My first M7 fanfiction - English is not my first language , So I would like to thank my beta,Susan M all her hard work to make this fic more enjoyable. M7 not mine I just playing with it.

An elegant southern lady walked toward Four Corners' small hotel; seemingly her full attention was fixed solely on her goal, but her gaze flickered around her, surveying her surroundings. Her gaze missed nothing, after all Maude Standish wasn't one of the best conmen… well, con-women alive for nothing; she couldn't afford to miss anything, if she wanted to stay alive.

Despite this, she barely could suppress a gasp of shock when a dark form suddenly stepped out from the shadows before the jail; it took seconds for her mask fall back in place, concealing her surprise from the man before her. She recognized the green eyed gunslinger. Her gaze locked for a second with the dark clad gunslinger's, and smiled politely at him, despite the growing uneasy she felt at his security.

"Ah, Mister Larabee, what a surprise, I wanted to thank you before, for saving my life, but Ezra informed me of your departure from the town."

"It was nothing, ma'am." His voice drifted over, his piercing green eyes never leaving her face. Maude suppressed the desire to step back. She nodded and was about to step around the lean form, when the man suddenly spoke. His gaze voice got a faraway quality, like he was remembering something from the past.

"I don't really remember my mother, only glimpses and pieces."

"Pardon me?" She arched a questioning eyebrow at him. Maude stared at the man, confusion plain to see in her eyes. She felt uneasy at not knowing where this conversation was heading.

"Only three things remind perfectly clear, even after all these years:" Maude's eyes flashed with annoyance at him as he continued as if he didn't even hear her.

"How her blue eyes turned icy when they flashed in anger or annoyance." Maude blinked at his chosen words. She opened her mouth to spoke, but he didn't give her time to speak as he went on.

"How her long blond hair fluttered in wind as she ran away leaving me behind."

She frowned as he stepped closer to her. The gunslinger reached out toward the small locket, she wore all the time. It was her favorite piece, her lucky charm; she never parted from it, not even for money. She watched transfixed as his long, slender fingers ghosted over just few millimeters from its surface, not touching it at first.

Maude's heart sped up, as she added two and two together, the pieces slowly falling to their place, and she knew with almost certainty what he would say. Even though she knew, the full implication of his words didn't fully sink in until his fingers curled around the small locket, and with practiced easy he opened up the secret lid, as the faint music drifted from it, his words confirmed her suspicion. "And this."

"Chris…" Her eyes misted over, her gaze break away from the locket, and moved up to study his face. Her voice was muffled as old, but never forgotten memories flashed in her mind. Memories of a little boy, with wheat blond hair, green eyes, and a smile that lit up his whole face.

She remembered when she last saw him; he was running toward her, they needed to depart in a hurry, it was such a stupid, amateur mistake, she didn't even know what really went wrong, but she was caught red hand in her husband's study, liberating money from his safe. Not that it really mattered, she needed to flee. She waited on the edge of the property, her heart was in her throat as she saw one of her last husband's men gaining fast on the small boy. She remembered hearing, even though it was not possible, the pain filled gasp as the boy was shoved down by his pursuer. She remembered the little one's calling her as she forced her horse to turn away and start to run. It was one of the hardest thing in her life, to ride away and not look back. She knew her husband wouldn't hurt her child, but she wasn't so sure about her own fate. But she learned from her mistakes, she never let her Ezra get caught in any of her schemes like Chris, even if she needed to leave him behind.

"Mother!" Ezra's voice called her back from her memories.

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When Ezra stepped outside the salon, his gaze flickered over his surrounding. He did a double take, when it registered in his mind that he saw his mother standing close to Chris Larabee, and they were talking. His mind went blank as he tried to come up with a possible explanation for what he saw. It just didn't make sense. He almost reached them when it even registered in his mind that he moved.

"Mother?!" Ezra called out. He sounded shaky even to his own ears. He hoped the duo didn't notice it, as he got closer he watched their faces, trying to figure out what was going on. He saw an unreadable emotion flicker over Larabee's face, and caught a tear running down his Mother's face. "Mother, what's going on?" he demanded, his green eyes flashed toward the other man in suspicion.

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Chris' gaze flickered toward the closing gambler, saw his expression and decided it was time to leave mother and son alone.

"Ma'am, Ezra." He tipped his head in a farewell, before he melted back into the shadows. As he walked away he could still hear their part of their conversation.

"Mother, are you crying?"

"Don't be absurd Ezra, dear." She sighed theatrically, as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, to erase any evidence. "Just a little dust went into my eyes. Of course it wouldn't happen if you didn't choose such a poor, dusty town to settle in. Ezra, my dear, I didn't raise you to waste your talent like this." Maude scoffed, more out of sheer habit then real displeasure.

Chris couldn't help but grin when he heard the gambler's desperate cry behind him:

"Mother!!"