A/N: Please go check out the song for this chapter! It literally sums up Grace and her situation in this chapter PERFECTLY! Plus, I can't stop listening to it.

Also, please check out the TV Tropes page. It's awesome.

Legally Bound

"Now here I am trying to make sense of it all

We were best friends now we don't even talk

You broke my heart

Ripped my world apart…" Kellie Pickler – 'Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You'

Benjamin grinned. "It's nice to see you, Gracie."

"Gracie?" questioned several voices at once, most notably Jake's, who's was the loudest and angriest of the bunch.

He fixed Benjamin with a murderous glare, his metallic tail rattled loudly and shrilly. "Ya got a lot o' nerve comin' round here, boy. Turn around and walk away, before I–"

"What're you doing here, Benjamin?" Grace's hard voice cut across the group like a cold frost.

Jake threw her an incredulous look. "Why you askin' him?"

Benjamin smiled, the toothpick between his teeth was flicked over to stick out of the other side of his mouth. Almost as if he were trying to impress someone, his tail came to straighten his bad tie. He attempted to slither towards her. Grace immediately stiffened, and Jake planted half his coils directly in his path. The two males exchanged a look. Jake noticed how fidgety and almost easily insulted this guy seemed to get. Just from this, the snake's thunderous expression looked fit to explode.

Grace cleared her throat loudly, and Benjamin re-directed his attention to her, an overly charming smile plastered on his face. Though when his tongue flickered out, his expression twitched into something a little harder. He frowned.

"You look good, Gracie. You been doing well for yourself. Though I admit, I had hoped ya wouldn't be acting all… indiscreet." He bit off the word with a glare in Jake's direction. "Ya should be careful. People can smell things so easily sometimes. It doesn't usually look good."

Grace's jaw stiffened, and she cast her eyes away from Benjamin. The tightening of her coils and the way she dipped her head, made it appear as if she were ever so slightly ashamed at his words. Jake rattled his tail again, his fangs begged to pop out and sink into something.

He cocked his Gatlin Gun and pointed it straight for Benjamin's head. "Ya got three seconds before I run yer ass outta town. Or better yet, give me an excuse to blow yer freakin' head off."

"Is this what you do, Mr Rattlesnake? Bully good people for no reason? I just want to talk to my wife." He put extra emphasis on the last word. It was enough to make Jake's eye twitch, but nothing else.

Instead, he smirked. "What ya gonna do about it if I don't want'cha to?"

"I can take care o' myself."

"Then yer stupid as well as a fool." An old part of Jake, one that delighted in discovering everything that made a person tick and exploiting it, came to the fore. He raised his body high, giving the subconscious impression that he was much larger than in reality, and pushed his head forward into Benjamin's space. "Ya play the clever stick, but we know better. Don't we, boy?"

Benjamin scowled. The end of his tail began to curl and uncurl like a fist. He made a nod of his head in Grace's direction. "Better than an old man prancin' around in with somethin' that don't belong to him."

"Huh," Jake gave a mirthless chuckle. "Then which on o' us is all over her right now?"

"Ya got no right–"

"Yeah, I don't. But I'm still gonna enjoy this." Jake grinned, being sure to show his sharp teeth. Angry, Benjamin's head began to puff out and triangulate to make it look more like a viper's. His tail swept across the ground so fast that it mimicked a rattling sound. Jake just laughed and pushed his gun almost under the Gopher's chin. "Yer little trick don't work on me ya yellow-belly varmint. Now I'm gonna put a nice hole through the dick on yer head, right between yer eyes."

Benjamin let loose a serpentine hiss, and swung his tail as if he meant to strike Jake. The rattler was faster, jaws opening wide to reveal his fully revealed fangs –

"Jake!"

The shout cracked like a whip. Both serpents stopped min-attack, and looked over to Grace. Her eyes were closed, but her expression was furious. When she opened her eyes, she was glaring at them both. Her focus shifted to Benjamin, and Jake seemed to know what she was going to do before she did it. He stared at her in outrage, demanding that she not do this. She either didn't see him, or completely ignored him.

