AN: Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy with work and I've also been writing a piece of original fiction that I like to pretend will somehow be good enough to be published when it's ready (I highly doubt it but it's fun to dream). Anyway, thanks for all the support you've all given to any of my writing and I hope you enjoy this update.

Old West, Arizona – 1872

It was miles from anywhere, slap bang in the middle of the desert, cradled within a high valley with the sun beating down mercilessly on the gravelly ground. With one main street of stores, a saloon and a sheriff's office, there wasn't much that was remarkable about the town. It was the kind of place where people lived a quiet life. The kind of place where nothing exciting tended to happen. The kind of place she really needed to lay low for a while.

It also clearly was the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and the few people who were braving the heat cast strange looks at her as she dismounted her horse and tied Phoenix to a post by a water through. Phoenix gratefully began to drink the water as Emily looked around the town, contemplating which false name she would use this time. Every town she had stopped in, she had used a different name. Not that it mattered.

He still found her anyway.

"Can I hel-?"

Her pistol was under his chin before he could even finish his question. Although to his credit, the man who she currently had at gunpoint didn't even look fazed. In fact, he almost looked bemused by the situation. If the slightly-eased frown on his face could be called bemused. Emily looked at him, noting the badge and hat before lowering her pistol.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to sneak up on a lady?" Emily asked bluntly as he raised an eyebrow at her. She had to admit, he was quite handsome, dark hair and eyes, dressed fairly casually in a loose shirt and trousers. It was only on a second glace that she noticed the golden badge on his chest. Sheriff. Oops.

"Didn't yours teach you not to point a gun at a sheriff?" Aaron retorted as he looked at the woman standing before him. He had to admit, despite her pointing a gun at him, she was beautiful. Dark hair underneath her brimmed hat and he could make out her dark eyes through the shadows it cast across her face. They didn't get many new faces in this town but there was something about her, it was like they had met before. He just didn't recall where.

"She tried to teach me a lot of things. That was probably one of them." Emily admitted, she hadn't seen her family in a long time. These days, that was definitely a good thing. No point dragging anyone else into the absolute carnage that was her life.

"So who are you running from?" Aaron asked bluntly and Emily raised an eyebrow at him. He looked steadily back at her. "You wouldn't have pulled that gun on me if you weren't expecting someone to attack you. Besides, your accent tells me that you're not from round these parts. So who are you running from?"

"Everybody. Nobody." Emily replied vaguely. She had been doing this for a long time, nobody ever cared before and it was better that way. No more innocent blood needed to be shed because of her. She was better off alone. Even if she was about to bring hell to this town.

"Doesn't sound like Nobody. Has to be Somebody to drag you all the way out here." Aaron replied, she was becoming more interesting by the moment. And also from a professional point of view, he needed to know if there was going to be any danger or trouble in his town. He earned that gold badge on his chest for a reason.

"Maybe I'm fleein' a horrible arranged marriage to an evil man who just wants me for ma Daddy's money." Emily quipped in an almost-perfect imitation of a Southern Belle, smiling as Aaron tried to hide the genuine smile that crossed his face. She had to admit, he was much more handsome when he smiled. When he smiled, she could tell he was a good man. Good men let their smile light up their whole face and eyes. Bad men let their smile show the true darkness within them.

"Really?" Aaron asked and Emily shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Well that's for me to know and you to hopefully never have to find out. But don't worry, I'm not a crook. Holding up banks or rustling cattle, it's not my style." Emily replied idly as she looked around the town. The few people who had watched her and Aaron's initial reaction had already lost interest in them, which suited her to the ground.

"And how do I know that's not your style. First thing you did was point a gun at me." Aaron replied as Emily walked back over to Phoenix and stroked her nose gently.

"That wasn't personal. I didn't realise you were the Sheriff." Emily said simply and smiled at him. "So go on, tell me what your guess is."

