The first thing I'm able to feel are two hands on my face. I hear some words, but I can't understand them, nor I can understand who's pronouncing them.

I keep my eyes closed, impossible for me to open them again for now. The two hands lift my head and make my body lay on my back.

Then, I feel it.

Pain.

An excruciating pain on the right side of my head.

I try to lift my hand to touch it, but my arms are like frozen. I try to move my legs, but with the same result.

"Fred… Fred…"

I'm finally able to hear again.

I lift my eyelids, just what's necessary to see a blurred image of Charles.

"We have to go. Can you stand?"

As an answer I slowly turn on my left side and push with my shoulder as hard as I can, so to sit up.

An unexpected sickness hits my guts and my head starts spinning uncontrollably. The pain on the side of my head sharpens and I immediately bring a hand up to touch it. When I let it down, it is covered in blood.

"You hit your head falling" Charles informs me as he stands up to help me doing the same.

He grabs me from under my arms and lifts me with no problem.

Arthur and Captain Monroe are some yards away from us. They come closer as they see me standing.

"Are you okay?" asks Arthur.

I try to nod without moving my hurtful head too much.

"Come on, we need to go. More could come any moment."

Charles puts a hand on my shoulder and gently pushes me towards Taima.

"No, wait… Isabella…" I murmur turning around still disoriented, looking for my horse.

My eyesight crosses the images in my brain when I move my head, but the scene that opens in front of me is unmistakable.

It's like my heart falls apart in a million pieces.

She's laying on her side, her eyes wide open in an expression of terror, her chest doesn't move.

I stumble in her direction, but Charles' hands still on my shoulders try to block me.

I don't know how I free myself, I don't know how I reach her, the only thing I know is that I'm kneeled next to her and I'm touching her beautiful dark warm mantle.

"I know, but we have to get outta here" they say from behind me.

I feel again two hands on me, but I push them roughly aside.

I don't want them to touch me.

"I know, I'm sorry, but we need to go" they keep saying.

More hands come to get me, they lift me against my will and pull me away.

"NO, I WON'T LEAVE HER. I WON'T LEAVE HER".

"What are we going to do now?" asks Charles.

"I'll bring Captain Monroe to the closest train station. You two go back to camp" answers Arthur.

Even if I keep my eyes on the ground, I can sense his gaze on me for a second.

I turn my head to the other side to hide my tears, laying my forehead on Charles' back.

We leave Arthur and the Captain at the first station we meet on the road and we keep riding eastward.

We keep silent for a long time and, honestly, I prefer it like that. This way I have the chance to concentrate on the huge black hole I feel inside me.

If that arrogant piece of shit wasn't so much proud to find some kind of compromise with the natives or to let Captain Monroe give him some fucking advice, nothing would have happened. And if Dutch hadn't complicated the relationship between the natives and the army, we would have probably found a way, and Isabella wouldn't be…

It's all about Dutch. It's always his fault.

"How are you?" asks Charles distracting me from my thoughts.

I don't answer. I don't even know what to tell him.

"When we'll get back, I have to check that wound" he says gently.

Instinctively, I raise a hand to the side of my head, still sticky because of the blood. The pain went away, but now an irritating thumping started.

He doesn't say anything more.

I would expect him to reproach me, tell me something like 'I told you to leave', but he doesn't. He doesn't because he knows this way he'll make me feel guilty, and this act of kindness makes me feel even worse, more unworthy, because I don't deserve all this. I don't deserve him.

When we reach the camp, he gets down Taima and then helps me doing the same. After the fall I'm a little stiff in my movements and my spinning head doesn't help.

As he leads me next to the campfire and makes me sit down, half the camp gets closer asking me what happened.

Charles tells them we had a struggle with some men, but he doesn't specify what kind of men and for what reason we had to fight them.

Mary-Beth brings some water and a clean piece of cloth for Charles, who immediately gets to work cleaning the wound.

"Sorry. Just hold on, I'm almost done" he says when I hiss in pain at his touch, trying to withdraw my head.

