Thanks to TygerMoon Foxx for the help on this chapter. :)

Two Weeks Later

Even though the drive was under six hours, it seemed to take forever as Jarod drove towards Oklahoma. Thanks to Cordell he knew exactly how to get to their destination. Unfortunately because of pain medication his brother was sound asleep next to him in the passenger seat. Why he couldn't wait till he was fully healed to travel was beyond Jarod. Guess he really wanted to visit the reservation; after all according to Cordell it had been several years since he even stepped foot on Cherokee soil. Wonder how they'll be treated especially since Jarod was a stranger to the people he was about to visit. Even though Cordell reassured him that he will be accepted with open arms, that didn't stop the nerves.

As he cruised along at a reasonable speed he reached down to grab his lukewarm coffee which he bought an hour ago at a gas station. After he took a sip he turned to his brother to see him leaning against the door, his arms crossed against his chest. Both his hands and wrists were still in thick casts which prevented him from driving long distances. Must hurt like hell to have both hands broken like that.

He sighed heavily and shook his head at what had happened to his brother. It still hurt him to know that he could have prevented a lot of things if he just didn't get so deep with Marcellinio. Because of him his brother was in pain, his family and friends were emotionally drained and the rat within the Dallas PD went into hiding. Why did he let his ego control him the way it did?

"I see we're almost there." Cordell slowly sat up, grimacing as the motion pulled at his sore muscles and still healing injuries. His voice told Jarod that he was still trying to fight off the drugs. "I should drive into the Reservation."

"You're not driving anywhere." Jarod chuckled at his brother's stubbornness. "Remember what the doctor specifically told you. You need to really start listening to them. They know what they are doing."

Cordell gave him a slight smile. "Never been too keen on doctors."

Jarod shook his head. "So, I've noticed." He took another sip of his coffee then pulled into a gas station located off the exit ramp. "Going to get something to eat."

He pulled the truck into an available parking space, which was easy to do since there didn't appear to be any customers. Once he got out he went to the passenger side then helped his brother out. As Cordell slowly got out of the truck, another car, this one a luxury vehicle, pulled in and parked on the other side of them.

"Thanks, I got it Jarod." Cordell slowly stood straighter then gently patted Jarod on the shoulder. "They have a small café here, why don't we have lunch."

"Sounds like a plan."

Jarod turned as an older couple got out of the luxury car and caught their look of disgust. Instinctively his hand rubbed against his very short Mohawk then his attention went to Cordell. His brother still had bruises on his face and arms from when Marcellinio tortured him. Not only that he had a thick, pink scar on the left side of his face and an eye patch that covered his right orbit. Right now both definitely looked the worse for wear. He didn't blame the couple looking at them as though they were criminals.

Cordell caught the look as well and tried to ignore it. "Let's just go inside and get something to eat."

Once inside the small gas station both the brothers sat down after getting something from the café, Walker a little slower than Jarod. Maybe he should have waited till he was healthier, but he really wanted to go to the reservation. It had been too long since his last visit, wonder how he will be treated?

He took a sip of his lemonade then winced as the cool liquid hit a few cracked molars. Hopefully after the trip he could get them repaired. But right now he will have to deal with the pain each time he ate or drank anything cool or hot. He took another sip then realized with much embarrassment he couldn't pick up his sandwich. Jarod saw this look, quickly got a knife then cut Walker's turkey sandwich into bite size pieces.

Walker sheepishly smiled at his brother. "Thanks."

"No problem." Jarod pointed at Walker's hands with a fry. "How are your hands doing?"

"Okay, considering." Walker glanced down at the casts remembering very vividly on how he got them. For the last four weeks he'd been having throbbing pain in the joints and knew once the casts came off, his fingers might never be the same again. "Pain has gone down some."

"That's good to know." Walker could see Jarod's eyes shift to the older couple. "They don't like us for some reason."

Walker shrugged. "Let them look. We're not doing anything wrong."

"True." Jarod took a big bite of his cheeseburger then smiled. "I'm nervous as hell about going to the reservation. I'm hoping they'll accept me."

"I think they will." Walker took a glance at the couple to see the male taking out his cell phone. "Let's hurry up and eat. For some reason I'm getting a bad vibe."

Once they were through with lunch Jarod went hunting for snacks while Cordell went to the restroom. As he grabbed some snack cakes he could see a patrol car pulling into the parking lot. The officer got out of his vehicle, took a look through the truck's windows then proceeded to go into the gas station. Jarod took a deep breath then turned towards the restrooms to see his brother making his way out. Cordell didn't look good; in fact he appeared almost lost.

"Cordell?" He quickly dropped his snack cakes and ran to his brother. His one good eye was glazed over. "Hey, you okay?" Cordell didn't respond. Instead he tried to walk away but Jarod stopped him. His brother scowled irritably. "Cordell, you're having a seizure. You need to sit down."

His brother grumbled something incoherent before he collapsed to his knees. The officer quickly ran up to them and began to pull Jarod, who wouldn't leave his brother's side, away from Cordell. As the officer tugged on his arm, Jarod managed to get Cordell laying on the ground, with his head in his brother's lap in case he had a grand-mal seizure.

