Chris felt himself floating in and out of a dream. At one point, he was in a room. It looked like it might be Nathan's room, and there were voices. He knew them, but his brain couldn't attach any of them to anyone in particular.

"...why's he breathin' like that..."

"...singed lungs...throat..."

"...needs tendin'..."

"...can give him the best care..." He tried to open his eyes, but they felt so heavy. He was on his back and yet he was moving, floating through space. Then there was blinding light and heat against his face and he squinted painfully.

Light.

Heat.

FIRE!

"Sarah!" He tried to shout but there was no sound. There were hands on him and voices around him, trying to calm him. And all the time, whatever he was laying on kept moving, shimmying unevenly.

Then hands were lifting him, he was floating again. The bright light was gone, and then he was laying on something soft. So soft he wanted to drift deeper into this dream, into the comfort of nothingness...

As consciousness slowly returned, Chris could hear a rhythmic raspy sound close by. Slowly he realized it was his own painful breathing. His mouth felt dry but it was all he could do to draw each breath into his aching lungs. He was in a bed but where? He tried to sit up, tried to figure out where he was. It wasn't his room in town. It wasn't Nathan's, either. Where in the hell...?

It was his shack.

How in hell did he get here? And why did he hurt so much? Fire. There was a fire. And he was still alive. He lay back against the pillows, mentally scanning his body for any other damage besides his throat and lungs. His arm and shoulder were heavily bandaged. He lifted the blanket to find that he was naked underneath and a neat, white bandage was wrapped around his thigh. He frowned. Someone patched him up and brought him all the way out here.

Just then, Vin walked in, a hammer in his hand. He nearly swallowed the nails in his mouth as he exclaimed "Hey, yer awake!"

Chris nodded and tried to speak, but to his dismay, he found he had no voice at all. Vin put down his tools to get Chris a drink. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Chris slowly sipped the glass of water.

"Throat hurts?"

Chris nodded.

"I bet," said Vin, grinning. "Nathan patched ya up. Said you breathed in a lot o' smoke an' such, so you'll be talkin' less than usual. I told 'im I didn't think that was possible." Vin looked down for a moment, his tone becoming serious. "Sorry to be th' one t' tell ya, pard, but...Yer room in town's a wreck. Buildin's still standin' ...but it's gonna be awhile before you can go back there. You're damn lucky ya got out with your skin."

Chris nodded, and drank some more water. It helped for a moment, but his throat felt like he was still breathing in fire and smoke. He sat up abruptly, a wracking cough sending splinters of pain through his chest. Vin looked at him in alarm but Chris waved him off and set the glass on the small table beside the bed. He leaned back against the pillows, slowly, carefully drawing in each breath. He tried to look reassuring as he forced a thin smile.

A look of relief passed across Vin's face. He stood up, picked up a blanket from a nearby chair and dragged the chair to the center of the room. At Chris's puzzled look, he said "You're probably wonderin' what I'm doin'." He stepped onto the chair, talking as he worked. "I'm hangin' this blanket...to divide the place into two rooms." He pounded in a nail. "You'll sleep on this side..." He pounded another nail. "And Ivy'll be on this side on a cot near the stove. You bein' an invalid and all, she said you should have the bed. She's a good woman, Chris."

Chris looked at him in surprise and shook his head, trying desperately to find his voice. Ivy? Sleeping in the same room with him?

Vin climbed off the chair. At Chris's expression, he said, "Now, don't you worry 'bout us newlyweds. I'll be sleepin' just out that door, under the stars. Ain't like I never done it before." He grinned. "'Course, I'll miss my bride, but she insisted on bein' near you so she can tend ya proper. But I guess I can trust ya," he added with a wink.

Chris struggled to get up, but the shallow breaths he was forced to take left him feeling weak and dizzy. His body also reacted in pain as he moved against the bandages. Vin put a hand against his chest and gently but firmly pushed him back against the pillows again.

"Now don't argue, because I know that's what yer doin'." Vin frowned. "As soon as we found out you were hurt, Ivy insisted on taking care of you herself. Shoulda seen 'er, Chris, toe-to-toe with Nathan. Told ya she was a strong woman. She didn't have to do it; she wanted to, and I think we oughta both be grateful to 'er for puttin' herself out like that." Vin's eyes were somber. "She likes you, Chris. She knows how it is between you and me, and she wants real bad for you to like her. I'd like that, too."

