Self-diagnosis

Axel's eyes narrow slightly as a grin toys with his mouth. "Ah well, you know... convincing or not, rumors are still rumors." He tosses her a wink. "They're never true anyway, are they?"

Taking a step back, he puts a hand on the door. "Thanks for the food, Ryan. I'll probably be down tomorrow. Tell the guys hi."

While not negative in the least, it was still a dismissal as Axel prepared to be alone for the rest of the day. Jess was busy working tonight, so it would be a long day of quiet. But he didn't mind.


"I'm tired of your sloppy work, Jason."

Jason looks down at the paperwork on Reese's desk that he'd just finished earlier. "What? It's no different than normal!" He'd gotten called back in from lunch for this??

"That's my point."

"Well, you've never complained before!"

"I finally reached my limit!" Reese stands up, his temper flaring as it had frequently as of late. "For the past couple weeks, I just don't know what to do with you! You've been moody, sloppy and you haven't cared for deadlines or policy. You used to be my best agent, Jason! What happened to you?!"

Jason's shoulders drop, too surprised to be angry at the moment. "I don't understand."

"Look at you!" Reese waves at him. "You're late to work, you just don't care anymore, and you pushed out another one of my best agents!" He bites his tongue as soon as the words are out, but it's too late.

Jason's eyes widen. "Say that again."

Reese folds his arms. "I don't need to repeat myself."

"You're blaming me for Katie leaving. Is that it? Is that why you've suddenly lowered the boom on me or what??"

"That's part of it."

"That is none of your business!" Jason's temper that had been held back, now surfaced. "What happens between Katie and myself has nothing to do with the Elite, and you have no right to judge me!"

Reese frowns. "I do if it affects what happens here, and it has. Katie is gone for who knows how long, and you've fallen to pieces."

"I have not!"

"You have! You used to be enthusiastic, Jase! You used to be on top of things! You weren't my best agent for nothing. When you went with Con and Austin to Texas for the first time, you were at your prime. You were confident, you were at the top of your game." Reese shook his head. "I know you had a rough time after that, dealing with a lot of things, but you got your head back on straight, and you were even better. You proved how good you were when you turned down the job of taking over the Elite because you didn't feel ready. I've watched you grow... I've watched you learn. And now, over the course of a couple weeks, you've flushed it all down the toilet!"

Jason blinks, his mouth open, not even knowing what to say. It didn't matter. Reese wasn't finished yet.

"You know good and well how you earned your nickname around here. You were a definite hotshot, but you had the skills to back it up. You might have been cocky, but you were the best. I want to see that confidence back, Jason. I don't want the know-it-all attitude but I want that confidence back. You're getting careless, and you're shoving away the people who have helped you get this far. Your personal life may not be my business... you're right. But in pushing Katie away, it has affected your work, and I can't stand by and just let it happen."

Jason sets his hands on his hips. "Great. So what do you want me to do about it? I'm sorry I wanted to go back to being a normal person! I'll start being on time, for pete's sake! But stop bringing Katie into this!"

"I'm bringing her into it, because she's your life! And if she's not, she should be." Reese's stare is firm. "That woman has done more for you than anyone else and you know it. I could tell you just to get back to your job and try harder at shaping up. But I know as well as you do, that it won't be right until she's back here and back in your life again. She's what balanced you out - or have you been so blinded by selfishness that you haven't seen it?"

"I haven't been selfish!" Jason barks. "I separated for her sake! She's always trying to take care of me, and I could never take care of her. How do you think that made me feel, huh? How would you like to be the man whose woman always rescues him instead of the other way around? How would you like it if nothing you could do would help her, and every time your emotions got the best of you, she hurt? I separated for her!"

Reese shakes his head again, his tone lowering slightly. "Have you ever thought that protecting her didn't mean saving her from pain?" He stares Jason in the eye. "Have you ever thought that protecting her and being the man meant giving her what she needs instead of deciding for yourself what she needs?"

After a pause, he lets his hands drop down to his sides. "Look, I've said all I can. I'm upset because you didn't help things with Katie leaving and we've been short-handed. I'm upset with your attitude towards you and her because it's affecting your work. I'm upset that you've been sloppy lately. And I'm upset with your poor attitude. Get your head on straight, Jase. Or you'll be sitting right alongside Gunner."

