A/N: So, I've gone a few days without posting a new chapter because this one took some planning and, I'm warning you, it's pretty damn long. But worth it, I hope. Anyway, enjoy!


When Morgan got back to Fall's End around four in the afternoon, he immediately went back up to his room and prepared for…

Prepared for what exactly?

A date?

Or were he and Jess just "hanging out," as people a few years younger than him liked to say?

Relationships are so fucking weird, Morgan thought as he shaved the stubble that clung to his cheeks and chin. His only consolation was that Jess Black was not your average woman by a long shot. Her no-nonsense, straightforward, bullshit-free attitude hopefully applied to relationships. Hopefully.

Morgan often wondered at length what Jess's previous relationship experience was. He could have asked, but felt too afraid to bring it up. What were her former boyfriends like, if there were any? Or former girlfriends. If she swung that way. Morgan did not know.

After shaving, Morgan jumped into the shower. The water was lukewarm on a good day and soap was hard to come by, but a refreshing, somewhat hot shower was always good to wash off the dirt, grime, and blood of the day. He would also do anything to make himself presentable to Jess.

As he dried off, he ran a hand through his thick, black hair. He usually kept his hair on the shorter side, but did not like it too short. He enjoyed having the combination of a low-maintenance cut coupled with having actual hair to run his hand through.

Did Jess like his hair like this? That was the important question. He wished he could have some gel or pomade to style it, but he had to settle for pushing his wet hair back with a comb. After that, he picked out the cleanest and least wrinkled shirt in his limited wardrobe (which was not saying much at all). It was a dark green plaid flannel, not his favorite design, but it was not covered in grime or full of bullet holes. He paired that with a standard pair of blue jeans and looked in the mirror.

Morgan looked just slightly less grungy than he had been the past few weeks. It was an improvement. And it would have to do.

He went down to the bar and found Mary right where she standing hours earlier.

"Evening, Morgan," she greeted as she polished the bar counter.

Morgan took a seat at the bar. "Hey. Do you ever go home?"

Mary chuckled and raised her arms to indicate the whole building.

"This is my home!"

"Fair enough," Morgan said with a smile.

"So, what are you up to tonight, deputy? You're dressed up," she inquired.

Morgan laughed and pulled at his shirt collar.

"Sure says something when this is considered 'dressed up' these days. I'll have you know, I'm seeing Jess in a few hours," Morgan explained.

Mary's eyes lit up as she leaned up.

"Shit, really? Well, look at you, deputy! What are you guys up to?"

"I asked her to join me for a beer at Fall's End's finest eating watering hole."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Fall's End's only watering hole, more like."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Morgan replied. "I think it's the owner that keeps people coming back."

She laughed at that. "Well, shit, Morgan I can see why Jess is open to a date!"

"I'm not sure if you want to consider this a 'date' or not. I don't really know what it is," he said with a shrug.

Mary listened to his concerns and nodded in understanding. Morgan shook his head and looked at the ceiling.

"God. Listen to what I'm saying. I'm a fucking 28-year-old man and I sound like a 16-year-old girl."

"Hey, don't worry yourself. I've known Jess for a while. She's a little rough around the edges, but I believe she's a good girl at heart. And you're a really nice guy. Sweet, funny, always willing to help- you'll be fine," Mary encouraged him.

"You paint me in such a positive light," he said back.

"I don't just say these things, Deputy Rook," she hinted.

Admitting defeat, Morgan shrugged. She sensed this and smiled.

"Say, why don't I get you something to eat? You should have some food in your stomach before you start drinking."

Morgan nodded. He was a little hungry.

"Yeah, thanks. That sounds good."

A few minutes later, Casey whipped up a burger, which Mary served to Morgan. As he thanked her, Mary leaned in.

"My final word of advice Morgan- try not to bring any children into the world tonight," she whispered.

"Wait, what's that supposed to-" he began.

Mary was walking away, chuckling

"Hey! Wait, no, that's probably not going to be an issue!" he called.

"Whatever you say, Morgan!"


At precisely eight that night, the door to the Spread Eagle opened and Morgan turned to see Jess enter. In the moody lights of the bar, she seemed mysterious and exuded the kind of brooding spirit Morgan liked so much about her.

"Jess!" Morgan called from the table he had settled at.

She looked over and smiled before stepping into better lighting. Morgan felt his eyes widen and had to consciously exert effort to prevent his jaw from dropping.

