"I'll take that hand now." Jedediah's voice, to anyone who didn't know the cowboy well, would have sounded as steady as ever. Octavius could hear the slight tremble, though, and could feel Jed shiver, though not from the cold. As Attila fell and the miniatures were dumped unceremoniously onto the rooftop, Jedediah gripped his hand even tighter. Somehow that tight grip, that fear in the cowboy's eyes, got through to Octavius that this was real. There would be no daring, last minute escape, no brilliant plan to get them out of trouble. No 'next time'.
A wave of fear washed through him, nearly bringing him to his knees. Suddenly, he couldn't stop the tears, couldn't keep up the confident guise he had worn all night. He couldn't bear the thought that this was the last time he would see his friends, no, his family. There was no way out of this, for any of them. Not for him, not for Teddy, not for Jed. Now that didn't even bear thinking about. Octavius couldn't imagine it. Jedediah had always been so full of energy, so daring, so... alive. For all that to vanish, it seemed impossible.
Jed seemed to understand exactly what was going through Octavius' mind, because suddenly the Roman was enveloped in a comforting hug, the scent of sand and gunpowder and slightly scorched leather strong in the air. Jedediah's tone, soft and sad, with his western accent stronger than ever, betrayed the cowboy's true emotions. "Last roundup, eh, partner?"
"I'm scared, Jedediah." Octavius whispered into the cowboy's vest, half-hoping he wouldn't be heard, half-knowing Jedediah would hear him anyways.
As the world began to spin into black, he heard the cowboy saying. "Me too, Octy. Me too."
Finis
A/N
Hey, guys, I'm back! I finally wrote my first one-shot, as well as my first NatM fanfic. So, what do you guys think? Reviews, please! Just to be clear, this is NOT a Jedtavius fanfiction. I personally don't see them as a romantic couple. However, they are brothers, if not by blood then in spirit, and this is just how I imagined this scene going, because we don't see much of them in this scene in the movie. Constructive criticism is always welcome, because how can you get better at something if you don't know what to improve on? Suggestions for other one-shots are always a good thing, and I might even end up doing a collection of Jed/Octavius Friendship one-shots.
So, just one question:
What do you guys think I should do next? Another one-shot, a multi-chapter fic? Maybe try something with an OC?
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!
-Cas