This is a one-shot story of an alternative meeting between Arthur and Charlotte during the mission The Gilded Cage.

No grave can hold my body down - I'll crawl home to her. . . SADIE ADLER / RDR2 whimsywitchess 2024

What if Ross hadn't been lying and Abigail really was killed in a prison riot a week before Dutch? That's the situation John Marston finds himself in after watching Dutch commit suicide. He manages to shoot his way out of trouble after killing Edgar Ross in retaliation, but with Jack sent to an unknown orphanage, Uncle dead, and Beecher's Hope reduced to ashes, he has nowhere to go except for MacFarlane's Ranch. Thankfully, Bonnie and her father agree to let him stay and hide him from the law, but John has lost his wife, the thing he loves most. Now a broken man, he begins work as a ranch hand for the MacFarlanes while keeping his head down and plotting how to find and rescue Jack. The only problem is that rescuing Jack might lead the law right to him, and he can't put the MacFarlanes in danger after their kindness towards him. To complicate things further, John is starting to develop feelings for Bonnie he can't seem to shake.

Charles Smith has been stuck on a directionless path for years. When he joined the Van der Linde gang, he'd finally found people like himself. But the downfall of the gang forced Charles to find a new purpose in life. He's always struggled with loneliness, but because of the friends he's lost, now it's worse than ever. By an unexpected course of events, Charles settles in Saint Denis. He meets Irene, whose welcoming nature at the Bella Helene Café makes him feel like he belongs somewhere again. However, this waitress is more than she seems, and as the intrigue around her begins to swirl, Charles starts to believe Irene may have a darker past than him.

This story is a SEQUEL to my FanFic, "Dutch's Daughter" "The notorious Dutch's Boys gang that once plagued this state is now believed to be disbanded. Two of his henchmen - Hosea Matthews and Arthur Morgan - were both killed in separate raids by Pinkerton agents. Several gang members are still at large including the infamous Charlotte Van der Linde, daughter of the gang's leader, Dutch Van der Linde. The outlaws disappeared after the Pinkerton's raid and have not been seen since. Local law enforcement have pledged to continue searching for the Van der Linde's, who still have one of the largest bounties on their heads for kill or capture." This is a story of action, romance and most importantly... Revenge.

You meet John's father after your first term of university, and find your growing attraction to him difficult to ignore. | Modern AU Warnings: - 18+ - Smut - Age difference - References to alcohol & drugs

The gang has survived worse than this. Friends killed, money lost, and trouble still chasing them. But they were together as a family again and that should be all that mattered. Yet, Dutch's plans are growing crazier even with Hosea to speak against them. They're risking their lives for foolish gains and with Micah in Dutch's ear, there seems to be no end in sight. Worse, Arthur has pulled Charlotte further into the gang instead of out. The Pinkertons are closing in on them and if Arthur wants to survive, he needs to decide where to keep his loyalty: to himself or to the man leading them down a path of destruction.

Jack Marston is at a low point in his life. His family is dead, Beecher's Hope is in ruins, and he has nothing left to live for. Most days he spends so drunk he can barely remember anything, he kills and robs people at will, and there isn't an ounce of honor left in his body. But then one day, in Casa Madrugada, he saves a prostitute named Eva Cortes from being beaten to death by her pimp, Mario Alcalde. For the first time in a long time, Jack has someone to talk to, someone with emotional scars and baggage of her own. Jack finds a kindred spirit in Eva because she gives him hope and purpose, two things he hasn't had for a long, long time. But Mario Alcalde isn't willing to let Eva slip through his fingers so easily... Based on the "Eva in Peril" side mission in RDR1

This is a continuation of my Red Dead Redemption 2 fanfiction NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY. There were unavoidably characters or interesting conversations that I had to leave out of the story. However, they would work as additional and optional content. If you have read my story and have any scenario that you wished had been included, please let me know and I will do my best. Many thanks for the support for Nothing Gold Can Stay, I love these characters and this world. I'm not done with them yet!

*This follows the events of my other story, WIDOW'S SECOND CHANCE (before the Epilogue) It's the end of 1899 and Arthur has settled into his new life with Charlotte, but somehow he anticipated the eventual hitch in his happily ever after. The form it took was less expected as he soon discovers what happened to Miss Karen Jones...