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luxshine · 4 years ago

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The Great Supernatural Rewatch - Devil’s Trap

I started writing this Supernatural Rewatch way back when I finished season 9, due to the constant arguments about how Sam was a perfect Saint while Dean was an abusive controlling brother, versus Sam as a horrible hypocritical monster who was a thorn on Saint Dean’s side. And while I do admit I have a bias for Dean, I wanted to know if my position was based on fact and numbers, or if I was just being blinded by the fact that Jensen acted Dean a lot more empathic than Jared acted Sam.

There was also my wish to point out how many times Sam has made non-apologies because man, he is a master at those.

At some point I lost the free time I had to rewatch and tally the episodes, and the series kept going and… it ended. And it ended with such a… controversial final three episodes, that I ended back in the fandom. And at first I thought, ok, I can finish this meta with Season 1, call it a good sample for the brother’s relationship, and that’s it.

I am not sure that’s a good point to end. I kind of want to keep going and while I don’t know WHEN I will finish it (Seriously, 15 seasons are A LOT people), at least I know that as long as there’s interest (and I mostly mean MY interest, to be fair… I don’t want to give you all false hopes), I will keep going.

Because MAN, it’s amazing how the writers managed to write a semi-coherent series when they kept forgetting continuiy from one episode to the next.

So without more ado, let’s dig into Devil’s Trap and finish the first Season of Supernatural, back when everyone were babies.

General stuff

Do you have any idea how weird it is to see a The Road so Far in the last episode of the season WITHOUT Carry On my Wayward Son? Because it is and now I have the theory that they didn’t plan at all for it to become the unofficial theme of the series despite the fact that, in hindsight, the lyrics represent the boys perfectly. Except for the whole “peace when you are done” thing that was done so badly. AHEM.

In any case, this time “The Road so Far” is literally “last episode edited in a weird way to make it look as if it had been a season wide arc and just in case a week was enough for you to forget everything that happened”. I checked. There are no scenes from any other episode. So with the already established idea that we’re getting a season-wide summary, now it seems as if John had been with them since the beginning.

And now I do wonder if certain parts of the fandom only remember said Roads so Far because it would explain some things.

Anyway, we start where we left off: Sam furious at Dean because his brother didn’t let him do a kamikaze run into a house on fire, and Dean calling his father’s phone to get the call answered by a very angry Meg.

And here? Oh boy, we start with a lot of baggage for just a minute or so of story. Literally. Because the SECOND Dean realizes that the demons have their dad, he goes into strategy mood. Yes, Dean, the brother the writers insist is the dumb muscle, the one who can’t lead, the one who only knows how to follow orders. It is really frustrating to hear those lines parroted when we have this dialogue:

Dean: They’ve got Dad.

Sam: Meg? What’d she say?

Dean: I just told you, Sammy. Okay. Okay.

Dean takes the Colt and tucks it into the back of his jeans.

Sam: What are you doing, Dean?

Dean : We got to go.

Sam: Why?

Dean: Because the demon knows we’re in Salvation, all right. It knows we got the Colt. It’s got Dad – it’s probably coming for us next.

Sam: Good. We’ve still got three bullets left. Let it come.

Dean: Listen, tough guy, we’re not ready, okay? We don’t know how many of them are out there. Now, we’re no good to anybody dead. We’re leaving.... now!

I am not counting this as Dean forcing Sam to do something because it’s a logical thing to do, btw. If roles were reversed, it wouldn’t be Sam forcing Dean to do something.

Anyway, just to be impressed: While Sam, the “logical” brother who left hunting because he thought getting revenge over his dead mother was stupid (remember the Pilot? The writers don’t! ) is ready to kill himself in a western showdown with the demon as “they still have three bullets” while Dean is already making a plan. It’s not a very good plan as far as we know as it’s basically “We’ve got to run as we have no idea what’s coming”, but it’s better than “let’s stay and hope it’s only three demons”.

And the timing is also interesting: Dean has, so far, been willing to listen to Sam’s ideas in every episode. Most of the time, as we’ve seen, has let Sam plan the things. Same with John. Second John arrives, Dean takes a backseat and lets them work out the details. HOWEVER, the instant his family is in REAL danger of dying, when it’s obvious that their plans were the ones who got them there and Dean is about to lose the only people in the world he thinks give a crap about him? (Because we’ve established that Dean cares a lot about other people, and other people care for Dean even if he doesn’t believe it, even in season 1), then he’s not going to stand for their foolishness and rashness. Then it’s time to put everything he has learned (and later, much later, we’ll learn that hunting alone Dean ended up being better than his father), and make sure everyone gets out alive.

And Sam is not going to stand for that.

Well, he is, since next scene they’re driving out of dodge on the Impala, but Sam is giving us Bitchface #1 (It wasn’t that present back in season 1, it wasn’t until later when it would become Sam’s stereotypical response to anything he disliked), and he insist that they could’ve taken the Demons and that it’s most probable that John is dead.

Once again, we see the contrast between the brothers, and it’s a weird mirror to the conflict through the whole series that in theory shouldn’t work, because it is literally contradicting everything the narrative has told us about Dean and Sam for 21 episodes, but it works thanks to Jensen and Jared’s acting. I know in other meta I’ve been critical of Jared’s acting in future seasons, but here? He’s top notch.

Because we have Sam insisting that they have to keep going, try to kill the demon and “finish the job” because “it’s what Dad would’ve wanted” (Which is, except for the past tense, exactly what Dean told Sam back in Wendigo), while Dean literally says “Screw the job” and “We can’t do this alone, we need help.”

And it can’t be considered “Character growth” because for Sam it would be going backwards, and for Dean… well, it would be if it wasn’t because through the whole series he has been more interested in saving people, which is exactly what he is doing here. Finding a way to save their dad, no matter what, and revenge can take a back seat.

We also keep seeing how fast thinking he is, as at this point he already has a plan to exchange the Colt for their father, even if Sam thinks the demons have already killed John, and figure out their location by going to Lincon first.

But when Sam points out the demons may not have left any signs or clues, Dean, whom I may remind you has been painted by the script and writers as the controlling older brother who manipulates Sam and forces him to hunt, listens to Sam and agrees. They need help.

And here we get introduced to one of the mainstays of the series until season 7: Singer Auto Salvage, and Bobby Singer, Jim Beaver himself.

I could write at least other 10,000 words on why Bobby is SO important to the Supernatural Mythos, a figure akin to Joe Dawson in Highlander, to Giles in Buffy, and probably the one character that 90% of the fandom loves even if he had a couple of missteps in seasons 4 and 6. But right now is not the time to do so.

So we meet Bobby, who is immediately presented to us as a sort of opposite of Missouri, speaking about old friends of the family who are into hunting. Because Missouri obviously only tolerated Dean, and was still in good terms with John, while Bobby is introduced to us by offering Dean a drink, automatically putting him on Dean’s side, so to speak, and his relationship with John was… well, weird.

Dean: Bobby, thanks. Thanks for everything. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure we should come.

Bobby: Nonsense. Your Daddy needs help.

Dean: Well, yeah, but last time we saw you, I mean, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. Cocked the shotgun and everything.

Bobby: Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that effect on people.

And truer words were never said in Supernatural Season 1. Because even if the worst of John was yet to come, about half the fandom was already agreeing with Bobby at this time.

We never find out, at least not in the series’ canon (I’ve written about what is canon, what is secondary canon), why Bobby and John had this particular conflict. Later on, fandom has decided that it was something to do with Bobby absolutely disagreeing on how John raised his kids, and to be fair, it’s the most probable reason given how much Bobby loves the Winchester’s boys and how little time he has later on to say good things about John. But here? It seems he still has some love to lose for the Winchester patriarch. Or so much for the brothers that he’s willing to forgive and forget.

Also, in what I think is another great example of old Supernatural establishing shots, we get how AMAZING Bobby is as a hunter. I mean, yes, in the future Dean and Sam will be legends, but Bobby Singer? Bobby Singer was THE Hunter. Not only his house is full with books full of lore that the guys had NEVER seen (Books that we can assume not even the Men of Letters had, given how… lackluster the Men of Letters were in the past, as we learn in season 8), but also, given that we have literally no time between Sam looking at the Key of Solomon and Meg coming bursting in, and by then Dean and Bobby ALREADY had the plan to catch her, AND the Devil Trap we see is not painted but BURNT into the ceiling? It means that Bobby HAD that Devil Trap before the brother’s came in.

It means that either he already had it despite the fact that he knew of no more than 5 demon possessions a year, except for the last one when they spiked, or the SECOND he heard that two of John Winchester’s old contacts were killed, probably by a demon? He had his house protected ENOUGH so that he could trap and interrogate a Demon should any come knocking.

Seriously, Boy Scouts have NOTHING on Bobby Singer, Hunter Extraordinaire.

And of course, that’s why he had to be fighting with John. Because if he hadn’t then we’d be questioning why the hell the brothers didn’t go to him earlier in the series as seriously, this man is amazing.

Ahem. Sorry. I get very vocal about Bobby Singer, especially early seasons Bobby Singer.

In any case, Meg comes bursting in, and while she ignores Dean at first, by telekinetically throwing him towards some books, and threatens Sam asking for the Gun, this is all part of the Brother’s plan to lure her under the Devil’s Trap.

Which, btw, is a bit weird also because I already established how we know that the trap HAD to be there BEFORE the brothers came in, but Sam seemed to be JUST finding out about it when he saw the book so either he didn’t pay attention to the plan and just stumbled into doing his part by accident (Which once again make us wonder why the writers keep doing this thing where Sam looks as uninterested in anything not related to him), or the only reason for him to ask if the circles work while READING THE BOOK instead of looking up or being, I dunno, finishing painting the trap itself, is… kinda bad writing.

I swear, I love Supernatural, but when I start picking at it, it unravels like one of my knitting projects.

And NOW we get the title card and I am in page five of this Meta so we know this is going to be long and painful.

With Meg trapped and tied, Dean goes right into interrogating her to figure out where they are keeping John. At first, he’s calm and collected, but then Meg touches a very, very sore point for Dean.

Dean: Where’s our father, Meg?

Meg: You didn’t ask very nice.

Dean: Where’s our father, bitch?

Meg: Jeez. You kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh wait, I forgot, you don’t.

And then, and only THEN, Dean hits her.

Which is really interesting, as Meg is the second person in the show to weaponize Mary’s memory against Dean… and the first was SAM.

Now. This is not to say that Sam is as bad as a demon –although this episode in particular ends up with a lot of parallels on how Dean’s family doesn’t treat him as nicely as some demons do- but as a very interesting parallel that the writers either tried to make or stumbled on by accident by squaring Sam DIRECTLY with the Hell side in the narrative, and thus, opening the door to Sam trying to be better, trying not to be a demon. Or at least they would if Sam had any reaction to that that wasn’t “Oh, I am confused”.

Sigh, writers. You had such a nice raw material to make a more interesting story arc for Sam than the usual Chosen One trip and you totally wasted it.

In any case, as Dean gets a bit more vicious with Meg and claims she’s not a girl, Bobby finally interferes and gives us THE line that will bring the fandom a TON of headaches later regarding meatsuits, vessels, consent and metaphors for sexual abuse that sometimes ARE metaphors for sexual abuse and sometimes aren’t because the writers weren’t thinking.

Bobby: Dean, you got to be careful with her. Don’t hurt her.

Dean: Why?

Bobby: Because she really is a girl, that’s why.

Sam: What are you talking about?

Bobby: She’s possessed. That’s a human possessed by a demon. Can’t you tell?

Now. This brings us TWO problems. One that is the aforementioned ton of headaches because no one in fandom agrees as to WHAT the writers were trying to portray with demon possessions and that in season 3 ended up with the heroes of the story becoming literal serial killers because they stopped caring for the humans being possessed because… well, reasons, I guess. But that is a continuous issue that we will discuss every time it changes so it’s not the one I want to talk about.

The SECOND problem is that Bobby IMPLIES that there are demons walking around that DON’T possess people. Because “that’s a human possessed by a demon” alone could be just establishing the rules of the world, and that’s ok since this is only the second time we have a demon standing next to the Winchesters (I still miss bungee jumping demon), but the next question “Can’t you tell?” is… problematic to say the least.

Because if he was trying to remind them that all demons on earth are possessing humans, as it will be in the future, Bobby SHOULD have said “Remember?” or “Didn’t your Dad teach you anything?” or something like that. But he says “CAN’T YOU TELL?”. Which implies a) there are demons who don’t need to possess people to walk on earth, and b) that they’re hard to distinguish from normal humans but not impossible to, as Bobby CAN tell.

And we NEVER, EVER mention that again, which is a thorn on my side as the whole meat suit/vessel thing introduced a lot of issues in the narrative by season 4 and here they had the solution to it all: To have SOME Demons and Angels possess people, and OTHERs, in particular the ones they wanted to redeem or keep in the good side, NOT need that.

But again, that’s for the future and for now, I will just tally it as a frigging dropped plot point that was about both brothers.

This is also the first time in the series where we see Dean hit a human-looking woman and the anger and rawness of the moment shocks even Sam. It’s quite noticeable, the way he and Bobby look at Dean as he is ready to keep hitting Meg, but also because it takes Meg mentioning their mother Mary to make him cross that line.

Yep, even this early on we know that you do not use Mary as an emotional weapon against Dean Winchester.

In any case, Dean takes this to be good news and immediately changes his plans, because again, the “dumb muscle” is the one who gets all the strategy.

They start exorcising Meg, trying to make her confess where the demons have John. This is a very raw scene, that puts Dean as the interrogator while Sam reads the exorcism stopping only to allow Dean to ask questions. The only time Sam interrupts is when he asks about Azazael despite Dean not caring about him at the time, and when Bobby points out that, should they exorcise the demon, they’re literally killing the girl inside as she would not have survived her fall in Shadow.

And boy, this is again a scene that could’ve been considered foreshadowing if I really believed in the “five year plan” myth because at some point, as Meg insist John was dead, Dean utters this chilling threat:

Dean: For your sake, I hope you’re lying. Cause if it’s true, I swear to God, I will march into hell myself and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God!

The way Jensen delivered the line? If I had been Meg, I’d consider telling my bosses to change our plans about the Seals because it is clear he means it. Had they found John dead? No demon would’ve been spared Dean Winchester’s wrath.

I have to also give the proper credit to Nicki Aycox, Meg V 1.0. I know the fandom adores Rachel Miner, and don’t get me wrong, I do too, but Nicki made me not only fear Meg as an adversary, she also made Meg “Meg” in this scene. She is evil, manipulative and self serving. She holds out as long as she can, and then tries to play the heartstrings of the brothers, just to stay topside. She is magnificent, and as much as I love Rachel, I do wonder what would’ve been if Nicki had been called to reprise her role.

Once Dean is satisfied that he has the truth, he tells Sam to finish the exorcism, but Sam wants to keep the demon trapped to interrogate her about Yellow Eyes. It’s here when Bobby mentions that the girl, the human girl, is only alive thanks to the demon, and thus the exorcism would kill her, and here we get again to how moral Dean Winchester is, and how complicated as a hero he is to the audience.

Bobby: You said she fell from a building. That girl’s body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it – that girl is going to die.

Dean: Listen to me, both of you, we are not gonna leave her like that.

Bobby: She is a human being.

Dean: And we’re gonna put her out of her misery. Sam, finish it.

This is, after all, an early version of “At least he dies human”. But I need to point out that he is the only one that sees what is going on with Meg (the human) as torture, as misery. Bobby and Sam, who, ironically, will be the ones in this group to know what it is to be possessed by a Demon while Dean WILL become a demon, but not be possessed by one, and won’t be possessed by an angel until season 13, 12 years up the line, seem to think that human Meg would be ok being trapped in her own body as long as she’s alive, while Dean sees what it’s going on as a horrible fate.

And human Meg agrees, because she survives the exorcism and her first words to the brothers, as she’s dying, are “Thank you”.

Once again, Nicki Aycox gives us an amazing portrayal: We know Meg is dying, we know she won’t survive enough for 911 to get there, but she is determined to give one last fuck you to the demon who did it to her. She doesn’t blame the Winchesters, instead, she wants to help. She tells them she was possessed for a year (And anyone paying attention knows that means she was possessed probably as soon as Jess died and because she looked like Sam’s type), that John is alive, and that it’s a trap.

Sam, who had been against this from the beginning, still insists on asking for yellow eyes, but Meg doesn’t know about that. She can only tell them “By the River, Sunrise” about John, and dies, while Dean looks obviously guilty and conflicted despite the fact that Meg died thanking them for her freedom.

And I pause here to give a standing ovation, to Jensen, Nicki and Kim Manners, who directed the episode and gave us such a chilling scene even if he didn’t know at the time it would help to foreshadow a LOT for the future of the show.

Once Meg is dead, Bobby sends the brothers to save John and offers to be their safe house once they do by pointing that they can bring him there, and “he won’t even try to shoot him”, which again, says tons about Bobby’s relationship to the Winchesters, and how well Jim Beaver constructed him since right then and there we know that the brothers are no longer alone. That they can come back and plan properly to get Azazael out of the game, once they save John.

Once they get to the location given by Meg and, well, human Meg, Dean starts getting ready while Sam –who until now has been quite passive in the planning- checks the Key of Salomon, loaned by Bobby and starts painting two devil traps into the trunk. This brings a very annoyed yell from Dean and the following exchange:

Dean: Dude, what are you drawing on my car!

Sam: It’s called a Devil’s trap. Demons can’t get through it or inside it.

Dean: So?

Sam: It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox.

Dean: So?

Which brings us to two very interesting things.

First, the writers REALLY need to decide who is giving exposition when, as not ten minutes ago, Sam WAS with Dean when Bobby explained the Devil Traps, AND when Bobby and Dean trapped Meg in one of them. The fact that Sam repeats this here? Makes it look as if he doesn’t trust his brother to remember that information. He didn’t need to explain to DEAN that Demons can’t get through the Trap, he needed to tell it to the audience, but the way they made it, it looks as if Sam thinks Dean is a moron.

Second: This is the FIRST time we see Dean obsessed with Baby’s well being. She’s still not called Baby, she’s still “My Car”, but it’s very interesting to see how it happens in an episode where they’re saving John when the LAST time they met with John, the thing John did to “let steam” out after arguing with Sam was to reproach Dean for how he was taking care of the Impala.

Little things that I doubt the writers, in this case the very same Eric Kripke who insisted on not keeping track of what he wrote by not having a series ‘ Bible, ever remembered but that constructed a very complex character in Dean.

My question here is, since it’s the first time we see Dean’s obsession with Baby is… Is he mad that Sam drew on her without permission? Or is he mad that he drew on her at all? WHAT was the aim for that moment from Kirpke, besides getting a start on the following argument? Why did we have to see that Sam doesn’t really considers the Impala “Dean’s car”, as much as “their car”, even if he hadn’t been around for years? Why do we have to know that Sam, in the end, doesn’t respect what Dean considers his own property, the same way he doesn’t respect Dean’s boundaries?

Mind you, this is season 1. We still haven’t gotten to the REAL conflicts between Sam and Dean, and yet we have this tiny moments where the text may be saying that Dean is the “controlling” one, but the images and the narrative show a very different take.

Which bring us to the REAL argument, which is, unfortunately, not about Dean’s boundaries but once again reveals a LOT of what will be the conflict in the future (Even if it was accidental)

Sam: So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad.

Dean: What are you talking about? We’re bringing the Colt with us.

