Wade finished wrapping Dan's injured chest and sat back, reclining slightly against his pack and stretching out his legs. Dan sighed and pulled his own pack over, pulling out a blanket and balling it into a pillow before lying down and closing his eyes. He could feel Ben's eyes carefully studying his face with an unnerving intensity. The man sat absolutely still not even three feet away, and his gaze was fixated on Dan.

"Would you stop that?" Dan snapped, keeping his eyes closed.

"Stop what, Dan?" Wade asked calmly. He could hear the older man shift his booted feet.

"Stop staring at me, Wade. Ben." Dan almost kicked himself for the correction.

"And what makes you think I'm staring at you, Dan?"

"I can feel your eyes boring a hole into my head. Now stop. I want to sleep." Dan opened his eyes to find Wade's blue-green orbs gazing intently into his own eyes, each trying to see the other through a mask of shadow.

"Then sleep," Wade said quietly, not redirecting his gaze. Dan frowned and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sliding of displaced rocks on the outcrop behind him. Wade's eyes left his and met Will's; Dan let out a sigh of relief and again closed his eyes.

"I'm tired," Will mumbled, shuffling into the camp and pulling a blanket of his own from the packs. He spread it next to his father's and lay down, promptly closing his eyes. "Will you take watch for awhile, Mr. Wade?"

"Wade," Ben corrected, deciding to settle for his last name with the boy. "I'll finish up the night, Will." The boy murmured something into the blanket that sounded like a thank you. Ben's lips turned upward in a small smile. At least the boy felt at ease around him, though he still had a long way to go with Dan. Not that he blamed the man, but it would have been nice if they could carry on a conversation.

Checking to be sure his Hand of God was secure in its holster along with a full load of ammunition on the belt, Wade grabbed Dan's rifle and trundled up the slippery slope and perched on a craggy rock at the top. Ignoring the stone's bite, he sat staring out into the dark plain, his eyes searching in vain for any sign of movement. Only the sliver's of moonlight filtering through the clouds aided his vision, then weakened it as they hid behind the fluffy grays in the sky.

"Better off just listening," he muttered to himself, unscrewing the top of his canteen to take a swig from its mouth. Barely any water was left, thanks to his using it on Dan's wounds. Ben sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the sounds of their surroundings. Somewhere a lone owl hooted, triumphant over a kill. The screech of desert mammals scurrying to and fro across the mix of sand and dead foliage was easy to distinguish when all other noises were silent. Even further out, a single coyote raised its head in song, the mournful tune reverberating through the air and tingling Wade's soul with its melancholy. Its sadness.

Below him, Wade could hear the soft breathing of William, accompanied by the louder and the harsh, pained breaths of his father. Ben readjusted his hat. They needed to move out and get supplies, and before that, money. But doing so now could put Dan further still from recovery. He sighed in annoyance at the inconvenience. They would have to work out some way around this, and the only decent and safe plan he could think of was to send William into the town for supplies. Dan, however, was sure to protest after what had happened last time. He paused in his thinking, not liking the new idea but sure that it was the only way they would be able to actually move forward with their next plans.

They could all go into town, but separately. William could take Dan into the city as his lame father, and Ben would simply walk in later. Of course, such a plan would require a bit of a clothing exchange in order to work, but he wasn't too worried. This town was far from Bisbee and not connected to it by any roads. Besides,most of Dan's clothing seemed large enough on the man to fit his own larger build. Satisfied that his plan had a slim possibility of resulting in their capture, Wade resumed his examination of the plain. Nothing stirred except the wildlife he had listened to earlier. No clouds of dust on the horizon to signal trouble, no fires to indicate other travelers, no wild calls of outlaws like themselves deciding they had found easy pickings. He relaxed, sliding from atop the rock to lean back against it instead, wishing for the bottle of whiskey he had tucked away in his bag. Considering for a moment the tranquility of the plain, Wade stood to make his way back down to their temporary camp, wincing at the noise of the shifting rock. Will lay half off his blanket already, a bit of the fabric tangled about his legs as he turned randomly in his sleep. Dan lay absolutely still, his breathing light but raspy, pained, making him wonder if the man was actually asleep. Wade shuffled through his pack until he found the half empty bottle, sloshing it around a bit to gauge how much was left since the poor light made it difficult to do so. He unplugged it and chugged a small amount of the liquid, shuddering in pleasure as it burned its way down his throat and into his stomach. Dan shifted.

"Give me some," he said quietly, pulling himself up by his elbows into a seated position.

"Whiskey's not for the injured, Dan," Wade replied, his grin evident even in his voice.

"The hell it isn't," Dan replied, scooting off his blanket and closer to where Ben sat leaning against two of their packs. "Move over."

"Demanding tonight, aren't we."

"Just give me the damn whiskey, Wade." When the man still held onto the bottle, Dan lurched forward in an attempt to grab it, gasping in pain at the sudden movement. Ben quickly capped the bottle and pushed Dan backward to lean on the packs.

"Stay still," he growled, forcing the younger man to stay in place with one of his hands pressed against his chest. He could feel the rapid inflation and deflation of the man's breathing with his palm as it quickened significantly from the contact.

