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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
Ezra was familiar with the effects of heroin and knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before the illegal substance reached his brain and when it did, he would feel an intense pleasure. But that wasn't going to be the only result of the injection that he had just given himself. Once the pleasure part of the drug's effect was over his pupils were going to become constricted therefore causing his vision to blur and his speech would also be effected. The drug was going to interfere with his brain's ability to perceive pain but that wasn't going to be the worst of it. First time users such as himself became nauseated and vomited. He hated throwing up, he despised it as much as he despised early mornings.
He also knew that if he was still here the following night that Glading would bring another syringe that would contain more heroin, he would have to try to speak to Lenny on his own and tell him to get him out of here. If he passed the test then the crooked agent would contact him outside of this building. He didn't want to become a real addict, it was bad enough pretending to be one. Ezra curled up into a ball on the cold floor and let the heroin take its toll on his body. Lenny was going to kill him when he found out what he'd done, he laughed at loud at the thought. His friend was going to have to wait his turn behind Larabee and the others.
Glading moved forward and gently removed the needle from the crook of Ezra's arm and released the tight strap that still bound his upper arm and left the room, closing and locking the door so Ezra could enjoy his fix. He went back to the front desk to report to their mutual friend that Ezra had taken the heroin, he had passed the test that he was given.
________________________________________
"Well I for one like the idea of making Standish get up at five in the morning, there's nothing better than making a man suffer what he hates the most and for that bastard it's early mornings." Buck smiled as he made his way to the holding rooms with Nathan. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"But why did it have to be us." Nathan complained as they reached the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Buck unlocked the door and then stepped inside while Nathan waited in the doorway. What he saw made his anger grow out of control. Ezra was sitting in the corner of the room with a large smile on his face, his knees drawn up to his chin. Buck moved closer and knelt down next to him, he could see the constricted pupils and droopy eyelids.
"Where did you get it!" Buck growled at him.
"Get what?" Ezra asked him innocently as his smile grew wider, causing the dimples to appear on his handsome face, he hadn't felt this good in a long time.
Buck reached down, grabbed a handful of Ezra’s hair, and dragged him to his feet. "Where did you get it!" He yelled into his face.
Ezra tried to pull his head away from Buck's grip but he didn't let go, he attempted to push him away but the bigger man turned him around, pulled him back and then slammed him against the wall in the same way that Chris Larabee had done the day before. Ezra grunted as his body struck the wall, he didn't feel any pain.
"Buck what are you doing?" Nathan asked while he stayed in the doorway.
"He's high on something, probably heroin." Buck answered as he turned Ezra around to face him.
"I'm only going to ask you once more." Buck warned him.
"Then that will be once more that you’re wasting your breath." Ezra continued to smile, he wasn't feeling the pain that he should be because the heroin still hadn't left his system.
"Bastard." Buck didn't hold back when he used his right fist to punch Ezra in the stomach, he pulled him back up to stop him from doubling over.
"Why Mr Wilmington . . . do you always copy what . . . your boss does, I seem to . . . remember already going through this . . . yesterday." Ezra gasped as he tried to replace the air that had been forced from his lungs. He was really beginning to despise these people for the way they were treating him. No excuse was going to be acceptable.
Buck hit him again and allowed him to fall to the floor where he began to kick him in the side. Ezra tried to move away from his boot but the wall stopped him from going any further. Nathan quickly came forward but wasn't fast enough to stop the kick that cracked two of Ezra's ribs on his right side.
"Buck stop it!" Nathan pulled him away and then knelt down next to Ezra.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Ezra yelled at him. "You fucking bastards! Get away from me!"
"Ezra, let me have a look." Nathan tried to stay calm, he actually felt angry at Buck for what he had done.
"NO!" He crawled away from him and curled himself back up into a ball in the corner of the room. He wrapped his arms around his sides. "You're not going to touch me, none of you are!"
"Buck, you better go and let Chris and Hoskins know what's happened, I'll stay here with Ezra." Nathan looked up at him and saw that there was no remorse on his face. "Buck!"
"I'm going!" Buck growled at him.
When Buck had left the room Nathan turned back to Ezra and saw the tear that rolled down his right cheek, the small bandage on the left side of his face soaked up the tear that had fallen from his left eye. "Why?" It was a simple question that Nathan didn't have an answer to. "Why are all of you treating me like this?"
"I'm sorry Ezra." Nathan sat down on the floor next to him and waited for the others to come, he didn't know what else to say to him. It was a few minutes before Lenny Hoskins ran into the room to see Ezra curled up in the corner, the tears had stopped but his cheek was still damp.
"What the hell happened here?" He struggled to get his emotions under control, he wanted to hit someone very badly.
"Ezra somehow managed to get hold of some heroin during the night, Buck got angry." Nathan explained.
"How the hell did he get heroin in here and what do you mean by angry. What did he do?" Lenny demanded as he took some deep breaths. His anger was finally flowing from his body only to be replaced by the need to comfort Ezra but he knew he couldn't do that, not now, he would have to do it later and it tore at his heart that things had to be done this way.
"If you don't believe me check his eyes." Nathan told him. "From what I can see it was probably only a couple of hours ago that he shot up."
"You didn't answer my second question Jackson." Lenny growled at him.
Nathan ignored him as he stood up and walked out of the room leaving him alone with Ezra. Lenny hung his head and then looked at Ezra.
"There's two of them, I met one last night, Henry Glading but I don't know who the other one is yet." Ezra whispered to him.
Lenny nodded and tried to smile at him but it came across as an angry grimace.
"I'm sorry Lenny I had to do it, there wasn't any other choice, it was a test, and I had to take it."
"It's okay Ezra, I understand, I'm not angry at you." Lenny heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door and looked around to see Chris Larabee standing in the doorway. "What did Wilmington do to you?"
"I think he cracked some of my ribs." Ezra winced more at the anger that appeared on his friend's face than the pain he felt as he pressed against his right side, trying to show Lenny which part of him had been hurt.
Lenny knelt down in front of Ezra, he gently gripped his arms and pulled him to his feet. "Think you can make it to the interview room?"
"Aw hell!" Ezra knew he was going to be sick, he pushed Lenny away and rushed to the toilet bowl and began to throw up, he could feel the pain as it exploded in his side when his stomach muscles contracted but nothing came up, they were only empty violent convulsions, there was nothing left in his stomach.
Lenny waited until Ezra was finished and then helped him to stand up, he led him to the bunk and laid him down, and making sure that he was comfortable. "On second thought, why don't you get some sleep while I call the Doctor and then speak to the Judge." He smiled at the expression that overcame Ezra's pain filled face. Ezra knew the Judge was going to give Buck hell but Lenny knew that he was going to do a lot more than that. "I'll come back when the Doctor gets here."
Chris watched as Lenny took care of Ezra but waited until he left the room before he said anything. "Why are you treating him like that, he's supposed to be the enemy now, he's a drug user, he sold information."
"Because I am a better person than you Larabee and besides, I can keep my emotions under control, I don't allow them to rule my way of thinking." Lenny walked away from him and pulled his cell phone from the inside pocket of his black leather coat. "Doctor Aitkens please."
Chris controlled his anger and followed Hoskins back to the interview room. He noticed that he didn't go in but stayed outside while he phoned Judge Travis. Chris went into the room and saw that Vin had joined Buck and Nathan.
"You want to tell me what happened before the Judge gets here." He glared at Buck.
"He either had a needle on him when you brought him in which is unlikely or someone gave him some during the night because he's flying higher than a kite." Nathan told him.
"I didn't ask you Nathan." Chris kept his eyes on Buck's face.
"I got angry, the bastard made me lose control." Buck protested.
"You better hope that you don't lose your job." Chris sighed.
"Don't you think that we should be trying to find out who supplied him with the heroin." Nathan asked Chris.
"Not right now, we have to sort this out first before the Judge gets here." Chris told him.
"There's nothing to sort out Chris. Buck hit him without cause." Nathan didn't like what Ezra had become but he also didn't like the way they were treating him either. He had his reasons for not trusting or liking Ezra when he had first joined the team but he thought the man had proven himself on more than one occasion since then. He deserved some sort of compassion for what he had become "There was no reason to beat him like that."
"I'll pretend you didn't say that Nathan." Chris warned him coldly.
"The Judge will be here in twenty minutes." Lenny interrupted them as he entered the room, he had heard everything that Nathan said but chose not to let them know it. "I don't suppose anyone wants to tell me what happened?" He was answered with silence. "I thought as much." He turned back towards the door. "I'll wait for the Judge out here shall I?" More silence. "Yep, just like I told Standish, a bunch of incompetent assholes, no wonder he turned to drugs, couldn't cope with working you guys." He left the room with a smile on his face. He was going to follow those remarks with his fist when he got the chance.
Vin held Chris back, they didn't need any more trouble, and Hoskins could wait.
________________________________________
Lenny took the Judge to the holding area and entered the last room to find Ezra sleeping on his left side. Lenny knelt down next to him and gently shook his shoulder. "Ezra?" He shook him again. "Ezra can you hear me?" He watched as Ezra's eyes slowly opened, he saw confusion in the green eyes that were unable to focus on him. "Ezra?"
"Lenny?" Ezra muttered as he closed his eyes again.
"Yeah Ezra. Listen, Judge Travis is here, can you tell him what happened?" Lenny used his right hand to wipe the hair from Ezra's forehead and felt the slight fever that flushed his skin.
"I'm too tired Lenny, just let me sleep." Ezra tried to roll away but cried out in pain when his right side made contact with the hard mattress, he quickly rolled back onto his other side.
"I'm going to check your ribs Ezra." Lenny waited for him to answer him but he didn't. He lifted Ezra's shirt and winced at the bruising that had already begun to form. He carefully used his fingers to press against his ribs. Ezra tried to move away from him so he quickly removed his painful touch. "You get some sleep Ezra. Okay?" He stood up and went back to the Judge
"Is Ezra still suffering from the concussion that Larabee gave him?" The Judge asked him, the anger wasn't hidden from his voice.
"No it's the heroin he injected." Lenny explained to him. "The after effects will make him drowsy so he'll probably sleep for a while, he also tried to throw up after it happened." He took his eyes off Ezra and then looked at the Judge, his own expression was serious. "First time users of heroin usually suffer from nausea and vomiting."
"Why did he do it?" Travis wanted to know.
"Ezra said it was a test, that Henry Glading brought it to him. But Ezra says there's someone else." Lenny had explained about Henry Glading when he spoke to the Judge on the phone. "Judge, he wouldn't have done it unless he thought he had to. I think the guy were after was testing him like Ezra said and now that he's passed the test it should only be a matter of time before he contacts Ezra again."
