Rain

Jason quirks an eyebrow before laughing, giving Misty's shin a light kick back. "Uncle Jason, huh? I don't know why, but that makes me feel old for some reason." He grins. "We're definitely teaching that kid to call me Uncle Jase. It sounds cooler."

Taking another bite of his sub, he nods as he chews. "Ya know... Mercury Hardware - where Phil works - they've got a home section with all sorts of decorating ideas. Paints of all colors, and they've got this book of samples for different kinds of rooms. I bet they've got some cool ideas for baby rooms." He shrugs. "Something to spark your own ideas maybe." 

"Well Angel can just have a fit and fall in it then." Jeff wasn't snapping at Katie in the least - he was more perturbed with Angel herself than his daughter. "She needs to learn to relax more and quit worrying so much." 

Keeping a steady hand on Hawk to maintain a slower pace, Jeff scans the area. "I don't know... How about we ride up the trail to the foothills? That'll give us time to work up an appetite."

Sitting at his computer at home, Scott's fingers over above his computer's keyboard. He'd had a good day today. He'd worked longer than planned, though nothing had been high-pressure. It had felt good to be back to the Elite again, and Dalton was being very considerate of his new needs, as was everyone else. It had proven to Scott that he'd made the right decision - that going back to work was something he needed to do. He knew he'd have his bad days for sure, but as long as he continued walking forward, it was going to be okay. And he was more confidant in that than he had been in a very long time. A conversation with Reese also confirmed that his knowledge and skills were still needed - that he could help fight the Agency in new ways, using the things he now knew. It wouldn't be easy, but it was something Scott could do to contribute in spite of what had happened to him.

Opening a new email message, he enters the addresses of most all of the people at TJY, including his sister and Hope and Dalton, and even Justin. The subject line read: Back to Work.

To those who have traveled the last couple years with me, whether by my side or from a distance through prayer,

Looking back on my journey, I find things that I would change if I had the chance to go back in time. While a change in my circumstances would have eased the way, it is not that about which I have regrets. Rather, the regrets lie in and around my attitudes and actions towards the people for whom I care the most.

I wish I would have had more courage - not to face my trials, but rather to stand up and tell the ones I loved that I did love them. I wish I would have been stronger - not to overcome my own demons, but to accept the love and care shown to me by others. I wish I would have been more understanding - not of my own circumstances, but of what others were going through right alongside me as they waged war on my behalf.

I am learning to accept the fact that I am no longer the same man who was captured by the Agency. I am learning to not try and live in a world that no longer exists, but rather find peace in that which I have been dealt. The past has shaped me into the man I have become, and I can no longer fight it, but I find the need to work with it, through it, and use it to my advantage. I am a marked man, wanted by the Agency. I am an officer of the Elite, now with skills and information that should no longer be kept to myself.

In recklessness, I abandoned the things that meant the most to me. I denied myself the comfort offered by others. I left behind what I loved. Failing at the attempt to destroy the past, I now begin to pick up the pieces left by my own destruction, and I begin to embrace the old and the new as one. My eyes have been opened to now see that it was never about me. It was about war. It was about God's grace. It was about love. It was about growth.

No longer will I be held by the chains of a fearful past. I am free - free to embrace and use that very past to create good, as a vengeful act against that which started this war. For to give up the battle is to surrender to evil and that I can no longer do. The edge of the cliff came all too close, but I have pulled away and faced that which will make me stronger and prepare me for the future. There will be good days. There will be bad days. But I will not surrender.

I am Scott Johnson. And I am learning to walk in the rain.