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The map crinkles underneath her fingers. One purple nail follows the red line down brown patches and blue squiggles. The rumbling of the truck makes it hard to keep her path straight.
“I wonder how many ghost towns we’ll hit along the road.” She muses out loud.
“The map’s not that old, Sombra.” McCree glances away from the road, looking under his cowboy hat to her.
Tapping an index finger along a small faded name printed on red background, she looks up.
“Oreville was once a mining town, until the recent 1900’s.” She gives a smirk at his pinched expression. Lazily holding her chin in her hand while resting her elbow on her thigh.
“Dagnabbit.” He mutters under his breath, gripping the steering wheel. “I know there’s a town nearby. We’ll find a motel, eat some supper, and rest.”
Sweat dots his brow, even under the hat. The AC is blasting, but the truck is about as ancient as the map currently in her lap. She feels her insides melting, even in a tank top and shorts.
“Flawless plan.” She muses, watching his gaze twitch towards her. “I’ll find us something.”
The noon day sun is right above them, at least not burning their skin, but the heat still remains. The red dirt and flat landscape is dead and boring. Heatwaves go on and on down the endless road. Two sodas already sit warm in her stomach, and she rummages for another one in the small space behind the bench style sit of the truck.
“ Cariño ?” She asks.
“Water, darling.” He nearly pleads. Taking a can and a bottle dripping with melting ice, she presses both to her legs. The ice shocks her skin, but the coldness is a breath of fresh air.
“If you keep touching my drink, it’ll be luke warm by the time I actually get it.” He draws, watching her from the corner of his eye.
An eyebrow arches, pleased that the heat hasn’t dampened McCree’s charm. With the cold drinks fighting the heat, she hands him the bottle, but doesn’t let go when he wraps his fingers around it.
“Keep that up, vaquero , and we might have some fun tonight.” A slyly placed smile, a gentle tug of the bottle, and she lets go. His eyes are on her, and only her in the boiling no man’s land. Bright and in awe at her lips.
“You might want to watch the road,” she prompts, giving a laugh when he swerves to get back on the pavement. No other cars have passed by, but going off the trail might not be too fun.
“You’re goin’ to be the death of me, Sombra.” He mutters, before taking a sip of the water. Tucking the bottle into a cup holder, he uses one hand to take his cowboy hat off. Sweat glistens for a moment under his chocolate hair before the back of his arm wipes it away. The strong cords of muscle underneath his skin move gracefully, and she enjoys the sight before turning back to the map.
“Two hundred fifty-eight miles until the nearest town.” One nail taps her bottom lip as she studies the faded names. “I wonder how many ghosts we’ll get to meet.”
A deep chuckle rumbles his throat. “Hope they’re friendly people.”
*
The nearly desolate town is dead quiet when they reach the fading neon light promising a bed. The sunset streaks pale pink across the flat land and open sky as she waits for him to get the room key. A diner sits across from the cheap motel, with is fortunate as neither want to eat gas station food again.
They get a comfy bench in the near empty restaurant. Sitting side by side, she rests her cheek on his shoulder in between bites of a cheeseburger while his fingers draw designs into her thigh.
It’s twilight when they cross the cement road to their rented room. Warm with leftover heat of the sun and fading light, McCree stops for a moment in the middle of the street.
“Are you going to wait for a car to come, Jesse?” She teases, before following his gaze focusing on the heavens.
In the middle of nowhere, the stars shine the brightest, even with the last red rays of sun barely touching the sky. Dots touch in flashing whites while her eyes search for the big dipper. The one constellation she finds without fail among the black canvas since her youth.
“Sometimes folks forget what they have right in front of them.” His voice comes in a slow drawl, speaking to himself and the sky. She doesn’t see his change of position until she drops her chin. Amber eyes melt into hers. Intense, and molded to her shape as if he’s looking for the first time. A blind man seeing blue and green and red since the days of his darkness.
“People just need a reminder,” she speaks as he steps forward, touching her arms. “It’s very easy to see this.”
He hums for a moment, still holding onto her before leaning forward. A kiss to her half shaved hair. She laughs into his throat, before pressing her lips against the pulsing rhythm of his skin. He breathes against her, before they meet teeth to tongue.
