Challenge

Listening to Adison, Kirk's gaze fell to the table and he fiddled with his napkin examples. When she'd concluded, he gave a little scoff. "Tell that to Barnes," he muttered. 

He sighed once more. "We may be part of the Elite team, but you, me, and Sam are still FBI. Whether I agree or disagree with you doesn't even matter because the only thing that counts is keeping the FBI happy. And right now? They are not happy."

Interrupted by the arrival of their pizza, Kirk fell silent, and remained quiet as he ate - an oddity in itself. He wasn't mad at Adison for speaking her mind - he always appreciated her perspective. He was just... frustrated. He didn't usually clam up around her either, but today, it felt like saying anything else would just make things worse. He was getting nowhere, and it felt like all his attempts to fix it didn't do a thing. 

He was only halfway though eating, when his cell phone buzzed. Glancing at it, he gave a grunt. "Barnes. I gotta take this." Leaving the table, he exited the restaurant quickly, to stand outside and talk. Within minutes, he'd returned, his jaw tight. "I have to go. He's not gonna wait." Unfortunately, he and Adison had ridden together. "I'm sorry... mind getting a box?"


Zan let Destiny finish preparing the coffee before turning her back against the counter and putting an arm on each side, trapping her. He grinned and just studied her eyes for a few moments, thinking on what she'd said about Jett.

"In the last twenty-four hours, you have made me see... far too many of my own faults, revolving mostly around my perception of Jett." He lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair from her cheek, then left his palm to rest on the side of her face. "A part of me wants to be mad but... I just can't be, because you're right." His grin remained. "You challenge me and... I appreciate that. Thank you."

Leaning in closer, he let his lips meet hers gently before retreating then returning again to deepen the affection.


Eric smiled and nodded. "Alright. I'll find ya in a bit then." It didn't take him too long to get a hold of Seven and calm him down enough that he thought he'd try ponying him. Prepping Static he found Ashlee again so she could saddle up Moonbeam.

Soon, Eric was astride Static, leading Seven along his right side with a rope in hand and looped once around the saddle horn. He'd directed Ashlee to ride on the other side, just in case Seven got ornery.

The horse did prance a bit and stamp around anxiously, but nothing too major, allowing Eric to relax a bit. Riding with Ashlee was always something he enjoyed, and it was a warm but beautiful day to be out in the field. Talking on and off a bit, the ride was pleasant and they headed to the far tree line, a good distance from the ranch yard.

What happened next was so fast, it almost went by in a blur. Out of nowhere, Seven started to buck and kick out, straining against the leadrope. Eric tried to calm him, and turned Static to face him, but Dylan's horse was too quick and agile. Pulling on the rope again, he tried to skid around the back of Static, which wrapped the rope around Eric. Trying to keep control, his arm was yanked back, his hand catching in the rope. Static, though usually quite steady, could tolerate it no more, and leapt forward in an attempt to bolt. At this point there was very little Eric could do, and Seven's leadrope took him right out of the saddle.

As he hit the ground, his arm was freed, and both Seven and Static took off at a dead run back towards the distant barns. Eric lay stunned for a moment, before sitting up and crying out in pain as he grabbed his shoulder. He instantly knew it was dislocated, and bit his lip to keep from shouting exactly what he wanted to after the two rogue horses. He squinted up at Ashlee instead. "You okay?" he gasped.