"Ben. I'd like to speak with you. Privately."

"Grace!" Jake snapped. "Don't ya dare–"

"Not now, Jake."

She led the way around the back of the Sheriff's office and into an alley. Benjamin smirked smugly as he slithered right past Jake with a satisfied murmur: "If ya'll excuse me."

Jake watched them leave. His sides were heaving with the force needed to help control his anger. Utter fury coursed through him, along with a bitter and murderous feeling that Jake knew to be jealousy. It infuriated him to see that bastard so close and smug with himself as he slithered after Grace, and how she didn't just kick him out right then and there.

The rattlesnake's fury was too much to suddenly bare. He couldn't stick around here, the anger would only fester until it made him explode – or kill something. So, with a snarl, he stormed off.

Rango watched him go, clearly at a loss for what to do. Just when they needed it the least, trouble came knocking.

Pain exploded on the side of his head, causing the Sheriff to yelp loudly and clutch a hand to his head.

"Rango!" Beans exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

The chameleon noticed a stone seemingly wrapped in paper at his boot. It hadn't been there a moment ago. He looked up, and spotted a shadowed figure in the alleyway across the main street. It grinned and showed malicious teeth glinting from the gloom. The familiar silhouette of Ramirez chuckled to himself, before slinking away and out of sight.

"Rango?" Beans asked persistently.

"Yeah, Beans, don't worry, I'm alright." He eventually told her with a smile.

Beans didn't seem entirely convinced, but after a moment realised that there was nothing to be done. He wasn't bleeding and didn't appear to be troubled. She shrugged and began to walk away. Before he could follow her, Rango stooped down and hastily picked up the rock on the floor. Carefully, he pulled the paper away and revealed scribbled words in half-dry ink.

'The canyon. Tomorrow. Come alone.'

"I gotta admit, Gracie, you always were a trouble-magnet. How else'd ya get with me?"

Benjamin's grin was quickly wiped right off when Grace suddenly stopped and turned on him. Her expression was beyond what could be described as 'rage'. It was the very definition of mind-numbing fury.

She just couldn't believe it. After ten years, Benjamin was here? No warning, no reason, just appeared out of the blue? It was too much. Confusing, hurtful, maddening, hate-inducing. Seeing him again had opened a yawning pit that ached deep in her chest and swallowed her stomach whole. It physically hurt to be near him because of all the emotions and questions that burned through her mind.

But she refused to show him how he'd made her feel. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he'd gotten through to her. So instead, she adopted a superior sense of cold calmness.

Her voice was like ice when she spat out, "What are you doing here, Benjamin?"

"Benjamin?" he snorted. "You sound like my old man. Whatever happened to Bennie and Gracie? Two young spitfires against the world?"

"One of us grew up. The other just upped and left."

"You know it weren't like that. Don't make me feel that way." He snipped quickly. Then his expression softened. "Come on, Gracie. You know there weren't one day I weren't thinking about you."

"You weren't apparently thinking about me on that day. Were you?"

"What do ya want me to say? That I'm sorry? Baby, you know I am."

"I want you to tell me why you're here."

He sighed, and looked at her. His eyes were so full of concern that Grace almost thought it was real. "I heard what's been going on. You honestly think I wouldn't come back to check on you when I heard you got in trouble?"

"I got in trouble plenty of times. You never showed up then."

"This time's different." His eyes became hard. She was frustrating him, not playing to the emotions he obviously wanted to bring out in her. He'd been like that before. Always said the right thing to bring out the exact reaction he wanted in her. Well, not again. "You know you're in way deeper than you ought to be."

"Why do you care?"

"Grace, I may have walked out – and it was a stupid mistake – but that don't mean I never loved you. And it don't mean I don't care about you now… or Teddy."

Grace eyes glared up at him sharply. "What?"

