A/N: I know there was a delay between Chapters 7 & 8 but there is going to be another delay yet. I thought I knew where I was going with this fic, then I got a new idea. I now want to write two endings, so I'm going to, and that'll mean two versions of Chapters 9, 10, and the Epilogue. Until I've completed both versions and worked out which I want to post (or how I'm going to post both) there will be no more updates on this fic. I hope you will enjoy this chapter (enjoy is probably the wrong word actually! lol) and come back in a few weeks time to read whichever ending I write/post in the not-too-distant future :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1))

8. In His Father's Footsteps

Parker never thought to feel old. In truth, she barely suited the word even now. Though she had been a widow more than six years now, and was mother to a boy fully grown into a man of eighteen, she wasn't even forty herself yet, not in the least bit old. Life had been a strange chain of circumstances, she thought, as she looked back over the pictures kept in her most special box. Eliot had carved and fashioned it for her and named it her memory chest. Most of its contents was paper, sketches she had made of Will as he grew over the years, from a babe in arms to now, plus pictures of Eliot, Nate, Sophie. There were letters too, written in her husband's hand. Though he was the toughest of men, he could write poems that'd melt the strongest of hearts, all words of love and devotion to her. Parker treasured all of these things, and many others, but none really made up for what she had lost, and had yet to lose.

The men that had come into Parker's life were fighters. It was built into the fibre of their bodies, she was sure, for Eliot and Will both seemed to have a natural need to fight and protect. Today marked the day when William Spencer officially followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a Texas Ranger with a star on his belt as proof of that role.

Parker was proud. She had watched her boy grow to a man, becoming ever more a picture perfect copy of the man she fell in love with so many years ago. There was no doubting at all that Will was Eliot's son. He had his good looks and easy charm, sparkling blue eyes and a strength that showed in both his body and his character. He was a man's man as some would call it, he could ride, shoot, and fight as well as any, almost as well as his Daddy.

Alec had helped to raise Will after Eliot died. Parker knew the boy needed a man to look up to, and who better than Uncle Alec to show him the way? It hadn't even bothered Parker when Will wanted to spend more time with the Rangers and Quinn in particular. It was Jonah that taught Will to shoot, something he seemed to have a natural ability for. It was her and Alec that ensured he had the sense to know you didn't use such skills for bad, only good. If he was to be a Texas Ranger, he had to be tough, but he also had to show compassion and understanding. Eliot had been such a man and Parker was determined that their son would be the same. She did her best to ensure he did not give in to the anger and hate that was so easily found after Eliot was killed, especially when they came to realise Moreau had survived.

There were rumours from the beginning. Some said Quinn was right, that he must be dead, but as with Eliot, the body was nowhere to be found. The Rangers tracked all over the plains, searching for those that had fallen. Moreau's right hand, Crawford was found dead from the fight, alongside two of the others from the posse. At least one was missing, maybe two, along with Moreau himself, and Eliot. Whether they crawled away or not was anyone's guess for the first few months, but then the reports of Moreau's survival started coming in thick and fast. He had gone back East, whether to lick his wounds or what, nobody was sure.

The townsfolk started to put the story together for themselves. Parker found herself whispered about and shunned by some of the older folks, the families long established in town. People started to remember Eliot's disappearance from town and subsequent return years ago. They made assumptions about his connections to Moreau. Some dared to say he deserved the death that befell them, some even attacked the house his widow and son lived in. It was around that time that Quinn brought Parker a gun of her own.

"I don't... I haven't touched a gun in years," she had told him shakily, remembering the few times on the streets when the only way to protect herself had been to threaten her enemies with an unloaded pistol.

She never had fired on a person, and never thought she wanted to. Eliot never offered to show her how, and she never asked. Parker had her husband to take care of her, and skills enough to evade attackers and get away as needed. It was only that day when Jonah spoke of enemies, the risk to Parker and her son, she realised she had to learn.

Alec didn't like it, but he did understand. He wasn't much for weaponry, but he had the advantage of being able to handle himself in a tussle. Parker was a strong woman but no match for those in town that might decide to hurt her. He couldn't always be there to watch over his family, it didn't hurt for Parker to have protection of her own.

By the time Will turned fifteen and graduated out of school, Parker no longer feared facing anyone in town, but some of the folks that lived nearby had concerns about upsetting her. She carried a gun all the time, though nobody could say they ever saw her fire it, none but Quinn who taught her how. Along with the holster, she wore a scowl almost constantly, hardly ever a smile. It was understandable in the beginning, so close to Eliot's death. She was too young to be a widow and a mother alone, but everyone thought she would learn to cope in time, that the sunshine smile would return to her eventually - it never did.

Parker became suspicious of the people around her, the supposed friendly townsfolk. They talked behind her back, she knew. The other kids teased Will about his father's death, voiced the rumours their parents and families kept behind closed doors. That Eliot was one of Moreau's men once, that he deserved what befell him. Parker wanted to scream at every one of them - men, women, and children - for sullying the good name of her beloved Eliot. Of course, she knew it was true that he had been part of Moreau's posse once, when he was young and naive. Just as soon as he could, he left that gang and came home, to the place where he would eventually meet and marry Parker herself. Their lives had changed that day and forever.

