Once I'm there

Carson doesn’t keep Jess from helping him, and concentrates on work, though he listens to her talk.

“I’m not scared of Herb being upset. On the contrary, I know he won’t be. He’ll just look at me… with that disappointment in his eye.” He shakes his head. “That’s worse than him yelling at me, you know that?”

Pausing, broom in hand, Carson almost laughs at himself. “Listen to me… I sound like some little kid who’s just done something wrong and is waiting for their dad to get home.”

Caught off guard by his own statement, he stops, lost in a stare. Disappointment had been a fear since childhood... a fear up until he'd decided he didn't care what other people thought of him.

Blinking, he sighs and looks back at the glass on the floor, having almost swept all of it up. "I need to find some cardboard and some duct tape. Then tomorrow morning I'll head right out to the hardware store when they open to see about a new window. Maybe if I've got repairs in the works by the time Herb sees this, I won't be in so much hot water."

Working hard, he and Jess accomplish a lot, and soon the floor is clean, no glass to be found, and no one would have known what had happened, were it not for the cardboard up by the door.

Exhausted and sore, Carson leans against the side of a booth, finally just sliding to the floor to sit there instead of a chair. Catching Jess as she passes, he pulls her down into his lap and wraps his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder.

"Can we just run away?" he mumbles. "Is there anywhere that I can get away from making mistakes all the time?"


Lost in thought for a moment with feelings he's not sharing, it takes a second or two for Katie's words to register and Jason finally focuses back on her face. "Um...walk?"

He shrugs. "Sure. Why not. But can I at least finish my food first? I've been trying to ever since we sat down."

A grin plays at the corner of his mouth, his eyes tossing Katie a playful glance as he tries to finish his supper.

Finally done, Jason gives a contented sigh. "That was much better than a tv dinner...thank you." He thumbs to the door. "Alright, a moonlit walk is waiting. And if you don't get me out there now, I'm liable to go sack out on the couch instead and once I'm there, you know I'll fall asleep."


Scott takes in Misty's words, and though he might not react to them, he was absorbing them and trying to let them make him feel better. He wanted to feel better... he really did. It just... seemed... hard.

Watching Misty work for a while, he fights sleep, not wanting to face the dreams just yet.

"Misty?" He asks just loud enough for her to hear him. "How come you can't sleep at night?"

poking

*Jess lets out a sigh but lets Carson clean her up anyways. Thinking about all the was said Jess felt helpless on what to do next besides help Carson clean some more. Going back over to the table with the over turned chairs Jess starts to pic of the peaces of wood and glass putting them in piles and riting the chairs that were still whole.*

"Pst...I busted lip isnt much of anything to me. I've been though worse."

*Jess falls quit for a moment thinking about what she just said. Quickly pushing the feelings away again before anything could form Jess trys her best to make Carson feel better.*

"You know if you just explain to Herb what happend I am sure he will understand and not be to upset. He could probley even help you Carson if your just honest with him."

*For a moment Katie takes in Jason abrupt departure. Trying not to pry into Jason's feeling Katie stands as well and sits back down at the table. Giving a shake of her head she looks at Trooper.*

"You silly dog."

*Poking for a moment at her food Katie finally sets her fork down and looks at Jason giving a smile.*

"I thought maybe we could go for a walk after dinner. Its pretty nice out and there wont be many days left like this where it wont be to cold that is if you want."

"...I know it can probley be quit a shock to the system nothing really being the same, but its time to start new now even if its scary and you don't want to."

*Misty felt sorry for Scott. She could say anything and comfort him all she wanted but it wouldnt take away the pain he felt inside. The mental torment he was going through. All Misty could do was hope her words helped if even alittle.*

"Things will be ok Scott...in time. Till than you have people you can talk to when you need it and friends to stand by your side or just sit to keep the monsters at bay. Thats what friends are for."

*Misty gives Scott's arm a gentil pat before turning and heading back to her desk.*

Not every day

Carson relents to Jess' help, knowing it was no good fighting her. Only when she mentions her lip does he give a double-take, now seeing that she'd taken a worse hit than he thought. Apology floods his eyes. She'd been hit because of him.

