Strength In Family

Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it.

A/N: For Whumptober 2022 #31 A light at the end of the tunnel-comfort

Since Sheriff Barnes had shown up in their camp, Nick had been kicking himself for not seeing the obvious trap sooner. No bill of sale, how could he have been so stupid? He had been going on cattle-buying trips since he was a youngster. He was the experienced one. He had been in charge. It was his responsibility to make sure the sales went through without a hitch. His father would never have fallen for something so obvious.

The crooked lawmen had hit Heath into the fire, burning up his leg. They had been forced onto their horses without him being able to truly check on his hurt little brother. Nick could tell Heath was hurting badly but he didn't complain. He had figured it couldn't get much worse. He had been wrong.

Captain Rizely was an insane power-hungry man that liked to wield pain as a means of control. Obedience was their only hope of survival.

As the endless days went on Heath's leg was getting worse. The only medical care, if you could call it that, was offered by a drunken doctor. The younger man, already quiet, had gone almost mute after the whipping. Infections had set in both his burned leg and slashed back. What little food and water they had been given as they slaved the days away, was becoming harder for Heath to keep down. Nick had to force him to eat and drink after he refused when all that came up was bile. The younger man felt guilty for losing what little food they had and tried to get Nick to eat it instead. Fever raged in his ravaged body. He had become almost silent as he went through the motions of moving rocks. Nick didn't know if his brother had retreated into his mind, Like Billy, to manage the pain or if the fever was making it difficult to distinguish between reality and not. Sometimes Nick had to grab his arm to keep him from wandering, stumbling, or falling over. At night all the pent-up words exploded out of Heath as he slept fitfully. He'd moan and mumble in pain and fever. He would shake as ghosts from his past attacked him in his vulnerable state. Nick could bearly stand listening to the suffering his brother had gone through before they had ever met. He had wanted to know more about his brother but not like this, as he relived the nightmares he'd lived through over the years of his hard young life.

When the two guards had come for his brother, they had pulled him from his sick bed, too weak to fight their hold. Billy and Lobo held Nick back as he went after his brother. Logically the older Barkley knew there was nothing he could do to stop what was happening but as Heath cried out in pain at the rough handling and then went limp in his captors' grip logic went out the window. Nick no longer wanted justice he wanted vengeance. Somebody would pay for hurting his little brother.

He looked through the bars at the hated metal box. It was killing his brother. Heath was already ill before they locked him in. He had no strength to withstand the heat of the sweat box. They had to wait for Jarod, but what if Heath died in there?

Nick stared at the box, willing strength into his brother trapped inside. The guards had to pry him from the bars to take him before the Captain. Anger burned through him almost as hot as the heat that had to be going through Heath. He wanted to kill the pig of a man, but more important was saving Heath. He would give Rizely anything to save his brother. The Captain wanted his dignity. His father had always told him men fight, they don't beg. His father hadn't even known about his son but Nick couldn't lose his new brother now. He begged. He got down on his knees and begged. The man, if he could even be called that, just laughed at him.

He had no choice he had to get Heath out of that box, or it would become his coffin. They didn't have time to wait for Jarod and the law. Heath didn't have any more time left. He had been in that sweatbox all day, he wouldn't live through another day inside of it. Heath needed food, water, rest, and medical care not to be a pawn in a sadistic swine's power play. His brother needed him and Nick didn't plan on letting him down.

The escape was another trap Nick had easily fallen into. Like a steer lead to the slaughterhouse. All this mess started because of a bull. Nobody would be able to escape the prison with guards outside the fence waiting to shoot them all down. That didn't change the fact that he had to free his brother from that damned box. Once free they could hold up in the hut until Jarod arrived.

He wanted to kill Rizely so badly. Chocking the life out of him without any remorse, but Heath needed him. He threw the disgraced Navy man to the ground like the trash he was. The metal box's heavy door opened to reveal his unconscious brother. Heath was hot and unresponsive. Was it too little too late?

He refused to lose this new brother of his. They had been denied the opportunity to grow up with one another he didn't plan to squander another minute with one another. When the blond cowboy had first come claiming to be his father's bastard he had been angry. It had taken some time before he could accept his new brother, but once he did, he couldn't remember a time before he rode by his side. Jarod and Gene had always been the type to have their nose in a book. He had never been like that. There was no doubt his two educated brothers were strong men of the west despite it all, but they didn't love the ranch as Nick did. When his father had died, he felt like he had lost his partner. With the arrival of Heath, he felt like he had found a partner again. They ran the ranch together. Riding, working and fighting for their father's legacy to survive. That was why he wanted Heath to go on the cattle-buying trip with him. Showing his new brother the ropes of running the ranch. Heath was handy as a cowhand but he needed to learn more about the business aspect of the ranch. There was no better way to get to know a man than riding the trail with him. Nick wanted to learn everything about his new brother. Even if Nick had grown sick of beans he had been content to just spend time with his brother, just the two of them.

Nick's big brother was by his side. He had brought a judge and a doctor. Jarod took over lifting up the precious load of their sick little brother, cradling him gently in his arms. Nick stood up, he had lived through hell and he planned on seeing it through to the end. He wanted justice for what had been done to him and Heath. He watched Rizely be arrested and finally felt a weight lift from his shoulders. He went back to his brothers, kneeling down next to Heath as the doctor worked. Everything in the corrupt prison would take time to sort out but now that Jarod had come back they would have that time. Heath had come around, looking up at his big brothers in wonder like he had never seen them before.

Jarod spoke softly, "Heath, you'll be alright."

"We got you, boy," Nick reassured. There was no more need for Heath to hide away from the world. His brothers were here now. They would be going home soon. Together.

Nick and Jarod both laid hands of comfort on the weak man, letting him know they were really there and they weren't going anywhere. Heath was safe now, his brothers would make sure of it. How often had Heath been alone in his life in need of a big brother to help him? Now he had two of them and they were both determined to get him well once more. The Barkley family was not complete without him.