Here it is, finally; the last chapter!
Let's give Bentley the happy ending he deserves, right ;)?
Oh, and I really DID try to keep the spoilers for EOTP at a minimum there at the end...
*** Chapter Twenty-Three : The End ***
Three years later...
The town of Dirt seemed completely deserted and lifeless, except for an occasional tumbleweed that rolled by, or a gust of wind that stirred the sand. But that could be because all of its inhabitants had been taken hostage by a gang of bountyhunters and was currently locked up in the jailhouse.
And in the sheriffs office, watching the prisoners and patiently waited for the sheriff to return, were the bountyhunters themselves: Rango, Hicks, the two porcupines Fledge and Flitch, Scrange the rat and the gangs newcomer; Sam, a very young bobcat. And Bentley, of course. There was one more member of the gang, but she was currently out of town. Literally; Coral had gone to fetch Jonas the funny talking Smuggling King and his men to help install the device Bentley singlehandedly designed, in the water tower. They had also gotten some help from Bad Bill and his gang, whom already had been occupying the cells when they arrived to take over the town, and what was left of the posse from Diego City. Though the posse seemed... Skeptical, to Rango and his methods, and the gang could easily tell that the posse was planning on leaving to call for assistance from Diego City. But hopefully, Jonas' men would be available to 'take care' of them if they ever would get that idea.
Bentley hated waiting. And they had been waiting for 24 hours. Even Rango and Hicks were getting antsy by now! The hyena was currently playing a round of 'I spy' with Scrange, whom ever since he joined the gang almost two years ago had been his best friend, and so far had even survived the friendship!
"I spy with my lil' eye..." Bentley said pondering and looked out through the window. "Somethin' with a shitload of houses!"
Scrange rolled his eyes. "The town? Again?" That was literally the only thing Bentley 'spied', at least Scrange was trying to vary with various objects he saw. And when Bentley enthusiastically nodded, the rat let out a groaning sigh. "Don't you think we could stop this now, chap? I mean, it's been three hours!" But when Bentley only shook his head, Scrange sighed once more and looked around. "Alright then, I spy with my little eye something see-through..." He said and stared at the dirty glass window. "Or something like it..."
Bentley thought about it for a while and looked around like Scrange had done. "Umm, the window?"
"Yeah..."
"It's... It's pretty dirty... Not very see-through..."
"I know..."
Bentley was quiet before snorting out a laugh. "Alright, my turn!" He said and looked out through the window. "I spy with my lil' eye somethin'... GORGEOUS!"
Scrange frowned and watched silently as Bentley sprang up from the deputys desk he had been sitting on and ran to the window, bending down and pressing his face against it to see better. "Umm. It's NOT the town again, is it?" The rat asked, but was ignored by the excited hyena.
"They're here!" Hicks exclaimed, relief could be heard in his voice. Rango, who had been sitting on the chair behind the sheriffs desk with his feet on the table and hat pulled down over his eyes, tilted his head upwards.
"Finally!" He muttered and stood up. "Hicks, go an' git that brown haired lizard girl, y'know the creepy one who always freezes!"
"Ya mean that Beans?" The coyote cocked an eyebrow, and Rango nodded.
While people were jolting back to life around him, Bentley couldn't stop staring out through the window. He was staring at the ones who rode into town, and more exactly on the one riding behind the funny looking chameleon on a white roadrunner. It was hard to see through the dirty window, but he could make out the long, pointy face, the petite figure, a pair of huge, round eyes and a long fuzzy tail. He could already tell that she was really pretty! Wonder what she looked like up close? Not to mention that just looking at her made him feel... Strange. A warm, fuzzy feeling that caused his heart to beat faster, but not in a panicky, frightened way! More in a happily gleeful way! That girl was so weird!
"Oi, get away from the window!" Scrange said warningly and pushed Bentley away from the window. "They might see you!"
"Wow..." Was all Bentley could say in response. "Scrangey, do ya remember what I ate this mornin'? Or late last night?"
