![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azombiewritesTitle: Ulterior Motives
Rating: PG
Warnings: Strong Language, violence and drug use.
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
AU: ATF
Main Characters: Ezra, and the rest.
Summary: When Ezra is informed of the death of a friend, he finds out that there is an ulterior motive behind it.
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Notes: This story takes place two months after 'The Betrayal' and refers to that story. Lenny Hoskins is my creation.
Spoilers: None
Status: Complete
Total Word Count: 37,801
The smell of coffee assaulted Ezra's senses, it took a few minutes for him to pull himself from the fading darkness that still surrounded his tortured mind. He pushed the thoughts and emotions that the half sleep ridden mind allowed to assault him. He gained control and opened his eyes, he blinked and brought Josiah's concerned face into focus. The larger man was leaning over him, he flinched back in confusion.
"Sorry Ezra, didn't mean to scare you like that." Josiah smiled and tried to alleviate the damage that he thought he had caused.
"When one opens their eyes to find face mere inches from their own, a person should be scared." Ezra smiled faintly then closed his eyes again. "Who made the coffee? I can't tell for some reason."
"I did. Want some?"
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute Josiah." Ezra thought he needed to add more to the conversation, they still had a false facade to continue, and he opened his eyes to find Josiah sitting in the chair next to him. "Josiah is Mr Larabee still here? I seem to remember him staying with me last night."
"Yes but he promised to stay out of your way when your awake." Josiah knew what Ezra was doing. "Don't worry Ezra, things will work out, you just need some time to get over Lenny's death." He saw Ezra wince at the words. "Those words were spoken in the heat of the moment, neither of you meant want you said."
"I believe he did Josiah, he's always thought that way!" Ezra made sure there was anger evident in his tone but he smiled at Josiah to assure him that the anger was a lie.
"Come out when you’re ready Ezra." Josiah squeezed his shoulder but before he could move away, he felt Ezra's hand grip his.
"Thank you Josiah." Ezra mouthed at him.
Josiah smiled in return then left the room.
Ezra watched him go, he turned to his right and saw his watch on the side table, and he took it and squinted at the small hands that would tell him the time. 'Seven thirty, aw hell!' he thought to himself. He threw the bedclothes aside and found himself undressed, he looked down at the only piece of article that he wore, his boxer shorts, and they had also undressed him. He was going to have a word with them in regards to this.
He jumped slightly when his mobile phone began to ring, he knew who it would be, he swallowed the fear that the sound brought back to him. He quickly made his way to the mobile phone that had been placed on dresser next to the bedroom door, picked it up and turned his back to the door and leant against it. He knew that the others wouldn't come in, the man on the other side of the phone would hear them and know that he wasn't alone. But someone would be trying to listen through the door so he stayed close to it, at least they would hear his side of the conversation.
"Standish."
________________________________________
Stephens had felt his confidence return when the men arrived back at Standish's townhouse, there had been only four of them but if they were there then Standish would soon follow, he did. He was surprised by the fact that Sanchez had actually carried the man in and put him to bed. The ATF's best undercover agent was not handling things well at all. He'd thought that after he had informed Standish that Hoskins was still alive that he would be back to his old self and then put on act an in front of the rest of Team Seven, but that wasn't the case, the man seemed to be in a worse state now than he was before he'd gotten the good news.
Afterwards the six men had gathered in the lounge room to discuss ways of getting Standish to retract his resignation. Stephens had listened to their thoughts and feelings, they had discussed the Southerner openly, and they still wanted to force their help onto the man that continued to refuse it. Larabee thought was still angry with his undercover agent and they tried to convince him to take him back but he had refused by ending the conversation and leaving. Stephens had thought it strange that he was angry with the Southerner and yet stayed with him during the night but the agent had made a few comments to the sleeping man that had convinced him that he wasn't going to take him back until he agreed to accept them and their help. It would only be on his terms and not Standish's. He stated that he was sick of the way he treated the rest of the team. Stephens thought Larabee was a coward for not saying it to the agent's face, he was unaware of the fact that the words were meant for his ears.
Stephens picked up the phone and walked towards the Federal agent who had regained consciousness not long after the six agents had begun their conversation, but he knew he would pass out again shortly, he had been in and out of consciousness since he had hit him. The man had heard everything the men had to say about his friend. He knelt down in front of Hoskins and smiled at the anger his light blue eyes held, he also saw pain, but that would soon end with his death.
"Things are getting serious now aren't they, Standish has resigned, Larabee doesn't want the stubborn ass back, his friends want to help but he won't let them and he's in a complete mess." Stephens laughed at the man before him.
Lenny spat in his face, there wasn't anything else he could do, he was too angry to speak, and he was still handcuffed to the chair that lay on its side so he wasn't able to physically assault the man either. He grimaced when the man just smiled back at him. He watched as he stood up. He hoped that he would at least pick him up but he didn't make any movement to lift the cold agent off the floor that he lay on. The floor had caused a chill to enter his bones and they now ached with a passion, but not as much as his head. It felt like it had been split open, his blurred vision also told him that he had a concussion, he hoped that he was going to be conscious when Ezra showed up, he needed to warn him, to tell him what Stephens had planned.
Stephens turned away from him and wiped the spit from his face, he was going to enjoy killing him in front of the ATF agent. He dialled in Standish's mobile number, he knew the agent was on his own, Sanchez had just left the room, it only rang for a few seconds before it was answered, the agent stated his surname but that was all.
"Are you on your own?" He still wasn't ready to let him know that his place was bugged.
"Yes. I want to talk to Lenny." The Southerner demanded.
"Sure." Stephens bent over and placed the phone next to Hoskins' left ear, he wouldn't allow it to touch his skin, and the sticky mess that covered the side of his face would then cover his phone.
"Ezra I don't want you coming here . . . " Lenny growled into the phone but the force of Stephen's fist against his cheek stopped the words from escaping. He cried out when his head bounced off the floor, the pain quickly ended when he went back into the painless black void.
"Lenny!" Ezra raised his voice in anger.
"Keep your voice down!" Stephens ordered him, he waited a few seconds to see if there was a reaction from the men in the lounge room, they had gone quite when the mobile had rung but made no movement to go into the bedroom, Larabee had told them not to bother. There was no reaction so he continued. "Did you do what I wanted?" He knew that the agent had succeeded.
"Yes." Ezra whispered into the phone.
"Now listen carefully, I want you to be at the Old Fairly's Emporium in thirty minutes. It's on South street, there's a back entrance. We'll be waiting for you."
Ezra thought he was about to hang up without mentioning the bugs on his car and in his clothes.
"You wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, no jacket. There is also a bug on your car, I had someone watching your place and they say two agents putting it on. You remove it. Someone will follow you and if they see your friends, Hoskins will be dead when you get here." Stephens waited a moment for the information to sink in. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." Ezra repeated.
________________________________________
The line was disconnected, Ezra placed the phone in front of his face and stared at it, he slid to the floor, the pain in Lenny's voice stayed in his thoughts, he was hurt and it was his fault. He pushed the thought from his mind, he had to be in control.
'Think damn it!' he berated himself.
He knew the man had lied about someone watching him, if that were true then he would have known about the second bug on his car, it also meant that there wouldn't be anyone following him. He had gotten around the bugs in his clothing by telling him what to wear. The man was trusting him, he thought that because he was willing to do anything to save Lenny that he would do as he was told, that he wouldn't involve the others but the man had made a mistake by thinking that, because that 'anything' included asking his friends to help him.
Thirty minutes, it was going to take twenty to get to that side of town. He stood up and dressed quickly in a pair of newly warn in jeans and a rarely worn loose t-shirt, he pulled on his boots, he didn't bother with a gun, the others would be there to back him up, Chris had promised that they would get Lenny out alive. He didn't have to leave the room to get his keys because there was a spare set hidden in the garage. He put his mobile in his back pocket and made his way to the window of his first floor apartment. He had to be quite when he left, he couldn't cause any doubt in the mind of the man who was listening, he opened the window and slipped through the opening, he didn't bother closing it behind him. He looked back into the room and saw Vin enter, he caught his eye and gave him his two-finger salute then ran towards the garage.
________________________________________
"I'm going to check on him." Vin called from his position beside the bedroom door, he hadn't heard Ezra's voice for a few minutes and he decided that the conversation was now over.
"Why?" Chris asked him, his tone told the man who was listening that he didn't care but his body language agreed with what Vin was about to do, he nodded in agreement.
Vin opened the door and walked in, the room was empty, he looked towards the window and saw Ezra watching him, he saw the two finger salute that tried to show him that the agent was confident in what he was about to do. But Vin saw something different, the man was scared, he wasn't able to hide it from him, there also seemed to be a sadness that filled his visage. Vin nodded in return. He turned around and walked back into the lounge room.
"He's gone!" Vin yelled at the group of men.
"Shit! I knew it!" Chris growled for the listener's benefit. "I knew that damn southern cuss would do this."
"That's not the point now Chris." Josiah spoke. "JD, where is he headed?"