"You gotta stop this. All this fighting? All this danger? It ain't good for him. You gotta think about what's best for–"

"Don't. You. Dare!" she growled out viciously. Her body began to shake, she was so angry with him. Benjamin took up a defensive stance, but Grace was beyond the point of caring. "Don't you dare think you can come back in here after years away, and tell me how to be a parent! You left! Whilst you were out traipsing across the desert doing Lord-knows-what, I was at home through all the fevers, all the tantrums, all the moments you never saw. As far as I'm concerned, you gave up your right to dictate to me how to raise my son!"

"You think you're doing good here?" he snapped. "Damn it, Grace, that's a Rattler out there! You think that viper's good for our son? Good for you? I couldn't stand it when I smelt him on you."

"That's none of your business."

"You're my wife."

"You walked out!" she shouted, so loudly she could've sworn the humans at the road might've heard her. "You walked out on me, Ben! You realise what I did for you? I loved you. My daddy told me no, threatened to disown me, but I didn't care. You made me love you. You showed me more love then I'd ever known was possible. When you asked, I practically abandoned my family for you. I was devoted to you. If you had told me you wanted to leave, I would've gone with you that same day and never looked back. Instead I came home to find the man I loved gone, and that he'd left me homeless and penniless! I could've died! I could've died – or worse, Ben! I had your children on the way. You used me. And you left me nothing."

"It's not all my fault–"

"The hell it isn't!" she screeched. "You gonna tell me I wasn't loving you right? That it was my fault? You always used to say that when we argued. Finally I woke up and realised you never loved me as much as I loved you."

He reached out, as if to hold her in his coils. "I'm here to love you now–"

Grace recoiled from him, her eyes filled with furious tears, her teeth bared. "Don't you dare touch me."

"God damn-it woman!" he shouted and suddenly turned away from her to hit the wall of the alley with his tail. Grace jumped. She'd never seen Benjamin be so angry as to be violent before. "You got no idea what I went through!"

"It's always about you!"

"Just listen!" he pushed out a coil to restrain her, to keep her still. Grace yelped, startled. It was enough to break whatever panicked and angry spell had come over Benjamin, for he gently released her and took a long, deep breath to calm himself. "I was in debt. Bad. You know me, Gracie, I always mouthed off, tried to sell the wrong thing to the wrong people."

"You were conman."

"And it caught up with me. Gracie, there were some nasty people who wanted to hurt me. I had to sell everything just to get them off my back for a week. You got no idea what it's like to be hunted, to have that threat of being ripped apart loomin' over you. Turns you into a nervous wreck."

He shivered. And despite everything, Grace felt the tinniest glimmer of guilt spark through her. Had he really been so down on his luck? She asked herself. Had he truly been in so much danger, when she'd thought he'd just gotten bored and left? It didn't completely erase her anger, but it did cause a fracture to appear in her defensive walls. Benjamin looked at her with those puppy eyes that had always melted her before, the eyes that always got her to do whatever he wanted her to do, no matter what it was.

"I figured, because I sold everything, you wouldn't want nothing to do with me. And I needed to get out of Dirt, Gracie. Small-town life was choking me. So I packed up and went. I figured you'd be okay. Your daddy lorded that over me plenty of times. I guessed the old coot would take you in."

"Guessed? Figured?" She bit out harshly. She shook her head, and gave him a look that clearly said unbelievable. "Thank you for coming back, Benjamin Hares. You've just put aside any doubt in my mind that you are as much of a selfish bastard as I always thought you were."

"No, Gracie, wait!" His tail reached out and again restrained her when she turned to leave. Grace initially struggled, but stopped herself. There was no point. He dropped his hold on her and turned her head with his tail to look at him, his eyes imploring her. "Please. I am sorry for what happened. So sorry. And I know I got no right asking you to forgive me, but I desperately want us back. At least give me a shot, right? I want to come home to my wife."

Damn it all. Grace felt a lump in her throat as she cast her eyes away. "It's not that simple."

"It doesn't have to be. Look, just let me prove to do right by you, this once. Give me a week. And if you still want me gone, I'll pack up and leave – for good. I'll even annul us so you'll be a free woman."