"Do you think that he'll approach him here?" Travis asked him as his own eyes watched Ezra.
"No but you’re going to have to keep Ezra here for the full seventy two hours or he might become suspicious, he'll probably use Glading to pass on any information to him." His gaze turned back to Ezra's sleeping form. "We can post a guard outside this room while he's in here, they would expect that. Unfortunately, it would have to be Larabee's team because we don't know who this other guy is. We can start by getting Jackson to stay with him for a while, he's seems to be getting soft about the whole situation. He doesn't agree with what Wilmington did. Overheard him arguing with Larabee."
"If I had known that it was going to be this bad for him, I would never have agreed to this operation." The Judge spoke silently, the regret that he felt was evident in his voice. "Agent Hoskins, I think it's about time we took care of Mr Wilmington." Travis left the holding room.
Lenny gave Ezra one last glance and silently apologised for what he was putting him through, that he would make them pay for what they did to him. He closed the door and followed Judge Travis back to the interview room.
________________________________________
When the Judge entered the room he looked at each man, he saw the false expression on Jackson's face but didn't see any guilt or sympathy for Ezra on the others and this made his anger explode. He ignored everyone else in the room and stepped closer to Buck. Travis waited and watched Lenny in the mirror as he stepped into the room and stand just to the side of the doorway, he knew that Lenny wanted to witness and enjoy every moment of what was about to happen.
"Would you like to explain to me what happened this morning." Travis spoke firmly as his angry gaze moved back to Wilmington.
"I entered the holding room to find out that Standish had injected heroin into his system." His eyes moved quickly to Nathan for confirmation of what had transpired thirty minutes earlier.
"Don't look at him, look at me!" The Judge demanded.
"He wouldn't tell me, I got angry and I hit him." Buck continued.
"How many times did you hit him?"
"Twice."
"And?"
"He fell to the floor and I kicked him." Buck hung his head as he waited for the tongue lashing that he knew was coming.
"Your badge and your gun please Mr Wilmington." The Judge saw the hesitation in his body language. "NOW!" He ignored the shocked expressions that filled the interview room and took the items that he asked for when Buck handed them to him. "You are suspended without pay until further notice. If I see you in this building before that notice is given you will lose your job!" He waited for any comments but there was none. "Get out of my sight!"
"Judge you can't do that!" Chris argued.
"Do you want to join him Mr Larabee?" Travis practically yelled at him, he wasn't going to hide his anger any longer.
"I've got a job to do remember." Chris reminded him. The sarcasm didn't fail to reach the Judge.
"Then why aren't you doing it!" He snapped at him then turned his eyes back to Buck. "I thought I told you get out!"
Buck looked around the room at the faces before him, they showed understanding, and he nodded to them and left.
"Chris, I want you to arrange a roster, each of you are going to take a turn staying with Standish. He's not to be left alone, I don't want this happening again." He stepped closer to the man who always dressed in dark clothing. "The drugs or the beating. If anybody else touches Standish, they won't be suspended, they'll be fired." He nodded to towards Lenny. "Hoskins here will take the first shift." He glared back at Chris and then the rest of the men. "Is that understood!" He waited for their acknowledgements. "Hoskins, when will the Doctor be here?"
"Any minute now." Lenny answered him.
"Make sure Aitkens doesn't do the same thing he did yesterday and I want Standish back in this room when the Doctor is finished with him, we need to know about that information he sold. Do you think you can handle that?" The Judge turned around. "You don't seem to have done a good job so far."
"It's the people that I have to work with." Lenny shrugged. "There not very good at what they do."
"I'm beginning to agree with you on that point." The Judge glared at his men then stormed out of the room.
Lenny knew that each of the five men wanted to hit him, he could tell by their expressions of anger and hatred, he would gladly take them up on their offer after Ezra was safe.
________________________________________
"He has two cracked ribs on his right side." Aitkens informed Lenny as he examined Ezra's side, he felt the southerner's forehead and then stood up. "He also has a slight temperature. How long ago did he inject the heroin?"
"Somewhere around three this morning." Lenny answered him as he watched over his examination of his friend, he was ready to hit the man if he caused Ezra any pain.
"The pain killers that I gave him yesterday will help bring his fever down but don't give him any until your sure the drug's effects are out of his system." He leant down and pulled some bandages from his bag. "Can you sit him up so I can strap his ribs."
"Sure." Lenny sat on the small bunk and carefully lifted the still sleeping man up into his arms. He allowed Ezra's head to fall back onto his shoulder and watched his face carefully while the Doctor bandaged his ribs. He felt Ezra move within his embrace. "It's okay Ezra, the Doctor's fixing you up."
"Like he did yesterday." Ezra muttered as he pulled his eyes open.
"Not this time Ezra, I gave him my word that I would cause him a serious injury if he did that again." Lenny smiled at the Doctor.
Aitkens finished strapping Ezra's ribs and then changed the gauges on his face, once he was finished, he left the room leaving the two men to talk.
"Do you want to pull out of this Ezra?" Lenny had waited until the Doctor closed the door.
"No." Ezra didn't move from Lenny's embrace, he need his friend's comfort. "It can't get any worse than this, could it?"
"It might Ezra." Lenny pushed him to the side and turned him around to face him. "The Judge has arranged for them to take turns watching you so Glading won't have a chance to offer you anymore heroin."
"I think I'd prefer the heroin." Ezra moaned.
"If it's any help Nathan's leaning more to your side, he had a go at Chris about what Buck did to you." Lenny tried to console him.
Ezra couldn't hide the surprise that he felt. "Nathan?" He watched as Lenny nodded his head. "If you asked me, Nathan would have been my last choice. We've never really gotten on, don't know why, suppose he just doesn't like or trust me. But then none of them do."
"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny smiled at him trying to break him out of his sombre mood. "I can't understand it, I mean your witty charm and good looks usually persuade people." He took a deep breath when Ezra didn't react and changed the subject. "Did Glading give you any idea who this other guy is?"
"He said he was a mutual friend, that's all."
"Are you okay Ezra?" Lenny was beginning to worry about him.
"No I'm not Lenny." Ezra lifted his green eyes to look at his only friend. "I thought those men were my friends, I knew they were going to react but not like this. What Buck did this morning . . . " He hung his head. "I didn't expect that."
"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny repeated as he took him into a hug.
"Yeah, you and me both."
"Judge Travis wants me to take you to the interview room. You up to it? I can tell them that the Doctor said you have to rest for a while."
"No, let's just get it over with. Hell maybe I can cheer myself up by pissing them off." Ezra smiled but it was forced and didn't reach his eyes, they seemed to have a permanent haunted look that Lenny knew was going to be difficult to remove.
________________________________________
Ezra stepped into the interview room, the whiteness of its walls matching his pale complexion. He knew what the day had in store for him, it wasn't going to be pleasant. It was going to be a lot worse than what he had thought it would be before he agreed to take on the assignment. He felt terrible, emotionally and physically, his ribs ached with a passion, reminding him of the anger that Buck had shown towards him that morning. Lenny followed close behind him and settled into a position in the corner of the room facing him so the others that were watching through the two-way mirror wouldn't see him. He would be able to use his facial expressions to talk to Ezra.
Ezra held onto his ribs as he eased himself down into the chair, he kept his eyes down cast and wouldn't look into the cold hate filled eyes of Chris Larabee. He couldn't understand why this man now hated him so much. He knew he would be angry but hateful, it was beyond his comprehension. His eyes quickly lifted and turned to the left to look at Lenny who nodded back at him.
"Who gave it to you?" Chris's cold voice entered his mind, the questions had begun.
"No one." Ezra stated simply, he was going to make it as difficult as possible, it was going to be a long day so he thought he might as well try to get some enjoyment out of it, even though his heart wasn't really in it but he had to keep up the facade. He had a job to do and he was going to finish it.
"There was no needle in the room." Chris told him as he stared at the slumped figure. "Whoever gave it to you took it with them."
"Am I going to get any breakfast?" Ezra asked.
"No." Was the clipped reply.
"No food, no questions Larabee." Lenny retorted as he tapped the mirror, indicating for someone to bring Ezra something to eat.
"Who gave it to you?" The repeated question silently stating that he agreed with Hoskins ultimatum. While this man was around, he had to do what the Judge demanded. Chris still didn't know what was behind the Judge's reasoning. When he actually stopped to think about what he himself was doing, he was unable to decide where his own anger and hatred were coming from. He knew that Ezra had betrayed them but there was something else, something that he was yet to put his finger on.
"No one." Ezra repeated as he gingerly tested his ribs. "It was in my boot."
"I doubt that very much." Chris laughed at the man who would still not look at him. The smile stayed on his face as thought about how only yesterday Ezra had confidently stated that he could take him in a fight but today he didn't have the courage to look him in the eye.
"Are you certain about that, you didn't search me when you brought me in." Ezra finally lifted his head, he looked into the blue eyes of the man who now hated him and controlled the emotion that he felt, and he replaced it with a look of sarcasm.
"Maybe we should search you now." Chris suggested.
"Now is too late." Ezra smiled at him. Chris's anger had stopped him from doing his job efficiently and it gave Ezra a way to put doubt into their minds in regards to how he got the heroin.
The sound of the door opening broke the stare that the two men held, Ezra allowed his eyes to turn away first, he saw Nathan step towards him. He looked up into the normal gentle man's eyes and saw sympathy but no understanding there, it shocked him at first, and he pushed the hope away that one of these men may actually not hate hm.
"Don't eat it too fast Ezra, it'll just make you sick." Nathan told him as he placed the sandwich and coffee in front of him.
"Like you care if I get sick or not!" Ezra growled up at the larger man who stood over him.
Nathan nodded as his expression changed to one of understanding, he agreed with Ezra's reaction, he had every right to be angry at him and suspect him of not caring about what was happening to him. "I'm sorry Ezra." It was all he could say while under Chris's scrutiny, he would say more to him when he took his turn guarding him, which would be the midnight to dawn shift.
"You and everyone else." Ezra replied sarcastically. He had no other choice, if he accepted the apology then his cover would begin to disintegrate as the friendship and trust had done. He didn't want what he was going through to be waste of time, he had to find out who the second agent was and why he wanted Larabee dead.
"You cold, you want a jacket or anything?" Nathan asked him.
"You can go now Nathan." Chris ordered him.
"Those headache pills the Doctor gave him yesterday and a jacket." Lenny spoke up for Ezra, he knew he wasn't going to say anything. "He said the pills would help his fever."
