A/N: If Lucas seems really broody or OOC, just keep in mind that he is severely jaded and hellbent on revenge. You'll see why in time.

Thank you for the reviews! You guys are the best! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW otherwise Maya would be kicking asses for real.

Lucas balanced precariously on the thin block of wood beneath his feet, the rope around his neck slightly constricting his breathing each time his small movements tugged him a little bit off center. Like Billy, he had his arms out on either side of him to help keep balance and a deathly glare aimed at the two fuckheads who had been tasked with their hanging. He was dehydrated, and his arms and body were starting to grow tired, but there was no way in hell he was going to show any weakness in front of them.

Two of the sheriff's deputies, Willy and Slim—Lucas was sure they had been appointed by the mayor himself—had stripped the two of them naked and were now gambling off their items. Among one of the items was Lucas's late father's prized, obsidian, one-of-a-kind Samuel Colt pistol, the only thing he had left that belonged to his father. He had just watched Willy slip it into his holster.

Lucas's eyes narrowed dangerously as Willy and Slim bet for Lucas's favorite black hat.

"Woo wee!" Slim cheered, slipping the black cowboy hat on his greasy head with a hearty laugh, "I got me a new hat."

"Not for long…" Lucas growled, eyes glaring daggers at his head, "Just wait until I get free…"

"Wait until you get what?" Slim taunted, "I'm sorry, I just think it's real funny how you think you're in any position to threaten us."

They both burst out into laughter and continued their stupid game of dice to determine who would become the new owner of Billy's throwing knives.

"So… You got a plan Lucas?" Billy asked nonchalantly, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes with a raised brow, "Cuz I don't know about you, but even if we don't die from staying like this all night, we sure as hell could still get eaten by coyotes."

"What is it with you and your fear of getting eaten by coyotes?" Lucas rolled his eyes, "I'm working on it…"

"Well work fast, because I don't know how much longer I can stay like this. Plus my nuts are getting cold."

"It's more than ninety outside, Billy."

"Tell that to lefty and righty. I swear they're shivering."

Lucas tuned him out, trying to think of how they could get out of their shit fuck of a predicament. As it stood, they could barely move a fraction of an inch. Any more than that and they would probably kill themselves. It was too delicate of a situation, and he doubted they would be able to even move their arms without putting themselves in danger of falling off the log and snapping their necks in two. Even worse, they had no clothes and none of their weapons or anything to fight with. Getting out was one thing. Getting out without getting shot on the spot was another.

"I mean, is this really how you want to go? Buck naked and tied to a damn tree standing on a log?" Billy continued, sighing when Lucas didn't respond. He was in one of his deep thinking trances again.

Lucas had already gotten used to the idea that attempting to kill the mayor would probably be a suicidal mission, and he knew he was going to die in the process eventually, but he didn't want to die like this. This was beyond humiliating and dammit if he got killed before he had the chance to put a bullet in the mayor's fucking head.

Slim and Willy finally bet off the last pair of items, Billy's boots, and stood up in their new apparel, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well boys," Slim said chidingly, "Looks like we're just about done here. Enjoy your trips to hell."

"Enjoy your freedom for now." Lucas responded cryptically, "You'll be joining us soon enough."

They laughed raucously again, slapping their thighs in amusement while Lucas seethed, gritting his teeth in irritation. Slim tipped Lucas' hat at them both with a wide grin as the two idiots climbed up onto their horses a little bit away. Situated on his saddle, Willy took out Lucas' father's pistol and aimed at Lucas, an amused smile on his lips.

"Hey Slim. Hundred bucks I can get one a dem balls of his." He laughed loudly, making a big show of closing one eye and lowering the barrel of the gun to Lucas' crotch.

Lucas smirked, "Go ahead. We all know you'd like to have them."

Willy momentarily raised his gaze from beside the gun, brows furrowing dangerously, "What'd you say?"

"I said we all know how much you like balls. I just didn't realize you wanted mine so much."

"W-why you little shit!" Willy snapped up the gun, aiming at Lucas's head with eyes blazing with fire. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Slim sighed in annoyance, and set his hand on the barrel, lowering the pistol and shaking his head at Willy, "Willy, enough."

"B-but Slim, he just insulted me! Let me shoot him!"

Slim held up his hand, stopping Willy, "Don't waste your breath on him. They'll be dead in the morning anyway. The snakes'll get 'em. Just let them die a slow, painful death here. We need to meet the mayor."

Willy's lip curled but he put the gun back in his holster, looking put out. Slim glared one last time at the two of them before slapping the reins against his horse and taking off into the night away from the Summit. Willy followed him after immaturely flipping a bird in their direction.

Lucas mentally cursed as they galloped away. When Willy had been aiming at Lucas' crotch, from his distance, Lucas could see that the bullet would have traveled into his abdomen had he taken the shot. Because of that, Lucas was willing to bet that Willy was a major overshooter. He had been hoping he could rile Willy up enough to shoot at his head instead. Lucas had been sure the bullet would have missed his head completely and gotten the branch. A bit of a stretch, but Lucas had no qualms gambling with that. And he was sure he would have succeeded too, had Slim not unintentionally foiled his plans.

"Got a plan now Lucas?" Billy said, sounding resigned to their fate.

"Half a plan." He gestured lightly with his head upward. "We could try to break the branch. It looks like it's held a lot of weight in the past. If we can put enough force on it, it'll break and we can get out."

"Okay. That would work perfectly. If we weren't tied at the neck to the damn branch." Billy said wryly, shooting him a look, "Lucas what the hell kind of plan is that? What were you planning on doing? Jumping? We'd break our own necks first before the branch even got a crack in it."

Billy was right. Lucas knew that the minute they took their feet off of the thin log, it would tumble to the ground. If they were going to try to break the branch, it would have to happen with enough force and speed to break it in one try. It was risky enough by itself, but Lucas was having trouble organizing his thoughts with the noose constricting his breathing and couldn't think of anything better. The lack of air was making him reckless.

"What do you propose we do then, Billy?" he steadied himself when he starting tipping a bit backwards, "I can't see any way to get out."

"Well… we could… umm… how about–"

"How about I help you boys out? You look like you need a hand."

Their gazes both shot to the newcomer who stepped out from behind a tree nearby. It was a woman in a muddied, rumpled yellow dress in disarray. Her wild tendrils of blonde hair were cascading down her back and around her face like a careless curtain. She was beautiful in an untamed, audacious way that was uncommon of the women in their town. She held a double barreled pistol in one hand and a mischievous grin on her face. A modern day Calamity Jane.

They glanced back at each other with raised eyebrows. Neither of them had ever seen her in their life.

"What do you…" When she was in front of them, her eyes widened in alarm, and she turned away rapidly with a squawk, her cheeks rouging. She quickly covered her eyes, "Why the hell are you both naked?!"

Billy snorted, "Haven't you ever seen a naked man before? You look like the age to be married."

"I'm not." she said roughly, the colour creeping up to her ears. "And even if I was, seeing a naked man would still be a shock!"

Lucas' eyes narrowed. There was something odd about this abrasive woman. For one, her demeanor and the way she spoke in a haughty, superior tone was pretty familiar. And two: who the hell was she? The next town over wasn't particularly close enough that they would actively meet and remember people who lived there. He'd been living in his town for about three years now. And he'd never seen her in his life.

"Who are you?" Lucas said, ignoring her comments.

"That's not of importance." She responded, dismissing him with a flick of her hand, "All that matters is that I saw you guys in action at Bull's Sleaze, and you're perfect for my plans."

"Your plans?" Billy asked, his voice a little raspy from lack of water since they had been in jail.

Her expression grew serious, and she frowned, "I need your help freeing someone from the whore house."

Billy's eyes widened in surprise. But Lucas stared at her, wondering why she was being intentionally vague. There was obviously a specific reason why she wanted to free the person from the whore house, but she wasn't giving them details.

"No thanks." He responded, giving her a purposefully uninterested glare. "I'm not going to help some selfish brat save one woman when there are about thirty stuck in there."

"Brat?" She muttered, her eye twitching in annoyance. "I can't be much younger than you…"

"Regardless," Lucas said, "I'm not interested. Unless you want to tell us the full truth."

She turned fully to face Lucas, her gaze trained on his face, fist clenched in annoyance. "I want the mayor dead."

Billy and Lucas stiffened and glanced at each other once again, this time, neither of them able to hide their surprise. It wasn't very often that someone said with conviction that they wanted the mayor dead. Hell, it wasn't very often that a woman said she wanted the mayor dead. Words like that often got someone attached to a noose or tossed in the slammer.

Lucas' eyes narrowed, "What do you have to do with the mayor?"

"He's been abusing a woman. Someone important to me." she replied, her eyes shining in fury, despite the sky being darkened. "I want to kill him."

Billy scoffed, "Juvenile. You've got nothing compared to us. Get in line, blondie. We've got first dibs." He jerked his thumb to Lucas, "Especially him."

The blonde woman turned up her nose, uncaring about what he had just told her, "What if I told you I could get you down?"

Lucas rose a brow incredulously. Get them down how? She was barely looking at them, clearly uncomfortable with the fact that they had no clothes on. Not to mention, the ropes were stiff, thick, and tightly wound. If she was planning to shoot the rope, she'd not only have to be a great shot to not miss and get their heads, but she'd also have to be able to precisely aim from her distance and hit the rope at a specific angle to snap it. She was fairly small, and she didn't look like she could be strong enough to handle the recoiling of the gun. Quite frankly, looking at her, Lucas didn't think she'd be capable of pulling it off.

Clearly Billy didn't believe it either. He made a disgruntled noise.

"Do you know how to shoot?" he said nervously, "I mean, this is a pretty tough job."

The woman glared at them both, her brows furrowing in irritation, "You know what? I've been trying to form an allegiance with you both, but you're both being a pair of assholes. If you don't want my help, fine. I'm leaving."

She spun on her heel, walking slowly back to where she had come from, calling out to them over her shoulder. "Enjoy being stuck on this tree. Those rattlesnakes will be coming out soon. And I hope you survive the… coyotes."

"…N-no wait!" Billy interjected apologetically in a rush. She turned around patiently, an unassuming and questioning look on her face. An eyebrow was raised patronizingly. "We're sorry. Please get us down."

Lucas sighed impatiently, rolling his eyes. She was craftier than he had first assumed. He had to give her credit for playing up Billy's fear. It was arguably smart. She must have pretty good hearing to be able to eavesdrop their conversation that well.

"That's what I thought." She said arrogantly, lifting the pistol with one hand, aiming at Billy's face steadily, a little above his nose. Her eyes were looking at the slack of rope above his head instead of on his face where the gun was trained.

"Oh God…" Billy moaned, looking regretful now that he saw how she was preparing to shoot, "I'm going to die before marrying the woman of my dreams…"

Lucas frowned. What the hell was she doing? Her feet were too far apart, she was tilted off her center of balance, and from where she was aiming and looking at, it looked like she was about to pop a couple caps into their heads. From her short height, there was no way her aim would get the rope. It didn't even look like she was using her dominant hand. Was this a joke to her?

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?" Lucas called out, "Do you even know how to shoot a—"

Before he could finish his sentence, two loud BANGS rang out in the night air, and he and Billy toppled to the ground, the rope loosening from around their necks. They were free. They breathed hard, rubbing their tired, scratchy necks as they pulled at the remnants of the rope still attached. She approached them quietly, her expression serious, but eyes dancing in amusement.

"That was way too fucking close…" Lucas muttered, yanking off the rope.

"You're welcome." She sassed, glaring at him.

Billy looked shocked and coughed a bit, trying to relieve his dry throat, "You looked like you were about to shoot us in the head. How the hell did your bullet reach the rope?"

"Wind trajectory." She replied easily, "There was a light breeze picking up."

