A/N So this story has kept bugging me until I wrote more. I think I'm almost where I want to leave it around chapter 4, so this should be about 5-6 chapters all together. Reviews are always appreciated! They feed the muse…

And as always, I don't own anything. I just take 'em out to play.

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The road seemed to never end. Although the night air was cool and fresh after the long period of almost constant rain, it was dry now and Vic wished she'd had a water bottle in the car. She'd worn her new boots that day and the bastards were rubbing her left heel to pieces, not to mention she was pretty sure that her right little toe was about to fall off. She had been keeping count in her head as to the distance she'd covered and how much further she had to go. The call she'd been on had been right on the border of the county and not anywhere near a main road, so she'd been a long way away from Durant, or anywhere for that matter. She'd made it less than half way back. The drive was about 50 minutes on a clear road, if you were driving 70 miles an hour. Estimating she had driven back about 25 of the 58 miles to Durant, and walked for another 10 miles, she still had approximately another 23 miles to go. It would be dawn by the time she reached civilisation. Great.

There might be farm houses and ranches on the way, but usually those stood well back from the road, and as she still didn't have an exact map of the county in her head like Walt seemed to have, she was unwilling to risk taking a side road that could add an extra couple of miles to her trek. Especially since she had no idea whether there was anything in the other end. And now that she'd called Walt, she hoped that he could get Ferg to either tell him where she had been and come and get her, or send Ferg. She didn't want to miss them. So she kept drudging.

As she looked up, the moon seemed to be looking down at her and suddenly she realised the beauty of the place she was in. The stars dotted the sky from horizon to horizon, casting an intricate web of shining diamonds over the inky blue of the sky, the moon like a giant pearl, yellowed with age hanging balanced from the web. It was breath taking. It was views like this that reminded her why she had decided to stay in Wyoming after Sean had packed his bags and headed for the better position in Australia. Her finger reached to touch the spot on her left ring finger that still felt empty, even after two months of not wearing a ring.

Of course, the scenery wasn't the only reason to stay. As much as she'd disliked it in her first few months, Absaroka had since become her home, for better or for worse. And a big part of that was because of the quiet, reserved man this county had elected to be their sheriff. Vic knew she cared for Walt, had done for a long time. She readily acknowledged that it might have been more than just caring and that it might have had an effect on how fast her marriage had fallen apart. It wasn't Walt's fault, far from it, but she had a feeling that she would have gritted her teeth for longer if she hadn't been a bit torn to begin with.

There were many complications in starting anything more than a friendship with Sheriff Walt Longmire. Main one being that he had a daughter that wasn't much younger than Vic herself, a daughter who seemingly did not care for Vic. Not to mention that in a small town like theirs, nothing ever stays a secret, just like Cady and Branch's little dalliance. Vic didn't have many friends in Absaroka apart from the people she worked with, but she didn't want to lose them over a small town scandal.

Vic knew that Walt cared for her. There had been something developing between them for the longest time. She could still remember one of the first times she had alluded to her more than professional feelings towards him. In the hospital when she'd been shot with that tranquilizer while hunting with Omar. The stuff had given her a fuzzy head and some serious room-spinnage, but she could still remember babbling to Walt about how Sean had wanted to move to Australia.

"That's cause you're a man, Walt." She could still remember the awkward look on his face and she could understand why it would make him feel that way. She had basically told him that her husband was not a man at all compared to him. But there was truth in what she had said; Walt would never have considered taking such an offer without discussing it with his wife. She knew now he had kept his wife's murder under wraps, but that was done in order to protect their only daughter, not to save another argument at home.

For a moment she allowed herself to consider what home might feel like when you didn't have to fight about everything with the people, or person, you shared it with. She could almost see it, her and Walt, living in his cabin, spending evenings sitting on the couch in front of the fire reading to each other, sleeping in the bedroom wrapped around one another, and waking up in the morning to make coffee and drink it on the porch, looking out over the vast wilderness surrounding their home. They wouldn't argue much, ok so maybe she would try to start arguments, but he would just look at her in that silent way of his and the arguments would die on her lips, then be brushed away by the touch of his.

This dream image was broken by a memory of what life had been like with Sean. Her coming home from a late shift, wanting nothing but to curl up on the sofa for a bit of peace and him starting to nag to her about how late she'd been out, how he never saw her anymore, how he didn't even know her anymore. And how she responded, throwing accusations of extra work trips, hours spent locked into his office with his secretary, of how he never understood how tiring and horrible and disheartening her job could be. And then they'd fall on each other like ravenous wolves, attacking with kisses and bites, hands and other body parts until they'd both lie in bed, reeling and out of breath, complimenting the other person for the wonderful sex. For a long time, their relationship had been held together by the great make up sex.

Looking at the sky again, she took a deep breath of the clean air and let go of all those memories and dreams, letting herself drift under the open sky, empty of all the drama, weightless.

Her musings were paused when she saw headlights in the distance, coming towards her. Taking out her flashlight, she turned it on and off a few times, before leaving it on and waving it at the oncoming car. When it pulled up beside her, she recognised the shape of the man and his hat inside the cab of the car and sauntered up to the window he was rolling down.

