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*Reader's POV*

My head was pounding as I made my way through the streets. Dead bodies lay everywhere, and Micah was nowhere in sight.

Micah. I remember what he did now…

~Flashback~

I attached the hook from the steam engine onto the bars of the jail’s window… figured it’d be quieter than dynamite. I took a few steps back to create a safe distance and pulled the lever back. The steam engine did its job and pried the bars off. A moment later, Micah was climbing out of the cell with another man following close behind.

            “Oh no ya don’t.” Micah commented, shooting him directly in the head. My eyes went wide, and I felt myself gasp.

            “What the hell, Micah?!” I demanded.

            “He was an O’Driscoll…” He said, and I turned towards the sounds of people screaming behind me.

    “Don’t worry, you’ll be joinin’ him here in a bit, O’Driscoll!” Micah shouted, before I felt a sharp pain in the side of my head, and everything went dark.

~End of flashback~

I felt the blood trickling down my forehead, and I felt my body shaking with a seething fury I had never known. I trudged through town, stepping over dead bodies as I neared the exit. My head was spinning, throbbing, and I felt weak, but I didn’t care in the slightest. In a moment of recall, I placed my fingers to my lips and let out a weak whistle. Thankfully, Zephyr heard it, and rushed over to where I was. I climbed up clumsily and rested my head on the horn of the saddle as we galloped forward down the road. A good bit of time passes before I noticed two horses stopped on the side of the road. I took a deep breath as I dismounted and rushed over with a renewed sense of strength. Arthur was holding him by his collar, and Micah was trying to reason with him.

            “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” I shouted in a slurred manner, realizing that I was now running at the two of them. Arthur dropped Micah in a sense of surprise as all the color drained from Micah’s face. My fist reached as far back as I could manage before it collided with Micah’s face, emitting a loud cracking sound. He fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his bleeding nose. I tried to get another hit in, but Arthur grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him.

            “What happened? You’re bleeding!” Arthur exclaimed, still trying to hold me back as I fought against him.

            “YOU BASTARD! YOU LEFT ME FOR DEAD!” I screamed as Micah had finally managed to get his nose to stop bleeding.

            “Dumb cunt…” Micah groaned in pain as he stood to his feet.

            “Is what she’s sayin’ true, Micah? Did you do this?!” Arthur demanded, his words laced with rage. Micah held his arms out and laughed in an annoying fashion.

            “Morgan… C’mon. We’re like brothers. Who’re ya gonna believe? Your brother… or some dumb, fucking O’Driscoll bitch?!” Micah demanded, and I grabbed my gun from its holster, pointing it directly at his head. Micah did the same as Arthur let me go.

            “She’s one of THEM, Arthur. Can’t you see? She’s an O’Driscoll spy! Livin’ right under our noses! I can’t believe you’ve let a pretty face come between you and the gang!” He said, and I scoffed.

            “Go ahead, pull the trigger.” He said, putting the gun back in its holster and holding his hands above his head.

            “It’ll just be one more dead body… and you’ll take the blame for all the folks that just died.” He laughed, and I holstered my own gun.

            “I aint like you, Micah. I don’t kill people just ‘cause I feel like it.” I said, my brow furrowing.

            “Dutch will hear about this when the three of us get back to camp.” Arthur said, sitting back and taking it all in.

            “Oh, no, no, no Morgan. I aint goin’ back just yet… not without a peace offerin’ for old Dutch.” He laughed, walking backwards towards his horse.

            “Fine. Run away, coward.” I said, as Arthur stood beside me.

            “Send Dutch my regards!” He called, as he rode off down the trail.

            “You sure ya don’t wanna rethink shootin’ him?” Arthur asked, but I just stared straight ahead.

            “We should get that head wound looked at.” Arthur said, and I shook my head.

            “No, I’m fine.” I said, but Arthur could see right through that lie.

            “Would you at least let me clean you up a bit?” He asked, and I shrugged.

I handed him my satchel with the medical supplies, and he rifled through it, pulling out a disinfectant, some gauze, and a wrap. I winced as the disinfectant touched the wound, and he mumbled a quick apology before pressing the gauze into the wound and holding it there to stop the bleeding.

            “Listen… about the other day… I’ve been wantin’ to apologize for how I acted. I know you only did what you did to keep me from getting sick.” He said, and I slowly glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

            “You couldn’t have known the man has Tuberculosis… I’m just glad I could be there to stop you before it was too late.” I said, shrugging.

            “No… see, you… you saved me from a very slow, very painful death… and I don’t know exactly how to say thank you.” He said, and I felt the corner of my mouth turn up in a slight smile. The image of Mary suddenly came into my mind, and the smile disappeared.

            “Can I be honest with ya for a minute?” I asked, and he pulled away looking at me questionably.

            “I came lookin’ for ya earlier today, and Dutch said you’d be around Valentine. I came across your horse hitched outside of this house, and… long story short… I saw you talking to that woman…” I admitted. He looked off to the side in thought for a moment before mumbling under his breath.

            “You mean Mary.” He said, and I nodded.

            “Yeah… Mary…” I repeated her name. There was silence between the two of us for a moment before he spoke again.

            “How much did you hear?” He asked, and I shrugged.

            “You said somethin’ about you weren’t good enough for her…” I said, and I watched him swallow hard.

            “Yeah, well… Mary and I go way back… I guess you could say we were sweet on each other at one point, but… well… her family never approved of me… one day she woke up, and… I dunno… decided she didn’t want this life. So she took off.” He said, and I could see the sadness in his eyes.

            “You don’t really believe that, do ya?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow, suggesting he wasn’t sure what I was talking about.

