One day bled into another until nearly a full week passed since Jess got her appendix out.

Her recovery went without incident and under Scott and Trent's watch she was eating well, sleeping well, getting enough water, taking her supplements daily and she was even somewhat emotionally stable.

The only thing not going well was getting her to go outdoors.

They never got past a block radius from the house the first two days. Jess claimed she was sore, but she knew Scott and Trent were able to read her well enough to know it wasn't that. It was only a matter of time before they stopped letting her get away with it and she would probably have to tell them what the heck was going on.

Resting her chin in her hand, Jess looked over different course syllabus and requirements at the desk in the spare room. It sucked that there was only a week and a half till she started it all up again. Why was she going to school and why did she think it was a good idea to start up a new program on the heels of finishing her last one?

Her finances were still a sorry affair, even after Naima sitting down with her and looking them over. They'd come up with a better budget in the short term, but the woman had taken notes and said she'd brainstorm some more options for her before the end of the month. Naima was kind, but she didn't sugar coat it. Jess was in trouble and had been for two years. It was a miracle she'd managed as well as she had.

There was a light knock on her half open door as Scott passed by.

"Get your shoes on." He ordered. "You've spent enough time in front of that damn thing."

"But-"

"Shoes. Now."

Jess drew a long breath and fought down a burst of anxiety. It wasn't that she didn't want to be outside, she just didn't like leaving the safety of the house.

Wincing, Jess heaved herself up and went to the front hall, silently pulling on her shoes since she knew there wasn't a way out of this without admitting how ridiculously paranoid she was right now.

She didn't pay much mind when Scott grabbed his keys as they left, focusing more on going down the stairs on her own. Today was the first day it didn't hurt.

The second they were outdoors, Jess started looking for cars that might be housing the PI her mom hired. She couldn't help it. It got worse every time she set foot outside.

The sound of Scott's truck unlocking made her jump.

"Shotgun." Trent called dibs as he strolled past her.

Head swiveling, Jess craned to look over the back of the truck to see Scott. "We're going somewhere?"

"Get in. Unless you want to walk around town instead?"

The distaste and anxiety about the idea must have translated because Scott snorted and said to Trent, "I called it first."

"Fine." Trent grumbled as he opened the backseat door for Jess and waited for her to climb in before taking the front passenger seat.

"Called what?" Jess asked once they were all in.

Scott flicked on a pair of sunglasses and started the engine. "Don't worry about it, unless you wanna talk about why you're spooked every time you set foot outside."

Immediately Jess bit down on her lip and she looked out the window. "Not really."

"Ok. Well, it ain't gonna get better if you keep it all twisted up inside that funny little head of yours." Scott told her, looking at her in the rearview just before they pulled out of the drive.

"If you already know why, then why talk about it." Jess muttered under her breath and tried to not to duck her head when she sensed Scott's withering look through the sunnies when he glanced in the rearview again.

Trent huffed a laugh and he said, "She's getting braver! Good to see."

"Where are we going?" Jess asked, noticing for the first time the backpack toss in the seat behind Scott.

"You'll see." Scott told her, stone faced and sounding grouchy as usual. She was just starting to be able to tell the difference between him actually being irritated and him just being himself.

Knowing better than to try getting more of an answer, Jess settled for watching the world go by.

It was nice to be out of the house, and she felt safe in the truck.

After a decent amount of time on the highway, Jess suddenly clued in to what direction they were headed and she straightened up.

"You ok back there?" Trent asked a little too smugly.

"Yeah!" Jess nearly held her breath when Scott changed lanes and took the next exit off the highway.

"Something wrong?" Scott asked, deadpan humor flickering around frown lines that his mouth usually pulled into.

"Nope!" Shifting in her seat so she could see the approaching wall of lush green. A huge smile spread across her face when they turned off onto a road marked with a sign Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

"There it is." Trent looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. "That's the smile we've been missing."

Jess was practically vibrating with excitement when they parked. "Do you know how many species of algae and moss are in there!? Not to mention the trees and the fauna and the water plants and then the wildlife that hold it all in check to form a beautiful little ecosystem inside another ecosystem and those invasive little bastards that-"

Trent pulled out his wallet, shaking his head, fanned out fifty and slapped it into Scot's waiting hand. "Alright. You win."

"Win what?" Jess asked, already half out of the truck.

Scott pocketed the bills and smirked at her without an ounce of malice. "I bet him that you would start geeking out about botany before you ever got out of the truck."

"Oh!" Jess bounced out of the truck and ignored the jolt of pain it sent through her body. She breathed deeply and systematically knots of tension she didn't even know she was holding started to loosen.

"Ray and the kids should be here soon, and I think Clay was going to join us too." Trent told her. "Brock's already here with Cerberus and will meet up with us a little later. That dog needed a good run."

