Only one more chapter after this one <3
I love these sweet boys


--EDIT: forgot Eddie's freckles, how dare I ;)
--


Eddie didn’t sleep, he was on too much alert for Ruth and he couldn’t rest until he knew the others around the camp were dead. He kept checking on Patch periodically in the night but he was still, save for his breathing, which had gotten stronger away from the smoke.

The morning light was a relief after the fires had burned out into piles of blackened smoking rubble. The low morning mist settled and mingled with the smoke as the early dawn light started to bring the shadowed places of the night before into clear view for the first time.

Eddie was sitting up and was trying to ignore the pain in his leg and shoulder. He knew he would have to dig out the spider shot embedded in his flesh and that would be an ordeal without the right tools, or the copious amounts of whiskey the gang usually used to dull their senses before the rugged operation.
He knew Patch needed some medical help too but he was far from a surgeon and wouldn’t have considered himself medically savvy in any situation. He would trust nimble fingers to Lupe or Oskar, even Dan stitched up his own lacerations. Half the time Eddie had to be held down to silence his carrying on when they tried to relieve him of anything from a splinter to a bullet. He would have to muscle through it this time.

Patch slept most of the morning, at least Eddie called it sleeping. The sun was high by the time the white buck’s eyes started to twitch and finally opened after noon.

“Welcome back to the land of the livin’.” Eddie mused. “How do you feel?”

Patch groaned and touched the dried blood around his head wound. “Everything hurts.” he winced. “But… you’re here.” he smiled and tried to sit up. Eddie braced him against his chest and wrapped his arms loosely around him from behind to hold him up.

“You came back?” Patch asked after a few moments.

“Of course.” Eddie rested his muzzle on Patch’s shoulder. He wished he was facing him to talk, but so long as they were talking he was relieved. “I got bored.” he gave a soft chuckle. “No I… I wanted to find you again and see if you wanted some company.”

Patch rested a hand on Eddie’s knee, looking in concern over the bleeding tatters of his trouser leg. “Company?” he echoed.

“Well, what I meant was I uh… I wanted to come west with you, if you’d have me.” Eddie clarified.

Patch shifted to look at him from the side. “You do? What about your brothers?”

“I invited them but they said they were busy.” Eddie teased, feeling the familiar flutter when Patch smiled weakly at the jest.

“I should have stayed.” Patch said. “You were right.” he hung his head. “I rode out of Adler Bend and waited in the same campsite for days. Saying goodbye hurt more than I thought it would. I finally left to go to the fort and I was almost to these cliffs when I thought… I should just turn around. But then the wagon got attacked. You could have been killed trying to rescue me.” trailed off guiltily.

“That mob?” Eddie brightened his tone and shook his head. “Not a chance. Not against Red Eddie O’Shea.” he puffed up his chest and Patch gave a soft snort of a laugh.

“‘Red Eddie O’Shea’?” he twitched his whiskers. “A bit on the nose.”

“It strikes fear into the hearts of villains!” Eddie pointed out. “Or at least it used to in anycase, I’m out of practice.” he looked down at his tattered trouser leg. “It looks worse than it is.” he assured Patch, noticing his face constrict with concern.

“I wish I had been more helpful back there.” Patch said softly. “I felt so… useless.” he tilted his ears back guiltily.

“Nah, you were just in over yer head.” Eddie tried to reassure him. “Six on one? Those odds are never good. Besides, one was a damn squirrel.” Eddie huffed. “Tree-skatin’ fiends they are. He didn’t hurt you did he?” Eddie asked but Patch shook his head.

“No… they rode up on either side of the wagon, two and two, then the leader rode out front and told me to stop. I tried to turn but they all had their guns on me. I figured they would just take the cargo and leave me alone but they were all sorts of whipped up with the chase. Then after they found some of my pricier goods they wanted to know where I got everything. They got more riled, I couldn’t talk myself out of the spot I was in. The lizard pulled me down and the shrew and the other two mice started beating me until I gave them the name of the towns. I started making names up after a while, I ran out but they still wanted more information… I must have blacked out cause I woke up hanging from that tree.” he shuddered.
“That shrew came ‘round and talked about using me for target practice in the morning. I thought I was a goner.” he breathed out slowly. “But luckily, I have a handsome and deadly stalker.''
He forced a smile but Eddie could see he was still badly shaken by the ordeal and was putting on the care-free face for him.

“I was in the area.” Eddie played along for a bit then gave his shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. If I had gone with you this never would have happened. I’d have made sure of it.”

