Joe had been the epitome of hospitality for the past few days. He, with the help of Alex, had cooked the entirety of the gang three square meals a day excluding the large feast that he'd poured his heart into the first night, as well as offered them completely free rooms and a nice array of spirits for them to drink to their hearts' content. Still, even with this shower of selfless generosity, Jesse felt that his outlaw band was wearing out its welcome as he stood before the Mueller's large dining table, which was laden with food.

The sun was just about setting, falling through the windows in its golden glory that was present just before it become red and then faded to moonlight. Jesse bounced nervously on the balls of his feet, wondering where Tom and his cousins were. They'd left for town to check the newspapers as a group, in case there was someone who'd called for Pinkerton's men, or the local sheriff, so they would have fighting chance if they were ambushed. The odds of that happening were slim, but it was best to play it safe.

There was a sudden scream and Jesse snapped to attention. It sounded like Alex. His head swiveled in the direction of the sharp sound before he dashed out the backdoor into the apple orchid behind the house. He skidded to a stop just outside the door, releasing one of his guns from his holster. Jogging a few more steps, he called out cautiously, "Alex?"

Seconds later, he heard the sounds of words - apologies choked with laughter - coming from the Mueller's bath house and decided to investigate, putting the gun back. It didn't sound like he'd need it. A door banged, and suddenly Alex was in front of him, blushing slightly and smiling sheepishly. Her eyes turned upward to look at him, and before he could say anything, "Jim was takin' a bath." She dropped her eyes again and brushed past him with a short giggle.

He raised one thick eyebrow at her response to his unasked question and continued forward to the bathhouse. "Jim?" he called.

"Yeah?" Jim sounded embarrassed.

"What happened?"

"I learned that y'gotta let someone know when you're takin' a bath 'round here."

"Walked in on you, huh?"

The rickety door opened to reveal a fully dressed Jim, although it looked as though he'd dressed quickly. There were tiny wet spots from the beads of water that hadn't been dried off his body when he'd gotten out of the bath. His face wasn't angry, but it wasn't placid either. "Yeah."

"Saw everythin', eh?"

"Yup."

"Well, that's not always bad," Jesse grinned impishly.

"She laughed," Jim said exasperatedly as Jesse chuckled. He stepped out into the fading light and the pair started back into the house.

Jesse was relieved to see that Cole, Bob, and Tom had made it back fine as he stepped into the house. He wasn't, however, pleased to see that for some reason Bob had forgotten his manners. He was shoveling food onto his plate hungrily, but he hadn't even so much as acknowledged that someone else had made it. Jesse moved to thwack Bob upside the head lightly, to which he recoiled with a yelp and rubbed the back of his head as he stared at Jesse and awaited an answer.

"Where're your manners, Bob? These people offer us a place t'stay and good food t'eat an' y'don't thank nobody for it?" he said expectantly.

Bob, stopping his feverishly fast pace of shoveling for a moment, turned to Joe, "Thank you very kindly, sir," he smiled at Joe. His gaze flickered to Jesse and he faked a smile. "There, you happy now?"

Jesse rolled his eyes as he plopped down in between Joe, who sat at the head of the table, and Bob. "Thanks, Joe."

"Anytime, boys," Joe said distractedly as he eyed Jim, who had taken a seat next to Alex and was looking obviously love-struck. He'd noticed similar behavior from his daughter over the past few days as well.

"You didn't mind that we introduced 'em, did you, Joe?" Jesse said as he followed his gaze.

"S'fine, 'bout time she had some fun since her ma died," he paused for a moment, "but if he hurts her.. I'mma deliver that boy a slow an' painful death."

Jesse glanced at Jim, and then looked back to Joe with a smirk. "Not if I get t'him first."

The two laughed a bit, gaining the attention of the other individuals either noisily chattering or chewing except for Dean and Lacey, who were mock-sword fighting with their knives. Alex looked over to them disapprovingly and leaned over the table, muttering something that Jim couldn't hear. Dean giggled at what she said but Lacey nudged him and he stopped, realizing that whatever she'd said she wasn't joking about. As she leaned back, Jim looked at her questioningly, but she said nothing and went back to eating. Jim smirked and leaned in to ask what she'd said to them, but at the same moment she turned her head to say something to him and they bumped heads unceremoniously. Jim pulled back quickly and rubbed his forehead while Alex rubbed her cheek.