"You, uh, look really nice," he managed to compliment her.

The truth was Jess Black looked absol-fucking-utely gorgeous. Morgan was sure that he was looking at the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon. Of course, he did not want to be letting that on. Not that early, anyway.

She had obviously cleaned up a bit too, but that not strayed far from her natural look. She wore a blue button-down shirt and pair of clean black jeans that conveniently showed off the pleasant curve of her backside. Her hair looked freshly cleaned and shampooed, but it remained as it was usually styled- casually tossed in a way that let it flow like a waterfall down her shoulders.

Jess wore no makeup, of course. Not like she ever needed to. She was the kind of woman that was a natural beauty without even realizing it. Although they were products of various encounters with Eden's Gate and run-ins with hostile wildlife, Morgan had to admit that he liked the scars that crisscrossed her face. It made her stand out and show that she was not someone to trifle with. She had stories written across her skin.

In the low light of the bar, her eyes really came out. Morgan stared into her teal eyes and recalled the only time he had seen such a brilliant shade of blue was when he went to the Caribbean during a spring break. But her eyes were even more gorgeous than the Caribbean Sea sparkling in the sun.

Morgan would have been content to just take her in all night long.

But, Jess chuckled as he stared, reminding him what exactly he was supposed to be doing.

"Are you okay?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he lied. "You just look really nice."

She smiled and took a seat across from him.

"Thanks. You clean up rather nicely too."

Morgan shrugged. "I have my ways."

Noticing the two sitting at the table, Mary came over, looking quite pleased.

"Evening, Jess! I didn't realize you'd be coming by tonight. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

Morgan managed to suppress a chuckle. Mary typically did not come over and ask people if they wanted something. As he looked at her, she gave him a sly smile.

In truth, Morgan could not care what he was drinking. He was there for Jess.

"Hm. How about… dealer's choice?" he asked.

She nodded and turned to Jess. "What about you, Jess?"

Jess shrugged. "I'll take what he's having."

"Good choice. I'll be back," Mary said as she left.

Morgan and Jess both chuckled and turned back to face each other.

"So. How was your day?" Morgan asked her.

"Well, I had a great time killing Peggies earlier with this dumbass sheriff's deputy who doesn't know the meaning of 'go in quietly,'" she teased.

"Oh, I wonder who that was?" Morgan replied sarcastically.

"He ended up proving himself useful, though."

"I'm certainly glad he did."

"I also managed to bag two rabbits. Field dressed them and sold the skins for a few bucks. Used that to buy a couple more arrows. You know. In case we go out to fuck up more Peggies tomorrow," she said.

Morgan nodded pensively. "I don't have anything doing tomorrow. I might have to go and bring you along."

"I'd be offended if you didn't."

Mary returned, holding two ice-cold bottles of Whistling Beaver Ale. She served the two bottles to Morgan and Jess.

"You two enjoy now," she told them.

They thanked her and Morgan used a bottle opener on the table to open his beer. Jess simply pried off the cap on the edge of the table.

He held up his own bottle.

"Cheers."

"To what?" she asked as she raised her beer to us.

Morgan thought about that for a moment.

"To… victory. Being alive. And hoping that we can all move on from this."

Jess nodded. "How about to us?"

"Us?"

"Yeah. Me and you. We make a pretty good team."

Morgan smiled at that. "That we do, Miss Black."

They clinked their bottle together and each took a sip. Jess put her bottle down and Morgan saw she had a rather displeased look on her face.

"I forgot Whistling Beaver tastes like ass," she grimaced.

"Should've ordered something you liked then," Morgan said with a sympathetic shrug.

Jess took another sip of her beer.

"Eh, it'll grow on me."


"So, she starts complaining to me about ammo shortages and I'm just like, 'bitch, get a bow. Make your own arrows out of sticks and rocks,'" Jess recounted to Morgan about a conversation she recently had with a whiny female militia fighter.

Morgan was on his second beer and almost spat out the sip he just took laughing.

"You're a real people person, Jess."

She rolled her eyes.

"It's not my fault she was annoying."

"I just want to point out one thing, though," Morgan began, setting down his beer, "I've never actually seen you use arrows made out of sticks or rocks or whatever. You just use regular carbon steel arrows you buy from the store."

