Dallas – The Black Gold

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or settings; they belong to their respective owners. I'm just borrowing them for a little story of mine. It's written purely for fun and not for profit on my part. Any similarities to living or dead are purely coincidental.

Characters: Pam, Bobby, Sue Ellen, J.R, Donna, Ray, Miss Ellie, Lucy, Mitch, Rebecca, Afton and Cliff.

Time period: After Jock's death, in the beginning of the fight for Ewing Oil (season 6) when Bobby and Pam are still married, when Lucy and Mitch are at the end of their relationship, while Ray and Donna are still a bit riled up after everything that has happened and when J.R and Sue Ellen think about getting married again.

Summary: A large oilfield, owned by Ewing Oil, becomes first side news when it suddenly explodes for seemingly no reason. Several workers are killed and the deceased's families are blaming Ewing Oil management for the so called incident. However, all is not what it seems; prior to the explosion J.R double crosses an enemy even more resourceful than himself and soon the whole Ewing family is involved in a cat and mouse game of threats, deception, lies and suspicious accidents. Maybe the oilfield explosion was no accident at all, but one of the many executed threats that would eventually force the powerful Ewing family on their knees.

For Bobby and Pam this will mean a life changing event, for Lucy and Mitch a new spark in their ended relationship, for Miss Ellie more sweet sorrow, for Sue Ellen and J.R another challenge in their upcoming marriage while Donna and Ray suddenly realize how much they mean to one another. And for Cliff it seems that finally something good comes out of all this misfortune.

Warning: This is a hurt/comfort story, a mayhem story. For those of you who don't like that, please don't read.

Inspiration: J.R's Cuban deal, the explosion at Ewing 23, J.R's involvement with Calhoun

/I would like to apologize in advance for any grammatical errors that you may find in the text. Also I would like to encourage you to leave a review, after working on a story spanning over 100 pages, I long for some feedback.

OOOOO

Chapter One – The Beginning of the End

"Well, thank you for nothing, Mr. Beans," Bobby said on the phone as politely as he could muster.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Ewing, but there is nothing I can do about it. When your brother purchased the field a year ago, it was clearly stated that all personnel would have a year's pay and employment, no matter the market in the oil business. That was Lionel Smith's last wish as he could no longer run the company and had to sell out," the foreman at the 19th Ewing oilfield explained.

"I do respect the late Mr. Smith's wishes but I have to make the best of the situation and I can't afford having the field in full operation, the storage compartments are full, the refinery can't take all oil and…frankly the situation is quite delicate," Bobby said tiredly.

"You are a wealthy man, Mr. Ewing, and you have a lot of other oilfields in operation, can't you relocate the people no longer needed here?" he asked.

"I'll see what I can do," he offered.

"That's all I ask for, Mr. Ewing, I'm confident that you'll solve it, I did vote for you while in the senate," he said.

Bobby chuckled lightly, "Thank you for your confidence," he said and terminated the call.

He massaged his forehead, feeling the beginning of a headache after trying to clear up all the things J.R had been setting up while being the President of Ewing Oil.

The fact that he had been recommended to make a cutback of at least 25 percent didn't sit well with his need to gain money in order to beat his big brother. Also there were logistical problems and spare parts missing to Ewing 29 which seemed to be unsolvable at the moment. No wonder J.R had accepted 1-17 so easily, Bobby thought bitterly.

Speaking of J.R's fields, he needed to take a little field trip to Ewing 16 to collect some spare parts that had just arrived so that J.R wouldn't benefit from his logistics and planning. Even if he couldn't use them on the 29th he sure could use them somewhere else. Also he needed to stop his deliveries of supplies to Ewing 15, it wasn't his concern anymore.

Bobby had a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he thought about J.R's reaction to his latest actions. However, his older brother would do anything to keep him at bay and Bobby was no fool, he knew for a fact that he had to be on his guard and be while smart placing his investments. The only problem was that while he treasured honesty and fair play, J.R liked to play dirty and had no trouble blackmailing people just to get things where he wanted them.

