A/N: Time for some fun! And then shit's gonna go down. Ready? Me neither.

Oh, uh… Two idiots and there's only one bed. Eheheheheheheh!

The Braithwaite Manor wasn't what Arthur expected. Then again, he had never been in a manor before. He only got to see the foyer. The floors were made of dark wood and were clean. The walls were a gentle yellow with a white trim. The stairs in the back spiraled upward with a mural of trees and fields on the walls. Hosea had a plan for once, instead of Dutch, but it was more of a job at the most. And Unlike Dutch, however, it wasn't as big and grand. Only a few people would be involved.

The servant escorted Arthur to a room that was to the right of the entrance. Inside, Hosea and Sean were waiting there, along with Mrs. Braithwaite and one of her sons. They were sitting in chairs on the couch.

"A gentleman to see you ma'am," the servant said. Once Arthur was in the room, the employee saw himself out and gently closed the doors.

Mrs. Braithwaite was an older woman, who had her gray hair tied back in a bun. Her gown was purple with lacy ends on the sleeves, gown and the neck area, and a green broach tipped with gold was on her chest.

"So… your friend, the other liquor vendor…" said Mrs. Braithwaite. "Hello."

"Hello, ma'am," Arthur responded.

"Arthur, welcome," said Hosea. Sean was sitting next to him, awkwardly drinking some tea. "We were just playing cribbage. Arthur Morgan, Mrs. Catherine Braithwaite."

"Nice to see you again," Arthur said, with a shy wave. There was no other place to sit, so he kinda just had to stand there.

"Apparently," said Catherine. "So this one…he as big and as dumb as he looks?" Her son stifled a laugh.

"Well, he's surely big…" Hosea said, as Catherine began placing more cards on the coffee table, "but his intelligence is a matter of some conjecture. Some say he is as dumb as he looks… but, well, he's not quite that dumb."

"So these are the boys going to Caliga Hall?"

"Yes, we could take care of that for you, but… one hates to be coarse… there is the question of money."

Mrs. Braithwaite chuckled. "Oh, we've got money, Mr. Mathews."

"Paper? Bonds? Metal?"

"She ain't gonna pay you with a certified check, you Yankee numbskull," Catherine's son joked.

Hosea sighed. He gestured for Sean and Arthur to get moving.

"Ain't childbirth just the most beautiful miracle?" Hosea said, as Sean waved Arthur towards the door. "Seems a lady can birth monkeys after all."

Arthur still had no idea what was going on, but a job was a job. It looked like they were going to the Gray's place. He and Sean hopped on a wagon and were heading out. The red head explained the situation.

"They want us to torch their tobacco fields," said Sean.

Arthur looked back. The wagon was filled with moonshine.

"With moonshine?"

"Burns faster than kerosene, that stuff," said Sean. "Said it'd be 'fitting', she did. All I'm thinking is how about I try 'fitting' my boot up your hook nose, you snotty old bitch."

Arthur laughed, a wheeze escaping his lips.

"Hosea really picked the right feller for tea at the manor, didn't he?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Oh, he was giving it his usual flannel. One of these families better got gold stashed somewhere."

"Hosea knows what he's doing." That was what Arthur hoped.

"That was a great session," Sam said as he and Beau walked out from the stables. "You're improving really fast." He rubbed his arms.

"Well, I owe it all to you," said Beau. "Though, I would appreciate it if you didn't aim for my face. What am I going to say if someone notices?"

"Tell them a Braithwaite punched you," said Sam.

"And if they ask which one?"

"Would they really?"

Beau shook his head. "Nah, they're all scum in their eyes."

Sam patted his shoulder. "Okay, good. Now get out of here before someone notices."

"Okay. Thank-you," said Beau. And he ran towards the main house. Sam sighed. It had been a long day, but it had also been payday. He was handed a modest sum for guarding the place.

Brandon had kept in contact, but hadn't sent out any messages the past few days. Sam wondered what he was doing and whether or not he was okay.

For now, Sam had to wait, however. In his ears he heard the sound of a wagon and he headed towards the nearby barn that more or less was used as a tool shed and storage space for wagons.

