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azombiewritesTitle: The Bounty
Sixth story in 'The Continuing Ezra Standish Saga'
Rating: PG
Warnings: Bad writing ahead!
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Four bounty hunters arrive in Four Corners looking for two wanted men. One of them is Vin Tanner who is wanted for murder and the other is Ezra Standish.
Main Characters: Ezra, Vin and the rest of the seven, and some OC's
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Beta: Not betaed – written in the early days when I didn’t know what the words grammar and edit meant. *is ashamed*
Notes: Sixth story in the ‘Continuing Ezra Standish Saga’.
Spoilers: None.
Word Count: 16,708
Part Two
Chris and the others had found the spot where the bounty hunters had made their camp. They noticed that there were more than three horses and decided that there must have been more waiting for the ones who took Vin. Nathan was looking around the ground for any other signs. He saw something near a large rock.
"Chris, there’s blood over here."
Chris moved over to join him. He saw the blood that he was talking about and there was quite a bit of it. He also noticed a tree branch nearby that also had a small amount of blood on it.
"If that’s Vin's blood then these men are dead," growled Chris as he moved back to his horse. The others followed not looking at the amount of blood that was on the ground knowing that it meant that Vin could be badly hurt.
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Ezra slept through the night again against Vin's chest. He moved around in his sleep. Vin thought that it was because of the pain but it was the pain and the dreams that caused Ezra to have a restless night. He was also shivering from the cold and this caused the pain in his side from the broken ribs to be worse. He woke the next morning to find Vin watching him.
"And what may I ask are you looking at, Vin."
"Just making sure that you’re okay, Ezra."
"Apart from the pain that I seem to be suffering from, I think I’m fine."
"Do you think that you will be able to ride a horse because if you can't they will just tie you on," said Vin trying to make conversation with him. He felt guilt for the injuries that he had caused to Ezra.
"I'm sure that I can." Ezra looked back at Vin. "Are you feeling guilty, Vin, because if you are, it wasn’t your fault? You didn’t hit me with that stick. I was angry last night. I didn’t mean what I said." He watched as Vin turned to look at him. He saw the serious look on his face.
"I know now that it wasn’t my fault, Ezra, just like the death of George wasn’t your fault." Vin still felt guilty but he wasn’t about to let Ezra know. Ezra had just given Vin the opportunity to talk about what was going on with himself. Vin just hoped that he didn’t clam up straight away.
"That was different, that resulted in the death of an innocent man," said Ezra looking away.
Vin put his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "It wasn’t your fault, Ezra. We keep telling you that. The only person who blames you is you, no one else blames you."
Ezra shrugged Vin's hand off. "No one else has to," he said.
Before Vin could get anymore out of him, Halen came over. "I see that your friend is awake. His friend should be happy about that. Now he can kill you himself. Now both of you get on your horses.
"What friend?" asked Ezra.
"You’ll find out later today as we’re not far from where we’re going to meet him and the man who wants Tanner here," he nodded towards the horses and ushered them on.
Vin helped Ezra up. He managed to walk to his horse on his own but needed help to get on it. Once he was on, they headed out again. Ezra spent the day trying to figure out who it was that wanted him dead. He knew that there were many people out there who wanted the same thing so he gave up and decided to wait to find out. They rode on with Chris and the others at least a day behind them and two men waiting ahead of them one of whom was looking forward to the expression that would be on Ezra Standish's face when they finally met again.
Vin continued to look around at Ezra to make sure that he was okay. He seemed to be managing to stay on his horse alright. He still looked very pale though. He would have to get some food in to him when they stopped and because they only seemed to give so little food he would have to make sure that Ezra ate all of it. He suddenly remembered what Mary Travis had said when she came into the saloon looking for him. She thought that he had not eaten all week. Vin was sure that if that was the case that Ezra would not be able to stand on his own two feet. But he was going to make him eat anyway.
Ezra could see that Vin kept looking at him so he put up a front so he would not worry about him. He side was causing him an extreme amount of pain and his head ached worse than it had in the last month. He was only managing to stay on his horse. All he wanted to do was allow himself to fall off so he could just lie down and go to sleep. But he kept himself going, if Vin saw how he was feeling he would not hear the end of it even in the situation that they were in. He also gave Vin a look each time he looked at him. For some reason when he acted this way people assumed that he was feeling better so he did what they wanted to see even if he didn’t feel better. Vin seemed to be convinced because when he did this Vin would just smile back at him.
Vin could see that Ezra was feeling better as he kept giving him filthy looks but he was going to keep an eye on him anyway just to make sure. The leader of the group said that they were going to meet the men who had hired these men, which meant that they would be getting to a town soon. Then he would be able to get them to have a Doctor look at Ezra. He hadn't been this far in this direction before so he wasn’t sure of the town that was ahead. After a long morning, they stopped the horses and made camp. Vin was again pulled from his horse and he tried to get to Ezra who was also dragged from his horse but he didn’t reach him in time. Ezra fell to the ground and grunted in pain as his side hit the ground beneath him. He lay there clutching his side when he felt Vin's arms lifting him up.
"Come on, Ezra, let's get you over here under the tree so you can get more comfortable," he heard Ezra grunt again in pain as he stood up. They walked over to the tree where Vin helped Ezra sit down. "They should bring over some food and water shortly. It won't be much so I want you to have both."
"I’m not going to have your share of the food and water, Vin. There’s no need for you to be a hero," said Ezra.
"I'm not being a hero, Ezra, you need it more than I do," argued Vin.
Ezra didn’t continue to argue. "Why don't you just wake me up when they do and we can argue
some more then." Ezra closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
Vin sat next to him watching him sleep hoping that he would be able to wake him when they had to leave again.
Vin did have trouble-waking Ezra. It took him ten minutes before he even go a response from him and another ten minutes before he was actually awake. He helped him sit up so he could eat the food easier. Ezra screwed his face up at the plate though and preferred to drink some of the water but the look on Vin's face told him that he would be in for a long argument until he did eat it. So he compromised, he ate half of the food on the plate which he had to force to keep down. Vin was at least satisfied with that and he finished the food that was left on the plate. They then shared the water that they were also given. Five minutes later, they were told to get on their horses again.
