Irreplaceable by Styzgal

Word Count 1,860

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A WHN for Lifeline, with references to the two Chad – Dream of Falcons episodes. My attempt at an appreciation of the character of Scott and Wayne Maunder, who brought him to life.
No beta. All mistakes mine.

Johnny stood looking into the corral at his beloved Barranca. His compadre had given his all over the last few days and was now taking a well-earned rest. Johnny watched the fluid movements of the proud animal and felt a surge of affection for this, the best horse he had ever owned and the one that he had made an immediate connection with.

Hearing footsteps behind him Johnny knew that it could only be one person; his brother. Scott had recently returned from a trip to town to hire more hands. The ranch was desperately short-handed because the scaremongering employed by Angus McGovern and his helper Anna Burrall had caused many men to leave.

The first thing that Scott did on his return was to spend time with his father, who was resting after being attacked by one of his most trusted hands, Charlie. No doubt Murdoch had updated Scott with all the sordid details of the recent events, which Johnny was quite happy for him to do. The youngest Lancer was sick of the whole betrayal and had no desire to discuss it further.

Scott approached his brother and joined him as he watched the palomino showing off with a series of bucks and snorts.

“Looking pretty good, brother. I would say you’ve been spoiling him as usual.”

“He deserves it hermano.” Johnny said softly.

Scott agreed and said nothing.

“So how did it go in town?” Johnny asked, hoping to hear some good news.

“Very well, actually. Tim McGuire’s spread is being sold off following his passing and half a dozen of his best hands heard that we may be hiring. A young man name of Virgil Hoffman was recently made foreman at the Bar M and could possibly take on Charlie’s place as second in command to Cip. None of the men seemed bothered about the “curse” and were willing and eager to join us at Lancer.” Scott said this in a very upbeat tone as he knew (from Murdoch) that his brother had taken the actions of Charlie very much to heart.

“Good job brother,” said Johnny, trying to sound enthusiastic. His words were sincere however; as he knew that Scott would’ve had a tough time, persuading men to sign on at Lancer after all the recent events. Tim McGuire’s misfortune had been a lucky break for them.

Scott looked at his brother’s face and knew that it was proving difficult for Johnny to be positive.

“Cheer up Johnny. I know it’s been tough on all of us but we just have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and carry on. Otherwise McGovern wins, and that just isn’t an option.”

Johnny looked his horse over one more time to check that he was moving as he should then turned to give his full attention to his brother. Looking into Scott’s eyes Johnny felt as if he was looking into a mirror, as he saw there the same weariness and disappointment that he was feeling.

A small smile appeared on Johnny’s face and he looked down at the ground to give himself time to formulate a reply.

“Bootstraps huh? Well I don’t recall seeing any straps on my boots but I”m betting you and I can find another way to get this show back on the road.” Johnny’s grin widened. “If we work together that is.”

Scott gave his own little smile then his facial expression changed to one that his younger brother couldn’t quite figure out.

“Yessss, I think we could. Of course, we haven’t worked together much since this nonsense started. You”ve been riding all over creation trying to find the source of the “pestilence” that has been plaguing the ranch while I’ve been helping Murdoch to keep the men calm and the books balanced. That has meant that we haven’t had much chance to pull together.”

“That’s true, that’s very true,” agreed Johnny, wondering where this was going.

“In fact,” continued Scott,” before McGovern started his dirty tricks you and our father were spending such a lot of time making sure a certain other Lancreeee (and here Scott put extra emphasis on the different pronunciation of the Lancer name) was going to stick around, I was starting to feel all left out, and maybe even surplus to requirements. After all, one pain-in-the-ass greenhorn is more than enough to deal with; you and Murdoch really didn’t need another.”

Realising that Scott was referring to Chad, and assuming his brother was trying to bring a little levity to the situation, Johnny chuckled.

However, when he looked back to Scott’s face, and saw that he was in fact not entirely joking, the laughter died in his throat.

Horrified that Scott would think, even in jest, that Chad could take his place Johnny was quick to negate any such idea.

“Ooh no, Scott. Please don’t compare yourself to somebody who wanted to work on a cattle ranch yet couldn’t make friends with his horse. Or somebody who would rather watch pond life than make sure the animals had enough water. Not forgetting somebody who was prepared to throw himself off the edge of a cliff to make a dead man’s dreams come true. Nossir, there’s greenhorns and then there’s lunkheads and our cousin was definitely the latter.”

“You seemed to get along with him pretty well, even though you’re not usually particularly tolerant of lunkheads.”