JD smiled then went into the spare room to grab the bag that held the surveillance equipment, he came back into the room and took out the tracker.
"He hasn't gone anywhere." JD stated simply then mouthed South.
"He's still in the garage?" Buck asked stupidly, a large smile creased his face.
"That or he's gotten rid of the bug like he did with the phone!" Chris growled. "Let's get going, we're going to have to split up, put an APB out on him. We have to find him before the idiot gets himself killed."
Once the six men were at the cars that were parked on the street Chris turned to JD whose attention was devoted to the tracker.
"JD?" This time he allowed the concern he felt to sound in his voice.
"He's still headed south."
"Okay, JD, Josiah, your with me, the rest of you follow us." Chris ordered them and they made their way to their individual cars.
Chris drove for ten minutes following JD's instructions when his phone rang, he took it out and handed it over to Josiah, he kept listening to what JD was telling him, he quickly turned right and realised they were headed towards the abandoned warehouses on the South side of town. He risked a glance sideways when he heard Ezra's name, he saw the smile on Josiah's face.
"We're on our way Ezra, and don't worry, we'll get both of you out of there in one piece." Josiah hung up the mobile and put into his coat pocket. "Old Fairly's Emporium on South street, Ezra has to be there in," he looked at his watch, "twenty minutes, he should get there in fifteen. He has to go through the back entrance."
Chris nodded. "He's finally trusting us Josiah, I don't care what he says, and he trusts us to help him."
Josiah smiled in return.
________________________________________
Ezra pulled into the laneway that ran parallel to the Old Fairly's Emporium, he drove to the end of the lane and parked the car next to the back door, and the position of his car would make it easier for the others to find the entrance. He knew they would only be about five minutes behind him but he also knew that a lot could happen in that time, he was going to have to stall the man until they got there. He just hoped he had enough control to do it, he wasn't sure how he was going to react once he laid his eyes on Lenny, he didn't know what condition his surrogate brother was in.
He got out of the car and quietly closed the door, he stepped up to the entrance and took a deep breath, he had to do it for Lenny, he didn't care about himself, and he wasn't worried about his own safety, only Lenny's. He opened the door and stepped into the abandoned warehouse. He didn't see anything at first but then his eyes focused on the man who appeared from behind a damaged wall. He could see the confident smile that the face held, it would have been a handsome face except for the scar that ran through the upper lip. It caused the lip to curl, thus resulting in a smile that turned into an ugly grimace. Ezra smiled in return and made sure his dimples appeared, he thought he saw jealousy in the man's browns eyes, which is exactly what he wanted.
"Where's Lenny?" Ezra managed to stay in control but didn't think it would last. He didn't know if his friend was still alive, he had to see him to believe it.
"Where's my proof?" The same voice that spoke to him on the phone asked in return.
Ezra didn't answer him, he moved towards the man instead.
"The proof first." Stephens removed his gun from his left shoulder holster and aimed it at Ezra's chest.
"Lenny first." Ezra growled at him.
"As you wish." Stephens motioned for Ezra to go through the open doorway in the wall.
Ezra did as he was told, he knew that a few minutes would have passed, he needed just a few more. He stepped through the doorway, his eyes frantically searched the rubbish-filled area for his friend but he couldn't see him.
"Where the hell is Lenny!" Ezra turned to face the man, the crooked smile was no longer there.
"Over there." He nodded towards an area that was hidden by a high wall of rubble.
Ezra moved quickly towards it. He heard the man hurry after him as he rounded the pile of broken cement then stopped in his tracks. He looked at the still form of his friend. Lenny was seated in a chair but that chair lay on its side, so did his friend, his eyes were closed, the blue orbs were hidden from him. He could see the blood that matted his hair and covered most of his face.
"Lenny?" He whispered, he didn't want to raise his voice, he was afraid of not getting an answer.
"He's not dead yet, I want you to watch him die before I kill you." Stephens told the undercover agent. He could see the tremors already begin to wrack the man who stood before him, he didn't receive any sort of acknowledgement to tell him that the man had heard what he said. He watched as the agent moved towards his friend.
Ezra forced himself to step forward, he had to know, and he thought he heard the man behind him say something but his mind was on the form that lay before him. As he got closer, he could see the steady rise and fall of Lenny's chest. His legs buckled with relief, he allowed himself to fall to his knees beside his friend, and the man behind him had been forgotten.
"Lenny?" He placed his hand against Lenny's blood covered cheek. "Lenny, it's Ezra. Lenny."
Ezra felt the cold steel of the gun as it was pressed against his right temple.
"Get up Standish." Stephens ordered him.
Ezra brought himself back to reality and stood up, he turned around but made sure he kept himself between the man with the gun and Lenny. His friend wasn't going to be hurt again, he would die before he allowed that happened.
________________________________________
Chris also pulled into the lane that ran along side of the building, he could see Ezra's black jaguar at the end. He stopped the car and got out. He watched as Buck's car came to a stop on the side street, he waited patiently for the others to join him, the six men then made their way to the entrance that would take them to Ezra and hopefully Hoskins.
Josiah and Vin stood on either of the doorway, Chris opened the door then quickly moved to the side next to Vin, he then poked his head into the dark opening, no bullets were fired in his direction so he stepped through the entrance into the building. The others followed, they waited a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dimmed light. Chris cocked his head in the direction of the southern drawl that had demanded to know where his friend was. He nodded to the others to follow him.
________________________________________
"The proof. Now!" Stephens put his left hand out.
"There isn't any." Ezra smiled at him, he could see the disbelief fill the man's face, he also saw Chris step around the pile of rubble, his friend had kept his word, Chris and the others would get Lenny out for him.
"You closed the case." Stephens began to lose the confidence he had gained, he changed the direction of his aim, when he fired the gun the bullet would enter Hoskins' skull, he thought this movement would scare the agent into admitting that he was lying.
"No, he did." Ezra nodded to Chris who was still making his way towards them, Josiah and Vin were now on either side of him, their guns were aimed at various positions on the man who stood before them, and each aimed area on the man's body would bring him down without killing him.
Stephens didn't look behind him, he thought Standish was bluffing. "Are you ready to watch your friend die?"
"ATF drop your weapon!" Chris yelled out.
The six ATF agents were now strategically placed around the suspect, each hoping that the man would put his gun down without firing it. Lenny was in the direct line of fire but they knew that Ezra would throw himself into that line of fire to protect his friend, they knew that Ezra was willing to die if it meant that Lenny would live.
Stephens' eyes opened wide in surprise, he stared at Standish but kept his gun aimed at the Federal agent.
"You said it yourself, I would do anything to keep Lenny alive. I asked my friends for their help." Ezra knew he was going to fire his gun. It was the man’s intention to kill Lenny in front of him, he stepped sideways and lowered his body by bending his knees, he had to put his upper body in front of Lenny, if he tried to stand in front of him the bullet could easily miss him, he couldn't take the chance.
Chris also knew the man was going to fire, he pulled the trigger of his own gun too late, a split second earlier and he would have saved his undercover agent from being shot. He didn't aim to kill, he couldn't shoot a man in the back, and the bullet entered the upper thigh of the man's right leg. He went down but not before Ezra.
Ezra felt the bullet enter his stomach, he then felt the excruciating pain that followed it, the pain was centred around his midsection, but the lack of pain in his back told him that he had succeeded in saving Lenny's life. He fell to the ground, his back hit the legs of the chair and he grunted in pain. He wanted to curl himself up into a ball to try and ease the pain that he knew would worsen under Nathan's probing fingers but he had to know that Lenny was okay, he tried to roll over so he could face his friend but hands grabbed him and forced him onto his back. He looked up at Chris and Nathan's concerned faces, Buck soon joined the two men at his side. He saw the movement of their lips, he heard the voices that vocalised their concern but he couldn't make out the words.
"Lenny?" Ezra ignored what they were trying to do for him, he struggled against them, and he had to know about Lenny.
"Josiah's taking care of him Ezra." Nathan assured his injured friend, he pulled Ezra's blood stained t-shirt up and probed the wound, he felt Ezra tense up under his fingers examination.
"No, you check him, Nathan, please." The Southerner spoke through gritted teeth, he had concentrated on what Nathan had said and it wasn't what he wanted to hear. "I need to know . . . that he's okay."
"Give me a minute Ezra . . . " Nathan felt the tight grip on his forearm and he looked down into the pleading green eyes of his friend.
"Please . . . Nathan."
Nathan relented, he didn't want to leave Ezra but the Southerner was panicking, his frantic movements weren't helping his situation. "Okay. Chris, find something to use, try and stop the bleeding, I'll be as quick as I can."
Ezra's eyes tried to follow Nathan's movements, he struggled to roll over when he was no longer in his sight but someone's hands forced him to stay on his back. He cried out in pain when he felt the pressure against his stomach, his eyes closed tightly, his teeth clenched and the sweat begin to gather on his face. Ezra drew his left leg up towards his chest, the right one wouldn't work, someone was leaning on it, and the same person then grabbed his raised leg and pulled it down. He heard Chris' apology but he continued to ignore those around him, he needed to know that Lenny was going to be okay. He opened his eyes and tried to turn his head, he succeeded so he tried to force his body to follow, and he was stopped. He struggled even harder against the men who held him down, his breaths now came in short painful gasps, if he breathed too deeply the pain was even worse.
