-II-

"He is packing. Rose is beside herself, but she refused to cancel the lessons with Aiden and Melissa. Draco is in his room. He knows something is wrong. Red Horse and I took turns in going to him to calm him. I said to Red Horse that he shall start his trip with Draco to the wild horses as soon as you are back. I hope that is okay with you."

"Yes, that would be for the best. I think I should first speak with Crying Horse. What did you tell him?"

"That he cannot leave, of course. First I was angry with him for hurting Severus, but Severus assured me that Crying Horse had no idea that he had injured him until they were back here. He just wanted to stop Severus from running off to where ever for doing whatever. I think he handled the whole situation very well, but he doesn't listen to me. He thinks he hurt Severus and blames the whole disaster of the last evening on himself."

"If I should need Rose, could you take over for her with Aiden and Melissa? They could help you with..."

"I think I'm capable of keeping the two busy." She smiled at her husband, glad that he was back to his reasonable and calm self.

"Good, then Crying Horse first," Light Arrow said determined, and went to the house.

-II-

"What are you doing?" Light Arrow asked when he stepped into the room. The wards were down, so he could step into the room even so Crying Horse hadn't answered the door.

"Packing. That's what you wanted me to do since I came here," Crying Horse said, not turning to the old man. His big suitcase was already brimful, and he tried to rearrange things to get the lid to shut.

"I wanted you to go because I was worried you would break over what you would see here. I definitely didn't want you to go because you think you did something wrong. Have you spoken with Severus?"

"What's there to talk about. The doc says his muscles and sinews are damaged because of me. There is no excuse for that."

"You brought them back in one piece, Crying Horse. Do you have any idea what could have happened if you hadn't stopped him? You know that Severus often becomes violent against himself when he is drinking. I have many scenarios in my head how that could have ended. A damaged shoulder is nothing compared to that. I would bet that Severus sees it like me."

Crying Horse had stopped his packing, obviously thinking about Light Arrow's words. Then he shook his head and started to pull a few shirts out of the suitcase and tried to close the lid again. "Nevertheless I hurt him, and I didn't even realize it. You were not there. I know what I did and how I did it. It was too much."

"Crying Horse, you are unreasonable."

"No, I'm not. What if it had been one of the kids?" Now he turned around, and Light Arrow could see his face. It was exactly the face he always feared to see if the young man broke. It was obvious that Crying Horse had been crying and maybe the still pulsating vein at his neck and the red dots on his face and throat, were a result of a verbal battle with Rose. Surely Light Arrow's daughter would have not just let her husband go.

"We are not speaking about the kids. You never hurt one of them, and I'm very certain you will never do it on purpose. We are speaking about your brothers, and as I see it you rescued them from a much worse fates then a damaged shoulder and a hangover. You weren't living here when Black Hawk finally came back, or better, when I needed to get him back here. It was one of the hardest days in my life, seeing that boy so broken. He cannot handle any kind of drugs, illegal or legal. You stopped both of them from getting themselves in more trouble and pain. I, for my part, am very proud of you and very thankful."

Crying Horse just stood there and shook his head, a painful grimace in his face. "You have no idea how much I hoped all the years to hear this from you. To be accepted in this family. I wanted to hear you praise me for my work here, or for being a good husband for Rose, but not for something I did really wrong, a big mistake." Tears formed in his eyes, and he quickly turned away.

"For me that wasn't a mistake. Maybe it doesn't help you, but I can tell you that if Red Horse or Rose would have been on your stead, Severus and Black Hawk would feel much more sorry now. You were actually very considerable with them. You trouble yourself about something that isn't worth it. You are willing to give up your life with your wife and your job and your family here, without even speaking with Severus? That's not the man I got to know over the last eight years."

Crying Horse knelt down in front of his suitcase. "I'm not leaving Rose, she is leaving me," he whispered brokenly.

"What does that mean?" Light Arrow asked, worried, from his position at the door.

"I asked her to come with me, but she refused. I understand that, but not-" Crying Horse's shoulders started to shake. "Not that she wants to leave me completely when I go."

Light Arrow sighed and went over to the broken man. He laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder, but didn't force him to turn around. "My daughter is a fire cracker sometimes. You should know that. She was in a bad mood this morning, and I fear she just exploded when you tried to talk with her. She didn't mean what she said. I know my daughter. She loves you deeply. Obviously she thought you wouldn't leave if she blackmails you like that."

Crying Horse shook his head in deep misery.

