Tim was far less fine than he thought at handling things. Even Raylan could see that. He was barely keeping it together, just barely. Did that mean Raylan was going to talk about the root of the problem? Of course not. That would mean owning up to his own issues and having, as Tim put it, a heart-to-heart. Which didn't happen unless he saw fit to share something that might save a scared 14 year old kid. But Tim was far from that.

"And it requires you not bein' a smart ass. So it ain't gonna happen in this or any lifetime." He didn't want to sit down. That would put them on the same level, with Tim lying down. It didn't feel right. He needed to be on his feet for this.

"What we're gonna talk about is why you couldn't just let me leave and be done with this whole mess. Which, by the way, now that we've come this far, I ain't leavin'. I'm stayin' here until you start talkin'." That was probably the most direct he'd ever been with Tim, the closest he'd ever sounded to actually caring. Because he was starting to see Tim differently. Not as a former partner, not as a lawman. But as the sorts of people he ran across in Harlan. Not criminals exactly, and not addicts. But people who were well on their way to heading down a very bad road. People that maybe, just maybe, he could get on the right track before they got too far.