"Ambulance is on its way." JD informed Chris then added his own strength to try to stop Ezra's struggles. He held onto his shoulders, he looked down into Ezra's eyes and saw the pain and fear that filled them, he wanted to look away but forced himself to continue looking at his friend, if Ezra looked up at him he wanted him to know that he was with him, that he wasn't too scared to look at him.
Chris nodded, he continued to apply pressure to the bullet wound in Ezra's stomach, he didn't have to look for something to use. Buck was now only half dressed, he had pulled his colourful t-shirt off and handed it to him. He looked over at Vin who was taking care of the man he had shot, the ex-bounty hunter had used the wounded man's shirt to strap the leg wound, and he then handcuffed him.
"Vin, does he have the keys to these handcuffs?" Josiah asked him, he had lifted Lenny's head and it now lay in his lap, he wiped the blood-matted hair away from the wound so Nathan could take a closer look at it.
Vin quickly searched the man and came up with a set of keys. He made his way over to Lenny but paused to check on Ezra, the smaller man was still struggling to get to his friend. He moved on and sat down next to Josiah, he removed the handcuffs from the Federal agent's hands and then freed him from the chair he had been handcuffed to. Once he had done this Nathan turned Lenny onto his back. He efficiently checked him for any injuries apart from the obvious one to the side of his head and found none, he then checked his pupils and found them to be uneven, his fingers probed the deep abrasion on his skull, the blood no longer flowed from it but it was going to need stitches. Nathan nodded to Josiah then went back to Ezra.
"Ezra he's fine, Lenny's going to be okay, he'll have a bad concussion and he's got some cuts and bruises but otherwise he's fine." He saw the relief in Ezra's eyes but his struggles didn't stop. "Ezra you need to stay still."
"No, Lenny . . . " Ezra groaned.
"He's fine Ezra, now keep still!" Chris ordered him.
Ezra continued to struggle against them. He needed and wanted to be with his friend, the fear that had plagued him took control. He wasn't going to relax until he was sure that Lenny was going to be fine, he knew that Nathan wouldn't lie to him but he needed to see him, he needed to hear him talk, to hear him tell him that he was fine. He needed to hear it from Lenny.
Josiah knew that the only way to stop Ezra from moving about was to put Lenny in a position where Ezra could see him, they were already close to each other but the awkward angle stopped Ezra from seeing the face of his friend. He nodded to Vin who lifted the agent's legs, Josiah took the shoulders that were resting against his thighs, and together they lifted Hoskins and moved him next to Ezra. Buck moved out of the way so Ezra could see his friend.
"See Ezra, he's okay." Josiah told him as he laid the agent's head back into his lap.
"Lenny!" Ezra called out to him, he struggled even more, he knew what a serious head injury could do, he himself had been in a coma for three weeks because of a gunshot wound, he knew the same thing could happen to Lenny.
"Ezra, shut up." Lenny croaked. "I'm trying to get some rest here, and do as your told."
Lenny turned towards his friend's voice. He opened his eyes and expected to find him leaning over him but instead his blurred vision saw something different. He could make out the blood covered t-shirt that someone held against Ezra's stomach, he immediately forgot what he was going through, his first concern was Ezra, it had been all along but now that he saw that his young friend was injured, his own pain was pushed aside.
"Ezra!" He tried to sit up but the dizziness he felt and the hands that gripped his shoulders caused him to fall back down.
"Both of you stay put!" Nathan yelled at them.
Lenny winced at the volume of Nathan's voice, he ignored him much like Ezra had been doing and rolled onto his side so he could look at his friend, the pain that was etched on his face caused his anger to rise.
"What the hell happened to him!?" Lenny growled at Chris. "This is your fault, you . . . "
Josiah put his hand over Lenny's mouth, it was the quickest and easiest way to stop the agent's angry words.
"No Lenny, Ezra asked us to help him. We knew that his house had been bugged, what was said was for that man's benefit." Josiah removed his hand when he saw the anger leave Lenny's face.
"He asked you for help?" Lenny looked up at Josiah but had to turn away, the dizziness had returned.
"Yeah he did." Chris smiled across at him. "Ezra are you going to stop fighting us now?"
Ezra nodded, the pain that he was feeling was evident in his face, it was gaining control of his whole being, he looked sideways at Lenny and watched as his friends eyes closed, they didn't open again.
"Lenny?" Ezra whispered.
"He's asleep Ezra, he's going to be fine." Nathan assured him, he lifted his head when he heard the ambulance siren.
"JD." Chris looked at him. "Go and meet them, show them where we are."
JD nodded, he squeezed Ezra's shoulders and smiled at him when he looked up into his eyes, and he then left to meet the medics.
"Aw hell." Ezra moaned at thought of spending more time in a hospital.
________________________________________
Chris tried to sit still but his lack of patience prevented him from doing so, he got up again and began to pace the crowded hospital room, his friends had gotten used to his excessive movements, they mirrored their own feelings. He walked past the base of the bed and looked into the slack features of Lenny Hoskins, the Federal agent still hadn't regained consciousness since arriving at the hospital. Hoskins had been taken to the emergency room when they arrived, Ezra and the man called Stephens had been taken straight up to surgery. Stephens was now being held in a room further down the corridor, a policeman guarded his door. Chris had every intention of questioning him later once he knew that Ezra was going to be okay. It had been three hours since they arrived and as far as he knew the Southerner was still in surgery and all he could think about was the last time they sat in a waiting room, they had nearly lost Ezra then, he hoped it wasn't going to be that bad again.
"What the hell is taking so long." He muttered to himself.
"Stomach wounds can be tricky Chris." Nathan repeated, he had already used this excuse to try to ease the tension that filled the room but the comment just made things worse.
"Is tricky another term for serious Nathan?" Chris glared at him.
"No, things just take longer." Nathan answered him without looking away.
"Chris." Josiah called him then nodded to the door that lead out into the corridor.
Chris knew what he wanted so he ignored him but he couldn't ignore the strong grip that took his arm and dragged him out of the hospital room. The others watched in amusement, Chris wasn't one to allow someone to treat him like that, they expected Josiah to return with a fresh bruise on his face.
Chris pulled his arm from Josiah's grip, and turned to face him, he didn't remove the anger that showed on his face.
"What the hell do you think you’re doing Josiah?" Chris asked him. "Don't you ever do that to me in front of my men again do you hear me?"
"You’re scared aren't you." It wasn't a question, Josiah knew he was right. "This is what you meant when you said it was still difficult to stay around people you care about?"
"I'm not the only though am I?" Chris could also see the fear that filled Josiah's eyes, the same look was the other four men in the room they just left.
"No. But it's worse for you isn't it?" Josiah asked him.
"Yeah, when you feel it once, you don't want to feel it again. It's different from what normally happens, you can accept an accident or illness a lot easier but when the person you care about is taken from you by a violent act . . . it's hard Josiah." Chris explained.
"And that's what Ezra's feeling, that's why he wants to end the friendship with Lenny." Josiah nodded in understanding and crossed his hands over his chest. "He's gone through Lenny's death more than once already, he doesn't want to go through it again."
"I'll talk to him." Chris told him.
"So how do you do it Chris? How do stay around knowing that one of us could die?" Josiah looked into his leaders blue eyes, he watched as a haunted look overcame them.
"The good times Josiah, I wouldn't throw them away because I was afraid of what might happen, if I did that I wouldn't have a family now, I wouldn't have friends. That's what I'll have to get through to Ezra. He needs Lenny, he needs us."
"Mr Larabee." Doctor Franklin called to the darkly dressed man that stood outside of the room the Federal Agent was in, he smiled at him and offered his hand, he liked the strong handshake, it always told him a lot about the person he was about to speak to, he repeated the greeting with the man who stood next to Larabee.
"How's Ezra?" Chris asked as soon as the greetings were over.
"He'll be fine with plenty of rest. The bullet entered at a downward and sideways angle, the bullet entered here." He pointed to the left side of his naval then drew a line that ended near his left hip. "But lodge here in his abdominal muscles near his hip, he was very lucky, someone must have been watching over him, the bullet was obviously fired at close range, if the angle had been straight it would have done more serious damage . . . " He left the sentence unfinished.
"When can we see him?" Chris stepped closer to the Doctor that stood two inches shorter than him.
"I understand that you wanted Agent Standish in the same room as Agent Hoskins?" Doctor Franklin asked.
"Yes." Was all Chris would tell him.
Josiah decided to elaborate when the Doctor raised the sandy coloured eyebrows that sat above intelligent hazel eyes. "Ezra and Lenny are close, Ezra will want to be with him, if he isn't then he will find a way to get to him and that means leaving his bed."
"I assure you that Agent Standish is quite incapable of getting out of a bed at this moment and will not be able to for a few more days." Franklin argued.
