#rawhide au

So. Instead of becoming a drover, Gil managed to get hold of a reputable upmarket saloon in a boom town (maybe he won it in a bet, maybe someone gifted it to him, maybe he bought it with stolen confederate gold who knows not me). His girls are still in Philadelphia but they get to visit more often and it isn’t so bad, isn’t so lonely or frustrating to be far from his remaining family.

He keeps the saloon tidy and clean. The tables aren’t crooked. The liquor isn’t too cheap or too expensive - pretty much everyone can afford to have a good time and they won’t get arrested for causing a little trouble, but Mister Favor will knock ‘em out if they cause more than a little trouble. There are women who come in to ply their trade as there are in all these places. Gil keeps an eye on them, makes sure they’re safe when they’re on his property, gives them free meals.

The rest happens entirely accidentally on his part. An older woman, in her late fifties or early sixties, arrives one day. She’s a widow, obviously wealthy from how she dresses and behaves, and obviously from old money. She expects, she doesn’t demand. She likes Gil’s curt attitude, his rough edges, and asks if he’d keep her company for a while for a bit of extra money. And, since he is hoping to buy a ranch and leave the saloon to a few of the people he employs there, he says yes. It’s for his girls’ future.

He gets more offers from other dowagers, the occasional “old maid” (though how thirty is old he doesn’t know, he’s only in his thirties himself). Then the offers come from men, too.

It’s an unspoken thing, and the sheriff doesn’t care because he knows Gil is a decent man helping to keep the town orderly and prosperous. It really wasn’t intentional. But Gil gets offers and he rarely turns them down. He saves up as best he can. He has to pay out for repairs after fights and storms and fires and accidents. He entertains fops and actresses from the East, rough possible bandits, lonesome folk from over the border, drifters and drovers. Sometimes it’s conversation they want and nothing more. A lot of the time it’s more.

A modern-day Alternate Universe that first popped into my head when I was on a carnival ride last year and thought about Gil and Rowdy taking the girls to a country fair. And the plot bunny has been growing ever since.

 Gil owns a trucking company in West Texas. He’s an ex-soldier and while posted overseas, barely survived an explosion that left him critically injured. While he was recovering from his injuries, his wife passed away. Grief and PTSD hit Gil hard and he had to leave his kids with Eleanor while he put himself back together, which he did with some help from Pete, an ex-soldier who Gil had served with and become friends with. 

Gil was eventually able to start his own business and move the kids out to Texas with him. Pete took a job working for Gil as a mechanic. Pete’s wife is alive and well (Seriously, why does she not have a name? I’ve named her Elina, which as far as I can find means Intelligent in Cheyenne. Whatcha think?) They have one biological child and four foster children.

Rowdy is hired as a truck driver. And after a lot of pining and a lot of nudging from their friends, Gil admitted he’d got a crush on Rowdy and asked him out. They live together now, are stupid happy together and the girls love having Rowdy as part of the family. Gil’s PTSD, namely mood swings and anger issues, are much improved thanks to getting regular help. He still has some bad days but his family and friends have his back.  

Wishbone runs a diner across the road from Gil’s business. Mushy works for him, doing things like serving tables and cleaning. It was a big deal for Mushy when got the job because he wanted to prove to his overprotective mother that he can make his own way in life. Mushy now works part time for Wish and takes adult education classes in town.   Quince and Scarlett are drivers and the old married couple who’ve been together for longer than anyone knows. Jesus is a mechanic. Wilhelmina Carst is a driver and good friends with Rowdy. (C’mon, Willie’s awesome. And here she gets to be her tiny tough-nut self who also likes dancing and often teaches Rowdy) Additional characters show up throughout the story, like Dr Amadon and Mendel Sorkin.

So all up you have a Modern Rawhide AU with plenty of found family, shenanigans, misadventures and a lot of music. (I’m working on a playlist to go along with this)