A/N Many thanks to singerme for all her advice while I was writing the action sequence of this story. If there's something I still didn't get right, it's my own fault, not hers. As usual, these characters do not belong to me; I just like to have a little fun with them.

A Quiet Evening

"Here's to a quiet evening...with no interruptions."

QDID QDID QDID

"Miss Kitty?

"What?"

"Where you going?"

"Why?"

"Well, it's getting late, and you could be...molested."

(laughs) "Really?"

"Quiet Day in Dodge," Season 18 episode 19, written by Jack Miller, directed by Alf Kjellin

Sam had a point. That was the only reason that instead of storming off down the street Kitty decided to just sit down outside the Long Branch and cool off for a while. How long had it been since she'd done that? She couldn't remember the last time. Of course, she used to do it early on in order to watch Matt walk down the street, before she took full ownership of the saloon and got too busy. At any rate, she knew he wouldn't be doing that tonight, sound asleep in her room as he was at the moment. As a matter of fact, it looked like the whole town was asleep, aside from the merriment currently taking place in her saloon. She could go inside right now and send them all home and have that quiet night she had toasted with Matt just before...and it would be even quieter than what she'd had in mind when she made the toast.

The sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts. "Miss Kitty." Nathan Burke was standing in front of her, the first person who'd been out on the street since she'd come outside.

"Evening, Burke." She returned his greeting unenthusiastically. Probably looking to get back into the town's good graces over the whole situation with the "little heathen" and the horse trough and the safe by buying a round of drinks or passing on some gossip. Well, he'd come to the wrong place for that tonight.

"I was looking for the Marshal. Telegram came for him. Is he still here?" He nodded toward the door of the Long Branch.

Kitty held her hand out for the message. "I'll see he gets it."

"Barney says it's urgent. He needs to see this right away."

"I said I'd make sure he got it, Burke."

Burke nodded. "Good night then, Miss Kitty."

"Oh, Burke," Kitty said as he started to walk away. "In case you were wondering, Matt tanned his britches."

Burke looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Job Snelling?"

"No, the boy!" Now, what's gotten into Burke? Maybe Matt wasn't the only one who needed to get some sleep. "Good night, Burke."

Across the street, a man remained hidden in the shadows as Burke walked away. So that was Dillon's redhead, he thought, eyeing Kitty appreciatively. He usually liked 'em a little younger, but she'd do. If he played his cards right, maybe he could have a little fun tonight along with settling the score with the marshal. He watched the redhead walk back into the saloon, calculating when to make his move.

Sam looked considerably relieved to see Kitty return unscathed after being gone only a few minutes. "Everything all right, Miss Kitty?"

"Fine, Sam." She gestured toward the revelers, whose enthusiasm seemed to finally be waning. "Do you think you can send everyone home and lock up for me? I need to see if I can get Matt awake enough to read this." She waved the telegram in the direction of the stairs.

Sam nodded. "Sure thing, Miss Kitty." So that's what happened, he thought as he watched Kitty walk upstairs. Despite the knowledge that the marshal had spent the better part of two days chasing a vicious killer, the town had persisted in bothering him with the most trivial situations when he should have been getting some much-needed rest. Instead of making it up to Miss Kitty for missing their picnic, it appeared he had merely succeeded in making things worse. At least she looked as if she were in a more forgiving mood when she came back inside.

Matt was snoring away when Kitty let herself back into her room. Now that she'd had a chance to think it over, she understood how badly in need of sleep Matt had been, and was reluctant to wake him-if she even could-to give him the telegram, especially knowing he'd probably have to leave her and ride out on the little sleep he'd managed to get. She sat on the bed next to him, looking down at him regretfully. "Sorry, Matt," she said tenderly as she smoothed his hair back, then she reached across him to the side that hadn't been stabbed with a fork and shook his shoulder. "Matt, wake up," she repeated several times, to no avail. "You've got a telegram. They said it's urgent." Matt finally began to respond, but probably not in the way the sender of the telegram would have liked.