Jess shot him an annoyed look. "Okay, smartass, I wasn't trying to be all literal or whatever. What I'm trying to say is that when you use a gun and shoot someone, your bullet is gone unless you want to sit around reloading your own ammo later, which is boring as fuck and takes a while. When you are like me and shoot people with arrows, you just walk up and rip your arrow out of their skull."

Morgan laughed again.

"This is why people feel the way they do about you."

Jess rolled her eyes.

"Why did I agree to hanging out with you?" she asked in a tone of mock disgust.

"Because you like me so much?" Morgan asked. It was meant to be rhetorical. But he wanted to see what she said.

"Alright. Maybe I do," she conceded.

"I know you do," Morgan said slyly.

She smiled at that. "You certainly know a lot."

They paused to each take sip of their beers. The resulting silence felt comfortable, if maybe a bit loaded. It was like they both wanted to say more but chose not to.

Jess, however, spoke up first.

"So, Morgan. When's the last time you did this?"

"Did what? Drink a beer?"

She smirked. "God, you're such a fucking smartass. No. I'm talking about sitting in a dive bar with a girl. Drinking. And talking. And… you know."

Morgan was slightly taken aback by her question. She looked at him, obviously curious about his answer.

"Shit, I don't know. Probably my college days."

"Well, damn Morgan, I didn't realize you got some fancy college degree to your name!" Jess said, sounding genuinely impressed. Morgan knew college degrees were somewhat of a rarity in these parts.

"Oh, yeah, that's me. Educated at some elite private institution. No, I just went to the University of Montana and got a degree in criminal justice. You know I'm not originally from here, right? I grew up in Billings."

Jess nodded, remembering that detail Morgan told her shortly after their first meeting.

"Right," he continued, "so I got my degree and I knew I wanted to be a cop. I knew that since I was a little kid. So, I took a law enforcement course through the state, got certified, and wound up here. My dad knew a guy who told me that Hope County needed a new deputy. I just so happened to drop in at the worst possible time."

"Or best possible time, if you want to look at that way. I mean, you wouldn't have met me and missed out on all the Peggie killing," Jess said matter-of-factly.

"Very true. I mean, I could've done without the Peggie killing. But then I wouldn't have met you!"

"Damn right!" Jess laughed. She went on.

"I was wondering this earlier, Morgan. What did you think about me when we first met?"

"Geez. We met… what? A month or two ago?"

"Feels like a while ago," she commented.

"Feels like ages ago," Morgan added.

"So, what did you think?" Jess asked again.

Morgan settled back in his chair.

"I'll tell you."


What the fuck have I gotten myself into? Morgan thought to himself as he clumsily crashed through the forest undergrowth, attempting to keep pace with the woman he just met.

Just ten minutes earlier, Morgan had assisted a group of militia fighters in liberating the Baron Lumber Mill, which the cult had hastily repurposed into a prison. A number of people had been freed from captivity, but Morgan noticed one person who was not like the others. While others cried and breathlessly thanked the militia and Morgan for their help, one young woman immediately made her way to the crates of weapons confiscated by Eden's Gate and retrieved a camouflaged compound bow and a quiver of arrows.

Morgan approached her.

"Everything okay?" he asked the young woman. She turned around and Morgan was taken aback slightly by her heavily scarred face and lips curled into a scowl. She was on the petite end, but definitely looked tough as hell.

The woman nodded. "Thanks for busting me out. Name's Jess. If you're out here pickin' fights with the cult, then I'm guessin' you already know my uncle Dutch."

"Yeah, I know Dutch. He saved my ass two weeks back. I'm Morgan Rook, by the way. Hope County Sheriff's Department… what's left of it."

Jess nodded, quickly processing the essential information. She obviously had something on her mind.

"Look, I don't got a lot of time to waste, I'm going to get right to the point. I was on the trail of one of Jacob's zealots. Goes by the name 'The Cook.' Yeah, that don't sound so scary. But believe me- he's one twisted fuck."

Morgan nodded, sensing from her tone this "Cook" was more than just some random cultist to her.

"Almost tracked him down, but a Peggie patrol got the drop on me. I need your help. We can't let this trail go cold. This guy's butchered a lot of innocent folk around here. Can't let him get away with it any longer. Gotta move- wasted too much time already. Follow me."

With that, Jess began jogging off towards the woods without even waiting for Morgan to answer. It was obvious that Jess had ordered, rather than requested, for him to follow her. Morgan ran after her, not wanting to piss her off. She looked pretty badass and could most likely kick his ass.

