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I was looking for Justice.

...Actually, I was looking for a petty thief in a bar, but that's now. I was referring to then.

Then was when my life changed for the worst.

...Cliche-sounding, I know, but bear with me.

I was just a normal rancher's daughter. I was a daddy's girl, too. Especially since my mother had died of consumption. We were each other's support through tough times. It was a pretty good life.

Till the bandits came and ruined it.

I was in the barn, trying to calm the horses. Something had spooked them. I found out, the hard way, that it was a fire. As I tried in vain to put out the flames, they locked me in and left. Left me to die in a fiery hell as they killed my father and took over the rance.

Yes, obviously, I survived. But I was presumed dead, and I used it to my advantage.

I stopped using the name Noelle, cut my hair, started dressing like a man...all to get a job to get back at those bandits and make them see justice. Hence why I was now in a bar, looking for a petty thief as the town deputy.

"Boy. Stop daydreaming."

I blinked out of my thoughts of the past, looking at my boss, Sheriff Aldrick. He was nice-looking, hair long and blonde, eyes smokey grey, nice mouth, lean build. Definitely a good-looking man, but I was only here for the job, plus he was my boss. Thankfully, he was only about the job, too.

"Yes, sir." I replied, trying to make my voice deep without being too deep. I was good at it now, unlike when I first started. Then, Aldrick kept looking at me funny. That's also when he started calling me 'Boy' instead of Noah.

"Name?"

I sighed, trying to remember what the report had said of the theif. "Unknown. Called himself 'Reject'."

"Description?"

"Young. Dirty, more like a runaway than a bandit. Brown hair, brown eyes. Carries a gun, small firepower, still deadly. Shakes when holding gun, like scared of firing it. Assuming little to no experience with them."

Aldrick nodded, and I let out a woosh of breath. That part always gave me trouble.

"I completely scared the man! I swear I smelled something foul when I walked away with his money!"

"Got him."

I watched my boss get up and walk to the bragging boy, excitement running through me. I took a sip of my water (Aldrick would order for me when on the job, not trusting me fully to not get alcohol) , and got ready to watch my favorite part of the job.

"What are you bragging about over here, kid?"

And a kid he was, looking no older than thirteen or fourteen. But he grinned when he saw Aldrick, who was looking rough from not having shaved yet, his duster dirty, and his black cowboy hat tipped forward. Must've thought my boss was a cool bandit or something.

"Oh, just how I robbed this store."

"Oh, really? Tell me more, kid. Always love a good story." Aldrick turned a chair around and straddled the seat, resting his arms across the back as he faced the kid.

This, of course, got the kid into a 'vivid' telling of the robbery, which I noticed had a few 'subtle' changes to it than the real story.

"-And after I shot at the man and he pissed his pants, I took all his money and hightailed it out of there!"

Aldrick let out a deep chuckle as he downed a shot of whiskey, face unmoving even with the burn of the alcohol. Proof of a seasoned drinked. (I would squirm and make faces everytime I'd try a shot.) "Sounds like quite the story, kid."

"I know! It's going down in history!" The kid took a shot of whiskey and tried to down it like the Sheriff had, but oly managed a sip before sputtering and coughing it up.

"Too bad it's just a story, Reject."

The boy's coughing got louder, his eyes bulging. "What?"

"I heard about what really happened. How you tried to hold up the store, but chickened out. Only managed to steal a pair of pants that-" Aldrick took a quick peek under the table, and chuckled again. "-you changed in to cause you were the one that pissed himself after you accidentally fired a shot and made a bag of flour explode." He opened his duster, revealing the badge and pistol that lay underneath. "Kids like you need to run back home and suck on their momma's tits for a few more years before trying s**t like that."

The kid drew his gun, which, while small, was too big for his hands, and pointed it at Aldrick. I got up, ready to help, when I saw the kid look terrified. I knew what he saw, too. Aldrick's face had just grown hard and cold. He didn't like having guns pointed at him.

"Put it away, kid. Now."

The kid started backing up, but was forced to stop when he backed into the wall. This startled him, and he accidentally fired, dropping the gun as well.

Time seemed to slow. It felt like five minutes passed instead of the two seconds it really was.

I watched the bullet completely miss Aldrick, flying towards me, instead. Well, in my direction. It cleared me by about a foot, shatter a bottle of cheap brandy behind the bar, and an "Oh!" escaped me.

Time resumed. Quite noisily, too.

Aldrick's chair crashed to the ground, and the table between him and Reject was easily tossed to the side. I had a sharp intake of breath as I moved forward. I had never seen this side of the Sheriff. I was also worried when Aldrick grabbed the kid by the neck and pinned him to the wall.

"Don't you ever point a gun at me, and you better be goddamn glad that you're so damn pathetic, otherwise I wouldn't think twice about sending you to yer momma in a box for shooting at my deputy."

I was close enough to hear the next part. No one else was near enough to hear what Aldrick had to say when his voice dropped to that quiet roar but me and Reject.

"Run, little boy. Run back to yer momma's bosom, and be grateful if you never cross paths with me again. Especially if you've done something stupid like this again."

Aldrick let go, and the boy fled the bar quicker than a jackrabbit from a snake pit.

"That was nice of you."

Aldrick grunted in response. "You okay?"

I just nodded.

"Time?"

I pulled out my pocketwatch, cursing that it was still an hour behind. "Total of eleven minutes, twenty seven seconds."

Aldrick closed his eyes, and I knew he was trying to figure out what time it was. He didn't like people telling him the time, but could never remember his pocketwatch. But then, he smiled, and my heart went all aflutter.