"He's got a fever?" Nathan asked and instinctively reached forward to feel the southerner's forehead.
"Don't Nathan." Ezra shoved the large hand away as it pressed against his forehead.
Nathan quickly pulled his hand away, he hadn't realised what he'd done until Ezra used the familiar habit of pushing his hand away, for some reason the man had never allowed them to show any type of concern. He kept them shut out and had often failed to admit to an illnesses that had taken control of his body or the after effects of an injury that he had suffered during one of the many undercover operations that he had taken on. Something flashed in Nathan's mind but it was gone before he could grasp it's meaning. Ezra had kept them at bay and he wondered if this was due to the drug habit that had taken over of his life. Nathan frowned down at him as a thought crossed his confused mind. 'If he was on drugs why didn't we notice, why didn't it affect how he did his job?' The thought was interrupted when Chris's voice spoke once more.
"Nathan!" Chris growled at him, he was showing concern towards a man who didn't deserve it.
"I'll come back with a jacket. Chris has got the pain killers." Nathan told Lenny before he left the room.
"Mr Larabee." Lenny's use of Chris's name told the dark clothed man to supply the prisoner with what he required.
"What was the information you sold?" Chris asked Ezra as he pulled the packet of painkillers out of his coats inside pocket and threw it across the table.
"Your mother's phone number." Ezra replied while he removed two of the pills from the packet and swallowed them with the help of a mouthful of coffee. He grimaced at the taste.
Lenny didn't know whether to smile or frown at Ezra, he wasn't sure if the sarcasm that he threw at Larabee would only cause him more pain, not only physical but emotional, the way that he was acting may cause Larabee or one of the others to have another go at him, even if it meant losing their jobs. He couldn't fathom where the anger and hatred within this small group of men, who were once friends, was coming from.
"Who did you sell it to?" Chris kept his anger hidden, he wanted to jump up and violently force the information from him.
"The men at the Sanson's Bar." Ezra leaned back in the chair and began to pick at the sandwich. Nathan had supplied him with something he knew he would eat, chicken. Ezra smiled inwardly at the thought that he may still have a friend when all of this was over. He refused to believe it before. He had pushed the hope away but he now knew that Nathan felt that there may be a reason behind this and that he was willing to listen to that reason. He wondered though if he would change his mind when he learnt what the reason was, he wondered if Nathan would accuse him of not trusting them enough to let them in on the operation. 'Of course he will.' Ezra thought to himself. 'What else would he think of me.'
"Who gave you the heroin?" Chris began to repeat the questions but Ezra refused to answer them anymore.
________________________________________
Henry Glading walked into the holding area expecting someone to greet him and then arrest him but he was not challenged as he made his way along the corridor to the locker room. He passed the interview rooms and knew that Ezra Standish would still be in there if Larabee's character was anything to go by. His reaction to what Ezra had done didn't surprise him at all.
After he had put his bag and lunch away, he walked back to the front desk where Vin Tanner and Josiah Sanchez were waiting for him. 'Maybe he turned me in after all.' Glading silently commented to himself as he wiped his red hair down in a nervous fashion.
"Can I do something for you guys?" He asked them carefully.
"Somebody gave Standish some heroin at about three this morning." Vin leaned closer to him. "Know anything about it."
"Heroin?" Glading pretended to be shocked and he did a very good job at it. "How did he get heroin?"
"That's what we’re asking you." Josiah's baritone voice caused Glading to look at him.
"You don't think that I would . . . guys I didn't." He put his hands up in protest but inwardly accepted Standish into the small team.
"Where were you this morning at around three am?" Vin asked the question while Josiah watched the man's expression.
"What makes you think that someone gave it to him at that time." Glading knew the reason, he had taken the needle on purpose, and it was another test to see if Ezra would turn him in. He had been paid a lot of money for the risk and if it paid off, he would be closer to that holiday he wanted, a holiday that he was not going to return from and if it didn't, the most he would lose would be his job.
"Buck and Nathan went to get him at five and he was high on heroin, Nathan was able to tell that he had injected it at least a couple of hours previously which would be around three." Josiah explained to him.
"You don't think that he brought it in himself, I mean, I know it's not my place to say but Larabee didn't exactly search Ezra and take any personal effects from him when they came in." Glading stopped himself from stepping back from the glares that were thrown at him.
"There was no needle in the room, if Standish brought it in with him we would have found it. So whoever gave it to him took the needle back." Vin growled at him.
"Why would they do that? That's like leaving a calling card." Glading looked at each man and saw the frustration that he was causing. "Three? If I remember correctly, I was stuck in the john. This injury of mine," he patted his stomach to emphasise his words, "causes my bowl to lose control sometimes, don't really know how long I was in there for." He saw the looks they gave him and knew they had lost interest. "Suppose anybody could have come in. Sorry guys, you know sometimes I think I'm never going to get back to full duties, I mean . . . "
"Thanks Henry." Josiah acknowledge the lack of information that would tell them who had given Ezra the heroin. He walked back to the observation room with Vin following him.
"Another test passed." Glading smiled as he picked up the phone.
________________________________________
"Sit down!" Chris growled at the now pacing figure.
"Why don't you try and make me Larabee." Ezra calmly challenged him.
The questions had been thrown at him for most of the day, they took turns. Tanner, Sanchez and Larabee who was here again. It was the same three questions over and over, it didn't change, and he had become quite bored and made sure they knew it. Neither of them had asked him why he started taking drugs or even why he sold the information, they didn't care about why only that he had. He heard the chair scrape along the floor and prepared to defend himself.
"Don't even think about it Larabee." Lenny warned him as he stepped forward.
Ezra heard the threat in his friend's voice, he looked at him as he turned around and saw the anger in his eyes. He turned away from that anger and pulled the large jacket that he was wearing closer to his body hoping to get rid of the chill that had taken up residence in his bones. He started acting in an agitated manner and allowed the occasional grimace to cross his handsome features so they would think that he had begun to suffer withdrawal symptoms.
"I want to phone my lawyer." Ezra demanded as he wrapped his arms around himself, he gritted his teeth against the pain that flared in his side.
He didn't receive an answer so he continued to pace and pulled his arms away from his sides, he ran his hands through his hair. He knew everyone was watching him and were probably enjoying the sight, thinking he was in pain, that he was suffering, which he was but the pain and suffering wasn't caused by the need for heroin.
"I'm going to sue." Ezra warned him, knowing that he would have a case.
"Do what you want." He heard the pleasure in Chris's voice.
"Do what I want?" Ezra headed for the door because what he wanted was to get out of there. Someone grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the chair at the table and pushed him down into it. He looked up expecting to see Larabee's face but instead saw Lenny who smiled back down at him. Ezra fidgeted in his chair, his eyes on Lenny's retreating back.
"Think you’re a smartass don't you!" Chris told him as he got up from his chair, he walked to the mirror and tapped on it then made his way back to the table. He stood over Ezra threatening him with his cold stare.
"Compared to your ass, yes I do." Ezra smiled without looking at him but his eyes turned towards the door when it opened, Vin and Josiah stepped through the opened doorway.
"Take him back to his cell, he'll answer our questions tomorrow." Chris leaned down closer to Ezra and glared at him.
"He won't be able to get his fix during the night this time."
"Maybe." Ezra shrugged up at him.
"Vin, search him before you put him in the cell." Chris's stare became colder.
"Be glad to." Vin smiled at Ezra as he grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the chair, he led him away towards the holding cell for another night.
Ezra tried to pull his arm away but Vin's grip was strong, he knew he would have more bruises to add to the growing list of injuries by the morning. He couldn't help but notice that Henry Glading was watching him as they walked past the front desk, Ezra smiled at him and shrugged. Glading gave him a knowing smile back after he made sure that Vin couldn't see him.
Chris called to Josiah as he made to follow Vin. "Josiah, stay here a minute." He waited a moment as he watched them walk away. "What did Glading say?"
"Said he was indisposed at the time, that anyone could have passed the front desk while he wasn't there." Josiah repeated what Glading had told him in less descriptive details.
Lenny smiled inwardly because he knew that the information that Glading had given them was a lie, that he had in fact supplied Ezra with the heroin.
Chris nodded. "Go and watch him, you've got first shift remember."
"Mr Sanchez." Lenny's firm voice caused the larger man to turn towards him. "Also remember that your there to watch him and make sure that no one enters his cell. Nothing else. Understand?"
Josiah looked away without answering him and gave Chris a look that caused his leader to laugh. Lenny joined in the laughter, the two men looked at him with confused expressions.
"Sorry but you guys, you get me right here." He tapped his chest with his right fist and used his left hand to wipe at his eyes, he smiled at the disgust that crossed Larabee's face.
________________________________________
Vin turned Ezra around and pushed him face first against the wall outside of his holding cell, he heard the grunt of pain and ignored it. He roughly searched him, hearing another groan of pain as his hand pressed against the cracked ribs on his right side. He checked his pockets and the expensive black boots and after finding nothing he opened the door and pushed him into the room, he closed the door and turned to see Josiah approaching him.
"I don't know why we have to do this!" Vin growled.
"Punishment." Josiah commented to him as he placed the chair that he had brought with him against the wall. He opened the viewing window to see Ezra pacing the room, he could feel the sympathy as it stabbed at his heart but the memory of Ezra selling information that could get somebody killed pushed all the passive emotions that he felt towards the southerner away.
Ezra knew that Josiah was watching him, he waited for the opening to close again and made his way to the bunk, and the exhaustion that he felt was beginning to take its toll. He laid down on the bed thinking that he wouldn't be able to sleep even though he felt tired, his mind was over active with the thoughts of what had happened, he could also feel the emotions as they made his body hurt in a way that was worse than the ache in his side. He rolled onto his left side and allowed his heavy eyelids to close, the darkness of sleep took him into it's comforting embrace within seconds, giving him solace from his pain.
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Nathan made his way to the holding cells and the one at the end of the hall, he carried a couple of blankets in his arms knowing that Ezra would need them, no one else was thinking about his comfort. He could see Vin sitting in a chair outside the door, a flask of coffee on the floor beside him.
"Feeling cold Nathan?" Vin smiled at him as he stood up and stretched the stiffness out of his back.
"There for Ezra." Nathan told him but instead of waiting for an answer he pulled opened the holding room's door, grabbed the empty chair and entered the room. He closed the door behind him without saying another word to Vin. He put the chair and blankets down and waited a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. Nathan's dark eyes looked towards the small bunk that Ezra lay on. He was lying on his side facing the room, the paleness of his skin stood out against the darkness that surrounded his sleeping form.
