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katleeptAuthor: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Mary finally has the best and most shocking story of her life, -- but it's also the only one she'll never share.
Warnings: Slash, Established Relationship
Word Count: 1,204
Date Written: 5 December, 2011
Disclaimer: Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner, Mary Travis, any other characters mentioned within, and The Magnificent Seven are © & TM CBS, The Mirisch Group, MGM, and Trilogy Entertainment, none of whom are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
He had captured her attention from the moment he had first appeared inside her quiet and dusty town. He had laid down the law and saved her friend's life, and ever since then her mind had been running with a thousand questions -- and a thousand more feelings that she neither allowed to be spoken or felt. Those feelings should have died with her husband, and yet every time Chris Larabee's smoldering, green eyes caught her gaze, Mary felt them churning inside of her again.
Amongst them was her secret longing for adventure that had hidden away after she had lost her husband and that she had quieted long before then, after having given birth to Billy. She had managed to console it thus far with slipping away from her home in the early morning hours and riding, and during those rides, the blonde reporter's thoughts always turned to the man in black.
She remembered well the first time she had heard of the losses he had suffered, and she recalled, with ease, wondering, when Buck had first told her of Chris' loss, how he must be feeling, why he had gazed at her, and what he would think of her now. She was no stranger to the animosity towards those who chose her profession, and Chris had certainly made his stance on her newspaper quite clear. Yet he had continued to look at her, and his scowls had continued to burn a warmth down her body and through her heart, both of which had been just as cold as the desert was hot for years before Chris had come into her life.
If he didn't like her, why did he continue to watch her? If they weren't meant to be together, why did just one look from his keen, green eyes make her shiver and tremble inside? And yet every time she tried to approach him, he suddenly found something else that he needed to be doing. He claimed not to like her, and yet he watched her like a hawk watching a mouse that was all too eager to be caught.
Mary gulped at that thought as she watched the sun rise over the valley. She could not yet be seen where she stood, but she could see the entire valley as it stretched out below her. She had already easily spotted Vin's wagon and had smiled at the sight of her good friend's chosen abode. She'd invited him to stay in the back of her shop many times, but yet he always declined her invitation. She knew he had to be cold and lonely out here, but still it was to this place that she found his wagon almost every morning.
The sun's golden rays flittered across the ground, and Mary narrowed her eyes upon the spot of ground before Vin's wagon. Something was amiss. There was another body down there! She pulled her horse back and watched in shock as the two bodies began to move. Vin reached out and took the other one in his arms. Dawn's light glittered upon the other person's blonde head.
Mary smiled to herself. Vin had come to her weeks ago for help in writing and reading, and she had learned, much to her surprise, that he had a poet's soul. The gentle, caring man was in love, and the poetry that bubbled in his soul was caused by the one for whom he had fallen. Mary had tried to question him about the lucky lady, but Vin had managed to dodge almost every one of her questions. Those answers he had given had not enabled her to have anything upon which to build to discover the object of his affection, but yet now, before her, she was about to see the truth.
She was glad he was in love and that his love had clearly been returned. She knew she should have looked down upon him for courting the lady so closely before marriage, but Mary could not look down upon her friend whose courage and compassion she knew to be endless. She also knew that she should turn away and grant the lovers their privacy, but her curiosity had always been too strong to deny.
Thus it was, that early morning, that Mary did not turn a blind eye to the sight before her but instead leaned forward upon her mare's bare back. She strained to see, and then she gasped at the sight with which she was met. Her mind spun with a million more questions, and she realized, at last, that the looks that Chris had been giving her had nothing to do with the longing that stirred her own troubled soul but instead everything to do with making sure that she was not watching him too closely and discovering his secrets.
She'd thought she'd finally known or at least suspected every dark secret the man had, but this one had caught her completely unawares. Her fingers entwined in her horse's mane, bringing a whicker that almost caused Mary to faint. She turned from the hillside and ran away from the sight of two men kissing each other good morning that was forever burned inside her mind.
Vin looked up over Chris' head at the sound of the whickering horse. He'd known some one was there for a long time, and he had known exactly who it was. Mary finally had her answers, but he also knew that she would not reveal their secret. For this time, and this time alone, her writing stick would stay in her pocket.
Chris whirled from Vin's arms, his gun already pointing at the hillside, but the rider was gone. He cursed under his breath as he jumped to his feet and hurriedly started to dress.
Vin laid back, his brown, curly head resting upon one muscular, tanned arm. He watched his love, who was near to panick, with a wry grin twisting his lips that were still swollen and warm from their love making. "It's all right, Chris," he said.
Chris shot one of his most infamous glares at the hill. "They might've seen us!"
Vin reached out and took Chris' hand. "It's all right," he said again and led him home to his waiting arms. Several more kisses later, Chris had pushed the unseen rider to the back of his mind as a problem to be dealt with later when the man decided to show his ugly head.
Mary galloped all the way back to her home, and it was only after she'd sent Billy on his way to school that her heart finally stopped hammering like war drums inside of her chest. She ran a hand over her face as she gazed at herself in the lone mirror she possessed. Hers was a face that Chris would never love, but that was for the best. Vin had won his love, and her friends would finally be happy. She had the juiciest story of a lifetime, but yet it was a tale that she knew would destroy them both as well as, quite possibly, Mary thought, their love. It was the one story, she vowed in silence, that she would never tell.
