First of all, thanks to everyone for the welcome I received with Ballroom. I wasn't expecting that and I'm really grateful for your support. Thank You! :)

About this story: I have a vague idea of how could be west in 1838 as in I vaguely remember some Clint Eastwood's movies. I did some research about it but I decided in the end to keep historical facts at minimum and concentrate on the story itself. However I'm open to advices and corrections. This story will have 5 chapters so there will be sure room to improve it on the realistic side.

Pitch Perfect's characters are, sadly, not mine.

1

Chloe

The so much decanted west had never been so dusty and hot in Chloe's dreams.

She was sweating and jolting inside the diligence that was taking her from Fort Worth to the territories near Lake Weatherford, Texas, in a little new born town called Lucky Star. She was gripping the seat under her with white-gloved hands, while biting her bottom lip trying to keep in all the un-lady like exclamations she had learned as soon as she had discovered the civil city of Boston has some of the most funny uncivil people around.

Frankly, she wouldn't have minded the company of Amy the Fatty at the moment, a loyal and strong independent woman Chloe was proud to call her friend that would have been so much better than her actual company.

In front of her sat, almost petrified, a woman in her forty, Mrs Junk, trying to maintain a rigid position even if she was tossed left and right each time the driver couldn't dodge a stone; and her young enthusiast daughter, Emily, who was the exact opposite and wouldn't stay put even if tied... not that Chloe had tried that yet, but she was pretty sure Mrs Junk had thought about that solution for awhile now... God knew her own mother had been in the same position once.

Still, Chloe could bear them both. She had been exactly like Emily in her teen years after all, and she was sure part of Mrs Junk stiffness was just worry about her daughter; but the young redhead could not, for the love of every thing holy, stand the man sitting on her right.

Mr Mitchell had not shut up once since they had left the last civilized place.

He was a bottomless well of shared experiences, good advices and manly judgement; and because of him, Chloe could not raise the various layers of her dress nor loose the laces of her strict corset even just to take a breath because that would have been very very inappropriate.

Damned whoever had created those traps and forced women in it!

Chloe had never liked the rules society imposed on her as woman back home. Everything about her, from the wild red curls to the free sky in her eyes, to the enthusiasm with which she addresses life, screamed about freedom and happiness and possibilities.

Boston... not so much.

So, as soon as the letter from her uncle Orace had arrived, and with it the tales of his failing attempts to find a teacher for Lucky Star's new school, she had packed her things and reassured her parents and brothers; which, Chloe supposed, had been worried but also somehow relieved to see that strange woman she had become run towards a life more suited for her, full of discovering and adventures...

...and a journey that was proving to be a little boring.

She was currently stuck in this hole of carriage with the most boring man ever and her precious books all close in her suitcases packed over the roof.

Has she kept them, she would have at least shocked her fellow travellers enough to have a little fun; but as things were, she was just going to accept to die of boredom. Her uncle would have to find another teacher.

Or at least that was what Chloe was thinking before she noticed how the bumps on the road were increasing, with consequent shaking experience inside the car and the brownish prairies outside the window passing much faster than before.

"Shouldn't we slow down?" she asked frowning, watching a little animal watch them pass by its lair.

Mr Mitchell put a hand on her arm and Chloe turned her head to watch him. Her displeasure with the gesture pretty obvious, judging by the man speed in removing it.

Unfortunately, it didn't save her from his patronizing explication:

"Miss Beale, you should not worry that pretty head of you. It's clear Donald knows exactly what he's doing. He probably know this road better than everyone in the radius of miles. There's nothing to fear. But if you feel more safe I could land you an arm to grip on. I'm a very strong man."

Chloe was spared the opportunity to respond and tell Mr Mitchell exactly what she thought of him and his strength by the excited cry of Emily.

"Do you think we're running, mother?" She asked looking in fascination outside, to the field passing in a blur "Do you think someone is after us, mother? Indians perhaps? I never seen an Indian before! Did you think-"

"Emily!" Her mother cried out with a tone Chloe was sure every mother owned. "Please, I'm sure there's a less gory explanation..."

"Of course. Of course." The man with them laughed, even if Chloe could detect a sort of nervousness in his voice "Perhaps we're just late... you know how schedules work here in the nothingness."

"Or he's running because we're followed." Emily yelled, her head outside the window "Because we are!" She shouted enthusiastically once her mother succeeded in pulling her inside "There are three cowboys behind us!"

"WHAT?"

Chloe put her own head outside, not even thinking about the danger, and had to retreat it immediately, red curls dishevelled, when the first of the three cowboys appeared on the side of the carriage mounting a horse black like his clothes.