Scrange flinched. "W-what?"
"I think I might have eaten cocoons again..." He glanced down at his stomach and carefully put a hand over it. "I-I think there's butterflies in there now or somethin'!"
"Butterflies?!" Scrange shook his head.
Bentley looked up and saw the girl as she jumped down from the roadrunner her and the chameleon was sharing, just as Hicks came out from the jailhouse with a very resisting Beans. "W-who is that?That girl?" Bentley asked dreamily and giggled rather unmanly. "She's so weird!"
"That's Priscilla, the deputy" Rango replied and drew his revolver and checked the bullets in it. "I know what you're thinkin' Bentley, but forget it! She ain't like yer saloongirls, y'know, so stop droolin'. An' Sam, go out there an' disarm 'em!"
"Hey! I ain't droolin'!" Bentley wiped his mouth and chuckled sheepishly.
Rango rolled his eyes and grabbed Beans from Hicks. "Yeah, yeah. Now, lady, let's go welcome yer husband home, shall we?" He snickered and wrapped an arm around her waist. She opened her mouth to object, but he pressed the barrel of his gun against her cheek. "Don't make me shoot ya, 'kay? Bentley! Scrange!" He barked at his two men and nodded for them to follow him out.
Bentley hurried to follow the two lizards out, and remained on the wooden sidewalk as Rango announced their existence to the two lawmen. Now when he got out and saw the deputy in clear sunlight, he was for the first time in many years struck with silence. She was beyond pretty; raven black hair tied up in a little bun by her neck, huge amber colored eyes, and even if she had a serious scowl on her face, he couldn't help but to think that she might possibly be the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes upon. Their eyes locked for a short moment, and despite the hatred and utter contempt for him and the others that he saw so vividly in her eyes, he couldn't help but to grin even wider. She was an aye-aye, a shadowmaid! He had overheard that the deputy would be some kind of mouse, but they weren't even close! But he wouldn't blame them for not knowing the difference: aye-ayes didn't exactly get out much. Hell, he had heard that they never even left the island which was their home! And when they did, it was just to cause misfortune and grief to other villages. Except for this one; she was special. He could feel it!
"She must look so pretty when she smiles..." He said dreamingly, which earned him a skeptical glance from Scrange. "I mean, just look at that pretty lil' mouth! And her lil' nose!" He giggled again. "She's so cute!"
"Are you alright there, Bentley?" Scrange asked and frowned as he looked at the deputy as well. "You're acting really weird, even for being you! And why the sudden interest in the deputy? You KNOW you'll NEVER get her to sleep with you! And for the record, I doubt you even can get her to smile! She looks as if she's never smiled in her entire life!"
Bentley cocked an eyebrow at the much shorter rat. "Is that a challenge, Scrangey?" He folded his arms. "I bet you I can make her both laugh AND sleep with me!"
Scrange snorted in return. "Ten dollars?"
"Fifty bucks!"
"Twenty?"
"What, afraid that I might actually do it?"
"Okay then, Fifty!" Scrange and Bentley shook hands on it. "Fifty 'bucks' that you can't get her to either laugh or sleep with you!"
Bentley chortled out a laugh. "Ya better have those money ready, Scrangey, b'cause every girl thinks I'm totally irresistible!"
…
Three days passed since the sheriff got kicked out of town and Priscilla was 'recruited'. Day one, she knocked Scrange unconscious, day two she kicked Bentley in the nuts and threw a bucket in his head and day three she almost knocked Fledges front teeth out when she threw a punch at Bentley but missed, and instead hit the poor porcupine next to him. In other words: so far she was actually doing fairly well in the gang! Though she would rather hang out with her old townspeople or her roadrunner.
That day, Bentley head down to the livery stable to check on Grumpy as a standard procedure. Since he had been living in stables more and more lately, that bird had developed a tendency to get bored and flip his water bucket around, not especially smart since the town always was boiling hot during day!