Chris studied his friend. He couldn't miss the longing, the pleading in his friend's eyes. What could he do? At last, he relented. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Maybe.

Chris slept fitfully for the next couple of hours. Vin had awakened him once to take some medicine and sip a little water. Chris accepted his ministrations, not fully awake, and easily drifted back to sleep.

The next time he awakened, there was the smell of cooking food in the room. As his brain became fully awake, he saw Ivy standing by his bed, staring down at him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and he shifted under the bedclothes, making sure his nudity was well-covered. Not that it'd have mattered. She'd probably already seen all there was of him, and more than once.

"I'm so sorry, Chris, abut what happened." She bent over him, touching his bandaged shoulder. "But it's all right now because I can take care of you. You'll be good as new, you'll see."

She stood and bent over him, her mouth close to his ear, her voice a whisper against his hair. "I want you, Chris Larabee. I want you to touch me..." She put his hand against her breast. Chris snatched his hand away as if he'd touched fire.

Ivy picked up a parcel near the foot of the bed and unwrapped it.

"I bought you clothes. To replace the burned ones. See?" She held up a blue shirt. "I had to guess at your size. Why don't you try it on and see if it fits?" She handed him the shirt. Chris scowled and flung it angrily across the room--just as Vin walked in.

Vin saw the shirt thrown forcefully to the other side of the room. He frowned.

"Somethin' wrong?" His eyes became cold, his gaze drifting between Ivy and Chris.

Ivy smiled. "No, dear. Chris is just embarrassed at needing someone to help him dress."

"Embarrassed, huh?" Vin looked at Chris skeptically.

Ivy rushed to Vin and put her arms around him. "Now, Vinnie, Chris has been through an awful lot. We need to be patient."

Vin looked into her eyes, a grin spreading across his face. "Yeah, you're right." He put his arms around her and kissed her. She seemed to melt her body into his until his back was to Chris.

Chris could see her face. She was smiling and staring at him with her big, brown eyes.

Hungry eyes.

It was well past nightfall when Chris finally fell asleep. It wasn't easy. Being around Ivy made him increasingly uncomfortable, and worse, he tried his best in front of Vin to look like it didn't bother him. Only it did. It bothered him very much. And yet he could find no way out of it.

He slept deeply, on his side, when something dragged him slowly and relentlessly from his slumber. His fog-filled brain couldn't figure out what it was at first. Something.

No.

Someone. A presence.

He turned to look over his shoulder and just barely avoided crying out in surprise.

Ivy was in the bed beside him, asleep.

He shook her awake and she opened her eyes slowly.

"Get outta my bed," he said hoarsely.

Her eyes challenged him. Slowly she reached under the covers to lightly stroke his body.

Her warm breath tickled his ear. "Are you sure that's what you want, Chris?" She whispered. "I can make us both feel good...if you'll let me. Now. Tonight."

Chris could feel the heat of her, could smell her hair. Her palm was cool against his skin and he could feel a rush of warmth in his groin in response. She wasn't his type, but there was still something inviting in her touch. Maybe if she had been anyone else but Vin's wife...

He caught her wrist. "No" he said in a tight voice, his throat suddenly dry. "Get outta my bed, and don't touch me again."

She arched an eyebrow. "Or...?"

Chris hesitated. Or what? He'd kill her? He'd tell Vin? What would he do?

She laughed softly, her eyes grazing the blanket where it covered his loins. "Another time." She glided out of his reach paused, her lips parted in a provocative smile. "I'm going to be here a long time."

Chris waited till he was sure she was in her own bed, then tried to get back to sleep.

I'm going to be here a long time.

Chris lay in the dark, staring into space. He waited for his body to completely relax. Damn the woman. She knew how to get a man hot and bothered, that was for sure. Chris had thought himself immune to that by now unless he chose it, but Ivy had shown him that wasn't the case. And worse, now they both knew it.

He rolled over slowly and sighed, ignoring the lingering pain from his burns. He had to leave. If Vin's marriage was going to have any kind of chance at all, he was going to have to get out of here. Go away somewhere. Maybe if he was gone, Ivy would turn her attention back to Vin. Chris would need to wait for the right time, and then get as far away as he could. It was the least he could do for his friend.

He fell into a restless sleep, waking occasionally to check that his bed was still occupied only by him. Morning took an unusually long time coming.

Chris waited until after breakfast, when Ivy had gone into town before moving from his bed.

"What do you think you're doin'?"

Chris didn't look up at Vin.

"Packing."

"For where?"

Chris shrugged. The burned skin on his shoulder reminded him not to. Vin moved closer into his field of vision.

Don't do this, Vin.

"Mind tellin' me why?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Chris could feel Vin's eyes on him as he slowly pulled on his shirt. The one Ivy had given him.

"It's Ivy, isn't it."

Chris didn't respond.

"Dammit, Larabee," Vin exploded. "She's tried harder'n anyone I ever seen to get you to like her. I haven't seen you do one damn thing. Would the slightest effort kill you?"

Chris stared at him for a long moment. Slowly he unbuttoned his shirt, wincing in pain as he pulled his injured arm from the sleeve. He held the shirt out to Vin.

"Maybe she can get her money back," he said quietly.

Vin snatched the shirt from Chris's outstretched hand. "You're an asshole, Larabee," he said tightly. "Go to hell for all I care." He flung the shirt aside and stalked out the door.

Chris sighed tiredly, finished his packing, and mounted up. Vin was nowhere to be seen. He gave the building one last look and headed for town to let the others know he was going to be away for awhile. He knew Nathan wouldn't like it but that didn't matter now.

Buck leaned back in his chair in front of the jailhouse. "How long you gonna be gone?"

Chris shrugged. "Ain't sure. A coupla weeks maybe. Could be more."

"Givin' up on this town, are ya?"

"No. No, I just...need some time...Vin can use my place while I'm gone."

"I'm sure he'll be grateful." Buck eyed him thoughtfully. "Nathan ain't gonna be too happy when he finds out you're gone. And I ain't too sure he ain't right. Goin' to Purgatorio?"

"Don't know."

"Well, if ya do, have a good time. We'll still be here when ya get back."

He watched Chris ride away till he was well down the street.

Chris was feeling a little stiff and dizzy. He'd been in the saddle the better part of the day and the sky was taking on a hazy purple hue. It was time to get to sleep. He'd ridden easy most of the time, but at the same time, he'd wanted to cover as much ground as possible.

Purgatory was just as lively as ever, he noted as he rode slowly into town, trying to decide where to stay. Probably his usual place. Relative to other rooms in town, it was clean, though not always quiet. All he had to do was leave word that he was in town and Maria would eventually show up. He smiled to himself. He was looking forward to getting reacquainted.

Nightfall came and Chris lay in his bed, barefoot and bare-chested, alone with just a bottle of whiskey for company. He was well and truly drunk. He didn't bother to look up as his door opened.

"'Bout time," he slurred irritably.

Maria slid into bed with him, running her cool palms against his back. He groaned, feeling a stirring between his legs. Despite the whiskey that muddled his head, he quickly opened his pants, allowing his manhood to unfurl.

He rolled over to cup her breast and his eyes widened in horror.

"What in hell are YOU doin' here?"

Chris backed away. Ivy reached out and stroked his throbbing flesh provocatively.

"I came here to be with you."

"Stop it!" With one hand, he caught her wrist while with his other hand, he stuffed himself back into his pants.

Damn, he shouldn't have gotten so drunk so fast.

"You need to go," he growled.

"Go where? It's nighttime! You're not throwing me out, are you? Where would I go?"

Chris sighed and rubbed his head, as if the movement would clear his muddied brain.

"All right. But I'm not sleepin' on the damn floor. Hell, this is MY room!"

Ivy smiled. "I don't mind sharing."

"I do."

Chris rolled onto his side, his back to her. "And don't be touchin' me or I'm likely to forget you're a woman."

"Yes, Chris," she said meekly.

He could hear the smile in her voice.

Sarah gently stroked his face. He could feel her warm breath against his cheek and he sighed contentedly. He wanted to touch her, to hold her so badly, his whole body ached with the need.

She took his hand and placed it against her naked breast.

"So soft," he whispered hoarsely. In a moment, her mouth was pressed hungrily against his. He devoured her. He was a man long-starved for her. "Sarah..."

"Hold me," she breathed.

The voice. It was wrong.

