Agents In The Field

How A Man Chooses To Die

This is a first but I'm actually transferring some AO3 to here for once. Back when I first wrote this there wasn't a The Pinkertons tag to upload to so I kept it over on AO3. That's actually one of the reasons I got an AO3 account in the first place. It's been over a year since I updated this and I had been waiting until I wrote something new to move it over here. I was doing some other housekeeping on summaries and stuff and eventually just decided to get my two accounts on the same page finally. So here it is my fic for a show that's perhaps even more underrated than most of the stuff I write for. I caught an episode late at night once and was instantly intrigued. Eventually I binged the whole thing on Netflix only for it to be canceled. Here's my fic about the cliffhanger that we're never going to get an actual resolution to. I was listening to Welcome To The Black Parade when I wrote this. I hope you like it.

The two guns fired at almost exactly the same time and Will saw his own bullet hit its target only moments before feeling a similarly fired bullet hit him in the chest. As his vision started to blur around the edges his only regret in the whole thing was that Kate had been around to witness it. He could faintly her calling his name from a distance that was becoming increasingly indiscernible. He could also make out vague coughing sounds though whether they were coming from himself, Jesse, or both was equally indiscernible since he couldn't particularly feel anything to know for certain if it was himself or not.

The sounds of footsteps echoed from somewhere around him and before he knew it Kate was in his line of vision with a grim look on her face. Not that he didn't already know but the look on her face confirmed that it was in fact a bad wound and not something easily remedied. He tried in vain to push her hands away as she proceeded to start grabbing for him in an effort to lift him to his feet. There was no way she could carry him and she knew that as well he did, the effort was still appreciated though.

"Will come on," she said urgently. "We need to get you back to town so a doctor can get a look at you."

"Can't," was the only word that escaped his lips.

"We need to get you to your feet," she said ignoring him. "There's a horse with me we can use to make it back."

"Can't," he repeated. The feeling in his arms and legs was slowly fading.

"Don't you give up," she said sternly. "You're not dying on me Will Pinkerton."

"Did I get him," he said.

She briefly glanced in the direction of where Jesse laid and then turned back to him, "Of course you did."

"At least I gave as good as I got," he struggled to say.

"Don't talk like that," she said. "We're going to get you out of here."

She made another valiant effort to help him to his feet but he stayed down and eventually she let go of the dead weight. He could already see the grim writing on the wall and it was only a matter of time before a pragmatist like Kate saw the same thing. He began to work his way through saying her name. After calling out to her seven times an eighth plea of "Kate" got her to stop and sit down in the dirt beside him.

"I don't want to lose you," she admitted freely.

"That makes two of us," he attempted a joke but at her stern expression decided to add something else. "It'll be alright, you'll be alright."

"No it won't," she said grimly.

"Hopefully your next partner won't be as much of an ass," he tried again lightheartedly.

"I don't want another partner," she said. "I want you."

His mind drifted back to that first day when his father had introduced the two of them. He hadn't exactly had a good or fair impression of her. It was just another example of his father's boundless inability to trust him and he was frustrated that his father felt the need to send a babysitter. He had taken that frustration out on her in the beginning and if he was being honest every time his father showed up the familiar feelings of anger and something like jealousy flared up within him again. She didn't deserve that and that's why he enjoyed the times when his father was away most of all.

They had become a hell of a good team in the time between his father's visits and she had turned out to be one of the smartest and bravest people he had ever met. After seeing her skills for himself he could half-grudgingly admit to seeing why his father thought so highly of her. They were friends now, he was confident in at least that much, and anything more was too full of complications to be thought about in the moment. They were good for each other and in whatever form their relationship took or could have taken that was all that mattered in the end.

"Kate," he said drawing her back into conversation.

"Yes Will," she said.

"I'm glad my father brought you out here," he said. "I'm glad we became partners."

"Me too," she agreed.

"Stay with me," he said.

"Always," she answered settling in further with the ground.

He had often heard it said that a man should be able to choose when and how he met his end. Especially in the place and job they found themselves both he and Kate were unlikely to make it to later life in any event and so he saw no reason why both of them shouldn't be able to choose a good death in the field rather than one from disease or other means. That's what he had chosen before he even made his way out to the spot he and Jesse agreed upon he supposed. He had wanted this and no amount of words from his father, Kate, or anyone else were going to be enough to change his mind. He got to go out protecting the town and everyone in it from one of its greatest dangers and managed to take down that danger in the process. That was as good a death as he could have hoped for.

"You'll be alright," he repeated his earlier statement. "I know you Kate, you're strong and brave and much smarter than I could ever hope to be."

"I can be at peace with this because I know these people have you," he continued. "Keep them safe Kate."

"I will," she said.

"I know you will," he said as he began to feel weaker. He knew his time was at an end.

"I'll miss you Kate," he said.

He could see the brief flash of tears in her eyes as she said, "I'll miss you too Will," but she kept herself together, strong to the end.

He tried to get out a goodbye, but found himself unable to get the words out. It was just as well, she knew everything he had already said and could have said before he even rushed out to have this duel in the first place. That's just how they were, they didn't need words to communicate with each other; it's part of what made them such a good team over the past few months. As the darkness slowly closed in all around him the last images that flashed in front of his mind were those of their time together, however brief it may have been, because despite everything they had to go through he had never been happier in his life.

As the last breaths left Will Pinketon's body Kate Warne got up from her spot on the ground and moved over to the body of Jesse James which had ceased movement long ago. She gave the body of the young man who had caused most of her and Will's problems since the beginning one last, hard kick. With that she moved to mount her horse and inform the proper people about what had taken place and to inform Allan that he had a son that needed buried. She hoped that whatever Will had been searching for in all of this was worth it. No matter how hard she tried to wrap her mind around it she couldn't find a reason why it would be. Nevertheless she would carry his memory forward with her in whatever capacity she could still manage.