            “You said you weren’t good enough for her. You didn’t mean that did you?” I asked. He suddenly was searching my eyes for something, but when he couldn’t find it, he gave a slight smile, and ducked his head to where the brim of his hat hid his face.

            “Let’s get you back.” He said, dodging the question, and helping me up on his horse.

            “You didn’t answer my question…” I frowned, and he chuckled lightly as he mounted up and took the reins.

            “You’re not just gonna forget about this, are you?” He asked, and I shook my head. His horse took off in a light trot before he started talking again.

            “Why would you think you’re not good enough?” I asked, and I felt him shrug uncomfortably.

            “Because I’m not. I’m an outlaw Miss (L/N) I-“

            “(F/N).” I said, cutting him off.

            “What?” He questioned.

            “Call me (F/N).“ I said, and I could barely see the outline of a smile on his face through the curtain of night.

            “I’m an outlaw, (F/N)… I aint a good man.” He said shaking his head.

            “So you’ve done some unpleasant things… who hasn’t? You’re still a good man.” I insisted.

            “There aren’t many men who can say they’ve killed people.” He said, and I nodded.

            “That’s true, but when it comes down to it, you don’t kill people unless you have to… you’re not like the O’Driscolls who just kill whoever they please.” I said.

            “You’re comparin’ us to the O’Driscolls now?” He asked.

            “Well, when you’ve lived most of your life in one gang just to end up in another, it’s to be expected that I would make comparisons.” I said, and again he chuckled.

            “Alright, that’s reasonable. How do we compare?” He asked jokingly, and I thought for a minute.

            “Well, for one, ya’ll are a lot cleaner than the O’Driscolls.”

            “Yeah?” Arthur laughed.

            “Yeah! After you’ve spent a week or two around those boys you’d swear they weren’t a fugitive gang, but a fishery troop.” I said, and Arthur bellowed out a deep laugh.

            “What else?” He asked.

            “Well… you’re all a family.” I said, and he got quiet again.

            “You’re all more than just a gang of outlaws. You respect one another and help each other… Colm O’Driscoll… he couldn’t tell you the names of any one of the boys he hires.” I said. Arthur glanced over his shoulder at me before he spoke.

            “He sure knows your name…” He mumbled, and I nodded in agreement.

            “He has a habit of remembering the names of people he thinks are a threat.” I said. Again, he smiled, and I knew I had said the right thing.

            “Who goes there?” Bill called out from the woods as we neared camp.

            “Arthur and (F/N).” Arthur called back to him as we rode the rest of the way into camp. Arthur hitched his horse, and I hitched Zephyr who had managed to keep up with us the whole way.

            “So, it comes down to we’re a big family that’s a threat to Colm O’Driscoll, right?” Arthur joked, and I nodded.

            “And you all smell nice. Don’t forget that.” I said, and he placed a hand on his chest.

            “I’m flattered, Miss- I mean… (F/N).” He said, my name rolling off his tongue like a beautifully spoken poem. Arthur and I walked into camp together and were greeted by Dutch.

            “Charles told me what happened. How’d the two of you get on?” Dutch asked, noticing my bandaged head.

            “What-“ He started but Arthur cut him off.

            “(F/N) managed to break Micah out like ya wanted. Then he thanked her by beating her upside the head and leaving her for dead.” Arthur explained.

            “What?! Where is he?” Dutch demanded, suddenly infuriated.

            “Said he wasn’t coming back until he came up with some sort of piece offering for ya.” Arthur went on to explain.

            “He thinks I’m a spy for Colm.” I said, crossing my arms.

            “That’s absurd! I told ya Dutch, that boy has some odd unrealities when it come to those O’Driscolls.” Hosea chimed in. Dutch simply nodded and sighed.

            “There’s nothing for it now. I’ll deal with him when and if he ever decides to come back. For now, focus on that wound getting better. We’ll need you on our next endeavor.” He said.

            “Next endeavor? Dare I ask what exactly that might be?” I asked, and again, Hosea chimed in.

            “Good luck getting’ that answer outta him. He wont even tell me what it is.” He said, sighing. Dutch gave a scheming grin, and I shrugged, waving them off to walk to the campfire. Arthur took a seat next to me and stretched his arms up.

            “Where is everyone?” I asked, and Arthur hummed in thought.

            “I heard that Javier, Charles, and Trelawny left to bring Sean back.” He answered, and I shook my head in confusion.

            “Wait… Trelawny? Sean?” I asked.

            “That’s right, you haven’t had the pleasure of meetin’ Trelawny and Sean, have you?” He asked, and I laughed lightly.

            “Sean, no, but I believe I met your friend Trelawny the other night when you and Lenny were running around like drunken youngsters.” I joked.

            “Oh really?” He asked, and I nodded.

            “He’s quite the gentleman. He helped me get you onto my horse, so I could bring you back to camp.” I explained, and he nodded.

            “Trelawny is… well… he’s a strange one.” He admitted, and I nodded.

            “Strange indeed.” I said, reaching up to touch the patchwork on my head.

            “Wow, you’re really bad at this.” I chuckled as Arthur raised an eyebrow at me.

            “Well I’m sorry that I’m no incredible physician like you.” He joked, nudging me with his elbow. I smiled slightly as I watched the flames flicker in front of us. It was almost… relaxing.

            “Y’know… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before.” He said, and I hummed in response.

            “I should get some rest.” I said, standing up to walk over to my tent. Arthur nodded, remaining in his seat.

            “Sleep well (F/N).” Arthur said. I smiled back at him.

            “You too, Arthur. Sleep well.”