Jess moved through the woods with a supreme sort of grace and confidence, the likes of which Morgan had never seen, even in the most skilled of hunters he had met. She was obviously at home in the woods and seemed to have a sixth sense that showed her where to go and how to do it quickly and quietly. Morgan stumbled over rocks and tree roots while Jess just seemed to glide over the terrain.

She told a story about how The Cook tortured and murdered a mother and father in front of their own children. Her tone wavered just barely above uncontained rage as she told the story. It was clear that even though she did not mention it until the very end, the mother and father in her story were her own parents and she was one of the children forced to watch. It was obvious this was a very personal matter.

When they happened upon a group of people being held hostage by the cult, Morgan saw first hand what she could do with her bow. Before Morgan could even finish threading a suppressor onto his AR-15, Jess let three arrows fly in the blink of an eye, with all three hitting and killing their targets.

Morgan fired a single shot, which missed, and alerted the remaining cultists to their position.

"Guess you're not a fan of going in quiet," Jess sarcastically commented.

He attempted to give a look that said sorry, but she was already sprinting down the hill. Morgan just shook his head and took off after her.

Jess leaped over a log, arrow already in her draw hand. She wasted no time nocking it and loosing her bow at a cultist running to engage her. Jess slid over a crate and fired another arrow, which impacted the throat of a cultist, causing him flip back like he just slipped on a banana peel. It would have been funny in any other circumstance.

Morgan came up behind her, dropping two cultists with a quick burst of rifle fire. He took cover as a third opened fire on him. Morgan peeked from behind the crate he sheltered behind to see the cultist advancing on his position, rifle held in a ready position. With some unsteadiness, Morgan stuck his weapon over the top of the crate and wildly blind-fired. The cultist dived to the side to avoid Morgan's frenzied counter attack. As he attempted to get up, Jess came up behind him and plunged her buck knife into the back of his neck, twisted once, and impassively threw his body down.

"Alright, we're clear," Jess said coolly.

Morgan got up and reloaded his weapon. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and his breath rapidly entering and exiting his body. In contrast, Jess did not seem to break a sweat. In fact, she looked rather bored, as if the fight did not provide enough of a challenge.

"Let's get these people free," Jess suggested. Morgan nodded and moved to the closest man, who as sitting in a cage with his hands tied.

"Oh, thank you, God! Oh, Jesus. They were gonna take us to The Cook, you know, the crazy motherfucker who burns people alive!" the man breathlessly told Morgan.

"Well, that's not happening today. Get on out of here," Morgan replied.

The man made good on that advice and sprinted away. Jess was talking to a female captive she had freed. After a moment, Jess nodded and the woman ran in the opposite direction.

"Come on. Cook is executing people right now. Let's go," she instructed Morgan.

As was becoming the usual, she did not wait for Morgan and ran off.

They across what Jess explained was "The Pit," which was apparently The Cook's favorite hangout. It was appropriately named as it took the form of a ring of trailers and prefab modules that ringed around to form a literal pit, where a man was standing, using a flamethrower to immolate three screaming people tied to posts.

"The weak are impure and unworthy!" the man screamed to the sky after his victims died.

"There he is. The fuckin' Cook," Jess spat, her tone pure venom.

"Their souls are plagued by filth!" The Cook raved.

"Dammit, he's burning them!" Jess snarled.

She nocked an arrow and raised her bow, aiming slightly above The Cook to compensate for gravity. She took a deep breath and released the tension on the bow strong.

The arrow flew through the air and hit its mark, only for it to bounce off The Cook's homemade iron armor. He stumbled but turned around and immediately spotted the pair.

"Sinners! Kill them!" he commanded the men around him.

Morgan and Jess ducked to avoid getting hit by the hail of bullets. They both ran down the incline down into The Pit while bullet impacts kicked up dust around them.

Jess shouted as she ran towards a pair of cultists. One attempted to shoot her with a .357 magnum revolver, but she was faster, sending an arrow that pierced his right eye and came punching out of the back of his skull. A second cultist, this one wielding a machete, charged at her, his blade held up high.

"For the Father!" he cried as he swung his machete in a wide overhead swing at Jess's head. Jess deftly dodged underneath the machete and scrambled forward. She took the arrow nocked onto her bow and stuck it through the side of the cultist's neck. It went in from the left and easily pierced the flesh on the opposite side. He dropped his machete, gurgling on blood as he futilely attempted to pull out the arrow. Jess kicked him in the back and immediately readied another arrow.