Two people came in on one. There was one of the guards that went by the name of Hamish the other was that crazy Irish bastard, Sean.

Sam had gone around the barn that wasn't far from the stables. He took to the wall that was near the otherside by one of the doors.

"You can unload her here," said Hamish.

"In here?" Sean said, as he and the guard dismounted the cart. "The horses like a swift one, do they?"

"Excuse me?"

"Uhm, nothing… it's grand," said Sean.

Sam sighed. He picked up one of his rifles. It was a varmint rifle. Slowly he loaded something into it.

Sean took a crate of moonshine from the wagon. "It's quite a place ya got here," he said, before setting the crate down next to a workbench by one of the doors.

"Yeah!" said Hamish.

"Reminds me of one of them big houses out in Donegal. Real fancy places they was, Hamish, real… fancy, because if some folks got all the money, they can build quite the fanciest places imaginable, eh? While the average man-"

Suddenly, the guard jumped, feeling something sharp stab him in the behind. Before he could do anything, his vision blurred and he passed out on the floor by Sean's feet.

The redhead looked back up to see Sam walking in with a varmint rifle.

"We're clear!" Sam called.

Suddenly, Arthur climbed out from within the covered wagon.

"Christ alive, Hawkeson!" Sean exclaimed. "You killed him with that little peashooter?"

"He ain't dead," said Sam. He leaned over and checked the unconscious man, who was drooling on the floor. He put two fingers on the side of his neck. Once he still felt a pulse, he reached over and plucked something from the guard's body. It was very small with a blue plume at the end of it. "Tranquilizer. Tested them myself on some Raiders a few nights ago. There's a lot of unique plants in this area and the fence here has loads of them there… along with poisons."

Arthur chuckled and slid the doors shut. "We should hunker down here for a while."

"Yeah," said Sam. "I sent Aurora away, since I'm not supposed to be here now. My shift is over."

"Good. Then you have a solid alibi." Arthur tossed him a dark coat for Sam to wear in order to hide his form, before pulling up his own bandana. "But, uh… You know that won't eliminate having to kill anyone."

"Never said I was trying," Sam said, tossing the coat on. He pulled up a bandana of his own, before taking off his hat and shoving it in his bag. Then, he let his hair down. "But we're here to torch fields. We don't need to kill if we don't have to. Now, if the guards come out with guns, that's a different story."

"You ever vandalized property, Hawkeson?" said Sean.

"There's nothing to vandalize in Valentine," said Sam. "Unless you like painting animals."

Sean laughed. "Well, I'm rebel stock, boy… I was born burning down manor houses." And Sam laughed as well.

"Will you keep it down?" said Arthur. "We gotta burn quietly."

Sam tied up and gagged the guard in case he woke up, even if Sam was doubtful he would wake up until the next morning. The three needed to wait until the sun was completely gone, before they could make a move, however. Luckily, it seemed nobody came into the barn they were hiding in. Sean was getting fire bottles ready, while Sam looked through his bag, just examining the strange flowers and herbs he bought from the Rhodes fence.

"What do you have there?" said Arthur. Sam was holding a red flower, but it didn't look like Oleander. That was a type of sage.

"Said it causes confusion and rage," said Sam. "I've picked up a few books. Said it was called a Spider Lily." He picked up some kind of sage. It was a dark, violet purple. "I can use this, and make some stuff that gives you energy." Then he found another sage that was a brighter shade of purple and was more blue. "This one is called Wolf's Bane. Feller at the fence says it's really ugly if someone is poisoned with it. So, you wash your hands if you touch it."

Arthur winced. "Will do." He looked up at the windows high up on the barn's loft and saw the darkened skies. "Let's put that away. It's almost time."

"Alright."

Arthur walked over to Sean, who was at the nearby workbench. He assembled the last of the fire bottles, making sure there was enough for all three of them. Sam came up to the workbench with a map of the Gray's land drawn. There were dots with dotted lines drawn in the fields.