He entered the stable and walked down the aisle until he got to the right stall and strolled in, giving Grumpy a cheerful "g'mornin'!" and receiving an annoyed squawk in return. "Yeah, I love ya too, ol' boy!" He ruffled the roadrunners oversized plume to annoy him and began searching for the bucket, which appeared to be nowhere to be found.
As he scanned the stall, he happened to look over the shoulder-high wall into the next stall and saw a light brown roadrunner; Priscillas Birdie. Very original name. But he wasn't alone in his stall, and Bentley felt his heart happily skip a beat when he saw the beautiful creature stand with her back to him and stroke her hand over Birdies shining feathers on his long neck. Bentley grinned stupidly and leaned against the wall and just couldn't stop staring at her. Sure, he could only see her backside, but that wasn't such a bad view either!
"Whaddya want?" She suddenly spat out without turning around, apparently she knew he was watching her. Freaky...
Oooh my gosh, she's talkin' to me! "Hi! I wanna find Grumpys water bucket! Ya ain't seen it, have you?"
"Why would I?" Her response was just a cold as ever. It was so painfully obvious in every way that she despised everyone of Rangos men, but her voice whenever she spoke to them was probably the most obvious; she always had this angry tint in a cold, emotionless voice, especially when she answered their questions with another question. Totally adorable!
"Sorry, just askin'!" He chuckled and walked away from the wall and pretended to keep up his search, not without glancing over at her every now and then.
She was just so weird in every way, and the weird feeling he always got when she was nearby was really taking the prize! He felt happy and excited every time he looked at her, even if he'd only get a growl or a scowl in return, and his heart began beating like crazy, even if he wasn't scared. Though it had taken him until yesterday to have figured out that it was thanks to her that this strange feeling emerged. He knew she hated him, but he still couldn't help but to think that he liked her. He liked her a LOT! Perhaps a bit too much, and that made him wonder what 'love' really felt like!
He found the bucket in a corner, but hesitated to pick it up. He didn't want to get a reason to leave. Instead he kicked some straw over the bucket and returned to the wall between the two stalls. He leaned on one elbow and grinned slyly at her back.
"Well whaddya know, seems like the ol' featherbrain has managed to lose his bucket for good!" He chuckled when he noticed that she was trying very hard to ignore him. "I wonder how he does it?"
"Why're ya still talkin' to me?" She snapped and still refused to turn around to face him. "Leave me alone!"
"Why? Ya tryin' to hide somethin', eh?" He tilted his head and couldn't help but to let out a small laugh at the frustrated growl she did.
"No! I'm just tryin' to be alone!"
"Ya do know there's a roadrunner in there with ya, so goin' here to be alone is like walkin' 'to a Nickelback concert to find someone to talk to!"
She finally turned around to him and had a confused frown on her face. "What?"
"Nothin'! Nevermind!" He shrugged and couldn't help but to stare into her eyes, now when she finally was looking at him. "I'm just talkin' nonsense, as usual!" She instantly turned her eyes away and fumbled with the brim of her hat, as if she was trying to conceal her face.
Too bad, he really liked her face! Especially her eyes; they were huge and could be pretty freaky, but they were still a pair of the most beautiful amber-colored eyes he had ever seen. But when he once tried to tell her that, she had ran her knee straight into his groin, not very pleasant, so he was always hesitating before telling her things like that. She didn't seem to appreciate it, oddly enough. He who had always thought girls loved being told things like that?
Without even realizing the dumb smile he had on his face, he kept studying her from head to toe. She looked really young, she couldn't be older than what, 20? Oh crap, what if Chris Hansen is lurkin' somewhere 'round here?! "Hey, how old are ya, by the way?"
She shot him an another annoyed look and turned back to her roadrunner. "Why do ya wanna know?"
He shrugged. "I dunno, just curious!" And I DON'T wanna be caught chasin' jailbait!
"Nineteen..." He heard her mutter under her breath after letting out a restrained sigh.