Would she had stretched her arm, she could have touched his leg.

Except, no matter how much adventurous Chloe was, she wasn't crazy enough to try it.

She limited herself to watch the stranger with shaky interest.

He was all black clothed, not so differently from the way Chloe had imagined a bandit to be. Black boots over his trousers and silver spurs shining in the sun. The only touch of colours were the beige gun holster and a yellow headscarf covering his face under the black big hat.

Only after she had looked at him with such attention, she noticed he had turned his head and was probably watching her in return.

Lately, Chloe would admit it just to one person, but, shockingly, her first reaction to the black bandit hadn't been fear. While the car tossed her and her companions around, and the dark eyes of the stranger had been on her, she had felt... something... inexplicable and strong and wild like a redhead kid trapped in a strict society.

And while her eyes were locked with his, she couldn't help but blush violently and had to bit her own lips to stop herself from blurt out some sort of call or – worse – noises than would have embarrassed her. At least, until a hand yanked aggressively her corset and she was pulled down by an unknown force.

"FUCK!"

As the carriage stopped, all the four people inside it fell in some direction or another and Chloe found herself on the floor with Emily's leg over her lap and Mr Mitchell's arm covering her face.

"Fucking fuck!"

"Ms Chloe!"

"What?"

How could that old bat pretend she'd act all lady-like after her world had just turned upside down and bandits – bandits! - were outside the carriage?!

Was she crazy?

She wasn't.

As the weight over her eyes was removed rather roughly, Chloe found herself face to face with the black clothed bandit.

Chloe hadn't noticed before how blue his eyes were, and now she couldn't help but feel like there was an hidden smile there. A smile directed to her.

Reality completely forgotten, she began to smile back, tentatively at first and then more openly, until the voices from the other side of the car shook her enough to make her reconnect with the actual situation she was in.

"C'mon Missy!" another bandit yelled to Mr Mitchell, "We don't have all day! You better do as we tell you... such an hero wouldn't risk the life of these very fine ladies, right?"

Chloe turned to watch the man roll out the carriage, immediately stripped of his most noticeable precious possessions: His clock, with the golden chain tied to his waistcoat, the rings he wore on his pale fingers and, of course, the bag of money he was clutching in his hands and that promptly ended attached to the bandit's belt.

Another one of them was poking the man's back with the barrel of his rifle.

The third bandit appeared in Chloe's line of vision for a moment, climbing on the first step and motioning to Miss Junk to step outside too with the movement of his gun.

The woman's eyes flashed from the two bandits leaning inside the car to her daughter. She was obviously and rightly worried.

Emily didn't even acknowledge it. She was watching the first bandit with such awe Chloe wondered how she would watch their saviours... if such people would ever appear to the horizon.

"Miss.."

Startled, Chloe turned to watch "her" bandit.

He was looking at her from under the black hat, but again, Chloe had the feeling he was smiling while extending his cloved hand towards her, a clear invite to leave the car.

Over their heads, they could hears Mr Mitchell and – probably – Donald take down their luggages and give the bandits all they could find of value inside them. Chloe just hoped they wouldn't sprawl her books all around the desert!

"Miss, please..."

Again, Chloe was startled, this time by the politeness of this man's voice. She had no experiences of men and bandits, but she was pretty sure very few criminals would act so gentlemanly towards the damsels they just put in distress.

Because of this, - also, because of this – her hand didn't trembled when she put it on the leather of his gloves.

She removed Emily's leg from herself with all the grace she could muster and stood up, freeing her face from her rebellious mane with an almost proud movement of her head.

She was, after all, a lady.

Yet, Chloe had the feeling the bandit was laughing lowly, but she wasn't sure because of the scarf and also because from behind her, the voice of the other one – pretty hysterical if she could say so – growled to them to hurry up.

Immediately, probably encouraged by the gun, Emily scrambled to the other door; her clumsy steps resounding against the wood while Chloe descended the few steps and put foot on the desert sand, finding herself in front of the bandit, which gun, Chloe was relieved to notice, was still in its holster.

Face to face with him, the woman also noted for the first time that he was kind of short for a man, even with the heeled boots he was barely taller than her and surely he wasn't build up like the wild men she had expected to met there in the west. Still, when his hand fell on her waist, squeezing softly, and his eyes lingered over her cleavage a second too much, she felt an unknown shiver of nervousness and excitement grown inside her chest.

He leaned against her and inhaled deeply; his hat hitting her forehead so that she had to turn her face and expose more of her pale neck to him.

Chloe wasn't sure what was going on here; but surely sniffing her up wasn't part of their plan.