Parker thought she had become hardened by her life on the streets. When she became a wife and mother, she was sure she completed the task of growing up. It was only when Eliot died that she realised what it really was to be an adult and to be truly tough. She had to learn to survive all over again. Though she had a home and a son now, the love of a man that was unwavering despite his passing, Parker felt alone. Sophie and Nate could only stay so long before they must return to the new life they had built together. Alec tried to help, so did Jonah, but Parker knew she was actually alone. It fell to her to keep the house in order, to ensure there was a roof over their heads and food on the table, so she and Will survived. She helped him with his studies, got him though school, and watched the little boy who cried in the night for his Daddy grow into a man with eyes that sparkled just like Eliot's own. He could be mistaken for a younger version of his father more often than not, and Parker loved and hated that fact every day. Today would be hardest of all, to have him come home with a Ranger's badge on his belt, riding his own horse proudly as a Texas lawman legacy.

"All he ever wanted was to make you proud," she whispered to the charcoal drawing of Eliot she held in her hands. "All I ever wanted too," she added with a sad smile, swallowing down the lump that formed in her throat.

Silently Parker prayed for Will's safety in his new job. It was all he wanted to be, and Parker was glad to know he was living the way he wanted. At the same time, she lived with the fear that the same fate would befall her son as came to her husband. He was only eighteen, and barely that. In her heart, Parker still thought of Will as her baby, the tiny child she held in her arms so long ago and cried in happiness at the sight of. Now he was grown, but not as invincible as he seemed to think.

"Momma?" his own voice called from the door.

Parker scrambled up from the floor, dusting off her dress. She pushed her keepsakes back into their chest, shutting down the lid, before hurrying down the stairs. There he was. The sight of Will dressed as smart as he ever had been, hat on his head and badge at his belt, he was every inch his father then. Eliot as he had been when they first met, though a little young yet and still with innocence dancing behind his eyes. Will was a good, strong, upstanding man, and Parker could hardly stand the force of the pride and love that swelled in her chest.

"Your father would be so proud of you," she promised him, as tears sprang from her eyes. "I know he is," she added with a shaky smile.

Will looked almost just as moved as he rushed to his mother and hugged her tight to him. It was still a surprise to her when Parker realised he was the same height as her now. She ought to be used to it, since her son's sudden growth spurt at age fifteen, but it still startled her. He was the spit of his Daddy, she thought it all the time and it made her want to smile and cry all at the same time, every day.

"Er, Uncle Jonah... Ranger Quinn," he amended, clearing his throat, standing straight as a soldier then. "He and the other men are gonna take me out around the area, introduce me the folks further out of town and all," he explained.

Parker nodded along, wiping away one stray tear from her cheek. Her son, the man of law, she really was so proud.


Alec came over to the Spencer house quite often, sometimes for an evening meal, or maybe on a Sunday to walk with the family to church. Parker was as much as sister now as Eliot had ever been his brother, and Will was forever his beloved nephew. They were his family, despite the fact they shared no blood bond, a connection he found had only increased since Eliot's passing. They only had each other now, and Alec treasured those he loved more than anything else in the world. That was why on this particular day when he heard shots coming from the yard he was in such a hurry to run around back and see what was happening.

It came as a shock to Alec Hardison to see Parker shooting a gun. He knew she could, she had told him as much. Jonah Quinn taught her, and Alec never gave an opinion on it, even though he hated to know she had learnt such things. It was true enough that Parker had to toughen up when Eliot died. She had started to cuss at times, and make it known to folks she didn't care for any of their negative opinions. Out-spoken he could understand, and mad at the world, but the shooting did not sit well with Alec.

The last glass bottle in the row shattered to shards alongside its four friends, and Parker lowered the smoking gun. She breathed deeply, as if she hadn't been able to do so at all when she was firing those shots, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Alec stopped and stared a moment, mindful of startling her when he was pretty sure there was still one more bullet held in the barrel.

"Pretty good, huh?" she said then, turning slowly to look at Alec.

She might look pleased with herself if she actually smiled, but she didn't. A grin was more than rare on Parker's face these days, it was practically non-existent, unless she was talking to Will about how damn proud she was of that boy.

"You a real fine shot, Parker," he told her honestly. "Not so sure if I think that's a good thing or not."

Parker didn't answer that, just let the arm holding the gun drop to her side and turned to head back into the house. She called something to Alec about coming inside if he wanted dinner, but he barely heard. He was still staring at the broken bottles on the fence a while longer.

"Hey!" he called to his sister then. "Parker..."

"What?" she asked as she turned to look back at him, meeting his eyes.

"He wouldn't want you to do it," he said seriously. "Eliot, he wouldn't want you to. Anymore than he'd want me, or Will, or anyone to sacrifice their soul for that ol' devil."

Parker stared back at him. They both knew she understood just exactly what he meant. Alec thought she learnt to shoot for more than protection, that maybe she was planning some kind of revenge on her husband's killer. Maybe she was. In the night when she was crying herself into nightmare-filled sleep, yeah, she considered it. Whether she would ever actually dare pull the trigger when faced with Moreau's smug face, she couldn't really say.

"If you want dinner, come inside," she repeated.

Alec let it go. There was nothing else for him to do right now.

To Be Continued...