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azombiewritesTitle: The Betrayal
Rating: PG
Warnings: Strong Language, violence and drug use.
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
AU: ATF
Main Characters: Ezra, and the rest.
Summary: Team Seven believe that Ezra Standish has betrayed them.
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Notes: Lenny Hoskins is my creation. I don't have any medical knowledge- forgive any mistakes.
Spoilers: None
Status: Complete
Total Word Count: 96,713
Chris sat quietly beside the bed, the natural afternoon sunlight shone through the window, it's light filtering across the bed revealing Ezra's pale features. His eyes moved from Ezra's sleeping form to Lenny's relaxed expression, the tension had flowed from his face when Ezra had woken up from his coma. The younger man wasn't lucid but Nathan had assured them that he didn't seem to be suffering any sort of after effects from the gunshot wound that had fractured his skull. Doctor Falex had agreed with Nathan's untrained diagnosis after he had examined Ezra when he woke up again a few hours later.
He watched Lenny carefully, thinking the man was aware of his scrutiny. He wanted to believe that Lenny would help them to recover the friendship the team had lost when they retaliated against Ezra's convincing cover, but he wasn't sure. The man reminded him of Ezra and he wondered if he too found it hard to form friendships but he pushed the thought away, it wasn't Lenny's friendship that he wanted, he wanted to fight for Ezra's, he also needed it. Chris would do anything to gain the trust and friendship that he had so viciously destroyed without remorse. He felt no guilt over what he had done until Nathan's words broke through his hatred of the younger man. 'He's working undercover.' The words had continued to echo in his mind for the last two weeks.
His mind had instantly dismissed the hatred of Ezra's betrayal and began to fill with feelings of remorse but also something else, something that he had been denying and it was this that he had to explain to Ezra. Chris had tried explaining it to himself first but the thoughts were confused, he needed to get them in order or he would never convince Ezra of the reason he had treated him so badly. Chris looked at Ezra's peaceful face once more then looked back at Lenny.
"It's not me you have to convince Larabee." Lenny told him.
"I know." Chris hung his head, he wasn't surprised by Lenny's comment, the man was able to read his expression but he had made it easy for him by not hiding his emotions. "But how are we going to get him back?"
"I told you that I would help you." Lenny pulled his eyes away from Ezra's face, he had been watching for the grimace that occasionally crossed the handsome features and he still felt relief each time he saw the movement that he thought he would never see again.
"Why?" Chris hadn't asked him why when he last offered to help but he wanted to know now.
"Before all this happened, Ezra respected and liked you, the others as well but he felt like an outsider who was trying to intrude on an already formed family." His light blue eyes turned back to Ezra and Chris followed his gaze. "He didn't think he was welcome which actually made things easier for him, didn't think he had to worry about people pretending to be his friend, he thought none of you were willing to try and develop a friendship with him." He saw the guilt that filled Chris's eyes and tried to wave it away. "Don't blame yourself Chris, Ezra is just as much at fault than the rest of you, probably more so. He pushes people away, won't let them get close to him because he doesn't know if they'll accept him for the person he really is instead of the person that he pretends to be." He used his hand to wipe Ezra's face, making sure he was careful of the nearly healed abrasion that Chris had caused. "Friendship is something he won't accept at face value, he thinks there's a catch, a payment of some sort and he's not prepared to play the game."
Chris had never taken the time to find out why Ezra always stood on the outside of the circle instead of stepping into it and taking part in the family that the team had formed but then again they had never really made a real effort to invite him in. Vin had been the first to do so and it had taken weeks before Ezra began to accept the extended hand of friendship but there were days when he threw it back into their faces, now he knew why, they must have done something to make him think they wanted something in return for the friendship.
"When I first offered him friendship, he had actually phoned his mother and accused her of paying me to get close to him." Lenny laughed at the thought. "He thinks friendship is only offered for a reason and once the person has what they were after they would then leave him alone again. Ezra grew up alone and had to fend for himself, it's become habit, he won't allow himself to depend on others, and he’s become to independent for his own good."
"So what changed his mind?"
"With you or me?" Lenny wasn't sure who Chris was talking about.
"Both." Was the simple reply.
"It took me five years of hard work to break down his wall of defence, almost gave up on him a few times but once it started to crack I knew the effort was worthwhile. Ezra can be a very loyal friend, will do anything to help me, even give his life." He took a deep breath when he thought about how Ezra had almost done that with this operation.
"With you, it was when you gave him a second chance after the first operation, the one he ran out on."
Chris nodded, he remembered that day, he hadn't asked for a reason from the southerner, he had know about the rumors of him being on the take, he had been transferred to his team without any notice. He had given up on his job and the people around him but something had brought him back, he risked his own life to save the teams, it was because of those reasons he had given him a second chance. Ever since then Ezra had done anything and everything he could to make up for his mistake and show Chris that he was grateful for the chance. Chris mentally kicked himself for not seeing these things sooner.
"I never completely trusted him after that day, even though I gave him another chance, there has always been a nagging doubt at the back of my mind that he would run out on us again, and when this happened I thought that he had, I thought he threw that chance away." Chris admitted but it wasn't the only reason for his anger towards Ezra.
"The fishing trips that you guys go on, the photos in your office." Lenny saw the shocked expression on Chris's face and ignored it. "Was Ezra ever invited?"
"Not the first few times." Now it was Chris's turn to laugh. "He did his job, I had no problem with that but socially, we couldn't even get a smile out him for the first month, all we got was smartass comments, still get them even now. Then after that first job, he seemed to be more comfortable with us so we started asking him to join us at Inez's Bar for a drink, he kept saying no, that he had prior engagements, we believed him in the beginning, then we started to think that he was just being unsociable, stuck-up as Buck would put it." He lifted Ezra's hand and began to stroke the fingers without realising it. "Then we started to notice things, this look would come over him when he thought we weren't looking, he looked lonely." His eyes lifted, he looked into Lenny's eyes and saw understanding. "After three months we finally asked him to come, he said no, his mother was visiting that weekend, we knew that was a lie, you can tell when that woman was going to show up, Ezra's mood got even worse, especially in the mornings. After the fourth month he finally said yes, the picture on my desk is the one taken on that weekend, don't know why I didn't put the one with Ezra in the photo in it, kept telling myself it was habit."
"That was the weekend after he agreed to do this case, must have thought he wouldn't get invited again." Lenny smiled but the expression was full of sadness.
"Every time we seemed to start getting to him he would do or say something that would totally piss me off, and we would be back at square one again." He smiled at Lenny, he didn't think a friendship would develop between them but he knew he would end up respecting the guy, anyone who got Ezra to open up deserved respect. "Did he ever do that to you?"
"What do you mean did, he still does." Lenny returned the smile. "I think it's in his nature, his mouth always talks before his brain thinks."
________________________________________
Ezra woke to the sound of voices and that damn beeping sound that wanted to echo the beating of his heart, obviously no one had the consideration to turn it off, each time it sounded his head seemed to hurt even more. He had enough of it, he wanted it off, even if he had to do it himself.
"Will someone . . . turn that . . . fucking noise off!" He tried to sound angry but his voice was weak.
"Ezra." It was Lenny's voice, he'd turn if off for him.
"Turn it . . . off!" He turned his head towards Lenny voice and waited. The noise still vibrated within his skull. "Turn it off!"
"Ezra we can't." Chris told him, he squeezed his hand trying to reassure him.
Ezra felt someone grip his hand, he knew it wasn't Lenny, his voice had come from a different direction, it must be Chris, he weakly pulled his hand away but the effort was futile, his limb didn't have the strength to free itself. He opened his eyes and looked for Lenny, it took a couple of minutes before his eyes would focus on his friend. "Lenny . . . turn it off!" He pleaded him.
"Ezra . . ." Chris tried to get his attention.
"Turn the fucking thing off!" Ezra began to become more agitated, he could hear the noise begin to beat faster in rhythm with his heartbeat, it was torture on his mind. "Turn it off!"
Lenny leaned back and twisted himself in his seat, he turned the machine off and silence filled the room. He turned back to Ezra to find his green eyes staring up at him. "It's okay now Ezra, I turned it off."
Ezra nodded his thanks but winced at the pain that the movement caused, he hadn't noticed the pain until now, and he had been too concerned with the noise that was causing another sort of pain. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down.
"Lenny, my . . . head . . . hurts." He drifted back into the world of slumber.
"You can turn it back on now Lenny." Chris listened to Ezra's steady breathing, it told him he had fallen back to sleep.
"No, Ezra asked me to turn it off, so it stays off." Lenny knew it was more than stubbornness, the noise was aggravating Ezra, it seemed to be causing him more pain.
Before Chris could argue, the door was pushed open, Doctor Falex and a nurse quickly entered the room, and they were followed by the other members of Chris's team. Their faces were filled with fear, they thought something had gone wrong.
"Why is the heart monitor turned off?" Falex asked both Chris and Lenny.
"Ezra asked me to turn it off." It was a simple statement but his tone told the Doctor that he wouldn't allow anyone to turn it back on. "He also said his head hurts, are you going to give him anything for the pain?"
"Not yet." He stepped back from Lenny's angry stare. "He's only awake for a few minutes at a time, I don't want to give him pain killers until they would actually be of some use to him, besides, they would only make him drowsy, just the excuse Ezra would need to stay asleep when he should be awake."
"He's got a point there Lenny." Nathan told him.
Doctor Falex stepped forward again when he saw the doubt on Lenny's face. "Agent Hoskins, at the moment it's the pain that is causing Ezra to wake up on his own, without it we would have to forcibly wake him up and I for one don't want to do that. The last time this man was in here he had a serious concussion, he broke a nurse's nose when he tried to wake him."
"I get your point." Lenny smiled.
"So did the nurse, as soon as he found out Ezra was back he asked to be moved to another ward." Falex's attempt at humour eased the tension in the room but no one asked Lenny to turn the heart monitor back on.
________________________________________
"Lenny is going to help us repair the damage we did with Ezra." Chris told the men that sat around the table. They had left the Federal agent alone with Ezra so they could discuss what they were going to do about Ezra. "I thought we could each take a turn sitting with him and explain our reasons for what happened, I don't expect his forgiveness there and then but we have to say something to him or he's going to think that we're backing up what we did to him with silence. We have to get it through to him that we care."
Josiah turned and looked at the door at the end of the corridor, they hadn't strayed too far from Ezra's room, and they sat around the table in the waiting area. "That's going to be hard, I don't think he'll want to listen."
"Lenny's going to make sure that he does." Chris told them.
"So why does he want to help us?" Buck put his near empty cup of coffee on the table, he was beginning to like the taste of the foul liquid.
"Let's just say that he understands our relationship with Ezra better than any of us do and that includes Ezra." His cold blue eyes caused Buck to flinch under his gaze.
