"So what happens now?" Tyler asked Reid much later while both men was sitting at the small kitchen table each with a steaming cup of coffee, Tyler had brewed for them on the stove.
Reid looked at him over the rim of this cup and pulled his brow together, "You've lost me, what do you mean?"
"Reid, what I mean by what happen now is, how long are we planning to stay hidden in the cabin? I seriously doubt that we are just going to wait here till Abbot comes to kill me?"
"Ty, he will not kill you, I promise you with my life that I will keep you safe no matter what."
Tyler bit down on his bottom lip. He really wanted to believe Reid but things were not running in their favor and he had to be pessimistic.
"Reid?" he asked carefully.
"Yes."
"Uhm, about what you said last night," he started and stood up, walking towards the fire burning in the living area of the cabin. He had to get away from that piercing look in Reid's blue eyes.
"What, Tyler?" Reid asked again and he also got up and slowly made his way to the man standing in front of the fire.
"Are your men and Chase really fine? Please tell me the truth." Tyler begged and looked at him fearfully.
Reid felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the hurt in Tyler's eyes. "The truth Tyler? The truth is that Caleb, Pogue and Chase all knew what this job had in store when they all signed up to be Marshals, and….."
"Wait! What do you mean Chase signed up to be a Marshal?" Tyler interrupted him.
"Umh. Well, Chase is actually a Deputy Marshal and was assigned to keep a look out for you. He is kind of on an under cover mission. Wait, wait, Tyler," Reid said holding his hands up when the other man began to say something.
"He was only there to observe and keep you safe. Even with Abbot behind bars we could never ensure your safety and although we were not together anymore I would have died if I knew that something would have happened to you."
"So instead of being honest with me from day one you all just deceived me. Poor old Tyler he can not handle the truth, let's just lie to him."
Reid moved till he was standing right in front of Tyler and grabbed hold of his shoulders, shaking him. "You're such an idiot Tyler Simms. We, me and your father did what we though was the safest thing to do for you, because we love you, Tyler. Can't you see it. Are your really that blind."
Tyler stood there, blinking at Reid, lost without words. Instead he just wrapped his arms around the other man's waist and rested his head on his shoulder.
Reid sighed and held Tyler safe against him, feeling him shake, "Shh, everything is going to be okay. I promise you, that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. No more lies, Ty, I promise." His last words were barely a whisper.
Reid pushed Tyler's head from his shoulder and Tyler tried to avoid Reid's eyes but Reid only placed his hands against Tyler's cheeks and held him so that he could look in his eyes.
"Do you believe me?" was all Reid asked.
"Ye-Yes."
"Good." Reid said and placed a kiss on Tyler's lips, "I need you to make me one more promise, a promise that I need you to keep.."
"What?" Tyler asked reluctantly. He did not like the sound of things.
"I want you to promise me no matter what happens, that when I tell you to run, you will run and you will not turn back. Please promise me that you will listen."
"I promise." Tyler said before leaning forward and kissing Reid.
This time the kiss between them was different, more lingering like it might be their last and they wanted it to last forever. Reid dropped his hands from Tyler's face and instead wrapped one around his throat and moved the other behind his head keeping his head still.
He started to lower them both on the rug in front of the fire place never taking his mouth off Tyler's.
For some time all that you could hear were the moans, groans and sighs from the men in front of the fireplace as they made slow passionate love.
"You never told me why of all the places available to go in the witness protection program you decided on ranching?" Reid asked his lover softly as he glanced at man lying next to him on the rug with only a throw covering their lower bodies.
Tyler opened one eye before closing it again and sighed. "It's because of my grandfather Simms. Did you know that he had a ranch in Texas?" without waiting for Reid to respond Tyler started telling him about his grandfather.
"Ever since I can remember all I wanted to be was a rancher. I don't know how to describe it to you. The feeling of seeing things you plant grow or the cattle running free, grazing in peace. The feeling of the wind in you face when you're on the back of a horse. Father was never one for the ranch life, I guess he more like my grandmother, his mother. She also never got used to the life on a ranch and wanted my dad to become a lawyer instead as she felt that there was no future for a rancher other than becoming a drunk who only sat on the porch and did nothing."