A few feet away, Morgan rounded the side of a trailer, coming face to face with a rifle wielding cultist. Morgan slammed the barrel of his rifle into the cultist's stomach. As the man bent over with his hands on his stomach, Morgan pressed the muzzle of his own AR-15 to the cultist's chin and fired.

Another cultist came up behind Morgan and brought a baseball bat down on Morgan's right shoulder. Crying out in pain and surprise, Morgan fell flat onto his stomach. The cultist stood over Morgan and readied a finishing blow, but an arrow impacted the man's left thigh. As he screamed and put his hands over the wound. Morgan used this opportunity to roll over and draw his Browning Hi-Power from his thigh holster and unload several rounds into the cultist's chest.

Morgan pushed himself up and Jess came over to him.

"You good?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm- oh shit!"

Morgan pushed Jess out of the way as he half ran, half tripped out of the way of the stream of flame The Cook had released from his flamethrower in their direction.

"Burn! BURN WITH THE LIGHT OF OUR FATHER!" The Cook shouted at the top of his lungs.

Morgan's jacket was set partially ablaze and he hurriedly ripped it off his body and threw it away. The Cook tracked Morgan and attempted to set him on fire next. Morgan had dropped his rifle and attempted to shoot The Cook with his 9mm, but his rounds were deflected by the pyromaniac's armor.

The pistol's slide locked back and Morgan released the empty magazine before fishing in his pocket for a full one. He found none.

"Oh, that's just great!" he shouted.

The Cook laughed manically. "Now your soul will be purified by the Father's blessed flame!" he ranted.

Morgan stood still from shock and terror as The Cook depressed the trigger of his flamethrower. However, to the surprise of both men, nothing but a pathetic puff of smoke came out.

The Cook looked at his weapon. Then he looked up at Morgan.

Morgan reached for his belt and withdrew his combat knife, mustered a war cry, and sprinted at The Cook. In response, The Cook removed the empty fuel tank and stuck a new one in place. As Morgan reached him, the cultist turned his flamethrower over and batted Morgan in the face. Morgan impacted the ground roughly, violently expelling the breath from his lungs.

The Cook laughed maniacally and finished loading his flamethrower.

"Now, sinner, where were we?" he taunted.

Before he could continue, he lurched forward. His expression of maniacal glee turned into a grimace of pain. The grip on his flamethrower loosened.

The Cook turned around slowly, revealing an arrow lodged in his left kidney.

Jess was standing there, her bow at the ready. She released another arrow, this one striking The Cook in the right shoulder. The Cook stared at her, fury in his eyes. Fury that turned to recognition.

"You!" he cried.

Jess sent one final arrow that went through his open mouth and cleanly pierced through the back of his skull. The Cook took one step forward, groaned, and fell, dead.

Morgan was rooted to where he fell as he watched Jess take her well-deserved revenge.

She walked over to The Cook's bloody corpse. Her face screwed into anger as she kicked him twice in the stomach.

"Rot in hell, motherfucker," she hissed before walking away.

Jess stood over Morgan and extended a hand. He took it and got to his feet.

"Wow. That was… something," Morgan.

Jess was not paying much attention to him. She had a blank look in her face and was looking off in the distance.

"Are you okay? We got the fucker!" Morgan added. He was expecting more of a reaction out of her.

Instead, she shrugged.

"Dutch was right… Cook's dead and I don't feel anything. All I ever wanted was to find this guy… and now, I don't… I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Jess shook her head and scoffed before continuing.

"Dutch's been right about a lot of shit lately. The cult. Eli. Maybe he's right about you too."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "The man's smart."

Jess folded her arms and shifted on her feet.

"You, uh, need someone to watch your back, call me."

"I might take you up on that," Morgan said. "You handled a bow like no one I've ever seen."

She nodded again. Morgan could tell she probably needed some time to process what had just occurred. She gave a final nod and began to walk away before stopping and turning to face Morgan.

"And, um, thanks. For everything you've done."

He gave a curt nod back.

"I'm just doing my part, Jess. Same as you."

She smiled softly and walked off. Morgan watched her leave.

"Well…" he breathed, surveying the scene. Broken bodies littered The Pit while several vehicles and trailers were on fire.

"That was interesting."

Morgan looked out at Jess receding.

"Well, it was fun meeting you, Jess," he muttered to himself, "but I think I'll let you do your thing. You're a little too crazy for me."