"I don't know what to say to him." JD admitted. He had spent the first two weeks fearing for Ezra's life, now he was afraid that Ezra would never forgive him for what he had done.
"I'm sure you'll think of something when the time comes." Nathan affectionately rubbed his head.
"You haven't got anything to worry about JD, you didn't do anything, neither did Nathan, it's the rest of us that have to do all the work." Chris told him, he watched as the others nodded in agreement.
"That's exactly what I did, nothing, I didn't trust him or believe him, that's just as bad as what you guys did." JD muttered.
"I'm not really one for words either, what am I going to say?" Vin spoke quietly knowing that they would hear him, he had also shown a lot of anger towards Ezra. He had no idea how to repair the damage that he had caused the friendship, when it happened he had blamed Ezra, he now knew he was wrong, he should have known that Ezra wouldn't do anything to put the trust that had begun to develop at risk, he'd made a mistake the he would always regret.
Chris stood up and glared down at all of them. "I'm not doing your talking for you, if you really care about your friendship with Ezra, you'll know what to say." He turned on his heels and walked back to the room, muttering under his breath. "No wonder Ezra found it so hard to let us in." He was still talking under his breath when he sat down in the chair next to Ezra's bed, he ignored Lenny's amused to look and scowled at the others as they followed him into the room.
________________________________________
This time there was blissful silence, no alarm clocks, no head banging music and most of all no beeping. He lay unmoving enjoying the silence, he even tolerated his headache. The only thing he wanted to do was to squeeze his eyes tighter against the light that was trying to find its way through to his darkened mind. He flinched when he felt a hand on his forehead, it began to stroke his face, he moved his head away from the touch, he had no idea who it was and he wasn't willing to open his eyes to find out who the hand belonged to.
"Ezra?" Lenny saw the quick reaction when he put his hand on Ezra's face and knew he was awake.
It was Lenny that was okay, he moved his head back towards the voice and felt the hand again. He frowned, there were others here before, Nathan and Chris, what if the hand belonged to one of them. Nathan was alright but he didn't want Chris near him. Ezra grimaced when he remembered the hate he had seen in the blue eyes only days before, he could still feel the pain that the expression caused him.
"Ezra!" Lenny tried again with more force in his tone.
'Aw hell, he wants me to wake up.' Ezra thought to himself, he weakly lifted his hand and tried to push Lenny's away, he wanted to go back to sleep, he didn't want to find out if Chris and the others were there. He couldn't even remember where here was, he had no idea what was going on and he didn't want to know.
"Ezra? Wake up." Chris knew he was being stubborn, he smiled at the thought.
He was here, he tried to roll onto his left side away from the voice but a sharp pain erupted in his chest, a small cry of pain escaped from his throat and hands pushed him back over.
"Take it easy Ezra, just relax." Lenny wiped a loose strand of hair from his forehead and watched the eyelids flutter open, he smiled down at the green eyes and kept the expression in place when he saw the anger in Ezra's eyes.
"What happened Lenny? Where am I?" Ezra looked around the room, what he saw answered his question before Lenny could speak, he was in a hospital room with everyone watching him, and he turned his head back so he could look at his only friend. "How did he know I was working undercover?" He recalled the expression on Collins face before he shot him, it had told him that his cover had been blown.
"I'm sorry Ezra that was my fault." Nathan moved to the foot of the bed, he could see the anger in Ezra's eyes but it didn't stop him from giving him an explanation. "Your mother called, she wanted to know why you were getting vitamin shots, and I put two and two together but made the mistake of telling the others in front of Glading."
"My mother phoned?" He was shocked. Ezra could see the guilt Nathan was feeling, he could see it in his eyes, the way his shoulders were slumped. "It wasn't your fault Nathan, you didn't know about Glading."
Nathan felt the relief flood through him, he knew Ezra was sincere, now if only he could get him to forgive him for everything else.
"Nathan." Ezra turned his eyes back to Lenny. "Has she phoned since?"
"Yeah, Lenny told her you were going to be okay." Nathan remembered the phone call, Lenny had spoken to her and he had actually hung up on her.
Lenny saw the sadness that replaced his anger. "She said she'll see you when she comes to visit in a few weeks Ezra."
Ezra closed his eyes, he knew she wasn't going to come, she only visited if she was in town for another reason and right now, she didn't have one. He tried to roll onto his side again so he could be closer to Lenny, he felt the pain again but it wasn't as bad this time, he felt Lenny's hand on his shoulder but he also felt something else. A catheter, God he hated those things. He allowed Lenny to push him back while he lifted his leg, it was a struggle but he was determined to get rid of that thing. He managed to grabbed the tube between his toes and when he knew he had a decent hold he pulled it out, he grimaced at the pain he caused but there was also instant relief.
"Ezra what the hell are you doing?" Lenny lifted the blanket and saw what he'd done, he pulled the tube away from his legs before any of the warm liquid could spill onto the bed.
"I hate those things." Ezra muttered, the small struggle and sapped what strength he had gained. "Lenny," he lifted his left arm and felt Lenny grab it, "I also want rid of something else."
"What's that Ezra." Lenny frowned down at him but Ezra wouldn't open his eyes, he was falling back to sleep again.
"Them, I don't want them in here Lenny, I don't want them near me, not after what they did to me." Ezra's words were becoming slurred but he forced himself to stay awake, he knew Lenny would do what he asked but he had to make sure he understood what he wanted.
"Ezra . . ." Chris didn't even get a chance to finish.
"Get them out Lenny!" Ezra managed to roll onto his left side and struggled against Lenny's hands, the IV tube freed itself from the needle that had been re-inserted into the back of his right hand. "Lenny!"
"Get out Chris and take your men with you!" Lenny growled at him.
"Lenny were not leaving." Chris stood up ready for an argument but he found himself facing a gun, Lenny had pulled it so fast, he didn't see it coming.
Lenny pulled his gun with his right hand while his left tried to keep Ezra still as he continued to fight him. He was getting agitated and he knew the only way to get him to calm down was to make the others leave, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer but Chris gave him the answer he wasn't willing to accept.
"Get out!" Lenny warned him.
"I thought you wanted to help?" Chris asked him calmly.
"Look at him Chris, do you think this is helping him. I'll do anything he asks of me, and when the time is right, I'll help you but not now. Your still hurting him and I won't allow that."
"Lenny." Ezra groaned against the pain.
"Okay but when he's asleep again I want to talk to you." Chris growled at him.
"Send the nurse in will you." Lenny smiled in return and watched the six men leave. "They're gone Ezra." He put his gun away and sat down on the edge of the bed, he pushed Ezra onto his back and began to stroke his face, hoping to calm him down.
"I don't want them coming back, even when I'm asleep Lenny." Ezra tried to open his eyes but couldn't, they were too heavy, he could feel the darkness coming for him but he wouldn't let it take him until he had Lenny's word.
"Promise me you won't let them back in here."
"You've got my word Ezra." Lenny assured him while he continued to wipe the hair off his forehead. "I won't let them back in here." He smiled when Ezra missed the meaning of his words, he was still going to help them try to repair the friendship, and he’ll just have to find somewhere else for them to talk to him.
He was still brushing his hand through Ezra's hair when the nurse came into the room. He told her not to bother with the catheter that he would only pull it out again. She fixed the IV tube, took the catheter bag and left. Once Lenny was sure Ezra was comfortable and sleeping, he prepared himself for battle and left the room.
________________________________________
Chris was fuming, he paced back and forth within a small area outside Ezra's hospital room, his anger followed him as it always seemed to do, the tension floated in the air around him. His anger only increased during the fifteen minutes he had to wait for Lenny to come out of the room, he was beginning to think the man was purposely taking his time. He ignored the guilt-ridden faces that watched him carefully, neither of them wanting to be on the receiving end of his wrath. They deserved to feel guilty, he deserved to feel guilty, and he would take any sort of treatment from Ezra, because he understood his anger but he wouldn't take that sort of treatment from Lenny Hoskins. Yes, he was Ezra's friend but so were they and each of them wanted to show Ezra that they cared about him in their own way, that what they had done was a mistake that none of them would forget or forgive themselves for. They had committed the ultimate crime of friendship, they betrayed him, a betrayal that he may never forgive.
He stopped in mid-stride when the door finally opened, the expression on the Federal Agent's face was a passive one but Chris didn't care, he clenched his fist then slammed it against the jaw of the man who stood before him.
"The next time you pull a gun on me you better be prepared to use it!" Chris glared at him, his own expression was one of pure anger.
Lenny stood his ground making sure he didn't step back, he somehow managed to keep his balance and rubbed his jaw at the same time to make sure there wasn't any damage. He wanted to retaliate but he kept his anger and his fists under control, so instead, he smiled at Chris knowing that it would aggravate him more than a physical confrontation.
"I was prepared to use it the first time." Lenny spoke calmly.
Josiah watched in amusement as the two men stared at each other, neither one willing to break eye contact. The usually calm man took a deep exasperated breath and stepped between the two men. He looked at Chris then Lenny, the anger and stubbornness evident in their eyes. Just when they finally seemed to reach a silent agreement, they allow their male pride to get in the way.
"Gentlemen, your egos aren't the issue here, we have something more important to talk about." Josiah warned them, if they continued to carry on the way they were, he would deal with both of them himself. "Ezra!"
Lenny and Chris continued to stare at each other silently, each of them not knowing what to say to break the silence between them. Josiah turned his back to Chris and used his arm to push him away, finally breaking the eye contact the two men held.
"What do you suggest we do now Agent Hoskins?" Josiah asked him.
"I suggest you stay out of the room, he doesn't want you in there." Lenny answered him.
"Is that what you call helping us?" Buck growled at him as he stepped closer to the man.
"Yes it is." Lenny returned the stare.
"I don't agree, I don't believe that you want to help us." Buck continued to argue with him.
"You Wilmington, are letting your anger blind you." Lenny took the step that Buck refused to take, he now stood face to face with the man that was a less opposing figure than his boss. "Didn't you see the state he was in, do want to make him go through that just so you can feel better about the way you treated him." He saw the guilt flash through Buck's eyes. "I told Chris that I would help and I will but now is not the time, when he's physically ready I'll make sure he listens to you, even if I have to tie him down."
"That could be weeks." Nathan informed him. "If you make us wait that long to talk to him he might think we don't care."
"I'll talk to him when he wakes up and so can you." He turned to Nathan after giving Buck another one of his famous glares, he smiled when the man flinched. "I'll ask him first but I don't think Ezra will mind if you sit with him Nathan, he didn't seem to show any anger towards you."
Nathan nodded his thanks and walked to one of the many chairs that filled the waiting area, he sat down and made himself comfortable, he was willing to trust Lenny, they didn't really have any other choice. JD and Josiah joined him but Chris, Buck and Vin continued to glare at Lenny with questionable expressions on their faces.
