A/N: Hey Everyone! I had this idea over the weekend and it may be loosely (I mean very loosely) based on Red Dead Redemption. So it's a a bit of rusty I think. And who doesn't like to think of Chloe as a Bandit... Anyway I do not own anything from PP to Red Dead, it just gave me an idea. Let me know what you think in the comments. Also I will update my other two stories and thanks for being so patient for those rolling the other stories. Had major writers block and work so yea... Also cover art was made by me and there is no intent on stealing anything...
Now on with the show...
The sounds of guns flaring filled the air. Smoke and dust clouded the sun. It was 1910 in the month of March and it was a hot day and the air was dry and thick. Sheriff Mitchell's life consisted of days like this. It was worse when the rain came. She loved the rain but she would get the mud all over her boots, which she would spend hours shinning, and the rain conflicted with her vision. Beca Mitchell was apart of the Sheriffs department. Her brother Jesse was amongst the department as well. When heir younger step sister, Emily, become of age she wanted to be apart of this profession. It was probably Beca who lured her in. When Emily was a bit younger all she ever wanted to do was be Beca. So naturally she had to follow her footsteps. Their family was known throughout town as a kind family but stern when it came down to the law and what was right and wrong. Beca loved helping others and was very protective of her town and her family.
At the age of 10, Jesse and Beca's mother died and it left them devastated, especially their father. Their father, Benjamin, eventually would fall into the arms of another woman, which to much dismay caused Beca to hate their father. Jesse understood that their father was lonely, so as much as he hated seeing his mother replaced he welcomed this new woman with an open heart. Beca was more resistant and consistently reminded their father of how it was so easy for him to forget their mother. There step mother would bring with her a little girl of only 6 years' old whom Beca grew to love and care for. This would cause a mending of Beca's view of her father but she still resented him a little. With time Beca and her father would move forward mainly to not create a divide in the family with Emily around. They later moved to a small town called Barden. Benjamin was to become the head of the sheriffs so this is what caused the move in the first place. It was assumed that Jesse would follow Benjamin's footsteps but what would later concern Benjamin was that his daughter Beca, would also become apart of it. He later would allow it to have Beca close to him. Beca didn't really want to be a sheriff but this little town did not offer much and Jesse would be there so it wasn't such a terrible idea.
So when Emily reached the age, she pleaded with her step-father to let her join, leaving Beca delighted yet concerned. She had discussed this matter with her father on whether Emily would be able to join.
"I don't know Dad, she's so kind and I would hate to see her corrupted by this." Benjamin studied Beca. He noticed how concerned she would get with anything concerning Emily so he let a small smile spread.
"Come on Becs she a great kid and if anything she'll follow you around and want to make you proud." Beca stopped pacing and looked up, worry in her eyes.
"Yea but Dad this is different. What if she get's hurt or worse killed?" Benjamin knew the consequences. He had the same concerns when Beca joined but Beca proved to him that she was quick and smart in any situation.
"Beca look at me." Beca shifted and eventually looked up. She hated worrying. Emily was just a kid and she could be anything else. Yet she still wanted to be a sheriff of all things. "I had the same exact concerns you have right now when you first joined. I worried and worried about your well being." He reached out and grabbed his daughter's hands. She rarely shared moments like this with him. She eventually got over her hatred but the rebel in her wanted to be indifferent. "You proved to me that I didn't have to worry about you because you had a good head on your shoulders. You are grounded and have a lot of heart. Heart that rarely anyone gets to see." He smirked. "Emily is a small version of you Beca. Well not small because you are tiny but she is a younger version of you." He flashed a smile and all Beca could do to hold in the laughter was roll her eyes. "But seriously you'll be there when something gets out of hand Beca. Emily will be great just have faith in her." Beca knew Emily could be great at anything, it's just that she was overprotective and she couldn't help it.
"Fine. But if anything goes wrong Dad please take her out." Beca said standing up.
"Anything you say Sherriff Mitchell." Benjamin said as he stood up. With that they shared a smile and a nod and Beca was out the door.
Their town was small but it was on the main road so they were consistently visited with tourists and the unruly bandits. A specific group of bandits were known throughout several towns. When they hit Barden, Beca was furious. They stole anything from cows and sheep to the traveling wagons and all the things on that wagon. They weren't murderers but they were known to push the limit to get what they came for. Before they hit Barden they knew very little about this group of Bandits. Rumor had it that they were a group of girls that stole from anyone. They weren't scared to approach a big group of people and took what they wanted. They got word that the group was spotted near a ranch and it was close by. Beca and Jesse were immediately on foot towards their horses when Emily came running up to them.
"Please Beca, let me go with you." On wanted Bandits like this, Beca tried to keep Emily away as far as possible.