"Mmmm," he mumbled. "Kitty…." He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down against his chest. "That was great, honey."

"It was, was it?" Kitty said wryly. "You'd better be talkin' about the food, mister, because not much else has happened up here tonight."

"Huhmm?"

"I said there's a telegram for you, Marshal."

"You don't have to yell, Kitty, I heard you the first time." She didn't bother telling him she wasn't yelling. "Read it for me?"

"Oh, you are tired." She opened the telegram. It was wordy as telegrams went and more detailed than most. Kitty felt her heart sink as she read it. "It's from Fort Dodge, Matt. Job Snelling escaped again. Festus is out with the Army tracking him, but the doctor at the fort is treating Newly for a concussion. Oh, Matt, how does that man keep getting away?"

"I don't know, Kitty." Matt sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "I better get out there and start looking for him myself." He reached down and began pulling his boots off. Looking up, he saw Kitty watching him with amusement. "What?"

"You're so tired you don't even know what you're doing." She pointed to his stocking feet.

"Oh." He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the boots, perplexed, as if he wasn't quite sure of their purpose.

"Matt, didn't Judge Brooker say he was the Army's problem now?"

"Kitty, he's a killer, and he needs to be put away."

"I know, Matt, but you're in no condition to ride out now. There's already a search party after him. At least get a good night's sleep. Get a fresh start in the morning if there's no word by then."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Kitty." He reached for his boots again.

"You know I am!" Kitty stood in front of him and pushed him back toward the bed. "Now, just leave your boots off and lie back down."

"Join me?" Matt raised his eyebrows and grinned at her.

Kitty shook her head and gasped in mock indignation. "Now, where were you an hour ago? Oh, that's right. You were right here, snoring away. Tell you what, Cowboy, just take a little catnap while I go down and help Sam finish closing. No, it's not that late." She noticed him look toward the clock. "Those mail-order miners were our only customers and Front Street was just dead, so I decided to close early."

Matt was already drifting back to sleep. "I'll see you when you get back," he mumbled.

Sam had quite a mess of broken glass and whiskey to sweep up once he finally got everyone hustled out, so he hadn't made much progress toward closing by the time Kitty got back downstairs.

"That's fine Sam. It's still plenty early. I'll get started on the books while you finish up."

"All right, Miss Kitty. Is the Marshal riding out again tonight?"

"No, Sam, he's so tired I managed to convince him it could wait until morning." She explained about Snelling's escape, adding that she hoped the Army would have succeeded in catching him by the time Matt woke up.

Even though it had been a slow business day, Kitty had to spend enough time on the books to calculate the damage done by the miners, so Sam had already gone by the time she was finished. She was dismayed to hear a door close upstairs, wondering if Matt had decided to join the search for Snelling after all. "I wouldn't be surprised," she sighed.

"Wouldn't be surprised about what?" Matt came down the stairs wearily. He was limping noticeably and once more she felt guilty about the way she had treated him earlier. She smiled up at him, relieved to see he hadn't put his gun back on.

"Wouldn't be surprised if Crimps and Doolin were breaking up the Lady Gay right now. What are you doing out of bed?"

"It was too empty. Uh, Kitty, about that broken bowl up there…."

"Slipped right out of my hands." Kitty said a little too innocently, shrugging. "You were so sound asleep you didn't even notice."

"Uh, yeah." Matt had a pretty good idea of what had actually happened. "I guess you-"

He was interrupted by someone knocking loudly on the outside door.

"We're closed for the night!" Kitty shouted sternly. She turned toward Matt. "You were saying?"

"Never mind. I swept it up."

Whoever was outside wasn't taking "no" for an answer, and banged on the door again.

"We're closed!" Matt hollered. "Go do your drinking somewhere else!"

They heard footsteps stomping away on the boardwalk, but Matt thought he heard someone walk along the side of the building. "Kitty, the back door is locked, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. Sam always locks it when he leaves."

