oil on troubled water
Pairing: John Marston x gn!reader
Summary: Tensions are high between John and Arthur. Will collaborating on a train robbery bring them closer or tear them farther apart?
Warnings: Even more emotional constipation, strong language, canon-typical violence, gun violence
Word count: 2,828
A/N: Pouring Forth Oil nation rise up - hopefully worth the wait!! Tysm to everyone who enjoys this story 🥰
Series masterlist • AO3
—
There’s a train due through Scarlett Meadows in a few days. Overburdened and underprotected, Mary-Beth insists it’s the perfect target. More than that, John has a plan to rob it. A good plan, one that will force the train to stop with a commandeered oil wagon parked dead over the tracks and allow you to hit it in the dark vulnerability of night .
It’s all he’s been able to talk about for a week.
You just need another man.
“That is… kind of brilliant,” Arthur admits when he hears. He’s fresh back from Strawberry with Micah not far behind. “Uh, for you, I mean,” he quickly amends, maybe remembering that he and John are supposed to be at odds. Tensions have been high since his return. “I think that’s the first time you ever had one of them!”
“Shut up,” John snaps.
But Arthur is on a roll now, that mean, brotherly gleam in his eye. “You might be the first bastard to ever have half his brains eaten by a wolf and end up more intelligent.”
John shoots you a look, one of those see didn’t I tell you he’d be like this glares you’ve been getting since you were kids. Arthur rolls his eyes towards you in much the same can’t he take a joke for once way. It takes everything in you not to groan aloud. You and John are good, now. At least there’s a truce. But the two of them? They’ve been bickering from the moment Arthur swung down from his saddle after nearly two weeks away. You’re lucky they’re being this civil, really.
Doesn’t mean they’re being cooperative.
You fold your arms and sigh. “We doin’ this thing or what?”
They glance over at each other, then you. The payday gleam in their eyes says it all.
—
Arthur volunteers to snag most of the supplies: guns, ammunition, dynamite. He can’t resist adding on that Abigail has asked him to head into town, anyhow, after he takes Jack fishing. Neither of you miss the way John’s jaw clenches. That leaves the oil wagon between you and him. He claims to have a plan for that, too.
“All them wagons come and go from that big oil field near Valentine,” John says. “I reckon between the two of us we can snag one on its way out.”
“Actually,” you say, “I think I can do you one better.”
His brows raise with interest when you explain that one of the drivers, Norris, always pauses his route in town to grab a drink. It’ll be far easier to rush the unattended wagon there than contend with all that security Heartland Oil Co. spends half its fortune hiring. When he asks how you know all this you just shrug.
“Spent a whole week in town, you didn’t think I’d notice a big damn oil wagon parked outside the saloon every other day?”
There’s a jab waiting on the barbed tip of his tongue about the way he heard it, you were sloshed six ways to Sunday the whole time you were there. You tilt your head at him when it never comes. He looks away.
It’s strange, this fragility between you.
“So, when’s he due in next?” he asks.
“Today,” you say, then jerk your head towards the horses. “Ready when you are, Cowboy.”
—
It’s almost laughable how easy it is to nick the wagon. The saloon doors haven’t even stopped swinging after Norris before the two of you scramble into the driver’s seat and urge the team of Shires away. With John sitting shotgun the few ambitious idiots that chase after you are quick to regret it. The sheriff never even manages to mount his horse before you’re halfway out of town, and then you’re good as gone. Blood and brains paint the dirt road leading away from Valentine and toward Old Trail Rise, where John says you’ll be able to stash it.
A mile or so out you drop your masks and slow your pace. It becomes a far more relaxing journey after that. The sky is blue and the clouds are white and the grass that covers the prairieland that slowly gives way to rolling hills is so very green. The breeze fanning your face is warmed by afternoon sun, and being away from camp always has a way of making you feel free. Like you could wheel with the wind or run across the plain or softly sigh through the stony creekbed if you tried.
Beside you, John squints up toward the sky. His face scrunches at the nose, obscuring sunspots and freckles you’ve long since mapped in your mind. His scars pull the skin funny, but his eyes still manage to crinkle. They’re clear and bright in the sunshine and you can’t help but smile at the sight. It’s a secret one, filled with all the things you’re too yellow to say. Filled with the way you’ve memorized the sharp features that relax into fond familiarity when he turns his head back to look at you. Guilt wipes it away and you turn too-fast to the road in front of you. In your peripheral, you can see that the fondness never quite leaves his eyes. You don’t quite know what to make of it.
“Keep left up here,” he says after a moment. “It’s not far past this fork, off the right and into those trees.”
Your mouth is a little dry. “Sure.”