"If you had just given me the alcohol," Dan hissed, grasping Ben's hand and attempting to move it. "I wouldn't be in pain." Ben allowed his hand to be moved once he realized that the rancher was only shifting it so it wasn't near one of his wounds.

"Well, I didn't," Wade said quietly, uncapping the bottle and taking a long swig of the amber liquid and causing it to slosh violently when he finally offered it to Dan. "How often do you drink, Dan?"

"Not often," the man replied, gulping down a good portion of the bottle and gasping in surprise as he handed it back to the outlaw.

"I would have warned you," Ben muttered, swigging another good amount. "It's good stuff." His hand remained open on Dan's chest. Dan reached for the bottle again but Ben shook his head and took another long draught from the bottle.

"Wade!" Dan hissed in surprise. "You're going to be drunk when you go back on watch."

"I'm not," Ben said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "and I'm not going back on watch. Too dark to see, and nothing is within hearing range." Dan appeared to frown from the shadows collecting on his face. Ben's chest rumbled in laughter, the sound translating into tiny vibrations travelling through his arm to shake Dan's form as well. The younger man shivered as the motion rippled through him, causing Ben to laugh harder.

"I thought you weren't going to be a mad drunk."

"I said I wasn't going on watch," Wade corrected. "And I am not drunk. I don't get drunk. I am merely a bit liberated by this good bottle of fine and quality whiskey. Courtesy of the law." Dan groaned in exasperation, the sound creating its own frequency of vibrations to travel through Ben's arm. The older man froze, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Dan's shadowed green eyes and causing the younger man to tense in alarm.

"Wade," Dan said hesitantly, wary of the added pressure Ben was using to push him back further into the packs.

"Aren't we friends yet, Dan?" Wade murmured, leaning close. "Just call me Ben."

"Ben," Dan whispered, his eyes large and flickering wildly between the man's obscured eyes. Ben pushed his black hat off, glad that Dan's was already lying somewhere behind them. Then he leaned closer still, noting the tension in Dan's body.

"Dan," he said quietly, his hot breath caressing Dan's face. Ben noted the alarm in Dan's eyes at his tone and smiled. He lurched forward, grasping a handful of the rancher's dirty chocolate hair and fisting it to bring the man's face closer to his own as he crushed his lips down. Dan was froze as solidly as a block of ice, shock holding him still as Ben's lips met his own with force; wanting, asking, demanding Dan offer up something in return. The older man shifted position, kneeling with one leg between Dan's own and brushing his thigh against Dan's crotch, causing him to groan in surprise as arch upward. Ben took advantage of the opening, aggressively thrusting his tongue into the younger man's mouth and probing to find the point where Dan would react. He found it quickly, letting out a pleased grunt as Dan matched his aggression and his intensity with a fire of his own. They wrestled for dominance, tongues slashing, lips crushing, and teeth nipping against the other's equally frenzied assault as their hands grabbed and pulled at the other. Ben held his position of dominance over the slighter man, growling in triumph as he pulled back and grasped both of Dan's hands in one of his own and pulled them far over his head. Dan bucked his hips in an attempt to dislodge his captor, blinking at Ben's surprised moan as he ground his hips against he outlaw's.

"Dan," Ben growled, his hand releasing Dan's to grasp the man's erection through his pants. Dan groaned loudly, arching into the firm grip that was a mix between pain and pleasure. He could feel Ben smiling as the man dropped his hand from his crotch claimed his lips again, bruising them with the force of it. He rolled his hips upward, mouth opening slightly as their erections slammed forcefully together with the force of it.

Then William shifted in his sleep, rolling to face them. Both men froze, staring at each other with a mix of surprise and alarm. Dan's eyes lit up in horror when he realized that his son was waking up.

"Get off of me, Wade!" he hissed angrily, pushing the outlaw to the side. Wade complied, rolling off and picking up the now nearly empty bottle of whiskey with a quiet laugh.

"Pa?" Will asked quietly. "Did I hear something just now?"

"No," Dan replied shortly, glancing angrily at Ben as he took a swig from the bottle. Ben could have sworn the man was blushing. "Wade's just getting a little wild." Will's eyes shot open in alarm as he glanced at Ben, relaxed as he was against the packs.

"But you're supposed to be watching—"

"No one's coming, kid, so go back to sleep." Will looked like he wanted to respond, but he shut his mouth and rolled back over, closing his eyes. Dan glared at Wade as the man offered him the last sip.

"No thanks," he hissed venomously. Dan fumed, muttering angrily to himself and glaring at Wade as he crawl-shuffled his way back to his blanket, carefully wrapping himself in it and desperately praying to fall sleep.

"Suit yourself, Dan," Wade said with a shrug, an smirk falling across his face, invisible though it was in the dark. "But remember, I don't get drunk. I do what I want to do." Wade paused for a second, quickly downing the last of the alcohol. Dan could feel the man's eyes on him again. "You seemed to like it well enough a minute ago, too." Dan knew he wasn't talking about the whiskey.