"Chris come and sit down, there's nothing you can do until Lenny talks to Ezra." Josiah took the initiative, he knew if Chris sat down the others would follow him.
"How do we know he'll talk to Ezra." Vin quietly stated.
"I'm going to be honest with you, all of you, Ezra hasn't had any real friends in his life, I was the first, the rest of you were starting to put an end to his self inflicted loneliness, I don't want to see him go back to a life of solitude. I'm not always there for him, I had hoped you guys would be." Lenny leaned against the door to Ezra's room. "I'm willing to help you but I won't do it if it means Ezra's going to get hurt again. And what just happened in there hurt him, you may not have seen that hurt but I did. I know Ezra better than you do."
"I'll take anything from Ezra over what we did but I won't take any more of that crap from you!" Chris informed him.
"Then that makes two of us, the next time I ask you to do something in regards to Ezra, I don't want an argument." He stepped away from the door and turned to open it but decided to say one more thing. "Oh and by the way, you'd better be prepared to take anything from Ezra, as you put it, because there is a side to him you don't know about and I'm sure it's going to be that side you're going to have to deal with and I warn you, it's not a pleasant side." Lenny waited for an answer but he didn't get one, they were interrupted by Chris's cell phone.
"What!" Chris yelled into the phone.
Lenny smiled, Ezra was right, you could really enjoy getting Chris Larabee angry. He soon lost his smile though as he listened to the conversation unfold.
"Here . . . what about Glading . . . shit!" He hung up the phone then started barking orders. "Collins was just spotted in the car park of this hospital. Lenny you get back in there with Ezra. JD, Buck you stay out here and guard the door, the rest of you follow me."
"Knock once before you come in, I'll probably shoot you otherwise." Lenny informed Buck before he went back into Ezra's room.
________________________________________
"Why do I have to go, why don't both of us go?" Glading complained, he was sick of spending his days sitting in a hot car in the middle of summer watching a hospital where the man Collins wanted to kill was being protected by seven men they would never be able to get past.
"Because, if we split up, they'll split up. More of them will come after me than you, that will give you a chance to get to Standish and if you kill him for me there will be a lot of money in it for you." Collins explained once more, he was tired of this man and if this didn't work, he'll take his frustration out on him by killing him.
Glading liked the idea of the money but it was his greed that had gotten him into this un-winnable situation in the first place. "And if I can't get to him?"
"Then you won't get paid." Collins smiled. "Now go and do your job, wait at the side entrance until they come out then you go in."
Glading grimaced but did as he was told, he got out of the car and adjusted the white lab coat and cap that he was wearing. He was grateful for the cool breeze that gently brushed his face, it was hotter in the car than it was outside in the open. He moved away from the car, quickly glancing around to make sure there wasn't anybody who would recognise him.
Collins waited until Glading reached the side entrance to the hospital. He pushed his glasses back onto his nose then started the car and pulled out of one of the many parking areas they had been occupying for the last two weeks. He was going to drive around slowly until he was recognised by one of the policemen who guarded the front and side entrance, men who hadn't been doing their job because if they had, he would have been spotted the first day they were here.
________________________________________
Lenny moved quickly to Ezra's bedside, he grabbed the spare blanket from the foot of the bed and laid it on the floor, he pulled the second blanket that covered Ezra's sleeping form from the corners of the bed, loosening it. Lenny gently placed his arms under the blanket, his left arm under the limp shoulders and his right under Ezra's knees. He lifted the smaller man into his arms, causing him to wake abruptly, the Agent ignored his friend's muttered protests and carefully moved him from the bed to the floor.
"Lenny . . . what are . . . you doing." Ezra clenched his teeth against the pain that erupted in his skull.
"Collins is in the car park which means Glading has to be somewhere nearby and you'd make a nice target if you stayed in the bed." Lenny wiped Ezra's forehead and pulled his gun from the shoulder holster that was hidden by his black leather coat.
"They haven't caught them yet?" He tried to shift into a more comfortable position on the hard floor.
"No." Lenny didn't want to go into details, now wasn't the time for an argument and he knew he'd get one if he told him Larabee and the others hadn't left him since the shooting.
"Why are you . . . putting me on the floor?" Ezra forced his eyes open and looked at the amused expression on his friend's face. "Can't you find somewhere more comfortable."
"Such as?" Lenny asked him, he shifted his body so he could place his left hand on Ezra's shoulder to keep him down and be facing the hospital room door in case Glading come bursting through it. He knew Team Seven would do their job but he wasn't going to relax until he knew Ezra was safe
"In my own bed at home." The southerner suggested. "Where no one could . . . wake me up!"
"You're not going anywhere Ezra and quit complaining. You’re only going to be able to get so much sympathy from me and when you’re walking around on your own, well let’s just say that you'll be feeling sorry for me." Lenny spoke to Ezra but keep his eyes on the door.
"And why would I be feeling sorry for you . . . I don't see any . . . bullet wounds." Ezra could feel the sweat begin to form on his face. "Lenny could I at least have a pillow?"
"Sorry Ezra." He pulled the pillow off the bed, he hesitated before putting the gun down and lifting Ezra's head so he could put the pillow under the grimacing features, and he quickly picked the gun back up. "Better?"
"Yeah, now answer my . . . question."
"I've been dealing with Larabee and the others for you." Lenny sort of told him the truth. He wanted to look at Ezra when he didn't receive an answer but kept his eyes on the door. "I had to put up with them for more than two weeks."
"Two weeks?" He thought it had only been a few days. "Is that where you got the bruise?"
"Actually I just got it, you were right about pissing him off." Lenny smiled, he hadn't thought about the bruise that would be forming on his jaw.
"You can't be doing it right, he . . . never hit me." Ezra proudly announced. "Well until . . . this happened anyway. . . And what do you mean two weeks?"
"More than that Ezra. You were in a coma for almost two weeks."
"Good Lord." Ezra muttered before his breathing took on the normal rhythm of sleep.
________________________________________
"Nathan, Josiah you take the side entrance, we'll go through the front door." Chris calmly told them when the elevator doors opened, they ran out with guns drawn then separated, going into different directions.
Chris and Vin ran through the front automatic doors sideways, not waiting for them to fully open. They stopped to talk to the policeman who guarded the front entrance and allowed their eyes to adjust to the unfamiliar sunlight.
"Where is he?" Chris asked while his eyes searched the parking lot.
Chris didn't have to wait for an answer, his head turned towards the sound of screeching tyres and saw the face of Jack Collins driving away in a red Mercury Marquis. He ran towards the moving car with Vin by his side, and once he was sure there weren't any innocent bystanders, he lifted his gun and fired two shots into the back of the car shattering the rear window and a third that caused the right rear tyre to explode, but the car kept going.
"He was the bait, he made us come out so Glading could go in." Vin cursed under his breath.
"Shit, Ezra!" Chris ran back into the foyer and quickly looked around for Nathan and Josiah, he saw them coming back through the side entrance. "Did you see Glading?"
"No, we came back when we heard the shots." Josiah answered him.
"We have to get back upstairs, you two use the elevator, and Vin and I will take the stairs. You’re looking for Glading." Chris informed them as he ran to the door that led to the stairs.
________________________________________
Glading watched as members of the 'Magnificent Seven' ran out of the building, he could never understand why they were called that, he didn't think they were that magnificent. He waited until Jackson and Sanchez were on the sidewalk that passed the side entrance. Glading had made a decision, this was going to be his last job, he would collect his money then leave the country, and he wasn't going to deal with Collins anymore.
He stepped out from behind the tree and slipped through the side entrance. 'I knew the nickname was wrong, if they were that magnificent they would have caught me.' He confidently told himself. He looked around for his insurance and saw her walking past the door that led to the stairwell.
________________________________________
Buck could hear the faint sound of gunshots echo into the building from outside, he checked his gun for a third time then turned towards the elevators. He knew JD was watching the stairs, after a few minutes he heard his young friend swear. Buck turned around and voiced his own curse. Glading stepped out of the opened doorway with a nurse held in his grip, his left arm was around her throat and his right held a gun to her forehead. Buck recognised the nurse, it was Julie, and she worked in the emergency department and was there when Ezra had first been brought in.
"Throw your guns over here then move away from the door." He ordered them but they ignored his orders. "Now!"
Glading moved closer to the door, he knew Standish was in there, they wouldn't guard an empty room. When the two agents didn't do as they were asked, he aimed his gun at JD. "Throw your guns over here, if you don't I'll shoot him." He waited again. "I'm in a position where I have nothing to lose. I'd rather die than go to jail."
"We’re not going to let you get to Ezra." JD retorted.
"If you don't put your gun down I'll shoot you." Glading repeated himself, he couldn't believe the kid was willing to
die for Standish.
"You can only shoot one of us, the other one will shoot you before you could pull the trigger a second time." Buck smiled at him.
"You forgot the nurse, you won't shoot me while I have her."
"Seems we're at a standstill then because we’re not putting our guns down and we certainly aren't going to let you kill Ezra." Buck told him.
"Do you really want the kid to die?" Glading asked him.
"I'm not going to die." JD warned him.
"Want to bet on that do you?" Glading lifted his gun and pulled the trigger. JD knew Glading was going to pull the trigger, the man had no other choice, he had put himself into a situation, which he wasn't going to win, the man would either die or go to jail and he already said what he would prefer to do. The only thing that JD had to do was decide which way to throw himself, so the bullet would do less harm to his person. He watched the rogue agent's eyes for the flicker of emotion that would tell him he had made the decision to pull the trigger. This was another thing Ezra had taught him. To watch the person's eyes and not their hands, the eyes always gave the person's intentions away. He didn't know why but he was able to read this man's eyes easily, Ezra had taught him well.
It was at moments like these, that he would realise just how much the southerner had done for him, he pushed the thought away before it could be replaced by the guilt he felt for the way he had returned his friendship and trust.
Ezra would deny it of course, he would never admit to it as being friendship. He would instead say that it was part of the job and the younger man needed to learn things to keep himself alive and also protect the others in this type of situation and that someone had to give him some of the finer points to keeping one's health but JD knew otherwise. He smiled inwardly at the thought, it was these finer points that had saved Ezra's life on more than one occasion and JD was willing to take his advice.
JD threw himself sideways when he saw the flicker of emotion he was taught to look for, but he knew he didn't move fast enough. He pulled the trigger of his own gun while waiting for the white-hot agony to tear through him when the bullet struck his body but all he felt was the sharp pain that erupted in his shoulder as he hit the floor and the air being forced from his lungs.
"Buck!" He managed to gasp out between the great gulps of air he tried to breath in so he could replenish his lungs.
