A/N I want to thank everyone again who has left reviews on the story. I am also to the point where I think I need to add a disclaimer. This is just a little story about Kitty beginning her emotional recovery from events in the Hostage episode and about the bond that she and Matt share, and as such I have not been making much of an attempt at accuracy regarding matters such as travel time between Hays and Dodge City, witnesses from Dodge needing to testify at the trials, or news about the verdicts arriving before Matt does. In addition to that, I'm not really sure if the crimes committed against Kitty, as heinous as they were, were actually hanging offenses from a legal standpoint. However, I am quite certain that most if not all of the Dog Soldiers were guilty of many other crimes which would merit life or death sentences.

Chapter Five Landing On Her Feet

As Matt neared Dodge early the morning of the third day of his journey, his thoughts, which had focused almost entirely on Kitty the entire way, drifted back to the trials and most particularly the verdicts. With Kitty unable to testify and Doc's refusal to leave his patient to do likewise, there was little other testimony and only their depositions to be entered into evidence. Most of the gang was not even tried for their part in the kidnapping and assault; but the state of Kansas had plenty of other charges waiting for them. Assault. It was such an inadequate word to describe the way Bonner and his men had violated Kitty. He finally allowed the word into his mind. Rape. His Kitty had been raped. It wasn't the first time, but when it had been one man; one incident, she'd been able to get past it. It was just another man, Matt, she said when she told him about it, alluding to her past. He wasn't dense enough to believe it was that simple; he knew her better than that. But the injuries from the beating that went along with it were minor compared to what she'd endured this time. And that man had already been dead at his hands by the time he knew about it.

In the end, it was only Jude Bonner himself who had actually been convicted for the crimes against Kitty. But there were other convictions. And LaFitte was already dead. Justice, although it had not been done in Kitty's name, had still been done.

Matt stabled his horse and went by the office just long enough to drop off his gear and answer Festus with a gruff "I'll tell ya about it later" when he asked how his trip had gone. He strode purposefully off to Doc's, oblivious to everyone who greeted him along the way, and took the stairs as fast as his saddle-weary body could go.

Doc looked up, taking off his glasses, when Matt walked through the door.

"How is she?"

Doc cocked his head, wiping at his mustache. "I was awful worried about her until a few days ago, Matt. But I think she'll be all right."

Matt frowned. "What happened?"

"Physically, she was about the same, but she was awful down after you left. If it had gone on much longer I would have sent for you, but she's really turned around in the last couple of days."

Matt nodded in the direction of the bedroom door, cracked open about two inches. "Well, can I go in and see her?"

Doc leaned his head to one side, tugging on his ear. "Why don't we let her sleep awhile yet? Yesterday pretty well wore her out."

"I thought you said she was doing better."

"She is. She's-well, pour yourself a cup of coffee and I'll tell you about it. You can see her after that."

Kitty woke to the smell of coffee brewing and the sound of voices in the next room. They were speaking too quietly for her to understand them, but she knew one was Doc, and she would recognize that distinctive rumble anywhere. Matt. She smiled, painfully drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. A moment later her excitement turned to impatience and she wondered why he wasn't coming in. Doc must have told him not to wake her. Well, she'd just see about that. She pushed the quilt away and swung her legs over the side of the bed, struggling to stand. Doc didn't want her getting up by herself; she was still a little unsteady on her feet. On the other hand, it had been over a week since he'd demanded to accompany her whenever she used the chamber pot next to the bed, so she could certainly make it to the door on her own.

Doc had started by explaining Kitty's emotional state since he had left; that she had become increasingly passive and withdrawn even though her physical condition had improved. Matt's jaw tightened as he listened, relaxing when he went on to describe how things had turned around for her. As he had been on the day Kitty was almost robbed in her office, Pumpkin had been there when she needed him. He made a silent vow to treat Pumpkin to a steak, assuming he'd eat one if he didn't have to steal it from some unsuspecting human. Doc finished his story by telling him about the surprising visitor of the previous day.

"Is that right?" Matt felt like his face might crack with the first genuine smile he'd had in weeks. "You mean the same Miss Pry who's always threatening everyone with the attorney general? She said that?"