“Brother, I owed him and he was family. I honestly never thought he would make his home here. He just needed a place to grieve for Callie and figure out where he belonged in this world. I couldn’t begrudge him that and neither could Murdoch.”

Scott acknowledged the truth of that and nodded. “Do you miss him?” He asked.

“Naw. Let’s face it, he had his head in the clouds and was just waiting for the next flight of fancy that came along. When Murdoch spun him that tale about fire breathin’ steam locomotives I’m betting you could practically hear his cog wheels turning. Going off to make his fortune on the railroads was probably the best thing he could’ve done. Our father, in his own inimitable style, lit a fire under Chad’s butt and set him thinking about a different path; one that he can hopefully make a decent living from.”

Johnny paused, then asked a question of his brother. “You’re not thinking of leaving, are you? I mean cousins come and go but brothers… well, they’re impossible to replace, aren’t they?”

Scott looked like he needed a little more persuasion, so Johnny ploughed on.

“Boy, I tell you brother, if you left what would all the ladies hereabouts do? I mean they’d still have me but where would they go for that special Boston blend of tall, blond and principled? Or that stubborn chivalry that you seem to have by the bucket load? Nuh uh, no way can you leave. You’d have every female in the valley having the vapours.

And who else could I spark off? Waiting for Chad to get a joke was like waiting for paint to dry. Poking fun at him was no fun at all. If I told him he had no sense of humour he’d say “aww shucks” and apologise; not dig me in the ribs and spout off some smart-ass rejoinder!”

By this time Scott’s eyes were dancing with merriment at his brother’s audacious reasons for staying. He tried to keep a straight face but it was impossible.

“Rejoinder?” Scott remarked. “I do believe my extensive vocabulary is having a very beneficial effect on you little brother.”

Johnny nodded emphatically. “See, another reason to stay; without you my vocabulary would go all to hell!”

Scott pretended to think long and hard then commented, “What about our father? I think he rather liked having one Lancer that he could actually boss around. Particularly compared to YOU little brother, who, by your own admission, was never much good at taking orders. Yep, I think our old man enjoyed playing ‘uncle Murdo’ and throwing his not inconsiderable weight around.”

Johnny’s eyes lit up with mischief and he could barely contain himself.

“Whoooeee Scott, I do declare, you really can’t see the wood for the trees with that argument! I’ve watched our esteemed papi while you’re diggin’ your heels in and makin’ one of your calm logical cases for doin’ somethin’ totally batshit crazy and he loves it! You present him with a challenge; and not the same sort that I give him. You are his ‘intellectual equal’ and can smooth-talk him and OUT-talk him on any subject, while borin’ the pants off the rest of us of course! Tall, blond and dumb Chad couldn’t smooth-talk his way out of a wet paper bag.”

At this Johnny chortled (or as Scott liked to think, giggled) and looked very pleased with himself. Scott’s mind side-stepped for a split second as he recalled Theresa telling him about the effect his brother’s giggles had on the local female population.

Dragging his attention back Scott let his little brother have his moment of victory. Then he looked down at his boots with a small smile and said, “well then, I suppose I’ll stay. For the sake of the ladies of the valley of course. And to make sure that our dear father doesn’t get completely his own way naturally. That’s two good reasons I guess.”

With that Scott looked up into Johnny’s face, expecting to get more teasing or mock insults from his irrepressible brother.

Instead Johnny’s face was deadly serious. He locked eyes with Scott and said in a quiet, soft voice, “no brother of mine. Those ain’t the reasons at all.”

Johnny chose his next words carefully.

“Without you here Scott I couldn’t get up and face the new day tomorrow knowing that, once again, somebody has tried to take what is ours. Without you here I couldn’t help Murdoch face the betrayal of yet another old friend. And without you here Murdoch and I would probably bend and break under the strain of making sure all those good people that rely on Lancer are looked after.

“You’re the glue that keeps us three stubborn Lancer men together. And when I feel like I might fly into a million pieces because being Johnny Lancer is just too damn difficult, you’re the one that holds those pieces in place.

“You’re the oil that calms the stormy waters of my relationship with our father. You’re the key to the Lancer family, brother, the solid base.

“Those are the reasons why you can’t go.”

And there it was. In a few words, Johnny had lowered his defences and revealed his vulnerability to his brother. It was a sign of complete trust.

Scott was stunned and humbled and knew he couldn’t betray that trust. If he’d had any doubts about where his future would lie before this conversation, he now had none.

He was staying.

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~end~
2020-06-12

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