"And I assure you Doctor that Ezra can and will, the man is as stubborn as a mule, if he wants to be with Lenny then he will be and you telling him that he can't would only make him more determined, believe me, I've wanted to beat more than enough sense into him for a lot less." Chris smiled at him.
"Your serious aren't you?"
"Yes we are." Josiah agreed with the young Doctor.
"Okay, I'll arrange for him to be brought down here, it'll be at least another twenty minutes though." The Doctor explained, he turned to walk away but stopped, he hesitated for a moment and then decided to say what was on his mind. "I don't suppose there's any chance of you men leaving them alone to rest for a while." He saw the smiles that lined the faces of the two rugged men. "I didn't think so."
"Thanks Doc." Chris called after him, he smiled as the young man waved a hand over his shoulder.
"I'm beginning to think that someone warns the Doctor's about us before we get here." Chris commented to Josiah as he pushed the door open.
"They have a warning printed on the front desk of the Emergency room." Josiah admitted.
"They don't?" Chris frowned over his shoulder at him.
"Afraid they do." Josiah was serious. "We've all spent too much time here Chris."
________________________________________
The twenty minutes that they had to wait for Ezra to be brought to the room felt like an eternity, Chris had repeated what Doctor Franklin had told them but they all still needed to see Ezra to be sure. Chris continued to pace the room but this time he walked between the two beds, his shadow danced across the sleeping form in the occupied bed, he looked at Lenny each time he turned, he wanted the agent to wake up, they needed to talk.
"Chris would you please sit down!" Buck growled at him, he thought if Josiah could get away with being angry at him then he could also but the glare that was thrown at him told him was wrong.
"Why don't you all just leave." Lenny told them, he wasn't use to such attention, especially from people who didn't even like him.
"How you feelin' Lenny?" Chris stopped next to the head of the bed and looked down at the angry expression. He ignored it.
"I have a headache and your presence isn't making it any better." He opened his eyes and looked around the room, Ezra's absence reminded him of what had happened. "Ezra!" He sat up and pushed away the hands that tried to force him to lie back down. "Let go of me!"
"Ezra's fine Lenny, they're bringing him down here soon." Chris used more force to push the agent back down.
"He's alright?" The doubt filled his eyes, he looked around the faces that stared back at him.
"Yes. He'll be here in about ten minutes." Nathan told him.
"Here . . . you mean here . . . in the same room . . . here?" Lenny began to shake his head, he ignored the pain that it caused. "Oh no . . . I love him like a brother, you know that, but I refuse to stay in the same room
as him. Hell all he does is complain."
"The only person I hear complaining is you." Chris smiled at him.
"Yeah well you would take his side." Lenny growled at him. "You like him!"
"Looks like it's seven against one this time doesn't it?" Chris didn't wait for an answer. "Guys, you want to give us some time alone before Ezra gets here." He watched the others leave the room, he took the nod that Josiah gave him as encouragement.
"Something is wrong with Ezra, if you lied to me . . . " Lenny tried to sit up again.
"No he's fine. We just need to talk that's all."
"About what happened?" Lenny asked him.
"Yes and Ezra." Chris pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down. "We got an ID on the guy who abducted you, ran it through the computers. Nasty guy, you’re lucky you got out of it with your life."
"I was undercover, trying to get some evidence against a guy named Jordian, I didn't get anything on him but I did get something on a guy that worked for him. Merchant, that was the case that Ezra was working on." He saw Chris nod in agreement. "I was at this restaurant in town having dinner with Jordian and the next thing I recall I was waking up, handcuffed to a chair in that warehouse, must have put something in my food."
"You have any idea why they grabbed you?" Chris wanted to know.
"To get at Ezra."
"But how did they know about the connection between you two, how did they even know about Ezra?" Chris was confused.
"Tanner." Lenny stated simply.
"Vin?"
"One of Merchant's men recognised him, knew that he was ATF so they started running some checks, found out that Ezra was also ATF so they dug deeper, found out about the rest of you guys, they planned on using one of you but then they found out about me. Merchant reported to Jordian, who instantly recognised me from my photo, it went from there." Lenny rolled onto his side so he could look at Chris. "They knew Ezra was a loner and that it would take more of a threat to get what they wanted, so they decided to fake my death, gave them the results that they expected, but then Ezra did something they didn't expect, he asked for your help." Lenny lifted his eyes looked into Chris'. "I heard everything, I know what he went through and I want to thank you for being there for him Chris."
"That part's not over yet Lenny but we'll get into that in a minute." Chris didn't flinch under Lenny's scrutinising stare. "Why would they go to all that trouble? Why not just kill Ezra and Vin while they were on the case?"
"Because you would have known who killed them." Lenny grimaced at him, Larabee already knew the answer he just wanted confirmation of what he was already thinking. "Then you would have not let up until you had Merchant in custody and from there you would have gotten Jordian. No they had to do it in a way that wouldn't connect them to the case."
"Do you have any idea who the man was in the burnt out car and how did they know about your prosthesis?"
"Merchant is the man in the car, Jordian didn't like the idea that he had let two ATF agents get so close even if they couldn't get any evidence on him. Guess they knew about my pin from my medical records."
"It wasn't in your FBI file. Thompson told us that he didn't know you had a second one." Chris told him.
"Thompson?" Lenny smiled. "He helped you with this?"
"Yeah."
"One down and the rest of the FBI in Atlanta to go." Lenny smiled.
"He also told us about your mission to clear Ezra." Chris saw his embarrassment and quickly went back to the original subject. "So how did you know all this?"
"Stephens didn't worry about talking in front of me, he planned on killing me, just wanted to wait so he could do it in front of Ezra, and he took pleasure in his emotional pain."
"I'm going to cause some physical pain on that arsehole shortly." Chris growled.
"Now you can talk about Ezra." Lenny yawned but he wasn't going to allow his exhaustion to stop him now.
"You said you heard what he went through, Josiah talked to him back at the office, after he told us what was going on. He's afraid of losing you Lenny, actually he's terrified of going through it all again, he thinks that if he was no longer your friend that he wouldn't have to go through it again. We haven't had a chance to convince him otherwise yet."
Chris looked down at his hands and wanted for Lenny's response, he was surprised by what the agent had to say.
"I know, I felt the same after he nearly died." Lenny looked at Chris and smiled. "What? You think that I don't have fears either?"
"No, it's just that . . . " Chris actually stammered.
Lenny moved onto his back. "When we came back from the cabin, those first two days when I wouldn't let you see Ezra, it was his idea, and he wanted to be able to talk freely without worrying about interruptions, without having to deal with you guys. He told me about how he felt when he thought I'd been killed, told me that he didn't want to go through it again, I told him that I felt the same way after he'd been shot. We got it out of our systems and came to an understanding, he may say it Chris but he won't end the friendship."
"Josiah sounded pretty sure." Chris warned him.
"No, he knows I mean too much too him, besides," Lenny grinned mischievously, "we promised we wouldn't do that to each other, all we have to do is remind him of that promise."
"It won't be that easy Lenny, a promise isn't going to stop him from hurting." Chris told him.
"I know Chris, I know." He rolled his head to the side.
"I'll talk to him when he's better." Chris patted his shoulder then turned at the sound of the door opening.
"Ezra's here." Josiah told him then stepped aside to allow the nurses to roll the gurney in.
Chris knew that Lenny wasn't going to stay down so he grabbed the struggling form and helped him to sit up, by the time he had placed the pillows behind his back they were already lifting Ezra onto the bed. Chris turned around then stepped to the side so Lenny could see his friend.
Lenny's eyes travelled over Ezra's still form, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his pale features were slack, the only tube that ran to his body was an IV tube, two small gauges had been placed on his stomach, and Lenny frowned in confusion.
"They had to make an incision to get to the bullet." Chris saw the confusion on Lenny's face, he knew it was because of the gauges.
"But he's going to be okay?" Lenny asked again but kept his eyes on his friend, he had to stretch his neck to look around the nurse that kept blocking his view, he didn't get angry, he knew she was only doing her job and once Ezra was comfortable she would leave.
"Yes he's going to be fine." Doctor Franklin told him.
Lenny didn't look at the owner of the voice.
"Mr Larabee, I insist that if you are going to stay that you make sure these men get plenty of rest, I don't want them sitting up and talking into the small hours of the morning." Franklin moved forward and pulled the pillows out from behind Lenny, he then forced him to lie down. "I won't hesitate in sedating either of them if I have to." This statement was aimed at the patient who glared back at him.
"We're in hell." Chris muttered, he was unaware of Josiah standing behind him.
"No, hell will be when Ezra wakes up." Josiah squeezed his shoulder.
________________________________________
Ezra tried to force his eyes to open but he couldn't, they were too heavy and he didn't have the strength to fight them, he felt the gentle touch of someone's hand wiping his face, he wanted to acknowledge the touch but again the lack of strength stopped him from doing so, he even tried his voice but nothing worked. He listened as the voices broke through his mud-filled mind, he recognised Lenny's voice and his tone told him that his friend was fine, he was arguing with Nathan, something about eating hospital food.