Ezra didn’t feel any better after the rest or the food. It had actually made him feel worse. Now apart from having a headache, a continuous sharp pain in his side, he felt sick after forcing the food down. He hoped that he didn’t bring it back up. They had been riding for a couple of hours - during which the whole time he struggled to stay on the horse - when they saw a ranch up ahead in the distance. The closer they got to the ranch the more they realised that they were not going to get any help here. This was obviously, where they were meant to meet the two men.
Ezra began to feel worse the closer they got. He wasn’t looking forward to meeting whoever it was that was waiting for him. What worried Vin was the fact that they might hang him here without a trial. He was going to have a bit of trouble trying to get himself and Ezra out of this situation. As they got closer to the ranch, they could see that there was no one around.
"They mustn’t be here yet," commented Halen.
"Are we going to wait then?" asked Jerry.
"Sure are. Jerry, you and Dylan put those two in one of the rooms and tie them to something so they don't get away. Dave, you take care of the horses.
Vin and Ezra both got off their horses before someone could get them off. Ezra made sure that he had a good grip on the saddle pommel so that he didn’t continue on to the ground once he was out of the saddle. He knew that if he fell down he would not be able to get back up again. Jerry and Dylan followed Vin and Ezra into the house. Jerry led them into one of the rooms. He then tied them up as Dylan watched making sure that none of them tried to do anything. They then left them in the room still not knowing who it is that wanted them.
"You still have no idea who it is that wants you?" Vin asked Ezra.
"No, you?"
"The only person I can think of would be a relation to the man that I was accused of killing. And if that’s the case, I’m probably a dead man."
"Maybe not," suggested Ezra knowing that he was wrong.
Vin just laughed at that comment. "I guess all we can do is try and figure a way out of this."
"You may have to do that on your own, Vin, as I do not think that I will be up to it," said Ezra. He was feeling tired and he needed to sleep. He lay down as best he could on the floor to get himself comfortable.
Vin looked over at him. "You okay, Ezra?"
"Not really, Vin," he couldn’t hide it any more, besides Vin would figure it out eventually.
He was in agony from his ribs and his head and all he wanted to do was sleep. He closed his eyes and sleep claimed him immediately.
"Ezra, Ezra." Vin thought that he should have known better than to believe that Ezra was okay.
An hour later Vin heard voices outside the room that he and Ezra were in. He recognised the voices of the men who had brought them here and one other. It was the voice of the brother of the man that he was accused of killing. There was one other voice that he didn’t recognise. This must the man who had paid to have Ezra brought here. The door opened and the two men walked in. One man moved towards Ezra and nudged him in the side. Ezra didn’t respond to him. He left the room with a smile on his face. Gordon Kincaid smiled at Vin, who just grimaced back at him. He to left the room. Vin looked at Ezra; he wanted to know who that man was. He seemed to be very happy to see Ezra but Vin was sure that Ezra wasn’t going to be happy to see him.
Now that Vin knew that it was Kincaid’s brother that wanted him, he also knew that he was a dead man. He wasn’t going to get a proper trial with that man. He still wanted to know who the other one was. He looked over at Ezra but he was still asleep, he had not even moved. He heard the door and looked around at Gordon Kincaid. He moved over to Vin and smiled down at him.
"Just thought that I would let you know that you are going to die tomorrow. I’m going to hang you. It's what you deserve for killing my brother," he smiled enjoying himself.
"I didn't kill your brother," said Vin.
"Well I don't believe you."
Vin knew that there was no use in arguing with him. He would not be able to convince him of his innocence. He had to escape before the morning, he had no choice. He just had to figure out how he was going to do it and how he was going to get Ezra out as well. That was going to be the most difficult part. He looked over at Ezra.
"You had better worry about your friend. This other guy has plans for him and they aren't very nice. He told me about them on the way here. He’s going to have a very bad time before he dies. But you won't have to worry for long. Only till tomorrow.”
The other man took that moment to enter the room. "He still not awake?" he asked.
"Nope," said Kincaid. "I was just telling Tanner here that you had plans for his friend."
The other man smiled. "Yes, indeed." He turned around and walked out of the room. Vin thought that the man looked familiar but he couldn't place him.
Ezra finally woke a couple of hours later. He was confused for a moment as to where he was and then he realised that his hands were tied to the leg of a bed. He saw Vin looking him. He looked around the room. It took him another few moments to remember why he was here and why he was tied up.
"Hey, Ezra, you finally woke up. You doing okay?" He asked because Ezra's eyes didn't seem to be focusing on anything. It took a few moments before Ezra answered him.
"I’m not too sure about that, Vin. Have we met our hosts as yet?" He asked as he tried to raise himself up off the floor. He winced at the pain in his side and he felt slightly dizzy for a moment.
"Yes we have, one of them is Kincaid's brother, and he intends to hang me tomorrow. The other one, I don't know who he is but he seems familiar to me. We’re going to have to get away from here, Ezra, or we’re both dead."
"Do you have a plan?" Ezra thought that they had as much hope as they did the first time they tried to escape.
"No not yet. I can't even get out of these ropes," grimaced Vin.
Ezra looked at him and saw the blood and torn skin around his wrists. He looked down at his own and knew that they would end up the same if he also tried. The door opened again and both Ezra and Vin looked up. It was the other man again. Vin didn’t see Ezra's reaction, instead he heard it.
"Aw hell," he said.
Vin turned around to look at Ezra and saw him trying to move as far away as he possibly could. He saw the look of fear on his face at the sight of the man. Ezra's back was pressed against the bed but he still kept trying to move further back. His feet were still scraping on the floor but he was going nowhere. 'What the hell is going on here.' thought Vin. He watched as the man moved closer to Ezra. He bent down and looked him in the eye.
"Nice to see you again, Ezra," he smiled then slapped Ezra across the face drawing a slight trial of blood from his mouth.