The intercom beeped, breaking his reverie, and Phyllis voice came on the speaker, "Bobby, the helicopter is coming in now, you wanted me to notify you when it arrived," she said.

He nodded to himself, "Yes, I'll be heading over to Ravensmith Oilfield and I'll be gone most of the day," he explained.

"Isn't that J.R's field now?" Phyllis asked skeptically.

"That's correct, but I have things to collect, things that rightfully belonging to me, and I intend to get them," he answered as got up from his chair.

OOOOO

"Good morning ladies," J.R said slyly with a large grin on his face.

"Is that so, J.R?" Phyllis asked.

"That it is, I've just made a deal that will make it very hard for little brother Bobby to beat me," he said with a dry laugh. "Dad would have been proud," he added. "By the way where is Bobby anyway, I thought he would be here by now?" he asked curiously.

"He took the helicopter and said he would be out most of the day," Phyllis explained, unfazed by his winning and arrogant smile.

"I bet he went to Ravensmith, I know I would if I where him. He would no doubt collect all spare parts he ordered last week. Bobby can be quite cunning when he has too, I'll have to give him that," J.R admitted.

That elicited a smile from Phyllis.

"I wouldn't be so cheerful, Phyllis, my little brother doesn't have what it takes to run the company anyway," he said and headed for his office.

OOOOO

Rebecca Wentworth smiled at her son who was sitting comfortably behind his new desk at the former Luce Oil office. The company had now been reformed and renamed to Barnes-Wentworth Oil and handed over by her to Cliff. She was proud of her son, proud he had been able to come back so soon after the suicide attempt. She had been afraid that he was lost forever but he had luckily proven her wrong.

When she had learned that J.R Ewing was behind everything she had totally lost it. She had bought an oil company, no matter the cost, and given it to her son. He didn't have the means to crush J.R Ewing himself but she would give him the means to do it. She hoped he would crush Ewing Oil and take the entire Ewing family down with it; she would support him all the way.

"How do you feel Cliff?" she asked expectantly.

He glanced up from the folder he had been studying, "Hello mama, I'm just fine," he said, returning the smile.

"So, what do you think? I believe it's perfect in order to stand up against J.R," Rebecca said.

"Mama," he began.

"No, I won't argue with you and I heard what Afton said about laying off for a while but as I said before, sooner or later you'll have to take the fight with him," she reasoned.

"I don't know right now, mama, maybe Afton is right, I don't have to take him on right now. Besides I have a number of other possibilities to make good business without having to butt head with J.R," he explained.

Rebecca's eyes darkened, "How can you just let it drop, he tried to destroy you?" she asked.

"Let J.R and Bobby settle a few things first, then I'll crush them both," he assured her with a confident smile.

OOOOO

"I hope you liked the latest song, it's said to be one of the summer's greatest hits. We are interrupting the afternoon show for some disturbing news. The Ravensmith oilfield is on fire after the detonation of several explosions, it is said to be chaotic at best. As we speak, several rescue workers and firefighters are on their way to the location. We will come back with an update as soon as we know anything more," the radio announcer said.

Pamela stared at the radio as the music began playing again and then sat straight up in her chair, next to the pool at Southfork. She cast a glance at Christopher, who lay next to her on a blanket, shaded by a sun umbrella and retrieved her towel to wipe away the thin sheen of perspiration from her face as Sue Ellen, clad in slacks and shirt, sat down next to her.

"Hi, Pam, how can you sit here in this heat?" she wondered.

"I just came from the pool," Pamela replied softly. "Sue Ellen, did you hear about the oilfield?" she wondered.

"Yeah," she replied hesitantly, not knowing how to proceed.

Pam felt a knot forming in her stomach at Sue Ellen's expression, something was wrong. "What is it?" she asked, uncertain.

"Pam, there is no easy way to say this, but, Bobby is out there," she said, not able to really look Pam in the eyes.

"Oh God no, Sue Ellen, they said on the radio…" she began, seemingly upset and worried.

"I'm sure Bobby is fine," Sue Ellen tried in a calming voice.

OOOOO

To be continued