"Get away from her now, Jacob!"

     "She'll bleed out." Jacob grunted and didn't move. He turned back to the Deputy who's eyes were getting unfocused.

     "I said get away from her!" Jess's voice was as loud and demanding as she could make it but it was as if Jacob wasn't listening.

     Jacob didn't listen to Jess's demands, just kept his hands on the Deputy's bullet wound. The Deputy tried to say something but chocked on her own blood. "Say it, Deputy." Jacob edged her on.

     "Tal-talk peace...with Jo-Joseph." She stumbled out, her bloody hand gripped Jacob's army jacket sleeve, half out of pain but half out of trying to make him listen.

     "Well you're going to have to be there, cause otherwise I ain't doing shit." Jacob told her matter-of-factly, hoping to inspire her not to die.

     Jess saw the Deputy grab Jacob's sleeve but it wasn't like she was trying to fight him off, it looked more like a reassurance. She was confused by what she was seeing but she didn't let it distract her, Jess lowered her bow and rushed to the Deputy's side. She tried to get Jacob away from the Deputy but he didn't budge.

     Jacob didn't even acknowledge Jess kneeling next to the Deputy, he just reached for his radio with one hand. Jess scrambled to press her hand over the Deputy's wound when Jacob pulled his hand away, giving him a low growl as she did so.

     "Bring me a medikit!" He ordered into his radio and pulled his other hand away from her wound so that he could pull off his army jacket. He bunched it up in his hands and nodded Jess's hands away. He pressed the jacket into the Deputy's chest, hoping to help block some of the blood.

     Jess tried to stay focused as she shook herself out of the weird daze she was in while staring at Jacob. He still had on his usual tee shirt but seeing him without his army jacket was like seeing him naked; it was weird. She still wasn't sure she knew what was happening. She knew that the Deputy was talking to him about a peace treaty but how the hell did she manage to turn Jacob's whole 'sacrifice the weak' personality into 'help your enemy' in less than fifteen minutes?

     Jess tried her best to ignore Jacob and focused on the Deputy. She placed a hand on her shoulder and told her everything was going to be ok. She could hear Grace on the radio telling Adelaide to get there as fast as possible with an emergency helicopter, trying to explain what happened without making Adelaide want to murder Jacob on sight.

     A gun being cocked made Jess look up. One of Jacob's men had his rifle trained on Jess's chest. Jess bared her teeth at the hunter and her hand moved to grab her bow but Jacob glanced over his shoulder at the hunter. "Gun down, give me that medikit." He ordered and although confused looking the hunter immediately obliged. He opened the medikit and held it next to Jacob so that he could see inside it.

     Three more of Jacob's men came out of the trees all with their weapons ready. The hunter gave the other men the same order for them to put their guns away and they did so. Jacob grabbed a wipe out of the medikit and pulled away his army jacket. He wiped the swab over the Deputy's wound and grabbed gauze to stuff the wound with. The Deputy tried to grit her teeth and not be overwhelmed by the pain but it was so hard to even breathe.

Jess kept trying to help in some way, hoping that maybe she could cut Jacob out and tell him off but it was like she wasn't even there. Jacob refused to even edge away from the Deputy, he knew how severe her injuries were and he also knew that if he didn't act fast then she would have no chance at surviving.

After packing her wound with gauze, Jacob asked for a bandage. He ordered one of his men to keep pressure on the bandage while he sat the Deputy up to find the exit wound.

It was hard on the Deputy to sit up. Her vision was dancing and darkening by the second. Everything in her body was telling her to close her eyes but she knew she couldn't do that, she had to stay awake for as long as possible. When Jacob sat the Deputy up he let her head rest on his shoulder while he worked on cleaning her exit wound, it was helpful in stabilizing the Deputy but it wasn't a miracle worker. She was still in a lot of pain but it almost felt like it was getting farther away, almost as if it were drifting.

That is it was until Jacob poured a cleaner over her ragged and sensitive flesh. Then her back burned with white hot pain and it was definitely right there. She sucked in a strained breath at the sudden pain on her back and blinked hard to try and help it ease. She knew that the back wound was much worse than bullet hole in the front, exit wounds are always worse than the entrance wounds.

