All night

Hearing his daughter's voice, Jay lights up despite the late hour. Though the conversation is short, it's cherished, and he promises to be in touch soon.

Eyes are heavy, and despite the longing to stay up and continue enjoying each other's company, sleep will have no other way. Tiredness takes over whether they want it to or not.

As the gang begins to disperse, sweet goodnights are exchanged with hugs and kisses. No one wants to think about tomorrow, but it's still heavy on all their minds.

Most of the people gone, it leaves only a few left around the fire. Jason finally stands up, ready to follow Clint to one of the bunks, opting to stay the night here. Cindy had already promised she would return in the morning to say goodbye.
Stretching, Jason ambles over to where Scott and Katie were still sitting. "Goodnight, guys."

Scott looks up at him warily for a moment, but gives in. "Night, Jason. You flying back with us in the morning."

Jason nods. "If there's room."

"Plenty."

"Alright." Jason looks at Katie for a moment, giving her a nod and he manages a smile for her. "Night, Katie."

As Jason leaves, Scott squeezes Katie's hand. "I think it's time we all got some rest, don't you?" Slowly, he manages to stand up, trying to hide how stiff he was. Drawing Katie close, he gives her a gentle kiss, his hand brushing back her hair. "See you in the morning." Sighing, he slowly leaves the fire site, ambling across the yard toward the path that led to the cabins.

Eventually, all is quiet. No noise exists except for the chirp of the crickets, the rustling of the wind, and an occasional nicker from a horse in the barn. It was peaceful. It was a blessing of rest before the storm.


Wyatt opens one eye groggily, the tv still on in the living room. Aerith was beside him, using his shoulder as a pillow, and his dad was sound asleep in the easy chair. It was late. After a fun supper of fish and french fries, they'd watched a couple movies, but their adventure earlier in the day had tuckered them out, and they'd eventually drifted to sleep.

To comfortable to move or to care about going to bed, Wyatt shifts his weight a little bit to stretch his feet to the coffee table, and settles back in, resting his hand over Aerith's shoulders.


"Hey..." Carson brushes Misty's cheek gently as she lies next to him on the couch. The quiet television had put them both to sleep after a quiet day of walking and just being together. Plenty things could have been done, plenty of places could have been seen, but neither had felt like doing much, and Carson had been careful not to let Misty over do it. Now it was after midnight. "Misty," he whispers. "You want me to take you home now?"


Three-forty-five a.m.. Classical music fills the mess hall, several lights illuminating the room. They hadn’t been shut off once, and the music had been playing for hours.

A two-liter bottle of mountain dew sits on one of the tables, almost empty, along with a small package of beef jerky that’s half gone.

Scott sits cross-legged behind a stand with a television and computer, working with wires, and bobbing his head to the upbeat sound of the orchestra. Standing, he patters in his bare feet over to his bag and unravels some new cords. He takes another swig of pop and grabs a bite of jerky to chew before returning to his work. Cringing just a bit, he eases back down to the unforgiving floor. Furrowing his brow at what he was working with, his glasses slide from his forehead back down to his nose.

Sugar, caffeine and adrenaline were all that were keeping him going at this point, and he was about ready to make a pot of coffee on top of what he’d already had to keep himself awake. After a hard physical day like the day before, and then staying up all night to get this work done, it was doing a number on him, but he had to get it done. In just a few hours, the TJY group would be going back to Nevada, and he needed to finish this job. The sun hadn’t even dared to rise yet, but Scott worked alone, concentrating in the solitary quietness.