Doc nodded, chuckling softly, and then they heard a quiet voice in the doorway.

"It's about time you got back, Cowboy."

Matt and Doc both leapt to their feet. Matt took his hat off and let it fall to the floor. "Kitty."

"Young lady, what in thunder are you doing out of that bed?" Doc realized the moment the words left his lips that he could have saved his breath. No one was listening. The couple stood lost in their first sight of each other in weeks. Kitty clutched the doorway with both hands, and despite the strands of hair that had come loose from her braid in the night and what remained of the bruises and scars on her face, she looked as beautiful as ever to Matt. It took him a moment to realize her knuckles were growing white with the effort to hold herself up. Without a word, he went to her side, putting an arm around her shoulder and turning her around in the same motion. He stepped through the doorway into Doc's room, closing the door behind them.

"Come on. You need to lie down before you fall over." He pulled her gently to his side.

Kitty wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned against him for support as they walked to the bed. "I've hardly been out of this bed at all until lately," she said shakily as Matt helped her lie down, then propped her up to a sitting position by placing pillows behind her back. He pulled the quilt up to her waist and then sat down on the edge of the bed facing her.

"I'm sorry we woke you up."

"I'm not."

"How are you feeling?" It was nearly a rhetorical question. She almost looked like herself again. Her skin was back to its usual creamy complexion; the light that had been missing from her eyes when he left for Hays was back.

"Better, now." She raised her arms to him, groaning when she felt something pull in her side. "Well, good enough to forget I still have a ways to go, I guess," she joked when she saw the look of concern on his face.

He helped her sit up a little more and gently put his arms around her, careful to avoid the bullet wound. "Doc says you're doing a lot better the last few days."

"I won't be going dancing anytime soon, but if you bring me supper tonight, I might sit up at the table to eat it if Doc will let me."

"You can do anything you feel like doing, as long as you don't tire yourself out," Doc said from the doorway. They hadn't noticed him come in.

"Well, does that mean I can go home?" Kitty asked slyly, winking at Matt.

"Well, now, I think if the local law enforcement will agree to keep you out of trouble, I can turn you loose."

"How about it, Miss Russell, do you think you can behave yourself in my custody?" Matt looked at her with mock sternness.

Kitty tried to put on her most innocent expression. "Looks like I'm gonna have to if I want to get home."

"I came in here to tell you I was going for breakfast before that scraggly-faced hillbilly shows up and starts mooching. I'll bring some back for both of you and then, Matt, I think you ought to get some sleep. And a bath and a shave wouldn't hurt, either." He gave a quick nod, donned his hat, and left them to their conversation.

"Ooh, Doc's right," Kitty grinned and wrinkled her nose, eyeing the stubble on his cheeks.

"Hey now…"Matt protested with a chuckle. Their eyes met and they shared a long look. Kitty reached forward and laid her hand on his arm.

"How'd it go, Matt?" she asked softly, preparing herself for his answer.

Matt paused for a few seconds. He'd both longed for and dreaded this moment. He had never lied to Kitty before, but he couldn't quite bring himself to tell her the whole truth, and didn't know if she was ready to hear it yet. Without looking away, he took both of her hands and told her the part she needed to know.

"It went the way it was supposed to, Kitty. All guilty. A few of them got life sentences, but most of them hanged."

Kitty nodded, not quite sure how she felt. She couldn't be happy about their deaths, but as she'd heard so many times, if ever a man needed killing, it was - "Oh, Matt!" she exclaimed, knowing what even one hanging did to him. "You didn't witness all of them, did you?"

He shook his head. The sheriff in Hays hadn't wanted him to be present for any of them. "Just the last one," he said tersely.

She knew, of course, who Matt was talking about. "He'll never hurt anyone again."

"Nope." Kitty could really get to the heart of the matter sometimes. He saw her reaching toward him and moved closer to her. She wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head against his chest.

"I'm so glad to have you back," she whispered.

He said it so softly she wasn't sure she heard him right. "I'm glad to have you back, too."

TBC