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Jim looks down at Wendy, mixed feeling showing through his eyes. He knew she was scared...who wouldn't be? This was a whole different part of life that had not been planned... it was a completely different world with a whole different set of responsibilities, and forced growth. Wendy wasn't a little girl anymore, whether she wanted that or not.

Jim sighs and gives her shoulder a gentle pat. He understood her wanting to stay. "Alright. If you need anything... come get someone, okay?" Giving her a little wink, he turns and steps down off the porch to amble back to the mess hall, taking his time.


Mick looks out the barn as he rebraids a whip, Rosalyn holding one end for him. He sees his brother's walk, and once again, feels as though something isn't right. "Hey, Rosalyn..."

She's leaning up against the wall in the barn aisle, keeping a grip on the whip for her uncle. "Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

Her eyes widen a bit. "What are you talking about?"

Mick pauses his work and gives her a knowing look. "I may not be as quick as I used to, but I'm not blind. Your family is tense, Clint took off out of here hours ago like a rocket, your dad is upset about something... what's up?"

Rosalyn swallows hard, her eyes dropping. She knew it wasn't a secret... Something like this was impossible to hide anyway, and at a place like this, word spread faster than wildfire. "Um..."

Mick waits, returning to braiding, but keeping his ears attentive. "Yes?"

"Um..." Rosalyn hesitates again. "Wendy is..."

Mick's head jerks up to look at her. "What? Is she okay?"

"Oh, yes, she's fine. Well, I mean... yes and no... or...." Rosalyn rolls her eyes and sighs. "She's pregnant."

Mick's fingers stop their work as a look of shock crosses his face. "Clint...?"

Rosalyn nods solemnly. "Yeah."

Mick lets out a low whistle. "Oooh boy."

"That's about all I can say too."

"What are they gonna do?"

Rosalyn shrugs. "I don't know. Clint told us, then Dad took him aside and they got into it. Then Clint took off. I haven't seen Wendy, but I guess Dad was gonna go see her, 'cause now he blames himself for Clint running off."

"What about Angel and Luke?"

"Don't know. Mom was gonna go talk to Angel. At this point, I'm just hoping Clint is going to come back."

"He will."

Rosalyn searches her uncle's face. "What makes you so sure?"

"He's a Henson." Mick gives her a gentle smile. "We always come back to what we love."

Rosalyn can't help her smile, thinking about Mick himself, and Rosetta. "I'm glad." She thinks for a moment as Mick continues to work silently. "So...that's it? You have nothing else to say about it?"

"What can I say?" Mick shrugs. "I certainly didn't have anything to do with it."

Rosalyn giggles. "You know what I mean."

"Well...your brother is old enough to know better. And if he's old enough to know better, then he's old enough to figure out the right thing to do. And Wendy...well, I didn't think she'd let things get that far, but apart from an apparent lapse in judgment, she usually has a pretty good head on her shoulders. Having that said... it's up to them to work this out. What more do you want me to say?"

"I don't know... I guess... maybe I expected the same reaction as Dad or something."

"I'm not happy with either Clint or Wendy," Mick confesses. "But they've got it hard enough without extended family getting on their case too. They know what they did.... they know it was wrong... so me telling them it was wrong has no purpose."

"I suppose..." Rosalyn sighs again and gets a new grip on the whip.

Mick studies his niece for a moment, seeing so much of both Becky and Jim in her. "Give it to God," he advises softly. "There's nothing you can do, other than be a light."

"Thanks, Mick."

He smiles again as he ties off the end of the whip. "Alright, let's give this a try." He takes the handle end and swings it around.

Rosalyn laughs and backs up. "Not on me."

Mick's eyes get a mischievous glint to them. "Go get Rosetta. I wanna see if I can heard her into the corral."

Rosalyn's eyes widen. "Mick!"

His laughter bubbles over. "I'm kidding!"


I don't understand it either.

Jason shuts his computer, standing up to pace.

I just don't understand him anymore, Katie. He....

His emotions swirl around again, going back once more to where they had been... the negative feelings rising when thinking of his grandfather.