"Okay, there should be guards posted here, here and here," Sam said, pointing with a pen. Arthur and Sean leaned in closer. "They have lanterns, so be careful, but I've seen them around a few times, and they have occasional blindspots. Archibald said it hasn't rained in a while, so those crops should go up like hell."

"There's a barn right there, too," said Arthur. He pointed at a small square Sam marked as a small building. "It looks dry. It could go up like a torch, if we do this right." Sam and Sean nodded. "Remember: once they see the flames, there's no turning back."

"We wouldn't be here if we weren't ready, English," said Sean.

Sam snickered. "This should be fun."

"As long as it doesn't end with us filled with lead," said Arthur.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry. Ya both are with Dead Eye MacGuire," said Sean.

"That's not very reassuring…" Arthur grumbled. But Sean and Sam were already opening the barn door, holding bottles of moonshine in their hands and snickering.

The outlaw shook his head. Idiots, the pair of them.

"Hi."

"Oh, hey. I-I thought the wagon already arrived…" said a guard as he saw a wagon passing through the grounds.

"This one didn't," said the driver. They were unaware of the three hooligans who ran past them and into the fields.

"Strange… so what you got there?"

"Tools, payroll."

Sean, Arthur and Sam, split up to cover more ground. They kept their heads low and hid in the tobacco fields.

"Okay, drop it by the supply shed at the back of the fields."

"Sure, see you later."

Sam was right. The guards had a route of patrol in the fields, but they had blindspots that gave them an opportunity to run past them. With the night casting so much darkness, they were just moving shadows. They opened their bottles of moonshine in the tobacco fields and doused them.

Sam never thought he would smell of alcohol and not be drunk. He, Arthur and Sean met up at a small, empty barn that was dry, like Arthur said. It looked good enough for a quick dousing of moonshine. They ran quickly, and then Arthur threw a firebottle into the building and set it ablaze. Each of them stepped back.

"Heh heh. Oops," Sam said, as the flames grew higher.

"Whoo hoo! Would you look at that!" Sean exclaimed.

"Oops! This slipped, too!" Sam said, as he threw a firebottle into the fields. It was the first of many that they threw, and soon the crop fields were on fire, as well. Arthur tried not to laugh, but Sean and Sam were having quite a night.

"There they are!"

"Shit!" Arthur cursed. There was a bell ringing, probably their version of an alarm. Guards were coming out, armed and ready.

"Well, this is out," Sam said, putting his varmint rifle on his back. He got his repeater and joined Arthur and Sean in the shooting, throwing more fire bottles when he could. "Eat this, you Gray idiots!"

The flames were getting pretty big, but there was no time to panic. The guards were coming from all sides.

"Let's head towards the wagon that came in earlier," said Sean. "We can nick the horses from that!"

Of course, doing that would require going through the fields that were on fire. Still, Sam pressed forward, just following Arthur's lead. Only the crops themselves were on fire, and not the dirt paths between them. The smell of smoke was thick in the air. Sweat rolled down Sam's brow as they ran through, taking down more Gray guards that were brave enough to enter the flaming fields, as well.

Eventually, they made it to the shed. Sean was right about the horses being there, along with a wagon.

Arthur tackled a guard that tried to intercept them and threw him to the ground. Sean and Sam raced ahead. The red head checked the wagon for the employee payroll, while Sam untied the horses from the wagon. A gunshot rang out from Arthur's rifle before he caught up with them.

"Oh boy! We did good!" Sean exclaimed. He climbed onto one of the horses.

"Great, but let's go!" said Arthur. As soon as Sam got the other horse untied, Arthur hopped on. He grabbed Sam's hand and hoisted him on behind him.

Together, they rode back through the flaming fields. Holding up their weapons, they fought through the grounds of Caliga Hall, taking down guards who dared to take up arms, and ended up going out right through the front gate. They rode over some train tracks and through fields until they were at a place known as Bolder Glade. It was known for having a small outpost at an abandoned church for Lemoyne Raiders, but it was also near Shady Belle, which Arthur had cleared out with Lenny. Once they were in the clear, they pulled off their bandanas. Sam tied his hair back up and took off the coat he borrowed.