A reminder.
They somehow sleep that night. Between the heat and sudden frigid AC and hard beds, they find a few hours to dose off. When the AC is kicking on with a clunk and sputter, her feet and hands finds his warmth in the dark. Then the inevitable crash comes, heat invades, and she’s nearly pushing him off the bed. Whether in snow or sun, McCree is trying to cling onto her and it nearly makes her sweat to death.
“Sombra,” he moans a few times, reaching for her even though they both are melting.
“Jesse,” she groans back.
He gets up at the crack of dawn while she still fights for a few minutes of decent sleep. The shower runs as background noise, and the AC roars back to life for a precious second. Now, she finds herself raking the bed sheets for his steady body. Disappointment makes her sit up and rub her eyelids.
The road trip is a getaway, but now it’s just exhausting. Still, she would rather be anywhere with him then back at their home town.
He gets out of the shower, hair a wet mop that he grins under while holding his towel around his waist. Water droplets fall down his bare abs before he tries to embrace her. She slips easily away, and hopes aloud that there’s still hot water for both their sakes.
Once cleaned of sweat and truck stop grime, they’re eating at the same diner as they did for breakfast. French toast and eggs before they pile back into his truck. With her hair tied up in a bun, and the morning sun already beating down, they still have miles to go.
“I wonder how truly amazing your special destination is as to invoke a road trip such as this,” she muses aloud, sticking her bare feet out the window. The rustling wind helps with the suffocating heat for now, and she lets the air whistle through her blue painted toes.
He has been chattering on about this special place for weeks before they finally took the trip. Again and again, he explains the beauty being incomparable and that she will love it. As lovely as the road trip is, he hasn’t told her of the destination. Not that she couldn’t have figured it out if she truly wanted to.
It’s his gift. She’ll let herself be surprised this one time, for his sake.
“It’s worth it,” he grins from ear to ear at the mere thought of it. “Believe me, darlin’.”
Arching an eyebrow, she gives a small grin that has his eyes leaving the road. He corrects the truck’s wheels between the lines, before finding her hand. His hand engulfs hers easily, but it only reminds her of security.
“Think we can find a station out here?” He muses, warm fingers resting against her bare skin.
“Pfft,” a chuckle rolls off her tongue. Clinking her nails together, she begins her work on the radio. “What music do you want?”
She already knows the answer to that one, but finds a Spanish station first. Pop music plays one of her personal favorites. She hums along as she mentally notes a country station for Jesse later on.
The chorus to the sound hits as the beat drops. She sings along to the lyrics. It soothes a piece of her soul to hear her native tongue, and the beat moves along with her heart. Soon enough, a finger traces through McCree’s hair as she begins harmonizing lowly against his throat. His gaze stays forward, but by the way his breathing rate changes when she breathes against his jawline, she knows where his focus is.
“Never knew I fell for a songbird,” he comments when the music ends. A laugh leaves her throat as she pulls away to rest against the worn seat.
Her voice is nothing to speak of, but singing is singing, and music is music.
She hums a thought, carefully twirling the dial on the radio to an oldies station. George Strait's voice carries along a guitar, and she watches the cowboy hat upon his head turn in surprise.
“Let’s hear it, vaquero .” Sombra settles against the doorframe, looking expectantly to McCree’s rugged face.
“Hope you’re ready for this concert,” he drawls, both knowing full well his voice is about as good as hers. His southern accent pulls the lyrics through honey vocal cords, though the pitch is staggering. Nothing compared to angelic, but lovely for her.
She leans her head back against the seat, watching with a curled smile upon her lips at his off key harmonizing.
Two in the afternoon hits, and they switch places. He takes the chance to smoke, opening the windows. Driving the rusty truck is not on her top ten most enjoyable moments, but McCree feeds her pretzels and m&m’s. The cowboy makes the drive between dry bushes and red flat nothingness interesting at least.
They find a town, and McCree remembers this being close to their destination. The shine in his eyes brighten as they eat waffles and chicken at an odd diner that is surprisingly good.
Very few things are new to her, but he keeps surprising her.