As Morgan finished recounting his story, Jess held her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"So, let me get this straight. You only helped me because you were afraid I was gonna kick your ass if you didn't."

"Yeah, basically," Morgan admitted.

"You're absolutely right. I would've," she said with a shrug.

As Morgan laughed she, rested her cheek on her hand.

"But I'm glad you did help me."

He smiled. "I'm glad you were there to answer my calls when I said I needed someone to watch my six."

"You know I'm always there to watch your back," she affirmed to Morgan.

Morgan took a sip of his drink to keep his smile from growing too wide. Jess knocked back the last of her own beer and slammed it on the table.

"Hey," she started as Morgan set down his drink, "you wanna go for a walk? It's really nice out tonight."

"Hm. Didn't you have enough walking today?" Morgan asked.

Jess had already stood up. She sighed heavily.

"Just come take a walk with me, Morgan," she implored, slightly annoyed.

He got up. "Alright, fine, don't have to ask me twice."

"Damn right I don't," she said they walked out the door together.

From her place at the bar, Mary watched the two leave and chuckled to herself.


Fall's End was quiet. The tiny town was usually some degree of quiet, so it would have been more appropriate to describe the streets of Fall's End as exceptionally quiet. A few lights were on in some of the remaining houses and a dog barked within one of them.

Morgan and Jess walked down Main Street in the middle of the road. It was not like they were in danger of becoming roadkill. Above them, the night sky twinkled with the lights of hundreds upon hundreds of stars. The air was cool, but comfortable. Just enough to be comfortable with the clothes they had on. It was the perfect night, to Morgan at least.

"You know, I know some people from school who moved to LA and New York. When I asked why, they all told me that they were tired of how quiet and unpopulated Montana was. They wanted… excitement, that's what they called it," Morgan told Jess.

He motioned up at the night sky.

"Honestly? I couldn't imagine giving this up. I can't imagine looking up at night and not seeing this," Morgan mused.

"I'm with you," Jess nodded in agreement. "I know it might be because I've lived here since forever, but if someone said 'hey, come live in my tiny apartment I pay 3,000 dollars a month for in a massive, smelly city full of shitty people,' I might have to give that a hard pass."

Morgan laughed. "I think this is why we get along."

"You know what they say- great minds think alike," Jess agreed.

They reached the edge of Fall's End, a walk that did not take very long, and headed out into one of the nearby fields. Morgan hopped the fence and offered his hand to Jess.

"Hey, I'm a big girl," Jess quipped. But she took his hand anyway. It was not like she actually needed help. Morgan just wanted to hold her hand for a moment.

Jess held on for a few seconds longer than she really needed to.

Together, they settled down on a gentle slope near a bushy oak tree. Morgan laced his fingers together and placed his hands behind his head before lying down, staring at the sky. Jess followed suit and looked over at him.

"So, uh, is this the part where you impress me with your knowledge of constellations and shit?"

Morgan shrugged. "No, actually. I have no idea what I'm looking at. It all looks the same."

"It's, uh, pretty," he managed.

Jess pointed up at a mass of undifferentiated lights in the distance.

"That one looks like a guy getting an arrow through the face."

Morgan laughed. "You really are special, you know that?"

"I try."

Morgan thought about it for a moment.

"Actually, I think it kinda looks like Peaches," he concluded.

Jess giggled.

"Peaches? Like your cougar?"

"Well, she's not my cougar. I give her treats and she just sort of follows me around and occasionally decides to take down a Peggie."

He turned to face Jess, who was grinning at his commentary.

"You and Peaches are similar. I give you treats, in this case people to kill, and you follow me around."

Jess cracked up, covering her mouth with her hands as she did so. Morgan could not help but smile broadly at just watching her being truly happy in the moment.

"Oh my God," she said before laughing more.

Morgan let her finish up her laughing, which took several seconds. After that, they lied together in a sort of easy silence while they stargazed.

"So, Morgan, do your folks know you're alright? I mean, the news of Eden's Gate and all the other shit that's been happening is probably national news right now," Jess said.

Morgan pursed his lips, unsure of how to respond to that.

"I don't think I've mentioned this to you, but they're gone."

Jess sat up on her elbows and turned to him.

"Wait, what do you mean 'gone?' Like…?" she asked, concern in her eyes.

