A/N: I don’t own 3:10 to Yuma, blah blah blah. Oh, and I’m fully aware Christian Bale has brown eyes. It’s called creative license. Enjoy. Oh, and because I feel having the closing note at the bottom kinda ruins the ending, so I'll have it up here, too:

A/N #2: Not my best, but not my worst, either. REVIEW!! Oh, and if you liked this, can u drop a vote on the poll on my profile? I wanna try my luck at another 3:10 to Yuam fic but I dunno which idea to go with .

Anyways, enjoy.

Ben Wade did not speak at all as the 3:10 to Yuma left the station. Emotions were running free in his mind. Anger towards Charlie. Pride for the boy who had just lowered his gun moments before. A sense of relief that he was on the train. However, while there was relief, there was also disappointment. Disappointment that the boy was right. There was some good in him after all… and also after a while, disappointment that he had actually let himself get on the train. But out of any emotion he felt, there was sadness in his heart. Sadness that he had watched his most worthy adversary die moments before. He had come to find that Dan Evans was an honorable man. A good man. A bastard and a fool, but a good man. He watched as the body of Dan Evans and his son slowly shrunk as the train got further and further away. He whistled for his horse, then let memories of the short time he had spent in Dan’s company flood his mind. For that, he let tears fall silently for the first time in many, many years.

It only took Ben a month to make his planned third escape from Yuma Prison a reality. He silently thanked Dan, wherever he was, saying that without him, it wouldn’t have been possible. He returned to Bisbee a changed man. He did not stay in the town long, just long enough to do one task. He felt it was his duty, and he would not eat, sleep, drink, or anything until it was done. One evening, he found where he was meant to go, did his task, then ducked behind part of a new barn as Alice Evans came out of the Evans home. He just smiled as she gaped at two bulls that were in the middle of the lawn, tied to a post. He had killed two of their bulls, so he had bought them and brought them there as compensation. It wasn’t much, but it would help. He knew that much. Seeing that his work was finished, he placed his hat back on his head, nodded, satisfied, then left, ready to move on to new places. Start a new life, possibly under a new name.

More months passed. He returned to Bisbee. In doing so, he had a rather big shock. The redhead from the saloon those few months ago was there… Emmy, that was her name, and she was holding a newborn child. His child. His son, to be more exact. She didn’t want him in the boy’s life. That wasn’t much of a surprise. He agreed, only giving one request. The boy was to be named Daniel, after the bravest man he had ever known.

Weeks afterwards, he had been camping out in back of the Evan’s home that the family was about to leave. He had made it his duty to protect him, even though William was now fifteen… sixteen, he couldn’t remember. He had just managed to dose off when a touch on his shoulder woke him with a start. Old habits die hard, he figured. It was Alice who had touched him. He was surprised that there was nothing put curiosity… and was that care in her eyes? High unlikely. He shook his head and waited for her to speak, to banish him from the house. So needless to say, he was surprised when she only asked one thing.

“Why?”

Ben frowned. “Because I needed to… he was a good man… my only friend,” he expected her hand to fly across his face, but when it didn’t come, he eyed her curiously.

Alice shook her head. “I never expected him to help a man like you,”

Ben chuckled at the comment, but said nothing.

“But he knew you were different… I saw that he did… those green eyes of his always gave him away,”

Ben raised his eyebrows and went to chuckle yet again until two words from her statement registered in his mind. “His what?”

“Eyes,” Alice repeated, uncertainly.

“Before that,” Ben shook his head.

“His green eyes gave him away?” she repeated again, more uncertainly.

Ben gave into chuckling, and before long, the chuckle turned into a full laugh, and he found he couldn’t stop. Truth be told, he didn’t want to. “Well, I’ll be damned…”