"Ezra?" Nathan's voice was soft at first. "Ezra?"
He moved towards the bunk and knelt down in front of the former agent. "Ezra?"
He gently placed his hand against the pale forehead feeling the warmness of Ezra's fever, once he was satisfied that it wasn't high he lifted the jacket and white shirt to check that the bandage around his waist was still tight enough to support his ribs. He pulled his hands away when he heard Ezra's quick intake of breath, he waited while the smaller man rolled onto his back, hoping that he wasn't waking. When he settled back down he got up and grabbed one of the blankets from the chair, he placed the blanket over the inert form and went back to sit in the chair to wait for him to wake up. He wanted to talk to Ezra about what had happened to him and why it happened.
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Ezra woke slowly as the splinters of light broke through the darkness in his mind that was giving him a reprieve from the nightmare that he was going through in reality. A nightmare that he had agreed to suffer. He could feel the pain that returned to his side and the emotions as they began to fill his mind once more. He was about to force his heavy eyelids to open when he heard a noise coming from the other side of the room. He jerked fully awake and sat up, a small cry of pain escaped his lips as his ribs protested against the sudden movement.
"Take it easy Ezra, it's Nathan." The gentle man told him in a soothing voice.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Ezra gasped as he grabbed his sore ribs causing them to hurt even more. He heard Nathan move towards him but he kept his eyes closed against the pain.
"Lie back Ezra and let me have a look." Nathan placed his hand on his shoulder and forced him to lie back on the small bed.
"There's nothing to look at so get away from me." He tried to push Nathan away but the larger hands easily held him down. "Nathan!"
Nathan placed his arm across Ezra's chest and put his weight on him to keep Ezra from moving around, he used his other hand to press against his right side. He heard Ezra gasp through clenched teeth and looked up into the face that was contorted in pain.
"They're going to cause you a lot of pain for a few more days Ezra." Nathan told him sympathetically.
"As if you care!" Ezra growled at him.
"I do care Ezra." Nathan felt Ezra's forehead. "Your fever's coming down."
Ezra ignored the comment, like yesterday he had too. "Get off me Nathan!"
Nathan did as he was told, he went and picked up the chair and carried it back to the bed, and he allowed it to drop to the floor, the noise causing Ezra to look up at him. He sat down and his eyes took in Ezra's battered form.
"What happened Ezra?" Nathan asked him.
"You know what happened. You were there on both occasions and you didn't stop either of them from hitting me." Ezra accused him, he would've rolled over onto his right side but he knew the pain would be too much.
"I'm talking about the drugs Ezra and you selling information." Nathan explained even though he knew Ezra understood the question. He watched his face carefully hoping for any sort of sign that would give the southerner away but he couldn't read the facade that covered his true feelings. None of the six men who had worked with him was able to read the man, they never knew what was really going on with him and he felt that it was this reason that they weren't able to see or recognise the signs that would have allowed them to know what was happening to their friend.
"It just happened Nathan, there's nothing else to it." Ezra tried to get up but Nathan leaned forward and pushed him down again.
"Something like this doesn't just happen Ezra it . . ." He jerked his head around at the sound of the door opening. He saw JD's body peak through the small opening blocking off the false light that tried to enter the room.
"Nathan, Chris wants him in the interview room now." JD was about to pull his head back through the door when Nathan's voice stopped him.
"Tell Chris that Ezra's talking to me and you can bring us some coffee and those pain killers the Doctor left for Ezra." Nathan turned back towards the man he wanted to still think of as a friend.
"Nathan I don't think Chris wants. . ." JD began.
"I'll be back in a minute Ezra." Nathan gently slapped his shoulder and ignored the look of confusion on the smaller man's face.
Nathan pushed JD back into the hallway and closed the door so Ezra couldn't hear what he had to say. He glared down at the younger man that stood defiantly before him.
"I don't care what Chris wants JD. There's a reason behind all of this and I want to know what it is even if the rest of you don't. None of you seem to care about why this is happening but I do and from this moment on I'm standing by him." The anger and frustration that he was feeling could be heard in his voice. "I want you to go and get us some coffee and the pain killers for Ezra. If Chris has a problem with that then he can come and get Ezra."
"Why Nathan?" JD asked him. "You never really liked him before, you were always the one that expected he would run out on us again and he did. Why are you helping him?"
"Go and get what I asked for JD." Nathan turned his back to him and walked back into the room to find Ezra pacing the width of it.
He leaned back against the door and watched Ezra as walked across the room, turn around and walked back again, his fingers tapping against his forearms that were crossed against his chest. He thought about what JD had said, he wondered if he had accepted what Ezra had become more easily than the others because he expected him to run out on them. JD and Buck both strongly denied that Ezra would do that to them, Chris and Vin now trusted Ezra but he knew they still had a small amount of doubt that they kept hidden and Josiah said that he had faith in the boy. Nathan had been the only one who would openly admit that Ezra might run out on them again.
"Stop staring at me Nathan!" Ezra growled at him, he was doing his best to try and convince the larger man that he was suffering withdrawal symptoms but he was beginning to think that Nathan knew something that he didn't, maybe he knew that he was working undercover but Ezra wasn't going to admit anything unless Nathan told him something first.
"Why don't you sit down Ezra so we can talk about it."
"I don't want to sit down and there's nothing to talk about!" Ezra angrily replied. "Stop trying to help me Nathan, I don't want your help or anyone else's."
Nathan was about to say something when the force of the door opening pushed him into the room. He turned around to see Chris in the doorway, his dark clothing a stark contrast to the white walls that surrounded him.
"Nathan, I'll talk with you later." Chris pushed past him and grabbed Ezra's right arm, pulling him towards the door.
Ezra ignored the pain in his side and ripped his arm out of Chris's grip and stood where he was. "You can't keep doing this to me. I have a right to a lawyer and I'm not going anywhere until I see one."
"I told you Standish, I can do what I want with you and you are coming with me!" Chris went to take his arm again but Ezra violently pushed him away and stepped back from him.
Chris quickly moved forward but Ezra was ready for him, he allowed Chris to grab his right arm again and as he turned to pull him, forward Ezra lashed out with his left fist striking his former friend on the bridge of his nose causing it to bleed. Chris's grip on his arm weakened and Ezra turned to face him, pulled his arm away and bent it, then brought it forward smashing the bone in his forearm against Chris's jaw, the force of it knocking him to the ground.
Nathan stepped closer to Ezra, he was careful because he didn't want to aggravate him anymore than he already was, he ignored Chris as he lay on the ground, his hand clutched to his bleeding nose.
"Ezra just take it easy." Nathan put his hands up in front of him so he could see that he didn't want to hurt him.
"I want to see my lawyer!" Ezra yelled at him as he began to fidget with his clothing and pace the room again. He too ignored the man on the floor.
Chris couldn't believe that he had been so stupid to allow Ezra to get the better of him. He heard the running footsteps in the corridor then heard Vin's voice call his name, the sound broke through his clouded mind. He could feel someone's hands on him and then heard Ezra's laughter.
"I told you I could take you in a fight." Ezra laughed at him as he continued to pace the room and pull at his clothing. What he just did was to help convince Glading that he wanted to make Larabee pay for what he had done to him but that didn't stop him from enjoying every moment of it. He knew he was going to pay for it, he didn't care, and it was worth seeing Chris do the bleeding for a change.
"I'm fine Vin, take care of Standish." Chris was pulled to his feet and he looked into Josiah's caring eyes. "Josiah don't help me, help Vin."
Chris stood where he was and watched as Vin and Josiah grabbed an arm each and dragged the fighting, protesting southerner out of the room. He gave Nathan one of his famous glares and followed the others back to the interview room.
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Lenny could hear Ezra's voice as it echoed off the walls of the hallway that led to the interview room that he was waiting in. He listened to the profanity that his friend only used when it was required, he began to worry that something had happened to him and he promised himself that if Ezra walked into the room with another injury that he would hit Larabee there and then.
He stepped forward when he saw Ezra enter the room while trying to remove his arms from Tanner and Sanchez's hold. He quickly looked him over with experienced eyes and saw no further injury, he relaxed but frowned when Ezra turned towards him with a large smile lining his handsome face, the familiar dimples forming on his right cheek, the left was still covered by a bandage. And then he saw what he had been smiling at.
Lenny tried to hold it in but he couldn't, he lost control and started laughing at Chris's still bleeding nose, he doubled over as the tears ran from his eyes. What he saw broke the tension that he had been feeling for the last few days.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Chris demanded as he wiped the blood from his face and moved towards the table.
"Did Standish do that?" Lenny asked him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the grimace cross Ezra's face as he was forced into the chair.
"Enjoyed every second of it too." Ezra admitted to the room. "You should have seen him lying there with . . ."
"Shut up!" Chris slammed his fist on the table in front of Ezra.
"The blood pouring of his nose . . . , " he continued on as though he hadn't heard the warning. "and him sitting there . ." Ezra cried out in pain and leaned forward as Chris grabbed his injured side stopping him from saying anything else.
"Larabee!" Lenny growled at him. He stepped forward to pull him away from Ezra so he could cause another part of his anatomy to bleed but Ezra's expression as he stared up at him told him not to interfere. It took all of his strength to step back to his position in the corner of the room.
"Are you ready to shut up?!" Chris growled down into Ezra's face, he could see the pain that he was in but he wasn't going to let go until he agreed to his demand.
"First you . . . want me to talk . . . and now you . . . want me to . . . shut up." Ezra found it hard to talk through the pain but he refused to give Larabee what he wanted.
"Chris!" Nathan called him as he entered the room. "Let him go."
Both Ezra and Lenny looked towards him in surprise and both just as quickly wiped the surprised expressions from their faces.
Chris squeezed even harder and enjoyed the small cry of pain that once again escaped Ezra's tense form. He let go and stormed out of the room pushing past Nathan. "I'm going to get cleaned up."
Nathan knelt down next to Ezra and forced him to remove his arms from his side allowing him access to his damaged ribs. "Why do you have to keep pissing him off Ezra?" Nathan whispered up to him as he checked his side, he found no further damage.
"What, you don't think that I should have given back what he gave me?" Ezra growled at him.
"Just be more careful Ezra." Nathan warned him.
"Thanks Nathan." Ezra whispered to him and squeezed his hand.
