The Outlaw, The Gambler & Persuasion

Triad Soulmate AU!

Soulmates//Triad ((The gist of this is that three individuals -sometimes more than three- are soulmates and destined to be together. What happens is that the minute they lock eyes, they know because it feels like they just started living their lives, like they had just been born, and it's almost instant love. And whether they're a whole triad yet or not, they're together and stay together until they find their final mate(s), then their triad is complete. I kinda laugh sometimes because it sounds like a tribe. Sometimes, it doesn't turn out to be a romantic bond and can be almost a parental/child/brother/sister twine, but for the sake of this story, let's keep it romantic.))

Matilda and Vasquez were the first two of their triad to meet. The outlaw was following Sam Chisolm around just after he had found him in the dead man's cabin. He wouldn't admit it with his wounded pride and all, but Sam was the first bounty hunter to ever get the drop on him.

Sam leads him and Missus Emma Cullen to another small town a day before they were supposed to meet up with the others outside of Volcano Springs. The outlaw was cautious when the warrant officer led them over to a saloon and informed the others that he was looking for a woman to join the mission. Vasquez decided to stay outside with the horses, due to his paranoia about a wanted man in a public place.

After Sam and Emma went inside, Vasquez fed the horses then took out a cigar to chew on while he cleans a little dirt off his guns. He leaned against a post and tuned out most of the noise this town had to offer, lowering his hat over his eyes whenever someone walked by.

"Vasquez, this is Miss Crawford. She'll be joining us."

He looked up and flinched noticeably, being caught off guard when his dark eyes met a pair of gray and green-speckled orbs. The minute their pupils locked, there was a light, almost chilling rush of unnatural air that flew down both of their spines and their ears, for a brief moment, couldn't pick up the slightest of sounds. Vasquez could only describe it as living again, and to some it was almost like dying, where your life flashed before your eyes. Well, it was like that, but with memories of a life you've never seen before, but you'd want to get to know. Some say when you meet each of your soulmates, you see their memories flash behind your eyes once your gaze meets, and then just like that, they quickly fade away and you forget them, and it leaves you stunned as if you had just awoken from a nightmare you couldn't remember.

Miss Crawford bites her lip to suppress a gasp, the only clue Vasquez notice that she saw it too were her wide eyes. The moment is gone, but deep down, in the pit of their guts, they both knew. Sam and Emma didn't seem to have noticed, at least not right away. When the two mounted their horses and were getting ready to go, they came to the observation when they realized that Vasquez and Crawford haven't moved from their spots. They were still oddly staring at each other.

Finally, the other woman blinks, breaking the shocked gaze and spoke, "Hi, um... you can call me Matilda."

Vasquez felt his chest tighten at her name and resisted the urge to smile. When he was a boy, his mama described to him what it would feel like to meet your soulmates, and if meeting one alone feels like this, he wondered what it would feel like to see both of them together. He loved seeing his mother and his two fathers dance around each other happily, and he always imagined what it would be like for him one day. But then he killed a man, a ranger, but not a very nice one because Vasquez watched him hit and threaten a child. After that, he's been on the run, hiding from others, and not setting eyes on another living soul (because his friend-who-doesn't-snore-much doesn't count) in a long time. After the $500 reward was placed on his head, Vasquez had forgotten and lost hope in finding his triad of soulmates.