Disclaimer:The Lone Ranger and any of its characters do not belong to me. I'm not making any money here. Seriously, don't sue me. I'm just a little fan fiction writer who's been inspired by shenanigans!

Lessons Learned by a Learned Man

Prologue – He Knew One Thing Already

When he said he couldn't stay, he had been vague on purpose. True, they both knew he couldn't hang round and marry his brother's widow… With everything that had happened, it was no skin off his nose if people talked, but he couldn't do that to Becca and Danny. However, he wasn't about to go vanishing off into the wild blue either! Colby, Texas wasn't exactly his home anymore, but he couldn't go just yet. Becca could take care of herself and Danny okay – she made no bones about that – but still, it sat wrong with him to leave. He had promised his late brother that he would take care of her, and he would. For the moment, that meant staying out of her hair while she settled herself and Danny back down.

Hell, John thought, he had this whole "masked man" thing going – he could stay awhile! So, he'd hunted up a room through Madam Red and he and Tonto bunked down for about two weeks. Interesting experience, that, he thought through it all. Through the next few days, the townsfolk calmed down as construction resumed. Before long, the hoo-hah became something to talk about when you got real drunk. Week and a half and the unflappable Texans had gone right back to normal. Then, and only then, he'd gone to visit…

Of course it had started with an honest visit. "Hi, Becca" and "How are you, John?" and kidding around with Danny. Then there had been another visit, and another and another. Tonto took readily enough to the child, teaching him "Indian secrets" and whatnot. The visits brought some balance back to nature, as it were. It took his mind off being an outlaw and settled Becca about the situation. Danny was over the moon to have his Uncle John as a second dad– they could be a family still, but with a few unusual qualities. They settled into a routine of "drop in every few days and stay for dinner." When the visits started to last more than an afternoon, things began to grow… restless. John and Becca stayed up in the sitting room until long past time for Danny to go to bed night after night. Good night kisses became less and less chaste, and sometimes hands had a tendency to go where the Lord said they shouldn't.

Of course, he knew Becca wouldn't just fall right into bed with him – she descended quite gracefully. At first, it had almost been as it was when they were small: sleeping innocently together in the same bed-space. Becca settled in by his side and had gone to sleep immediately every time. Warm, safe, comforting, and all of it was absolute torture for at least John. The Ranger couldn't begin to speculate what went on in Becca's head on the subject. As Tonto said, "Man who venture in woman's head never get out. Have bad headache." Privately, John agreed with him and tried not to think of it. No words had been spoken on the subject, but it remained extremely clear that John was to go no further than holding her hand. In the morning, Becca rose first to awaken Danny and John left with Tonto.

Things went on like that for nearly a month. Put Danny to bed (Tonto insisted upon sleeping on the roof), sit a while, and quietly to bed. John held Becca's hand, just as he should, and neither moved in the night. Then, at some point during one night, they had awakened all tangled up in each other. Nothing had come amiss, so they blushed mutually and straightened themselves out. Becca went right back to sleep, leaving him to curse the moonlight for so perfectly highlighting her face. John climbed out the window that morning to be sure Danny didn't see him leave the room. Tonto snorted with laughter all the way back to Madam Red's. Naturally, his face turned to stone at John's arch glare. The night's events burned their way into the Ranger's brain and he had trouble thinking on anything else. Losing his focus never had sat well with him…

The duo had stayed clear of Becca's house for a fortnight after that. John spent the entire fourteen days and nights kicking himself in the butt for "breaking the treaty." Hanging about Madam Red's place wasn't exactly his style either. Well, it wasn't bad, he guessed. At least most everybody, patrons-wise, left him alone. He learned each lady by name, but never touched any of them – Becca was the only one for him. Nice enough gals, though, he did say to himself. Days were easy enough, playing cards and watching the tamer "daytime dances" on the stage. Some of the ladies really were quite talented. Nights, on the other hand, had a tendency to tie him up in knots. One, he wanted so much to be back in Becca's bed… doing more than holding her hand. Two, Tonto snored – sounded like a damn freight train.

Day fifteen dawned rather heavily and John had decided to pull himself together and go apologize to Becca. Tonto and Danny had conveniently taken off on some damn adventure or other, so he knocked on the door and attempted to explain himself. Becca, however, wouldn't hear of it, and "explanation" had turned into, well… Okay, it was a disaster of an explanation. There had been a lot of heat and a lot of friction and he apologized with a stammer on behalf of the sheets. Becca courteously kissed him good night and pretended to fall asleep. Once more, John had disappeared out the window before the morning dawned. All the way back to town, his butt received another sound kicking as Tonto stared stone-faced into the greening horizon. By the time they dragged themselves back to their rented beds, the Lone Ranger had himself a new mission. Tomorrow morning, he became a student again…