Phew! "Really? Well, that's close to twenty flat, hehe! Hey, I remember when I was nineteen! I lost a very good friend that year!" A sharp, stinging pain hit him as he recalled the day he heard that Cornys school burned down, and she along with it. But he laughed out a short, low laugh to make the feeling go away and leaned over the shoulder-high wall that separated the two stalls. "Guess how old I am!"
"Why?" She answered without skipping a beat, still with her back against him.
"Aw c'mon, take a guess! It wouldn't hurt anyone!"
"No!"
"Okay then, I'll give ya a hint; it's twenty-seven!"
"I didn't need to know that!"
"Wanna know somethin' else you don't need to know?"
"NO! Just SHUT UP!" She hissed and quickly snapped around to him, making her roadrunner take a frightened skip to the side. "Seriously, what's WRONG with you?! Ain't there anyone ELSE ya can go bug instead?!"
He shrugged. "Nah, you and I are the only ones here, except for the birds and-...!"Suddenly he saw something glimpse in her eye and flinched. "H-hey, are you cryin'?"
"No!" She instantly replied and turned her head away again. "I ain't cryin'!"
"Then maybe you should go see a doctor or somethin', b'cause yer eyes are leakin' fluid!" He felt his stomach churn when he saw the tiny little drop form in the corner of one of her big eyes, and instantly felt bad. He really hated to see that little teardrop, even if it was just one and it wasn't even sure if happened because she was sad or not! "Look, if it was somethin' I said or did; I'm real' sorry, okay? I didn't mean to make ya-...!"
"It ain't yer fault, not alone at least, an' I ain't sad! Now just buzz off, will ya?" She turned back to her bird, who was still slightly nervous after her sudden outburst. "I saw the bucket in the corner, just do what it was ya were s'posed to do an' leave me alone!"
Bentley went silent for a moment, opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then closed it. Instead, he silently took the bucket, went to the well among the corrals in the back of the stable, and filled it up with water before going back in. But instead of just dropping off the bucket and leave the deputy alone, he leaned back over the wall and smiled at her, even if she was standing with her back at him and hugged her bird and couldn't see him even if she wanted to.
He had an idea why she seemed so down. "Y'know, it ain't yer fault" He said, and she flinched. Yup, that was definitely it!
"I said buzz off!" She repeated, her voice was thicker now and he could swear there was a sob just waiting to break out in there.
"It ain't yer fault what's happened, or what Rango did" He continued, ignoring her. "I know what you're thinkin' of him an' all of us, but I promise ya; Rango ain't such a bad guy once ya get to know him! He's really nice an' funny, well, as long as you don't make him angry! But..." He lowered his head for a moment. "But he does some pretty bad things every now an' then, an' I really don't like it when he kills innocent people, an' I know ya hate us all for kickin' yer sheriff out an' shootin' that kid, but there wasn't anythin' anyone could do to stop him. Not even us! When he's mad, he'll just do stuff without thinkin' an' then he'll regret it a couple of hours later... But I know he's a really good guy on the inside! Quite the softie in fact!" He noticed he was trailing away from what he was going to tell her, so he quickly cleared his throat and perked his head up again. "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you was that you shouldn't be sad an' angry at yourself for lettin' it happen; if ya interfered, he would just have killed you too an' then where would the townspeople be? Without you AND the sheriff? B'sides, since you're now one of us, Rango has promised not to shoot anyone else! And that's pretty good, innit? I know I think it is!"
She threw a quick glance over her shoulder right at him, and the things he had said to her had made more tears begin to emerge in her eyes. "Whaddya want from me?" She asked, her voice was low and she had to struggle to keep the tears at bay.
"I want'cha to smile!" He answered and cracked up in a grin himself. "I've never seen ya smile b'fore, an' I'm sure you're real' purdy when ya smile!" She still wasn't smiling. "Aw c'mon, a smile has never killed anyone! A lil' smile? A snicker? A tug at the corners of yer mouth?"
