Visitor

Wyatt gives a little smirk at Aerith's comment of leaving early in the morning to not interfere with his plans, but he says nothing.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Walking down the hall, he opens the door to the spare room. "It's all yours. Right next door is the bathroom, and just so you know, my room is upstairs. We've got two watchdogs in the living room, so I don't expect any surprise." He throws Aerith a wink.

Pausing in front of her for just a moment, he searches her eyes. He didn't want to think about what would happen the day after tomorrow...ll he wanted right now was to enjoy his family and friends. And in his opinion, Aerith had entered that circle. "Good night." Walking back down the hall, he talks over his shoulder. "If you need anything, just give a yell and I'll...make sure Jason gets up to help you."

A teasing smile playing on his lips, he heads upstairs.

Jason takes Domino outside, and once they're back in, she heads for her own bed in the corner of the living room, while Jason flops down on the couch. His mind was restless though. He didn't want to sleep. After his earlier episode, he knew the nightmares were just lurking around the corner. Rest just wouldn't come. Several hours later, he gave up.


"...and grace comes in the morning!" Wyatt's singing voice carries through the kitchen, backed up by the sizzling in the frying pan as he prepares eggs and bacon.

Domino looks up at him expectantly, but receives a headshake.

"Sorry, pooch. I bet Scott feeds you scraps, but I've got just enough for two people here. You'll have to stick with your dog food."

Domino sighs and waits for several more minutes before finally getting up and trotting out of the kitchen as if disgusted with Wyatt's inhospitable nature.

Wyatt bobs his head to the song that's playing on the Christian radio station, and retrieves two plates from the cupboard before grabbing the toast as it pops up out of the toaster. With one hand he butters it, and with the other he turns the bacon on the stove.

"Yo, Marian!" he calls loudly, knowing he can be heard from the spare room. "Rise and shine! It's breakfast in Sherwood!" He'd already been up for an hour, and the rest of the house was quiet. The note on the table from Jason had been expected, so he wasn't surprised it was just him, Aerith and Domino this morning.


Jim eases down into a chair in the mess hall, coming from starting a pot of coffee. Today was going to be a very different day. He was excited to think about Becky and Rosalyn getting back today, and he was nervous about talking with Ty. He'd spoken to Becky on the phone the night before and she had been just as shocked as he had. She had promised to talk to Becky on their way back to the ranch today and break the news to her. Both knew she would probably take the news better than Clint. Jim didn't even know where to start with his older son.

Mick is showered and fully dressed, and gives Ty a shake to his arm. "Hey. I got someone I want you to meet. Time to get up."

Ty rolls over and groans. "Five more minutes."

"No....now." Mick grins and shakes the cot enough that Ty rolls out onto the floor. "This is ranch life - up with the sun."

Ty gives another groan, but picks himself up. "Hmm?"

Mick chuckles. "Come on. I want you to meet Jim."

"Who?"

"One of my brothers. He was in the background last night. He wants to meet you."

"How come?"

"Stop asking questions and get in the shower."

Ty rolls his eyes, but grabs the bag he brought along and heads to the small bathroom. He really didn't like being ordered around, but for some reason, taking direction from Mick wasn't all that hard. Besides, he wasn't on his own turf here, and it was easier on the nerves to just follow someone else's lead. He had no idea what today was going to bring.


"Hey, Scott! Con and I are going up to the mess hall!" Austin waits for a response, but only hears muffled voices from the next room over - the same ones on the same subject that had been going on for the last hour and a half. "Scott!"

"What?!"

"Food!"

"Uh-huh...."

Austin rolls his eyes, and gestures to Con. "I'm not waiting."

Con chuckles and calls over his shoulder as he heads out of the cabin behind Austin. "Don't wait too long - food might be all gone!"

Scott lies on his back, half his body stuck underneath a desk, surrounded by a mass of wires and cords. He hears the door close and knows that Austin and Con had left. He wanted to go with them...but at the moment, this cabin felt safer. It was just him and Pete, and his mind was being kept busy with what he did best...and he didn't have to be in a crowd of strangers.

"So did you find it?"

Scott rolls his eyes at Pete, who is hunched over in the corner with a flashlight. "In this mess?! You've got wires crossed, plugs where there shouldn't be, you got loose wires, and you've got cords I don't even recognize! I can't believe the cameras are working at all!"

"Yeah, well..." Pete grins and tries to help from the other side, feeding another wire back through to Scott. "How about this one?"

"Good heavens, no." Scott scoots back even further so his head is in a small clearing in the mess. He shifts his glasses up from his eyes to be on his forehead and stares at everything. From the other side, all that's visible is his waist down. "Got another flashlight?"

"Yeah, sure." Pete passes back over the desk and accidentally lets it drop. It falls, hitting Scott in the face.

"Aw, thanks!"

Pete cringes and peers over the back of the desk. He tries to stifle a laugh. "Oops."

Once Scott thinks about it, he starts to realize how ridiculous the two of them must look, and starts to laugh himself. "Just go get my bag, will you? And be careful? I've got expensive stuff in there."


A lone figure walks up the driveway, taking in the sight of the small house and yard. Everything was neatly trimmed and sparkling in the morning dew. It was a pretty house, set back from everything else, in a peaceful clearing, surrounded by just the country.

The vehicle in the driveway is recognized, convincing him he's really at the right place. Shifting his backpack on his shoulder, he steps up on the porch. It felt weird to not just walk in...this was just very different.

Finally he rings the doorbell and waits.


Cindy opens her eyes, realizing that she's just heard the doorbell. It wasn't even six in the morning yet. Who on earth would be calling? Reaching over, she gives Wes' arm a shove. "Somebody's at the door," she mumbles, her eyes drifting shut again. "Go see who it is before...Nate and Maggie are disturbed."


Jason swallows hard and waits. He felt ridiculously nervous.