Resolutions

Chapter Ten

Jess sat at her desk and threw darts at the dart bard on the wall ten feet away. It was going to be a long night. Flynn, Frank and Izzy had headed out to look for some campers on the north face and didn't have a clue when they'd be back. Matt took Cutler out to dinner to get him out of the station for a while and Robin, well Robin wasn't in the mood to talk. She's come down in her work out clothes and hour ago and Jess figured she was in the gym. Sitting back she found some paper work that needed finishing so she found a pen and started in on it. The front door opened and a man came in. Jess put her pen down.

"Can I help you?" He wasn't local, Jess could tell.

"I was told I could find a Cody Hawkes here."

"He's gone for the day but if you need something maybe I can help. Jess Hawkes."

"Cody's little sister." Jess smiled.

"Yeah. And you are." He smiled.

"I'm sorry, Jared Reynolds." Jess remembered that name but she couldn't recall where. "Cody and I were in the Marines together."

"Jared, right now I remember. He just lives down the road. I can call him. He usually stops in during my shift to annoy me any how."

"Still getting along famously I see."

"That's us." She dialed Cody's number. "Hi Sarah could you tell Cody to come up here please."

"He's already on his way. He wanted to check something in the weather room."

"Thanks." Cody came in just as she was hanging up.

"Jared…man are you a sight for sore eyes." He hugged his old friend. "Have you met my sister?" He turned to Jess.

"Yeah. She's not what I expected." Jess smiled.

"I'm really not the monster he makes me out to be." Jared laughed.

"No, I thought you'd be…taller." He put his hands in his pockets. "I got your e-mails when I got back into the country." Cody led Jared back to his office.

"I was wondering where you ran off too." Cody closed the door behind him leaving Jess to do what ever she did when he wasn't there.

"In and out of third world countries mostly." Cody offered his friend a chair.

"Still need the rush?"

"And you don't?" Cody sat back in his chair.

"Yeah now and then. With the wife and kids now it just doesn't really come as often as it used to. At least not in the way we used to get the fix."

"Getting old Hawkes?"

"Just finding safer ways to fuel the need." Cody looked at his sister. "What brings you to my part of paradise?"

"I thought I could help you out."

"Surf bums don't make good ski bums." Cody laughed.

"I was on my way to Sacramento when I got your e-mail about your background checks."

"Dude that was like six hours ago."

"Did you forget who I work for?" Cody glared at him.

"I try to." Jared smiled and put a three inch thick file on the desk.

"McCormick worked for them too." Cody looked at the file.

"Son of a bitch."

"Yeah he was. The meanest son of a bitch they had."

"My dad was his best friend since boot camp."

"Apparently he was good at keeping things quiet." Cody opened the file.

"This is some heavy duty back ground."

"You don't know the half of it. That's only the parts I could print out." Cody looked up at his friend. "He was one bad ass agent."

"And a jack ass father." Cody scanned the papers. "Looks like I opened a huge can of worms."

"I covered up what I could and masked what I couldn't."

"What's the protocol on something like this?"

"Burn after reading." Cody looked at his friend. "If it wasn't for you and your sister's clearance I wouldn't have been able to land within a hundred miles of you." The phone rang. Cody picked it up.

"Yeah Jess."

"You're a hot commodity tonight. Shep on line three."

"Thanks." Cody pushed a button. "Shep, thanks for getting back to me so soon."

"Anything for Jess."

"You didn't tell her did you?"

"No. I got Hale's records but I'm running into a few road blocks with Lee's."

"That's fine I know where I can get them. I'll stop by tomorrow and pick up the file."

"Sure."

"Thanks again Shep, I owe you."

"You can pay me back by keeping the Hawkes out of this place till Jess gives birth. By the way I signed on for another six months."

"Good for you and good for us. It's always good to have a friend who can prescribe things. Talk to you later." Cody hung up. "Shep got Hale's medical records."

"Is this really all you wanted this background check for Cody? For Jess's kid's sake?" Cody looked at his sister sitting at the front desk.

"It started out that way. Things are messed up. She can remember the summer she was six when Matt scooped her up before she hit her head on a sharp rock when we were playing by the river. She remembers the summer she was seven she went to Sunday school and started ants on fire and the priest busted her. But you ask her anything about the fall and winter of those same years she can't tell you."

"Maybe it wasn't as exciting as summering with the Hawkes."

"I wish that was all it was. I never really thought about it before but she never looked happy in June when her parents brought her. She looked tired and frail."

"Do you think that this is something your sister wants dug up? You know what it's like to have something you don't want to remember." Cody did know. He had gone through a whole lot he never wanted to think about ever again.

"I'll get his medical records from this and burn the rest." Cody shoved the file in the bottom drawer of his desk and locked it. "You have to head home right away?"

"I could use a beer."

"Well then let's go to my house and get you one." Cody stood up. "Sarah's making meatloaf for dinner. You're staying right?"

"Who am I to turn down a home cooked meal?" The two men went out of the office. Jess was still at the front desk.

"I'm taking Jared to meet Sarah and the kids."

"Okay. It was nice meeting your Jared." Jess smiled.

"Feeling mutual Jess." The men left and Robin came from the back.

"Who was that?"

"Friend of Cody's. How was your work out?"