He listened as a voice whispered in his ear, it was Chris, and it must have been his hand that he felt. Ezra inwardly smiled when Chris requested that he wake up, that they needed his help that only he could shut Lenny up. Ezra refused, he was going to get as much peace as he could before he faced his friend’s complaints. Lenny was never able to deal with pain. He felt the comforting feeling that the touch against his skin and the sound of his friends arguing brought to him. He allowed himself to float away in that comfort, he knew it would still be there when he woke up.
________________________________________
Chris looked around the room, he could make out the sleeping men in the darkness, he had left a light on earlier but Doctor Franklin had showed up and turned it off, the man wasn't going to force them to leave but he sure as hell made sure that his patients were well looked after. They were spread out on the floor and in the spare chairs that the nurses brought in, no one was going to leave until Ezra woke up. He tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes, when it didn't work he stretched his arms above his head. That didn't work either, he didn't want to sleep, he was going to have to wake someone up so they could sit with Ezra, he didn't want the Southerner to wake up to a darkened room and not know where he was. He grimace at Buck's form, the man snored loud enough to wake the dead, and that was how both Lenny and Ezra slept.
"Who the hell is making all that racket?" Lenny grumbled.
"Now that would be you Lenny." Chris informed the waking agent, he turned away from his vigil of Ezra and turned on the bedside lamp, it's weak light fell across Lenny's face, illuminating the paleness of his skin.
Lenny opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice, he grimaced at Chris, this wasn't going to be a pleasant stay, he'd already argued with Nathan earlier. "Me? I just woke up."
"Yeah, and it was peaceful before you did." Chris smiled at him knowing that his cheerful mood would aggravate him. "I've never known someone to complain so much."
Lenny's expression caused a small laugh to escape from Chris's lips. "I haven't heard a word out of Ezra."
"That's because he's too lazy to wake up!" Lenny retorted.
"Wake up? How am I supposed to sleep with you complaining all day?" Ezra added to the conversation.
"It's about time Ezra." Chris turned to him, he turned on a second light and listened as the others began to stir.
"I woke up earlier when someone refused to eat their dinner but I couldn't spoil your fun." Ezra grimaced in pain when he tried make himself more comfortable.
"Try not to move Ezra." Chris placed a hand against Ezra's chest to stop him from moving.
"Chris . . . may I ask you why I'm sharing a room with him?" He still found it difficult to open his eyes, he was beginning to think that they had been taped shut.
"I heard that!" Lenny growled at him.
"We didn't want you trying to find your way to him when you should be resting in a bed. We could separate you now that you each know the other is going to be okay." Chris told him.
"Please." Ezra muttered before he fell back to sleep.
"He didn't mean that." Lenny assured Chris who was smiling in satisfaction at him.
"Uh huh." Chris nodded at him.
________________________________________
"Ezra?" Chris whispered in the Southerner's ear, he watched him grimace. He quickly moved his head out of the way when Ezra's left hand swiped at him, he grabbed it and pulled it back down before he could pull the IV tube out. "Come on Ezra, wake up."
"Why?" Ezra demanded.
"The Doctor's here, he wants to talk to you." Chris told him.
"Tell him to come back later." Ezra used his right hand to try to push Chris away from him, someone else grabbed it. He then felt the sharp pain the bright light caused to his skull when someone forced his eyelid open, he threw his head to the side only to have another hand stop his movement. "Is this some sort of conspiracy against me?"
"Are you in pain Mr Standish?" Franklin asked him.
"Don't I sound like I'm in pain?" Ezra forced his eyes open and looked at the blurred figure leaning over him. "I seemed to remember being shot in the stomach at some point."
"No, you sound like the stubborn mule your friends describe to me but I've turned their description into a more polite form that I would use." Franklin commented as he lifted Ezra's wrist to check his pulse.
"Are you feeling nauseas at all?" Franklin continued his questions while he probed the patient's stomach.
"If I was I'd throw up on you!" Ezra replied, he already disliked this Doctor but then he disliked all Doctors, he pulled his arm free of Chris' grip and slapped the Doctor's hands away from his stomach.
"Sorry wouldn't do you any good." The Doctor pulled at his scrubs. "Plastic."
Ezra glared at Chris who was agreeing with everything the Doctor was saying.
"And if you continue to be unpleasant I will make sure that your three week stay will also be unpleasant."
"Three weeks." Ezra's mouth dropped open.
"Well, no, but it could be." Franklin smiled at him then left the room.
"I don't like him." Ezra told Chris.
"What's new Ezra." Chris stared at him for a moment. "Ezra you can drop the act now, everyone's gone home to get cleaned up, Lenny's asleep, it's just you and me now."
Ezra frowned at him in genuine confusion.
"Josiah told me about what you said in regards to your friendship with Lenny. Do you still feel that way?"
"I promised him that I . . . " Ezra started.
"I don't care about what you promised Ezra, I care about how your feeling." Chris growled at him.
"You know how I feel don't you?" Ezra asked him. "You've been going through it all again, I didn't see it before, and I didn't know what this was doing to you."
"You not going to get out of it by turning this in my direction Ezra." Chris smiled at him.
"I know he's going to die one day Chris and it terrifies me, I know how it feels and I don't want to go through it again." Ezra admitted to him.
"So you’re going to throw away the best thing you have because you’re afraid of a bad moment in your life?"
Chris raised his eyebrows at him, he could see the emotional pain that filled Ezra's eyes.
"Three bad moments Chris. I don't want it to happen again."
"It's going to happen Ezra, whether your there or not, you’re going to feel the same pain, it won't be any less just because you no longer have any attachments with him." Chris explained to him. "I feel the same way about you guys all the time but if I allowed that fear to rule my life, I wouldn't have friends or the family that you guys made me a part of. You have to think about the good times Ezra, and if you end your friendship with Lenny then you would also have to do the same with us because the day will come when our deaths will affect you in the same way."
"When I thought Lenny died up at the cabin it was the first time I ever felt that pain, it nearly killed me Chris."
"I know Ezra. When my family died, I drowned myself in a bottle, I finally allowed Buck to pull me out, but it was a long time before I would let anyone get close again. I didn't think that I could deal with loosing someone else but I know that if it was to happen that I'd have friends to help me get through it. Just like you did after you got that phone call."
Ezra smiled. "I didn't have a choice."
"Not at the start Ezra, but you soon accepted it, I know you said you didn't have a choice but I also know it's because you wanted to." Chris leaned forward. "I know it's not easy Ezra, but when it does happen your friends will be there for you. It's what happens when you become part of a family."
"I'm still getting use to that idea." Ezra forced a smile onto his face.
"I don't want you keeping your friendship because of a promise Ezra, I want you to do it because you want to."
Ezra turned his head and looked at the sleeping back of his friend, he didn't realise that Lenny was awake and listening to the conversation.
"I couldn't throw that away." Ezra looked back at Chris. "He means to much to me, I've never had this sort of relationship with anyone else, I wouldn't have coped without him, he saved my life too many times and I don't mean physically."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Chris squeezed his hand.
"What about you? Are you okay?" Ezra asked him seriously.
"It brought up some nasty memories but I'm dealing with them." Chris nodded at him. "Your helping in your usual way."
"What did I do?" Ezra was almost speechless.
"You accepted our help Ezra, it's as simple as that." Chris replied.
Lenny rolled over and looked at the two men. "That's typical isn't it Ezra, you argue with me and talk to him."
Ezra flinched at the sound of Lenny's voice. "I can't talk to you when you’re in pain, you argue too much."
"And you don't" Lenny retorted then smiled at his friend.
"You weren't asleep at all were you?" Ezra glared at him then turned his stare to Chris.
"Nope, I'm going home today." Lenny grinned from ear to ear.
"Home? How long have we been here for?" Ezra asked Chris.
"Two days Ezra." Chris turned to smile at Lenny.
Ezra saw the look that passed between them, he wasn't going to let them get away with it.
"So who's home is he going to?" Ezra saw the smiles on their face's drop. "I mean you can't let him go back to Atlanta while I'm in this state and he can't stay at a hotel on his own."
"A hotel is fine Ezra." Lenny told him. "I'm use to being on my own."
"Not any more Lenny, my friends are your friends. Chris will let you stay with him." It was Ezra's turn to smile. "Won't you Chris?"
"Well Ezra, I . . . "
"You'd do that for me wouldn't you Chris?"
"Sure Ezra, I'd do that for you." Chris cursed him under his breath.
"Promise me you won't kill each other." Ezra ordered them. He smiled at the silence that filled the room as the two future house mates glared at each other.
The End
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: When Ezra is informed of the death of a friend, he finds out that there is an ulterior motive behind it.
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Notes: This story takes place two months after 'The Betrayal' and refers to that story. Lenny Hoskins is my creation.
Spoilers: None
Status: Complete
Total Word Count: 37,801
The smell of coffee assaulted Ezra's senses, it took a few minutes for him to pull himself from the fading darkness that still surrounded his tortured mind. He pushed the thoughts and emotions that the half sleep ridden mind allowed to assault him. He gained control and opened his eyes, he blinked and brought Josiah's concerned face into focus. The larger man was leaning over him, he flinched back in confusion.
