Red Dead Redemption OneShots

Van der Linde Gang x Reader - Thank You

Word Count: 3911

You had been pushing yourself too hard. The past few weeks had been tough for the Van der Linde gang. Everything that could go wrong, seemed to go wrong. Dutch was stressed beyond what you had ever seen before, Hosea was tired all the time, Arthur had gotten injured and couldn't get out of the camp at all and the rest of the gang seemed depressed thanks to the recent turn of events. And to top it all off, a sickness swept around and affected almost every member of the camp.

It had been hard but they pulled through. Dutch stood, looking out over the new camp they had set up. They were forced to move again but this time, everyone seemed to be in higher spirits. Now that nobody was sick anymore, the camp was once again bustling as people went around to do their chores.

How they managed to survive and keep the camp together was a miracle and a mystery. Actually, it wasn't a mystery. It was Y/N and Dutch knew that better than anyone else. When everyone was sick in bed or lost hope, Y/N was the one member of the gang who kept going. Bringing in score after score to make sure there was enough money to live. Hunting almost every day to keep the camp fed. And if all that wasn't enough, she did a lot of the chores in camp while the rest of the girls were under the weather.

Dutch knew it took a toll on her. Thanks to everything that needed to be done in camp, she had barely slept in the two weeks of chaos. Running around all day gathering supplies and medicine, tending to the sick who needed it, getting money and so much more.

He looked around until he saw you sit by the fire. You had a cup of coffee in hand, staring at the fire with an empty gaze. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard you laugh. All you gave now were small and empty smiles. Dutch decided it was time for that to change and give you a proper thanks.

"Arthur, Hosea, come here!" He called to the two men.

Hosea and Arthur, who had been talking at a table, looked at each other before standing up and walking over.

"What's up?" Asked Arthur. He stopped in front of Dutch and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Y/N is up." Dutch spoke back in a hushed tone, making sure that she wouldn't hear them. Not that she would, she was zoning out completely.

Hosea nodded while Arthur just looked between the two a little confused. Hosea had also seen all she had been doing for the gang lately and already figured out where Dutch wanted to go with this.

"She kept us together for the past few weeks and I think it is time we thank her for that." Dutch said with a smirk.

- - - -

A long sigh escaped Y/N's lips as she slowly drifted back into the world. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion hadn't done you any good and you knew it. But the gang was hardly back on their feet so you couldn't rest yet. You had to make sure everything and everyone was fine first so you gulped down your coffee and looked around camp.

Charles was chopping firewood, Arthur was talking to all the girls about something near the supply wagon, Dutch was talking to Javier and Bill while Hosea was chatting with John. The rest of the members were just sitting around or scouting for jobs. It was good to see everyone relax again.

You sighed a content sigh before throwing the coffee drab into the fire and standing up. Your muscles protested at every move as you walked over to Pearson's wagon.

"Hey Pearson." You greeted with a small smile.

"Y/N!" He greeted you with a big smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing just fine. I was wondering if you needed me to go into town to pick up some supplies." You answered.

Pearson was just about to open his mouth when Javier walked up behind you and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Actually, I'm already doing that." He said with a soft smile.

Before Pearson could open his mouth to protest, Javier pulled you away from the confused cook and walked you over to your tent. You could have sworn you saw Arthur speed walk over to Pearson while you were dragged away but you paid it no mind and focused on the man beside you.

"Well, do you need my help in town?" You asked with a hint of confusion in your voice. Javier wasn't one to go on a supply trip very quickly so this turn of events was a bit strange.

"Not at all. You just go ahead and rest." Javier said as he pushed you into your tent.

"Rest?" You asked. It was morning, you just woke up! Why would you rest? But before you could say anything else, Javier walked away, leaving you in the opening of your tent.

You blinked a few times before stepping out again. You walked over to a hay bale and was about to pick it up when an arm was flung around your shoulders.

"Why hello there." A distinct Irish accent said in your ear.

"Mr. Macguire! What do I owe the pleasure?" You said with a slight smirk. Sean sent you a teasing look but you ignored it and bent down to grab the hay bale, forcing Sean to let you go.

Sean saw you pick up and slight panic flashed through his eyes. "Wha- hey put that hay down!" He almost scolded you.

"Why?" You asked with visible confusion.