Reid got up and stirred the embers in the fireplace with a poker before placing another log on the fire.
Tyler shamelessly roamed his eyes over the body of the naked man in front of him and quickly had to drop his glances when Reid turned around, not wanting him to catch him ogling his body.
"So anyway," Tyler started continuing with a shaky breath, "it was during the holidays that I spent with my grandfather that I decided that when I grew up I wanted to be a rancher. My grandfather was ecstatic but my father told me that as long as blood pumps through his veins he would not allow his only son to be come a rancher."
Reid felt a sudden disgust towards the man he looked up to as a father for so long and he could feel Tyler's own hate towards his father.
"So then why did you stay with your father?" Reid asked and ran a hand through the untamed hair on Tyler's head.
"My grandfather never got the chance to change his will and after he passed away and my father sold the ranch and bought the big piece of land that he currently lives on. The only reason that there is a stable is because my mother loved horses and my father loved her so he gave her everything she wanted. But you can imagine the shock on my father's face the day I told him I have to go in protective custody and where I will be disappearing to, the same shock he had when I told him that I was in love with a man."
Reid wanted to comment on that when he heard the horses outside the cabin snorting. He quickly glanced at Tyler and told him to get dressed and hide in the bathroom before he pulled on his jeans and grabbed the Beretta that was on the couch next to him.
Barefoot he padded to the window and slowly pulled the curtains aside only a faction to scan the outside. He could now clearly hear the hoofs of a horse approaching and moved towards the door gun ready and opened the door before vanishing through the doorway.
Reid was now crouching behind a big tree near the cabin where he got a clear sight of the direction the horse should appear as there was only one way to approach the cabin.
Reid kept his gun ready as he saw the rider approaching' He could make out that it was Pogue (he had given Pogue and Caleb the co-ordinates to the cabin should anything happen and they needed to find them fast) but not wanting to assume that things was safe he kept his place behind the tree.
He saw Pogue coming to halt and dismounting before scanning the area around him especially the way that he had just come from.
When he turned to walk towards the door of the cabin Reid stepped out from behind the tree startling Pogue who had his gun already drawn.
"For fuck's sake, Reid. You scared the living shit out of me." The long hair man reprimanded Reid.
"Sorry, had to make sure that you were not followed. His safety comes first." Reid said nodding towards the cabin and shook his head when he saw Tyler peeking out the window. He had really thought that for once Tyler will listen to him.
Pogue only nodded his head and followed Reid as he headed inside the cabin, scanning the room and letting his eyes rest on the throw on the floor near the fireplace, but saying nothing.
"How's Caleb?" Reid asked from the bed as he put on his shoes and shirt.
"He'll make a full recovery. Lucky for him Billy missed the main artery when he cut him. Chase got him and the others safely off the ranch and to the hospital."
"And Billy?" Tyler asked remembering the man who man-handled him just the night before with a knife.
Uncertain on what to answer, Pogue first looked at Reid who nod his head stating that he should answer the question.
"Well Billy, Billy is dead. He tried to escape by trying to take Kate hostage. Chase did not take that well and shot him before he could hurt anyone else."
"How did you know where to find us?" Tyler asked again moving a bit closer to Reid's side. He felt safe next to Reid and did not want to be far away from that safety.
It was Reid who answered his question and not Pogue, "I gave Pogue and Caleb the co-ordinates to the cabin, in case they needed to find us fast."
"Listen Reid," Pogue started and walked towards the window peeking out like Reid did before, "I came to warn you. Aaron is here, how he found the ranch I don't know but he knows things that only you and I should know. I got away from them just in the nick of time. Things that tell me that they know about the cabin too so we should make a run for it while we still have the time."
Before Reid could answer the window shattered as a shot was fired through it. Reid instinctively pushed Tyler to the ground and covered his body with his own.
Gun drawn he looked at Pogue who was crouched down near the door peeking through the window by the door.
"I'd say that they already found the fucking cabin." Reid said sarcastically, quickly roaming his eyes over Tyler making sure that he was unhurt.