"The kids are coming out?" Jess asked eagerly.

"Oh yeah. They need a run too." Trent laughed. "Ray's had them both on his own for two days and they're about ready to burn the house down on him. He sent us an SOS three hours ago and Scott suggested this."

Buzzing with contentment, Jess looked around her, itching to start off into the trees and wildness already.

Scott leaned against the front of the truck next to where she was standing and growled, "Good thing you listened and put your shoes on. You would have missed out."

Trent made a noise of disagreement. "No she wouldn't. We both know we could have persuaded her to come even if she was more reluctant."

Shivering at the smirk that surfaced when she glanced at Scott, Jess decided she didn't want to know what their definition of 'persuade' was. They had way too much fun at her expense with their mildly dark and slightly chilling comments already. She wasn't going to feed that beast today.

Her phone started to buzz in her pocket and Jess looked at it.

Pauline was calling her. She almost never did without texting first, so Jess figured she should take it.

"Be right back!" Jess told them as she moved away, not catching the subtle worry on Trent's face and the grim resignation on Scotts, like he had a bad feeling about something.

"Hey, Paulie, what's up?"

"Hey! Is now a good time?" Pauline didn't sound like herself. She seemed tired and unsure.

"Yeah! Sure! What's going on?"

"So, I didn't want to tell you this earlier, because I know you weren't feeling good, but I really can't live with myself keeping it quiet anymore."

"Keep what quiet?" Jess asked, ducking round the back of the truck and lowering her voice.

She heard Pauline draw a breath and hold it before blurting, "Your mom showed up here two days ago, demanding to know where you were and she was just about ready to barge through the front door to come find you. I nearly called the cops, Jess."

"She what?" Jess felt her mouth go dry and her breathing stilled to a tiny in, out.

"And that's not all. She…she says if you don't call her back, she's going to put Trigger down without your input because he, and I quote, 'is getting too old and senile for me to deal with anymore'."

"What?! Trigger is only eight and he lives outside ninety percent of the time anyway!" Jess cried, forgetting to keep her voice down this time. "Why would she put him down!?"

"She said she's left you messages about how viscous he's gotten and that if you don't answer she'll have to just make a decision without you."

"Trigger would never hurt a fly unless someone hurt him first!"

"All I know is what she told me and honestly, she's such a good actor I don't know if she's serious or not, but I couldn't stand the thought of her doing it and you not knowing. I know you love that dog."

"Ok…yeah…" Reeling, Jess leaned against the truck box. "Thank you. I'll…I'll figure something out."

"If you wanna go steal him, I'll-"

Jess's head snapped to the right when she caught Scott's shadow appearing next to her out of the corner of her eye.

Pauline said her mom was leaving messages about Trigger which meant-

"Thanks. I'll let you know. I gotta go." Jess hung up without letting Pauliine say goodbye, staring at Scott with a bitter taste of betrayal in her mouth. "Did you know? About what mom's threatening to do to Trigger if I don't call her?!"

"Yes." Scott held out his phone calmly in the face of her barely contained tsunami of feeling emotional betrayal. "But, before you get upset with me and jump to conclusions, look at this."

"She's gonna put him down, Scott!" Jess cried, ignoring the phone for the moment, still stuck in disbelief that he didn't tell her. What else had he not told her?! She'd trusted him!

"Jess. Look." Scott was standing in front of her now and lifted the phone in front of her face.

Blinking and refocusing on the image on the screen, Jess opened her mouth to argue again only to have all words die on her lips.

"That…that's Trigger." She said dumbly, staring at the picture of the 'family' dog sitting in a truck, taking a selfie with a man she didn't recognize.

"Yup." Scott waited patiently for her brain to catch up.

"Who-" Jess tore her eyes from the picture to look up at him, the vague stirring of hope in her chest. "How-"

"Took a bit to organize, but Brock has a buddy who's a Fish and Game Warden up in Maine. He called him and between the three of us and a few other good people we came up with a plan and they seized Trigger on grounds of animal abuse this morning."

"This morning?" Jess repeated faintly, hardly daring to believe her ears. "He's ok?"

"He's ok. I was going to tell you the whole thing this afternoon once I had more details of how the dog was doing." Scott told her, serious and calm. He was like a counterbalance to the flood about to escape Jess. "I'm not gonna lie, Jess, he ended up being seized for good reason. In the end we didn't have to make up anything to have grounds for taking him. He's been neglected and was pretty dehydrated when they picked him up."

Choking on a sob, Jess put her face in her hands. There was a brief pause before Scott grabbed the back of her head and gently pulled her into his chest.

"I wanted to take him with me!" Jess sobbed. "But I couldn't! I didn't know if I could feed him, and at the time I didn't know if my house would allow dogs, and he lived outside happily, so I figured he was better off being a dog and running around rather than stuck in a townhouse and then I couldn't get him out after-"

She dissolved into crying when the arm wrapped across her back and shoulders squeezed.

