You're Your Father's Daughter - Red Dead Redemption Reader Insert (Part Nine)
Plot: What was supposed to be a nice, easy going job, turned into a bloodbath when Leviticus Cornwall shows up in Valentine.
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 2100
A few days after your conversation with Arthur and your run in with Agent Milton and Agent Ross, all you wanted to do was spend some time with Sean. The sun was shining down on Horseshoe Overlook as you made your way over to him. He gave you a toothy smile once he saw you walking towards him. Once you got near him, he took your hand and pulled you onto his lap.
"Thought you might've forgotten about me," he says, his voice teasing.
You roll yours eyes "You know I wouldn't, you're too loud and annoying to forget," you smirk.
Sean let out a mocking gasp "You wound me, Miss Van der Linde," he says, putting his hand over his heart.
"We should go out tonight," he whispers in your ear, rubbing his hands up and down your sides, "No Pinkertons, no camp, no Dutch or Hosea breathing down our necks...just us." You sigh, "I don't know..." you mumble. "Come on, love, it's just for a night, they won't miss us," before you could answer, John called you over. Giving Sean an apologetic look, you made your way over to where he was.
"Yeah?"
"I need your help with somethin'," John told you.
Letting out an annoyed huff and glancing over to where Sean was talking with Lenny, you sighed but nodded "Fine.."
Mounting Whiskey and following John outside of the camp, you rode up beside him. "So why are we heading to Valentine?" you asked, "I got a lead on somethin', that's it," John replied, his voice gruff. You narrowed your eyes at him, you knew he knew more than that but you didn't want to push him and cause an argument.
"Hey, first one to Valentine wins," you said, your voice teasing but you're eyes held a glimmer of challenge.
"Oh, is that so?" John asked, looking back towards you, "You'reou on Van der Linde," he turned away and kicked Old Boy into a gallop. You yelled in protest and equally kicked Whiskey into a gallop as well. The wind whipped through your hair, the sharpness of the cold hitting your face as you ran past John and towards the town. John swore as you passed him and you let out a laugh as you ran through and stopped at the Sheriffs office.
"Guess I win, Marston," you smirk.
John rolled his eyes and dismounted Old Boy "Cause I let you," he said.
"Sure, John," you replied, swinging your leg over Whiskey and dismounting.
You followed John toward the saloon, pushing the doors open. The warmth of the room greeted you, and you made your way over to the bar. John leaned against it casually, while you stood beside him, eyes scanning the room, half-expecting Arthur to show up any minute. John ordered drinks for the both of you to help pass the time. After your second, you stopped before things got out of hand. "Can you tell me why we're here now?" you ask.
"I got a lead on some sheep coming down from Emerald Ranch," John began, sipping at his beer.
"So?" you ask, not really seeing the appeal on some sheep.
"So," John huffed, "Me, you and Arthur are going to scare the ranch hands off, and sell them to the auction that takes place here," he explains.
"The ranch hands? Or the sheep?" you ask, knowing what he was talking about but wanting to mess with him.
John rolled his eyes and ignored you, not wanting to play your games today.
As you made your way down to the auction yard you leaned on a building glancing at the pens that were filled with animals, moments before that, John and a gunsmith got into a little brawl that resulted in you physically dragging John out of the store. Finally, what seemed like hours, Arthur showed up. "What took you so long?" you asked, as he made his way over to you and John.
"Had to help Micah with somethin'," Arthur told you.
You nodded, not wanting, or caring to know what they were doing. Arthur and John were talking about John's plans with the sheep and you followed them towards the gun shop. John was talking about how the train job was only the first step into getting more money and how the auction and the sheep could help us more until we go back into Blackwater. Your mind wandered back to Sean as the three of you walked towards town. A wave a guilt crashed over you, you left Sean back in camp without saying goodbye or even telling him where you were going.
You shook the thoughts and worries away once you three neared the Sheriff's office. You followed John towards the gunsmith as Arthur hitched his horse beside Whiskey and waited until Arthur bought the rifle John was going to buy in the first place.
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"I'm not the one takin' Jack fishin'!" John snapped.
"You're right! You ain't!" Arthur scoffed back.
You rolled your eyes at their bickering, some things just never changed you guessed.
"If you say the boy ain't yours then what's the difference?" Arthur asked, "you'll probably only run off again."
"Why're you so interested in my life?" John asked, getting defensive, "Ain't you got one of your own?"
Arthur sighed and shook his head, "Just do one thing or another, not be two people at once, that's all I'm sayin'."
You stayed a little bit behind them, to let them talk.
"It ain't that simple, you know that as well as anyone," John explained. "Same as with you and that girl, what was her name...? Mary?"
You cringed once John mentioned her, you knew bringing her up would hit a sore spot in Arthur. You knew Mary well, she was like an older sister to you and you would visit her and her brother, Jamie, when Arthur took you with him. They loved each other deeply, until Mary chose her father's approval over Arthur and married another guy.
Lost in your thoughts, you didn't realize that the three of you stopped at a cliff. You dismounted Whiskey and followed John and Arthur to the edge. Taking out your binoculars, you looked around, trying to find the herd of sheep and the Emerald Ranch ranch hands. "I think that's them," you tell them, pointing over to the open road where about fifteen sheep and three ranch hands were. You put your binoculars back in your satchel and moved out of the way so Arthur could scare them off with the rifle.