Ezra couldn’t say anything, he was in shock. He just stared at the man. He couldn’t believe that he was here. He knew what he wanted, there was only one reason that he could think of that this man wanted revenge and there was no way that he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one. He knew what type of man he was, what he was capable of doing. There was nothing that Ezra was going to be able to do.
"You don't have anything to say, Ezra?" The man continued to stare at Ezra. "No?"
Ezra was clutching his side. He had forgotten about his ribs when he tried to move away. He had felt the pain and grabbed his side without thinking. The man saw this and smiled. "I heard about what you did to yourself Ezra." He moved Ezra's hands away which very far due to the short rope that tied his hands to the bed but it was enough for him to do what he wanted. In a way, he was very similar to Marshall Hanley. He squeezed Ezra's side. He waited for Ezra to scream but he didn't. Ezra clenched his teeth so the scream would not come out.
"Hey, you leave him alone," yelled Vin. He didn’t understand what was going on, why this man treated Ezra this way. What had Ezra done to him to cause him to act this way towards him? "Can't you see that he’s hurt?"
The man looked over his shoulder at Vin. "Of course I do, Halen told me that you tried to escape and what he did to Ezra. I quite enjoyed the story; wish I was there to see it. I will just have to do it again for my own pleasure. He needs to be repaid for what he has done. He will be held responsible." He had finally let go of Ezra's side. He looked down at Ezra's pain filled eyes and saw determination there. Ezra finally got control of himself. He wanted to make the man think that he wasn’t afraid of him. He gathered together what little spit there was in his mouth and spat it in the man's face. He heard Vin groan from across the room.
The man drew out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. He then used his fist to hit Ezra in the face the force of the blow causing the back of Ezra's head to hit the side of the bed. The man then stood up and walked out of the room with Ezra watching his back.
Vin watched him leave and then looked back at Ezra. He saw that his pale complexion had become even paler, as though he had seen a ghost. "Ezra, who was that?" He waited for an answer but he didn’t get one. Ezra just continued to stare at the closed door.
Ezra looked away from the door and stared at the floor. Vin was watching him. He could tell that Ezra had closed himself off. The poker face that he wore wasn’t very good but it was enough to convince Vin that he wasn’t going to get much information out of him, but he had to try anyway. "Ezra," he still stared at the floor. "Ezra, answer me!" Vin growled at him.
"What," answered Ezra finally.
"Are you going to tell me who that was and what that was all about?" Vin already knew what the answer was going to be.
"No doubt you will soon find out," said Ezra.
"I want to find out now, Ezra, don't you dare shut me out here. We’re in this together." Vin tried to force him to talk.
Ezra brought his stare up to match Vin's. "If we’re in this together then don't you think that we should work on a plan to get out of here," he continued to stare at Vin.
"As soon as we do, Ezra, you are going to tell me everything." Vin gave up. Ezra's reaction was exactly what he expected.
==============================================
Chris and the other lawmen continued to follow the trail that was left by the men who had taken Vin. They were very careless and didn’t hide their tracks very well. They had found evidence of recent campfires. They were grateful for the fact that they didn’t see any more blood. This told Nathan that Vin wasn’t seriously hurt because if he was they would have found more blood at each campsite. They camped for the night not realising that Vin and Ezra were only a few hours away.
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Ezra had stayed quiet so it was up to Vin to figure a way out of here. He was having no success with the ropes on his wrists so unless someone actually untied him there was nothing that he could do. He would have to wait for that to happen and when it does, he would then deal with that person. Hopefully both he and Ezra would be untied at the same time. He looked up as he heard the door open. He also noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ezra didn’t react at all to the noise. He decided then and there that Ezra wasn’t going to be any help when it came to getting out of here. Jerry and Dylan came into the room and headed towards Ezra. Jerry drew his gun and pointed it at him while Dylan untied his hands. He then dragged Ezra to his feet and out the door.
"Where are you going with him, what are you going to do?" Vin yelled after them. He slumped back down on the floor hoping that that wasn’t the last time that he was going to see Ezra alive. Vin noticed that it was getting dark outside and that his own death was due to happen tomorrow.
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Ezra was dragged into another room and forced down onto a chair and then his hands were tied behind his back. He saw his Uncle standing in the middle of the room. The man moved over to Ezra. He knew that he was in deep trouble and unless someone came to his rescue, he was going to die. The man leaned down into Ezra's face again.
"If you spit on me again I will kill you now," he stood up and stepped back. "I went and saw Jack in jail about a month ago. He is going through hell in there thanks to you."
"He deserves it," said Ezra defiantly.
Eric Standish stepped forward and hit Ezra across the face, the ring on his hand cutting his cheek.
"No one deserves what my brother is going through," he grabbed Ezra's jaw and pulled him to face him. "I’m going to make you go through the same things that he has and they are not going to be pleasant.
"You can do what you want; it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as what both you and he did to me as a child," Ezra growled at him.
He didn't hit Ezra again instead, he nodded to the two men that were in the room with them. They moved forward and the one called Jerry hit Ezra in the side where his ribs were broken. Ezra couldn't keep the scream in this time. The pain was agony. He then hit Ezra in the face again. He continued to beat Ezra for another five minutes; most of the punches were aimed at his side. Ezra was doubled over with the pain that he felt. The sweat was running down his face mixing with the blood from his split lip and the cut on his cheek.
"That's all for now, we will continue later. Take him back to the room. And tie him back up, he can be very sneaky when he wants to be."
==============================================
Vin had heard Ezra cry out in pain and it caused him to struggle even harder with the ropes that bound his wrists. He heard the door open again nearly ten minutes later and saw the same two men bring Ezra back in. They practically dragged him back into the room and then threw him down on the floor next to the bed and tied him to it again. Vin scowled at them as they left the room. He looked back over at Ezra who was slumped down on the floor. Vin could only see his back as he was lying mostly on his left side.
"Ezra, are you okay?" Vin wasn’t even sure if he was awake.
"Do I look okay to you?" Ezra questioned back.
Vin could hear the pain in Ezra's voice. "What did they do to you? Did that guy do anything?"