Damn her, Grace actually stood there and thought about for a while. Was she actually considering this? Inviting him back into her life, into her home? She had a good thing going on with Jake, why push that all aside now? Well, technically she wasn't, she was firmly set on telling Benjamin 'no' either way at the end of this one-week-trial. So then why even give him the time day? Because he was the father of her child, and she had loved him once, a long time ago. And what's more, he had nowhere else to go. And she couldn't ask him to live on the streets when her couch or her barn was good enough.

She sighed. Why did he have to do this to her? Ultimately, she had no choice. She nodded.

It had been awkward to escort Benjamin to her house, to show him the couch where he would be sleeping, at his questions explain why he had to sleep on the couch. A part of Grace had despised the thought of this intruder in her home. It felt like she always had to watch her back, had to keep an eye on him in case he tried to steal the family silver. She admonished herself for such thoughts, but it wasn't easy when she gripped the carving knife a little too tight when preparing the dinner.

Sundown quickly came, and with it, Pricilla and her mother dropped Teddy back home. It was almost a relief to Grace to have her son back home and under her watchful eye. With Benjamin's arrival, it seemed like nothing felt safe, there were too many surprises lurking in the world.

But then came the extremely tense moment. The moment that Grace had hoped and feared would never come. The moment when Teddy would meet his father.

As Grace closed the front door and turned with her son to head back into the kitchen, they were both surprised to see Benjamin stood in the hallway. A large, charming smile was spread across her husband's face. Grace noted it was the same smile that he always wore when he was trying to sell something. Teddy frowned up at the strange adult in his home. Perhaps it was because of his odd vision, or perhaps he was trying to figure out what was happening and why.

Grace tensed when Benjamin invited himself to come unexpectedly close to them. He lowered his head to be on eyelevel with Teddy and his plastered smile widened a little when he seemed to recognise the same pattern on the boy as his own. "Hey there, little guy. You must be Teddy?"

Teddy cocked his head, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Teddy, this is Benjamin…" Grace hazarded. She was at a loss for what to do. Benjamin cleared his throat loudly.

"I'm your daddy, son." He told Teddy sweetly. He reached out with the tip of his tail, and tapped Teddy on the end of his nose. "Look at you, a chip off the old block." He also seemed to ignore the way Teddy whipped his tail along the ground in an attempt to make a rattling noise.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Grace gasped and snapped on instinct, "Teddy! Language!"

Benjamin chuckled. "Well, son, I'm here because I finally realised I was stupid. And I wanna chance to be the dad… and husband, that I wasn't before. Would you like that?"

"No." With that short and curt answer, Teddy craned his neck back to look up at his mother beside him. "Momma? When's Jake comin' home?"

"I, uh…" Grace mumbled. She avoided Benjamin's disapproving glare. Thankfully she was saved when they all suddenly heard a loud knock on the door behind them. Grace didn't want to, but at the insistent, impatient, continuous knocking, she gently nudged Teddy in Benjamin's direction. "Teddy, why don't you go wash up before bed, okay?"

"Here, I'll help you little tyke," said Benjamin, offering Teddy his tail to hold.

The child glared up at his father, and slithered right past him up the stairs. "I can do it. I'm not a baby."

"Oh I know; you're getting to be so big now. I'm proud of you, son."

When at the top of the stairs, Teddy turned and fixed Benjamin with an obviously fake charming smile. "I want what's good for my momma and me."

"So do I."

"No. You don't. That's why I'm not your son. Momma always said I was a gift from God. I'm gonna believe that instead."

Benjamin's smile was slightly strained. "Why don't you give me chance? Maybe I can change your momma's mind and yours too?"

"Mr Jake's gonna beat you outta this house. You know that, right?"

"Son. I'm only gonna say this once." Benjamin's voice was suddenly tight, his brows knit downward even as the smile remained on his face. He leant forward, and spoke quietly. "I'm your daddy, so in the future you're gonna talk to me with a little more respect. And we'll get along just fine. Are we clear?"

Teddy scowled at the man who claimed to be his father. With not another word, the son turned and stormed off into his own room.

