A/N: Yeah Guest. You're right. I fucked up. I said I would update tomorrow and tomorrow turned into three weeks later. I think I got side tracked and completely forgot what I had said I would do. And that's not okay. I know I let you all down. I'm so sorry :/ I feel terrible about it.

Thanks for always being there for me guys and helping me to calm down when shit starts to get wild like it has. I honestly appreciate all that you guys have done for me and all of the kind things you have said to me. Thank you for the reviews and for the support even though I don't deserve it! I appreciate it so much! :)

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

"That's the last of the documents." Lucas said, leaving from the backdoor of Mr. Shiffley's inn and shutting it quietly so it wouldn't rattle the infrastructure and alert the old man to their intrusion.

They'd finally managed to finish up getting all of the documents and statements to the respective homes of the townsfolk.

"Alright. So what's going on with you?" Billy asked as he and Lucas headed back over to their horses perched nearby the fence.

"What?" Lucas asked as they climbed up on their respective horses.

"I mean, I'm just saying you've been a little off is all ever since we all reunited. But not in a bad way." Billy said, putting his hat back on his head and eyeing Lucas, "You're uh… warmer or something like that. But it's like you're guilty or something. Or conflicted."

Lucas frowned but said nothing, taking his pistol out of his holster and cocking it in case they met trouble on their way back.

"…And I kind of think it has to do with a certain blonde sharpshooter."

"We need to head to the town square." Lucas finally responded, ignoring Billy's comment. He didn't want to think about that right now. Not when they had things to take care of. Now was neither the time nor place to discuss his difficult something like a, but not really relationship with Maya. "Something isn't right."

Billy sighed, but turned to Lucas with a raised brow. "Fine. You don't want to talk right now. You want to be a stubborn ass. I get it."

Lucas gave him an annoyed look but Billy shrugged indifferently.

"As I was saying," Lucas reiterated, "there are four fugitives that Jed should be searching for who could come back to town any minute. By all means, Jed wouldn't be so dumb as to not have the streets overrun with deputies and people who work for him. We've been travelling all over town tonight, yet haven't encountered a single one of his men."

Billy's brows rose a bit, and he nodded slowly.

"There should be men looking for us wanted criminals." Billy added, "And come to think of it, I didn't see any wanted posters anywhere."

"It was too easy to return all the documents." Lucas set his horse off on a light trot, Billy following close beside him as they kept a vigilant eye out on the horizon and around them for anyone who might be associated with Jed. "I think Jed has given up the search for us. But there has to be something else he's planning."

"So that's why we're going to town square? To look for a clue?"

Lucas nodded. "I have a feeling there'll be something there."

"Look, Lucas. You know I trust you with my life. And your gut instinct is usually right about these things." Billy said nervously, "But what if that something that we could possibly find there is an ambush by Jed and his men?"

"Better get ready to fight then." Lucas drawled.

"You know, you might enjoy these brawls and getting into random fights, but I'm a more docile human being, you know." Billy joked. "I'm gentle and sensitive. These fights are not my thing."

Lucas smirked in amusement, and they continued carefully on their way through the town to the center where the town convened for announcements and executions on occasion. It was fairly deserted as they made their way through with the exception of a few drunk stragglers here and there, but Lucas wasn't particularly worried about them. They seemed too inebriated to be suspicious of the two of them.

"Damn." Billy muttered. "Haven't been back in this area since I almost got hanged."

Thankfully, the actual town square was devoid of any people, and there was no one near the wall. They trotted towards the town wall near the large tree. There was a sole notice remaining on the board. A notice signed by Jed addressed to Lucas Friar.

"Looks like Jed left me a present…"

"Hello Lucas. If you are reading this, you have managed to come back to my town and have executed whatever plan you may have started. So I've left." Billy read out loud. "But I'm far from dead or gone even if you've figured out what I've done in this town. I have a proposition for you. One more duel at dawn. If you're up for it meet me where you died fifteen years ago. Alone. Hope to see you soon. I'll be waiting."

Lucas stared at the memo, his jaw clenched tightly as he narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell does that mean 'where you died fifteen years ago'?" Billy asked in confusion, "You're alive, aren't you?"

Yes, he was alive. But that was not what Jed meant.

He knew exactly the location that Jed was referring to. It was the same place where Jed had taken him after killing his parents before tossing him into the river to die. The same location where Lucas' peaceful old life was forcibly taken from him. The last place where young Lucas had been before any semblance of his former life was brutally ripped apart.

Lucas Carson had died fifteen years ago beside that river.

Lucas Friar was born once Billy had saved him.

"Lucas? What the hell is he talking about?" Billy asked, waving a hand in front of Lucas' face when he didn't respond, glaring daggers into the memo.

"He's given up on searching for all of us."

"Yeah. I kind of got that." Billy rolled his eyes. "I meant the whole fifteen years thing."

"It's an invitation to die." Lucas responded cryptically, "Jed wants me to meet him where he dumped me in the river all those years ago. Full circle. He tried to kill me there once and failed. Now he wants to finish the job."