Nathan saw the fleeting look that filled Ezra's eyes and for a moment the man seemed like his old self, he was confused and was about to question Ezra about it but Chris came back in. He gave Ezra a reassuring smile and left the room keeping the sudden doubt that filled his mind to himself.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
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
Ezra was familiar with the effects of heroin and knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before the illegal substance reached his brain and when it did, he would feel an intense pleasure. But that wasn't going to be the only result of the injection that he had just given himself. Once the pleasure part of the drug's effect was over his pupils were going to become constricted therefore causing his vision to blur and his speech would also be effected. The drug was going to interfere with his brain's ability to perceive pain but that wasn't going to be the worst of it. First time users such as himself became nauseated and vomited. He hated throwing up, he despised it as much as he despised early mornings.
He also knew that if he was still here the following night that Glading would bring another syringe that would contain more heroin, he would have to try to speak to Lenny on his own and tell him to get him out of here. If he passed the test then the crooked agent would contact him outside of this building. He didn't want to become a real addict, it was bad enough pretending to be one. Ezra curled up into a ball on the cold floor and let the heroin take its toll on his body. Lenny was going to kill him when he found out what he'd done, he laughed at loud at the thought. His friend was going to have to wait his turn behind Larabee and the others.
Glading moved forward and gently removed the needle from the crook of Ezra's arm and released the tight strap that still bound his upper arm and left the room, closing and locking the door so Ezra could enjoy his fix. He went back to the front desk to report to their mutual friend that Ezra had taken the heroin, he had passed the test that he was given.
________________________________________
"Well I for one like the idea of making Standish get up at five in the morning, there's nothing better than making a man suffer what he hates the most and for that bastard it's early mornings." Buck smiled as he made his way to the holding rooms with Nathan. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"But why did it have to be us." Nathan complained as they reached the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Buck unlocked the door and then stepped inside while Nathan waited in the doorway. What he saw made his anger grow out of control. Ezra was sitting in the corner of the room with a large smile on his face, his knees drawn up to his chin. Buck moved closer and knelt down next to him, he could see the constricted pupils and droopy eyelids.
"Where did you get it!" Buck growled at him.
"Get what?" Ezra asked him innocently as his smile grew wider, causing the dimples to appear on his handsome face, he hadn't felt this good in a long time.
Buck reached down, grabbed a handful of Ezra’s hair, and dragged him to his feet. "Where did you get it!" He yelled into his face.
Ezra tried to pull his head away from Buck's grip but he didn't let go, he attempted to push him away but the bigger man turned him around, pulled him back and then slammed him against the wall in the same way that Chris Larabee had done the day before. Ezra grunted as his body struck the wall, he didn't feel any pain.
"Buck what are you doing?" Nathan asked while he stayed in the doorway.
"He's high on something, probably heroin." Buck answered as he turned Ezra around to face him.
"I'm only going to ask you once more." Buck warned him.
"Then that will be once more that you’re wasting your breath." Ezra continued to smile, he wasn't feeling the pain that he should be because the heroin still hadn't left his system.
"Bastard." Buck didn't hold back when he used his right fist to punch Ezra in the stomach, he pulled him back up to stop him from doubling over.
"Why Mr Wilmington . . . do you always copy what . . . your boss does, I seem to . . . remember already going through this . . . yesterday." Ezra gasped as he tried to replace the air that had been forced from his lungs. He was really beginning to despise these people for the way they were treating him. No excuse was going to be acceptable.
Buck hit him again and allowed him to fall to the floor where he began to kick him in the side. Ezra tried to move away from his boot but the wall stopped him from going any further. Nathan quickly came forward but wasn't fast enough to stop the kick that cracked two of Ezra's ribs on his right side.
"Buck stop it!" Nathan pulled him away and then knelt down next to Ezra.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Ezra yelled at him. "You fucking bastards! Get away from me!"
"Ezra, let me have a look." Nathan tried to stay calm, he actually felt angry at Buck for what he had done.
"NO!" He crawled away from him and curled himself back up into a ball in the corner of the room. He wrapped his arms around his sides. "You're not going to touch me, none of you are!"
"Buck, you better go and let Chris and Hoskins know what's happened, I'll stay here with Ezra." Nathan looked up at him and saw that there was no remorse on his face. "Buck!"
"I'm going!" Buck growled at him.
When Buck had left the room Nathan turned back to Ezra and saw the tear that rolled down his right cheek, the small bandage on the left side of his face soaked up the tear that had fallen from his left eye. "Why?" It was a simple question that Nathan didn't have an answer to. "Why are all of you treating me like this?"
"I'm sorry Ezra." Nathan sat down on the floor next to him and waited for the others to come, he didn't know what else to say to him. It was a few minutes before Lenny Hoskins ran into the room to see Ezra curled up in the corner, the tears had stopped but his cheek was still damp.
"What the hell happened here?" He struggled to get his emotions under control, he wanted to hit someone very badly.
"Ezra somehow managed to get hold of some heroin during the night, Buck got angry." Nathan explained.
"How the hell did he get heroin in here and what do you mean by angry. What did he do?" Lenny demanded as he took some deep breaths. His anger was finally flowing from his body only to be replaced by the need to comfort Ezra but he knew he couldn't do that, not now, he would have to do it later and it tore at his heart that things had to be done this way.
"If you don't believe me check his eyes." Nathan told him. "From what I can see it was probably only a couple of hours ago that he shot up."
"You didn't answer my second question Jackson." Lenny growled at him.
Nathan ignored him as he stood up and walked out of the room leaving him alone with Ezra. Lenny hung his head and then looked at Ezra.
"There's two of them, I met one last night, Henry Glading but I don't know who the other one is yet." Ezra whispered to him.
Lenny nodded and tried to smile at him but it came across as an angry grimace.
"I'm sorry Lenny I had to do it, there wasn't any other choice, it was a test, and I had to take it."
"It's okay Ezra, I understand, I'm not angry at you." Lenny heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door and looked around to see Chris Larabee standing in the doorway. "What did Wilmington do to you?"
"I think he cracked some of my ribs." Ezra winced more at the anger that appeared on his friend's face than the pain he felt as he pressed against his right side, trying to show Lenny which part of him had been hurt.
Lenny knelt down in front of Ezra, he gently gripped his arms and pulled him to his feet. "Think you can make it to the interview room?"
"Aw hell!" Ezra knew he was going to be sick, he pushed Lenny away and rushed to the toilet bowl and began to throw up, he could feel the pain as it exploded in his side when his stomach muscles contracted but nothing came up, they were only empty violent convulsions, there was nothing left in his stomach.
Lenny waited until Ezra was finished and then helped him to stand up, he led him to the bunk and laid him down, and making sure that he was comfortable. "On second thought, why don't you get some sleep while I call the Doctor and then speak to the Judge." He smiled at the expression that overcame Ezra's pain filled face. Ezra knew the Judge was going to give Buck hell but Lenny knew that he was going to do a lot more than that. "I'll come back when the Doctor gets here."
Chris watched as Lenny took care of Ezra but waited until he left the room before he said anything. "Why are you treating him like that, he's supposed to be the enemy now, he's a drug user, he sold information."
"Because I am a better person than you Larabee and besides, I can keep my emotions under control, I don't allow them to rule my way of thinking." Lenny walked away from him and pulled his cell phone from the inside pocket of his black leather coat. "Doctor Aitkens please."
Chris controlled his anger and followed Hoskins back to the interview room. He noticed that he didn't go in but stayed outside while he phoned Judge Travis. Chris went into the room and saw that Vin had joined Buck and Nathan.
"You want to tell me what happened before the Judge gets here." He glared at Buck.
"He either had a needle on him when you brought him in which is unlikely or someone gave him some during the night because he's flying higher than a kite." Nathan told him.
"I didn't ask you Nathan." Chris kept his eyes on Buck's face.
"I got angry, the bastard made me lose control." Buck protested.
"You better hope that you don't lose your job." Chris sighed.
"Don't you think that we should be trying to find out who supplied him with the heroin." Nathan asked Chris.
"Not right now, we have to sort this out first before the Judge gets here." Chris told him.
"There's nothing to sort out Chris. Buck hit him without cause." Nathan didn't like what Ezra had become but he also didn't like the way they were treating him either. He had his reasons for not trusting or liking Ezra when he had first joined the team but he thought the man had proven himself on more than one occasion since then. He deserved some sort of compassion for what he had become "There was no reason to beat him like that."
"I'll pretend you didn't say that Nathan." Chris warned him coldly.
"The Judge will be here in twenty minutes." Lenny interrupted them as he entered the room, he had heard everything that Nathan said but chose not to let them know it. "I don't suppose anyone wants to tell me what happened?" He was answered with silence. "I thought as much." He turned back towards the door. "I'll wait for the Judge out here shall I?" More silence. "Yep, just like I told Standish, a bunch of incompetent assholes, no wonder he turned to drugs, couldn't cope with working you guys." He left the room with a smile on his face. He was going to follow those remarks with his fist when he got the chance.
Vin held Chris back, they didn't need any more trouble, and Hoskins could wait.
________________________________________
Lenny took the Judge to the holding area and entered the last room to find Ezra sleeping on his left side. Lenny knelt down next to him and gently shook his shoulder. "Ezra?" He shook him again. "Ezra can you hear me?" He watched as Ezra's eyes slowly opened, he saw confusion in the green eyes that were unable to focus on him. "Ezra?"
"Lenny?" Ezra muttered as he closed his eyes again.
"Yeah Ezra. Listen, Judge Travis is here, can you tell him what happened?" Lenny used his right hand to wipe the hair from Ezra's forehead and felt the slight fever that flushed his skin.
"I'm too tired Lenny, just let me sleep." Ezra tried to roll away but cried out in pain when his right side made contact with the hard mattress, he quickly rolled back onto his other side.
"I'm going to check your ribs Ezra." Lenny waited for him to answer him but he didn't. He lifted Ezra's shirt and winced at the bruising that had already begun to form. He carefully used his fingers to press against his ribs. Ezra tried to move away from him so he quickly removed his painful touch. "You get some sleep Ezra. Okay?" He stood up and went back to the Judge
"Is Ezra still suffering from the concussion that Larabee gave him?" The Judge asked him, the anger wasn't hidden from his voice.
"No it's the heroin he injected." Lenny explained to him. "The after effects will make him drowsy so he'll probably sleep for a while, he also tried to throw up after it happened." He took his eyes off Ezra and then looked at the Judge, his own expression was serious. "First time users of heroin usually suffer from nausea and vomiting."
"Why did he do it?" Travis wanted to know.
"Ezra said it was a test, that Henry Glading brought it to him. But Ezra says there's someone else." Lenny had explained about Henry Glading when he spoke to the Judge on the phone. "Judge, he wouldn't have done it unless he thought he had to. I think the guy were after was testing him like Ezra said and now that he's passed the test it should only be a matter of time before he contacts Ezra again."