"Why didn't you listen to me?" he adds in a whisper.

His voice is still calm and kind, and, even though he can't hide the concern, I hear no trace of scolding.

Just as I expected, he doesn't want me to feel guilty.

My sight blurs and a heavy weight on my chest avoids me to breathe.

Charles stops dabbing my wound and I sense his eyes on me, but I don't have the strength to look at him.

He reaches out a hand and delicately dries the tears from my face.

"How could I leave you?" I ask with a whisper.

He puts his hand down and simply stares at me.

When I look back at him I see something like… amazement mixed with regret painted on his face.

"I tried to go away, but then I… I just couldn't" I murmur looking away.

On the distance something catches my attention.

Dutch is talking with Micah. They are seated together in front of Dutch's tent, one next to the other, murmuring and studying God knows what kind of plan that will put us all in danger again.

When I came back they didn't even come to check on me, they didn't asked where Arthur was. They just don't care. It's not a surprise from Micah, but Dutch…

Some kind of force makes me stand up.

My still sensible head causes me some sickness and I have to take Charles' arm not to fall down.

"What are you doing? I haven't finished yet" he says.

"Just a second" I reply.

Slowly but consciously I stumble in their direction.

I want to know, once and for all.

As I expected they stop talking when I reach them.

"You should lay down, you don't seem to be well" says Micah with his usual smirk.

The rage that rises inside me makes my hands clutch into two fists.

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" I ask to Dutch, ignoring him with all my strength.

"If you want to say something you can say it to both of us" Micah replies.

I move my eyes from him to Dutch looking at him with hope. The hope he's still the man I learned to know.

He moves on his chair, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees, looking right at me.

"What you want to tell me?" he asks quietly.

That's the answer I wanted, the certainty I was looking for.

"So now Micah is you faithful dog who follows you everywhere? And I'm not even allowed to speak with you in private?" I ask raising my shaking voice and watching him with disbelieve.

"What you wanted to tell me?" he asks again, loosing the kindness.

I tighten my teeth and take a deep breath before I keep on.

"Nothing. Never mind. I just got proof you completely lost it, Dutch."
"You better watch your mouth" snaps Micah standing up and taking a step towards me.

"You lost it! You've used the natives, destroyed any chance they had to live in peace and for what? I'm curious now, please tell me, for what?" I yell.

My words echo inside the cave behind the tent and come back at me like someone else's voice is saying them.

Dutch doesn't reply, he just stares at me without showing any kind of emotion on his face.

"You must show some respect!" shouts Micah.

He takes another step towards me and now his face is a few inches from mine.

"It's all your fault, you know? You put I don't know what kind of ideas in his mind. You're a snake!" I shout back at him hitting his chest with both my hands and making him step back.

Two arms take me from behind and drag me away, while Micah is blocked by Dutch, who stood up.

He keeps saying nothing, he barely looks at me and this attitude just makes me angrier.

"You've always been a crazy bitch. You shouldn't be allowed to put a foot in this camp" Micah yells at me while Charles pulls me away.

When I try to reply, he puts a hand on my mouth, stopping my words.

Suddenly, my knees just give in, making me fall on the ground while warm tears wet my cheeks again.

I don't want this, I don't want to fight anymore, I don't have the strength.

Charles looks at me as he tides Taima at the post. I sense his eyes on me, but I don't stare back.

I don't want to feel judged by him. Not again.

He insisted for me not to come, saying that I still needed to recover from the fall, but of course I couldn't let him do it alone. Moreover, I prefer to stay away from camp right now.

We've come back at the reservation. Rain Falls wants to speak with Arthur before we go rescue his son, so the three of us got on the horses - I borrowed one from the girls - and rode all the way up. It's been a quiet couple of days: neither me nor them have being willing to talk much.

"We wait for you out here" says Charles to Arthur when we reach the Chief's tent.

He sits down, laying his back against a wagon side and I sit right next to him.