“I should have stayed with you.” Patch said again, looking away and wiping his eyes as it got harder for him to keep up the front. “They shot one of my quail, my wagon’s destroyed, I lost everything… you lost your guns and your hat and… I should have just stayed. I have no business being out here.” he sniffed and looked away in embarrassment.

Eddie shook his head. “To hell with my guns.” he said firmly. “Don’t you think you mean more to me than those trinkets?” he sighed and looked up the road to give Patch a bit of privacy. “It’s been a hard night.” he concluded. “Let’s get ourselves patched up, we’ll salvage what we can and get movin’ again somewhere where we can rest.”

“Where?” Patch asked as an anxious look flickered across his face.

“I think a master thief and a darin’ outlaw can get by, besides, I know a town that owes me a favor.” Eddie assured him.

–

The rest of the morning was a grueling ordeal of both bucks getting back on their feet and salvaging what they could from the wagon and the destroyed camp. Eddie eventually was able to call his quail, Blarney, in from the trees and go through his saddle bags for medical supplies. He pulled out the extra blanket he had been planning on cutting up for bandages when a paper wrapped package fell to the ground and with much cursing and moaning he stooped to pick it up and untied the paper around it to find a small wooden box with a note on the front:

Dearest Eddie,
Dan thinks you can handle yourself but I believe you and I know better. You take care of yourself and come back in one piece for his sake or I’ll kill you myself for making us worry.

All the love I can muster,

-Mrs. Kate Ferro

Eddie snorted and opened the box and his frown melted away instantly to find a hand packed kit of first aid supplies. A roll of clean linen bandages, tongs, needle and threat, a vial of astringent and a few bottles of other assorted tonics and cures.

“Bless you, Kate.” Eddie whispered with a grin as he tucked the box under his arm and made his way back to where Patch was sitting on a rock near the smoldering wreckage of his wagon.

“Hey, I had some supplies in my gear we could use to… whatcha got there?” Eddie asked.

Patch looked over his shoulder. “I uh, I found your holster.” he cleared his throat and lifted the charred bit of leather up for him. “I was going to try and fix it but I’m not sure how.”

“I said don’t worry about it.” Eddie sighed. “I’ll figure somethin’ out later, right now, let's stop your guts from makin’ a darin’ escape.” he held up the needle and thread.

Patch made a face and pressed a hand tight to his side where the blood had dried hard and rust-colored to his shirt.

“I know.” Eddie agreed. “But you can call me every dirty name under the sun the whole time.” he promised and settled down next to him to stitch him up.

--

Patch proved to be a much better patient than Eddie, who flinched and cursed wildly as Patch tried to pull the spider shot pellets from his leg with the tongs.

“I’m sorry!” Patch hissed for the umpteenth time as he wrenched a pellet free from Eddie’s thigh and dropped it in the grass.

“Augh! It’s grand!” Eddie pounded a fist into the grass and fought the urge to kick Patch in the chest as he had to dig into his leg once more. “OW! Damn you to hell!” he snarled.

Patched sighed and ripped the fragment free, dropping it in the grass with the others. Luckily he wasn’t taking Eddie’s abuse to heart and re-positioned himself to sit more squarely on his back as he held him down to get the last one.

“It hurts like getting shot anew each time but it's got to be done and I know I’m a bad patient but– I’LL RIP OFF YER HANDS!” Eddie shouted into the grass, trying to muffle his threats as Patch pulled a tricky bit from behind his knee.

“Oh please say it's over!” he groaned. “Just saw off the leg if it's not, I don’t think I really need it!”

“You’re all finished.” Patch said, getting up with a wince and helping to dress the fresh bleeding wounds. “This part might sting,” he said as he applied the astringent to the linen bandages and started to wrap his leg.

“What’s gonna st-OH GOD JUST KILL ME!” Eddie wailed and ripped up great handfuls of grass and tried to kick away from Patch, who smacked him deftly across the rump like a naughty child.

“If you dirty your bandages I’ll have to use more of it so lay still!” he demanded as he wrestled to finish wrapping his leg. He finished and sat up, clutching his side with a gasp.

Eddie rolled over and sat up. “I didn’t tear yours did I?” he asked worriedly.

“Just hurts.” Patch waved him off with a hand. “I think they broke some ribs yesterday.” he leaned back against the rock and rested his head back to breathe more easily.

“I wish I could kill ‘em again all over for you.” Eddie growled, stuffing his freshly bandaged leg back into his tattered trousers.