Sam: We can’t, Dean. We’ve only got three bullets left. We can’t just use them on any demon, we’ve got to use them on the demon.

Dean: No, we have to save Dad, Sam, okay? We’re gonna need all the help we can get.

Sam: Dean, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? Dean, he wouldn’t want us to bring the gun.

Dean: I don’t care, Sam. I don’t care what Dad wants, okay? And since when do you care what Dad wants?

Sam: We want to kill this demon. You used to want that, too. Hell, I mean, you’re the one who came and got me at school! You’re the one who dragged me back into this, Dean. I’m just trying to finish it!

Dean: Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you. You’re selfish, you know that? You don’t care about anything but revenge.

Sam: That’s not true, Dean. (Dean scoffs) I want Dad back. But they are expecting us to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all. That Colt is our only leverage and you know it, Dean. We can not bring that gun. We can’t.

Dean: Fine.

Sam: I’m serious, Dean.

Dean: I said fine, Sam.

So, once again, we see the priorities of each brother are very clear. Despite Dean having lived all his life under John’s rules, in theory looking for the demon, he really doesn’t care for revenge as much. And we, as an audience, have know that since Wendigo. Sure, he will get mad if you mention Mary, especially if you do so in anger, but he doesn’t care about REVENGE. His idea is “Saving people”, making sure no one else suffers as he did. Sam, however? Doesn’t see it that way. He, despite having known Dean for longer than the audience, seems to have forgotten all the times Dean not only said that saving lives was far more important than hunting the demon (usually in fights with Sam) but also, that Dean HAS been trying to give him outs from the hunting life at least for three episodes now (Which, depending on how the timeline works, could be between four and two months).

Sam, despite it all, doesn't know his brother, doesn’t care to know his brother, and is very eager to blame Dean for what was, in the end, Sam’s own choice. He forgets that Dean only asked him for help in ONE hunt, and that the rest were chosen by Sam as he wanted to avenge Jess.

It’s only when Dean lays out clearly that what he wants is his family safe, that he doesn’t want to lose them to the demon as he lost Mary (something that Sam would know if he had listened to half of what Dean said to stop him from going into the fire in the last episode, but I digress), when Sam finally brings out some logic to his argument, and shows the makings of a plan: The demons expect them, and expect them to have the gun, so it’s obviously a trap. It’s only then when Dean, not quite convinced, agrees and leaves the Gun, even as Sam seems to want to keep arguing even after he won.

Once again, funny how we’re told Sam is the one “Forced” by Dean to do things, when Dean capitulates more often than not, isn’t it?

(Yes, I know that Dean DID end up taking the gun, so, in case you’re wondering, no, I am not tallying this as Sam forcing Dean to do something, but it IS important to notice WHEN Dean capitulated, even if it was just an act)

The brothers leave baby behind and start walking through the city, until Dean spots a building named Sunrise, putting together the description demon Meg gave them and the last clue human Meg said. Sam points out this puts them at a disadvantage, since the demons know how they look while anyone inside could be a demon and they have no way of knowing who (I mean, it’s not as if there was a word they could say to figure it out, right? This is exactly what I mean when I say that the series needed a series bible from day one. How could they forget “Christo” in less than 12 episodes?) so Dean figures out a quick plan: they will pull the fire alarm, get the civilians out, and then sneak in while the firefighters are figuring out what’s going on.

Which brings us back to “Dean makes the plans, but Sam is the SMART brother”. Sigh.

The plan goes without a hitch, with the extra step of Dean pretending to live there to distract a fireman while Sam steals two uniforms. I love that scene, because Dean’s act as a worried owner for his dog –despite my long held, but debunked headcanon that Dean is more of a cat person- is perfect.

As the brothers get inside the building, we get another tidbit of Dean’s backstory that has been completely forgotten by writers and fans alike, at least in fan fic, that I need to point out because it goes again to show how little Sam cared to get to know his brother, despite “the brotherly bond” being the high selling point of the series:

Dean: I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.

Sam: You never told me that.

And boy, there’s a lot to unpack here and we’re already in page 13 of this thing in word. I swear, this series makes me want to unravel every little thread.

First of, the fact that Dean specifically WANTED to be a fireman is quite telling: After all, firemen were the ones who saved the Winchester’s house, if not the Winchesters themselves, when Mary died. It’s not an admiration born out of being taken out of the burning house –we know Dean was already on his way out with Sammy and John did the extra steps of carrying them both before the house exploded- but it’s still a very interesting thing that, had he not been a hunter, he’d be fighting the OTHER thing that killed his mother. A job that is literally “Saving people”. (and as an aside, I really wonder why the hell whenever people write Dean in AUs where he’s not a hunter, more often than not he’s a Mechanic while Firefighter Dean is quite rare)

Second, Sam’s claim that Dean “never told him that”. I don’t if you’ve been around kids, but once they choose “what they want to be when they grow up” they DON’T SHUT UP about it. Be it something realistic, like Veterinary or Astronaut, or yes, Firefighter, or something completely fantastic like Dinosaur tamer, or Unicorn breeder? Kids will TELL you about it. And everyone who cares to listen or not to listen. So either Sam simply forgot all the times Dean expressed admiration for Firefighters, or even wanting to be one or saying “if we weren’t hunters, I’d totally go to Firefighter training”, which doesn’t say much about Sam’s interest in his brother, or Dean simply never expressed said desire out loud because he knew, even when he was 7, that he’d never get to be anything but his father’s soldier, and just ignored the fact that maybe hunting was not his life.

And I don’t know which one is more depressing, to be honest.

We don’t get Dean’s reply to Sam’s claim however, as his amazing homemade EMF reads high activity.

I have to admit, seeing the brothers so young, so ignorant of what’s going on, and still having a perfect plan to fight whatever it is that they need to fight? It reminds me of why I kept watching the series despite my distaste for “chosen one” narratives. I mean, let’s break it down since we’re already way past the “too long” limit: They covered their faces, so they can win a couple of seconds against the demons, despite knowing the demons would fight any human no matter what. They use the door of the apartment as a first shield so they can use the water tanks that come WITH their disguises, filled with holy water and use that to disorient the demons, far stronger than them, to lock them in a closet and then line the closet with salt so that the demons can’t get out.

Two demons down, no causalities.

Dean gets into the room where the demons kept John, tied to a bed, and confirms that he’s breathing. Before he can free John, Sam stops him to remind him that John could be possessed and, just to make sure, throws holy water at their dad, who doesn’t starts smoking immediately, so they continue their plan to free him, sure that it’s John –who is completely out of it. Sort of awake, yes, but so full of drugs that he’s basically dead weight.

Outside, demons possess a man and a firefighter to go and chase the brothers, who manage to escape through the fire escape (The demonic possession, btw, is a lot more discrete and less dramatic than when the bungee jumping demon did it, which will come into play in a few minutes). Outside, as Sam is checking how to run away, he’s attacked by the same demon that shot Meg, who starts hitting him so hard that Sam can’t defend himself, and force-throws Dean away –after Dean left John sitting next to the building, alone and unprotected.

But before he can make Sam into a pulp, he’s shot in the head and dies. The camera pans to a grave looking Dean, holding the Colt.

This whole sequence is shot and directed beautifully, so please, another minute of silence to the memory of Kim Manners, the best damn director Supernatural ever had.

Next we know, the brothers are holed up in a cabin in the woods, and Sam is salting the windows. WHY didn’t they go directly to Bobby? Well, Sam asks if they could’ve been followed, and Dean replies he doesn’t think so, so I believe it’s implied they didn’t want to put Bobby in more danger, but let’s be honest, it’s because at Bobby’s house with the Devil Trap and all, the following scene would be impossible.

And here’s where the pain starts.

Sam thanks Dean for saving his life, not realizing that Dean is being haunted by that action. At that point, Dean, who later will be known as “emotional repressed” by most of the fandom, writers, and people involved in the show, opens up immediately about the problem:

Dean: You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there.

Sam: You didn’t have a choice, Dean.

Dean: Yeah, I know, that’s not what bothers me.

Sam: Then what does?

Dean: Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t even flinch. For you or Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill, it’s just, uh .... it scares me sometimes.

What Dean doesn’t say, but that we can see in Jensen’s acting, is that what he did was kill an innocent (Well, two in his mind, although he didn’t kill Meg AND the human Meg thanked him for letting her die human, but Dean is not seeing that difference and Sam is not going to point it out). For Sam and John, not for Revenge, Dean is willing to break his own ethos. And this is important to point out, because it will be the main conflict and drive of the series from here on: There’s ABSOLUTELY NOTHING Dean won’t do for those he considers family. And as he says himself? It scares him because of what it says about him.

And while I have said before that I know that the writers had absolutely no plan for Dean besides “Sam’s Sidekick” at this point of the series? I can absolutely believe that this scene was the seed to the “Righteous Man” arc, because Dean, in the end, can’t forgive himself for killing an innocent, not even for the Greater Good (just as he can’t stand the idea of someone dying for him, as we learned in Faith)

John comes in, and well, let’s rip this bandaid right away. As he tells a VERY uncomfortable Dean that he’s proud of him for saving them, there are signs that the demon is close. Noticing this, both brothers default to John’s orders who immediately gets Sam out of the room, ordering him to check that he salted all doors and windows, and once Sam is away, asks Dean for the Colt.

Dean, after a small hesitation, lifts the gun and points it at John, because he knows that it’s not his father the one who’s at the wheel.

Sam comes in, and while he doubts Dean’s claim that John is possessed –mostly because Dean’s only reasoning at this point is “He’s different” –he comes to Dean’s side. Unfortunately, as John dares Dean to kill him, he also realizes that the jig is up, so he stops pretending, and shows his yellow eyes in all their glory, pining both Sam and Dean to the wall.

This makes Dean drop the Colt, so the demon picks it up.

Azazael (because let’s be honest, we all know his name so why keep calling him John or Yellow Eyes?) taunts Sam when Sam tells him he’s going to kill him, and puts the Colt down, daring Sam to make it “fly to him”. Meanwhile, he puts all his attention to Dean, because he wanted to kill him specifically using John’s body as revenge for exorcising Meg and killing the other demon, because they were his son and daughter.

I make a note here to point out this is the very last time we hear about demons having families, and the fact that Meg is still alive doesn't even register in Azazael’s future episodes. Same as the idea that demons could NOT possess humans, and the series mythology is already a mess.

Sam asks why, and Azazael points out he killed Jess and Mary because they were “getting in the way” of his plans for “children like him”. Dean interrupts to call the attention of Azazael into him again, and manages to turn the tables emotionally a bit, when he reminds the demon that he killed his kids.

Which is when Azazael starts using his powers to make Dean bleed, and Dean begins yelling for John to fight the demon and save his life.

And it WORKS, which I will not tally officially, but I should mention it’s the first of many times when Dean’s voice in pain makes someone get the strength they need to fight a possession.

John manages to fight Azazael’s for control long enough to free Sam, who shoots Azazael on the knee, which disrupts Azazael’s powers long enough to get Dean free. Then John begs Sam to kill him, as he can still feel Azazael inside, but just as Sam gets ready to do so, to “put an end to everything”, Dean begs Sam not to do it. And for once, Sam listens to Dean and lowers the gun, giving Azazael a chance to escape, leaving a very angry John behind.

As the only member of the family not currently bleeding from new holes, we end the episode with Sam driving the Impala, John in shotgun and Dean, half unconscious, in the back. Sam is asking Dean to resist, as the hospital is ten minutes away (despite they being “in the middle of nowhere” five seconds ago), while John is complaining that Sam didn’t kill him, because “Killing this demon comes first” while Sam, who ended last episode saying the exact same thing, repeats what Dean managed to get into his head “No, sir. Not before everything.”

However, we don’t get to breathe easily, as a eighteen wheeler slams the Impala at full speed, and we end the episode looking at the possessed driver and the bloody, unconscious bodies of the Winchester.

How’s THAT for a season finale?

Violence

Despite everything that happened in the episode, that was a lot, there’s no inter-brother violence here, and no violence from John towards his sons (Azazael is a different story). Given how heavy the episode feels? I am counting this as a nice win.

Emotional Violence

I will admit, this is one of the episodes I was dreading because I knew it was going to be painful. It was going to be painful revisiting it after season 11’s premiere, and now that the series is over? It’s heartbreaking. And it all comes to one single phrase by Dean:

He wouldn’t be proud of me, he’d tear me a new one.

But let’s start at the beginning of said scene. I mentioned before that when “John” praises Dean, Dean looks visibly uncomfortable.

John: It shouldn’t. You did good.

Dean: You’re not mad?

John: For what?

Dean: Using a bullet.

Dean swallows before asking if John is not mad, and John looks honestly confused as to why Dean would think he’d be mad. It starts like a perfect moment to mend the issues, especially as John continues with what may be the nicest thing anyone said to Dean in the whole season:

John: Mad? I’m proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you – you watch out for this family. You always have.

Something that later will get repeated by many characters, the narrative itself, and will become Dean’s most defining trait. But at the moment, Dean only looks even more uncomfortable, and just mumbles a pained thanks.

And while WE don’t know it yet, that’s the exact moment in which Dean knows he’s not talking to John. And upon rewatch, it’s noticeable that Dean is not swallowing, but that his jaw tightens. He knows he and Sam are in danger, that he needs to save his father, and that he needs to play along.

But I am not analyzing this on the normal summary because it’s also a very difficult moment for Dean, because for the first time in the series, someone is weaponizing his love for his family against him, and Dean CAN’T react as he usually does. He shows growth here, by biding his time.

Dean: Dad, Sam tried to shoot the demon in Salvation. It disappeared.

John: This is me. I won’t miss. Now, the gun, hurry… Son, please.

This is the breaking point. Before, when it was just John saying that he was proud of him, Dean was just uncomfortable. But the SECOND John says “please” instead of ordering Dean to hand over the Colt? That’s when Dean steps back and gets in a defensive position. And once again, without lines, we get ton of implied things.

Like, probably Dean was hoping he was wrong, that John would really be proud of him for saving Sam. That if John wasn’t possessed when they found him, the demon had gotten in him when Dean left him alone to save Sam (we later know that’s not true, it’s just that Azazael is such a sparkly magical demon he can resist holy water). That John would never, in a thousand years, ask Dean nicely for something.

And so, he raises the gun and voices his suspicions and seals the fact that John Winchester was a terrible father:

Dean: He’d be furious.

John: What?

Dean: That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn’t be proud of me, he’d tear me a new one. You’re not my Dad.

Sam arrives, and hesitates a second before siding with Dean, whose eyes are brimming with tears as he keeps the Colt pointed at John’s body. Which is when Azazael twists the knife a little bit more into Dean’s heart:

John: Fine. You’re both so sure, go ahead. Kill me.

Which Dean, of course, can’t do.

Later on, during the torture as Azazael is slowly killing Dean with horrible scratches in his chest that can’t but remind me of the hellhounds from the future seasons (Despite knowing it wasn’t planned), Azazael delivers yet another horrible line that will define Dean’s story arc for the next 15 seasons.

John: You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don’t need you. Not like you need them. Sam – he’s clearly John’s favorite. Even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown you.

Which is a half truth, as demons lie. Fact is, without Dean? Sam would’ve killed John. Or gotten himself killed long before this moment. And we know that Dean hunted more or less alone for four years, and, in hindsight and thanks to future episodes, that Dean flourished without John and Sam around (unless he believed Sam was dead, but that’s a different situation that will be addressed in season 6). But yeah, Sam is John’s favorite, and John has shown more concern, even in these episodes, than for Dean.

And while we will speak more of this in the next season, for now, it only ends with the fact that the biggest hurt that Dean got in the whole episode was that no-one contradicted Azazael at all. John, in particular, may have been able to fight Azazael upon hearing how Dean was suffering, but after that he never once said anything about Dean’s well being.

Speeches and Apologies

There are no big speeches here to analyze, except for Dean’s realization that he will do anything for his family. But as I already went on an on about that, we can consider this section vacant for the episode.

Double narrative standards

It’s very interesting to note how the brothers, and thus, the writers, used to deal with demons back then. The fact that Dean killed one (and exorcised another, even when that only meant she got expelled from the body she was occupying and sent back to hell, even if Azazael acts as if she had been killed) is seen by Dean and the narrative as a crime: He killed an innocent, even if said innocent at the time was being an instrument to harm Sam. The fact that Sam has, many times before, acted as if bystanders were acceptable losses is never once mentioned, and thus, the narrative seems to want us to believe that the only Winchester directly with blood in his hands is Dean –because even when John begs Sam to “shoot him in the heart”, Sam doesn’t. Never mind that Sam doesn’t because at the same time, Dean is begging him not to shoot, while Dean didn’t need said reassurance to being unable to shot John previously AND judging himself for exorcising Meg.

Final Tally

This was the last episode of the season, and oh, boy, the numbers are quite surprising to be completely honest. While you can check the actual numbers below, I want to point out that Dean didn’t lie to Sam or anyone else for that matter in the whole season, nor tried to manipulate or force Sam into doing things at all. He made fun in a mean way Six times in total, versus 31 different occasions in which Sam demeaned and made fun of Dean’s habits or stuff. Six versus 31, that gives us a difference of 25, which is quite the lead for “the empathic” brother.

Most telling, despite the idea that Dean “always” was controlling and overbearing, we have 7 different occasions in which Dean respects Sam’s boundaries, against 14 times when Sam doesn’t respect Dean’s. In the same vein, we have 5 different occasions in which Sam blamed Dean for something Dean didn’t do, while Dean has not blamed Sam for anything Sam didn’t do.

Finally, for all the talk of the series being “about two brothers” in the beginning, we have that the season is divided in 7 arc episodes dedicated solely to Sam, 6 filler episodes dedicated to Sam and his needs and backstory, NO arc episodes dedicated to Dean, 4 filler episodes dedicated to Dean, and 3 arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (Or none, meaning that it’s about just advancing the plot). Also, there were 2 plotlines about Sam introduced that were later discarded and never mentioned, versus 1 about Dean, which in general proves that, at least as far as Season 1 goes? Dean was not treated as a main character at all, as the majority of the Season was ALL about SAM.

Let’s see how this continues in Season 2.

Numbers (or the TL;DR summary)

(Episode/Total so far)

Times Dean has lied to Sam or to a loved one: 0 / 0

Times Sam has lied to Dean or to a loved one: 0 / 3

Times Dean has been caught in a lie: 0 / 0

Times Sam has been caught in a lie: 0 / 1

Times Dean has hit Sam in anger: 0 / 1

Times Sam has hit Dean in anger: 0 / 4

Times Dean's lies or secrets have caused someone's death: 0 / 0

Times Sam's lies or secrets have caused someone's death: 0 / 1

Times Dean has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 0

Times Sam has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 7

Times Dean forced Sam to do something: 0 / 0

Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 0 / 7

Secrets kept by Dean: 0 / 1

Secrets kept by Sam: 0 / 2

Times Dean has blamed Sam for something: 0 / 0

Times Sam has blamed Dean for something: 1 / 5

Times Dean has apologized with words to Sam: 0 / 3

Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean: 0 / 2

Times Dean has respected Sam's boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 7

Times Sam has respected Dean's boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0

Times Dean hasn't respected Sam's boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0

Times Sam hasn't respected Dean's boundaries and / or rules: 1 / 14

Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 6

Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 0 / 31

Times we focus on Dean's needs: 0 / 1

Times we focus on Sam's needs: 0 / 6

Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 7

Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 6

Arc episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 0

Filler episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 4

Arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 1 / 3

Filler episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 0 / 2

Dean's Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 1

Sam's Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 2

Mythology Dropped Plot points: 1/1

#The Great Supernatural Rewatch #Supernatural meta #spn meta #Dean Winchester #Sam Winchester #Cardboard Borechester #John Winchester #is a terrible father #Bobby Singer #season 1 #1x21 #Devil's Trap

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oneofyatosfollowers · 4 years ago

Text

Happy Yato Day! The Yatogami Playlist!

