The Truth will set you free

*Rosetta's own heart fills with the joy of seeing her friend, her love born again. As she returns Mick's hug she replys.* " Your welcome. You made the right choise. Now your ready to start you new life. I care about you so much Mick. It makes me happy knowing God will take care of you for the rest of the night." *As the time pass Rosetta and Mick sit talking about the new exsperince, the new feeling, the new life. Finally Rosetta starts yawning uncontrollably.* "Well I guess I should head back to bed or I am going to be dead tomarrow. I'll see you tomarrow. And Mick, Congradulations!"

Freedom

Tears pool behind Mick’s eyes, and he leans back against the wall, taking a deep breath. His wetness and coldness simply goes unnoticed as he closes his eyes. He knows what he must do… he knows it’s right…he knows that life or death depends on it. “Oh, God,” he finally whispers, “I’m sorry I’ve been such a fool…I’ve done so many thing wrong… But I give up. I can’t do this on my own…please….” He hesitates, the words sticking in his throat. “Please…take my life…I want to be forgiven…I want to be made new…”
Like the sun breaking through a blanket of clouds, warmth fills Mick’s heart. It’s not the words, he knows, that have lifted this weight from his shoulders, but his willingness to give that weight up. His fight was over…he was free.
Turning to Rosetta, he looks her in the eye, all of his pent-up emotions spilling over in a tear of sorrow mingled with a new joy he’s never known. Reaching out, he embraces her in strong hug, just holding her close…just allowing himself that comfort. “Thank you for not giving up on me,” he whispers.

Letter

*Rosetta hugs Mick close* " Would you like me to pray with you Mick? Are you ready to let god in?"

*As Katie sits up in her room her mind wonders to Jade than to Jason. Geting up she goes over to her computer and turns it on writing a email to Jade.*

Dear Jade,
I havent talked to you in a while and I just wanted to say Hi. I hope everything is going well for you. Things are great here. I met a new guy his name is Wyatt. He's really nice. I enjoy going on missions with him and what not he is great. So whats new with you? Well I better get to bed talk with ya soon

Katie

*After sending the email Katie turns off her computer and heads to bed. Henry joining her once again.*

Wrong

Mick finds a gentle comfort in Rosetta’s prompting, and finally raises himself up off the ground, following her numbly to her house. He feels like a whipped puppy with nothing left but pride lost in the wind.
Once inside, the howling wind is lost, and the quiet is a shock to the ears until a roll of thunder comes again.
Mick’s eyes focus on the floor where the mud and water run, and he dares not go further. “I’m sorry, Rosetta,” he manages. “I was wrong…I can’t do this myself anymore. You were right.”


Ty lies awake on Wyatt’s spare bed, feeling as though he’s in a dream. He can hear Trooper pacing outside the door, and wonders what tomorrow will bring. Was his future changed because of this one event? What would happen now?
The questions seem lost as he slowly drifts to sleep.

Pray

*Katie makes it back to TJY in one peace and heads to Reese office to let him know whats going on and to relay Con's message to Carter.*

*As Rosetta relizes that Mick is ok she kneels down next to him and puts her arms around him. Praying herself. Gently she trys and help Mick up.* "Come on you. Lets get you out of the rain before you catch cold.*

Storm

Wyatt smiles at Katie, throwing he a wink, and returning a squeeze to her hand. “I’ll call in later. See you tomorrow.” After making sure Katie is on her way back to TJY, he turns his jeep around to take Ty to his own place.


Mick can hear Rosetta’s voice, but it takes several moments to drag himself from his sorrowful state. Still on his knees, he straightens to raise his face to the heavens again, completely ignoring the storm that’s raging. The one raging inside his heart is much more needing of his attention. “God, I’ve been a fool,” he voices. “How can a wretch like me deserve your forgiveness or guidance through this treacherous world?”
He sees Rosetta out of the corner of his eye, but cannot find the strength to lift himself off the ground.

