Thanks to my reviewers!


"I had to do it, you know that," Chris' voice was gruff even as his eyes remained on the back of the boy who rode a few paces ahead.

But Buck watched his best friend with sorrow and understanding in his eyes, "I know Chris. Craver and his gang were there and so was Kramer and Silas was way back in the far corner. Hell I saw the looks you got the second you walked through the saloon doors. The only reason they didn't shoot you on sight was they were too damn terrified of ya to do it."

Chris closed his eyes in relief at Buck's words. He hadn't misread the situation, the threat to all his men's lives.
He had done what he did to protect the men who were like family to him. Well, had been like family to him. He pulled his eyes from the trail and looked to Buck Wilmington, the best friend a man could ask for...a friend Chris knew he didn't deserve. "Vin... the others, they won't understand, they won't forgive me."

Buck's eyes darkened with emotions; "Yeah, yeah they will Chris. I'll make 'em understand."

"How, Buck? How are you gonna make them see I did it for them as much as for myself?"

"I'll tell them the truth, Chris. That what you did was the only way any of us was gonna walk outta there alive. I'll tell 'em that you can't show weakness, not unless they all wanna see ya face off with twenty men each week. Heck, Chris, the longer they stay in that town, the less explaining I'll have to do. They ain't stupid, they'll hear the talk and come to the same conclusion I did, you did what you had to for all our sakes."



Ezra helped a shocked Vin to his feet even as Nathan hovered worriedly by Vin's other side, "You alright Vin?" Nathan demanded with gentleness.

But Vin was unable to form words, not due to his injuries but due to the pain of Chris' betrayal. Sure, he had been pushing Larabee, but hell they all did. Buck had tried to warn them time and again that pushing Chris was a dangerous game. Now Vin understood how dangerous and his soul felt sick at the break between him and his best friend.

Nathan and Ezra steered Vin into a chair and Nathan bent down to be eye level with Vin. "How are your ribs, they cracked or broken?"

Nathan's words registered with Vin and he numbly shook his head. Chris' physical attack had bruised Vin's body but that was nothing compared to how deeply Chris' words had ripped into his soul. "You ain't coming with me." Suddenly a shot of whisky appeared before him and Vin gratefully swallowed it down in one burning gulp. He raised his eyes as Josiah and JD claimed chairs at the table as Nathan and Ezra had already done. Vin looked to each man, searching for answers, for a way to undo what had just happened.

It was Ezra who leaned close to him and spoke quietly as if to an injured animal. "Things are not as bad as they appear, Vin." Vin's eyes shot to the gambler's with vulnerability. It was as if Ezra had looked into his soul and saw the gaping hole his rift with Chris had tore. Ezra continued, his voice softer yet, "Though you did not mean to, you put Chris is a vulnerable position."

Vin flinched in shock; the last thing he had wanted to do was open Chris up to any attack. His voice sounded raw and anguished as he questioned Ezra, "How Ezra?"

Ezra sighed and looked around the saloon, to the eyes that still rested on them and to the eyes that distinctly never rested on them. Chris Larabee was the cause for both responses. Fear and Hate made for strange weapons of protection but it seemed to work well enough for the man Ezra would follow to hell. He met Vin's tortured gaze again and knew Vin wasn't angry with Chris but with himself, blaming himself already for provoking Chris' wrath. He hated to add to Vin's blame but he needed to open Vin's eyes, hell, open Josiah, Nathan, and JD's eyes to the real dangers lurking at every table, at every saloon and at every town across the west for Chris Larabee

Ezra's tone was gentle and low but each man at the table could hear his words, "Chris can not show weakness, Vin. He can not let any chinks in his armor be visible to the world. He can not let your challenge to his authority go unpunished, not here, not among wolves who would devour him and his pack." Dawning seemed to grow in Tanner's eyes but Ezra could see the confusion in JD's face. "The only reason we weren't accosted the second we graced this establishment was because of Chris's reputation, he wraps it around us like an armored suit. To challenge any of us is to challenge Chris and there are very few men who want to meet Chris in a duel. But when Vin challenged Chris' authority, all the men in this saloon who wanted to challenge Chris but lacked the backbone started to gather courage. If Larabee let this man defy him, maybe he had lost his edge and they could best him."

Now all the men at the table fell into a shocked silence as Ezra's words hit them like a stagecoach team. "Damn!" Vin swore, as he fully understood the position he had put Chris in, a position that could get him killed! "I deserve the beating he gave me!" he hissed lowly, bitterly.