"Because of a stupid dog," he grumbles. Though his tone was angry, the look in his eye proved he had compassion for the dog - otherwise he wouldn't have rescued her in the first place. "I'd give her to you, but she's not mine to give. I can't give her back to that guy and I can't turn him in either because I haven't got proof. It's a lose-lose situation, and in the meantime, I'm harboring a stolen animal, not to mention illegally without a license."

Wincing as Jess cleans the cut on the side of his head, Carson reaches up to stop her hand, lowering it, and taking it in his own. Though still upset, he reaches over for a damp cloth, making himself wait, and gently wiping the blood from Jess' own lip. "I'm sorry," he offers quietly. "This is all my fault."

Pausing, he takes his fingers and softly tucks her hair behind her ear. "Thanks for jumping in there for me though... I just wish you hadn't gotten hurt."

Heaving a sigh, he sets the cloth down and slides off the stool again, not caring that he wasn't completely cleaned up yet. "Dani can wait...she'll be fine... I have to clean this up."

To Carson, the worst thing wasn't getting slugged in the face... He'd survived worse... he'd endured a whole lot more pain than this. The worst thing was him knowing the disappointed look on Herb's face come morning. Carson could clean up the mess alright, but there was still a window that needed to be replaced, chairs that needed fixed or replaced, and glasses that needed to be replaced. Carson would pay it all if he could, but almost all his last paycheck had gone to bills, and the little amount leftover had gone for dogfood. And that was it.

Carson trudges to the broken window again, breaking off all the pieces around the edge not caring when he accidentally sliced his finger. He needed to sweep up all the glass and find some cardboard for the night. It was cold outside, and the inside of the restaurant was quickly becoming cold as well.

Piling up all the shattered pieces, Carson's mind continues to mull over his outburst at Dani. He'd told the truth about his mornings...but it really was no excuse for being late to work. Maybe he was making a couple old people happy, but he couldn't spend all his time there. Sure, he was cleaning up trash, but maybe he needed to do it after hours. He was taking care of a dog, but that was turning into a mess. And maybe he needed to cut out his long routes... but for some reason he hadn't been able to stop going past Misty's place those two days.

Staring at the mess, Carson keeps working. He'd ruined his own evening, he'd ruined Dani's evening, and he'd certainly ruined Jess'. There went their date...again.


Jason just grins up at Katie, then lets her roll down next to him. With anyone else, he would have felt utterly ridiculous, knowing they were lying on the kitchen floor. But for some reason, he didn't care.

I don't think I could not enjoy this...

His hand crawls up around Katie's shoulder before he gives her a squeeze, bringing her close enough so he can crane his neck and kiss the top of her head.

It's not every day a guy is as lucky as this.

Hearing Katie's statement about family, Jason stops his communication for a moment, a strange pang hitting his heart. Family?

"I think I want to finish my supper," he suggests abruptly. "If my dog would behave himself."

Trooper groans and rolls over on his back.

Jason shakes his head and manages to sit up, then stand, offering Katie a hand too. Smirking at his dog, he points a finger at him. "I don't know what's gotten into you tonight, but you can stop now."

Trooper flops down on his side and sighs deeply, seeming to give up.

Jason sits back down at the table, and has to look around for a moment to find his fork again. "Okay, so where were we?"


Scott is quiet as Misty checks him over again, used to the routine, even after just a day. He watches her, understanding what she did, and not flinching, even when something hurt.

Settling back in bed and rolling onto his side again, he doesn't focus on much, but still hears Misty talking to him.

How did he feel? He'd never felt so turned around in his life. Never had he felt like this, and he wasn't so sure he could even adequately describe it. "I feel like I'll never be the same again," he answers softly. "The pain doesn't really matter... and the time that's passed doesn't really matter either..."

His words drift off for a moment, and one might think he'd fallen back to sleep. But he finishes, his thoughts still quiet. "I feel good and bad and all mixed up all at the same time."

