It had been a week or so after the killing of Marshall Fred, and things slowly went back to normal, Wyatt and his siblings were in shock when Curly Bill went free but there was nothing in their power that they could do. Bugs was on her way to the Oriental as she had taken to escorting the children from and to the schoolhouse every day to help the teacher out, she hadn't been able to see Doc for a few days.
She smiled as she walked in with Wyatt and heard Josephine singing, she sounded lovely and she turned to stare at her brother as he stared at the woman singing, love shining in both their eyes. "What do you think of the singer?" The Sheriff which she has come to detest asks Wyatt and the spell is broken as he clears his throat, "Nice voice." Bugs rolls her eyes at her brother.
"Wyatt, Bugs, Doc won't quit. He's been at it for thirty-six hours straight." She sighed as she looked over and saw the man playing cards, looking exhausted, sweaty and drunk. "Honestly, it's like he enjoys feeling awful." She complains, her nose wrinkled in annoyance. "Clanton and the McLaury brothers came in an hour ago on top of that." Morgan continues as he looks at his siblings with stress-filled eyes.
"I tried to get him to go to bed but he won't let go." Bugs cuts him off, "We know, and nobody can make him." She says in an annoyed tone, arms crossed. "Well, maybe one person can." Wyatt says to her and she turns to see both her brothers staring at her. "We might love each other but Doc Holliday don't listen to know one when it comes to cards and drinking." She pouts.
They walk over to him and she frowns as Doc coughs aggressively into his handkerchief and she stands beside him, he gives her a smirk and grabs her around the waist bringing her aggressively onto his lap. "John Henry, this is completely inappropriate" She scolds but her actions go against her words as she leans into his chest and dabs at his forehead. "Wyatt, just in time pull up a chair." He slurs and his head sways. "Doc, you been hittin' it awfully hard, haven't ya?" Wyatt questions his friend and gives Bugs an exasperated look and she shrugs back at him. What can she say, she loves it when Doc starts lovin' on her.
"Nonsense, I've not yet begun to defile myself." He slurs back and gives Bugs a smirk as he pulls her closer by the waist on his lap. "No, that's my job" Bugs smiled devishly at the sick man, he gave her a warning look and she fluttered her eyes in response, "Don't you wanna head to bed, Doc" She smiled sweetly and he hummed at her giving her a considerate look.
"Would you dare to come with me?" He purred and she traced his upper lip with her thumb, his mustache tickling it. "If it meant you'd get some rest, I would, Mr. Holliday." She murmured temptingly. Wyatt grasped his shoulder, "I was wonderin' if you wouldn't wanna go on over to the crystal palace.." Doc interrupted the man, "I will not be pawed at, thank you very much." Bugs shot Wyatt a look and he backed off a little. "Not even by me, love?" She whispered and brought her lips to his softly. He gave her another warning look, she was getting bolder and bolder each day. "I might be a tad bit more willing, Miss. Earp." He teased with a nip to her bottom lip.
Ike gives them a disgusted look as Doc drinks some more even as Bugs gives him a stern look and shows his card with a chuckle, she smiles at his win and Doc goes to grab the money but Ike grabs his arm aggressively. "What is that? That 12 hands in a row, Holliday? Son of a bitch nobody's that lucky." He growls and Bugs tenses as Doc leans forward looking worse in his sickness. "Why Ike, whatever do you mean?" He taunts. Virgil's deep raspy voice cuts in, "Take it easy, boys." Bugs relaxes knowing all her brothers are surrounding her.
"Maybe poker's just not your game, Ike." He hums as he grabs the money and Wyatt moves to help him sort it. Bugs gets off his lap, pours him a glass of water, and sits it down in front of Doc, it's promptly ignored. "I know, let's have a spelling contest." Doc insults and though she thought it was quite clever and funny, Bugs sighs knowing that things are going to get heated.