"Long and boring. I'm going to hit the shower. If you need me just yell." Robin went upstairs and Jess was alone once again. The phone rang.

"Ranger station, Jess Hawkes how may I help you."

"I can tell you but your at work and I might make you blush." Jess smiled. The sound of Derek's voice made all the sad t things she was thinking go away.

"How's things in the big city?"

"Missing you. More then I thought I could." Jess could tell something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?"

"Just been a long week. I'm ready for a break from all this."

"I know that feeling. Well whenever you're ready I'm here waiting."

"That's the only thing getting me though the next week."

"It's going to be a long week."

"Not as long as this week was. Between my case and your trouble with McKnight."

"Yeah. It's not been the best week on record. Maybe if I go to bed and wake up next week things will be better." Derek laughed.

"I'm wrapping things up here as soon as I can. I talked to my sister. They're getting excited about meeting you."

"I may suck at this you know. I've never met parents before. The boys I dated in college never brought me home and well Cutler never talked to his again after he left. I'm not sure I know what to say."

"I love your son is about all it's going to take."

"She'll believe that?" Jess laughed.

"Well try to say it like you mean it."

"Is there any other way?"

"Jess…"

"Yeah I know. Get some seep. I love you Derek."

"I love you too." Jess hung up the phone and tried not to cry.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Matt sat at the bar with Cutler. He was getting way to old to be anyone's wing man let alone Jim Cutlers.

"You know you can take off. I can find my way back home."

"You're still recovering my friend. Its bad enough were here. Shep will have my ass if he knew I left you here to fend for yourself."

"Robin gets of at midnight. I promise to have you home by then." Matt looked at his beer.

"You said you weren't going to bring that up again."

"You need to loosen up. Everyone would be glad the two of you got your grove on. It's about time." Cutler ordered another drink. "We should all be so lucky someone like Robin falls into our laps." Matt looked at his friend.

"Yeah. Finish your beer; I want to get home before I have to go to work in the morning." Cutler shook his head.

"You used to be fun Hawkes."

"I know. Getting old sucks." Matt threw down some money and stood up. "Sorry, maybe another night." Cutler stood up.

"You gotta stop worrying about her."

"You haven't so why should I." They walked to the truck.

"Can't ague with that."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Matt and Cutler walked into the station a little after midnight. Flynn was behind the desk.

"Jess upstairs?" Matt grabbed his messages off the desk.

"No, check the couch. I got here and she looked a little green. I don't think she made it all the way upstairs." Matt walked to the couch and found Jess curled up at the end eyes closed. Matt bent down and felt her head.

"I'm fine Matthew." She whispered.

"Just checking. Did you eat something?"

"I had some soup. I was waiting for you and I couldn't keep my eyes open."

"No more long shifts for you."

"You can't be babying me Matt." He looked at Cutler.

"Making sure your eating isn't babying you." He sat on the couch next to her. "You'll tell me if things get to much for your, right?"

"I promise. I've never been so tired in all my life. I never needed more then a couple of hours now I think I may need twelve to function."

"Just wait till the baby comes and you're getting no sleep." He leaned back. Cutler came and sat on the chair.

"Are we spending the night down here?"

"We could. I don't think I could move." Jess stretched and put her legs over Matt's lap. "You don't have to stay here Matt. I can take care of Cutler if you want to go…some place else." Matt looked at Jess.

"The two of you have to stop butting into my love live. I'm staying here tonight weather you two like it or not." Jess looked at Cutler.

"You didn't get him nearly enough beer."

"Who was supposed to drive home? I'm not supposed to be out of bed."

"When has that ever stopped the two of you?" Jess looked at Matt. "Really so why don't you head out."

"Jess back off. I promise we'll figure this all out, but not tonight." He pushed her legs off his lap and stood up. "I'm going to bed." He turned. "Don't stay up to late and don't give Benji a hard time."

"Yes sir." Jess grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped herself up. "So how was dinner?" She looked at Cutler.

"Not as good as your mom's cooking but it was good." He put his feet up on the coffee table. "How was your day?"

"Long. I had a nice lunch with mom and dad. I told them about you marring me and Derek." Cutler laughed.

"Did that vain in Jesse's head start to throb?"

"A little. He loves you like a son Jim. You know that don't you."

"Yeah. Your whole family has been really good to me since I got here." He looked at Jess. "My father was nothing like Jesse. You'd think a man of the cloth would have been different."

"I know how you feel. My old man wasn't half the man Jesse is."

"You don't talk much about the McCormick's."

"I never really knew them. I barley saw them when I was home. I was here in the summer and in boarding school in the fall. I asked them once if they could just leave me here so I could go to school with Cody. They told me I needed to be raised by proper well bread individuals, not heathens."

"The Hawkes were your parent's friends why would they talk like that about them?"

"It was my mother mostly. It's weird, up until a few weeks about I didn't remember much about them. It all seems to be coming back a little at a time." Jess curled up under the covers. "They treated me like I was nothing when I was there. They never talked to me at the dinner table or tucked me in at night. I spent three months here and nine months in school. They had to deal with for a handful of days a year."

"I guess we had some pretty messed up childhoods."

"Until we found the Hawkes."

"Yeah. Until they made everything alright."