Not even know why he was expressing this, and realizing that Misty probably hadn't intended for her question to bring about quite that kind of answer, Scott shifts his head deeper into his pillow, not embarrassed, but not wanting to say anymore either. So many things ran through his mind... so many images that were haunting him. He was tired... so tired... but he feared the dreams that would come.

Happy Family

*Jess looks at Carson for a moment before going over to the table that had the over turned chairs and starts to put them back up the right way. Listing to Carson and knowing his harsh tone was just his frustration but feeling bad for Dani and Carson all the same. Once Carson lets room to talk Jess bends down again her own acks from he fight kicking in but trying not to let them bother her anyways.*

"You know, I always wanted a dog. Not to mention my place is pretty big with a back yard."

*Jess lets out a sigh*

"Ah well...maybe same day."

*Finishing with the chairs Jess heads into the back and comes back out with a first aid kit. Going over to Carson Jess takes him by the hand to lead him to the counter weather he liked it or not. Pointing to the stool Jess gives a small smile and direct orders.*

"Sit, the mess can wait. Let me clean up those cuts than I can take care of my lip."

*Jess new Carson wouldnt want the help, and she new he might fight her on it, but she didnt care. Carson needed to know it wasnt always about what He wanted.*

"You know your sister was just worryed Carson thats all. She dont want to lose her big brother again. I think you should go after her before the sun can go down on the anger that was stired up. I can work on fixing things here and wait for you to get back."

*Kaite just stairs down at Jason for a long moment. On hand on one side of him and the other hand on the other side. The grin on her lips never moving her eyes locked with Jason.

I don't know, just enjoy it I guess...unless you dont want to.

As if snaped back into reality by the big dog bumping her Katie relizes just how she is still and gives a slight roll to move off Jason and just lay down next to him her head on his shoulder and her arm draped over him, her hand on Troopers head.*

"We are one big happy family."

*Looking up from her desk Misty is saprised to see Scott awake but a small smile spreads across her lips as she pushes away from her desk and stands walking over to him.*

"I don't sleep to well at night anymore. So I spend my time here doing research."

*Taking a few things off the counter Misty checks Scott's vitals again and looking over his bumps and bruses now that he was awake.*

"Sorry if I woke you, I was trying to be quiet."

*Shifting again Misty moves to the counter to wash up her hands and clean up a few things she had used.*

"How are you feeling?"

All the reasons

Trooper gives a start as Katie joins them, drooping his toy right on Jason's face.

"Oh, thanks," Jason smirks.

Trooper pants and twists his head to lick Katie's face, then promptly drops down to sprawl on top of Jason instead of stand.

"Ahk!" Jason breath is knocked out of him as the weight of both dog and Katie come down on his stomach. "Trooper! What do you think you're doing?!"

Trooper gives a quiet woof, wiggling all over from his unstoppable energy.

"Dang, mutt, get off of me!"

The dog just groans and licks Jason's face before licking Katie's again too. He then manages somehow to half roll, half scoot out from under Katie, toppling right over Jason's face.

I can't breathe!

Jason grabs Trooper with both arms, shoving him off onto the side. Trooper immediately gets up, the hunkers down like he's ready to pounce again.

"Oh, no!" By this time, Katie's on top of Jason, and he grabs her to pull her up so she's between him and the dog. "Crazy dog! Go attack somebody else!"

Trooper barks, then nuzzles himself in next to Jason and Katie, squirming on his stomach until his head reaches theirs. Then he just waits, panting, looking at Katie, then looking at Jason, then back again, his tail wagging.

Great. So you both got me pinned down now. What's a guy supposed to do?!


The smaller thug is taken so by surprise by Jess joining in, that he stops, leaving himself wide open for her attack. Groaning and reaching for his knees as he's kicked, he goes down, just to receive her beating.

Carson struggles under the two other men, finally getting enough leverage to get his feet under one of them and send him flying back into the counter. The guy's arms hit a stack of glasses, sending them to the floor with a crash. Glass goes everywhere, ignored by the brawlers.

Having a brief moment of just one attacker, Carson manages to get enough strong punches off that he can be freed enough to stand, right before sending the leader up and over his shoulders, into a table.

