peacemakers: (013)
ᴊᴏsʜ ғᴀʀᴀᴅᴀʏ ([personal profile] peacemakers) wrote in [personal profile] quinientos 2017-08-03 09:26 am (UTC)

Faraday didn't expect to survive.

Obviously he didn't want to die – what man does? – but he'd be a terrible gambler if he didn't recognize they were playing against the house with a deck stacked in Bogue's favor. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Faraday is a practical man. While he expected Rose Creek might live to see another day, with Sam Chisolm acting as the beleaguered army's general, Faraday hardly expected that he would see the small town rise from the ashes. That first gut shot cemented his fate, he thought, and he knew how slowly a shot like that killed. He'd have days at most of agonizing pain and delirium until his body finally gave out. Better to go out with a bang.

And apparently, he meant that literally.

Boom.

He doesn't expect to wake, doesn't expect to blink blearily up at a drab ceiling in a quiet, sun-filled room, to turn his head and see Vasquez sitting beside him in a rickety chair. His entire body feels stiff and heavy, pain racing along his nerves like a barely contained fire. Death is supposed to be quieter than this, he thinks, more peaceful – so he figures he can rule this being hell or heaven right out. The first question out of his mouth is, "Did we win?" And when he gets his answer, he lets out a laugh that's little more than a breath and says, "Good."

And he's lost to unconsciousness again.

While recovering is nowhere near as easy as Faraday would have liked (and indeed, he was a surly bastard for a great deal of it), these days, he's feeling better. His left leg likes to protest, most days, reminding him of the bullet that tore through his thigh, but otherwise, he's regained a great deal of his strength and dexterity. "A miracle," the townsfolk like to tell him. "Foolhardy stubbornness and an inability to know when to quit" is the most likely culprit, however.

The doctor arrives, tells Faraday he's cleared to go, and Faraday feels relief at last. Rose Creek is a nice enough town, but Faraday has never stayed so long in one place – not since he was a child, clinging to his mother's skirts. He's been itching to leave for weeks now, eager to leave for more exciting pastures. It's only when he sees something cross Vasquez's face that he frowns, that he realizes the bit of news hasn't struck the same happy chord as it has with Faraday for some strange reason.

The day stretches on, and Faraday sits in bed, a new deck of cards rasping in his hands as he shuffles them, wearing in the paper. Vasquez breaks the tense silence, the smoke of his third cigar curling up toward the ceiling, and Faraday breathes out a laugh at the joke.

"I'd like to see him try," he says, the cards snapping together as he bridges them. "Already said Jack was as good as mine. He's got another thing comin' if he thinks I'm lettin' him go back on his word."

Faraday straightens out the cards with practiced ease, gaze focused on his work. Vasquez has stayed in that same chair for weeks and weeks by now, sat beside him through the worst of the fevers and the pain, waited patiently (or impatiently, depending on the instance) as Faraday chucked insult after insult at him when his mood darkened. Once Faraday's path to recovery became more steady, he realized how much he appreciated Vasquez's presence, his needling and his ribbing – though Faraday could have done without the constant fussing. It's a wonder that Vasquez had stayed even a few days after the battle, wanted man that he is. Faraday hardly understands why he would stay all this time when he could have ridden out of town the instant the dust settled.

As he mixes the cards in an easy overhand shuffle, Faraday puts on his poker face – not blank and impassive, as one might expect, but blandly pleasant, tinged with amusement at the edges.

"What about you?" he asks lightly, like the answer hardly concerns him. It only now occurs to Faraday that neither of them have asked after the other's plans, once their business with Rose Creek ended. "You gonna join up with Sam?"

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