No Nothing

Zach looks back towards the door and grins. "I don't know... sleepy or not, they do look a little scary."

Still smiling, he glances at his watch. "Three o'clock, huh? How about I leave now, then meet you at the Around the Clock coffee shop after you get off work? I haven't been there, but I hear it's good."


Reese plays with his food for a moment before finally taking another bite of chicken. He nods at Angelica. "Yeah, there was a bunch of paperwork once we went public. Brown wanted to just have us be our own independent organization, but the judge was against it. The stuff I signed was ultimately handing over authority to the board with the understanding that they would allow me to be the Elite chief and run things according to what I believed or wanted - of course, all that, within reasonable limits. There were loopholes in the contracts, I'll admit. I've got copies. It's things just like that "reasonable limits" and words such as "mostly" and "primarily" that technically give me more free rein than they'd like."

He takes a sip of water before leaving his food be again. "We don't have an official agreement as to how much information I give them - they've simply been asking for it and basically if they don't get it, they could take the evidence before the judge system and have us shut down or placed under a more strict ruling. I've been giving them all they want so we can avoid a mess. Along with all that, they've been asking a lot more of the Elite as far as little tasks go - things the police should be taking care of, or small cases that should be left to their own detectives. Part of it is that they're overworked and I understand that. But when we're out chasing down all these small-time crooks, we're losing sight of the Agency and, now, the Underground. We don't have the manpower for both. But there again, I have the ability to say no, but if I do, they could start investigating us, and, again, could go to the judge."

Leaning back in his chair, Reese shakes his head. "I know I should be talking to my agents, but there's just so much that could go wrong right now, I've held my tongue. I miss the days of handing off a case and saying, 'here, run with it,' and trusting the outcome. Now, since I'm asked for reports, I gotta be involved in everything and can't simply trust my own men to do their jobs. It's all under scrutiny. To top it all off, I think some of the board members would actually like to see us shut down, so they're just waiting to find something to pounce on."

He shrugs. "I do have Brown on my side, and he's spoken up for us a time or two, but he's got his own neck to look out for too, and I don't like putting him in that position. It's all kind of like what we've done with Alec. We used to be able to do things like that on our own. Now, if he'd go bad on us again, we'd never get away with bringing in our own guys again - they'd go straight to the police station after being arrested and evidence would slip through our fingers. So we're stuck, hoping that Alec won't be stupid because it could ruin a lot of things for us. Yet I wouldn't want to change it because I do firmly believe in the rehabilitation of Agency members."

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Reese gives Angelica a sorry kind of smile. "Sorry I'm just spouting off, but I really don't know what to do. If we could pull off keeping some of our cases separate from those that we report... we could basically run partly under our own rules and partly under the eyes of the board. However - that would take an awful lot of work, more manpower, and everyone's willingness to play two parts. We would need a different system of security levels that the board knew about, so agents, if asked directly by the police, FBI or board member themselves, that they weren't authorized to share the information with a lower clearance level. See what I mean? It's not just a matter of saying okay, we're gonna send two men to hunt down the agency and cover it up so the board doesn't know - it's going to take a major overhaul of the way things are run. We would need a front that the board and public saw, while behind it all, we'd be doing the work we used to that no one else would know about."

He sighs. "I'm the chief... the leader... I need my ducks in a row before sharing this with any of my agents. I don't want it to be a meeting - a free-for-all... I want to be able to tell them with confidence what the plan is. Otherwise it could be chaos. And yet... is this really the path we need to take? Or do we just need to settle down and do what we can while abiding by the board's rules? I really don't know."


"I'll be fine... really."

"I know, but I just... I worry."

"Well stop it. There's nothing to worry about."

Cindy sighs and reaches down to run her fingers through Jason's hair as he lies on the infirmary bed. It had been several days since he'd been awake. His color was returning, he'd been up and walking around, showered and dressed himself. But that didn't mean she wouldn't still worry about him. "Okay. I do need to get back to Kaylee - she's probably being a holy terror by now."

Jason grins. "Probably."

"Alright, well... call me sometime, okay?"

"Will do. Safe trip."

Cindy bends to kiss his forehead. "Goodbye." Turning, she tells Rick goodbye, then Katie as well. Stepping out into the hall, her eyes drift to the stairs that went to the lower level. She had forced herself not to see Trey since meeting him, and all the time it had been pure torture. But he knew she'd been there and he hadn't made a move, so she knew there was no point in pushing it.

"One day."

Cindy jumps and turns quickly. Her gaze meets Derek's. He knew what she'd been thinking. "I have my doubts."

"Hang in there."

"You never did meet him, did you?"

"No... not yet." Derek's eyes prove the disappointment he felt, knowing that if he were to even try approaching his son, it could just cause trouble. He'd avoided it for Cindy's sake. "Someday... someday when he's ready."

Cindy nods. "Goodbye, Derek. It was... good to see you."

He smiles and pats her shoulder. "Ditto. Take care of yourself."

"Oh, I will... I will."

Only after she was gone does Derek now take his turn at glancing to the stairway. He'd watched Trey on one of the cameras a time or two and longed to meet him face-to-face. But something told him it simply wasn't time...yet. For now, he had one son, who, thankfully, was on speaking terms with him. And it was Jason that he needed to bid farewell to, and take his turn going back home with Liz.


It had been a week. Not signs. No calls. No nothing. Dylan's absence from the ranch didn't disrupt much of the daily routines, but there were plenty of people who were worried about him, even if they didn't say so. Most avoided the topic so as not to upset Mick, who had extremely quiet since his son's departure. He'd even handed off the riding lessons to Jeff for that week, preferring to take Remington out on a ride, or even staying inside and doing paperwork - certainly not like him, but no one questioned him about it...

...The dining room was rather quiet as most people had finished lunch and dispersed for the afternoon. A few people hung around to chat for a while though, while some of the women cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen.

Eric hadn't shown up for lunch - he'd been a bit distant this past week or so with a lot on his mind. Now though, he comes quietly in through the back door and glances around the room. Spotting who he was looking for, he wanders up to the table quietly.

He was aware that Ashlee had been grounded for a few days after the little incident with Dylan. But he was also aware now that she was free to do what she wanted again - as much as her ankle would allow anyway. He missed seeing the girl's perky smile. She hadn't seemed very happy lately. Not that Eric could blame her, but he had to admit he did miss his little helper in the barn. And whether he realized it or not, he wanted to see her happy again.

Coming up behind her, he pulls out a chair next to her, straddling it backwards and tipping his hat back on his head. "Hey, partner." He gives her a wink. "I was just looking for somebody to help me sort through some tack in the tack room. Ain't the most interesting job and don't pay very well but... I was wondering if you'd be interested."