"Shortly after I got the job here with the sheriff's department, my mom and dad were flying in his plane to Arizona. They wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Above southern Utah, their plane exploded in midair due to what the NTSB said was faulty wiring igniting the fuel," Morgan explained.

Jess looked at him and put a hand over her open mouth.

"Jesus, Morgan… I… I didn't know. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," she apologized.

Morgan shook his head.

"Hey, no. It's okay. I don't want to say I'm 'over it' or whatever. I want to say that I'm at peace with it. It happened. It was no one's fault. And that's that."

Jess exhaled and looked down at her feet. She did not know what to say.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," she finally said.

"Don't be sorry at all!" Morgan protested. "Like I said, it happened. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do now is honor their wishes and be the best cop this county has ever seen."

She softly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I certainly think you are."

Morgan smiled at her and nodded.

"That means a lot."

"Do you have anyone else in the family who would be freaking out about you being trapped in this place with Eden's Gate?" Jess inquired.

"No. Uh, my cousins and uncle and aunt live in New Jersey. Jersey sucks, so I don't go there."

Morgan hesitated, wondering if he should tell Jess more. He decided to with it. If he wanted to be with her, then he supposed that he could tell her about the not-so-nice things about his life.

"I had a sister. Cassie. She overdosed on crystal meth when I was in high school. That's really when I fully decided to become a cop. I didn't want anyone else's sister or brother dying to drugs or to gangs or whatever."

Jess nodded.

"Well, look, you ended up saving this entire county from an army of murderous cultists. I think you saved lots of sisters and brothers," she said.

Morgan shrugged. "People say that I saved them all from Eden's Gate, but like, I'm not Superman. It's not like I just destroyed them all while everyone else just watched. We all worked together and we did it together."

He looked off into the distance.

"Besides. I had help. I had Grace blowing away cultists from like, a mile away. Nick was there to drop bombs on their trucks and hideouts. Adelaide buzzing around in that stupid pink camo helicopter she likes. Boomer making sure there were no surprises when I was doing recon. Hell, even Sharky and Hurk helped. In their own way."

He met Jess's eyes again. "And I had you. The only person I ever trust to watch my back."

She looked away, her face turning a soft shade of red.

"I wouldn't want to watch anyone else's back," she said.

"You know, I'm pretty glad you met me now and not when I was back in high school," Jess continued.

"I went to school the next county over and man, I'm telling you, I was a total bitch. I ran with the wrong kind of people. I got into fights. Sold weed. I even set fire to the principal's car in senior year. But he was an asshole. So, he actually deserved that one and I don't really feel bad about it."

Morgan chuckled. "I'll take your word for it."

"My grandma changed me. I told you about her, I think. After she died, I came back to my parents I just apologized them for all the stupid shit I did when I was young, insecure, and felt like the world owed me something."

Jess licked her lips. She was looking up and seemed lost in the memories.

"I wish I had more time with them. Because Eden's Gate rolled in and… yeah."

"Like I said Jess, things happened and you can't do anything about them. All you can do is be the woman your parents wanted you to be," Morgan said.

"I like to think I'm doing the right thing."

"You are," he assured her.

"It's just that when they died, all I had left was Dutch. He kept trying to get me out of Hope, but I didn't want to. I wanted to fuck up the cult for everything they did. I thought Dutch was just getting in my way. He just wanted to keep me safe and I was just so caught up in what I wanted, I didn't stop to think about what the only family I had left wanted."

She nodded thoughtfully.

"I should go visit him and say sorry," she concluded with a nod.

"I think he understands, though," Morgan offered.

"I hope."

For a few more moments, they sat in silence, alone with the thoughts of their rather heavy discussion. Despite the subject matter, Morgan felt good about it all. He felt good having someone he could relate to and someone he could trust with what he normally chose not to talk about. He hoped Jess felt the same way.

"Hey, you wanna head back? I'm getting kind of chilly," she said.

"Sure. Let's go."

They got up and headed back out onto the road in silence. As they walked side by side, Morgan felt her hand slip into his. He was hesitant at first but locked his fingers with her own.

Morgan looked at Jess, who smiled softly back. There were no words. There did not have to be.


They let go of each other when they reached the Spread Eagle. Morgan expected Jess to head back to Grace's place, but she elected to walk with him to his modest living quarters.

"So, will I be seeing you tomorrow?" Morgan asked as he opened the door to his room.

"You know it," Jess said confidently.

"Great!" Morgan replied. "More of the same?"

