(A.N. Hey guys. Sorry for the delay on this thing. Been stuck in a rut and didn't even want to write anything. Now I can't promise I'll be working on this thing day after day. But I want to finish this. I've got the end for this thing planned, just gonna have to get to that point.)

Rowan had found himself to be quite an impressive Faro dealer. Within weeks, he had undone most of the damage done by Chi-Chi's last dealer, and began turning over a profit, for her and himself.

Emery had been doing well for herself as well. She turn out to be a real card shark, making many of the drovers loose their caps, and filled her own pocket. Plus if any tried to take their money back, a loaded shotgun from Rowan deterred them immediately.

"Well now." Rowan said as he propped his legs up on the poker table as he himself, Chi-Chi, and Emery counted how many caps was made today. "Not a bad haul today, huh boss?" He asked looking to Chi-Chi.

"Yes, indeed." She said happily as she took off her white apron. "If I'd known that I'd be making this much, I'd have hired the two of yous a long time ago."

Rowan snickered. "I'm just glad I'm making some money here." he said. "I'll admit, I was a little greedy when I started out from the Hudson two years ago." Rowan lifted his legs up so they were resting on the poker table. "When I was drafted into the Regulators, I didn't know what to think."

"Myself." Emery began as she leaned back in her chair. "It was a little more than earning a living." She said. "Don't get me wrong. I love regulating for Top. And if he needs me, I'd be back in a heartbeat."

RJ nodded. Like Elena, he would don his duster again if Top absolutely needed him to.

Of course, he still had to wear it for another two weeks.

It was then Rowan stood up and slipped his gray duster back on. "Well, one of the rancher's is having problems breaking in a few new horses." He said. "Wild as freakin' bobcats."

Thunder began rumbling in the not too far off distance. Rowan straightened his duster out and scoffed. Great. Probably gonna piss down on my head the whole time. He stuck his pipe into his mouth and began ramming tobacco into the bowl.

"Sure has been raining a lot." Emery said as she sipped some of her tea.

"Getting the ground ready for the frost." Chi-Chi said. "Winter's comin'."

Even Better.

"Well, not like we can convince the man upstairs to let up." Rowan said. After snuggly slipping his hat on his head, he turned back to the relaxing women. "Well, ladies." he said tipping his hat, then he walked through the swinging doors.

As he struck a match, he saw it was already starting to spit water down slowly. That wouldn't take long for it to speed up and it could easily turn into a down pour within a heartbeat.

After lighting his pipe and tossing the match away, RJ began humming. A slower more bluesy version of Oh Susanna. As he hummed he stepped out onto the muddy road and began proceeding down the east road that would lead to the corrals were the Ladies were being kept.

Occasionally Rowan would sing aloud, but quietly.

"And I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for me to see. Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me."

It didn't take long before RJ arrived at the corrals and already he could see how restless the horses were. Especially the biggest of them. Her two front hoofs were white like she was wearing socks, her main was flowing white, and there was a white patch on her right side.

All in all, she was and extremely beautiful Grey Lady, if she wasn't so wild.

"Oh yeah." Rowan said, as it now was raining. "She's gonna be a handful." He said grinning.

By now the sky had pretty much opened up and now it was almost flooding water. Big fat raindrops were coming down with such speed that it hurt when it came into contact with skin.

At least that's what Zoë thought as she rode back into town with other Regulators. Every part of her was drenched, and cold. She pushed a large wet strand of hair out of her face.

She had just led a patrol outside of the small town of Lamoni. There, unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

As she sighed and slumped on Autumn, she felt one of her Regulators patting her on the shoulder.

"Hey look." He said pointing to some of the corrals. There she saw a single rider, trying desperately to stay on a hard bucking horse. "There's RJ." The Regulator said.

Zoë smiled as she watched Rowan intently as he held onto the Gray Lady. She then gasped as he was then launched off the horse and landed in the center of the corral. Zoë became slightly calmer as Rowan got right back up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He said as he got her right up against the fence and slowly approached. "Easy honey." He said as he gently held out his arm in a calm passive manner. The large mare calmed slightly as she allowed him to stroke her face and her mane.

"Having any luck?" A voice said behind Rowan who turned and smiled who it was. Zoë was still sitting on Autumn against the fence. She had an amused smile on her wet face.