Buck didn't answer him, he was still in shock, he saw Glading lift his gun then heard the gunshot echo in his mind, and his only thought was that JD was a dead man. But that was not the case, he saw JD throw himself sideways just as Glading pulled the trigger, the younger man then fired his own gun, hitting Glading in his right side causing him to spin around, he lost his gun and his grip on his hostage.
He finally found his voice when he saw Glading lift his gun a second time but still didn't say anything, he quickly moved forward and kicked the gun away from his grip. Buck crouched down making himself a smaller target when he heard the stairwell door slam open but relaxed when he saw Chris and Vin burst through the opening they had created. He turned again when he heard the elevator doors and smiled at the sight of Nathan and Josiah, but he quickly forgot them when he remembered JD, he moved towards Julie and pulled her up. Buck dragged her towards JD, he knew he was injured and the younger man was his first concern.
"JD!" Buck called to him, he saw his friend sitting up searching for a bullet wound, and the younger man's head lifted, an amazed look in his eyes.
"I'm fine Buck, he didn't get me." JD felt nothing but total shock but he wasn't allowed to dwell on what happened, he felt Buck's hands on him, he also looked for a bullet wound that didn't exist. "Buck I'm fine!" He pushed his hands away and tried to stand up.
"Just let me make sure." Julie pushed him back down again while trying to keep her own fear at bay, once she knew that JD was okay she would let go of her emotions. She expertly used her hands to quickly check for any injuries but found none. "Is there any pain anywhere?"
"I hurt my shoulder when I hit the ground but that's easing now." JD winced when Julie used her hands to examine his shoulder.
"We'll have to do an x-ray just to make sure it's okay." She smiled at JD then looked at Buck. "Would you mind if I used your shoulder for a couple of minutes?"
Buck was confused for a moment, then kicked himself mentally when he saw the tears begin to build in her eyes, his hesitation ended and he took her into his arms and comforted her. He selfishly thought only of JD and forgot about what she had gone through. He watched over her shoulder while Chris and Vin took care of Glading, he noticed there wasn't any blood on his shirt or lab coat. Chris roughly handcuffed his hands and dragged him to his feet. They pushed him towards the others.
"JD shot him, where's the blood?" Buck asked them.
Vin faced Glading and pulled his shirt open, they all saw the bulletproof vest that he wore.
"Have to be prepared." Glading smiled.
"Imagine our disappointment." Vin growled at him.
"JD, you okay?" Chris asked him, he had heard the concern in Buck's voice, he needed to know what happened but he had to take care of Glading first then make sure Ezra was alright.
"I'm fine, shoulder's a bit sore but that's all." JD smiled at him.
"Imagine my disappointment." Glading repeated Vin's words.
"Shut up!" Vin warned him.
Julie pulled herself together at the mention of JD's shoulder, she pushed herself away from Buck and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Thanks Buck, but I better get JD fixed up."
"Someone else can take care of JD, while don't you use my shoulder a bit longer." Buck winked at her and was grateful for the smile, he knew she would be okay, he just wished he had thought more about what had happened to her.
"I'd rather use someone else's, you'll take it the wrong way and think I was asking for a date." Julie laughed, the nervous tension obvious in her voice.
"You going to be okay?" Buck asked her seriously.
"Yeah, it's not the first time that's happened." Julie reminded him as she pulled JD to his feet.
"You sure?"
"I'm sure." She ended the conversation by taking JD's arm and leading him away.
Buck wasn't convinced though, he made a mental note to talk to her when he had a chance. He turned back to the others when he heard Chris's voice.
"Vin, Josiah. Take him back to the office, find out what he knows about Collins's whereabouts." Chris ordered them.
"I don't know anything about Collins." Glading managed to voice through his pain. He was angry at himself, why did he always let his greed make his decisions for him, if he had thought about it more, he could be sitting on a beach somewhere instead taking stupid risks for Collins. He thought if he had a hostage, he would be able to get to Standish but he was obviously wrong, his greed made another mistake and he was going to regret it.
"Doesn't mean we can't have some fun trying to get that information out of you." Vin began pushing Glading towards the elevator where Josiah held the doors open for him.
"And we know what sort of fun that is don't we, will it be the same sort of fun that you had with Standish?" Glading smiled when Josiah grimaced, he knew he hit a sore spot with all of them but he could only see the larger man's reaction.
Chris ignored Glading's reminder of what they had done to Ezra. "Buck take care of the crowd." Chris nodded towards the group of people that were gathering at the nurses’ station to see what had happened. "Nathan stay out here, I'll go and make sure Lenny and Ezra are okay." He made his way to the door that led to Hoskins and Ezra.
"Chris, knock once before you go in." Buck smiled at him.
Chris frowned at him but did as he was told, he knocked loudly on the door then entered the room.
________________________________________
Lenny heard the voices outside the room and knew that Glading had managed to get past the others, he could tell by their words that JD and Buck were willing to give their lives to protect Ezra, he just wished the younger Agent was awake so he could also hear how they felt about him. It was only a matter of seconds before he heard the gunshot and felt Ezra jerk awake under his left hand.
"What is it with this . . . place that a man . . . can't get any sleep." Ezra grumbled.
Lenny heard the slurred words but ignored them, he needed to concentrate in case Glading came through the door. A few minutes later he heard the knock on the door but kept his gun aimed at the door just in case, he only relaxed after Chris followed the loud knock into the room. He put his gun back into his holster then turned towards Ezra.
"What happened? Did he fall off the bed?" Chris asked as he made his way around the empty bed.
"I put him on the floor, just in case." He wiped the dampened hair from Ezra's forehead. "Ezra?"
"What!" The word was spoken harshly.
"I need to get you back on the bed." Lenny informed him.
"Aw hell, why can't you just . . . leave me here!" Ezra was getting tired of being woken up.
"If I remember correctly you were only complaining about being on the floor a couple of minutes ago." Lenny retorted.
"Yeah, well if I was . . . in my own bed I wouldn't have . . . to complain about anything . . . except your cooking!"
"Shut up Ezra." Lenny ordered him, he nodded to Chris to pick up Ezra's legs and together they carefully lifted him and placed him back on the bed. "You comfortable now?"
"I would be more . . . " Ezra started then realised that someone else was in the room. He carefully opened his eyes and looked around the room, his pain filled eyes finally resting on Chris's form. "Lenny you promised!"
"Due to unforeseen circumstances I didn't have any choice." He gave him a look that told him not to say anymore.
Chris had been listening to the conversation and saw the look that Lenny gave Ezra, he was impressed, not only could he get Ezra to open up but he could also get him to shut up with a single phrase or a look. He would have to ask him how he managed to do that.
"What happened?" Lenny asked Chris.
"I haven't got the whole story, JD and Buck took care of Glading. I wanted to make sure Ezra was okay before I talked to them." He began to explain.
"It's a pity you didn't . . . think of my . . . health earlier." Ezra growled from the bed, he had closed his eyes hoping that he would fall asleep but for some reason it was evading him.
"Ezra!" Lenny nodded to Chris to continue with what he was saying.
"Vin and Josiah are taking him back to HQ to question him but I don't think he'll tell us anything."
"Don't even say it Ezra." Lenny knew what Ezra was about to say so he stopped him before he could. "Anyone hurt?"
"JD hurt his shoulder . . ."
"Is he alright?" Ezra asked him, he opened his eyes and looked towards Chris.
"He's getting an x-ray now but he should be fine." Chris watched as Ezra nodded in acknowledgement then close his eyes again. "No one else got hurt, except for Glading that is."
"Ezra." Lenny moved closer to the bed. "Would you mind if Nathan sat with you while Chris and I talk?"
"Nathan?" Ezra thought about it for a moment, he remembered how Nathan tried to take care of him. "Nathan's okay."
"I'll be back in a little while then Ezra." He squeezed his shoulder and looked into the green eyes that revealed themselves to him.
"Don't take too long, Nathan might try and talk to me about . . . things I don't want to discuss." Ezra weakly grabbed his arm. "And get me something . . . for this damn . . . headache."
Ezra watched Lenny follow Chris out of the room, he continued to watch as Nathan entered the room a few seconds later, his eyes followed him as he made his way to the chair that Lenny only left vacant when he had to answer to the call of nature.
Nathan didn't expect Ezra to be awake when he came into the room, he hid his surprise behind a smile. "How you feeling Ezra?" He sat himself down into the chair next to the bed.
Ezra raised his eyebrows at the question but even that small movement hurt. "I have one hell of headache. You want to tell me why?"
"You were shot twice Ezra, one of the bullets fractured your skull, the other one reflected off a rib causing it to miss your heart, if it didn't get in the way the bullet would have killed you." Nathan explained.
"Remind me to thank it later." Ezra replied, the sarcasm was heavy in his voice. "Lenny said . . . I was in a coma."
"Two weeks, for the first four days a machine kept you alive, you weren't able to breathe on your own." Nathan missed the shocked that registered on Ezra's face, he had turned around at the sound of the door opening.
The nurse made her way to the side of the bed, she carried a small tray in her hand that held a syringe. "Something for the pain." She informed Ezra.
"I was thinking . . . more along the line . . . of a pill." Ezra drew back from the needle but Nathan put his hands out to stop him moving too far.
"Sorry but you’re on fluids only at the moment, besides this will work quicker." She smiled at the foul look that was thrown her way. "But if you insist on a pill we could always insert it somewhere else." She looked down at Ezra's hips to emphasis her point.
"The needle." Ezra surrender, he put his arm out and waited for the pain of the needle pricking his skin.
"Ezra, she'll put it in the IV tube." Nathan couldn't help but smile at him. After all the times he had spent in a hospital, he still didn't know the procedures.
Ezra gave the nurse a look that would normally make a person cringe but she had dealt with Ezra before and knew that it was only a look, there was no malice behind his expression. She inserted the needle into the IV tube and released the painkiller, once the needle was empty, she withdrew it then began to fuss over the patient. She made sure that he was comfortable by lifting his head and moving the pillows, she ignored his angry remarks, and she then tucked the blanket back under the mattress. After writing some notes on Ezra's medical chart she flashed him a smile and left the room with all intentions of bragging to the rest of the nurses about the handsome expressions she had managed to get out of the patient.
"I think she enjoyed that more than I did." Ezra muttered, his headache was already easing but he could also feel the effects of the drug. "Nathan when can I go home?"
"Probably won't be for another week at least Ezra." Nathan watched as his eyelids grew heavy.
"A week? Nathan . . . " He was losing his struggle against the drugs side effects. "Thanks for not . . . asking me to talk . . . about it."
"That's okay Ezra, I know you’re not ready." He watched as Ezra fell back to sleep, his head gently rolling to the left so he was facing Nathan, he waited a few moments then picked up his hand, he would have done it sooner but he wasn't sure if Ezra would accept the touch.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven
Master Fan Fiction List
Rating: PG
Warnings: Strong Language, violence and drug use.
