Too much

Rick's eyebrows rise as Trey comments to Misty, bristling at the cockiness in the young man. He keeps his mouth shut though and waits until Trey is gone to speak to Misty. "If you ask me, letting him loose around here is just asking for trouble."

Going to one of the small computer stations, he sits on a stool and begins to process the blood sample. He almost wished he'd find something so they could keep a leash on Trey, but he had a feeling that the bloodwork would come back clean.

While Rick waits, his mind wanders to where he would be tomorrow. He, Ty and Libby would be driving to Las Vegas tonight to check into their hotel. Tomorrow they would go to their appointment at the Irlen test center at St. Catherine's hospital complex. They were scheduled to stay several days, and hopefully within that time, they would be able to find a solution for Ty. Rick just hoped and prayed that it was indeed what was wrong so that Ty would be able to get help - the young man was too intelligent to let this difficulty get in the way of his future.

Still halfway lost in thought, Rick looks back at the computer analysis, scanning the data. They had some new software that was really helping in the area of bloodwork and he knew they'd only tapped in to a small portion of the capabilities. He and Misty were both having fun learning and analyzing data, even on small cases.

Still scanning, Rick furrows his brow. Some of this information... seemed familiar. But that couldn't be - he'd never analyzed Trey's blood before. Maybe just some patters were similar to someone else's. Shrugging it off, he leaves the analysis be, and goes back over to the other computer where he'd been working on Jason's report. Then it dawns on him.

Straightening, Rick stares off at the wall for a moment, the wheels in his mind turning. No... that was a silly notion. He recalls Trey's face, body structure, personality and date of birth. Surely not... that idea was so far out there that he felt crazy for even thinking it. It was impossible.

Returning to his work, the thought continues to nag at his conscience. Sighing, he glances over to the other monitor, then back at the one he was at. It only takes a few minutes for him to glance through some data and come up with enough information to increase the nagging in the back of his mind. This really was crazy though. But... he looks at two printouts in his hands. Stranger things had happened, right?

He looks at the clock. He had to go soon and had no more time to spare, but he'd be thinking about this the entire time he was gone now. Glancing down to the vials on the counter, he picks two up - one was Jason's blood and one was Trey's. Considering his options, he finally takes both vials to Misty's desk.

"Misty... do me a favor while I'm out of town?" He sets the vials down in front of her so she could see whose they were. "Would you run a DNA analysis on these and have the computer run a comparison?" He knew that if at least fifty percent of the data was the same, there would be a lot of unanswered questions. He hoped he was way off base, but there was only one way to find out. It would probably take Misty a couple days, but she should have the results before Rick got back.

Looking her in the eye, he remains serious. "Don't advertise it," he warns. He wanted no one to know about this - one, in case there was nothing and he really was crazy, and two, in case there was a connection between Trey and Jason, which would need some very careful handling.

Rick knew that Misty would realize what he was implying, so he lets it go unsaid. "Call me if you find anything before I get back okay?"


Pete fires off another round at the target, checking to see that he'd hit the bullseye once more. It was a mandatory routine and he had to turn in the paperwork that proved he'd been keeping up with his training, or else Reese would force him to have schooling again.

Checking his ammunition, he sets the gun aside and takes off the earmuffs, prepping to be done for the day. He'd been making himself scarce around the office this past week or so, ensuring he could get out of here on time in the evenings and not have to work late. He didn't used to care... but now that he'd been hanging out with Nikki, there was a reason to have evenings free. Tonight was free though - she was busy, so he didn't mind getting some of this work done before calling it a day.


Wayne quirks one eyebrow at the invite. "Pizza, huh? Well, you know me." He pats his stomach. He wasn't fat, but he certainly wasn't skinny either. He liked to call himself "hefty" though if pressured, he'd admit he was somewhat overweight.

Looking Jackie in the eye for a moment, he knew there was more than one reason he should go, so he nods. He'd never be more than a brother to her, at the most, but that didn't mean he'd leave her high and dry. "Sure, I'll come. My night is free tonight."

As promised, come evening, he was joining Jackie outside Mom and Pop's to walk with her inside where the band already was.

Carson had his hands full tonight, but he didn't mind. He'd convinced Dani and Aerith to stay late and help him - he'd let Thirteen off early already so she could go be with Ryder at the hospital, but with the three of them, it wasn't hard to handle the group that was there. It was more than Kyle's band - JetStream had come too... except for Jason and Katie, and Rocky and Logan had joined in as well. And apparently... Carson looks out from the kitchen... two more had just come that he didn't recognize, but it looked like they belonged with the group.

"Hey, they made it!" Kyle waves Jackie and Wayne over to one of the sets of tables that had been pushed together. "C'mon and have a seat. We were just deciding what kind of pizzas to have."

Some of the others were still on their feet, mingling, chatting and laughing. Theo was chasing Kip around the tables for some reason - it might have been since Kip had swiped Theo's wallet, but no one could quite tell. Logan and Mike were cracking jokes right and left, and someone had already started the first straw wrapper war of the evening.

As Carson is coming back to the table to see if they were ready to order, Kip skirts by in front of Theo, barely missing Carson. Carson skids to a stop, his eyes wide, but he was on his game. Reacting quickly, he grabs Kip around the waist to give him an abrupt stop, then pins both arms behind his back.

Kip wails, having no skills to get out of this one. He'd only met Carson a couple times, so he wasn't quite sure if he was being reprimanded or if Carson was playing along, so he just stands for a moment, feeling dumb.

Carson has a grin on his face though as he pushes Kip back towards the table. Seeing a wallet sticking out of Kip's back pocket, he takes it out and tosses it to Theo. "No pickpockets in my restaurant," he muses.

Kip realizes he's playing along, and he laughs, being directed to an empty chair next to Karla and set down. "Right... I'll remember that."

Carson smiles and shakes his head at the rowdy but not out-of-hand bunch. "Who wants pizza?" he calls loudly.

With all the likable chaos going on, seats are found for Jackie and Wayne, and all the others eventually try to find their own chairs and settle down so they can focus on food. Erik winds up at the end of one table, catty-corner from Jackie, and he offers her a smile, hoping she and Wayne didn't feel too out of place.


Jess' hug comes as a little bit of a surprise - enough so that Axel could feel his wall cracking. As she takes the plates into the kitchen, he barely hears what's for dessert. It really had been a long day, and he was emotionally drained... exhausted. Knowing Jess was here and receiving her kind affection just seemed to increase Axel's inner battle. He wanted to just let it all out, yet he didn't want her to see him like this either.

Rising from the couch, he calls into the kitchen. "I'll be back." He heads down the hall to the bathroom, though the door remains half open. Setting his hands on the counter, he leans over the sink, trying to regain control. But the same tears that had started earlier were back. It was later in the day, he'd seen Quinn again, he was tired... everything combined seemed to make it impossible for him to remain composed.

The first few tears trickle down his face even though he continues to fight. He just needed to breathe... needed to focus. The drain in the sink becomes a blur as his shoulders shake and he silently cries. There was just so much wrapped up in this whole thing... he'd held back these emotions for years, simply battling through, pushing it to the side and trying to forget. And today... today it had finally been too much.