Not in the romantic way, no. He's my boss. But Al's smile was warm, sincere, and just made you feel safe. Figures why most of the single ladies in the town were so hot for him.

"Good, then it's time to relax, and grab a beer. Oh, you don't like beers...well, whatever."

We headed back to the bar, and I was still amazed how Aldrick could go from his cold, ruthless self that he used on the job, to this warm friend in less than a blink of an eye.

"So, James, sorry 'bout that. You alright?"

James, the bartender of the saloon, nodded. "I'm fine...And it was just bottom shelf brandy." And the man grabbed Aldrick a mug of beer, and me, he just refilled my water. I really wasn't much of a drinker. Just when Al wanted a 'bonding moment between men'.

Aldrick got this goofy grin on his face, and I surpressed a groan. "How're my girls doin'?" I surpressed the groan cause Aldrick had pretty much taken in the dancers of the bar as his own...something. Calling them his girls and always checking in on them. And beating up the guys that got a feel of something they shouldn't have when they got away from Evan, the bouncer.

"Oh! You are gonna get more than just a piece of my mind, Evan!"

James shook his head, turning to clean up the broken brandy bottle. "See for yourself."

Aldrick went to deal with that mess, and someone else walked into the bar, one that made my face brighten.

"Miss Jenny! So glad to see you here!"

Miss Jenny was one of the beautiful southern bells here in town, and we had taken a liking to each other. Well, she took a liking to Noah, but me, I was flirting back to keep my cover as a man. Mean, but true. Definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Well, Deputy Noah. Would you mind getting little ole me a drink on this hot day?"

I nodded, and James brought over another glass of water. Miss Jenny wasn't a drinker, either.

After taking a few delicate sips, she smiled, and my heart melted. It was a smile of love...but I needed Justice more than not breaking this girl's heart, so I smiled back. It wasn't hard to smile at her, thankfully. She always was a pretty woman, and her dresses, while simple in design, were always dyed magnificent colors. This one was a deep purple.

"What are you doing here, Deputy Noah? I hope you aren't working and I'm disrupting something."

I shook my head. "No, no, that's done gone and passed."

"Oh, do tell me about it. I love hearing those kinds of stories."

And so, I went on to tell her what happened, exaggerating a bit and being extremely descriptive for her benefit, when I swear I felt someone staring at me...

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Next chapter awaits!

YOU CAN DO IT NOELLE NOAH!!! AND I WOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU ANY DAY~! xDD

And I can definitely see all the women swooning over Al. XD

"He's been ogling the other dancers, Al!"

I sighed, looking at Bobbi, one eyebrow raised at her. Bobbi was basically the 'head' dancer of the girls of the saloon. Which made her really my 'head girl', really.

I looked to Evan, the bouncer of the saloon, and also Bobbi's squeeze. And squeeze she did, sometimes. But, anyways, he just shrugged. "I watch them, not 'ogle' them."

Bobbi gave a huff, and I immediately put my hand up. "Bobs, it's his job to watch them, and you know that. Who put this idea in your head that he's looking at girls other than you in that way?"

The dancer blushed, looking down at the ground and kicking the dirt on the floor. "...Um...Jane."

Groaning in irritation, I rubbed my forehead. Figured that evil, evil little girl(who wasn't that little) would do something like this. "...And you listened to her?"

As soon as I got a look at Bobbi's face, I knew Jane would end up coming by my place sooner or later with complaint of assault. As I walked away, I gave her some parting words. "Small and close together. You know, like a cat. Aim for the eyes." Yes, I did just tell someone how to assault someone else and get away with it. It was going to happen, and Bobbi needed to put that girl in her place. Besides, no one messes with my girls.

I looked towards Noah, watching my deputy flirt with Miss Jenny, and I frowned. She really didn't need to lead Miss Jenny on like that.

Oh, yeah, I know Noah is really a girl. No idea who she 'was' or what her name is, but as soon as she walked into the sheriff's building and tried to deepen her voice, I was half tempted to laugh. The other half saw that fire in her eyes, and figured it couldn't hurt. Though, cause of her 'squeeking' voice, and my desire not to rat her out as a girl, I started calling her 'Boy'.

My eyes flitted around the room, and my walking stopped. There was a man staring at Noah, watching her with a very critical gaze. But he noticed me staring, and quickly walked out. No, swaggered. Like a man that thought he was the s**t, and knew how to back it up.

That wasn't a good thing. Maybe bonding with Noah needs to happen tonight, and I need to find out what she's done. But not now, not in public. She was still my deputy, and if she was outted, she wouldn't be able to actually keep that job.

Outted. Ha. I think I made a joke without realizing it.

Oh, yeah, by the way? I'm not quite into the fairer sex. Yep, I'm a homosexual. Not that anyone needs to know that. Hence why I always absorb myself in my job.

Blinking out of my thoughts, I finished my way over to Noah, chugged down the last of my beer that was beside her, and gave her a look that got her attention. "Gonna head back home. See ya there." Noah nodded at me, and I headed out of the saloon.

Oh, yeah, me and Noah shared a place. Seperate bedrooms, and we stayed out of each other's rooms. I respected other people's privacy, they need to respect mine. Pretty much my only rule when not on the job.

As I stepped out of the saloon and onto the street, I turned to walk home, only to bump into someone, who kept on running, shouting a quick and loud "I'm sorry, Sheriff!"

I shook my head and smiled. "That Miss Rachel. I swear, she's a tornado in a dress, that girl." And then, brushing myself off and straightening my hat, I resumed my walk home. Needed to get the whiskey out and ready. There was going to be drinks poured and secrets spilled.