The leader of the small gang slides across the table, taking chairs with him as he goes, and yelping in pain as his own leg get tangled in the chair legs.

For several more minutes, the chaos continues, no one really knowing where they are or who is who. Until suddenly a chair flies, hitting the window by the door. Struck at just the right angle and with just enough force, it shatters. The noise is enough for several cars to slow as they're passing on the street, and the three attackers gather on the side to catch their breath.

"Let's get out of here," one of them suggests. "We'll get him later."

"Yeah, we're drawing too much attention."

The leader glares at Carson one last time. "You bring her back in twenty-four hours, or you'll pay, man."

Carson glares right back at him, grabbing his broom handle again as a threat. "Get out," he hisses. "And don't come back."

"Whatever." The three grumble as they head out the door, kicking glass out of the way as they go.

Carson stands breathless, surveying the mess. He'd just cleaned. He'd just picked things up. And now... glasses were broken, two chairs were broken, and one of the front windows was in pieces all over the floor and sidewalk.

The look on his face matches what he feels - utter despair. Blood trickles down the side of his face from a cut on his head, and his nose and lip are bleeding too. All he could think about was what Herb was going to say when he found out. This was Carson's fault...he'd caused this mess... and he'd be paying for it.

He turns to look at Jess, making sure she's okay before turning without a word and walking toward the door. All he can do is start sweeping up the glass.

"Carson?" Dani comes up cautiously from the back, having let herself in with the key Carson had loaned to her. She'd been on her way home from work and had just seen some guys leave in a hurry, had noticed the front window, so she'd come through the back.

Her eyes widen as she sees Jess and Carson, both looking as though they'd been in the fight... then the mess. "What...what happened?"

Carson grits his teeth, spitting out some blood before continuing to sweep.

Dani looks to Jess with question, then back to her brother. "Carson...what happened?"

"I got in trouble again," he snaps. "What does it look like? You gonna just stand there and stare? Either get a broom or leave."

Anger flashes through Dani's eyes as she receives the sharp remark, and she puts her hands on her hips. "Heaven forbid I care about you. Now what is going on?"

"Just do yourself a favor and go home, Dani."

"I don't want to!" Dani's stubbornness comes through. "Tell me what happened!"

"I got jumped, alright?!" Carson stops sweeping, taking the back of his hand to wipe the blood off the side of his face. "They came in looking for a fight, and then Jess..." He gestures to her. "She got herself in the middle of it, trying to help me out."

"Well who were they? What did they want?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well I do!"

"I don't care!"

"You should!" Dani's face reddens as her irritation grows. "Stop acting like a child and tell me what's going on!" She waits, but all she receives is silence as her brother keeps working to clean up the glass. "You've been acting weird for weeks!" She exclaims. "You've been late for work with lame excuses and fibs that you think no one will notice. Then this happens. Tell me what's going on, or so help me, I'm calling Herb right now to tell him about this."

Carson glares at his sister, then looks to Jess, then back to Dani again. "Alright. You want it? Here it is. I'm late in the mornings because there's an old man who needs help. When I jog in the mornings, I stop by his place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and stay just long enough to put a few boards together, a few shingles on a roof or get my own fingers black and blue. There's also Martha Hemmet, and old lady, who lives on Parker. She had a run-in with a sleezeball once and I broke it up. Out of thanks, she makes cookies and has adopted me as her company on Tuesday and Friday mornings."

His tone grows louder as he talks, proving he hadn't wanted to share it, but was fed up with being interrogated. "On Mondays and Thursdays, I pick up trash and bottles on my route. I throw the trash out and take the bottles to the recycle bins down by the grocery store. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I also take a longer route just so I might be able to wave at an old friend."

Carson pauses only to catch his breath, his tone still raised in anger. "And a while back, I spotted that scumbag you just saw leaving, beating his Boxer half to death because she wouldn't fight and he'd placed a bet on her! So I took her! It was animal abuse, but I had no proof, so I've been keeping her at a safe place. No one I know wants a dog, can keep them in their apartments, and even if they did, that guy still technically owns her! Not to mention, if I get caught with her, I can't afford a license for her, so she'd go to the pound. So he found me, alright?! Are you quite satisfied now?!"