"Emily it's dangerous. You could get hurt- "
"What how come you're not concerned with my well being Becaw?" Jesse said holding his head in his hands as he sat on his horse.
"Don't be an idiot Jesse. Emily she – "
"She can shoot real good and she's quick on her feet. She's smart as hell Beca." Jesse said looking at Emily and Beca. He figured this was a good learning experience and Beca was just being unreasonable.
"Look Emily I know you are all what Jesse said but I don't want you to get hurt. So I can't let you come." Beca said taking off her black glove and reaching out to put Emily's hair behind her ears.
"Aww Beca please." Emily pleaded. "I won't get in the way. I want to learn and be ready to help in the future. I know you guys can do it but please let me go. Please please?"
"Yea Beca, let her come." Jesse encouraged. Beca turned and sent him a glare. And gave up.
"Fine. Fine. Emily you are to not get in the way and ride behind us." Emily jumped for joy and kissed Beca on the cheek.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! Let me get my horse." Emily skipped her way to the horse.
"And you." Beca pointed to Jesse. "If anything happens to her, so help me…"
"Yea yea I got it Mama Bear." Beca punched him in the leg and went to mount her horse. Jesse loved teasing Beca about being so over-protective of Emily. She always had Emily's back when she got in trouble and she always took care of Emily. He loved this motherly side of Beca and couldn't be more grateful that Emily came along and brought it out in her. Emily finally reached them and with that they took off in the direct of the the last known location of those bandits.
They were currently fighting with the frequent bandits that wouldn't take a hint. It started with a chase and they were finally able to catch up with them a couple of towns over. Many times Beca fought with them and they were always able to escape. This time Beca wanted to make sure that this wasn't the case and she would do anything she could to prevent that. Through the smoke Beca could see the three bandits. Now she couldn't tell whether they were women but they were good with their guns. She had to come up with a plan to capture them. Emily had to join the fight because the were caught in a gun fight and Beca insisted that Emily stay by her side.
"Damn Jesse. I knew you shouldn't have come." Beca said as Emily shot her pistol in the bandit's direction.
"I'm not that bad." Emily said reloading her pistol.
"It's not that your bad Emily, it's just- "
"BECA! One of them is coming in our direction!" She heard Jesse yell and she peered over the rock to see. The bandit was quick and was able to weave and dodge into an abandon shack. She was alone and Beca took this as an opportunity. Before Beca could formulate a plan, Emily took off towards that shack.
"EMILY! Get back her NOW!" Beca yelled after Emily but Emily was quick and there was probably no chance that she heard that.
"JESSE!" Beca called as she started her way to the shack. He ran over and they both ducked behind a broken down wagon as bullets came in their direction. "Damn Emily took off into the shack where that outlaw went. I told you that if anything happened to her you would get it."
"Yes Beca I know. Just stop worrying and come on." When the bullets ceased, probably the moment of reloading, they stood up and ran towards the shack. The crouched and approached a shattered window. Beca peered in and could she Emily crouching on the stairs.
"Jesse, Emily is on the stairs." Beca said at a whisper.
"Ok let's go back her up." They slowly walked through the door and scanned the room. They made noise so Emily would see them and called her over. Emily slowly approached them.
"Are you crazy?!" Beca said half yelling, half whispering at Emily. "Why the hell did you just take off like that?"
"We had to get that outlaw Beca and I saw an opportunity- "
"NO Emily." Beca cut her off. "You put yourself in a dangerous situation without thinking. Now you have us here- "
"You didn't have to come in, you could have kept an eye out." Emily countered.
"And what were you gonna do Emily when you finally caught up to the bandit? Shoot them?"
"I was- "
"Enough. Beca…" Jesse said trying to put an end to this.
"No you stop. We are here in a shack and they could have this place surrounded and what then? What…" Beca was stopped by the sound of a gunshot and Jesse screaming. He dropped to the floor and held his leg. He was shot and Beca was able to glance towards the direction it came from and she saw a flash of brown hair. Emily was able to run and tackle the bandit from where she stood. Beca checked to make sure Jesse was alright.
"Jesus! Jesse are you alright? Here give me your leg." She ripped off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it around his thigh to put pressure on the wound.
"That bitch shot me. But I think I'm ok." Beca had to get him out of here. Beca looked up to see Emily was now engaged in a fight with the bandit. From the tussle Beca could in fact see that it was a woman. There was brown and red hair all over the place and Beca decided to let Emily handle this. Emily managed to restrain the bandit's hands and Emily called out to Beca.