"How about if I just wring your scrawny neck?" Ike snarls getting up and moving towards him. "Enough, Ike." Virgil says sternly, grabbing the man and pushing him back. Ike drunkenly gets in Virgil's face, "Are you takin' his part? Huh?" He lurches at Virgil raising his voice, "I'm the one who got cheated! You goddamn pimps, you all in it together." Virgil stands strong and looks at the drunk sternly, "Nobody's in anything. Ike, you're drunk. Go on home and sleep it off." He grabs Ike to remove him from the building but Ike fights against him.
"Get your goddamn hands off me!" He yells, "Don't you ever put your hands on me, see?" He continues. Bugs moves to go to Virgil but Doc grabs her arm and doesn't let her. "Don't you ever try to manhandle a cowboy, 'cause we'll cut your goddamn pimp's heart out." He threatens and she jerks out of Doc's grasp and reaches under her skirt to hold onto her pistol. "Don't you threaten me, you little son of a bitch!" Virgil snarls at the drunk.
Wyatt and Morgan go to de-escalate the situation and move Virgil away from Ike, Ike turns to look at Bug but sees her leaning against the bar smirking at him, and tapping the trigger lightly on her pistol. "Ike, I guess it's true you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you just can't seem to learn to listen to what you're told." She says breezily. He glares at her, "What are you gonna do, Bitch. I'll tell you what, Johnny Ringo has taken a taste for ya, and when he gets ya, ya gonna be in for a world of hurt." That sets Virgil off again and she looks to see Doc standing with anger in his eyes though he's swaying from all the drink he's had.
"You just go on home and forget about it, huh, Ike." Wyatt murmurs angrily. "I ain't gonna forget nothin'" Ike grunts moving to the bar. "Well, that certainly was a bust." Doc drawls and grabs his money from the table, "Come, Bugsy, let's seek our entertainment elsewhere." She smiles at the man even though she can still see the anger in his eyes from Ike's words. "The only entertainment you will be seeing is your bed, Mr. Holliday, just for sleep." She emphasizes the word sleep to him and he smirks at her. "Of course, my beautiful little Bug." He gives a mock bow and she gives him a tired smile.
But as he moves to get up he keeps coughing and she moves toward him in fear. "What's wrong, Doc?" She grabs him and tries to get him to take a breath. Blood pours from his mouth and he brings his handkerchief to it and her heart is beating wildly in fear. "Nothing, not a thing, Bugsy." He tells her and moves to stand up, "I'm right as the mail." His eyes roll back and he falls to the ground, she shouts in worry. "Doc!" She yells and kneels beside him.
"Doc, Doc." Wyatt is beside her. She looks towards her brother for orders and his heart breaks, she looks like a little girl again, wanting him to tell her what to do and that it'd be okay. "Alright, get him up, let's get him to the hotel." Wyatt tells them. Morgan and Wyatt pick the man up as Bugs grabs his money and belongings and follows in a panic.
She is sitting on the balcony overlooking the town, as the Doctor takes a look at Doc. "You're condition's quite advanced. I'd say you lost some sixty percent of your lung tissue, maybe more." Bug lets out a breath as Doc asks "What's the verdict?" The Doctor begins to put his gear away.
"Two years, two days. Hard to say, if you stop now; your smokin', your drinkin', your gamblin', your nightlife. You need complete rest." The Doctor tells her beloved. She slowly walks in, her hair is down and she's changed into a simple light dress. "What I mean is, you must attempt to deny, uh, your uh marital impulse." The Doctor stutters out and she smirks as Doc tells the older man, "Get out of my sight."
"How you feelin', Honey." She coos as she sits beside him on the bed. "I'm better." He murmured looking at her with loving eyes. "You had me worried, Doc...I can't lose you just yet, not when I just got ya to myself." She tells him with worry, leaning closer to put her forehead against his. "You've always had me, Bug. Even when you hated me." He teased and a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I never hated you, I hated how much I loved you." she corrected him with sugar-coated words. He kisses her softly and she moans against his lips, pressing her body tightly to his. "I can't ask you to stay, Bug, you're young, got a whole life, I can't even love on ya properly according to the Doctor." He tells her and she shakes her head and cups his face in her hands. "Two years, or two days, imma be by your side the whole time, Mr. Holliday."