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
AU: ATF
Main Characters: Ezra, and the rest.
Summary: Team Seven believe that Ezra Standish has betrayed them.
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Notes: Lenny Hoskins is my creation. I don't have any medical knowledge- forgive any mistakes.
Spoilers: None
Status: Complete
Total Word Count: 96,713
Chris sat quietly beside the bed, the natural afternoon sunlight shone through the window, it's light filtering across the bed revealing Ezra's pale features. His eyes moved from Ezra's sleeping form to Lenny's relaxed expression, the tension had flowed from his face when Ezra had woken up from his coma. The younger man wasn't lucid but Nathan had assured them that he didn't seem to be suffering any sort of after effects from the gunshot wound that had fractured his skull. Doctor Falex had agreed with Nathan's untrained diagnosis after he had examined Ezra when he woke up again a few hours later.
He watched Lenny carefully, thinking the man was aware of his scrutiny. He wanted to believe that Lenny would help them to recover the friendship the team had lost when they retaliated against Ezra's convincing cover, but he wasn't sure. The man reminded him of Ezra and he wondered if he too found it hard to form friendships but he pushed the thought away, it wasn't Lenny's friendship that he wanted, he wanted to fight for Ezra's, he also needed it. Chris would do anything to gain the trust and friendship that he had so viciously destroyed without remorse. He felt no guilt over what he had done until Nathan's words broke through his hatred of the younger man. 'He's working undercover.' The words had continued to echo in his mind for the last two weeks.
His mind had instantly dismissed the hatred of Ezra's betrayal and began to fill with feelings of remorse but also something else, something that he had been denying and it was this that he had to explain to Ezra. Chris had tried explaining it to himself first but the thoughts were confused, he needed to get them in order or he would never convince Ezra of the reason he had treated him so badly. Chris looked at Ezra's peaceful face once more then looked back at Lenny.
"It's not me you have to convince Larabee." Lenny told him.
"I know." Chris hung his head, he wasn't surprised by Lenny's comment, the man was able to read his expression but he had made it easy for him by not hiding his emotions. "But how are we going to get him back?"
"I told you that I would help you." Lenny pulled his eyes away from Ezra's face, he had been watching for the grimace that occasionally crossed the handsome features and he still felt relief each time he saw the movement that he thought he would never see again.
"Why?" Chris hadn't asked him why when he last offered to help but he wanted to know now.
"Before all this happened, Ezra respected and liked you, the others as well but he felt like an outsider who was trying to intrude on an already formed family." His light blue eyes turned back to Ezra and Chris followed his gaze. "He didn't think he was welcome which actually made things easier for him, didn't think he had to worry about people pretending to be his friend, he thought none of you were willing to try and develop a friendship with him." He saw the guilt that filled Chris's eyes and tried to wave it away. "Don't blame yourself Chris, Ezra is just as much at fault than the rest of you, probably more so. He pushes people away, won't let them get close to him because he doesn't know if they'll accept him for the person he really is instead of the person that he pretends to be." He used his hand to wipe Ezra's face, making sure he was careful of the nearly healed abrasion that Chris had caused. "Friendship is something he won't accept at face value, he thinks there's a catch, a payment of some sort and he's not prepared to play the game."
Chris had never taken the time to find out why Ezra always stood on the outside of the circle instead of stepping into it and taking part in the family that the team had formed but then again they had never really made a real effort to invite him in. Vin had been the first to do so and it had taken weeks before Ezra began to accept the extended hand of friendship but there were days when he threw it back into their faces, now he knew why, they must have done something to make him think they wanted something in return for the friendship.
"When I first offered him friendship, he had actually phoned his mother and accused her of paying me to get close to him." Lenny laughed at the thought. "He thinks friendship is only offered for a reason and once the person has what they were after they would then leave him alone again. Ezra grew up alone and had to fend for himself, it's become habit, he won't allow himself to depend on others, and he’s become to independent for his own good."
"So what changed his mind?"
"With you or me?" Lenny wasn't sure who Chris was talking about.
"Both." Was the simple reply.
"It took me five years of hard work to break down his wall of defence, almost gave up on him a few times but once it started to crack I knew the effort was worthwhile. Ezra can be a very loyal friend, will do anything to help me, even give his life." He took a deep breath when he thought about how Ezra had almost done that with this operation.
"With you, it was when you gave him a second chance after the first operation, the one he ran out on."
Chris nodded, he remembered that day, he hadn't asked for a reason from the southerner, he had know about the rumors of him being on the take, he had been transferred to his team without any notice. He had given up on his job and the people around him but something had brought him back, he risked his own life to save the teams, it was because of those reasons he had given him a second chance. Ever since then Ezra had done anything and everything he could to make up for his mistake and show Chris that he was grateful for the chance. Chris mentally kicked himself for not seeing these things sooner.
"I never completely trusted him after that day, even though I gave him another chance, there has always been a nagging doubt at the back of my mind that he would run out on us again, and when this happened I thought that he had, I thought he threw that chance away." Chris admitted but it wasn't the only reason for his anger towards Ezra.
"The fishing trips that you guys go on, the photos in your office." Lenny saw the shocked expression on Chris's face and ignored it. "Was Ezra ever invited?"
"Not the first few times." Now it was Chris's turn to laugh. "He did his job, I had no problem with that but socially, we couldn't even get a smile out him for the first month, all we got was smartass comments, still get them even now. Then after that first job, he seemed to be more comfortable with us so we started asking him to join us at Inez's Bar for a drink, he kept saying no, that he had prior engagements, we believed him in the beginning, then we started to think that he was just being unsociable, stuck-up as Buck would put it." He lifted Ezra's hand and began to stroke the fingers without realising it. "Then we started to notice things, this look would come over him when he thought we weren't looking, he looked lonely." His eyes lifted, he looked into Lenny's eyes and saw understanding. "After three months we finally asked him to come, he said no, his mother was visiting that weekend, we knew that was a lie, you can tell when that woman was going to show up, Ezra's mood got even worse, especially in the mornings. After the fourth month he finally said yes, the picture on my desk is the one taken on that weekend, don't know why I didn't put the one with Ezra in the photo in it, kept telling myself it was habit."
"That was the weekend after he agreed to do this case, must have thought he wouldn't get invited again." Lenny smiled but the expression was full of sadness.
"Every time we seemed to start getting to him he would do or say something that would totally piss me off, and we would be back at square one again." He smiled at Lenny, he didn't think a friendship would develop between them but he knew he would end up respecting the guy, anyone who got Ezra to open up deserved respect. "Did he ever do that to you?"
"What do you mean did, he still does." Lenny returned the smile. "I think it's in his nature, his mouth always talks before his brain thinks."
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Ezra woke to the sound of voices and that damn beeping sound that wanted to echo the beating of his heart, obviously no one had the consideration to turn it off, each time it sounded his head seemed to hurt even more. He had enough of it, he wanted it off, even if he had to do it himself.
"Will someone . . . turn that . . . fucking noise off!" He tried to sound angry but his voice was weak.
"Ezra." It was Lenny's voice, he'd turn if off for him.
"Turn it . . . off!" He turned his head towards Lenny voice and waited. The noise still vibrated within his skull. "Turn it off!"
"Ezra we can't." Chris told him, he squeezed his hand trying to reassure him.
Ezra felt someone grip his hand, he knew it wasn't Lenny, his voice had come from a different direction, it must be Chris, he weakly pulled his hand away but the effort was futile, his limb didn't have the strength to free itself. He opened his eyes and looked for Lenny, it took a couple of minutes before his eyes would focus on his friend. "Lenny . . . turn it off!" He pleaded him.
"Ezra . . ." Chris tried to get his attention.
"Turn the fucking thing off!" Ezra began to become more agitated, he could hear the noise begin to beat faster in rhythm with his heartbeat, it was torture on his mind. "Turn it off!"
Lenny leaned back and twisted himself in his seat, he turned the machine off and silence filled the room. He turned back to Ezra to find his green eyes staring up at him. "It's okay now Ezra, I turned it off."
Ezra nodded his thanks but winced at the pain that the movement caused, he hadn't noticed the pain until now, and he had been too concerned with the noise that was causing another sort of pain. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down.
"Lenny, my . . . head . . . hurts." He drifted back into the world of slumber.
"You can turn it back on now Lenny." Chris listened to Ezra's steady breathing, it told him he had fallen back to sleep.
"No, Ezra asked me to turn it off, so it stays off." Lenny knew it was more than stubbornness, the noise was aggravating Ezra, it seemed to be causing him more pain.
Before Chris could argue, the door was pushed open, Doctor Falex and a nurse quickly entered the room, and they were followed by the other members of Chris's team. Their faces were filled with fear, they thought something had gone wrong.
"Why is the heart monitor turned off?" Falex asked both Chris and Lenny.
"Ezra asked me to turn it off." It was a simple statement but his tone told the Doctor that he wouldn't allow anyone to turn it back on. "He also said his head hurts, are you going to give him anything for the pain?"
"Not yet." He stepped back from Lenny's angry stare. "He's only awake for a few minutes at a time, I don't want to give him pain killers until they would actually be of some use to him, besides, they would only make him drowsy, just the excuse Ezra would need to stay asleep when he should be awake."
"He's got a point there Lenny." Nathan told him.
Doctor Falex stepped forward again when he saw the doubt on Lenny's face. "Agent Hoskins, at the moment it's the pain that is causing Ezra to wake up on his own, without it we would have to forcibly wake him up and I for one don't want to do that. The last time this man was in here he had a serious concussion, he broke a nurse's nose when he tried to wake him."
"I get your point." Lenny smiled.
"So did the nurse, as soon as he found out Ezra was back he asked to be moved to another ward." Falex's attempt at humour eased the tension in the room but no one asked Lenny to turn the heart monitor back on.
________________________________________
"Lenny is going to help us repair the damage we did with Ezra." Chris told the men that sat around the table. They had left the Federal agent alone with Ezra so they could discuss what they were going to do about Ezra. "I thought we could each take a turn sitting with him and explain our reasons for what happened, I don't expect his forgiveness there and then but we have to say something to him or he's going to think that we're backing up what we did to him with silence. We have to get it through to him that we care."
Josiah turned and looked at the door at the end of the corridor, they hadn't strayed too far from Ezra's room, and they sat around the table in the waiting area. "That's going to be hard, I don't think he'll want to listen."
"Lenny's going to make sure that he does." Chris told them.
"So why does he want to help us?" Buck put his near empty cup of coffee on the table, he was beginning to like the taste of the foul liquid.
"Let's just say that he understands our relationship with Ezra better than any of us do and that includes Ezra." His cold blue eyes caused Buck to flinch under his gaze.
