"You do know that you are a MacGregor and if we help you our families and ourselves could be murdered right?" Johnnie glanced around, and seeing that no one was near he continued. "Douglas, Merida and I will talk it over and give you our answer."

"Please.....shot...heart.........help." Alasdair would not last much longer.

Douglas was unsure of whether or not he wanted to help him. His aunt and uncle had been living in the village that was raided and both were killed. Merida on the other hand insisted on helping him. Johnnie was unsure and listened to both sides of the issue. They talked and argued and could not seem to come up with a reasonable solution. Merida could tell time was running out for Alasdair, so she made one final argument.

"He'll die without our help!And why waste a chance to save one person from all this senseless killing. We will just have to be more careful and not let anyone else know that we are doing this. I can't understand why you think we should just leave him!"

That did it. The two boys were convinced that they should help this one MacGregor and save him from the decree. They told Alasdair of Glenstrae that they would indeed help him but they had to be sure they could trust him. Alasdair's face lit up with gratitude.

They carried the injured MacGregor to an abandoned farm building they had found at the back of Johnnie's property. Merida pulled a small first aid kit out of her apron pocket. Johnnie and Douglas looked at her incredulously.

She smiled. "I always carry one with me since I never know when you guys will get hurt. Remember what happened 3 weeks ago? Now, I 'm sorry to be rude but Chief Alasdair needs medical attention. Now."

Merida worked with great speed and unbelievable accuracy. Before long Chief Alasdair was all bandaged up. The bullet was still in his chest, but Merida explained that if she pulled it out there would be even less of a chance that the would live. Even so she gave him at best a week to live.

"The bullet got to close to his heart. With me bandaging him up, I only extended his life a short amount of time and not for long."

Able to breathe easier, the chief spoke. "I want to thank you for risking your lives, your homes, and the rest of your families, to save me, one person and an outlaw nonetheless. Now, let me tell you my story and why everything has gone haywire. My clan has been enemies with the Colquhoun clan,you know, the one that has been raided and burned, for as long as I can remember. Since I was a child I was raised up to be able to fight them. I never understood why we had to fight. Why couldn't we just have chosen peace? Let me tell you, we did not nor will ever raid the Colquhouns as long as I am around. Unbeknownst to me, however, our clan was planning to raid them. One of the soldiers that felt the same way as me found out and let me know of their plans. Together we managed to convince enough of them not to fight. This led to the plans being cancelled. We did not do it! We did not raid the Colquhouns!"

Douglas was skeptical. "How do we know that you ain't lying to cover up and get people on your side? Do you have proof of -"

Johnnie cut in. "Douglas,what choice do we have? We have already given him three of the four things that are forbidden to a MacGregor: Food, Medical Care, and Shelter. We are in this too deep now."

Alasdair looked and the three teens sighed. "Ye can't be sure I am telling the truth. The other peace loving MacGregors have already been killed. I am truly sorry for the danger I have put you in. One thing I am sure of is: we were framed. I caught a glimpse of the army riding away from the village.They were stripped of all markings, they only had some stolen MacGregor tartan on their horses and the MacGregor crest on their armor. I was only a few minutes from my village and when I got there the whole army was lounging around- not in armor. None of the horses were saddled up, or warm from running. All the weapons were clean,there was no blood on them. And the torches that we save for battle were still there; not a trace of coal on it, still brand new."

Merida, who had been quiet this whole time spoke up. "Chief Alasdair, I know this is hard for you.For now we have no choice but to believe you. But let me tell you, if you somehow manage to leave this building for any reason without telling us, we will be forced to turn you in, as much as we hate the killing. This is how you can gain our trust."

~=+=~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: What do you think so far? Please comment, vote and follow if you haven't done so already