Patch looked around at the smoking wreckage of the camp and the blasted bodies now visible in the scorched grass. “Eddie, there were six, right? I swear I counted six when they attacked me.”

“Aye, I saw six.” Eddie confirmed. “There was Reeves, the old feller with the shotgun, the shrew, the lizard, the feller in the wagon and the dirty great squirrel.” he counted off his fingers. “What’s botherin’ you?”

“I only saw four bodies.” Patch looked around. “Three mice and the squirrel. Did you find the bodies of the shrew or the lizard?”

Eddie thought about Ruth slinking away through the grass in the haze of smoke and fire. If she had lived through the night he would be impressed. As for the shrew, he had no idea.

“Let’s not worry about them right now, yer blast may have done the job for us in the long run. In any matter, they’ve cleared off. By the way, what caused that explosion last night? Gunpowder?”

Patch shook his head. “Something way less stable. You ever hear of something called nitroglycerin?”

“No. Sounds like an enchantment.” Eddie mused and waggled his fingers. “Like a magical word used by the fae to apparently blow their enemies to bits.”

“It's used to make powerful explosives. Think dynamite and the like. But on its own it's like a strange liquid, but it's very sensitive. Apparently, if it gets jostled too much or gets overheated the whole thing can cause a massive explosion.” Patch explained.

“And you were just carryin’ that around in a big bumpy wagon?” Eddie looked at the aftermath of the night before.

“I only came upon it in Garlan, a few towns before Redcliff, I nicked a bunch of parcels from their postal wagon. I found it in a small vial in a densely cushioned box, I thought it was a perfume until I read the letter with it the next day, I guess they were going to test its use for blasting on the rail lines back in Garlan. When I saw it get knocked into the fire last night, I knew we only had seconds to act.” he shuddered. “I thought I was dead either way, it's the only reason I could shoot that squirrel and get to you.”

“You saved my life.” Eddie pointed out.

“Just returning the favor.” Patch smiled.

Eddie wanted to lean over and kiss him but they were both so exhausted and battered that he felt it just wasn’t the right moment. Instead, he reached out and clasped his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Anytime.” he promised.

–

“Louie!” Patch beamed as they reached the wood and a trembling blue king quail looked around the tree it was tied to. “You’re ok!” Patch limped forward and patted the bird’s striped face. “How’s my good boy?” he cooed, giving the bird a kiss on top of its beak as it leaned down for pats.

“I’m doing fine!” Eddie called cheekily as he stuffed his saddle bags with the remains of what they were able to pull from the fire. Some partially melted jewelry, a few tools, the burned holster and the firearms they had been able to lift from the bodies of the bandits.

Patch untied Louie and brought him around to Eddie and the masked bobwhite, Blarney. The two birds regarded one another curiously before Louie pressed tight against the bobwhite for comfort and Blarney clacked his beak moodily in response.

“He misses Charles.” Patch’s ears drooped. “I’m sorry, buddy.” he patted the quail’s wing.

Eddie climbed into the saddle and helped Patch get on Louie barebacked.

“If you slide off we can always double up.” he offered as they started their slow ride onward through the chalk cliffs towards Fort Hawk Kill.

For a while they rode in comfortable silence, both too sore and exhausted to say much. By late afternoon Eddie knew they wouldn’t reach the fort until long after dark and begrudgingly made camp in the woods away from the main road.

“I’ll stay up and keep watch.” Eddie yawned where he was slumped against a tree root by the fire.

“You’ll do no such thing. You look like you haven’t slept in days. Besides, I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to.” Patch shuddered and looked around the dark woods anxiously. “I’m still worried about those other two tailing us.”

“Don’t be.” Eddie tried to reassure him. “They won’t mess with us again. If they’re alive they’re probably off somewhere lickin’ their wounds and trying to figure out what happened.” He winced as he shuffled to sit closer to him. “I’ll stay up with you, keep you company.” he offered.

“No, please get some sleep.” Patch smiled at him softly. “Let me feel useful for a change.”

“Don’t start talkin’ nonsense.” Eddie yawned and settled down next to his side. “Don’t be runnin’ off before mornin’ either.” he mumbled as he curled up and fell asleep almost instantly.

Patch sighed and stroked Eddie’s curly headfur gently as he drifted off.

“I won’t.” he promised.

–

Eddie felt Patch stand up around dawn and squinted awake, he propped himself up on one elbow and watched him walk over to the quail. For a heart-sinking moment, he thought he was going to mount up and ride off, deserting him once more. To his relief, he saw him pull a saddle blanket from beneath their supplies and walked back over to him. He startled when he saw Eddie awake.