"Sorry Ezra, didn't mean to scare you like that." Josiah smiled and tried to alleviate the damage that he thought he had caused.
"When one opens their eyes to find face mere inches from their own, a person should be scared." Ezra smiled faintly then closed his eyes again. "Who made the coffee? I can't tell for some reason."
"I did. Want some?"
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute Josiah." Ezra thought he needed to add more to the conversation, they still had a false facade to continue, and he opened his eyes to find Josiah sitting in the chair next to him. "Josiah is Mr Larabee still here? I seem to remember him staying with me last night."
"Yes but he promised to stay out of your way when your awake." Josiah knew what Ezra was doing. "Don't worry Ezra, things will work out, you just need some time to get over Lenny's death." He saw Ezra wince at the words. "Those words were spoken in the heat of the moment, neither of you meant want you said."
"I believe he did Josiah, he's always thought that way!" Ezra made sure there was anger evident in his tone but he smiled at Josiah to assure him that the anger was a lie.
"Come out when you’re ready Ezra." Josiah squeezed his shoulder but before he could move away, he felt Ezra's hand grip his.
"Thank you Josiah." Ezra mouthed at him.
Josiah smiled in return then left the room.
Ezra watched him go, he turned to his right and saw his watch on the side table, and he took it and squinted at the small hands that would tell him the time. 'Seven thirty, aw hell!' he thought to himself. He threw the bedclothes aside and found himself undressed, he looked down at the only piece of article that he wore, his boxer shorts, and they had also undressed him. He was going to have a word with them in regards to this.
He jumped slightly when his mobile phone began to ring, he knew who it would be, he swallowed the fear that the sound brought back to him. He quickly made his way to the mobile phone that had been placed on dresser next to the bedroom door, picked it up and turned his back to the door and leant against it. He knew that the others wouldn't come in, the man on the other side of the phone would hear them and know that he wasn't alone. But someone would be trying to listen through the door so he stayed close to it, at least they would hear his side of the conversation.
"Standish."
________________________________________
Stephens had felt his confidence return when the men arrived back at Standish's townhouse, there had been only four of them but if they were there then Standish would soon follow, he did. He was surprised by the fact that Sanchez had actually carried the man in and put him to bed. The ATF's best undercover agent was not handling things well at all. He'd thought that after he had informed Standish that Hoskins was still alive that he would be back to his old self and then put on act an in front of the rest of Team Seven, but that wasn't the case, the man seemed to be in a worse state now than he was before he'd gotten the good news.
Afterwards the six men had gathered in the lounge room to discuss ways of getting Standish to retract his resignation. Stephens had listened to their thoughts and feelings, they had discussed the Southerner openly, and they still wanted to force their help onto the man that continued to refuse it. Larabee thought was still angry with his undercover agent and they tried to convince him to take him back but he had refused by ending the conversation and leaving. Stephens had thought it strange that he was angry with the Southerner and yet stayed with him during the night but the agent had made a few comments to the sleeping man that had convinced him that he wasn't going to take him back until he agreed to accept them and their help. It would only be on his terms and not Standish's. He stated that he was sick of the way he treated the rest of the team. Stephens thought Larabee was a coward for not saying it to the agent's face, he was unaware of the fact that the words were meant for his ears.
Stephens picked up the phone and walked towards the Federal agent who had regained consciousness not long after the six agents had begun their conversation, but he knew he would pass out again shortly, he had been in and out of consciousness since he had hit him. The man had heard everything the men had to say about his friend. He knelt down in front of Hoskins and smiled at the anger his light blue eyes held, he also saw pain, but that would soon end with his death.
"Things are getting serious now aren't they, Standish has resigned, Larabee doesn't want the stubborn ass back, his friends want to help but he won't let them and he's in a complete mess." Stephens laughed at the man before him.
Lenny spat in his face, there wasn't anything else he could do, he was too angry to speak, and he was still handcuffed to the chair that lay on its side so he wasn't able to physically assault the man either. He grimaced when the man just smiled back at him. He watched as he stood up. He hoped that he would at least pick him up but he didn't make any movement to lift the cold agent off the floor that he lay on. The floor had caused a chill to enter his bones and they now ached with a passion, but not as much as his head. It felt like it had been split open, his blurred vision also told him that he had a concussion, he hoped that he was going to be conscious when Ezra showed up, he needed to warn him, to tell him what Stephens had planned.
Stephens turned away from him and wiped the spit from his face, he was going to enjoy killing him in front of the ATF agent. He dialled in Standish's mobile number, he knew the agent was on his own, Sanchez had just left the room, it only rang for a few seconds before it was answered, the agent stated his surname but that was all.
"Are you on your own?" He still wasn't ready to let him know that his place was bugged.
"Yes. I want to talk to Lenny." The Southerner demanded.
"Sure." Stephens bent over and placed the phone next to Hoskins' left ear, he wouldn't allow it to touch his skin, and the sticky mess that covered the side of his face would then cover his phone.
"Ezra I don't want you coming here . . . " Lenny growled into the phone but the force of Stephen's fist against his cheek stopped the words from escaping. He cried out when his head bounced off the floor, the pain quickly ended when he went back into the painless black void.
"Lenny!" Ezra raised his voice in anger.
"Keep your voice down!" Stephens ordered him, he waited a few seconds to see if there was a reaction from the men in the lounge room, they had gone quite when the mobile had rung but made no movement to go into the bedroom, Larabee had told them not to bother. There was no reaction so he continued. "Did you do what I wanted?" He knew that the agent had succeeded.
"Yes." Ezra whispered into the phone.
"Now listen carefully, I want you to be at the Old Fairly's Emporium in thirty minutes. It's on South street, there's a back entrance. We'll be waiting for you."
Ezra thought he was about to hang up without mentioning the bugs on his car and in his clothes.
"You wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, no jacket. There is also a bug on your car, I had someone watching your place and they say two agents putting it on. You remove it. Someone will follow you and if they see your friends, Hoskins will be dead when you get here." Stephens waited a moment for the information to sink in. "Do you understand?"
"Yes." Ezra repeated.
________________________________________
The line was disconnected, Ezra placed the phone in front of his face and stared at it, he slid to the floor, the pain in Lenny's voice stayed in his thoughts, he was hurt and it was his fault. He pushed the thought from his mind, he had to be in control.
'Think damn it!' he berated himself.
He knew the man had lied about someone watching him, if that were true then he would have known about the second bug on his car, it also meant that there wouldn't be anyone following him. He had gotten around the bugs in his clothing by telling him what to wear. The man was trusting him, he thought that because he was willing to do anything to save Lenny that he would do as he was told, that he wouldn't involve the others but the man had made a mistake by thinking that, because that 'anything' included asking his friends to help him.
Thirty minutes, it was going to take twenty to get to that side of town. He stood up and dressed quickly in a pair of newly warn in jeans and a rarely worn loose t-shirt, he pulled on his boots, he didn't bother with a gun, the others would be there to back him up, Chris had promised that they would get Lenny out alive. He didn't have to leave the room to get his keys because there was a spare set hidden in the garage. He put his mobile in his back pocket and made his way to the window of his first floor apartment. He had to be quite when he left, he couldn't cause any doubt in the mind of the man who was listening, he opened the window and slipped through the opening, he didn't bother closing it behind him. He looked back into the room and saw Vin enter, he caught his eye and gave him his two-finger salute then ran towards the garage.
________________________________________
"I'm going to check on him." Vin called from his position beside the bedroom door, he hadn't heard Ezra's voice for a few minutes and he decided that the conversation was now over.
"Why?" Chris asked him, his tone told the man who was listening that he didn't care but his body language agreed with what Vin was about to do, he nodded in agreement.
Vin opened the door and walked in, the room was empty, he looked towards the window and saw Ezra watching him, he saw the two finger salute that tried to show him that the agent was confident in what he was about to do. But Vin saw something different, the man was scared, he wasn't able to hide it from him, there also seemed to be a sadness that filled his visage. Vin nodded in return. He turned around and walked back into the lounge room.
"He's gone!" Vin yelled at the group of men.
"Shit! I knew it!" Chris growled for the listener's benefit. "I knew that damn southern cuss would do this."
"That's not the point now Chris." Josiah spoke. "JD, where is he headed?"
JD smiled then went into the spare room to grab the bag that held the surveillance equipment, he came back into the room and took out the tracker.
"He hasn't gone anywhere." JD stated simply then mouthed South.
"He's still in the garage?" Buck asked stupidly, a large smile creased his face.
"That or he's gotten rid of the bug like he did with the phone!" Chris growled. "Let's get going, we're going to have to split up, put an APB out on him. We have to find him before the idiot gets himself killed."
Once the six men were at the cars that were parked on the street Chris turned to JD whose attention was devoted to the tracker.
"JD?" This time he allowed the concern he felt to sound in his voice.
"He's still headed south."
"Okay, JD, Josiah, your with me, the rest of you follow us." Chris ordered them and they made their way to their individual cars.
