Lock and Key

Laura grimaces at Nate’s calling from the other room. “Yeah, well…I’m glad he’s fascinating to you.” She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t say I’m scared of Ed, he just…creeps me out.” A slight grin forms.

When Nate joins her in the kitchen, she’s just glancing at Jamie’s mail to make sure nothing looked urgent, then sets all the envelopes on the counter. “Well, I guess that’s that… everything seems okay in here….” She sighs deeply. “I suppose that means it’s back to the office.”

She scrunches up her nose a little, really not looking forward to the rest of the work day. It was so nice outside, she hated to miss it. But she headed for the door. Duty called.


Clint’s fingers interlace with Wendy’s, his eyes still on the water. “Eh, what can this change? I mean really…so BJ is your brother…I know that’s pretty heavy, but I wouldn’t worry about it changing a whole lot. Nothing’s gonna change with your mom…this place…anything like that.”

He gives her hand a light squeeze. “And I’m certainly not going anywhere.”


Sparky gives Damien and encouraging nod, and watches him leave back toward the mess hall. He stays alone for several moments before wandering over to a pasture fence. He looks out at the grass…the horses. There were bits and pieces of peace here…if one knew where to look. But so much turmoil. So many questions. So much tension. Yet life was progressing. Luke and Angel were getting married, Wes and Cindy’s wedding was days away, Rosetta and Mick were getting married… Mick had interacted with his kids, BJ was now discovered to be family…Damien was here, interacting with Angel and Wendy… There were so many elements that no one had foreseen. Where did the Agency fit into all of this? Did they see the happiness and were trying to ruin it?

Shaking his head, Sparky eases away from the fence and aims for the bunk house. For now, he would let his mind settle as everyone else was doing. He knew that most likely, everyone here would simply let the new information sink in over the day and probably wouldn’t be discussed as a group again until tomorrow at the earliest. It was probably best that way, especially for Jamie.


“Everything is fine,” Con replies with confidence to Jamie, still holding the squirming boys and keeping Michaela locked in as well. “No problems.”

He pauses as Mindy wanders into the kitchen, hearing the racket. She immediately lights up and starts working at Con’s arm to free her brother and cousin.

Con holds the phone out to the side, giving the little girl a teasing look. “Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?”

Mindy looks up at him and giggles. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Con grins and lets her keep trying, though her little hands are no where near a match for his strong arms. He returns the phone to his ear. “Um, I talked to Laura earlier and Jason’s court date is in five days. Nobody knows why or how it can happen so fast…they’re pretty sure it has something to do with the Agency, though it feels fishy, seeing as though that will just get Jason out of there sooner. But…otherwise, that’s it on that end of things, that I know of.”

Jake finally wriggles free of Con’s grip and somehow manages to get his cousin loose as well. Noting they’re starting to flee, Con sticks out his foot, hooking Keith’s legs to trip him, then hold him firmly between his ankles. Keith lets out something like a combination of a howl and a laugh as he hits the floor, his legs stuck between Con’s, with no way out. “No fair!”
Michaela, now free from the wall, tries to pry apart Con’s legs, but it’s not much use.

Con stifles his laugh as the kids try to figure out how to win this game, and tries to hear Jamie. “Me?” He looks around at the gleeful chaos. “I think I’m at a zoo.” His own teasing tone seems an out of place rarity, as his heart every so slowly gains back a small portion his own sense of happiness. “But don’t worry, I convinced them not to keep me here with the rest of the gorillas.”


“A date?” Carson rolls his eyes as he stands from his chair. “Carson Banks does not go on dates. He has adventures.” He starts to follow Misty, giving a glance across the floor to make sure that his exit doesn’t set off some sort of alarm in someone’s mind. “And I dare say that Misty Miller doesn’t go on dates either.” He throws her a sly grin.

Once outside, he looks at Misty with question. “So where are we going anyway, that we can’t get into trouble for? Or should I say…somewhere I can’t get into trouble for. You’re not the one under lock and key.”