"Good one, Younger. Next time knock me out, huh?" she smirked, trying to hide her embarrassment. She was glad nobody had noticed, with the exception of Dean and Lacey.

"Sorry.." suddenly his food was more interesting and stared down at it.

"Aw," she nudged him playfully, "I was only foolin', Younger."

"Yeah, I know," he faked a small laugh just because she said something.

Dean leaned over to Lacey, trying his best to whisper. "I think Jim Younger's got somethin' for Alex."

"Shut up Dean," Lacey responded, pushing him lightly. He waited a moment and then whispered back, "Don't let her hear you, she'll skin y'alive."

Alex cleared her throat and her siblings tensed, fearing that she had in fact been listening. Apparently she hadn't, though, because she wiped her mouth quickly with her napkin and pushed her chair back, gaining a glance from her father. "Daddy, may I be excused?"

"Why, darlin'?"

"I want t'get a head start on the dishes. It's my night, ain't it? An' there're a lot'a dishes."

"Well, I'm sure Jim'll be willin' t'help you," Jesse offered without his younger cousin's consent. Jim's eyes widened, trying to figure out why Jesse seemed so bent on turning his life into a hideous montage of shame and mortification.

"Yeah, Jim's great with dishes," Cole piped from the other end of the table, holding his plate out to Jim.

Jim took it hastily, his eyes going from wide to narrow in nothing flat. "Only 'cause you're such'a pig, Cole. You an' Bob, God damn you're bad."

"Hey!" Bob cried indignantly, wondering why he was being pulled into this argument. The people surrounding the table laughed and he offered Jim his plate, shaking his head lightly with a look of annoyance on his face.

Jim and Alex made their way into the tiny kitchen after they'd gathered as much as they could carry in plates, utensils, and cups. Lifting the washing basin, Alex placed it onto the counter and bent to retrieve one of several previously filled buckets to empty into the large basin. She filled it and followed suit with the others until it was almost full while Jim stacked plates and cups beside it. They rolled up their sleeves simultaneously, and Alex slipped a hairpin out of her dress pocket and twirled up her hair into a tight bun.

At first, the pair worked in silence, Alex washing and Jim drying. She noticed his awkwardness right away, but wasn't sure to go about loosening him up. She thought about it for a moment, and as they were nearing the end of the pile of dishes, she flicked her wrist into the bubble-filled basin expertly. She'd done this before. The soap flew up with the aid of some dishwater and hit Jim in the cheek. He stopped in mid-dry and placed the plate down onto the counter, slowly going to wipe his face with the dishtowel. She giggled at him, pulling her hands from the washbasin and wiping them carelessly on her dress. Her giggles turned to a surprised gasp, however, when she found that suddenly her own face was wet. She stood in that same position for a moment, which led Jim to believe that he'd done something terribly, terribly wrong.

"Sorry," he apologized, eyes widening, "Sorry, I'm real-" He stopped when he felt the cold dishwater connect with his neck.

She giggled again. "Younger, y'need t'lighten up a lil'!"

Jim moved over to the basin and dipped both hands into the cold water, creating a huge splash in her direction and successfully soaking the front of her dress. "Light enough for you?"

She held in a squeal and jumped back in shock, but she was grinning. "Not yet!" She turned, grabbed a half-full bucket of cold water, and tossed it on him.

"Hey!"

They were both dripping at this point, and so loud that they had attracted the attention of Jesse, who sat staring towards the kitchen. "What's goin' on in there?"

Joe pushed himself away from the table, but Jesse, deciding that maybe Joe wouldn't like what he found, held out his arm and stood instead. He began to step into the kitchen, but stopped mid-step as he came across the two soaking teens. A look of surprise, then amusement, found its way to his face. Alex stopped what she was doing, let out a small laugh and dropped her head to hide her grin. Jim turned with a look of confusion, saw his older cousin, and then smiled sheepishly at him.

Jesse cleared his throat in an authoritative manner, finishing his step. "Doesn't look like much washin's gettin' done," he looked pointedly at Alex.

Alex glanced up at him. "Maybe not the dishes. Jim doesn't count?" she motioned vaguely to a very wet Jim.