His eyes opened and the fog of alcohol-induced sleep immediately cleared. Ivy's arm tightened around him. He felt as though he were drowning and he struggled to escape her grasp.

He stumbled out of bed, shocked to find his fly was again open. He was soft and wet and he stared at her, his face hardening. He felt violated and for a moment, he was tempted to strangle her right then and there - if only to wipe that smug look off her face. It was the worst possible moment for the door to open.

The air was charged like the moment before a lightning storm. No one moved or spoke for a long time.

Vin stood there, his mouth agape. He recovered abruptly, looking at them coldly.

"I come to apologize to ya after she ran out on me. Now I see what a fool I really was." He frowned. "Close yer pants, Larabee."

Chris quickly pulled himself together.

"It ain't what it looks like, Vin."

Vin turned to Ivy, his eyes narrowing. "That so?"

She didn't answer. Vin turned away, his whole body trembling with barely-concealed rage.

Chris looked at her contemptuously and followed after Vin.

"Just a minute--"

Vin pivoted suddenly, his fist smashing into Chris's jaw. Another blow connected with his stomach, doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him. Chris charged at him defensively and the battle was on.

Chris knew Vin was past listening to anything he had to say, so most of his moves were defensive ones, trying to tire Vin out and avoid getting beaten to death.

"Vin--I don't want to hurt you!"

"Fine by me!" the tracker grunted as another blow bloodied Chris's nose.

There was a bone-crunching blow to his side and Chris grunted, falling to his knees. Vin dragged him to his feet and another blow connected with his jaw. His head pivoted like a doll's.

"Vin, don't--do--this--!" he gasped, spitting out blood between the words.

Vin growled in fury, bringing his knee up sharply into Chris's gut. Lights sparkled in front of his eyes, his lungs painfully screamed for air, and he vomited onto the floor before collapsing in a heap.

Vin turned to Ivy who was now huddling in a corner. She had enjoyed watching two men fight over - well, one at least - but now Vin's rage was clearly directed at her.

"WHORE! BITCH!" he raged. "Runnin' off with a man's best friend!" He punctuated the remark by spitting on the half-naked man curled up and gasping by his feet. "I don't care if ya stay with 'im or not - but don't you come back to town - not if you don't want somethin' t' happen you, you hear me?"

She nodded, eyes wide with terror. He squatted down and grabbed a fistful of Chris's hair, lifting the blond gunmen's head so he could look into his battered face.

"As for you, Larabee. Wherever you go... you see me, you just stay outta my way. I don't care how 'fast' you are."

He dropped Chris's head roughly, straightened, and left without a backward glance, his boots making a quick rhythm down the hall and then the stairs.

Chris groaned and rolled slowly onto his back, crying out at the sharp pain in his side. Busted rib, he thought. Maybe more than one. One eye wouldn't open at all and to the other, the room seemed to be getting darker until it finally went black.

When Chris awoke, it was dark. A lamp created long shadows in the room and he could vaguely hear the sounds of random gunfire and rowdy, drunken shouts far away. He frowned. Where--? Oh, yeah. Must still be in Pugatory.

Vin.

He remembered now. He cried out with a startled gasp of pain as something cold and wet touched his bruised side.

"Hold still. That's an ugly bruise there. You're just a mess...!"

Chris frowned at Ivy. "What are you still doin' here?"

"Well, where else would I go? Sit up." She began to wrap a bandage tightly around his ribs.

Chris clenched a muscle in his jaw. "How about back home to your husband? Vin?"

Ivy leaned closer and gave him a peck on his forehead. He grimaced, not in pain but in distaste.

"I belong wherever I want to be. And I want to be with you."

"I don't want you here."

"I can change your mind." She wiped his face and he caught her wrist in a tight grip. She smiled, showing tiny white teeth that gleamed in the lamplight.

"Stop it. I told you I don't mess with my best friend's wife and I mean it. Go back to Vin where you belong."

Ivy stuck out her lower lip in a determined pout. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm certainly not going back to him. You're the one I want. Why can't you accept that?" She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I'm NOT going back there and you can't make me."

Chris sighed. His whole body ached and he was tiring fast. She saw the pale, tight expression on his face and her demeanor changed.

"You're still hurt. You should let me take care of you. I'm good at that. You know I am, whether you admit or not."

