[Mag 7 Fic] The Path Less Traveled- PG-13- 12/12
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.
~~
“Pa, can we talk?” Chris looked up from the book he was reading in front of the sheriff’s office. It had been over a week since he had found out Adam was alive and they had handled Ella Gaines once and for all. In that time, he had spent as much time as he could with Adam, acquainting himself with the man his son had become.
“Of course,” Chris said, closing the book in his hand.
“Why are you hidin’?” Adam asked.
That brought Chris up short. Confusion clouded his features as he tried to unravel what his son meant. Not finding any answers, he finally shook his head. “I’m not hiding...”
“Your feelings are,” Adam said. “You’ve barely seen Kate since Nathan said she’d be sore but otherwise okay. And every time she sees you, she turns the other way.”
Chris shifted uncomfortably. The entire way back to town had Chris’ emotions churning wildly, but he had set them aside in order to ensure that Nathan took care of Kate before throwing himself into getting to know his son. Since then, he couldn’t admit that he was too scared to simply go talk to Kate. When she so obviously avoided him, he thought it best to let whatever had transpired between them to fade into distant memory.
Chris tried dodging his son’s pointed question. “Thought you didn’t want to think about--.”
“No,” Adam interrupted. “You are hiding from your feelings for Kate and you shouldn’t. You need her.”
“Son...”
“Pa, I need her too,” Adam admitted. “I don’t know what it was, but she took me in. If it wasn’t for her, we may never have found one another. I may never have remembered who I was. We both need her and I think she needs us, but she’s never been good about admitting that sort of stuff. She needs to know you need her.”
“I’m scared, son,” Chris finally admitted. “She hasn’t come to see me maybe she doesn’t--.”
“If you think she doesn’t want to be with you, then you aren’t seeing her watching you,” Adam said. “When she walks by she always looks for you. When she’s near you, she watches you. I may be young, but that screams to me that she wants to be with you too.”
“But she could--,” Chris started then shook his head. “No, maybe you are wrong.”
“Pa... she told me a bit about her past,” Adam said. “We made a deal. She’d tell me about her nightmares if I told her about mine. She ain’t had it easy with men. Her Pa was a right bastard then she was involved with that Del character you know about.”
“I remember,” Chris all but growled. He may have held a lot of animosity and hostility towards Kate from that time, but now he wondered just how bad things were as he remembered Del Spivak.
“I don’t think Kate knows how to begin telling someone she needs them, Pa,” Adam said. “I don’t think she thinks anyone can need *her*.”
“What do you want me to do?” Chris asked him.
“Stop her from leaving would be a good start,” Adam said.
Chris sat up quickly. “What?”
“I saw her heading towards the livery with her things,” Adam said. “My guess is she’s getting ready to head back to that shack she calls a home to be alone.”
“Like hell.” Chris pushed himself out of his seat and was already walking across the main street of town before Adam could even think of stopping him. Not as if he would. Instead, he simply smiled and glanced down the boardwalk towards the Saloon where he saw Buck giving him a wink before he disappeared into the building, Casey at his side. Adam only grinned wider before he got to his own feet and headed down to join them.
~~
Kate was too wrapped in the blanket of her thoughts as she adjusted the girth of her horse’s saddle. Yosemite had told her that a bit of salve and taking it easy would heal his wounded side best. While she had recovered from her own injuries, so had her horse. She was thankful for Vin finding him and for her horse finding his way back to town. Otherwise, she might be dead right about now.
“Leaving?” The voice was soft and so achingly familiar, but unexpected which is what caused Kate to jump. She turned to look into Chris’ green eyes, currently unreadable.
“Got a homestead to get back to,” Kate said in a soft, husky voice.
“You don’t have to leave,” Chris said, leaning a lean hip against the side of the coral where Kate’s horse wickered and tossed his head.
“Figured it’s what you wa... what was best,” Kate said, quickly turning away from Chris to focus on her horse. Tears suddenly wanted to form and clog her throat and she didn’t want Chris to see that. She wouldn’t let him see how much it was hurting her to leave.
“You figured it’s what I wanted,” Chris said. “Why would you think that?”
“You are putting words...” Kate trailed off. Her jaw clenched before she was able to say what she needed to again. “You have your son. You don’t need me there complicatin’ things. I know that JD ain’t comfortable with me and a roll between the sheets ain’t really serious and it’s maybe easier to just--.”
“Stop,” Chris said.
“No, it’s okay,” Kate said. “Kinda got it out of our systems and we can just pretend that it never...”
“Kate, stop,” Chris said again, moving closer to her. He curled his hands around her shoulders, pressing his fingers into the tense muscles.
“I can’t,” she said quietly. “I can’t... I can’t get close only to...”
“I need you.”
Kate tensed beneath his hands. She felt him loosen his hold and she took advantage, turning around to look at him. “What?”
“I need you,” Chris said. “I want you close. I need you close. Stay.”
“But...”
“Adam needs you too. We both do,” Chris said. He let out a breath and reached up to cup her face, tilting her head up more. There were still bruises from what Ella had done, though many were almost complete gone. He could still see the faint shadowings in a few places. He brushed his thumb across the soft skin of her cheek where a bruise was still fading.
“I can’t let you go, Kate. I am not going to let you go,” he said. “When Ella had you... when I thought I could have lost you. It made me realize just how deep you had gotten into my soul. But it took Adam telling me you were leaving to realize that I needed to man up and tell you.”
“But JD... the others... what happened--,” Kate started to say.
“What happened six years ago happened six years ago. And it wasn’t all you. JD was shot by your sister. You live with the pain of your past every day, just as I live with the pain of mine. Mine only eases now because I have Adam back and Ella’s finally gone,” Chris said. He stroked Kate’s cheek again. “Let me help you ease your past. Let Adam and I both help.”
“You want me to stay?” Kate asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice. “For how long?”
Chris drew her closer, a thumb still stroking her cheek. His lips quirked at the corner of his mouth when her fingers curled around his wrist. “For as long as you want to be with me,” he said. *For the rest of your life and mine if I have a say...*
“And if I say forever?” Kate asked, hope finally slipping over her words. Her voice was small, waiting for a crushing blow that was never to come.
“I would say forever’s a good start,” Chris said. “We’ll start with forever and go from there.”
“Forever it is.” Chris spoke no words, simply lowered his head and claimed Kate’s lips with his own. Forever was all they needed and more.
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.
~~
“Pa, can we talk?” Chris looked up from the book he was reading in front of the sheriff’s office. It had been over a week since he had found out Adam was alive and they had handled Ella Gaines once and for all. In that time, he had spent as much time as he could with Adam, acquainting himself with the man his son had become.
“Of course,” Chris said, closing the book in his hand.
“Why are you hidin’?” Adam asked.
That brought Chris up short. Confusion clouded his features as he tried to unravel what his son meant. Not finding any answers, he finally shook his head. “I’m not hiding...”
“Your feelings are,” Adam said. “You’ve barely seen Kate since Nathan said she’d be sore but otherwise okay. And every time she sees you, she turns the other way.”
Chris shifted uncomfortably. The entire way back to town had Chris’ emotions churning wildly, but he had set them aside in order to ensure that Nathan took care of Kate before throwing himself into getting to know his son. Since then, he couldn’t admit that he was too scared to simply go talk to Kate. When she so obviously avoided him, he thought it best to let whatever had transpired between them to fade into distant memory.
Chris tried dodging his son’s pointed question. “Thought you didn’t want to think about--.”
“No,” Adam interrupted. “You are hiding from your feelings for Kate and you shouldn’t. You need her.”
“Son...”
“Pa, I need her too,” Adam admitted. “I don’t know what it was, but she took me in. If it wasn’t for her, we may never have found one another. I may never have remembered who I was. We both need her and I think she needs us, but she’s never been good about admitting that sort of stuff. She needs to know you need her.”
“I’m scared, son,” Chris finally admitted. “She hasn’t come to see me maybe she doesn’t--.”
“If you think she doesn’t want to be with you, then you aren’t seeing her watching you,” Adam said. “When she walks by she always looks for you. When she’s near you, she watches you. I may be young, but that screams to me that she wants to be with you too.”
“But she could--,” Chris started then shook his head. “No, maybe you are wrong.”
“Pa... she told me a bit about her past,” Adam said. “We made a deal. She’d tell me about her nightmares if I told her about mine. She ain’t had it easy with men. Her Pa was a right bastard then she was involved with that Del character you know about.”