"That makes sense. No wonder my balls were getting chilled." She made a face of discomfort, and Billy continued, nodding appreciatively, "That's impressive. Not many people can measure the wind and their bullet's trajectory like that."

"My mother taught me. I could have done it the easy way and shot straight at the rope, but I figured using the wind to my advantage would add some power. It was the best way I could hit the rope at a specific angle sharp enough to break it."

Lucas bent down and picked up the rope. The cut from the bullet was a straight, even slope, no frayed ends or ragged strings that had been leftover. It was surprisingly clean. Not many people had such clean shooting abilities. From the way she had been standing, he had assumed she had no talent in shooting. He was arguably impressed, not that he would ever say it out loud. This woman irritated him. And there was just something familiar about her that he couldn't pinpoint.

"So who the hell are you?" Lucas asked again, having had enough of this beating around the bush bullshit.

She turned her murky blue eyed gaze to him, a pinched look of irritation on her face. Where had he seen that expression before?

"Let's just say that our plans align. I want to kill the mayor and free someone from debt but I need help. Apparently, you want to kill the mayor too, so why don't we join forces?"

Billy and Lucas glanced at each other, before turning around and walking away from her without a word. She let out a small, outraged cry of indignation.

"Hey! Where are you going?" She trailed after them quickly, her boots clopping unsteadily on the uneven terrace.

"We're going to get our shit back."

"I can help you!" She whined in frustration. "Why don't you want to work together?"

Lucas turned around abruptly, and she jumped slightly when she almost ran in to him. She took a wide step back, her cheeks flushing.

"Because quite frankly, I think you're crazy."

Billy nodded, "And honestly, we don't have time for your games. We have our own stuff to worry about."

"It's not a game." She sighed in exasperation, "Look, I can help you get back your clothes and shit from those cock suckers. And then let's team up. Pool our resources. Use our intellect and skills to knock that asshole right off his pedestal."

Lucas frowned again, wondering why she kept insisting they work together. He had to admit, she was a pretty decent shot. That was definitely something that might come in handy later, though he had reservations working with her. And once again, she kept deflecting the conversation away from her identity. He had no intentions of working with someone who was going to such lengths to hide who they were.

The woman must have taken their silence as hesitation, so she sighed and crouched over, lifting up her skirts a bit and removing her boots. She slipped something up the sleeve of her dress before continuing her motions. She peeled off her stockings and tore them in half. She handed them both a side with a roll of her eyes.

"What's this for?" Billy questioned, averting his gaze respectfully away from her exposed legs as she put her shoes back on.

"Something to cover… you know…" she replied, pointedly looking away from them and gesturing to her crotch area. "And don't worry about returning them."

"Right…" Billy said. "Has anyone ever told you you're very unladylike?"

They took the stocking pieces and made temporary loincloths around their front, making sure that they were properly covered. She was turned away, tapping her foot impatiently.

"My family says it enough times." She grouched, sounding put off.

Clearly she didn't have a good relationship with her family at the moment. Lucas tied up the knot and then straightened, watching the back of her head in suspicion.

"Right. Your family. Which is…?" Lucas pressed again, eyes narrowed.

She swallowed and turned around, faking cheer. "Not of importance. I told you already."

"And I'm telling you now, we're not going to listen to a thing you have to say until you tell us who you are."

"What Lucas means to say," Billy said quickly when it looked like she was about to bring out some claws and possibly scratch out his eyes. Lucas wasn't usually so antagonistic towards people. What was his deal? "Is that we're both intrigued by who you could possibly be."

"I wouldn't necessarily say intrigued…" Lucas muttered under his breath. The blonde woman sneered at him, her eyes darkening in annoyance.

Billy sighed in exasperation, "You're a strange woman who can shoot and has no qualms cursing and looking rather rough in front of two ruffian strangers. We've never seen you before in our lives. Forgive us for being a little curious."

She bit her lip in thought, looking like she was mentally debating whether or not it was a good idea to mention. Eventually, she sighed in resignation and uncrossed her arms.

"My name is Maya. Maya Matthews."

