Cut

Jason was glad Katie returned his hug. At least she hadn't refused and...maybe later he'd dwell on the fact that right or wrong, good or bad, it sure felt nice to have her in his arms again, even if only for a couple seconds. In that couple seconds, he was reminded of all the good times...all the times he'd held her. All the times he'd never wanted to let her go. But he had. More than once. And had paid for it.

As she stepped back, he rolled his eyes about Rick. "Yeah, you're prolly right. As far as going anywhere today, I have a feeling I'm going to be staying put. So you won't have to worry about that." He smirked a little, then finally turned to continue limping towards Reese's office. "Trooper's in my office," he mentioned over his shoulder. "If you wanted to go say hi."


Hearing Maggie's urgent voice, Garret looked up quickly. What on earth was going on? Without much choice as she took his hand to pull him along, he stepped off the porch and followed behind her until they'd come to the little shoe box. 

Bewilderment was plastered on his face. A box. A homemade nest. And a baby bird that appeared to be...dead? He wouldn't have guessed Maggie to be the sadistic type, but the scene made him wonder. Only for a moment though, as with her explanation it all started making more sense. But her question sent his mind reeling.

Looking down at her, he couldn't believe her request. There were some situations in which she appeared to be so mature and intelligent. And in the next instant, she was but a child with a child's understanding of the world. And in this case, that understanding had a very cruel outcome. He swallowed hard. Wasn't this something Nate should handle? He didn't know what to do. What should he say? And why couldn't he just tell her the way it was? Why did he care about those sorrowful eyes looking back up at him? Why did they make his heart feel like this? 

"I...can't," he answered softly. "When something dies, it..." Death. Such a final thing. How many lives had he, himself, ended without a second thought? This was just a bird. But it represented so much more. Life and death were never important to him. But to Maggie...this insignificant death was destroying her whole world. 

Taking a knee in front of her and keeping her hand in his, he looked up at her. Nate should be doing this, not him. But he was stuck. "When something dies, it doesn't come back," he explained as gently as he could without having had any practice. "There is no making it better. It's just...over." He glanced down at the bird, then back up at Maggie. "The only thing you can do is bury it and always remember it." 


All Lane could do was nod at his sister. He knew she'd take good care of Travis. He just wished he could be involved to help. Though Travis was at least speaking with him, it hurt that he wouldn't let him help. 

Travis nodded to Angel. "Okay. I'm good to go."

...It took a little more than an hour and a half, but driving through town, Travis directed Angel through the streets until coming into a very wealthy area. Trees, iron fences and sprawling estates. Most people would do anything to live in a place like this, but Travis never had been impressed.

"Right up here." He pointed to the next estate. The gate was open today - one less thing to worry about. The driveway was long and curved around to a very large brick house with a well-manicured lawn and hedges. The back was out of sight, but it held two flower gardens and a big in-ground swimming pool.

"Just park anywhere here," Travis directed. As they stopped, he looked up to the front door and sighed. "Um..." He glanced at Angel. "How about I go in first and just...tell Mom what's going on first. Then I'll start throwing things together and once I need your help bringing stuff out, I'll come get you." The last thing he wanted was a confrontation, and he wouldn't put anything past his mother. He didn't wait for a response - this was just the way it was going to be. After sliding from the truck, he went up to the house and tried the door, which was open, and slipped inside.

It wasn't nearly as long as it felt it should have been before the front door opened again. Fifteen minutes? Maybe twenty, tops. Travis came out with a single duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. His stride was deliberate and fast until he got to the pickup and slid inside after throwing his bag in the back. He wouldn't look at Angel. "Let's go," he requested hoarsely. The atmosphere around him was so tense that it was almost visible. "I'm done."

He had nothing more than the one bag, and a very red mark on the side of his face, about the size of someone's hand, surrounding a fresh cut.