"I don't know what to say to him." JD admitted. He had spent the first two weeks fearing for Ezra's life, now he was afraid that Ezra would never forgive him for what he had done.
"I'm sure you'll think of something when the time comes." Nathan affectionately rubbed his head.
"You haven't got anything to worry about JD, you didn't do anything, neither did Nathan, it's the rest of us that have to do all the work." Chris told him, he watched as the others nodded in agreement.
"That's exactly what I did, nothing, I didn't trust him or believe him, that's just as bad as what you guys did." JD muttered.
"I'm not really one for words either, what am I going to say?" Vin spoke quietly knowing that they would hear him, he had also shown a lot of anger towards Ezra. He had no idea how to repair the damage that he had caused the friendship, when it happened he had blamed Ezra, he now knew he was wrong, he should have known that Ezra wouldn't do anything to put the trust that had begun to develop at risk, he'd made a mistake the he would always regret.
Chris stood up and glared down at all of them. "I'm not doing your talking for you, if you really care about your friendship with Ezra, you'll know what to say." He turned on his heels and walked back to the room, muttering under his breath. "No wonder Ezra found it so hard to let us in." He was still talking under his breath when he sat down in the chair next to Ezra's bed, he ignored Lenny's amused to look and scowled at the others as they followed him into the room.
________________________________________
This time there was blissful silence, no alarm clocks, no head banging music and most of all no beeping. He lay unmoving enjoying the silence, he even tolerated his headache. The only thing he wanted to do was to squeeze his eyes tighter against the light that was trying to find its way through to his darkened mind. He flinched when he felt a hand on his forehead, it began to stroke his face, he moved his head away from the touch, he had no idea who it was and he wasn't willing to open his eyes to find out who the hand belonged to.
"Ezra?" Lenny saw the quick reaction when he put his hand on Ezra's face and knew he was awake.
It was Lenny that was okay, he moved his head back towards the voice and felt the hand again. He frowned, there were others here before, Nathan and Chris, what if the hand belonged to one of them. Nathan was alright but he didn't want Chris near him. Ezra grimaced when he remembered the hate he had seen in the blue eyes only days before, he could still feel the pain that the expression caused him.
"Ezra!" Lenny tried again with more force in his tone.
'Aw hell, he wants me to wake up.' Ezra thought to himself, he weakly lifted his hand and tried to push Lenny's away, he wanted to go back to sleep, he didn't want to find out if Chris and the others were there. He couldn't even remember where here was, he had no idea what was going on and he didn't want to know.
"Ezra? Wake up." Chris knew he was being stubborn, he smiled at the thought.
He was here, he tried to roll onto his left side away from the voice but a sharp pain erupted in his chest, a small cry of pain escaped from his throat and hands pushed him back over.
"Take it easy Ezra, just relax." Lenny wiped a loose strand of hair from his forehead and watched the eyelids flutter open, he smiled down at the green eyes and kept the expression in place when he saw the anger in Ezra's eyes.
"What happened Lenny? Where am I?" Ezra looked around the room, what he saw answered his question before Lenny could speak, he was in a hospital room with everyone watching him, and he turned his head back so he could look at his only friend. "How did he know I was working undercover?" He recalled the expression on Collins face before he shot him, it had told him that his cover had been blown.
"I'm sorry Ezra that was my fault." Nathan moved to the foot of the bed, he could see the anger in Ezra's eyes but it didn't stop him from giving him an explanation. "Your mother called, she wanted to know why you were getting vitamin shots, and I put two and two together but made the mistake of telling the others in front of Glading."
"My mother phoned?" He was shocked. Ezra could see the guilt Nathan was feeling, he could see it in his eyes, the way his shoulders were slumped. "It wasn't your fault Nathan, you didn't know about Glading."
Nathan felt the relief flood through him, he knew Ezra was sincere, now if only he could get him to forgive him for everything else.
"Nathan." Ezra turned his eyes back to Lenny. "Has she phoned since?"
"Yeah, Lenny told her you were going to be okay." Nathan remembered the phone call, Lenny had spoken to her and he had actually hung up on her.
Lenny saw the sadness that replaced his anger. "She said she'll see you when she comes to visit in a few weeks Ezra."
Ezra closed his eyes, he knew she wasn't going to come, she only visited if she was in town for another reason and right now, she didn't have one. He tried to roll onto his side again so he could be closer to Lenny, he felt the pain again but it wasn't as bad this time, he felt Lenny's hand on his shoulder but he also felt something else. A catheter, God he hated those things. He allowed Lenny to push him back while he lifted his leg, it was a struggle but he was determined to get rid of that thing. He managed to grabbed the tube between his toes and when he knew he had a decent hold he pulled it out, he grimaced at the pain he caused but there was also instant relief.
"Ezra what the hell are you doing?" Lenny lifted the blanket and saw what he'd done, he pulled the tube away from his legs before any of the warm liquid could spill onto the bed.
"I hate those things." Ezra muttered, the small struggle and sapped what strength he had gained. "Lenny," he lifted his left arm and felt Lenny grab it, "I also want rid of something else."
"What's that Ezra." Lenny frowned down at him but Ezra wouldn't open his eyes, he was falling back to sleep again.
"Them, I don't want them in here Lenny, I don't want them near me, not after what they did to me." Ezra's words were becoming slurred but he forced himself to stay awake, he knew Lenny would do what he asked but he had to make sure he understood what he wanted.
"Ezra . . ." Chris didn't even get a chance to finish.
"Get them out Lenny!" Ezra managed to roll onto his left side and struggled against Lenny's hands, the IV tube freed itself from the needle that had been re-inserted into the back of his right hand. "Lenny!"
"Get out Chris and take your men with you!" Lenny growled at him.
"Lenny were not leaving." Chris stood up ready for an argument but he found himself facing a gun, Lenny had pulled it so fast, he didn't see it coming.
Lenny pulled his gun with his right hand while his left tried to keep Ezra still as he continued to fight him. He was getting agitated and he knew the only way to get him to calm down was to make the others leave, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer but Chris gave him the answer he wasn't willing to accept.
"Get out!" Lenny warned him.
"I thought you wanted to help?" Chris asked him calmly.
"Look at him Chris, do you think this is helping him. I'll do anything he asks of me, and when the time is right, I'll help you but not now. Your still hurting him and I won't allow that."
"Lenny." Ezra groaned against the pain.
"Okay but when he's asleep again I want to talk to you." Chris growled at him.
"Send the nurse in will you." Lenny smiled in return and watched the six men leave. "They're gone Ezra." He put his gun away and sat down on the edge of the bed, he pushed Ezra onto his back and began to stroke his face, hoping to calm him down.
"I don't want them coming back, even when I'm asleep Lenny." Ezra tried to open his eyes but couldn't, they were too heavy, he could feel the darkness coming for him but he wouldn't let it take him until he had Lenny's word.
"Promise me you won't let them back in here."
"You've got my word Ezra." Lenny assured him while he continued to wipe the hair off his forehead. "I won't let them back in here." He smiled when Ezra missed the meaning of his words, he was still going to help them try to repair the friendship, and he’ll just have to find somewhere else for them to talk to him.
He was still brushing his hand through Ezra's hair when the nurse came into the room. He told her not to bother with the catheter that he would only pull it out again. She fixed the IV tube, took the catheter bag and left. Once Lenny was sure Ezra was comfortable and sleeping, he prepared himself for battle and left the room.
________________________________________
Chris was fuming, he paced back and forth within a small area outside Ezra's hospital room, his anger followed him as it always seemed to do, the tension floated in the air around him. His anger only increased during the fifteen minutes he had to wait for Lenny to come out of the room, he was beginning to think the man was purposely taking his time. He ignored the guilt-ridden faces that watched him carefully, neither of them wanting to be on the receiving end of his wrath. They deserved to feel guilty, he deserved to feel guilty, and he would take any sort of treatment from Ezra, because he understood his anger but he wouldn't take that sort of treatment from Lenny Hoskins. Yes, he was Ezra's friend but so were they and each of them wanted to show Ezra that they cared about him in their own way, that what they had done was a mistake that none of them would forget or forgive themselves for. They had committed the ultimate crime of friendship, they betrayed him, a betrayal that he may never forgive.
He stopped in mid-stride when the door finally opened, the expression on the Federal Agent's face was a passive one but Chris didn't care, he clenched his fist then slammed it against the jaw of the man who stood before him.
"The next time you pull a gun on me you better be prepared to use it!" Chris glared at him, his own expression was one of pure anger.
Lenny stood his ground making sure he didn't step back, he somehow managed to keep his balance and rubbed his jaw at the same time to make sure there wasn't any damage. He wanted to retaliate but he kept his anger and his fists under control, so instead, he smiled at Chris knowing that it would aggravate him more than a physical confrontation.
"I was prepared to use it the first time." Lenny spoke calmly.
Josiah watched in amusement as the two men stared at each other, neither one willing to break eye contact. The usually calm man took a deep exasperated breath and stepped between the two men. He looked at Chris then Lenny, the anger and stubbornness evident in their eyes. Just when they finally seemed to reach a silent agreement, they allow their male pride to get in the way.
"Gentlemen, your egos aren't the issue here, we have something more important to talk about." Josiah warned them, if they continued to carry on the way they were, he would deal with both of them himself. "Ezra!"
Lenny and Chris continued to stare at each other silently, each of them not knowing what to say to break the silence between them. Josiah turned his back to Chris and used his arm to push him away, finally breaking the eye contact the two men held.
"What do you suggest we do now Agent Hoskins?" Josiah asked him.
"I suggest you stay out of the room, he doesn't want you in there." Lenny answered him.
"Is that what you call helping us?" Buck growled at him as he stepped closer to the man.
"Yes it is." Lenny returned the stare.
"I don't agree, I don't believe that you want to help us." Buck continued to argue with him.
"You Wilmington, are letting your anger blind you." Lenny took the step that Buck refused to take, he now stood face to face with the man that was a less opposing figure than his boss. "Didn't you see the state he was in, do want to make him go through that just so you can feel better about the way you treated him." He saw the guilt flash through Buck's eyes. "I told Chris that I would help and I will but now is not the time, when he's physically ready I'll make sure he listens to you, even if I have to tie him down."
"That could be weeks." Nathan informed him. "If you make us wait that long to talk to him he might think we don't care."
"I'll talk to him when he wakes up and so can you." He turned to Nathan after giving Buck another one of his famous glares, he smiled when the man flinched. "I'll ask him first but I don't think Ezra will mind if you sit with him Nathan, he didn't seem to show any anger towards you."
Nathan nodded his thanks and walked to one of the many chairs that filled the waiting area, he sat down and made himself comfortable, he was willing to trust Lenny, they didn't really have any other choice. JD and Josiah joined him but Chris, Buck and Vin continued to glare at Lenny with questionable expressions on their faces.