"Matthews?" Lucas asked, "Are you related to Cory Matthews, the cattle rancher?"

She avoided his gaze nervously, her vision trained on the ground where she lightly nudged a rock with the toe of her boot.

"He's my father."

Lucas wasn't aware Cory had two daughters. He'd always thought he only had three children. Two sons and one daughter. Come to think of it, Cory's idiot son was blonde. Was she his twin?

His eyes narrowed, "I go there pretty frequently. I've never seen you before. Does your father keep you hidden away or something?"

Maya's eyes snapped back to his, slightly peeved, "Not particularly. You just haven't happened to see me."

"Is that so?"

"It is." She replied tersely, ceasing the conversation with her sharp tone.

Lucas said nothing, knowing there was something there that wasn't right. She was obviously lying.

"How long had you been waiting behind the trees?" Billy asked curiously.

"Pretty long time. I was biding my time until they left."

"Did you walk here?" he asked incredulously.

She gave him a dry look, "Of course not."

Maya brought her index finger and thumb to her lips and whistled loudly, the ear-piercing, shrill noise travelling far into the night. After a short pause where the sound reverberated and echoed through the air and the canyon, a pitch black, majestic stallion came galloping out from behind the trees towards them, stopping next to his owner in a slight cloud of dust and rocks.

And then it dawned on Lucas. He'd seen that Mustang before. He could recognize it easily because it was the same feral horse that Cory Matthews' son rode whenever he had seen him. Or rather, Matthews' daughter. She was the one who had almost gotten them killed. No wonder she had seemed so familiar. They were the same person.

"You…" Lucas ground out, teeth clenched so tightly, the muscles ticking in his jaw could easily be seen.

"Wait!" Billy shouted, coming to the same realization as Lucas, a deep frown on his brows, "It's you! You're that idiot who got us arrested in the first place!"

Her eyes slightly widening, Maya lifted up the barrel of the gun to ward them off from possible retaliation. Without missing a beat, as soon as he saw her begin to lift up the gun, Lucas stepped up to her, twisting it out of her grip and pressing the barrel against her temple, glaring down at her impassively, the emerald colour glinting dangerously.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now…" he growled.

Maya stared up at him and let out a long breath, "Excuse me?"

"You fucked up my plans." He said lowly, his unwavering glare set on her face. "Got us thrown in jail. Almost hanged."

Billy put his hand on his shoulder placatingly. "Whoa. Lucas. Calm down."

Lucas ignored him, continuing his staring contest with the shorter woman. Despite the fact that there was a gun pointed at her temple, and Lucas towered over her by more than a head, she didn't even flinch or cower, or react at all. She just glowered at him defiantly, her crystal blue eyes sharp, chin turned up in challenge and mouth twisted in contempt.

She rose a brow, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I'm pretty sure I also saved your life."

"You mean the life you endangered in the first place?"

"We're even." She said through grit teeth, taking a step closer to him, her eyes ablaze. In the diminished light, they almost looked like steel.

"Depends on what you view as even…" Lucas sneered, cocking the gun. "As far as I'm concerned, I owe you."

"Let me spell it out for you since you're not getting it." Maya said slowly, a derisive smile on her lips, rising onto her tiptoes and pressing herself closer threateningly, "If you kill me, I'm taking your ass with me."

Lucas looked down between them and finally registered the bayonet Maya had in her hand, not quite touching him, but close enough that if she so chose, she could easily inflict a fatal wound. He hadn't even noticed that she had taken it out in the first place. That must have been what she had hidden in her dress's sleeve. Pretty smart.

He brought his gaze back to hers, eyebrow raised in intrigue. "You really think your knife is as fast as a bullet?"

"Why don't we try and find out?" She replied slowly, narrowing her eyes and pressing the knife against his chest right above his heart.

They silenced and stared each other down at an impasse, Lucas with the gun placed against her head, Maya, with the bayonet against his chest. Neither said a word. She had guts, he'd give her that. He'd never met a woman who had no reaction to being held at gunpoint. Maya could be helpful for a plan. She could definitely shoot. And she wasn't afraid to fight back. Her abrasive nature could be useful in the long run.

