Broken

Ty seems to grudgingly accept what Katie says, though his body language still reflects that he’s on guard. He studies Katie a little more carefully, wondering if she really could relate. For some reason, he believed her.

Wyatt listens quietly, once again, wondering at Katie’s past. He’d read her profile…he knew there were some blotches on her record. But what really made her tick? What had made her who she was today?
He lets his questions go, and glances back to Ty again after several moments of silence. “So what do ya say? My place?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Concluding that would be about the best response he would get, Wyatt lets it drop and just drives.


Con is just stepping out of Jason’s bunk when his cell phone rings on his belt. Seeing who’s calling, he grins, and slows his walk toward the mess hall. “Hey, Kat!” He fills her in briefly. “Nothing a whole lot new around here…I guess tell Reese that we’re still hanging on. Nothing new has come up on Medridge yet…the feeling around here is that we’ll be at a standstill forever, but I can’t help but think something’s got to come up soon.” He pauses for a moment, wondering if he should say anything or not, but figuring that for simple logic, it would save another phone call. “Oh, and get a message to Carter that Jason accepted the Alaskan job. He’ll fly out tomorrow.”



Jade looks to Angel with gratefulness, feeling just a little better. “Thanks, Angel…you make a lot of sense.” She thinks for several moments as they make their way back to where their walk began. “I don’t know if I should leave or not…I might talk to Dad about it. I guess a part of me has always felt like an outsider here. It’s nothing anyone here as done or said by any means…everyone here is so nice…and I love you all. But I guess my life has been so different than this for so long that I just can’t seem to fit in.” She shrugs and sighs, looking towards her bunk. “I suppose I should get some stuff done before supper…. Thanks for listening to me.”


Wyatt stops his jeep about two blocks away and out of sight from TJY, following protocol when having a stranger along. “Alright, Hero, I’m letting you off here and gonna to take Ty back to my place. Can Trooper and I have a rain check on that walk in the park?” He grins at Katie with a mixture of apology and pleasure.



The evening is a quiet one. Clint closes up shop before supper, joining the others in the mess hall and saving a spot for Wendy. It’s different having visitors around, but the gang remains close-knit, and anything about the case is brought up after the visitors have gone to bed or interspersed throughout the day.


Nightfall brings on a strange denseness to the air, the scent of moisture rolling in. By nine o’clock, the wind has picked up, and thunder can be heard in the distance.

Mick lies in his bunk, still fully dressed. The clock indicates midnight. He can hear his brother sleeping soundly in the other bed, but he himself is wide awake. Sleep has escaped him so many nights now, that he’s used to lying awake. But his body is exhausted.
Finally giving up, he rises, throwing on his hat and jacket and heading outside. The rain is pelting down, and lightning flashes across the sky. Mick heads towards the barn and slips inside, shaking the water off himself. He sets about checking on the horses, and winds up flopping down on a stray bale of straw. Resting his head back against the wall, before he knows it, sleep has taken over.
But once again, the sleep pulls along with it the horrors of his now-regular nightmares. The emotions have worsened. The images have become more violent. The torment more intensive. War is waged yet again, taunting…killing…the pain is worse than ever.

A crack of thunder wakes Mick with a start, jolting him so violently from his sleep that he stands and looks around his surroundings to ensure reality.
Angered by the inability to control these dreams, and desperate to stop them, Mick stalks outside, leaving his hat and jacket behind, and kicking the door on his way. The rain is coming down in sheets, the lightning still zig-zagging in all directions. Mick flings a glare up to the dark sky, throwing his arms into the air. “What do you want from me?!” he shouts.
An ear-splitting roll of thunder responds, shaking the ground.
“Stop tormenting me!” Mick’s voice competes with the driving wind. “What do I have to do?!”
The answer is there. It tugs at his heart. It pulls, prods and shoves its way into his mind. He knows the answer. He knows what he must do. He knows the right path to take. His heart feels as if it’s being ripped in two as his pride is shattered into a million pieces. He cannot survive on his own…he cannot continue alone.

Mick feels himself dropping to his knees, the mud and water going ignored. The rain soaks him to the bone, the thunder reverberates in his ears. But nothing compares to the feeling of brokenness as his soul is laid bare before the One he has resisted for so long. He curls over to hide his face in his hands, unexpected tears mixing with the rain as guilt and shame break forth. But there is a hand to catch him…there is a mercy to forgive…there is a love to hold.