Aaron looked at Emily, studying her from head to toe, taking in her body language, everything she had said and done and considered his opinion of her. "You're someone who is afraid. You had a good upbringing but you hide it through your use of language and dialect. You don't want anyone to know where you're really from, possibly to protect your family despite a strained relationship with them. You act confident and carefree but you're hypervigilant, always aware of your surroundings and ready to escape at a moment's notice. You never give your name, at least not your real name until you're asked it. You smile because it's easier than admitting how afraid you really are, how alone you really are. You're running from someone. Not the law because if you were, you would've put that bullet through my brain the moment you realised that I'm this town's sheriff. I'd guess a man, you keep touching your neck where you have a slight bruise from a chain. I'd say a necklace, a necklace you ripped off or had ripped off not too long ago by whoever you're running from and when you referenced the 'evil man', you looked afraid. He scares you and he's been chasing you for a long time. You're here because you've got nowhere else to go, you want to hide and try to hope that he'll never find you. Even though you know he will. He always does."

"Not for a lack of trying." Emily stated. She didn't want him to know how close to the truth he was. Everything, everything the sheriff had said was true. She had been running for so long but running was what kept her alive. Not that it was anyone's business. Her actions were the result of choices she had made.

"Who is he? The man you're afraid of?" Aaron asked and Emily looked at him. There was no way she was going to answer that one. Not that he would believe her anyway. "You can tell me."

"I don't know your name." Emily replied. "Why would I give you someone else's?"

"Because even if you don't want to admit it, you need help and I can help you." Aaron replied. "My name's Aaron by the way."

"Lauren." Emily lied easily. It wasn't really a lie. Lauren was the one who was doing the running. Emily just got forcibly dragged along. Lauren was a lie created to get her out of trouble. A lie that only got her into more and more trouble.

"OK Lauren, who are you running from?" Aaron tried again and Emily looked at him. He believed her lie easily enough. Maybe he would believe the truth.

"An angry Irishman who thinks I committed an unforgiveable crime that I didn't do." Emily replied and Aaron studied her for a moment. "And before you say anything, all the 'An Irishman walks into a bar' jokes already crossed my mind. He didn't find them funny either."

"So why can't you prove you didn't do it?" Aaron asked and Emily laughed in spite of her fears.

"Do you really think I'd be running the whole way across this country from one end to the other if I could do that? No, I'd have done that a long time ago and he probably would have killed me anyway." Emily replied darkly. Ian was that kind of man. He'd put a bullet in her head for even thinking of causing all this trouble for him and for what he thought she'd done. Still it was a choice she made and one she probably would make all over again. No regrets. She stopped having those a long time ago.

"Well then I guess I better show you around town then." Aaron suggested, causing Emily to look at him in surprise.

"And why would you do that? I'm not staying here." Emily said and Aaron took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow and look at her again. He could probably look at her forever and never get tired of it but that wouldn't be helpful right now.

"Because, if this angry Irishman does show up, you're going to need ammo, food and something to take with you. Besides, the rooms in Miss Penelope's saloon are far more comfortable than the street. You're in our town now, we're not much but we do have a strange sense of loyalty towards people who come here. Good people anyway." Aaron explained as he led Emily towards the saloon. She was still a bit uneasy about accepting his offer but he said the next thought she had just as she had it. "There's no harm in staying for a little bit."

"Just for a day or two, so I can get what I need." Emily said. She wasn't staying here forever, even if the residents did have this so-called 'strange sense of loyalty'. She wasn't worth that trouble and only fools trusted people. Especially people they didn't know. Trust was just as deadly as a bullet as far as she was concerned and avoiding both was her top priority.

"Sure thing," Aaron said, deciding not to point out that they both knew she was lying. Which reminded him as they walked into the saloon. "You never told me, what's your real name?"

Emily smiled at him as she signalled the blonde woman behind the bar for two measures of whisky. Maybe she had underestimated this man even after everything else he had said about her. "It's Emily."