"Chris come and sit down, there's nothing you can do until Lenny talks to Ezra." Josiah took the initiative, he knew if Chris sat down the others would follow him.
"How do we know he'll talk to Ezra." Vin quietly stated.
"I'm going to be honest with you, all of you, Ezra hasn't had any real friends in his life, I was the first, the rest of you were starting to put an end to his self inflicted loneliness, I don't want to see him go back to a life of solitude. I'm not always there for him, I had hoped you guys would be." Lenny leaned against the door to Ezra's room. "I'm willing to help you but I won't do it if it means Ezra's going to get hurt again. And what just happened in there hurt him, you may not have seen that hurt but I did. I know Ezra better than you do."
"I'll take anything from Ezra over what we did but I won't take any more of that crap from you!" Chris informed him.
"Then that makes two of us, the next time I ask you to do something in regards to Ezra, I don't want an argument." He stepped away from the door and turned to open it but decided to say one more thing. "Oh and by the way, you'd better be prepared to take anything from Ezra, as you put it, because there is a side to him you don't know about and I'm sure it's going to be that side you're going to have to deal with and I warn you, it's not a pleasant side." Lenny waited for an answer but he didn't get one, they were interrupted by Chris's cell phone.
"What!" Chris yelled into the phone.
Lenny smiled, Ezra was right, you could really enjoy getting Chris Larabee angry. He soon lost his smile though as he listened to the conversation unfold.
"Here . . . what about Glading . . . shit!" He hung up the phone then started barking orders. "Collins was just spotted in the car park of this hospital. Lenny you get back in there with Ezra. JD, Buck you stay out here and guard the door, the rest of you follow me."
"Knock once before you come in, I'll probably shoot you otherwise." Lenny informed Buck before he went back into Ezra's room.
________________________________________
"Why do I have to go, why don't both of us go?" Glading complained, he was sick of spending his days sitting in a hot car in the middle of summer watching a hospital where the man Collins wanted to kill was being protected by seven men they would never be able to get past.
"Because, if we split up, they'll split up. More of them will come after me than you, that will give you a chance to get to Standish and if you kill him for me there will be a lot of money in it for you." Collins explained once more, he was tired of this man and if this didn't work, he'll take his frustration out on him by killing him.
Glading liked the idea of the money but it was his greed that had gotten him into this un-winnable situation in the first place. "And if I can't get to him?"
"Then you won't get paid." Collins smiled. "Now go and do your job, wait at the side entrance until they come out then you go in."
Glading grimaced but did as he was told, he got out of the car and adjusted the white lab coat and cap that he was wearing. He was grateful for the cool breeze that gently brushed his face, it was hotter in the car than it was outside in the open. He moved away from the car, quickly glancing around to make sure there wasn't anybody who would recognise him.
Collins waited until Glading reached the side entrance to the hospital. He pushed his glasses back onto his nose then started the car and pulled out of one of the many parking areas they had been occupying for the last two weeks. He was going to drive around slowly until he was recognised by one of the policemen who guarded the front and side entrance, men who hadn't been doing their job because if they had, he would have been spotted the first day they were here.
________________________________________
Lenny moved quickly to Ezra's bedside, he grabbed the spare blanket from the foot of the bed and laid it on the floor, he pulled the second blanket that covered Ezra's sleeping form from the corners of the bed, loosening it. Lenny gently placed his arms under the blanket, his left arm under the limp shoulders and his right under Ezra's knees. He lifted the smaller man into his arms, causing him to wake abruptly, the Agent ignored his friend's muttered protests and carefully moved him from the bed to the floor.
"Lenny . . . what are . . . you doing." Ezra clenched his teeth against the pain that erupted in his skull.
"Collins is in the car park which means Glading has to be somewhere nearby and you'd make a nice target if you stayed in the bed." Lenny wiped Ezra's forehead and pulled his gun from the shoulder holster that was hidden by his black leather coat.
"They haven't caught them yet?" He tried to shift into a more comfortable position on the hard floor.
"No." Lenny didn't want to go into details, now wasn't the time for an argument and he knew he'd get one if he told him Larabee and the others hadn't left him since the shooting.
"Why are you . . . putting me on the floor?" Ezra forced his eyes open and looked at the amused expression on his friend's face. "Can't you find somewhere more comfortable."
"Such as?" Lenny asked him, he shifted his body so he could place his left hand on Ezra's shoulder to keep him down and be facing the hospital room door in case Glading come bursting through it. He knew Team Seven would do their job but he wasn't going to relax until he knew Ezra was safe
"In my own bed at home." The southerner suggested. "Where no one could . . . wake me up!"
"You're not going anywhere Ezra and quit complaining. You’re only going to be able to get so much sympathy from me and when you’re walking around on your own, well let’s just say that you'll be feeling sorry for me." Lenny spoke to Ezra but keep his eyes on the door.
"And why would I be feeling sorry for you . . . I don't see any . . . bullet wounds." Ezra could feel the sweat begin to form on his face. "Lenny could I at least have a pillow?"
"Sorry Ezra." He pulled the pillow off the bed, he hesitated before putting the gun down and lifting Ezra's head so he could put the pillow under the grimacing features, and he quickly picked the gun back up. "Better?"
"Yeah, now answer my . . . question."
"I've been dealing with Larabee and the others for you." Lenny sort of told him the truth. He wanted to look at Ezra when he didn't receive an answer but kept his eyes on the door. "I had to put up with them for more than two weeks."
"Two weeks?" He thought it had only been a few days. "Is that where you got the bruise?"
"Actually I just got it, you were right about pissing him off." Lenny smiled, he hadn't thought about the bruise that would be forming on his jaw.
"You can't be doing it right, he . . . never hit me." Ezra proudly announced. "Well until . . . this happened anyway. . . And what do you mean two weeks?"
"More than that Ezra. You were in a coma for almost two weeks."
"Good Lord." Ezra muttered before his breathing took on the normal rhythm of sleep.
________________________________________
"Nathan, Josiah you take the side entrance, we'll go through the front door." Chris calmly told them when the elevator doors opened, they ran out with guns drawn then separated, going into different directions.
Chris and Vin ran through the front automatic doors sideways, not waiting for them to fully open. They stopped to talk to the policeman who guarded the front entrance and allowed their eyes to adjust to the unfamiliar sunlight.
"Where is he?" Chris asked while his eyes searched the parking lot.
Chris didn't have to wait for an answer, his head turned towards the sound of screeching tyres and saw the face of Jack Collins driving away in a red Mercury Marquis. He ran towards the moving car with Vin by his side, and once he was sure there weren't any innocent bystanders, he lifted his gun and fired two shots into the back of the car shattering the rear window and a third that caused the right rear tyre to explode, but the car kept going.
"He was the bait, he made us come out so Glading could go in." Vin cursed under his breath.
"Shit, Ezra!" Chris ran back into the foyer and quickly looked around for Nathan and Josiah, he saw them coming back through the side entrance. "Did you see Glading?"
"No, we came back when we heard the shots." Josiah answered him.
"We have to get back upstairs, you two use the elevator, and Vin and I will take the stairs. You’re looking for Glading." Chris informed them as he ran to the door that led to the stairs.
________________________________________
Glading watched as members of the 'Magnificent Seven' ran out of the building, he could never understand why they were called that, he didn't think they were that magnificent. He waited until Jackson and Sanchez were on the sidewalk that passed the side entrance. Glading had made a decision, this was going to be his last job, he would collect his money then leave the country, and he wasn't going to deal with Collins anymore.
He stepped out from behind the tree and slipped through the side entrance. 'I knew the nickname was wrong, if they were that magnificent they would have caught me.' He confidently told himself. He looked around for his insurance and saw her walking past the door that led to the stairwell.
________________________________________
Buck could hear the faint sound of gunshots echo into the building from outside, he checked his gun for a third time then turned towards the elevators. He knew JD was watching the stairs, after a few minutes he heard his young friend swear. Buck turned around and voiced his own curse. Glading stepped out of the opened doorway with a nurse held in his grip, his left arm was around her throat and his right held a gun to her forehead. Buck recognised the nurse, it was Julie, and she worked in the emergency department and was there when Ezra had first been brought in.
"Throw your guns over here then move away from the door." He ordered them but they ignored his orders. "Now!"
Glading moved closer to the door, he knew Standish was in there, they wouldn't guard an empty room. When the two agents didn't do as they were asked, he aimed his gun at JD. "Throw your guns over here, if you don't I'll shoot him." He waited again. "I'm in a position where I have nothing to lose. I'd rather die than go to jail."
"We’re not going to let you get to Ezra." JD retorted.
"If you don't put your gun down I'll shoot you." Glading repeated himself, he couldn't believe the kid was willing to
die for Standish.
"You can only shoot one of us, the other one will shoot you before you could pull the trigger a second time." Buck smiled at him.
"You forgot the nurse, you won't shoot me while I have her."
"Seems we're at a standstill then because we’re not putting our guns down and we certainly aren't going to let you kill Ezra." Buck told him.
"Do you really want the kid to die?" Glading asked him.
"I'm not going to die." JD warned him.
"Want to bet on that do you?" Glading lifted his gun and pulled the trigger. JD knew Glading was going to pull the trigger, the man had no other choice, he had put himself into a situation, which he wasn't going to win, the man would either die or go to jail and he already said what he would prefer to do. The only thing that JD had to do was decide which way to throw himself, so the bullet would do less harm to his person. He watched the rogue agent's eyes for the flicker of emotion that would tell him he had made the decision to pull the trigger. This was another thing Ezra had taught him. To watch the person's eyes and not their hands, the eyes always gave the person's intentions away. He didn't know why but he was able to read this man's eyes easily, Ezra had taught him well.
It was at moments like these, that he would realise just how much the southerner had done for him, he pushed the thought away before it could be replaced by the guilt he felt for the way he had returned his friendship and trust.
Ezra would deny it of course, he would never admit to it as being friendship. He would instead say that it was part of the job and the younger man needed to learn things to keep himself alive and also protect the others in this type of situation and that someone had to give him some of the finer points to keeping one's health but JD knew otherwise. He smiled inwardly at the thought, it was these finer points that had saved Ezra's life on more than one occasion and JD was willing to take his advice.
JD threw himself sideways when he saw the flicker of emotion he was taught to look for, but he knew he didn't move fast enough. He pulled the trigger of his own gun while waiting for the white-hot agony to tear through him when the bullet struck his body but all he felt was the sharp pain that erupted in his shoulder as he hit the floor and the air being forced from his lungs.
"Buck!" He managed to gasp out between the great gulps of air he tried to breath in so he could replenish his lungs.