Meanwhile, Grace answered the door at the bottom of the stairs. She saw nothing at first, his scales blended that well with the dark of the night, despite their colour. It was only because of the twin blazing fiery eyes that she was able to tell he was there at all. Upon realising it was Jake, Grace was simultaneously surprised and relieved to see him. She quickly stepped onto the front porch.

"Jake, hey." She said softly as she closed the front door behind her to ensure privacy between them.

The rattlesnake's scowl was thunderous as he glared down at her. When he spoke, his voice was eerily low and quiet. "Ya got three seconds to tell me what's going on, woman."

Grace grimaced. "Jake, it's complicated…"

"You've told me ya hate him – hell, you've even had me in yer bed. Now he come's struttin' back, suddenly I'm out and he's in?"

"Of course not–!"

"You remember what we said?" he growled as he leaned closer, until their noses were only centimetres apart. "Yer mine. And I don't share."

Grace felt her own anger began to stir and snap back. She hissed, "I'm not a toy, so don't speak to me like I'm one!"

"Why you even toleratin' him? Why let him anywhere near ya?"

She groaned and shrugged. "Jake, I don't have much choice. He's my husband–"

"What?" Jake snapped, his pupils became blade-thin. "Now yer worried about holdin' up marriage-vows? Screw yer propriety!"

"Jake, you know I didn't mean it like that!" She tried to gently reach for him. "You know I want you–"

He recoiled from her touch, his face furious. "You want the bad boy to keep you warm but the husband on yer arm!"

"No!"

"You won't have me while he's here, will you? Because he's yer 'husband'. Ain't that right?!"

Grace just stared, her mouth open in shock and horror at this turn of events. She wanted to say the words, but nothing would come out of her stuck throat.

"Say it!"

"Yes." Came a choked whisper.

Jake growled. "That's what I thought."

"It-It's not what you think…"

"Enjoy yer husband whilst yer little bit on the side slinks away, unnoticed!"

And with that, he turned and stormed off her porch and down the path of her front yard. Grace watched him go, panic, confusion and guilt warring within her.

"Jake! Wait!" she called.

"If ya ever wanna have a little fun behind his back, let me know!" Jake shouted sarcastically over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to hop in on his side of the bed while it's still warm!"

Grace watched him go. When he was gone and the night was still and silent once more, she hung her head and held back her weary tears. What a mess.

Throughout the whole of the next day, Grace was a twitching mess. A fitful night's sleep had made her sleep-deprived-dreary brain that morning not recognise Benjamin when he came down the stairs for breakfast. She'd almost screamed the whole house down. It took her three seconds to remember everything that had happened yesterday. Then had begun the awkward affair of having a 'family' breakfast, with Teddy glaring across the table at Benjamin the entire time. Grace wished her son wouldn't be so standoffish with his father. Despite everything that Benjamin had done, he still was Teddy's father by blood, and so they should have a comfortable relationship. However, that didn't seem likely at the moment, the child was as sullen and bitter as the rattlesnake he'd come to admire. He was in such a dark mood; Grace had never seen him like this before.

Not long after breakfast, Benjamin announced he would be going into town to buy some groceries so that he could cook them all dinner tonight. Grace was more than a little weary – no one touched her kitchen. But with Benjamin out of the house, it allowed her to have a moment to relax. Teddy was content to tidy his room as his mother requested – which was quite strange in itself. The boy had no desire to leave his mother's side, as if he were the one watching over her.

So in the quiet of the midmorning, sat on her sofa, Grace attempted to stitch up a hole in one of her bedsheets, whilst thinking about her dilemma with her lover. Had anything he said been true? Was she more concerned about appearances? Well, anyone would be. According to the church, Benjamin was her husband, she'd vowed to be loyal and obedient to him. According to society, the fact that she would keep up an affair whilst her husband was in the picture was cause for mass scandal. It had been different when Benjamin had seemingly abandoned her and Teddy, then people wouldn't have blamed her for loving and making love to a different man. But did she really care what they thought? Not really. So why had she told Jake she had?

Either way, she knew she had to find Jake in order to resolve this. Fast.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a polite knock at the door. At first her heart pounded that Jake had come back. But the knocking didn't match his abrupt and intrusive manner. So, with a sigh, she went to the door and opened it to strangely find a small chipmunk dressed in a grey suit at her door.

