"Jesus! Chris you scared the life outta me!"

Nathan Jackson was stood in the doorway of his medical clinic clutching his chest, a look of terror on his face. He had been on his way to his room, ready to retire after a long couple of days, but when he had opened the door Chris had been stood there rocking back and forth slightly on his heels, with his fist raised about to knock on the door. Chris stood there now, still on the other side of the entrance into the room,

"Sorry about tha' Nathan, didn't realise you were scared so easy," he smirked at his medic friend. Nathan threw a mock glare up at Chris,

"Don't normally expect you or anyone ta' be right outside o' my door in the middle of the night," he beamed back. Chris chuckled at the comment, and waited for Nathan to catch his breath again.

"What can I help ya' with Chris? I heard that you and Buck made up, about time!" he added still grinning. Chris pulled his black hat from his head, and tugged at the rim,

"I…uh…well I was just wonderin' if I could come in ta' talk quickly with Amy?"

"I'm 'fraid not…"

"Sure thin', I thought you'd probably say no, what with it bein' so late an' all…" Chris cut in, still thumbing the rim of his hat, but staring at it more intently now.

"No Chris, I just meant tha' she's not here anymore…after these past few days I know better than ta' try an' keep you an' Buck outta here…"

Chris' head whipped up to look at Nathan, his rugged features forming into an all too familiar frown,

"She's gone? Left town?"

"I'm not sure…I tried ta' talk her outta leavin' for now, what with this bad weather, won't be long at all before she re-opens that wound….but whether or not she listened ta' me….well that's another story…"

Chris stood silent for a moment, and Nathan couldn't read the expression that formed on his friend's face. Over the years Chris had perfected his poker face, leaving even the most intuitive puzzled when he wanted. After a while he replaced his hat onto this head,

"Thanks Nathan, sorry ta' bother ya."

With that he turned and made his way down the stairs, and Nathan watched him as he went. He followed Chris' figure with his eyes, staring hard as he walked away.

Chris had untied his horse from the livery stables and began to walk down the dirt track road. For some reason he had felt like walking with his horse through the town tonight, maybe it was the sudden weariness that he was feeling. It had been a long few days for everyone it seemed, particularly himself. He had faced up to his denial of just how bad things had been since Ella, and even though he and Buck were back to normal, the weight of the decision about what he was going to do concerning Ella bore down hard on him. He had wanted to speak to Amy, apologise about his outburst earlier, but also a foolish part of him had hoped that she would have helped him to decide which option to take with Ella. And now she was gone. She was probably long gone. As far away from him and this town as she could get, away from the crazy man who had poured his heart out to her after threatening her.

"Larabee!"

The recognition of his name snapped him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He stopped, beside the saloon, he hadn't realised how far along the road he had gotten already. Perched on the wooden bars outside of the saloon sat Amy, idly swinging her legs. He soaked in the image of her as she hopped down and started walking over towards him. She was wearing a white man's shirt, baggy and loose that reached down almost to her knees, a pair of brown trousers that he also suspected belonged to a man, tucked into her dusty brown boots.

"Well now, don't you look like you've seen a ghost…" she grinned, speaking softly.

Realising that he had been staring at her with his mouth and eyes wide open in shock he looked at his feet to mask his embarrassment, composing himself before looking back up at her, confused,

"I thought you'd left town…Nathan said…" His brow furrowed as he recalled the conversation in his head.

"Nathan had some good points about how this ain't properly healed yet," she interrupted him, gesturing towards her arm tied up in a sling. "Besides, don't fancy much ridin' out into the middle of a storm," she laughed.

"But when it's gone, so are you?" He stared intently as she looked down, her features gently creasing in contemplation.

"That was the plan," she decided, but when she looked up he thought he could see indecision in her eyes. He turned his attention to her injured arm,

"You never did mention what actually happened with that"

"You never asked what actually happened"

He couldn't help but smile at her, "You always this good at avoidin' answerin' questions?"

"Pretty much," she winked at him, crinkling her nose as she smiled.

"I'll start with an easy one then, where did ya' get the clothes from?"

She stared at him for a moment, clearly confused as to what he meant, but then realisation swept across her face, "Nathan lent me some old clothes," she looked down at herself, "he said they might be a bit too big…" she giggled as she lifted her good arm up, with the shirt sleeve overhanging her hand. "He also said that I should ask J.D. if I need to borrow more clothes," she continued to giggle.

"Definitely closer ta' your size," Chris chuckled. The conversation seemed to be going well, perhaps he could try to find out more about her again? He pondered the thought for a second, wondering how far he could push the questioning before she would close up.

"Why are ya' so eager to ride on? Worried family or somethin?" He waited intently for an answer, and as the smile faded from Amy's face he knew he had instantly asked the wrong question. She continued to gaze at him in silence for what seemed an age,

"I don't have a family," she sighed finally, "at least not anymore…" she muttered almost unintelligibly.

Chris looked down at this woman, unable to mask his concern, but said nothing. She was staring straight ahead, looking at about his chest level, her eyes unblinking as she spoke,

"When my mother died, my dad kinda became...obsessed…" she paused, biting her lip, "he thought that someone had murdered her…taken her from him on purpose…" her eyes flickered up to his, "It wasn't like your wife…I think it was an accident….An' well he just kinda left, ta' search for this 'murderer'…"

"He left you? Alone?" He couldn't stop the incredulous tone in his voice.

"Not straight away…He waited a couple of years…until I was 14, but even when he was there, he wasn' really…" she was staring at his chest now, and he swore he could hear the very slightest wobble to her voice, "….he's dead now…" her voice trailed off as she finished.

He hated himself slightly for asking her a question which obviously had opened up old wounds. She looked so sad and confused, that he felt a strange and overwhelming sensation to wrap an arm around her, but he restrained, partly for fear of making her feel uncomfortable and partly for fear of crushing her already injured arm.

"I'm sorry…" he mustered the words out, somehow managing to string them together in a tone that didn't sound too patronising or pitying.

"It's fine," she looked up at him again, "really, it's fine," she repeated herself, sensing the scepticism in his eyes, "It's in the past now," she managed a weak smile.

"You got somewhere to stay, for tonight at least?"

"The hotel's got a few spare rooms, said I can have one for s'long as I'd like, and can pay for," she chuckled.

"Does that mean you might be stayin' for a while?" he raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Amy raised one of her own eyebrows in a mischievous expression,

"I might be able ta' find a couple reasons ta' stay for a little while…we'll see…"

She turned around and started make her way back towards the saloon. She lifted her good arm,

"Night, Mr. Larabee".

He smiled to himself as he watched her pick up her jacket which had been slung over the bar she'd been sitting on, and then walked over towards the hotel.

"Goodnight Amy".

The End

I hope you guys enjoyed my story, and I hope you liked the character of Amy, I'm planning on including her in a series of Magnificent Seven stories, continuing on from this one, but I'm not sure how many yet. Thank you for reading