Fic: So They Came Into The Outway, Lost (Sawyer/Kevin), rated G
Today is the birthday of the absolutely amazing toestastegood . How much I love her is very hard to express. I share with her the pairing that is in the next fic, and can never write it without thinking of her. And, well, history is also something that I associate with her. Let me say right here that I know almost nothing of the specifics of the Regency Era, where this is set (late 1830's, before the Metropolitan Police in fact). And that trying that type of English was almost terrifying.
I hope you like it honey! Happy Birthday!
Title: So They Came Into The Outway
Characters: Kevin Callis/James Ford
Word count: 960 words, rated G (sadly)
Summary: The story of the constable and the thief
Note: Obviously completely AU, and used for the Historic: Regency square for au_bingo . The amazing siluria took time to beta this for me with help with the language and she rocks hard core. Thank you.
Constable Kevin Callis could not believe that all of this work and planning had been done for nothing.
The plan had been sound!
He had made certain that rumours about how an obscure but rich Duke was expected to ride to the theatre in a coach on Long Acre at dusk were planted in well-targeted pubs. Of course it had been added that the Duke had made his fortune grow by exploiting the populace with horrible mistreatment : that would bring him out. The carriage was Duke-free, of course, and instead occupied by the constable’s men, hiding revolvers under their double-breasted waistcoats. Callis had said several times that he did not want to see any bloodshed; he had insisted that the thief had to be caught unharmed.
Callis had also made certain the roads around the theatre could be blocked if needed, and that he had personnel hiding in strategic places, to catch the elusive criminal.
It had all been in vain: no one had attacked the coach. Callis was despairing that his rumours had not been properly seeded when he heard news that Sir William Moore the Third, his wife and mother in law had been robbed at gunpoint. The armed dandy, who had been particularly charming otherwise, had stricken three streets from where they were preparing their ambush. One could have explained the other: no attack on the coach because the thief already had a plan in motion elsewhere. In fact, this scenario would have pleased Callis far more than the news that the victims had a message for them, to be delivered in person to Constable Kevin Callis.
You can do better than that, the note said.
***
What Callis hated the most was to interview the victims, when said victims were women of good reputation but who had obviously lost their minds. They even pleaded mercy for their attacker, arguing that there had been no physical violence; surely it was not that serious. Could their flushed faces and excited chatter about their experience be attributed to shock? If he overheard one more time the woman telling her mother how beautiful the criminal's smile was, Constable Callis would lose his temper.
Oh, he had seen that smile. He knew of its power.
That was much of the problem.
***
There was a soft thump and when Kevin turned, a shadow was standing by the window. The posture was impossible to mistake for another.
"You," Kevin rasped.
A chuckled followed.
"Me. How was your day, darling?" James drawled, teasing where it stung the most.
"Very bad, in fact. I did not accomplish what was asked of me today," Kevin said.
The shadow solidified as James walked to the edge of the bed, and then sat down to caress lightly the side of Kevin's face. He shivered at the contact, as always: he suffered from an addiction and consequently was lacking all hope. When they met in the dark like this, they were James and Kevin, not the thief and the constable.
"You really wanna catch me?" James asked softly.
"What I want is not in question, but to put you in prison is what I have to do," Kevin said. "Why continue, James? Why not take what you have and disappear?"
It was blasphemy to say such a thing, and he almost regretted the words as they escaped. But in the last year, the estimate of the stolen property that was linked to cases involving the outlaw known as James Ford was appreciable. If he would suddenly vanish to never return, it would break Kevin's heart but at least his love would be free.
"I don't have enough, yet. But now that Claire is settled, it won't be long," James said.
Kevin had met the young unwed mother one day, when they had almost closed in on their prey. She was a lovely girl who was probably too trusting, putting her hopes for a better life in the hands of a thief. If Kevin understood James' protectiveness, he also knew that the trap was closing around him. At night, James had a respite because Kevin was weak and always let him leave. But one day he would catch Ford in broad daylight and that would be it.
"We will catch you, James. Even you are not perfect," Kevin said.
"Just a couple more and I'll have enough to buy my way back," James said and Kevin's stomach was suddenly weighted with lead. America, then, so far that it was certain Kevin would never see him again.
"Oh."
"I can't wait to leave this place," James said with a wistful sigh, adding a couple of tons to the mass compressing Kevin's chest. "It rains all the time."
"I see," Kevin said, trying not to take it as a rejection, but failing. He hoped it didn't show too much on his face.
"You could come with me," James offered, looking at him from under a fringe of hair, eyes shining in the faint glow given by the lamp.
"Leave everything?" Kevin said, but he realized as he talked that since his mother had recently passed away, he did not have many ties here in London, save from a house and his profession.
"Not leave everything, start over," corrected James. "We could go explore the West. You'd make a great Sheriff, once we get the stick out of your ass."
It made Kevin laugh, even if he should not. It was a nice dream, he could almost see it.
"And you would be?"
"I've always wanted to raise some cattle," James said, showing some dimples. "Honest living and all that."
When Kevin didn't answer, James kissed him. If he continued like that, it was possible that Kevin could be convinced.
The End