A huge thank you to Chris for helping with this story. Correcting my lazy grammar and spelling is a tedious job. I haven't seen a lot of episodes, so she also helped me keep this story as close to canon as possible. And she pointed out that this story has to be set between the episodes, "Nemesis" and "Obsession"; closer to "Obsession".

Thank you, too, to the Blackraptor site and the transcripts there. I used some of the transcript from "Nemesis" and it was really helpful.

To Walk A Mile

"You never really know a man until you understand things from his

point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it"

Nelle Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird based on the Cherokee adage,

"Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

Vin Tanner took off his hat to wipe his brow as he closed his eyes and turned his face to the sun. He could have told, based on the sun directly overhead, within ten minutes of the time on Buck's pocket watch. There was a subtle feel in the air, like the wind wafting across a sunburned skin. That meant that the seasons were about to turn, even though there was little chance he could convince anyone of that since it was still unmercifully hot. He could tell that both of his partners, Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington were glad to be out of the cloyingly oppressive town, even if they grumbled about riding in the heat. What he couldn't tell was why he had the uncomfortable feeling that kept him scanning the horizon, the weather-worn cliffs, scrub brush and rock formations. He'd had the feeling almost since they left town but hadn't seen anyone following them or anything suspicious.

"This is the place?" Buck Wilmington asked from his horse.

"Permian Outcrop," Larabee agreed as he took in the desolate landscape. "Samuel Parkinson said he found a heifer and her calf's carcasses here."

"It's not like ranchers out here can't take care of varmints killin' their stock – two legged or four," Buck observed.

"Said he saw the puma. Way it acted he thought it might be rabid," Vin was willing to supply.

"Which you'd know if we could ever find you before just when we're ready to leave," Chris mused, but there wasn't any heat to it.

"Nag. Nag. Nag." Buck offered good-naturedly.

"Vin?" Larabee asked, ignoring the other man.

"I don't see any sign."

"Let's spread out and see what's what. Gotta be able to find the carcasses," Larabee directed.

The men dismounted. Buck took long enough to pull his canteen off the pommel. "Seems we've been doin' a lot of the outlyin' work lately."

"You gonna begrudge JD his trips to the Wells ranch now that Casey's back from her San Francisco visit?" Chris asked amused.

"I will 'til he figures out why he wants to go out there so often."

"You could tend to Ms. Adams birthin' for Nathan or trade places with Josiah trying to convince Naomi Griffin's daddy a shotgun wedding for his little girl or killin' Johnny Mason ain't the only two options." Vin offered up.

Buck gave an exaggerated shiver that entertained both of his friends. "Why can't I trade out with Ezra sleepin' in with his feather bed?"

"That little derringer is a good reason," Larabee replied as he moved off studying the ground for tracks.

Vin smirked at the easy back and forth between the two men's well-worn friendship as he examined the route he'd chosen for signs of cattle or cat. He had just started to relax into the banter when the first shot rang out.

The bullet hit the canteen Wilmington had to his lips.

"Buck!" Larabee called as a second shot knocked Tanner to the ground.

The next report took Larabee's hat off his head as he scrambled to his wounded friend's side.

The bullets hit in close succession, one report barely separated from the other. The fourth bullet was spewing dust at the horses' hooves as the canteen fell from Wilmington's hands that were still stinging from the vibration of the round passing through the metal.

The two skittish blacks were gone before the next shot rang out and landed at the hooves of Buck's gray. Even the docile animal was frantic to get away and pulled the reins from Buck's hands.

"Cover! Get to cover!" Larabee demanded as he grabbed the former bounty hunter and half-dragged, half-carried him toward the small, eroded Permian Outcrop.

Wilimgton supplied cover fire as he followed them. But is was a random shower of bullets. No target presented itself.

The three men scrambled, tripped and fell along the slick, unforgiving shale, until they finally landed in a pile behind a pillar of stone.

"He's using a rifle. Out of range for our pistols." Buck panted as he scanned the horizon. All he saw was the bright red blood left by Tanner's wound. A shot rang out and peppered his face with shards of the rock.

"Keep down, damn it. If you can't do any good, don't give him more target!" Chris ordered.

Buck looked over and saw that Larabee was checking the hole in Tanner's shoulder. "How bad?"

"Could be worse," Larabee observed.

"Bad as he wanted it to be." Tanner gasped. Catching his breath from the pain, he continued. "He shot ever'thing he aimed at. He was waiting for us. He's playin' us," Tanner thought to himself that this is why he never matched any activity to his bad feeling. He looked to Larabee for some idea as to why this was happening.

"What do you want?" Larabee yelled out, going straight to the threat.

"Nothing you can give me, Larabee." Was the quick response.

'Not good', Chris observed. The attacker knew who they were. His thoughts were similar to Tanner's. It told them it was a planned attack, not a target of opportunity. The man was deadly accurate with that rifle and after them specifically. The danger ratcheted up a notch.

"The name's Robert Niven," The voice continued. "Do you remember the names of the souls you kill even if you leave the body to suffer this world?"

The three men frowned and exchanged glances trying to place the name.

"If you're after me, let Buck get Vin back to town."

"That's not the way it works with men like us, Larabee. That's not the way you do it. It's not the way I'm doing it."

Wilmington gave a questioning shrug asking, 'Do you know him?'

Larabee had an intense look as he tried to pull up a memory. Then his eyes went slightly vacant as if they were seeing the past: