[Mag 7 Fic] The Path Less Traveled- PG-13- 5/12
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.
~~
She didn’t know why she came, not consciously anyway. She knew deep down why she was here. She cared, had cared for some time. And now it wasn’t just caring about him but about Adam as well. She had left the young man with a quick comment that she’d be back later to try and explain, then she headed out towards Chris’ cabin. She started to knock on the door but it was ajar. Concern for the blond gunslinger, she slowly pushed the door open to make sure he was okay.
When she was a little girl, she had been fascinated by stories she had heard of large felines that lived in the wild in a country far from the small, dusty backhole she had grown up in. She had heard of a grace they held; all the while being large, predatory and completely intimidating. She suspected that the pacing Larabee could very much be compared to one of those large cats; just as predatory, just as large and just as intimidating.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a low tone. He had paused to spare her glance before he resumed his pacing, long legs carrying him four or five steps before he was turning to return the way he came.
“I was worried.” Three words that were so innocent, yet told so much at the same time.
“Why do you even care?” Apparently they were not words of comfort to the man, his green gaze hard as he focused on Kate, never ceasing the repetitive motion of his pacing.
“I care... more than you realize,” she said very quietly, pulling her hat off her head. She raised her voice more for the next words she spoke. “Adam’s become someone I’ve come to care ab--.”
“Why did you bring him here?” Chris demanded. “Why did you give him hopes that he’s someone long dead?”
Kate blinked, focusing on Chris’ face as he paused near her. “I didn’t give him hopes that he was your son, if that’s what you mean,” she said. “He told me about dreams he was having. Where he had been in an orphanage. Told him the best places to look for answers would be the nearest towns, which meant here too. I told you that.”
“He’s not my son!” Chris snapped.
“I ain’t ever said he was!” Kate said. “And would it be so bad if he were? He’s not a bad kid!”
“My son is dead.” Chris anger evaporated immediately and his voice cracked on that last word. It made Kate’s own annoyance over his reactions immediately dissipate.
“What if he’s not?” Kate asked gently. “What if Adam Smith is really Adam Larabee? Are you going to shove him away? Lose your son again and make him angrier at the world than he already is?”
“He doesn’t remember me,” Chris said, his voice cracking again. He had a tenuous hold on his emotions and that was about to break any moment. He refused to let himself break down in front of this woman.
“No, he doesn’t,” Kate said. “There’s a lot about that night he doesn’t remember, if it is him. It could come back to him, but something is blocking the memories. A doctor we talked to before getting here even said that’s normal for traumatic--.”
“He doesn’t remember me!” Chris all but wailed, the emotions too much for him. It didn’t matter anymore that he didn’t believe that Adam could be his son. It didn’t matter that it was Kate he was breaking down in front of. Too many emotions were assaulting him, because deep down his subconscious was telling him what his brain refused to believe. Adam Smith was Adam Larabee. And he did not remember his own father.
Kate hurried over to Chris as he slumped down to his knees. He flinched away from her, but she refused to move and put her arms around him. His body was stiff against hers until he finally succumbed more to the emotions and sobs began to rack his frame. Kate felt at a loss. She cradled Chris’ head in the crook of her arm, letting him cling to it as he sobbed and leaned into her some. She started to rock him slightly, not letting her mind remember the last time she had rocked someone in her arms while she had been in this town.
“He doesn’t remember me.” His voice was muffled in her arm, but the sound still managed to make her chest ache. She rested her forehead against his hair as she held him, giving whatever comfort she could.
“He could,” she finally said, her voice a simple whisper. “Help him find answers, for both of you. Something could make his memories of you come back.”
“He thinks he was abandoned, doesn’t he?” Chris said, his voice not nearly as hysterical as it was but still small, so unlike the man it came from.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know the truth,” Kate pointed out. “He doesn’t know you thought he was dead.”
Chris straightened some, the rocking motion having stopped. His head was still lowered, his blond bangs hanging forward. He turned his head to the side, his eyes catching Kate’s as she sat beside him, her arms still partially around him. He didn’t know what compelled him, but he moved towards her, pausing just a breath away from her face. His eyes searched hers before one of them, he wasn’t sure if it was him or if was her, closed the gap before their lips were pressed to one another’s.
Kate was just losing herself in the kiss when he pulled away. Her eyes cracked and she saw regret filling his eyes. He doesn’t want this...
“Kate, I’m--,” Chris started.
“No, it’s... I shouldn’t...” She tried to get up, fast, only managing to embarrass herself some as her legs got tangled in the fabric of her duster. She still managed to get to her feet faster than Chris did.
“I’ll go,” she said, turning to the door. Despite the short distance, Chris caught her arm before she could pull the door open.