"Do you think that he'll approach him here?" Travis asked him as his own eyes watched Ezra.
"No but you’re going to have to keep Ezra here for the full seventy two hours or he might become suspicious, he'll probably use Glading to pass on any information to him." His gaze turned back to Ezra's sleeping form. "We can post a guard outside this room while he's in here, they would expect that. Unfortunately, it would have to be Larabee's team because we don't know who this other guy is. We can start by getting Jackson to stay with him for a while, he's seems to be getting soft about the whole situation. He doesn't agree with what Wilmington did. Overheard him arguing with Larabee."
"If I had known that it was going to be this bad for him, I would never have agreed to this operation." The Judge spoke silently, the regret that he felt was evident in his voice. "Agent Hoskins, I think it's about time we took care of Mr Wilmington." Travis left the holding room.
Lenny gave Ezra one last glance and silently apologised for what he was putting him through, that he would make them pay for what they did to him. He closed the door and followed Judge Travis back to the interview room.
________________________________________
When the Judge entered the room he looked at each man, he saw the false expression on Jackson's face but didn't see any guilt or sympathy for Ezra on the others and this made his anger explode. He ignored everyone else in the room and stepped closer to Buck. Travis waited and watched Lenny in the mirror as he stepped into the room and stand just to the side of the doorway, he knew that Lenny wanted to witness and enjoy every moment of what was about to happen.
"Would you like to explain to me what happened this morning." Travis spoke firmly as his angry gaze moved back to Wilmington.
"I entered the holding room to find out that Standish had injected heroin into his system." His eyes moved quickly to Nathan for confirmation of what had transpired thirty minutes earlier.
"Don't look at him, look at me!" The Judge demanded.
"He wouldn't tell me, I got angry and I hit him." Buck continued.
"How many times did you hit him?"
"Twice."
"And?"
"He fell to the floor and I kicked him." Buck hung his head as he waited for the tongue lashing that he knew was coming.
"Your badge and your gun please Mr Wilmington." The Judge saw the hesitation in his body language. "NOW!" He ignored the shocked expressions that filled the interview room and took the items that he asked for when Buck handed them to him. "You are suspended without pay until further notice. If I see you in this building before that notice is given you will lose your job!" He waited for any comments but there was none. "Get out of my sight!"
"Judge you can't do that!" Chris argued.
"Do you want to join him Mr Larabee?" Travis practically yelled at him, he wasn't going to hide his anger any longer.
"I've got a job to do remember." Chris reminded him. The sarcasm didn't fail to reach the Judge.
"Then why aren't you doing it!" He snapped at him then turned his eyes back to Buck. "I thought I told you get out!"
Buck looked around the room at the faces before him, they showed understanding, and he nodded to them and left.
"Chris, I want you to arrange a roster, each of you are going to take a turn staying with Standish. He's not to be left alone, I don't want this happening again." He stepped closer to the man who always dressed in dark clothing. "The drugs or the beating. If anybody else touches Standish, they won't be suspended, they'll be fired." He nodded to towards Lenny. "Hoskins here will take the first shift." He glared back at Chris and then the rest of the men. "Is that understood!" He waited for their acknowledgements. "Hoskins, when will the Doctor be here?"
"Any minute now." Lenny answered him.
"Make sure Aitkens doesn't do the same thing he did yesterday and I want Standish back in this room when the Doctor is finished with him, we need to know about that information he sold. Do you think you can handle that?" The Judge turned around. "You don't seem to have done a good job so far."
"It's the people that I have to work with." Lenny shrugged. "There not very good at what they do."
"I'm beginning to agree with you on that point." The Judge glared at his men then stormed out of the room.
Lenny knew that each of the five men wanted to hit him, he could tell by their expressions of anger and hatred, he would gladly take them up on their offer after Ezra was safe.
________________________________________
"He has two cracked ribs on his right side." Aitkens informed Lenny as he examined Ezra's side, he felt the southerner's forehead and then stood up. "He also has a slight temperature. How long ago did he inject the heroin?"
"Somewhere around three this morning." Lenny answered him as he watched over his examination of his friend, he was ready to hit the man if he caused Ezra any pain.
"The pain killers that I gave him yesterday will help bring his fever down but don't give him any until your sure the drug's effects are out of his system." He leant down and pulled some bandages from his bag. "Can you sit him up so I can strap his ribs."
"Sure." Lenny sat on the small bunk and carefully lifted the still sleeping man up into his arms. He allowed Ezra's head to fall back onto his shoulder and watched his face carefully while the Doctor bandaged his ribs. He felt Ezra move within his embrace. "It's okay Ezra, the Doctor's fixing you up."
"Like he did yesterday." Ezra muttered as he pulled his eyes open.
"Not this time Ezra, I gave him my word that I would cause him a serious injury if he did that again." Lenny smiled at the Doctor.
Aitkens finished strapping Ezra's ribs and then changed the gauges on his face, once he was finished, he left the room leaving the two men to talk.
"Do you want to pull out of this Ezra?" Lenny had waited until the Doctor closed the door.
"No." Ezra didn't move from Lenny's embrace, he need his friend's comfort. "It can't get any worse than this, could it?"
"It might Ezra." Lenny pushed him to the side and turned him around to face him. "The Judge has arranged for them to take turns watching you so Glading won't have a chance to offer you anymore heroin."
"I think I'd prefer the heroin." Ezra moaned.
"If it's any help Nathan's leaning more to your side, he had a go at Chris about what Buck did to you." Lenny tried to console him.
Ezra couldn't hide the surprise that he felt. "Nathan?" He watched as Lenny nodded his head. "If you asked me, Nathan would have been my last choice. We've never really gotten on, don't know why, suppose he just doesn't like or trust me. But then none of them do."
"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny smiled at him trying to break him out of his sombre mood. "I can't understand it, I mean your witty charm and good looks usually persuade people." He took a deep breath when Ezra didn't react and changed the subject. "Did Glading give you any idea who this other guy is?"
"He said he was a mutual friend, that's all."
"Are you okay Ezra?" Lenny was beginning to worry about him.
"No I'm not Lenny." Ezra lifted his green eyes to look at his only friend. "I thought those men were my friends, I knew they were going to react but not like this. What Buck did this morning . . . " He hung his head. "I didn't expect that."
"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny repeated as he took him into a hug.
"Yeah, you and me both."
"Judge Travis wants me to take you to the interview room. You up to it? I can tell them that the Doctor said you have to rest for a while."
"No, let's just get it over with. Hell maybe I can cheer myself up by pissing them off." Ezra smiled but it was forced and didn't reach his eyes, they seemed to have a permanent haunted look that Lenny knew was going to be difficult to remove.
________________________________________
Ezra stepped into the interview room, the whiteness of its walls matching his pale complexion. He knew what the day had in store for him, it wasn't going to be pleasant. It was going to be a lot worse than what he had thought it would be before he agreed to take on the assignment. He felt terrible, emotionally and physically, his ribs ached with a passion, reminding him of the anger that Buck had shown towards him that morning. Lenny followed close behind him and settled into a position in the corner of the room facing him so the others that were watching through the two-way mirror wouldn't see him. He would be able to use his facial expressions to talk to Ezra.
Ezra held onto his ribs as he eased himself down into the chair, he kept his eyes down cast and wouldn't look into the cold hate filled eyes of Chris Larabee. He couldn't understand why this man now hated him so much. He knew he would be angry but hateful, it was beyond his comprehension. His eyes quickly lifted and turned to the left to look at Lenny who nodded back at him.
"Who gave it to you?" Chris's cold voice entered his mind, the questions had begun.
"No one." Ezra stated simply, he was going to make it as difficult as possible, it was going to be a long day so he thought he might as well try to get some enjoyment out of it, even though his heart wasn't really in it but he had to keep up the facade. He had a job to do and he was going to finish it.
"There was no needle in the room." Chris told him as he stared at the slumped figure. "Whoever gave it to you took it with them."
"Am I going to get any breakfast?" Ezra asked.
"No." Was the clipped reply.
"No food, no questions Larabee." Lenny retorted as he tapped the mirror, indicating for someone to bring Ezra something to eat.
"Who gave it to you?" The repeated question silently stating that he agreed with Hoskins ultimatum. While this man was around, he had to do what the Judge demanded. Chris still didn't know what was behind the Judge's reasoning. When he actually stopped to think about what he himself was doing, he was unable to decide where his own anger and hatred were coming from. He knew that Ezra had betrayed them but there was something else, something that he was yet to put his finger on.
"No one." Ezra repeated as he gingerly tested his ribs. "It was in my boot."
"I doubt that very much." Chris laughed at the man who would still not look at him. The smile stayed on his face as thought about how only yesterday Ezra had confidently stated that he could take him in a fight but today he didn't have the courage to look him in the eye.
"Are you certain about that, you didn't search me when you brought me in." Ezra finally lifted his head, he looked into the blue eyes of the man who now hated him and controlled the emotion that he felt, and he replaced it with a look of sarcasm.
"Maybe we should search you now." Chris suggested.
"Now is too late." Ezra smiled at him. Chris's anger had stopped him from doing his job efficiently and it gave Ezra a way to put doubt into their minds in regards to how he got the heroin.
The sound of the door opening broke the stare that the two men held, Ezra allowed his eyes to turn away first, he saw Nathan step towards him. He looked up into the normal gentle man's eyes and saw sympathy but no understanding there, it shocked him at first, and he pushed the hope away that one of these men may actually not hate hm.
"Don't eat it too fast Ezra, it'll just make you sick." Nathan told him as he placed the sandwich and coffee in front of him.
"Like you care if I get sick or not!" Ezra growled up at the larger man who stood over him.
Nathan nodded as his expression changed to one of understanding, he agreed with Ezra's reaction, he had every right to be angry at him and suspect him of not caring about what was happening to him. "I'm sorry Ezra." It was all he could say while under Chris's scrutiny, he would say more to him when he took his turn guarding him, which would be the midnight to dawn shift.
"You and everyone else." Ezra replied sarcastically. He had no other choice, if he accepted the apology then his cover would begin to disintegrate as the friendship and trust had done. He didn't want what he was going through to be waste of time, he had to find out who the second agent was and why he wanted Larabee dead.
"You cold, you want a jacket or anything?" Nathan asked him.
"You can go now Nathan." Chris ordered him.
"Those headache pills the Doctor gave him yesterday and a jacket." Lenny spoke up for Ezra, he knew he wasn't going to say anything. "He said the pills would help his fever."