"SIMMS!" came a familiar voice from outside, "I know you're in there. Why don't you come out and we can finish this once and for all."
Tyler shivered underneath Reid when he heard the familiar voice of Aaron Abbot.
"Ty," Reid whispered in his ear, "I'm going to get off you now and I want you to hide under the bed till I tell you to run, okay."
With that said he rolled off Tyler and half pushed the man under the bed. Once he was sure that Tyler was safe he crawled to the now shattered window.
"FUCK YOU, ABBOT!" Reid yelled at him.
"Aah, Deputy Marshal Garwin. Should have know that you will be here with that little fag. It is a shame that the Judge failed to mentioned that little fact to me, but I will be correcting that mistake soon enough."
Reid looked at Pogue and mouthed what the fuck.
"What do you mean the Judge never told you about me being here?" Reid demanded and peeked outside.
Looking to Pogue again and using military sign language he signaled that on his side he could only see two targets.
Pogue did the same and signed that there was two on his side including Abbot.
"Oops. Did I just leak something? Oh well you might as well know now before I kill you. You see my dear Deputy, Judge Simms was the one who help me get acquitted. He was also the one who told me where to find his fag of a son and gave me blue prints of the ranch."
"You're lying Abbot. He will never do a thing like that, he loves his son."
"That is where you are wrong, Deputy." Reid could hear him chuckle and by the sound of his voice shifting he was sure that Aaron was walking. "He loathed his son, I mean really he was an embarrassment to the judge. I knew it and so I made a deal with him, get me free and I will take care of his "precious" little boy."
Reid heard a sharp intake of air and knew that Tyler also heard every word the bastard outside said. He motioned Pogue to get ready and pulled the other Beretta out of the waistband of his jeans.
"Tyler." He whispered and waited till he could see Tyler poking out his head from under the bed, "we are going to go into action now; I want you go and hide behind Pogue. I'm going to start shooting and as soon as Pogue opens the door I want you to run as fast as you can and get away from here. Do you understand?"
Tyler nodded and got out from under the bed and crawled till he was at Pogue's side who handed him his spare gun.
"Why so quite all a sudden, Deputy. Cat got you tongue." Abbot laughed and Reid mouthed the word NOW to Pogue before he moved the curtain away and started shooting at the men outside the window on his side hitting Ryan, one of Aaron's side kicks in the shoulder and knee.
Pogue did the same by opening the door and shooting, hitting another one of Aaron's boys in the chest. The rest of the men outside opened fire and riddled the cabin with bullets. Reid had to duck as bullets whizzed past his head and as soon as the shooting from outside stopped he opened fire again giving Pogue time to open the door wider so that Tyler could escape.
He half pushed the shell shocked man out of the door. Tyler did not think twice when Pogue pushed him out of the door. He half crouched, half ran towards the horses. Flinching every time he heard the guns go off.
As soon as he reached the horses he got on Midnight and jammed his heels in the horse's side trying to get away as far away as possible, knowing that Reid will find him as they had already discussed this scenario and he was to meet Reid back at the house.
What he did not anticipate was that Aaron would see him escape and before he could disappear through the trees he heard Aaron shout his name and then he felt a hot pain pierce through his right shoulder and side and a scream escaped his lips, before a welcoming blackness overtook him.
Reid glanced back just in time to see Tyler being pushed out the door by Pogue started to shoot again he moved away from the window to the door and he moved out the door yelling at the men outside to give them-selves up as this was useless for them to win anyway.
He saw t some of the men throw their weapons down and glanced over to where the horses were just as Tyler got on his horse and kicked it into a gallop. Unfortunately for him Aaron followed his gaze and shouted at Tyler before firing two shots in his direction and shot him pulling a scream from Tyler's mouth. A scream that pierced through Reid's entire body, making him numb.
It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. Reid slowly turned towards Aaron, lifting his gun and firing one shot hitting the man right between the eyes. Shock spread across Aaron's handsome face before he slumped in a bloody mess to the ground.
Then Reid turned and saw Tyler lying unconscious on the ground and ran towards him but it was as if his feet were sticking to the ground and he could not get there fast enough.