But she wasn't smiling. "Just leave me alone..." She turned back to her roadrunner and buried her face among his feathers.
Bentley let out a restrained sigh and threw his arms at his sides. He HATED to see her like this! He had to cheer her up somehow, but how? The only thing he reckoned would make her in a better mood was if someone beheaded Rango and gave her his head as a trophy to mount on her wall! But then he spotted Grumpys water bucket that he just refilled, and grinned slyly as he picked it up.
Birdie seemed to know what was going to happen so he quickly squirmed out of Priscillas arms and took a couple of scared steps back. Priscilla frowned and wiped her eyes with her arm. "B-Birdie...?" She asked, shortly followed by a sudden splash and the feeling of water hitting her body and soaking her clothes.
She stood still as if stunned, with the water dripping down her clothes and hair, for a couple of seconds while she registered what happened, before slowly turning around and saw Bentley stand with the empty, dripping bucket raised and a wide grin splitting his elongated nose.
He laughed. "Well, now you ain't sad anymore, are ya?"
"I'm gonna kill ya..." She said with a low, eerie voice, and he laughed again, nervously this time.
"Ehehe, w-what?"
"I'm gonna KILL ya, hyena!" She growled angrily and dove straight at the wall, trying to reach for Bentley on the other side, but he quickly stepped out of the way, threw the bucket away and bolted out from the stall, laughing hysterically. "I'M GONNA FUCKIN' KILL YA!" She shouted again and followed him, steaming with anger and humiliation.
Bentley knew he was probably gonna have to run for his life, as the angered woman behind him surely WOULD kill him if she caught up to him. He made a note to himself, that splashing a bucket of water on her did NOT cheer her up! But at least she wasn't feeling bad anymore. Now, he only had to come up with something that cheers her up, which does NOT involve decapitation of his boss!
He had remembered something his aunt had told him a long time ago; that girls like it when you make them laugh, and what harm could it do to try and see if it worked on Priscilla? Except pissing her off like now...
…
More days passed by, and Bentley happily noticed that she was slowly warming up to him. Hell, sometimes he could even touch her without receiving a punch or a kick in the nuts! And more importantly; he had managed to make her both laugh and smile twice! She liked his jokes; the worse the better, and when he made a fool out of himself. Which wasn't all too difficult for him to do.
He had never been in love before, so he was too unsure to tell what weird feeling it was he felt whenever she was around, but after the first time he heard her laugh he became certain: he WAS in love! With her; the deputy! It was just too bad that she didn't seem to return the feelings. Especially not after the little stunt he managed to convince Flitch and Fledge to join, which unfortunate made Rango blame the townspeople and start with the shootings again. That hadn't been Bentleys intention when he and the brothers got that gun, carved Priscillas name into it and hid it in her room, leaving a note for a randomly picked citizen to pick it up just to see what would happen. Unfortunately, it ended up in the young and impulsive bobcat Ergils hands, he tried to assassinate Rango but luckily Coral had just returned from the Nest and managed to save her adoptive father from certain death. Needless to say, Rango wasn't all too happy with the little stunt, but he never found out who the real culprits were, so he decided to start shooting Dirtonians again. As mentioned; not quite what Bentley had intended.
And Priscilla had slowly began to crawl back into her gloomy and solemn shell that Bentley had tried so hard for a week to draw her out from. As a last resort, after she heard they killed an old childhood friend of hers, he decided to buy her a couple of drinks over at the saloon. Alcohol sometimes helped him to forget, perhaps it could her too?
Which it of course did, almost a little too well; she was without a doubt used to cactus juice, but not in copious amounts like she had taken that evening. She was laughing and giggling, drunk as a skunk, but thanks to it, he had actually managed to convince her to dance with him! Then it was a bit fuzzy what happened, but he might have hit his head on something, not impossibly her head, and woke up in his own room at the hotel. She had been there when he woke up. Along with Hicks and Rango, but they left as fast as they could.