"Because I want to talk to you." Sean quickly blurted out. "Nothin' wrong with a good ol' chat right?" He spread his arms in innocence as he said that.

You narrowed your eyes in suspicion. His strange behavior paired with Javier's caused you to be a bit on guard. "I guess not but the horses need to be fed." You started walking with the hay but Sean gripped your shoulders to stop you.

"Yes but this is also important!" He quickly looked around for help and his eyes settled on the only person who was close enough. "Oi, Micah!" He shouted.

The man in question looked up with a scowl. He had followed the entire conversation but didn't think he'd have to get involved. After a frantic head motion from Sean, he stood up with a groan and walked over. "What." He huffed out.

"Take the hay bale to the horses would ya? I need to talk to Y/N." Sean asked, hoping the man would catch on to what he was doing and be nice for once in his life.

Micah scoffed but took the hay bale out of your arms anyway before muttering something under his breath and walking away.

Sean's hands still rested on your shoulders as the two of you watched Micah walk away in bewilderment. You blinked a few times before turning back to Sean. "Did he just- Did Micah Bell just voluntarily take over a chore from me?"

Sean chuckled at your comment and shrugged. "Apparently so. To be honest, I didn't think he'd do it!"

You let out a genuine laugh for the first time since the mess started and just outside your field of vision, Sean beamed with pride at Dutch who was looking at the scene unfold from his tent. "So, what did you want to talk about that was so important that Micah, of all people, had to take over from me?" You asked while turning back to Sean.

He looked like a deer caught in headlights when you asked him. After a moment of no response you waved your hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Sean?"

He snapped out of his daze and sent you a sheepish smile. "Sorry! I dozed off there for a second." He chuckled before re-gripping your shoulders and leading you around the outskirts of the camp. "Yes, so. What I wanted to talk about... Right." He cleared his throat and continued. "I... Since we are such good friends... wanted to ask you for help with... Charming the ladies?" He stumbled over his words and ended with such an uncertain voice that it made you frown in confusion.

"You want to ask me for help... with charming ladies?"

Now that he had some footing, Sean's unusual talent of talking everyone's ears off whenever he could took over to save him. "Yes! Well, I don't need help so much with charming the ladies. Never had trouble with that since I've got a secret weapon that all the ladies can't help but fall prey to. Yes, charming the ladies itself, that part is no challenge for my famous Irish charm!" You let out a confused chuckle as Sean continued to ramble on. "The thing is that I want to know what makes the ladies really happy once I've charmed them Y'know? I mean, you're a lady, I'm sure you can tell me! What would you, as a lady, want? Like, flowers, a treat, a gift, heck even a show of affection!" He blurted out with a grin.

You shook your head at the ramblings of the man before you. "You're not making much sense do you know that?" You asked but Sean just continued to grin at you.

A sigh escaped your lips and you scratched your head. "I dunno Sean. I've never really been charmed before. But I guess I'd just like to see that you care." You crossed your arms over your chest and looked slightly up, in thought. "And I guess that could be anything although it does depend on what kind of woman you have err, how do you say it? Charmed."

You continued to talk with Sean about proper ways to charm certain types of women for the next hour or so. Eventually however, not even Sean could come up with a new topic so you quickly excused yourself and walked back into camp.

"He talk your ears off yet?" A deep voice chuckled from next to you.

You turned around to see Arthur sitting at a table with a smile. "You have no idea." You smiled back.

Arthur just let out another chuckle before standing up and tossing a beer bottle to you. "Come and sit by the fire with me."

"Isn't it a bit early for a drink?" You asked but Arthur just motioned for you to follow and so you did. Arthur sat down on a log while you sat next to your longtime friend on the ground with your back against the log and your legs stretched out. The two of you just sat in comfortable silence while you drank your beers (even though you thought it was a bit early).

Once you finished half of the bottle you placed it down and stood up. "Alright, it's best if I go and do something around camp, if I don't I'm gonna fall asleep." You joked but before you could move away, Arthur took a hold of your wrist and pulled you down next to him again.

You yelped and looked at the man in confusion.

"Would you relax Y/N? There are more than enough people around to do chores." Arthur chuckled. "Besides, I don't feel like sitting along to drink." He added with a small smile.

You huffed and blew a piece of hair out of your face that had fallen when Arthur pulled you down. "I really am gonna fall asleep if you don't let me get up." You pouted.

