Through her escape and sorrow, Melissa had managed to take herself back to the place she once called home. Georgetown. She galloped through the woods, past her old home town as her memories flashed by her mind. She had barely eaten or slept anything the last days. The only thing her mind and body could manage to do was cry. She was broken and no one was there to fix it, not even herself this time. The last couple of days she had been followed by lawmen and bounty hunters, seemed like everyone was after her. She knew she even saw Sam and John with a group of men a few days ago. She just knew it was them, but she didn't stop, nor turn herself in, though she knew that the only fair trail for her was death. But before any of that, she needed to be back home. She needed to see her parents, needed to destroy the bag with all the money and values she had stolen.

As she rode over some plains and came across a thicker forest, Melissa knew that she was almost home, for she recognized the thick forest ahead of her. She stopped right in front of it. Thinking back on that a time she rode here with Sam. As she looked to her left, she could almost see Sam beside her, smiling, laughing, telling her that they would solve it that it would be okay to return to her home to burry her parents. But Sam wasn't here. He was somewhere else, probably close to Georgetown because he knows her better than anyone else. He must have known when he saw her and she saw him some days ago that she was headed back to Colorado, and he must have understood right there and then that she was going back home, because he is smart. No one else would have figured out that this was the place she would go to, but Sam always thinks a step ahead of everyone else.

Melissa breathed in as she started to gallop through the forest. Memories washed over her like a tide and she could almost see her younger self, crying, escaping through this forest as her home disappears in the distance. Seemed like this forest was meant for her escape, seemed like it was meant for her sorrows and tears.

As Melissa got to the end of the forest she stopped when she saw the big flowery tree still glowing on top of the hill ahead of her. A tear streamed down her cheek as she looked over at the place she once called home. The sun was about to set and its light spread across the trees branches. Melissa jumped down from Sheer and dragged herself across the green grass up to the tree where she stood for awhile and then down to the two graves that still were there. Seemed so long since she last were here. Why didn't she just stay here when she could? None of this would have happened then.

Her legs carried her all the way to the two crosses that said, Lilly Summers 1856-1891 and Matthew Summers 1853-1891. That's where she collapsed on the ground. Her body couldn't carry her anymore and as she sat there, it all broke down and her tears could no longer be held inside of her.

"I'm so sorry...."She cried, with a weak voice as she looked over at the two crosses. "I never meant for any of this to happened...."

The burden was hard for her to bare and being back home made Melissa realize even more what she had done. How many people she had hurt and how much bad things she had done.

"I don't deserved to be called your daughter anymore..." She said as she dragged her hand through the dirt. Then she suddenly realized why she came here. To burn the bag with money. Melissa lifted her eyes and gazed over at Sheer where the money bag were.

"But I know how to settle things." She whispered as she stood up and ran over to Sheer.

Melissa grabbed the smaller bag she had kept safe in her saddle bags that included all her money she had stolen and brought it over the two graves. There she sat down on the ground while she gathered some sticks and stones to start at fire with. Melissa dropped the bag as she desperately tried to start a fire with the sticks and the stones she had. When she finally managed to get a stick to burn she lifted it up and looked at the two graves.

"This is for you." Said she and dropped the stick on the bag that immediately caught fire and started to burn.

Immediately, her chest felt much lighter. Like that dark hole inside her calmed down as she didn't have to carry that burden no more. The wood cracked in the fire as Melissa watched the money disappear and turn to nothing more than dust.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." A familiar voice said.

She turned around, startled by Sam's voice as she noticed both John and Sam. John of course aimed his shotgun on Melissa while Sam kept his gun in his holster.

"You're too late. The money's gone." Said she.

"You think we give a damn about the money? No, we came for you Melissa Summers."Said John as he took two steps closer.

"Well you found me. So why don't you just shoot me and let's be down with it."Said she as she turned towards John.

"Gladly!"Said John and aimed his gun even more, before Sam raised his hand and grabbed the gun, stopping John.

"Easy John, calm down."

"Oh come on Sam! You know we can't trust her, we've spent far to much time and energy on this crazy woman. Nothing but trouble is it with her! I will not let her go this time!"John said and held his gun tight to himself. "Not again."

"I know, but you also promised me that you'd give me a chance to talk to her." Said Sam while looking at John.

John remembered his promise and had to let go of his pride, he didn't trust Sam with this. So he backed away a bit, standing in the background, ready with his gun in case Sam would change his mind and let her go. Or that she would try something to escape.