Carson takes an angry swipe with his broom at some more glass. "All I'm trying to do is the right thing, and actually do something good for once, and all I do is get interrogated about it all the time! Herb doesn't trust me, and you don't trust me. I'm late because I'm helping people out, and I'm low on cash because I'm buying dog food all the time!"

Emotions surge through Carson's eyes. He felt so miserably lost, he didn't know what to do. He'd been trying so very hard, and this is what he got for it. He got in trouble for doing wrong, and he got in trouble for doing right. What did it matter?

Giving a growl, he turns back to his work without another word.

Dani stares at him dumbfounded for several seconds, blinking, then turns to look at Jess. "I..." She looks back to her brother. "I... I'm sorry."

"Just go home, Dani... just go home." His tone was softer, but he was tired of talking.

Tears fill Dani's eyes and she hangs her head. "I just care about you," she mumbles. "I'll see you tomorrow sometime then..." Turning, she heads for the back once more.


Scott is asleep, but feeling a soft hand, for a moment, he thinks he's dreaming, but then he realizes that it's real. And that voice.....was.... Misty's. Finally placing it, he rolls over in bed, seeing her start to work.

He just watches her for several minutes, studying what she was doing.

"Can't sleep, or just plain bored?" he asks softly.

Oops

*Katie's mind trys to process the information about Austin being the problem with Jason. She new they had there outs and everything was not always right with them, but maybe she hadntrelized things were just this bad. But obaying Jason's wishs not to talk more on the topic Katie trys to let it drop.*

"Yeah, work seemed less than exciting for me as well. I don't know if its just me or what but it seems to have lost its certin spark it once had. I mean I still love my job but something feels differnt. Maybe thats what growing up is about."

*As Katie puts her glass down the table start to shake and Katie turns her head to the hall where she see Trooper bouncing down the hall. Katie's eyes grow wide as she watchs Trooper tackle Jason. As Jason goes down with the dog on top of him Katie can't help the laugh the escapes her lips just watching them for a long moment.

You know you both look like your both having to much fun without me.

Getiing a grin on her face Katie stands from the table and softly draps herself off Trooper and Jason.*

"Oops...I fell."

*As Jess drinks her milkshake she watches Carson work. It never bothered her to sit there and wait. There was just something about Carson that made her feel alright and waiting a little bit longer was not a big deal.

As the time pass Jess pull out a magazine and starts to read it letting the noise around her drowned away. Getting wraped up in what she was looking at she gives a small jump as Carson bumps into her but recovers quickly giving him a little shove back.*

"Well I was thinking maybe a short walk and than come back here and watch a mo....."

*Jess voice trails off as the 3 thugs enter the restaurant. Looking over Carson's shoulder Jess eyes the three men a bit confused about what was going but listing anyways. As the tiff goes back and forth and Carson starts the fight Jess gives a jump and stands as it continues. Seeing Carson holding his own Jess does nothing but backs up a few steps placing her hand on the phone, than seeing all three men on top of Carson beating the crap out of him Jess steps forward as a strange feeling curns inside of her. She couldnt just stand ther and do nothing she had to do something. Picking the smallest of the three thugs and the one that happens to be the closest. Getting a strength not often seen Jess yanks the thug up and just looks at him squair in the eye for a moment before bringing her own foot up to meet his knee caps and kicks befor swinging her arm around connecting with his face before anyone knows is Jess is not in the middle of the fight.*

*Moving quietly across the floor Misty enters the infermary and slowly walks over to Scott. Just looking at him for a moment Misty reaches down and checks his pulse before moving just a little but still looking at him not knowing if he was awake or not she talks out loud.*

"It's gonna be ok Scott. Just hang in there. We all are here for you and love you."

*Leaning down Misty gives Scott a kiss on the head and runs a hand through his his hair before walking over to her desk and turning the small light on. Pulling out a file Misty studys it and makes a few notes working as quiet as she can.*