Feelings

“Hey!” Wyatt smiles and sets a filing folder down on a desk. “Thought you might not making before heading home, but we got just enough time before I gotta split. Follow me.” He leads her to the elevator and instead of going back up to the ground floor, they go down. A whole new world greets them. But instead of cubicles and offices, down here there is gym equipment, weaponry and to the far end, a sealed off shooting range.
Wyatt gestures to it all. “Welcome to downstairs TJY, where you’ll find everything else you need.” He grins. “Lot of us work out on our breaks down here, and the shooting range comes in handy for training and practice. Speaking of which…I heard you were a pretty good shot. We’ll have to come down here after work sometime so you can show me what you got.” He thumbs to a closed door. “Over there is a resident physician in case anyone gets hurt here or out on a case when we don’t want to attract attention at a hospital.” He shrugs, looking around. “That’s basically it….now you’ve seen the rest of it.”
Wyatt’s watch beeps, and he looks at it with a smirk. “Crumb, I gotta go. Laura said you two would catch a ride back with Scott, but tell her I can pick you up again in the morning.”

As everyone arrives back at the ranch, Jason greets Jade in the mess hall, but then goes to his bunk, settling in by himself once again. He eases down in the chair at the small desk and stares at his computer, but doesn’t turn it on. His thoughts continue to churn. Finally he puts his arms on the desk and leans down to rest his forehead. The anger was gone… all he wanted to do now was pick himself back up and get going again. All he wanted was to stop feeling like he was running in place, and start making headway. He was tired of feeling like he was in a rut. Maybe JT was right…maybe he really had been fighting against himself instead of for himself. He’d been fighting against his feelings…fighting against his guilt…fighting against who he was… He needed to reevaluate who he was instead, face the things that were tormenting him and leave them behind.
Sighing, Jason lifts his head. Katie enters his mind once again… There was a part of him that missed her…she’d been the first person he’d called a true friend…and it was his fault she was gone. For the first time since their argument, he could admit that he’d been the one at fault. Jade had confirmed it…he’d made a bad choice. He had hidden things from Katie he shouldn’t have…yes, he’d been wrong. He hadn’t thought so at first, but now…now pride had taken a back seat, and things seemed to be a little more clearly seen. It appeared as though in order to learn this lesson, he had lost something precious.
Shaking his head, he finally turns on his computer, and after a few minutes, checks his email. Seeing a message from Katie, he raises his eyebrows in surprise. Cautiously he opens it and reads. Reaching the end, he lets out a slow breath, leaning back in his chair. Wow…he hadn’t expected that. After he’d finally concluded he was the one who had been wrong, Katie was apologizing. Maybe both of them were at fault. He reaches out to hit “reply,” but then stops. He looks down, pursing his lips as he thinks about the seriousness of this situation. Perhaps…perhaps it would be best to simply let things lie. Apparently Katie was sorry…and he was sorry too…but could things really mend so easily? He hardly thought so. No…it would take more time for real healing… Katie probably needed this time without him…without his mistakes, and without his presence to encourage confusion.
Jason withdraws his hands, and closes out his email program. No…for now…it would be better just to wait. The wounds were still too fresh…the hurt pride still trying to heal into strong humility.


Luke answers Angel’s knock. “Yeah, come on in. I’m just resting.”

Mick goes to his bunk for a few minutes, but comes back to the mess hall, finding Rosetta in the kitchen. He watches her for several minutes until finally entering, leaning up against the counter. “So…what do you think of all this?”

Clint is on his back under the car, and hears Wes but holds his response until he can finish this one…last ..turn… his wrench slips. Oil spurts out from the line, raining onto his arms and chest. He puts a hand up to try and plug the leak, while trying to regain a grip on the now-slippery wrench. “Uh…yeah,” he calls “I think I better stay here….for a minute….” He rolls his eyes at himself.