While he ran towards Tyler, Pogue was already outside cuffing the men that surrendered themselves and throwing the weapons out of their reach.
Reid reached Tyler where he laid face down on the ground and fell down on his knees beside his lover before turning him over. He shuddered when he saw the angry red stain on Tyler's shoulder and side. Slipping off his shirt he pressed it against wound on Tyler's side trying to stop the bleeding.
"Ty! Ty!" he yelled at the man lying motionless in front of him, "TYLER! NO! You have to fight, please baby, don't do this to me. I just got you back. FIGHT!" Tears were starting to run down his handsome face and he quickly pulled himself together knowing he had to do something to save Tyler.
Pulling his phone from his jeans pocket he dials a number and waited for the answer on the other side.
"This is Deputy Marshal Reid Garwin, authorization number five six three nine two. I need an air medical evacuation unit right now, our co-ordinates is five three minus one eleven north, north east." He spoke over the phone while still keeping pressure on the wound in Tyler's side.
He listened while the person on the other side replied then dropped the phone and pressed his other hand to the pulse on Tyler's neck, sighing with relief as he felt the pulse there, weak but still beating.
It felt like an eternity before he heard the helicopter approached them but in fact is was merely fifteen minutes later.
After the helicopter landed everything happened in fast forward.
The medical team reached him and he quickly told them what happened then he was pushed out of the way to give the team space to work on Tyler. Reid was standing there watching helpless as the doctor called out Tyler's name as they placed a drip in his arm before gently lifting him up on the trolley before rushing towards the helicopter.
As much as his heart yearned to run after them and go with Tyler, he knew that he still had a job to do and walked towards Pogue just as the helicopter disappeared out of their sight.
Pogue looked at the hurting man and he knew exactly how he felt as the man he was in love with was also in hospital and he wanted nothing more than to be at his side.
"He will be okay, man." He tried to reassure Reid, but Reid only nodded in his direction as he walked over to where Aaron's body lay. He had not planned to kill him but his training and instincts had taken over and he had done what he was trained to do, protect and serve.
Luckily Pogue had phoned for backup and there was a commotion as vehicles approached them and the police and deputies got out and rushed towards them.
Pogue quickly gave the rundown on what had happened as well as giving some orders to the junior deputies before walking over to Reid where he stood, still looking down at Aaron.
"You did what you had to do." He told him placing a hand on Reid's shoulder, then he pushed him towards one of the Jeeps that were parked nearby.
"Yeh, I know." was all Reid said as he got in the car and closed the door behind him.
"Dr. McCarthy, Dr. McCarthy please report to emergency." the voice over the intercom called, where Reid was pacing up and down in the waiting room of the hospital.
Tyler was still in surgery and Reid was getting impatient with the wait. He wanted to see his baby boy, he needed to make sure that he was alright.
"Deputy Garwin?" a voice called from the doorway. Reid turned around and saw the doctor still in his green scrubs standing in the door.
"Doctor" Reid acknowledged, his heart beating so hard he was sure that the older man could hear it where he stood.
"The surgery went well and without any major complications. Luckily the bullets did not do much damage it missed all his vital organs and he will make a full recovery."
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, of course. I have to warn you that he is still unconscious, but I'm not worried about that, it is just the body's way of protecting his mind from the trauma." The doctor explained as they walked down the hallway.
"Here you go." The doctor said and stopped in front one of the ICU rooms.
Reid turned and shook the Doctor's hand, "Thank you." He said and entered the room.
Stepping in the room, he stood there for a while looking at the man lying on the bed across from him. He roamed his eyes over the machines next to the bed and listened to the steady beep, beep of Tyler's heart before he slowly took a step forward.
Once he stood next to the bed he lifted his hand and placed it softly on Tyler's head and bent placing a soft kiss on his cold lips before he pulled a chair next to the bed, sat down and immediately took hold of Tyler's hand, entwining their fingers.
"I'm so sorry Ty, I promised you that I will protect you and now look where you are." Reid said softly as tears welled in his eyes.
