R: Just some fluffy Renegade stuff. The banter this story inspired was quite enjoyable for me to write, so I hope it's just as enjoyable for you to read. Genießen!
*DISCLAIMER* RV makes no claim to own Renegade or its characters. They are the property of Stephen J. Cannell. No profit is made from this writing.
Reno Raines couldn't say he was surprised when his best friend and partner, Bobby Sixkiller, decided that he and his small band of bounty hunters were in need of a vacation. Reno had the sneaking suspicion that Bobby had some ulterior motive- such as protecting him from another run-in with Dutch Dixon- but he didn't press too hard for that information for once. Their last bounty had been a duo of rather mean convenience store robbers, and Reno was still sporting a black eye and bruised ribs from a couple of well-aimed hits, so he was actually happy to get a bit of a break.
And, fishing on a quiet lake with his best friends didn't sound like an awful way to spend that break.
Bobby's small lake-side cabin was inviting, just big enough to fit the three bounty hunters that planned to spend a four-day weekend cut off from the outside world. Reno wouldn't have pegged Cheyenne as the kind who liked to fish, but apparently she and Bobby had shared that love since they were kids. According to Chey, she was actually the better fisher of the two. Reno was hardly surprised.
It took them about an hour to get situated before Bobby started excitedly gathering his gear to head out on the water. He didn't seem to have noticed his sister's increasingly frequent sneezing, or the fact that just bringing in her small amount of luggage had completely wiped her out.
Chey had taken a seat on the couch in the small living room, elbow propped up on the arm and leaning heavily on her hand. Bobby tapped her shoulder as he walked past her to the adjoining living room. "You going to help us get ready?" he asked, a teasing quality in his voice.
She waved him off. "I think you guys should go out by yourselves today. I'm not feeling too good," she said.
"No! You have to come," Bobby protested, backtracking to stand in front of her, arms loaded up with fishing gear. "I've got to prove I am the superior fisherman- fisherperson."
She moved her hand and looked up at her brother. His eyes scanned her face and his amiable smile fell. "Huh, you do look a bit pale," he commented, maneuvering the stuff in his arms to free a hand to rest on her forehead. "And you feel a little warm."
"You coming down with something, Chey?" Reno asked, coming up beside Bobby and catching some stuff that was about to fall out of his arm. "Maybe we should stay in today," he offered.
Bobby gave a disappointed frown at that but nodded in agreement, looking back at his sister. Cheyenne shook her head adamantly. "No, no. You guys go out by yourselves. I'll come with you tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be feeling better by then."
Reno shared an unconvinced look with Bobby before turning back to Chey. "Are you sure?" Reno questioned.
"Yeah," she said with a tired nod that was interrupted by a sneeze. "You go. Go, have some guy time or whatever."
Bobby looked between the fishing gear and his sister, looking torn. "We should probably stay and take care of you," he said.
Chey wrinkled her nose at that. "No, please, that's the exact opposite of what I want," she said. "I don't want you smothering me, Bobby. I want to take a nap."
"Fine, okay, we'll go," Reno answered before Bobby could say more. "But we'll fix you something to eat before we head out."
"Yeah, and I'll grab you a blanket," Bobby said, offering her a big grin.
She let out a small hum of agreement as her brother scurried off. Pulling her feet up onto the couch, she rested her head back against its arm and shut her eyes.
Bobby sat up suddenly, eyes popping open when he felt a tug on his line. He peered over the side of his boat as he reeled in his line, grinning ear-to-ear. A good sized fish emerged thrashing from the water and he was quick to deposit it into the bucket next to his chair, laughing excitedly.
He looked over at Reno, beaming over at his partner, his smile scrunching up his eyes. "Huh, huh, see?" he said pointedly.
Reno couldn't help but crack a smile at Bobby, but it quickly turned into a smirk as he looked from the fish back to the bounty hunter. "So you can catch a fish. Who would've guessed?" he said.
"You doubted my abilities?" Bobby responded, "I must say, sir, I am offended," he added, though still with an amused grin.
"We've only been sitting out here, what? Five hours?" Reno retorted, looking down at his watch.
"Well, you haven't done much better, pal," Bobby said, motioning to Reno's bucket.
"Hey, I caught two!" Reno said defensively.
"I'm endlessly impressed," Bobby said, voice laced with sarcasm. He recast his line before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes once again. After a long moment of silence, he commented. "I wonder how Chey's doing."
Reno rolled his eyes, but didn't really seem overly annoyed. "That's just the tenth time you've said that. She's probably just got a little cold."