"You, err… you said you though about a plan to rescue Eagle Flies. Could you… tell me a little about it?" I murmur looking at the grass in front of me.

"You shouldn't be doing this" he replies with a sigh.

"Can you stop saying this, Charles?" I snap.

This is the third time he repeats these exact words and I'm just tired of it. I know he worries for me, but I had to do something. I couldn't bear another day without keeping my mind busy and just focusing on the void inside my chest.

Feeling sorry for my reaction, I reach out a hand to take his.

"Tell me about your plan" I say.

"The fort will be protected, so we need to sneak inside without being seen. There's a blind spot we can climb to get on the inside. Then, the darkness will cover us as we deal with the guards who're keeping watch" he explains.

I nod slightly as he speaks, figuring in my mind how the fort will be, how the guards will be disposed and how we will move.

"A stealth approach. I guess we're gonna use the bow, to my delight" I try to joke.

"And knives. So you won't have any problem" he replies leaning towards and kissing my forehead.

When Arthur comes out again we get back to the horses and head to the place where they keep Eagle Flies as prisoner.

The dark clouds in the distance and the wet air herald the arrival of the rain, if not now, soon enough to make me shiver at the idea to spend the night up here.

Just like before we ride silently following the little path up and down the mountains, until Arthur decides to break the silence with something unexpected.

"Listen, you two. If it goes bad in there, you get yourself out" he says.

I frown at him.

What kind of thoughts was he having to say something like this out of nowhere?

"You got… more to lose" he adds with a sign.

I suddenly understand what he's talking about and his words hit me like stones. He's already dying, so he's got nothing to lose.

Charles doesn't know anything, he still hasn't told him. Of course he's not an idiot, he understood Arthur isn't well, but he doesn't know there's no chance for him to heal.

My eyes begin to burn as I exchange a look with him.

"You know what I mean" he murmurs.

The look he gives me is the death blow.

My heart falls apart in a million pieces.

How is he feeling right now? How does he find the strength to fight everyday in this situation, knowing in the end he won't make it?

"Oh, come on. Don't start talking like that" Charles reproaches him.

I move my eyes full of tears from Arthur at my right to the path ahead of me.

"I know I didn't tell you before, Charles, but… I saw a doctor, and it's not gonna get better" says Arthur.

"Oh, Arthur…"

Then, Charles says something that I never expected he to be capable of.

"Any day we can die. Uh? We're riding to break an Indian Chief's son out of a cavalry fort. We could all die tonight. In a way, you're lucky. You still have time to make amends. The others… Hosea, Lenny, Sean, the Callander boys… They didn't. They all were outlaws and they will be for life. Remembered for the bad things they've done. You, you've got the chance to… do something better. My guess is maybe that's why you're here."

While he talks, I can't help but staring at him in disbelieve.

Not only he always knows what to say, but he always sees the pretty view in things, even the worst ones.

This makes me think a lot about what I still don't know about him. We always have so little time to spend together, he rarely wants to tell me about him, his past, his view of life.

I wish I could know him better. But we still have plenty of time for that. When we'll be done with this shit, when we will finally fix everything, we could leave the group and start a new life together.

When we finally reach Fort Wallace, the rain already started, but the sun behind the clouds is still too high in the sky and we need darkness to implement out plan.

We decide to take cover among the trees. Here neither the rain nor the eyes of the men at watch from the fort towers can reach us.

Sleeping is impossible, not only for the sound of the rain, but also for the anxiety that I began to feel as soon as we reached the fort.

We have to get inside there, rescue Eagle Flies and get out, all without dying.

As the sun goes down the rain intensifies and the temperature falls.

"Do you think we can move?" I ask Charles after a shiver runs down my back for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, let's go. We must not be seen" he replies standing up and putting his bandana on his mouth and nose.

Arthur does the same.

They both brought a bow while I will just use the knife: we're not hunting now and there is no room for mistakes.

Charles also takes the rope that we'll need for the climbing and I know for sure that this is not going to be easy.

