The Other Woman - MM and ATC To the Long Long Trail

You know the drill. I don't own them and I don't get paid.

Note: I hate this episode. It's horrible and so unlike Matt to let that brunette vamp manipulate him like that. And no Kitty? What were the writer's thinking? I figured it was about time someone fixed the problem. If you are one of the few who DO like this episode, please read no more. Just walk away quietly and calmly. If you do decide to continue to read, do NOT send me hatemail or tell me how wrong I am. Unlike some authors, I will NOT respond to that.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Kitty sat quietly in the back of the saloon, playing solitaire while keeping an eye on her business. To anyone watching her, she would appear to be without a care in the world as she quietly turned one card after another over in her quiet little game. To anyone who didn't know her.

"Kitty?" Doc approached the table, pulled out a chair and plopped down into it, placing his bag in the chair next to him and his hat to the side. "Care to tell me what's wrong with you?" His expression told her he wasn't leaving without an answer.

Kitty frowned as she raised her eyes from her losing hand and looked over at him. "What do you mean, what's wrong with me? There's nothing wrong with me."

Doc took a scrub of his mustache and nodded at Sam as he walked up and sat a beer down in front of him. "Thank you, Sam." "You could've fooled me." He muttered as he picked up the beer and took a sip.

"What in the world are you talking about?" She asked, almost afraid of his answer.

"You!" Doc declared with small glare in her direction. "You passed me on the street out there earlier, like I wasn't even there and just now when I came in, and loudly asked Sam for a beer, you didn't even look up or acknowledge my presence. Now, that's just not like you. So what's the problem?"

The corners of Kitty's mouth quirked up for just a second. "You know me too well, Curly." She replied.

"Uh, huh, and I know when you're avoiding talking about something." Doc pointed out with another pass over his facial hair. "What's wrong, Kitty?"

For several moments, Kitty kept her eyes on the cards in front of her as she reshuffled them and laid out another hand.

Doc sat silently beside her, allowing her time to sort out her thoughts and put them into words, if she chose to. There were times she didn't always choose to.

Finally, Kitty looked up at Doc and the corners of her mouth twitched up again, this time forming into a genuine smile of gratitude for the older man's concerns for her well-being. "I'm fine, Doc." She answered. "Honest, I'm fine."

Doc studied her face, knowing full well, she wasn't fine. Lifting his mug, he took another drink of the cold beer while he decided whether to force her to talk or just let it be. "Well, alright." He said, as he took one last drink, replaced the mug on the table and wearily got to his feet.

Grabbing his hat and bag, he paused and looked down at her. "If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

Kitty nodded without looking up, as she placed a black queen on top of a black jack, not even noticing her error. Her mind wasn't on the game. It was on Doc's question. Was she alright?

No. She decided rather quickly. No, she was not alright. She was actually kind of scared and worried. But not for herself, never for herself as long as she there, safe within the confines of the saloon and Dodge itself. It was Matt that worried and frightened her and there was nothing she could do to solve the situation.

A week prior, Matt had left town headed to Hays. But Kitty had good reason to suspect that he wasn't headed there now. Right before he left, Matt had seen quite a lot of the woman named Sara Drew. Kitty hadn't worried at first, as she felt she knew Matt and could trust him. But when the woman persisted in trying to draw him away and take her to Ft. Wallace, Kitty had finally loudly protested to Matt, the night before he had left.

She hadn't meant to argue with him, hadn't wanted anything to mar their last night together for a while. But she hadn't been able to stop the torrent of fear and even jealously when Chester had mentioned the dinner Matt and Sara had shared and how cozy and happy together they had seemed. He even went so far as to suggest that perhaps, Mr. Dillon had met the one woman who could get him to the church.

That night, when Matt had finally made it up to her rooms, she was awake and sitting on the settee, waiting on him. "Matt, we need to talk." She'd said stonily.

Though Matt had a pretty good idea of what that talk was about and how it might go, he nodded and took up a place on the settee beside her, not bothering to remove his hat or gunbelt. He didn't want to have to redress if she kicked him out.

"Kitty," he sighed. "I know you probably heard about the dinner I had with Sara, and I know you're probably upset by it. But you have no reason to be. Nothing happened. We ate, had a nice talk and I walked her back over to the Dodge House. That's all there was to it."

Kitty angrily slid her eyes over to him. "That was all, huh?" She got up from the settee. "Then why is Chester telling me that you are practically engaged?"

Matt looked up at her with a frown of irritation. "Because Chester has a big mouth and often jumps to conclusions without anything to back them up."

Taking a deep breath, Matt rubbed the back of his neck and softened his voice. "Kitty, I'm sorry. Honestly. I didn't think anything about having dinner with her. You were working and Doc was out of town. I didn't think it was any big deal."

"But it was a big deal, Matt." Kitty shook her head at him. "You know how oblivious Chester can be when it comes to things of that nature. If he saw something, then there had to be something to see. Matt, that woman is spoiled and used to getting her way. She wants more out of you than just an escort to Ft. Wallace."

"Now, you're jumping to conclusions." Matt snapped at her as he got to his feet. "For your information, I've already told her I would not take her to Ft. Wallace and she accepted that. The only place I'm going is to Hays."

Kitty dropped her head, ashamed of her outburst. "I'm sorry, Matt." She whispered, trying hard not to cry. "I guess you're right. I did jump to conclusions. It's just… I…"

"I know, Kitty." Matt sighed. When, after a moment, Kitty hadn't said anything else, Matt shook his head and headed for the door. "I'll see you when I get back." He told her.

Kitty nodded, but just as he reached the door, she called out again. "Matt?"

His handed stayed on the knob. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off as such a… a…"

"I know." His voice formed the words, but Kitty wasn't sure if they come from his head or his heart.

The next day, after Matt had left, Kitty had gone into the mercantile for a few things and Mr. Jonas remarked to her about Marshal Dillon escorting Sara Drew to Ft. Wallace. Though it was difficult, Kitty kept a neutral expression when she replied. "As I understood it, he was going to Hays."

"Well," Jonas shrugged. "Could be, but that Miss Drew was in here yesterday buying supplies for a trip and she mentioned that she needed enough for two people to get them to Ft. Wallace. I asked her if she'd found someone other than the Marshal and she said no. So I figure she talked him into it after all."

Silently, Kitty nodded, paid for her purchases and left, walking disconsolately back to the Long Branch.

That had been a week ago, and though she went about her life and business as though nothing was wrong and maintained a calm pleasant demeanor to everyone, she knew things were very wrong indeed. And now, Doc had noticed it too.

With a weighted sigh, Kitty threw the cards on the table, stacked them up and rose from her chair. Sitting there, worrying about something she could do nothing about was senseless.

If Matt wanted Sara Drew, then she'd let him have her. It would hurt more than anything, even worse than the bullet in the back, she'd taken last year. But if that was what he wanted, she'd let him go.

After all, she certainly had no strings on him. He had wanted it that way and she had accepted those conditions. If he now wanted to choose another woman, she had no one to blame but herself.

"Miss Kitty?" Sam called from the bar and Kitty nodded in his direction, grateful for the distraction.

"Be right there, Sam." Forcefully, she pushed all thoughts of Matt as far as she could and went to see about her barman's needs.

She knew later that night, she'd return to those thoughts and worries, when the closed saloon would no longer offer distraction, but there were other ways to deal with that. More liquid ways, if the thoughts and worries persisted beyond the sheer physical exertion she intended to put herself to.

TBC