[Mag 7 Fic] The Path Less Traveled- PG-13- 4/12
Title: The Path Less Traveled
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
Sleep, even exhausted sleep, had been scarce last night. Chris wasn’t any grumpier than normal, but he was tired. A bone weary tiredness that he hadn’t felt since those first few days after finding his family gone. He had never felt this tired after JD or Buck’s kids had been born, why would the birth of Ezra’s daughter make him think on things so much more clearly? He was broken out of his thoughts when he collided with a small body.
“Sorr...” Kate’s voice broke off as she looked up at Chris, seeing his eyes and face hardened with suspicion.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded more gruffly than he intended. Mostly because it unnerved him the way his body instantly felt alight with tension and need at feeling her petite, yet curvy, form briefly pressed against his length.
“Ain’t here to cause trouble if you think that’s why I’m here,” Kate said automatically, feeling defensive. From day one, the two had a tense relationship.
“That’s what I thought last time, too.” The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted saying them. Especially when he saw Kate stiffen.
“Just passin’ through. Helpin’ a friend with something,” Kate got out tersely. “Once my business here is done, I’ll be ridin’ back to my patch of weeds.” Chris didn’t get a chance to question her before she was pushing past him and walking towards the boarding house. He watched her slender form turn to walk into the door, pausing when someone obviously stopped her just in the door. He frowned when he saw her talking then her hands came up to press against whoever she was talking to. Then she was gone inside of the building.
He was curious what had brought her here and something in what she said made no sense. He shook his head and walked down to the saloon, stepping inside. Once his eyes adjusted to the darker interior, he saw Vin, Josiah and Buck eating breakfast.
“Did you two notice Kate Stokes was back in town?” Chris asked, walking up to the table to take his own seat.
“She rode in last night,” Buck said. “Vin and I saw her.”
Josiah frowned, leaning back in his chair. “Never figured she’d show up here again. Not after losing her sister here,” he said. He remembered the troubled young woman. They all did.
“She say why she’s here?” Chris asked, looking at Buck as one of the barmaids the Standishes had on staff brought him a plate of breakfast. It was not lost on him, or Josiah, the look that Vin and Buck exchanged.
“She came into town with a young man that works for her on the land her Pa had when he died,” Buck said. “She’s helping him find some answers about his past.”
“Here?” Josiah asked.
“This area,” Vin said. “He was orphaned over in Red Fork, but from what Buck and Kate told me, he ain’t got no memories from before endin’ up there.”
“How did he end up there?” Chris asked before taking his first bite. A frown creased his forehead when Buck and Vin looked at one another again.
“Brothers, there a problem we should know about?” Josiah asked, also noticing the exchange. He waited, watching as Vin and Buck contemplated what they would say. A small, decisive nod from Vin had Buck sighing and wiping his mouth with his napkin before he spoke. He glanced to Chris, noticing that the man had finished his first bite of food and now waited instead of continuing. He wondered if that had been planned by the men.
“He doesn’t remember, like Vin said,” Buck said. “But... he suspects his family was killed in a fire. Near Red Fork.”
They all knew of the fate of Chris’ wife and son, but Josiah wasn’t putting two and two together just yet. He was, however, noticing Chris’ stiffened response to what Buck was saying.
“Why does he suspect that?” Josiah asked.
“He gets nightmares. Screamin’ for his Ma. Nightmares filled with heat and smoke,” Buck said. He hesitated before looking towards Chris. “Got burn scars too.”
Chris was stiff, his spine rigid. Uncertain if he was filled with cold anger or hot fear, he wasn’t sure. Forming words was difficult, but he managed to say something. “Meaning what, Buck?”
“We seen him, Chris. Vin and me,” Buck said.
Vin bobbed his head. “We did, briefly last night,” he said. “I swear, Chris, if’n he wasn’t the spittin’ image of yo--.”
Chris got up quickly, shoving his chair back as it clattered to the floor. “No,” he said. “No.”
“Pard...” Buck slowly unfolded his tall frame.
“No,” Chris said. “We buried Sarah and Adam the day we got back, Buck. You know that.”
“We buried two bodies, yer right,” Buck said. “But the reasons why we thought they were killed weren’t what we thought for a long time neither. Not ‘til Ella came back in your life.”
“No,” Chris snapped. “No!”
“Chris,” Vin said, not rising yet.
“What you are implyin’ is impossible,” Chris said, his eyes never leaving Buck’s face. “You were there. You know that.”
“I was there,” Buck said. “But I seen this boy, Chris. He’s the right age he’d be now if the fire hadn’t--.”