She coyly looks at him as she starts rubbing his leg as her friends instructed her to. "And the thing about lovin', well I think that I'm capable of lovin' you perfectly fine Doc, you just gotta sit there and look pretty." She teases and kisses his jaw and down his neck and moves down as he stares at her in shock.
"Doc, look at me, I'll be so good for you." She whispers and he grunts as she moves her hand and brushes against him softly, causing him to harden. "Bug...you're too good to me." He groans when she kisses him through the blanket. "Well just lay back Doc, rest, I gotcha, I'll take care of ya." She looks at him through her lashes and he sighs. "Then again, you may be the Antichrist." With a giggle, she proceeds to show him all that she's learned from her friends. She'll need to remember to buy them a drink later that week.
It's the next day and Bug is with the girls again, talking about her and Doc's er..intimate moment. "I swear girls, when I put my mouth on him, he looked like he'd happily die then and there." They all cackled with delight. "Did he touch you?" Greta asked and Bugs shook her head, "He wanted to, made me wonderful promises for next time, but he was so tired after, he just fell right asleep." She laughed again with the girls but her insides tingled at the whispered promises he made her as she had her mouth around him. Her telling him she wanted to be his good girl, really got a rise out of him.
She told the girls that out loud and they all playfully gasped at her, though they'd done much worse. "Dorothy!" Rose ran into the brothel, her hair astray, a bruise on her face. "Rose!" She gasped getting up and going to grab her face, but Rose pushed her hand away. "There's no time, I was with a Cowboy, and they're gunning for your brothers and Doc." Dorothy gasped and made to leave but Rose frantically grabbed on her arm. "Don't go, stay hidden." Bugs gently pulled away and looked at Rose in confusion. "They're after you too, and what they are gonna do to you...it's much worse than death."
Bug's heart began to pound but she put on a stoic face. "Not if I kill them first." She murmured and left the saloon, she quickly headed to her room and Ally saw her face. "Bug, whatever you're thinking, just forget it." Bugs ignored her and went upstairs, quickly undressing out of her beautiful dress and into her trousers and a black blouse. "Bugs, please." Ally cried as she watched her young sister-in-law put on her holster and check that her gun was loaded. "Ally, you stay outta sight." She informed the older woman. "I promise I'll see you again." She put on her hat and walked outside, the people of Tombstone all watched her with shocked eyes, though most weary.
She saw her brothers and Doc all talking and walked over, Wyatt staring at her with no emotion. Her brothers were not the same, "You turn around and march on back, young lady." Virgil sternly told her as Morgan echoed his disagreement with her being there. She stayed silent and stared at Wyatt, though she was aware of Doc's stare. "You sure?" Wyatt asked, Virgil and Morgan looked at him in disbelief, "If I don't do this, and something happens to you...Imma be wishing I were dead." She told him gravely.
He gave a sharp nod, "Killing a man...it'll haunt you, Bugs." Her brothers became quiet and surprisingly it was Doc who argued. "Wyatt, no." Bugs turned to look at him. "I love you, Doc...but I'm doing this." Doc angrily walked forward grabbing her arms roughly. "Why? why do you have to?" He growled and she calmly answered back, "Because what they wanna do to me, it'll haunt me worse." She reached her hand up and cupped his jaw, running her thumb along his bottom lip, and then pulled away looking at Wyatt. Wyatt turned to Doc, "It's not your problem, Doc. You don't have to mix up in this." Doc walked closer to her brother, face sweating, he glanced at her before telling him, "That's a hell of a thing for you to say to me." He went to stand next to Morgan and Virgil, both ready to head to the O.K Corral.
