#soooooooooooooooo this only took me a million and a half years

[bountyman]

therapardalis asked:

*Busily reloading her pistol* "You sure know how to show a girl a good time!"

bountyman answered:

         Of course the job went wrong. Of course it did. In hindsight, Josh should have known. Catching Wells asleep and alone was too good to be true. It only made sense that it’d be a trap. Josh was slipping.

         Stone chips and sand flew into the air as a shot ricocheted off the rocks where he and Thera hid. If Josh was right–and so far his track record hadn’t been great–there were only three of them out there, including Wells. Unfortunately, all of them were either backed into the mines or hidden in the slope of it. Sneaking behind them wasn’t an option and running out was risky.

         “At least one of us is having fun,” Josh grumbled, and popped up, shooting at a flash of blue.

@therapardalis​:

It would have been better if things had gone to plan. Well. Partly better. Maybe a little. Thera squeezed off a shot and hissed as it bounced off a rock and pinged away. This did get the adrenaline going, that was for sure.

“I don’t suppose you brought me something nice … like a stick of dynamite?” That would have been handy, but she was pretty sure Josh didn’t go in for lugging around unstable explosives. And so, plan B.

“Maybe we can lure these guys out …” She picked up the hat she’d dropped in the dust beside her, and used her toe to pull over a discarded bit of wood. “ I’ll show them a decoy.” The hat went on the end of the stick, just right for being lifted above the edge of the rock to look like her head, “You get ready to shoot.”

          “Dynamite,” Josh parroted under his breath, exasperated. No, it was true he didn’t carry the stuff, but after this maybe he’d start. All assuming they get out of this one alive. 

          “Careful now, Thera,” he warned. Capable of holding her own or not, he wasn’t keen on a lady putting herself in danger. This was his bounty after all, not hers; she was just along for the ride.

          Still, she knew what she was getting into when she rode with him, he reminded himself. She must. This wasn’t the first time they’d been shot at, and God bless her, she seemed to enjoy it.

          Maybe that was why they worked so well.

          Josh peeked around their cover as much as he dared. If he squinted, he thought he could just make out some movement in the mouth of the mine. Then, with a crack that made his ears ring, one of Wells’ boys shot Thera’s decoy. The hat flipped into the air and tumbled into the dust.

          Silence.

          Josh kept very still. 

          Then, gradually, he could make out grumblings from the mines. He grinned and glanced over at Thera. Good girl.

          Silent as he could, Josh shifted where he crouched, lowered gently, gently onto his belly into the dirt. One man wandered hesitantly into the sun, ready to shoot, then, when nothing happened, another crept out. 

          “Think we got ‘im,” he heard one say. 

          “No, no, there was two.”

          “Woman, though, ain’t it?”

          Something about the laughter that followed boiled Josh’s blood. He pushed up on his elbows, drug out a little farther.

          “C’mon out, little lady!” one shouted. “Won’t hurt you none! Not iff’n you behave!”

          Sweaty palms. Sun beating down on his brow. Josh lined up his shot. Just a little squeeze...

          He waited until they were out too far to easily run back before he pulled the trigger all the way. The hillside rang and one dropped immediately, dead. The second, Josh only managed to clip. One leg jerked in a spray of blood and the bandit crumpled with a scream.

          “That leaves Wills,” Josh hissed. “I hope. I’m gonna move in.”