“You looked cold.” he held out the blanket.

“I’m alright.” Eddie assured him and sat up. “I’ll share it though.” he reached out for him to come and sit close. Patch joined him and Eddie stoked up their fire again. Patch dozed against his shoulder, eyes refusing to stay closed for long.

Around them the sky grew pale from the coming dawn and the east began to pinken and turn the light rosie.

Eddie decided to break camp early and get them back on the road while Patch rested near the fire. He couldn’t believe he had stayed up all night, he must have been more rattled than Eddie had thought. He got Blarney saddled and tied Louie’s lead rope to the saddle horn before looking around and seeing that Patch had wandered away from the camp towards the road and was standing with the saddle blanket clutched around his shoulders watching the sun rise. Eddie limped over to him and was surprised to see tears in Patch’s eyes as he watched the sky blaze with new color.

“Are you alright, love?” Eddie asked, reaching out to touch his arm.

Patch rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m fine.” he croaked. “Just… I’m still here.” he sighed out.

“That’s a good thing isn’t it?” Eddie asked. “Still here… with me?” he tilted his ears.

“What?” Patch looked over. “No of course!” he reached out and took his hand. “I just… I wasn’t expecting any of this. I didn’t think.” he gave another ragged sigh. “I didn’t think anyone was coming.”

“It was a bad day.” Eddie turned to face him. “They happen, but we lived through it. We’ll live through more together, hopefully none as violent as that.” he reached out tentatively and tilted his chin up. “As long as you’ll have me, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

Patch’s eyes welled and he looked away. “I’m not worth getting shot over.” he said hoarsely.

“I’d like to meet whoever told you that and shoot them in the face.” Eddie said firmly. “Who are they to decide that? They don’t get to decide who I want to love.”

Patch glanced over at him in confusion. “Love? …We barely know each other.” Patch looked like saying the words were agony.

“Well I’m tryin’ but a certain mysterious prince keeps ridin’ off in the night.” Eddie saw him flinch and he took his hand again. “Can I tell you what I do know?”

Patch swallowed then nodded wordlessly as Eddie cleared his throat.

“Yer name is Patch, yer a delightfully ironic vegetarian butcher from Chicago. Yer journeying west through all the small towns along the frontier and truth be told yer a bit light-fingered to help yer cause.” he gestured over to the quail. “You have a witty sense of humor, you named yer two king quail Charles and Louie after the kings of England and France because you thought it’d be funny to be towed around by a pair of royals.”
He smiled and sat down on a root and gently tugged Patch down by the hand to sit with him. “I know somethin’ happened to make you shy about hangin’ about once you got close with someone, and that you hate goodbyes because of it. I know all this and it made me want to find you and learn more. To me yer worth it all.” he smiled sincerely.

“Eddie… you’re from a little town. Tell me honestly, did you really care or was I just… the only buck that was there? Your only choice that felt the same way? The only other lumberjack?” he clarified, glancing away. “All I’ve realized after ten months of traveling is sometimes I’m just there to be someone else's mistake in the morning. Flirting is fun but I can’t live like that anymore, waking up only to hear the person next to you say how disgusted with themselves they are. It’s happened too many times.” his ears flattened self-conciously. “You were the first to actually come after me, twice. I just want to know if this is real or am I just your only option?”

Eddie’s heart broke listening to Patch talk but he slid closer to them on their tree root and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He gave him his softest smile. “Only option? Patch, I’m spoiled for choice. Bucks, does, I never cared about that. It's the person I like. I like you, silly. You’re the one I want.” he leaned in and touched his nose to Patch’s and when he didn’t pull away he kissed him.

Patch smiled and sniffed hard, rubbing his eyes as Eddie wrapped him up carefully in a hug, mindful of his injured ribs. “I want you too.” he murmured into Eddie’s ear.

“Good, cause yer never gettin’ rid of me. I’m like a burr!” Eddie cracked a grin and rubbed his back.

“Oh no.” Patch laughed and dried his eyes.

“Oh no indeed!” Eddie kissed his cheek and pulled back. “Now, let's get ourselves to the fort. I feel like I’m owed some bounty money and a nice inn.”

Eddie pulled Patch up into the saddle with him and smiled when his arms wrapped around him from behind. Together, they rode down the road and onward to Fort Hawk Kill, with Patch dozing peacefully against Eddie's back.