"Jo, you need to come with me," Rachel announced, catching the attorney in the hallway outside courtroom two, seemingly on the way to an appointment.

The case files were already teetering precariously in her arms, her briefcase otherwise full, and the abrupt stop almost sent them tumbling to the ground. "What's up, Chief?" She questioned without care because she hadn't bothered to look up at the familiar voice. If she had, Jo wouldn't have maintained such a brisk demeanor. "I'm about to meet with a defendant, so I'm kinda short on time."

"You'll want to reschedule," Rachel persisted, her voice rising with insistence. "It's about Tim." Everything froze in the span of a blink, Jo bracing visibly at the statement, and so she rushed to continue. "Darryl just blew through a red light. Tim tried to follow, but he got taken out. He's all right. I'm on my way to get him, but Darry's in the wind."

The latter was a warning, should the escapee come and make good on his threat of harassing Raylan's family from the day before, but the former worried her far more. "But you'd say he's fine even if he wasn't," Jo accused around a suddenly constricted airway. "That's what he'd tell you to do."

A thousand scenarios were running through her head, each worse than the last. Tim had gotten into an accident; that much was obvious if he'd tried to chase Darryl through an intersection, but that left a million degrees in between of how severe his injuries could be.

Hesitantly, like she was afraid Jo might spook easily, Rachel stepped closer and put a soothing hand on her shoulder. "He's bruised and has a few minor scratches, but he's okay," she guaranteed to alleviate the lingering upset. "You want to ride with me to the hospital?"

She received a stiff nod in agreement, the woman before her obviously still rattled by the news, and gently ushered them toward the exit. It was only when they'd settled into Rachel's sedan that Jo found her voice again. "What should–fuck. What am I supposed to do?"

Tim was known for being the careful one, constantly assessing and predicting to avoid serious trouble. She couldn't be bothered to exhibit the same caution and wasn't enjoying how the tables had unexpectedly turned. No wonder he'd been incensed each time she'd stumbled into danger, wittingly or not–the alternative was unsettling, to say the least.

"Just be supportive," Rachel suggested while taking a left turn. "He'll likely play it off as nothing, but he's shaken. Probably more than a little pissed Darryl got the jump on him."

Supportive wasn't necessarily in Jo's wheelhouse, but she'd have to muster something resembling sensitivity when she finally laid eyes on him. Shaming for his recklessness wouldn't do, even if it was the more comfortable option. "Right," her head bobbed in acceptance. "I should probably call my client."

Rachel remained silent as she made the call, tuning out the conversation to allow some semblance of privacy. A distraction that thankfully lasted until they were parking outside emergency care.

Trailing subordinately behind the Marshal, both women were promptly escorted to Tim's room without incident after the flashing of a starred badge. Every step they took closer felt deadened with lead, fearful of what each following step may reveal. However, the pair found unexpected laughter ringing from behind the closed door as it drew open for them upon arrival.

"So I asked him, 'Yeah, you know karate?'" Tim continued with the story, utterly oblivious to the two bodies joining at his bedside, his coworker and live-in girlfriend. "To which he responds, 'And two other Japanese words.' Can you believe that?"

"Stop. You're too funny." The blonde nurse giggled in a way that made Jo want to punch her in the neck just to kill the sound. "Well, you look good, Deputy. Need anything else?" The butterfly strips were already attached to his brow, keeping the split skin joined, but she still hadn't moved away from his side.

"You should probably check his head while you're at it, sweetheart. Seems he's lost his goddamn mind," Jo interrupted cooly and spurred a wealth of varying reactions. Beside her, Rachel attempted to disguise a snort of laughter behind a poorly timed cough. The presumptuous healthcare worker jumped a little at the intrusion and spun quickly to appraise the newcomers. And Tim, well, he cringed at having been caught flirting but wasn't ashamed enough to drop the toying smirk from his cracked lips.

Even if his gaze found Jo's first, she wasn't who he immediately addressed. "No, thank you, Amber. That should be all," he beamed with an exaggerated sweetness that left a sourness on her tongue.

Amber, because of course she'd be named something stripper adjacent with that bleached hair, scurried out of the room under Jo's hawklike stare, Rachel not bothering to loiter after. "I'll just let you two talk," she offered with a knowing smile. "Meet me in the waiting room when you're done."

The handle was allowed to click back into place as the door completely closed before her pupils were pinning him down once more, dismantling his carefully crafted persona with knowing eyes. "Think I could get off with just the two years and not the twenty?" She wondered aloud, figuring out the balance of his discolored skin, predominantly on the left side of his face.

"For what?" Tim questioned, legs dangling off the elevated bed where they still didn't reach the floor.

"For assaulting a federal officer," she answered as though the trail of logic were obvious, a colorful map laid out before his feet to follow. "Although, you're already pretty banged up, so one more mark might go unnoticed."

The attempt at antagonizing felt unfortunately flat as Tim promptly stood and collected his jacket from a nearby chair, reorienting himself before halting mere inches before her. "I got you that nervous, huh?" He guessed with satisfaction, his wandering hand teasing down her exposed arm, watching the goosebumps that rose from the light touch. "It's kinda cute, how aggressive you get when you're scared."

He wasn't wrong, but something about the vulnerability it would take to admit such a flaw had Jo refraining from allowing genuine apprehension to flow into her features or flood her tone. "Well, I just hang around for your looks," she falsely claimed in challenge. "Knew we'd have to break up if your face got ruined. I understand how that could've been confused for concern, though."

Jo's eyes closed when he pushed a stray lock of hair away from her face, brushing the curve of her cheek with his thumb as he did so, undermining the severity behind her taunt, and he chuckled upon witnessing it. "Is that right? Then maybe I should call back in–"

He didn't get to finish the undoubtedly sarcastic remark because she rose upon toes to capture his lips between her own, effectively swallowing his teasing and breath with slated mouths that melded together with routine ease.

It was too short and too fleeting, just a brief press of promised later passion before she was on flat feet again. "You can't do shit like this," she scolded on a shuttering exhale. "Nearly gave me a fucking heart attack, Gutterson."

His coercing grasp on her hips dew them flush together, allowing her forehead to fall across his shoulder, his nose brushing against her unblemished temple. "I'll try not to make the same mistake again," he swore sincerely instead of poking fun at her genuineness. "The way my head's killing, I'm not likely to forget."

It was the slightest of consolations. "Anything I can do?" She asked, remembering the bid for sensitivity she'd briefly forgotten.

"You're doing it right now," he stated, arms tightening around her waist as he gently kissed her hairline. "But I imagine Rachel's getting impatient."

The new Chief did seem to be growing antsy when they finally caught up with her, phone pressed between her shoulder and ear, nodding in agreement as they approached. "Yeah, we'll be there," she answered before hanging up and turning towards them. "Sorry to cut this short, but Tim, we need to head down to Harlan. Got a line on Darryl."

The way Jo's figure went rigid between them at the instruction wasn't lost on either Marshal. "I'll see you at home," Tim aimed to comfort her, his guiding hand rubbing in reassurance on the small of her back.

"In the meantime, I called Dunlop to come take you back to the courthouse," Rachel informed as they made their way out of emergency care. "I'll text his number to your–"

"I've already got it," Jo announced to a pair of raised eyebrows. "What?" She snickered at this shock. "You can't really still be surprised. I have contacts everywhere."