"Joe's gonna be angry if he knows you two was messin' around instead'a workin'," it was Jim's turn to receive the pointed look.

"Oh, uh, we'll be gettin' back t'work, then," Jim took a quick look at Alex.

"Yeah, okay, Younger," she responded sarcastically, unafraid of the threat of her father. "C'mon, it ain't gonna be no fun if we ain't foolin' around."

"At least keep it down, huh? Sounds like one'a those fancy animal houses in here," he smirked at the pair, lingering a moment before exiting the room.

"We was so close t'finishin' the dishes, too," Alex said, mock-wistfully.

"Well, we can still do 'em, can't we?"

"Sure. I reckon I'd rather dry off first, though," she moved to the hallway linen closet and pulled out two towels. She separated them and threw one to him. He caught it, but most of it flipped up and landed on his head.

"Thanks," his voice was tinged with sarcasm.

"Oh, you're quite welcome," she giggled as she took a glance out the window, and her face twisted into a brief expression of fear. Looking back to him, distracted for a second that he'd started to unbutton his shirt, she cleared her throat. "Hey, Jim, why don't y'go see if anybody wants dessert, huh?"

"There's dessert? What is it?" he asked as she began to forcefully remove him from the room.

"I dunno, I'll think'a somethin'," she responded, ensuring finality of the conversation by pushing him through the door.

Jim exited the room just as a man entered from the back door. He was the same shaky boy that Jesse had noticed from the bank in Savannah; only Jesse wasn't present to identify him as such. He couldn't have been older than twenty; his face was too young to be a day older. He had dressed himself in light brown trousers and a light gray shirt that clung tightly to his chest with the help of suspenders. He had dark brown hair, but it had lightened with all his time spend in the sun. His eyes were dark, a mix of green and brown, and shining with excitement.

He approached the panicked Alex, who had her back to him as she was still facing the door, and wrapped his arms around her. She almost screamed at this method, but he had anticipated as much and his hand was at her mouth moments before to prevent too much sound from escaping. He pulled her away and out of sight of the doorway, turning her around quickly.

"Hello, Alex, darlin'," he had a tight grip on her shoulders as he pulled her in and kissed her quickly. She pulled back in disgust, but he didn't seem to notice. "Who was that you were rushin' out of the kitchen?"

"What're you doin' here?" she whispered, sounding angry and confused and scared at the same time.

"I was in town," he said simply, "You wouldn't be tryin' t'change the subject on me, would you?"

She pulled back once more, breaking his hold on her. "Of course not, Billy Ray. He was nobody. Jus' a friend'a my daddy's."

"He?" the aforementioned boy asked, doubtfully.

"Yeah, so?"

"You messin' 'round with him?"

"What? No! Jus' 'cause he's a man don't mean I'm gonna go off an' fool around with him!"

"Aw, don't you lie t'me, you cheatin'-"

She cut him off, talking in low, angered whispers. "I can't cheat on y'if we ain't together! We ain't never been together, y'loon!"

Billy grinned, knowing this full well. But she was his girl, and he was damned if anybody else was going to lay claim to the same thing. "I like it when you're mean t'me, darlin'," he responded, pushing her into the Mueller's pantry hard.

She almost yelped but managed to keep it to a simple wince as her back connected with the shelves. She pushed herself off quickly to leave, but Billy advanced on her and pinned her against the shelves.

"Billy Ray!" her voice had become louder in its protest. "You let go'a me this instant or I'll-"

Billy again forced himself upon her, pushing his lips to hers hungrily. Alex struggled under her attacker, trying desperately to pull her face from his. She was utterly repulsed by his behavior and prayed silently for someone to come and help her. Someone upstairs had been listening, apparently, because Jim came in a moment later.

"Only Dean wants dessert, an' he says he wants.." he drifted off when he didn't see Alex anywhere. He heard sounds from the pantry, and peeked inside, surprised at his findings. "Alex?"

Billy stopped his assault on poor Alex and whirled around to face Jim confusedly, the looked to Alex expectantly. "Who's this?"

"I'm-" Jim started, but Alex finished from him.

"Jus' a friend, Billy. He's jus' a friend."