Ezra tried to sit up more but it only caused him to cry out in pain. "He did the same thing that he always did to me."
Vin was confused. "He’s done this to you before?"
"On numerous occasions."
"Who is he, Ezra?" He didn’t get an answer though as Ezra had become quiet. Vin assumed that he had either fallen asleep or unconscious but Ezra had done neither, he just didn’t want to tell Vin that the man was the brother of Jack Standish wanting revenge for his brother being sent to jail. And that on occasion he also beat him as a child. He seemed to enjoy watching his brother do it more though and that would have been why he had the other man beat him, so he could watch. After a while, he eventually did fall asleep but his sleep was plagued by dreams. Vin watched and listened as Ezra groaned in his sleep, he also tossed and turned. The rope stopped him from turning completely thus saving him the pain that it would cause if he was to roll onto his right side. But he did turn enough for Vin to see the damage down to his face. He saw the cut on his right cheek, the split lip and the bruises that were already beginning to form on other areas of his face. They needed to get out of here and it had to be soon. But he didn’t think that he was going to able to do it.
==============================================
Vin had given up on his wrists as they were now causing him to much pain when he tried to loosen the ropes that tied them. He kept glancing at Ezra who was still tossing and groaning in his sleep. He tried to think of where he knew that man that had caused Ezra to react the way he did but he couldn’t remember him. He realised that Ezra was afraid of the man but he didn’t know why, he would not tell him.
Ezra had slept for another couple of hours and then woke letting out a slight scream that was building in his throat. He jerked awake letting out a second cry as he felt the pain wrack through his body. He sat there gasping in what little breath he could get into his restricted chest. Restricted by from pain and fear. He looked around the room seeing Vin staring at him.
"Don't even ask me, Vin." Ezra said this before Vin could say anything. Ezra held his gaze until Vin nodded at him. Vin didn’t want to push Ezra on the subject. He knew that he would only close up more and that would not help when they tried to escape.
It wasn’t long after that Jerry and Dylan came for Ezra again. They moved over to him and went through the same process. But this time Ezra wasn’t going to go easy. Once they had untied his hands and hauled him up off his feet he lunged at the man holding the gun. Ezra struggled to stay up as the pain tried to take him. He grabbed the gun and pointed it in the direction of Jerry, Dylan was so surprised by what Ezra had done that he didn’t react straight away and this gave Ezra time to aim and pull the trigger. Jerry was dead before he even hit the floor.
Vin was too far away to help Ezra as he watched what he had tried to do. He heard the gunshot and expected Ezra to fall to the floor. He then heard Ezra grunt in pain and then collapsed to the floor clutching at his side.
Dylan had finally reacted but it was too late. He then used his free hand to hit Ezra in the side, Ezra then let go of the gun and fell to floor. He stood over the gambler and lifted his gun, he was about to pull the trigger when Eric Standish walked in.
"If you pull that trigger you’re also a dead man," he growled at Dylan.
"But he killed Jerry," he spat back at him.
"I did tell you to be careful with him," he smiled down at Ezra.
Eric Standish walked over to Ezra who was on his knees and leaning on his right arm with his left one holding his right side. Eric saw the opening and took his chance. He was just like his brother; he would only hit someone when that person was unable to not react. He kicked Ezra hard in his left side, his boot cracking another rib. Ezra grunted and fell on his back. He was struggling for breath now clutching both sides.
"Put him back and tie him up," Standish said.
Halen ran into the room then. "I heard a gunshot, what happened?"
"He killed Jerry," said Dylan nudging Ezra in the side with his boot as if he needed to point out who it was he was talking about.
Ezra tried to move away from the boot but the pain held him where he was. His pain filled expression looked up at his Uncle. "I told your men to be careful but they wouldn’, listen to me."
"Jerry knew the risks, he should have been more careful. So should have you!" Halen said. He walked out of the room then. He was angry that one of his men was dead but it also meant that the bounty would now be split three ways instead of four.
Dylan grabbed the collar of Ezra's jacket and dragged him back to the bed. He made sure that he wasn’t very careful in handling Ezra and enjoyed the groans of pain that came from his mouth. He tied his hands again. He then kicked him just for the fun of it. Ezra grunted at the pain that it caused. Dylan then dragged Jerry out of the room. Eric Standish just smiled at Ezra and then followed the others out.
Vin also just sat there looking at Ezra. He really didn’t understand him at times. One minute he was sitting there as though he would not react if a gun was fired in the room and the next he would be capable of killing someone. Ezra tried to sit up but it hurt too much so he just lay where he was and tried to make himself comfortable but that was also difficult.
"Vin would you please stop staring at me." groaned Ezra as he continued to try to get in a better position.
"Next time you do something like that, Ezra, make sure that I’m able to help you first."
"There may not be a next time, Vin," he groaned again at the pain so he gave up trying to get comfortable.
"There has to be a next time, Ezra, or were both are gonna be dead," grimaced Vin. He could see the pain that Ezra was going through and there was nothing that he could do to help him.
They were not interrupted during the night but they did come for Ezra again that morning. Kincaid also entered the room with them. Vin watched as they dragged Ezra out, he was unable to stand up straight. Vin wondered how much worse he was going to be when they brought him back - if they brought him back that was.
"Just wanted to let you know that they are getting the rope ready for you."
"You do realise that our friends will track you down and kill you for what you are to doing," said Vin.
"It won't matter as I would have gotten revenge for my brother's death," he smiled. "First we’re going to let you watch your friend die and then you’re going to die."
This told Vin and that they were not going to kill Ezra while they were separated. It would give Vin a chance to get them out of there. He now just had to wait for their chance. Kincaid then left Vin alone with his own thoughts. It wasn't long before they brought Ezra back, they didn’t even bother tying him up again as he was unconscious. Vin saw that there was another wound to his head and it was bleeding badly. He hung his head as he lost hope of being able to get Ezra out of here. When Kincaid had said that he was going to watch Ezra die he thought that it was going to be something quick but looking at Ezra now he knew that they were going to have him die slowly by beating him to death. And all Vin could do at the moment was watch him die. He lifted his head again as he heard familiar voices outside.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Master Fan Fiction List
Sixth story in 'The Continuing Ezra Standish Saga'
Rating: PG
Warnings: Bad writing ahead!
