A/N The idea for this came about through a conversation with a friend in which we agreed that Matt should have been held accountable for his actions (or lack thereof) toward Kitty. The story takes place during or shortly after season seven, which seems to have an abundance of a certain type of episode we found to be especially irritating.
A Little Buckshot
Took her twenty years and a little buckshot, but she finally landed him.
Twenty years, that's an awful long time. I don't know whether I could wait that long. Little buckshot, huh?
Hey, now, wait a minute!
Whatsa matter, you scared?
C'mon, I'll buy you a drink.
From "Tap Day for Kitty," season 1, episode 22
Screenplay by John Dunkel
Story by John Meston
Kitty had finally started drifting off to sleep after a long, difficult night at the Long Branch when a sound downstairs jerked her awake. Holding her breath to listen for any further sounds, she reached for her robe and eased herself out of bed. Yes, there it was again. Someone was prowling around downstairs, and it sounded as if they were headed for the back rooms. She picked Sam's shotgun, the one he usually kept under the bar, up from the floor and checked to be sure it was loaded. She crept silently to her door and out into the hall, pausing for just a moment before stepping through the curtain. As she approached the balcony rail, she heard footsteps leaving her office.
"Who's down there?" she demanded, pulling back on the shotgun.
"It's me, Kitty. Don't shoot."
"Matt? I didn't know you were back in town. What are you doing down there? Would you please come on out where I can see you?"
Matt stepped out and walked in front of the bar. "I just got back so I finished rounds for Chester. Your front door was unlocked. I was just making sure no one was in here. Why do you have the shotgun upstairs?"
"We had too many cowhands in here tonight who didn't like hearing the word 'no.' Sam thought I might have trouble. Did you get Miss whatever-her-name-was safely escorted to wherever it was she was going?" Matt missed the icy tone of her voice, but there was no mistaking the shotgun that was still pointed in his direction.
"Kitty, you think you could put the gun down before someone gets hurt?"
"Oh, someone's already been hurt, Matt." An idea that had started to form in her mind when she first realized it was Matt in her barroom continued to take shape as she stood there holding the gun.
"Does Doc know about this?" he asked, a little uncertainly. He hadn't heard any shots fired, and didn't see any signs that Kitty had been injured, but-
"This isn't something Doc can help with." She crossed the balcony and started down the stairs, still pointing the gun in more or less his general direction. "You're trespassing on my property, Matt."
"Are you going to tell me what's going on here?" Matt was getting more and more perplexed, but it was starting to become obvious that Kitty was mad at him about something.
"Remember Nip Cullers? That old man who wanted to marry me?" Matt nodded. "How that housekeeper of his, Nettie, waited twenty years for him and he never looked at her? What she did to get his attention? Sorry, Matt, but I can't just hold my tongue for twenty years like she did!"
"Are you saying I've never looked at you? Of course I look at you, Kitty, you're beautiful."
"That's not what I'm talking about! You look, but you don't see! You never see me waiting for you, worrying about you while you're off playing knight in shining armor for some woman who thinks you're the answer to all her problems. You never see the irony of asking me to help them, put them up here, give them jobs and you don't even bother to tell them you aren't available. Well, are you available, Matt? Am I going to wake up some morning and find out one of these women has become the Marshal's wife while I was busy being good old understanding Kitty?"
"Kitty, I would never-I would never do that to you!"
"How would I know that? You have never once told me what I mean to you! How do I know I'm not just someone to spend time with until the right woman comes along?"
"Kitty, just put the gun down and I'll take you upstairs and show you how much you mean to me." Matt realized he'd made a serious mistake the minute the words were out of his mouth, but it was too late to take them back.
Kitty uttered a cry of frustration. "You haven't listened to one word I've said! No, I will not go upstairs with you and let you distract me with...no! For once I want to know what I mean to you outside of my bed. With words, and...and...well, something else besides bodies!" She started crying softly and for the first time Matt was a little worried. Until this point he'd been pretty sure Kitty wouldn't actually shoot him, but a loaded gun and a crying female were never a good combination in his estimation. As if to confirm this, Kitty raised the gun and took aim. Of particular concern was the location she was aiming at.