Sam took some steps closer to Melissa as she watched him and then raised her arms out in the air.

"Go on then. Shoot me." She said.

Sam shook his head, surprised by the broken Melissa he was met by.

"I'm not here to shoot you Melissa." He said.

"Then what exactly are you doing here Sam?"

Sam though for a moment, he didn't want to shoot her, he wanted to bring her in, that way he didn't have to be the one that took her down.

"I'm here to bring you in."He then said.

Melissa looked surprised at him. She knew that he would find her, but never did she think that he would actually want to bring her in.

"Why? So you can hang me in front of everyone in Grand Junction?"

"I never wanted any of this. You think it's easy for me?"

"Neither did I Sam. Neither did I."Said she as she looked at the two graves once again. "I know I deserve death and you won't give up until I'm gone....But I can't come with you. I avoided this place for too long and now I'm finally home. I'm finally where I'm suppose to be."Melissa said as she gazed over her home.

Sam looked confused at her. He knew that if she didn't come with them, he would have to be the one to put her down and it was something he feared more than anything.

"Please come with us back to Grand Junction."He then begged.

Melissa shook her head as one more tear streamed down her face.

"I can't....I'm sorry."

"Well I guess we'll just shoot you here then." John said as he took a step closer and aimed his gun again. Sam grabbed the gun and blocked the way.

"Hold on a minute John." Said he."Just wait."

John sighed as he shook his head and backed away a bit again.

"I should have listened to you Sam. You were right, about everything and now I am a killer, just like Sheriff Hinton, just like Jack Tannen....Just like everyone else....A monster." She said, while still gazing over her home.

"You're not a monster Melissa."

"Ì'm not?"She asked surprised.

"No."

"Do you know how many people I have hurt and robbed Sam? You have any idea of all the bad things I have done?" She asked as she took a step closer.

"You were forced into the life."He said, trying to make her calm down.

"Don't make excuses for me...."

"But Melissa...."

"No, just stop, okay?"She said as she turned away from him."Look, you can say that I was forced into this life, that I had no choice. But, none of it is true, because I had a choice. I had a choice to move on. I had a choice to listen to you, but I didn't. No one made me do anything. So don't say that, please." She said.

Sam didn't know what to do, things didn't go as he expected. If Melissa refused to go with them, then he or John had to shoot her and Sam knew it had to be him. It just had to. It wouldn't make sense if it was John. No, this was always meant for him and not for John.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, desperate for an answer from her.

"You could shoot me." She said with a low voice.

Sam turned away and started walking front and back for being nervous. He knew that the time had came. No turning back now.

"Don't ask that of me." He said, a bit upset."Please don't ask that of me."

Melissa looked at him. She knew to was harsh of her to ask that of him, perhaps a bit crazy too, but she knew as Sam knew, that there was no saving for her and no other life. She was at the end of the line and she was ready to face her dome.

"There's no saving for me Sam...I...I just want out okay?" She said as the tears rolled down her cheeks once again.

Even Sam fell some tears by this time. He was just so confused by everything and to be thinking he had to shoot her was too much for him.

"Sam. We have to take her down if she refuses to come with us." John said.

"I know dammit!" Sam cried upset as he kept walking front and back. Then he turned around and met Melissa once again. He saw her, but not the old happy her. He saw a broken soul that had been through hell and just wanted out. He saw, a broken woman that had lost everything and everyone she loved.

"I'm at the end of my line Sam."Said she."You need to stop me, you need to put me down before I hurt someone else."

Sam dragged his hand on his face. Closing his eyes while breathing in and thinking. By the time he removed his hands from his face, his eyes had turned red from his tears and his weak voice told Melissa how hard it was for him.

"I can't...."Said he and looked at her.

"Then I'll do it." John said and took a step forward."I have no trouble at all to put you down Melissa Summers."Said he and loaded the gun. But once again, he was stopped by Sam.

"No!"He cried as he grabbed the gun."I'll do it....Just....Just give me a minute...."

"We don't have a minute Sam, let's just be done with it."

"Dammit John! Give me a damn minute." He said upset as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do.

John backed away from him once again as Sam opened his holster and grabbed his gun while his entire body shook. The gun seemed awfully heavy than it had been before and as he aimed it on Melissa his entire heart broke. He knew it wouldn't be easy to say goodbye, but never in his wildest dreams did he think it would be this hard.