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Four bounty hunters arrive in Four Corners looking for two wanted men. One of them is Vin Tanner who is wanted for murder and the other is Ezra Standish.
Main Characters: Ezra, Vin and the rest of the seven, and some OC's
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Beta: Not betaed – written in the early days when I didn’t know what the words grammar and edit meant. *is ashamed*
Notes: Sixth story in the ‘Continuing Ezra Standish Saga’.
Spoilers: None.
Word Count: 16,708
Part Two
Chris and the others had found the spot where the bounty hunters had made their camp. They noticed that there were more than three horses and decided that there must have been more waiting for the ones who took Vin. Nathan was looking around the ground for any other signs. He saw something near a large rock.
"Chris, there’s blood over here."
Chris moved over to join him. He saw the blood that he was talking about and there was quite a bit of it. He also noticed a tree branch nearby that also had a small amount of blood on it.
"If that’s Vin's blood then these men are dead," growled Chris as he moved back to his horse. The others followed not looking at the amount of blood that was on the ground knowing that it meant that Vin could be badly hurt.
Ezra slept through the night again against Vin's chest. He moved around in his sleep. Vin thought that it was because of the pain but it was the pain and the dreams that caused Ezra to have a restless night. He was also shivering from the cold and this caused the pain in his side from the broken ribs to be worse. He woke the next morning to find Vin watching him.
"And what may I ask are you looking at, Vin."
"Just making sure that you’re okay, Ezra."
"Apart from the pain that I seem to be suffering from, I think I’m fine."
"Do you think that you will be able to ride a horse because if you can't they will just tie you on," said Vin trying to make conversation with him. He felt guilt for the injuries that he had caused to Ezra.
"I'm sure that I can." Ezra looked back at Vin. "Are you feeling guilty, Vin, because if you are, it wasn’t your fault? You didn’t hit me with that stick. I was angry last night. I didn’t mean what I said." He watched as Vin turned to look at him. He saw the serious look on his face.
"I know now that it wasn’t my fault, Ezra, just like the death of George wasn’t your fault." Vin still felt guilty but he wasn’t about to let Ezra know. Ezra had just given Vin the opportunity to talk about what was going on with himself. Vin just hoped that he didn’t clam up straight away.
"That was different, that resulted in the death of an innocent man," said Ezra looking away.
Vin put his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "It wasn’t your fault, Ezra. We keep telling you that. The only person who blames you is you, no one else blames you."
Ezra shrugged Vin's hand off. "No one else has to," he said.
Before Vin could get anymore out of him, Halen came over. "I see that your friend is awake. His friend should be happy about that. Now he can kill you himself. Now both of you get on your horses.
"What friend?" asked Ezra.
"You’ll find out later today as we’re not far from where we’re going to meet him and the man who wants Tanner here," he nodded towards the horses and ushered them on.
Vin helped Ezra up. He managed to walk to his horse on his own but needed help to get on it. Once he was on, they headed out again. Ezra spent the day trying to figure out who it was that wanted him dead. He knew that there were many people out there who wanted the same thing so he gave up and decided to wait to find out. They rode on with Chris and the others at least a day behind them and two men waiting ahead of them one of whom was looking forward to the expression that would be on Ezra Standish's face when they finally met again.
Vin continued to look around at Ezra to make sure that he was okay. He seemed to be managing to stay on his horse alright. He still looked very pale though. He would have to get some food in to him when they stopped and because they only seemed to give so little food he would have to make sure that Ezra ate all of it. He suddenly remembered what Mary Travis had said when she came into the saloon looking for him. She thought that he had not eaten all week. Vin was sure that if that was the case that Ezra would not be able to stand on his own two feet. But he was going to make him eat anyway.
Ezra could see that Vin kept looking at him so he put up a front so he would not worry about him. He side was causing him an extreme amount of pain and his head ached worse than it had in the last month. He was only managing to stay on his horse. All he wanted to do was allow himself to fall off so he could just lie down and go to sleep. But he kept himself going, if Vin saw how he was feeling he would not hear the end of it even in the situation that they were in. He also gave Vin a look each time he looked at him. For some reason when he acted this way people assumed that he was feeling better so he did what they wanted to see even if he didn’t feel better. Vin seemed to be convinced because when he did this Vin would just smile back at him.
Vin could see that Ezra was feeling better as he kept giving him filthy looks but he was going to keep an eye on him anyway just to make sure. The leader of the group said that they were going to meet the men who had hired these men, which meant that they would be getting to a town soon. Then he would be able to get them to have a Doctor look at Ezra. He hadn't been this far in this direction before so he wasn’t sure of the town that was ahead. After a long morning, they stopped the horses and made camp. Vin was again pulled from his horse and he tried to get to Ezra who was also dragged from his horse but he didn’t reach him in time. Ezra fell to the ground and grunted in pain as his side hit the ground beneath him. He lay there clutching his side when he felt Vin's arms lifting him up.
"Come on, Ezra, let's get you over here under the tree so you can get more comfortable," he heard Ezra grunt again in pain as he stood up. They walked over to the tree where Vin helped Ezra sit down. "They should bring over some food and water shortly. It won't be much so I want you to have both."
"I’m not going to have your share of the food and water, Vin. There’s no need for you to be a hero," said Ezra.
"I'm not being a hero, Ezra, you need it more than I do," argued Vin.
Ezra didn’t continue to argue. "Why don't you just wake me up when they do and we can argue
some more then." Ezra closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
Vin sat next to him watching him sleep hoping that he would be able to wake him when they had to leave again.
Vin did have trouble-waking Ezra. It took him ten minutes before he even go a response from him and another ten minutes before he was actually awake. He helped him sit up so he could eat the food easier. Ezra screwed his face up at the plate though and preferred to drink some of the water but the look on Vin's face told him that he would be in for a long argument until he did eat it. So he compromised, he ate half of the food on the plate which he had to force to keep down. Vin was at least satisfied with that and he finished the food that was left on the plate. They then shared the water that they were also given. Five minutes later, they were told to get on their horses again.
