Hello folks! I have returned!

This is a quick one, just a chapter or three to re-work one of my least favorite episodes. I always thought this particular storyline could have had so much more depth. Of course, since it's me, there will be a sentinel/guide twist, but that's all the hints I'm giving!

Here we go; hope you enjoy!

Chasing Strays

Jess rolled over onto his back, admitting defeat.

After several hours of tossing and turning, Jess finally gave up on trying to sleep. With a sigh, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. He took his blanket with him as he crept out of the bedroom, careful not to wake Slim, and closed the door softly behind himself.

As if anything short of a twister could wake him at this hour, Jess mused with a wry smile, slightly jealous of his partner.

The coals in the fireplace were still glowing. Jess dropped a couple of the smaller logs onto the embers and pulled up a chair as small flames started to lick around the new fuel. He tucked the blanket tightly around his shoulders and slouched down, his sock feet stretched out in front of him. After a few minutes, small pops and cracks warmed the silence around him.

Of course, for Jess, things were never really silent. He could hear the breeze and the typical night-time insects outside in the late spring air. If he focused, he could hear the animals shifting in their sleep out in the box stalls of the barn. He knew there was at least one mouse scurrying around in the back bedroom of the ranch house. Right on the edge of his hearing, he could hear the low rolling sound of a thunderstorm headed their way. Through it all, he could easily pick out the steady cadence of Slim's heartbeat, slow and steady as he slept soundly in his bunk.

It was a sound he'd rarely been away from in the two years since he'd found his guide. Sure, there were times one of them had had to be away from the ranch for business. Once or twice, Jess's wandering streak had gotten the better of him and he'd tried to leave. No matter what, though, by the time things settled down again, he knew where he was needed.

Home.

Jess trusted and relied on Slim more than he had anyone else in his life, but that didn't mean they always lived together easily. Slim knew Jess inside and out and Jess, in turn, knew Slim just as well.

That familiarity brought its own share of frustrations.

Jess sighed again as he crossed one ankle over the other and folded his arms across his chest. He and Slim had been on each other's nerves even more than usual over the last few days. Springtime was always a busy time on a ranch, no matter the size, and this year was busier than most. There was round-up to plan for and hands would need to be hired. The bunkhouse would need repairs if they expected any of those hired hands to actually stay on. The regular stage-line chores would need to be covered while they were out on the range, and they would need to finish repairs on all of the spare harnesses before they left. On top of that, with Jonesy and Andy gone away to St. Louis, the house chores needed to be kept up. The garden would need to be planted and tended daily. Unless they wanted to go hungry come wintertime, they'd need to bribe some of the ladies in town to help with the canning and storage of their crop. It made Jess's head spin just thinking about it. He was silently grateful that Slim insisted on keeping the books himself. He'd gladly weather the jabs about his handwriting and his ciphering if it kept that particular chore off of his to-do list. Jess idly wondered if Andy would end up better than both of them at keeping the books, once he finished his schooling.

That nearly brought a third sigh out of him, but he held it back. Thinking about Andy was a complicated thing for Jess. He was beyond proud of the kid, but he also missed him dearly. Jess tried not to let himself lean too far into that part of it. Missing Andy felt oddly close to grief. Jess had lost too many brothers to grieve another one; let alone one still in this world. Jess still couldn't shake the feeling that Andy's place lay somewhere far from the ranch. He wasn't even sure how much of that feeling was his own. More likely than not, Slim was accidentally projecting his own unease and Jess just had the misfortune of picking up on it.

Jess knew, even if he wasn't ready to admit it, that Andy's absence was a large cause behind his discord with Slim. Jess saw the way Slim hesitated when he pulled down two dinner plates instead of four. He smelled the fresh saddle soap on Andy's gear in the barn after Slim had cleaned it, keeping it in top condition on the off-chance Andy's letters would say he was coming home to visit.

Just this afternoon, when he and Slim had nearly come to blows over laundry, of all things, Jess knew it was most likely connected to the recent lack of letters from either Andy or Jonesy. Springtime was a busy time for schools, too, as it turned out, and they were all struggling to find the time to keep in touch.

The sound of Slim rolling over in the other room momentarily shook Jess from his sullen thoughts. Slim muttered something unintelligible before settling down again; his heartbeat slowing to its usual baseline. Jess turned his attention back to the fire and listened as the wind picked up outside.

There was something more to it than the ranch work and missing the other half of their family, though. There was something else, something just beyond the reach of Jess's keen senses, that had him awake at all hours tonight.