I looked up to him once, ya know? I mean... he didn't dump me after he found out I was his grandson. And he took me on... and trained me... I felt special. He was the only man in my life, really. But...the harder I tried to look up to him, the more he pulled away. He didn't want the hugs...he didn't want the special times together.... he didn't want the fishing trips anymore. I was just a robot... being trained for TJY. Sometimes I wonder if I hadn't been so good, if he would have tried so hard. But I wanted so bad to please him. All I wanted was for him to say he was proud of me. I was one of the best TJY had... but all he could do was keep pushing. I thought it was me... I thought I wasn't good enough. Maybe that's why I was so bent on throwing on a mask of confidence... because I wasn't really on the inside, but I wanted to be.

Jason flops down on his couch, reaching over to scratch Trooper's head. He didn't know where his thoughts were going, or why he was telling Katie all this. But he'd kept it inside for too long.

After we went to Texas, it just got worse. You know how it went... once the flashbacks started, I just fell to pieces. And what did he do? Nothing. I guess I knew he cared maybe, but it was like he was just going to leave me there to fend for myself. I know I didn't want to tell him what was going on, but after I did, the least he could have done was try to help, ya know?

Then all that crap happened, you left, I was with Jade, that fell apart, and I got transferred to Alaska. I don't know if you knew that was the first time I'd been sent on a mission away from Austin, let alone for that length of time. While there, it felt... good, almost, when I realized I didn't need him around... they liked me up there... I did a good job... Then when I got sent back here... I was on my own. I still had to keep in touch with Austin for work-related stuff, but... it was different. I wasn't walking in his shadow all the time. I was just... me. And it's been that way ever since, up until now.

Whenever I was hurting, or needed help, or anything, he was never there. I know I didn't go asking him for my help, but just a call to say 'hi, how ya doing' would have been nice. Maybe that's asking too much, I don't know. Maybe I should have called him instead.

But now... recently... after that whole thing with Scott... it's like he's suddenly trying to get in my good graces or something. Like he realized I was mad at him for not supporting us on the rescue mission. I guess that's the stuff I didn't tell you about. He was calling me and I just wouldn't take the calls, since I knew what he wanted... he just started leaving messages about him being sorry I disagreed with him, and that though he still wouldn't have changed his mind, he didn't want this to come between us. As if we'd had a good relationship before.

Jason rolls his eyes. The whole thing was ridiculous.

So then we hear basically nothing about him coming back, and here he is, showing up, Carter's already got everything all set for him to take over, and even Brown knew about it weeks ago. But Austin never told me anything about that. So what's up with that?

I just don't know, Katie... it feels like we've just hit the tip of the iceberg. Maybe I missed something... maybe I would have known more, had I talked to him like he wanted. But I just didn't want to. Was I that wrong?

Trooper is annoyed that Jason's scratching has stopped, and after a moment of thinking, he decides the best way to remedy the situation is to climb up on the couch too.

Jason isn't paying attention, and suddenly has two massive paws coming down onto his stomach. Getting the wind knocked out of him, he gives a little cry. "Trooper!"

Trooper slides down on top of him, licking his face, and wagging his tail.

"Get off me, you big brute!"

Trooper pants and scoots around, rolling onto his back and wedging himself between Jason and the back of the couch. Rooting around and thoroughly enjoying his play, without realizing it, he pushes Jason too far.

Jason falls off onto the floor, whacking his knee on the coffee table. Giving a cry of pain, he grabs his leg and just sits for a moment, dazed. "Dumb dog!"

Trooper stops his play and stands up on the couch, looking down at Jason as if apologizing. Getting off the seat and trotting to the edge of the room, he sits with his head hanging, knowing he'd misbehaved.

Jason sighs and shakes his head. Only then does he realize he left Katie hanging.

Sorry... Trooper's being dumb. Anyway... I don't know what's going to happen, but we gotta stick together. As far as Scott goes... he better have a job waiting for him.

He picks himself up off the floor and ambles to the kitchen, realizing that with as rampant as his emotions were today, it was lowering his blood sugar again.