"Jesus! That turned into a right party!" said Sean.

"You call that a party?" said Arthur.

"That Braithwaite hag got her money's worth alright!"

"Whoa!" said Sam. "This was once a Civil War battlefield." He could tell because of the old wooden trenches dug out and the destroyed housing. Even so, the wildlife and nature had taken the land back already. There were birds and small critters about.

"How do you know that?" said Sean.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Because we've been reading about the Civil War in camp with Jack and Kieran."

"Oh. Uh… O-Of course I knew that…" Sean replied, nervously.

Sam sighed. "What do we do now?"

Arthur thought for a moment. "Let's ditch these horses and go into town. We shouldn't head back to camp immediately."

Sean laughed. "Sounds like a plan. I'm thirsty."

"Good," said Sam. "If anyone asks, I was there after my shift."

So, the three headed into town and into the saloon… which was owned by the Grays, the family whose fields they just torched. How fitting. Hopefully, nobody would notice the smell of tobacco and smoke on them, which was short lived, because it wasn't long before they were taken by the drink.

"Ha ha! Blackjack!" Arthur exclaimed, at the table on the second floor.

"Shit!" Sam cursed.

"Aw, dang it, English!" Sean scoffed, as Arthur took his chips. "I was so close."

"Fifteen ain't close," said Sam.

"Ah, shut up, Hawkeson!" Sean took another swig of whiskey. They had only been here for about an hour, but Arthur and Sam were pretty sure that Sean was already four sheets to the wind. Still, it didn't mean that they weren't a bit tipsy as well.

Then, Hosea tapped Sean on the shoulder.

They were dragged outside to the bar's balcony that was on the second floor. Arthur and Sam were fine. Sean was the one who was having trouble staying on his two feet.

"It went fine, old man," said Sean. "Nothing but barbecue bodies and fields for days. And, I got a hold of these." He held up a wad of cash from robbing the wagon on the way out.

"That's great," Hosea said, extending an arm to steady Sean. "But do you remember that we're out in public and to keep your voice down?"

Sean just started laughing. "Aw, you need to loosen up, old man."

Hosea just sighed.

"Sean did okay," said Arthur. "Sam, too. We burned all them fields like the old woman asked. There better be some gold at the end of all this."

"I know what I'm doing, Arthur," said Hosea.

"So much for that tree, though," said Sam.

"Well, I can't say that the clue was all that straight forward. Maybe we missed something on that map of ours."

"And what could that be?" said Arthur.

"I ain't sure," said Hosea. "But Dutch and I will figure it out. These families can't be fighting over something that doesn't exist."

"I don't think they even remember what it is they're fighting about."

"Well, best we go back to camp separately and at different times." The elder walked over to the edge of the balcony and grabbed Sean by the hair, who had thrown up over the railing. "Guess I'll take this one back with me."

Sam snickered. "Good-night, Sean."

"That was fun, boys!" Sean slurred, a smile on his face and Hosea dragged him towards the stairs.

"We'll head back in the morning," said Arthur.

"Got it," said Hosea. "You boys be careful."

Sam sighed, and took to the edge of the balcony where Arthur was.

"That really was fun," said Sam.

Arthur scoffed. "Sure. If you count almost getting burned fun."

"Well, we're alive ain't we?" The younger man jabbed Arthur in the arm with his elbow, making him chuckle.

"Hmph. I guess it was. Reckon we just stay here, until the heat dies down."

Sam nodded. "Sure. I've got nothing better to do. One of us can rent a room and the other can just sneak in."

"Well, seeing as I was lucky in the draw of the cards…" Arthur said, while he stretched, a grin on his face.

"Aw, come on," Sam pouted. Still, Arthur held onto his grin. "Fine. I'll even buy you dinner, sunshine."

"Heh heh. Thanks."

Sam looked away from Arthur, trying to stop his face from turning scarlet. Did he just offer Arthur dinner and a room?