"He's got a fever?" Nathan asked and instinctively reached forward to feel the southerner's forehead.
"Don't Nathan." Ezra shoved the large hand away as it pressed against his forehead.
Nathan quickly pulled his hand away, he hadn't realised what he'd done until Ezra used the familiar habit of pushing his hand away, for some reason the man had never allowed them to show any type of concern. He kept them shut out and had often failed to admit to an illnesses that had taken control of his body or the after effects of an injury that he had suffered during one of the many undercover operations that he had taken on. Something flashed in Nathan's mind but it was gone before he could grasp it's meaning. Ezra had kept them at bay and he wondered if this was due to the drug habit that had taken over of his life. Nathan frowned down at him as a thought crossed his confused mind. 'If he was on drugs why didn't we notice, why didn't it affect how he did his job?' The thought was interrupted when Chris's voice spoke once more.
"Nathan!" Chris growled at him, he was showing concern towards a man who didn't deserve it.
"I'll come back with a jacket. Chris has got the pain killers." Nathan told Lenny before he left the room.
"Mr Larabee." Lenny's use of Chris's name told the dark clothed man to supply the prisoner with what he required.
"What was the information you sold?" Chris asked Ezra as he pulled the packet of painkillers out of his coats inside pocket and threw it across the table.
"Your mother's phone number." Ezra replied while he removed two of the pills from the packet and swallowed them with the help of a mouthful of coffee. He grimaced at the taste.
Lenny didn't know whether to smile or frown at Ezra, he wasn't sure if the sarcasm that he threw at Larabee would only cause him more pain, not only physical but emotional, the way that he was acting may cause Larabee or one of the others to have another go at him, even if it meant losing their jobs. He couldn't fathom where the anger and hatred within this small group of men, who were once friends, was coming from.
"Who did you sell it to?" Chris kept his anger hidden, he wanted to jump up and violently force the information from him.
"The men at the Sanson's Bar." Ezra leaned back in the chair and began to pick at the sandwich. Nathan had supplied him with something he knew he would eat, chicken. Ezra smiled inwardly at the thought that he may still have a friend when all of this was over. He refused to believe it before. He had pushed the hope away but he now knew that Nathan felt that there may be a reason behind this and that he was willing to listen to that reason. He wondered though if he would change his mind when he learnt what the reason was, he wondered if Nathan would accuse him of not trusting them enough to let them in on the operation. 'Of course he will.' Ezra thought to himself. 'What else would he think of me.'
"Who gave you the heroin?" Chris began to repeat the questions but Ezra refused to answer them anymore.
________________________________________
Henry Glading walked into the holding area expecting someone to greet him and then arrest him but he was not challenged as he made his way along the corridor to the locker room. He passed the interview rooms and knew that Ezra Standish would still be in there if Larabee's character was anything to go by. His reaction to what Ezra had done didn't surprise him at all.
After he had put his bag and lunch away, he walked back to the front desk where Vin Tanner and Josiah Sanchez were waiting for him. 'Maybe he turned me in after all.' Glading silently commented to himself as he wiped his red hair down in a nervous fashion.
"Can I do something for you guys?" He asked them carefully.
"Somebody gave Standish some heroin at about three this morning." Vin leaned closer to him. "Know anything about it."
"Heroin?" Glading pretended to be shocked and he did a very good job at it. "How did he get heroin?"
"That's what we’re asking you." Josiah's baritone voice caused Glading to look at him.
"You don't think that I would . . . guys I didn't." He put his hands up in protest but inwardly accepted Standish into the small team.
"Where were you this morning at around three am?" Vin asked the question while Josiah watched the man's expression.
"What makes you think that someone gave it to him at that time." Glading knew the reason, he had taken the needle on purpose, and it was another test to see if Ezra would turn him in. He had been paid a lot of money for the risk and if it paid off, he would be closer to that holiday he wanted, a holiday that he was not going to return from and if it didn't, the most he would lose would be his job.
"Buck and Nathan went to get him at five and he was high on heroin, Nathan was able to tell that he had injected it at least a couple of hours previously which would be around three." Josiah explained to him.
"You don't think that he brought it in himself, I mean, I know it's not my place to say but Larabee didn't exactly search Ezra and take any personal effects from him when they came in." Glading stopped himself from stepping back from the glares that were thrown at him.
"There was no needle in the room, if Standish brought it in with him we would have found it. So whoever gave it to him took the needle back." Vin growled at him.
"Why would they do that? That's like leaving a calling card." Glading looked at each man and saw the frustration that he was causing. "Three? If I remember correctly, I was stuck in the john. This injury of mine," he patted his stomach to emphasise his words, "causes my bowl to lose control sometimes, don't really know how long I was in there for." He saw the looks they gave him and knew they had lost interest. "Suppose anybody could have come in. Sorry guys, you know sometimes I think I'm never going to get back to full duties, I mean . . . "
"Thanks Henry." Josiah acknowledge the lack of information that would tell them who had given Ezra the heroin. He walked back to the observation room with Vin following him.
"Another test passed." Glading smiled as he picked up the phone.
________________________________________
"Sit down!" Chris growled at the now pacing figure.
"Why don't you try and make me Larabee." Ezra calmly challenged him.
The questions had been thrown at him for most of the day, they took turns. Tanner, Sanchez and Larabee who was here again. It was the same three questions over and over, it didn't change, and he had become quite bored and made sure they knew it. Neither of them had asked him why he started taking drugs or even why he sold the information, they didn't care about why only that he had. He heard the chair scrape along the floor and prepared to defend himself.
"Don't even think about it Larabee." Lenny warned him as he stepped forward.
Ezra heard the threat in his friend's voice, he looked at him as he turned around and saw the anger in his eyes. He turned away from that anger and pulled the large jacket that he was wearing closer to his body hoping to get rid of the chill that had taken up residence in his bones. He started acting in an agitated manner and allowed the occasional grimace to cross his handsome features so they would think that he had begun to suffer withdrawal symptoms.
"I want to phone my lawyer." Ezra demanded as he wrapped his arms around himself, he gritted his teeth against the pain that flared in his side.
He didn't receive an answer so he continued to pace and pulled his arms away from his sides, he ran his hands through his hair. He knew everyone was watching him and were probably enjoying the sight, thinking he was in pain, that he was suffering, which he was but the pain and suffering wasn't caused by the need for heroin.
"I'm going to sue." Ezra warned him, knowing that he would have a case.
"Do what you want." He heard the pleasure in Chris's voice.
"Do what I want?" Ezra headed for the door because what he wanted was to get out of there. Someone grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the chair at the table and pushed him down into it. He looked up expecting to see Larabee's face but instead saw Lenny who smiled back down at him. Ezra fidgeted in his chair, his eyes on Lenny's retreating back.
"Think you’re a smartass don't you!" Chris told him as he got up from his chair, he walked to the mirror and tapped on it then made his way back to the table. He stood over Ezra threatening him with his cold stare.
"Compared to your ass, yes I do." Ezra smiled without looking at him but his eyes turned towards the door when it opened, Vin and Josiah stepped through the opened doorway.
"Take him back to his cell, he'll answer our questions tomorrow." Chris leaned down closer to Ezra and glared at him.
"He won't be able to get his fix during the night this time."
"Maybe." Ezra shrugged up at him.
"Vin, search him before you put him in the cell." Chris's stare became colder.
"Be glad to." Vin smiled at Ezra as he grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the chair, he led him away towards the holding cell for another night.
Ezra tried to pull his arm away but Vin's grip was strong, he knew he would have more bruises to add to the growing list of injuries by the morning. He couldn't help but notice that Henry Glading was watching him as they walked past the front desk, Ezra smiled at him and shrugged. Glading gave him a knowing smile back after he made sure that Vin couldn't see him.
Chris called to Josiah as he made to follow Vin. "Josiah, stay here a minute." He waited a moment as he watched them walk away. "What did Glading say?"
"Said he was indisposed at the time, that anyone could have passed the front desk while he wasn't there." Josiah repeated what Glading had told him in less descriptive details.
Lenny smiled inwardly because he knew that the information that Glading had given them was a lie, that he had in fact supplied Ezra with the heroin.
Chris nodded. "Go and watch him, you've got first shift remember."
"Mr Sanchez." Lenny's firm voice caused the larger man to turn towards him. "Also remember that your there to watch him and make sure that no one enters his cell. Nothing else. Understand?"
Josiah looked away without answering him and gave Chris a look that caused his leader to laugh. Lenny joined in the laughter, the two men looked at him with confused expressions.
"Sorry but you guys, you get me right here." He tapped his chest with his right fist and used his left hand to wipe at his eyes, he smiled at the disgust that crossed Larabee's face.
________________________________________
Vin turned Ezra around and pushed him face first against the wall outside of his holding cell, he heard the grunt of pain and ignored it. He roughly searched him, hearing another groan of pain as his hand pressed against the cracked ribs on his right side. He checked his pockets and the expensive black boots and after finding nothing he opened the door and pushed him into the room, he closed the door and turned to see Josiah approaching him.
"I don't know why we have to do this!" Vin growled.
"Punishment." Josiah commented to him as he placed the chair that he had brought with him against the wall. He opened the viewing window to see Ezra pacing the room, he could feel the sympathy as it stabbed at his heart but the memory of Ezra selling information that could get somebody killed pushed all the passive emotions that he felt towards the southerner away.
Ezra knew that Josiah was watching him, he waited for the opening to close again and made his way to the bunk, and the exhaustion that he felt was beginning to take its toll. He laid down on the bed thinking that he wouldn't be able to sleep even though he felt tired, his mind was over active with the thoughts of what had happened, he could also feel the emotions as they made his body hurt in a way that was worse than the ache in his side. He rolled onto his left side and allowed his heavy eyelids to close, the darkness of sleep took him into it's comforting embrace within seconds, giving him solace from his pain.
________________________________________
Nathan made his way to the holding cells and the one at the end of the hall, he carried a couple of blankets in his arms knowing that Ezra would need them, no one else was thinking about his comfort. He could see Vin sitting in a chair outside the door, a flask of coffee on the floor beside him.
"Feeling cold Nathan?" Vin smiled at him as he stood up and stretched the stiffness out of his back.
"There for Ezra." Nathan told him but instead of waiting for an answer he pulled opened the holding room's door, grabbed the empty chair and entered the room. He closed the door behind him without saying another word to Vin. He put the chair and blankets down and waited a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. Nathan's dark eyes looked towards the small bunk that Ezra lay on. He was lying on his side facing the room, the paleness of his skin stood out against the darkness that surrounded his sleeping form.
