Wrapping up the night

Carson can’t help his laugh as Jess gives him a bad time, and he ends up taking her hand to slide out from the booth too. “Sorry.”

He wipes his eyes again. “It was just too perfect.” Another laugh escapes. “But I promise I won’t be that mean again… at least the rest of tonight.”

Grinning, he follows Jess to the kitchen, willing to try whatever she suggested to get rid of this stinging pain. “Bread we have. Lead the way, nurse Fisher.”

It doesn’t take too long after taking Jess’ suggestion that the sting finally starts to subside. Carson blinks and squints at Jess, a wry grin forming. “Well I’ll be. You do know what you’re talking about.”

Still teasing, he sets the slice of bread down and grabs Jess around the waist, spinning her around. Flopping down in a chair, he pulls her down with him so she’s straddling his lap and he can look her in the eye. “You care too much, you know that?”

Reaching up, Carson puts a had to the side of Jess’ face, running his thumb along her cheek. His voice lowers. “You’ve been much more than I deserve.”

Studying her eyes silently for several moments, he finally leans in for a kiss. Yet as he does, the one thought that still haunted him, lingered in the back of his mind.

He presses his lips more firmly to hers, willing himself to focus on her, not somebody else. But the shadows remain.

Tightening his hold around Jess’ frame, he pulls her in closer to him, feeling her warmth, her lips against his. But the name taunted him.

One hand on her waist and one on her back, he falls into the passionate exchange, his desire to just feel her. But it’s not her that his mind continues to see in the fog.

Finally…slowly… Carson lets Jess go, but instead of letting her see his face, he draws her into his arms for an embrace. “Thank you for… for just being you, Jess.”


Jason eases down in the other chair next to Katie, a good feeling coming over him, despite the trouble they were in. At least they had each other, and were in this thing together. No matter the rough spots along the way, their friendship had endured.

An amused emotion is passed from him to her.
Yeah, come to think of it, I think one of those times you were over to my place I woke up with a wet shirt, and it wasn’t me.

A grin creases his lips.
But your drool is better than Trooper’s any day.

Rick sighs and looks between the two younger agents and shakes his head. “I ought to tell you to quit talking to each other, but I won’t. In the meantime though, I wouldn’t take this suspension so lightly… either of you. Whether you like it or not, we have to proceed with a bit of caution here. I know you feel badly about Scott and so do I. But now may not be the time to make a stink about it.”

He turns to put a few things away on the counter and prepares to leave once again. “But..." He looks to Nate and Katie and Jason. "That's not to say that we tread very carefully. I'm on your side. And if it came down to it, I'd put my job on the line for this too. But let's not be too hasty to make that happen. I'll make sure when Scott is here, that he's protected. At least that will help with this issue. As far as your suspension goes... my advice is to not stir up trouble unless you have to."

Not waiting for an argument, he pulls on his jacket. "I'm heading home now. If anything happens, call me."

Jason heaves a weary sigh, watching Rick leave. "Well..." He glances up at Nate. "What'll it be? You staying or going? If you go, maybe you won't get pulled into this mess."


Clint yawns and scrunches his eyes tight before opening them again and staring in at the stubborn engine. It was late. He was exhausted. And the little light in the shop just wasn’t enough.

Tossing his wrench onto the work bench, he lets it clatter among the other tools. Slamming the hood of the car, he wipes his hands on his rag and trudges to the office to mark down what was done for the day, and wrap things up.

Glancing at the clock, he cringes. His wakeup call was going to come way too early. But, if he could figure out what was wrong with this car, it would be worth it. Even Wes was having trouble, and if Clint could figure it out… He grins.

Shutting off the lights, he makes his way back through the shop in the dark, knowing right where everything was to sidle around or step over, without even seeing it.

Locking up the door behind him, he stuffs his hands in his jacket pocket and trudges toward his bunk house. The gravel crunches under his boots and he glances towards Angel and Luke’s house. A different smile surfaces as he thinks about his and Wendy's plans to go into town tomorrow for lunch.

Stepping quietly up on the porch, Clint turns the doorknob of the bunkhouse door, hoping not to wake Jeff.