In his mind, Billy was convinced she was lying. There was something terribly wrong with him. He scowled deeply, his anger expressed clearly on his face, before lunging forward quickly. "Tramp!" he growled as he brought his fist down on her face as hard as he could.

"What the?!" Jim was taken aback by the ferocity of this intruder. He snapped himself out of his amazed stupor after Alex stumbled backwards, again into the pantry's shelves, and slumped over in unconsciousness. Pushing himself away from the floor, he leapt at Billy, tackling him to the ground. He quickly pushed himself off the older boy, pinning him there with his knee, and then pulling back to say, "Don't you ever hit her!" He punctuated his demand with a forceful punch in the face.

Billy growled and retaliated with a punch of his own, not in an able position to draw his guns. Jim receded, falling onto his back hard as Billy pulled himself up. He reached for his gun, but decided against it, feeling more like killing Jim with his bare hands. To weaken him, Billy kicked Jim in the gut. Before he could suck in air, Billy's hands were crushing his throat. Already careening from his loss of wind, Jim didn't have the strength to overpower his attacker, but he made an attempt to claw viciously at his hands and swing at his face. This attempt was made in vain, however, because Billy had refused to let go, and had even dared to grin.

A gun cocked and suddenly Billy didn't feel like grinning anymore. Alex had come to, and instead of futilely trying to fight Billy off Jim, she had scrambled to get her father. They had assumed that with all the noise the two were just fooling around again, but when she rushed out with a newly forming black eye they were immediately convinced that that wasn't the case. They were now all standing in a very crowded kitchen.

"Let 'im go," Cole's voice sounded from behind his cocked six-gun. Billy let go of Jim as slowly as possible, wishing that they had come moments later, and that he had chosen to just kill him with a gun instead. Jim dropped limply to the floor, coughing hard.

Alex rushed over to him to help, setting him up slowly. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he coughed and winced, "yeah."

"Good," she said firmly, standing to face Billy in the same manner. "Now, you lissen t'me. I am not your girlfriend. I wasn't never. I want you t'leave me and my friends alone, and if y'don't I swear t'God I'll kill you."

Her words didn't seem to click in his head, and he smiled slightly, to the surprise of the sane people of the room. "But I love you, darlin'. Ain't nobody that can stop me from comin' back here."

"I beg t'differ," Jesse said, cocking his gun along with Bob and Jim, who still sat on the floor.

He looked pleadingly to Alex. "Alex.."

"Git, Billy Ray. The only reason they're not shootin' you is 'cause they don't wanna dirty the floor."

Billy stared at Jim for a moment before he left, much to the relief of Alex, who was shaking in fear and anger. Joe moved to drape an arm around her shoulders as Jesse and Cole helped Jim up. Frank came up on Alex's right flank, tilting her chin up to look at her new shiner. She pulled her head away from Frank, twisted her body from her father, and disappeared into the next room without a word. The creaking of the stairs was heard, and they assumed she was going upstairs to lie down.

"Joe," Jesse said, leaving Jim's side, "who was that?"

"His name's Billy Ray Gorman. Used t'work for me here, when we needed ranch hands. He left t'join some cockaninny gang that the town deadbeat, Ralph Davies, formed. Said they were gonna be the best damn outlaws this side'a the Mississippi, even better than the James-Younger gang," Joe shook his head as he scoffed, "Billy's always been a few horses short'a a wagon, though. Had this.. infatuation with Alex while he was workin'. Always thought he was her man, y'know? Crazy, I tell you. Anyway-"

Jesse stopped him, interested more about the gang that was out to rival them. "About this gang, Joe.. who else is in it?"

"Ah, I dunno. Y'remember the Ford twins?" Jesse nodded. "I think he took 'em with 'im, but they haven't been through here in ages."

"That was the kid from Savannah," Jesse realized, turning to Cole, "wasn't it?"

"I thought he looked familiar!" Cole responded. "Damn, he's a crazy son of a bitch."

Ignoring Cole's comment, Frank decided to join the conversation. "They're out to rival us?"

"I reckon. Maybe jus' t'prove somethin', like you ain't the only ones who can rob a train or two, or maybe jus' 'cause they're greedy. They been usin' your name, too, I think. There was a robbery 'bout two months ago, a guy named Winston got killed-"

"Yeah, I read about that," Bob said helpfully from his position next to Jim. "They pinned that one on us, didn't they?"