"Ezra?" Nathan's voice was soft at first. "Ezra?"
He moved towards the bunk and knelt down in front of the former agent. "Ezra?"
He gently placed his hand against the pale forehead feeling the warmness of Ezra's fever, once he was satisfied that it wasn't high he lifted the jacket and white shirt to check that the bandage around his waist was still tight enough to support his ribs. He pulled his hands away when he heard Ezra's quick intake of breath, he waited while the smaller man rolled onto his back, hoping that he wasn't waking. When he settled back down he got up and grabbed one of the blankets from the chair, he placed the blanket over the inert form and went back to sit in the chair to wait for him to wake up. He wanted to talk to Ezra about what had happened to him and why it happened.
________________________________________
Ezra woke slowly as the splinters of light broke through the darkness in his mind that was giving him a reprieve from the nightmare that he was going through in reality. A nightmare that he had agreed to suffer. He could feel the pain that returned to his side and the emotions as they began to fill his mind once more. He was about to force his heavy eyelids to open when he heard a noise coming from the other side of the room. He jerked fully awake and sat up, a small cry of pain escaped his lips as his ribs protested against the sudden movement.
"Take it easy Ezra, it's Nathan." The gentle man told him in a soothing voice.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Ezra gasped as he grabbed his sore ribs causing them to hurt even more. He heard Nathan move towards him but he kept his eyes closed against the pain.
"Lie back Ezra and let me have a look." Nathan placed his hand on his shoulder and forced him to lie back on the small bed.
"There's nothing to look at so get away from me." He tried to push Nathan away but the larger hands easily held him down. "Nathan!"
Nathan placed his arm across Ezra's chest and put his weight on him to keep Ezra from moving around, he used his other hand to press against his right side. He heard Ezra gasp through clenched teeth and looked up into the face that was contorted in pain.
"They're going to cause you a lot of pain for a few more days Ezra." Nathan told him sympathetically.
"As if you care!" Ezra growled at him.
"I do care Ezra." Nathan felt Ezra's forehead. "Your fever's coming down."
Ezra ignored the comment, like yesterday he had too. "Get off me Nathan!"
Nathan did as he was told, he went and picked up the chair and carried it back to the bed, and he allowed it to drop to the floor, the noise causing Ezra to look up at him. He sat down and his eyes took in Ezra's battered form.
"What happened Ezra?" Nathan asked him.
"You know what happened. You were there on both occasions and you didn't stop either of them from hitting me." Ezra accused him, he would've rolled over onto his right side but he knew the pain would be too much.
"I'm talking about the drugs Ezra and you selling information." Nathan explained even though he knew Ezra understood the question. He watched his face carefully hoping for any sort of sign that would give the southerner away but he couldn't read the facade that covered his true feelings. None of the six men who had worked with him was able to read the man, they never knew what was really going on with him and he felt that it was this reason that they weren't able to see or recognise the signs that would have allowed them to know what was happening to their friend.
"It just happened Nathan, there's nothing else to it." Ezra tried to get up but Nathan leaned forward and pushed him down again.
"Something like this doesn't just happen Ezra it . . ." He jerked his head around at the sound of the door opening. He saw JD's body peak through the small opening blocking off the false light that tried to enter the room.
"Nathan, Chris wants him in the interview room now." JD was about to pull his head back through the door when Nathan's voice stopped him.
"Tell Chris that Ezra's talking to me and you can bring us some coffee and those pain killers the Doctor left for Ezra." Nathan turned back towards the man he wanted to still think of as a friend.
"Nathan I don't think Chris wants. . ." JD began.
"I'll be back in a minute Ezra." Nathan gently slapped his shoulder and ignored the look of confusion on the smaller man's face.
Nathan pushed JD back into the hallway and closed the door so Ezra couldn't hear what he had to say. He glared down at the younger man that stood defiantly before him.
"I don't care what Chris wants JD. There's a reason behind all of this and I want to know what it is even if the rest of you don't. None of you seem to care about why this is happening but I do and from this moment on I'm standing by him." The anger and frustration that he was feeling could be heard in his voice. "I want you to go and get us some coffee and the pain killers for Ezra. If Chris has a problem with that then he can come and get Ezra."
"Why Nathan?" JD asked him. "You never really liked him before, you were always the one that expected he would run out on us again and he did. Why are you helping him?"
"Go and get what I asked for JD." Nathan turned his back to him and walked back into the room to find Ezra pacing the width of it.
He leaned back against the door and watched Ezra as walked across the room, turn around and walked back again, his fingers tapping against his forearms that were crossed against his chest. He thought about what JD had said, he wondered if he had accepted what Ezra had become more easily than the others because he expected him to run out on them. JD and Buck both strongly denied that Ezra would do that to them, Chris and Vin now trusted Ezra but he knew they still had a small amount of doubt that they kept hidden and Josiah said that he had faith in the boy. Nathan had been the only one who would openly admit that Ezra might run out on them again.
"Stop staring at me Nathan!" Ezra growled at him, he was doing his best to try and convince the larger man that he was suffering withdrawal symptoms but he was beginning to think that Nathan knew something that he didn't, maybe he knew that he was working undercover but Ezra wasn't going to admit anything unless Nathan told him something first.
"Why don't you sit down Ezra so we can talk about it."
"I don't want to sit down and there's nothing to talk about!" Ezra angrily replied. "Stop trying to help me Nathan, I don't want your help or anyone else's."
Nathan was about to say something when the force of the door opening pushed him into the room. He turned around to see Chris in the doorway, his dark clothing a stark contrast to the white walls that surrounded him.
"Nathan, I'll talk with you later." Chris pushed past him and grabbed Ezra's right arm, pulling him towards the door.
Ezra ignored the pain in his side and ripped his arm out of Chris's grip and stood where he was. "You can't keep doing this to me. I have a right to a lawyer and I'm not going anywhere until I see one."
"I told you Standish, I can do what I want with you and you are coming with me!" Chris went to take his arm again but Ezra violently pushed him away and stepped back from him.
Chris quickly moved forward but Ezra was ready for him, he allowed Chris to grab his right arm again and as he turned to pull him, forward Ezra lashed out with his left fist striking his former friend on the bridge of his nose causing it to bleed. Chris's grip on his arm weakened and Ezra turned to face him, pulled his arm away and bent it, then brought it forward smashing the bone in his forearm against Chris's jaw, the force of it knocking him to the ground.
Nathan stepped closer to Ezra, he was careful because he didn't want to aggravate him anymore than he already was, he ignored Chris as he lay on the ground, his hand clutched to his bleeding nose.
"Ezra just take it easy." Nathan put his hands up in front of him so he could see that he didn't want to hurt him.
"I want to see my lawyer!" Ezra yelled at him as he began to fidget with his clothing and pace the room again. He too ignored the man on the floor.
Chris couldn't believe that he had been so stupid to allow Ezra to get the better of him. He heard the running footsteps in the corridor then heard Vin's voice call his name, the sound broke through his clouded mind. He could feel someone's hands on him and then heard Ezra's laughter.
"I told you I could take you in a fight." Ezra laughed at him as he continued to pace the room and pull at his clothing. What he just did was to help convince Glading that he wanted to make Larabee pay for what he had done to him but that didn't stop him from enjoying every moment of it. He knew he was going to pay for it, he didn't care, and it was worth seeing Chris do the bleeding for a change.
"I'm fine Vin, take care of Standish." Chris was pulled to his feet and he looked into Josiah's caring eyes. "Josiah don't help me, help Vin."
Chris stood where he was and watched as Vin and Josiah grabbed an arm each and dragged the fighting, protesting southerner out of the room. He gave Nathan one of his famous glares and followed the others back to the interview room.
________________________________________
Lenny could hear Ezra's voice as it echoed off the walls of the hallway that led to the interview room that he was waiting in. He listened to the profanity that his friend only used when it was required, he began to worry that something had happened to him and he promised himself that if Ezra walked into the room with another injury that he would hit Larabee there and then.
He stepped forward when he saw Ezra enter the room while trying to remove his arms from Tanner and Sanchez's hold. He quickly looked him over with experienced eyes and saw no further injury, he relaxed but frowned when Ezra turned towards him with a large smile lining his handsome face, the familiar dimples forming on his right cheek, the left was still covered by a bandage. And then he saw what he had been smiling at.
Lenny tried to hold it in but he couldn't, he lost control and started laughing at Chris's still bleeding nose, he doubled over as the tears ran from his eyes. What he saw broke the tension that he had been feeling for the last few days.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Chris demanded as he wiped the blood from his face and moved towards the table.
"Did Standish do that?" Lenny asked him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the grimace cross Ezra's face as he was forced into the chair.
"Enjoyed every second of it too." Ezra admitted to the room. "You should have seen him lying there with . . ."
"Shut up!" Chris slammed his fist on the table in front of Ezra.
"The blood pouring of his nose . . . , " he continued on as though he hadn't heard the warning. "and him sitting there . ." Ezra cried out in pain and leaned forward as Chris grabbed his injured side stopping him from saying anything else.
"Larabee!" Lenny growled at him. He stepped forward to pull him away from Ezra so he could cause another part of his anatomy to bleed but Ezra's expression as he stared up at him told him not to interfere. It took all of his strength to step back to his position in the corner of the room.
"Are you ready to shut up?!" Chris growled down into Ezra's face, he could see the pain that he was in but he wasn't going to let go until he agreed to his demand.
"First you . . . want me to talk . . . and now you . . . want me to . . . shut up." Ezra found it hard to talk through the pain but he refused to give Larabee what he wanted.
"Chris!" Nathan called him as he entered the room. "Let him go."
Both Ezra and Lenny looked towards him in surprise and both just as quickly wiped the surprised expressions from their faces.
Chris squeezed even harder and enjoyed the small cry of pain that once again escaped Ezra's tense form. He let go and stormed out of the room pushing past Nathan. "I'm going to get cleaned up."
Nathan knelt down next to Ezra and forced him to remove his arms from his side allowing him access to his damaged ribs. "Why do you have to keep pissing him off Ezra?" Nathan whispered up to him as he checked his side, he found no further damage.
"What, you don't think that I should have given back what he gave me?" Ezra growled at him.
"Just be more careful Ezra." Nathan warned him.
"Thanks Nathan." Ezra whispered to him and squeezed his hand.
Nathan saw the fleeting look that filled Ezra's eyes and for a moment the man seemed like his old self, he was confused and was about to question Ezra about it but Chris came back in. He gave Ezra a reassuring smile and left the room keeping the sudden doubt that filled his mind to himself.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
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