"I'm going to go make sure." Matt left the barroom and walked down the back hallway. Kitty had just heard the back doorknob rattle when there was suddenly a loud crash at the front as the doors bowed inward, wood splintering around the lock and hinges. Kitty jumped to her feet.

"Matt!"

Matt had just assured himself that the back door was locked when he heard the commotion of the front doors being kicked in. He was already racing back to the front when Kitty called out to him. When he got there, he saw the man who had taken up so much of his time for the last few days, not to mention coming between him and his lady. And he was standing there holding that same lady with his arm around her waist and a gun to her head.

Naturally, Kitty was not putting up with this quietly. She tried to wrench herself free of his grip and failing that, kicked backwards, hoping to connect with her heel. He anticipated this, however, and stepped back out of her way while still maintaining a hold on her. He seemed more amused than angered by her struggle to free herself. "Let go of me, you big ape!" she ordered.

Matt was horrified, knowing what the man was capable of. "Settle down, Kitty," he told her quietly, before addressing the man more harshly. "Let go of her, Snelling! It's me you want."

Snelling! Kitty stopped fighting him immediately. She had thought the fact that Matt was unarmed might actually work in their favor, but Snelling had been convicted of murdering several people, including a woman and children. He had nothing to lose by killing them both.

"I told you you hadn't seen the last of me, Dillon," Snelling taunted.

"Let her go." Matt repeated. "She doesn't have anything to do with this."

Just then Snelling noticed Matt wasn't wearing his gun. "Sure thing, Marshal," he growled, grinning almost maniacally as he shoved Kitty in front of him. He had no further need of a hostage. "Over there, Red." He gestured with his gun toward the bar when Kitty tried to go to Matt. "You wouldn't want a man who'd hide behind a woman's skirts, would you?"

Kitty looked at Matt and their eyes met. She moved toward the bar. "Good." Snelling said, believing he had them both right where he wanted them. She'd cooperate if she thought it would keep her man alive. He'd have no more trouble out of her.

Matt felt considerably better now that Kitty was no longer within Snelling's immediate reach. He was starting to think they might actually live through this, or, at least Kitty would, as long as he could keep Snelling's attention off of her long enough for her to get behind the bar. "I'm surprised you came all the way back to Dodge, Snelling. You were free. I would have thought you'd try to get as far away as you could." Actually, Matt wasn't surprised at all. Obviously the man was an idiot who cared more about revenge than his freedom.

"You should know the answer to that, Dillon. I'm gonna kill you, and then I'm gonna take your woman." He chortled obnoxiously. "Or maybe I'll have her first and let you watch. Hell, if she's any good, I might even let her live a while longer."

Matt wanted to direct the conversation back away from Kitty. He could see out of the corner of his eye that she was behind the bar and reaching for something underneath the counter. "You just like to kill people, don't you, Snelling? Those were two good men taking you up to Fort Dodge. They'll be hard to replace."

"They ain't that good, and they ain't dead, either. I tied up the hillbilly while the kid was off takin' a leak and then I knocked him out with the hillbilly's gun when he came back. And you won't have to worry about replacin' nobody. I told you I'm gonna get you and your woman and there ain't a damn thing you can do to stop me."

"Well, I can stop you," said a voice behind him.

Snelling had never heard a woman's voice sound so calm and cool. He heard the click as both hammers pulled back and turned to see the redhead standing in front of the bar, a shotgun pointed in his direction.

"Drop the gun or I'll blow your head off," Kitty said coldly.

"You ain't gonna shoot me," Snelling scoffed.

"With both barrels." There was no expression on Kitty's face as she stared at him without flinching or even blinking. "I said drop it."

Snelling debated whether to call her bluff. He still thought he could control her by threatening her man. And if that didn't work, he wasn't going to die without taking Dillon with him. He smirked as he once again took aim in Matt's direction.

"Get back, Matt!" Kitty shouted as she pulled both triggers at once. Matt jumped out of the way, crouching down as he went. The killer dropped the gun as his arm, shoulder and hand were peppered with buckshot.