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this." He said with a weak voice.

Melissa glanced over her home while she let the sun warm her face before turning towards Sam with a heartwarming smile.

"We can't change what's done. We can only move on." She said, quoting Sam."You'll always be my brother Sam."

Sam closed his eyes as one more tear dripped down his face as his fingers shook and his body shivered.

"And you'll always be my sister...."He said.

She smiled and both of their eyes were red form the tears they shared. So many adventures and laughters they had shared with each other. Both of their minds showed them all the good memories they had shared as the sun was almost down and their happiness almost gone. Sam shook his entire body as Melissa looked on him with a smile, and as the sun and its warmth disappeared Sam slowly pulled the trigger on his gun and a loud bang could be heard, echoed through the forest and mountains. The bullet landed in her chest and Melissa looked down on her wound as her hands got covered in her own blood. Her body lost some balance and as she backed away she took one last glance over at Sam and smiled.

"Thank you."She mumbled before she collapsed into a lifeless pile of nothing.

Sam closed his eyes, dropped the gun on the ground and collapse he too. He cried even more as his tears landed on the ground in front of him. His body kept shivering as he almost lost his entire voice form the tears. For he had just lost the only family he had left and it was painful as hell.

John suddenly understood how much Melissa meant to Sam and wanted to show slightly compassion, even if he couldn't care less that Melissa was gone. He laid his hand on Sam's shoulder from behind and Sam quickly stood up and punched away his hand.

"I'm thinking you need some time alone then."He said and backed away."I'll head back to Grand Junction and I'll bring her body with me." He said and moved closer towards her. Sam grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"No." He said."I need to burry her here, with her family. It's what she wanted."

"We need to show the others proof that she's dead Sam."

"We don't need to prove anything, if they don't believe us they can come here and look at the grave and dig her body up themselves. But she's not going anywhere, I'm burying her here and that's it."Said Sam as he walked towards her body.

John didn't really have time to argue, so he shook his shoulders and mounted his horse.

"Very well then, as you wish. I'll go and deliver the news to the others in Grand Junction. Come when you're ready." He said and started trotting away.

Sam crouched down beside Melissa's body as he touched her fair skin and face and felt her hand that was still warm. A tear dripped down from him and landed on her as his heart was completely broken. How could he ever move on after this?

She had her satchel around her waist and Sam removed it from her. He opened the satchel, found the journal, some canned beans, a bounty poster on her and....A letter. To him. Sam touched the letter, wondering why she kept it there, was she going to post it to him later? He was carving answers and opened the letter and started reading as he sat down beside her.

My dearest Sam,

I hardly know where to begin. Couldn't possible begin with a sorry because it hardly cut it.

Sam, I know I made mistakes and I know I disappointed you and for that I'm deeply sorry. I never meant for things to go this far and now, when I look back at the entire mess I've made I start to think of how I could let things go so far.

I've spent the last year in a total lie, while becoming someone I never wished to be. If my parents saw me right now, they would be ashamed of what they saw, as would James, as would you.

When James....Died...I completely lost myself. I was just so mad, so furious and angry with the world that I buried myself in lies. I thought I did right to kill everyone in my path because they had taken everything away from me. I thought by taking revenge, I would find peace. But I never found peace, all I found was a darker and much crueler world.

Revenge isn't the way of things, I see that now and I know you warned me....You told me "Revenge is a fool's business. Once you're in, you never get out." I think I finally understand what you meant Sam.

I'm afraid of myself and what I can do, this rage inside of me won't just go away and I get so angry with everything. Even if the men that took my loved ones away are gone I still get so mad. I'm losing myself Sam, perhaps was I even lost before all this happened. But I'm drowning....And there's no one there to pull me up from the depths.

So, Sam, I can't stay in America anymore. I can't be around this mess I've caused and soon I'll be leaving. I won't tell you where because I know you'd only come after me and I don't want that for you. I want you to move on with your life. Get married, create your own family. Be the lawman I know you'll be and forget about me. I'll go some place where I can be alone and free, so I can't hurt anyone no more.

Sam, my dearest Sam. I wish things were different and I wish that I could just turn back time and be back at the farm with you, but unfortunately that's not how things work....And I can never go back to living that life, but you can. You can move on Sam.