Grace cocked her head, curious. "Can I help you?"

"Grace Glossy?" asked the chipmunk a little timidly. "Hello there, my name is Melbourne, I'm with the bank of Mud."

"What can I do for you Mr Melbourne?"

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to come into town. There's a matter that requires your presence at the Lawyers department. Urgently."

"What? Why? What is this all about?"

"Well, it's just that…" Melbourne's eyes darted to the floor, his fingers twitched together. "There's a man there claiming to be your, uh, husband. He's trying to do legal transactions without you present. I thought it a bit odd. The whole time you've been a client, you've never made any mention of–"

Profanity exploded from Grace's lips in a rush of anger. "That sneaky, no good, lying son of a whore!"

She didn't have a thought in her head for anything else as she leapt clear over the chipmunk's head and landed at the bottom of her porch steps. Melbourne yelped, and watched as the furious glossy snake stormed her way out of her farm and made her way in the direction of town. Grace was beyond reasoning with. Her teeth were bared and there was an infernal hiss erupting out of her gut, even as her belly sliced through the sand at high speed. She didn't stop, even when she was heaving for air, until she was in town. Folks wisely decided to give her a wide birth when they noticed her aura of rage.

She found the lawyers offices, 'Catridge and Sons Attorneys', a building made out several sardine containers, and was actually large enough to fit a snake of Grace's size inside. She all but busted down the door in her flurry to get inside. The two other animals in the waiting room practically screamed their heads off at the burst of angry snake into their midst. Grace ignored them and also ignored the secretary as she barged right into the main office.

Benjamin sat with his back to her at a large desk made out of a matchbox. The nervous looking weasel on the other side tried to smooth down his messy jacket as he smiled up at Grace. She just stood there fuming at the back of Benjamin's head, who still had yet to acknowledge her entrance.

Cartridge smiled in an attempt to hide his clear anxiety. "Ah, Madam Glossy. Glad you could join us."

Grace stalked forward with all the menace of a predator on the hunt. She kept her gaze fixed on Benjamin as she came to sit in the chair right next to him. He refused to look at her.

"You." She hissed low and dangerously. She almost lunged at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you slimy bastard!"

"Miss Grace, please!" Catridge's voice broke through her anger and had her sitting back down, though still scowling. "We need to keep this meeting civil to get to the bottom of this. I take it this is your husband?"

"In the loosest form of the term." She ground out between clenched teeth. "What is this all about?"

"Your husband here is attempting to sell your land."

"You… you what?" Grace was shaking, she was that angry. It was all she could do not to reach over to him and strangle him. "Traitor! Judas! How could you?!"

"It's my right." He finally spoke up with a snap as he glared over at her. He then turned his attention back to Cartridge, jaw set firmly. "I'm her husband, sir – she said it herself. Legally, as her husband, all her assets are owned by me."

Grace screeched in indignation. "No! My daddy gave me that farm specifically in his will. The deed is in my name."

"And as your husband, everything that was yours is mine."

"Bullshit! I'm not going to let you sell me out again!"

"Gracie, it's for your own good–"

"Don't you ever call me 'gracie'–!"

"Please!" Cartridge shouted over the pair of them. When he had their attention (momentarily), he sighed and continued. "Now, I understand that this is causing some conflict to occur between you. I suggest you both go home and sort this out amongst yourselves whilst you get the paperwork sorted."

"Paperwork?" Benjamin asked.

Grace glared. "Surely this matter can be decided now!"

"Actually, no." the weasel shook his head. "To prove that the pair of you are telling the truth, respectively, I'll need legal documents that back up your claims. Miss Glossy, I'll need to see your father's last will and testimony to be sure that he left your farm to you as sole inheritor. And Mr Hares, I'll need proof that you and Miss Glossy were ever formally married, such as a marriage certificate."

Both snakes gaped, clearly not happy with this result. Even as Cartridge stood and gathered up a folder in his arms. He then began to inch towards the door.