I cover my face as well and follow the two men towards the only light in the darkness of the night given by the lanterns inside the fort.

We move low and quiet until we reach the front gate: there, two guards are keeping watch.

"We have to kill them or they'll see us walking from here. You take one and I take the other. With the bow. Ready?" asks Charles to Arthur.

They synchronize their movements and manage to hit the two men at the same time. Then, we keep going until we reach the wooden sidewall of the fort.

"Careful, there are patrols on the walls" I hear Charles whisper.

I raise my head to check the man walking right above me while I put one foot after the other.

Charles' hand is already on my chest before I'm aware of it, pushing my back against the wood.

My heart starts beating fast as I move my eyes from him to the man leaning forward from the wall and looking at the dark country in the distance, his lantern swinging in his hand and the stain of light coming from it hitting the ground some inches from my foot.

I sigh with relief when he finally goes away.

"Okay, let's go" Charles whispers again letting me go.

We reach the back of the fort. Here, the wall is a little bit shorter; a good spot for climbing.

Charles takes the rope and ties a hook at one of the ends. Then, he makes it swing and throws it up in the air. The hook attaches at the wall with an incredible accuracy and I cannot help but admire my man's skills right now.

"Okay, I'll go first" he says grabbing the rope.

"No wait. Let Arthur go first" I say when something comes up in my mind.

"Maybe I'll need your help" I lie when they both look at me in bewilderment.

As soon as Arthur starts climbing the wall, I pull down my bandana and, taking a few steps towards Charles, I do the same with his and give him no time to complain or ask me what I'm doing.

I search his lips with my mouth and grab his neck with both my hands.

When he's aware of what I'm doing he opens his lips to return the kiss, his warm tongue dancing with mine as his hands tighten around my hips.

Reluctantly, I part from him and look him one second in the eyes before I put my bandana up again.

"Sorry, I had to. No one knows what will happen inside there" I say as an excuse before I take the rope and hoist myself up the wall with all my strength.

I just take a few steps upward, pointing my feet to the wooded wall, when the muscles of my arms start burning.

Trying to keep it out of my mind, I keep pulling and pulling until I'm able to take the hand Arthur is reaching out from me.

As soon as Charles reaches us, a guard comes out from the enlightened tower in front of us.

An arrow gets rid of him.

We need to walk the fort walls and to get to the other side of it, where the jails are and where Eagle Flies will surely be.

On the path there are another two men. Just like before Arthur and Charles synchronize the shots.

"Wait, let me check it" says Charles when we reach the other enlightened tower.

He sticks his head inside and gives a quick look. Then, he enters it and glances downstairs as well.

"Okay, come" he addresses us with a sign of his hand.

Walking low and quiet as always, I get to the opposite door which opens on the other passage on the wall, but I block myself immediately when I see a man, a guard, leaning his back on the railing and looking left and right of him.

"Shit, there's another one" says Charles.

"I'll try and shoot him" replies Arthur.

"No, if you stick out he'll see you" Charles warns him in a whisper.

I think fast.

Maybe it won't work, but I have to try or we'll never reach the jails.

"I can take care of him. Trust me" I add to Charles when he looks at me in complain.

I stand up and adjust my shirt and my hair a little. Then, with all the confidence I'm able to summon, I take a few steps towards the man, who stands from the railing he's leaning to as soon as he sees me.

"Hey, who are you?" he asks.

"Sorry to disturb you Mister. The Tenant told me to speak with, uh, James. Do you know where I can find him?" I ask in turn, thinking quickly.

While I talk I keep moving in his direction.

His expression changes, he frowns.

I'm sure he's thinking about any James he knows.

"James? What are you…?"

I give him no chance to add anything else. I take out my knife, stick it into his throat and cover his mouth as he tries to scream.

His knees bend and he falls on the ground. I keel next to him.

When I pull out the blade, the rain immediately washes away the blood on it.