"Sir, if you don't step away now, I will have to arrest you."

"He suffers from seizures. He's having one now." Jarod could see Cordell slowly blinking as he sat up, his head resting in his cast hands. "Hey, Cordell. You had a seizure, just relax." He flipped out his brother's medical tag from under his shirt then turned to the officer. "See this, he suffers from epilepsy."

The officer reached down, read the medical tag then nodded. "Sorry about that. I got a call saying two guys, who appeared to be on drugs were disturbing the owner." He turned to the older couple who was standing near by watching everything with frowns on their faces. "May I ask what had happened to him?"

"He got into an accident," lied Jarod as he graciously took the water offered to him by the elderly owner of the store. "Here you go, bro. Just slow sips."

After Cordell took a few sips he turned to Jarod. "What happened?'

"You had a seizure, bro." He turned to the elderly owner. "I'll take a few of those snack cakes and some bottled water." The man nodded and began to gather up the merchandise for Jarod. "Officer, can you help me get my brother to his truck?"

"Sure thing." The officer, with help from Jarod, slowly walked Cordell outside to the truck. Here, out of earshot of the elderly couple, the officer shook his head. "Sorry about that. Some people, I tell ya."

Cordell shook his head. "It's okay." He grimaced as he slowly sat down in the passenger seat. "Thanks, officer."

"No problem, glad to help out." The officer shook Jarod's hand. "Take it easy."

Once Jarod got into the truck he grabbed a pillow from the backseat then tried to hand it to his brother. Cordell didn't respond; his brother had passed out leaning against the window. Jarod leaned over, lifted Cordell's head and the pillow underneath it. His brother did not stir.

In the last few weeks, Cordell had been fighting so much pain that he could barely fall asleep for more than four hours at a time. This, Jarod found out, caused Cordell's seizures to intensify and Doctor Hayden had put him on sleeping medication. Unfortunately his brother refused to take the pills, but Jarod did make sure he brought them for the trip.

He started the truck and followed the GPS unit to make his way to the Reservation. As he pulled onto the highway, his phone rang and he quickly picked it up so it wouldn't wake up his brother.

"Hey John, how's it going?"

"Doing great. How's dad?" John asked.

Jarod glanced over to see Walker still sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat. "He finally fell asleep. How are things at home?"

"Great. Mike is transferring back to Dallas, actually Grand Prairie to be closer to dad. Not being able to take the time off after what had happened kind of irritated him"

"Makes sense, but hopefully this is the last real hurdle Cordell will have to face." He sipped at his water then glanced at the GPS unit to see he had another hour to go before they reached the Reservation. "Let's just hope Harris doesn't show up."

"I'll keep you posted. Take care of dad."

"Will do. See you in a week."

An Hour Later

As his mind came out of the fog, the first thing that greeted Walker was pain and stiffness in his neck. He licked his lips then opened his good eye. The truck was parked in front of a small, one level hotel. Ever so slowly he sat up straighter, grimacing as pain shot down his shoulder. Jarod wasn't in the driver's seat. That meant he must be checking them in.

Without thinking, he tried to open the door. His right hand pained him. Though his fingers have mostly healed, he still had to wear a thick cast while he was up here. It irritated him to no end to have limited use of his hands and couldn't wait to get the casts off. He reached the door again but saw Jarod walking toward the truck with Billy Greywolf beside him.

Walker got a huge smile on his face at seeing his old friend. He hadn't seen Billy in several years, but as the man got closer to the truck Walker could see a scowl on his friend's face.

Jarod jogged to the truck first and opened the passenger side door. "Here, let me help you."

"I got it." Walker slowly made his way out of the truck and smiled at Greywolf. "Billy."

"Washo, what the hell happened to you?" Billy stepped up to the truck his scowl quickly turning into a look of worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, just got into a little bit of trouble."

Jarod glanced over at Greywolf then back at Walker. "Let's get you settled into the hotel."

Once inside their hotel room, Walker collapsed onto the bed, his body and mind not wanting to move anymore. He hated to appear so weak in front of his old friend, but knew until he got better it would be like this. The alarm on his watch chirped; it was time to take his medications.

"I know you hate it, Cordell, but you need to take your meds." Jarod smiled at Greywolf as he took out a couple of pills from their bottles. After that, he got a glass of water and a few granola bars. "Eat and drink up."

Walker took the medication from his brother then turned to Billy. "Sorry about this, Billy. I have to take this."

After he took his medicines, Walker laid on his back. He knew he would soon fall asleep for a few hours; hopefully he would be able to get off the pain medication soon so he could function normally. Jarod positioned a pillow under Cordell's right arm and placed an ice pack wrapped in a towel against his brother's shoulder. This helped soothe the throbbing ache. Walker closed his eyes as his mind began to relax.

Jarod smiled down at his brother then turned to the tall man behind him. "You appeared somewhat mad to see Cordell. What had happened between you two?"