I just wanted you to know that I love you, with all my heart and you're my family. My only family I have left and that I am so sorry for everything I put you through. I should have listened to you from the beginning.

Live your life Sam. Be free. Be happy for me. Take care of that farm, it's a very special place. Never give that place up Sam. I have faith in you and you'll always be my brother.

As you once told me Sam....

Remember who the real enemy is.

Goodbye. Brother..... 

                                           Always yours, Melissa

After reading the last line Sam took down the letter and looked at her lifeless body once again. Her words had touched his heart and as it was starting to get darker, Sam knew what he had to do.

"Okay Melissa. I will not let you down."He said and stood up. Further down in the woods he found two sticks and a sharp stone to carve in her initials. He put together the two sticks as he carved in, Melissa Summers, 1875-1895. And then sat the cross right between the other two graves. As he searched the old farm he came across an old shovel he and Melissa probably used several years ago when they were here. But now he used the shovel to dig her grave and not her parents graves. He dug and dug and dug until the grave was deep enough for her. Then he lifted her up in his warm hands as he carefully dropped her body in the whole, before laying her hat on her hands and dropping a branch from the flowery tree on her body.

He glanced over her one last time, looked at the lifeless body that had been alive just an hour ago. Then, he started shoveling dirt back into the grave. Every dug he dug seemed rougher than the other, but he did it and made it through. Melissa was finally at peace and Sam knew that this is what she wanted.

By the time he was done, his fingers were red and swollen by his tight grip from the shovel and he threw the shovel away as he gathered some more branches from the flowery tree and laid it on her grave. It was almost completely dark now, but somehow, the scenery was still beautiful. All three of them now laid together and he knew that this is what Melissa meant when she said she wouldn't come back with them to be hanged, because she wanted to die and be buried here, with her family.

Sam gently kissed her grave as he said his last goodbyes and then, then he left the place with a lighter heart and mind than before. The notorious outlaw that everyone except him had feared was finally gone and the money with her.

By the time Sam came back to Grand Junction, John was already settling things to how it was before. Sam had ridden the entire night and as the sun raised up on the sky and met his cold face, he immediately felt warmer again.

As Sam walked inside the office, John could be seen by his desk, smoking and studying another bounty poster. When the door closed behind him, John looked up and met Sam who slowly approached him and sat down on the other side of the desk.

"Ah, deputy Andrews. How was the ride back? Did you settle things back there?" He asked.

Sam took off his hat and started to spin it on the table.

"You going out on a criminal hunt?" Sam asked, ignoring his questions. John laughed and shook his head for a bit, noticing how he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Yes sir. A feller named Hugh Wyatt, wanted for fake identity and gang robberies."He said as he slide the poster over to Sam, who inspected the entire poster.

"Need a hand with that?" Sam asked as he laid the poster back on the desk.

"You know I do."Said John.

"Well come on then." Said Sam as he stood up and walked towards the exit.

"You mean now?" John asked.

"No time to lose Sheriff Wilkes." Said Sam while a smile small appeared on his lips.

"You sure you don't want to...You know...Go back to your farm and be off for a few days before heading out again?"John asked, confused why Sam wanted to go right now.

Sam opened the door slightly but stopped as he said that. He turned towards John that gathered all his things as he smiled.

"I promised to live my life and be the best possible lawman I could be. So that's what I'm going to do."Said Sam as he smiled and walked outside.

"Whatever that means."Said John confused.

Melissa wanted him to move on and live his life, so that's what he was going to do. John raised his eyebrows, slightly confused towards his sudden change of behavior, but he didn't stop to question it. If Sam wanted to work, work he would get.

So, the two boys once again took off out of town towards new adventures and new criminals that needed to be put down or locked in. They rode past a huge forest and cut through a big mountain path where the sun shined even brighter and stronger than it had done before. The view was incredible too. You could see for miles if you wished, only open plains and forest laid ahead of the two boys and as they stopped for awhile to take in the view, the sun warmed Sam's face as he smiled towards it. He almost saw Melissa's proud face in the warmth, looking down and being proud of him. For he promised her to be happy and happy he would be. He promised her to live her life, so live his life he would do. He promised to be the best lawman this world had ever seen, so the best lawman he would be. And when the time comes for him to breath his last breaths in this world, he would be proud of what he achieved and he would remember the time he met Melissa, and how she, of all the people in the world, ended up becoming his best friend and sister, that gave him everything he wished for. A family to hold on to.