"He's out now and getting looked after by good people, Jess." Scott told her in that too gentle tone that made her want to cry more because she knew he knew how much she loved that dog.

"I abandoned him."

"No. You did what you needed to do and did what you could do to give him the life he deserves."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jess asked, still feeling a little betrayed. "Mom was threatening to fucking kill him!"

"First of all, we agreed I would tell you if there was something you needed to know and I would look after the rest. That's what I did." Scott stiffened and his voice took on an edge that Jess was learning to recognize as a common trait among the Bravo boys. Ego mixed with utter confidence. "Jess, there's no way I was going to let that dog get put down. If all else failed I'd have pulled some favors and flown there with the boys to extract him myself. There was no reason to worry or upset you until it was over. Can you imagine how badly the stress of all that would have gone over this past week? We only just got you eating and sleeping semi-decently, no way I was adding that to your plate when we could work the problem for you."

Gulping on another huge sob, Jess pressed into the hug more and let herself cry.

"She was at my house two days ago." She told him miserably.

"I figured as much."

"She tried to get in the house to find me. Pauline nearly had to call the cops. "

"Pauline should have called the cops. Sonny was pretty clear about that when he was there last week." Scott growled darkly.

"I'm scared to go outside in town because I don't want her to find me and I'm scared of that stupid PI finding me again and telling her where I am."

"Figured on that too, pipsqueak." A soothing little circle rubbed over her deltoid. "Kinda the whole reason we're all the way out here instead."

"It's worse now because I know she's still trying to get her hooks back in me and what if she just shows up somewhere I like going?! What if she starts harassing Ray and Naima?! I was there a lot when you guys were away!"

"Jess, you gotta take a deep breath and remember that Ray and Naima are itching for a fight with the woman. Let her show up. It'll be the last thing she does."

"They shouldn't have to fight her!" Jess all but wailed.

"And neither should you, but it is what it is, kid."

"I can't believe she threatened to put Trigger down! There's nothing wrong with him! He's a good dog!"

"It's a whole new level of bitchery, that's for sure." Scott agreed, sounding like he wanted to punch something. "He's safe though, ok? And if it makes you feel better, we got every other animal on their property taken away too."

Jess went still, "You did?"

"Even the fancy fish in Harold's office and the free range hobby chickens."

Lifting her head suddenly, Jess half giggled, half cried, "Harold is obsessed with those fish! He's probably so pissed!"

A strangely comforting snarl grin appeared on Scott's face and he said, "Good."

Dropping her head back against him, Jess heaved a shuddering breath and tried to stop crying.

"Is this ever going to end?" She asked.

"One day at a time, pips. We got you. We got this. It'll be ok."

"What's gonna happen to Trigger now?"

"Well, here's the thing. You have a choice of letting him stay with Brock's buddy, who is happy to take him in and let him be a country dog, or we can figure out how to get him here for you."

Pulling away, Jess scrubbed at her eyes and said, "I don't know…"

"You don't have to decide now, kid. Just think about it, ok?"

Mouth wobbling as she worked to keep from bursting into tears again, Jess managed to say, "Thank you for getting him away from her and…I'm really sorry for getting upset with you."

A smile finally twitched around Scott's mouth. "Upset? You were upset with me? I really didn't notice that look of complete and utter betrayal."

Torn between wanting to cry again and laugh, Jess opted to slip closer again for one more hug, this time initiating the contact. She'd basically never really done that before and she was relieved when Scott accepted it warmly.

"I'm sorry. I should have trusted you."

"You're fine. I'm over it. You wanna cry all day, or should we get moving? Ray just got here and I think RJ is about to climb up that tree over there and Jameelah isn't too far behind."

Jess let go and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I want to walk, not cry. I miss trees and nature. I actually really love this place! Pauline and I used to come a lot last year."

"Happier in the great outdoors. Imagine that." A smug note of triumph flickered over his face as they started over to join the others. It looked like Clay had just gotten there too.

"You…you already knew that?"

Snorting as though mildly insulted, Scott gave her a look, "Jess, the way you talk about hunting with your dad and all the things you love about it tells us three important things. One , you're smart with your rifle and won't take a shot unless you know you can make a clean kill that won't cause the animal to suffer. Two , you don't really care if you get a tag filled or not because Three , you like sitting and watching better than actually shooting and killing an animal. Conclusion, you're happiest in the solitude of nature and will take any excuse to be out in it with the people you care about. Tell me I'm wrong."

Jess stared at him with open mouthed amazement and stopped in her tracks for a second.

He stopped too and shrugged, "What? I listen."