A hotel is unfortunately nowhere in sight. Prepared with blankets and pillows from behind the backseat, they drive to the edge of town close to the open road before settling down in the bed of the truck. The openness and dark night heightens her senses to paranoia, but the sleepy town can’t possibly wake up to bother a young couple passing through.
“I’ve got you, sugar,” he murmurs when she shifts closer to her. His arm curls around her as she rests her head on his chest. Legs intertwine upon the blanket offering a little buffer from the metal frame. No actual heat is needed to cover them in the warm night, making it rather pleasant with the view of the stars overhead.
“Shadows don’t scare you, do they, Jesse?” She teases, feeling his chest softly rise and fall with his gentle breathing.
“Nah,” his hand rests against her waist, fingers rubbing her hip softly. “They ain’t nothing I can’t handle.
She presses her lips to his shirt in thought, looking up at his eyes turned heavenward.
“And what makes a vaquero jump in the middle of the night?” She saunters, a sly smile on her lips as he shifts with a faint grin.
“I reckon not too much.” He breathes out into the night air. “Monsters need to work hard if they want to get me rattling in my boots.”
She laughs quietly, but waits. His cotton shirt still presses against her lips, his steady torso holding underneath.
He breathes in, settling down and pulling her closer.
“But some demons hide in men’s eyes, you know?” He stills, pressing his hand close against her. “You can’t always stop bad things but pray you do your own good.”
A cricket chirps far off as she taps a finger against his rib.
Bad people, and what they can do. He understands that more than anyone.
Her finger taps again, feeling the firmness of his body.
She knows his sense of justice is firm, ingrained into him from his adoptive father. Jesse’s life has been hard, growing up parentless in a gang before getting done in by the cops. The police chief took pity, and arranged a deal to take him in. It saved him from a low life of drugs and weapons. Someone who she can’t imagine resting besides.
“I know good,” she speaks against him, watching his rugged face. “You are more than that.”
His lips graze against her hair. From the Mohawk to the shaved sides, he kisses her head. Slowly burning across her skin until her leg is hooking over his body. They breathe on the same plane, and his hands steady her hips. Purple nails dance across his collarbones as she lies against his chest. Her hair drapes over her left shoulder, and he laughs softly as she tucks it away so it doesn’t touch his cheek.
“Sombra,” he whispers as she outlines his jaw, brushing against his beard.
She breathes against him. “Yes, vaquero ?”
“Ride off into the sunset with me.” A plead that echoes from his heart instead of his lungs.
She laughs, drunk on his warmth and the crickets and stars. Her nails trace his nose and cheekbones, smiling with her teeth.
“Take me away, Jesse,” she murmurs.
Her lips teases his for a moment, atoms apart before she lets herself fall against him. Smoke touches her tongue as his finger move against her sides, clutching her tightly. She feels his own sun warm her chest. A star she can grasp. Pressing closer, their lips move with the twinkle of the stars, just as slow as the rotation.
*
McCree is the one who rises early, usually for a cigarette. Sometimes she’s slipping into bed at 6 AM when his eyes are just opening. He talks to her about the late nights spent in front of her computer, but it’s her vice just as much as McCree’s is smoking.
Now, she lies against him. Eyes open and feeling his body against hers. He has curled around her in the middle of the night, resting against her cheek as she stares at the atmosphere. Pale yellow barely peeks above the horizon, indigo bleeding away as red streaks begin brightening the skies. She rarely watches dawns, or the skies in general, not when there’s so much happening upon the ground.
Turning her head, she looks down at the mop of brown hair upon his head. Wild and sticking in all directions against her shoulder. She dares not move, wanting the picture to remain untainted and quiet.
They found each other. Flirting hit hot and fast, but her intention was of manipulation. Somehow, he sensed her cunning mind, and kept away from her strings. They kept meeting though, a handsome cowboy interested in a hacker for hire. She liked him, his drawl and scent and smile, but had a pretty mask on until he kissed her. Until she saw that she fell into his trap as much as he fell into hers.
He fights, and wants justice. He is a good man, but doesn’t believe it to be so. He is strong and unbreakable and quick.
He is hers.
Her fingers pet through his hair, nails gently stroking his locks as he stirs with a deep grumble. Sleep still lines his eyelids as he blinks, shifting against her and giving in to keeping his eyes closed.