The cleaner irritated her sensitive open wound but it was nice when someone spread a cool ointment over her skin, helping to numb the pain even by a little bit. She was too out of it to even acknowledge who's hand was rubbing the ointment on, all she knew was that it felt good. In her small relief a little voice in her head tried to convince her to fall asleep but Jacob roused her by moving his shoulder. She'd almost forgotten that her head was resting on his shoulder until he moved to wrap a bandage around her chest to secure his work.

The Deputy could hear what sounded like a helicopter nearby but she couldn't say anything about it, she could only try to keep her eyes open. She heard the helicopter get really close and then she heard shouting. Jacob said something into her ear that she was still trying to figure out what it was. When the Deputy felt Jacob slide one arm under her legs and the other under her shoulder blades she realized he must have said he was going to take her to the helicopter.

She felt Jacob lift her from the ground, with an almost annoying ease by the way, and she felt the walk to the helicopter. Her head was resting on Jacob's chest the whole time while she tried to force her eyes to stay open. She could see his beard and the sky, then she could see the blades of the helicopter's propellers, then she felt Jacob and someone else lay her down on some sort of stretcher inside the helicopter. When Jacob pulled away from her, the Deputy's hand grabbed weakly at his wrist. He said something that she couldn't hear and placed her hand back to her side.

She felt someone kneeling down next to her (or was it two people?) keeping a firm hold on her as the helicopter took off. The helicopter definitely wasn't Tulip, it was too big, but the Deputy didn't really care all that much. After what felt like hours of trying to keep her eyes open, the Deputy was fighting a losing battle. Her chest burned and ached, it was hard to breathe or even think to be honest. The Deputy's head lulled to the side and she saw two people sitting next to her. The clearest face was the one closest to her which was Grace.

Grace placed a hand on the Deputy's shoulder and then on the side of her head while she shouted words that the Deputy couldn't hear over the sound of the helicopter's engine. Grace held something to the Deputy's mouth to try and wipe away some of the blood that had run down her face. The taste of metallic blood was bitter in her mouth and it seemed to coat her tongue.

She didn't even realize that her eyes were closed until Grace snapped her fingers by her ears to try and wake her up. The sound of the snap made the Deputy semi-open her eyes but the vibration of the helicopter tried to lull her right back to sleep. The darkness was too severe to fight against, the pull of sleep was dragging the Deputy down into the stretcher. Before she realized it, the Deputy's eyes wouldn't open again.

The helicopter made it to Hope County Jail and landed right in front of the gates. Jess and Grace, who had ridden in the helicopter with the Deputy, hopped out first and pulled the stretcher out. Someone opened the front gate and Jess and Grace rushed to get their friend to Dr. Charles Lindsay as quick as possible.

The Deputy had passed out in the helicopter on the flight over but was still breathing and had a pulse. She looked pretty bad. Her face was pale and her clothes had blood stains across them, even her pants had some blood on them. People ogled as Jess and Grace rushed past them, Virgil instantly followed them to the medical bay asking Grace a hundred questions.

Grace told him that it was a sniper and that they got to the jail as quick as they could but she left out the part about Jacob Seed. She knew that if she told him, or anyone for that matter, without the Deputy there to explain herself then the people would go on a rampage and that wouldn't be conducive for peace. Her blood boiled at what happened to the Deputy and she was still worried she wouldn't make it but she had to put that aside and think about her friends wishes.

Dr. Lindsay appreciated the bandage work but he knew he had to do some better work so he brought the Deputy into his 'surgery room', which was actually just the medical bay but he drew the curtains around the Deputy's cot. He made Grace and Jess wait outside the jail until he was finished, knowing that if they were hovering over him while he worked then he'd get nervous and probably make a mistake.

He was lucky that he was a universal blood donor, that was probably what helped keep the Deputy alive. He sutured and stitched up the front bullet wound and moved onto the back, that was the wound that took the longest to fix.

Jess paced in front of the chair Grace was sitting in, muttering sweet little revenge plans to herself. Grace could almost feel the heat coming off Jess as she fumed and part of her wanted to fume too but she knew she had to try and stay calm. "Why wouldn't you tell Virgil what really happened?" Jess asked in a demanding yet hushed voice, not wanting anyone else to listen in on their conversation.

