So...here's the start of season 2 of my take on Deadwood. If you haven't already, please read Hell of A Place or certain things might not make too much sense to you! I've decided to start by doing one of those short, attention grabbing - yet sometimes annoying - ploys of starting off with a flashforward... I hope you enjoy the story and please leave a review!

A FRAGILE LIFE

Deadwood

June 30th 1876

As the sun slowly set over the camp, long shadows of light crept across the room from one end to the other, dancing across the floor, the furniture and momentarily lingering on the bed. As the evening rays touched his skin, he felt their warmth and could almost have imagined himself being anywhere but that room. In that moment he could see her, standing on the balcony, laughing, shielding her eyes from the glare, her hair an unending cascade of fire that he ached to feel fall through his fingers.

But the superficial warmth of his imagination was no match for the harsh iciness of his reality.

Al got to his feet, muscles protesting at movement after so many hours of sedition. "Now comes the fucking hour."

"I beg of you, Al…please do not do this." Al looked over at where Doc sat, dark circles under his eyes from hours of wakefulness, his hands clasped in front of him almost in prayer. "You may not think it now, but you will regret this."

"What I regret…" Al began and then broke off. There were so many things that he regretted. Things he had done, things he hadn't done. Words he had said, words he hadn't said. "What I regret is that it has come to this without my being able to prevent it."

"Then don't." Doc stood up and walked around the bed to stand in front of him. "Don't add to a lifetime to regret. You will have to face yourself in the mirror every day after knowing that there was no need for this."

"No need? You think I can let this pass without exacting vengeance?"

"I think you will be directing your vengeance at the wrong person. And you will be harming someone who has never meant any harm, especially not to her."

"And yet there she fucking lies," Al gestured carelessly behind him, unable to look back. "I will have my fucking vengeance, Doc."

"She wouldn't want this," Doc persisted, moving in front of him again. "You know her, how good and kind and caring she is…she wouldn't want this…"

"Right now, I don't give a fuck what she'd want," Al said, his voice tight. "She deliberately defied me on this and look what happened. Perhaps if she had listened to me then all of this may have been avoided."

"I don't believe you. You do give a fuck and if she was able to, she would tell you that this isn't right!"

Al closed his eyes briefly, willing himself not to strike his friend. There was only one person worthy of his blows and they were not in the room. "Stay with her," he said finally. "If this be God's will…stay with her. Don't leave her on her fucking own."

"No, you stay with her," Doc stepped in front of him again. "Stay with her, Al. The vows you took were of little consequence to you, I'm sure, but you have an obligation to stay with her until…" he swallowed hard, "until the obligation exists no more."

Al turned and looked back at the bed. There was a part of him that knew Doc was right. That his duty lay in this room and not the one downstairs. And yet vengeance, retribution, comeuppance…all words he could not stop hearing spoken in his head.

Then, like the message he had been waiting for, the door opened and Silas appeared. His face was ashen white, his eyes red as though he had been crying and his voice trembled slightly when he spoke. "Ready when you are, boss."

It was all the encouragement he needed, the sign that what he was about to do was the right thing. That God, or whatever entity there be to meet him at the gates of Heaven or Hell, would understand. He paid no further heed to Doc's continued protestations, moved past Silas and hurried along the balcony, down the stairs and into the whores' room. Slamming the door closed, he turned to face his hostage. Every nerve in his body was tingling with the anticipation, the expectation, of what he was about to do. He had never killed in anyone else's name before save his own. Never killed for any other purpose than to serve himself. This would be the first time, and it would give him no pleasure, for the act once done would not change the terrible outcome awaiting him upstairs.

He could feel his heart thudding in his chest as he took a step forward and she began begging. At least, he assumed she was begging. Her incoherent ramblings in a language he didn't understand only served to increase his anger. The stupid, fucking, Chink bitch was about to get what was coming to her. A life for a life. One meaningless to him, the other, the most important next to his own. He watched as Dan and Johnny exchanged a look over her head as they held an arm each, preventing her from the obvious flight. He knew they weren't sure this was the right thing to do, unconvinced it was the answer. Of course it wasn't the answer. There was no answer, there was only this.

Reaching into the waistband of his pants, he pulled out his knife and advanced towards her. Her pleas grew louder, more high pitched, almost screams as her eyes darted between him and the blade he now wielded.

"Boss…" Dan said nervously.

"Shut up, Dan."

"But…"

Tears were streaming from her eyes, her body shaking, sweat causing her thin dress to stick to her body...all things that he had had to watch someone else far more important to him go through over the last few days. Seeing she who had caused it seemingly suffer the same only served to make him even angrier. Al's fist swung out and cracked her across the jaw, causing her to scream and lurch to one side. Then, he reached out and grabbed her chin, pressing the tip of the blade against her windpipe, forcing her to look at him, to see the anger and pain he knew would be reflected in his eyes. Could she ever possibly understand from the emotions she would see there what she had done?

Al Swearengen didn't give a shit. He just wanted his eyes to be the last thing she would ever see.