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[quinientos]

This isn't exactly the trip to town that Vasquez had expected.

She'd thought she would come and see these people that Robert had to deal with. True, she didn't think she was going to like all of them, but she also didn't think that she would feel this much rage and fury when she saw how they treated him. They spoke down to him, they ignored him, and they laughed at him. Dressed in her pretty frock and her hair loose, she knows she's supposed to be demure, but it's a very good thing that they'd disarmed her before she got to town. If they hadn't, she'd be in the jail cell because she would have shot someone in her fury.

As it is, they're pulling her off of Doc Holliday, while Aleja spits furious Spanish invective at him, furious at the jokes they've been making on Robert's behalf. "He is twice the man that you will ever be," she finishes, spitting at his and Earp's feet, irritated on Robert's behalf.

Forcing her arm out of the hold, she sneers at the men holding her. "I'm going," she snaps, grabbing her thick fur coat and hauling it on, shoving hat on her head and thinking it's good she came here to see this. Because now, she's not letting Robert come even close to this place after everything that she's seen. She stands in the doorway and waits for him, because she's not leaving without him.

They're never coming back to this place and Aleja is already making plans to never let him work for these two men, not when he deserves so much more.

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[zwaan]

There's a million thoughts running through his mind. Ones about what Aleja had said to him before they came to town. Thoughts about these people and the things they've done to him. Not just now but before any of this. Things he had actually seen but had ignored. Things now that he can't stop but to think about.

So he moves to help her into the wagon, though his gaze isn't entirely focused, avoiding meeting her gaze.

Even as he climbs up into the wagon, gathering up the reins.

"I will defend you to them. Never think I would pick them over you."

[quinientos]

She follows after him, not meeting his eye. He's going to figure out she's lying and then they're going to be in trouble. She doesn't want him to defend her, that's the whole point of her lying to him. "Well, lucky for you, there's nothing to defend," she insists with the steely determination of a woman who's warning him not to do anything stupid.

"Besides, you already picked me, didn't you? It's our cabin you're staying at for the winter, not theirs," she helpfully adds.

[zwaan]

He's quiet for a long time, guiding the horse out of town and back towards the cabin. His mind racing, thinking about what's happening.

"So then why wouldn't you trust me to tell me the truth? I saw your face. I saw there's. Nothing in that said they were saying nothing. Why protect them?"

[quinientos]

She waits until they're out of town enough that she thinks that she's safe to tell him. She doesn't really want to, but he deserves it, doesn't he? Besides, it's not like she's going to get away with lying about it forever. "Because I'm protecting you," is what she says firmly.

They still have a ways to go before she'll tell him exactly what she heard, but she can let him know that she hadn't been doing it to hurt him.

[zwaan]

"Protecting me from what? Do you know what I didn't want to bring you to town? It wasn't that I fear you might actually kill Wyatt or Doc. It's because... now you know the man I really am," he says, staring straight ahead, his hands white knuckled and locked around the leather of the reins until it cut into his skin.

"I'm many things, but I'm not stupid enough not to know that I am a laughing stock to this town. I have devoted my life to them but out here, not being the hard, rough man most of them are, I know they look down on me. I never wanted you to see that," he says, words tight and clipped, reining in emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. "But now you've seen the truth. I don't pretend otherwise, I just have no other life to live. After you move on in the spring, I will likely do the same. If nothing else to ensure that should anyone come looking for you, they look another way," he adds, still putting her first before himself.

[quinientos]

"Protecting you from losing this place," she snaps at him, because as much as she doesn't want to lose her temper, there it goes. She tightens her hand on the reins and she breathes out slowly, shaking her head. "I don't care about the man they think you are, I know better."

Now that they're far enough away, she'll tell him what they've been saying. "They think I'm your whore," is what she says flatly. "The truth of this place? The truth is that this town is ridiculous and I hate it. I hate them. I want you to still have the choice to come back here, though, because I think maybe you say all this, but you still want a part of it."

[zwaan]

"What I want I accept will never happen, Aleja. I accepted that a lot of years ago," he says, still not looking at her, staring straight ahead. "I stay here because in the end, maybe I can do some good, but I have lived my entire life here alone in that house, with a few trips to the church a week, meeting up with Wyatt at his homestead. That's it. I was a fairly sickly child, raised to keep books as I do for some of the businesses in town, and without a life beyond that."

He tries to keep his voice soft, even, flat if he can avoid the pain he feels speaking about this. It's one thing living it. Another to be honest about it.

"I'm sorry I did anything to make them think that of you. I shouldn't have brought you here, for your sake," he says, truly meaning that and not worrying about it for his sake. He's never mattered, not even to himself.

"I never had anything here to keep except a place where I don't have to explain myself, and everyone accepts I'm a bit odd and a little off. When Spring comes and I'm sure you're safe, I'll go somewhere. I'm capable of living by myself and if that's what happens, so be it. It's little different than what I have now without Wyatt and Doc expecting so much of me."

He's known how they treat him as well, but he just needed enough to feel needed. They'd given him that, if only barely, and so he'd made it enough.

