Stunning

"Okay." Scott's mumbled answer came surprisingly fast. He never took her, or even Dalton, up on those offers to stay. But he was just so utterly comfortable, he didn't want it to end. He didn't want to go home to a cold bed where nightmares waited. He wanted to stay here, tucked in warm safety. 

Domino was stretched out on the floor nearby as well, and perked up a little at the sound of Scott's voice, but then just yawned and flopped over on her side, perfectly content. It was peaceful here and even she knew it. 

Scott shifted a little and sighed deeply, his whole body relaxing again as sleep immediately took over. For as long as he'd gone without truly restful sleep, he had no strength to resist. 


As the bubbles were tossed at him, Hal gave a jump, his eyes going wide. She had not just done that. He wiped them off his shirt. She had.

"Oh really..." Too quick to stop, he reached into her half of the sink to swipe some of his own bubbles, then blew them out of his palm into her face and hair. The result was a couple small globs clinging to her bangs and sliding down her cheek. 

Hal stifled a laugh and took one step back, assuming it was over, but ready in case she decided to whack him. "You look simply stunning," he teased.


Kirk listened carefully to Ron as he glanced at the paper. No, he wouldn't ask how he'd gotten his information. Truth be told, he was glad Ron was the type to get the job done and knew how to go through back doors when necessary. He was quickly becoming more and more valuable in Kirk's eyes.

He sighed as his brow furrowed. "It keeps coming back to their health. That would explain why Rick went with them. But why hide an illness?" He shook his head. "I keep thinking maybe they came into contact with something hazardous from the Agency, but again, no records. And again, why hide it? It's not making any sense."

He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin as he thought. "Can you find out how often they've been sick at the same time? Even if they exchanged the flu or colds or whatever 'cause they can't keep their hands off each other, they should still take turns, not be sick at the same time. So if it always happens together... something is definitely wrong." He paused. "I wonder if Misty would be as silent as Rick about the whole thing."


Another unproductive day. The mill was still out of commission, so asking for work right now was pointless. A couple other leads had fallen through as well, leaving Clint still in his miserable state. Sitting on the front porch of the little house, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. It was almost noon, but he'd refused lunch. And now he just wanted to sleep again.

A week had gone by since his few words with Wes, and since then, things just felt like they were getting worse. Even things with him and Wendy the last few days had felt downright cold, and he didn't like it one bit. He was tired and frustrated, and just didn't understand.

He was just leaning his head against the railing when his phone rang. He almost didn't answer it since he didn't recognize the number, but he finally decided to anyway. "Yeah, hello?"

"Clint? This is John Hardrow."

Clint thought for a moment. Oh yeah. He knew him from church. "Hi... what can I do for you?"

"Well, my boy, Joe, he's a junior in high school now, and trying to decide what he's gonna do come graduation time. He's really interested in mechanics, and I was wondering if maybe we could work something out that he'd come work with you for like, four weeks or something. Give him a taste of that kind of stuff and teach him a few things."

Clint swallowed hard. He knew Joe - he seemed like a good kid. But... "I don't know if you knew this, but I-"

"I did hear you were looking for extra work. And I'll certainly pay you for this."

"Well..."

"I just don't trust the shops around town. The guys are always too vulgar for my tastes, and I know you're better than that. Not to mention, your reputation as a mechanic precedes you."

Clint couldn't help that the compliment made him feel good. He didn't hear very often that he did a good job, so hearing it from someone he hardly knew was...nice. But... he didn't want to do mechanics anymore...did he? He missed how he used to enjoy working on the cars. He'd been reminded of that when Ryan had been here. He'd sworn off of it out of anger...but had he really wanted to? And this job would pay, so...


...Clint entered the garage, immediately seeing the things that had been moved or cleaned up. The tractor was back in here. No surprise. And it looked like Mick's older truck was back again too. He hooked his hands in his pockets and wandered over to where Wes was working and waited until his uncle paused to look up at him. "You got better things to do," he commented gruffly. He knew good and well Wes had been trying to juggle this along with his military duties. That was probably why the tractor wasn't fixed yet.

His eyes traveled to the floor for a moment, then back up again. "I'll take over." His voice was defeated. He was back again, and it felt like he'd lost. But at least he'd have another reason to be here, and that was Joe, who would be here tomorrow. "Go... do your other job."


The drive had been long, but they'd finally arrived. Rick parked the pickup near the main house for now, and yawned. He wasn't used to driving that much. At least they'd stopped last night to sleep so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. 

Jason gave Katie a wary glance. He was excited to be here but... at the same time, he was sad it wasn't under better circumstances. And he was still concerned about his mother's reaction. 

Getting out of the truck first, he held the door open for Katie. The smells of the ranch brought memories rushing back. Memories of coming here for the first time and meeting Katie. He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Ready?"

He'd hardly spoken when a shriek was heard. Jade bounded off the porch and came running. "Katie!" Throwing her arms around her, she gave her a huge hug. "Oh my goodness I'm so glad to see you! What on earth are you doing here?!" She withdrew and glanced up at Jason. "Oh, hi, Jason."

He chuckled at her diminished enthusiasm. "Hey, Jade."