Based on lyrics :D

Songs about Yaboku:

Never Be Alone- Shawn Mendes

I know there are some things we need to talk about/ And I can't stay/ Just let me hold you for a little longer now

The Call- Regina Spektor

It started out as a feeling/ Which then grew into a hope

Lovely- Billie Eilish

Oh, I hope some day I'll make it out of here/ Even if it takes all night or a hundred years

Escapism- Steven Universe

I guess I have to face/That in this awful place/I shouldn't show a trace of doubt

Paralyzed- NF

Where are my feelings?/I no longer feel things/I know I should

Blue Lips- Regina Spektor

He stumbled into faith and thought/God this is all there is

Karma- AJR

I've been so good, I've been helpful and friendly/ I've been so good, why am I feeling empty?

Remember Me- Miguel

Remember me/ Though I have to travel far/ Remember me

Feelings are Fatal- Mxmtoon

I'm always lonely/ But I can't tell you/ That I'm breaking slowly

Natural- Imagine Dragon

Yeah, you're a natural/Living your life cutthroat/You gotta be so cold

(S)He Used to be Mine- Sarah Bareilles

If I'm honest, I know I would give it all back/ For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two

I Can’t Decide- Scissor Sisters

My heart feels dead inside/It's cold and hard and petrified

Death Bed- Powfu, Beabadoobee

I don't know why this has happened / But I probably deserve it/ I tried to do my best/ But you know that I'm not perfect

Human- Christina Perri

I can turn it on/Be a good machine/I can hold the weight of worlds/If that's what you need

Songs about Yato:

All This and Heaven- Florence + the Machine

I would give it all if only for a moment/ That I could just understand

It’s Alright- Mother Mother

You're not a demon, there's a reason/You're behaving that way

High Hopes- Panic! At the Disco

Didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision

Waiting For Love- Avicii

Monday left me broken/Tuesday I was through with hoping

IDK You Yet- Alexander 23

But can you find me soon because I'm in my head?/Yeah, I need you now but I don't know you yet

I’m Still Standing- Elton John

I'm still standing after all this time/Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

The Villain I Appear to be- Connor Spiotto

Just please hold on and soon you'll see/That I'm not the villain I appear to be

Titanium- David Guetta

I'm bulletproof nothing to lose/Fire away, fire away

In My Blood- Shawn Mendes

Sometimes I feel like giving up/But I just can't/It isn't in my blood

Glitter and Gold- Barns Courtney

I've got fire in my soul/Rise up, ting ting, like glitter

Oh My Dear Lord- The Unlikely Candidates

I was a good guy, but I was the worst type/Give me an inch man, and I'll take a mile

Angel With A Shotgun- The Cab

Don't you know you're everything I have?/And I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight

Get Back Up Again- Anna Kendrick

'Cause if you knock knock me over, I will get back up again

This is Me- The Greatest Showmen

I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars/Run away, they say/No one'll love you as you are

A Million Dreams- The Greatest Showmen

A million dreams is all it's gonna take

Yato’s relationship with Yukine:

You Are My Sunshine- Johnny Cash

You'll never know dear, how much I love you/Please don't take my sunshine away

The Only Exception-Paramore

And up until now/I had sworn to myself that I'm content/With loneliness

Light- Sleeping At Last

With every heartbeat I have left/I will defend your every breath/And I'll do better

You Say- Lauren Daigle

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity

King- Lauren Aquilina

You don't gain a single thing from misery/Take it from me.

My Love, My Life- Mama Mia 2

You will be my love and my life/You're my one and only

Love Like You- Steven Universe

Look at you go/I just adore you

Carried Me With You- Brandi Carlile

You're the soul who understands/The scars that made me who I am/Through the drifting sands of time/I got your back and you got mine

Your Song- Elton John

I hope you don't mind/That I put down in words/How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I Just Haven’t Met You Yet- Michael Bublé

Not everything lasts/I've broken my heart so many times/I stopped keepin' track

Writings on the Wall- Sam Smith

Tell me is this where I give it all up?/For you I have to risk it all/'Cause the writing's on the wall

Yato’s relationship with Father:

Gravity- Sara Bareilles

Set me free, leave me be/I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity

If I Killed Someone For You- Alec Benjamin

Would you love me more (would you love me more)/If I killed someone for you?

I Have Questions- Camilo Cabello

Number two, why would you try and play me for a fool?/I should have never ever ever trusted you

Saint Bernard- Lincoln

You always said how you loved dogs/I don't know if I count/But I'm trying my best

Love The Way You Lie Pt.2- Rihanna

On the first page of our story/The future seemed so bright/Then this thing turned out so evil/I don't know why I'm still surprised

Yato’s relationship with Nora:

Two Birds- Regina Spektor

Two birds on a wire/One says c'mon and the other says "I'm tired"

Kids Again- Artist vs Poet

I know a girl who's never tried to settle down/She wears her loneliness like a crown

Little Do You Know- Alex & Sierra

I'm still haunted by the memories/Little do you know/I'm trying to pick myself up piece by piece

Colors- Halsey

And now he's so devoid of color/He don't know what it means/And he's blue

Hey Brother- Avicii

Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another?/Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder

The Other Side- Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman

I know you see it/You run with me/And I can cut you free/Out of the drudgery and walls you keep in

#yato #yatogami #song #song list #playlist #yato day #yaboku #nora #yukine #noragami #noragami manga #noragami aragoto #noragami yato #yato noragami

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erin-bo-berin · 5 years ago

Text

Angel With A Shotgun

MASTERLIST

This is my first fic that actually involves no smut. I was inspired by Angel With A Shotgun by The Cab and the Truth or Dare hostage scene from 14x15. If you want to listen to the song beforehand or while you read it, you can here. This one happens to be written all from Spencer’s point of view as well, which was different for a change. Like the last fic I posted, lyrics from the song will be in italics in between parts of the story. Happy reading!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Rating: G (just some drama, nothing else)

Word Count: 2,233

Get out your guns, battles begun

Are you a saint, or a sinner?

Darkness was all he could see. He heard scuffling as he was being transported. He could hear her uneven breath from behind him and he was relieved to know she was still nearby, even though this wasn’t exactly an ideal situation.

He was pushed to his knees, ordered to sit. The sound of duct tape ripping filled the silence and his wrists were bound together. He sensed movement to his right and he knew it was her turn to be bound.

A moment later the blindfolds were ripped off.

Spencer squinted in the bright light and looked over to see her, his partner, with a stoic expression on her face. He knew her well though, she was terrified, but keeping her cool. Between the ever so slight widening of her eyes, and her frantic assessment of him, Spencer knew just how freaked out she was on the inside.

“Well, so nice of you to play the game, agents.”

“We didn’t exactly have much of a choice did we?” she deadpanned.

Spencer looked up into the face of their captor. It had started like any normal case, just a week ago.

Victim had been killed, gunshot wounds to abdomen and chest. It was only when they started looking into the case that things got stranger, like the fact that the shooter wasn’t the actual unsub.

The actual unsub was playing a twisted game of Truth or Dare and kidnapping the victim’s loved ones, forcing them to commit murder before they could be released, if they ever were.

The real unsub was standing in front of them. They had managed to fall right into his trap and now they had become his hostages.

They’d cornered him in a jewelry store and after he’d shot both a civilian and the worker, he’d taken their guns, blindfolded them and bound them until he was ready to play with them. Apparently that time had come.

Spencer looked around, noticing the broken glass of a jewelry case, the dead worker laying next to it. They’d been moved to another part of the large store, most likely the reason for their blindfolds, so they wouldn’t know just exactly where he was taking them. Before he could give his surroundings much more thought he whipped his head back around towards the man.

“We’re not going to play your game,” she said, “There are feds and cops crawling outside and you aren’t going to get out of this by playing games.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Before Spencer saw it coming, the unsub had hit her upside the head with the butt of his gun.

She groaned, putting a hand to her head and wincing. Already blood was escaping the cut on her forehead, that the hit had created.

“Hey, stop it!” Spencer yelled.

“That’s what she gets for not playing by the rules,” he sneered, before turning back towards her, “Now, agent, truth or dare?”

If loves a fight

Than I shall die

With my heart on the trigger

She glared up at him, not backing down from the fight, even though she’d already taken a hit.

Spencer had to admire her. For all her fear came twice as much courage. She was the bravest person he knew.

He’d also been harboring a love for her.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what moment it happened other than one day realizing that she was the love of his life.

He would do anything to protect her.

His eyes slid sideways to the broken glass. One shard sat just out of reach; if he could get a hold of it without making the unsub suspicious, then he could have a good chance at cutting the tape apart.

“This isn’t the way to do this,” she said, holding all of his attention.

With a slight lean to his left as if he’s just trying to wriggle into a different sitting position, his hand touched the piece of glass. His attention was still on her.

“I’m not going to prison,” he laughed, “I know how this will end. Now I’m gonna ask you one more time, truth or dare?”

The barrel of his gun is angled at her. Spencer knew he had to get the gun aimed away from her. If it’s the last thing he does in this world, he isn’t going to let her get hurt.

She’s about to speak when he answers.

“I’ll play.”

They say before you start a war

You better know what you’re fighting for

The gun turned on him.

Good.

“Truth or dare, pretty boy?”

“Truth.” Spencer looked him dead in the eye, letting him know he’s as serious as him.

“I want you to tell your deepest, darkest secret.”

Slowly, but surely while appeasing the unsub, Spencer kept sawing the shard against the duct tape. It was making a tiny bit of progress, he just had to keep stalling.

Spencer took a deep breath before answering.

“I was wrongly convicted and in prison for three months,” he began.

“That better not be your secret, cause if it is, I’ll shoot you right now.”

“No that’s not my secret,” Spencer said, “While I was in prison I tampered with some drugs another inmate wanted me to move and I hurt a lot of men that I didn’t intend to.”

The unsub laughed like he’d just said the funniest joke ever.

“Oh we got a badass here. Is that all you got? People do shit like that and worse all the time. I’m not gonna warn you again. I want to know something that no one else knows.”

Well baby you are all that I adore

If love is what you need a soldier I will be

Spencer glanced over at her before answering.

They’re in the middle of a life or death situation, her clothes and hair are all rumpled and out of place and there’s blood sliding down her cheek and the side of her face. Even so, she’s still the most beautiful girl he’s ever known.

If he had any other choice, he would never even consider saying it, but this could be their only chance out of this hostage situation. He turned to face him again; he doesn’t know if he can look at her when he says it.

“I’m in love with my partner, SSA Y/N Y/L/N. I have been for nearly a decade.”

He faced her again when he heard a slight gasp come from her direction.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry, I should’ve told you sooner or maybe I shouldn’t have at all. I never really intended on telling you, but now it’s out there. I’ve always loved you.”

He can’t read the expression on her face. Is it a mixture of hurt? Confusion? To know her so well, this was one of the few times he had no idea what she was thinking.

Her lips are parted in surprise and she’s staring at him, slightly wide eyed, her brows pulled together. Maybe she thinks he’s lying, just saying something believable for the unsub. That might be a blessing in disguise.

“Wow.”

The unsub whistled above them, but Spencer doesn’t break his gaze from hers. All he wants to do is hold her and say he’s sorry, he never wanted it to happen this way, but now it has. He had basically just dropped an exploding bomb over her head all while they were being held hostage.

“Now that’s a secret. I’ll tell you what. I’m not going to kill you,” he grinned, pulling the gun away from Spencer’s direction.

“Instead, I’m going to kill your partner. It’ll be way more fun to watch you suffer.”

The next few seconds happened in a blur.

The gun swivels towards her and goes off before Spencer can even react. She shrieked as she fell backwards from her crouched position, her head hitting the floor hard. The unsub’s focus is no longer on him, it’s still on her, ready to take another shot.

The tape finally breaks apart.

I’m an angel with a shotgun

Fighting ‘til the wars won

I don’t care if heaven won’t take me back

Gunfire rang in Spencer’s ears.

But this shot didn’t hit her nor is it from the unsub’s gun. This one came from Spencer’s own piece.

After the tape broke, he’d reached for his second gun and shot the unsub, in one swift movement. The unknown gun had been hidden in his ankle holder this entire time, it had just been a matter of getting to it.

The unsub fell with a thud, but he can’t spare a moment of thought about him. He has to focus on the most important thing.

The fact that she hasn’t moved since she was shot.

He’s on his feet, ignoring the blood on his hand from the glass.

He runs towards her as fast as he can.

I’ll throw away my faith babe

Just to keep you safe

Don’t you know you’re everything I have?

“Y/N, Y/N,” Spencer hovered over her, eyes trying to locate where she’d been hit.

He spots the gunshot wound in her shoulder and covered it with his fingers, attempting to stanch the bleeding. He thought she’d lost consciousness, possibly from hitting her head, but he’s so panicked, he can’t think straight. The normal process of his ever running brain has come to a halt and he can’t think straight.

“Y/N, stay with me. You’re gonna be okay.”

He shouted at the SWAT members he could hear pouring through the front door that he needs medical, as fast as possible.

He turned back to her when he heard a tiny groan and saw her coming to. Relief washes over him when he realizes she hasn’t lost consciousness.

“Spencer?” she mumbled.

“I’m right here, you’re gonna be okay.”

Her face contorted in pain and she tried to sit up.

“No, stay still. You’ve been shot and have a possible concussion.”

“What happened?” she asked weakly.

“I managed to cut through the restraints with a piece of glass and shot him with the gun in my ankle holster.”

“My hero.”

Her smile is faint and his heart aches, hating to see her this way. If only he’d been faster.

“I’m so sorry Y/N, this is my fault. If I’d only shot him sooner-”

“Spence,” she interrupted, “About what you said.”

“Forget about it,” he said quickly and before anything else could be said he was quickly replaced by the EMTs that surrounded her.

He was soon swept away in the chaos of the agents, paramedics and police that filled the area. He was taken outside by one of his teammates to get his own injuries checked out.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asked, trying to control the frenzied feeling building inside of him.

He had seen her injured so many times before. But he truly never realized just how much he loved her until he saw her lying, bleeding on the floor today.

“I heard them say it seemed to be a flesh wound, but they need to get her to the hospital,” someone answered him, although he couldn’t say exactly who it was.

He needed her to be okay.

And I, wanna live, not just survive tonight

His hand was halfway wrapped by a paramedic when he saw her being taken toward the ambulance, one of the paramedics that was with her coming towards him.

All of his fears flooded to the front of his mind, expecting to hear the worst.

“She’s asking for you, but we need to go now.”

It didn’t take him any time to make up his mind.

“I’m going with her.”

“Agent, your hand,” the one paramedic who had been tending to his injuries said, indicating the half wrapped hand.

“It’s fine, I’m going.”

He didn’t miss the man’s exasperated look, but he didn't care about his hand at all; he cared way more about her.

They had just loaded her in the back of the ambulance when Spencer hopped in.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Her restraints had been cut away and her arms laid on each side of her. Her shoulder was less bloody as they’d managed to temporarily stopped the bleeding. Her head and forehead was still bloody, some drying in the wisps of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. He ached to hold her, to feel her breathing against him, just to reassure himself that she was indeed alright.

“Everything hurts, but they said I’d live,” she joked.

He chuckled, not surprised that even at a moment like this she could still make him smile.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concern clouding her features.

“Just a cut hand, I’ll be fine.”

He settled by her side, intending not to leave her for the foreseeable future.

“Spencer?”

“Yeah?”

Her face is serious, her gaze level on his.

“I’m not sure if you meant it or not, but I wanted you to know that I love you, too.”

Realization spread across his face as it sinks in what she just said. He looked down, noticing her hand outstretched just the slightest towards him.

He put his hand in hers and she slowly intertwined her fingers with his.

If love is what you need

A soldier I will be

#spencer reid #spencer reid gifs #Spencer Reid fic #spencer reid smut #dr spencer reid #dr spencer reid fic #dr spencer reid gifs #dr spencer reid smut #Criminal Minds #criminal minds gifs #criminal minds fic #criminal minds smut #spencer reid x reader

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fedeipox · 4 years ago

Text

The Way of Time (Rdr2 fanfic) - Chapter 1 (1/4)

Okay so... I really don't know how to handle this. I’ll just try my best.

Previously on TWoT: Emily finds herself on a cold and dark room that she soon understands to be a train car. Half frozen to death, her only thought is to get out of there and when the train is stopped by some unidentified people, she doesn’t waste time in asking them for help. Will she regret it?

Warnings: some swearing every now and then

Words: 2,9k

Chapter 1 - Part 1/4 - Who do you think you are?

Lenny put the rifle down and looked at the girl. What was she doing inside that carriage? Was she one of Cornwall’s associates? Why was she dressed in that funny way?

“Don’t kill me” she repeated.

He didn’t want to kill her. He might have never killed her. Cornwall’s associate or not, she was just a girl.

“What?” asked Arthur coming closer and looking inside the car.

“Ooh shit” he whispered when he spotted the blonde figure kneeling down in a prayer position.

Javier peeked inside too and then Lenny and him exchanged a puzzled look. What were they supposed to do? Leave her there? Bring her with them? They were in the middle of a job and right now she was just a complication.

“Miss” called Arthur leaning towards her skinny figure.

“Miss” he called again when she didn’t answer.

She slowly raised her head and opened her eyes to look at him.

“Me?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes, what’s your name?”

She stared at him with those big brown eyes that reminded him of a deer. She was pretty. And scared, which made her even prettier.

“Come, come out of there” he said when he received no answer to his previous question.

He stretched out a hand expecting her to take it, but she didn’t. She eyed him from head to toe and then stood up by herself, bringing her arms to her chest in an act that stated she was freezing.

Arthur couldn’t help but notice the funny way she was dressed, and so did Javier looking at her tight pants and that shirt with the hood she had, not to mention those bizarre shoes.

“Where do you come from?” asked Arthur incapable to withhold his curiosity.

She moved her eyes from him to Javier and then Lenny, but just like before she didn’t bother to reply. That lack of answer was starting to annoy him and at the same time he started to think she was hiding something. But they had work to do, he couldn’t waste all day with a girl.

“Okay, listen, come with us, we have a camp, four walls and a roof, a place you can warm up and be safe” he said trying to convince her to get out of that damn train.

She kept studying them and the same did they. It was like they came from two different universes. At last, she took her decision, taking some steps forward and getting off the carriage.

“Come, Lenny here will give you a blanket” said Arthur leaning a hand on her shoulder and nodding towards the boy.

He wanted to show her to Dutch, he would surely know what to do with her.

...

As soon as she stepped out she immediately noticed the snow. Show! In May? How could that be possible?

The wierdo with the blue coat and the handsome face asked her her name and where she came from, but she didn’t answer, she didn’t want to tell them anything about her and at the first occasion she had had, her intention was to run away from that place and those people.

“Come, Lenny here will give you a blanket” said the man nodding towards the boy with dark skin.