"Hey." Rowan said as he kept stroking the mare's head. "Nah. Not so much." He said and turned back to the horse. "Alright miss." He said patting her neck. "We'll take a break for the next ten rounds." he said and walked towards Zoë.

After climbing up on the fence so he was sitting right next to her, Rowan took off his hat and used his forearm to wipe his brow. He didn't care if he got anymore wet, he was already soaked to the soul.

"I tell ya. That mare just refuses to yield." Rowan said sighing. Across from him, Zoë chuckled.

"Much like you." She said. Rowan turned to face her with a grin on his face.

"So..." Rowan began as he seemed to ignore the rain that was coming down. "Are you going to the gala tonight?"

The Gala was a celebration for Remembrance Day. This event was to celebrate the lives of those Regulators and allies who had made the ultimate sacrifice. The precursor for this holiday was after same holiday in pr-war Canada.

"I'll be there." Zoë said as she nodded. She then gave Autumn an urging yet gentle kick. As Autumn pulled away, Zoë turned back to face him. "You gonna look presentable?" She asked laughing that he was covered in mud and horse manure.

Rowan looked down and saw he was nearly wearing all brown. He looked back up grinning. "What? I thought brown was in." He called out to her. 7 began laughing hard despite the cold rain. Her Regulators right behind her also laughing and grinning.

The grinning James then turned back to the mare that had refused to yield and sighed. "Well, darlin'." he said adjusted his leather gloves so they were tight again. "You ready to go another round?" He asked.

The horse nickered gently in response.

Chuckling, Rowan shook his head as he moved over to the horse. "This is gonna be a long day."

Moving cautiously Rowan managed to get around to the side of the horse. Slowly he set his hands on the saddle horn and the reins. Then he stock his left foot into the left stirrup and hopped on.

Like last time, the Gray Lady began bucking and jumping around, all in an effort to get the stubborn RJ off her back. All the while Rowan held firmly on to the reins with his left hand while he used his right to balance.

"Whoa! Hoah! Hey whoa! Jesus!" Rowan shouted as he did his best to hang on. And once again found himself landing in horse manure.

Face first.

Groaning, Rowan pushed the crap and mud out of his face and chuckled. "You are the one most stubborn, hard headed, spirited animal I have ever met." He said sighing. The horse whinnying as if it was laughing.

"Oh yeah." Rowan said groaning and sifting the mud and crap out of his hair. "Keep laughing." After shaking more of the brown and black substance out of his hat, he slapped it onto his head. "You know...your strength could help out a Regulator if you wanted to."

He noticed the horse cocked it's head as she looked at him. It was like she was almost interested in what he was saying.

"All I'm saying is that you'd be a great fighter." Rowan said and sighed. "For now. You've won the day." He said and began walking away. "Now if you don't mind, I've got to find a shower."

Zoë found herself waiting in the atrium. While she was surrounded by people, she was alone waiting for Rowan. Like everything else, that man simply was not punctual about these gatherings.

Rowan had promised her to be there. Though he kept his promises, he never specified when.

A few Regulators had even asked if Rowan would come and all she could do was smile and say 'yes'. Though she wondered if he would be here this time.

In fact, Rowan was the only Ghost to not be there.

Emery had arrived early, as she had come with a date. Regulator's name was Mark Hoosier. A decent Regulator, he was one of the men who patrolled north of Regina, so it was relatively safe.

Dez was here as well, though his only company was the bottles of liquor that he was ingesting a steady pace. So far he had already gone through three bottles of beer, and a few shots of malt whisky.

Then there was Zoë. A Regulator, not to mention a woman, who was alone. Normally that shouldn't have been a problem, if she had been a Regulator. But it was, she was also a woman, and had found herself drawn to Rowan.

Not only to personal attraction, but through fascination as well. His story was so unique and captivating. He was a man who couldn't remember who he was past 15, and yet he had more skill with fighting than most tribals did. His personality was also something of a mystery. He was generally cheerful, and not that selfish, but at the same time, he attitude could change to that of a Winnipeg soldier.

A cold and ruthless killer.

Thankfully, this change was rare, and did not last that long. Still, when it did, Zoë grew secretly more afraid of him.

Yet this didn't stop her from...loving him.

Love.

