A/N: I'm in a sort of holding pattern with the Gunsmoke chapter fic I'm working on but I NEEDED to write something today, so this quick little piece is what came from that - just a lot of swirling thoughts in my head that made it out onto paper and then my computer in some random sort of fashion.
Newly didn't hear them coming until it was too late – he should've been able to even the odds at least a little for Festus. He should've been able to take out a few of the men so Festus could take the rest and no one would be left to so brutally tear out the heart of the town. Because that's exactly what she was to them.
Festus walked right smack into their waiting arms, pretty as you please. Dang fool-headed mistake. And no matter how many times he lied to them, how they beat him and shot him and left him for dead, he should've been able to do more. He'd never forgive himself for what they did to her.
Burke and Lathrop knew they were no match for the ruthless men who dragged them out of their beds in the middle of the night, but they could keep their mouths shut. It was the least they could do, and for once in their lives it didn't make a damn bit of difference in the end. It haunted them for a long time after – why on earth would she sacrifice herself for them?
Sam pulled the shotgun from behind the bar, quick and quiet so she wouldn't hear the noise and come back downstairs to investigate, but someone came up behind him and clubbed him over the head. Half-conscious, he didn't have a prayer of protecting the woman who'd given him another chance at life. She deserved so much better from men, from life, from him, and he'd spend the rest of his life making it up to her.
Doc woke to a pounding on his door, unaware of the danger his girl was in until it was too late for him to do anything about it, once again left to pick up the pieces. Giving Newly a cursory glance before sending him after Matt, digging the bullet out of Festus' shoulder while Sam sat nearby, terror and bitterness churned in his gut. Even fulfilling his life's calling he felt helpless, useless, only able to help after the storm had blown through, unable to do anything to prevent his friends – people who had claimed pieces of his heart – needing his help in the first place. Doc had sworn an oath thirty-odd years before, but he'd have picked up a gun and thrown it all away to be able to protect the woman who had become a daughter to him, who held the largest and most important piece of his heart.
One night, the hottest night of the year, the Dog Soldiers ambushed Dodge City and six men who would do anything for Kitty Russell had to watch as she was taken from them. They were no match for the actions of evil men and the stubborn, good-hearted, all-consuming love of the Lady of Dodge.