"Okay Virg, your call, give Doc the Shotgun." He gives Doc a nod, "They'll be less Apt to get Nerv-i-ous if he's on the Street Howitzer." Virg slowly hands Doc the shotgun, as Doc gives him his cane. "Bugs, they aren't gonna expect you. They don't know how good you are with the steel...so you don't give them the chance to even see it coming." Though he was letting her come and understanding her reasonings, she was still his baby girl and he was scared. "Yes, Wyatt." She told him and patted his arm, following after Virgil. Doc made sure he was beside her but they stayed silent.
Suddenly a group of kids ran behind them yelling 'bang' scaring Morgan something fierce. "Go on get outta here, goddamn kids." She smirked at Doc. "Don't be so jumpy Morgan, we're only going to a shoot-out where we have the potential to die." She teased and he glared at her, "Shut up, bugs." Doc chuckled and brushed his hand along hers. He whistled as they walked and we all stared at the crowd forming along the streets. "How the hell did we get ourselves into this." Wyatt mumbled. "You don't have to worry about a thing, I just disarmed them." Sheriff Behan ran up to them frantically. "You did? Come on, y'all." Virgil commanded. "Thanks, Behan, this should be over quick then." She sarcastically grinned at the man and he gave her a dirty look. "Gentlemen, I'm not gonna allow any trouble, think of your sister, it's improper." Wyatt turned to him and said, "You leave the thinking about her to us." They continued.
"We're here to disarm you, throw up your hands." Virgil commanded and they spread out in a row, Doc staying close to Bugs. The cowboys all grabbed their pistols, Doc threw off his jacket and brought the shotgun up, Bugs gripped her pistol handle but didn't pull it out yet. "Hold it, that's not what I want!" Virgil yelled at them. One of the Cowboys ran away when he saw Doc and she gave a laugh. They all stared at each other, bodies tense, the crowd quickly running out of range. She saw Billy the one who Doc embarrassed the night Marshall Fred was killed, staring at Doc.
She glanced at Doc and sighed when he gave Billy a wink. She sighed and withdrew her pistol as Wyatt said, "Oh, my god." Billy brought his weapon up and the shooting began, she quickly fired and right away one of them was down, she didn't let the thought of killing someone affect her and continued to shoot.
Morgan shot Billy and Ike cried his name running to him. She saw one behind a horse shooting at them and Doc shot his gun in the air, the horse reared up and she quickly shot him in the arm, Doc followed her and shot him in his stomach, and he flew back, dead. "No!" Ike screamed waving his hands like the coward he was. "Don't shoot, I got no gun." He cried. "The fights commenced, get to fightin' or getaway!" Wyatt screamed at him and pushed him away.
The coward scrambled into the building and away from the fight. One of the wounded cowboys shot and hit Virgil in the leg, he fell with a yell. Billy shot Morgan and she fired at him, hitting his chest, Wyatt and Doc did the same. Ike shattered the window and shot out of it repeatedly and she cried out as she felt two bullets pierce her shoulder and left side. She stumbled but continued to shoot back, Doc nor Wyatt realized she was hit.
The shots stopped and they stared at the last man, Doc pointed his pistol at him and it clicked as he walked closer. "I got you now, you son of a bitch." The man slurred at Doc. Doc lifted his arms out and told him, "You're a daisy if you do." The man shakily raised his hand but Doc swirled his hand around hitting him in the arm right as she shot, it went through his forehead." Doc walked to him and then glanced at her, he saw her smirking at him.
"Alright, you're under arrest." Sheriff Behan came out and she scoffed. "I don't think I'm going to let you arrest us today." Wyatt told him firmly and she laughed, "Lovely." She said and went to walk but her brothers and Doc saw her shaking and pale, blood dripping down her arm and side. "Bug.." Doc murmured and walked to her quickly. "Dorothy!" Her brothers called and she slurred out, "Jus' a scratch, is all." Before promptly falling back, luckily into Doc's arms, passed out.