Lenny, upon who she laid her eyes, just like the others was dressed in a very strange way, in an old way. Was she in some kind of play? A movie? Were they actors? Why were they dressed in that way and why were they looking at her like she was some kind of alien?

There was another thing that caught her attention as she admired both their clothes and the place she was: the train. It wasn’t one of the new ones, but one of the old coal-powered locomotives. Those things were no longer working for at least fifty years, except those used in the train museums. How could it be there still was one on the trails? And, that day she had taken a normal train to go to work, a modern train, so how could it be she was in there?

The boy called Lenny was leading her to another group of men. She noticed they were all dressing in that way, with those cowboy hats, those long heavy coats and those shotguns hanging on their backs.

No, that couldn’t be real, it must have been some kind of joke. And a bad one too, because the more she was seeing, the more she was getting afraid. Who did that had a terrible sense of humor.

“Who is this?” asked one of the men as they all turned in her direction and looked at her from head to toe.

He had a black coat and hat and a red and white checkered kerchief on his face, which he pulled down to speak.

“Found her in one of the cars” answered the handsome wierdo from behind her.

She moved her eyes on the other men who now where following the example of the wierdo with the picnic tablecloth and were revealing their faces: there was one with a blond walrus mustache, one pretty big and one who looked like a Native American but darker.

“What’s your name, Miss?” asked the picnic-man.

That was the second time they called her Miss. It was a little old style, but there everything looked old style. Just like before she didn’t answer and stared back at the man asking herself what they wanted from her. She felt a couple of hands on her and jumped, taking a step away from whoever was touching her. It was Lenny, who brought her the blanket and was leaning it on her shoulders.

“Whoah! Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you” he said.

“We don’t mean you no harm, Miss. Why were you on that train?” asked again the picnic-man.

The truth was, she didn’t know.

“Are you one of Mr. Cornwall’ associates?”

Mr. who? Maybe this buddy was the other criminal, the one they were fighting, the mafia boss she pictured in her mind, the one who kidnapped her.

She shook her head vigorously.

The man who asked her all the questions sighed and then turned to look at the rest of his people.

“Okay, Lenny, take the Miss away from here. When we’re done we’ll bring her to camp” he said then putting the picnic kerchief on his face again and giving his back at her to face the other men.

“Gentlemen, let’s go back to work” he added.

To camp? They wanted to take her with them?

“No” she exclaimed making the man turn to look at her again.

She wanted to go home, not to some God knows where camp, and to do that she had to finally break her silence. Criminals or actors or what the heck they were, she would explain them her situation and ask them to lend her one of their phones so that she could call home.

“I want to go home. Please. They took me, I don’t know how, but they must have found a way to take me. If you… if you could lend me a phone, I would like to call my mom” she said all in one breath.

...

Dutch looked at the girl, without fully understanding what she was saying. Took her, phone, call her mom: what was she talking about?

“You’ve been kidnapped?” he asked.

“Yes, I don’t know how, but they did” she replied more firmly.

“Who’s they?” he asked again, thinking about some kind of lie she was making up to avoid being taken and questioned.

He didn’t trust her one bit. Why should Cornwall’s men kidnap an oddly dressed girl?

“I don’t know. I woke up in there and then you people stopped the train and started asking me all this questions” she replied frustrated. She looked like she was telling the truth.

“Can I borrow a phone, please? I just want to make a quick call to my mum and tell her where I am so she can pick me up” she added addressing his men behind him.

Dutch looked at Arthur, at the girl’s back, asking him with the eyes what the hell she was talking about. When he shrugged, making him understand he had no idea, Dutch exchanged a look with the rest of his men. None of them seemed to understand.

“Where you come from?” he asked to the girl.

He preferred to change topic than reveal he had no idea of what she was saying. The girl looked a little uneasy to divulge this information, but in the end she said: “Saint Denis.”

So, she came from the city. Dutch quickly took his decision: they would have completed the job they went there for and then he would have brought the girl to camp. If she was telling the truth, they would have taken her home. A little trip to Saint Denis wouldn’t be a burden on them.

“Lenny why don’t you take her away from here. We have a job to finish” Dutch said to the boy.

On the girl’s face appeared some worry.

“We’ll all be back to camp for tonight and tomorrow we’ll take you home, Miss” he added addressing her with a soothing voice.

She seemed about to say something, but he didn’t want to waste any more time with her, he was there for something more important. He turned his back at her and addressed Cornwall’s men inside the last carriage. He had to find a way to make them get out of there without a fuss.

“Hey! Inside there! Listen to me, we don’t want to kill any of ya!” he yelled.

...

She wanted to tell him something, but the man turned his back at her and started yelling threats towards the train car. She didn’t want to go with them. Why couldn’t she just borrow a phone to call her mom? Was it so difficult to understand she had nothing to do with that Mr. Cornwall he seemed to hate so much?

Lenny pushed her away, but she didn’t move her eyes form the group of men, who now were taking pistols and rifles and charging them, while the one who she thought to be the boss kept threatening the men in the train.

“Wake ‘em up a little” he shouted and immediately after they started firing.

She jumped at the sound of the shots and couldn’t help let out a loud squeaky scream. Then, she threw herself on the ground covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes, wanting them to stop it.

“Hey, what are you doing? Stand up, you have nothing to worry about, they’re just scaring them” said the boy of color taking her shoulders and trying to make her stand.

She shook her shoulders pushing his hands away. Why had they to use those guns so much? She reopened her eyes as soon as the noise stopped.

“Mr. Williamson, give Mr. Morgan and Mr. Smith some dynamite, you two boys, go blow that door open” ordered the gang boss.

Dynamite? Blow open? Who were those people? How could they think no-one was going to hear them and call the police? She thought that it would have taken little time for that to happen, someone who lived around there would have called the cops any time now, even though it seemed no-one lived around there, and she had no idea where “there” was.

She followed the movements of those strange men as one of them truly took some dynamite from his bag and handed it to the handsome wierdo with the blue coat, who approached the carriage with the dark Native. She kept staring at them in bewilderment while they placed the explosives, lighted them up and drew back.

She covered her ears again just in time when the explosion happened. Those dudes were crazy! Completely out of their fucking minds!

She stood up and her knees trembled a little, but she tried not to mind it. She wanted to go away, as far away as possible from those old style insane criminals who wanted to take her with them. She took a step backwards, tightening the blanket around her shoulders and trying to turn around to run away, but the boy called Lenny stopped her.

“No, no, listen, you have to let me go” she said looking straight at him and pushing his hands away.

“You can’t go, it’s too dangerous, with us you’ll be safe” he replied grabbing her from her arms to stop her from running.

“No, no, you people are crazy, what the fuck is wrong with you? Guns and explosives, really? Who do you think you are?” she asked starting to laugh hysterically.

She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing, that had to be some kind of dream, but it didn’t look like a dream. Her dreams were generally confused and random, this was too real.

She took a piece of her skin under her sweatshirt and pinched it as hard as she could. They said to do it in order to wake up from a dream, but she always thought it was bullshit, and when it didn’t work, and she found herself in that same situation, she knew for sure that it was bullshit.

“You are quite crazy, lady, you know that?” asked Lenny watching her with perplexity.

“Mr. Summers, would you bring the young Miss here, please?” asked the gang boss raising a hand and making sign to reach him.

...

Lenny leaded her to Dutch who in the meantime had made the three men come out of the carriage and kneel down in a line in front of him.

“Go search the train with Micah and Arthur” Dutch ordered him pointing at the blown up door.

Then, he addressed the girl with no name looking at her with suspicious eyes. Now, they would have found out if she was telling the truth.

“Do you know these men, Miss?” he inquired pointing his finger to the three people.

She seemed to study carefully their appearance before shaking her head.

“And you say these people kidnapped you?” he asked again moving his inquisitive eyes from the girl’s face to Cornwall’s men.

“Yes” she answered plainly.

Just as he expected the three men, after a quick glance at the girl, exchanged a puzzled look between them. They had no idea of who that woman was.

“Did you steal this lady, gentlemen?” he asked as the thing started to amuse him.

“We never saw her in our lives” answered the one on the right.

“But she came out of one of your cars” he said matter-of-factly.

The men exchanged another look.

“We know nothing about it” said the one on the left.

Now, Dutch looked again at the girl, who stared back at him, and it seemed she didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Did you lie to me?” he asked.

He knew that by saying this he would disquiet her, but that was exactly what he wanted: he wanted her to reveal herself for what she really was.

“No, I didn’t. I have no idea of who these people are” she replied firmly, looking at him right in the eye.

“She’s not one of ours” said the men on the left, making Dutch look at him. She wasn’t lying after all.

“Dutch” called Arthur from behind him.

“What did you find?” he asked.

“These” Arthur answered handing him some papers. “Bonds. They worth anything?”

Just what he was looking for.

“Oh, sure. I think we can probably sell these pretty easily. Well done” he answered.

Now, there was the problem of the train and the three musketeers there.

“Would you get rid of all of this?” he asked to Arthur.

“The train?” Arthur asked in turn.

“Yeah, and our friends here.”

“What about them?”

Dutch, fixed his eyes on Arthur’s covered face. He was sure he would have done the right thing, whichever it was.

“I don’t know. It’s up to you. Just make sure they don’t send no folk after us” he said walking towards the girl with no name.

“Come, Miss. Let’s take you to a warmer place” he added to her pushing her away.

Together with all the others they walked on the half frost ground to reach the horses. Dutch could feel the bones of her shoulder under his hand: she was pretty skinny and she must have been freezing. He had to admit she was really strange, and she still hadn’t told her name.

“What’s your name, Miss? If it’s not too much to ask” he said pulling the bandana down from his face.

She took a little before answering, moving her eyes around and maybe considering if she could trust some complete stranger. She had to, she had no choice, and they were doing the same with trusting her.

“Emily” she murmured.

“I’m Dutch Van der Linde, Miss Emily, and these are my men. I must warn you, we are outlaws.”

As soon as he said this, she turned her head with a snap to look at him. Her big dark eyes expressed all the terror she was proving.

“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t touch a hair on your head. You see, we’re criminals, but we’re not bad men. Not when we can avoid it.”

They had finally reached the horses and pointing to them Dutch said: “You’ll ride with Lenny.”

#rdr2 #read dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #arthur morgan x female oc #dutch van der linde #Charles Smith #bill williamson #micah bell #lenny summers #javier escuella

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sweets-fanfics · 5 years ago

Text

Homecoming 20

Title: It’s been a day

Word count: 2713

Warnings: Fucking Micah i guess, and dutch is goin’ crazy.

Tags: @rollyjogerjones

AN: This was going to be a lot longer but for your sake’s it’s being split into part 21 when my favorite side mission begins (Charlotte)

__________________

“You are mighty brave, Micah Bell. I could shoot you right now,” You clicked back the hammer and glared at him.

“Aw well, you can’t do that.”

“And why not?”

A gun clicked behind you, “Because he isn’t alone, Miss Van Der Linde.” Agent Milton added. “Get off the horse.”

“We are in the middle of the city, you want to do this now?” You ask as you put your pistol away and hop off of Suzie.

“We need to have a chat.”

“I already said I won’t work for you-”

“That’s not what this meeting is about.” Milton cut you off. “You haven’t been a very well behaved lady since your husband’s return.”

“He came back yesterday. How have I fucked up so badly?” You ask sarcastically.

“Well one, you told Dutch.” Micah grinned. “But luckily your father is a complete idiot and trusts me unlike you.”

“You had two years on a godforsaken island to get in his head.” You mumble.

“And two, you are planning on leaving the gang,” Micah added over you.

Shit. He knew? Does that mean your father will know? “How the hell did you-”

“Oh, it’s obvious. You visiting your rich friends here in town. Morgan being hush hush and talking alone to Jonny Boy. You all want to leave. But I can’t let ya do that.”

“Why not?”

“Who knows what might happen to that little girl of yours…” Agent Milton hints making you reach for your pistol and aim it at him. Micah pulled out one of his and aimed it at you making you stop.

“You don’t get to threaten her.” You growl. “I guarantee you’ll end up in the ground.” You put away your pistol and climb back onto Suzie.

“We aren’t done here, Miss Van-”

“It’s Mrs. Morgan, agent Milton. And we are done.” You glare at Micah, “This is your one chance to disappear forever. If I see you take a damn step towards my family, I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

“Why? Dutch trusts me more than he trusts you.”

You roll your eyes as you turn Suzie to leave, “Yeah, I only held this damn family together while ya’ll were gone.”

____________________

You rode into the new camp and hitched Suzie near Athena. You hadn’t meant to get to camp so fast, you wanted to get some distance from everything for a while but next thing you knew you were in camp.

“Momma!” Bea’s voice ripped you from your thoughts as she waddled up to you and grabbed onto your leg. “Hi.” She mumbled.

“Hi baby,” You lifted her up and hugged her close to you. “Momma got lost.” You lied.

“Lost?” Arthur asked walking up.

You smiled as he kissed your cheek, “Yeah… I guess I spaced out and next thing I knew I was lost.” You could tell Arthur knew you were bullshitting but he wasn’t going to ask now.

“Well let’s get you some stew.” He says as the three of you walk up to Pearson.

As Arthur grabs two bowls you hear your father yelling. When you glance over you see it’s him yelling at Susan.

“What’s goin’ on?” You ask your husband.

“Someone smashed the donation box.”

“What the hell?” You watch as Dutch gets angrier and gets in Susan’s face calling her mean names. “He’s become such a nasty man.”

“What an awful thing to say about your own father,” Bill grumbles nearby where he’s eating.

“That’s so strange because I don’t believe I was talkin’ to you.” You say sweetly as you feed a bit of stew from your bowl to Bea.

“Maybe you should learn some manners?” Bill stood up.

As he walked over Arthur got between the two of you and glared at Bill, “Maybe you should go cool off, Bill.” Arthur's voice comes off as a threat.

“This woman has changed you, Morgan.”

“That woman is only thing keeping me from beating you right here and now so it be best you walk away right now.” Arthur’s voice was a low growl. It worked though because Bill backed up and walked away grumbling.

“Thank you, Arthur.”

“Best you stay near me for a while,” Arthur says pushing you towards your shared tent to eat.

___________

“I found her,” Uncle says making you glance up from your spot on the ground where you were combing Bea’s hair.

Uncle walked up with a very drunk Molly. After everything happened she would only stay in camp for a little bit from time to time but was out most of the time. You and Sadie always knew where she was but gave her her space.

“So nice of you to finally join us, Miss O’Shea.” Your father says sarcastically.

“I loved you, Dutch!” Molly slurs, “I gave you everything! Everything! And all I got was nothing!”

“Please calm down!” Dutch snaps.

Bea turns and climbs into your arms as you stand. She hides her face in your hair as you move in to listen to them.

“...I told them!” You catch Molly say at the end of her sentence as you walk up.

“What?” Dutch asks as the whole camp goes quiet.

“You heard me! I told them everything!” Molly slurred and pointed at Dutch.

Dutch pulls out his pistol but Arthur stops him, “Dutch, she ain’t worth it. She’s lost it.”

“You know the rules, Arthur!” Dutch warns.

“Why couldn’t you just love me back?” Molly asks.

“What did you tell them?” Dutch asks.

“Why couldn’t you just treat me with some god damn respect!”

“Woman, what did you say to them!” Dutch asks again getting louder. Bea at this point is squeezing your neck.

“I loved you-” A shot rang out making you jump and Bea and the other ladies let out a quick scream. You turn and look at Susan holding a shotgun.

“Susan!” You yell, angry.

“She knew the rules, Y/N.” You could feel yourself getting angry so you just turned away trying to calm a now crying Bea. “Mr. Williamson, burn her body.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.” You say to Susan again. Instead of replying she only sighs and walks away as you watch Bill and the other men move Molly’s body.

You glance at Arthur as he’s racking his hands through his hair, equally as stressed out as you. He walks up and hugs you and Bea. “We’ll go soon,” He whispers so only you hear. You nod as Bea reaches for Arthur.

He instantly smiles and takes his daughter. “Wanna go look at the water before bed?” He asks her.

“Yes,” Bea replies instantly.

“Y/N, can I speak to you and Henry a moment?” Dutch asks as you begin to walk away with Arthur.

You glance at your husband and give him a sad smile, “I’ll join you two in a bit.” He kisses you softly before walking away as you walked up to your father.

He was sitting in his tent with a book in hand, acting as if the woman he ‘loved’ wasn’t just shot in front of him. Henry steps up next to you and smiles at you.

“In times like this, I need you two to be my biggest supporters…” Dutch begins.

“You know we will always trust you a hundred percent, father,” Henry says without a second thought.

“Daughter, do you feel the same way?” He had noticed how you hadn’t looked up from your shoes. You glanced up at him. You could tell this was a test.

“I… Am I allowed to be honest?” You ask.

“That’s all I want.”

“I think we are in over our heads at the moment. Someone was just killed in our camp before we were even able to see if she was telling the truth.” You look back at Molly’s blood still wet on the floor. “I used to have full faith in you, Pa. But something is different about you and it scares me.”

“Hm.” Is all he says.

“Y/N, you should really put more faith in him,” Henry speaks up. “He took us in when we lost everything.”

“Because one of his enemies burnt our house down.” You snap. “I don’t mean to be so upfront, but someone needs to be since Hosea is gone.”

“You can’t replace him.” You glare at Henry. “Just do your job and stand by our father. You have way too much freedom in my opinion.” Henry had never spoken to you this way. “You get too many ideas from the family you visit in Saint Denise.”

“What family?” Dutch asks.

“It’s nothing-”

“It’s Bronte’s son and his wife,” Henry answers over you. “She goes to visit them.”

“Only because they have a child Bea’s age.”

As if you needed another excuse to be lectured a horse rode into camp making everyone lookup. And of course, it was Luca.

You hurry to him before anyone else can. But you hear your father stomping behind you. “Now is a really, really bad time.” You say as he hops off his horse.

“I have what you asked for.” He says giving Dutch a worried glance. Luca quickly slips the papers into your pocket and then pulls out a toy rabbit. “You said you had been looking for one like Nick’s, isn’t that right?”

You smile in relief at Luca coming prepared with an alibi. “Uh… yes, of course.”

“Daughter, what’s he doing here?”

“Oh, Pa, you remember Luca Bronte. His son has a toy that Bea was always fond of so he brought one for her.” You lie effortlessly.

“I hope I’m not intruding sir, I was in Annesburg for business and thought I’d drop it off on the way.

“Leave. And I better not see you here again.” Dutch says before giving you a dirty look and stomping back to his tent.

“He’s in a really bad mood.”

“Are you and your family safe here?” You thought back to Micah and Milton threatening you earlier.

“I have no choice at the moment…” You smile at him as he gets back on his horse. “We’ll have a playdate again soon.”

“You or Arthur let me know if you need a place to hide,” Luca whispers before riding off.

You turn around and Henry is standing close behind you. “Why did you tell him where the camp was?”

You rolled your eyes and began walking to your tent, “I didn’t, I just said we are near Annesburg.”

“Bullshit. You are single-handedly going to ruin this camp.” He spat towards you.

“Oh shut your mouth. Trying to act tough because you think Micah is your friend. You’re still the boy who didn’t know how to shoot a gun properly till we met these people.” You put the toy in Bea’s small bed before turning to look at Henry who was fuming.

“You can’t speak to me that way.”

“Until you realize how dumb you are acting I will speak to you however I may please.”