[quinientos]

She gives him a long look, trying not to be smug. She thinks that what he's saying is right and true and it's what he should be saying, but on the other hand, she also knows how much this place means to him and how hard it must be for him to confess it. She reaches over and draws his hand into both of hers, rubbing her fingers over it as he speaks.

"I don't care if they call me a whore," she assures. They didn't touch her, they didn't try to, so she can deal with words. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't hear it because I want you safe," she says.

It's a confession she hadn't meant to make out loud, but now that she's said it, Aleja doesn't see the harm in it being out there. "Living by yourself is very lonely. I should know," she points out. "You shouldn't do it unless you have to."

[zwaan]

His heart feels as if it lurches in his chest when she takes his hand, and yet those words nearly make him joke as if his heart is in his throat. His fingers curl, clinging to her hand for a moment.

"I care, because you are a good woman. In that way," he says, smiling tightly because he's sure she'll argue with him. And it makes him more determined to never be that man, to never put her in a position where the horrible things they say about her are true.

"It's mostly how I've spent my entire life. If it keeps you safe, protects you? I will." It it meant she didn't look poorly at him for staying there with them, he would.

[quinientos]

Vasquez snorts at the 'good woman' remark, even if she lets it slide. Just because he's being stupid about how good she is doesn't mean she needs to put that into words, because he should already know that.

She toys with the ring as she takes her hand back to herself, thinking that maybe come the spring, he won't want to out there on his own. "How does you being lonely protect me?" she demands of him, wanting to know his thinking.

[zwaan]

To Robert, she is a good woman. She might have killed a man but then half of Purgatory couldn't deny they'd done the same. She might be using him, and he knows that, but she's done no worse to him than anyone else. Better than most.

"I am not going to assume you will want to stay with me once spring arrives and we're certain they're not seeking you out here. I knew from the beginning that this is just me helping me, but I will never assume more. If you have no desire for my company, then I will make sure the town knows you and I have gone the opposite direction from where you plan to go. That way, should anyone look for you, they'll be following me. Otherwise..."

He glances at her once more, looking away with eyes closed for a moment. It's not what he wants. Not in the least. He has the winter to win her over, and pray that it works.

"We can discuss that in the spring."

[quinientos]

She gives him an amused look, full of new respect as they ride out. "In the spring," she agrees, seeing as that'll be a good time for them to talk about what he's going to offer to her and what kind of life he's going to pursue.

Vasquez has no plans of letting him come back here, but then, there are so many other towns they can go to. In the spring, of course. "Until then, we survive the winter, otherwise there's no point talking at all."

[zwaan]

"I have survived many a winter in Purgatory with no losses," he says, trying to force a smile. "I don't plan to let you be my first. You'll make it," he says, believing that more than anything else.

"If nothing else, you will survive the winter and be prepared come spring."

[quinientos]

"Oh, I know I will, but if you irritate me too much, you might not," Vasquez jokes playfully, even though she knows she won't let anything happen to him, or else she would have someone's head. Settling a little on the cart, she leans into his warmth, giving him a fond smile. "I did pretty good back there, no?" she boasts.

"I think even your Wyatt had a flash of fear in his eyes at one point, like I might bite his ear off."

[zwaan]

"Oh I accepted that the moment that I agreed to spend the winter with you," he says, sounding serious though his eyes crinkle a bit at the corner, making it obvious he's trying not to smile.

"You did... It was very good. I'm sorry I put you in that position, but I was amazed. I've never seen anyone stand up to them like that." Not men or women, and he hopes she realizes that without having to point it out. "Were you thinking to bite off his ear?"

[quinientos]

"Only if he kept talking shit about you, then I might have shot it off," she says with a wave of her hand, like he shouldn't care about this violent side of her because it's in defense of him. She grins, because she might not have intended to shoot the ranger, but it had felt good to defend herself and her ground.

Sometimes, there's a bit of a violent streak in her and honestly, she doesn't mind it so much.

[zwaan]

"He can say all he wants about me. I don't care, Aleja," he points out, meaning it. He's never cared and he's not starting now. "I only care that he does these things to you. But I accept it matters to you," he says with a small smile.

"But we have winter, and let's focus on that."

[quinientos]

She looks at him and wonders when it started, this caring about her. She's known, of course, that he looks at her with her skin and her body, but that's normal, she thinks. For him to care, though? That's new and she could use it against him, she could make herself safe.

Strange how she doesn't want to and instead is starting to think about maybe not using him at all. "Lots of time to get to know one another and care," she points out. "Maybe I'll convince you to stick around."

[zwaan]

He wants to believe it's just that he was there for her, and that spending all this time together is just how things go. Robert knows otherwise though. She's a hellion, and she's strong in ways he's never been. What he's felt for Wyatt might be hero worship, but he knows what he's starting to feel for Aleja, even if he won't let himself truly believe in it. He doesn't want to face it, because it's madness on his part. He knows that well enough.

Though those words make his heart jump. He just can't even begin to imagine what it might be if she did truly want him to saty, but until then, he would do the best he could for as long as he could. To be near her.