“Mornin’,” he mumbles through his sleep.
“Buenos dias, cariño ,” she speaks into his hair.
They stay still until the sun comes into view, heating the red ground and the bed of the truck.
Breakfast is quickly grabbed at a gas station, and Sombra takes the wheel first as they drive. They both pick through a box of small chocolate donuts before familiar music rumbles through the old radio station and McCree rests his head in her lap. His hat hides his eyes from the harsh sun but every now and then she boops his chin and listens to his small chuckle.
It’s when they pass a mile marker does McCree take her place behind the wheel. Relief colors her as she fishes the cooler for a soda and lets the ice touch her hot skin. The excitement bleeds off his body, and she sits back with ease. Wherever McCree wants to take her is close. The drive and the trip and nights under the stars all lead to this. The one gift he wants to show her.
The sun moves overhead, lunch is leftover pretzels and sandwiches. They keep driving, watching the shadows begin to form and stretch underneath bushes.
She ends up taking a nap against the window, listening to McCree drawl out country music. The rumble of the truck with the blast of AC and the sunshine shining down lets her slip away.
“Darlin’,”he murmurs against her, shaking her arm gently. “Wake up, sugar. We’re here.”
She stirs, brushing her hair away as McCree leans up. His expression is barely contained as he opens his door, boots hitting the dirt as she sits up. Rubbing against her eyes, she wakes her mind up as he comes to her door. The soft click echoes as the truck door squeaks open. She slips her feet out, his hand already there as she takes in the scenery.
The light is fading away, but from the elevated position of the ground, she knows they’re high up. Walking by his side, his gaze stays forward at the sudden drop off of ground. He leads her to the edge, and her lips part at the sight she’s greeted with.
The plateau they stand on nearly touches the sky. High above the red dirt staring at the base of the mountain, the land stretches off into the very sun. Spanning for miles and miles while the red light quickly grows dimmer. The heat swarms her, but his hand remains warm in her grasp. She leans over the edge, grasping his fingers and laughing at the altitude.
“Esto es hermoso, mi amor .” She speaks on her tongue before sweeping her gaze back to his. He’s already staring at her, eyes bright in the soft light.
“I found this place before Gabriel found me.” He starts, turning his head to the vast land before them. “Away from the gangs and guns. I could think, I could wonder about things.” The brown of his irises is focused beyond the land they stand on. She waits, squeezing his fingers for a small reminder.
“It’s so far away from everything.” She smiles, watching him come back to her. “You did make the drive worth it.”
A nearly silent breath leaves his lungs, like he’s breathing here for the first time. His eyelid close, before he parts his lips.
“I think I fell in love with the quiet and the sun,” his soft gaze and his warm hand clasps both of hers close. “Before I found you.”
There were many things that captured her focus before she met him. Deals, money, and of course her trade. They weren’t so different in the beginning, but he has grown. He understands the right and wrong. She knows what they are, but still dances the line of what she wants versus what others need.
He’s the first one she loved, besides herself.
Her hands reach for him, resting on his chest as he moves his. Cupping her face, handling her cheekbones like the most precious metal in the world, they breathe the same air. Existing with only their heartbeats, and the dying red sun.
“I know what’s right in front of me, Jesse.” Her cheek touches his, feeling the scruff of his beard and the heat on his skin. “I can’t forget you. Tú eres mi primer amor. ”
He breathes against her ear in a soft laugh.
“Do you care to enlighten me about what you said, Sombra?”
Slowly, she brushes her nose against his, touching his lip with her tongue. He move with her, already parting his lips. Smoke and pine rolls off his mouth, leaving her lost in a burning forest. Still, he calls to her, lips speaking without uttering words.
He understands when they part and move to the cliff edge. Dangling their legs from on top of the world, they watch the sun disappear. The world is doused in blue black skies with glittering consolations, but the only heat she needs to keep her skin from crawling is his arms.
When the time comes, they spread blankets on the ground, settling down to watch the heavens move. He promises that the sunrise is just as beautiful, but looking at him, she disagrees.
McCree will always be the beauty she sees in the world.