If it was possible. Steam would be coming out of his ears. “You need to learn your place-”

You can tell the camp went silent as you smacked his cheek as hard as you could. “You are not the same brother I used to know.” You say in a low voice so the others couldn’t eavesdrop. “You’re more like Dutch than you are like Henry. I think it best we don’t talk for a while.”

Henry rubbed his cheek and turned to walk away. You noticed that when Tilly ran up to check on him he swatted her away. She gave you a sad look before going to her tent with the other girls.

You took a deep breath to compose yourself before heading down to the water where Arthur and Bea were. He smiled at you when he noticed you but it soon disappeared when he saw you quickly wipe your eyes.

“What did your father say to you?” He asked, getting angry.

“It’s Henry. I’m used to Dutch but not used to how Henry is acting. He told Dutch about Luca Bronte and Dutch said stuff about Henry and I being his biggest supporters. Then Luca showed up to give me more papers he had found and Dutch saw him. Luckily he acted fast and acted as if he was giving me a toy for Bea.” You pulled the folded papers from your pocket and opened them.

It was two properties, Beecher’s Hope down near Blackwater and an old apple orchard near Saint Denise and the Bayou. You had seen it from time to time but it always looked so well kept you didn’t know it was empty.

“Those the properties?” You nod to Arthur’s question.

“Land to make a ranch near Blackwater,” You eye Arthur who rolls his eyes to going near that town again. “And a place near Saint Denise, an old apple orchard. It’s a cute farm.”

“Well, we gotta think about it. Don’t very much feel safe going that close to Blackwater and I don’t want Bea near gators…” You smile at him before glancing at Bea who’s splashing in the water. You see a fisherman a bit a way down near the deeper part of the river who does not look happy about a toddler spooking all the fish.

“Charles asked me to help him with somethin’,” Arthur mumbles after a moment.

“Oh? Where you goin’?”

“The natives at the Wapiti are having some issues. They asked if I can steal some papers for ‘em.”

“You are the best thief I know.” You tease. “I wanted to take Bea up to that big old waterfall.”

“Uncle Arthur?” Jack says behind you both. You hadn’t even seen him walk up but you still smiled and acted as if he hadn’t surprised you. “Have You guys seen Cain and Bear?”

You thought about it before realizing you hadn’t seen either dog. “Ah, I’m sure they are somewhere.” Arthur shrugs, “Maybe they are chasing squirrels.”

“I hope so.” Jack sighs.

“How about you play with Bea to take your mind off of it.” You suggest. Jack smiles and walks up to Bea who immediately splashes him.

“Bear didn’t walk with you guys when you moved to this campsite?” You ask Arthur.

“Both dogs were here at first… I’m sure they are fine.” He looks up towards the sunset. “Are you takin’ Bea tomorrow?”

“Maybe. It’d be nice to give her a day away after… the events earlier.” Arthur nods in agreement. “Will you talk to John about the properties if you get a moment alone with him?”

“I will.”

“You got my back, Arthur?” You ask him. He looks at you as if to see if this was a real question. But when he looks towards you all he sees is raw worry from how everything in the group was falling apart. He saw a pang of sadness in your eyes he had never seen before.

“Always, Y/N.”

_____________

You set off for the waterfall before Bea or the rest of the camp was even awake. Arthur had helped you wrap the sleeping toddler to your body before kissing you goodbye. You took your time riding through the forest. You always loved how it looked in the morning. Mist lightly covering the floor, animals running around. It was peaceful.

“Change for the blind?” And old man asks, seemingly appearing from nowhere.

“Oh, good morning sir.” You say to hide your shock.

“Help a blind man, Miss?” He asks again holding up an empty cup.

“Of course,” You hop off Suzie carefully, to not wake Bea and put five dollars in his cup.

As you begin to turn he grabs your wrist with his bony hand. “Your family is seduced by the one with the forked tongue... it's no use hoping...” He says in a deadpan tone of voice.

“Oh… I’ll keep that in mind, have a good day sir.” You quickly climb back onto Suzie.

As you begin to trot off the man calls again, “Your daughter will follow the right star even if leaves her alone in the end.” You glance at him one more time wondering how he knew you had a daughter. “Please leave me now.”

“Oh, sorry.” You mumble and ride off.

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supercultshow · 4 years ago

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Hello Supercult West! This is Supercult South Bad Movie Professor Cameron Coker (BS in “Andy Sidaris” with a minor in “Girls, Guns & G-Strings”) and I’m reaching out to you from across the country to help hype tonight’s screening of the film that turns the death scene into a true work of art: Picasso Trigger!

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Here at Supercult we venerate towering figures in cinematic stupidity called Supercult Saints. Some are actors like Nicholas Cage, Jeff Goldblum, Jean Claude van Damme, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Others are studios like Troma Films, Cannon Films, or Full Moon Entertainment. But my personal favorite are the creative geniuses who somehow manage to convince people to fork over their money to finance ludicrous Supercult projects like John Woo, Michael Bay, Tommy Wiseau, and the Golan-Globus team. But among the creative greats that are enshrined in the cathedrals of Supercult, there are none who knew the way to the American Man’s heart better than Andy Sidaris.

Killing is an Art Form, but so is the subtle art of being a strong independent babe.

This scene is full of important plot stuff.

Yeah, there’s like, a whole important story thing about…all of this.

Yeah, this is a really important…narrative moment.

This is a serious film for serious people interested in character development and, like, emotions and stuff.

“Didn’t I tell you Jade, I’ve got a black belt in shotgun.”

My boobs are down here! SEE!

“Give ’em a lei, blow ’em away.”

Some might wonder how they can hide in bright neon scuba gear. Those people have missed the point.

Born in Chicago in 1927 and growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana before attending college in Dallas, Andy was no stranger to wide world of sports. So much so that before becoming a film director he was a Television director for ABC’s Wide World of Sports for 25 years. Sidaris covered everything from football and basketball games to Olympic events and special programs, even earning an Emmy for his coverage of the 1968 Summer Olympics. However, his true legacy is in helping to develop techniques that are standard today such as instant replay, split screen views and what came to be known as the “honey shot”, close-ups of cheerleaders and pretty girls in stands during slow points at sporting events. In effect, Andy Sidaris standardized the combining two of the American Male’s favorite pastimes: sports and objectifying women.

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Andy eventually grew bored in Television and expanded into film where he specialized in B-quality action flicks featuring buxom gun-toting girls and a veritable cornucopia of explosives. His studio, Malibu Bay Films, had a rotating stable of actors made up of Playboy Playmates and Penthouse Pets and cranked out more ludicrously awesome films in a single decade than lesser Supercult Saints like Neil Breen have made in their entire lives. His films, including Savage Beach, Malibu Express, and Supercult Classic Hard Ticket to Hawaii, would eventually come to be known as his Triple B series: Bullets, Bombs, and Babes, and the full 12 film Triple B series beginning with 1985’s Malibu Express and ending with 1998’s L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return to Savage Beach should be required literature for any self-respecting Supercultist.

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Picasso Trigger, the third film in the BBB-series released in 1988, is when Andy Sidaris hit his stride. Not only is it written and directed by Andy Sidaris, but he also cameos in his own film as the uncredited character “Whitey” Nearly a direct sequel to 1987’s Hard Ticket to Hawaii, the plot might as well be a sexier version of the James Bond film Skyfall. A crime lord begins systematically murdering intelligence agents after the death of his brother during the events of the previous film. Only a crack team of incredibly picturesque crime fighters, many of the members of which return to their original roles from Hard Ticket to Hawaii, has a chance of bringing him down.

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Picasso Trigger has surprise banjo guns, helicopter rockets, nearly every form of transportation known to man including hover boats and big Casey Junior style choo choo trains, big block letters to let you know what day it is, and features just as many bizarre and hilarious murder weapons as previous installments of the series. I won’t spoil anything for you but let’s just say that if you can strap a bomb to it, someone will drive, fly, or throw it into someone. Oh yeah, and there’s quite a bit of nudity and love making to 80s synth wave. You know, the basic building blocks of any Andy Sidaris film.

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Is it a sexist relic of a bygone era directed by a master of objectification, ostentation, and sexploitation? Well sure, that’s probably why it has a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it’s also really, stupidly fun to watch and laugh at! And that’s really all that matters…to us at least.

Raise your glasses high to another great contribution by Supercult Saint Andy Sidaris, for though God gave us Girls, Guns, and G-Strings, it was Andy Sidaris that put them all in a 12-film boxed set sold on Amazon for ten bucks.

Supercult West is proud to present, Picasso Trigger!

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Picasso Trigger Hello Supercult West! This is Supercult South Bad Movie Professor Cameron Coker (BS in “Andy Sidaris” with a minor in “Girls, Guns & G-Strings”) and I’m reaching out to you from across the country to help hype tonight’s screening of the film that turns the death scene into a true work of art: Picasso Trigger!

#1980s #Action #adventure #Andy Sidaris #BBB #Dona Speir #Harold Diamond #Hope Marie Carlton #John Aprea #Picasso Trigger #Steve Bond #Thriller #Triple B

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unikornu · 4 years ago

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Page 9, The Right Rythm

-Slow down there Boss, we are just halfway through the evening. Gage snapped the beer from Lucy's hand and took a sip himself. They were sitting at the corner table in Cappy's Cafe while the pack was drinking themselves dead after getting the news about taking Safari park. Keith was almost running around them trying to keep up with delivering the drinks to the thirsty savages and not to slip on blood that he still didn't manage to clean after last fool that tried to push on alpha crap against Mason. Meanwhile Lauren was just happy to squeeze more caps and making sure no one is disturbing the business couple, having her shotgun ready under the bar.

- Hey, cmon i deserve a break after dealing with that rampage zoo crocodiles... she rolled her eyes and sighted deeply.

-Gators, Boss...they are gators. Not crocodiles, jezz. Have a bit of respect since they almost tore us apart. Gage shook a finger in her face and passed the bottle back. -And, hey that is actually my beer, get your own booze woman. Gage protested but she turned away and gulped down everything that was left.

-You mean that "was" your beer. Ye...sorry, i forgot my "purse" at home. She hiccupped and smiled with one corner of her lips. He scratched the back of his head and looked away trying to stay serious.

It has been a completely crazy turn around in her life, from being lost and lonely, squeezed between what is right and not, almost giving up on herself. Now she is the leader to the people for which rules exist only to not kill each other and in the name of profit. Nisha was damn right about it at least. The rules..they stopped existing at the moment people started dropping bombs on each other officially.

Lucy kissed goodbye her pre-war memories and moral backbone once again in Far Harbor, the night that Nucleus threw away its last radioactive breath in the air. She wasn't saint back then, before the bombs either, having a loving partner, living good, almost luxurious life while working with one of the most crooked figures in the crime society as personal assistant and agent. Once it was all gone within one explosion she missed mostly the warm and calm feeling, landing up in the bed, feeling safe with someone who she trusts and trusts her back. Now, passing each week in Nuka World it feels again like she has that warm spot again but this time it's better because no lies were included, to anyone, not even herself. Crime life was luring her from the very beginning to its bloody and thirsty claws but she wanted to be smart about it, not getting caught guaranteed that wheels and cogs kept moving forward into the direction they wanted, not the one they are told to pick. And justice was always served blindly and flat, rules were rules and no one cared about flipping the coin to the other side or treating each case in its own light. And she never dared to question her pre-war boss who trainer her and shaped into the sharpest tool he could ever have.

Lucy muttered under her nose being lost in her philosophical thoughts and past, staring at the raiders in the background but she snapped out when the cold wet glass touched her shoulder.

-Lets have another round and then head back, taking another park doesn't mean that the job is done for us eh? She took a beer he handed her opening slightly her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

-You okay, Boss? You seemed very interested into the void you've been staring at the last five minutes while i was trying to get us beer without punching anyone on the way. Raider sat back across the table and raised a bottle to give it a gentle hit with hers before taking a long sip.

-Gage...what made you the person you are now? I would like to hear your part of the past since we seem to be stuck together a while now.

-How i became a foul mouthed one eyed son of a bitch? He pushed his chair closer and crossed his both hands on the table. -Ye...well, fair enough but that will cost us yet another beer.

Lucy managed to scrape few more caps from the pocket and pushed them towards him. - I'm all ears then.

- I grew up in a typical settlement like many out there, being an ordinary kid but i realized fast that my parents were just a couple of pushovers, cowards, same as the rest of dem folks...no one there would stand up for himself and as a kid i couldn't understand why. Was pretty much rebellious from the start, rules were not to my liking too much...so one day i see them kneeling down again because of some stupid fuck with a gun and i just realized i won't end up like them, not like this. Gage poped a cigarette from the pack and light it up while continuing his story on how he was also lost, looking for a place that would make his guts feel right while trying to get by day by day doing various jobs and assisting in caravans.

-They always took what they wanted and were on their way, no talking, no deals, just pure will to do what you want, take what you want to survive. Those were the only rules that made sense and stick to my head back then so when i met a gang again i joined up and worked my way up, all the way here. The only reason i ain't dead yet tho is that i knew how to put a barrier between doing what ya want and losing control. He popped open a lighter and put a fire under a cigarette that Lucy gently placed between her lips.

-What about you, Boss? We all know your famous story of being the living human ice cube but...what was before exactly, that gal like you wants to nest with a bunch of dirty bastards like us even after war, hm? He scanned her smooth face ignoring the scar across her eye as he saw enough of them in his life and smashed the cigarette in the ashtray.

-Well, back then being the one against the rules would put you very fast out of the game, in jail or worse and i didn't want that to happen. Seeing the world out of system and its underground opened my eyes too. I thought that becoming a lawyer i would be de one serving the right justice but i realized my hands were always tied by someone above...the system so i...took the other path and did what i think was right. Secretly turned to a crime part of life, saw all of it. Fell deeper and deeper and became liking it, living it, maybe a bit too much at times. And now this world...? No laws, no jail, everyone with his own life and gun, it just feels...right, for me at least. I don't have to lie anymore to anyone. She puffed a cloud of smoke into Gage's face and finished her beer.

As the time passed half of the raiders were dead drunk lying down all over the cafe. Gage and Lucy decided its a good moment to leave so they stood up from the table and walked over the drunks while heading to the exit.

They strolled back to Fizztop in silence, side by side, she knew her right hand man wasn't much of a talker so he had his well deserved break of silence, all the way to the top. It didn't last any longer tho. She turned on the radio and took her metal chest piece down, throwing it to the side.

- I have a gift for you...but i will want something in return. She kneeled next to bed pulling something round and white from under it, hiding it in her arms as she approached him at the couch.

-What kind of gift it is then that ya want something back for it eh? Gage was sitting on the couch like a true raider, with his arms crossed and legs spread awaiting for the reveal of surprise.

-Well, we are raiders after all huh, nothin ain't free like that? Anyway...i noticed you seem to be fond of certain...creatures while they were trying to eat us alive and i stumbled upon this in the pool in the reptile house. Gage relaxed his arms slowly and stood up with a surprised look in his eyes as she reveled her gift. It was...shiny and round, barely damaged.

-Boss...is it... a goddamnfucking gator egg? I...ayee.. dunno wut to say, shit. Will it actually...you know, pop out at some point? He asked and took it gently with his both hands running the fingers across the smooth shell and then putting it carefully on the pillow at the couch. - It might actually. Would be a decent addition once Mason or you train it properly. She nodded at him, her arms crossed this time, tapping a finger against her upper arm awaiting to hear the magic words that for Gage felt almost like grinding a sand paper against his tongue.

-Fuck...thank you, Boss. I will try not to break it i swear. There it was, finally. He smiled at her but this time it was a truly honest smile, the one that very few had occasion to see.

-Now my part of the deal big guy, dance with me. Gage smile turned fast into a half opened mouthed expression.

-Pardon...wut? Dance? Hell no. He shook his head and watched her snatching two shots of whiskey and coming back right at him.

-Cmoooon, this will help to loose that tension both in your legs and your head, and we are alone. Cmoon Gage, just one dance, i wouldn't trust anyone else with it after all those years... Her words, the trust, felt honest and warm in his ears.

-Shit...fine. But just that one time, Boss. I'm embarrassing myself here. He sighted and took down a shot in one gulp. They threw the empty shots away, the glass shattering into small pieces on the floor. He untied his rusty gold armor and threw it to the side letting it slide away.

-Let me show ya, and no back stabbing okay? Lucy joked and gently took his right hand and placed it on her back while putting her left hand right under back of his shoulder. Then she raised her right hand and ordered him to do the same.

-Stabbing...with this kind of dancing they were almost asking for it.

He tried not to look directly in her amber shiny eyes reflecting the night lights of Grillie's bar but it was proving difficult with so little free space left between them. As she started to guide him slowly after few stiff steps he finally gave in and relaxed. Did he felt embarrassed swinging around like that? Yeah. But deal is a deal and after so much effort and blood and bullets put together into taking the Nuka World he could let himself be embarrassed like that for a few minutes in exchange. Beside both of them could finally admit that they trust each other at this point, a bit at least.

#fallout 4 #fo4 #nuka world #lucy's diary #lucy feit #porter gage #screenshot #thrax's action poses

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jadesjunk · 4 years ago

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Character Bio Example 1

This is an example of some bio writing work for my Red Dead Redemption Online character Eve.

Name: Eve (Last Name TBD)

Short for Evelyn but hates being called by her full name. Comes from her Irish ancestry and named after her deceased aunt. Comes from Aibhilín or Éibhleann, the latter can be derived from the Old Irish óiph ("beauty.")

Alternate nicknames include Evy/Evie which she went by as a child but doesn’t like to be called that anymore.

Also uses the aliases Eliza or Rose and after arriving Lemoyne she may use Rhode as a last name.

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian (Unaware)

Appearance

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 180lbs

Eye color: Green

Hair color: Red head/Ginger

Has always been on the skinny side but after running away her increased activity leaves her often more on the underweight side. She tries to maintain a healthy weight despite her higher metabolism.

Often wears her long red hair in a braid either down her back or over her shoulder.

Prefers wearing loose work shirts and pants with mens boots. In general prefers more masculine apparel but isn’t opposed to occasionally wearing a dress or skirt when in an appropriate situation. She does like mixing up her outfits and has a variety of feminine and masculine apparel, often enjoying wearing nice vests when she can afford them.

Her main outfit consists of a black cowboy hat, red work shirt with a sash around her midsection, basic black pants, black boots, red leather work gloves and a red and black poncho gifted to her by her friend Reyes. She wears a black gun belt covered in an assortment of useful items.

Personality Traits: Kind, Stubborn, Determined, Bit Naive, Quiet

Likes and Dislikes

Likes

Animals

Good food

Comfortable clothes

Being out in nature

Warm weather/summer

Gathering plants or animal samples

Harriet

Dislikes

Having to kill (humans or animals, does it out of necessity)

Poor meals

Being cooped up indoors

The cold/winter

Alligators

Men who assume she should be grateful to be hit on

Family (Living)

??? (Father)

Catherine (Mother)

??? (Eldest Brother)

??? (Middle Brother)

??? (Younger Brother)

Savannah (Previously Claire)

Friends

Wes

Reyes

Faye?

Harriet

Trelawny?

Nazar?

Skills/Work

Eve’s main skills revolve around her witchcraft and animal handling. She’s also an incredibly good cook thanks to her mother and those she’s traveled with. She picks up recipes from all over and has a knack for figuring out what’s missing in a dish just as much as she can sort out what she might need in a particular potion. She seems to have a natural connection with animals as well, able to quickly bond with any horse she rides and often can calm horses she doesn’t know relatively easily.