"Until then," he tipped his hat to them. "I bid you good-day."

As the note had told him to do so, Rango rode his roadrunner, alone, to the canyons where the hill-folk had once made their nest. The day air was stifling hot, and Rango had to take off his hat to use it as a fan. He only hoped he hadn't been stood up.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before he heard a familiar accented voice. "Ah, Monsieur Rango."

"Dufayel." Rango warily kept his distance as the fox stepped out of the shadows to fully face him, flanked of course by the ever present Coyote and his thugs. "I had been hoping to speak with you…"

The fox grinned and made a grand gesture to himself. "Well, here I am."

"I need to know if there's any way I can convince you to stop all this."

"As I recall," Dufayel tapped his chin, sarcastically implying he was thinking. "You were the one who asked for a legal battle, non? What's the matter, Sheriff? Cold-feet?"

"You gotta stop this. These people live here, Dufayel – you can't ask them to move out."

"I have offered to compensate them." He snorted as he inspected his cane.

"This is their home."

He snapped. "And this is my livelihood. I invested enough into this foolhardy venture to begin with. It is time I received my profit."

"Then can't we reach some sorta bargain?" Rango didn't care for his pride as he begged. "There has to be a way to resolve this."

"Your people have made it clear they want nothing to do with me."

With no alternative, Rango sighed. When he looked back at the fox, his gaze was cold, and his voice as menacing as he could make it. "For your own sake, I'm asking you to leave us be."

Dufayel grinned. "Is that a threat, Monsieur Rango?"

"You don't wanna corner a wild animal."

"And you had best not attempt to outfox a fox. It goes badly for you in your case."

Rango slumped. "Will nothing change your mind? These people are desperate."

"Your Mayor Tortoise John brought this upon your heads when he came to me. Begged me to endorse him. I've spent almost everything I have on this. I need that investment back – tenfold!" he stamped the end of his cane into the dirt. "Don't you speak to me of desperation!"

"Dufayel, I–"

"Try. Beg and plead all you wish. It does not change the inevitable. Every move you can make is on the board and already planned out. And now I'm closing in for a checkmate." And with that, he turned and strutted off into the dusty shadows again. "Go home, Sheriff. I believe we're done here."

With nothing else to do, Rango did as he was bid. He rode the roadrunner all the way back to Beans' ranch. He didn't know why he felt he needed to, but it just seemed to make sense that she'd make everything better. She always managed to brighten his day, anyway. But what was he going to tell her now?

"Rango!" came the cry the made him jump. And suddenly Beans' glaring eyes were right in front of him. "Where in the hell have you been? You have any idea how worried I was?"

The chameleon cleared his throat. Now came the moment of truth. Beans never wanted him to lie again, but would this truth destroy her as he feared it would? "I, uh, I went to see Dufayel."

"What? What were you thinking!" Beans shouted. After a moment, it seemed her curiosity got the better of her, and she wildly gestured for him to continue. "Well then? How'd it go?"

Well, he'd already told her one truth. Perhaps it would be best to even up the numbers?

"It's sorted." The lie came easily off of his lips.

Beans' eyebrows shot upwards. "It is?"

"Yeah, I marched right up on in there and I demanded to know what his terms were. I looked him right in the eye, noticed one of his was out of whack with the other. A common weakness of a man with a lazy eye is that he is frightened of fast movements. So I dashed about the room – freaked him the hell out! And that's when I got right in his face and I says: 'Dufayel! Here's how's this is gonna play down! A woman is out there who needs her land. She is an outstanding gal, with pretty socks, and I will not have you disrespect her. Are we clear?' Then we sorted out terms over drinks."

Beans' arms were folded across her chest, a knocking smirk spread over her face. For a second, Rango feared he would get caught out and scolded. Instead, Beans giggled. "Pretty socks?"

"I like the colour…" he took a quick look down at her feet. "grey."

She giggled and reached for him. Her arms easily wrapped around his shoulders as she leaned in to kiss his guilty face. "Thank you, Rango."

Rango only hoped he didn't live to regret this.