Hurt?

Carson leans into Jess as she sits on the counter, his hand moving from her leg to her waist, the other bracing himself on the counter top. His pulse rate quickens at her touch as he returns the kiss passionately.

Drawing away, he tilts his head the other way just to return again, feeling the warmth of her breath on his face. Lunch was forgotten.

Finally though, Carson releases the exchange, pulling back just far enough to look Jess in the eye. Hers own shone back at him, proving the happiness she was feeling. Carson's voice is whispered. "Satisfied now?"

A sly grin quirks the edge of his mouth as he gazes at her. And then...something shifts. He blinks, his new gaze showing something else... something different. As if a passing thought had suddenly broken the moment.

Giving Jess' leg a pat, pulls her off the counter, and grabs the box of pizza. "Plates. And...got anything good to drink around here?"


Mick gives Rosetta a slight nod. "Alright...I'll be back." Giving her one last look, the turns again, heading back outside. His steps are deliberate but heavy as he aims for the corral.

When he gets there, Jeff already has Cyclone's bridle off, and is holding down the gelding's head so he doesn't move too much. He looks up as Mick approaches, knowing good and well what was about to happen. "Wouldn't you rather have Jim..."

"No. It will take too long. This poor brute is in pain."

...A shot echoes through the ranch yard, several people at work looking up in question as to what was going on...

Mick trudges from the barn, a shovel slung over his shoulder.

"Mick...you're not in great shape." Jeff walks along side with another shovel. "Let me do this. Go get yourself cleaned up."

"No..." Mick shakes his head. "I started this...I'll finish it."

"But..."

Mick stops and throws Jeff a glare. "Let me make myself clear."

"Alright, alright." Jeff holds up a hand in surrender. "At least let me help."

Mick doesn't answer him, but continues his trek down the lane, plenty of distance behind the barns. It takes several hours of hard labor before the task is complete, the tractor bringing back both men from a task neither wanted to do again. Jeff offers to put everything away, and Mick makes his way back to the house, hurting and worn out. Halfway there, he realizes his tack is still out by the corral. Another trip, another set of steps that felt like miles. How he hated days like this. What if he'd done things differently? What if he'd skipped today's workout? What if he'd been more prepared?

He heaves a weary sigh and finally is able to head to the house. He knew dinner was long over and was sorry he was late for Rosetta, but there wasn't a whole lot he could have done about it. Limping a little, he heads up the porch and inside, taking off his hat and jacket to hang them up. He glances to the gash in his shoulder. It was dried up by now, but he needed to get cleaned up, preferably before BJ saw him.

Hearing Rosetta and BJ in the living room, he is quick to walk past without the child's eyes spotting him, though he does catch Rosetta's stare, letting her know that he was back.

Undressing for a shower, Mick coughs, wincing and holding his ribs. He should have been quicker to bail out of the saddle so he could fall properly. But it was too late now. Coughing again, he tastes blood, the same as he had earlier. "Dang it." It was probably nothing... He ignores it, and takes his shower, bandaging up his own arm and getting clean clothes on. Easing down on the bed though, exhaustion is pulling at him, despite his hunger. Maybe just ten minutes...

He lies down on top of the covers, tucking his bare feet under a blanket and laying on his uninjured side. Lying down proves to be a mistake though as he starts to cough again. He hurt more than he'd like to admit, and it was just getting worse. He'd taken rougher falls before...surely he could shake this off. The coughing persists though, and he finally has to sit back up. He didn't want to worry himself or anybody else, and he certainly didn't want to have to go see Angel. But the more blood that came up, the more his concern grew. His appetite was diminishing too, and right about now, he was feeling on the verge of sick.


Yeah, I know... I just want this to be over too. I thought at least this part of it was... but yeah... I don't want to be too late either. The only thing that bothers me is Reese. I don't understand why he just wanted to drop this. He didn't even act like it was even worth looking into.

Jason sighs, landing on the number he was looking for.

Actually...yeah, Rosetta and Mick might be able to help out some. First though, I'm after another Texan. I want to see what he says...in the meantime though, if you do want to call your aunt, feel free.

He picks up his phone and dials. It was a long shot, but it's all he had...


Luke reaches for the bedside phone as it rings, knowing Angel was in the office and might not hear it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Luke. This is Jason Stevenson."

"Jason?" Luke raises his eyebrows, and scoots up farther on the bed to sit up. "Well hi. What's up?"

"Actually, I'm needing some information. But first, how ya doing?"

Luke manages a chuckle. "Other than hardly being able to get out of bed the last few days, I'm okay."

"That's rough."

"Oh...I guess I get used to it." Maybe that was a lie, but it sounded good.

"Yeah, right."

Luke grins. Jason was too smart. "So what do you need?"

"Well...we got kind of a case going here... gotta keep it under wraps though."

"Kind of a case? What type of case is that?"

"An unofficial one. In other words...don't alert Austin."

Luke smiles a little. "Alright. I can do that."

"Good. We, um...we're looking at the possibility of an Agency location in Washington. Since you were in that area, I thought maybe you might be able to help us out."

"How'd you know..."

Jason chuckles. "Don't forget I got a hold on everyone's profiles before coming to Texas."

Luke shakes his head, amused. "Alright. Well...yeah, I was there for quite a while."

"Okay, so..." Jason proceeds to ask questions, gain insight and work through a few more things.

Finally ending the call, Luke sinks back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Jason hadn't told him why they were looking into so much in Washington.... and he hadn't asked. It was odd though that Austin couldn't know about it...Luke would just have to trust Jason on that one.


Well, I got some info from Luke Trahern... He admitted there were a few strange things going on in Washington when he lived there. Also a few areas we might be able to check out a little deeper. Though he's always said he was just living life and not investigating, he did do some casual snooping and it might be just enough for us to get a lead on the Agency again.

Jason closes a filing folder and scoots his chair back to his desk. He had to get some of his normal work done before Reese found out he'd been working on something out. Feeling a little woozy though, he glances at the clock and realizes that the lunch hour had come and gone.

Wanna do lunch? I need to eat one way or another.