Eve’s witchcraft mostly revolves around making potions. She does like to make trinkets and talismans as well but she puts more faith in producing potions. She generally avoids rituals and sacrifice as it makes her uncomfortable and she doesn’t like the feeling of possibly calling on devils. Eve’s potions are generally more for improving one’s body such as numbing the body to pain or increasing stamina and improving your sight. She has carefully tested some potions with her horses, finding ways to vitalize them much like herself.

With firearms Eve’s main choice is rifles with short to medium scopes. She can use a pistol/revolver but most of the time prefers to use her rifle without the scope instead. When she isn’t pressured or panicking she’s a great shot but her accuracy greatly decreases the more she panics. She’s also pretty bad at riding or driving and shooting and usually prefers to ride shotgun on a wagon. Sometimes she can fire off several crack shots at enemies heads, killing each in a single shot but other times she panics so terribly she can’t even hit their bodies.

Thanks to Reyes she becomes pretty decent with a bow as well but usually only uses it in hunting for stealth kills. She’s okay with it from horse back but like her rifles is far better when still on a horse or on the ground.

Her skill hunting animals varies, oftentimes she tries to shoot from horseback either to kill with rifle or bow or attempts to tranquilize with her varmint rifle. Due to how erratic and at times small her targets are she has a far harder time making clean kills and sometimes even just hitting the body with the tranqs. She’s gotten incredibly good at tracking animals but unless she gets a solid shot standing still before it runs away (or attacks) she typically fails at getting a clean kill. Eve usually tries to avoid doing hunting, preferring to focus more on managing samples for Harriet. When she does hunt it’s usually more for cooking or if she needs ingredients/materials for other things. She will assist in hunts if needed for the gang but otherwise likes to put her skills to use elsewhere.

Backstory/Past

Eve was born to a relatively affluent family far north of New Hanover. (Traveling to Saint Denis is a several day trip south.) She has three brothers who were brought up to take over her father’s business. As their only daughter Eve was raised under relatively strict parenting. While her brothers were allowed to come and go more freely Eve was often stuck at home or only allowed to go out with her family. What little freedom she had came after she was 15 and she was finally allowed her to go on brief horse rides around their land alone.

Age 15-16: Eve stumbles upon an old leather journal belonging to her great grandmother. It was hidden away in the attic of their home in an old trunk with the last remaining heirlooms of her mother’s side. The pages were worn and frail from age and much of the scrawled handwriting was in gaelic. Eve struggled with translating as she wasn’t as fluent as her mother but she manages to translate most of it. The journal mostly contains accounts of her great grandmother’s life. Mixed in amongst the crumbling pages were recipes and notes on what Eve could only think of as potions, spells and rituals. Eve keeps the journal a secret from her family, carefully translating the contents over to a new journal of her own. Outside of working on the journal she also explores in the forest trying to identify plants. She accidentally poisons herself a few times but fortunately never too seriously and her mother doesn’t catch on.

Age 16-17: Eve discovers an old abandoned cabin deep into the woods beyond her family’s estate. Over the course of the summer she slowly begins cleaning the inside and converting it for her own use. She begins using her riding trips sneak away to the cabin and soon even does so at night. She gets caught coming home once by one of her brothers, thankfully the most understanding one who doesn’t ask questions and instead just helps her get the horse put away and back in bed without being noticed.

Age 17-18: Potential suitors begin approaching Eve but many end up getting the message she’s not interested and eventually move on to other women. Her mother and father are frustrated by her lack of interest in men. Soon Eve unfortunately catches the eye of one particularly stubborn man who becomes incredibly enamored with her. She repeatedly turns him down and this frustrates him as he knows she would be well off and would make a beautiful wife. He begins to become obsessed with her, believing he deserves her. The suitor is used to getting his way, being a slick and charismatic businessman.

Age 19: Eve is in her cabin when suddenly the door bursts open. She grabs for her shotgun (in case of predators) and aims it at the intruder. It turns out to be the suitor from town who refuses to leave her alone. After he mocks her and tries to tempt her into marrying him he causes her to panic and she shoots him in the abdomen. He falls flat on the floor of the cabin, blood spilling from the hole in his torso. Eve barely collects herself after retching onto the floor, covers the body in an old blanket and then buries it in the back. She changes clothes, takes her horse (Deseray, a blood bay arabian) and runs away.

Her family never finds out about the murder, they do eventually suspect the suitor had done something but doubted she eloped with him after so many refusals. A widespread search commences but they never pick up any sign of her and eventually it’s called off. They mourn for her loss and pray that she’s alive and well out there somewhere.

After the murder Eve makes it a town or two over before stopping and gathering herself. Still horribly shaken she decides to head towards Saint Denis as a backup plan. If everything goes wrong she has family there and can contact her parents or brothers if it comes to it. At least she knows the area and how to get there. For a brief while she barely scrapes by in the wilderness before falling in with some Irish travellers on their way to Rhodes. She takes up work cooking and caring for their horses while traveling with them.

Eve learns how to better survive on the road thanks to them and is finally taught how to use a gun properly. By the time they part they gift her with a beautiful cob and point her in the direction of a man named Trelawny. The mysterious con artist gives her work to help her survive and helps her get setup at Rhodes stables with her two horses. Trelawny is the main person who teaches Eve how to talk her way out of issues or use her innocent appearance against others. While she’s still relatively naive and unfortunately a little too trusting he helps sharpen her senses and skills.

At some point Eve runs into Harriet and picks up work sampling and studying local wildlife. She doesn’t really understand it at the time but while working for the animal enthusiast Eve begins developing a massive crush on her. (Mostly because she’s never been in love or crushing on someone.) Despite Harriet’s eccentricity the pair get along incredibly well (though most of it is Eve listening to Harriet wax on about animals and how horrible hunters are.) She ends up sharing her knowledge of natural remedies and concoctions, delighting Harriet and helping her with developing her sedatives, revivers and so on.

At some point Eve ends up running into Reyes at a saloon after both end up so drunk they start hitting on people of the same sex. (Eve at the time is still unaware that she’s lesbian.) They get thrown out together and Reyes invites her back to his camp to continue drinking. The pair have a good time, mostly downing more alcohol, singing, dancing and howling at the moon. Eve ends up messing up some of her clothes and Reyes gives her a spare poncho to wear. Eve makes a joke while drunk that since they match they’re the “Happy Ponchos” now. The two pass out before sunrise and in the morning she convinces him to let her tag along.

Reyes ends up teaching Eve how to hunt more efficiently and the best way to use as much of an animal carcass as possible. She continues to sticks around him like a lost puppy and learns more than ever before, becoming incredibly proficient in using a bow thanks to him. Eventually she even manages to craft a bow made of antlers from her best buck kill with his help. Through Reyes Eve also runs into her cousin Claire who has since left home and changed her name to Savannah.

#jadewrites #bio #rdr #rdo #red dead online #eve

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the-awkward-outlaw · 5 years ago

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Second Chances - Ch. 31

May the Wind Be At Your Back

Warnings: I guarantee you will cry (I sobbed writing this), swearing, blood, gore.

Word count: ~10,700 (sorry it’s long!)

Masterlist

Read on AO3

The next morning, you wake to an empty tent. You rub the tiredness from your eyes and get out, finding Arthur setting down the percolator to make coffee. He smiles and stands up when he sees you, folding you in his arms. He’s changed from his blue shirt to his black one with the red vest and green shotgun coat. He must know you love seeing him in it. The scent of leather and pine envelopes you.

“Reckon we oughta make a quick breakfast and head out,” Arthur says, letting you go. You nod and join him by the fire, pulling out a can of peaches. He adds a small loaf of bread and some salted, dried beef to the mix. As you eat, you make easy talk. It feels more normal than you expected it to be, but that in itself is a comfort.

Arthur douses the fire while you fold down the tent and pack it into Artemis’s saddlebag. She’s standing particularly close to Rannoch, has been since you made camp. Arthur walks over, smiling.

“Think she missed him,” he says, rubbing Rannoch’s neck and feeding him a sugarcube.

You pat her fondly. “Well, I’m sure he missed her too. When I was at Charlotte’s and he was loose in her pasture, he used to watch the trail as if waiting for her to show up. Was kind of sad, really.”

Arthur smiles down at you and loops an arm behind you, bending down for a brief kiss. “Well, they won’t ever be parted again.”

He lets you go and you mount up, heading slowly to Beaver Hollow. It’s clear Arthur doesn’t want to go back again either, not that you blame him. You can only imagine the rage he must feel towards Dutch for being abandoned. You’re angry about it too. If things have digressed to the point that Dutch no longer sees Arthur as someone worth having around after everything he’s done for the gang, then it’s hard to say how he will feel about you coming back.

It’s midday by the time you and Arthur arrive. The camp is even more empty and quiet than before you left. The wagon that sheltered Mary-Beth and Karen is gone. As you and Arthur walk towards your shared tent, there seems to be fewer people. It appears that Mary-Beth, Karen, Uncle, and Charles are gone. You already know Charles left; Arthur explained how he stayed to help the Wapiti. You’re surprised about the others though.

Your eyes drift over to Dutch’s tent, where he sits inside. Micah’s at the table, which isn’t unusual. He’s never far from Dutch anymore. However, two new figures sit beside the tent, looking out of place. One of them is rather thin and lanky, his face too long under his blond hair. When you see the other, your heart drops. You recognize the flabby, long face, the drooping jowls, the dull eyes hidden underneath moppy brown hair. He’s one of the men who attacked you.

You latch onto Arthur’s arm, your eyes glued to the man, who hasn’t seen you so far. Arthur stops and looks down at you.

“What is it?”

“Him,” you whisper. “He-he gave me this.” Your hand reaches up to touch your face where the cut is. Arthur glares across the clearing at them.

“That son of a bitch, what’s he doin’ here?” Arthur growls. He’s about to stomp over to him when you grip his arm harder.

“Don’t, Arthur. It’s not wise to kill him here. Let’s find out what he’s doing here in the first place.”

Arthur raises his lip in disgust but agrees. He gently instructs you to stay in the tent, away from the man, while he goes and talks with Dutch. You sit on the cot and watch him leave, but when he’s far enough away, you get up and follow him, skirting along the sides of the mountain towards the cavern’s mouth where Dutch’s tent sits. Arthur throws the strangers a foul look and then stands at the opening of the tent.

“Well at least you ain’t run off,” Dutch growls from inside. “Pearson left, old Uncle, the traitors. Both gone, took some of the girls with them. But I see you brought your girl back.” You hear the venom in his voice as he talks about you. “Micah brought in a couple of friends of his to help with some things. Anyways, Pearson and Uncle told young Tilly they were runnin’ to save themselves.”

“So it goes,” Arthur says.

“They are goddamn cowards, Arthur. Cowards. After all the time we spent, just to run off.” Dutch saunters out of the tent.

“Well, I guess they don’t wanna die, Dutch.”

“Ain’t nobody gonna…” Dutch grabs Arthur’s shoulder and guides him around the tent to where you’re standing. You quickly dart to the back of the tent that stares down into the mouth of the cave. The stench of decay floods your nose, choking you and an overwhelming feeling of being trapped envelops you. You force down the desire to run as you listen and peak around the tent.

“This is a tough time,” Dutch continues. “But we, our community, we will survive. They will not crush us.”

“I hope so,” Arthur pauses and looks out at the camp. “But if we let Jack and the women free then maybe we can-”

Dutch cuts him off. “There ain’t no freedom for no one in this country no more, Arthur. One more big score, we got enough money to leave. All this turmoil has the army and the Pinkertons spinning. We take a boat and slip away.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, Dutch, but it sounds like I heard it all before.”

“Just one more train-”

“Yeah, there’s always a goddamn train!” Arthur’s voice raises loudly.

“Arthur! This is different.” Dutch puts his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “We know this is full of cash. Army payroll. Money and supplies to repair the bridge that you blew. This is all going to plan. We rob Uncle Sam and we leave. What do you think?”

“It sounds wonderful, Dutch. However, I think it should be just us. None of Micah’s friends. You know, Y/N said one of them fellers is the one who attacked her on the road a week back. She said he was told to try and kill her. Now I know what you think of her lately, Dutch, but that don’t change the fact that she’s gonna be my wife soon and I don’t want those men around.”

Dutch gives him a hard look. “We need their help, Arthur. With how many folks have left, we need their gun power. Now as soon as we have the money from the train, I’ll send them off. Does that suit you?”

Arthur sighs heavily. “I suppose. But if I end up putting a bullet in his head-”

“That ain’t gonna happen. Perhaps Y/N is mistaken and he’s not the same man. Even if he is, he’d be a damn fool to touch her here. Like I said, they won’t be here much longer, so just keep your head.”

“Fine, but…” Arthur gestures to the camp. “You know the women and the children, and John and his family, I’m afraid I have to insist. We gotta let ‘em go, because if the Pinkertons find us again, they will kill everyone.”

“John? Insist?” Dutch says quietly.

“Yes,” Arthur says resolutely. “Insist.”

Dutch pauses and takes in a deep breath. When he speaks, his voice is higher than usual, giving you a sense of unease. Has Arthur stepped an invisible line?

“Of course, pal. Whatever you think is best. I will see to it. Now, we gonna rob a train?”

“Sure,” Arthur growls.

Dutch pats him on the arm and starts walking away. Arthur follows him and you take the opportunity to slip out of the cavern and towards your own tent, sitting down on the cot as if you’ve been there all along.

Dutch approaches the fire where most of the remaining gang have settled. “Alright everyone, we have work to do. We are gonna borrow a little money from Uncle Sam and be out of his hair once and for all.”

Dutch walks over to the horses. The way his shoulders move and the speed of his step, you can tell he’s angry. Arthur beckons for you to come to him, so you do, avoiding the gaze of the strangers. Despite trying to not see him, you can’t help but keep an eye on him. The one who cut you and you lock eyes. You can tell he’s trying to act like he doesn’t recognize you, but his eyes give him away. He says nothing however as he and the other stranger mount onto their horses.

“Let’s go, gentlemen!” Dutch hollers from the back of the Count, ignoring the fact that you and Sadie are among the group going along for the robbery. He leads the gang south, past Butcher’s Creek and towards Lemoyne

You wish Arthur was riding next to you, still feeling nervous about the strangers. He’s riding up near Dutch though, probably trying to ease him into complacency about letting you and the other women and Jack go. Sadie gallops beside you, her horse sweating as heavily as Rannoch in the humid heat.

As you’re approaching the border of Lemoyne, Dutch calls out behind him that the train is due in Saint Denis in an hour. Arthur automatically questions the wisdom of robbing a train in the middle of the city. Dutch explains the gang won’t be robbing them there, just hopping aboard and hiding until it gets closer to the bridge Arthur and John destroyed. Micah adds in; he must have had a hand in planning this robbery. How could he not, with how close he’s kept himself to Dutch.

Dutch orders John to grab the remaining dynamite left and Arthur volunteers to go with him. You almost go with him but realize that to do so would be a mistake. You’re sure you’re not back in Dutch’s good graces for leaving, not that you’ve been in them recently anyways. It’s clear he hasn’t liked your relationship with Arthur since he proposed to you, convinced you’ve been trying to take Arthur away from him. You watch John and Arthur ride off into a woodland as the gang continues south.

As you’re riding along, you realize how much things have changed with how Dutch runs things. On previous jobs, Dutch never let any of the gang leave in groups of more than four, even if the whole gang was involved in the job. Now there’s only one group, being more conspicuous than ever.

When the group reaches the train tracks just outside Saint Denis, Dutch stops in order to wait for Arthur and John. Only a few minutes pass before they regroup. Arthur glances at you and then takes his spot beside you, nodding to you in order to reassure you. You nod in return. After this is done, you and he will be abandoning the gang, heading off to begin your new lives. With any luck, things will go smoothly. Of course, you’re not too optimistic when it comes to luck, not with the way things have been going.

Dutch throws the cigar he’d been smoking while waiting and leads the gang into the farms lying on the outskirts of the city.

“One last time, gentlemen!” he calls out. “I got us a riverboat, it’ll be waiting for us at Annesburg. We’ll head up to New York or Chicago and get a real boat from there out to the tropics. It will be paradise.”

“It’s all coming together, Dutch,” Micah simpers at him. “Just like we planned.”

“I hope that’s okay with you John, and you Arthur. Or do you insist on something different?” He puts a particular emphasis on the word that makes you even more nervous.

“Sounds about as good now as every time I heard it before,” John says.

“Abigail must be real excited, all packed up the way she is,” Micah retorts. “I can just see her and Y/N and the other girls in little grass skirts.”

Dread fills your stomach. While today’s been your first day back in camp, you did notice Abigail had packed her things up. How long has Micah known about them leaving? Does he know about you and Arthur as well? And if he does, is he planning on stopping you, or worse? Questions begin running through your mind until John cuts them off.

“Don’t talk to me, you son of a bitch.”

“That’s enough, boys,” Dutch commands. “Let’s keep it down for now, don’t want to be attracting any attention.”

“Any more attention, you mean,” you say before you get the chance to stop yourself. You haven’t been back in this shit-hole of a city since Hosea died, and you wouldn’t be surprised if your face, along with everyone who was involved, is plastered on a wanted poster in every corner of the city. You hate being back here, too much bad has happened.

“Just take it nice and easy, fellers,” Dutch says, but his voice portrays that he’s irritated with your comment.

“Ah, Saint Denis. Good to be back. Happy memories, huh John?” Micah says.

“Will you shut up, Micah?” Arthur snaps.

“Enough!” Dutch says. “Quiet, all of you.”

The gang falls silent as you trot in single file down the main street of the city. This all feels wrong. There’s so many of you riding along like this, the first person who’s seen you must already be reporting your suspicious activities. You just pray that no one else dies. Well, maybe Micah or the strangers, but no one else.

Dutch pulls to a stop at the trolley station just across the street from the railroad tracks. He hops off and addresses Sadie along with the blond stranger, who he calls Cleet. He instructs them to board half way along the train, and then he tells John, Arthur and you to board at the back. The rest will be riding along with him as they tail the train on horseback. The gang nods their heads and approach the tracks.

After a few seconds, the distant rumble and bell from the train echo, signaling its approach. You sniff a little and stand close to Arthur, glaring down the tracks. The train chugs down the track, going far too fast. The horn bellows and the train passes the group without stopping. Has the engineer been tipped off about a possible robbery in the city? Arthur looks as confused as you do as he looks down the passing cars.

“Should I just sneak on now?” he asks Dutch in a gruff voice.

“Goddammit,” Dutch says. “Everybody mount up. We’ll do this on horseback.”

“We still going through with this?” John asks.

“Of course we are.”

The gang quickly get on their horses. You give Rannoch a reassuring pat before kicking him hard into a gallop, joining the others as they trail the train. It hasn’t slowed down at all, in fact it seems to have sped up even more now that it’s leaving the city. John calls back at you and Arthur, stating you can jump onto a flat car from the side.

Just as the train’s passing the farms outside the city, you and Arthur ride alongside the last car, which happens to be a flatbed. You’ve never jumped onto a train like this, which makes you nervous. Despite your anxiety, you position your feet on the saddle and leap towards the car with as much strength as your legs can muster. Surprisingly, you feel your shoulder slam onto the flatbed. Arthur lands beside you with a heavy thud. He pulls you to your feet and slides the rifle from his shoulder. In your overthinking of how to jump onto the train, you’d forgotten to grab one of your own. Your pistol and sawed-off will have to do.