"I love you so much and not matter what happens now I will never leave you again, do you hear me Ty. You. Are. Mine." he whispered and rested his head on their entwined hands, tears now streaming freely down his face and onto their hands.
The first thing Tyler heard when he slowly came out of the black hole he was in, was the beep, beep sound of his heart on the monitor and he knew that must have been a very good sign which meant that he wasn't dead. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the white ceiling above him. The next thing he became aware of was the pressure on his left hand.
He slowly turned his head and saw Reid fast asleep next to him, with his head rested on top of their entwined hands.
A soft smile spread across his handsome face and without thinking he tried to reach out to the sleeping man with his other hand and when pain shot through his shoulder he groaned out loud.
Reid's head snapped up and looked up at the most intense blue eyes he had ever seen. "Oh Tyler." he sighed with relief. "I'm so sorry. I promised you that I will protect you and look what happened." Reid ranted on non stop.
A smile spread on Tyler's face and he reached with his good arm out to touch Reid's face silencing him.
"Hey, it's okay." He assured the blond hair man and wrapped his hand around Reid's neck before pulling his face down and pressed his lips against Reid's.
Reid groaned and immediately deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue in Tyler's mouth, exploring the sweetness beneath his, while he placed his one hand next to Tyler's head.
"Amen." A snicker came from the doorway and Reid lifted his head reluctantly and glanced over to where a smiling Pogue stood with Caleb under his arm.
"Fucker" he said but smiled as the two men walked towards the bed.
"How are you feeling, Danvers?" Reid asked the other man as he took the seat that Reid had occupied a few minutes back.
Caleb had a bandage around his neck where Billy "the Blade" had cut him. He first smiled up at Pogue where he stood next to him with his hand buried in his hair before he answered Reid.
"Much better now that they have released me and I can get out of this place, you know how I feel about hospitals"
"I'm glad to hear that."
Before Pogue could ask how Tyler was a nurse came in the room and saw that Tyler was awake and chased them all out of the room and called the doctor to come and check on Tyler.
"So how is he?" Pogue asked as they stood just out side of Tyler's room with his arm around Caleb's shoulder.
Reid looked at the two in front of him and mentally smiled, "the doctor said that he will make a full recovery and that the bullets did not cause any major damage."
"I'm glad to hear it," Caleb said and wrapped his arm around Pogue's waist, "so what are you going to do now?"
"The first thing I'm going to do after Tyler is release is go to confront the Judge. Luckily Aaron told us everything while we had our little shoot out and Pogue already made a statement. Then, we will just have to wait and see what will happen after that. I'm going to play things by ear and not rush into anything that might cause the bastard to walk."
"Well, just remember that we are here if you ever need us, you're not only a great Deputy to work with, you are also a good friend." Pogue said.
"Thanks guys, for everything. You truly are great friends and I will never forget it." Reid said shaking each man's hand and watched as the two turned and walked towards the exit.
6 Weeks later
"Are you ready?" Reid asked Tyler as they stood outside of the closed doors of the courtroom where his father was busy hearing a case.
"As ready as I'll ever be. I just want to get this over with and get on with my life." Tyler said firmly and looked at the man beside him.
Reid reached out and squeezed his hand before he looked at the backup behind them; he gave them a nod of the head and opened the court room's door.
Silence fell of the room as all the men stepped in the room and Reid placed a reassuring hand on the small of Tyler's back as they slowly made the way towards the bench.
Reid saw how Judge Simms eyes grew large when he saw that his son was still alive and then he saw the realization in the judge's eyes when he saw the rest of the men.
Quickly Judge Simms dismissed the courtroom and all of them stepped into his chambers.
"So I see you made it out alive." came the harsh words of a father to his son and Reid felt Tyler flinch beside him.
"Why?" was the only thing he could ask his father.
"Why?" the judge snorted through his nose, "Why not, you are an embarrassment to me. Do you really think that I wanted my friends and colleagues to know that my only son wanted to be a sorry excuse of a rancher and that he preferred men instead of women."
"Why send someone to kill me, why not just disinherit me and write me off?" Tyler asked his father with tears in his eyes.