Arthur and Charles are waiting there near the skeleton of an old shack. There’s just enough room beside it for the wagon to pull in out of view. Nearby, Taima grazes untethered beside Moonshine and Old Boy and that big bay paint Arthur’s still riding after Ambarino. He’s calling it ‘Blaze’. Or maybe ‘Ember’? Something to do with fire, because he fancies himself clever after walking away from the Adlers’ burning homestead with a horse in hand.
“Gentleman,” you tip your hat.
Charles nods back, and Arthur puts his hands on his hips. “Took you long enough.”
“Not all of us spent an easy morning fishin’,” you say.
You expect another friendly jab back, but Arthur frowns. “Not so easy,” he says. “Pinkertons found us down by the river.”
Your eyes go wide. “Shit, Arthur! Is Jack alright?”
“Fine,” he says, sparing the briefest glance at the conflict across John’s face. “A little shook up is all. They offered my freedom for Dutch. Said they killed Mac— or left him for dead, it’s all the same.”
“Jesus, are we still sure hittin’ this train is the right thing?”
Charles’ mouth draws into a grim line. “We should think about moving camp.”
“Come on!” John says. “When are we gonna get a sure thing like this on a train anytime soon? Camp can’t move without money.”
Arthur opens his mouth to argue the point further when a rustling in the brush stops the lot of you. Everyone’s hands go to the guns at their belts, but the figure who emerges through the trees is just Sean. He’s sat astride Ennis, crooked smile on his face and hands raised in mock surrender. The horse’s single blue eye is filled with just as much mischief as its owner.
“Don’t tell me now,” he tuts. “You old-timers are rolling over at the first sign of trouble?”
“What the hell is he doing here?” John asks, hackles raised.
It’s mostly directed at Arthur, who frowns up at the menace in question. “Thought I told you not to come along.”
Sean grins. “And I told you this is a young man’s game! The moment your one let slip there was a train in the works I knew you’d be needin’ guns, and mine’s the fastest around. It’s a job for a man in his prime. Youthful vigor, I say, and the lot of yous have run clean out ‘o that.”
John’s face is pinched in annoyance, and Charles rolls his eyes. You fold your arms and sigh.
“Mary-Beth needs to stop hangin’ around you,” Arthur gripes, but he doesn’t refuse him again.
By now you’ve all realized it’s pointless; he’s coming with.
Sean lets out a triumphant laugh when he sees he’s worn everyone down, and then launches into a monologue about being cut out of the action after his absence and finally getting out with the big cheeses to prove his far superior worth.
It’s a long wait until nightfall.
—
Sean never does shut up. Not through a one-sided shooting contest with Arthur or the conversation you try to have with Charles about potential camp locations or the nap John takes, slumped against your shoulder until the light falls. Even on the wagon ride to the tracks it’s incessant. He complains about Karen. He calls everyone old. He pokes at the tension between Arthur and John with all the subtlety of a stick of dynamite. He dubs you Sukky, Angry, Spooky, and Scar-Face, respectively, for refusing to hear one more story about his da.
You’re glad he survived Blackwater and the bounty hunters that caught up with him afterwards, really, but he sometimes he makes it hard to remember why.
Arriving at the tracks is a welcome relief.
Arthur calls out everyone’s moonlit marching orders: Charles will take care of the engineer, you and John will secure the passenger cars and start taking valuables, and Sean will handle the baggage car while Arthur runs point. It all sounds simple enough, so you’re sure something will go wrong, but all there is to do is stick to the plan and try not to get shot.
Once the wagon is in position and the horses are set loose, you fix your bandana to your face and head into the treeline to wait.
Arthur hangs back. When Seans asks what he’s going to do he flashes a grim reaper smile. “I’m gonna make sure she slows.”
“It’s do or die wit’ you, isn’t it?” Sean laughs. “I love it!”
You can feel the same manic laughter bubbling in the back of your throat. John’s eyes are flint sharp and bright. Even Charles isn’t immune to the feeling just before a big job like this; the electric air just before a lightning strike.
The train thunders down the tracks from around the bend. The ground shakes with it. Arthur climbs atop the wagon and stands tall, bandana up and gun at the ready. Tonight’s moon hides behind cloud cover, as though it knows your business and is lending you the shadows. There is only one light to break through the darkness, and it comes from the headlamp of the train. The moment it lights upon Arthur and the oil the brakes scream desperately. The train whistle cries out in alarm. Your heart hammers in your throat as it comes to a halt just a few feet away from him with a shower of sparks and the sound of scraping metal.
The conductor jumps out of the train in outrage.
“What’s going on here? What’s going on?!”
Charles emerges from treeline and shadow to hit him on the back of the head. He drops, dead weight.
