"Thank-you, Constable Kinslow. You may step down now," the judge said, when Trenton's lawyer had finished with his questions, which hadn't been many.

Gabriel nodded and stepped down from the witness chair, purposefully trying not to look at Jack Trenton. He had glanced at the man once during the trial and the man had simply looked smug, as if he was enjoying hearing about the pain he had inflicted on people. Gabriel knew that he didn't want to see that smug face after reliving what could possibly be described as the worst day of his life. Getting shot hadn't been a good day either, but in many ways, that had been easier to deal with.

"How's that pretty red head, Constable?" Jack Trenton taunted as Gabriel walked from the stand. "My one regret is that I didn't have more time with her."

Even as others in the courtroom reacted, among them Jack Trenton's lawyer who had been struggling to keep his client from digging a bigger hole for himself the entire trial, Gabriel remained quiet. Looking straight ahead, with his head up, Gabriel walked past the man.

"That would have got to you knowing it was happening and you couldn't do anything about it, I bet," Trenton continued, despite his lawyer's attempts to quiet his client.

Gabriel kept walking. However, he didn't bother returning to his seat next to Nathan. Instead, even as the judge banged his gavel and called for order in the courtroom, Gabriel headed for the door in the back of the room. He heard footsteps behind him. He didn't have to look back to know that his friend was following him.

Reaching the door, Gabriel pulled it open. Stepping into the corridor, he crossed to the far wall. Resisting the urge to punch the wall, knowing that would just hurt him more than the wall, he instead leaned against it. Placing his right arm against the wall, Gabriel leaned his forehead against it, as he clenched his left hand into a fist.

What he had wanted to do, was not only respond to Jack's taunt but to go after the guy. As the fugitive was in cuffs, even for his trial, Gabriel knew that wouldn't have been a good thing. It would've not only had a negative impact on his career but could have very well affected the outcome of this trial. Leaving the room had been the only thing he could do.

Even now though, Gabriel had to admit he would have felt better, at least momentarily, if he had a least gotten one swing in.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder. Without looking, Gabriel knew that the hand belonged to Nathan.

"He's just trying to mess with you, Gabe?" Nathan said quietly.

"Well, it's working," Gabriel told him. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and he was finding it hard to breathe. Taking a deep breath, Gabriel let it out slowly while concentrating on the reassuring weight of Nathan's hand on his shoulder.

"He can't hurt anyone right now and after that outburst, there is no way his lawyer is talking the judge into leniency. He just admitted his guilt in front of the whole courtroom."

"What about after he serves his time? What if he escapes?"

"We deal with it then. Don't drive yourself crazy with what if's. It's what this guy wants."

Gabriel nodded, knowing that his friend was right. Jack Trenton knew he was doing prison time. At this point, he was simply trying to inflict more emotional hurt on whatever target presented itself. Coming off the stand, he had been too tempting of a target for the fugitive. The man didn't care if it wasn't in his best interests. He had simply seen an opportunity to get a bit of pleasure by causing distress for someone else.

Gabriel was starting to think that Reynold's might have had the right idea. However, he also knew that if he hadn't faced this guy, he would have always been wondering if he would be able to.

"Let's sit down out here," Nathan suggested, breaking through Gabriel's thoughts. "There is no reason for you to go back in there."

Without protest, Gabriel let Nathan lead him over to a nearby bench. Sitting down, Gabriel leaned back against the wall. Closing his eyes, he tried to will the memory of Jack's Trenton's most recent verbal taunts from his mind. Though he felt Nathan's hand come to rest on his arm, his friend remained silent. Gabriel was thankful that, knowing that he needed to sort things out on his own right then. There was something reassuring about knowing that he wasn't alone though.

Gabriel wasn't sure how many minutes had past when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Constable Grant," the newcomer said. "They're ready for your testimony."

"Okay," Nathan replied hesitantly.