"Let's make a deal, Crying Horse. You will go and speak with Severus and Black Hawk, and I will speak with Rose. I don't want you to go, but I can't hold you back. I don't really pay you, and so I can't even ask you to wait until I get a replacement for you here. It would be useless anyway. Now that I finally realized that you belong here and are strong enough, you want to leave. Maybe my little hints of giving you more and more important jobs, even the ceremonial jobs, weren't specific enough. I'm sorry that I failed you. I just didn't know how to tell you directly. You know Black Hawk will always be my right hand, nothing can change that. He will take over that camp one day, but he will need a right hand as well. You proved to me that you could be that right hand. You would balance him out quite well. You are cheerful and social where he often is too thoughtful and solitary. He needs someone to bring him back to reality when he is overdoing things. Red Horse can do the rest, but he doesn't want to be dragged too much into the leadership of the camp. He prefers to stay in the background. Severus will never stay forever, he wills to live an independent life, never binding himself to the camp like you did. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this before now." He squeezed the shoulder of the now crying young man. "Please talk with Severus. I will talk with Rose so that she will at least say good-bye if you still want to go then. You shouldn't part like that."

Crying Horse gulped the lump in his throat down and nodded. "I love her so much," he whispered hoarsely.

"I know, and she loves you even more. Believe me," Light Arrow said softly.

X-X

"Oh Merlin, thank you, thank you, thank you," Black Hawk chanted as soon as he had crossed the small distance between him and Crying Horse when the other man had entered the room. He was hugging Crying Horse tightly and patted his back forcefully. "Damn I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't stopped me. If I had convinced Night Rain to drink, I would have never forgiven myself." He cupped the face of the shocked Crying Horse in his hand and kissed him on the forehead. "But you were there, my brother. Right there to rescue me from my stupidity. What would I have done without you?"

The last word made Crying Horse's heart hurt. They finally saw him as a part of their family now when he needed to leave.

"Let the poor man breathe, Black Hawk, or he won't ever be able to rescue us again," Severus said from his bed. When Black Hawk had let go of Crying Horse and the man was facing Severus, he went on, "I would come over and thank you as well, maybe not as enthusiastically as our stupid brother over there, but... you know." The perplexed expression on Crying Horse's face made Severus wonder. "What wrong with you?"

Crying Horse's eyes wandered to Severus' shoulder. "I hurt you!"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, you know I'm quite good in dealing with pain. That was nothing. Especially nothing compared to what would have happened if you had let me go." Severus laughed uneasily. "You caught me really off guard, you know? If you would have tried to force me magically in the car, I would have deflected anything with no effort and I would be in a lot of trouble and pain now. Pain that couldn't be dealt as easily with as the pain here." He pointed at his shoulder. "I'm very thankful that you spared me that."

"Yeah, now you are a real brother. Everyone of the family has rescued another member once." He patted Crying Horse's back again.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked. Crying Horse definitely looked odd. "Did Light Arrow give you any trouble? Don't listen to what he said, we will speak with him."

Crying Horse looked from one to another and then breathed in deeply. "I was coming to say good-bye."

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Severus and Black Hawk looked shocked at Crying Horse, and the young man wished he could just leave.

"Are you crazy?" Black Hawk asked when he found his voice again. "What are you talking about?"

"Is it because of us? Are you mad at us? Come on, you can't leave the camp or, Merlin, Rose because you are mad at us," Severus said, puzzled.

"She broke up with me."

"You are crazy. You must have hit your head, Crying Horse. My sister would never break up with you. She is so deeply in love with you that her heart would stop beating the moment you leave her," Black Hawk said, dumbfounded.

"Let the man explain, Black Hawk," Severus said and stood up to go over to them, bed rest or not.

Crying Horse sighed. "I hurt you, Severus. That's inexcusable. I should have realized that I damaged your shoulder, but I was too busy to getting you two back without getting you two in more trouble. I can't stay here, knowing I hurt you without noticing and helping you. I asked Rose to come with me, to find a new home. I never asked her to break relations with you all or stop working here, I just wanted her to come with me. Then she said she won't come with me, and if I left, she would want a divorce." Immediately tears formed in his eyes again, but with Severus and Black Hawk he didn't try to turn away. He had seen the two men break down several times and knew that they wouldn't look oddly at him. In front of them he didn't need to play strong.

"Of course she said that because she can't live without you, you stupid moron. I thought I'm the idiot of the camp," Black Hawk said and pulled the younger man in a hug. "She was just desperate. Believe me, I know my stubborn little sister. Her heart is so tightly connected with you that she couldn't stand you living somewhere else. She needs you here. This camp is her family, and she loves to work here; you can't ask her to give that up. It would be like capturing a free bird in a small cage. She would never be happy living outside the camp, but she would follow you the second she realizes that you really left. This family is important for her, don't hurt her by forcing her to leave because of you. There is no reason for leaving at all. I have no clue what's going on in your head." He smacked Crying Horse on the head while the man still cried in his shoulder. "We are kissing your feet for rescuing us, and you think about leaving."