“No!” Chris snapped, smacking his hand down. The plate that held his breakfast flipped and crashed to the floor. The few patrons that hadn’t been interrupted by his outburst now turned their attention over to them just from the sound of broken crockery.
“My son’s dead, Buck. You were there to see the house. You saw the bodies. He’s dead.” His tone was dull, but anger simmered beneath it. He quickly turned and hurried out of the saloon, spurs clanging as he walked. He barely acknowledged JD and Nathan as he pushed his way out of the saloon.
“What’s wrong with Chris?” JD asked, walking up to the table. The barmaid had quickly moved over to the table to clean up the broken dish and spilled food. Nathan knelt to help her, but his head was tilted indicating that he was listening as well.
“More demons, it seems, to haunt Brother Chris,” Josiah said, studying the cup in his hand.
Buck sighed, glancing off after his friend. “We wanted to tell everyone last night, but ya’ll had dispersed after saying good night to Ezra. Was going to wait until this morning...”
Josiah nodded, his eyes shifting to look where Chris had been. He waited until Jane was finished cleaning and had returned to the bar before he focused on Buck and Vin.
“I think, then, you better tell us the entire story about Kate and this young man that came to town with her,” he said. “I suspect this is only the surface of the story.”
~~
Kate really needed to realize that she had to watch where she was going. At least this time, she didn’t entirely collide with the person in front of her. When the bite of pain slipped through her arms, she lifted her head ready to lash out. She suddenly felt as if someone threw ice water on her as she stared into the furious gaze of Chris Larabee.
“What game are you playing?” he asked roughly.
“What?” she asked.
“Don’t pull that innocent shit with me, Stokes,” Chris growled, reaching to hold her arm. “You got a reason for being here and it ain’t innocent. Not when you got Buck thinkin’--.”
“Wait a minute,” Kate said, trying to wrest her arm away from him. “I ain’t here for any ulterior motive, if that’s what you think. I don’t know what Wilmington said, but I’m here to help a friend then I go back to my shack I call a home.”
“The hell you are!” Chris snapped. “You enter this town, acting as if everything you and your sister did is noth--.”
Kate finally managed to wrench her arm out of Chris’ grasp. “Don’t bring up Maddie,” she spat out. “I do not and have not forgotten what it was that she, and I, did the last time we were here. I regret everything about it but I can’t change the past. I’m just trying to get on with my life.”
“And bringing some kid here claiming to be my son is doin’ that?” Chris demanded.
“This is about Adam?” Kate asked.
“Don’t you dare say his name!” Chris snapped, advancing on her.
“Hey!”
Chris lifted his head and stared at the new voice that entered the mix, seeing the angry teenager step out of the boarding house. He was staring at Chris, anger and something even more terrifying deep within his green eyes. He had no idea who Chris was.
Like Buck, Chris felt a kick straight in the center of his gut the moment he laid eyes on Adam. Immediately his mind tried to deny it, but his gut and his heart were screaming at his mind. How often had Sarah teased Chris that Adam’s slightly lighter than her own brown locks would lighten over the years to the darker blond like his father? Especially when out working in the sun with him and Buck? Even as he stared, the angry, defiant way the young man stared at him screamed so much of Chris’ own defiance around the same age. He understood, now, why Buck had questioned. But this boy couldn’t possibly be... could he?
“This has nothing to do with you, son,” Chris said. His stomach twisted and cramped at such a simple word. Something he had called even JD once upon a time. With this one it was different. It felt too right, too good. And it held too much hope that Chris couldn’t give in to. They had found two bodies that night!
“It is when you think you can man-handle my friend,” Adam said, moving up beside Kate. “And Kate told me you were a good man.”
Chris blinked, eyes going from Adam to Kate then back. “What?”
“You’re Chris Larabee, right?” Adam asked. Chris gave a small nod in acknowledgement. “Kate said you were a good man. Bit of a hard ass, but fair and good. One that could be trusted. Guess she was wrong, huh?”
“Adam,” Kate said gently, resting a hand on his forearm. Between the obvious disappointment in what seemed to be Kate’s wrong judge in character and the name she called him, Chris felt like the entire world was closing in on him. A cold sweat broke out over his skin and he suddenly felt like he needed to get away. He had to flee, too much of the truth was screaming at him. The feeling was quickly followed by devastation as the harsh reality sank in. If this was Adam Larabee... he didn’t remember who Chris was.
“I... I’m sorry. I...” Chris swallowed, backing away from them. He saw more anger flash across the boy’s face, but confusion and concern were all over Kate’s. He couldn’t handle that anymore than he could handle what he was facing with Adam. For the first time that he could ever remember, Chris Larabee spun on his heel and ran away.
