AN: Thanks for your patience...travel and extra hours at work kept me busy. This story is winding down, but there are still 3 chapters to go. Maybe an epilogue also if inspiration strikes.

Ch 12

Vic woke up with a killer headache from the beer she drank last night. It turned out that Sean had beaten her to the punch and gave her divorce papers he had drawn up. They didn't have much, since the house belonged to the company. He had provided for an alimony payment higher than what she would've asked for so she fought with him for a while before conceding in return for an additional lump sum if she would keep quiet about the gambling problem he had. He was already scheduled to go to Australia in two weeks, which meant she had to vacate the house in 90 days. A final concession was him agreeing to stay elsewhere until he left. He already had most of his stuff out and grabbed the rest when he waited for her to come home. All in all, it wasn't as bad as she thought it might be, but it still sucked.

And because it sucked, she drank. A case. Single handedly because no one needed to see her wallow in self pity. Flexing her hand, she noticed the pain was mostly gone and since it was her weekend off she should be good to go by Monday morning. She got up to get some aspirin and water, then laid on the couch so the pounding would stop. It didn't for a long time, then she finally felt the headache start to ease up.

Now that the issue of Sean had been resolved, as well as her headache, it was time to move on to what the possibilities were for her and Walt. She knows what kind of man he is, but she doesn't know if she can be the kind of woman he deserves. Every relationship she's had ended up in a disaster. She had a string of one night stands, a couple of friends with benefits that wanted more when she didn't, a married supervisor and the rebound to a loveless marriage with Sean.

She sat up and put her head in her hands. She didn't think she could do this. Subject him to her mania, her bad decisions and her immaturity. She had to get away to clear her head. Maybe she should go for a drive. Decision made, she pulled on some clothes, shoes, her jacket and grabbed her keys and shades off the counter. She went to the front door, pulled it open and ran straight into a wall…or rather a Walt.

"Shit!"

Walt's hands wrapped around her forearms and steadied her.

"Where's the fire?"

She breathed in his scent and all the instinct to flee left her. He doesn't need her shit, but she couldn't resist the pull she felt toward him when in his presence. She grabbed on to Walt and held on to him.

"Vic?"

She let herself be led back in the house and racked her brain trying to figure out how to explain all this without hurting him.

"Grab your go bag."

It seemed an odd request, but she went along with it. She brought it out of her room and dropped it on the floor by the door.

"Need anything else?"

"No, I'm good. I put a uniform in the bag just in case."

"Good."

They loaded up the Bronco and he started down the road. He seemed lost in thought and hadn't ever said why he was on her doorstep when Sean was supposed to have been home. Then she literally ran into his arms trying to get away from things. Now he's driving, but where exactly?

"Where are we going, Walt?"

"To my place to get something, then someplace where we can have a conversation without being interrupted. Ok?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The Bronco slid to a stop on the side of the road. She could feel his eyes on her, before he got out of the truck and opened her door.

"Of course you do. Say the word and I'll take you home. I just thought since you looked like you were running away, I knew a place you might like to go."

His words stalled. She could tell he was at a loss. Her heart ached for him, but she had no idea what to say. Before she said anything, he said a single word.

"Ok."

He closed the door and walked back over to the driver's side. He paused for a moment, took a breath, then climbed into the truck. Despite the road noise, the silence from his side of the truck deafening. She sensed no anger or tension from him, but there was definitely a weight to the silence. And just like that, they were back at her house. He was already out of the truck with her bag, placing it on the front porch. He took his hat off and looked at her.

"I uh. I'm sorry."

With one last look, he smoothed the hair on the back of his head, donned his hat and climbed back in the truck, engine still running. He pulled out of the drive, pointed the truck in the opposite direction and left in no particular hurry.

"What the hell just happened?"

Sitting on the front porch, she ran over the past few minutes in her mind. The look on his face when she asked him if she had a choice. He seemed genuinely upset by that remark and yet she didn't really mean anything by it. It seemed to knock the wind out of his sails. He came here with a plan and left defeated. And she didn't do anything to stop him, too dumbfounded at the whole situation. She was now in a make it or break it scenario with him. Either she can track him down and try to salvage this thing between them before it dies, having never been started. Or she can leave well enough alone and just move on to another town and another job, marking another tic in the failure column of her life.

She saw that nearly an hour had passed since he left her. The sun was getting lower in the sky, a symbol of time running out. Deciding to fight for him and for them, consequences be damned, she hoped she wasn't too late. Mind made up, she threw her bag in the back, jumped in her truck and made her way to his cabin. She took a slight detour by the Red Pony to make sure he wasn't drowning his troubles in Rainier.

She saw him as she came down the road leading to the cabin and slowed the truck hoping not to disturb him yet. He had his shirt open, sleeves up and was swinging an axe to chop wood. He had a rhythm going, set the wood on the stump, swing the axe up, adjust his grip on the handle just before the top of the swing, and follow through full force sending the wood flying apart. She wondered how long he'd been out here. If he came straight back from her place it probably was close to an hour by now. When she saw him pin the axe in the stump and start to stack the wood, she figured it was time to make her presence known.

She observed him for a few more minutes, hesitant about actually seeing him. Would he be mad? Would he even want to see her? He had come to her, for reasons not yet known, and she managed to chase him away. Her eyes followed him as he moved back and forth between the area where the wood was scattered across the lawn and the stack of wood along the house. Time to face him.

She eased up the truck behind his and cut the motor off. She opened the door and he finally became aware of a presence, though who he thought it was was unclear. Head down and hands on his hips, he paused a moment then straightened up and turned toward her. At least he spoke.

"Hey…"

TBC