He sighed, too exhausted to fight - particularly a she-cat like Ivy.

"Well, I can't do anything about you now. I guess we'll have to talk about this in the morning."

Ivy smiled and helped him shift his body until he was able to drink some water. She started to lay beside him when his icy voice stopped her. . "Not so close," he said gruffly. "Over there." He nodded at a chair across the room.

"But I'm cold," she whined.

"I don't care if you're frozen solid. I don't want you touching me in the night. Understand?"

She opened her mouth to retort but the look in Chris's eyes made her think better of it. With a sigh of annoyance and frustration, she flounced over the chair, taking an extra blanket with her.

Chris studied her from under his lashes - and one swollen eye. He could tell she was a strong woman, all right. She'd have to be to follow him out here like she had. He yawned in spite of himself. So tired...He'd deal with her in the morning. They were going back to town if he had to tie her across the back of his horse.

Vin rode his horse harder than he knew he should but he wanted to get good and far from Purgatory. Thoughts swirled through his head sending a rush of heated anger through his body.

That bitch. And HIM. All the time pretendin' he wasn't interested in her! Did Larabee really think he was that stupid? He'd seen them with his own eyes, and Larabee hangin' outta his pants like a dog in heat, the smell of sex in the room with them.

That sonofabitch was lucky he'd left him alive. But it was bad enough to have one murder on his head - one that he hadn't done - and he was pretty sure it'd be worse to have two and remove all doubt of his innocence.

He was halfway home and he figured he could probably make it home if he kept on riding, but it was getting dark. He fumbled in his pocket, trying to figure out how much money he had. Enough for a room if the nearest hotel wasn't too expensive. A soft, clean bed would be a nice change, and given all he'd lost in the past 24 hours, he figured he deserved it.

There were only a couple of hotels in the small town, and Vin picked the pricier-looking one. He woke the clerk who stood there in his nightshirt, yawning, as he took Vin's money and handed him a key.

"Would you like to sign the register, sir?"

Vin shifted uncomfortably. The clerk seemed to instinctively understand his hesitation.

"Shall I sign it for you, then? What's the name?"

"Tanner. Vin Tanner."

The clerk's pen hovered over the register. "Vin Tanner?"

Vin looked at him, instantly wary. The clerk squinted.

"Just you, is that correct?"

"Beg pard'?"

"You're alone, sir, is that right?"

Vin was growing impatient. "You see anyone standin' next t' me?"

"Well, no." The clerk appraised the irritated and rough-looking man in the dusty buckskins and was instantly apologetic. "It's just that there was a man stayed here last night who was looking for a Vin Tanner, I believe, but he said you--he would be traveling with a woman." He lowered his voice and leaned forward. "I'm not one for idle gossip, but he said you had run off with his wife."

Vin smiled coldly as he pocketed the key to his room. "Looks like he was wrong."

"Indeed."

"He have a name?"

The clerk scanned the register, obligingly. "Here it is. Lanter. Jesse Lanter."

"Well, I'm sure sorry I missed 'im. Mind describin' him for me?"

The clerk looked around as if he might see the man's face drawn on one of the walls. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Tall. Black hair. Rather large build, I thought. A red scar just along his jaw, I believe."

"He didn't say where he was goin', did he?"

"Well, sir, if I may say so, he wasn't all that pleased. I'd say you're lucky you missed him."

Vin fished a few coins from his pocket and tossed it at him.

"South. Are you going that way?"

"North. Thanks, Pard." Vin turned and retreated to his room. Whoever it was, he wasn't still nearby. He took off his hat, coat and boots and lay back on the counterpane, feeling the exhaustion that had seeped into his bones. Moments later, he was asleep.

When Vin awoke, it was just past dawn. He yawned and stretched, not surprised to find he had slept in his clothes. He scratched his head and got up to splash some water on his face. Blotting his face with a small hand towel, his thoughts drifted back to the conversation he'd had with the desk clerk.

So someone was looking for him and his...bride. Who already was a bride. Well, the joke was on this Lanter fella because she was with another man. He wiped his face and smiled wryly, looking at himself in the mirror over the basin.

Whoever it was, he was looking his wife and Vin Tanner, there was a good chance that whoever he found with her he'd think that man was Vin Tanner. Serve that traitorous backstabber right.

He smiled again. Ezra words. He hoped that was the ONLY thing about Ezra that was rubbing off on him.