Billy inhaled a bit sharply, his brows lifting high on his forehead.

"You're not seriously thinking of going are you? It's clearly a trap."

"I know it is. But I have to go. I have to fight him."

"You don't have to go, Lucas."

"Yes I do."

"Well then you don't have to go alone. I'll come with you."

"No. No one is coming with me. I'm the only one who can kill him. You know it. I know it. And I don't want there to be any collateral damage in Jed's destructive plans."

"You're stupid as hell if you think I'm going to let you do this by yourself." Billy growled through grit teeth.

"I have to." Lucas replied evenly, glowering at Billy, "Because Jed will kill you without hesitation, Billy. He'll use you to get to me. And I can't have that. I made a promise to our grandfather. I told him I would protect you no matter what. And that's what I'm going to do. If this is the way to do it, so be it."

It was only right that he and Jed both died to finally put this mess to bed. Finally end this problem. He'd gotten too many people involved to begin with and now they'd gotten hurt because of his personal vendetta against Jed. Lucas wouldn't be able to live with himself if anyone died because of his carelessness. And he'd especially never be able to live with the guilt if Billy got killed because of him.

Billy's eyes narrowed, his expression clearly displeased.

"And then what? You die, and then the promise you made doesn't even matter anymore because you'll be dead. Who's going to protect me if you're dead, huh? Did you even think about that?" Billy growled in a low, furious tone, "In case you didn't know, Lucas, he told me the same thing. He told me to protect you no matter what because you have no problems throwing your life away and putting yourself in harm's way as if there is no meaning to your own existence. He wanted us to protect each other. To survive with each other. So I can't let you make this choice."

"It isn't your call to make." Lucas snarled, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm going alone. This is my problem and my problem alone. You can't stop me. And if you try, I'll shoot out your knees, Billy."

For a few terse seconds of silence, the two of them stared at each other, Billy's eyes a bit wide in shock, his clenched fists shaking the slightest bit in anger. Lucas remained detached and impassive, staring Billy down with a slightly cocked brow, daring him to challenge his threat. After a while, Billy's face curled in disgust, his eyes flaring angrily.

"Wow. Going so far as to threatening to bust out my knees just so you can keep up this stupid façade. So let me guess. You decide to push people away because you think you have to shoulder your burdens on your own." Billy chuckled mirthlessly, shaking his head in disdain. "You know what your problem is, Lucas? You don't trust people. You don't trust me or anyone else to be able to take care of themselves or even possibly take care of you too. You can't let people in because you're too fucking scared to lose them. So you push everyone away and hide behind this cowardly idea in your mind that the only thing you care about is revenge and in the process, everyone who cares gets hurt except for you. You get off scott-free. You're fucking selfish. And I've had it with your bullshit sacrificial tendencies."

Lucas looked past Billy over to where there were a couple men laughing raucously and stumbling over their own feet. Even though he feigned indifference, he couldn't deny the pinpricks of irritation he felt when Billy's words hit too close to home.

Because he knew Billy was right.

"We don't have time to argue about this, Billy. Let's just get back to the Matthews ranch and wait for Maya and Katy so we can finish up this plan."

"Fine." Billy spat, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Let's just go."

They turned their horses around and made their way back toward the outskirts of the main town area, silence permeating the air as Billy stewed in his anger and Lucas in his own thoughts.

What Billy had said wasn't a lie.

Lucas was pushing away the people he cared about because he knew he was on a suicide mission and the last thing he wanted was become important in someone's life when he knew he wasn't going to stay. The less important he was to someone, the less someone cared about him, the less faith someone had in him, the easier it would be for them not to care when he was gone.

Like Maya.

Lucas had to take responsibility for making her think that he was someone who could stick around. He knew what he'd seen in her eyes when she gazed at him that night they'd spent together in Feeny's home. And he also knew what the hazy gleam he'd seen meant. Maybe he was taking the easy way out by using revenge as a way to make her want distance from him, but he couldn't let her keep that false hope that there was something there with him. He knew it was his duty to fix accidentally messing with her mind for being at fault for it in the first place.

Lucas had ruined Maya in more ways than one. And now she was suffering because of his careless decisions. He'd fed her that bullshit about only having revenge in his life because he knew it would turn her away from him, and he knew it hurt her, but he couldn't tell her anything else, because anything else would only give her more hope.

It would only hurt her more because he wasn't going to stay. Yes, he felt some type of way around Maya—something profound and dangerous—and the implications of said feeling he didn't want to think about too deeply, but above that, the most important thing in his life right now was to kill Jed. He could be the sacrifice so no one else had to die to get rid of the man who had ruined countless lives. He would be the sacrifice so no one else would have to suffer because of his uncle. He was going to kill Jed, even if he lost his own life in the process.

Lucas had no room for Maya in that kind of plan. So he'd had no choice but to let her go. Even if she hated him when he died, he was okay with that. As long as she forgot about him. As long as she was safe and could be happy away from someone who would only bring her misery.

Lucas had always been a dead man walking.

He should have never gotten involved with Maya.