The sound of a crackling fire woke Kitty the next morning. Her first thought was of Bellum's filthy hands rubbing against her and she jerked upright with a gasp, groping in a frantic daze in the wild hope that her captor had left his gun within reach.

"Morning, sweetheart." Matt's voice jarred her back to the present. The next moment he was wrapping his thick arms and around her and kissing her face and neck. Pulling back, worry clouded his eyes, "You okay, Kit?"

"Oh, Matt…" She gave a shuddering sigh of relief, tears shining in her wide eyes as she reached up to touch his stubbly chin with her fingers.

"You okay?" He demanded again.

"Yeah…I just..." she grimaced, shaking her head to clear her mind. The next moment, her head jerked up, realizing she still wore his coat and stetson, "Matt, you must have froze last night!"

"Not at all." he grinned, "I got in there with ya." His smile broadened, "We fit pretty well too." He touched her shoulder, "What was it, Kit?"

She shook her head again, embarrassed. "I just...I just...well, I had a flashback when I woke up...is all." She shivered.

"Well, that's not very fair." he frowned, pressing his mouth against her ear.

She giggled softly, momentarily relaxing in his light flirtations, then worry clouded her eyes, "Will you ride after him, Matt?"

"Not until you're strong enough to come with me." he answered simply, taking quick careful stock of their surroundings, "I'm not leaving you behind." He caressed her cheek, studying her, "You'll have to ride behind me, sweetheart. I'd like to see if I can catch up with him today...you said he wasn't well yesterday, right? But if we can't get him today and we're not near another town, it'll be a couple days ride back to Topeka. Maybe more; I don't want to wear you out riding hard."

"I can do it, Matt." she assured him, "I can do anything if you're with me."

"Let's get some food and coffee into ya." He plucked her up, bringing her closer to the fire, "That'll help the most." He nodded towards the bubbling creek, "It's kinda shallow here but I caught some small ones."

"And how am I gonna get my strength back if you don't let me use my legs?" she chided gently.

"You get a little nutrition in ya and I'll think about it." He gave her a soft smirk as he picked up a stripe of white meat. His grin broadened, "No forks and knives this morning. Open up, sweetheart."

"Matt!" she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her naturally infectious laughter from exploding across the prairie. "Ooooo, you reminded me of yesterday morning!"

His dimples beamed. "That's what I was hoping for. Now, open up, sweetheart."

"You're too much." She happily obeyed but started giggling again after she swallowed.

He quickly had the second piece against her lips but she held him back, her voice a whisper as tears leaked down her cheeks, "I can't believe all that wonderful fun was just yesterday, Matt."

He hugged her tightly, "When I got Bellum's circular at the end of the meeting, I ran back to the hotel. I don't even remember what I was thinking." He shook his head, "I just knew I couldn't stand the thought of you being so close to a man like that..." His voice trailed off but his eyes told her exactly what he was thinking.

"I thought about trying to get his gun." she admitted, staring at the ground.

"I know ya did."

"I just wanted you to come so badly. I knew you were coming. That's why I didn't."

He kissed her passionately, "You're darn right I was comin'."

He finally pressed the second piece of fish into her mouth and she relaxed as she chewed the warm meat. But after she swallowed, she looked concerned, "Don't you want any? It's delicious, Matt. You need to eat too, ya know? I don't want my big strong cowboy getting faint out there on the trail."

"Don't you worry about that. I warmed up the jerky for myself. Ate while I was fishing."

"You should have some." she countered, as he was trying to stuff a third piece into her mouth, "It's really wonderful, Matt. You're a great cook."

"It's all for you, sweetheart." He chuckled as he restrained both her smaller hands with one of his and pressed the last piece into her mouth, "You gotta get your strength back so we can travel." After she'd finished chewing, he continued, "Well, you've passed the first strength test. We got some breakfast in ya."

"What's the second test?" Her eyebrows raised, both curious and slightly suspicious.

"Stand up and put your arms around me." he answered, "We're gonna have to ride double so I wanna make sure you can hang on."

She obliged him with a particularly tight squeeze around the middle and an exaggerated sigh; her words made him laugh, "I've been missin' this, Dillon."

Pulling her around in front of him, he wrapped her into a tight hug.

"Does that mean I passed the second test?"

"You sure did, sweetheart." he beamed, tearing up, "Reminded me to be grateful that I still get to have your arms around me too."

"I never would've made it here if you and Quint hadn't taught me how to track." She hugged him more tightly.

They held each other for a long time before the Marshal's mind reluctantly turned back to business. "The next test is the most important, sweetheart."

"I'm ready. Your tests are easy."

"So far."

"What's next?"

"Doing it on the back of that horse," he nodded at the big bay, "while I take him for a little spin."

"Let's get after it." She squeezed his middle tightly again to reassure him, "I can do it, Matt. I'm sure I can. I slept like a baby last night."

"That's a start." He smiled, already tying their sack of supplies below the saddle's horn. He swung himself up and helped her climb on behind, "You ready, sweetheart?"

She tightened her grip around his middle; it felt wonderful to do that, "When you are, Matt."

The Marshal started off at a walk, circling in little figure eights for a few minutes while ever conscious of their exposure beyond the safety of the trees.

"I was awful glad the moon was so bright last night." she talked to assure him that she was comfortable, "I could follow our trail easy."

"I was mighty glad too." he smiled without relaxing, "I was gonna trail ya all night since I could. I'd just stopped to water the horse."

"This horse is a lot smoother than the one Ad bought for me." she gave a contented sigh after some miles of silence, "I don't know how long I'd have lasted on that thing." She paused for a moment thinking, then added, "Of course, we didn't walk much either."

Matt felt her arms tremble against his ribs and caressed her fingers with his free hand, "I'm here, Kitty. Remember what I said last night. He's not gonna touch you again."

"I know...it was just another flashback."

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, honey. Those flashbacks are gettin' kinda annoying. But I'm gonna make sure they go away real soon."

His legs unconsciously tightening around the horse as his blood warmed.

The animal broke into a smooth lope and the Marshal reined him back,"Sorry, sweetheart."

"I'm still here." She grinned behind his back, tightening her already stout grip around his middle, adding, "Matt, It-it's not too much farther to where we camped." She pointed, "See those rocks up in the distance?"

"Yeah."

"That's it."

Immediately, the Marshal skirted to the side. Every sense was on high alert as they closed in on potential trouble. If anything happened to Kitty out here he'd never forgive himself.

But, honestly, the Marshal wondered if Bellum was there. The sun had been up for hours. He might have woken up at any point during the night, found that his hostage had escaped, and decided to make a run for it. Bellum knew he was being hunted and a man with a record that long didn't make a living by being a complete fool.

"Kit." he spoke again, swinging down and handing her the reins, "I'm gonna go up there alone. If he's still there and things don't work out, I want you to ride out of here." He held her eyes with his steady confident gaze, "You might have to ration it, sweetheart, but there's enough jerky left to get you back to the Capitol. The horse will know the way."

He squeezed the hand she offered, "Honey, just tell the sheriff that you're my girl and he'll help you get back to Dodge." His eyes pleaded with her as she slowly shook her head, "Please, Kit. If things don't work out like we want here, do that for me. I don't want to lose you out here."

She returned the look with a pointed one of her own. "Well, I don't want to lose you either, Matt."

Author's Note: LovingmesomeMK: *smiles and giggles*