"Come on, Morgan, you should have this as your routine by now. We wake up, go out, kill some Peggies, do some good, the usual."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "You're right. This is my life now."

"Get used to it," she teased.

Morgan stood at the doorframe while she stood outside.

"So, thanks for the drinks. And for talking. It was… good," she said.

"Yeah. It was. I had fun tonight," Morgan agreed.

"Let's do this again," she suggested.

"That's a great idea if I've ever heard one."

"Like I said. Great minds think alike," Jess said.

She turned to leave. "Goodnight, Morgan."

"Goodnight, Jess."

At first, she hesitated to leave, but turned and walked down the hallway after giving him a final smile.

Morgan closed the door to his room and tapped on the door a few times. He sighed and shook his head.

He enjoyed the time he spent with her but felt like he should have done more. Maybe try to kiss her? Would that have been too much?

As he unbuttoned his shirt and placed in on a hanger, he recalled what Mary told him.

Guess I'll just keep at it, he thought to himself.

Before he could peel off his undershirt and get ready for bed, someone knocked at his door.

Who could that be?

Maybe it was Mary, finally evicting him. He had been freeloading this whole time after all. Or maybe it was even the sheriff and Morgan would have to do some actual police work.

He opened the door.

Jess stood there.

"Jess, what's up?" he asked.

Wordlessly, she swept forward and put both her arms around him before kissing him on the lips.

Completely taken aback, Morgan did not respond in kind at first and stared at her in shock. Despite this, Jess continued to keep her lips on his.

Soon, Morgan did what he had wanted to do for quite a while.

He closed his eyes and put both of his arms around her lower back. Morgan returned with his own kiss and soon they were both standing there, tangled up and making out.

After what seemed like hours, they broke apart, but refused to let go of each other. Her Caribbean Sea eyes gazed intently into Morgan's moss green eyes.

He was pausing to catch a breath she had completely stolen out of his lungs.

"Jess," he breathed.

Jess traced her left index finger around his jawline and pressed it to his lips.

"Shush. You talk too much," she whispered.

Without another syllable, Jess came back in for another kiss. She gently pushed him forward as she did so until they both crossed the threshold. Jess briefly interrupted their kissing to shut the door behind her and lock it.

With that, they resumed right where they left off. They kissed deeper and their hands ran all over each other, wherever they could find space. Morgan guided his hands over the shapely curves of her body and Jess settled for putting her own around his shoulders.

They stopped kissing simultaneously, instantly recognizing each other's unspoken language. Jess hugged herself close to Morgan, who in kind pulled her close to his chest. She placed her head on his shoulder and breathed out.

Not a word was exchanged. Neither of them wanted to break this moment.

Morgan could feel the warmth of her body pressed against his own. It felt good to just stand there and be together with her. To be close to another person. It had been quite some time since this last happened, but Morgan had never felt the way he did now.

She smelled like nature and earth. Not like leaves or dirt, no.

She smelled like the clean mountain air. Like the sky after sunrise. Like a warm summer night. She smelled like the things Morgan loved, things he looked forward to. Things he wanted in his life forever.

Their embrace was broken by Jess because she had other plans in mind.

Jess practically shoved Morgan onto his bed before jumping on top of him. As she straddled him, she leaned over and went for another kiss. In between the several intense moments of kissing, clothes began to fly this way and that. First his undershirt. Then Jess's shirt. Then her bra, which she threw in his face. Jess giggled as Morgan scrambled to get it out of his way.

Morgan was feeling many things in the moment, but he remembered his days in the criminal justice program in college.

"Wait! Wait, Jess," he exclaimed.

Jess, who was undoing her jeans, paused.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"You're sure you want to do this, right?" he inquired.

Jess's face broke out into a smile. She laughed and flopped down on top of him.

"What? What?!" Morgan frantically asked.

"You're so fucking sweet. That's what."

She got back up and finished taking off her jeans, which she tossed away.

"Yes. I very much want to do this."

He drank in her form, his head feeling heavy as he did so. Her body was toned and host to several small scars and old wounds. More stories written on her flesh.

Despite what many would call "imperfections," Morgan thought she was utterly perfect in every sense of the word.

You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, he wanted to say, but could only shout in his mind.

Morgan smiled. "That works for me."

She went to undo the zipper of his own jeans.

"Now please, shut up."


A/N: That was very satisfying to write. I hope you enjoyed and please let know what you thought! See you next time, hopefully a bit sooner.