"Can you help me Beca? Grab the rope strings in my belt." Immediately she went to grab the rope strings that Emily mentioned and handed them to her. Beca noticed that they did a number on each other and waited for Emily to finish her arrest. She was proud of Emily yet Jesse was hurt on Beca's account. She knew her over protective side had caused this mess and she was ashamed. She saw Emily sit her outlaw up and Beca walked over and crouched to look at them. Emily had several scratches and a few were bleeding. The bandit had her head down and Beca went to left her chin up. She had a terrible bloody nose, which Beca assumed helped Emily restrain the bandit. What came next, surprised Beca. She came across the bluest eyes she had ever seen. The red hair made this girls eyes sparkle and Beca's throat went dry and she stepped back a bit. The girl was looking right at Beca and it made Beca feel weird. Some time must have passed because she saw a hand waving in her face.
"Becs?" She heard Emily say and she snapped out of it.
"UH-what?" Beca said clearing her throat.
"Didn't you hear me?" Emily asked confused.
"UH… what? What did you say?" Beca shook her head.
"I said what should we do next?"
"Uh well Jesse is hurt but not too bad." Beca regained her composure and took a couple steps towards the window. "Looks like a storm is coming." Jesse limped beside her and observed with her. "Yea I doubt we can make it back without catching some of it. We do have to get out of here before her friends came in to check what's happening." Jesse nodded towards the redhead. Beca looked over and saw the redhead sitting there helpless. She turned back to Jesse and nodded towards his leg.
"What about your leg?"
"I have a pack on Emily horse with some medicine. If we make it to a town, I'll stop and catch up with you." Jesse said putting his hand on Beca's shoulder. As if he could read her mind Jesse added. "And don't sweat it. You can beg forgiveness by taking me to watch one of those moving pictures." He smirked and Beca shoved him off and immediately regretted it when he groaned from the pain.
"Aw damn sorry Jesse." Beca said steading Jesse.
"Ugggh-it's fine. But seriously let's get out of here." Beca nodded and went back to Emily and the redhead. Emily was observing her surrounding incase the redhead's friends appeared. Beca bent down and looped her arm to pick up the redhead.
"Ok let's go." Beca pushed her slightly so she could walk in front of them. The redhead grunted from some of the fighting she had done with Emily. They slowly made their way out of the house and the redhead obviously went slower.
"Come on, get moving." Emily said putting the barrel of her pistol on the redhead's back.
"Well can you blame me? You put up one hell of a fight." The redhead chuckled. The voice that came out of the redhead was almost angelic. Beca didn't expect such a sweet voice from a criminal. She looked at Emily and Emily couldn't help the smile from forming from the compliment she was given. Beca sent her a glare and Emily regained her composure.
"Yea well you didn't give me much of a choice." Emily retorted. Beca shook her head and would later help Emily with her comebacks. They approached their horses and Beca stood watch as Emily held the hostage and Jesse attempted to get on his horse.
"AHHH! Damn!" Jesse said falling back down a third time from mounting his horse.
"You are not ok Jesse. Emily give me the redhead and help him up please." Emily handed over the redhead and Went to help Jesse up. When Beca grabbed the girl a warm sensation fell over her. The girl must have felt it or sensed it because she looked at Beca and they just stared at each other.
"You know, you have some beautiful eyes…" Beca's throat went dry at the admission of the girl. She gulped and had to regain control of the situation.
"Well uh- thank- I mean shut up!" Beca said a bit too loud and felt heat rise to her cheeks.
"Hey no need to get all embarrassed miss, I just state the obvious is all." The redhead winked and this sent a wave in Beca stomach. Before Beca could somewhat respond, Emily called her over.
"Beca there's no way Jesse can ride by himself, I can take him while you take her on your horse." Beca nodded and told the bandit to sit down.
"Put your feet in front of you." Beca instructed and she began to tie the redhead's feet together.
"Whoa aren't you at least gonna ask my name before you tie me all up like this?" The redhead smirked and this flustered Beca. Stunned Beca just lifted her and laid her on the horse. "You know for someone so tiny, you know how to impress a lady." The redhead continued her flirtatious behavior.
"I said shut up miss." Was all Beca could come up with. The redhead chuckled but seemed to understand. Beca tied a rope around Jesse horse and off they went.
As they rode the bandit didn't seem to put any fight to escape. Either she knew she couldn't get anywhere or she just didn't care. Beca felt bad having the girl have to lay on the horse for long and she made the group stop.
"I think we have gotten far enough for her friends to not know where we went. I still want you, Emily, to try to reach a town and have Jesse checked out. I don't want him getting an infection. I think the next one is Harlon, so why don't you keep going and I will have a break with the horse." Beca wanted to give the girl a rest but used the horse as an excuse. Emily looked at her confused.
