Excellent so far. Please update soon.

The conversation between Dan and Tim
"A third ex-wife and you think THIS is sad!" Don't you just live a bit of Gutterson snark?

Tim playing down Rachel's compliment about him being a fast runner. Can you imagine anyone being less like Elmer Fudd!

Woop, Rachel's calling Tim ...Tim and referring to him as her partner. Quite right too!

Love Art's little dig at her.

SWAG scientific wild-ass guess. Priceless. I'm so using that at some point. Lovely Tim is finding his voice.

'Long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs' what a perfect way to describe feeling out of place.

Nasty Rachel, she's going to regret being so mean to the new boy. What until Raylan show up. Then she'll realise what trouble is!

You start as you mean to go on...'Tuesday mornings weren't Art's favourite, being only marginally better than Monday's and not nearly as promising as Thursdays'.
Then describing Tim's nervousness at starting work, his embarrassment at Art remembering the bar fight and Art's delight that he'd made a difference to the troubled kid he'd met. No need for him to stop that bad habit after all!
Gorgeous writing, full of heART :)

You write O/C characters so well. We know all we need to know about Cathy, from the little sarcasm in the previous chapter and the line about her ' sliding people into shoes that fit or they could grow into'. We know she's a people person not a hard boiled pen pusher. Of course having Art and Cathy rooting for Tim , also let's us see that they can see beyond the closed down, angry, snarky young man, who's trying to hide who he really is.

'The endless choices and decisions about nothing that really mattered' doesn't this sum up what it must be like for service personal who've seen active service. Everything must seem so trivial. And Tim missing the routine, the not having to think about what to wear. As though he's institutionalised. If we'd seen this episode, I'd of been in tears.

I absolutely love this and Broken Boy soldier. Reading how Art discovered, or was it saved Tim. And how the young ex sniper has matured into the quick witted, door frame leaning, cool headed Deputy Marshal in the series.

You really do capture the vibe , spirit and tone of the show but more than anything you've You've captured the characters , their dialogue and their speech patterns perfectly. I swear I hear their voices when I read your stories. like the show, your stories demand full attention, lest the reader miss a descriptive nugget.
A joy to read. Thank you :)

You write soooo well. Another fantastic piece. You capture the world Justified and it's characters brilliantly. As I read the words I can hear the voices.
Thank you for giving us Tim's back story.

Fascinating fill-in on Rachel and Shawnee. I know what that kind of experience can do to a young girl and totally understand Rachel's sister slide from pot, to heroin, to that car.

As always, thank you.

Wonderful. Powerful. I'm letting the day slip away to continue reading. Slip away, day! I'll just act like I've been working when the kids get home from school.

Writing this beautifully is worth a little deception.

This is just delightful, fresh-0-i. And it's new to me, which is new to me, since I'm now at the point where (I thought) I'd read every Gutterson fic ever written and so have re-read so many, so many times. Not that I don't enjoy that, especially with some of the really fine writers (like you) but it's such a treat to read a new Tim and know I'll be returning in the future.

You know, ever since I stopped begging for girl sex with Tim in every story, a whole new world has opened up to me :). And I don't mean that in any way sarcastically.

As always, thank you.

Fire

Holy cow. I love the show and have never had a problem with Raylan being the lead and focus, but after reading this story, I can't help but wonder how much more I might be enjoying it if they'd spend more time with Tim and Rachel (In fact, as I read your story, I kept hoping that Raylan wouldn't show up and suck up all the attention as his personality seems to do - it's not a criticism; it's just Raylan.). I am absolutely in love with what you've done here. You used the perfect amount of humor and drama that's completely faithful to the show and kept me guessing all the way through.

This is one of the best stories I've read in any fandom. And I've read a LOT. You should be proud of what you've created here. I know I'm proud that I was lucky enough to read it.

Tim fired, staying with it for the follow-through on the trigger before turning to his side and throwing up while the old feelings and images rushed up and crashed over him, left him struggling for breath. Then the calm on the hill came back in a wave, pushing him into the present. When he sat up he felt himself starting to come undone after all this time, miles and years between, and it scared him. He clamped down hard on his emotions, allowing only a short sob, cut off. Sliding the rifle over to his lap he flipped on the safety, then pressed his hands against his head, sat cross-legged and rocked himself gently, letting the storm pass. He spat out the taste of vomit and dug down in his pockets for something to replace it with. Eventually he stood, stumbled down the hill still cold and shaky, sea-legs on land, pulled his cap back around and the brim down hard over his face.

This is brilliant. So restrained, and yet so full of power and hurt.

Rachel shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts Art had just put into her mind, worked her face into confusion. "You want me to start sleeping with him?"

"No!" Art backtracked. "That's not what I meant. Jesus. That's just what I need, a bullpen romance, ending tragically with him on the roof across the street picking us all off."

I literally laughed out loud first time I read this.