Driver's Fault

Becky nodded at Xander and took a deep breath. She was grateful for his encouragement. It was easy to forget that he had history with the people here. She'd come along just late enough that she vaguely remembered maybe meeting him a time or two, and she remembered his name, but that was about it. 

"Thank you... I know he's got enough stubbornness in him to make it through anything. It's just... whether or not he's willing to use it." She leaned back against the wall and folded her arms as her eyes drifted through the barn. "He just now was pulling out of a pretty bad depression. He knew about his eyes but hadn't told anyone, and then Rosalyn found a man and Jim didn't approve and it turned into a pretty ugly mess." She shook her head. It still bothered her. "I think he's finally sorting through that and working things out with her but... now this. I just... I don't know if he's got enough drive anymore to not just sit and be miserable."

She looked back at Xander, pleading in her eyes. "If he doesn't want to get up and do things... please... help me get him up and outside. I know he'll fight it if he gets into one of his moods, but I just don't want to see him fade away because he's depressed again." She wiped a tear from her face and sniffed. "Maybe he'll come up fighting, I don't know. I just want to be prepared if he doesn't."


As Ryan kissed his cheek, Dylan's eyes went wide. "Gah!" He swiped at his cheek with his sleeve. "You crazy-"

"Dylan!"

"What?"

Sparky pointed.

"Holy..." Dylan swerved to miss a fence post as they rumbled down the driveway.

Sparky rolled his eyes. "Nice maneuvering, genius."

"Hey! It's her fault." Dylan thumbed to the backseat.

"It's always the driver's fault. Eyes on the road."

Hunter snickered. It was good for Dylan to get teased and... it was fun to see the old Ryan show up, too. Settling back, he was surprised when she took his hand and he glanced down at it for a moment before his eyes rose to see her face. Giving her a smile, he squeezed her fingers and left his hand in hers. He didn't mind. Actually...he rather liked it. 

It took a while to get to the farm with the hay, then a while longer to get it all loaded up. But between the men, they made light of it as much as possible before getting it all stacked and secure on the trailer. Once finished, they aimed for town, which wasn't far now. Dylan drove surprisingly well in town, taking turns and parking with the trailer like a pro - even Hunter was impressed. Eventually they parked in an empty lot where they could walk to the tack store. 

Outside and wandering down the sidewalk, Hunter spotted a car lot just on the next block, and elbowed Ryan. "Hey. I see sports cars. Wanna go check it out?" 


Garret cocked his head and simply studied Ron for several seconds, taking in everything. Eventually, he nodded. "Thank you." Having someone genuinely believe him was a welcome difference. He glanced back to Pete. "I'll be with Sapphire the rest of the day." 

As he walked away, Pete sighed. Truth be told...he was still scared of Garret, and didn't like confronting him, even with little things. "I think I believe him too... Although he seemed to flinch when I asked about what he was up to at Nate's house. I guess I still don't trust him completely. I don't think he's gonna sell us out to the Agency, but I think he likes secrets." 


"Hey." Jason folded his arms on top of Katie's cubicle wall and grinned down at her. "Seeing as though it's getting close to lunchtime... and Reese is gone for a couple hours anyway... wanna go grab a bite to eat somewhere?" It felt good to be doing things with Katie again. Meals together were a norm, whether lunch or supper, and Reese had them working on some cases together again, too. Sometimes it was hard to even imagine they'd been apart. 

"Maybe... we can grab subs and take them to the park? It's a nice day out..."