Runaway

Jim watches Sparky and Faith leave, and once he's alone with Annie, he gestures for her to take a seat. Sighing deeply, he tries to figure out what words to choose. But he knew better than to beat around the bush with Annie too. "Mick's back at the McClain Ranch."

He looks at Annie's eyes, his grim expression proof that he wasn't kidding. "A while back, Jade showed up here... I think she's had some trouble at home, and last I knew, she was going to try and stay here instead of going off to the school that her mother and grandmother wanted. Mick was okay at that point, but then Jade got a call that Dylan had gone missing. Jill wanted Mick out of it, but when he found out, he flipped."

Jim shrugs lamely. "He got upset when neither Jill nor the police would let him be involved - he believed the Agency was the culprit for the whole thing, and... so... he hit the bottle. Came home drunk - I wasn't involved, but I guess Sparky found him, brought him home and the thanks he got was a punch in the mouth. After that, Mick seemed to get a handle on himself, though he started trying to juggle stuff here, his wanting to find Dylan and then on top of all that, Jade's got herself one of the newer farm hands here and Mick doesn't approve. Add all that up and... kaplooy."

Leaning back in the chair, Jim tries to sort it all out without drawing it out. The Elite wound up finding Dylan doped up with a couple other druggies - looked like he'd simply run off and hadn't been abducted by the Agency or anything. Mick found out and had the team take him to the McClain's. At the same time, apparently he admitted to Rosetta that after his one binge, alcohol had taken hold again. It all happened in about a week's time, but surprisingly, that's all it took for him to admit he needed help. So... all that to conclude with Dylan and Mick are both at the McClain Ranch. Dylan for drugs, Mick for alcohol. They've been there about a week and a half now. We've gotten a couple calls from Brenda, who has given Rosetta some encouragement that Mick is doing well. Dylan is coming down off the drugs and it sounds like the worst might be over, but he's got an attitude problem still. And here...."

He takes another deep breath. "Jade's still here for now. She and Dan are an item - I don't know if it'll last after Mick gets back, but we'll see. And Rosetta... is hanging in there. Becky and I took care of BJ for a while, but he's back with Rosetta now."

Thinking a moment, Jim glances to the window. "And I gotta tell you... I give credit to one man for holding everything together around here, and that's Sparky. He's helped Rosetta out a ton, he's taken charge of areas Mick was maintaining and he's been managing the barn and all the work. Some of that Rosetta would normally pick up, but Sparky hasn't wanted to burden her any more than necessary so he's really bent over backwards to keep things running. Hence my comment about it having been a rough couple weeks. He's been handling it okay, but his mind has been wandering a bit. And that... is that."

He stops, then thinks of something else. "Oh yeah... and I don't know if you got word that Wes is being deployed in a few weeks. He's been called back in for duty." A wry grin escapes. "When it rains, it pours. But we've had our good, too. Clint and Wendy have pulled through and are doing really well handling their new family. BJ's shooting up like a weed. Just been a lot to handle lately."


Sparky walks outside with Faith and chuckles. "If you stick around long enough, don't worry, you'll be put to work. But we're not slave-drivers. Tonight you're a guest of Annie so you can relax."

Approaching the barn, a ruckus can be heard down one end, and suddenly Remington appears with a broken rope hanging from his halter. Bolting through the barn, his goal is the outdoors, no matter what was in his way.

Seeing the powerful horse coming towards them, Sparky doesn't think before acting. Taking Faith by the arms, he spins her around and pushes her out of harm's way before whirling back around just as Remington passes. Reflexes kick in and Sparky aims for the flying rope. Planting his heels, there's no way he can outpower the horse, but he gives just enough of a jerk for Remington's head to snap back. The horse skids to a stop, snorting and breathing heavily.

Sparky glares at the animal before looking down at the rope burn on his palm. "I will be so glad when your master is home," he growls.

Remington shakes his head and perks his ears forward as if he were as innocent as anything.

"Yeah, sure... like you didn't do anything wrong. What do you think this is?" Sparky holds up the frayed end of the rope. "I take it it broke itself."

Remington snorts again and ambles a step closer to Sparky, putting his head down to but his arm. Sparky smirks and shakes his head. "Ya big brute. Look what you did to my hand." Sighing, he coils up the rope, looking into the barn. "Whoever lost their horse, get out here and take care of him!"

One of the hands comes jogging out with an apology before retrieving the horse and leading him back inside. Sparky shakes his head, then remembers Faith. Turning back around, his eyes are a little wide. "Sorry about that. You okay?"


"Me?" Jeff laughs at Katie's question. "You're the one who's been asleep for a week and a half, not me. I think you need to worry about how you are instead."

He smiles and squeezes her hand. "I'm better now that you're awake. You gotta cut out scaring your dad like this."


"Eggnog..." Gage thinks then shakes his head. "Some of the guys used to get it but they'd spike it with who knows what. They never offered me any so I never drank any."

He looks to the kitchen with curiosity. "If you say it's good though... I'm willing to try it."