ikissdhimbck | OOM: Room #100 - Visit from Bill, following fight with Ramon

"He ain't hard t'handle when he's a tree, but we seen what he can do when he's angry, and God Almighty knows after gettin' turned into a tree, he's gonna be out for blood."

Doc looks between them.

"The safest thing for all of us is t'git out until they've gotten a handle on him. I don't want t'see nobody gettin' hurt when there's no tellin' what he's capable of."

Katherine, Kate, Bill, or Boo.

"I'll handle it."

She finishes with her belt, purposely keeping her eyes on the floor.

"I know I didn't do things right. Didn't do 'em the way I should'a. But I'm gonna set it right, this time. Been thinkin' it through."

She's been over this with Doc. He knows how much she hates this; she hates leaving them, she hates that she's drug so many people into this stupid problem now. She hates admitting she's in over her head.

But she knows it'll be best for everybody involved if she just leaves. It's the only way.

He's agreeing with what Doc is saying, and then Katherine speaks. He looks at her, and there's a wariness in his expression and tone.

"Handle it how?"

He doesn't want another argument, but if she means to do anything other than what they're talking about now, there'll be one.

He glances at Bill - the man's wariness is easy to pick up on, and it does strike a nerve, simply because Doc's been feeling wary about this for weeks, now. Then he looks at Katherine.

You ain't running scared, remember what we talked 'bout.

"Gettin' help."

She sucks in a breath, shooting Doc a quick look before she finally lets her eyes settle on Bill. Her normally vivid blue eyes are the color of slate as she speaks.

"I'm gonna talk t'security. Turn myself in. Hopefully, they'll contain him once Lady Demeter turns him back human 'gain."

She lets her gaze fall once again, slowly pushing herself up to her feet.

"Then I'm leavin'."

There's a note of finality in her voice that might make one think she doesn't just mean leaving for some holiday.

That's what he should have done from the beginning, gone to security. He had wanted to protect Katherine, but he sees now he hasn't protected her at all, and now everything is completely out of control.

"Kate -- "

He's not sure what to say. While he's trying to come up with something she finishes.

'Then I'm leavin'.'

The way she says it...

He looks up at her, searching for signs in her expression to go with her tone that says she's leaving, and not coming back.

Doc looks down at his glass of water, wishing again that it was whiskey instead, but he makes no move to change. He simply nods, but it doesn't matter - Bill's paying attention to Katherine, not him, at the moment.

She'd agreed to come to Colorado, with him. Leave Texas behind.

He can't help but feel like even though he's protecting her, he's taking her away from her home.

She doesn't have a home anymore.

"You an' Kate'll be safe. Your friends here have everythin' well in hand, and once Ramon's released and I ain't here no more, there'll be no more reason t'fight. He won't be stupid enough t'stand up 'gainst gods t'git t'you. It was never about you, from day one. It was about me."

She moves to her chest of drawers, where she'd put her little brass makeup kit earlier, and takes out her tube of lipstick.

She doesn't want to leave Texas. It's a part of her, no matter how much she's trying to ignore it right now. But it makes more sense to head to a time and place where she's not going to be hunted, with someone who wants to build a life with her, than to run out of the frying pan and into the fire.

It will be fine.

This is the only way.

"If I remove myself, then I remove the problem. You an' Kate can git on with your lives," she concludes, carefully applying the bright red color to her lips.

"But, Kate -- "

He glances at Doc and looks between the two of them, and he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know how to feel about this.

She's leaving, and his first reaction is to try and convince her to stay, but she's going with Doc, and it won't be back to Texas.

It's what he's been trying for since he found out about Katherine's situation at home, ever since he first ran into her as an outlaw, but this way... it feels wrong.

It's by force, not by choice.

He watches her with the lipstick, then speaks quietly.

"Are you sure?"

She caps the lipstick quietly, pursing her lips.

"Yeah."

She turns back around, her eyes meeting Bill's. She hates looking at him, because it does nothing but remind her of just how much she's failed him. This is all her fault.

But it also strengthens her determination that this is what needs to be done.

"I'm sure."

It's obviously not an easy decision, and her and Doc have probably discussed it at great length, him butting in now wouldn't help anyone.

So he nods, and returns her gaze; trying to hide his own guilt. If he had done a better job it wouldn't be coming to this.

"When?"

"Soon as I know what my punishment's gonna be for my part in all this."

She slowly paces the room.

"M'gonna go down, have a lil' chat with Ramon, then find someone with Security. They could throw me out by tonight, or they could toss me in the cells, or any number of things. Lord knows. Whenever they decide, then I'll know."

"And then we'll make arrangements from there."

Doc doesn't plan on permanently leaving the bar - at least not yet. But he does know that he could very well get locked out for a longer stretch of time than he'd like, and he doesn't plan on coming back until Ramon is no longer a threat.

He'll have to take the risk that Ramon isn't at the door with a gun waiting for him, of course - but the man can't be everywhere at once. Especially if Security takes care of him like they should, for what he's done.

"Have a chat."

He lets out a short, humorless chuckle. He's already decided not to go out and have a look at Ramon, tree or not, Bill doesn't want to see the man again.

Listening to Kate talk makes him feel even more like he's abandoning her. He doesn't just want to leave her to handle everything alone.

