Miserable

Cindy cries softly by herself behind the mess hall for several minutes before finally heading to her and Mel's bunk. Her heart heavy, she pulls her suitcase out of the closet and stares at her clothes that were hanging up.


Jason and Con wrestle in the mud, both trying to gain the upper hand with weight and skill. Con finally manages to get on top of Jason when he hears Katie begging him to stop. He hesitates, his fist raised for a final blow as he glares at his younger adversary. It's just the break Jason needs however, and Con receives yet another uppercut, sending him off Jason's stomach into a puddle. Jason tries to get up and deliver his own punishment when his knee gives out on him completely, bringing him back down. He clutches his leg as pain surges through it, and he just lies on the ground.

Con recovers quickly and stands, his hands balled into fists, but he stops abruptly at seeing Jason writhing. The rain is still coming down in sheets, and neither notice that Katie has left.

"Aw, Jason!" Con puts his hands to his head. He never liked the feeling of losing his temper, and this time a shame followed for beating on his friend. He kneels down next to Jason, his face bleeding and stern. "Are you going to stop?!"

Jason winces and breathes through the pain. He looks up at Con, his anger still fresh, but he's unable to fight further. "Just bug off," he growls.

Con slowly and purposely turns his emotions around to feel more pity than anger, and shakes his head. "Let me help you up."

"I said bug off!" Jason's eyes fill with disgust, ire, agony, shame... He'd rather be left to his own misery than be treated like an invalid.

"What on earth is going on here?!" Austins voice roars over the sound of thunder and rain. He stares down from the porch at the two men, his hands planted on his hips.

Con gets to his feet, wiping the mud and rain from his face. "Just a little misunderstanding, Austin." He tries not to make things worse. "We're fine."

Austin's eyes narrow as he takes in the scene. He has no idea what could have started such a brawl between the two friends, but Con apparently didn't want to be specific.

Jade slips out behind Austin, and puts a hand to her mouth as she sees Jason on the ground. "Jason!" She is quick to go to him, ignoring the rain and mud, though she doesn't even have a jacket on. She reaches down, trying to help Jason sit up. "Oh, are you alright? What happened?" She looks up at Con, unable to imagine that they had been in a physical fight.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Jason takes it easy on his tone, not wanting to have Jade upset on top of everything else. "Just go back inside."

Jade looks at him with fear and sorrow. "But..."

Jason shakes his head, cutting her off, though managing to keep his voice halfway gentle. "Go back inside. I'll talk about it later."

"But you're hurt."

"I'll be fine." Jason stares at her, begging her to leave.

She finally relents and stands back up, heading back inside, worried and confused.

Austin resumes his glare. "What happened," he barks.

"I said it was a misunderstanding," Con repeats strongly, unwilling to get anyone in deeper trouble at this point. He was extremely upset with Jason, but it would do no good right now to have Austin involved. He'd find out soon enough what was really going on.

Austin eyes Con with irritation, but throws his hands up in the air. "I give up. This is ridiculous. When you're finished jeopardizing safety because you can't get along, let me know." Instead of going back inside, he steps off the porch and heads for the woods, aiming for the hideout.

Jason manages to crawl to the porch and pull himself up onto his feet, though by now, his cane is nowhere to be found.

Con folds his arms across his chest, his heart in pain for his friend, but he knows Jason will refuse any help. Gritting his teeth, he turns to leave as well. "Think about what just happened," he calls over his shoulder. "You better hurry up and get your head on straight before something happens that you'll really regret."

Jason throws him a look that could kill before limping away from the mess hall himself. A new sensation of pain courses through him, and he automatically looks to Katie's quarters. What has he done? This whole thing was his own doing. It was a mess, and all because of him. Miserable, he doesn't go to his bunk, but heads out behind the ranch yard, finding a sheltered spot to sit on the ground. He feels as if he's a dog leaving a fight to lick his wounds, and it's a feeling he wouldn't care to duplicate.

He begins to cool down and he wipes blood from his lip, gingerly touching his right eye where he knows there is a bruise. There had always been one person he didn't care to fight with, and it was Con - now he remembered why.

He replays in his mind what just happened. The look of fear in Katie's eye as he'd almost struck her. The anger that surged through her face as she'd yelled at him. His own anger resurfaces as he recalls her flippant remark about Jade.

Glaring at the ground, Jason lets the rain wash his hair and face. He had thought he was making the right decision. He'd finally been able to sort through enough things to start thinking straight, and now his judgment was being challenged once again. Would he ever get it right? Or were the others the ones who were wrong? He did think Katie had a crush on him, and he did think it was a bad idea for them to be together working on the case all the time. It was a tension that he didn't think was good or necessary. Couldn't anyone understand that? But then he recalls Con's referral to pride. Was he really taking something away from Katie because of his own pride? Was he really doing something so horrible to deserve the tongue-lashing and physical confrontation? Katie was his friend...the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. He hadn't intended for her to hear anything he'd told Con...he hadn't wanted Katie's feelings hurt. He only wanted to avoid them being partners not only because he didn't want to be uncomfortable, but because he didn't want her to be uncomfortable either. Was he wrong?

Jason leans his head back against a tree, his temper finally cooled. He'd worked so hard at coming to a point where he was thinking clearly and had a handle on things. Had he just blown it entirely, or was it just a conquerable setback? He thinks of Jade again, a sadness hitting him. He wished Katie wouldn't feel so badly about it. But he really did like Jade. She was fun, she was outgoing, she was just...different. Spending time with her evoked completely different feelings than when he spent time with Katie. Couldn't Katie accept that it wasn't something shallow he had with Jade? Reverting back to his original point, if Katie was that upset over the whole thing, how could she possibly think that she could be his partner?

He closes his eyes, drenched to the bone, but not caring. His knee burned like never before, but he ignores it, too miserable to get up.


Hours go by, and lunchtime comes and goes. The ranch functions the best it can despite the weather, and everyone assumes their normal routines. By one o'clock in the afternoon, the rain has changed to a light mist, though the thunder still persists.


Someone pounds on Katie's door. Con stands with his jacket pulled tight and his cap low. "Katie?" He listens for any movement, hoping she's there. He wants to apologize...he wants to talk to her about what happened that morning, but right now he has something more urgent. "Katie?" He calls louder. "I know you're upset, but I need your help - I can't find Jason."


Jason's eyes open, slightly glazed from the strange sleep he'd somehow assumed despite being out in the weather. As he moves his head, a wave of dizziness hits him, and he stops, leaning back against the tree. His knee has gone completely stiff and almost numb. He tries to stand, but his muscles shake under the strain. Holding his hand in front of his face, it shakes uncontrollably and he feels sick to his stomach. He fishes in his wet pockets, but comes up empty-handed. He had no sugar. A severe headache starts to form, and he knows he's in trouble. But he can't even stand, and he's not within shouting distance of anyone.
He closes his eyes again, trying to get himself through the episode, but he knows good and well that if he doesn't get some help, and fast, he's going to pass out and go into shock.