Arthur shot off a bullet but one ranch hand stood and after another shot was fired, it rode off. You mounted Whiskey and led Arthur and John towards the herd of sheep, collecting the stragglers as you neared the right side of the herd, getting ready to herd them towards Valentine. Before you were about to make the sheep move, Arthur spoke up. "Have you herd sheep before?" he asked you. You shook your head "No, but it can't be that hard," you shrug. Arthur was about to tell you to stay in the back with John but knew you wouldn't give up easily so he let out stay on the right side.
After what seemed like miles away, you could finally spot the Valentine auction and the pen close by. As Arthur herded the sheep in the pen, you dismounted Whiskey beside Old Boy and followed John to stand behind Arthur. An older man shut the gate and turned towards us, holding a clipboard. He looked like one of those fancy folk you recognized around town sometimes.
"Fine sheep," John complimented.
"They're okay," the man said, eyeing the three of us up and down.
"Well, you've seen better around here?" Arthur asked.
"I've seen ones with less...ambiguity about their provenance," the man told him, the other man beside him chuckled an agreement.
After an argument about how much percent we were getting for the sheep. John and the fancy man settled for eighteen percent. Arthur wasn't happy but he didn't argue about it.
"Thanks for all the help with this," Arthur told John, his voice sarcastic, "can't herd, can't swim," he grumbled.
"Give it a rest will you? We ain't kids no more."
"We never really was."
You hitched Whiskey next to Arthur's horse and followed them into the saloon where John said dutch was waiting for us.
"Where have you three been?" Dutch asks, as stopped near them. "Working," Arthur told him, "Marston's thing." Dutch nodded in approval, "Good, and?" Arthur glanced at John before answering "Were just getting ready to get some pay on a few sheep," Arthur tells him. Dutch nodded and turned towards Strauss. "Leopold, my good friend, as long as you're here, why don't you and John go make sure there ain't no funny business," Dutch said and looked at you "You got with them."
Following John and Strauss outside the saloon, you noticed strange men staring at you.
"John?" you asked, your voice low as you got closer to him.
"I know, I notice them to," he said, pulling his arm in front of you and pulling you behind him.
Everything that happened, happened in a flash. A man wrapped his arm around Strauss neck and before John could pull out his gun, another man punched him to the ground, jerked him up and wrapped his arm around John's neck. You felt someone grab your hair and pull you towards them, you hissed in pain and felt pressure on your neck and a gun barrel pressed against your head.
Anxiety shot through you but you knew you had to stay calm and try to find a way out of this. Your guns were still on your horse, you left your pistols at camp for some stupid reason so even if you did get out, you would be screwed. The men dragged you, John, and Strauss towards a bigger man that stood in front of the saloon mounting a horse. What looked like Pinkerton agents stood beside him. You struggled in the man's grasp but he wrapped his arm around your neck even tighter which made you stop.
"Van der Linde!" the bigger man yelled, "Get out here!" he ordered. "You don't know me, but you keep robbing me! My name is Leviticus Cornwall." You cringed and eyed John, who's eyes were wide in either shock or fear, maybe both.
"Get out here! Before I have these people killed!" he threatened. You were dragged towards the view of the saloon and caught a glimpse of Arthur making his way across the room. Mr. Cornwall left with the other two men that were on horseback when Dutch and Arthur made their appearance. "Please, gentlemen, this is a terrible mistake," Dutch began, his arms up with surrender. Arthur narrowed his eyes at John and you tried to see what they were saying.
Moments later, you heard a gunshot and the man that was holding John, fell to the ground and stealthily, John grabbed the gun that was in his holster and started shooting. The man that held you, almost set the trigger off before John shot him in the head and you picked his gun that he dropped. You quickly hid behind a crate and started shooting, making sure that John and Arthur were still with you. More men started coming and you kept shooting, trying your best to keep yourself regulated and calm. You all moved up closer into Valentine when Strauss got hit on the shoulder. You hid yourself behind a building, shooting a driver in the head as more men got out of the wagon.
"This is a bloodbath!" you yelled, helping Arthur cover for Strauss, John and Dutch as they pushed a wagon and blocked the men from shooting Strauss anymore.
More and more men kept coming, it was awful but finally you neared the stables and whistled for Whiskey. You mounted her and as Arthur put Strauss onto John's horse, you all thought you were in the clear.
Until a bullet went through your back.
You let out a groan of pain as the force of the bullet made you fall off of Whiskey. You gasped, your heart rate getting fast, it felt like a million suns were beating down on your body. You felt someone move your body and you groaned, the person shushed you and put you on the back of a horse. Your body slumped onto them and they kept telling you to stay awake. You passed out a few miles out of Valentine.
A/N: So honestly I want to write chapters of when you, John, Tilly and Arthur were little so when you're passed out and healing from your gun wound you're going to be hallucinating your childhood a bit. I also am going to be slammed pack with college this week so expect the next chapter maybe this weekend. I love you all so much! I'm so glad this fic is getting the attention that I never really thought it would get!
