HSU: Wild Wild West
Author: Julia
Archive: gah...if you want
Rating: Blatant Mary Sue, but I got him to town! Now *your* fun can begin. :) Whew...
Disclaimer: Ain't gonna say it but once more. George L. runs this here ranch. But that there Marshall Kenobi? He's ours.
Summary: Intro to the Old West Version of HSUland...

~*~

Tired. Bone-deep from riding day after day, sometimes even dozing off in the saddle.

Dirty. Dust in every pore, every crevice of skin that wasn't scoured clean from the wind.

Discouraged. Every damn lead seemed to be ending in burned-out homesteads, cattle laying with sightless eyes staring at the pale blue sky, a trail of debts no honest, hard-working folk could ever hope to pay off and always a story of how they were conned by a handsome stranger with a half-circle brand on his face.

Xanatos.

The thrice-damned, flea-ridden thorn in his ass always seemed to be one step ahead.

Marshall Kenobi swung down off his horse to lean against its shoulder. Black boots were thick with dust. Sweat-soaked black pants and shirt looked almost tan with the dirt of the trail on them. Even his hat had a sweat mark. Rubbing the stubble on his chin with a gloved hand, he sighed and patted the horses' shoulder. No doubt it was more tired than he.

"Camp here, eh, cher?"

Kenobi pushed his hat back to smile wearily at his deputy. "Good as any, Jules."

Nudging her horse to move, the dust-covered young woman rode forward to take the reins of his horse. "I'll water the horses. You set up camp?"

With a nod, he pulled the saddlebags and bedrolls off the horses and set them up as a makeshift bed under the trees.

He winced as he knelt to dig a firepit.

Too damn long in the saddle. His backside was feeling it.

Straightening to rub his back, Kenobi listened to the faint sounds of splashing. Hmm...sounded like there was a little more than just a trickle of a stream.

He noticed the horses were on a picket line and unsaddled which meant that splashing could only be...

A predatory smile curved his mouth as he quickly finished setting up camp and crept silently towards the splashing sounds.

Much of the time his deputy didn't resemble a woman. A dark brown hat hid her hair and shadowed her face. Dust often coated her features, further obscuring them. She typically wore trousers tucked into boots, a white shirt and vest and kept her hands covered in gloves. Most people mistook her for a young man.

Until she spoke. No one could mistake that husky accented voice for anything but female.

He crept up on the stream, finding her bare as the day she was born, up to her neck in the cool water. Any thoughts of surprising her vanished as she chuckled. "Wondered how long it would take you to get here, mon cher..."

Wasting no time, Kenobi stripped and waded in, forgetting the frustrations and aches of the day as her arms slid around his neck. "You are a brazen woman," he sighed, nuzzling her neck. "I still don't know what insanity provoked me to take you as a deputy."

A throaty chuckle was his answer. "Because you wouldn't wanna do dis with another man, non?" She admired the water beading on his skin as she stroked her hands up his muscled arms, reveling in the feel of his body against hers.

"Mmmm..." He leaned back to arch one eyebrow in a cocky grin. "Actually your shooting impressed me, but now that you mention it..."

Whatever else he had to say was lost as Jules shoved him under the water. As he burst back to the surface, sputtering, she grabbed his head. "Je vous impressionnerai, insolent amoureux..."

~*~

Kenobi carefully cleaned his guns, looking up after a long period of silence. "What's the news in Hestia?" He knew Jules had a sister who had moved to the frontier town to raise horses, some of which she sold to the Pony Express.

"Mmm...." Pursing her lips, Jules studied the letter, turning it to catch the firelight. "Not good. It seems that chien de vermine, Xanatos, has been showing up. The local sheriff is not happy."

Scowling, Obi-Wan scrubbed at the casing of the six-shooter. "Xanatos was his deputy once upon a time. Jinn is a good man, one of the best in the territory."

"You think he can handle Xanatos by himself then?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Xan is fast." He looked up, meeting her gaze.  "You saw what he did to Ani the Kid and that kid was one of the fastest I'd ever seen." Attention once again on his weapons, Kenobi was careful to make sure they were loaded before putting them back in their holsters. "He doesn't fight fair. Jinn won't stand a chance."

Jules shrugged one shoulder. "So...we go to Hestia then, non?"

"Yes." Laying back, Obi-Wan offered her a gentle smile, a contrast to the coolly detached air he had exhibited just a moment before. "Better get some sleep, love. Dawn comes early." He gestured to the empty spot next to him, curling up behind her when she laid down.

Thoughts of Xanatos and troubles vanished for the time as Obi-Wan closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around the warmth of Jules and drifted to sleep.

~*~

It was a sprawl of buildings and streets dotted with small trees. A boom town, growing almost overnight from nothing. But now...after almost a decade of prosperity in oil, cattle and a hub for travellers, it boasted a railroad and a string of fancy hotels.

This was an up and coming city.

"Hestia." Obi-Wan shook his head, shifting in his saddle as he and Jules looked down on the city from a towering bluff. "Hard to believe all this was started by a group of women, isn't it?"

Jules shot the man a look of pure disdain, nudging her horse to shoulder past his towards the trail that lead down to the town. "You men. Just cause you have a wanger you think you all dat, huh?"

"I didn't say that." Kenobi frowned, turning his horse to catch up. "How many women even want to run a town, or a business? Not many."

"How many get a chance, eh? Men don't say excuse moi, you want to run my business for me? Non. They go to some pimple-face child with greasy hair and wire-rimmed glasses who will kiss their ass and ask no questions!"

Kenobi shook his head. It was a frequent source of debate with them. "Well, they could do it here," he stated. "Most of the businesses here are owned by females."

"Zut alors!" Jules exclaimed in mock horror. "You'd best watch yourself, Marshall...." She winked. "Aggressive women. What will you do?"

Settling into the saddle and flipping his black duster back as they rode into town, Kenobi shot a grin of pure male arrogance. "I believe I might enjoy it, Jules."