Gabriel knew the hesitancy was due to his friend's concern for him. He also knew that he wasn't about to let his friend get in trouble with the court over this. "Go," Gabriel said, opening his eyes as he lifted his head from the wall. "I'll wait here for you," he told his friend, knowing that he couldn't go back into that courtroom. He had done what he had come to High River to do. He had faced Jack Trenton and gave his testimony to what the man had done. Gabriel wasn't about to give the man another opportunity to mess with his head.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm done in there," Nathan said, getting to his feet.

Gabriel nodded. He knew his friend was worried about him. In Nathan's place, he would be worried about him too.

"I'll wait out here until you get back," the other Mountie said, directing the words to Nathan.

Gabriel refrained from stating that it wasn't necessary even as he finally took a good look at the other Mountie. He recognized the officer from earlier in the trial. Constable Joseph Clark had been the second Mountie that had responded to the first burglary attempt in High River.

As Nathan headed back into the courtroom, Clark took his place on the bench next to Gabriel. He sat silently for a minute or two before speaking.

"I feel like I owe you an apology, Kinslow," Clark finally ventured.

"What for?" Gabriel asked, confused by the confession. From what he could recall, he had never crossed paths with Clark before today.

"Because I can't help but wonder if I made the wrong choice in staying at the crime scene rather than going after this guy in the first place. If I had, perhaps I could have saved a lot of people some trouble, you included."

Gabriel shook his head. "You made the choice any of us would have made. Our partner and a civilian had been shot and another civilian was injured. They needed your assistance. Besides, even if you had gone after that guy, you may not have caught him. Or maybe you would have and could have ended up injured yourself, or worse."

"Maybe," Clark said quietly, looking at the wall across the corridor from them.

"I know it's hard not trying to think of what you could have done differently. I spent a lot of time while I was healing going over things. Trying to figure out if I had missed something. The only thing I decided was that given the information I had at the time, I wouldn't have done anything differently. If you really thought about it, I'm sure the same would be true for you."

Clark nodded thoughtfully.

"At least no one died," Clark finally stated. "Though, I was worried about Paul for a while. Even after the doctors said he was out of danger physically, emotionally I knew he was in a bad place. He's doing better, though I hope this trial doesn't cause a set back."

"Nathan and I were planing on stopping by before leaving town. We went through training with Reynolds. Do you think he'd be open to that?"

Clark nodded. "A couple of weeks ago, I'd have said no. Now, I think a visit would be beneficial. Just, don't mention the trial unless he asks about it. It's been a touchy subject."

Gabriel nodded. "Thanks for the advice."

"So what about you, Kinslow? You handling everything okay?"

"Being back to work is helping, but there are times that I struggle. I'm thankful for people to turn to during those times and I've done a lot of praying. I try to concentrate on the positive things that have come out of the incident and I will be thankful when this trial is behind me. I'll feel like I can finally start putting everything behind me then."

"I'm with you there," Clark agreed, before letting a comfortable silence fall over them.

Later that evening, Nathan and Gabriel sat at the Reynolds' dinner table. They had stopped by to see their classmate after the trial recessed for the day and had been invited to stay for dinner. The dinner conversation had started out with catching up with each other's lives. Upon hearing that Nathan was married with two kids and another on the way, Reynolds laughed recalling Nathan's firm proclamation during training that he didn't want a family. Nathan took the ribbing from his old classmate in stride. He even showed Reynolds the picture of Elizabeth and the kids that he kept in his uniform pocket at all times. As Nathan had tucked the picture safely away in his pocket, talk had turned to stories from their training days, which Paul's wife and five year-old-daughter found amusing.

After dinner, Eileen, Paul's wife, took her daughter upstairs to clean her up and get her ready for bed. That left the three Mounties alone. The three men chatted a bit more about old times before Paul turned the conversation to a more serious topic.

"Gabriel, I want to ask you a sensitive question. You don't need to answer it if you don't want to."

"Okay," Gabriel said, encouraging his old classmate to continue.

"When you were shot, did you ever wonder if you would be able to return to doing this job?" Paul asked tentatively, gazing over at Gabriel.