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
Sleep, even exhausted sleep, had been scarce last night. Chris wasn’t any grumpier than normal, but he was tired. A bone weary tiredness that he hadn’t felt since those first few days after finding his family gone. He had never felt this tired after JD or Buck’s kids had been born, why would the birth of Ezra’s daughter make him think on things so much more clearly? He was broken out of his thoughts when he collided with a small body.
“Sorr...” Kate’s voice broke off as she looked up at Chris, seeing his eyes and face hardened with suspicion.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded more gruffly than he intended. Mostly because it unnerved him the way his body instantly felt alight with tension and need at feeling her petite, yet curvy, form briefly pressed against his length.
“Ain’t here to cause trouble if you think that’s why I’m here,” Kate said automatically, feeling defensive. From day one, the two had a tense relationship.
“That’s what I thought last time, too.” The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted saying them. Especially when he saw Kate stiffen.
“Just passin’ through. Helpin’ a friend with something,” Kate got out tersely. “Once my business here is done, I’ll be ridin’ back to my patch of weeds.” Chris didn’t get a chance to question her before she was pushing past him and walking towards the boarding house. He watched her slender form turn to walk into the door, pausing when someone obviously stopped her just in the door. He frowned when he saw her talking then her hands came up to press against whoever she was talking to. Then she was gone inside of the building.
He was curious what had brought her here and something in what she said made no sense. He shook his head and walked down to the saloon, stepping inside. Once his eyes adjusted to the darker interior, he saw Vin, Josiah and Buck eating breakfast.
“Did you two notice Kate Stokes was back in town?” Chris asked, walking up to the table to take his own seat.
“She rode in last night,” Buck said. “Vin and I saw her.”
Josiah frowned, leaning back in his chair. “Never figured she’d show up here again. Not after losing her sister here,” he said. He remembered the troubled young woman. They all did.
“She say why she’s here?” Chris asked, looking at Buck as one of the barmaids the Standishes had on staff brought him a plate of breakfast. It was not lost on him, or Josiah, the look that Vin and Buck exchanged.
“She came into town with a young man that works for her on the land her Pa had when he died,” Buck said. “She’s helping him find some answers about his past.”
“Here?” Josiah asked.
“This area,” Vin said. “He was orphaned over in Red Fork, but from what Buck and Kate told me, he ain’t got no memories from before endin’ up there.”
“How did he end up there?” Chris asked before taking his first bite. A frown creased his forehead when Buck and Vin looked at one another again.
“Brothers, there a problem we should know about?” Josiah asked, also noticing the exchange. He waited, watching as Vin and Buck contemplated what they would say. A small, decisive nod from Vin had Buck sighing and wiping his mouth with his napkin before he spoke. He glanced to Chris, noticing that the man had finished his first bite of food and now waited instead of continuing. He wondered if that had been planned by the men.
“He doesn’t remember, like Vin said,” Buck said. “But... he suspects his family was killed in a fire. Near Red Fork.”
They all knew of the fate of Chris’ wife and son, but Josiah wasn’t putting two and two together just yet. He was, however, noticing Chris’ stiffened response to what Buck was saying.
“Why does he suspect that?” Josiah asked.
“He gets nightmares. Screamin’ for his Ma. Nightmares filled with heat and smoke,” Buck said. He hesitated before looking towards Chris. “Got burn scars too.”
Chris was stiff, his spine rigid. Uncertain if he was filled with cold anger or hot fear, he wasn’t sure. Forming words was difficult, but he managed to say something. “Meaning what, Buck?”
“We seen him, Chris. Vin and me,” Buck said.
Vin bobbed his head. “We did, briefly last night,” he said. “I swear, Chris, if’n he wasn’t the spittin’ image of yo--.”
Chris got up quickly, shoving his chair back as it clattered to the floor. “No,” he said. “No.”
“Pard...” Buck slowly unfolded his tall frame.
“No,” Chris said. “We buried Sarah and Adam the day we got back, Buck. You know that.”
“We buried two bodies, yer right,” Buck said. “But the reasons why we thought they were killed weren’t what we thought for a long time neither. Not ‘til Ella came back in your life.”
“No,” Chris snapped. “No!”
“Chris,” Vin said, not rising yet.
“What you are implyin’ is impossible,” Chris said, his eyes never leaving Buck’s face. “You were there. You know that.”
“I was there,” Buck said. “But I seen this boy, Chris. He’s the right age he’d be now if the fire hadn’t--.”