"No…I know," Jess tilted her head and swallowed a new lump in her throat. "I just…sometimes it's still weird, actually being heard. I'm not used to people actually, I don't know, paying attention when I go on about stuff."

Taking it as a challenge, Scott crossed his arms and said only half joking, "Yesterday you talked for nearly fifteen minutes straight, before you noticed and stopped yourself, about helping with the wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation center when you were in high school. Would you like me to repeat back names, species and ailments to you of your favored critters?"

An embarrassed smile spread over Jess's face and she shook her head, "No, I believe you that you heard me and paid attention."

"Uh huh." Scott gave her a look and then started walking again, "We might not always listen well, Jess, but we try, especially when you really get going. You've always got wholesome stories. It's refreshing and absolutely worth listening to."

Blushing, Jess quickened her pace so she could stay next to him, "I didn't know that. I just kinda figure people get tired of my rambling stories."

"Do I, or any of us for that matter, strike you as someone who wouldn't tell you if you were irritating?"

"No, I guess not."

"Then ramble away and stop worrying so much."

"Jess!" Jameelah's excited squeal filled the air and she sprinted across the parking lot with her little arms open.

Grinning because she was just as happy to see the little girl and welcomed a distraction from the residual feelings surrounding Trigger, Jess hugged the child tightly. "Hey, girlie! How are you doing?!"

"Are you feeling better? Are you coming for the walk? Daddy said you had to get surgery! Can I see the scar?" Before Jess even had a chance to answer any of the rapid fire questions, Jameelah was pulling out of her arms, turning to Scott and leaping onto him without warning. He seemed to be expecting it because he caught her and lifted her up into his arms with a chuckle. "Uncle Scott! I'm so happy to see you! Are you coming too? Can I walk with you!? Will you help me climb that tree? Can we get ice cream? When are you coming for dinner next? I miss you! Did you know I swam to the deep end of the pool by myself last week!?"

Jess was always fascinated when Jameelah interacted with her Uncle Scott. The child never had an ounce of fear or hesitancy with him. Once, just after Christmas, Jess witnessed Scott snarling darkly at Sonny and Clay for something stupid they'd said and Jameelah still approached with complete confidence and invited herself into his arms before he'd even finished sending his brothers skittering off.

He held the child securely now, balanced on his arm and hip like she weighed nothing while answering her questions seriously as they walked towards her dad.

"Jess! Good to see you on your feet!" Ray was smiling when they met up and Jess quickly found herself drawn into a warm hug by the man.

"Thanks! It's really good to see you too!"

Ever since they figured out how much she seemed to thrive on hugs, Jess found herself regularly on the receiving end of the best and kindest embraces.

There were different levels of hugs.

From Brock, Clay she always got two armed bear hugs that were nearly always gentle and cozy.

Trent it was 50/50 if he would be like a roughhousing brother or a sensitive brother, either why he was always a brother. Sonny lifted her off the ground and tried to squish her for fun. Ray and Jason gave her 'dad' hugs that never failed to make her feel loved and safe. Scott, well, he had the tendency to be exactly what she needed when he gave them. Sometimes they were brief, just enough to pick her up and help her move on, other times they were bordering on rough housing like Trent, then he could turn right around and drag her into the most tender, lengthy embrace that could block out anything troubling her. Naima trumped them all for emanating understanding through her hugs. The woman had the best mom hugs and Jess never passed up an opportunity for one.

"You doing ok?" Ray asked when he pulled away, leaving his hands on her shoulders and ducking his head a little so he could see her face better.

Nodding, Jess said, "Yeah, just some stuff with my mom, but Scott took care of it already."

A flash of understanding went through Ray, making Jess wonder if they all knew about Trigger except for her.

"Glad to hear it!" Ray put a friendly arm around her shoulders and started them walking. "Let's get moving. Clay just arrived. I also hear someone knows a lot about all those plants and trees out there and Jameelah has no end of questions about everything she sees."

Jameelah was absolutely full of questions and Jess nearly talked herself hoarse telling the young girl all the names of the trees, plants, flowers, and even bird calls. She was full of facts and ancient medicinal uses of different plants, the history of the land and the changing of the ecosystems.

Halfway through the hike she couldn't stop herself from going off trail and half climbing a rocky mound so she could get a good look at one plant she was positive was rare in these parts. Scott was carrying Jameelah on his shoulders at that point and obligingly followed when the child begged him to. Clay decided climbing the mound looked like fun, so he followed Jess as well.

Trent wasn't happy about the climbing, but he didn't say too much about it once Clay was moving upwards right behind Jess. She didn't say a peep about being sore the entire hike, even when it got more obvious she was pushing herself harder towards the end of the easy trail they'd taken the kids on.

Brock and Cerberus found them when they were just headed back along the trail again.

The hike was everything Jess needed and more.