Chris squirmed as he was lifted off the ground by his feet. The young mister Waters tied the end of the rope to the base of the tree and strolled to where his waist was to Chris' eye level.

"I never liked this part." the man said as he pulled out a knife. "I don't like having to kill off a magnificent animal. It means that it's over and I'll have to find one better than you. Are your friends like you? Are they as strong and fast?" he knelt down so that their eyes met. Holding up the knife, he played with it against Chris' cheek. "Do you think they'd break slower or faster than you? You may not act like it, but you're as much of a savage as the rest of the men I killed. I saw that friend of yours you were hiding with in the forest. I'm going to find him next, maybe do some things to him before I break him."

Chris shifted under the knife, cutting his cheek, but he didn't care. He was being tested, and the man was planning on going after Ezra.

"You'll never lay another finger on him." Chris growled.

"Is he that special to you?" Waters grinned and stood back up to retrieve something from a bag sitting next to the tree. "Well what if I was to make him less of man, huh, what would you do? Does that get you angry? Does that get you spitting angry!"

Chris growled and tried to reach Waters with his still functioning hand.

Waters grinned like a crazy fool.

"Got your blood pumping again? Why don't we end this in one last glorious fight? You verses me. Prey verses predator."

The man came back with another knife and stuck it in the ground underneath Chris. Chris was barely able to reach it, but he grabbed the blade and did his best effort to pull his upper body up so he could reach the rope.

Waters paced back and forth, waiting until Chris fell from the tree and again landed on his bad shoulder.

Chris suppressed his cry and pushed himself into a fighting stance with his good hand holding the knife. Unfortunately, Chris wasn't a lefty, nor was he fond of fighting with a blade.

Waters played with his own blade in both hands before finally keeping it in his right.

"Stalling won't do you a thing." the man grinned.

"I ain't stalling." Chris slurred. His headache was returning and he felt like he was going to throw up, but the man pissing him off was a great way to keep him focused.

Making the same mistake as Buck when he fought the Spaniard, he lunged with his knife and only caught the blade with his arm. Staggering, he tried to prepare for another attack. The best thing to do in a situation where you clearly didn't have the advantage was to stay calm and remain on defense.

"You're slowing down." the man observed. "Don't tell me your friend was only worth one failed attempt. Maybe you don't care for him after all, or you'd like to see him dead yourself. If you want, before I kill you I can let you have the honor of killing him. I think that would make a beautiful ending wouldn't you think? Then I can have you both stuffed in your final moments. I'll even have you place in my room."

"You sick sonofabitch!" Chris growled and swung his knife, once making the man step, the other was met with the other blade.

The other man pushed back with his blade, making Chris grit his teeth.

If his hand slipped then he'd most certainly would get stabbed.

"I think it's time we end things." Waters said and gave a crushing blow to Chris' right shoulder.

Chris then screamed and dropped to his knees. He was able to continue to hold onto his dagger, but the pain was making it hard to keep this up much longer.

"Good bye my pet, we had some good times while it lasted." Waters said as he brought his knife down to stab Chris in the chest.

Chris, at the last minute grabbed the arm, holding it just above his chest. Using all of his strength, he pushed back, still holding onto the arm. Using his bad arm, he grabbed the knife that he had dropped and stabbed the man in the stomach.

Waters looked surprised at first by the feeling, blood slowly trickling from his mouth, and then he gave a bloody grin.

Chris twisted the blade in the man's gut and pushed deeper till the man staggered back. Surprisingly though, he was still holding onto his knife. Chris didn't let go of his arm.

"So the prey becomes the predator. A savage like the rest." Waters laughed.

Chris pulled out the knife from the man's stomach and stabbed him in the side of his neck.

He just wanted the man to shut up.

Vin, Buck and Ezra made it to where a rope was hanging from a tree and two men were hunched over. Buck and Vin quickly got off their horses with their guns in hand.

Ezra saw from on his horse, Chris repeatedly stabbing the man over and over again. He was covered in the other man's blood and he seemed to be crying.

Buck and Vin pulled him off and away from the body. Buck had to tear the knife away from his grasp.

"It's over! Chris. It's over now." Buck said, trying to calm the blonde down.

Chris stilled and just sat there with hate in his eyes and tears running down his cheeks.

"Let's get you back and cleaned up." Buck said.