Grace looked up from her rifle and saw Jess staring at her. "I wanted to but telling people is the Deputy's call." She told Jess who shook her head.

"The Deputy might be dead for all we know, Grace! I say that we go hit those fucking Peggies while their guard is down." Jess tried to rouse Grace but she stayed planted.

"Jess, no. The Deputy is actually trying to end this ok? What kind of friends would we be if we immediately turned our back on her and her wishes?"

"We'd be smart that's what we'd be! I knew the Deputy had lost her mind when she told me about this plan, I should have stopped her." Jess chided herself and went back to pacing.

"She didn't fail, she got You-Know-Who to agree. He even helped her, do you really think that would of happened if her plan had failed?" Grace asked but Jess was set on a war path.

"I'm not gonna just sit around and do nothing while the Deputy is in there fighting for her fucking life!"

"That is exactly what you're going to do, now sit down you're freaking people out." Grace ordered and pointed to a concrete beam next to her chair. Jess looked hesitant but knew she couldn't refuse an order from Grace so she sat herself down on the concrete.

Jess leaned over to Grace and whispered to her. "I can't believe you're not more upset about this."

"You think I'm not furious? You think I don't want to burn down that goddamn Centre with him in it? Well I do, but I'm a soldier Jess, and soldiers follow orders and the Deputy asked me to stand by her in this and that's what I'm going to do, right until the end." Grace looked back down to her rifle, indicating that she was done talking to Jess.

It was moving to hear Grace talk about her loyalty to the Deputy, but it was nowhere near convincing enough to make Jess want to join the military. It actually did the opposite, because having that sort of blind obedience sounded like Jess's nightmare. She studied Grace while she wiped dirt off of her rifle, trying to see through the whole 'strong soldier' facade but Grace didn't let any cracks show.

Grace knew that Jess was staring at her but instead of snapping at her like she wanted to do she reached her hand out and grabbed Jess's hand. "I know you're scared, I am too, but we can't let our fear overtake us. We have to let it move through us and let it fuel us later." She looked into Jess's eyes, she could see how confused Jess was about being touched and she watched it transform into anger. Jess yanked her hand away from Grace and stood up.

"I'm going to check on the Deputy." She scrambled out hurriedly.

"Dr. Lindsay isn't going to let you see her-"

"Well I'm still going to try." Jess ignored Grace and marched inside. Grace sighed and shook her head. She knew that Jess meant well but her feelings were too sporadic, she didn't have control over them and that would lead to bad things happening someday.

Dr. Lindsay of course made Virgil escort Jess outside again which wasn't so great for Virgil. Poor Virgil had to endure quite the shouting from Jess after he told her she couldn't come inside. Grace was the only one brave enough to grab Jess by the shoulders and lead her outside the jail. "Walk, now." Grace demanded and pointed towards the woods behind the jail.

Tracy stood next to Virgil after he went pale. Getting yelled at by Jess was not for the faint of heart, or stomach. Tracy tried to say something soothing to Virgil but it mostly came out as 'that wasn't the worst thing that's happened to you' so she just gave up and handed him his own handkerchief.

Jess locked her jaw but started walking as per Grace's request. Once they got out of earshot of the jail, Grace turned to Jess. "What the hell was that Jess? You know Virgil isn't the one that hurt the Deputy, you know I didn't hurt the Deputy, so why do you keep acting like we're the problem?" Grace demanded finally letting her anger manifest into words.

Jess had to actually take a step back. She'd never been yelled at by Grace before and she hated to admit it but she was scarier than Jess was. "I-I'm sorry. It's just how it comes out when I'm angry. Or-or sacred." Jess looked at her feet and bit her lip.

Grace took a breath and levelled out her tone. "Jess, you can be angry, you can be furious, but when you let your anger get the best of you and hurt the people around you then you are doing irreparable harm. Even if you're not angry anymore and even if you apologize you still can't take back the things you say or the things you do when you're angry.

"The Deputy is your friend, she's mine too, but you can't make that the reason you lash out. You need to get your anger under control, it will take time but you need too, not just for yourself but for your friends." As Grace spoke Jess didn't look up from the ground.