“Stop,” he said quietly. “I don’t want--.”
“Me, I know. I get it,” Kate said. “Please let me go.”
“No,” Chris said, frowning. Confusion was forming over his face, but it was quickly shifting to understanding as he realized what she had thought he was trying to say or do.
“I don’t want you to think you… have to do anything you... I haven’t...” Words were not Chris’ strong suit. That was Ezra’s department, even Josiah’s. “I haven’t been the most cordial, even downright hostile. Then I go and kiss you and--.”
“I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I didn’t want to,” Kate said.
“What?”
Kate couldn’t help but laugh slightly. He looked so befuddled that it made him look less like the intimidating gunslinger he was. She shook her head, her eyes sparkling.
“I said that I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I didnt--.”
Chris didn’t let her finish. It was confirmation enough for him, his body moving to her again before his lips were once again on hers, parting them to spar with her tongue. He moved his hands to her waist and then slipped his arms around her more firmly as he felt her snake her arms around his neck. He pulled her tighter and lifted her up more. He reveled in the taste of her before slowly breaking the kiss. He had to be absolutely sure.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly. “Because if you aren’t, I’ll stop now. If you want this, I don’t plan on sto--.”
“Larabee, you talk too much sometimes,” Kate said quietly. Chris simply grinned and let her pull his head back down to hers, his foot shifting to kick the front door firmly shut.
~~
She felt her hands curling into fists as she saw the door close and the blonde hadn’t come out again. This would not do. It would not do at all. Not when she was so close to getting everything that she wanted.
Ella Gaines turned her mount away from the small home Chris had made. She would ensure that was burned down too if necessary. As long as she got Chris in the end.
~~
“I don’t really know what to do,” Chris admitted softly. His fingers brushed through Kate’s hair as she lay curled against him, her head on his chest. A comfortable silence had fallen as they both gained their breath after finding pleasure in one another.
Kate shifted to rest her chin on Chris’ chest, looking at him. “You mean with Adam?” she asked.
He nodded, staring at the ceiling above them. He turned his gaze down to Kate, smiling slightly. “Yeah,” he said aloud. “No idea where to begin with things.”
“I wish I had the answer for you,” Kate said. “But this is new for me. I told Adam I’d help, but I’ve mostly been here for morale support and to be someone he could talk to when he found things out.”
“What has he found out?” Chris asked, his fingers slipping down to brush along the skin of her spine. The corners of his mouth twisted softly when he felt her body shiver against his from his touch.
“Not much,” Kate admitted. “We haven’t found a lot of answers yet, beyond a few things that some shop owner told him over in Eagle Bend. We only arrived yesterday before the confrontation between you and I in front of the boarding house.”
Chris grimaced, his fingers moving to the finger shaped marks that were starting to form on the paler skin of her upper arm. “I am sorry about that,” he said.
“They’ll fade,” Kate said gently. “You are a good man, Chris. I didn’t lie to Adam about that. I wish I had thought about finding a way to tell you before you had to find out like that.”
“How do you tell someone something like that? I mean really?” Chris asked.
“Good point,” Kate said, her fingers brushing along a scar near his shoulder. She noticed other scars, but for some reason this one intrigued her.
“I had her in my sights,” Chris said softly. Kate looked at him confused. “Ella Gaines. She was the one responsible for losing my wife and son.”
“What happened?” she asked softly.
“She was an old lover of mine,” Chris said. “Before I was ever with Sarah. She was obsessed with me. Couldn’t handle that I had moved on and loved Sarah and that we’d had Adam. She hired the men responsible for burning down my home and killing ‘em.”
“But what if Adam isn’t--.”
“She still took him from me,” Chris said. “I’ve missed the past eight years of his life because of what she did. And if it is really him... she put another child’s body in his place to make me believe it was him.”
“She’s still out there, isn’t she?” Kate asked.
Chris swallowed. “Yes,” he said, his voice rough. “I had her in my sights, Kate. I had her... and I hesitated. It got me shot and she got away.”
Kate’s eyes slid to where the scar at his shoulder puckered the skin. It was obvious an older wound, but there was something about it that had her instantly knowing that it was the very wound he was talking about. Lowering her head, Kate pressed her lips to the wound. Her eyes closed, willing tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes to not fall onto his skin. Her lips parted and she gently traced the scarred tissue with her tongue.
Chris’ eyes closed a moment, savoring the feel of her against him. When her tongue touched his skin, he couldn’t stand it anymore and flipped their bodies so she was beneath him. Without speaking, he lowered his mouth to hers, fusing them together. As he teased her lips and tongue with his own, his hands were already roaming over her body and they came together over and over the rest of the night.