That night he decided to try to tell her what he felt for her, but that was a lot easier said than done; every time he tried to tell her, he just kept seeing Cornys hurt face in front of him all the time. She had loved him, but he hadn't felt the same. What if it was the same here? What if he loved her a lot, but she didn't love him? After all, she saw him as her enemy. Or at least, she should; they had ruined the lives for everyone in Dirt, and probably given them all scars for life!
He had been stuttering and stumbling on his words for a long time, trying to say those three little words, and he could tell that she was getting impatient and was about leave when he gave up. He had just quickly leaned down towards her and kissed her. First time, he got rewarded with a hard-and-painful-as-heck-slap across the face, but the second time she kissed him back. She actually kissed him back! Then one of them, though he couldn't really tell which one of them in was, decided to take it a step further, and the rest of the night was history.
Right when he thought his intended soulmate must have died a long time ago in a freak accident, he finally found her. In a dusty Western town in the middle of the Mojave desert no less. He was sure it was her, at least. It HAD to be her! He didn't care about the stupid bet he made with Scrange, he didn't care that the others thought he was acting strange, he didn't care what anyone said about them being on the opposite side of the law; he loved her, and he wanted to always be with her!
She was his soulmate, and he wouldn't let ANYTHING happen to her! He had lost enough people already, so he wouldn't let anyone take her away from him!
That is, if she wanted him too...
…
Ten years later...
Bentley slowly woke up to the light that shone in through the window across the room. He yawned and was about to heave himself up to a sitting position when he felt someones small hand resting on his chest. He glanced down, and smiled widely when he saw her raven black, wavy hair spread over his arm and shoulder. He didn't dare to move in case he would wake her up, instead he just remained on his back and stared down at the woman. His woman. His angel. His wife and soulmate.
A smiled played on his lips as he ran a careful finger along her arm, and once again asked himself how he could have gotten this lucky. It wasn't as if he had done a lot of good deeds in his life: when he was born, he killed his mother, Shawana. Then he was dumb enough to cause Mwindaji, his fathers, death too, and his sister Etana to be raised as a psychopathic killer machine in a village of Spotted Ones. He caused the death of Buck, the only crewman on the slaveship who was kind to him and made Cornys parents send her to what could only be described as a hell on Earth. He had long believed her to be dead as well, but as he found out seven years ago, she wasn't. She was scarred for life, but still alive and kicking! But that was more than could be said about his caretaker Granny Ama, or his dear friend Lottie. Hell, he even managed to get the Baxters murdered by a looney that was after him, leaving their children Ida and Felix as orphans, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't save those two little rattlesnakes Rosie and Roscoe from freezing to death in that mineshaft that cold winter storm. And of course, the crown jewel in his collection; an entire gory basement full of dead men, whom he had all killed with his own claws and fangs in a blind, psychotic fury over have lost her; his soulmate. He almost managed to kill his buddy Scrange too!
He had caused so much sorrow and death to others without even intending to, and yet, for some reason, he had been rewarded; the little shadowmaid he fell so madly in love with ten years ago, was he still waking up next to every morning. Every morning he would wake up to the sound of her steady breaths and the fresh scent of her hair, and every night he would fall asleep with her in his arms.
Her name was Priscilla. Priscilla Aztracan, the bastard, yet beloved, daughter of a mage and a low-class commoner. But to him, she was Prissy, and he was her very own Bentley.
They had been through both heaven and hell together, and their relationship had been put on the line more than once, but they had always pulled through and remained by each other. And she hadn't left him; she hadn't died. She had been close to a couple of times, but so had he and neither had died as of yet. Which made him actually dare to relax, and hope that she wouldn't die like the others. She couldn't, not now!