"I would have phrased it differently, but in the end it would have been the same. You can't leave, Crying Horse. There is no reason for that. You should speak with Light Arrow. I'm sure he also doesn't want you to leave. Didn't you realize that he tried to tell you that you belong to the family by giving you so many important tasks lately?"

Crying Horse sighed. "I know, but still it feels so wrong that I hurt you."

"Nonsense. I'm used to pain. I can handle it. That's nothing compared to what I have experienced before."

"That doesn't mean you can go against you doc's advice, my boy," Light Arrow said from the door. "Back into your bed."

Immediately the mood of Black Hawk and Severus turned from comforting to being afraid of what would come now.

Black Hawk had let go of Crying Horse and backed away further into the room while Severus went back to his bed.

"Rose is waiting for you in your room," Light Arrow said. When Crying Horse passed him, he grabbed for his arm. "I still hope you will stay. We all need you, and I think you need us as well. We are your family."

Crying Horse looked miserably at Light Arrow. He wished he could stay, but how would it look now after he already said he would leave. He didn't say anything and just left the room when Light Arrow let go of his arm.

"Quite some trouble you two caused," Light Arrow said dangerously and eyed his two trouble makers seriously.

Black Hawk felt very ill. He couldn't remember when he had felt like that the last time. Severus also felt very nervous, but he wasn't as afraid of Light Arrow as Black Hawk. He still had another life to go back to, even so it would be quite painful to not be allowed to come back here. For Black Hawk it would be like a death sentence.

"I hope your sister will be able to convince Crying Horse to stay. So what do you two have to say to me?"

Black Hawk looked down. He had gone over the words he wanted to say to the old man the whole morning. Forming sentences that he thought would be good and to show Light Arrow how much he regretted what he had done, but now he couldn't speak. His head was suddenly empty and he wasn't able to speak at all.

Severus didn't know where to start, and so he also just looked down.

Light Arrow stood there for a long time, saying nothing, letting his two sons squirm in anticipation of what would come. "I think you two know exactly what you have done wrong. There is no need to talk with you about it. I think if Crying Horse really leaves, you will have a punishment that is much worse than you deserve. I hope for everyone's sake, yours especially, that this won't happen. If he doesn't leave hopefully you two will have learned a lot out of that whole affair. All I ask you to do is to go into the town and apologize to Lou, the landlord of the pub you were in. You don't have to do it, but I think it would be the right thing to do, and I would advice you two to do it as a sabbatical walk, but it is just a suggestion. I have to stop treating you like one of the kids. You are adults and need to be allowed to have your own mistakes and decide what's right and what isn't. If you decide to follow my advice to do the sabbatical walk, you need to wait for Severus' shoulder to be healed. Just let me know in advance so I can arrange that your tasks here will be done by someone else while you are away. It should take you three days if you go fast. That's all I have to say." With that, he left the room.

Severus and Black Hawk stared at the door for several second and then stared at each other for several more seconds.

"Who was that, and what has he done with Dad?" Black Hawk asked, shocked.

"Yes, that was quite scary. I would have expected everything but not that. Mom must have manipulated him in some way," Severus replied. "Maybe she drugged him."

"I hate sabbatical walks."

"Me, too, but the way he suggested it, we can't decline it."

"No," Black Hawk said, defeated. "I hope your shoulder will need some time to heal then."

The corner of Severus' mouth twitched. "You are an idiot, Black Hawk." He grabbed for his cushion and threw it at his brother. The pain in his shoulder made him wince.

"Go on like that, and you'll make my wish happen," Black Hawk said, amused, but refrained from throwing the cushion back, in fear he would hurt Severus.

"Do you think Crying Horse will stay?"

"Sure. He can't leave Rose, and she can't leave him. Maybe they are making up already."

"I hope so, but I'm sure Rose will find the right words."

"Or other things," Black Hawk said, grinning.

"Damn, you are an idiot, Black Hawk."

"Yeah, but you love me exactly like I am." Black Hawk sat down beside Severus, grinning at him.

"So it's the sabbatical for us again," Severus said, defeated. "I hate to depend on hunting. That will slow us down and the sabbatical will last even longer."

"Yeah, but I hate to only eat plants and berries," Black Hawk replied. "We are doomed."

"You're so right, brother."