"I'll see if we can get Donny and some others to get Waters." Vin offered.

Chris was helped onto his horse and Ezra kept him upright as they headed back into town.

Chris never left the room again. He stayed in bed only getting out when nature called. To his friend's relief he started to eat and they didn't have to worry about him getting enough fluids. For Nathan, he was the perfect patient.

Ezra on the other hand couldn't wait to get out of the room and back in the salon. He'd play a couple rounds of poker and talk to the locals before paying Chris a visit upstairs.

The others had also stopped into see how their leader was doing. He never said anything, no one except Ezra a couple of times, just staring off into the corner or sleeping.

"You think he's going to bounce back from this one?" Vin asked worriedly. The rest of them were seated at a table together eating their meal. Nathan had brought Chris' up earlier.

"I don't see why this one has effective him so." Buck sighed, "It's almost worse than Ella Gaines."

The others all shifted uncomfortably thinking about the horrid woman.

"I'd say that Waters guy was the male version of her." Vin murmured.

"He was dead set on having Chris wasn't he?" Nathan agreed, "I mean the other survivors were in the jail asleep. Why take Chris who could've called for help?"
"Mr. Larabee wasn't in his right mind to do much of anything." Ezra said softly.

The three looked at the gambler.

"What happened in the forest when you were with him?" Buck asked finally.

Ezra shrugged, "At first he seemed his normal self; helping people escape from their cages that they were being held in. After he got me out though, it was like he was acting different. He'd look at me funny, but didn't say why. The next day he just left me alone in the woods." Ezra didn't have to tell them that he tried to kill him. It wasn't necessary. "He's just not sure what to believe is real is all. I'm sure once he's in familiar territory he'll be fine." That was what he hoped would happen.

"And the reason why you two are so close now? I've never seen him actually prefer your company before over ours. Then again we haven't had to deal with something like this." Buck said, taking a bit out of his chicken.

Ezra looked down at his plate, "I'm not really certain why he's changed towards me. Probably, I assume it's because we've both experienced what it's like being in the forest, and he knows I'll be more understanding about what he's seen and done then someone who's seen him after it was all over."

"Vin's been on the run, constantly looking over his shoulder because of that Eli Joe guy." Buck pointed out.

"I understand what Ez is getting at." Vin said after a while, "What Chris and Ez went through was different then having to be careful of which town you entered or looking over your back and keeping an eye open when you slept. Some of these people, Chris too probably, were tortured and then treated like animals. They were left out in the cold with hardly anything and no resources of food and probably little water. Getting sick which probably doesn't help you sleep which is already a scary thought to them if they might be found and killed."

"Damn." Buck said softly, "I wish I could've put a bullet in him myself."

"How about we focus on getting Chris and the rest of these men back home. Some families are coming in tomorrow to pick their loved ones up. Donny and Wendy said they'll make sure the rest get back safely." Nathan sighed.

"So we're headed out tomorrow then."

No one said anything, but they were all thinking it; would Chris be able to make the trip?

That night Ezra laid in his bed playing with his deck of cards. Vin had went out that evening with Buck to the Waters' homestead where they found a few more disturbing things and the possessions of all the people they killed and kidnapped including Chris and Ezra's guns and clothes.

Waters' friends who were killed and all the other killed victims were to be removed from that area and the victims would be sent to their loved ones while the hunters were to be buried in an unmarked grave.

The gambler looked over to Chris when the man began coughing. He wasn't convinced that he was better, but the man played his part well.

"Mister Larabee, I know I'm not one you'd technically ask for advice from or even generally care to listen to what I have to say, but believe me when I say that there are times to hide behind a fake expression, and there are times when you just need to let your friends care for you. After being without friends for a long time, I finally understand what I've been missing."

Chris sat silently in bed listening to his roommate until he was finished, "You're right. I'm not fine. I've been far from fine for many years now, and I don't think I'll ever be fine again. I told myself that up to this day, but I was lying to myself. Buck, Vin, Josiah, Nathan, you, hell even JD. You've all managed to push yourselves into my life and made me live for something again. I'll never be what I once was, but I don't really remember what that is anymore."

A/N: So as I was writing this, I noticed that I had gone pretty far into the rabbit's hole with this one. Apologies to the probably not satisfactory ending ahead of time.