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.
~~
She didn’t know why she came, not consciously anyway. She knew deep down why she was here. She cared, had cared for some time. And now it wasn’t just caring about him but about Adam as well. She had left the young man with a quick comment that she’d be back later to try and explain, then she headed out towards Chris’ cabin. She started to knock on the door but it was ajar. Concern for the blond gunslinger, she slowly pushed the door open to make sure he was okay.
When she was a little girl, she had been fascinated by stories she had heard of large felines that lived in the wild in a country far from the small, dusty backhole she had grown up in. She had heard of a grace they held; all the while being large, predatory and completely intimidating. She suspected that the pacing Larabee could very much be compared to one of those large cats; just as predatory, just as large and just as intimidating.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a low tone. He had paused to spare her glance before he resumed his pacing, long legs carrying him four or five steps before he was turning to return the way he came.
“I was worried.” Three words that were so innocent, yet told so much at the same time.
“Why do you even care?” Apparently they were not words of comfort to the man, his green gaze hard as he focused on Kate, never ceasing the repetitive motion of his pacing.
“I care... more than you realize,” she said very quietly, pulling her hat off her head. She raised her voice more for the next words she spoke. “Adam’s become someone I’ve come to care ab--.”
“Why did you bring him here?” Chris demanded. “Why did you give him hopes that he’s someone long dead?”
Kate blinked, focusing on Chris’ face as he paused near her. “I didn’t give him hopes that he was your son, if that’s what you mean,” she said. “He told me about dreams he was having. Where he had been in an orphanage. Told him the best places to look for answers would be the nearest towns, which meant here too. I told you that.”
“He’s not my son!” Chris snapped.
“I ain’t ever said he was!” Kate said. “And would it be so bad if he were? He’s not a bad kid!”
“My son is dead.” Chris anger evaporated immediately and his voice cracked on that last word. It made Kate’s own annoyance over his reactions immediately dissipate.
“What if he’s not?” Kate asked gently. “What if Adam Smith is really Adam Larabee? Are you going to shove him away? Lose your son again and make him angrier at the world than he already is?”
“He doesn’t remember me,” Chris said, his voice cracking again. He had a tenuous hold on his emotions and that was about to break any moment. He refused to let himself break down in front of this woman.
“No, he doesn’t,” Kate said. “There’s a lot about that night he doesn’t remember, if it is him. It could come back to him, but something is blocking the memories. A doctor we talked to before getting here even said that’s normal for traumatic--.”
“He doesn’t remember me!” Chris all but wailed, the emotions too much for him. It didn’t matter anymore that he didn’t believe that Adam could be his son. It didn’t matter that it was Kate he was breaking down in front of. Too many emotions were assaulting him, because deep down his subconscious was telling him what his brain refused to believe. Adam Smith was Adam Larabee. And he did not remember his own father.
Kate hurried over to Chris as he slumped down to his knees. He flinched away from her, but she refused to move and put her arms around him. His body was stiff against hers until he finally succumbed more to the emotions and sobs began to rack his frame. Kate felt at a loss. She cradled Chris’ head in the crook of her arm, letting him cling to it as he sobbed and leaned into her some. She started to rock him slightly, not letting her mind remember the last time she had rocked someone in her arms while she had been in this town.
“He doesn’t remember me.” His voice was muffled in her arm, but the sound still managed to make her chest ache. She rested her forehead against his hair as she held him, giving whatever comfort she could.
“He could,” she finally said, her voice a simple whisper. “Help him find answers, for both of you. Something could make his memories of you come back.”
“He thinks he was abandoned, doesn’t he?” Chris said, his voice not nearly as hysterical as it was but still small, so unlike the man it came from.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know the truth,” Kate pointed out. “He doesn’t know you thought he was dead.”
Chris straightened some, the rocking motion having stopped. His head was still lowered, his blond bangs hanging forward. He turned his head to the side, his eyes catching Kate’s as she sat beside him, her arms still partially around him. He didn’t know what compelled him, but he moved towards her, pausing just a breath away from her face. His eyes searched hers before one of them, he wasn’t sure if it was him or if was her, closed the gap before their lips were pressed to one another’s.
Kate was just losing herself in the kiss when he pulled away. Her eyes cracked and she saw regret filling his eyes. He doesn’t want this...
“Kate, I’m--,” Chris started.
“No, it’s... I shouldn’t...” She tried to get up, fast, only managing to embarrass herself some as her legs got tangled in the fabric of her duster. She still managed to get to her feet faster than Chris did.
“I’ll go,” she said, turning to the door. Despite the short distance, Chris caught her arm before she could pull the door open.