"Good, you should get some." Arthur muttered before looking up as a big shadow was cast over the two of you.

"Is this spot taken?" Charles asked as he pointed to the empty spot next to you. You shook your head and the two men exchanged a knowing glance before he sat down.

"It's good to see everyone up and running again." Charles stated as he looked around camp.

"You can say that again." You sighed in relief.

"It's good to see everyone up and running again." Arthur joked. Earning a confused glance from you. "What? You said to say it again." With that he earned an elbow in the ribs while he laughed.

The three of you continued with some light conversation until you slowly began to fall asleep. Not too long after, you lolled to the side and ended up leaning against Charles while you slept. He and Arthur just looked at each other and Charles nodded with a smile that it was fine. You needed this rest after all. Arthur stood up and left while Charles stayed put the entire time you slept.

After about two hours, you stirred and slowly began to sit up. You looked around in a daze for a second before you saw Charles looking at you. Realizing what happened, your cheeks turned a shade of red and you mumbled out an apology. Charles, being the caring man he is, just chuckled and assured you it was fine.

"How long was I asleep?" You asked meekly.

"Not too long, about two hours." He answered as he smiled. "I hope it helped."

You just gave him a shy smile and nodded before standing up. "Thank you Charles."

"You're welcome."

And with that you walked away and wandered through camp once more. Looking around, it didn't seem like any of the chores needed to be done anymore. Surprisingly enough, they were all finished. While it would normally take all day to finish, today it was already done just after noon!

You raised your brows and walked over to your horse. You went over there to brush it before riding out of camp to go and do something but did a double take when you arrived to stand next to your horse. Judging by the shining fur, your horse had already been brushed for you! You patted your horse's neck and pulled out a sugar cube.

A content noise came from your horse while it ate the sugar cube. You just patted it again but before you could even make a move to mount up, someone in camp called you.

"Y/N!"

You turned around and saw John walking towards you. You let out an inaudible sigh. Interruptions didn't seem to stop today. "Hey John, what do you need?"

John stopped a few steps in front of you and smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck. "I was wondering if you could take Jack out for a little bit. He's been wanting to spend some time with you for a while but things in camp got a little hectic as you know."

You smiled a genuine smile at John. You always had a soft spot for Jack and would often play with him. Thanks to the events of the past two weeks, you hadn't been able to spend any time with him. "Sure!"

John smiled in relief at your answer. "Thank you so much! Is it possible that you take him out of camp for a little bit? Maybe down by the river?"

You nodded. The river was quite close to camp so you wouldn't even have to take your horse. "I'll come pick him up in a bit."

"Thank you." John smiled at you before walking away.

- - - -

"Hey Jack!"

The young boy looked u from the riverbank where he sat and looked at you with a slightly tilted head. "What?"

"Wanna build a sandcastle?" You asked with a smile. Jack's face lit up and he came running towards you.

"Yes! Yes! Although I don't know how to make one." He skidded to a halt next to you and crouched down, staring intently at the sand as if that would make the castle appear.

You chuckled at his enthusiasm and moved a little closer. "I'll show you and we can do it together."

The two of you spent a good long time working on the sandcastle together. Jack ran from the water back to the castle with new clumps of wet sand to fortify it while you mostly just tried to keep the structure up and standing. Once Jack was happy with the shape of the castle, he moved on to dig a moat. You kept holding the castle while Jack dug below your arms.

"Aunt Y/N you are the castle bridge!" He laughed as he emerged from under you.

You laughed with him and stuck out your tongue at him.

"You need to stand up strong just like the castle!" He shouted and started to cover your shoes in sand and mud. Not being able to do anything about it without letting go of the castle, you just allowed him to bury you.

"Hey Jack, Y/N!" Abigail called as she approached the two of you.

"Mama!" Jack called. He jumped up and ran to his mother, hugging her legs with his dirty hands.

"Look at you, you're covered in sand!" She chuckled as she looked over the little boy.

He laughed and ran back to where you were sitting. "Aunt Y/N has even more sand! Look mama, she's the bridge of the castle!" He shouted loudly while patting the sand at your feet down to make it look better.

"I can see that." Abigail chuckled and shot you an apologetic look. "Shall we go back to camp then?" She asked and Jack went to hold her hand.