Soon, the two of them became hungry and headed back inside. Humid as the state of Lemoyne could be, the night somehow still managed to bring a chill, anyway. Like Sam promised, he did buy them both dinner. They were eating when the pianist began to play a familiar tune that Sam recognized.

"A… cowboy laid on a bar room floor, having drunk so much he could drink no more, so he fell asleep with a troubled brain…"

"To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train," other patrons joined in.

Arthur remembered joining too, while other patrons clapped along, while others chose to just listen. He never thought a whole bar could engage in something other than beating the hell out of each other.

He remembered laughing, giving the pianist his compliments, and his memories getting a bit fuzzy with each drink. "Wait…" He looked around, and remembered he was with someone… but he didn't know who.

"Lenny, where you at?" However, Sam walked up to him instead, he had a drink in his hand, as well..

"I ain't, Lenny, you idiot!" said Sam. "That was the other bar, remember?"

"Oh. Sammy!"

Sam busted out laughing. "Shut up!" Somehow, Sam knew they were both drunk, despite their state. He managed to manhandle Arthur out of the bar and towards the room he rented in the back. The last thing they needed right now was to cause a ruckus in another bar, well in this bar again.

"In ya get, 'Fenton'," Sam said, as he pushed Arthur into the room.

Arthur groaned as he wobbled and sat down on the bed. Of course Hosea would tell everyone in camp about their little "act" in the saloon. He was mostly relieved to be off his feet. He laid on the bed for a bit, and once he came back to himself a little he pulled out his journal, while Sam was drawing in his. It's probably another sketch of a layout or something.

Eventually, Sam had a peek and saw that Arthur was drawing the main street of Rhodes.

"You got all that from just one glance?" said Sam.

"I sketched it out earlier. I'm just drawing the details," said Arthur.

"Still, it's better than my chicken scratch. Got anything else?"

"I ain't showing you my journal."

"Just one more?" Sam wobbled off the bed and ended up on his knees near Arthur, his face flushed from the alcohol. "Pleeeeeease?" he asked, his eyes big as his head leaned into his side.

And so for the next hour Arthur showed Sam drawings, or did drawing requests. Some were funny, some were inappropriate, some were funny because they were inappropriate. Both of them soon ended up on the floor, leaning against the bed. It was getting super late, and soon the two had drifted into the hour where they were getting quite solemn.

"You and Sadie made up yet?" Arthur asked, as he closed his journal and tucked it away.

"We haven't talked since Rhodes got attacked," said Sam. "She's right, though."

"Sam-"

"I don't know shit about her husband." His eyes were half lidded, as he leaned his head back and looked at the roof. "But, I know what it's like to lose someone I love. Again. And again. Along with everything I know."

Arthur patted his knee. "And you ain't the only one."

Without thinking Sam ended up leaning into Arthur, his head on his shoulder. "I know." He hoped the gesture gave him at least a little comfort. Before he knew it, Arthur was leaning his head on his, as well. That had to be the drink, talking. Yeah, probably.

It didn't stop Sam from blushing like a maiden. His face was already flushed from the alcohol, so maybe it wouldn't be as apparent. That was what he hoped. Still, it was probably the alcohol talking, but he thought Arthur was something else right now with his blue eyes and the way his face was also red from all the whiskey. His heart skipped a beat at the mere thought of it.

Sam tried desperately not to move. He didn't want Arthur to see that he was tearing up. It was true, no matter how hard he tried: Sam was falling for an outlaw, wasn't he? He feared what would happen if he rejected him, feared what people would think if he did feel the same, feared what the camp would think of him if they found out, but most of all, how would he live with himself if he ever lost him? He wasn't sure if he could handle it if he lost someone so close to him again.

However, as Sam sat there with Arthur, enjoying the silence, just feeling safe in each other's presence, he remembered the words of Sister Calderón. Were they really true? Could he have it, as long as he was willing to fight and protect it? Could he do that? He failed that with his uncle, but… he was stronger, now. At least, that's what he wanted to think. That's what he hoped to be… ever since Arthur protected him time and time again. Sam wanted to do the same.

