Congrats if you were able to figure out who Tara's husband was. ;) So, it seems I've been slipping a bit with my posting. To make up for that, I'll try to post again tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Linny

Two Worlds

Chapter Seventeen

He waited impatiently just outside the woods, his hand unconsciously rubbing calming circles upon the horse's neck as his gaze scanned through the trees, straining to catch a glimpse of the familiar sprite he called a wife. The calming circles were more for him than the horse. Tara should have been back by now. Glancing up at the sun's position, he sighed. She was late. "Now, what's she gotten herself into?" he asked the paint horse as he calmly stood there and nibbled at a fresh patch of grass.

Relief washed over him when he heard the soft echo of her voice and accompanying that voice was another; a feminine one. He chuckled to himself as he brushed a few brambles from Tracker's coat. That was his Tara, always finding new ways to stir up trouble. Dimples pierced his cheeks at the sight of his wife talking animatedly to her riding companion, probably telling one of her incredible stories to break the tension between them. Of course, he could tell there wasn't much tension present in the first place.

Approaching the two women, his brows came together in confusion. Another horse was tied to the pretty white horse Tara's companion was riding, while Tara's steed was dragging something behind her. Despite his best judgment, he let his curiosity get the better of him. "You just can't leave well enough alone, can you, Luv?" he asked, his accent reverberating against the trees.

She turned her head and Sue's gaze followed. Tara's smile was wide as she climbed from her horse and ran into the embrace of her husband. She was greeted by a tender kiss to the forehead, letting out a whimper of protest before Bobby reminded her that they had an audience. "Uh, Bobby, this is Sue," she said, making sure her lips were in Sue's line of sight. The action already seemed second nature to her, but for emphasis, she signed her next sentence while speaking, "Sue, this is my husband, Bobby."

His confusion only increased when he watched the obvious movement of her hand coming down from her brow and clasping together with the other to form the word husband. He could only assume Sue was deaf and nodded in her direction with a slight wave. "How ya goin', sheila?" he asked before realizing she probably wouldn't understand.

"I'm fine," he heard her say with a hint of laughter to her voice. "But, my name's Sue, not Sheila." Her nose wrinkled playfully and he realized she must have been reading his lips.

"Yeah, sorry, pardon the Aussie-ism." He scratched at the back of his head awkwardly. Talking with Troy and Amanda was easy, because he used his hands. He would have to watch what he said with this sheila hanging around. Clearing his throat, he let the unease between them dissipate as he turned his attention to the man being dragged behind Tara's horse.

He knelt down beside the man and held back his laughter at the large purpling bruise along his jaw. This was going to be an interesting story and he couldn't wait to hear it. "What have you gotten yourself into, mate?" he muttered before turning his attention back to the two women and waited for the story to begin.

Sue's face turned a deep shade of red when Tara fought to explain, but realized she couldn't. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened out there or who the man lying on the bed of branches was. All she knew was he made Sue angry enough to take a right hook to the face. She wasn't sure he deserved the knock out punch, but she was proud of Sue for doing it.

"That's a long story," Sue finally replied in a soft whisper. She lowered her head shyly, though made certain she could see the other two if they needed her attention. Curse Bobby for wanting it.

"Well, sheila, it's a long ride and I'm open to listening. Start spillin'." He said as he mounted his horse and waited for Tara to get back up on her own. Sue's blush continued to grace her face as they set off and didn't dissipate until they were well under way.

His head pounded with the fury of war drums, the wild beating only getting more intense as he drifted back into consciousness. He fought with the pain searing through his body to open his eyes. They opened for only a second before closing again to block out the bright, blinding rays of the sun. A wave of nausea overtook him and he felt his stomach threatening to convulse, but there was nothing in his stomach to divulge, for which he was grateful.

He groaned loudly and tried to roll over, but more pain and sickness flooded over him until he could move no more. His head rested back against the pillow underneath it as he waited for his body to relax. The problem was that a tension was surging through him that made his muscles on edge and wary.

He jumped as a cool, damp cloth was placed on his forehead and struggled to sit up but was easily held in place by the person at his bedside.

"Easy there, Sparky," said a calm voice with a familiar accentuating twang to it as another cool cloth was place upon his jaw. "You took quite a hit."

"Bobby?" he'd known that voice sounded familiar, a friendly drawl from his past. It felt good to hear it again… well, that was the only thing that felt good at the moment, anyway.

"Aw, I knew you couldn't forget me, Jack," Bobby chuckled with a hint of teasing to his tone. "It's been a while, mate." And it had. The two men hadn't set eyes on each other until the day the war was pronounced over and they went their separate ways. Jack went back to see Donna and D, while Bobby shuffled off to find the love of his life; Tara.

Finally letting his eyes adjust to the light shining brightly from the window above the bed, Jack watched as the face of the Aussie came into view. Boy, was that mug a sight for sore eyes… literally. "Ugh! Where am I?"

"In a little place I like to call home. It's not much, but we like it here." Bobby's dimples bore into his cheeks as he removed one cloth from Jack's face, then the other. Groaning, Jack felt the man was much too happy at the moment to be smiling down at him with that silly grin. And the Aussie couldn't resist laughing at his old friend's predicament. "Don't tell me you can't handle a punch from a little sheila like Sue. I've seen you take worse." Of course, by the way Tara described it to him, he'd never seen a man with such anger flooding through him dare to try to strike Jack. It must have been a surprise to see her tiny fist to come flying at him like that.

Jack felt Bobby playfully nudge his shoulder and couldn't resist joining in on the frivolity, until he remembered what had happened. "Sue?" He shot up in bed, instantly regretting it when a sharp pain stabbed its way through his head and jaw and a fresh wave of nausea washed over him.

"Maybe you should lie down. You took quite a hit to the noggin when you landed too." He was trying to be the voice of reason, but Jack obviously wouldn't hear of it.

"Bobby, where is Sue?" He grabbed the other man's shirt to show how important her whereabouts were to him.

Prying his only clean shirt out of the injured man's grasp, Bobby stood up when he realized if Jack was this concerned about something—or more importantly someone—he would most assuredly make a full recovery. "Who, Sue? She's probably still with Troy. They seemed to hit it off quite well." Of course, he didn't get the chance to explain that Amanda was probably with them as well. He watched as Jack jumped from the bed and hurried out of the small doctor's infirmary as fast as his wary equilibrium could carry him.

Rolling his eyes, Bobby muttered "drongo" under his breath before following him to make sure he didn't hurt himself.