Axel cocks his head and watches Jess drive away, his hand absentmindedly making its way to his arm where she'd patted him.

"That'll teach you to pick up girls," Jed shouts from across the road where he was putting gas in the truck. "Next time check your guages first."

Axel rolls his eyes and walks back over. "Shut up before you make a fool out of yourself."

"Apparently I'm not the fool," Jed quips, the humor showing itself on his quirky grin.

Axel takes the gas tank from him, just shaking his head. "I happen to know her, and her boyfriend is part of my Bible study group. So get those stars out of your eyes and get in the truck, or I'm going to leave you here."

Jed crosses his arms, still not convinced. "If she's taken by someone else, why are you so interested?"

"Who said I was interested?"

Jed cocks his head, studying Axel's relaxed expression and cool body language. "Who wouldn't be? She's gorgeous?"

Axel finishes with the gas and screws in the gas cap. "I didn't say I was blind."

Jed grins. "Ahhh, see?"

"All I see is a fine young woman who has a boyfriend who doesn't love her." Axel tosses the empty can in the back and heads to the driver's door.

"Whoa!" Jed runs around to the other side, getting in as well. "Where did that come from?"

"It's all in the eyes," Axel states matter-of-factly. "It's all in the eyes."

"So what about..."

Axel throws Jed a look. "Jed... my dear friend... I drive a tow truck. I saw someone whose car had broken down. I stopped to help. Now tell me... if it had been you I picked up, would you be implying romance?"

Jed grimaces and deliberately shivers. "Aw, man, that's just wrong!"

A grin seeps into Axel's lips. "I thought you'd see it my way."

Jed sighs and slides down in the seat. "Alright, you win. Take us to the car."

"Thank you." Axel grabs a pen and reaches up to put a tally mark on a sticky note on the ceiling.

Jed lifts an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"So far it's eleven... arguements with you that I've won."

Jed's jaw drops and he gives Axel a whack to the arm. "You... you...."

All Axel does is grin, turning the truck around to go pick up Jess' car.

...Several hours later, Axel hangs up the phone from calling Jess and telling her that it would be a couple days before her car would be out of the shop, but that she could keep the rental car until then, at no charge. He would let her know as soon as the car was finished.

Leaning back in the desk chair, Axel looks around at the messy office, then up to the clock on the wall. Technically, his shift had ended fifteen minutes ago.

Sighing deeply, he gets up and ambles outside, around the corner and up the outside steps. Living above the garage did have its advantages, though he'd just as soon have a longer walk on the nicer evenings.

Getting inside, he changes out of his work clothes, grabs a jacket and heads back out. Trotting down the steps, he hits the sidewalk with no real destination in mind.


The parking lot is dim...the setting sun throwing its last few colors across the sky in a fairwell to the day. Most cars are gone, and TJY's building almost seems lonely.

Jason parks his truck off to the side, glad that he didn't see the car that Austin had come in before. Looked like a couple people might still be around, but not enough to make him want to wait any longer.

Seeing Katie pull up too, he gets out of the truck and locks it, ambling slowly forward, waiting for her to join him.


Scott sits up in bed against the wall, his face downcast as he runs his fingers along the pattern in the blanket. Domino tries to get him to pay more attention to her, but he just doesn't feel like it, and she finally just sighs and curls up beside him to rest.

Scott's supper that Rick brought him is only one-third eaten, the rest having already gotten cold sitting on the nightstand. He just wasn't hungry. He was tired, but he didn't want to sleep... he wanted to get up and go for a walk, but he was too scared... he wanted to go home, but Rick wouldn't let him yet. But Rick was gone for a while... what if Scott just decided to go home anyway? He was scared to get up and walk that distance, but it was his choice, wasn't it? He didn't want to keep sitting around here... it was luxery compared to the Agency cell, but it still felt like a cell.

Scooting to the edge of the bed, he swings his legs over and bends over to tie his shoes. He wanted to see his house... he wanted to see what was left... he just wanted home.