Ezra didn’t feel any better after the rest or the food. It had actually made him feel worse. Now apart from having a headache, a continuous sharp pain in his side, he felt sick after forcing the food down. He hoped that he didn’t bring it back up. They had been riding for a couple of hours - during which the whole time he struggled to stay on the horse - when they saw a ranch up ahead in the distance. The closer they got to the ranch the more they realised that they were not going to get any help here. This was obviously, where they were meant to meet the two men.
Ezra began to feel worse the closer they got. He wasn’t looking forward to meeting whoever it was that was waiting for him. What worried Vin was the fact that they might hang him here without a trial. He was going to have a bit of trouble trying to get himself and Ezra out of this situation. As they got closer to the ranch, they could see that there was no one around.
"They mustn’t be here yet," commented Halen.
"Are we going to wait then?" asked Jerry.
"Sure are. Jerry, you and Dylan put those two in one of the rooms and tie them to something so they don't get away. Dave, you take care of the horses.
Vin and Ezra both got off their horses before someone could get them off. Ezra made sure that he had a good grip on the saddle pommel so that he didn’t continue on to the ground once he was out of the saddle. He knew that if he fell down he would not be able to get back up again. Jerry and Dylan followed Vin and Ezra into the house. Jerry led them into one of the rooms. He then tied them up as Dylan watched making sure that none of them tried to do anything. They then left them in the room still not knowing who it is that wanted them.
"You still have no idea who it is that wants you?" Vin asked Ezra.
"No, you?"
"The only person I can think of would be a relation to the man that I was accused of killing. And if that’s the case, I’m probably a dead man."
"Maybe not," suggested Ezra knowing that he was wrong.
Vin just laughed at that comment. "I guess all we can do is try and figure a way out of this."
"You may have to do that on your own, Vin, as I do not think that I will be up to it," said Ezra. He was feeling tired and he needed to sleep. He lay down as best he could on the floor to get himself comfortable.
Vin looked over at him. "You okay, Ezra?"
"Not really, Vin," he couldn’t hide it any more, besides Vin would figure it out eventually.
He was in agony from his ribs and his head and all he wanted to do was sleep. He closed his eyes and sleep claimed him immediately.
"Ezra, Ezra." Vin thought that he should have known better than to believe that Ezra was okay.
An hour later Vin heard voices outside the room that he and Ezra were in. He recognised the voices of the men who had brought them here and one other. It was the voice of the brother of the man that he was accused of killing. There was one other voice that he didn’t recognise. This must the man who had paid to have Ezra brought here. The door opened and the two men walked in. One man moved towards Ezra and nudged him in the side. Ezra didn’t respond to him. He left the room with a smile on his face. Gordon Kincaid smiled at Vin, who just grimaced back at him. He to left the room. Vin looked at Ezra; he wanted to know who that man was. He seemed to be very happy to see Ezra but Vin was sure that Ezra wasn’t going to be happy to see him.
Now that Vin knew that it was Kincaid’s brother that wanted him, he also knew that he was a dead man. He wasn’t going to get a proper trial with that man. He still wanted to know who the other one was. He looked over at Ezra but he was still asleep, he had not even moved. He heard the door and looked around at Gordon Kincaid. He moved over to Vin and smiled down at him.
"Just thought that I would let you know that you are going to die tomorrow. I’m going to hang you. It's what you deserve for killing my brother," he smiled enjoying himself.
"I didn't kill your brother," said Vin.
"Well I don't believe you."
Vin knew that there was no use in arguing with him. He would not be able to convince him of his innocence. He had to escape before the morning, he had no choice. He just had to figure out how he was going to do it and how he was going to get Ezra out as well. That was going to be the most difficult part. He looked over at Ezra.
"You had better worry about your friend. This other guy has plans for him and they aren't very nice. He told me about them on the way here. He’s going to have a very bad time before he dies. But you won't have to worry for long. Only till tomorrow.”
The other man took that moment to enter the room. "He still not awake?" he asked.
"Nope," said Kincaid. "I was just telling Tanner here that you had plans for his friend."
The other man smiled. "Yes, indeed." He turned around and walked out of the room. Vin thought that the man looked familiar but he couldn't place him.
Ezra finally woke a couple of hours later. He was confused for a moment as to where he was and then he realised that his hands were tied to the leg of a bed. He saw Vin looking him. He looked around the room. It took him another few moments to remember why he was here and why he was tied up.
"Hey, Ezra, you finally woke up. You doing okay?" He asked because Ezra's eyes didn't seem to be focusing on anything. It took a few moments before Ezra answered him.
"I’m not too sure about that, Vin. Have we met our hosts as yet?" He asked as he tried to raise himself up off the floor. He winced at the pain in his side and he felt slightly dizzy for a moment.
"Yes we have, one of them is Kincaid's brother, and he intends to hang me tomorrow. The other one, I don't know who he is but he seems familiar to me. We’re going to have to get away from here, Ezra, or we’re both dead."
"Do you have a plan?" Ezra thought that they had as much hope as they did the first time they tried to escape.
"No not yet. I can't even get out of these ropes," grimaced Vin.
Ezra looked at him and saw the blood and torn skin around his wrists. He looked down at his own and knew that they would end up the same if he also tried. The door opened again and both Ezra and Vin looked up. It was the other man again. Vin didn’t see Ezra's reaction, instead he heard it.
"Aw hell," he said.
Vin turned around to look at Ezra and saw him trying to move as far away as he possibly could. He saw the look of fear on his face at the sight of the man. Ezra's back was pressed against the bed but he still kept trying to move further back. His feet were still scraping on the floor but he was going nowhere. 'What the hell is going on here.' thought Vin. He watched as the man moved closer to Ezra. He bent down and looked him in the eye.
"Nice to see you again, Ezra," he smiled then slapped Ezra across the face drawing a slight trial of blood from his mouth.