"They what?" Jesse said, realizing he must have missed that article.

"They used your name to cover themselves. I think it's a pretty smart thing t'do, I-"

"Bob."

"So innocent people are getting' their hard-earned money taken away from them 'cause'a us?" Frank started again, seriously. He looked at Bob, irritated.

"Reckon we should put a stop t'that. What d'you think, Jesse?" Cole asked coolly.

"I think you've got a good idea there, Cole," Jesse replied, just as cool. "How d'you suggest we stop 'em, cousin?"

"They gotta be close by," Joe chimed in, "Or at least Billy is. An' he could lead y'right to 'em."

"Right. So maybe we can catch up t'him."

"Maybe we can track 'im," Frank suggested with a crafty tone, his eyes darting to Tom, who smiled.

"Yeah, good idea, Frank. You think you can track 'em, Tom?"

"Sure. Should be easy enough. Not too many people come in this way, and it's still pretty light out, so we don't have to wait 'til the morning," the Indian nodded.

"Alrigh', let's go," Cole announced, pulling his gun from his holster and heading out the back door with Tom, Bob, and Frank.

Jim started to follow, but Jesse held out his hand and stopped him. "Stay here, with Alex."

"Hell no, I'm comin'! I'll kill him!" Jim declared, in low but forceful tones.

"Exactly. An' what'll she think'a you then?" Jesse smiled when he saw Jim's hesitant reaction, but it was wiped from his face when Alex came jogging down the stairs.

She had changed into Lacey's trousers and one of her father's shirts, unwilling to get her dress dirty. Her hair was loosened from its bun and rested messily on the nape of her neck. She had donned a holster from God knows where and had loaded it with two almost brand new revolvers. Pulling one out as she descended the stairs, she pointed the barrel at the ceiling and brushed past her father and the other two, muttering, ".. kill that son of a bitch.."

Jim waited until she was out of hearing range to smirk and cross his arms. "I dunno, what'll she think'a me, Jess?"

Jesse stared at him for a second and then shook his head. "Damn it. Alex!"

Jesse and Jim, along with Joe, jogged out the backdoor to see Alex walking off to the Mueller's barn. She was engaged in an argument with Cole, who was protesting her coming with them because it was too dangerous. It made Alex even more determined to come, as she was sure that Cole wouldn't be saying anything if she were a man. He groaned because he knew it was true, but refused to say anything that would reveal to her that she was right. She disappeared into the barn for a moment and Jesse walked up to Cole slowly as Joe followed Alex into the barn to try and talk some sense into her.

"She's not jus' gonna back down, Cole," Jesse said knowingly.

"Well she can't come with us, she'll slow us down. An' what if she gets hurt?"

"She can handle herself. I say she comes with us, jus' this one time. What exactly were y'plannin' on doin'? Leavin' her here and listenin' t'her raise hell when we come back?"

Cole thought a moment. "Yeah, actually."

"She can come. C'mon, Cole."

"Now hold on a minute. A lot'a things've changed since you been gone, Jess. Y'can't jus' come along an' start makin' decisions without consultin' the rest'a us! I'm in charge now, an' I say we ain't takin' her with us!"

Alex arrived just in time to hear Cole's outburst. She narrowed her eyes and wheeled her horse to face him. "Why, Cole? I can handle myself jus' fine," she twirled her gun as an example.

"I did teach her how t'shoot, Cole. She should be alrigh'," Frank offered from his position on his horse.

"You too, Frank?" Cole asked disappointedly, his gaze switching from one cousin to the other. Frank smirked lightly, remembering a similar conversation that ended with Jesse and Cole standing off against one another. Cole huffed indignantly, feeling outnumbered, "Fine. But if she gets hurt I'm not takin' the blame for it."

Alex glared at Cole for a moment and then clicked her tongue lightly, letting her steed know that it was time to ride. Tom turned his horse in the direction that he planned to go in and took off at a slow trot with the rest of the gang in tow. He stopped periodically, sliding off his horse and crouching low to the ground. About half an hour later, Bob noticed a plume of smoke billowing in the distance and called the others' attention to it. The group, with the exception of Cole, picked up their speed. Cole hung back, obviously wary of the whole situation. He couldn't help feeling like this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought it would be.