Chris drove for ten minutes following JD's instructions when his phone rang, he took it out and handed it over to Josiah, he kept listening to what JD was telling him, he quickly turned right and realised they were headed towards the abandoned warehouses on the South side of town. He risked a glance sideways when he heard Ezra's name, he saw the smile on Josiah's face.
"We're on our way Ezra, and don't worry, we'll get both of you out of there in one piece." Josiah hung up the mobile and put into his coat pocket. "Old Fairly's Emporium on South street, Ezra has to be there in," he looked at his watch, "twenty minutes, he should get there in fifteen. He has to go through the back entrance."
Chris nodded. "He's finally trusting us Josiah, I don't care what he says, and he trusts us to help him."
Josiah smiled in return.
________________________________________
Ezra pulled into the laneway that ran parallel to the Old Fairly's Emporium, he drove to the end of the lane and parked the car next to the back door, and the position of his car would make it easier for the others to find the entrance. He knew they would only be about five minutes behind him but he also knew that a lot could happen in that time, he was going to have to stall the man until they got there. He just hoped he had enough control to do it, he wasn't sure how he was going to react once he laid his eyes on Lenny, he didn't know what condition his surrogate brother was in.
He got out of the car and quietly closed the door, he stepped up to the entrance and took a deep breath, he had to do it for Lenny, he didn't care about himself, and he wasn't worried about his own safety, only Lenny's. He opened the door and stepped into the abandoned warehouse. He didn't see anything at first but then his eyes focused on the man who appeared from behind a damaged wall. He could see the confident smile that the face held, it would have been a handsome face except for the scar that ran through the upper lip. It caused the lip to curl, thus resulting in a smile that turned into an ugly grimace. Ezra smiled in return and made sure his dimples appeared, he thought he saw jealousy in the man's browns eyes, which is exactly what he wanted.
"Where's Lenny?" Ezra managed to stay in control but didn't think it would last. He didn't know if his friend was still alive, he had to see him to believe it.
"Where's my proof?" The same voice that spoke to him on the phone asked in return.
Ezra didn't answer him, he moved towards the man instead.
"The proof first." Stephens removed his gun from his left shoulder holster and aimed it at Ezra's chest.
"Lenny first." Ezra growled at him.
"As you wish." Stephens motioned for Ezra to go through the open doorway in the wall.
Ezra did as he was told, he knew that a few minutes would have passed, he needed just a few more. He stepped through the doorway, his eyes frantically searched the rubbish-filled area for his friend but he couldn't see him.
"Where the hell is Lenny!" Ezra turned to face the man, the crooked smile was no longer there.
"Over there." He nodded towards an area that was hidden by a high wall of rubble.
Ezra moved quickly towards it. He heard the man hurry after him as he rounded the pile of broken cement then stopped in his tracks. He looked at the still form of his friend. Lenny was seated in a chair but that chair lay on its side, so did his friend, his eyes were closed, the blue orbs were hidden from him. He could see the blood that matted his hair and covered most of his face.
"Lenny?" He whispered, he didn't want to raise his voice, he was afraid of not getting an answer.
"He's not dead yet, I want you to watch him die before I kill you." Stephens told the undercover agent. He could see the tremors already begin to wrack the man who stood before him, he didn't receive any sort of acknowledgement to tell him that the man had heard what he said. He watched as the agent moved towards his friend.
Ezra forced himself to step forward, he had to know, and he thought he heard the man behind him say something but his mind was on the form that lay before him. As he got closer, he could see the steady rise and fall of Lenny's chest. His legs buckled with relief, he allowed himself to fall to his knees beside his friend, and the man behind him had been forgotten.
"Lenny?" He placed his hand against Lenny's blood covered cheek. "Lenny, it's Ezra. Lenny."
Ezra felt the cold steel of the gun as it was pressed against his right temple.
"Get up Standish." Stephens ordered him.
Ezra brought himself back to reality and stood up, he turned around but made sure he kept himself between the man with the gun and Lenny. His friend wasn't going to be hurt again, he would die before he allowed that happened.
________________________________________
Chris also pulled into the lane that ran along side of the building, he could see Ezra's black jaguar at the end. He stopped the car and got out. He watched as Buck's car came to a stop on the side street, he waited patiently for the others to join him, the six men then made their way to the entrance that would take them to Ezra and hopefully Hoskins.
Josiah and Vin stood on either of the doorway, Chris opened the door then quickly moved to the side next to Vin, he then poked his head into the dark opening, no bullets were fired in his direction so he stepped through the entrance into the building. The others followed, they waited a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dimmed light. Chris cocked his head in the direction of the southern drawl that had demanded to know where his friend was. He nodded to the others to follow him.
________________________________________
"The proof. Now!" Stephens put his left hand out.
"There isn't any." Ezra smiled at him, he could see the disbelief fill the man's face, he also saw Chris step around the pile of rubble, his friend had kept his word, Chris and the others would get Lenny out for him.
"You closed the case." Stephens began to lose the confidence he had gained, he changed the direction of his aim, when he fired the gun the bullet would enter Hoskins' skull, he thought this movement would scare the agent into admitting that he was lying.
"No, he did." Ezra nodded to Chris who was still making his way towards them, Josiah and Vin were now on either side of him, their guns were aimed at various positions on the man who stood before them, and each aimed area on the man's body would bring him down without killing him.
Stephens didn't look behind him, he thought Standish was bluffing. "Are you ready to watch your friend die?"
"ATF drop your weapon!" Chris yelled out.
The six ATF agents were now strategically placed around the suspect, each hoping that the man would put his gun down without firing it. Lenny was in the direct line of fire but they knew that Ezra would throw himself into that line of fire to protect his friend, they knew that Ezra was willing to die if it meant that Lenny would live.
Stephens' eyes opened wide in surprise, he stared at Standish but kept his gun aimed at the Federal agent.
"You said it yourself, I would do anything to keep Lenny alive. I asked my friends for their help." Ezra knew he was going to fire his gun. It was the man’s intention to kill Lenny in front of him, he stepped sideways and lowered his body by bending his knees, he had to put his upper body in front of Lenny, if he tried to stand in front of him the bullet could easily miss him, he couldn't take the chance.
Chris also knew the man was going to fire, he pulled the trigger of his own gun too late, a split second earlier and he would have saved his undercover agent from being shot. He didn't aim to kill, he couldn't shoot a man in the back, and the bullet entered the upper thigh of the man's right leg. He went down but not before Ezra.
Ezra felt the bullet enter his stomach, he then felt the excruciating pain that followed it, the pain was centred around his midsection, but the lack of pain in his back told him that he had succeeded in saving Lenny's life. He fell to the ground, his back hit the legs of the chair and he grunted in pain. He wanted to curl himself up into a ball to try and ease the pain that he knew would worsen under Nathan's probing fingers but he had to know that Lenny was okay, he tried to roll over so he could face his friend but hands grabbed him and forced him onto his back. He looked up at Chris and Nathan's concerned faces, Buck soon joined the two men at his side. He saw the movement of their lips, he heard the voices that vocalised their concern but he couldn't make out the words.
"Lenny?" Ezra ignored what they were trying to do for him, he struggled against them, and he had to know about Lenny.
"Josiah's taking care of him Ezra." Nathan assured his injured friend, he pulled Ezra's blood stained t-shirt up and probed the wound, he felt Ezra tense up under his fingers examination.
"No, you check him, Nathan, please." The Southerner spoke through gritted teeth, he had concentrated on what Nathan had said and it wasn't what he wanted to hear. "I need to know . . . that he's okay."
"Give me a minute Ezra . . . " Nathan felt the tight grip on his forearm and he looked down into the pleading green eyes of his friend.
"Please . . . Nathan."
Nathan relented, he didn't want to leave Ezra but the Southerner was panicking, his frantic movements weren't helping his situation. "Okay. Chris, find something to use, try and stop the bleeding, I'll be as quick as I can."
Ezra's eyes tried to follow Nathan's movements, he struggled to roll over when he was no longer in his sight but someone's hands forced him to stay on his back. He cried out in pain when he felt the pressure against his stomach, his eyes closed tightly, his teeth clenched and the sweat begin to gather on his face. Ezra drew his left leg up towards his chest, the right one wouldn't work, someone was leaning on it, and the same person then grabbed his raised leg and pulled it down. He heard Chris' apology but he continued to ignore those around him, he needed to know that Lenny was going to be okay. He opened his eyes and tried to turn his head, he succeeded so he tried to force his body to follow, and he was stopped. He struggled even harder against the men who held him down, his breaths now came in short painful gasps, if he breathed too deeply the pain was even worse.
"Ambulance is on its way." JD informed Chris then added his own strength to try to stop Ezra's struggles. He held onto his shoulders, he looked down into Ezra's eyes and saw the pain and fear that filled them, he wanted to look away but forced himself to continue looking at his friend, if Ezra looked up at him he wanted him to know that he was with him, that he wasn't too scared to look at him.