His father just looked at him with hate as one of the deputies cuffed his hands behind his back and read him his rights.
Tyler sank down in one of the chairs in the office, sadness washing over him, as he watched his father being escorted out of the office by the Marshals.
Reid dropped on his knees in front of the younger man and took his face between his hands.
"Hey, hey." He said, looking into Tyler's blue eyes, "thing are going to be okay, this I promise you."
"Ho-how do you kn-now?" Tyler stumbled over his words as he looked in Reid's intense eyes.
"Because nothing is going to happen to my baby boy, Ty. Tyler I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy, can't you see that? I've already quit my job as a deputy. Now, now I don't want to hear any complaints," he said as Tyler opened his mouth to object. "We are going back to your ranch and you are going to teach me how to become a fucking great rancher."
Tyler chuckled and wrapped his arms around Reid's neck as he closed the space between their bodies. He dropped his head and kissed Reid on the sensitive spot behind his ear before he whispered, "I love you too, more than life itself and if it takes me the rest of my life to teach you to become a fucking great rancher so be it."
Tyler lifted his head and all he could read in Reid's eyes was love and he knew that he was safe and he never wanted to be with anyone else ever again.
Reid groaned and pulled Tyler's head down to his as he captured his lips with an earthmoving kiss.
Six months later
"Harder" Tyler groaned, gripping the sheets tightly in his fingers. He was on his knees on the bed and rocked back against Reid who let out a loud moan.
Reid gripped Tyler's hips tighter as he obliged and pulled out almost completely and pushed that much harder back into Tyler.
"Ohhh." Tyler moaned closing his eyes and he saw white stars behind them when he felt Reid gently biting down on his shoulder before licking the spot. The new angle also made Reid hit his sweet spot over and over and he could feel the coil in his stomach winding up tighter and tighter.
Reid slipped his hand around them and wrapped his fingers over the hard length of Tyler's cock before slowly starting to stroke it which made Tyler yell out even louder. For once he was glad that they were in the middle of nowhere in the cabin where nobody could hear Tyler scream out to him and it made him pushed harder into Tyler, loving the way Tyler would scream his name.
"Oh, fuck." Tyler screamed and came over Reid's hand, his stomach and the sheets. Reid pushed into Tyler one, two, three times before he, himself yelled "FUCK" as he came hard in Tyler.
Much later the two men laid wrapped up around each other with Tyler resting his head on Reid's well sculptured chest and Reid had his fingers tangled in Tyler's hair.
"Wow."
"Wow indeed." Tyler said and chuckled, a lot has happened since that day six months ago. True to his word Reid has quit his job as a Deputy Marshal and moved in with Tyler on the ranch. Seemed that Chase liked working on the ranch so much that he himself quite his job and asked Tyler if he could have his old job back, and he, Kate and Sarah moved back to their old home where they found out that they will be adding a new addition to their family.
The love between Reid and Tyler grew and they spend as much time with each other as possible, even though they sometime bud heads because of Tyler's hard headiness and Reid's stubbornness, they never went to bed angry and always solved their problems out there and then.
Tyler loved teaching Reid all about ranching that he have learned from his grandfather. He laughed the first time Reid had to milk a cow but was also proud of him after he planted the entire corn field in one day without complaining about the heat or the fact that his muscles must have hurt like hell, but later that night Tyler rewarded him with a nice warm bath.
Caleb and Pogue came to visit them on a regular basis when they were not busy with a case, and it was quite obvious that their relationship also grew for the better.
Judge Simms was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in prison and was disbarred as well. Unfortunately he ended up in a cell with Ryan, Aaron's right hand man and Billy "the Blade" and you can guess what happened there.
Tyler snuggled closer to Reid and started to kiss down his chest. "I love you." he whispered and took one of Reid's nipples in his mouth gently grazing it with his teeth.
Reid groaned and with an "I love you too Tyler Simms." he pushed his fingers through Tyler's hair and pulled his head up. Reid leaned forward to place a hard kiss on Tyler's mouth before throwing his head back as Tyler began to kiss his way down his body again.
The end.