Just as John’s slamming down on the flatbed, guards come out of the boxcar ahead and begin shooting. You and Arthur take cover behind some of the cargo, returning fire. The men go down quickly, allowing you and the other two to head up. The next car is another flatbed, and the one after is another boxcar. You watch as Sadie jumps onto the boxcar. Cleet, the blond stranger, leaps on and Sadie offers her arm to pull him up. More men are coming out of the boxcar and you fire at them, continuing to move up. John keeps hollering to push up.

Just as you’re climbing up to the top of the boxcar after Arthur, you hear him yell, “This is crazy.”

“You feel like ditching?” John responds.

“Of course not. We gotta get this done.”

As you’re straightening up from climbing up the ladder, a man climbs up on the other end. He’s barely put his hands on the roof when a bullet slams into his forehead. Arthur reloads his rifle as you whip out your revolver again. You and Arthur hop onto the next car and then drop down to another flatbed, followed by John.

“Where the hell is Dutch and Micah?” Arthur roars, shooting more guards.

“I don’t see ‘em!” John answers.

“Who knows, this might have been their goddamn plan all along,” you say as you shoot a guard on the roof of the next car.

As you and Arthur run through the cars, a guard at the end pops out and fires quickly. You’d seen him before Arthur so you push him as hard as you can into the wall. The bullet glides above your arm, missing you and Arthur’s chest by inches. You raise your revolver and shoot the guard in the neck.

Arthur hardly has any time to say anything before two more guards barrel in your direction, raising their rifles. As you and Arthur take them down; John calls up.

“Just like the old days huh, Arthur?”

“This ain’t nothin’ like the old days,” Arthur growls, heading up with you.

There’s nearly half a dozen men ahead, so you pull out your sawed-off and fire, causing the head of one of the men to explode. You and Arthur push up, taking down more men with John’s help.

One guard is left standing in the doorway of the next car. Arthur shoots him in the chest and he stumbles back. As he lands on the floor, he fires again but his bullet strikes a lantern hanging from the ceiling. Bits of burning glass and metal fall onto his body, the fire spreading quickly since the hot oil from the lantern splattered onto him and the floor. The fire spreads to some of the cargo and a crate suddenly explodes, making the car completely impassable.

John runs to the side of the flatbed you’re all on and waves towards the back of the train. “Come on, we can’t get through!”

Micah, Dutch and the mop-headed stranger gallop up to the side of the car. John hops behind Micah. Dutch yells at Arthur to jump onto his horse, but Arthur ignores him and leaps onto the stranger’s horse, allowing you to take Dutch’s mount.

You’re nervous once again about jumping, but you kick off the car as hard as you can, landing on the Count’s narrow hind quarters. You fold your arms around Dutch’s waist as he gallops ahead, passing the burning car to the next flatbed. Sadie and Cleet are already waiting on it. You carefully position your legs and leap onto the flatbed. A heavy thud tells you Arthur’s landed.

As Arthur gets up, he points to the burning car and yells to John. “Uncouple that carriage before it blows us all up!”

John runs to where the cars are connected. You look down, trying to catch your breath and see in an open crate the components of a gatling gun. You call Arthur’s attention, but he’s staring out at a cliff the train’s passing. You follow his gaze and see a man standing on top of it. He looks behind him and hollers something, waving his arm.

“Shit, I think that was a lookout,” Arthur says. “They must have known the train was gonna get hit.”

“Come on, Arthur,” you say. “Let’s get this going.”

You lift up the heavy tripod that holds the gun up and slam it onto the ground, spreading the three legs as Arthur grabs the barrel, the chamber and the pin. He puts the gun together quickly.

“Get behind me,” he tells you, taking position behind the gun. Just as you stand behind him, John gets the burning car uncoupled. The three of you watch as the car slows down and then explodes after the cars behind it crash into it, causing whatever was inside to blow.

After watching the cars derail, Bill hops onto the flatbed after Dutch tells him to go stop the train. As you turn to watch him, a guard on top of the boxcar ahead appears. He aims his gun and shoots, the bullet striking John in the shoulder. Before you or Arthur can do anything, he stumbles back and falls off the flatbed.

“John!” Arthur screams.

The guard shoots again, causing you all to flinch. You and the others aim at him, but it’s Arthur’s bullet that takes him down.

Dutch, galloping alongside the train, calls to Arthur. “I’ll get John, you protect that money.” He and Micah fall back, turning down the tracks.

“Man the gun, Arthur, I’ll go stop the train!” Bill calls.

“No! Whatever you do, do not stop the train!” Arthur yells back. “You secure up ahead, but keep us moving. I’ll deal with that patrol when they come through.”

He finishes putting the gatling gun together and then turns to you. “Go with them, see if you can find that money.”

You nod and approach Sadie when you hear the gatling gun begin firing. The patrol has arrived. You and the others take cover behind the cargo on the flatbed, firing at the horsemen. Your revolver does little at this distance, so you run over to Arthur and tug on his rifle, removing it from his back and hiding behind him as you reload it.

“Take cover!” he yells at you. Quickly, you slide back behind the crate again, taking down two riders with the rifle. Of course, Arthur does a much more thorough job with his gun.

“You sure you can handle that gun?” Cleet shoots at Arthur, “‘Cause I can take over if you want.”

“Just shut up and kill these bastards,” you snap.

“Hey, we all gotta work together on this.”

“And that’s what we’re doing, now just shut the hell up and shoot!”

Arthur continues firing at the riders, but they just seem to keep coming.

“How the hell I get saddled up with you two girls?” Cleet snarls.

“Watch your goddamn mouth!” Sadie says.

The next several moments are filled with you and the others shooting the patrol, Arthur taking down the majority. It seems like every moment or two, Cleet says something to antagonize you or Sadie. It takes all your willpower to not point your rifle at him and you tell him so.

“I ain’t afraid of you, woman.”

“You should be!” Arthur hollers over the gunfire. “She’s already got your friend tagged for murder. Hope you ain’t close to him.”

Cleet says something that’s drowned out by the engine’s horn as it approaches a short tunnel. Your car is temporarily covered in cool, damp darkness before bursting back out into the hot sunlight. The few riders remaining suddenly scamper off, probably figuring it’s a lost cause at this point.

“Get off the gun, we need to go for the money,” Cleet says. You and the others follow him over two more boxcars and then another flatbed. The last car before the engine is another box but Cleet says it should have the money inside it. Arthur runs up to it and slides a stick of dynamite in the door handle. He lights it and you all take cover behind some crates and barrels. The metal door is blown free with a loud shriek of wrenching metal. Just as the smoke clears, the train enters a long and dark tunnel. Arthur pulls out his lantern as he runs up to the doorway.

The train exits the tunnel just as Arthur comes out, snuffing his lantern. “We got somethin’!” He goes back inside and then exits again, tossing a large burlap sack to Cleet. He throws another at Sadie and one more at you. The heavy weight of coins and stacks of bills inside the sack pounds against your chest as you catch it.

Just as you’re setting down the sack to catch another, Bill climbs down from the car.

“Morgan! The driver’s dead, we gotta get off this train, it ain’t stoppin’!”

“Let’s go, then!” Sadie says, grabbing her sack and throwing it over the side of the train and leaping off. Cleet and Bill do the same. Arthur comes out of the carriage, hauling another large bag. Slightly breathless, he gestures for you to jump. You heave the sack onto your shoulder and toss it onto the grass, painfully aware of the quickly approaching chasm with the broken bridge. You breathe out and jump, your feet landing painfully on the grass and your knees buckling, slamming you down. Arthur grunts loudly as he lands.

You and the others get up and watch as the train barrels down the tracks, falling down the broken bridge and crashing into the canyon below. The engine breaks apart, crushed under the weight of the cars and then the canyon finally falls silent.

“Jesus,” Bill says quietly. Arthur agrees and tells you and the others to move. You go back to where you’d dropped your sack, heaving it onto your shoulder just as Dutch, Micah and the stranger trot up, followed by everyone else’s horses. The trotting is oddly quiet after having heard the loud chugging of the train and the screeching of shredding metal. However, as you and the others walk up to Dutch, John is nowhere in sight.

“Where’s John?” Arthur asks.

“I tried,” Dutch says heavily. “I tried.”

“He didn’t make it. That patrol killed him. We had to run.” Micah says. Something about the way he says this feels off to you.

Arthur puts down his sack and looks down, his face hard. You can feel his grief rolling off of him, but when he looks up, he almost seems disbelieving.

“Come on,” Dutch orders. “Let’s go, before another patrol turns up.”

You take Arthur’s free hand in yours after he lifts up his sack again. He only responds with a gentle squeeze. The two of you throw your sacks over your horses. He sighs heavily as he mounts up on Artemis. You understand why. The two of you only came back in order to save John and his family, and now he’s dead. You just hope Abigail has enough sense to leave with her son for good.

Arthur kicks Artemis into a gallop, Rannoch rushing to keep up, as the gang begins heading back to Beaver Hollow. You’re glad that you and Arthur are only returning to pack your belongings and then, when things are quiet, you’ll disappear with Arthur, taking one of the sacks of money you’ve just stolen.

The gang rolls pass O’Creagh’s Run. You glance to Hamish’s cabin, spotting Buell standing in the small paddock beside it. He lifts his head from grazing as your horses thunder by.

As the gang approaches the hills marking that you’re close to Beaver Hollow, a horse comes over the rise and a shrill voice calls out.

“They came and took Abigail!”

Dutch stops his horse at the head of the group as Tilly rides over with Jack in front of her.

“We hid, but they took her!”

“Who did?” Arthur demands, walking his horse to stand next to the Count.

“Agent Milton and his men took her to Van Horn to be put on a boat and tried for murder.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Dutch says with no warmth in his voice.

“We gotta let her go,” Micah says. “John’s um, well sorry son.” He looks pointedly at Jack with a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Without John, she’s just bait. Got a bunch of money, Dutch, she’s just a girl. They won’t do nothing to her, but me, Cleet and Joe know we need to keep riding on this one, Dutch.”

Cleet and the other stranger Joe nod behind Micah.

“So we just gonna let this boy be made an orphan?” Arthur says.

“It ain’t like that!” Dutch shoots, waving his arm at Arthur.

“What is it like?”

“I wanna live, cowpoke!” Micah sneers. “Dutch, it’s just a girl.”

Dutch pauses and then nods. “You’re right.”

“Dutch!” Arthur yells, dismounting and standing near Dutch’s leg. His eyes beg him to see reason.

“It pains me to say it, Arthur, but Micah is right.”

“Dutch!”

“Now come on boys,” Dutch says, taking a tighter hold of his horse’s reins. He kicks the Count into a gallop and Arthur is forced to take a quick step back to avoid being trampled. He glares at Dutch’s shrinking form as everyone except for you and Sadie follow him.

“Well I guess that’s that then,” Arthur growls. He looks over at Tilly, who looks confused and scared. “All them goddamn years.”

“Come on, Arthur,” Sadie says heavily. “Let’s go get her. Us three is all we need.”

He nods and glances at you before addressing Tilly. He heaves the sack of money from Artemis and throws it over Tilly’s horse.

“Take this,” he says heavily. “Take Jack and wait at Copperhead Landing for Abigail and Mrs. Adler.”

“Thank you, Arthur,” she says a bit breathlessly.

“You’re a good girl,” he says. “You live a good life now you hear?”

“And you too, Arthur. I’ll miss…”

“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.” His eyes flick down momentarily. You feel like crying as he smiles at her and then turns to Jack. “Be brave, son, I’m gonna go get your mama.” He takes Jack’s hands in his and looks him hard in the eyes as he says this. Finally, he lets them go and turns to you and Sadie. “Mrs. Adler, Ms. Y/L/N, ride with me.”

He kicks Artemis into a run and you and Sadie follow. You glance behind and raise a hand in farewell to Tilly, painfully aware that you’ll probably never see her again. Your heart grows heavy at the thought of how much your family has fallen apart. You swallow tears at the thought that you didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye to Mary-Beth, Pearson or even old Uncle, useless as he was.

As you and the other two ride, Sadie and Arthur discuss the best way to get into Van Horn since it’s been overrun by Pinkertons. It’s decided you’ll go in on the south end near the lighthouse.

“Those goddamn bastards,” Arthur growls. “Now he don’t care if he orphans his friend’s child so long as he gets rich? All his goddamn talk all them years. Seems like it was always a lie, or he went crazy. Goddamn this mess.”

“Sure,” you say. “Guess he began to believe he was God or something.”

“The Dutch we know now is not the Dutch who put a blanket on my shoulders in the snow all them weeks ago,” Sadie adds.

Arthur sighs. “I’m sorry you both got dragged into this, into us.”

“Listen, if you hadn’t shown up at my house that night, I’d be dead.”

“As would I, Arthur. I don’t think I would have lasted much longer if you hadn’t found me when you did. Even this bullshit beats dead.”

“I thought I could find a way to get John, Abigail and Jack out of this mess,” Arthur says. “To try and give them a life. Seems like I left it too late.”

“Let’s just get Abigail, they could still have a chance,” you say.

Arthur sighs again. “John, Hosea, Mac, Davey, Jenny, Sean, Lenny. We have to put an end to this! And Eagle Flies. Another angry fool he used, just like he did with the rest of us. No one else is dying for Dutch’s crazy dreams. ”

“Like I said, Arthur,” Sadie growls. “We don’t need them. We’re gonna make this right.”

The three of you run on to Van Horn. Once the lighthouse comes into view, you dismount and send the horses off. Sadie asks Arthur to take point in the lighthouse with his scoped rifle and keep watch while you and she run up to the boathouse where Abigail’s likely to be held. He clearly doesn’t like you two doing the most dangerous part of the job, but he agrees when you tell him he’s the better shot and that you and Sadie are the faster runners.

As he runs over to the lighthouse, you and Sadie take cover behind a broken wagon. You look over the edge, counting at least a dozen Pinkertons standing at different spots on the street. The way they’re glancing at each other and the points of the road, it seems Micah was right about one thing: they’re holding Abigail as bait.

You check your rifle quickly and then the Pinkerton standing closest to you and Sadie is suddenly thrown back, blood gushing from his head. The Pinkerton standing closest to him yells out, pointing his gun in your direction. You raise your rifle and shoot him.

“Come on!” Sadie yells, moving forward as more Pinkertons fall from Arthur’s shots. You skirt around a crumbling brick building close to the river since it is harder for the Pinkertons to shoot you from this spot. You and Sadie continue shooting at them, moving up considerably fast, thanks to Arthur’s keen aim.

Within moments, you’re running up the deck towards the boathouse. Sadie slams the butt of her rifle into a Pinkerton’s face and then goes to the door. You’re suddenly slammed into the ground by a heavy weight and realize a Pinkerton must have been hiding and grabbed you when you passed him. He’s suddenly wrenched off you as Arthur’s bullet rips through him. You stand up and find Sadie gone. She must already be in the boathouse, so you run inside it.

As soon as you step in, you know something’s wrong. Abigail’s tied to a chair, her mouth covered by a thick bandana. A Pinkerton is tying Sadie up and your vision suddenly flashes white as something hard slams into your head. You fall back and the breath is knocked from your lungs as you land. You blink and your vision clears, showing Milton standing above you.

“Ah, Ms. Y/L/N, I had a feeling I’d be running into you. By the way, I failed to send my congratulations for your wedding announcement.”

You’re about to ask him how the hell he knows about that when you’re rolled roughly onto your stomach and tied up and gagged by another Pinkerton. He picks you up and throws you into the corner of the room near Sadie. She looks at you, but there’s no fear in her eyes. You doubt you can say the same about yourself.

Milton walks around the room slowly. “Alright, men, now we wait. I doubt these two ladies were alone, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the men comes charging in, guns blazing. Prepare yourselves.”

He slides into a storeroom behind the counter, which blocks your view of him.

Gunfire suddenly echoes from outside. Arthur must know you and Sadie are in trouble and is advancing. You wish you could yell for him to run the other direction. You and Sadie can find another way easy enough to save yourselves and Abigail. Of course, you know better than anyone that’s the last thing Arthur would do.

The door slams open, revealing Arthur, bathed in sunlight. He pulls the hammer of his pistol, which he’s already unholstered, and shoots the two Pinkertons waiting by Abigail. They fall heavily and Arthur marches in, pulling out his knife to free Abigail.

“Okay, ladies,” he says as he removes Abigail’s gag and begins cutting the bonds around her right wrist. “Let’s get out of here.”

You try yelling through your gag, but the click of a hammer comes from behind Arthur. He stops and straightens up.

“Calm down, Mr. Morgan,” Milton says.

Arthur clenches his jaw and lifts his hands, turning to face Milton.

“Game’s over, Mr. Morgan. I was honestly hoping you’d be the one to come to the rescue. I had a feeling Dutch wouldn’t fall for the trap, he isn’t that foolish. But I’ve heard about your… habit of swooping in to the rescue.”

“Then I guess I’ll be dead soon, and you with me, Mr. Milton.”

“Oh you’ll be dead, but I’m gonna be just fine. We offered you a deal, Mr. Morgan, you should have taken it.”

“I’m a fool, Mr. Milton, like you said.”

“Sure, but not all you boys have quite so many scruples. Old Micah Bell-”

“Micah?” Arthur cuts him off. “You mean Molly.”

“Molly O’Shea? We sweated her a couple of times, never spoke a word so we had to let her go. But Micah Bell, we picked him up quite some time ago. Just before Dutch’s famous failed attempt to rob the Blackwater ferry. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear he wasn’t completely compliant until you and the others came back from the Caribbean. He was particularly stubborn about the bank job in Saint Denis, but he’s been a good boy ever since we picked him up from the boat.”

You can hear Arthur breathing harder. Micah Bell, the goddamn rat. Now you understand why he started spouting that there must be one when the gang moved up to Beaver Hollow, he was trying to point the focus from his own ass. Worse, he’s been playing the gang for fools the entire time. He’s responsible for Jenny and the Callendar boys and Hosea and Lenny’s deaths. Rage burns in your chest and you strain against your binds.

Arthur bends down as though personally struck by this news. “Okay,” he says. Suddenly he launches himself at Milton, grappling for the gun in his hands. The two men struggle for a moment, but Arthur has a poor grip on the gun and Milton begins overpowering him. You scream his name through the gag as the barrel lines up with his head. The sound of a gun fires, making your heart stop and a body thuds. You crane your neck, trying to see who’s left standing.

Abigail lowers the gun she’d taken from one of the dead Pinkertons. You hadn’t even noticed her freeing herself. Arthur must have cut the ropes enough so she could do so. She raises a lip and throws the revolver at the body. “Horrible man.” She picks up Arthur’s knife and cuts you and Sadie free, then approaches the wall.

“Now come on, all of you.” Arthur’s hand reaches up and takes the knife before he stands up as you untie your feet. You stand up and clutch him, pulling him close.

“God, Arthur, I thought he got you.”

His breathing is heavy but he pats your back. “I know, darlin’, I know. But come on, we got work to do.”

He pulls himself free from your grip and the four of you run out of the boathouse. As you’re running down the deck with the others, shots ring out. You look to the path and find a patrol of Pinkertons running up on horseback. One aims at you and shoots, ripping the hat from your head. You flinch and aim, but he’s already falling from Arthur’s bullet.

Sadie whistles loudly and the horses come running down the path as you and the others continue trading gunfire. You notice the sack of money you put on Rannoch’s back is gone. It probably fell off at some point, but you can’t worry about that now.