She had given him literally EVERYTHING he had now: a home, a steady job, pancakes and the thing he valued the most; her love. Plus she would always be there to help him with his back. He wasn't even forty years yet, but he already began to have troubles with his back; a prize he got to pay thanks to all the hard work he did since a very young age. But Priscilla had a gut-feeling that it might be something more than that, and managed to convince Bentley into letting Doc examine his back thoroughly. Sure, it did almost cost more than the house they lived in, but she didn't mind paying it. And what the Doc could figure out, was that at least one of the countless lashes Bentley got in his youth must have at one point been able to slice through all the way to the spine and damaged one of his discs. He even had a fancy name for it, which he only could remember when he was drunk however: Compression Fracture of a Thoracic disc. Usually, a fracture like that would have healed up after 8-10 weeks, if only the Aventines would have allowed him to rest for that long. It had healed up enough to be gone for about twenty years, but now it was coming back to haunt him again.
It could be fixed however! That is, if they had the money and were able to travel to New York to be placed in a queue which would probably take a year or two until he finally got the appointment. IF he ever got one.
Luckily, being the daughter of a mage actually payed off, as Tovi was able to teach his daughter a trick that could help Bentley if his back was acting up, at least for a couple of hours. However, what she was actually doing was 'punching the disc into obedience', which hurt like a major bitch. So even if it actually did help, he was always scared shitless when she was about to pummel his back.
She was always there for him, and had given him so much in his life already. It made him constantly feel like a leech, as he owned nothing of value that he could give her! Nothing except for his love, which he felt just wasn't enough! She deserved someone who was able to give her everything she ever wanted, and who could take care of her! Not the other way around! Even if she claimed that she had everything she wanted already, he still thought she deserved more.
Not only that, but when they met; she had been the deputy while he was a part of a gang of relentless bountyhunters, and later became a wanted man. Nowadays though, she got the post as sheriff of Dirt when the last sheriff got appointed mayor. And Bentley? Well, he was the towns local handyman, helping out with whatever he could; fixing old, broken furniture, window washing, painting, roof-fixing, garbage-picking, etc. Not especially fancy or well paid job, nor that easy on his back, but it was all he could get. The Dirtonians didn't exactly think highly of him. They might adore their sheriff, but her husband wasn't worth anything in their eyes. But who could blame them after everything he and the other bountyhunters did ten years ago? Though he didn't really care what they thought of him; as long as Priscilla wanted him, and as long as her dad didn't start chasing him around with a hatchet, or firing lightning bolts at his ass, he was happy. As happy as he could get!
Maybe he should stop questioning this gift he had got? Even if he couldn't think of one, there HAD to be a reason why he was allowed to keep her, after he had lost almost everyone else!
He turned his head and looked at the pale morning light that entered the room through the window and smirked when he saw how the sun climbed over the horizon. Her days began much earlier than his, yet she would always be the one who slept the longest. She had claimed that never happened until she met him, and he wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment or feel guilty. In any case, she hated to be late most of the cases, and how much it pained him to do so, he knew he had to wake her up. Or shit would hit the fan when she woke up and realized it was noon.
He gently rustled her shoulder with one hand. "Hey, wakey-wakey, hifey-wifey" He cooed and chuckled at the grouchy and sleepy groan she made in protest at being woken up. "Yer deputy is probably already at the office, waitin' for yer sleepy ass to get over there so the two of you can start lockin' up some badguys, no?"
She groaned a second time and buried her face into his chest. "Then I'll let him handle the mornin' routines t'day..." She muttered sleepily and huddled closer to her husband.
"Really? Y'know, you'd usually be up an' halfway through yer breakfast by now!"
"Do I need to remind ya what happened last night?"
He let out a short laugh. "Aw c'mon, it was just Bad Bill and his gang again! What did they do this time?"
"They tried to assassinate mayor Rango... Again!"
"... But, I could hear them all the way from the lake! I was patchin' up the dock, y'know"
"Yeah, I don't think they have grasped the concept of the word 'assassination' yet..."
They exchanged a meaning glance before bursting out in laughter. "Though ya gotta give them credit for actually tryin'!" He said and grinned sheepishly. "AND their persistence! I mean, they'll never give up, will they?!"
