I Wanna Be Like You part II

After several moments Raylan stood up but kept his hand on his son's shoulder not willing to let him go just yet or anytime soon. "We need to get his statement while it's still fresh," Art said.

"Yeah, sure," Raylan agreed steering his son over to the area where they had been working before.

Nate swallowed hard his cheek red from his father's fury. He pulled his phone from his back pocket and ended the call. "Now how far did you go into the woods?" Art asked.

"Not even a mile, they are just off the main path. There are at least ten maybe even fifteen and most had shotguns and rifles. I think some if not all have handguns too."

"How do you know?"

"When I first appeared their hands went behind their backs as if they were making sure their weapon was there, like checking for your wallet. There were also several wooden boxes, long and deep, my guess was they were full of guns. They had several tents, two lean-tos and several fire pits. They had pots and pans hanging up and several dead animals waiting to be skinned. There were also several targets hanging up across a clothesline; they looked pretty well used. Nobody called anybody else by name while was there, but they all looked like locals."

"You have pretty good powers of observation," Art commented.

"My dad taught me well."

"That he did son, that he did," Art said looking from Nate to Raylan. He then grabbed a white board and had the boy diagram everything he saw. When that was finished he told Raylan to take him home.

"Rachel can take him, I want in on this," Raylan said pleading his case.

"No I don't want you down there right after your little mini-me cased the place. If you haven't noticed he does favor you and I don't want any recollections popping into place. Besides I don't think you are in the right place emotionally to deal with this."

"I'm emotionally fine Art," Raylan assured.

"No you're not, I'm telling you, you aren't and it wouldn't be fair for those guys down there if you show up with a chip on your shoulder. Things had a happy ending here and let's leave it at that. We needed you for your knowledge of the area, but since Nate filled us in we'll be fine. Take your son home and use the drive to have a nice long talk."

"But I probably know some of those guys," Raylan argued. "I may be able to talk them out."

"Or you might think of your son in possible danger due to these folks and blow a gasket. I'm doing my best to not have to call the coroner on this one Raylan. Now take your son home and talk to him about boundaries."

Raylan looked defeated but listened and took his son by the bicep and steered him towards the car. He climbed in and looked over at Nate who had slid in the passenger seat and was buckling up. He leaned forward and started the car as he glanced over at his son who was desperately trying to disappear into the seat. Raylan stayed quiet as he pulled out and left the area. Finally he blew out the air he had been holding inside.

"What the hell were you thinking? I don't even know what to say to you." Nate merely shrugged. "That's all you've got is this," he said shrugging his own shoulders.

"Sorry, I just wanted to help." Nate said looking down.

"You just wanted to help," Raylan repeated, "putting yourself in mortal danger is helping."

"I guess I didn't think of it that way."

"Which is why you are in no way prepared to jump into a group of criminals; any one of them could have killed you and made you disappear and there wouldn't have been a damn thing we could have done to help you. I would have had to kill them all."

Nate allowed the corners of his mouth to rise a bit. "But I was okay."

"By pure luck."

"I just wanted some of the action," Nate argued his case.

Raylan looked over in compete disbelief. "You wanted in the action…you wanted in the action," he repeated. "Well boy as soon as we get home you're gonna be in for some action."

Nate swallowed hard getting the gist of what his father meant. "I wanted to be like you."

"Well as flattering as that is, you are in no way prepared for what you attempted. I've been trained and had a lot of experience."

"But you trained me," Nate insisted.

"I have taught you how to handle yourself in certain circumstances that you may find yourself in, not in deadly situations that you place yourself in. There were ten US Deputy Marshals with loaded weapons waiting and praying that you came back to us. That seems like a waste of money to me. You had no right to do what you did; we were handcuffed waiting on you. If we went crashing in they may have shot you or taken you hostage before we even got close enough. There may have been trip wires in the woods to signal our arrival and that would have put you in danger; we had to wait and hope that they were in a giving mood. You gave us no choice, by the time I realized you were gone you were chatting away with them, there was nothing we could do."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Well it wasn't and I have a feeling you already know that."

"Yes sir, but I did good didn't I?"

"You did great son, but that doesn't excuse your behavior. What you did was reckless, irresponsible, arrogant and disrespectful. You owe every team member out there a big apology." Nate looked over his face tentative. "Tomorrow or sometime this week that is exactly what you will do."

"If you say so," Nate replied his arms folded as he looked down into his lap.

