Unshown Moments for The Avengers (4)

This is for Phoenix

"Doc?" Festus stood in Doc's outer office, hat in hand, right arm cradling his left watching the older man's face closely as he came out of his back room. "She gonna be alright?"

Doc nodded. "She will… physically. It's…" he sighed. "Well, it's going to take some time for her to heal completely. She's sleeping now."

"He didn't…" Thad's face reddened slightly at the thought.

"No." Doc shook his head. "I think it's pretty clear that was his intent but… well, no. No he didn't."

"Well, there's that at least." Festus shook his head. "I'll tell ya, Doc, I've half a mind to drag that feller outta Percy's and shoot em again fer what he done ta Miz Kitty."

"I know." Doc wearily rubbed the back of his neck. "And I also know it wouldn't help her one bit."

"Naw, I guess not." Festus glumly agreed.

"Come on, Festus." Doc wearily pointed to his examination table. "Sit down and let me look at that arm now."

Casting one more look at the closed bedroom door, Festus nodded and sat down, grimacing as Doc helped him remove his shirt and he began to work on the wound.

"Well, the bullet went straight through." Doc said as he went to his medicine cabinet and began pulling out supplies. "You'll be alright, but I'm going to have stitch it up."

Festus looked at the door again. "Yeah, I'll be alright, but it ain't me I'm a worryin' bout."

All three men glanced in the same direction. No further words were needed. Their hearts and their minds were in agreement on that one.

Early in the morning, over a day later, Matt finally made it back into town. He'd been coming back from Hays and had known nothing of Kitty's attack as he'd already left there before Doc could send a wire to him. But when he walked into the jail and found Festus sitting stoically behind his desk, worried expression on his face and a cold cup of coffee in front of him, he knew something had happened.

"Festus?" He queried as he wearily took off his hat.

"It's Miz Kitty, Matthew." Festus looked up at him. "She…" He swallowed hard. "She were hurt."

The color drained from Matt's face as he turned back for the door. "She at Doc's?"

"Ye'sir." Festus nodded, making no effort to follow his friend or explain further. Matthew would find out when he got there and he'd need to see her alone.

Quickly as he could, Matt hurried to Doc's office, taking the stairs two at a time. Doc, having slept very little during the night, was awake and making coffee when he heard the sound of boots of the stairs. He had the door opened by the time Matt made the landing.

"Slow down, Matt." Doc warned when Matt hurried in. "She's still sleeping. You just get in?"

"Yeah." Matt nodded. "What happened?" He was in no mood to tip toe around the subject. Kitty was hurt. He needed to know how and by whom. But more importantly, he needed to see her.

"Didn't Festus tell you?" Doc frowned.

"No. I don't guess I gave him a chance." Matt admitted. "He said she was hurt was all."

"Some drovers were in town the night before last night." Doc sighed as he poured two steaming cups of coffee and handed one to Matt. "They got a little rowdy and Kitty ordered them out of the saloon. The boss of the herd snuck up the back stairs apparently, found his way to Kitty's room and attacked her when she went up for the night."

Doc stared at the contents of his cup as he spoke, the memory of her bruised and battered form still playing in his mind.

"Did he…?"

"No." Doc finally looked up to see the stormy expression on Matt's face. "He beat her pretty badly but he didn't… well," he took an agitated swipe of his mustache. "Festus, Thad and Sam got up there in time. Festus shot and killed the man that did it. Someone named Strom. His brother's planning on burying him up in the cemetery today."

Nodding, Matt made a mental note to check in on the burying and make sure to hasten the brother on his way. "Can I see her?"

Doc started to refuse, but he knew Matt needed to see her as much as she needed him. "Don't wake her. And if you can be here around noon, I'm going to let her go back home today."

'Sure." Matt answered as he tugged off his hat and stepped into the room. It was quite and darkened but he could see her eyes shining in relief when he walked in. Wordlessly, he made his way to her side, pulled her to him and simply cradled her in his arms.

