A/N: A wild drama-llama appeared!

Mom had sort of broken down and cried in the dining room, and Dad ran through the house calling for Sam. He didn't find her, of course. Sam was gone, and Kaitlin sure as hell didn't know where she was. If she had to guess, Kaitlin figured they were probably someplace a little north. Like, Kaitlin wasn't an expert on the army or anything, but if Lonnie was going to basic training she'd be going out of state, right? Someplace a ways east, and maybe in the South? That'd probably mean she'd be taking a plane there, and the Portland International Airport was probably the hub she'd be flying out of.

If she'd gotten off a bus and used a payphone, it was probably at a stop in a town between here and Portland, then, Kaitlin thought. Sam had written in the last entry of her journal that Lonnie had suggested they "just drive," but somehow Kaitlin doubted they'd made it far past their rendezvous. Between the massive ass storm and them probably being psyched to see each other, she sort of assumed that Sam and Lonnie had sprung for a motel to wait out the storm. Probably to do a couple other things, too…

As Kaitlin sat across the dining room table from Mom and Dad, she checked her watch and saw it was only like ten in the morning. There was a pretty good chance that Sam and Lonnie were still asleep wherever they'd ended up. A Value Inn along the 5, probably. Kaitlin sighed and slumped in her chair, looking back up at her parents.

"Katie, do you know where Sam is?" Mom asked, each word enunciated and given weight. Kaitlin gave a tired shrug and shook her head.

"Nope," she replied, meeting her gaze and maintaining eye contact. Now probably wasn't the time to be obstinate, but she was still freshly angry at Mom and Dad.

"Do you know why she ran away?" Dad asked, his voice a lot more frantic.

"Yup," Kaitlin confirmed, nodding and folding her arms over her chest.

"Dammit, Katie," Mom snapped, dropping her forced calm, "Stop playing games and help us help your sister!" Kaitlin had been planning on just going back and forth one syllable at a time, but she wasn't about to let that stand. Sure, she was the one who was hurting Sam.

"Oh, that's rich," Kaitlin shot back, sitting up a little but keeping her glare fixed on Mom, "I think you've 'helped' her enough!"

"What are you even talking about?" Mom demanded, raising her voice and leaning forward. Ugh. Mom and Dad wanted answers about why Sam was missing? Fine.

"Sam ran away with her girlfriend," Kaitlin declared, an edge to her voice, "She ransacked the house, drove out to pick her up from who knows where, and now they're on the lam because they sure as hell don't feel safe here!" Mom opened her mouth then shut it again, apparently speechless.

"Also, they totally did it in your bed," Kaitlin added, allowing herself a smirk. Mom scoffed.

"Don't be crude!" Dad snapped, brandishing a finger at Kaitlin, "Let's just-" He took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. "Let's just try and focus on finding Sam."

"I don't think Sam wants to be found, though," Kaitlin insisted, "I got the sense she just wants to be on her own."

"Oh, you 'got the sense?!'" Mom demanded, "Did she talk to you before she left? Did you let her leave?!"

"No, I read her friggin' diary!" Kaitlin blurted, "She wrote me a bunch of notes while I was gone, and I read them, and she told me all about everything. Meeting this girl, falling for her, and then you two," she pointed between her parents, "Trying to split them up. And then the last entry was that she was running away with Lonnie."

"Well, did she write about how difficult she's been this past year?" Dad pressed, "Did she write all about how she's been sneaking out, and how she's been cutting class? It's been something new every month! Shoplifting, smoking, 'lesbian.' Don't make it our fault that she's been acting out!"

"'Acting out?!" Kaitlin repeated, incredulous, "You think her being gay is 'acting out?'"

"It's very common for young people to try on different identities," Mom insisted, sounding defensive, "Dr. Medina says that-"

"I don't care what Dr. Medina says!" Kaitlin spat, cutting her mother off, "Sam's gay, end of story. I don't know why she's been shoplifting or smoking or whatever, but those are separate issues. It's not like she fell in love to spite you or something!"

"It's just a silly infatuation," Mom insisted, "It can't be a real relationship." Kaitlin raised her eyebrows, speechless at Mom's complete lack of self-awareness.

"Yeah, well, you're the expert on silly infatuation, aren't you?" she finally snapped, glaring at her mother.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mom demanded.

"You know what it means," Kaitlin replied quietly, holding eye contact until Mom finally broke, looking flustered. Maybe it wasn't fair to bring whatever had been going on with that other ranger into this, but Kaitlin didn't really care at this point. So far as she was concerned, Mom and Dad were in no position to be taking the high ground here.

"I think Sam's gone north," Kaitlin finally sighed, getting up from the table, "She and Lonnie are probably in a motel someplace, being the happiest they've been in months. Just let her do her thing, and she'll come home eventually. Or you could call 411 and ask for every motel from here to Portland, and start calling 'em one at a time." Again, she turned on her heel and started to leave the room.

"Katie, come back here," Dad ordered, and she could hear his chair scooting backward as he stood, "Where do you think you're going?!"

"To bed," Kaitlin declared, pausing for just a moment in the doorway, "I'm jetlagged as all hell, and I'm done." Without waiting for a reply, she turned into the hall and headed for Sam's room.