He threw the towel aside, pulled on his boots and scooped up his hat and coat. Minutes later he was riding out of town, trying to put all thoughts of Chris and Ivy out of his mind.

Nothing was going to keep Chris Larabee in bed that morning. Not even Ivy, mewling and fussing around him constantly. Despite her smothering attempts to take care of him, he'd slowly, carefully managed to get out of bed and dress himself, pulling his clothes on gingerly over the bruised ribs and burned flesh. He'd only grudgingly accepted her help once, when he got so dizzy he thought he'd keel over.

"Where are we going?" she'd asked breathlessly, a big smile on her face.

"Back to town."

"Back to--THERE? But WHY?" She threw her arms around him and he gasped in pain. "We can go anywhere; it's just you and me, Chris!"

He pulled her hands away, trying to ignore the fire in his ribcage as he did so.

"No, we can't. You're going back to Vin so you two can straighten things out, once and for all."

"And where will you be?"

Chris looked at her, eyes like green ice. "That's none of your business, Ivy."

Ivy pouted, clearly very disappointed and he might have laughed if he didn't feel like strangling her instead.

The two of them were well out of town before Ivy tried talking to him again. It had taken them a long time to get there, mostly due to Chris's injuries from his fight with Vin. It seemed that vexing woman caused him nothing but all kinds of physical pain and he'd be damn glad to be rid of her. Despite his fight with the tracker, Chris felt sorry for him. No man liked being made a fool of by a woman, and Chris suspected this wasn't the first time Ivy had done so.

"What if I don't want to go back? What if I don't want to stay married to your precious Vin Tanner?"

Chris was unruffled. "That's up to you two. But you at least owe it to him to tell him so."

Ivy glanced at him slyly. "I think he already knows."

Chris glanced at her stonily and said nothing. Her smile faded and she fastened her gaze on the horizon. They had just taken a curve with wooded slopes on either side of them, when a shot rang out. White fire stabbed into Chris's shoulder and back and he tumbled from his saddle onto the soft earth, Ivy's scream echoing in his ears.

"Jesse!" She shrieked.

Chris lifted his head, the only part of him that wasn't in significant pain - yet. A huge man stood over him, but it was the angry-looking face that drew his attention. It was the gun pointed at him.

The man called Jesse looked at him. "What do you think I should do to a man who steals another man's wife?" He kicked Chris sharply in his wounded shoulder. Chris rolled onto his side, struggling to draw a breath.

"Jesse Lanter, why are you following me?" Ivy demanded.

Lanter turned to her with a look that instantly shattered her defiance. "I've come to claim what's mine."

"But I don't want to go with you, can't you figure that out?"

"Don't matter. You are anyway."

"Heard you was married Ivy. To him? This Vin Tanner? They got laws, y'know..."

"He's not--"

"Shut up. Damn whore. Clearly I didn't teach you enough about bein' a good wife."

He grabbed her roughly by the arm and she resisted.

"NO! I don't care if we're married," She shouted. "I DON'T WANT TO BE WTH YOU ANYMORE? CAN'T YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD?"

Lanter backhanded her sharply with his free hand and once again tried to drag her with him.

"A man goes t' jail, he expects his WIFE to be home WAITIN' on 'im! NOT RUN OFF TO MARRY SOME OTHER GUY LIKE A THIEVIN' WHORE!" He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, snarling. "Or is that what you are? Whatever he mighta paid you, it was more than you're worth!" He released her hair and spat angrily. "I'll finish him off before we go. And then I'm gonna teach you how to be a GOOD wife..." The way he said it sent a chill through the air.

Chris groped for his gun with numbed fingers. The tips brushed against the handle. His whole upper back felt like it was on fire and his movements were still stiff from his injury, but he tried to draw anyway, his attention now diverted from the man about to execute him. He could hear the click as the hammer of the gun was drawn back. The barrel of his own pistol was just clearing its holster when there was a loud shot and Lanter collapsed to his knees beside Chris. Lanter's gun fired; instantly Ivy cried out and also fell.

Chris looked around him, confused. From where he lay, it looked like Lanter was dead and Ivy was barely moving. Where in hell had the shot come from? Chris closed his eyes against an overwhelming wave of pain that threatened to carry him into unconsciousness.