It was strange. Zoë never, in her entire life, thought she could have fallen in love with someone. Especially her partner, and her friend. After her little brother Noah died Zoë didn't want to be close to anyone ever again. Because she didn't want that a feeling of loss that was so dreadful she contemplating killing herself once or twice after that.

That was until she found her calling of regulating. The chance to stop the killing in the end. Even if it meant another river of blood, she would justify her former life with this new one.

Zoë then felt a hand on her shoulder. It was warm, and both gentle, yet firm. She knew who it was, and sighed contently as she placed her hand on his.

"It took you long enough." She said turning around to stare at Rowan. He put his hand on the back of his head in embarrassment.

He wore a red and green plaid shirt, a set of dark brown fatigue pants, and new leather boots. He had his duster on as well as his grey hat. Zoë noticed that he had shaved and combed his freshly washed hair so now it was shaggy.

"Sorry. Didn't want to come in stinking." He said sheepishly. Then noticed that the band that was there in the atrium had started playing a soft and slow song. "Care to dance?" He asked grinning.

Zoë gave him an amused and taken aback look. "Rowan James. Since when do you know how to dance?" She asked, but in fact she was impressed.

"Hey. You can learn a lot living in a library." He said and lead her to the center of the room. Rowan secretly thought it was both odd and funny that a slow dance would be called such. All it really was, was placing on hand on the partner's back, the other in their hand, and simply slow side stepping back and forth.

The things the old world had thought of.

"I've got to say, Ms. Wheeler, that it's certainly been an interesting four years." Rowan said as stared at her. Her soft green eyes. He found himself lost in those eyes often.

"You'd call me that?" She asked as she stared up at him, into those tired hazel eyes of his. "Even though you know who I really am?" Rowan chuckled when he heard this.

"Are you joking? It's hard for me to simply say your name. The effect you have on people is ridiculous." He said as continued to dance with her.

"The effect on people, or the effect on you?" She asked slyly. Zoë was quite surprised and nearly burst out laughing when she saw him blushing. "I'll take that as the latter."

"Zo." He said and sighed, almost sounding tired as they stopped dancing. He then leaned his head down so he was resting against hers. "I don't know why, and I know it's a little clichéd but...I find myself not wanting to be away from you." He said.

While Zoë stared hard at him, she then felt something on her hand. She gasped what it was.

It at first looked like a simple piece of wicker wood, but then she looked harder and saw it was looped around into circle big enough to slide onto a finger.

The finger.

"It's not much, can't find anyone in Regina who could make rings." Rowan said, his face from neck to forehead red. "So I did it myself. And it took me about four hours to make it."

Zoë found herself gasping, also going red in the face. Never did she even remotely guess that it would go this far, but there was the thought and the type of thought that never left.

"So Zoë MacManus. Will you spend forever with me?" He asked. Rowan looked like a thermometer in a very hot room. His face was cherry red. Zoë was as equally red, and she couldn't even speak a word at the moment. Acting like a fish, her mouth kept opening and closing.

Finally after a few moment, she sighed and shook her head to get her composure. Then stared hard at him.

"When you say 'forever', boy..." She said in a threatening tone, and pointed her finger at his face. "You damn well better mean it." She said almost glaring at him.

Rowan couldn't help but smile. "So...does that mean a 'yes'?" He asked, the faintest hopes now building. When Zoë put her hands on the sides of his head and pulled him in close, then smiled, those hopes had been confirmed.

"Yes. Of course yes." She said and found herself kissing him.

Dez stood by the bar of the atrium. A thick glass of double whisky in his hands. His face had both of drunkenness, and scorn. As he took another healthy drink, he watched them kiss.

His grip on the glass tightened.

He never had been so angry in his life. The introduction of alcohol certainly wasn't helping. Drunk and angry, he didn't even notice that the glass of alcohol in his hand exploded because of all the pressure he had put into it. As blood and liquor poured down his wrist, he kept glaring at Rowan.

The smile on his face would be replaced with terror.

Zoë belonged to him. She had been with him once. She would be with him again. Ever since that night at Moosomin. Both of them had drunken themselves into stupors over Rowan's injury, and wound up in a bed together.

Because of that Dez felt in his mind, that Zoë belonged to him, and nobody was going to take her away from him.

Nobody.