Author's Note: Collateral Damage consists of nine one-shot fanfictions from the first person view point of supporting characters in the Brokeback Mountain movie. I specified movie because, characters such as LaShawn, Randall, Bobby, and Cassie weren't in it directly. Mentioned, but not named. And then I had to choose canon between Bill/Monroe and Jenny/Francine. So I chose movie, because that way, everyone all ready had a name. The way this is going to work is, I'm going to Move down the rings of closeness to our main characters. I'm working my way in, so, don't expect the outer characters to have too much feelings on, or even know about, The relationship between Jack and Ennis. For example, LaShawn has no clue that Ennis even exists. So, the emotion is slow building. This is an example of how many people can be affected by things like this. The story Ms. Proulx so grippingly portrayed was about all of these characters, even if many were not delved deeply into. I hope to portray the damage done to the secondary and even tertiary characters by the love lost in this gripping story. They are the collateral damage of a life wasted.

Disclaimer: I do not own Brokeback Mountain and make to monetary benefits to writing this. It's just for fun and inspiration.

LaShawn: Confessions of a Cover-Girl

I was fine being the cover wife. I knew what I was getting into when I married Randy, but that was what I wanted. We decided, we would get married and he wouldn't give a damn who I slept with so long as I didn't give a damn who he slept with. It was perfect: I could get my daddy off my back without settling down and he could be queer without anyone knowing! The only bad part was: we would move often, if too many people found out about him being queer, we couldn't stay long. It was terrible trying to find new friends every time we moved. The only thing I liked about that was that I always got to tell a new story every time we moved. Once, I said my parents were in California, that they were living the high life in Malibu and we went to visit them every holiday. Oh! And this other time, I said we was just here for an in between house while our finances got set in Paris. Randy would always laugh, say I 'got one hell of an imagination'. Well, I always got over the friends thing quick. If only because, ever since high school we've been best friends. I might have actually been happily married to him if he weren't queer and I weren't so flirtatious!

Anyway, we moved to Childress cause it was quiet no one really mentioned much about his type there. But I'll be damned if the first day we weren't in that town that pick-up of his was dead as a door-nail. We were standing on the side of this dirt road when the brown truck came by. I swear to God, those blue-eyes that met mine when Jack got out of the driver's side nearly knocked me off my feet! He was a little out of shape, but, damn, he was a looker. I could tell he was fine and fit in his day. We ended up going to dinner with him and his wife. She was distant and snarky. Perfect. I could smell an affair in the air, that is if he wasn't all ready in one. He even asked me to dance, right in her face. She looked daggers at me, but I couldn't help but smile and chat away. When we got home, Randy told me that he was pretty sure Jack was gay. That put a damper on my spirits, but I figured, what the hell, I can at least try! But no sooner than I'd set after him, Randy had scooped him up.

You know, as strange as it was, it was also kind of funny. I mean, some of the guys had I slept with, so had Randy! I mean, it never bothered me none, and we would always joke about them when it was just us. Randy wouldn't joke about Jack though. I'd asked for all the dirty details when he had got back from the first time with Jack, but he kept his mouth shut. Oh well, save your secrets! I don't want them. But the more he saw Jack, the more I realized that he was falling for him. He always looked so sad when he came home from a weekend at Roy's cabin or a night off at some motel. He never told me, so I never knew why.

Well, I ain't told nobody this, but... Randy blames himself for Jack's death. Jack had come back from some fishing trip, I think? Yeah. Well, Randy was apparently really mad about that. Maybe Jack was screwing his fishing buddy or something; But, anyways, Randy went and got drunk, was spouting off some of his... harsher words about Jack. About a month later, Jack was found on his back out in the middle of nowhere. I never seen Randy so upset. He was in tears, saying over and over again, "It's all my fault. I told them and they killed him. It's all my fault." We packed our bags in record time, we didn't even stay for Jack's cremation service. We moved to Colorado, and about four months in, he decided to move to Wyoming. I guess it's just time for him to get far away from Jack, got no clue why he picked Wyoming though. Ain't nothing there. Sure as hell ain't no queers.