Nothing good.
You step up to the passenger car, gun in hand, and smile.
—
Everything goes to plan, to your great joy and surprise.
Until it doesn’t.
Just when you’ve gathered all the valuables you can carry and you’re ready to disembark with the law none the wiser, two riders shine lamplight bright from the treeline.
“Oh, fuck,” Sean says.
“Ah, there’s only two,” Arthur claps his shoulder before settling behind a crate, gun at the ready. “We’re fightin’.”
You’re quick to get into a defensive position with John and Charles, but the whole thing gives you a bad feeling.
The men ride closer, lanterns held up to get a better view of the situation. They tell you to get off the train with your hands in the air.
Arthur tells them to go to hell.
By the time the first shot is fired there are more of them than you bargained for. A lot more.
It’s a hell of a firefight. They come first from the right, then the left, then from behind, until you can’t help but hit one no matter where you fire. Someone went through the trouble of hiring a goddamn army to protect this train. The fact that they only showed up now leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It feels alarmingly like a setup.
“I thought you said there’d be no guards ‘til the state line!” you shout at John over the gunfire.
“There wasn’t s’posed to be!” he shouts back.
You share a brief glance and know that he’s thinking the same thing. He didn’t exactly keep quiet about the job, but why should that matter? Who the hell would’ve talked?
The minute it looks like there’s a window you whistle for the horses and make your break for it, galloping blindly behind Arthur through the countryside. Moonshine grunts with exertion but keeps pace, ever eager. You slip him the reins to fire off a few shots behind you, nailing the handful of lawmen that were able to follow.
Soon there’s only the sound of panting horses and thundering hoofbeats and the creak of saddle leather and Sean’s breathy, wild laughter.
He’s beaming when you finally pull up. “That was fun, real fun! I can see why they call yous the professionals of the outfit.”
“Shut up,” Arthur says, but it comes off half-winded and far more fond than you’re sure he intended.
He tosses everyone their share, a nice bit of cash, and you hand him the sack full of valuables to fence. He mentioned something about a dealer near Rhodes he was going to see. This far South, you figure he might as well head a little farther before making his way back to camp.
There’s a moment where everyone just catches their breath before John speaks up. “Was that a setup? Law turned up real fast.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Arthur’s brow is pinched with worry. “I’m startin’ to get nervous.”
“You think they followed us from Blackwater?” Charles asks.
Arthur frowns. “Maybe. They found me already near Horseshoe, but… I think this lot was just locals.”
You shake your head, but say nothing. You want it to be locals, certainly. But you don’t think that’s what they were. If you didn’t know the place was crawling with law you’d head back to check some of the bodies to make certain. For now you just agree to accompany John over to Emerald Ranch to see about a lead while everyone else splits off with a final warning - mostly to Sean - to be careful about being tailed.
“Hey, Arthur,” John says just before he rides off.
“Yeah?”
“When you get back to camp,” he trails off, then shakes his head, determined. “Just— Take care of Abigail, will you? Make sure she’s… alright. After what happened with Jack and them Pinkertons, I mean.”
Arthur’s posture softens. He smiles, quiet and small, like he’s trying not to spook him. “Sure, John. Sure. I will.”
“Good. Thank you.”
They nod at each other, and all of the sudden it feels like you’re intruding on this moment between brothers. All of the sudden it feels like you can breathe.
—
You and John wind your way carefully toward Emerald Ranch, only making camp when dawn starts to break rose gold across the horizon. The few hours of sleep that you grab are restful, likely because the past several hours haven’t been.
When you wake it’s to the sound of John whistling, happy and tuneless. He sits beside the fire with a cup of coffee - freshly brewed by the smell - and a distant smile on his face. It grows wide and present when he notices your open eyes.
“Mornin’, Ghost!”
“It’s too early for you to be this goddamn happy,” you grouse, like it isn’t entirely infectious. You can’t even hide the smile on your face that starts to mirror his.
“Oh, come on,” he grins and hands you a cup of coffee. You huddle it close to your chest. “I got a pocket full of cash, a good lead on some more, my best friend, and a beautiful morning. A man don’t need much more’n that.”
“Shut up,” you laugh.
“I’m serious!” he says, but he’s laughing, too. “I know we got Pinkertons to worry about and all that, but I feel good, you know? Like a weight’s been lifted or somethin’.”
“I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with you and Arthur making nice last night,” you shoot a pointed look at him over your mug.
“No. Maybe. Shut up,” he says, wrinkling his nose. “Just let me be happy.”
“Fine. Tell me about this lead, then.”
His eyes light right back up as he launches into an explanation about the local livestock market. You’ve never been so happy to hear about sheep.
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