Ezra couldn’t say anything, he was in shock. He just stared at the man. He couldn’t believe that he was here. He knew what he wanted, there was only one reason that he could think of that this man wanted revenge and there was no way that he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one. He knew what type of man he was, what he was capable of doing. There was nothing that Ezra was going to be able to do.
"You don't have anything to say, Ezra?" The man continued to stare at Ezra. "No?"
Ezra was clutching his side. He had forgotten about his ribs when he tried to move away. He had felt the pain and grabbed his side without thinking. The man saw this and smiled. "I heard about what you did to yourself Ezra." He moved Ezra's hands away which very far due to the short rope that tied his hands to the bed but it was enough for him to do what he wanted. In a way, he was very similar to Marshall Hanley. He squeezed Ezra's side. He waited for Ezra to scream but he didn't. Ezra clenched his teeth so the scream would not come out.
"Hey, you leave him alone," yelled Vin. He didn’t understand what was going on, why this man treated Ezra this way. What had Ezra done to him to cause him to act this way towards him? "Can't you see that he’s hurt?"
The man looked over his shoulder at Vin. "Of course I do, Halen told me that you tried to escape and what he did to Ezra. I quite enjoyed the story; wish I was there to see it. I will just have to do it again for my own pleasure. He needs to be repaid for what he has done. He will be held responsible." He had finally let go of Ezra's side. He looked down at Ezra's pain filled eyes and saw determination there. Ezra finally got control of himself. He wanted to make the man think that he wasn’t afraid of him. He gathered together what little spit there was in his mouth and spat it in the man's face. He heard Vin groan from across the room.
The man drew out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. He then used his fist to hit Ezra in the face the force of the blow causing the back of Ezra's head to hit the side of the bed. The man then stood up and walked out of the room with Ezra watching his back.
Vin watched him leave and then looked back at Ezra. He saw that his pale complexion had become even paler, as though he had seen a ghost. "Ezra, who was that?" He waited for an answer but he didn’t get one. Ezra just continued to stare at the closed door.
Ezra looked away from the door and stared at the floor. Vin was watching him. He could tell that Ezra had closed himself off. The poker face that he wore wasn’t very good but it was enough to convince Vin that he wasn’t going to get much information out of him, but he had to try anyway. "Ezra," he still stared at the floor. "Ezra, answer me!" Vin growled at him.
"What," answered Ezra finally.
"Are you going to tell me who that was and what that was all about?" Vin already knew what the answer was going to be.
"No doubt you will soon find out," said Ezra.
"I want to find out now, Ezra, don't you dare shut me out here. We’re in this together." Vin tried to force him to talk.
Ezra brought his stare up to match Vin's. "If we’re in this together then don't you think that we should work on a plan to get out of here," he continued to stare at Vin.
"As soon as we do, Ezra, you are going to tell me everything." Vin gave up. Ezra's reaction was exactly what he expected.
Chris and the other lawmen continued to follow the trail that was left by the men who had taken Vin. They were very careless and didn’t hide their tracks very well. They had found evidence of recent campfires. They were grateful for the fact that they didn’t see any more blood. This told Nathan that Vin wasn’t seriously hurt because if he was they would have found more blood at each campsite. They camped for the night not realising that Vin and Ezra were only a few hours away.
Ezra had stayed quiet so it was up to Vin to figure a way out of here. He was having no success with the ropes on his wrists so unless someone actually untied him there was nothing that he could do. He would have to wait for that to happen and when it does, he would then deal with that person. Hopefully both he and Ezra would be untied at the same time. He looked up as he heard the door open. He also noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ezra didn’t react at all to the noise. He decided then and there that Ezra wasn’t going to be any help when it came to getting out of here. Jerry and Dylan came into the room and headed towards Ezra. Jerry drew his gun and pointed it at him while Dylan untied his hands. He then dragged Ezra to his feet and out the door.
"Where are you going with him, what are you going to do?" Vin yelled after them. He slumped back down on the floor hoping that that wasn’t the last time that he was going to see Ezra alive. Vin noticed that it was getting dark outside and that his own death was due to happen tomorrow.
Ezra was dragged into another room and forced down onto a chair and then his hands were tied behind his back. He saw his Uncle standing in the middle of the room. The man moved over to Ezra. He knew that he was in deep trouble and unless someone came to his rescue, he was going to die. The man leaned down into Ezra's face again.
"If you spit on me again I will kill you now," he stood up and stepped back. "I went and saw Jack in jail about a month ago. He is going through hell in there thanks to you."
"He deserves it," said Ezra defiantly.
Eric Standish stepped forward and hit Ezra across the face, the ring on his hand cutting his cheek.
"No one deserves what my brother is going through," he grabbed Ezra's jaw and pulled him to face him. "I’m going to make you go through the same things that he has and they are not going to be pleasant.
"You can do what you want; it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as what both you and he did to me as a child," Ezra growled at him.
He didn't hit Ezra again instead, he nodded to the two men that were in the room with them. They moved forward and the one called Jerry hit Ezra in the side where his ribs were broken. Ezra couldn't keep the scream in this time. The pain was agony. He then hit Ezra in the face again. He continued to beat Ezra for another five minutes; most of the punches were aimed at his side. Ezra was doubled over with the pain that he felt. The sweat was running down his face mixing with the blood from his split lip and the cut on his cheek.
"That's all for now, we will continue later. Take him back to the room. And tie him back up, he can be very sneaky when he wants to be."
Vin had heard Ezra cry out in pain and it caused him to struggle even harder with the ropes that bound his wrists. He heard the door open again nearly ten minutes later and saw the same two men bring Ezra back in. They practically dragged him back into the room and then threw him down on the floor next to the bed and tied him to it again. Vin scowled at them as they left the room. He looked back over at Ezra who was slumped down on the floor. Vin could only see his back as he was lying mostly on his left side.
"Ezra, are you okay?" Vin wasn’t even sure if he was awake.
"Do I look okay to you?" Ezra questioned back.
Vin could hear the pain in Ezra's voice. "What did they do to you? Did that guy do anything?"
Ezra tried to sit up more but it only caused him to cry out in pain. "He did the same thing that he always did to me."
