Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes, JD forgets why they fight what seems so constantly to be a thankless battle, but his beloved Buck always reminds him of the reasons of both why they fight and why their future will always be magnificently bright.
Warnings: Slash, Established Relationship
Word Count: 1,035
Date Written: 6 March, 2011
Disclaimer: JD Dunne, Buck Wilmingon, all other characters mentioned within, and The Magnificent Seven are & TM CBS, The Mirisch Group, MGM, and Trilogy Entertainment, none of whom are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Sometimes, when the days grew longer and the nights harder, when his friends were hurting and he himself was dead on his feet, when their lives were darker and their tasks seemingly impossible to overcome, JD still wondered. Why? Why did they continue to lay their lives on the line for people who would never stand to protect them? Why did they continue to take on impossible odds and face seemingly insurmountable enemies, who no one else dared to face? Why did they persist in staring Death in the face if they really wanted to live?
A soft knock sounded upon his door, startling JD out of his doubts and worries and causing the young man's dry and bruised lips to curve upwards into a gentle smile. As always, on such a night, his beloved had waited until late, when all the regulars had gone away from the saloon and the only ones left were their friends, to come to him, but come he had. JD crossed over to the door and opened it, and Buck slipped in.
They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, Buck's big, blue eyes reflecting all the sorrow and worry weighing down JD's heart, and then the larger man took the Kid in his arms and held him gently. JD pushed the door shut with his booted foot and locked it behind him before letting himself truly fall into Buck's arms. He closed his eyes as he snuggled against his hard, lean chest, the folds of his jacket and vest going around him, and inhaled his sweet, husky aroma.
Buck smelled like nothing else on all the Earth. His scent was musty yet comforting, strong with his masculinity but yet also gentle and reassuring. When he had been a child, the most comforting scent on the Earth had been the sweet smell of his mother's homemade cake, but now the most comforting aroma was his beloved Buck's own private scent, which JD often teased him of being linked to his animal magnetism. JD sighed. Buck did have animal magnetism in droves, and it always pulled him to him and carried him through to the end of whatever they were facing.
He knew again now, he thought, as Buck's loving arms encircled him and held him close, the answers to all of the questions that had plagued him just a moment before. He knew why they fought, and why they would always stand together against whatever came their way. In this old, dusty town whose people they laid their lives on the line for on a daily and nightly basis, sometimes even multiple times in a day, he and his six dearest friends had found that which they'd come to think was impossible for them to ever possess. For varying reasons, they had all lost their family, but they'd found family again here and discovered love, real, true love, for the first time. They'd never stop fighting because of that love, JD thought, hearing Buck's heartbeat underneath his ear as they snuggled together in his bed, and because of that love, they'd always win for there was nothing more powerful in all of eternity than true love.
JD knew, too, that they could have what they had here nowhere else, for any other town would look too closely and see what was before them. They'd see that they loved one another, and they'd hate them and do everything they could to destroy them for that love. Loving Buck and being loved by him was the most wondrous thing JD had ever known, and yet he knew that the whole world would turn against them, as well as Chris and Vin and Josiah and Nathan, for the love they shared if they ever discovered it. Nowhere else was safe for them to feel the way they did save these little town, whose people were so thankful to them for saving their lives time and again that they never dared look close at them lest they see something they didn't want to see.
So they'd stay here, JD thought, in this old and dusty town where they had been given love and family again. They'd stay here and face whatever came their way, and they'd win because they loved each other. He rubbed his face against Buck's chest, feeling his lips and mustache brush the top of his head. "Get some sleep, Kid," Buck murmured. "Tomorrow's a big day."
"You too," JD told him with a smile. Every day was a big day here for every day was filled not only with the danger and excitement that he'd come out West to find but also with the love and family of that second chance he'd yearned for but had given up ever finding until he'd become a member of, as they'd came to be called, The Magnificent Seven. Never had his life been better than it was now, even when he'd been safe with his mother back home, and he hoped his mother knew how happy he was. Smiling to himself, JD thought that surely she did for he knew she was looking down on him and knew, too, that she was the only woman who would never hate him for loving the man who was as surely his soul mate and filled him as he needed air to breathe.
Yup, tomorrow would be a big day as would the day after that and the day after that and so on for as long as they lived, and, in its own way, lit by love, family, and friendship, it would be a wonderful day. No, he thought, his lips twisting into a wry grin, it would be a magnificent day. He snuggled closer into his life partner, breathing in his scent and relishing in it and the feel of his arms around him. He lifted his head, opened Buck's shirt, and pressed a kiss right over his heart. "I love you, Buck," he said, and Buck smiled, tears of happiness brimming in his eyes and replacing the sorrow and worry that had been plaguing him.
"I love you, too, Kid," he said and held him close to his heart forever more.
The End