Red Dead Redemption II Preferences and Oneshots 3

Micah Bell: It's Okay to be Scared

Micah Bell & Child Reader (8 years old)

Summary: Being brought in by Dutch when you got caught trying to pickpocket him, you meet the Van der Linde gang and form an attachment with the least likely of men. Micah Bell. Despite acting like you were a nuisance, he began to grow fond of you. So when you and Jack go missing, he isn't about to sit about and let anything bad happen to you. Who knew that Micah would ever fall into a fatherly role?

Word Count: 4000

Pickpocketing was how you got by, how else was a child supposed to survive alone in this world? This time you just happened to pick the pocket of the wrong man, or the right man depending on how you wanted to look at it.

You aimed for his shiny pocket watch but your wrist was caught in his hand. It turns out that the man you were trying to rob was Dutch Van der Linde and he and his friend, Hosea Matthews, had took pity on you. It wasn't like they were going to punish a child for just trying to get by, in face that had offered to take you under their wing and took you back to their camp.

They got you clean, clothed you, fed you, gave you water. It really seemed to be safer here than alone on the streets. Admittedly, you had already started to make your judgements about different members of the gang, just trying to get a sense of where you would be living now.

The women seemed kind enough, there was another child which was reassuring, he was even younger than you. Most of the men seemed alright, just like Dutch and Hosea. You really were starting to feel good about this place. The only thing that really caught your attention was a blonde man in a red shirt, he had a real mean look on his face and seemed to distance himself from the others. He might be a problem, or he might just be interesting.

-----

Since you arrived at the camp, Micah has avoided you for now reason in particular. He just had no reason to be around you. He thought it was stupid of Dutch to bring a kid into the camp, just another mouth to feed, but he didn't plan on ever interacting with you. Why would he? But of course, nothing seemed to go the way he wanted it too, at least that was how he saw things.

Micah was sitting at a table on his own with a drink when you wandered over. He watched you out the corner of his eye, expecting you to walk past him but instead you stopped and just looked up at him.

"Hi" you spoke up to get his attention, assuming that he just hadn't noticed you. Micah paused for a moment, realising that you were in fact talking to him. He lowered his drink and looked down at you but didn't respond. "I'm Y/n" you introduced yourself, politely holding your hand out for him to shake.

"I know who ya are. Dutch's new pickpocket" Micah hummed with disinterest.

"Yeah..." you nodded, hand still held up even though he wasn't taking it.

"You any good?" he asked, seeing that you were going to leave him alone.

"I think so" you smiled, nodding again but this time more enthusiastically. Micah just nodded in return, not comfortable with talking to children. "Y'know, mister, when somebody introduces themselves, you're meant to introduce yourself back" you told him as you lowered your hand.

"Is that so?" Micah cocked an eyebrow at you.

"Yep, that's what my ma told me" you nodded.

"And where is your ma now, kid?" Micah asked, knowing that he had said something wrong when he saw your smile fall.

"Oh...she's...she's gone. She was sick" you explained quietly.

"What 'bout your daddy?" Micah asked, muttering at this point. He was just wondering why you weren't leaving, he just brought up your dead mother but your still just standing there.