The Root of All Evil
A/N: As always, you all are awesome. Thank you for all of your love and support and know that it goes right back out to you :)
Chapter 13
Kate lowered her bow and arrow as activity on the street below ground to a halt. Men froze at the sound of the gunshot. She could see Castle with his gun still half raised, aiming at where Stevenson's body used to be standing. Demming was glancing around at everyone else. Alexis walked up to Laura's side, clasping a hand down on her shoulder gently as to not startle the other girl. Laura' body jerked around and her eyes grew wide when she saw her friend standing behind her, her arms coming up around Alexis' neck as she started to sob. Daniel walked up behind the pair and Alexis shook her head as a signal for him to give them space. Demming turned towards the girls.
Kate jerked into motion, running to the back of the building again to swing herself back down to the alleyway. She jogged around the building to the main road. She rounded the corner in time to see Demming holding Laura's hands behind her back, walking her to the steps of the jailhouse.
"Wait!" She called as she bound the last few steps up to them.
All eyes on the street swiveled towards Kate as she jogged up to them.
The pair turned as Kate came up behind them, Alexis and Rick flanking her on either side. Kate's face screwed up in question as she looked over the girl: her drawn face, a track of tears streaming down her face. She studied the girl harder, taking in the tightness in her shoulders and the flicker of darkness in her eyes. The sinking sensation grew in her stomach as she already determined the answer to the question that had not already fallen from her lips. "Laura? Why?"
Laura dipped her head, studying the tips of her boots, sticking out from under the hem of her dust covered dress as Kate motioned for Demming to let her go momentarily, allowing the girl to take a step closer to her. Laura still didn't raise her head and Kate took another step towards her, pressing a hand to her shoulder and guiding her to the side, away from other, prying, ears.
"Eustice told me what he did to you. She didn't want to tell me but I already knew, she just confirmed it," Laura whispered, barely audible as her voice hitched and her eyes finally flickered up.
Kate sucked in a short breath, shaking her head. It was more than that; Laura hadn't killed her father out of some sense of loyalty to Kate. "Laura…"
"He's done the same to me."
Laura let out a sob, her face twisted in grief and pain. Kate stepped forward, gathering the girl into her arms squeezing her tightly to her body as she felt the bile rise up in her own throat and took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow stream between parted lips as she pressed Laura's forehead into the curve of her neck.
"He's my father, Kate. Why would he do that to me?"
"Shh, sweetie," she placated as her eyes darted to Demming who was walked into her eye line, the internal battle raging in his eyes. "It's going to be all right. I promise. It's going to be all right."
"I need to take her," Demming murmured as Kate's grip tightened around the crying girl.
"You heard her," Kate hissed in response. "She did us all a favor. She should not get put into jail for this."
Demming sighed as he rubbed a hand through his hair, sweat and dirt spraying to the ground below. "Maybe but she did it in front of all these men. I need to do something or else they will rebel, again. Their leader was just murdered in front of them. We'll figure something out but for now I need to take her."
Kate opened her mouth to protest again but Laura pulled back out of her arms, a resigned smile pasted onto her face.
"It's okay, Kate," Laura sniffled as she nodded her head and attempted to school her features. "I'll go. I know what I did."
Laura turned, her head held high as she allowed Demming to take her by the elbow and walk her towards the jailhouse. Kate stood watching, one arm cradled in the other, wrapped across her stomach. She felt someone walk up behind her and she tilted her head back in time to see Castle step up, his hands wrapping gently around her hips. She forced her body not to stiffen at the touch. She almost succeeded
"Are you okay?" He murmured into her hair, not moving back, not loosening his grip.
She nodded with a deep breath, attempting to put on a brave face with a flicker of a smile. "Yeah. I'm okay."
Her head swiveled around to take in the town, townsfolk, miners, soldiers and Cherokee all, standing around, whispering amongst themselves. Some stared at the pair unyieldingly while others at least had the courtesy to look away when her gaze settled on them.
"Let's go."
Kate sank down onto the bed as they entered the small cabin. Alexis was outside with Daniel. Jim was back at the saloon. The town had trickled back to normal in the matter of minutes. The battle was over, she was not guilty, Castle was not dead. Stevenson was. Laura was in custody. Men and women had gone back to their normal lives as quickly as they had been drawn from them. The army men went back to their camp, the Cherokee back to the reservation. Eustice and Lanie had tried to talk to her, to make sure she was all right. Everyone had surrounded Castle, asking what had happened. He had assured everyone that he was fine, just tired and in need of a good meal.
They had finally escaped to the relative seclusion of their home; their partial home. The burnt cross still stood in the yard. The homestead still smelling like ash and charred memories.
"My mother's quilt was in there. Her jewelry. Her clothes. The doll her parents gave her as a child. It's all gone, Castle. She's all gone," Kate whispered as he sank down next to her. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She had tried to be strong, to not let her bother her. Not this on top of everything else, but it was just too much. So much.
Castle's arm came up hesitantly to wrap around her waist, cradling her to him and his hesitation to touch her made her cry harder.
"You don't have to," she whimpered out.
His hand tightened around her pulling her closer to him. "Don't have to what? Kate?"
"Touch me. I know you don't want to."
