Anger

Drew rolls his eyes and follows Misty up the steep incline. "Head down this road," he directs. "Up a ways is a lane that leads back into the woods." He stops, smirking at himself. "What am I telling you for? You know where it is." He gestures with his hand, "Ladies first." Though the words are polite, his eyes display that he wants to be able to see Misty at all times.

The walk is long, the rain pelting down in sheets, lightning streaking across the sky, and thunder shaking the earth. The lane off the main road is muddy, making the trek difficult. The extra gangster follows farther behind trudging at a slower pace, grudgingly obeying Drew.

The cabin finally comes into view within the woods, a light on inside, the silhouettes of two more men visible through the window.


Rick works steadily, cleaning up Carson's cuts and bruises, and getting his shoulder back into place before he wakes up completely. Checking his wrists prove they had split yet again, and he has to work at getting the bleeding stopped and rebandaged.

Rick throws a look to Nate. "Hurrying isn't always the best thing in the world, you know. But..." He retrieves a syringe. "This will help bring him out of the stupor he's in." After giving Carson a shot, he resumes what he was doing. No extra bandages are needed, though Carson's face is plenty bruised, and his lip cracked from a punch.

Carson groans a little and starts to move, wincing in pain. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck. Opening his eyes, everything is fuzzy. What was going on?

A clap of thunder makes him jump and he sits up too quickly, making his head spin.

"Whoa, easy," Rick warns. "Take it slow."

Carson blinks in the light, trying to bring things into focus. Finally he sees Rick...Jason...Nate. His shoulder is throbbing, his head and face hurt, his wrists were still sore... "What's going on?"

Jason cocks his head, remaining several feet away. "You got beat up pretty good, for starters. But you're back at TJY now."

Carson puts a hand to his head, that night's events flashing in his mind. The two thugs...the cabin...the van...Misty... He looks up quickly, searching Jason's face. Something wasn't right. This just wasn't adding up. "But the Agency...how did....?" He didn't like being confused, and starts to frown. "Tell me what's going on."

Jason folds his arm, not sure if this is going to be good or not, but knowing he's the one that's gotta say it. "Look, Carson, we need your help, so I'll make this brief. It wasn't the Agency. It was our side. We needed to make sure you wouldn't talk to the Agency if it came down to that. I'm sorry the guys too it this far - they weren't supposed to. Though you have my respect because I'll admit I thought you would fold."

He looks at Carson's face, trying to read the emotions forming. "Unfortunately, Misty didn't know about this, and she's run off. We believe she probably assumed it was the Agency as well and since the other guys said she didn't show up, we're afraid she went to the Agency itself to find you. ...And that's where we need you. We don't know where to look."

Carson gets to his feet, cradling his shoulder, though his eyes blaze with a new anger. "So...when I asked you how far you'd go, you liked to make it look as though you wouldn't hurt a fly, didn't you? And this is what I get for it."

"You did it to us," Jason replies. "I'd say we're even. You've tested us, we've tested you. It's time to get some work done."

Carson grits his teeth and looks between Jason and Nate. "This is a fine mess. I hope you're happy." He shakes his head. "Get yourself out of it."