Sayville Reckoning

By Leighann

This piece of fiction is an ATC to Season 18 Episode The Brothers. It's my answer to a question that drove me nuts that was left unanswered. I don't own the rights to the characters, but am just taking them off the dusty shelf for a bit.

~KM~

Kitty's hands were shaking as she slowly placed the shotgun on top of the bar. Her knees started to go weak as she rested her head in her hand while Matt checked the body and told his Deputies to remove Wrecken's body. Kitty took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm herself and better control her emotions. The second she felt Matt take a hold of her shoulders she lost the battle for control of her emotions and her eye's started to burn with tears.

"Kitty. Are you alright?"

Keeping her eye's closed; she nodded her head. "I thought you had him in custody." The distress was clear in her voice.

"So did we."

Kitty looked up at Matt and swallowed hard. "There aren't anymore brothers, are there?" There was a look of concern clear on her face and her voice was thick with unshed tears.

Tightening his grip on her shoulders, Matt shook his head. "That's the last of them, Kitty."

Kitty closed her eyes and let out a small whimper as she pulled Matt to her and hugged him. As soon as Matt wrapped his arms around her, Kitty buried her face in his chest and let her unshed tears flow unchecked.

Matt held Kitty for a few more minutes before he pulled her away from him. "I'll be right back."

Not looking up, Kitty stepped away from Matt and placed both her hands on the edge for the bar, stretched her arms out bracing herself and hanging her head. Kitty knew that Matt had to see to the Deputies and Wrecken but she just wished he had stayed long enough for her to quit shaking before he rushed off.

Kitty tried to take a steadying breath, but her emotions where still so raw that all she could manage was a shuddering breath before the flood gates just burst. The days of little sleep and worry had finally caught up with her, and she no longer had the strength to keep up the tough facade. Kitty knew Wrecken was going to kill her and she knew he was going to make it long and painful before he did.

Kitty was so wrapped up in her thoughts she never heard the heavy footsteps approaching, or realized she wasn't alone until there was a sudden hand on her shoulder. She gasped at the sudden shock of being touched and grabbed the shotgun in front of her.

If Matt hadn't been so quick to grab the shotgun barrel, Kitty would have hit him with the gun.

Kitty looked wide-eyed at Matt. "I thought you had left."

Matt took the gun out of Kitty's hands and walked around the other side of the bar putting the shotgun back under the bar. "I was locking the front door."

Kitty's hands shook as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Oh."

Matt placed a glass in front of Kitty and poured her a drink. "Here, drink this."

Kitty took the glass and threw the drink back in one shot before placing the back of her hand against her lips as she swallowed.

Matt's eyes twinkled at the face Kitty pulled as she swallowed the whiskey. "Better?"

Kitty sat the glass down and looked at Matt. "Not by a long shot."

The corner of Matt's mouth turned up as he poured Kitty another drink.

As Matt poured the second drink Kitty gave him a sideways look.

"What's that look for?" Matt wondered.

"I can't say this seems normal." She motioned between them with her hand. "You behind the bar serving me a drink."

Matt pushed his hat up off his forehead and leaned down on his elbows. He studied Kitty's face. Her cheeks were tear-stained and he noticed that she had dark smudges under her eyes where her tears had washed the powder off. He looked down at her hands. There was still a slight tremble to them as she held the glass in an attempt to steady them.

Kitty removed her hands from the glass and massaged her palms with her thumbs. Her hands ached from where she had gripped the back of the chair so hard in her office while listening to Cord talk in circles about his brother's death and bounty money.

"Something wrong with your hands?" Matt asked.

Kitty looked up at Matt. "No, just a bit stiff from gripping the back of the chair while talking to Wrecken." Seeing the questioning look on Matt's face, Kitty started filling him in. "He wanted to know the truth of what happened at the weigh station in Sayville. Seems Brown told him it was all my idea to kill his brother for the bounty money. He didn't believe me. In fact, he talked in circles until he could justify killing me."

Matt leaned across the bar and kissed Kitty on the forehead. "I'm going to lock up the back door. I'll be right back."

As Kitty watched Matt walk through the hall door, she was still trying to wrap her mind around the entire evening. It had all happened so fast from the moment she ran into the bar and grabbed the shotgun.

Cord Wrecken had tried his best to make Kitty think that he had unloaded the shotgun as he had her derringer in the office. He had wanted her to look down to see if was loaded or not when she took aim at him.

Kitty rolled the glass between her hands as she replayed it in her head. She had almost believed Wrecken for a brief moment before she aimed the barrel at his chest. She was about to pull the trigger when Matt bust into the room.

There was an internal war waging inside Kitty. Part of her wanted to know if the shotgun was loaded and the other part didn't. The logical side told her that it didn't matter at this point, but that small voice in the back of her mind kept saying look. Knowing she would never rest until she knew for sure. Kitty picked up her drink and downed it in two swallows. She sat the glass down and walked behind the bar.

She was about to reach for the gun when Matt called her name.

"Kitty?"

"Wrecken said he unloaded it." She told him.

"I heard him."

"Matt, I have to know."

"It won't change anything."

Kitty realized that Matt didn't understand. If that gun was unloaded it meant that she might never feel safe in her own home again, and that she had taken that safety for granted. Something she never wanted to do again.

Matt reached out and took the shotgun from under the bar and opened the barrel.

Kitty bit her lip as she looked at Matt. "Well?"

Matt reached up with his hand and pulled out two unspent shells from the barrel of the gun and held them out in his hand. Matt watched as relief washed over Kitty's face. He reloaded the shotgun and put it back under the bar. "Satisfied?"

Kitty nodded her head. "Let's go to bed, Cowboy."