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Once again as Maggie touched his face, Garret's instincts wanted him to recoil. But he didn't. He couldn't. He couldn't break the heart of this girl in front of him with those sorrowful eyes. It was a similar feeling to what he'd experienced when looking down the barrel of his gun at Cassandra. Every man had a breaking point...and he'd found his.

Left with the colored picture, his eyes roamed the page. Some might say it really was childish...but Garret saw her artistic ability, even in this. It was not the coloring job of a child. It was a masterpiece of a young woman trapped inside a world too small for her spirit.

He heard Nate, but kept his back to the three men. He'd go...but only because he'd promised Maggie he would. If it weren't for her, he'd just walk away and force them to take drastic measures.

Reese ran a tired hand over his face and sighed deeply. He glanced at Nate, then held up his hand to stop him, approaching Garret himself first.

Sensing a presence behind him, Garret's reflexes finally broke through. Whipping around, he moved so quickly that Reese didn't even have time to react before he was suddenly in a headlock from behind. Reese's eyes went wide and he took hold of Garret's arm, remembering how Aaron had passed out from the same maneuver. "Garret," he wheezed, "let me go."

Garret's eyes were glaring as he held on to Reese in such a way that the other man simply couldn't free himself. He looked to Nate, then Rick, who, wisely, was not going to interfere. He could choke out Reese right here, then walk away and go his own route. All this...this mess...this chaos...this feeling lost...it would be over.

"Garret..." Reese was running out of breath. "Victoria... Maggie... don't do this." 

Maggie's picture was still in Garret's hand. Was she watching from the house? What if she was? What if she saw Garret take Reese down? What would that do to her? Would she hate him? Be scared of him? And why did he even care? 

Slowly, slowly, he loosened his grip.

As soon as the grip was loose enough, Reese slipped out from his hold. But instead of creating distance, without any warning at all, he spun around to send a swift punch straight to Garret’s mouth.

It was totally unexpected. So much so that it even threw Garret off balance and he stumbled back a step, dropping the picture on the ground. His eyes immediately darkened with a more intense anger as he touched his mouth to find his lip was bleeding.

Reese stepped back into a stance, hands up. “Come on,” he taunted. “You wanna play this game? Let’s go. Come on.”

Garret couldn’t believe Reese would actually challenge him. He was sure he’d sensed fear before, but at the moment, Reese was not only unafraid, he was actually asking for a fight.

Rick tried to intervene. “Reese, what are you-”

“Stay out of this,” Reese barked. He also threw a look at Nate, warning him not to interfere.

That’s all Garret needed. In the split second of Reese’s distraction, he spun around. All Reese saw was a boot, and he was on the ground. Kicked to the head – hard – he was stunned for a moment, wobbling on his hands and knees in the grass.

Garret stood back, hands ready for more. “I’d advise you to stay down,” he warned.

Reese grunted and picked himself up before hurling himself at Garret. All it earned him was an elbow to the face, a knee to the gut, and a swift uppercut that sent him reeling back to the ground. Garret was still standing. Even when Reese tried to kick his feet out from under him, he was fast enough to dodge. “Stay down,” he hissed.

Reese shook his head. “Uh-uh.” Catching his breath, he got up again, and again charged. And again, he was put on the ground. Garret did catch a punch to the ribs, but that was it, compared to all he dished out.

It took all Rick had not to try and break up the fight, and he kept looking at Nate with disgust and irritation for this whole thing. Not to mention, he had a very real fear that Garret would seriously hurt Reese…or worse.

On the ground again, Reese could feel blood running down the side of his face, and his one eye was already swelling. To get up, he grabbed Garret’s leg, trying to pull himself up.

“Do you have a death wish?” Garret snapped, giving him another kick. “You can’t win!”

“I don’t have to,” Reese panted. “I won’t stop.”

“I will kill you!”

“Then so be it. I won’t quit.” Reese finally got himself to his feet again, barely able to stand. “I’m done playing games.” He spit some blood. “Either you kill me, or we go back to the Elite like men and start working together.”

“What?”

“You heard me.” Reese took another swing and was blocked before his arm was wrenched around and twisted behind his back. “Go ahead.” He tried to catch his breath, but it wasn’t easy at this point. “Break it. Break my neck, too. Do it. Be the big man we’re all so scared of.”

Garret yanked him closer and returned to his original headlock position. “You know dang well I could kill you right here,” he growled. “Give it up.”

“I told you I wouldn’t.” Reese hung from Garret’s arm, unable to keep himself upright. “Get it through your thick skull…we’re on the same side now.” He wheezed as he got closer to passing out. “I know you’re tough…you’re bad…you could kill any of us… but… I refuse… I refuse to stop. You’re too important.”

Garret loosened his grip just a little. “What are you talking about?” he asked angrily.

“Stop trying to be a one-man show.” Reese coughed and winced, as his ribs protested. His hands groped at Garret’s arm, but there was no way he could break his grip. “I will…will fight you… I will do whatever it takes…to bring you back.”

“Why?!” Garret gave him a jolt. “Why aren’t you giving up? Why would you rather die here, now, than just walk away?”

“Because you’re worth it.” All of a sudden, Reese was dropped, and he fell to his knees. Turning, he looked up at Garret. “Is that all you got?” He wiped his lip. “I’m not even unconscious yet.”

Garret set his hands on his hips and shook his head. “You are…the dang stubbornnest man I have ever met.”

Reese grinned. “Could be. I know you don’t understand the way we work around here. And I don’t understand the way you work. But if we’re gonna both survive, we’re gonna have to start working on the same page at least.” He eased back to sit, and groaned. Angelica was going to have a heart attack when she saw him, he just knew. Reaching to the side, he picked up Maggie’s picture and held it up to Garret. “I think you dropped this.”

Garret hesitated, then took it from him. His knuckles hurt. His knee hurt a little. But his heart hurt the most. He looked at the picture, then looked back down at Reese. “Some people create beauty…some create war.”

Reese shrugged. “And sometimes beauty can come from war.” He just sat for a few extra moments, finally catching his breath. “Nate?” he called, waving him over. “Two things.” He wiped the side of his face, getting even more blood on his shirt sleeve. “First…help me up. And second, get this guy back to the Elite, and put him in the room next to the infirmary instead of downstairs.” It was still a small room, but at least it was a real bed with a real nightstand and lamp, and a small dresser.

Garret blinked. He’d just beat the tar out of Reese, and he was giving him a better place to sleep? When would this craziness end?