“Stop,” he said quietly. “I don’t want--.”
“Me, I know. I get it,” Kate said. “Please let me go.”
“No,” Chris said, frowning. Confusion was forming over his face, but it was quickly shifting to understanding as he realized what she had thought he was trying to say or do.
“I don’t want you to think you… have to do anything you... I haven’t...” Words were not Chris’ strong suit. That was Ezra’s department, even Josiah’s. “I haven’t been the most cordial, even downright hostile. Then I go and kiss you and--.”
“I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I didn’t want to,” Kate said.
“What?”
Kate couldn’t help but laugh slightly. He looked so befuddled that it made him look less like the intimidating gunslinger he was. She shook her head, her eyes sparkling.
“I said that I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I didnt--.”
Chris didn’t let her finish. It was confirmation enough for him, his body moving to her again before his lips were once again on hers, parting them to spar with her tongue. He moved his hands to her waist and then slipped his arms around her more firmly as he felt her snake her arms around his neck. He pulled her tighter and lifted her up more. He reveled in the taste of her before slowly breaking the kiss. He had to be absolutely sure.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly. “Because if you aren’t, I’ll stop now. If you want this, I don’t plan on sto--.”
“Larabee, you talk too much sometimes,” Kate said quietly. Chris simply grinned and let her pull his head back down to hers, his foot shifting to kick the front door firmly shut.
~~
She felt her hands curling into fists as she saw the door close and the blonde hadn’t come out again. This would not do. It would not do at all. Not when she was so close to getting everything that she wanted.
Ella Gaines turned her mount away from the small home Chris had made. She would ensure that was burned down too if necessary. As long as she got Chris in the end.
~~
“I don’t really know what to do,” Chris admitted softly. His fingers brushed through Kate’s hair as she lay curled against him, her head on his chest. A comfortable silence had fallen as they both gained their breath after finding pleasure in one another.
Kate shifted to rest her chin on Chris’ chest, looking at him. “You mean with Adam?” she asked.
He nodded, staring at the ceiling above them. He turned his gaze down to Kate, smiling slightly. “Yeah,” he said aloud. “No idea where to begin with things.”
“I wish I had the answer for you,” Kate said. “But this is new for me. I told Adam I’d help, but I’ve mostly been here for morale support and to be someone he could talk to when he found things out.”
“What has he found out?” Chris asked, his fingers slipping down to brush along the skin of her spine. The corners of his mouth twisted softly when he felt her body shiver against his from his touch.
“Not much,” Kate admitted. “We haven’t found a lot of answers yet, beyond a few things that some shop owner told him over in Eagle Bend. We only arrived yesterday before the confrontation between you and I in front of the boarding house.”
Chris grimaced, his fingers moving to the finger shaped marks that were starting to form on the paler skin of her upper arm. “I am sorry about that,” he said.
“They’ll fade,” Kate said gently. “You are a good man, Chris. I didn’t lie to Adam about that. I wish I had thought about finding a way to tell you before you had to find out like that.”
“How do you tell someone something like that? I mean really?” Chris asked.
“Good point,” Kate said, her fingers brushing along a scar near his shoulder. She noticed other scars, but for some reason this one intrigued her.
“I had her in my sights,” Chris said softly. Kate looked at him confused. “Ella Gaines. She was the one responsible for losing my wife and son.”
“What happened?” she asked softly.
“She was an old lover of mine,” Chris said. “Before I was ever with Sarah. She was obsessed with me. Couldn’t handle that I had moved on and loved Sarah and that we’d had Adam. She hired the men responsible for burning down my home and killing ‘em.”
“But what if Adam isn’t--.”
“She still took him from me,” Chris said. “I’ve missed the past eight years of his life because of what she did. And if it is really him... she put another child’s body in his place to make me believe it was him.”
“She’s still out there, isn’t she?” Kate asked.
Chris swallowed. “Yes,” he said, his voice rough. “I had her in my sights, Kate. I had her... and I hesitated. It got me shot and she got away.”
Kate’s eyes slid to where the scar at his shoulder puckered the skin. It was obvious an older wound, but there was something about it that had her instantly knowing that it was the very wound he was talking about. Lowering her head, Kate pressed her lips to the wound. Her eyes closed, willing tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes to not fall onto his skin. Her lips parted and she gently traced the scarred tissue with her tongue.
Chris’ eyes closed a moment, savoring the feel of her against him. When her tongue touched his skin, he couldn’t stand it anymore and flipped their bodies so she was beneath him. Without speaking, he lowered his mouth to hers, fusing them together. As he teased her lips and tongue with his own, his hands were already roaming over her body and they came together over and over the rest of the night.