But Ezra's voice was firm, "He didn't attack you because he thought you deserved it Vin. He hit you to keep you...us alive...as well as himself. If he is perceived as weak, then we would have been perceived as fair game. By his attack, he established his dominance over us and reestablished his reputation and the patron's fear. No one will challenge us now because we did not best Chris; we appear as much in fear of him as the rest of the saloon patrons. It is that common bond that protects us now just as Chris' reputation protected our entrance."

"I gotta go find Chris," Vin urgently said and began to rise from his chair but Ezra pushed him back down.

"No, we must stay here and project the defeated front. Larabee has left us and there should be no hurry in our departure. Any missteps on our part could put Chris' reputation back in jeopardy. "

Nathan sighed, ashamed that he had felt such anger at Chris, "So we gotta stay here and make like we ain't gonna meet up with Chris."

Now Josiah caught on, "And let everyone here believe Chris is a cold hearted bastard."

Ezra smiled, "You gentlemen are seeing the light."

JD ran his hand through his hair, "Havin' a reputation seems mighty complicated."



The kid led them right into an ambush, Chris knew it the second they entered the valley...a second too late as it was. Gunfire filled the air and even as Chris started to dismount, a bullet sent him sprawling to the hard desert ground. Before he could draw in more than two painful breaths, strong arms were hauling him to his feet. Buck half carried half dragged him behind some rocks.

"I think we found the gang, pard'" Buck drawled as he peeked over the boulder earning him a bullet mere inches from his head. "Damn," he swore as he dropped back to the cover of the boulder and looked to Chris, "and it looks like they ain't too happy to see us."

Chris straightened against the rock, his jaw clenching at the pain in his side where the bullet passed through. "And I was worried what to do with the kid after we brought the gang in!" he scoffed pulling his gun and sending a smile to Buck, "I think I know exactly what to do with him now."

Unable to help himself, Buck laughed. In a life or death situation, he would rather be fighting beside Chris Larabee than the whole U.S. Army. "Yeah, I bet you do," he said and saw Chris was attempting to get into a crouching position and quickly aided the injured man.

A groan of agony escaped Chris' lips, but he remained in the crouched position Buck had helped him achieve. He gave Buck a nod and Buck reluctantly released his supporting hold around Chris'. Chris strength held and Buck again peeked his head over the boulder with much the same results as prior. "Well, they are still out there," he drawled with a devious smile to Chris.

Chris cocked his gun, met Buck's eyes and simultaneously they stood and each fired off a shot before they dropped again behind the boulder. "I saw three on my side, two high on the mountain, one ground level," Chris tallied.

"Yeah, and I got five on my side, three high, one midway up and the kid's ground level," Buck supplied. "That leaves three gang members.." Buck began but a bullet hit the boulder between he and Chris from behind and they both dropped flat to the ground.

"You had to say something, didn't you," Chris mock grumbled as he met Buck's eyes. "I think it's safe to bet the other three are on the other side of the valley. They got us pinned down real good."

"Maybe if you tell 'em who you are, they'll go running," Buck quipped earning him a deadly glare from his friend.

Suddenly bullets rained down around them and they scrambled against the mountain wall using the boulder to protect them from the shots delivered from the other side of the valley. "Soon as they stop shooting, I'll head for the boulder over to my right!" Chris yelled over the gunfire.

"No! You're hurt, I'll go!" Buck countered back with steel in his voice.

Before Chris could retort back, the valley fell silent. Even as Chris struggled to his feet, Buck leaped over his legs and ran for the boulder that Chris had indicated, bullets nipping at his heels. Chris cursed at Buck even as his friend made it to safety..well as safe as you could get in an ambush. He sent a glare to Buck in his new position but Buck smiled and tipped his head like Chris was thanking him.

Chris struggled to a crouching position again with determination. Buck and he exchanged looks and then both made to return fire on their ambushers. Buck stood from behind his boulders, taking aim at the men on the other side of the valley, even as Chris dropped to his back on the ground and sighted the men on the valley behind him. Four men fell under the shootists' deadly aim before the friends again fell back under cover.

Breathing hard, agony filled breaths, Chris leaned against the mountain wall, trying to not let the pain control him. He had hit two of the men behind them, leaving only one man to defend that side of the valley. Their odds were looking better. He looked to Buck and called across, "So you take care of your side?" his tone full of the type of humor Buck had sorely missed from his long time friend.

"Almost," Buck called back as he reloaded his gun, "You take care of our backs?"

"Almost," Chris replied back with a smile as he too reloaded his gun. Then he raised his voice and called to his enemies, "It ends here! "

A harsh laugh echoed through the valley, "Sure does, Larabee. It ends here for you and Wilmington! Too bad ya pissed off the rest of your gang, than this'd be a real challenge! 'Stead it's like shooting fish in a bucket!" And another barrage of bullets chipped into the rocks by Buck and Chris.



To Be Continued......