Touch

Listening to Xander's guidance, Jim moved forward stiffly and slowly. Even though he'd known where he was headed a few minutes ago, right now he was completely disoriented and had no idea how far they were from the main aisle or the door or anything. 

Mick saw them and immediately recognized that his brother was in trouble, but seeing Xander's face, he backed off. His face showed it all though. Jim had been a jerk for a long while, but he was still family, and Mick's heart ached for him. 

Continuing outside, the crunch of gravel and the breeze told Jim they were outside. At least he had some point of reference them but still, as they moved forward, he lost track of the distance, and his hands shook. 

"Been a long time since I did this." His voice was quiet, but he forced a half smile. "I got pretty good at navigating. Guess twenty some odd years is too long to remember what it was like." One thing was for sure... He didn't remember feeling this scared. 

Reaching the porch, even though Xander warned him, he still tripped on the step and had to use Xander to keep from falling on his face. He huffed in frustration and tried again, clumsily making it to the top. The warm air hit his skin as they went inside. The smell of breakfast hit his nose. But no sight. Nothing but darkness. He'd been right... this was it.

"Jim?" Becky came their direction, wiping her hands on her apron. She could tell something wasn't right. "What's wrong?"

Jim swallowed hard and let go of Xander's arm. "I can't see a darn thing." He tried to laugh, but choked on the air instead as his emotions faltered. 

Tears sprang into Becky's eyes. They'd known this was coming, but it didn't make it any easier. Drawing close, she wrapped her arms around him and they just hugged each other close for several moments. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It's going to be okay."

Jim could only nod. Words failed him. He felt Becky's hand in his, and stepped forward, then stopped. He turned, trying to sense where Xander was. "Thank you for helping me." Following Becky again, she got him settled at a table where he could sit... and do nothing but wait... listen... and inwardly curse his eyes. 


Hunter chuckled at nodded at Ryan. "Guess we better feed that thing before it gets too cranky then."

"Hey guys." Sparky wandered over to them as he stuffed his gloves in his back pocket. He smiled at them both, glad to see they'd been enjoying themselves. "Dylan and I are going to go pick up a load of hay after breakfast. We bought some from a farm a ways away and their truck broke down so we're gonna take our own trailer. Could use some help loading up though."

Hunter quirked an eyebrow. It would be something different to do, and there were far worse people to hang out with than Sparky and Dylan. "That could be fun."

"It's close to town," Sparky added. "Which... probably means a trip to the tack shop to drool over equipment, and lunch at the Burger Barn since that's Dylan's favorite."

Hunter grinned and looked at Ryan. "Wanna come? Totally up to you."


Feeling Sapphire's hand, Garret tensed even more, but almost just as quickly he let his arm relax. His eyes stayed on Ron and Pete even when she spoke. The agreement to let him leave whenever he wanted meant little to him, but at least they'd said it. 

He finally glanced at Sapphire. If he caused a scene, she could get hurt. Or she might grow scared of him. And he didn't like either of those thoughts. Finally he stood. "Fine."

As he moved out of the cubicle, Pete instinctively took his arm to lead him to the hall, but it was the wrong move. Garret recoiled and took a step back into a fighting stance. "Don't touch me," he hissed. 

Pete's palms shot into the air. "Alright, alright. Sorry. I forgot." He wondered how Garret could ever get along on any missions if he was that sensitive to being touched. But that was for Nate and Reese to worry about. "Meeting room. Come on."

Garret shot both men a glare before moving forward again. Getting to the meeting room, he wanted to stay on his feet, but sat anyway to at least show partial cooperation. Looking up at Pete and Ron, his eyes were full of agitation and question. "So what's this all about?"

"The sniper." Pete again told the whole story, but this time he took a different angle. "Think the Agency could be involved?"

Garret didn't hesitate to shake his head. "Too obvious of a pattern for starters. Also, why should they kill crime bosses? They like having those guys around to distract law enforcement. Medridge kills people that get in his way, not people who can do him unintentional favors."

Pete nodded slowly. "What about you? Some targets were Elite related or Agency related. We might have gained a lot of intel if we'd gotten Harris back in one piece. Maybe unrelated targets are just to keep us off the trail."

Garret's jaw tightened. "If you're accusing me, why don't you just come right out and say it?"

"Okay. We've got a leak. Are you involved?"

Garret got to his feet, scraping the chair across the floor. "I asked Nate once what it was going to take to earn trust around here. I have done everything I know how, and I still don't have an answer." His gaze alone could pierce steel. 

Pete swallowed hard, but held his ground. "Ron told you, we're not singling anyone out. This isn't about you. This is about a leak."

Garret shook his head as he crossed his arms. "That's ridiculous. I've never met a more loyal batch of people. Insane, yes, but loyal."

Pete grinned a little. "I know. That's why this is so hard."

"Motive or not, I haven't interacted with anyone here capable of double-crossing the Elite."

"And who haven't you interacted with?"

Garret thought for a moment. "A few agents maybe."

"So that's where we're at. We have to question everyone to make sure all bases are covered, and so we can report a thorough investigation, even if it ends up there's no leak at all."

Garret's shoulders started to relax just a little, and his eyes shifted to Ron. "So why are you here?"