"Well done. Now keep moving" says Arthur coming next to me and pushing me from my back.

Finally, we're able to get down the walls and enter the big yard.

The three of us hide behind some boxes and stick out to check how many guards there are. The campfire at the center of it spreads its light and allows me to count them.

Too much for us to deal with them silently and from the way they are placed in the distance that divide us from the jails, we can't even walk without being seen.

"Arthur, you'll need to distract them. Get on that tower and try to put an arrow into the lantern above that stack of wood. Start a fire" Charles orders pointing to the boxes with the word 'ammunitions' written on it.

"Be ready. When they all run to the fire, we'll move fast to reach that door" he then whispers to me.

"Don't you think they'll see us eventually?" I ask not able to hide my concern.

"Sure they will. But we'll find a way out" he replies reassuringly.

I raise my eyes on Arthur on the tower and watch him shoot the arrow.

As soon as the yells and the turmoil start, I move, running with my head low and reaching the iron door of the jails.

I hear a voice coming from the inside as I push it open.

The man inside turns to me as he senses my presence behind him. My eyes meet his and I immediately bring my hand to the knife.

I try to hit him in the chest but he's faster than me. He blocks both my arms and swings me around. Out of the corner of my eye I see Charles, who entered right after me, making a fast movement with his arm.

The man's head cracks open under the blade of the ax. Blood and skull pieces hit my face and I close my eyes by instinct, turning away.

"Are you fine?" Charles asks me.

"Yeah, fine" I reply passing a hand on my face with my heart still beating fast.

"Charles? Is that you?" asks a voice from inside the cell.

I look through the bars of the door and glance at the familiar face.

"Hi Eagle Flies. Having fun?" I joke trying to open the door, but I soon find out it is closed.

"A lot. You have to find the keys" he replies.

"Here, I got them" says Arthur pushing me gently aside to open the door.

"Come, your father sent us" he adds to Eagle Flies as he cuts him free.

As soon as free he falls on the ground. His face and body are bruised and covered in dry blood.

"My father? He told to come and kill guards?" asks the boy while Arthur helps him to stand up.

"No, he didn't say that. Are you okay?" replies Arthur holding him up.

"Of course. I enjoy being tortured. Cleans the mind" he jokes.

I smile at his sarcasm as I put an arm around him and lead him towards the door.

He falls on me with all his weight and for a second I stumble a little.

"Whoa, careful" says Charles helping me.

"I can…" I start to say, but a sound I hoped not to hear stops my words.

"The alarm" I murmur and turn to look at my companions with my eyes wide open.

"Seems we have to shoot our way out" states Arthur taking out his gun and walking outside.

"Can you fight?" Charles asks to Eagle Flies, still laying on me.

"I think so" he replies.

"Stay with him" Charles addresses me as he hands him one of his pistols.

I nod.

We get out of the jails and take cover behind some boxes.

We shoot a man after the other and move when we can, pushing up, closing around them and trying to find a way out.

Suddenly, silence falls.

I get out from behind the box I'm hiding with Eagle Flies and realize the guards are all dead. I didn't expect them to be such a small number.

"Come, this way. I remember seeing a hole in the walls when they brought me in" says Eagle Flies standing up with some difficulties.

But when we reach it, the hole isn't there anymore.

"Damn, they must have fixed it" the boy swears under his breath.

"What about the front gate?" I ask perplexed.

To me it seems the natural answer.

"And you think there won't be more of them out there?" asks Arthur walking past me.

"Maybe you can use that cannon" remarks Charles.

"Just what I'm doing" he replies lifting the thing and turning it to face the wall.

"You better stay away!" he exclaims before a huge roar forces me to cover my ears and give my back to the explosion.

To Be Continued…

Hello hello!

Again, another of my favorite missions. I'm an Assassin's Creed player and I love the sneaky stealth approach, so this mission was perfect for me. And... I love Eagle Flies irony, it's the best thing ever, even though I don't like his way of doing things most of the times.

I hope you liked it and see you soon!