Jason grits his teeth. He wants to fight more, but he knows it won't do any good. Spinning on his heel, he stalks back to his office, almost running into Susanne on his way.


A faint smile creases Jeff's lips as his eyes slowly close. "Okay," he whispers. "Okay... we'll... get there."

Finally slipping into a degree of sleep, Jeff's grip loosens around Katie's hand. The day had shown such a drastic change. Just that morning he'd seemed to be doing so well... but the strain had simply been too much, setting him back faster than anticipated.

It's several minutes of quiet before Luke steps forward, placing a hand on Katie's shoulder. "We can let him rest now," he prompts quietly. "Let's let him sleep."


Afternoon. Evening. Dusk. Night. Dawn. Morning. Afternoon. The cycle never ends.


Gunner aims for the interrogation room behind Reese, a look of apathy on his face. He'd hope with Jason gone that Reese might lighten up, but unfortunately, he hadn't. And a session with Hope was still on the schedule.

He ambles into the makeshift office shifting his eyes back as the door is closed behind him. Giving a little sigh, he strolls to the chair at the table and sits down casually. "Good to see you again, Hope." He nods, offering a small smile. "Sorry Reese pulled you in for this. Sounds like he's got me down for five sessions with you and by the looks of it, he won't back down."

Leaning back in his chair, he rocks on it a little, his hands tucked partially in his pockets. "I might as well make this easy for you, so you don't have to go through all the questions you've undoubtedly prepared." A very slight grin tweaks the corner of his mouth. "See... when I was eighteen, I was in a car accident. My parents were killed. To this day, I remember nothing of my life before that point. The police caught a guy they thought was the other driver, but I got proof it wasn't him. No one would listen. So, I made it my goal to find him. I've been hunting him for years."

Gunner's eyes focus on Hope's as he lays out the facts about himself. "You might categorize my drive for justice as obsession. Yes, I recognize that I live in the past. I know that I have not yet completely moved on from my parent's death, and I still have trouble dealing with the fact that I lost my memory. Every once in a while I wonder if the accident was my fault. Sometimes this results in depression. When I was twenty, I almost jumped off a bridge."

Though his expression doesn't change, he blinks once. What was that look in his eye? It was already gone. "My job here keeps me busy, it gives me the action I need to make me feel like I'm needed and doing some good, and it gives me an opportunity to continue my hunt. When needing to deal with what's inside, I work, exercise or write my feelings down, avoiding anything resembling a bridge."

He cocks his head, still very casual. "If you wanna know if I've ever cried over my parents, the answer is yes. Have I visited their graves? Yes. Do I have nightmares that haunt me? Yes. Does my depression ever lead to compulsive behavior? If you count binging on rootbeer floats, then yes. Am I screwed up in the head? Pretty much. But maybe that's because of the metal plate up there."

He pauses as if trying to think if he'd left anything out. "Now, we can sit here and play games for an hour and pretend like we're fixing me, or we can go out somewhere that we can actually enjoy ourselves and you can count it as work time. We got five sessions to get through, and I think you'll find I have very few buttons to push, very few things that will trigger reactions, and even fewer things that will ever be fixed. I'll sit here as long as you want me to and I'll answer any question you got. But this chair is extremely uncomfortable, and the one you're in can't be any better." He nods towards the door. "I hear the benches at the park are much nicer."


Jeff's breathing comes shallow and with a slight rasp. He still sweat, hot with fever, and the night had persisted with fits of coughing. He'd been unable to keep anything down, but had balked at the assistance of an iv. At this point, he just wanted this to be over, torn between fighting and just letting go.

Becky had lent a hand, and now mopped his brow with a cold cloth, giving Angel a break. Her heart ached, seeing Jeff like this, so weak and helpless. It was just like when he'd almost died before... but at least then, they had a course of action. And now... it felt like they were just waiting for him to die.

Outside, the gravel crunches under a pickup's tires as it's parked near the main house. The driver gets out and glances around the ranch yard for a moment before heading slowly towards the barn, looking for familiar faces.

Finally entering the cool building, he's greeted by several horses nickering. He nods to a couple people he knows, but keeps going until he spots the one he's looking for, sitting on a hay bale. Approaching slowly, Jay takes his time, finally easing down to sit next to Katie. "Hey, you."