She made a fist with her hand and clenched it tightly as it shook. She took a shaky breath and wiped her cheeks furiously. She was crying.

Grace had never seen Jess cry before, not even the Deputy had seen Jess cry before. "I...I'm sorry. I just don't know how to make it stop." She pleaded and looked up at Grace.

Grace's face showed more shock than anger now. She edged closer to Jess but she backed away before she could get close enough to try and give her a hug or even a comforting hand squeeze.

"I forgive you, Jess, and you'll have to apologize to Virgil but first you have to forgive yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Jess asked and she wiped her face with her sleeve, trying to brush away the tears.

"You're not the reason your parents are dead ok? You can't carry around that anger and guilt with you anymore. You have to let yourself live and it will be the most difficult thing you've ever done but in the end you'll be all the better for it. So, are you ready to go apologize now?" Grace asked and Jess nodded, still wiping her cheeks for any trace of a tear.

"I guess if I have to." She grumbled and Grace nodded.

"Yes, yes you do." She gave her a small smile and looked back in the direction of the jail. "Let's go check on the Deputy."

Dr. Lindsay was a miracle worker. He managed to cauterize, suture, and bandage everything he needed to too keep the Deputy alive. She was still passed out cold and he knew that she would probably take a while to wake up but she was alive and that was what was important. He checked the IV hanging next to her bed and cleared his medical tools away. When he brought them out of the surgery 'room' he saw Grace standing by the wall with her arms folded.

"How's she doing, Doc?" She asked and looked over his shoulder. She could see the Deputy laying face up on the cot, her eyes were closed and she could see where she'd been patched and bandaged up.

     "She's stable and the bullet avoided her spine so I don't think there's any spinal damage, but I'll have to run some tests when she wakes up." Dr. Lindsay looked worn out from his surgery and set his tray of tools on a bench to be sanitized.

     He glanced out of the room into the next and saw Jess standing uncomfortably in front of Virgil. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he figured it must have been some sort of an apology because Jess kept looking away and hanging her head while Virgil listened.

     "But you are confident she'll wake up?" Grace pressed, more than a hint of worry crept into her voice.

     "I've tried not to be too confident recently but yes, I do think she'll wake up." Dr. Lindsay admitted and a wave of relief washed over Grace, hitting straight to her core.

     "Thank you, Dr. Seriously it means a lot, especially since the Deputy gets herself in so much trouble." Grace glanced back at the Deputy and focused back on Dr. Lindsay.

     "I'm just doing my job. You can sit with her if you'd like, I just have to go sanitize this stuff." Grace nodded and Dr. Lindsay left the room. Grace watched as Jess got done 'apologizing' to Virgil and walked away, she just hoped that Jess actually apologized. Grace walked into the mini room of curtain walls and sat down in the chair next to the Deputy's bed.

     "Hey Dep, how are you feeling?" Grace greeted her with a gentle tone, knowing that she couldn't hear her. She settled in her seat and just watched the Deputy sleep. She found herself in this situation a lot recently, watching the Deputy sleep in some sort of hospital bed. It was like when she got hurt that was the only time the Deputy got any sleep. Grace was about to confront the Deputy about how reckless she'd been when she proposed this plan to her.

     Grace didn't want to agree but she knew she would rather die than let the Deputy get that close to Jacob, or any other Seed for that matter, without having Grace watching her back. So she did that but again she was too slow and the Deputy literally took a bullet because of it. She could tell where the shot came from but when she scoured the area with her binoculars and her scope she couldn't see sign of anyone. It didn't seem like a very Jacob thing to do, shooting somebody during a peace talk? Years of being a soldier should have trained him better than that.

     Still, Grace couldn't find anyone else to blame. Who would want to stir the pot between the Peggies and the Resistance other than the Peggies themselves? She couldn't place a name or the blame so she just decided to blame the Peggies for now. She'd have to talk with the Deputy about it when she woke up but for now she was just trying to collect all the information she could.

Authors note: Jesus, sorry about the long wait for this chapter! I've had a bad case of writers block along with being busy but I hope to have the next chapter up soon! Thanks for reading!