"I don't know the policies security here has but, I'll speak for you, Kate. If y'want me to. This ain't all your fault, Ramon's the one who's taken it so far, an' I'll tell 'em that."

"Well. I can't just turn him in without warnin'."

She matches his humorless chuckle with a wry smile.

Shaking her head, she refuses his offer.

"You've done enough. Kate wrote 'bout takin' you an' Boo to France, t'be with Demeter. Sounds nice. You two should do that."

Doc wants to see Bill, Kate, and Boo safe - a house in France that's protected by an immortal goddess seems a pretty good bet.

He nods, still tipped back in his chair.

"If you guys can make arrangements t'get out of here, git safe until things die down...I'm sure there's some way that we can get word out."

'You've done enough.'

He's trying not to take it negatively, but guilt tightens in his chest after she says it, and he nods.

All of his decisions during this thing have been bad ones. Not telling security, keeping the gun, trying to talk to Ramon, and the fight out back have all been poor choices with harsh consequences.

He looks at his hands again, and rubs the knuckles of one.

"I think that's what we're gonna have to do. Reason the fight started is 'cause Ramon was goin' after Kate again. I don't think him knockin' me out is gonna keep him away from her."

Ramon had suggested it as a way of 'settling her account', but it's doubtful he'll stick to that.

"You're probably right."

She's standing with her arms crossed over her chest, half turned away from both men and eyes on the floor.

"I'll keep an eye out for the both of you," Doc says. "And for Kate. Ramon...he ain't got a problem with me, yet."

It's one good thing in this entire situation.

Maybe he's reading wrong into her detached tone, but this time he can't help her words getting to him. Staring at her back, his shoulders tense and he frowns.

"I know I was wrong, Kate, but I was tryin' to fix this. You may not think so, but I made my decision because I felt there was a chance it could've worked. Not for anything else."

When Doc speaks, her shoulders go tight, her head dropping lower. It wounds her enough, knowing that she can't do anything for Kate and Bill, feeling pinned in a corner the way she is with no other way out. But it's an insult when Doc talks about how he will protect them -- protect them all -- when Kate has shown herself to be so deficient in that very area.

She doesn't move an inch, not to look at him, not to speak, not to do a single thing, but her knuckles do turn white as all of her frustration funnels into her tightly clenched fists.

It's certainly far removed from the way things had been last week, when she sought out Bill and Kate Warner to talk. The couple then had done nothing but support each other, with comforting hands and concerned looks.

Kate isn't even anywhere near Doc, nor has he made any attempts to come near her. It's a different dynamic entirely. It's tense.

Bill's words suddenly strike her subconscious, and she whirls, surprised. For a moment she thinks about bringing up her warning, how she knew it was going to turn out all wrong and she was only trying to protect them. But when she sees the look on Bill's face, she shuts her mouth again.

"I know why you made your choices," she eventually says, her tone low and controlled. "I'm sorry I didn't come through on my end of the deal. I mean t'fix it, now."

There is a deep note of remorse in her voice. Whatever Bill thinks, Kate knows this is all her fault. Thinking back to their last encounter makes her sick to her stomach with guilt.

Doc notices her tense up, and he narrows his eyes slightly at the way her fingers are curled into fists.

"And you will, Kate."

He knows that much.

He leans forward in the chair.

"I know my presence won't do much, if things get real ugly, but hopefully they won't."

"What deal?"

The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them, and he regrets saying them immediately.

All their recent conversations have ended in arguments or on bad notes. He doesn't know where he stands with her, and while he knows she probably means her desire to keep them safe, the question comes from the fact that they haven't been able to keep civil with each other to make any kind of deals.

It doesn't help anything to call attention to the tensions between then, though. He shouldn't have said anything, and there's an apology in his eyes when he looks at her before he turns his gaze to Doc.

"They can't get ugly if none of us are here for them to."

She turns away from him, fixing her gaze on her door.

"I told 'im I'd never let him hurt you," she murmurs, just barely audibly.

Then, with a bit more strength in her voice: "I promised I'd do whatever it took, t'keep you safe. But I know now how stupid I was.

"I've been shit at keepin' y'all safe. I been too wrapped up in myself, an' what I wanted, and what I thought was right. If I really wanted t'protect you, I would'a left a long time 'go. But I didn't--"

--want to go. It was Green Lake all over again. It was my daddy's farm that I was being evicted from, while the Crockers grew fat and rich off our land. It was Trout Walker, not Ramon, and I was too hot to see that I was giving him exactly what he wanted.

"Everythin'."

Every reason in the world to fight her, and take away all the things she loves, and make it look like justice.

She swallows, snapping herself back to the present, and shakes her head. She's hugging herself now, as she paces towards the door.

"I know I was wrong, an' I'm sorry. But you won't have t'worry 'bout it no more. You'll be 'right. An' I'll live on."

Without this place. Without what's left of my home.

It's my responsibility.

(It's the only way.)

While she's speaking, Doc's gotten up from the chair - his glass of water now empty, and he leaves it abandoned on the table - and he's walking towards her.

(Listening to her.)

"Y'ain't gonna be doin' this alone, neither," Doc adds. "But this mess ain't just your fault, no matter what you told that son of a bitch."

He's barely paying attention to Bill, but he knows the other man is there.

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