Gabriel took a deep breath and held it for a few moments before exhaling. Everyone had their own opinions about him choosing to return to active duty. His parents had wanted him to quit. His superiors had been hesitant to let him return not only to full duty but to Brookfield. He had a feeling they would have preferred if he had simply taken a desk job in one of the headquarters. Most of his peers had thought he was crazy for not taken the offered desk job. Oh, they hadn't said anything to him, but he had been aware of the talk around him. Nor had he missed the surprise on the faces of most of the citizens of Brookfield when he had returned, even those, like Joe, who were glad to see him back.

Everyone it seemed had an opinion about what he should do, except for Nathan. His friend had simply been there, offering support and listening. Nathan had made it clear that he would support whatever choice he made. Perhaps that was why to this day, Nathan was the only one he had confided in with what had gone through his head while lying in the hospital bed recovering from the gunshot wound.

A hand on his shoulder now reminded Gabe that Nathan was still by his side. A constant source of support, with no judgement.

"I did wonder," Gabriel admitted, looking back at Paul. "Our instructors made sure we went into this job knowing the dangers. However, I think until something actually happens to us or to another officer we're close to, I think we all just assume that nothing will happen to us."

"I know I felt that way quite often. I know Eileen would worry about something happening when I left home, and I'd assure her that nothing would happen to me. Then it did."

"Getting shot definitely makes us face our mortality," Gabriel said. "So, while I did wonder if I could return to this job, I also knew that if I could do the job after I recovered, then I needed to return to it. If I didn't, I would have always been left wondering if I could and I would have felt like the guy who had shot me had won."

Paul nodded.

"As you asked the question, I'm assuming you're asking that question of yourself now," Gabriel ventured.

There was another nod from Paul. "I know active duty is out of the question," he said, not stating what he was sure his classmates had already noticed. The bullet that had entered his left shoulder had left permanent nerve damage in the hand, meaning that he didn't have full mobility of his left hand. While he could still manage most things on his own, the injury would not allow him to receive clearance for field duty for the Mounties. "However, I've been offered a desk job here in High River. I could continue to provide for my family. I'm having difficulty actually accepting the position though. I guess I feel like this job has already caused my family so much pain and also that a desk job wasn't what I joined the Mounties to do."

"You have to make your own choice, Paul," Gabriel told him. "However, there is no shame is accepting a desk job. You would still be providing vital support to the other officers out in the field."

"I feel like a coward. You got shot and returned to active duty and here I am worried about simply accepting a desk job."

Gabriel shook his head. "Our situations are different. Yes, I have a lingering pain from my gunshot wound sometimes, but it doesn't affect my ability to do this job, or any other activities. You are dealing with that. That's a hard adjustment for you and for your family. I had a long recovery after I got shot, but I got the life I had before the injury back. You've had to make adjustments and you're doing that. Right there shows a whole lot of courage."

"Thanks," Paul said, though he didn't sound to convinced. "It's good to hear from someone who has been through this."

"Anytime," Gabriel told him. "You're not alone. You have your family as well as your fellow officers who will help you as long as you let them."

"I think the letting people help might be the challenging part sometimes," Paul admitted.

Gabriel certainly understood that sentiment after the last month or so. "Luckily, those who care about you tend to keep trying no matter how hard we try to push them away," he commented, thinking about everyone that had rallied around him while he had healed from his most recent injuries.

"Even old classmates who keep calling when they're told someone doesn't want to talk," Paul commented, his gaze shifting to Nathan who had remained quiet during the conversation between his fellow Mounties.

Nathan shrugged. "I felt like the conversations were helping your wife even if you weren't receptive to them. Besides, I figured it couldn't hurt for you to know people cared enough to be checking up on you."

"It did," Paul agreed. "If it weren't for Eileen's love and the inquires from you, Clark and the others, I would probably still be holed up in my study feeling sorry for myself. Thanks for stopping by tonight as well. I think this is the most normal life has felt in awhile."

"You're welcome," both Nathan and Gabriel replied as the sound of footsteps on the steps announced the return of Paul's family.