Buck didn't answer him, he was still in shock, he saw Glading lift his gun then heard the gunshot echo in his mind, and his only thought was that JD was a dead man. But that was not the case, he saw JD throw himself sideways just as Glading pulled the trigger, the younger man then fired his own gun, hitting Glading in his right side causing him to spin around, he lost his gun and his grip on his hostage.
He finally found his voice when he saw Glading lift his gun a second time but still didn't say anything, he quickly moved forward and kicked the gun away from his grip. Buck crouched down making himself a smaller target when he heard the stairwell door slam open but relaxed when he saw Chris and Vin burst through the opening they had created. He turned again when he heard the elevator doors and smiled at the sight of Nathan and Josiah, but he quickly forgot them when he remembered JD, he moved towards Julie and pulled her up. Buck dragged her towards JD, he knew he was injured and the younger man was his first concern.
"JD!" Buck called to him, he saw his friend sitting up searching for a bullet wound, and the younger man's head lifted, an amazed look in his eyes.
"I'm fine Buck, he didn't get me." JD felt nothing but total shock but he wasn't allowed to dwell on what happened, he felt Buck's hands on him, he also looked for a bullet wound that didn't exist. "Buck I'm fine!" He pushed his hands away and tried to stand up.
"Just let me make sure." Julie pushed him back down again while trying to keep her own fear at bay, once she knew that JD was okay she would let go of her emotions. She expertly used her hands to quickly check for any injuries but found none. "Is there any pain anywhere?"
"I hurt my shoulder when I hit the ground but that's easing now." JD winced when Julie used her hands to examine his shoulder.
"We'll have to do an x-ray just to make sure it's okay." She smiled at JD then looked at Buck. "Would you mind if I used your shoulder for a couple of minutes?"
Buck was confused for a moment, then kicked himself mentally when he saw the tears begin to build in her eyes, his hesitation ended and he took her into his arms and comforted her. He selfishly thought only of JD and forgot about what she had gone through. He watched over her shoulder while Chris and Vin took care of Glading, he noticed there wasn't any blood on his shirt or lab coat. Chris roughly handcuffed his hands and dragged him to his feet. They pushed him towards the others.
"JD shot him, where's the blood?" Buck asked them.
Vin faced Glading and pulled his shirt open, they all saw the bulletproof vest that he wore.
"Have to be prepared." Glading smiled.
"Imagine our disappointment." Vin growled at him.
"JD, you okay?" Chris asked him, he had heard the concern in Buck's voice, he needed to know what happened but he had to take care of Glading first then make sure Ezra was alright.
"I'm fine, shoulder's a bit sore but that's all." JD smiled at him.
"Imagine my disappointment." Glading repeated Vin's words.
"Shut up!" Vin warned him.
Julie pulled herself together at the mention of JD's shoulder, she pushed herself away from Buck and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Thanks Buck, but I better get JD fixed up."
"Someone else can take care of JD, while don't you use my shoulder a bit longer." Buck winked at her and was grateful for the smile, he knew she would be okay, he just wished he had thought more about what had happened to her.
"I'd rather use someone else's, you'll take it the wrong way and think I was asking for a date." Julie laughed, the nervous tension obvious in her voice.
"You going to be okay?" Buck asked her seriously.
"Yeah, it's not the first time that's happened." Julie reminded him as she pulled JD to his feet.
"You sure?"
"I'm sure." She ended the conversation by taking JD's arm and leading him away.
Buck wasn't convinced though, he made a mental note to talk to her when he had a chance. He turned back to the others when he heard Chris's voice.
"Vin, Josiah. Take him back to the office, find out what he knows about Collins's whereabouts." Chris ordered them.
"I don't know anything about Collins." Glading managed to voice through his pain. He was angry at himself, why did he always let his greed make his decisions for him, if he had thought about it more, he could be sitting on a beach somewhere instead taking stupid risks for Collins. He thought if he had a hostage, he would be able to get to Standish but he was obviously wrong, his greed made another mistake and he was going to regret it.
"Doesn't mean we can't have some fun trying to get that information out of you." Vin began pushing Glading towards the elevator where Josiah held the doors open for him.
"And we know what sort of fun that is don't we, will it be the same sort of fun that you had with Standish?" Glading smiled when Josiah grimaced, he knew he hit a sore spot with all of them but he could only see the larger man's reaction.
Chris ignored Glading's reminder of what they had done to Ezra. "Buck take care of the crowd." Chris nodded towards the group of people that were gathering at the nurses’ station to see what had happened. "Nathan stay out here, I'll go and make sure Lenny and Ezra are okay." He made his way to the door that led to Hoskins and Ezra.
"Chris, knock once before you go in." Buck smiled at him.
Chris frowned at him but did as he was told, he knocked loudly on the door then entered the room.
________________________________________
Lenny heard the voices outside the room and knew that Glading had managed to get past the others, he could tell by their words that JD and Buck were willing to give their lives to protect Ezra, he just wished the younger Agent was awake so he could also hear how they felt about him. It was only a matter of seconds before he heard the gunshot and felt Ezra jerk awake under his left hand.
"What is it with this . . . place that a man . . . can't get any sleep." Ezra grumbled.
Lenny heard the slurred words but ignored them, he needed to concentrate in case Glading came through the door. A few minutes later he heard the knock on the door but kept his gun aimed at the door just in case, he only relaxed after Chris followed the loud knock into the room. He put his gun back into his holster then turned towards Ezra.
"What happened? Did he fall off the bed?" Chris asked as he made his way around the empty bed.
"I put him on the floor, just in case." He wiped the dampened hair from Ezra's forehead. "Ezra?"
"What!" The word was spoken harshly.
"I need to get you back on the bed." Lenny informed him.
"Aw hell, why can't you just . . . leave me here!" Ezra was getting tired of being woken up.
"If I remember correctly you were only complaining about being on the floor a couple of minutes ago." Lenny retorted.
"Yeah, well if I was . . . in my own bed I wouldn't have . . . to complain about anything . . . except your cooking!"
"Shut up Ezra." Lenny ordered him, he nodded to Chris to pick up Ezra's legs and together they carefully lifted him and placed him back on the bed. "You comfortable now?"
"I would be more . . . " Ezra started then realised that someone else was in the room. He carefully opened his eyes and looked around the room, his pain filled eyes finally resting on Chris's form. "Lenny you promised!"
"Due to unforeseen circumstances I didn't have any choice." He gave him a look that told him not to say anymore.
Chris had been listening to the conversation and saw the look that Lenny gave Ezra, he was impressed, not only could he get Ezra to open up but he could also get him to shut up with a single phrase or a look. He would have to ask him how he managed to do that.
"What happened?" Lenny asked Chris.
"I haven't got the whole story, JD and Buck took care of Glading. I wanted to make sure Ezra was okay before I talked to them." He began to explain.
"It's a pity you didn't . . . think of my . . . health earlier." Ezra growled from the bed, he had closed his eyes hoping that he would fall asleep but for some reason it was evading him.
"Ezra!" Lenny nodded to Chris to continue with what he was saying.
"Vin and Josiah are taking him back to HQ to question him but I don't think he'll tell us anything."
"Don't even say it Ezra." Lenny knew what Ezra was about to say so he stopped him before he could. "Anyone hurt?"
"JD hurt his shoulder . . ."
"Is he alright?" Ezra asked him, he opened his eyes and looked towards Chris.
"He's getting an x-ray now but he should be fine." Chris watched as Ezra nodded in acknowledgement then close his eyes again. "No one else got hurt, except for Glading that is."
"Ezra." Lenny moved closer to the bed. "Would you mind if Nathan sat with you while Chris and I talk?"
"Nathan?" Ezra thought about it for a moment, he remembered how Nathan tried to take care of him. "Nathan's okay."
"I'll be back in a little while then Ezra." He squeezed his shoulder and looked into the green eyes that revealed themselves to him.
"Don't take too long, Nathan might try and talk to me about . . . things I don't want to discuss." Ezra weakly grabbed his arm. "And get me something . . . for this damn . . . headache."
Ezra watched Lenny follow Chris out of the room, he continued to watch as Nathan entered the room a few seconds later, his eyes followed him as he made his way to the chair that Lenny only left vacant when he had to answer to the call of nature.
Nathan didn't expect Ezra to be awake when he came into the room, he hid his surprise behind a smile. "How you feeling Ezra?" He sat himself down into the chair next to the bed.
Ezra raised his eyebrows at the question but even that small movement hurt. "I have one hell of headache. You want to tell me why?"
"You were shot twice Ezra, one of the bullets fractured your skull, the other one reflected off a rib causing it to miss your heart, if it didn't get in the way the bullet would have killed you." Nathan explained.
"Remind me to thank it later." Ezra replied, the sarcasm was heavy in his voice. "Lenny said . . . I was in a coma."
"Two weeks, for the first four days a machine kept you alive, you weren't able to breathe on your own." Nathan missed the shocked that registered on Ezra's face, he had turned around at the sound of the door opening.
The nurse made her way to the side of the bed, she carried a small tray in her hand that held a syringe. "Something for the pain." She informed Ezra.
"I was thinking . . . more along the line . . . of a pill." Ezra drew back from the needle but Nathan put his hands out to stop him moving too far.
"Sorry but you’re on fluids only at the moment, besides this will work quicker." She smiled at the foul look that was thrown her way. "But if you insist on a pill we could always insert it somewhere else." She looked down at Ezra's hips to emphasis her point.
"The needle." Ezra surrender, he put his arm out and waited for the pain of the needle pricking his skin.
"Ezra, she'll put it in the IV tube." Nathan couldn't help but smile at him. After all the times he had spent in a hospital, he still didn't know the procedures.
Ezra gave the nurse a look that would normally make a person cringe but she had dealt with Ezra before and knew that it was only a look, there was no malice behind his expression. She inserted the needle into the IV tube and released the painkiller, once the needle was empty, she withdrew it then began to fuss over the patient. She made sure that he was comfortable by lifting his head and moving the pillows, she ignored his angry remarks, and she then tucked the blanket back under the mattress. After writing some notes on Ezra's medical chart she flashed him a smile and left the room with all intentions of bragging to the rest of the nurses about the handsome expressions she had managed to get out of the patient.
"I think she enjoyed that more than I did." Ezra muttered, his headache was already easing but he could also feel the effects of the drug. "Nathan when can I go home?"
"Probably won't be for another week at least Ezra." Nathan watched as his eyelids grew heavy.
"A week? Nathan . . . " He was losing his struggle against the drugs side effects. "Thanks for not . . . asking me to talk . . . about it."
"That's okay Ezra, I know you’re not ready." He watched as Ezra fell back to sleep, his head gently rolling to the left so he was facing Nathan, he waited a few moments then picked up his hand, he would have done it sooner but he wasn't sure if Ezra would accept the touch.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven
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