But he was certain she was crazy. And he made a point of avoiding crazy women, wild women in their town, and the whores in the saloon. They would bring nothing but trouble. And Maya screamed trouble. He had no doubt that teaming up with her would be a disaster.

"So what'll it be, Cowboy?" she continued, pressing the blade a bit harder against his flesh.

Smirking, Lucas uncocked the pistol and pulled it away from her temple, and she also backed up, dusting herself off. Her lip was curled in loathing, and she glared up at him out of the corner of her eye.

"So I suppose we've come to an understanding?"

"For now." He said simply.

Maya rolled her eyes and slid the knife back into her leather boots.

Billy watched them with a complete look of disbelief, muttering under his breath. "You're on the same fucking side… Why the hell are you trying to kill each other?"

Neither Lucas nor Maya responded and only narrowed their eyes at one another as Lucas handed back the gun to her. Billy rolled his eyes, already knowing these two bullheaded people would not be getting along anytime soon.

"Oookay. Now that that's done…" Billy drawled, "If we leave now, we can try to catch Willy and Slim and get our shit back."

They finally turned away from each other, and Lucas nodded at Billy.

"Let's go."

Billy and Lucas began to leave once again, but Maya stopped them.

"Well, do either of you want my help or not? You never gave me a definitive answer."

"No." Lucas responded at the same time Billy said. "Yes."

Billy shot him a look and elbowed him in the side. But Lucas didn't react, only crossing his arms nonchalantly, still watching Maya with disinterest.

She rolled her eyes, beckoning Clutterbucket over so she could reach into her sac attached to the saddle. She pulled out a bandana and covered her hair with it, tucking it all into the cloth and making sure her wild blonde hair was covered.

"By the way, you both smell like shit…" she remarked, pulling the reins of her horse to follow as the three began their trek back to the interior of the town.

"What do you expect?" Lucas responded crossly over his shoulder, "We were thrown in jail for an evening. No thanks to you."

Maya ground her teeth together in serious irritation, and she held her hands up in a choking motion behind him.

Billy saw her reaction and snorted, slowing down and pacing himself next to her. "You're a riot, Maya."

"Does he always have a stick shoved up his ass, or am I just lucky?" she droned, glaring daggers into the back of his head.

"Lucas isn't usually this hostile." Billy shrugged, "I mean, he's not particularly open or anything. I guess he just really doesn't like you?"

She frowned, "Because I accidentally got you arrested?"

"Because you ruined his chances to kill the mayor."

She glanced at Billy with a brow raised, "Why does he want to kill the mayor so badly?"

"It's not my reason to tell." Billy responded apologetically, "But trust me, his reason is justified. Which is why I'm wholeheartedly going to help him achieve his goal."

"You're pretty loyal." Maya responded cryptically. "You don't see too much of that these days…"

"Something bad happen to you?"

"Let's just say that I need a way out…"

Lucas continued ahead, not particularly interested in the two's conversation for the most part. But Maya's comment did somewhat peak his interest. She had tapered off when speaking, but Lucas could pick up on what she was really saying. She needed a way out… and the mayor was in the way of her way out. Clearly she had something that was plaguing her as well, which Lucas definitely found surprising. She was a daughter of the Matthews. In the years he'd known the family, he could easily see they were the most satisfied with life and one of the few families left in their town who didn't have severe problems.

Which brought him to something else he found odd. Maya didn't resemble any of her family members. In neither demeanor, appearance, behaviour, nor attitude. And from her earlier hesitation in revealing her name, he figured she knew that very well.

Lucas briefly glanced over his shoulder, watching the small blue eyed woman as she conversed with Billy. She looked fairly uncomfortable and her eyes were nervously shifting. She was hiding something. He didn't know what it was that she was hiding, but there was definitely something she was keeping secret.

He faced the front again and shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind. He had other things to think about right now. Mainly, where to find Willy and that scum Slim to get his shit back. They would regret fucking with him… And he would definitely make them pay…