We Got Each Other: Rattlesnake Jake x OC

Chapter 3

Warnings: guns, trauma, blood, spiders (yes lol they're creepy ok)

Word count: 1296

I wake up suddenly, and I don't quite know why. There was only one room big enough for two snakes, and I let Jake have it because I hate being inside. I wouldn't have enough space if all six feet of him were there too. Or maybe I just don't want to be near him. My eyes scan the dark, and I rattle my tail in warning. There's silence, and then I hear a click, and see the light of the crescent moon glinting off eight black things in a cluster. Slowly, I realise those are eyes, and there's only one thing in the Mojave that has eight eyes.

'What're ya doing here, spider?'

'There's a few gallons of water on yer head, snake.' My head snaps towards the sound, but it's too late. I feel the snick of mandibles on scale, and pain rips through my stomach, right above where the old scars are. I hiss and whirl, sinking my fangs into something hairy and bristly, and then there's a harsh crack, and the thing stops wriggling. Something else moves in the corner, and I cock my Gatling gun and fire on instinct, felling another spider. I see the last scuttling away, and I send a round into its abdomen.

Slowly, lights flicker on, and then I see Rango on his porch, gun out.

'Wha - ' He stammers as he sees the bodies of the spiders.

I pull my Stetson lower. 'Ya said yerself,' I hiss. 'I bring hell.' I turn around and come face to face with two hellfire eyes hovering over me.

'Do ya wanna come inside?' He asks quietly so that the others don't hear. I feel my Gatling gun rattle on instinct, and I cock my head, knowing all that he's seeing is two unblinking emerald eyes in the dark because a pair of unblinking flame eyes is all I see.

'Sure,' I finally say, not wanting to be attacked by any other water hunters tonight without backup, so I let myself follow Jake inside. Halfway up the stairs he turns around, eyes smoldering.

'Yer bleeding. I can smell it.'

I glance down at my underbelly and see a gaping slash just above the old scar.

'It's nothing,' I tell him.

'Ya want me to fix it up?'

'No,' I say shortly. 'I've dealt with my own injuries without ya before.'

He pulls back a bit, the flame in his eyes seeming to flicker a little. I tell myself I imagined it, even though I know it isn't true. Brushing it off, I curl up in the corner of the room, but it's small enough that the edge of his coils brush against mine, sandy scales against black. I huff and check my cartridge belt, careful not to bleed onto the floor. Listening to the rhythm of Jake's soft breathing, I close my eyes, suddenly feeling a lot safer.

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I sense the sun shining through my eyelids as the blinds are opened. Shifting my coils so I can lift my head, I find two hellfire eyes staring back.

'Ya body still trusts me,' Jake says softly. 'Ya didn't wake up when I bandaged ya up.'

Sharply, I glance down at my underbelly, which is wrapped tightly in white bandages. I narrow my eyes. 'Ya touch me again and - '

'I'm sorry I left ya,' he says quietly. 'I'm sorry that I wasn't there to stop ya getting that,' he continues, touching my old scar with his Gatling gun. 'I - '

'Don't ya dare touch me again.' And then I slide past him, down the stairs.

Beans looks up when I slither down. She looks at me, and I smell the fear on her, but also the determination.

'Ya gotta leave the town,' she says. 'Ya attracting all the nasty sorts. We ain't had spiders round here fer years.'

I laugh bitterly. 'Chop off one of the heads and nail it next to that cute li'l sign post with Mud scratched on it and I reckon ya ain't gonna see no more fer another few years.'

'But - '

'Don't ya worry, Miss Beans,' Jake says from behind me, reminding me how silent he can be if he wants. Beans jumps, and he leers at her. 'We're leaving today.'

'Oh,' she says, and I see the relief in her face. Before she tries to say anything else, I cut in.

'Let's go.'

The weird thing about being a gun for hire is that you hardly ever carry anything with you. As a human, I carry a pouch of gold and silver coins with me to pay for food and drink, but the desert folk will give it all for free or they'll get eaten themselves. So all I have on me right now is my cartridge belt, my Stetson, matches, and nothing else, which means when I want to leave, I leave.

Rango catches us on the outer edges of Mud.

'It was very nice having ya,' he pants, jogging on his spindly legs to catch up. Jake glances over at him with a flash of hellfire.

'No use lying, brother.'

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We travel in silence. There's nothing to say, really. So I just glide along over the dust, white Stetson pulled over my eyes to protect them from the desert sun. Jake's tail rattles in something like frustration, and he opens his mouth to speak, when a piercing cry interrupts him. I'd know that sound anywhere. The scar on my underbelly throbs with phantom pain, and I don't hesitate. I just look around wildly for somewhere to hide -

Suddenly, Jake has slung his coils over me, shielding me, Gatling gun pointing at the sky, yelling.

'Ya fucking touch her, bird, and ya ain't gonna be alive fer another second!'

I seize up under his warm coils, tucking myself under him, making myself smaller. I can't face it, the hawk above, spiralling down, and fuck fuck fuck what is he doing, last time this happened he left me -

He left me. And now he's here, shielding me with his own body, yelling up at the bird that if it even touches a scale on me, it's dead meat. A shuddering breath leaves me, and I feel his tail wrap around mine and squeeze reassuringly, and it's that that gets me. Like he cares now, like he'd protect me with his life, because that's what he's doing right now.

I slip out from under Jake's coils before he can stop me and raise my Gatling gun.

'Senna,' he says levelly. 'Ya get right back under me right now or - '

'Or what?' I reply, kissing his cheek and firing up at the hawk. It screeches as Jake's bullets join mine and pumps its wings, deciding we're too much of an effort for a meal. Sighing with relief, I bow my head slightly and slump down. I feel Jake lightly touch my face with the cold metal of his Gatling gun.

'I'm sorry I left ya,' he says, eyes locked on mine. 'I dunno what I did to deserve that kiss because I was only doing what I should have done years ago.' He shakes his head, staring off into the horizon. 'If only I had, and ya wouldn't have scars like that on ya.'

I kiss his cheek again. 'I won't hold onto our past if ya don't.'

I see the conflict in his eyes, the longing, so I let him dip his head down and brush his lips against mine with a new gentleness that seems almost unearthly. A shudder runs down my spine, and I hold his gaze for a moment longer.

'Trust me with yer heart, Jake, and I'll trust ya with mine.'