Snelling fell to his knees, clutching his arm. "You shot me, you whore!" he snarled through gritted teeth. Kitty approached him and kicked his gun in Matt's direction.

"You all right, Matt?" She was afraid to look at him for fear she'd hit him or that maybe Snelling had managed to get a shot off after all.

"Fine, Kitty."

She looked at him then, holding the gun on Snelling. Admiration was plain on his face. That's my girl, his eyes said.

"Well, ain't that touching?" Snelling's voice was full of sarcasm. "I need a doctor! I'm bleedin' to death here!"

"Go reload, Kitty, and then go get Doc. We wouldn't want Mr. Snelling here to miss his date with the hangman."

"Miss Kitty?" a hill voice called anxiously from outside. "You all right?" Festus stepped through the broken doors, followed by several soldiers.

"We're fine, Festus. Well, most of us are, anyway." Kitty walked behind the bar to reload, and suddenly found she had to hold onto the edge of it for support.

Festus looked from Kitty, to Matt, to Snelling, and back to Kitty, trying to piece together what had just happened. "That there was a shotgun I heard, Miss Kitty. Did you-"

"She sure did," Matt said proudly.

Snelling gave an exaggerated groan as the soldiers pulled him to his feet. "We'll take over from here," the sergeant said. "Much obliged, ma'am."

Seeing he wasn't needed, Festus turned back toward the door. "I'll go get ol' Doc."

"Old Doc is right here." Doc, hearing shots coming from the Long Branch, had dressed and grabbed his medical bag as quickly as he could.

"Come on in and join the party, Doc," Kitty said shakily.

Once Doc had looked Snelling's arm over and determined he was in no immediate danger of bleeding to death, the sergeant decided he could wait to be treated at Fort Dodge. The fact that he would be in a great deal of pain the entire way was of no particular concern to any of the men present except for Snelling. Kitty felt a little guilty, being the one who shot him, and talked Doc into giving him enough laudanum to make the trip, which had the result of putting him to sleep the rest of the night and therefore in no danger of escaping before they reached Fort Dodge. Festus was sent over to the jail to relieve Burke, who had apparently taken his duty of being in charge for the night so seriously he wouldn't even leave his post to investigate the gunshots that had been fired. Or maybe he had just been sound asleep. Matt boarded up the front doors so no one else could get in that night. Kitty waited by the back door to let him in when he was finished, and they finally fell together in a hug that lasted until Kitty stopped shaking.

"I don't know about you," Kitty said against his chest, "but I could really use a drink."

"Let's go," Matt said, and began to lead her to the stairs. "I'll even buy this time."

Lying next to Matt in her bed, finally, Kitty was pleasantly drowsy and thought Matt had already fallen asleep. She was surprised when he stirred and started kissing her neck and working his way down to her collarbone. She was even more surprised when his chest began to rumble. "Down in the valley, the valley so low," he sang.

"Matt Dillon! You're...drunk!" She was astonished, realizing she'd never seen him drunk before.

"Kitty, don't you like my singing?" Matt slurred and looked up at her with a hurt expression.

"I love your singing, Cowboy-your normal singing! I'm sorry, Matt, this is partly my fault, I should have known better than to keep giving you drinks when you've had so little sleep."

"I can't get back to sleep, Kitty," he whined like a little kid. Then he resumed his singing, even louder and more off key than previously.

"Matt, shh. Everyone in town will hear you." When this had no effect, Kitty did the only thing she could think of to quiet him down. She pulled his face up to hers and began kissing him as passionately as she could.

Matt stopped singing and started kissing her back, muttering, "Not now, Kitty, I need to get some sleep," between kisses.

"Is that a fact." She kissed his lips once more, gently, and cradled his head against her shoulder, stroking his forehead until she heard him snoring softly. "Sleep well, Matt," she whispered. If anyone wanted anything from him for the next eight hours, they were going to have to get past her.

END

Roses love sunshine, violets love dew,

Angels in Heaven know I love you,

Know I love you, dear, know I love you,

Angels in Heaven know I love you.

"Down in the Valley" traditional American folk song