Partner (Micah Bell)

24. American Heroes

The sun was setting as Ashley took a seat at the camp fire, smiling at the three men who were already there. She grabbed a bottle of beer and took a sip just before Micah sat beside her with his own drink in his hand. Nobody said anything, nothing of importance anyway, as they say and drank together. The five outlaws around the fire looked up towards Dutch when they saw him approaching them.

"How you boys doing? Oh, and lady of course" Dutch asked politely with a smile as he stood at the campfire.

"Good boss, how about you?" Bill asked, looking up at the man.

"Oh, I am okay son, I'm okay" Dutch smiled and patted Bill on the shoulder. "It's interesting, you know, that thing Evelyn Miller says-" he started but paused, glancing at Ashley when she let out a small laugh. She quickly apologised and smiled politely, encouraging him to continue. "'I ain't your king, I ain't your messiah'. I hope you all know that...but my god, there are fools in this world, and there are even bugger fools that listen to 'em. Nobody...is looking for something so much as the American people. But it is like old Miller says...the power, the kingship we seek, it is in us, and if we deny it then we make others our lord. 'If we deny it'....I love that" he finished, smiling to himself. Ashley took a sip of her beer before covering her mouth with her hand and resting her elbow on her knee. Micah couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking, what she had found amusing when Dutch mentioned the writer.

"I don't quite get it" Bill admitted, just looking at Dutch with an uninterested confusion.

"You will son, you will. Enjoy your evening" Dutch chuckled lightly, patting Bill's shoulder again before nodding at the rest of the group and walking away.

"You too, Dutch" Ashley smiled, waving at the man. Eventually Dutch had disappeared out of sight and returned to his tent.

"Alright Black, what's so funny?" Micah asked Ashley, causing the others to look at her as well, all of them waiting to hear what she had to say.

"It's nothing" she shook her head, drinking from her beer.

"Come on Ash" John encouraged, leaning forward to show his interest.

"Fine...it's nothing bad. I just think it's funny how much Dutch talks about this Evelyn Miller. Using the writer's words like they are his own. They ain't even that clever. Don't get me wrong, I love Dutch, I really do but sometimes the preaching is a bit much. He probably saved my life and I respect him but he knows that I will call him out on his bullshit" Ashley explained with a light chuckle. Of course she loved Dutch, she wouldn't by here without him, but sometimes he needed to be reminded that he was only a man and that he needed to take a break.

"I actually think he respects you for that. I've seen you put him in his place before and he never calls you out for it" John commented, the others around the campfire nodding in agreement.

"What can I say? We have a connection" she shrugged, smiling at the men who just chuckled along.

"That so?" Micah asked as he turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'd say so" Ashley laughed, taking a sip from her drink. "Sometimes he just needs to be reminded that we are all just criminals, not some sort of American heroes" she shrugged. Ashley knew that the camp was full of good people but in the end they were all criminals, all wanted outlaws and she was okay with that. She was pretty sure that everyone in camp was okay with that.

"Couldn't agree more" Micah smirked, nodding at her. Ashley froze when she felt his hand move to rest on the small of her back, she glanced up but it nobody seemed to notice what Micah was doing. She sent him a glare when nobody was looking but he didn't glance at her, Micah just sipped from his beer and acted like he wasn't doing anything.

Ashley couldn't deny that she rather liked the feeling of Micah's hand on the small of her back but she knew that if anyone saw, they would start asking questions. She knew that it was harsh to tell Micah to keep...whatever this is a secret but that's the problem right there! They didn't even know what their relationship was and bringing other people into it, people who would definitely involve themselves, would just make it more complicated.

The woman teased as she felt Micah's fingers slipping under the back of her shirt, his hand running over the bare skin of her back.

"I'm done for the night" Ashley sighed, placing her bottle down as she stood up. She kicked Micah in the ankle as she walked past him, trying not to draw attention to them both. Micah just rolled his eyes, glancing at her as she disappeared into her tent.

Micah understood why Ashley didn't want the others to know and he actually agreed that it would be a good idea, but it was much more frustrating than he thought it would be. He didn't realise how little time they actually spent alone, they never had time to act on their feelings for each other and it was irritating both of them.