"He stopped practicing the ways the elders had taught him." Billy sat down on a chair then nodded his head towards Walker. "I had heard what had happened to him. The beating nearly killed him and yet nobody contacted me or anybody else here to let us know." He shook his head and took a deep breath. "I tried calling him for several months afterward but he refused to talk to me...or anybody from the tribe, for that matter."

An awkward feeling went over Jarod and he quickly cleared his throat. "Sorry to hear that. But he's here now…"

"Only to know the story behind you. Just wish he kept practicing the ways the elders taught him." Billy once again sighed heavily, got up then handed Jarod a piece of paper. "Tomorrow, 3:30pm. Elder Harris Running Bull will talk to you."

Jarod had to hold in his laughter at hearing the last name. "Sure, I'll let Cordell know."

As Billy left the hotel room, he mouthed the last name kind of surprised at hearing it in this day and age. Come to think about it, Billy had called Cordell, Washo. Strange, but Jarod had to understand this was a Cherokee tribe after all. Wonder why his brother stopped adhering to their ways?

He sighed heavily then decided to take a walk while Cordell was sleeping. After writing a quick note to his brother explaining what he was doing he left the hotel room to see what this place had to offer. He was very thankful that he was no longer under house arrest and he was able to visit the Reservation and learn about his heritage.

As he stepped outside, the first thing he noticed was a bar across the street and outside he could see several Cherokee men hanging out by their vehicles. Most looked at Jarod and only one decided to break away from the crowd to run across the street to greet him.

The young Cherokee man smiled and stuck his hand out for a shake. "Name is Neil."

"Jarod." He shook Neil's hand. "Why did you come over here?"

Neil shrugged. "You look familiar to me. Have we met?"

"Nope, first time here." Jarod saw the men at the bar looking at him again. "But, I'm related to Cordell Walker, or Washo as some call him here."

"That's why you look familiar." Neil shook his head. "Man, you can almost be his twin."

Jarod chuckled. "Yeah, could be. How do you know him?"

"Rarely do, just know him through stories told to me from my uncles." Neil glanced back at his friends then gave Jarod a huge grin. "Talk to you later!"

When the young man left Jarod shook his head in confusion then made his way down the two lane street wondering what this little Reservation had to offer. Judging by what he saw, it was just like any small town, but with a lot more bars. He made his way down the street till he reached an old mom and pop soda joint. After checking his watch he decided to get something for him and Cordell. Even though his brother couldn't eat cold stuff because of his cracked molars maybe he could find something else to get him.

A bell rang signaling his arrival into the small store and inside he saw it was sparsely furnished with only a few decorations on the walls. Maybe he should turn around and find someplace else for a drink? This little hole in the wall definitely didn't look sanitary.

"Hang on one minute!" Shouted a woman from a back room. Jarod decided to sit on one of the bar stools and as he did, an older woman came through a swinging door with a smile on her face. "How can I help today?"

Jarod flipped open the menu that laid out in front of him and scanned it's contents. "I'll have a chocolate malt and…" He raised an eyebrow at one description. "Grape dumplings? Are they any good?"

The older woman winked at him. "Definitely. Especially since mine are homemade." She began to make his malt. "So, I take it you aren't from around here."

"No, I've never been here before." He smiled at the woman. "I'll have some of those dumplings to go." He closed the menu as the door opened behind him. When he turned around he saw two men looking directly at him, both with their arms crossed. "Who are they?" The words had escaped his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Joseph and his goon, Travis. They always cause trouble around here." Jarod turned back to the woman to see her putting several round pastries into a large white Styrofoam container. "The dumplings are on the house." She rang up his malt. "Four dollars."

The tallest man went to Jarod's side and nudged his shoulder. "Never seen you here before. What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting family." This got the man to shove him in the back which got Jarod to stand up and face his antagonist. "I'm telling you the truth! I'm Cordell Walker's brother."

Travis laughed. "He's a half-breed, Joseph!" He was a bit shorter than the other man, but still taller than Jarod which made him a bit intimidating. "Tell your brother I said to get off of the Reservation. I don't like people like him here."

"Here, sweetie." The woman had gone around the counter and was now standing before the shortest of the men with a paper bag and a malt in her hands. "Leave him and Washo alone!" She gave Jarod a warm smile. "Tell your brother that Mary Lynn says hello."

Jarod took the bag and cup from the woman with a slight nod. "Thank you."

He slowly made his way to the front door as he kept his attention focused on the two men. As he exited he began to walk back to the hotel, all his senses on full alert. He could hear the door opening and the men's boots on the sidewalk as they quickly caught up to him.

"Half-breed!" Came a yell as one of the men shoved Jarod forward who stumbled a few steps then turned to the men in a guarding stance, the malt raised above his head. "You are just like your brother!"

"Just let me go back to the hotel. I don't want any trouble."

Joseph crossed his arms and shook his head. "I don't want to see you down here again."

"Fine, fine you won't see me." Jarod lowered his guard and began to back pedal away from the men. "I'll make sure of that."