"Black!" growled the other bandit, looking at them from the other side of the diligence, an interested Emily spying on them too, with her big bright eyes from over his shoulder "What the fuck, man?! Put you boner away! I can't believe you! Of all the stupid things-"

Chloe could still hear the bandit with the gun spitting words angrily against them, but her attention was all for "her" bandit, of which she had just glimpsed a hint of blush between his hat and scarf.

"Sorry..." he mumbled recreating a semblance of space between them, his dark eyes wandering everywhere but on Chloe. "C'mon lady" He turned, giving a fast look to control if she was following and then walking around the back of the diligence to reach his friends.

The chaos Chloe found on the other side was nothing like the romanticized stories she had read about the west; but, luckily, it wasn't even bloody like rumours that had accompanied her for all the journey.

Everyone was still alive; which, since the presence of dangerous-looking guns pointed to the men wasn't that granted, right? Both Emily and her crying mother were on the side, untouched – at least as far as Chloe could see – and relatively safe. Mr Mitchell and their driver were researching in the bags for everything of value. Chloe could see, with great embarrassment, her own underwear abandoned on the sand, near a pile of old books. Frankly, she didn't know if to be more angry about her violated privacy or about the books she loved so much.

"So, Black!" the taller of the three bandits, the one with the long rifle in hands, called the one behind her "Did you got the goods or just copped a feel back there?"

This time Chloe was sure her bandit wasn't the only one blushing. She could feel her own skin burn up under the adults' scandalized eyes and Emily's shining gaze.

"Excuse me!" she raised her head high, embarrassed and fierce "He did not copped a feel! As you so vulgarly put." Behind him Mr Junk began to fan herself. "He was a perfect gentleman!"

Hands on her hips, head up, chest out, she hoped to intimidate the man enough to shut him up... but he just chuckled and even the other one, who seemed to be the leader and was more interested in the men's works than them, shook his head lightly and looked at her amused.

"What? Not everyone is an uncivilized troglodyte like you two!"

"Call us like you want miss" the taller one pointed his rifle towards her and she instinctively took a step back, stopped only by the black bandit's hand on her lower back. "But give that beautiful golden necklace to my friend there. I can see it shining from here!"

This time even the leader chuckled almost femininely, surely convinced she was trying to conceal her possession from them.

Truth was, Chloe had all but forgotten the jewel and only now she remembered she had put it on at the begin of this journey, as a sort of good luck charm.

It had been in her family for so long and now...

"No..." she whispered covering it with her hand "It was my grandmother. It belong to-"

The loud shot coming from the leader's gun broke the air and every protest Chloe was trying to say. She yelped, jumping backwards when the sand in front of her feet exploded in a cloud of dust because of the impact and "Black" had to stead her with his arms.

"That's enough Gold; Green, you too." he said lowly, his voice raspy and muffled under the yellow fabric but clear enough to make his friend to back off.

Gold just shrugged and went back to the men, who, meanwhile, had opened the last bag, Mitchell's.

It was clear the man had left his own possessions last in the hope to be saved before the bandits could open it or that they would forget about it.

Not such luck for him.

Green gave an impressed whistle when the three shining golden bars were revealed and even Chloe had to gulp down an exclamation. Few people in America had ever seen such richness.

"Holy mother of - "

"Oh my-"

"Nice friends you got there" The taller bandit said to a desperate Mr Mitchell "Were you planning to buy a city?" He stepped forward, fascinated like everyone else, by that unusual sign.

Even Mrs Junk had stopped to fan herself and was watching with interest and so was Donald, almost salivating, his eyes lost in the glitter of the ingots.

"Please, please don't!" Mr Mitchell let go all of his dignity and kneel in front of the lead bandit, raising his hands in plea but avoiding to touch him.

"Why shouldn't I take this gift, when it's given to me so easily?" he asked scornfully, his gun pointed towards the man. Chloe could feel Black's hand shaking against her hip, gripping it a bit harder, but he made no move to intervene.

"It's for a good cause! It's for my daughter! Please!" Gold moved his gun a little, changing the path of a possible flying bullet, relaxed enough to listen the man.

"Your daughter, huh?"

"Yes! Yes!" the city man rushed out "She's... she really ill! She can't leave her bed! I have to help her. I'm her father! Please!"

Inexplicably the two bandits in front of Mr Mitchell turned towards Black at the same time, as if asking directions. Chloe had thought it was Gold the leader of the group, but perhaps she had been wrong. She too turned her head a little and watched the short man.

All she could see of him, those nightly blue eyes, were hard as steel and he didn't seem impressed at all by the story. If nothing else, Chloe had the impression he was frowning angrily.