She sighed and shook her head. "I don't think they will... This was the ninth time this month, an' to tell ya the truth; they're gettin' might' annoyin'. I think Caleb an' I will have to go track 'em down someday an' just end this madness, b'fore we all go nuts!"
"Just be careful when ya do, 'kay?"
"Yeah, yeah!" She rolled her eyes and rested her head back down on his chest again and closed her eyes. "Whatever ya say, B..."
"Hey, ya ain't gonna go back to sleep now, are ya?!"
"Bentley, I came back two o' clock in the mornin', remember? Please, just lemme sleep for a bit longer, 'kay?"
"But you ALWAYS tell me NOT to let'cha sleep in! Trust me, I wouldn't mind stayin' like this for the rest of the day, but those are yer words!"
"Caleb can take care of the mornin' routines for t'day! He knows what to do!" She opened her eyes slightly and snorted. "An' if he don't, I'll just have to fire him"
"He won't be merciful when ya DO show up, y'know" Bentley grimaced and shook his head. "I know ya don't care 'bout all those things he calls ya, but he kinda pisses me off when he do. I know he doesn't mean them either, but still..."
"Aww, ya really care too much, ya know that?" She chuckled and ran her hand up from his chest to his chin and let it rest there. "What would I do without you?"
"I don't care too much, nor do I care too little; I care just the precise amount necessary!" He snorted and put his hand over hers. "And was that sarcasm I detected in that last comment?"
"Maybe... B'sides, if it would convince ya better; I don't think he'll be as vulgar t'day as he usually is; I told him it's 'bring yer kid to work day' t'day. If he knows what's safe for him, he would tone done on the language when their lil' Keilah is nearby, or I know a certain wife who'll shave off all his hair in his sleep!"
Bentley couldn't help but to let out a chuckle. "And god forbid that would happen!"
They looked at each other in silence for at least a couple of minutes, she almost had a pleading look on her face. She looked really tired too, but after a full day like yesterday, he could understand her.
"Just one more hour? Please?" She asked and wrapped her arm around him and buried her face in his chest again. "I'll make ya pancakes tonight?"
"Okay then, go ahead; go back to sleep. I won't bother ya!" He couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she was rolling her eyes, and he grinned at that. "But don't blame me when you show up to work several hours late!"
She let out a short, snorting chuckle that caused a light vibration to course through her body. "Thanks..." She scooted even closer to him and slowly began to fall back into sleep. "I love you..."
He wrapped both of his arms around her and carefully kissed the top of her head. Though when he did so, he felt a sharp, pinching pain in his spine somewhere below the shoulderblades. Great, it was another one of THOSE days...
But he managed to ignore the pain, knowing that she would be able to fix it in just a few hours, and hugged her closer. He felt her little heart beating and her slow, steady breathing was soothing. He yawned, closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers, slowly drifting back to sleep as well. "I love you too, Prissy... Wewe ni dunia yangu..."
Right before they both fell asleep, Priscilla managed to sleepily tug her mouth up in a smile. "You're my world too, Mteremo..."
*** The End ***
Aaah, how else would I end this without a diabetes-inducing chapter of him finally getting his happy ending with his Prissy ;P? Gawd, I seriously have way too much fun writing about this couple...
Anyway, that was Bentleys background story (and a little peek into his future) everyone :D ! Only four more to go o.O (decided to leave Sams story out of the Outlaw Archives, as it's only two chapters anyway plus he's not a that big part of the gang...)...
But I'm not going to start with anyone of the others until next year, I wanna get going fo realz with EOTP first, b'cause right now it feels as it's heading nowhere o_o"...
So, now when I'm finally done with story, which ended up a LOT longer than I expected, I'd like to thank everyone who read it this far :D! I really hope you enjoyed it, despite all the sad parts, and remember: you're AWESOME! And a massive THANKIES A LOT, GURL! to Stony and Bat for your awesome reviews ;D!
And I'd really appreciate a final review, if it's not too much trouble ;P ?
Thankies and see ya!
Delilah OUT!
