a/n I don't own Gunsmoke or any of these characters, but it sure is fun when they come to visit.

Perfectly All Right

Marshal's quite upset you came here alone.

Matt sent you?

Yes, ma'am.

Well as you can see, I'm perfectly all right. But I'm still glad to see you.

"Gold Mine" Season Eleven, Episode 15 written by Scott Hunt and Beth Keele

"Now, Kitty, I don't know why you're so upset with me." Matt watched as Kitty packed furiously for the trip he'd just told her he couldn't take and was now trying to talk her out of.

"Of course not, you never do. I don't know why you even bothered to tell me you'd go to Pickaxe with me when we both knew something would come up just in time to keep you from going. Now stop trying to change my mind!" Kitty hissed as she yanked drawers open and left them without taking anything and then crossed the room to her wardrobe, opening and then slamming the doors shut.

"Kitty, a gold mine is nothing for you to be getting mixed up with!"

"Oh really! You know very well, Matt, an unmarried woman has got to have some way to support herself." She punctuated this statement by removing a roll of bills from her desk drawer and stuffing it in her handbag, and for good measure checking to see if her pistol was loaded.

Ouch. In spite of making her feelings clear on their marital status a number of times, she rarely threw that particular fact in his face during an argument. She was really sore at him this time. In spite of this, Matt foolishly continued to make his case. "There's no law over there in Pickaxe. Every renegade in this part of the country ends up there. It's no place for any woman, much less one on her own. If I've told you once-"

"I don't care if you tell me that a hundred times, Matt, I'm going, with or without you. Joe Swanson left me that claim and I have to get it registered in my name before some claim jumper-"

"All the more reason for you not to go alone! Now, you know I didn't say I wasn't going to take you at all, I'm just asking you to wait. When I get back from Hays City-"

"Then something else will come up, like it always does!"

Matt wanted to ask her if they could sit down and talk about this, as opposed to standing there arguing, but every seat in Kitty's bedroom and most of her bed was covered with clothing. Kitty picked up two dresses, examined them, tossed one back down, and started folding the other.

"Look, Kitty, I have to make that trip to Hays City. If I don't an-"

"I'm not listening to any more of this, Matt. It's time for you to leave." Kitty pushed the dress into the now overfull bag and, after a brief struggle, managed to close it. She looked at Matt for a moment and when he didn't offer to take it from her, placed it next to the door.

"Kitty, you're staying in Dodge until I finish this business in Hays City if I have to lock you up in a jail cell to keep you here!"

"You'd do that, wouldn't you? I'm through discussing this, Matt. Out of my way!" Kitty stormed out of her room, crossed the balcony, marched down the stairs and made a beeline for the bar. Matt followed at her heels, realizing a few seconds too late what she was up to when she pulled Sam's shotgun out from under the bar.

"Now, don't start that again, Kitty. We both know you won't shoot me."

And we both know I'll shoot at you! The shot went way over his head, peppering the wall and stairs behind him with holes. "Now, I want you to take me seriously when I say this conversation is over, and leave!"

"All right, Kitty, I'm leaving, but let me tell you something first. All I care about is your safety, honey." Please promise me you won't go to Pickaxe alone.

I can't promise you, Cowboy. You know me better than that. Matt nodded and turned to unlock the doors.

All I care about is your safety, honey. Suddenly Kitty remembered too many fights over Matt leaving her for the sake of the badge. Too many times he'd been gone longer than planned, too many close calls, too many times he'd come home with another bullet wound. How many times she'd watched him leave the Long Branch only to hear gunshots moments later. "Matt, wait!" She'd never forgive herself if this was the trip he never made it back from and her last memory of them together was chasing him away with a shotgun.

He stopped but didn't turn around. "What is it, Kitty?" he asked quietly. "Did you want to shoot at me again?"

Kitty set the shotgun down, propping it against the front of the bar. "No, I...just didn't want you to leave without saying goodbye." She stood still, waiting for his next move. Finally, Matt turned and walked back to her. He picked up the shotgun and, taking it behind the bar, reloaded it and put it away. When he left the bar he stood in front of her and waited as they silently agreed to say goodbye in their usual way. Matt rested his hand on her back gently as she led the way. At the foot of the stairs Kitty turned and looked up at him.

Not another word about Pickaxe.

He nodded. Not another word about Hays City.

GM GM GM GM GM

To avoid a repeat of the morning's discussion with Doc and Festus, Kitty had paid Louie a dollar to carry her bags to the stage depot. Now, as she stood at the bar with Sam going over the usual instructions before leaving. Doc walked into the Long Branch and stopped at the end of the bar.

"Afternoon, Doc," Sam said pleasantly. "Can I get you a beer?"

"No, thanks, maybe later." Doc turned his attention to Kitty.

"Now, Doc, if you're here to try to stop me, I told you, my mind is made up."

"No, Kitty, I just didn't want you to leave without someone to see you off at the depot. Can I walk you over?"

"Sure, Doc. Goodbye, Sam, I'll see you when I get back."

"Goodbye, Miss Kitty."

Kitty took Doc's arm and he escorted her outside. Once they were away from the Long Branch, Doc spoke again. "I'm not trying to stop you, Kitty, but have you thought about what Matt's going to say when he gets back?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to worry about that now. After we discussed -" Doc chuckled at the word "discussed" and Kitty shot him a dirty look. "After that we both pretended I let him talk me out of it so he could go on to Hays City without worrying about me. I imagine by the time he gets back he'll be genuinely shocked that I went. I just wish for once he cared about more than my safety, Doc."

"He does, honey, you know that."

"I know, Doc. I just wish he'd...Well, there's the stage, I guess this is goodbye for now, Curly."

"Have a safe trip, Kitty. Be careful out there."

After a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, Kitty boarded and took her seat. With no other passengers to intrude on her thoughts, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat. No matter what she said to Doc, she hated the way she and Matt had left things. The way he silently told her don't go every time he caught her eye. What she saw in his eyes this morning when he gently woke her to kiss her goodbye. You just make sure you come back. Something he had heard from her too many times to count.

The way her own eyes had responded. I'll be perfectly all right.