Bobby just mumbled something under his breath about 'worrying about his little sister', but let out a slightly startled, "Hey!" before Reno could say anything.
"What?"
Bobby reached up and wiped at his face, glaring up at the overcast sky. "I think I felt a drop."
Reno looked curiously upwards. "Are you sure?" he asked after a long moment.
"Yes, I'm sure," Bobby replied pointedly. "I think we should head back before it starts really raining."
Reno raised an eyebrow at his partner. "I thought you said it was supposed to be nice out all this weekend."
"Well, obviously I was wrong," he said matter-of-factly as he stood from his chair and reeled in his empty line.
With a slight smirk, Reno pulled his in as well. "This doesn't have anything to do with your endless worry for Cheyenne, does it?"
"Absolutely not!" Bobby assured, emphasizing each syllable. "It's definitely going to rain. My people can tell these things, you know."
"Oh, just like they're natural fishermen?" Reno questioned, smirk widening as he nudged Bobby's bucket with his foot.
Bobby huffed. "I caught one less fish than you!"
"You caught one fish in five hours."
"That is beside the point," he said quickly, maneuvering himself around the boat to start the motor. "Ah ha!" he shouted suddenly, stopping to swipe quickly at his arm. "Another one. Told you it's raining!"
They then began to make their way quickly back to shore. Reno had to secede that Bobby actually wasn't wrong; by the time they pulled their boat up to the dock near his cabin, water had begun pouring from the sky in sheets. They were soaked to the bone before they ever reached the front door.
The two bounty hunters pushed their way inside, both grumbling to themselves about the sudden shift in weather.
"You guys are back earlier than I expected," Cheyenne commented once they were inside. She was still huddled on the couch where they had left her, and her voice was maybe a bit more raspy than when they had last talked, but it was clear that she had been up at least once by the empty plate and half-full glass of water on the coffee table in front of her. "Though I can't really blame you now," she added, craning her neck to peer out the window.
"How are you feeling?" Bobby asked.
"Like crap," she replied honestly. She turned her gaze to Reno. "You look like you could win a wet t-shirt contest."
"Why, thank you," he said cheekily and she smirked.
"Well, I don't know about you," Bobby started, glancing at Reno, "but I'm freezing. So I'm gunna go change into some dry clothes and then get you," he turned his attention to Chey, "whatever you need. Okay?"
She looked as if she was about to protest but broke off into a cough and just nodded, as if admitting defeat. Bobby offered his usual wide grin before heading off to do as he said, followed by Reno.
The first back was Reno, barefoot and clad in just a black teeshirt and jeans with his towel-dried hair pulled back in a band. "You want me to make you some tea?" he offered. "My mom always made me some when I had a sore throat or cough-"
She smiled slightly at him. "Sure, Reno, I'd like that."
Reno went into the kitchen just as Bobby returned to the living room. He was only a bit more put together than Reno, wearing one of his pastel button downs and brightly colored slacks, but likewise with no shoes on.
Cheyenne went to say something to say something to her brother, but was promptly interrupted by a sneeze. His eyes flicked around for as second afterwards before he donned a slightly appalled expression. "Don't you have any tissues? Why didn't you ask for any earlier? How could you have gone so long without tissues?" he started rambling, continuing as he rushed from the room to retrieve them.
Chey just rolled her eyes as she let her head fall back against the couch cushion. She could still hear Bobby's voice talking to himself as he likely searched for a box of tissues. The rhythmic sound of rain pattering on the roof along with the familiar voices drifting through the cozy cabin as Bobby called out a question to Reno and Reno sent back likely teasing but helpful reply had her eyes drifting shut, threatening to send her back into a more comfortable sleep than before.
By the time Reno returned with his promised tea, Chey had drifted off. He set the mug down quietly within her arms reach, turning around when Bobby came back into the room, brandishing a box of tissues. The bounty hunter went to say something but Reno held a finger up to his lips in a silent, 'shh'. Bobby snapped his jaw shut and caught sight of his sleeping sister, mouthing 'Oh' before stepping over to place the box next to Reno's cup of tea.
Reno crossed his arms over his chest before finally leaning into whisper to his partner, "I think we should fix something for her to eat when she gets up."
"Sounds like a plan," Bobby agreed with a small nod.
"And she probably won't be better by tomorrow," he added when she shifted and sniffed.
Bobby shrugged. "It'll probably rain again, anyway. No real point in going out then."
"And, I mean, we did already catch three fish," Reno pointed out.
"How many do we really need?"