Cody couldn't believe it was taking Teaspoon so long to do something. He watched in horror as Kat continued to struggle against her captor. He could tell what was on the man's mind, but so far Joe seemed to be enjoying the fight. He was quickly wearing Kat down though. Cody could see in the firelight that Kat's face was bloodied and she was fighting to stay conscious.

Cody nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly and was face to face with Buck.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Cody tried to keep his voice at a whisper.

"I'm gonna get her out of there." Buck answered plainly, though he sounded weak.

"Let us handle it." Cody shook his head as he looked at Buck's pale, exhausted face. Cody's worry increased as he glanced down at Buck's shirt and saw a small spot of blood, meaning his wound had reopened.

"No." Buck answered, trying to end the discussion completely.

"Buck, you should be in bed." Cody protested. Cody then realized how weak his protest was. One look at Buck's deep, sincere eyes, and Cody knew no one had more right to save Kat than Buck.

"Let me keep my promise." Buck pleaded as he unsheathed his knife and pushed past Cody.

Cody let Buck go. He lifted his rifle to his shoulder and watched as Buck cautiously moved toward the campfire. Out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw Teaspoon and Kid stop at the edge of the firelight when they noticed Buck.

Buck moved toward Joe with no other thought on his mind than murder. The only person he had possibly ever wanted to kill more was Ike's murderer.

By the time Buck was close enough to Joe, Kat was unconscious. As Joe began to rip Kat's dress that was all the incentive Buck needed.

Buck lunged at the man and knocked him to the ground. As Buck drew back his knife, Joe drove his fist into Buck's ribs. Buck fell back and screamed in pain. Joe took advantage of Buck's stun, and tackled him. Buck's knife went flying as Joe knocked the wind out of him and continued the assault on his chest. Buck threw his legs up and forced Joe over his head. Buck rolled in the direction of his knife. His hand found it just as Joe was getting up. He charged Buck, and Buck met him low. Once again, Joe wound up on the ground behind Buck, the wind knocked out of him. Buck was instantly on top of Joe. Buck gave him no time to react he just simply drove his knife into Joe's heart.

Buck took a moment to draw as deep a breath as he could, then went to Kat's side. Teaspoon, Kid and Cody all made their way toward Buck. They watched as Buck gently cradled Kat's head in his lap. Silent tears were rolling down his face as he brushed her bloodied hair away from her face.

"It's all my fault." Buck said, his voice cracking as he looked up at Cody.

Cody shook his head at his friend. "You saved her again." He smiled as he tried to reassure Buck. "You kept your promise."