"Kitty, do you know what you're doing?"
"Well, if I don't, that's your fault for not doing a better job teaching me to shoot." Please get out of the way, Matt, she begged silently. Don't let me shoot you for real. Matt jumped to one side just as she pulled the trigger. Buckshot sprayed the front of the bar in the spot he'd just been standing in. He stared at it and then looked back at her.
"What's all this about, really, honey?"
"What do you think this is about?"
"Well, you're standing there holding a shotgun on me, does this mean…?"
"No, I'm not pregnant, if that's what you're thinking. But what if I was?"
"Well, that would sure change things, wouldn't it?"
"Would it? Is that what it would take, Matt? Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't take that chance. I know you're decent enough that you'd probably do the right thing, but I wouldn't want to have a child knowing its father thought of us as just an obligation." She aimed the gun again, higher this time, and Matt ducked out of the way as she pulled the trigger. Several bottles exploded behind the bar.
The knock on the outside door startled them both.
"Miss Kitty? You all right in there?"
"I'm fine, Chester. I thought I saw a prowler." Twice?
"Are you sure? You want me to go find Mister Dillon for you?"
"Get rid of him!" Kitty hissed at Matt.
"It's all right, Chester, I'm already here. Go on back to bed and I'll talk to you about it in the morning."
"All right, Mister Dillon, I hope so, 'cause I just don't understand this atall."
"You are not telling him about this!" Kitty said as Chester's footsteps faded away. Now that she was out of ammunition she was beginning to feel a little foolish. She obviously needed a six shooter to get through to him.
"No, of course not." Matt walked over and gently took the shotgun from her hands.
"I suppose you're going to arrest me now."
"For what? Shooting up your own saloon?" Matt went behind the bar, reloaded the shotgun, and returned to the front of the bar. He held the gun out to Kitty. "You have anything else you want to say?"
"Yeah." She took the gun from him and retreated a few feet. "No. No! I don't have anything more to say. It's your turn." She started to aim one more time.
"Now, hold on, Kitty. You don't want a declaration of love at gunpoint any more than you'd want a proposal when there's a baby on the way."
"No, I suppose not. What...what did you say?"
"Can we go upstairs...and talk?"
"Upstairs."
"Just to talk."
"To talk."
Matt nodded.
"All right." She handed him the gun and he returned it to the bar. He followed her up the stairs. Neither of them spoke.
"Outside on the balcony," she said when they got to her rooms. He unlocked the door to the outside with his key.
"Want me to take a chair out for you?"
"No." Kitty walked outside and sat down on the balcony floor. Matt lowered himself to the spot next to her and tried to pull her close to him. When she resisted he reached for her hand and she let him take it.
"Kitty-" he began. Turning to face him, she interrupted.
"I just want to know where I stand, Cowboy. You've told me you can't make any promises about the future and, well, I don't like it, but I know that's how it has to be. What concerns me right now is the present. I have not been available to any other man for a very long time. I just need to hear it from you. Are there any other women?"
"No, Kitty, there aren't any other women. I'm not available to anyone but you. I'm sorry my helping other women hurts you, but it doesn't mean I'm going to marry any of them. That's a promise I can make."
"What you just said downstairs…."
"Will you believe me if I say it?" She nodded. He reached for her again and this time she snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. "I love you, Kitty. I can't ask you to wait for something that might not ever happen, but I don't want you to ever doubt how I feel about you. All you have to do is ask."
She looked away, cringing at the thought of her earlier behavior. "I'm sorry I shot at you, Matt." He chuckled and she looked up at him in surprise.
"I guess I sort of had it coming. You sure got my attention, honey! But maybe next time you could just try ropin' me."
"I'll ask Chester for some lessons tomorrow." They both chuckled then, and Kitty reached up to kiss him. "I love you, too, Matt." Matt gently pulled her to the floor. Wrapped in the arms of her lover, Kitty knew that even though he wouldn't ask, she would still wait.
Twenty years was an awful long time. Plenty of time left for things to change.