Reasoning

Con wanders down the hall, a can of pop in one hand, an open filing folder in the other. He sighs and closes it, tucking it under his arm as he heads for his office. He didn't normally work on Sunday afternoons unless he was called in, but there wasn't much else to do, and he wanted to keep his mind occupied. Jason hadn't called him back, and it worried him just a little. Maybe he'd been too harsh...
Con stops walking and rolls his eyes with a little groan. He'd walked all the way down the hall, having passed his office. Where was his mind? Turning around, he heads back the other direction.


As the crew gets out onto the road, Mike sees Katie out of the corner of his eye, his instincts kicking in. He recognizes that look. As casually as can be, he slings an arm back behind Katie to rest on the seat and shifts his weight a little closer, acting as though he simply wants to see out the windshield, though his slight movement forms a sheltered cove in the seat. "Phil, you just missed our turn!"

"Oops."

"See?!" Kyle slaps the map. "Told you, you shoulda listened to me."

Jen shakes her head and leans back in her seat, turning to see Katie. "It's not the greatest beach in the world, but for a lake, it's not bad. It's got a lot of sand."

"Rocks," Kyle intervenes.

"And sand!"

"More rocks than sand."

Phil looks in his rearview mirror. "It has both."

'There's a nice spot where we have picnics every once in a while," Jen continues. "And actually, the end of the lake where we go, not to many people venture there, so it's usually pretty quiet."

"Which is good, when we have Kyle with us," Mike quips. "We don't like scaring other people away."

"Ah, but Katie doesn't get scared!" Kyle exclaims. "She even gave me her phone number!"

Phil smirks at him. "Better not tell Jason."

"Not Jason," Mike corrects. "It's Wesley."

Kyle shakes his head. "Will."

"Walter."

"Wayne."

"What?"

Mike stops at Kyle's question. "Huh?"

Jen slaps a hand to her forehead. "It's going to be a long day." She shakes her head at Katie. "But I promise no one will let you drown. Kyle's trained as a lifeguard."


"Alright, so when someone comes at you like this, counter by taking there arm, bend down low, and shift your weight." In one movement, Jason kneels down, tossing Clint over his shoulder. Austin was being insistent about Clint getting some intensive training as long as he had the chance, so this afternoon came another round. He was learning quickly and his body mass was making Jason's job just a little difficult.

Clint catches his breath and rolls over to get up. "Like this?" He mimics Jason, winding up doing a pretty good job of getting Jason to do a summersault over his shoulders.

Jason is quick to get up. "Exactly." He takes a deep breath, feeling just a little dizzy. He was tired this afternoon, and working up a sweat like this wasn't helping any.

The two continue their sparring session, Jason guiding Clint as much as he can.

Clint takes a punch to the gut.

"Watch that move," Jason reminds. "You gotta watch my whole body." He wipes some sweat from his brow, feeling a little light headed.

"So when you going back?" Clint takes a shot at Jason's ribs and succeeds.

Jason winces just a little. "Good one. And I don't know. Eventually."

"Still scared, huh?"

"No."

"Ah." Clint spins around to try and take Jason's feet out from under him, but Jason jumps over his swinging foot. "So it's not her boyfriend that's got you running away?"

"I'm not running away!" Jason manages a slap to the side of Clint's head.

"So he's not the reason you left?"

Jason rolls his eyes. "Clint, will you just pay attention and let it drop?"

Clint shrugs, and ducks a punch. "Just asking. I figured if that was your reason, then you really were being stupid."

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Jason tries to catch his breath, paling just a little.

Clint succeeds in sidestepping a kick. "Well if you're Katie's best friend, then it's stupid for you to give that up."

"Well Wyatt's the one who told me to back off."

"Wyatt, eh?" Clint receives Jason's knuckles to his chin. "So he can just tell you what to do?"

"That's not it."

"Then what is it? He told you to back off and you went hight tailing it out of there like a whipped puppy. That shows real guts."

Jason swings his leg at the back of Clint's knees, sending him to the ground. "I left for Katie's sake."

"I thought we already discussed that." Clint rolls over and gets up, starting to get used to being knocked down. "If she cares about you that much, it's probably harder for her that you're gone than for her to deal with you and whats-his-face."

Jason remembers Con's phone call, and grits his teeth. He had a headache, and wasn't in the mood for Clint to be giving him the fifth degree too. "Just pay attention to my hands."

Clint ducks a blow. "I just figured that if you really cared, you wouldn't let her boyfriend push you around like that. I'd say it's his job to work things out with Katie if he's that jealous, not yours."

Jason sighs, cringing at a wave of dizziness.

"Hey, you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jason pauses for a moment, putting a hand to his head as he begins to see double. His hands start to shake, and his knees begin to buckle.

"Whoa, whoa." Clint reaches over to support Jason. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Clint sees Jason's pale face, and for once grows concerned about him. "No you're not." A thought crosses his mind. "Say...you eaten anything today?"

Jason groans, and shakes his head. "No."

"You really are an idiot, you know that?" Clint puts Jason's arm over his shoulders and aims for the mess hall. Despite any dislike for Jason, he knew how dangerous it was to have a sudden crash like this, and Jason was going down fast. It takes a lot of effort to get to the mess hall door, and by the time they enter, Jason's vision is blurred and he can barely hold up his own weight.