Hannibal Heyes had not gotten up this morning expecting to be helping his partner stumble up the stairs of a hotel. Jed 'Kid' Curry had said hardly a word since leaving Matherville two days ago, despite several attempts to get him to talk. Then they had arrived in this small nondescript town, the name of which totally escaped him at the moment. Thankfully they had rented a room before heading to the saloon. Thankfully because Kid had been drinking heavily, something he hardly ever did, and Heyes had his hands full. With Kid's left arm around his shoulders and Heyes' right arm around his waist, he tried to steer them in a relatively straight line down the hallway.

"Where we goin'?"

"To our room Thaddeus."

"Wanna go back."

"Back where?"

"Saloon."

"We can't go back there. Bartender was getting' ready to send for the sheriff."

They reached the door to their room and Heyes leaned his partner against the wall.

"Stand there a minute," he said, putting both hands firmly on Kid's shoulders.

"'Kay."

Heyes let go as he quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Turning back just in time to see Kid slide crookedly down the wall to sit none too gracefully on the floor.

"Oops," Kid grinned.

"Dang it Thaddeus," Heyes mumbled as he reached down to stand the inebriated man back up, only to have his hands slapped away.

"Stop treating me like a kid….like a kid," he said dissolving into snorts of helpless laughter.

"Oh for…c'mon," Heyes snapped as he hoisted his still giggling friend upright again.

Finally they made it into their room, where Heyes sat Kid none too gently onto the bed and sighed. Kid slowly raised bleary eyes to look at Heyes.

"I'm sorry Heyes."

"S'all right Kid, you don't drink like this much."

"Not for that…for what I done."

"What d'ya mean?" Heyes asked only slightly confused as he stood watching his friend.

"For Matherville."

"He called you out Kid, you had no choice."

"There's always a choice. I wanted to kill him. I'm the one that wanted to track 'im down. I wanted revenge for Seth…"

"We both wanted revenge Kid, not just you. He left us to die too don't forget, and it was pure luck that we didn't."

"I killed a man Heyes," Kid said hanging his head and taking a shuddering breath.

Heyes squatted down in front of him, putting his hands on Kid's knees.

"Look at me," he urged.

Kid lifted teary eyes, trying to focus on the face in front of him.

"How many lives did you save by taking one. We only know of two. Seth and that cowboy in the street, and he sure didn't feel bad about killin' them. We don't know how many others had already died by his hand, or how many would have died in the future. You've always aimed to shoot off a holster or hit someone in the arm, never to kill."

Kid frowned slightly. "I s'pose."

"You had said yourself that Danny just might be faster than you…You have no idea how scared I was when you stepped out in that street to face him."

"I'm sorry Heyes, but there was just somethin' inside o' me that couldn't let it go."

"I think I understand Kid. There was somethin' pure evil about that man."

"It's strange ain't it Heyes."

"What is?"

"I never killed anyone when we was outlawin'. I bin in more gunfights since we went straight, and now someone's dead because of me."

"No Kid. He caused his own death. If it hadn't bin you, sooner or later it woulda bin someone else."

"Still don't make it right."

"Maybe not, but I'd rather him be dead than you."

"'Preciate that Heyes…sure wish I had s'more of that whiskey."

"You're in luck Kid, " Heyes grinned as he pulled a bottle out.

"Bought it figurin' I'd have a drink or two once I got you up to our room in one piece."

He handed the bottle to Kid who immediately opened it and took a long drink while Heyes struggled to remove Kid's boots. He finally got the second one off with a grunt and straightened up, eyeing the bottle which now was missing a third of its contents. Heyes snatched it away from him.

"Hey…"

"You've had enough."

Kid blinked owlishly at him for a moment before speaking again.

"We had a lot of…a lot of…um… good times didn't we."

"Yeah we did."

"I miss it sometimes."

"You do?"

"Kinda miss the boys."

"They were a good bunch."

"You and Wheat…locked horns."

"Sometimes. Him and Kyle were quite the pair."

"I liked Kyle. He was…well he was a few horses short of a herd, but he meant well."

Heyes snorted in amusement. "A few horses short of a herd huh?"

"Ya s'pose his whole fam..ly's like that? Or maybe he was dr..dropped when he was a youngin'"

"I'm sure I don't know Kid. Ya know ya could help me out here."

"I'll help ya Heyes. Wha d'ya need?

"Quit pushin' my hands away so's I can get your shirt off."

"Why doan I need my shirt?"

"Cause I need to get you into bed before you pass out."

"Huh? Why would I do that?"

"What, go to bed or pass out?"

"Yer confusin 'me," Kid frowned.

"Sorry Kid, I ain't tryin' to."

Kid tried to get up, but Heyes put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"What're ya doin'?"

"Thirsty."

"I'll get ya somethin' as soon as I get ya settled."

"Get s'more o' that whissey."

"Whissey?" Heyes couldn't help but grin.

"C'mon Kid, into bed."

"Doan wanna," he mumbled, but he wasn't able to put up much of a fight as Heyes lifted his legs onto the bed. By the time Heyes threw a blanket over him, he was snoring loudly.

Heyes sighed in relief. Kid didn't get this drunk very often, thank goodness. But in this case it was needed to get Kid's thoughts of Matherville out in the open. He only hoped it would help to ease his friends' guilt. He sat in the chair watching his friend and thinking over their conversation, taking a few sips from the whiskey bottle.

"A few horses short of a herd," he chuckled softly, shaking his head. "You're gonna have a herd of horses galloping through your head in the mornin'." With that Heyes set the bottle on the table and opened his book.