What on earth

*As Katie listens to Con she is a bit saprised about the news with Jason.* "J is going to Alaska? Wow...ok..I'll let Carter know. Ok Con...I'll talk to ya again soon. Let J know I said be safe. Later." *Katie hangs up the phone. She feels a bunch a mixed emotions. Even though her and Jason were so far apart she could still feel him enough to knoe he was ok and not in danger. But if he was going to Alaska it was going to be even FARTHER away and she dident know if she would be able to feel him at all. As they stop away from TJY Katie nods.* " Ok I guess so, but I want an extra long walk with you 2 than next time." *Katie smiles and turns to Ty.* " Have a good night and dont get to scaired of Trooper." *Kaite says goonight to Wyatt and gives his hand a small squeeze. Geting out of the car she waves as the boys drive away. Katie makes her way back to TJY in no hurry to get back.*

*As everyone is gathering for dinner Wendy enters the mess hall and hanger her new painting up. It dident come out how she wanted but it wasent horrable eather. After puting her painting items away and scans the room for Clint. Giving a wave she heads over and sits down.* "Heya you. Get all your work done for the day or is Wes gonna kill you." *Wendy gives alittle giggle.*

*As the thunder rolls Rosetta shoots up out of bed. A voice she though she hurd a voice call out over the thunder and rain. Geting out of bed she squints out the window. During the summer and spring Rosetta's sleep habbit changed. She dident sleep as deep as in the winter. She always was sleeping with one eye and ear open in case a visoter needed help. As Rosetta continues to scan the yard she heads the faint voice again. A crack of thunger follows and a flash of lighting lites up the sky showing a form laying on the ground. Panic over takes Rosetta. Throwing on her jacket and slipping on her boots she flings the door open. Jumping off the porch she runs across the lawn. Drawing closer she can now make out its Mick. Over the thunder Rosetta yells.* "Mick, MICK Whats wrong? are you ok? what are you doing out here. Rosetta scans the yard squinting through the rain again trys to get the sarounding trying to make sure no one alse is out there.*

Broken

Ty seems to grudgingly accept what Katie says, though his body language still reflects that he’s on guard. He studies Katie a little more carefully, wondering if she really could relate. For some reason, he believed her.

Wyatt listens quietly, once again, wondering at Katie’s past. He’d read her profile…he knew there were some blotches on her record. But what really made her tick? What had made her who she was today?
He lets his questions go, and glances back to Ty again after several moments of silence. “So what do ya say? My place?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Concluding that would be about the best response he would get, Wyatt lets it drop and just drives.


Con is just stepping out of Jason’s bunk when his cell phone rings on his belt. Seeing who’s calling, he grins, and slows his walk toward the mess hall. “Hey, Kat!” He fills her in briefly. “Nothing a whole lot new around here…I guess tell Reese that we’re still hanging on. Nothing new has come up on Medridge yet…the feeling around here is that we’ll be at a standstill forever, but I can’t help but think something’s got to come up soon.” He pauses for a moment, wondering if he should say anything or not, but figuring that for simple logic, it would save another phone call. “Oh, and get a message to Carter that Jason accepted the Alaskan job. He’ll fly out tomorrow.”



Jade looks to Angel with gratefulness, feeling just a little better. “Thanks, Angel…you make a lot of sense.” She thinks for several moments as they make their way back to where their walk began. “I don’t know if I should leave or not…I might talk to Dad about it. I guess a part of me has always felt like an outsider here. It’s nothing anyone here as done or said by any means…everyone here is so nice…and I love you all. But I guess my life has been so different than this for so long that I just can’t seem to fit in.” She shrugs and sighs, looking towards her bunk. “I suppose I should get some stuff done before supper…. Thanks for listening to me.”


Wyatt stops his jeep about two blocks away and out of sight from TJY, following protocol when having a stranger along. “Alright, Hero, I’m letting you off here and gonna to take Ty back to my place. Can Trooper and I have a rain check on that walk in the park?” He grins at Katie with a mixture of apology and pleasure.



The evening is a quiet one. Clint closes up shop before supper, joining the others in the mess hall and saving a spot for Wendy. It’s different having visitors around, but the gang remains close-knit, and anything about the case is brought up after the visitors have gone to bed or interspersed throughout the day.


Nightfall brings on a strange denseness to the air, the scent of moisture rolling in. By nine o’clock, the wind has picked up, and thunder can be heard in the distance.

Mick lies in his bunk, still fully dressed. The clock indicates midnight. He can hear his brother sleeping soundly in the other bed, but he himself is wide awake. Sleep has escaped him so many nights now, that he’s used to lying awake. But his body is exhausted.
Finally giving up, he rises, throwing on his hat and jacket and heading outside. The rain is pelting down, and lightning flashes across the sky. Mick heads towards the barn and slips inside, shaking the water off himself. He sets about checking on the horses, and winds up flopping down on a stray bale of straw. Resting his head back against the wall, before he knows it, sleep has taken over.
But once again, the sleep pulls along with it the horrors of his now-regular nightmares. The emotions have worsened. The images have become more violent. The torment more intensive. War is waged yet again, taunting…killing…the pain is worse than ever.