"Please... please..." Mr Mitchell talked to him directly, showing all his desperation in his voice and posture, breaking Chloe's heart there and there. The man may be full of himself, but he clearly loved his daughter so much to put himself in the bandit's hands.

The man at her side didn't share her empathy though, and Chloe watched with surprise as he strode firmly towards Mr Mitchell. Pushing away even Gold, he pointed his gun to Mitchell's forehead.

Shocked, Chloe squeezed her lucky charm. Surely her bandit would never kill a desperate man, right? One unarmed, and obviously not dangerous at all.

She noted, however, the other two bandits exchange a look and she wasn't sure how to interpret that. Were they worried Black would really shoot the man? Or were they just ready to participate to the massacre that would come next? And if so, why hadn't they already killed them? Surely they had had the chance and the means to do so.

No, Chloe thought, they wouldn't have let them survive until now if they had planned to kill them since the beginning... yet, she wasn't so sure about the last bandit; especially when he took another step towards Mr Mitchell and bent down.

He probably told the man something, but Chloe couldn't heard it. Mr Mitchell's voice instead, was loud and shaking in his answer.

"I swear! I swear!" he cried out "They're for my daughter! She's so ill... she's... she's almost dying! Have you not a heart? Have you not-"

The grip of Black's gun hit him hard on his temple and the man fell on his side after the impact, hands immediately going to his head and blood leaking through his fingers.

"Be- Black!" Gold exclaimed taking the other by an arm. Black seemed unaware of the gesture. Even as his own body was yanked on the side following Gold's movement, he just raised his free hand, the one holding the gun, and pointed it once again to Mr Mitchell's head.

"You're a fucking liar!" he exclaimed loud enough for Chloe to hear it before clicking the hammer of his weapon.

He was going to shoot the man! Even his friends couldn't stop him and Chloe knew she should turn her back to the scene, don't watch it, cover her head and even forget to be there.

"NO!"

Instead, against every survival instinct she should possess, her body took a step forward, and her eyes refused to divert their attention from the black bandit.

It seemed to her that all she did since the beginning was watching him and understand nothing of him, really. Now, he was the one to really have to watch her.

Only, his face was still turned towards his victim even as his companions were looking at her.

Chloe wondered if there was hope in their shadowed eyes.

"No, please." she repeated more slowly, taking another step forward "Please." She walked near him and Gold and the bandit stepped back, leaving her free space. Chloe was actually glad for it.

"It's not worth." She said watching Black intensely. "You could take anything and still be free; even my necklace, here." She rushed to take the jewel off, giving it to him with shaking hands "It was my grandmother... she was a great lady, she never judged me.. even when she couldn't understand me. She gave it to me when I was eight..." She was blabbing. She had no idea where she was going with her words, but, surprisingly, Black turned his head towards her and once again their eyes met. "Please... take it. Spare his life and take this instead."

"She's right Black" the tall bandit, Green, murmured, already moving to take the gold ingots from Mr Mitchell's bag. "We got what we need. Take her necklace and let the man live. He's not worth and I won't to be hanged on some tree because of him."

As if they had broke some sort of spell, both Green and Gold sprinted in action, collecting all the value objects in their and Black's bags, before mounting on their horses, waiting their friend.

Their weapons, still out, were now resting on their legs.

It was clear that for both of them it ended there.

Black was still watching her though.

"Please." she whispered again.

Moment later, she could almost heard the breath Black let out under his yellow scarf. He raised his own hand and took the jewel, still watching her.

He nodded, and she let out a sigh of relief herself. She had no idea what had pushed her to risk so much for Mr Mitchell if not simple humanity, but for a moment she had been sure it would be all for nothing. Instead, once again, Black had revealed himself to be like the weirdest bandit she had ever dreamed of met. No book would ever be wrote about him, Chloe was pretty sure of it.

"C'mon Black!" yelled Green, already turning his horse towards the way they had arrived a life before, "Kiss your girlfriend and let's go!"

No matter what had happened until that point, Chloe blushed once again, while Black's eyes sparkled of mischief.

The man advanced until he was right in front of her, the necklace clenched in his fist.

"I'll take this for now." He murmured "For his life. Perhaps someday it'll find its way back to you."

"And what then?" asked Chloe confused

"Perhaps you'll give me something else, in return."

It took three breath and a long look to her cleavage for Chloe to understand the implications of Black's words, but when she did she felt her face flare up. Black laughed lightly stepping over her with a last look.

"Maybe I will..." she murmured, watching him mount his horse.

After all, she thought while the three bandits spur their horses on run, she had came to the west for adventures and to freed herself from society's tight rules. No matter what happened and what almost happened that day; she would gladly welcome another encounter with the mysterious Mr Black.

And something more.