laid down with me, and we fell asleep. End of story." 

"Alright." 

Hunter waited for more, but when it didn't come, he bit his lip. "And...?

Mick chuckled. "And?"

"I can tell you want to say something."

Mick took the pliers from him and grinned. "I believe you that nothing happened. I'm just wondering how smart it was to put yourself in that position, that's all."

"Well we were fine. I mean, she's just a friend, that's all."

"Oh. So it was easy for you to ignore her as a woman all night?" 

Hunter blinked. His face felt hot again. "Yes. Mostly. Sort of. I mean... Okay, so this morning was a little awkward, but I was just being nice. She doesn't expect anything, and neither do I and I was just being the shoulder she needed, that's all."

Mick's grin surfaced again. "Okay." 

"I know it looked bad, and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about that. I was just trying to help her."

"Okay." 

"Would you stop saying that?!" 

Mick laughed and motioned to the fence post. "Here. Hold that wire there. I get what you're saying about Ryan, and it's great you're helping her out. It sounds like she needs a friend like you, and I dare say you've been put in her life for that reason. I just want you to be careful, that's all."

Hunter's eyes dropped just a little. "I know."

"I trust your judgment and I know you don't intend for anything to happen. Getting lost in the moment can happen awfully fast though, and I just would hate for you to come out of this with regrets." 

Hunter nodded slowly. "You're right. Maybe I haven't been all that smart. I guess I'm just hoping she'll actually be able to relax and sleep well, then that situation won't even come up again."

"True." Mick grunted a little as he pulled the wire tight and set it in place. "Alright. There we go." 


"So, I've been working on this beast." Clint showed Ryan the pickup he'd been standing at earlier. "Chugs down the road like it's choking on fried chicken, and I can't find what's wrong." He shook his head, frustrated. "You'd think I'd get better as a mechanic after working in here the last few years, but I seem to be getting worse and worse." 

He leaned into the engine with a wrench and tinkered for a few moments. In reality, his attitude was getting worse and worse, too. Maybe that's why his skills were waning. Every day he liked it here a little less, so by now... he was close to hating it. 

"I don't know." He gave up and stood straight again before hanging the light in a different place so they could see better. "If you can figure this one out, I will kiss your feet. Or... well, figuratively speaking anyway."


"Am I interrupting?" 

Hal looked up from the table at Justin. "Nope. Done already?"

Justin shook his head. "Far from it. Done for today though." He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and came in to offer a handshake to Sam. "Sam, right? I'm Justin. Resident..." He fished for the right word. 

"Head examiner," Hal teased.

Justin chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that fits. My usual title is counselor but around here...the lines get a bit fuzzy." He thumbed out to the hall. "I locked Aaron in again, but he's itching to get out. I'm guessing that's normal. He's... got quite a story under there somewhere. Right now though, I think you're going to find him pretty hungry for attention." He shifted his weight a little and glanced at Hal, but kept his concentration on Sam. "You know how a boy will tug a girl's pigtails? It's not because he likes causing her pain - he's just trying to get attention. And... I think Aaron's doing the same thing with his crankiness and lock picking. Not a hundred percent sure on that, but I just thought I'd share that in case it might shed a little light on him as you deal with him every day." It wasn't his habit to just offer this kind of information after a session, but he felt Sam maybe could use the help before he could put it in an official report for Reese.