Compromise

Jade's mind stops as Dan whispers. Lifting her head a little, she turns her face to his, only inches away. His eyes were so soft... so full. She felt like she could just fall right into them and never look back.

"That was... a nice thing to say." A grateful smile barely creases her mouth. "Thank you."


Eli takes Leo's other side, and together with his sister, get him to his feet. Leo holds in a groan of pain, and his knees buckle at first, but after a couple steps, he's able to help support his own weight on the way back to the car. Miles takes the backseat again, helping Leo partially lay down for the ride to Ryan's. Eli wastes no time in getting out of there and back into town.

Once they arrive at Ryan's, Eli and Miles follow to the front door, with Leo between them. Getting him inside, Eli directs Ryan to get a kitchen chair and put it by the sink. Easing Leo down into the chair, he goes for a towel, wetting it with cool water. "Your face looks like hamburger," he muses.

Leo keeps his bruised eyes closed, managing a wry grin. "I'll take that... as... as a compliment."

Miles stands back skeptically. "You sure we don't need to take him to the hospital?"

Eli doesn't answer right away, but hands the towel to Ryan. "Start cleaning the dirt from around his cuts and get all that blood off of him. I'll go get some bandages and some bedodine ." He's back in less than a minute, looking Leo over while Ryan cleans. "Any broken bones?"

Leo winces as a cut on his face meets the abrasive towel. "Mm-mm... I don't think so."

Eli pulls up Leo's shirt and feels around his ribs.

Leo cries out and jumps. "Would you-"

"I don't think your ribs are broken," Eli surmises. "But you've got some pretty deep bruising there."

"I feel like I got run over by a truck," Leo mumbles.

"A truck?" Miles cocks his head. "Or something meaner?"

Leo clamps his mouth shut, holding his breath as Eli and Ryan's pressure to his cuts and bruises hurt like mad.

Eli forces him to open one of his eyes, making sure it was just bruising and nothing worse. "You confronted Roth, didn't you?"

Leo swallows hard. He didn't look at Ryan. "Nobody else was."

Miles sighs. "That was real smart, Leo... real smart."

"Well I-" Leo stops, having opened his mouth too wide, making his whole face hurt, and making his lip bleed again. He pauses, just letting the other two continue to clean him up. "He deserved it... after.... what he did."

Eli looks across at Ryan, the look on his face saying, He still cares. "Here." He hands her a softer cloth and some bedodine. "Make sure you get all his cuts, and put some of this on his knuckles too." Letting her take over with that, he wraps some ice cubes in a towel and places them over Leo's worse eye. "Can you hold that here, Leo?"

Leo reaches up with a sore hand to hold the icepack in place, feeling a bit useless, but forgetting about his pride for now. He was too tired to fight the help.


Gunner gives Bree a bit of a sheepish grin. He felt stupid for feeling awkward at all. This was Bree... his friend.

Wandering forward, he accepts the middle position on the couch, easing down but not spreading out, for fear of getting in either Bree's way or JT's.

"Movie!" JT votes. He looks to Gunner. "Apparently Bree is neutral, but everyone in this house gets a say, so what say you?"

Gunner's eyebrows rise. "Um... movie is good. As long as it isn't a sappy romance."

JT grins. "Naw, that's reserved for Sunday nights. Right, Bree?" He wasn't ashamed to admit he could enjoy a chick flick with his niece, and any time she wound up at his place on a Sunday night, that was the kind of movie they watched. Sometimes he ended up falling asleep, but he liked letting her enjoy whatever movie she wanted, even if it was a sappy one.

Gunner chuckles. "You two get along well, don't you?"

JT moves to the shelf beside the tv to scan the movies. Looking over his shoulder at Bree, another smile surfaces. "Yeah, we do." Glancing back to the movies, he finally settles on a good drama/action flick. Once it's going, he flops down on the couch by Gunner, says a quick prayer for the meal, and they can dig in.

By the time the movie is halfway over, JT has moved to his easy chair, while Gunner has curled up in the corner of the couch behind Bree, a little drowsy, but not enough to fall asleep.


Mick closes his eyes and lets Rosetta close, leaning his head down on hers. Slipping an arm around her, he kisses her head and just sighs. He knew they would be okay... this was just another bump along the way... but it never made it easier.

Withdrawing a little, his gaze is down, but he nods. "I know you're with me... and... and I need that." Right now, he had a goal, and that goal was to help find Dylan. But without that, he would have already crashed a second time. "I won't ever hurt you or BJ. I know I snapped at you both, and I'm so sorry about that... I don't even remember what all I said, but it probably wasn't nice. I just..."

Unexpected tears spring into his eyes, and he has to stop and clear his throat to compose himself. He knew he had a problem, and it was hard to admit, especially after he'd been doing so well for so long. He'd fallen off the wagon and he knew it. "I just want to get through this one thing at a time. Right now, it's Dylan and I'll deal with the other later. I got mad at you and thought I knew what I was doing, but I was upset enough that I wasn't even thinking straight."

Sitting a little straighter, the shift in conversation helps him maintain control as he keeps Rosetta's hands in his. "When I got to the airport, I couldn't get on the plane... not knowing you were back here as upset as you were. Wrong or right, it didn't matter to me... I just couldn't leave you like that. So... I started making phone calls. I canceled my Elite flight and I called Reese. We talked and made a bunch of plans, and tomorrow, he's getting his team together to start where Dylan was last seen. I'm still going to be involved though, and I hope you're okay with that. I... didn't come home alone."

He pauses, pursing his lips. "Scott flew down. He's going to set up a little work station here so I can see and hear what's going on. So I'll be here but... with them at the same time. That way I can still be here for you and BJ but... I can help with Dylan too." He searches her eyes with hope. "Will that work?"