What that something was, though, Jess couldn't even fathom a guess.

That nagging something had Jess's skin prickling and his nerves on edge. It was close to the feeling he got when he'd been cooped up on the ranch for too long with too little to do. That restlessness always came with a feeling that he needed to go, like there was something to chase just beyond his sight. When that feeling became too strong, Jess would go charging off into the Big Open until the feeling had run its course. Without fail, Slim would be waiting for him at home, ready with a slap on the back and a listening ear. Slim had come to understand and accept that part of Jess.

This new something, this new crackle of lightning through his careful calm, felt more like something was coming. Something was about to happen. Something was coming, and Jess had no idea what it could be or what to do about it. In the distance, the sound of thunder grew closer.

Maybe it's just one hell of a storm on its way, Jess reasoned. He shook his head and laughed softly to himself. That would just about beat all. Tyin' myself in knots over a little rain.

In the bedroom, he heard Slim's breathing hitch. Jess held his breath as he waited, hoping he hadn't somehow woken the other man. Soon enough, he heard Slim sit up and drop his feet onto the floor.

-Laramie-

Something was happening. Something that could not, would not, be ignored. Something Slim couldn't dodge, even within his own mind. Something was dragging Slim's thoughts out of his warm bed and into someplace much colder.

Something creeping and insidious had slipped past his defenses.

Fear.

Someone was scared.

Andy is scared? his mind suggested.

No, not Andy, Slim corrected himself. Andy's in St. Louis, with Jonesy.

Isn't he?

The fear within Slim's mind ebbed and flowed, oscillating between sheer terror and bone-deep loneliness. The whole nightmare reminded Slim of the dark days following his mother's death, of how it had felt when he'd slipped and accidentally felt what Andy had been feeling.

Grief, undiluted by reasoning and logic. A child's grief.

Andy was grieving? For whom?

Jess? God, please don't let it be Jess!

It can't be Jess, he reasoned, trying to make sense of things. If something had happened to Jess, I'd already know. Same with Jonesy.

I can't waste time wondering about it, he nearly snapped at himself, as a new wave of crushing terror washed over him. Andy needs me.

Not Andy! he corrected himself again. At least he tried to, as the fear washed over him again and drove all rational thoughts from his mind.

Driven forward by the certainty that someone needed him, Slim pushed aside the shadowy hands holding him back.

-Laramie-

Jess stood in the center of the room, slack jawed and wide eyed, as he watched Slim disappear out the side door and into the yard.

The sharp slam of the wind banging the door closed had Jess's jaw clicking shut again. He blinked, looking helplessly between the open bedroom door and the kitchen, at a total loss.

From his place by the fire, Jess had heard Slim pull on his boots. He figured Slim must be headed for the privy. That in itself would not have been too out of the ordinary, but Jess found it odd that Slim hadn't turned up the lamp. Jess had no problem seeing in the deep shadows of the house. Slim, on the other hand, should have been stumbling around in the dark like any other man without a light. Jess noticed the distinct lack of fumbling sounds or swearing in response to a stubbed toe.

When the bedroom door finally opened, Jess turned to see his pard standing there with nothing but his long johns, boots, and a disturbingly vacant stare.

Jess was on his feet in an instant.

He'd tried to ask Slim what was wrong, called his name, and finally grabbed hold of both Slim's arms as he started to stride across the room. To Jess's mounting shock, Slim had shoved his hands away and continued on his mission without a glimmer of recognition behind his eyes.

When Slim's palms had made contact with the bare skin of Jess's wrists, Jess had felt a strong flash of twisted emotions he was sure Slim hadn't consciously meant to share. Everything was tangled and dark, like overgrown brambles or twisted up barbed wire. It left a pit of uncertainty in Jess's stomach and one clear thought in his mind.

Whatever this was, it was real, and it was serious.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath. "Of all the blamed fool things…" he muttered to himself.

His decision made, he started to move. He returned to the bedroom and pulled on yesterday's pants and shirt, followed by his boots. He collected his hat, jacket, and gun belt from their peg in the living room. He buckled it on as he followed Slim's path, out of the house and toward the barn, just as the first fat raindrops started to fall. With a sinking feeling, he heard the telltale sound of Slim slinging his saddle over Alamo's back.

If he's bound and determined to head out in this, Jess thought sourly, his mood dropping along with the temperature, the least I can do is try and wrestle the lunatic into his slicker.

Jess sincerely wished that this something had simply been the weather.

-Laramie-

What in tarnation is Slim up to? Drop a guess in the comments!