Castle sighed, leaning his head down so that his lips were resting on her head. "I want to. I just don't know if you want me to."
Kate let out another sob and shook her head against his lips. "I just want to forget it all. Why? What did I do to deserve this? What did any of us do?"
Castle hugged her to him for a second longer before pulling back and pushing himself off of the bed, never letting go of her hand which he had been gripping in his own, his thumb brushing over her knuckles gently. "Come on."
Kate drew in a shaky breath as she allowed herself to be pulled off of the bed. Her hand darted up to swipe the tears off of her cheeks and she put on another brave face to go back into the world. "Rick? Where are we going?"
Castle stopped on the front step of the small house, turning towards her; a seriousness on his face she was not used to seeing. Her hand came up on its own, brushing along the line of his jaw as he spoke, low. The words only for her. "Do you trust me?"
She felt herself nodding, wondering why it was even a question. "Of course."
"Then no more questions. Just follow me."
She followed him silently, glancing back over her shoulder to see Daniel and Alexis scavenging through the wreckage of the homestead, gathering any salvageable belongings. She was about to say that they should be helping, but clamped her jaw shut when she remembered the resolute look on Castle's face. They could help later. There would be enough to do later.
Alexis glanced back at her as they neared the tree line and gave her a quick nod which freed Kate to turn back around and focus on where they were going, not looking back at what had happened. She followed silently, twigs and leaves crunching under her boots as they clomped through the woods, no longer worried about sneaking and staying quiet.
No longer hunted, no longer in danger…
It was surreal, how it was all gone, as quickly as it had begun and they were back. Kate glanced around as they stopped in the middle of a clearing next to the stream. The waterfall gushed in the background. They were back where they had fought a week before. Had it only been a week? Less than a week, even? God, she couldn't even remember, but they were back where she had run and he had followed and they had fought and made up and she had awoken alone, covered in blood.
"Castle…" her voice was thin. The unasked question hanging in the air. Why are we here?
He was on his knees, pulling off her boots and her hands came out automatically to brace herself on his shoulders as she wobbled slightly and one of his arms came up to wrap around her hips and keep her steady.
Then she was barefoot and he was standing in front of her again, stripping his own shirt over his head before reaching for her and pushing the suspenders down off of her shoulders and unbuttoning her shirt slowly, his eyes searching hers for permission. He made no move towards her, no attempt to touch her skin or kiss her lips, just stripped off both of their clothes before extending a hand to her and leading her down to the water.
He lifted a wet hand to push her hair out of her face, cradling her cheek in his palm before leaning down and kissing her lips softly. Her body trembled as the tears threatened once again.
"I told you," he murmured against her lips, even as she clamped her mouth tighter shut. "I love you and I am here, whenever you are ready. I'm here."
He pulled back and she nodded as her eyes fluttered back open and her mouth relaxed. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Now turn around and let me wash your back."
Kate couldn't help the smile that slipped as she spun in the cool water and gathered up her hair to pull over her shoulder.
Almost. She was almost there.
Alexis let out a growl as she flipped over another charred board, grumbling under her breath as she pulled out a cup with only a small chip in the rim. Still usable. Daniel glanced up at her as he scraped aside a pile of ash.
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly, giving up on his task and walking towards her.
She spun around to him, a fire burning in her eyes. "What's wrong? You do realize that that is the worst question to ask right now, don't you? Everything is wrong and something happened to Kate and no one will tell me. And now Laura… She's my best friend and she won't tell me what's going on."
Daniel sighed as he took another step towards her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. "I'm sure they are just trying to protect you. They will tell you eventually, when they are ready."
"But I could help," Alexis whined momentarily resting her head on his shoulder before pulling back to continue on her rant. "She's my mother, for all intents and purposes, at least she is more of a mother to me than mine ever was and they are having a baby and Laura followed me out here so that I wouldn't be alone. I just don't want her to have to be alone through whatever this is. And my father went through hell and he won't talk about that either, he just says that everything is fine. He's all right, undamaged. He's not undamaged, Daniel. None of them are, and I am just left here. Helpless."
"So, tell her that."
Alexis paused in her rant, one arm raised in the air, her red hail flying around her in the spring breeze as she turned to stare at the young man. "What?"
"Tell Laura that you just want to help. You don't want her to have to go through this alone and maybe she will let you in, she will tell you. You are her best friend after all."
Alexis nodded as the advice danced around in her head, solidifying. Daniel gave her a quick smile and bent down to give her a peck on the cheek before turning back to his work.
Alexis' hand snuck out and grabbed his, squeezing his fingers as he pivoted back to face her. "Thank you."
Daniel's lips quirked into a smile. "For what?"
"For being here."
"Of course," Daniel's smile grew. "I love you, Alexis and I will be here as long as your father doesn't shoot me."
Alexis let out a soft laugh. "I'm not sure if it's my father you should be worried about, but Daniel? I love you too."
A/N: My podcast in the Fanfiction Writer series at stormingthecastle (dot) podomatic (dot) com is up, so go give it a listen! We are very silly so make sure you are in a place where you can laugh with abandon! Thanks again, Karen, It was super fun to do! You'll get some background info on the Western Series and some of my other stories. ;).