"Arthur?" Sam finally spoke up. When he didn't get a response, he moved and saw that Arthur had dozed off against him. He smiled, silently happy that Arthur trusted him to fall asleep like that. Still, it was getting a bit uncomfortable and he was tired, too. So, Sam gently shook him. "Arthur?"

"Wh-What?" Arthur shifted awake, lifting his head from Sam. There was a crease on the side of his head from leaning on the younger man, his face was slightly redder as the would-be doctor looked at him. Arthur's eyes were still half-lidded.

"Let's get to bed," said Sam.

Suddenly so sleepy, it was hard for Arthur to will himself to get up, but he did and sat down on the bed with a plop. Sam worked on getting his boots off while Arthur just kicked his own boots off, not caring where they landed on the floor. They placed their gun belts on the table and settled into the bed. It was kind of a tight squeeze for two fully grown men on a one person bed, but Sam and Arthur were too tired to care.

Sam ended up on his side, his head leaning against Arthur's shoulder, who was lying on his back, and he smiled when the older outlaw placed his arm around him and he just let his arm fall across the outlaw's middle. He fell asleep in no time.

Knock! Knock!

A loud pounding at the door was enough to wake Sam in the middle of the night. It's like someone was knocking with their fist. It was still dark outside, but early enough that the sky was starting to get brighter. As much as Sam wanted to stay with Arthur's arm around him, the knocking wouldn't stop, so he had to carefully worm his way loose and ended up tumbling onto the floor.

Once he did however, he got onto his feet and walked towards the door, with half-lidded eyes. Then, something just slid out from under the door. It just looked like a white piece of paper, until Sam picked it up and saw the other side.

It was a photo. There was a woman tied up and gagged. He recognized their eyes and their orange braid they always wore.

"Rose?!" Sam then shrieked. His body jolted, adrenaline pumping through him, and his eyes shot completely open.

Without thinking, Sam swung the door open and rushed into the hall. He looked right, when he should have looked left. Arms wrapped around his torso, and another pair of hands grabbed his legs, before he could do anything. He yelled, flailing as the door back inside his room was shut and he was carried outside.

Next thing Sam knew he was taken behind the quiet saloon and thrown to the ground. There were several clicks. The sounds of guns being readied.

The young man looked up to see two men pointing rifles at him and the middle man looked like someone similar to Seth, except his hair was longer and he had a beard. His build was more stocky than Seth.

"Hello, Slayer," said the man. "You've been giving Colm a hard time, haven't you?"

Sam gulped, but kept his eyes on him. "And you are?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, kid," the man shouted at him. "I'm Sergio. You're in cahoots with Marrows, so I'm only going to tell you this once." He held up another photo of Rose. "If Marrows wants to see this innocent girl alive again, then he'd better find Dutch van der Linde."

Sam sat up slowly, his eyes darting around trying to get a look at his surroundings. "V-Van der Linde?" he said, feigning ignorance. "You mean, Dutch van der Linde? The man who leads Dutch's Boys? How the hell is he supposed to find him?"

"That ain't your problem!" said Sergio. "It's his. You got it, boy? Or I can't guarantee this girl will be so 'innocent' when we're done with her." The two riflemen chuckled. Sergio snapped his fingers and Sam was met with the butt end of a rifle.

"Sam! Sam are you alright? Sam!"

Sam woke up with his head pounding. All too suddenly, he felt hands on him, which made him jolt.

"Hey, easy! It's just me!"

Sam recognized that voice. Once he was helped to sit up and he looked up in relief to see it was Arthur, holding him still while he tried to calm his breathing and held the side of his head. The sun had risen a bit more, but the O'Driscolls were gone. All that was left were footprints and a letter left near them and an envelope.

"You okay, Sam?" said Arthur. "What happened?"

Sam picked up the envelope. It only said two words: "To Dutch." He looked up at the older outlaw.

"O'Driscolls…" Sam said, almost breathlessly. "And they want Dutch."

A/N: Ahahaha! Sure, assault the man who's been experimenting with poisons. xD