He was breathing in small gasps, trying to muster the resources to stand. When he opened his eyes again, he knew where the shot had come from.

Vin.

Chris rolled awkwardly onto his back and let his head fall onto the dusty ground, willing himself to stay conscious - and alive. From a couple of yards away, he could hear Ivy and he knew she was close to breathing her last.

"V-Vinnie? Is that you? Vinnie, help me..."

Vin stood, his eyes roaming from Chris to Ivy and back again. At last he moved to kneel beside someone he cared for deeply. He gently raised Chris's head in one hand while holding a canteen to Chris's lips with the other. Chris drank a few swallows of the tepid water and closed his eyes. Gently, Vin lowered his head back to the ground.

"Vinnie?" Ivy raised her head to look at him in surprise. A moment of realization passed over her face and she fell back, dead.

Chris craned his head to look up at him. "Aincha gonna go to her?"

Vin shook his head. "I'm right where I wanna be, thanks." He opened Chris's shirt to assess the damage. "Right messy, there. That was yer good shoulder, too." He touched the wound carefully and Chris felt the color drain from his face. Vin frowned. "Think you can make it back to town?"

Chris struggled to sit up and beads of perspiration dotted his forehead.

"Stayin' here ain't doin' me much good." He closed his eyes for a moment while the world swirled around him. He had never known before how one could feel such a variety of pain all at the same time.

Vin carefully fashioned a field bandage around Chris's bloody shoulder. His fingers quick and sure over the damaged flesh. Chris looked into his eyes, but Vin gave away nothing.

He started to help Chris into a clean shirt from the blond's saddlebags and paused. Both men stared at the shirt in his hands. It was the one Ivy had bought. Neither of them said a word as volumes of words passed between them unspoken but still understood. Vin sighed and Chris eased his aching body into the shirt, his lips pressed together until they went white.

As he buttoned the shirt for Chris, Vin indicated the two bodies with a nod. "I'd best bury 'em, I reckon."

Chris's voice was soft. "Want some help?"

Vin snorted derisively. "From you? Nah." Chris started to move anyway and Vin's voice was sharp. "Listen, you make a move t' help in yer condition an' I'll have t' dig three graves. Why don't you rest? This is gonna take me awhile."

Chris closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very light-headed again and that same tiredness that had overwhelmed him since the fire in his room threatened to overwhelm him again. "I-I think I can manage that."

He closed his eyes, just briefly, he thought to himself. When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to see Vin putting the finishing touches on the second grave. Two neat piles of rocks were side by side.

He started to move and groaned. His entire body felt like it had been poked with needles and then set on fire. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to control his breathing, and opened them again to see Vin squatting beside him and staring at him, blue eyes awash with concern. He tilted his head slightly, and Chris could feel the blue eyes looking right through him.

"How ya feelin'?"

Chris knew he wouldn't get a lie past Vin. He groaned slightly and draped his burned arm across his eyes, wincing as he did so, feeling the still-damaged skin pulling.

"Like I fell under a buffalo stampede."

Vin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, if it's any consolation, ya look it."

"Thanks."

The sharpshooter grinned. "Smell like it, too--"

"All right!" Chris smiled but the smile changed abruptly to a grimace. "Can we go now?"

The sharpshooter nodded and handed Chris the canteen. Chris took another swallow and licked his lips. His voice was soft, gentle.

"Thought you was gone for good."

"Thought I was, too."

"Vin...You know she was already married...right?"

Vin sighed and dusted his hands on his pants. "Well, yeah, I reckon I do by now." He paused and glanced around him, avoiding Chris's eyes. "Chris...did you really...you know...do anything with her?"

"Honest?"

"Yeah. Yeah, honest."

Chris studied Vin's face before looking away. "I don't know. I was asleep, and she..I don't know." He let the sentence trail off. "I was never interested in her, Vin. Just as a friend. The wife of my friend. I want you to know that."

Vin nodded and helped Chris to his feet, accepting most of the man's weight. Chris's injuries were sapping his strength quickly and they still had a ride ahead of them.

Chris settled awkwardly into his saddle, face etched with white from pain, and looked down at Vin. He nodded in the direction of the graves. "JD would say 'aincha gonna say some words'?"

Vin turned and looked at the two graves. "Where they're goin', I don't think it'd help."

END