"Ma'am. What seems to be the problem?" he asked, nodding his head at her, trying to hold back a smile.

"Sheriff, oh thank goodness you arrived when you did. I have been walkin' for hours and had quite given up hope of rescue." She put on her best, and horribly fake, country accent, playing along with his charade.

"Well ma'am, why don't you jump on in and I'll give you a lift home."

"Thank you ever so much, sheriff." She chuckled to herself as she skipped around the front of the car before climbing into the warmth of the cab. Breathing deep, she could smell Walt; leather, dust and a hint of sweat. The smell eased her mind further and as she sat down on the seat, taking the weight off her poor battered feet, she groaned loudly, her head falling against the headrest with a thump. She could see Walt out of the corner of her eye, stiffening a little at the noise, then shifting in his seat as he adjusted the blowers to maximise the warm air reaching her.

"Thanks Walt." She said quietly, turning to look at him.

"No problem Vic. I'm glad you called." He turned the car around and started heading back towards Durant.

"My car is still out there. The battery died."

"We'll get it tomorrow. It's late now. Let's just go and get some sleep."

"Ok."

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They sat in silence for a long while as Walt drove back towards town. He hadn't been expecting to have his heart jump with joy the way that it had when he'd seen Vic there, standing by the side of the road and swinging her flashlight around. He always enjoyed the little exchanges they had and hadn't been able to help the desire to make her smile. He had found himself smiling as well when she'd skipped around the front of his truck and opened the passenger door.

The mood had shifted for him when she'd taken her seat and let out a sound that wouldn't have been out of place in the bedroom. It brought images to his mind of blonde hair spread out on a pillow and pale golden skin bared to his touch. Surreptitiously he shifted in his seat, trying to gain more space in the suddenly quite restrictive jeans as he directed all the warm air in the cab towards her. The night air was turning chilly, bringing with it promises of frost and snow and she had been walking for a long while.

He told her they'd worry about her truck tomorrow and after that they fell into a comfortable silence. Every once in a while, probably more often than was strictly speaking safe, he turned to look at her as she stared out of the passenger side window deep in thought. One time he looked over, she was asleep, elbow resting on the door handle, cheek pressed on her open hand. He contemplated on what to do, but decided against driving to his cabin and carrying her inside before tucking her into his bed. A bit too caveman, he felt.

When they reached Vic's house, he reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder. Instead of waking up straight away, she shifted a little into his touch. Shaking her gently he called her name.

"Vic. Vic, we're here."

Slowly her eyes opened and she looked around, rising to sit up straight on her seat. She looked over at him, seeming to take the hand still on her shoulder in stride, a little smile playing along her lips.

"Thanks Walt, but I don't live here anymore." For a moment he was puzzled, what did she mean, this was her home. Her and her… ex-husband, who was now in Australia.

"When did you move?"

"Couple of days back when I had that day off. I gave all the paperwork to Ruby so on file you have my right address." She told him where to go and he started driving again.

"Sorry I didn't tell you before. I completely forgot you didn't know. And I'm sorry I called on your day off."

"Don't worry about it. And never feel the need to apologise for calling for help. I know you couldn't get hold of Ferg, I couldn't either for a while."

"Where was he?"

"On his way home. No battery on the cell. Like yours I assume?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they're not that useful." There was a smiled playing around her lips again and he could feel his follow suit.

When they made it to the edge of town, Walt was eyeing the building Vic said she lived in suspiciously. It seemed to be a three storey block of flats, grey and dirty in the light cast by the street lights, like some kind of soviet prison block. There was loud music pumping from the ground floor flat with all the lights still on and Vic groaned.

"Oh no. They're at it again."

"At what?"

"They're my next door neighbours and they bang like rabbits, while listening to the worst, crappy music made on this planet. Sometimes it sounds like they're trying to break through the wall using their bed as a battering ram." Maybe she imagined the slight blush on his face as she regaled him with what her neighbours were up to.

"You won't be able to sleep here. Do you-" he cut himself off, not sure how to offer without offering everything he wanted to offer and wanted her to accept.

"Do I what?" she asked, a look in her eye that Walt was sure meant that she knew exactly what he was trying to say and not to say.

"Would you like to come over to my place? It's a bit farther, but the neighbours are quiet and you can even have my bed. After all I have spent many a night on that couch."

He tried to turn the end to a joke, but instead he had conjured up Lizzie's voice to being.

"…I was willing to live with that, because I thought there was a part of you put aside for me, but there's not because you're saving it for her! … Oh Walt, of course there is. You're just too afraid to admit it."

He had been afraid to admit it. And she had been married until recently. But now… now Vic was divorced and he could finally admit that there was an attraction there. Had been for a long time, but neither one of them had done anything about it. Partly due to working together, partly because he was a recent widower and she had been married. Now they could and the idea down right terrified him.

"Oh. Ok… if you're sure. I wouldn't want to impose, but I could use a decent night's sleep." She smiled wanly, trying to convince him that she would be fine at hers but would like to come to his. He looked at her and for the first time noticed the extra lines around her mouth, the dark circles around her eyes that he hadn't really paid much attention to before. That decided it for him.

"Ok. Let's go." He started his truck again and they took or towards his cabin.