"Beca you want to give the horse a break? But we are riding the horse with two people…"
"Emily go." Beca said in a tone that was dead set in having it this way. Jesse and Emily looked at each other and shrugged. They knew Beca was not to be messed with so they bid same farewells and took off. Beca rode until she reached a small pond and a tree for shade. When she got there she picked the girl and sat her down on the floor. She knew the girl must be thirst and hot so she moved her under the tree. The clouds started rolling in and Beca knew this had to be a small break. She untied the girl's hands and wrists. "Was it on too tight?". Beca asked concern in her voice.
"Not too much." The girl spoke and Beca couldn't help but slightly massage some of the marks. "Thank you." The girl said as she looked at the marks too. Beca let go and reached for her canteen. Beca knew better but she couldn't help it.
"Here drink some of my water." Beca said holding out the canteen to the girl and the girl hesitated. "Go on. I know you must be thirsty." The girl nodded and accepted the water. "I didn't poison if that's what you are thinking." Beca said as she drank some after the girl was done. "I just figured you wanted some." Beca shrugged looking at the pond.
"That's very kind of you." The girl said causing Beca to look at the girl. The sincerity made Beca's heart flutter. She half smile and stared towards the pond once again. "You know I've heard of you." The girl said causing Beca to look back at her. "I've heard of the infamous Sherriff Mitchell. The ruthless bounty hunter. Daughter of the Sherriff "Head Hunter" Mitchell." Beca knew of this nickname of her father but she didn't know that word had spread on her.
"Ruthless?" Beca questioned.
"Yea ruthless. They call you Ruthless Mitchell in the other towns because of how you hunt down the toughest bandits and ripe them of all humility." The girl looked towards the pond but kept talking. "They say you don't stop till you catch the one's you are after. I thought we had out smarted you but look at me now." The red head said. "The girl of yours really put up a fight." The girl chuckled. "She must get it from you." The girl looked back at Beca and her eyes sparkled.
"Yea Emily… She's something. A little green but she'll get the hang of it." Beca said. It was unnatural for Beca to take pity on a bandit, let alone talk to them about her life, but with this girl Beca felt no danger. "But I am no heartless person you know. I just have a sense of what's right and wrong." Beca stated plainly and the girl furrowed her eyebrows.
"Yea well some of us have to do bad things to do good." The girl said and Beca gave the girl a quizzically look. She never thought bad things lead to good things. "For example, that Emily of yours, she did a bad thing chasing me into a building. But you ended up catching me right?" Beca thought about and she had to agree that it was true.
"Yea but that's different. I meant morally right and morally wrong." Beca said.
"Yea but who is to decide what's wrong and right? I mean you have the law that you follow and think is right. But someone who comes from nothing, someone who has nothing. Well they have to do something that you think is bad to live. To have something. Sometimes it's to eat sometimes it's to care for their family. You never know really." Beca and the girl stared at each other. She had a point. And Beca never thought about it.
"But why wouldn't help someone like that?" Beca asked because she always helped someone when they are in need of anything.
"Well not everyone is as caring as you. No one cares about other people's life. I know you are caring because no one would have stopped to give me a break or offered me water. Or even would talk to me like we are now." There was sadness in the girl's voice and Beca knew that those people did exist. She wondered if this girl was in any of the situations she had mentioned.
"Well I am sorry you had to go through any hardship." Beca said and she knew admitting something like this was very tricky. But when she looked at this girl's eyes when she said that she saw relief and maybe gratefulness.
"I mean the stuff I faced was hard but all the choices I have made got me here in this moment. And even though you have caught me, I can't say I am too disappointed. I got to meet you." Beca just stared at this girl. A girl who just was so caring just blew her away. Beca didn't know what to say to that. On one hand she would agree, she was glad to meet someone like this girl and on the other this girl was an outlaw that defied all of Beca's rules. She had to sit and really think about how this situation was gonna play out. After a few moments Beca spoke.
"If it helps I really hope Emily learns to not treat people wrong. To hear people out instead of assuming the worst with people like you."
"Well with some one who has a lot of heart like you do, I am sure she will get it." The redhead smiled and they both stared at the pond. That's when Beca felt the rain come. She had let too much time past.
"Shit!" Beca got up and the rain came down hard. On instinct Beca went to the girl. "Come on, let me help you mount my horse." Beca knew better than to untie an outlaw but now she was letting the girl ride on her horse like it was nothing. She rode to a near by shack that looked recently abandoned and they got off and to Beca's surprise the girl help her tie the horses to the post. They hurried to the shack and they were drenched from the down pour. They stood in the door frame and watched the storm, breathing heavy. Beca felt the girl look at her and she turned her head.
"I'm Chloe." The girl said giving Beca a smile. Returning it the smile Beca answered.
"Beca." And they turned their attention back towards the storm.