A crack of thunder wakes Mick with a start, jolting him so violently from his sleep that he stands and looks around his surroundings to ensure reality.
Angered by the inability to control these dreams, and desperate to stop them, Mick stalks outside, leaving his hat and jacket behind, and kicking the door on his way. The rain is coming down in sheets, the lightning still zig-zagging in all directions. Mick flings a glare up to the dark sky, throwing his arms into the air. “What do you want from me?!” he shouts.
An ear-splitting roll of thunder responds, shaking the ground.
“Stop tormenting me!” Mick’s voice competes with the driving wind. “What do I have to do?!”
The answer is there. It tugs at his heart. It pulls, prods and shoves its way into his mind. He knows the answer. He knows what he must do. He knows the right path to take. His heart feels as if it’s being ripped in two as his pride is shattered into a million pieces. He cannot survive on his own…he cannot continue alone.

Mick feels himself dropping to his knees, the mud and water going ignored. The rain soaks him to the bone, the thunder reverberates in his ears. But nothing compares to the feeling of brokenness as his soul is laid bare before the One he has resisted for so long. He curls over to hide his face in his hands, unexpected tears mixing with the rain as guilt and shame break forth. But there is a hand to catch him…there is a mercy to forgive…there is a love to hold.

I know how you feel

*Katie continues to look out the window as she listens to Wyatt and Ty talk. Finally after Ty asks the same question for the million time Katie turns in her seat.* " Its part of out Job. Its what we do. We take the innocent and keep them from being wrongfuly accused. Its just what we do. We dont like seeing something happen to people who dont deserve it. There is nothing more to it, nothing less." *Katie turns and looks out the window again. Deep down she felt so sorry for Ty. She had been the same age as him when she left home. Katie new it wasent an easy road to travil and when you dident have true friends and family it was hard. After a moment Katie turns again.* "Listen I am sorry I snaped at you. I guess it kind of hits home. I wasent much older than you were when I left home and got into trouble. Be lucky that you have people who care enough to try and help you. Even if you dont know who they are. We are good people, and we work for what is right. You have nothing to worry about." *As Katie falls silent she remembers she hadent called Con today. Pulling out her phone again she turns to Wyatt.* " I forgot to call Con before we left. This will only take a minute." *Katie dials Con's number and waits.*

~*~Back at the Ranch~*~

*Angel listens to Jade deep in though.* " Its never easy Jade no matter how long you have been with the person. You build a closeness with them, and get use to your life with them in it. Its not silly to be like that. Your human and it shows emotion. Even if you leave being totel upset with the person or even hating them, it still hurts to have to do so. Yes things will be differnt but at least you still get to be friends. As for you leaving, it would be sad to see you go. We have all goten use to having your pritty face around. But you need to do what you think it best for you, and not worry about everyone alse. Sometimes, you have to go through alot of hurt to finally find the one your ment to be with. Every person we meet and grow close to teaches us something differnt, and we carry that with us forever."

Transfer

Wyatt can’t help his amusement as he listens to Katie tell off Ty. A grin spreads across his face, and he gives her a momentary glance, his eyes laughing.

Ty rolls his eyes at being called a kid, and sinks lower in his seat out of resentment for the situation.

Reese responds to Katie over the phone. “Alright. I trust you two. If you thought Ty needed to get out of there, then that’s probably best. If he’s got a place he wants to go, go ahead and take him there. We don’t have anything on him that we could dig up, other than he’s from South Dakota. If he doesn’t have any place to go, I give Wyatt permission to make any judgment calls necessary.”

Once the phone call ends and Wyatt is informed, he glances in the rearview mirror. “Well, Ty… the sheriff is out to get you here…you don’t have a home…where is it you’d like to go?”

Ty looks up to the mirror with a scowl. “You mean I get a choice?”

“We’re on your side here…what do we have to do to prove it? We just wanted to get you out of there before your life was unjustly ruined.” Wyatt tries his best to show his sincerity. “You got any family? Friends? You were in this area for a reason.”

Ty drops his gaze. “I was just passing through.”

Wyatt sighs, feeling a brick wall again. “Talk to us, Ty…you can trust us. What’s your story?”

“I’ve been drifting,” Ty shrugs. “I left South Dakota about a year ago…just…trying to find my destiny I guess.”

“How did you get here?”

“Hitchhiked.”

“All that way?”

Ty shrugs again. “Why not? This bag here is all I got. Picked up a few odd jobs along the way to pay for meals, but I figured I wouldn’t try settling down ‘til I hit the coast.”

“So you’re heading for California. Got something waiting for you there?”