Vin was confused. "He’s done this to you before?"
"On numerous occasions."
"Who is he, Ezra?" He didn’t get an answer though as Ezra had become quiet. Vin assumed that he had either fallen asleep or unconscious but Ezra had done neither, he just didn’t want to tell Vin that the man was the brother of Jack Standish wanting revenge for his brother being sent to jail. And that on occasion he also beat him as a child. He seemed to enjoy watching his brother do it more though and that would have been why he had the other man beat him, so he could watch. After a while, he eventually did fall asleep but his sleep was plagued by dreams. Vin watched and listened as Ezra groaned in his sleep, he also tossed and turned. The rope stopped him from turning completely thus saving him the pain that it would cause if he was to roll onto his right side. But he did turn enough for Vin to see the damage down to his face. He saw the cut on his right cheek, the split lip and the bruises that were already beginning to form on other areas of his face. They needed to get out of here and it had to be soon. But he didn’t think that he was going to able to do it.
Vin had given up on his wrists as they were now causing him to much pain when he tried to loosen the ropes that tied them. He kept glancing at Ezra who was still tossing and groaning in his sleep. He tried to think of where he knew that man that had caused Ezra to react the way he did but he couldn’t remember him. He realised that Ezra was afraid of the man but he didn’t know why, he would not tell him.
Ezra had slept for another couple of hours and then woke letting out a slight scream that was building in his throat. He jerked awake letting out a second cry as he felt the pain wrack through his body. He sat there gasping in what little breath he could get into his restricted chest. Restricted by from pain and fear. He looked around the room seeing Vin staring at him.
"Don't even ask me, Vin." Ezra said this before Vin could say anything. Ezra held his gaze until Vin nodded at him. Vin didn’t want to push Ezra on the subject. He knew that he would only close up more and that would not help when they tried to escape.
It wasn’t long after that Jerry and Dylan came for Ezra again. They moved over to him and went through the same process. But this time Ezra wasn’t going to go easy. Once they had untied his hands and hauled him up off his feet he lunged at the man holding the gun. Ezra struggled to stay up as the pain tried to take him. He grabbed the gun and pointed it in the direction of Jerry, Dylan was so surprised by what Ezra had done that he didn’t react straight away and this gave Ezra time to aim and pull the trigger. Jerry was dead before he even hit the floor.
Vin was too far away to help Ezra as he watched what he had tried to do. He heard the gunshot and expected Ezra to fall to the floor. He then heard Ezra grunt in pain and then collapsed to the floor clutching at his side.
Dylan had finally reacted but it was too late. He then used his free hand to hit Ezra in the side, Ezra then let go of the gun and fell to floor. He stood over the gambler and lifted his gun, he was about to pull the trigger when Eric Standish walked in.
"If you pull that trigger you’re also a dead man," he growled at Dylan.
"But he killed Jerry," he spat back at him.
"I did tell you to be careful with him," he smiled down at Ezra.
Eric Standish walked over to Ezra who was on his knees and leaning on his right arm with his left one holding his right side. Eric saw the opening and took his chance. He was just like his brother; he would only hit someone when that person was unable to not react. He kicked Ezra hard in his left side, his boot cracking another rib. Ezra grunted and fell on his back. He was struggling for breath now clutching both sides.
"Put him back and tie him up," Standish said.
Halen ran into the room then. "I heard a gunshot, what happened?"
"He killed Jerry," said Dylan nudging Ezra in the side with his boot as if he needed to point out who it was he was talking about.
Ezra tried to move away from the boot but the pain held him where he was. His pain filled expression looked up at his Uncle. "I told your men to be careful but they wouldn’, listen to me."
"Jerry knew the risks, he should have been more careful. So should have you!" Halen said. He walked out of the room then. He was angry that one of his men was dead but it also meant that the bounty would now be split three ways instead of four.
Dylan grabbed the collar of Ezra's jacket and dragged him back to the bed. He made sure that he wasn’t very careful in handling Ezra and enjoyed the groans of pain that came from his mouth. He tied his hands again. He then kicked him just for the fun of it. Ezra grunted at the pain that it caused. Dylan then dragged Jerry out of the room. Eric Standish just smiled at Ezra and then followed the others out.
Vin also just sat there looking at Ezra. He really didn’t understand him at times. One minute he was sitting there as though he would not react if a gun was fired in the room and the next he would be capable of killing someone. Ezra tried to sit up but it hurt too much so he just lay where he was and tried to make himself comfortable but that was also difficult.
"Vin would you please stop staring at me." groaned Ezra as he continued to try to get in a better position.
"Next time you do something like that, Ezra, make sure that I’m able to help you first."
"There may not be a next time, Vin," he groaned again at the pain so he gave up trying to get comfortable.
"There has to be a next time, Ezra, or were both are gonna be dead," grimaced Vin. He could see the pain that Ezra was going through and there was nothing that he could do to help him.
They were not interrupted during the night but they did come for Ezra again that morning. Kincaid also entered the room with them. Vin watched as they dragged Ezra out, he was unable to stand up straight. Vin wondered how much worse he was going to be when they brought him back - if they brought him back that was.
"Just wanted to let you know that they are getting the rope ready for you."
"You do realise that our friends will track you down and kill you for what you are to doing," said Vin.
"It won't matter as I would have gotten revenge for my brother's death," he smiled. "First we’re going to let you watch your friend die and then you’re going to die."
This told Vin and that they were not going to kill Ezra while they were separated. It would give Vin a chance to get them out of there. He now just had to wait for their chance. Kincaid then left Vin alone with his own thoughts. It wasn't long before they brought Ezra back, they didn’t even bother tying him up again as he was unconscious. Vin saw that there was another wound to his head and it was bleeding badly. He hung his head as he lost hope of being able to get Ezra out of here. When Kincaid had said that he was going to watch Ezra die he thought that it was going to be something quick but looking at Ezra now he knew that they were going to have him die slowly by beating him to death. And all Vin could do at the moment was watch him die. He lifted his head again as he heard familiar voices outside.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
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