"Pssst Jack!" You whispered loudly causing the boy to turn around. "Wanna be the monster to destroy the castle so that I can come with you?" A big smile appeared on his face and he looked at his mother for approval. She just smiled and nodded. With that, Jack came running back to the castle and roared loudly while jumping on it, destroying what you made.

"And now for the bridge!" He roared and jumped into your arms, making the two of you tumble onto the sand.

Abigail shared in your laughter and soon you were back on your feet. "Let's go then!"

- - - -

"Hey Y/N!" Hosea walked up to you.

You had just returned from playing with Jack and sand was still all over you despite your best efforts to dust it off. You greeted Hosea happily. He'd always been a father figure to you and you always enjoyed spending time with him.

"You look colourful." He chuckled.

"Have to look colourful when you play with Jack don't you think?" You smiled.

Hosea chuckled again before wiping a bit of sand away that was stuck to your cheek. "It's good to see you smiling again. I've missed seeing it." He said while smiling himself.

"Didn't have too much to smile about lately. But luckily that seems to have turned around for the better!"

The two of you walked further into camp while talking and joking. Your focus was completely on Hosea which was why you didn't watch where you were going, causing you to trip over a rock and fall forward. Luckily for you, Bill happened to be walking past and caught you before you could hit the ground but not before you accidentally punched him in the face while flailing your arms around.

"Bill, I'm so sorry!" You practically shouted out an apology as he lifted you back onto your feet.

Once you were steady, he let go and took a polite step back. "It's fine don't worry about it." He mumbled before walking away.

You watched him walk away and Hosea placed his hand on your shoulder. "You okay?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a little confused." You answered honestly.

Hosea furrowed his brows. "Confused? About what?"

You took a deep breath and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm pretty sure you know what's going on even if I don't." Hosea just raised a brow, silently asking you to keep talking. "Everyone is abnormally nice to me. Helping me with chores or just keeping me from doing things. I mean even Bill didn't mind that I punched him in the face just now!"

Hosea just chuckled and patted your shoulder. "You'll figure it out." With that, he walked away, leaving you standing with a confused expression on your face for the 800th time today.

- - - -

The rest of the day went by pretty quietly. You just went around camp, not doing much since everything was already cared for. The sun was beginning to set when you walked up to Dutch.

"Looks like we're all finally back on our feet again." You said to him with a smile.

"Looks like we are." He smiled up at you as he put his book down.

"Having fun spending the evening reading?" You asked, pointing to the book to start somewhat of a conversation. To be frank, you were bored and that is why you walked up to Dutch to talk. Little did you know, you wouldn't be bored for long.

"Spending the evening reading is never a bad thing." He smirked and stood up. "But for tonight, I have a better thing planned."

He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and chuckled at your, once again, confused expression before pulling you with him to the other side of his tent.

"Everyone come together for a bit!" He called out and all the members of the camp slowly piled in. "The past two weeks have not been easy. With all the jobs that went wrong and Arthur getting injured, things weren't looking too good." Dutch looked at the circle of people gathered around him and saw some of them nod in agreement. "If that wasn't enough almost all of us got sick causing no one left to take care of the camp. I'm not sure what would have happened had we not had Miss Y/N with us." He looked at you and squeezed your shoulder gently before looking back up to the people around him. "She kept all of us fed, cared for and alive. Therefore, tonight we celebrate that we survived! In honor of Y/N!" With that, the camp exploded into cheers and people started to disperse to get ready to party.

The party was incredibly refreshing and much needed. Every member of camp enjoyed themselves, singing, dancing, joking and talking all the while drinking.

You were currently listening to Javier play his guitar and sing while some others joined him in singing. You laughed at the enthusiasm of all the singers even if they weren't perfect. You looked up when someone went to sit down next to you, smiling when you saw Hosea.

"Do you now get why everyone was so nice in camp today?" He asked with a warm smile. You just smiled back at him, the love and gratefulness displayed in your eyes.

"I cannot thank all of you enough." Your voice cracked a little as your eyes got watery.

"No hey, it is us that need to thank you." Hosea retorted and you couldn't help but let out all the stress. You wrapped your arms around him and held him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around you as well and the two of you just sat there while music and laughter echoed through camp. Things were finally looking up again.

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Feel free to request, I'd love to write 'em! ^^

I just wanted to publish this today, so I will! It's 11:42 PM so it is still today Haha!
I'm not feeling up to look it over again and edit so I'll do that later. Apologies for any errors! >.<