“No…”

Wyatt glances to Katie, wondering what they should do, but keeps up the conversation with Ty. “Where is your family? Still in South Dakota?”

Ty scoffs. “If you wanna call them my family. I walked out from them over four years ago when I was sixteen. I doubt they even realize I’m not there anymore.”

Compassion hits Wyatt hard. Ty was only a couple years younger than he was…he couldn’t imagine feeling like that. “Tell you what - I’ve got a spare room. How about coming back with me?”

Ty’s eyebrows shoot up. “You’re kidding me, right? You just hauled me out of jail and you’re going to share your house? Wouldn’t you be afraid I’d steal something?”

“You said you were innocent, and I believed you.” Wyatt looks in the mirror again. “What happened anyway?”

“Oh, I opened my big mouth.” Ty rolls his eyes. “I was in this grocery store and I saw the holdup going on. I recognized the head guy who had the gun, so I yelled at him, asking him what he thought he was doing. I called him by name, so when the cops came, the store cashier said I was with the gang. So they arrested me.”

Wyatt nods. “Alright then. Why shouldn’t I trust you?” When Ty doesn’t know how to respond, Wyatt continues. “At least spend the night. No tricks, no strings attached.”

Ty looks between Wyatt and Katie, totally confused. “Why do you guys care?”



Jade sniffs and walks next to Angel. “I feel silly…I was fine a while ago…” She goes on to explain what happened, and what she and Jason decided. “I mean…I know we did the right thing…and I know we’d only been together a couple months, but….I don’t know…it still hurts. And things are going to be different now. We parted on good terms, but we won’t be doing stuff together like we were...” She sighs, her tears dried now. “Katie’s not around any more…I’ve lost Jason… maybe it’s time for me to go home, I don’t know.”


“What?!”

Con shrugs as he looks at Jason. “That’s what he said.”

Jason turns around in his chair at his desk, trying to see if Con was serious. “Carter wants me off this case?”

“No. He still wants you on call, but the guys up north need some help, and Carter figured you’d not only be a good choice, but that you might want to get out of here for a while.”

Jason’s eyes grow wider. “It’s Alaska!”

“So?” Con grins. “You told me once you’d like to go there.”

“Yeah, but…” Jason sighs. “Well, whatever. If Carter wants me to go help train those dogs at the northern base, I will.”

“I think Carter wants you back out on duty for some other cases, too. He mentioned one close to headquarters he might call you in for.”

“But I’ll be in Alaska.”

Con quirks an eyebrow. “That’s what phones and airplanes are for.”

“So I just leave you guys here high and dry?”

“You know if we need you, we can have you back here in no time.” Con pauses, cocking his head. “Carter left the door open if you really didn’t want to go…” He purposely glances at Jason’s desk where a picture of Jade is.

Jason follows his gaze, before looking back up at him. “That’s not in the way anymore.”

“What?”

“It’s over.” Jason shakes his head. “We called it quits today.” He quickly changes the subject, despite Con’s surprised and confused look. “So yeah…whatever Carter wants.”

What next

*Katie flips the visor down and look at Ty's reflaction. Something....something tuged at her mind again. She new him from somewhere. His face, his attitude..It was so familure.* "LIsten kid, if we were really part of a gang we wouldent have just gotten you out of jail. We probly would of shot you while you were still in there." *Katie keeps watching Ty in the mirror.* " Now if you really want us to be from some gang I have no problem tieing you up and throwing you in the trunk." *Katie flips the visor back up and takes out her cell. Dialing Reese number.* "Hey Reese its Katie." *Katie gives Reese a lowdown on what went on and to get instructions on what to do next. Glancing at Wyatt out of the side of her eyes she smiles.*

~*~Back at the Ranch~*~

*Rosetta smiles and hugs Mick back.* " I will, and you can always pray too. Its pritty easy just talk to God like you would any of your friends. He will always listen to you. I'd even be willing to pay with you sometime if you wanted." *As Rosetta embraces Mick she thanks God for leting Mick's heart be open and ask questions. The though of losing him and having him condemed for ever was a though she hated. Rosetta wanted Mick to be saved and excited about God as she would.* "Come on lets go get some lunch." *Rosetta walk's with Mick making there way back to the mess hall.*

*Wendy cant help but laugh.* "Ok, I guess I can let you go back. I should probley get this painting done anyways before I lose the sky. I'll see ya at dinner, and maybe before." *Wendy resumes her seat and starts to paint again.*

*Angel exstends her arms giving Jade a hug.* "Corse I do hun, and yes its never easy. Come on lets walks alittle. It will do us both good." *Angel walks with Jade being a sounding bored for the young girl.*