Trash

"Hey Reese?" Jason held down the button on his phone. 

"Yes?" 

"Um... I was just wondering if Katie was on any cases or anything?" It had been several days and Jason had not seen or heard anything from Katie at all. No calls, no texts, not even seeing her car, let alone her face. And although he'd resigned himself to not trying to talk to her, it still hurt. Not seeing her at work though was strange, and he just wanted to know what was going on for no other reason than to be aware. 

"No, she's not." Reese pauses. "She's on a leave of absence." 

Jason was a bit surprised. "What? For how long?" 

"I'm not sure. She's at the ranch in Texas if we need to get a hold of her for a case, but I'm not planning on using her until she returns." 

 "Oh." Why did it hurt that he didn't know? It shouldn't. She wasn't obligated to tell him anything anymore. All ties were broken. She'd gone her way, he'd gone his, and that was that. He shouldn't care where she was. Although it was a tad annoying knowing that his own haven was in Texas too, and if he didn't want to see her, he couldn't go. 

"Anything else?" 

Jason jumps. "No... no, that's all thanks." He shuts off the intercom and sighs, looking down in his hand again. "Friendship is what binds us."  He runs his fingers over the faded lettering. It seemed like ages ago that Katie had given him this leather wallet. He'd used it so much that he could barely read it anymore. He'd bought a new wallet a while back to preserve what he could of this special one, not wanting to wear it out entirely. Instead, he had kept it in his desk, along with a few other keepsakes. The words had meant a lot to him - while he and Katie had been just friends or dating - it had always applied.

Now though... now those words meant nothing. They felt fake. They felt like a temporary phrase to be used until one of them decided to betray the other. And all they did was stir up bitterness.

Putting the wallet back in the drawer, Jason fishes his keys out of his pocket. The leather keychain still hung between the keys. Hotshot. Another gift on the same day. Katie had tried so hard. She'd been so thoughtful. Now, the lettering was almost entirely gone. He'd kept it on his main keyring all this time, thinking of Katie every time he'd seen it.

Now though... now he felt very far from being a Hotshot, let alone being called that by Katie. Her turning her back on him was as good as a slap in the face. He wasn't anybody's hotshot now. Maybe it was just as well. Maybe it was better if they weren't together. Without their connection, they had nothing anyway.

Removing the keychain from his other keys for the first time, he tosses it into the drawer too. Pulling his everyday wallet from his pocket, he flips through the few little pictures he had. One was of his mom, Wes and Kaylee. That one stayed. One was of Jetstream. That one stayed too. Then there were several of Katie or him and Katie together. Jason fingers them for several moments, running his thumb over the smiling faces. These were good memories.

Now though... now those good memories just brought pain. The photos were of what was and never could be again. And as such, they were only torture. The Katie in those photos was not the Katie he knew today. That Katie would have given him a chance. She would have respected him. She would have never just sat idly by while he was humiliated. But obviously, the old Katie was gone.

Pulling them out of his wallet, they join the wastebasket. And just so he didn't change his mind, he stands and picks up the half-full bag of trash. Tying it shut, he heads into the hallway and makes his way to one of the main trash bins to throw it away.

Rick approaches Misty quietly in the infirmary. He hadn't seen her yet today, but he was keeping his promise now after their brief discussion yesterday evening. And as requested, he'd spoken to no one else about it. Coming up behind her, he sets a hand on her shoulder. "Good morning," he greets warmly. 

Smiling down at her, he gives her a little nod. "I got the test results..." His eyes twinkle. "Congratulations, Misty. You're gonna have a baby."

Hunter flips open his phone and reads Katie's first message. He was glad she was going to get the time off she wanted. A little sad to see her go for who knows how long, but it was what she'd wanted. 

About to pocket his phone again, the second text comes and he gives the screen a wry grin. Pulling his glove off with his teeth, he types in a response. 

Dont worry about me. I never get in trouble.

Putting his phone away and pulling his glove back on, he flips the visor on his helmet shut and leans over his motorcycle, revving the engine. Looking over to the right where one of his rowdy buddies was on his own bike, he nods. Both bikes take off, squealing and burning rubber as their riders race towards the other end of town - shooting through main street traffic.

Eric grins, feeling a little less embarrassed as long as Stacy had understood what he really meant. The topic of dating though was still unsettled and he couldn't quite tell what he was supposed to do with it. He thought it sounded like Stacy would like to try dating, but was he reading her correctly? 

"Well, I... I mean, I think it would be..." His voice trails off as he comes to an abrupt halt in their walk. His eyes pierce the darkness as rustling sounds, like footsteps, could be heard in the underbrush of the trees around the back perimeter.

Without even thinking, Eric instinctively places himself in front of Stacy before he realizes it. Frowning, he looks over his shoulder at her. "What am I doing?" he whispers hoarsely. "You're the security guard." Stepping aside again, he nods to the bushes. "You hear that?"