“No!” Chris snapped, smacking his hand down. The plate that held his breakfast flipped and crashed to the floor. The few patrons that hadn’t been interrupted by his outburst now turned their attention over to them just from the sound of broken crockery.
“My son’s dead, Buck. You were there to see the house. You saw the bodies. He’s dead.” His tone was dull, but anger simmered beneath it. He quickly turned and hurried out of the saloon, spurs clanging as he walked. He barely acknowledged JD and Nathan as he pushed his way out of the saloon.
“What’s wrong with Chris?” JD asked, walking up to the table. The barmaid had quickly moved over to the table to clean up the broken dish and spilled food. Nathan knelt to help her, but his head was tilted indicating that he was listening as well.
“More demons, it seems, to haunt Brother Chris,” Josiah said, studying the cup in his hand.
Buck sighed, glancing off after his friend. “We wanted to tell everyone last night, but ya’ll had dispersed after saying good night to Ezra. Was going to wait until this morning...”
Josiah nodded, his eyes shifting to look where Chris had been. He waited until Jane was finished cleaning and had returned to the bar before he focused on Buck and Vin.
“I think, then, you better tell us the entire story about Kate and this young man that came to town with her,” he said. “I suspect this is only the surface of the story.”
~~
Kate really needed to realize that she had to watch where she was going. At least this time, she didn’t entirely collide with the person in front of her. When the bite of pain slipped through her arms, she lifted her head ready to lash out. She suddenly felt as if someone threw ice water on her as she stared into the furious gaze of Chris Larabee.
“What game are you playing?” he asked roughly.
“What?” she asked.
“Don’t pull that innocent shit with me, Stokes,” Chris growled, reaching to hold her arm. “You got a reason for being here and it ain’t innocent. Not when you got Buck thinkin’--.”
“Wait a minute,” Kate said, trying to wrest her arm away from him. “I ain’t here for any ulterior motive, if that’s what you think. I don’t know what Wilmington said, but I’m here to help a friend then I go back to my shack I call a home.”
“The hell you are!” Chris snapped. “You enter this town, acting as if everything you and your sister did is noth--.”
Kate finally managed to wrench her arm out of Chris’ grasp. “Don’t bring up Maddie,” she spat out. “I do not and have not forgotten what it was that she, and I, did the last time we were here. I regret everything about it but I can’t change the past. I’m just trying to get on with my life.”
“And bringing some kid here claiming to be my son is doin’ that?” Chris demanded.
“This is about Adam?” Kate asked.
“Don’t you dare say his name!” Chris snapped, advancing on her.
“Hey!”
Chris lifted his head and stared at the new voice that entered the mix, seeing the angry teenager step out of the boarding house. He was staring at Chris, anger and something even more terrifying deep within his green eyes. He had no idea who Chris was.
Like Buck, Chris felt a kick straight in the center of his gut the moment he laid eyes on Adam. Immediately his mind tried to deny it, but his gut and his heart were screaming at his mind. How often had Sarah teased Chris that Adam’s slightly lighter than her own brown locks would lighten over the years to the darker blond like his father? Especially when out working in the sun with him and Buck? Even as he stared, the angry, defiant way the young man stared at him screamed so much of Chris’ own defiance around the same age. He understood, now, why Buck had questioned. But this boy couldn’t possibly be... could he?
“This has nothing to do with you, son,” Chris said. His stomach twisted and cramped at such a simple word. Something he had called even JD once upon a time. With this one it was different. It felt too right, too good. And it held too much hope that Chris couldn’t give in to. They had found two bodies that night!
“It is when you think you can man-handle my friend,” Adam said, moving up beside Kate. “And Kate told me you were a good man.”
Chris blinked, eyes going from Adam to Kate then back. “What?”
“You’re Chris Larabee, right?” Adam asked. Chris gave a small nod in acknowledgement. “Kate said you were a good man. Bit of a hard ass, but fair and good. One that could be trusted. Guess she was wrong, huh?”
“Adam,” Kate said gently, resting a hand on his forearm. Between the obvious disappointment in what seemed to be Kate’s wrong judge in character and the name she called him, Chris felt like the entire world was closing in on him. A cold sweat broke out over his skin and he suddenly felt like he needed to get away. He had to flee, too much of the truth was screaming at him. The feeling was quickly followed by devastation as the harsh reality sank in. If this was Adam Larabee... he didn’t remember who Chris was.
“I... I’m sorry. I...” Chris swallowed, backing away from them. He saw more anger flash across the boy’s face, but confusion and concern were all over Kate’s. He couldn’t handle that anymore than he could handle what he was facing with Adam. For the first time that he could ever remember, Chris Larabee spun on his heel and ran away.