"I do say so," Raylan responded his voice somewhat stern.

"I just wanted to do something special, something important."

"What you did was dangerous; you have to let yourself grow up. Even when you become a Marshal you can't go off all half-cocked."

"You do."

"I am always in control, Nate, it may not seem like it, but I am." He explained.

"But I can't be a Marshal, I can't do the physical stuff required you know that."

"Well then you will find another way. You have a lot of heart and you will go far, just remember that." Raylan said pulling his badge out and tossing it to his son. "It's meaningless unless you can stand behind it. You may not get a shiny badge but you will stand for something, I know that much."

Nate turned the badge over in his hands and ran his fingers over it. "Sometimes I hate this thing, it takes you away too much and one day I'm afraid you won't come back."

Raylan shifted in his seat and tightened his lips. He thought back to the day when one of the doctors had told him it was entirely possible that Nate may not have the longest lifespan and could in fact die before either of his parents. It was like being hit with a bullet straight to the heart. He cleared his throat and looked over at his son. "Well I always do my very best; I'm not ready to leave you or this earth any time soon."

The next several miles rolled by without words and when Raylan looked back over Nate had his eyes closed and seemed far too peaceful to wake up. He was still holding the badge in his hands which were resting in his lap. He shared his vision with the road in front of him and his sleeping child. He remembered how excited the boy was when he told him that he was moving to Florida and could see him every weekend. He also recalled having to tell him that fateful day that Nadine had been killed in cartel crossfire just blocks from where she was to pick him up that day. If only she hadn't stopped to look at those sunglasses she would have never been one of the many innocent bystanders that had the misfortune of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Raylan also thanked God that Nate hadn't been with her. His son's distraught face of hearing the news will forever be with him. He had held his son all night that evening and then he went on the hunt to rectify the wrong that had been done to his family.

The drive was soon over and he pulled the Lincoln into the driveway and sat for a minute more waiting to see if Nate would stir. The three bedroom ranch home was simple but it sufficed for their needs. He was a humble man and a motel room would have been plenty for him but was no place to raise a child. So he was renting the house with the garage, basketball hoop and backyard and trying to be home every night and on weekends because there was something more to live for than his job. But they both knew the battle was never an easy one.

Nate finally woke up and looked around. "Are we home?"

"Yes we are," Raylan answered smiling. The sun was quickly heading towards the horizon and he hoped that the group from the woods had all been pulled out and accounted for by now.

They both climbed out of the car and headed towards the front door. "How do you feel physically?"

"I'm okay, a decent day I guess," Nate said as Raylan nodded. His symptoms had a tendency to ebb and flow or wax and wane as the doctor put it.

He jammed the key in the lock and turned it, the door gave way and Nate stepped through it. He was barely in the house when Raylan grabbed his arm and laid several meaningful swats to the boys backside. He then spun him so Nate was facing him then pulled him close and dished out several more. His hand was stinging quite a bit by the end of the assault so he felt as if he got his point across. "If you ever pull another stunt like that again so help me God that will be just the beginning." Raylan said, his face hard, his eyes no nonsense.

Nate, now at arm's length away looked up at his father, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry Dad; I didn't want to make you mad."

"I am mad, but more importantly, I was terrified and you just reaped what happens from a scared parent."

"Do you understand?"

Nate nodded furiously, "Yes sir I do."

Raylan hung his hat up on the peg next to the front door and Nate put his jacket on the hook right next to it. The house had a nice sized living room that was large enough to house a dining room table. The kitchen was adjacent to the room with an opening between the two rooms and breakfast bar so that someone in the kitchen could see and serve through the window. A hallway went off the living/dining room that contained the three bedrooms and lone bathroom. Raylan liked the set up as he had taken over the dining room table with all his work gear and could keep an eye on Nate while he was watching TV or working on the lap top when he wasn't using it. Nate often did his homework at the opposite end of the table while Raylan worked on his own projects.

Raylan went over and sat down on the couch and motioned for his son to come sit beside him. Nate reluctantly did sitting down slowly and gingerly. "The sting will be gone by tomorrow, I promise. I didn't want to have to do that but I felt I had no other choice. The thought of anything happening to you is the single scariest thing I could ever think of."

"Okay, sorry."

"Come here," Raylan said reaching over and pulling his son close. He placed his chin on top of his son's head and breathed deeply grateful for the moment.