“I remember,” Chris all but growled. He may have held a lot of animosity and hostility towards Kate from that time, but now he wondered just how bad things were as he remembered Del Spivak.
“I don’t think Kate knows how to begin telling someone she needs them, Pa,” Adam said. “I don’t think she thinks anyone can need *her*.”
“What do you want me to do?” Chris asked him.
“Stop her from leaving would be a good start,” Adam said.
Chris sat up quickly. “What?”
“I saw her heading towards the livery with her things,” Adam said. “My guess is she’s getting ready to head back to that shack she calls a home to be alone.”
“Like hell.” Chris pushed himself out of his seat and was already walking across the main street of town before Adam could even think of stopping him. Not as if he would. Instead, he simply smiled and glanced down the boardwalk towards the Saloon where he saw Buck giving him a wink before he disappeared into the building, Casey at his side. Adam only grinned wider before he got to his own feet and headed down to join them.
~~
Kate was too wrapped in the blanket of her thoughts as she adjusted the girth of her horse’s saddle. Yosemite had told her that a bit of salve and taking it easy would heal his wounded side best. While she had recovered from her own injuries, so had her horse. She was thankful for Vin finding him and for her horse finding his way back to town. Otherwise, she might be dead right about now.
“Leaving?” The voice was soft and so achingly familiar, but unexpected which is what caused Kate to jump. She turned to look into Chris’ green eyes, currently unreadable.
“Got a homestead to get back to,” Kate said in a soft, husky voice.
“You don’t have to leave,” Chris said, leaning a lean hip against the side of the coral where Kate’s horse wickered and tossed his head.
“Figured it’s what you wa... what was best,” Kate said, quickly turning away from Chris to focus on her horse. Tears suddenly wanted to form and clog her throat and she didn’t want Chris to see that. She wouldn’t let him see how much it was hurting her to leave.
“You figured it’s what I wanted,” Chris said. “Why would you think that?”
“You are putting words...” Kate trailed off. Her jaw clenched before she was able to say what she needed to again. “You have your son. You don’t need me there complicatin’ things. I know that JD ain’t comfortable with me and a roll between the sheets ain’t really serious and it’s maybe easier to just--.”
“Stop,” Chris said.
“No, it’s okay,” Kate said. “Kinda got it out of our systems and we can just pretend that it never...”
“Kate, stop,” Chris said again, moving closer to her. He curled his hands around her shoulders, pressing his fingers into the tense muscles.
“I can’t,” she said quietly. “I can’t... I can’t get close only to...”
“I need you.”
Kate tensed beneath his hands. She felt him loosen his hold and she took advantage, turning around to look at him. “What?”
“I need you,” Chris said. “I want you close. I need you close. Stay.”
“But...”
“Adam needs you too. We both do,” Chris said. He let out a breath and reached up to cup her face, tilting her head up more. There were still bruises from what Ella had done, though many were almost complete gone. He could still see the faint shadowings in a few places. He brushed his thumb across the soft skin of her cheek where a bruise was still fading.
“I can’t let you go, Kate. I am not going to let you go,” he said. “When Ella had you... when I thought I could have lost you. It made me realize just how deep you had gotten into my soul. But it took Adam telling me you were leaving to realize that I needed to man up and tell you.”
“But JD... the others... what happened--,” Kate started to say.
“What happened six years ago happened six years ago. And it wasn’t all you. JD was shot by your sister. You live with the pain of your past every day, just as I live with the pain of mine. Mine only eases now because I have Adam back and Ella’s finally gone,” Chris said. He stroked Kate’s cheek again. “Let me help you ease your past. Let Adam and I both help.”
“You want me to stay?” Kate asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice. “For how long?”
Chris drew her closer, a thumb still stroking her cheek. His lips quirked at the corner of his mouth when her fingers curled around his wrist. “For as long as you want to be with me,” he said. *For the rest of your life and mine if I have a say...*
“And if I say forever?” Kate asked, hope finally slipping over her words. Her voice was small, waiting for a crushing blow that was never to come.
“I would say forever’s a good start,” Chris said. “We’ll start with forever and go from there.”
“Forever it is.” Chris spoke no words, simply lowered his head and claimed Kate’s lips with his own. Forever was all they needed and more.