“Where’s Jack?” Abigail yells as she runs towards the horses.

“Tilly’s got him, he’s safe,” you respond, shooting again. She breathes a sigh of relief as Arthur tells her to hop onto his horse. Sadie mounts up and Arthur climbs up behind you on Rannoch. You kick Rannoch into a gallop, following Sadie and Abigail out of Van Horn, pursued by the Pinkerton’s. They seem to come out at you at every turn in the trail, but Arthur’s more than a match for them.

The group gallops up towards Annesburg, but the path gets blocked by a troop of Pinkertons. They even flank you from the train tracks, forcing you to take the trail heading west. You run along with Sadie and Abigail for several moments, Arthur gripping your waist almost painfully as he shoots. You shoot as much as you can as well, but the fighting is hotter than you’ve ever experienced and you have to carefully guide Rannoch down the twisting trail. Finally, as the road heads in the direction of the river, the Pinkertons finally seem to stop appearing.

Abigail speaks up from the front of the group. “Bastards grabbed me outside camp. I was with Tilly and Jack, it happened so fast I couldn’t do anything.”

“It’s alright, Jack and Tilly are fine.”

Arthur suddenly squeezes your waist. “Ladies, we need to stop. Stop!”

Abigail and Sadie do so, looking back at him. You pull Rannoch to a halt and Arthur lets go of you.

“What is it?” you ask.

He dismounts as Sadie says, “Arthur, there’s no time.”

He puts a hand up to her. He takes off his hat and then goes to Abigail, puts his hat in his saddle bag and then lifts his arms to signal he wants to bring her down.

She looks at him almost as though worried. “What happened to John? Where’s John?”

“I don’t… I think…” Arthur stumbles. He gestures to her again and she humors him, sliding off Artemis’s back and letting him catch her.

“Arthur?” she says.

“He, um, he got killed or he got captured.”

“No!” Abigail cries out.”

“I’m really sorry, Abigail,” Arthur says as Sadie dismounts and hugs her as she begins to cry. “I was on the train and I didn’t see it.”

He pauses as Abigail continues to cry. You dismount and walk to his side.

“Listen,” he says, “we got Jack, he’s safe. Mrs. Adler will take you to him, but John… I want you to know this: he loved you. He loved you and Jack, he did.”

She looks away as she sobs as though torn between wanting to believe it and not being able to.

“He wasn’t perfect, but he did. Now you gotta go get that boy.”

She looks at him and her head twitches in a slight nod. Arthur looks to Sadie and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Now go on, get outta here.”

“Arthur, what are you doing?” Sadie says as she climbs onto her horse.

“I gotta go have a little chat with Dutch, try one last time to turn his head to reason.”

He walks over to Abigail to pick her up, but as she’s still distraught over John, she cries out, “Oh Arthur!”

“Don’t you ‘oh Arthur’ me. I’ll be fine.” He picks her up and places her on the horse behind Sadie. “Y/N will go with you and take you to Jack-”

“No I’m not,” you say, staring hard at him. “I’m not letting you go back there alone to get shot by Micah, not when you’re going to point out how much of a rat bastard he is. He ain’t gonna like it.”

“Y/N-”

“Don’t, Arthur! You asked me to be your wife and I agreed, that means that where you go, I go, remember? And I just got you back, I’m not going to lose you again. Not like this.”

“Dutch won’t kill me-”

“He already left you to die, Arthur! I’m not banking on that chance. Now I’m going with you, whether you like it or not. We’re in this together and we’ll get out together or we’ll die together.”

He stops and looks at you, his mouth pulled down in a frown. “Okay,” he finally says. He looks back up at Sadie and Abigail. “You’re good women, good people. The best. You go get that boy. They’ll be time for good-byes later.”

He starts to turn away when Abigail speaks up. “Since you’re headed back there, Arthur, take this.” She breaks a chain necklace she’d been wearing and removes the key hanging from it. “I don’t need it anymore. There’s a chest in them caves. Dutch’s chest. With all our money.” She tells him where to find it in the cavern at Beaver Hollow and then pauses as a fresh wave of tears comes.

“Why, Abigail Roberts,” he takes the key from her as she starts to cry. For some reason, the emotions hit you and you have to wipe your cheek.

“I always been a good thief.”

“That you was. Now go on, get outta here.” He pockets the key and then turns to you. As Sadie rides off, he helps you onto Rannoch and then he climbs onto Artemis. He pauses a moment, almost as though the weight of everything has finally hit him. He pulls his hat out of his saddlebag and puts it on, his face set. He glances at you and then kicks Artemis into a run.

Rannoch follows obediently, but you say nothing. The heaviness of what’s about to happen rushes through you and it feels like everything you’ve done comes to you. You remember your parents, the things they said, your grandmother, watching Rain being born and then dying. The day you found out your grandmother passed.

Just as you’re passing Butcher’s Creek, you remember finding out your father paid James to marry you, the cruelties he put you through. Murdering him and then your parents. The loneliness of the year you spent alone. Arthur finally finding you and how you created a family with the gang, only to watch it fall apart. You wonder what it all means and if it could have been stopped.

Artemis runs down the path heading to Beaver Hollow. Arthur hasn’t said anything the entire ride, but you feel he’s in the same mindframe as you, wondering if it could have been different, what everything he’s done really comes down to.

Rannoch slows to a trot and you see the few remaining gang members milling about, packing up as quickly as they can. Cleet and Joe are still here, unlike what Dutch said, not that you’re surprised.

As you and Arthur dismount, you hear Micah bark across the clearing. “Get them bags packed up quick, Miss Grimshaw. Hurry up, we ain’t got long!”

“We’re doing our best!” Grimshaw snaps.

“We got plenty of time, Micah,” Arthur growls, walking slowly into the clearing. Micah looks at him, almost as though surprised to see him. You follow, glaring at him, your hand on the butt of your revolver in its holster. “We all need to have a little chat.”

“Cowpoke, you’re back. Hooray.”

Arthur ignores this and glares at Dutch, who’s doing his duty by standing in his tent. “I just saw Agent Milton, Dutch. Abigail shot him. She’s okay, not that you care. You rats.” He glowers at Micah and his friends. “Seems old Micah was pretty close with Milton.”

“What the hell you talking about?” Micah demands.

“You talked. Been talkin’ to Milton for some time.”

“That’s a goddamn lie.”

“Milton told me.”

“And you believe him, cowpoke?”

Arthur narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “It all makes sense now.”

“No, it damn well doesn’t,” Micah hisses.

Suddenly he and Arthur whip out their pistols and point them at each other. Cleet and Joe point theirs at Arthur and you point yours at Joe. Dutch doesn’t move from his tent, just stares between the two groups.

“Dutch, think, just think!” Arthur says without taking his eyes from Micah.

“Dutch,” Micah simpers, “be practical now.”

Your finger traces the hammer just as another voice calls out Dutch’s name. The group looks and down the path walks John, clutching his shoulder and limping along.

“You left me. You left me to die!” he screams.

“My boy,” Dutch says, finally taking a few steps away from his tent. “I didn’t have a choice. John, I didn’t have a-”

“You left me!”

Dutch glares at him. You wonder now how genuine Dutch was being when he said he tried to help John. You’ve no doubt that he abandoned him just as he did with Arthur.

“All of you,” Arthur demands. “You pick your side now, because this is over.” He glances at Dutch and shakes his head as John stands beside him and pulls out his gun. “All them years, Dutch, all the things we sacrificed. For this snake?”

“Be quiet, cowpoke.”

“No!” Grimshaw says, walking up to your side, holding a shotgun. She cocks it. “You be quiet, Mr. Bell. Put down your gun.”

Javier rushes in suddenly, calling out, “There’s Pinkertons coming fast.”

Grimshaw looks to him, distracted and Micah takes his chance, shooting her. His bullet strikes her in the stomach and she cries out.

“Susan!” you say, dropping to her side as she cries out again. You look up again, pointing your revolver at Micah, your other hand on Susan’s shoulder.

“Now!” Dutch yells out, whipping out both pistols and pointing them both at Micah and Arthur. “Who amongst you is with me and who is betraying me?”

He walks between yours and Micah’s group. Bill now also points his gun at Arthur while Javier, looking confused, points his pistol up in the air. John and Arthur back up towards the cavern. You stand up slowly, realizing Grimshaw’s dead. You can’t think about that now as you back up to Arthur’s side, still pointing your revolver.

“Bill, Javier, think!” Arthur pleads. “Think for yourselves.”

“He’s lying,” Micah says. “He’s lying!”

Just as it seems like Dutch is about to pull the trigger, a voice echoes down the pathway. “Put your guns down!” Shots ring out suddenly as men dart between the trees.

“Goddamn it, move!” Arthur shouts, grabbing you roughly and shoving you behind a table. He tips it to act as a barricade as John takes cover behind Dutch’s tent.

“This is Agent Ross with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Put your guns down!”

“Everyone get into cover!” Dutch hollers. He and the others disappear from your view as you, Arthur and John open fire upon the Pinkertons. The fading light makes it more difficult, but you keep shooting. More and more Pinkertons seem to arrive.

“Dutch, we gotta move!” Micah yells. “There all yours, Morgan!”

“Come on, we need to get out of here!” John screams at you both. Without hesitating, you and Arthur follow him into the cavern. You ignore the pungent stench of decay and the sight of the cage you’d been kept in when you were a captive here. Arthur runs behind you, shooting the few Pinkertons who run into the cave.

As you and the others run deeper, Ross’s voice echoes through the cavern. “Mr. Morgan, Mr. Marston, Ms. Y/L/N, stop! You’re trapped. Surrender and we will take you alive.”

You and the others ignore him, heading to the back of the cave. You see the wagon where Abigail said Dutch’s chest is hidden under. You’re tempted to stop and grab it, but a shot rings through, the bullet whizzing past your elbow.

“Come on!” John says, climbing up a ladder to a ledge. “Those bastards left me for dead.”

“Seems that’s what they do now.” Arthur says as he pushes you to the ladder. You climb up as quickly as you can and you run down a ledge after John, climbing up another ladder and over a bundle of rickety boards to another ladder. There’s light flooding in from the top of it, signalling you’re almost out as you hear the Pinkertons hollering from down below.

“Stay with me, Arthur!” you yell.

“I’m here,” he replies. “Micah was the rat, John. Milton told me.”

John reaches the last ladder. “We should have killed him months ago.”

You reach the top of the ladder as you hear Ross snarl from the ground below, stating he doesn’t care if you all end up dead. Arthur climbs up and then leads you and John down the slope of the hillside. He whistles for Artemis and the other horses, and then looks to John, panting hard.

“Abigail, she’s safe. So’s Jack. They’re with Sadie at Copperhead landing.”

John grabs Arthur’s hand. “Thank you, brother.” He looks over at you. “Thank you. Both of you.”

Just as he begins to let go of Arthur’s hand to run to the horses, Arthur stops him.

“I want you to not look back on any of this, okay?”

“You’re co-” John’s suddenly cut off by another round of shots in your direction. Glancing briefly, you see Micah leading the charge, his pistols aiming at you. You and the others run and mount up, kicking them into a gallop as Dutch sends a bullet your way.

“After all these years, boys!” Dutch calls. “I took you in! Y/N, you’d be dead without me!”

“Arthur saved me!” you call back. He replies by shooting again, but the bullet slams into a tree trunk.

“Pinkertons!” John cries out. Ahead, more men on horseback come down towards you. Arthur and John open fire and the path is clear again.

You weave down the trails as the darkness deepens, making it even harder to spot your quarries. Micah and Dutch still follow, continuing to holler up, but their taunts go ignored. Pinkertons keep coming from every turn in the trail again, guiding where you and the others go. The horses climb out of Roanoke Valley into the Grizzlies East, grunting and sweating as they’re kicked to go faster.

The path ahead gets blocked again by a wall of horses and Pinkertons, forcing the three of you off the trail and up the foot of a small mountain. Just as you leave the cover of the trees, Rannoch grunts and he takes an odd step. Before you even have the chance to wonder what’s wrong with him, he collapses just as Artemis rears up and falls. John’s horse suddenly crashes to the ground.

When Rannoch lands, he pins your knee between the saddle and the ground. Your shoulders slam down, knocking the wind out of you. Because of the continuing gunfire, you quickly sit up and shoot the arriving Pinkertons. They go down and the gunfire pauses, but you know it’s temporary.

You try pulling your leg out from under Rannoch, but it’s pinned and he’s not moving. You pat his neck as hard as you can, crying out his name. Not another horse, you think, not another one. But no matter how hard you smack him or how loud you cry his name, he doesn’t move.

As the realization that Rannoch is dead hits you, your eyes find Arthur. He’s dropping to his knees beside Artemis’s head. She’s grunting and struggling to breath, her legs twitching. He pats her neck gently, trying to calm her.

“Come on, Arthur!” John says, rushing over to you to try and help pull you free. “Brother, let’s go!”

“Gimme a minute,” Arthur says. He pats Artemis’s neck again and she nickers softly. He bends low and says in her ear, “Thank you.”

“Arthur!” John calls again. “Help me get her!”

Arthur finally looks up at you. Even from where you’re sitting, you can see the tears in his eyes. He gets up and runs over to you and John, lifting Rannoch’s body up as John grabs your shoulders and pulls you out. When you’re free, you start to stand up, but struggle due to the pain in your knee. Arthur takes your arm and drapes it across his shoulders, then wraps an arm around your waist.

“Come on, let’s go,” John says.

“What-what about the money?” you ask. Without the money you stole from the train, you and Arthur will struggle to start a new life. In order to escape, you have to have money.

Arthur nods a little. “Abigail gave me the key to Dutch’s chest.”

“I head down there, I’m a dead man, no question,” John says. “I got a family. I care about them more.”

“Ah, maybe you’re right but…”

“You want the money? Go get it, but I’m going to my family.”

Arthur looks at you. By his eyes, you can tell he’d rather help John. He silently asks the question and you nod. At this point, you’d be surprised if any of you make it out of here alive. The least you can do now is try and get John back to his family. They need him more than you need money.

Arthur puts his hat back on. “We’re coming with you. Gonna get you out of this bullshit if it’s the last thing I do.” He pauses and looks at you. “Can you walk, sweetheart?”

You nod and let go of him, putting weight on your knee. It twinges angrily but you ignore it. With the adrenaline still pumping in your blood, you’ll be able to keep you going.

“Thank you, both of you,” John says, running up the hillside. You and Arthur chase after him, trying to ignore the pain in your knee.

Shots begin ringing out again, plummeting into the rockbed as you continue to run alongside the bend of the mountain. There’s a small break in the cliffs of the mountain, forming a gorge and you run through it, climbing up the next hillside just as the Pinkertons show up.

You and the others take cover behind some boulders. Arthur’s behind the shortest one and he stands up to get a better aim at some of the Pinkertons. He takes down four of them and then is suddenly thrown backwards, grunting in pain.

“Arthur!”

He starts sitting up and then cries out in pain. Staying hunched over, you run over to him and see blood seeping from just above his left hip.

“Oh God, Arthur!” you cry out.

“It’s fine, I’m fine.” He pushes you away and stands up, despite the bulletwound. He puts his free hand over it and shoots again, taking down another Pinkerton. You begin reloading when white hot pain skids across your upper left arm and shoulder as a bullet grazes you, causing you to drop your sawed-off.

“Come on, we need to get out of here!” Arthur roars as John takes down the last visible Pinkerton. John runs up the hillside to a ledge that levels out. You chase him, clutching your bleeding arm, and Arthur hobbles after you. He only takes a few steps towards the ledge when he stops, clearly in tremendous pain.

“Come on, Arthur, let’s go!” John calls back. You stop, wincing from the pain in your arm and knee.

“You go,” Arthur grunts, clutching his hip.

“Keep pushing, Arthur.”

“No. No, I think I’ve pushed what I can for now. Now go on, take Y/N and go, I’ll hold them off and then when the bleeding stops, I’ll follow you.”

“Arthur!” you cry out. “Where you go, I go! I’m not leaving you.”

“Don’t, Y/N! Please, I don’t wanna split up either, but I ain’t letting you die.”

“We’ll die together.”

Arthur looks up at John. “You gotta take her. Even if you have to pick her up and run, do it.”

He pauses and takes off his hat before gazing at you again. “Sweetheart, you gotta go. Please. I… I’ll never forgive myself if you die with me. Now come here.”

“Arthur-” you start, your voice shaking. He grabs you by the shoulder and puts his hat on your head.

“I’ll see you again, darlin’, alright? Maybe in a few days, or maybe in the next life. I promise, I’ll find you. But please, please for me. Go with John. It would mean a lot to me.”

Your heart breaks as you realize you haven’t got a choice. It becomes painfully obvious that he doesn’t plan on leaving this mountain alive, and there’s nothing either of you can do about it. You sob and nod your head. He smiles at you.

“I love you, Y/N. You’re a good girl. You saved my life, least I can do is return the favor.”

He pulls you close and kisses you hard.

“I’ll always love you, Arthur. No matter what happens, I won’t stop loving you.”

“I know, sweetheart. I wish it could be different, but this is the way it is.”

He lets you go and looks at John. “Now get her out of here, John. There ain’t no more time for talk.” He removes his satchel and throws it to John. “Now go.”

From the other side of the mountain, shots begin ringing out again, warning of the approaching Pinkertons yet again.

“Arthur…” John says.

“Go to your family, John and save mine while you’re at it.”

“Arthur!” you call out. You can’t leave him now, not after he’s called you his family.

“Come on, keep pushing, Arthur. We’re almost out-”

“Get her out of here and be a goddamn man!” Arthur roars, clutching his hip again. Despite his wound, he starts climbing up to the top of the mountain.

John pauses and gazes at him, torn as you. “You’re my brother,” he finally says.

“I know.”

“Arthur. No. No! Arthur!” You’re about to take a step to him when John grabs your right arm, dragging you along. You continue to cry out his name, tears streaming down your face.

“Come on, Y/N, you heard him. We gotta go!”

“Arthur!”

John growls and suddenly picks you up, throwing you over his uninjured shoulder. You begin screaming at him, throwing as many insults as you can and poudning his back and sides, but he ignores you.

“This would be a lot easier if you would just shut up and run with me, Y/N!”

“Fuck you, John Marston! Put me down!”

He stops and throws you down, your injured arm slamming onto the ground, making you cry out.

“I got a family, Y/N! I don’t know about you, but I want to see Jack grow up! Now I thought you and Arthur promised to help me. So help me, goddamnit!”

You begin sobbing, folding your arms around yourself. John’s patience is waning, you can feel it. When you look up at him, you see the sky through the trees beginning to lighten as dawn approaches. He glares down at you.

“You gonna help me or what?”

You clench your jaw and get up painfully to your feet. “Alright, let’s go, John. Arthur and I made a promise. Guess all I can do is try to keep it.”

John nods, his face relaxing. “Thank you, Y/N. Now come on.”

He begins running through the forest again, heading south. You limp after him, your knee, arm and lungs burning from the night’s activities. You just hope you have the strength to make it.

You seem to run for a lifetime, pain shooting through every inch of your body. It’s nothing compared to the agony of your heart. All you want to do is fall to the ground and lie still, let nature grow over your body, but you keep pushing with John’s encouragement. You both burst through the trees, the river greeting you as it glitters with the light of the glowing horizon. You stop for a moment to try and catch your breath. After a moment, you straighten up to see the rising sun, bathing everything in gold. It truly is stunning.

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