Words weren't needed between the two. The connection of their hearts was all that was needed.

Later, after Kitty had gone back to sleep, Matt slipped out of the room and told Doc he'd be back to help her get home. Leaving Doc's office, he quickly made his way over to the Long Branch and spoke to Sam. Kitty's room had been cleaned and the window fixed. It was ready for her return, Sam told him. Thanking him for his help, Matt left and headed on over to Percy Crump's.

"The brother has already picked up the body and taken it up to the cemetery, Marshal." Percy told him. "Him, a couple of his drovers and the preacher."

Matt nodded, thanked the undertaker and quickly headed towards the cemetery. But he was too late. The casket had already been lowered into the ground and covered over and the remaining Strom and his men had already left town. Retracing his steps, Matt returned to Doc's office just in time to help Kitty down the stairs and back to the Long Branch.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you?" He asked concernedly as they slowly descended. Though not broken, Kitty had sustained bruises to her ribs which made walking difficult not to mention the heavy bruising on her face. Matt saw the way she grimaced as she moved and he was worried about her.

"No, I don't need you to carry me." Kitty snapped and then took a deep breath, looking up at him with a regretful smile. "I'm sorry, Matt." She sighed. "I… it's just…"

Matt stopped and reached over gripping her arm. "I understand. Come on. Let's get you home and into bed before Doc comes along and chews on me for you not being there already."

After getting Kitty to her room and settled, Matt eased down onto the bed beside her, taking her hand once more. "You sure there's nothing I can get you or do for you?"

Kitty nodded, holding tightly to him. "I'm sure. Doc says I'll be alright physically and the rest… well, that's just going to take time."

"I guess it will." Matt dropped his head. "I'm sorry, Kitty."

Kitty frowned. "Sorry? For what? You didn't do this, Matt. You weren't even here."

"That's the point." He raised his eyes to hers. "I wasn't here. I couldn't protect you. I…"

"You are not responsible for this, Matt." Kitty's voice took on a stern note. "Even if you were here, you couldn't have prevented him from attacking me the way he did. You'd have had to know that he was planning on doing that and no one knew that. I doubt even his brother knew it."

"But if I'd been here, I could've and probably would've tossed him and his bunch out of town before it ever got to that point."

"Matt." Kitty shook her head. "You can't read minds and you can't be everywhere at once and prevent everything bad from happening. You know as well as I do that even if you'd tossed them out of town, there's no guarantee that they wouldn't have snuck back in, just like he snuck up here. Now please, please stop shouldering the blame for something you had no control over."

Matt nodded. "I know. But I hate that you were hurt."

"I do too." She answered. "But I'd hate it even worse if you felt guilty about it." Kitty tugged at his hand and put on a smile. "I'm fine, Matt. He didn't do anything to me that I can't heal from. Okay?"

Matt returned the smile and leaned over, gently kissing her the side of her mouth that wasn't cut. "Okay." Reluctantly getting to his feet, Matt grabbed his hat and leaned down, kissing her once more. "I'm gonna go now so you can rest. But I'll be back later."

"For the night?" She asked.

Matt heard the real question she wasn't asking. "Yep. I'll be here. Don't you worry."

"Alright." She nodded as he left. The last two nights had been rough but they'd been bearable because of Doc's calm and reassuring presence in the chair beside her bed. But tonight would be completely different. If Matt didn't come, she wasn't sure she'd be able to hold it together in the darkness in the same room she'd been attacked in.

But, as he'd promised, Matt came that evening and quickly moved onto the bed, pulling her into his arms and simply held her. He understood she needed nothing more at that moment and he had no intentions of pushing her. He simply wanted to restore her sense of safety and peace in her own home and the knowledge that he was there and loved her.

Thanks to Matt's love and attention and Doc's care as well as the support of everyone else, Kitty recovered quicker than Doc thought she would and her spirits were high, until the day she left her room and walked out onto the balcony to find the Strom's standing at her bar.

END