Chris nodded, he continued to apply pressure to the bullet wound in Ezra's stomach, he didn't have to look for something to use. Buck was now only half dressed, he had pulled his colourful t-shirt off and handed it to him. He looked over at Vin who was taking care of the man he had shot, the ex-bounty hunter had used the wounded man's shirt to strap the leg wound, and he then handcuffed him.
"Vin, does he have the keys to these handcuffs?" Josiah asked him, he had lifted Lenny's head and it now lay in his lap, he wiped the blood-matted hair away from the wound so Nathan could take a closer look at it.
Vin quickly searched the man and came up with a set of keys. He made his way over to Lenny but paused to check on Ezra, the smaller man was still struggling to get to his friend. He moved on and sat down next to Josiah, he removed the handcuffs from the Federal agent's hands and then freed him from the chair he had been handcuffed to. Once he had done this Nathan turned Lenny onto his back. He efficiently checked him for any injuries apart from the obvious one to the side of his head and found none, he then checked his pupils and found them to be uneven, his fingers probed the deep abrasion on his skull, the blood no longer flowed from it but it was going to need stitches. Nathan nodded to Josiah then went back to Ezra.
"Ezra he's fine, Lenny's going to be okay, he'll have a bad concussion and he's got some cuts and bruises but otherwise he's fine." He saw the relief in Ezra's eyes but his struggles didn't stop. "Ezra you need to stay still."
"No, Lenny . . . " Ezra groaned.
"He's fine Ezra, now keep still!" Chris ordered him.
Ezra continued to struggle against them. He needed and wanted to be with his friend, the fear that had plagued him took control. He wasn't going to relax until he was sure that Lenny was going to be fine, he knew that Nathan wouldn't lie to him but he needed to see him, he needed to hear him talk, to hear him tell him that he was fine. He needed to hear it from Lenny.
Josiah knew that the only way to stop Ezra from moving about was to put Lenny in a position where Ezra could see him, they were already close to each other but the awkward angle stopped Ezra from seeing the face of his friend. He nodded to Vin who lifted the agent's legs, Josiah took the shoulders that were resting against his thighs, and together they lifted Hoskins and moved him next to Ezra. Buck moved out of the way so Ezra could see his friend.
"See Ezra, he's okay." Josiah told him as he laid the agent's head back into his lap.
"Lenny!" Ezra called out to him, he struggled even more, he knew what a serious head injury could do, he himself had been in a coma for three weeks because of a gunshot wound, he knew the same thing could happen to Lenny.
"Ezra, shut up." Lenny croaked. "I'm trying to get some rest here, and do as your told."
Lenny turned towards his friend's voice. He opened his eyes and expected to find him leaning over him but instead his blurred vision saw something different. He could make out the blood covered t-shirt that someone held against Ezra's stomach, he immediately forgot what he was going through, his first concern was Ezra, it had been all along but now that he saw that his young friend was injured, his own pain was pushed aside.
"Ezra!" He tried to sit up but the dizziness he felt and the hands that gripped his shoulders caused him to fall back down.
"Both of you stay put!" Nathan yelled at them.
Lenny winced at the volume of Nathan's voice, he ignored him much like Ezra had been doing and rolled onto his side so he could look at his friend, the pain that was etched on his face caused his anger to rise.
"What the hell happened to him!?" Lenny growled at Chris. "This is your fault, you . . . "
Josiah put his hand over Lenny's mouth, it was the quickest and easiest way to stop the agent's angry words.
"No Lenny, Ezra asked us to help him. We knew that his house had been bugged, what was said was for that man's benefit." Josiah removed his hand when he saw the anger leave Lenny's face.
"He asked you for help?" Lenny looked up at Josiah but had to turn away, the dizziness had returned.
"Yeah he did." Chris smiled across at him. "Ezra are you going to stop fighting us now?"
Ezra nodded, the pain that he was feeling was evident in his face, it was gaining control of his whole being, he looked sideways at Lenny and watched as his friends eyes closed, they didn't open again.
"Lenny?" Ezra whispered.
"He's asleep Ezra, he's going to be fine." Nathan assured him, he lifted his head when he heard the ambulance siren.
"JD." Chris looked at him. "Go and meet them, show them where we are."
JD nodded, he squeezed Ezra's shoulders and smiled at him when he looked up into his eyes, and he then left to meet the medics.
"Aw hell." Ezra moaned at thought of spending more time in a hospital.
________________________________________
Chris tried to sit still but his lack of patience prevented him from doing so, he got up again and began to pace the crowded hospital room, his friends had gotten used to his excessive movements, they mirrored their own feelings. He walked past the base of the bed and looked into the slack features of Lenny Hoskins, the Federal agent still hadn't regained consciousness since arriving at the hospital. Hoskins had been taken to the emergency room when they arrived, Ezra and the man called Stephens had been taken straight up to surgery. Stephens was now being held in a room further down the corridor, a policeman guarded his door. Chris had every intention of questioning him later once he knew that Ezra was going to be okay. It had been three hours since they arrived and as far as he knew the Southerner was still in surgery and all he could think about was the last time they sat in a waiting room, they had nearly lost Ezra then, he hoped it wasn't going to be that bad again.
"What the hell is taking so long." He muttered to himself.
"Stomach wounds can be tricky Chris." Nathan repeated, he had already used this excuse to try to ease the tension that filled the room but the comment just made things worse.
"Is tricky another term for serious Nathan?" Chris glared at him.
"No, things just take longer." Nathan answered him without looking away.
"Chris." Josiah called him then nodded to the door that lead out into the corridor.
Chris knew what he wanted so he ignored him but he couldn't ignore the strong grip that took his arm and dragged him out of the hospital room. The others watched in amusement, Chris wasn't one to allow someone to treat him like that, they expected Josiah to return with a fresh bruise on his face.
Chris pulled his arm from Josiah's grip, and turned to face him, he didn't remove the anger that showed on his face.
"What the hell do you think you’re doing Josiah?" Chris asked him. "Don't you ever do that to me in front of my men again do you hear me?"
"You’re scared aren't you." It wasn't a question, Josiah knew he was right. "This is what you meant when you said it was still difficult to stay around people you care about?"
"I'm not the only though am I?" Chris could also see the fear that filled Josiah's eyes, the same look was the other four men in the room they just left.
"No. But it's worse for you isn't it?" Josiah asked him.
"Yeah, when you feel it once, you don't want to feel it again. It's different from what normally happens, you can accept an accident or illness a lot easier but when the person you care about is taken from you by a violent act . . . it's hard Josiah." Chris explained.
"And that's what Ezra's feeling, that's why he wants to end the friendship with Lenny." Josiah nodded in understanding and crossed his hands over his chest. "He's gone through Lenny's death more than once already, he doesn't want to go through it again."
"I'll talk to him." Chris told him.
"So how do you do it Chris? How do stay around knowing that one of us could die?" Josiah looked into his leaders blue eyes, he watched as a haunted look overcame them.
"The good times Josiah, I wouldn't throw them away because I was afraid of what might happen, if I did that I wouldn't have a family now, I wouldn't have friends. That's what I'll have to get through to Ezra. He needs Lenny, he needs us."
"Mr Larabee." Doctor Franklin called to the darkly dressed man that stood outside of the room the Federal Agent was in, he smiled at him and offered his hand, he liked the strong handshake, it always told him a lot about the person he was about to speak to, he repeated the greeting with the man who stood next to Larabee.
"How's Ezra?" Chris asked as soon as the greetings were over.
"He'll be fine with plenty of rest. The bullet entered at a downward and sideways angle, the bullet entered here." He pointed to the left side of his naval then drew a line that ended near his left hip. "But lodge here in his abdominal muscles near his hip, he was very lucky, someone must have been watching over him, the bullet was obviously fired at close range, if the angle had been straight it would have done more serious damage . . . " He left the sentence unfinished.
"When can we see him?" Chris stepped closer to the Doctor that stood two inches shorter than him.
"I understand that you wanted Agent Standish in the same room as Agent Hoskins?" Doctor Franklin asked.
"Yes." Was all Chris would tell him.
Josiah decided to elaborate when the Doctor raised the sandy coloured eyebrows that sat above intelligent hazel eyes. "Ezra and Lenny are close, Ezra will want to be with him, if he isn't then he will find a way to get to him and that means leaving his bed."
"I assure you that Agent Standish is quite incapable of getting out of a bed at this moment and will not be able to for a few more days." Franklin argued.
"And I assure you Doctor that Ezra can and will, the man is as stubborn as a mule, if he wants to be with Lenny then he will be and you telling him that he can't would only make him more determined, believe me, I've wanted to beat more than enough sense into him for a lot less." Chris smiled at him.
"Your serious aren't you?"
"Yes we are." Josiah agreed with the young Doctor.
"Okay, I'll arrange for him to be brought down here, it'll be at least another twenty minutes though." The Doctor explained, he turned to walk away but stopped, he hesitated for a moment and then decided to say what was on his mind. "I don't suppose there's any chance of you men leaving them alone to rest for a while." He saw the smiles that lined the faces of the two rugged men. "I didn't think so."
"Thanks Doc." Chris called after him, he smiled as the young man waved a hand over his shoulder.
"I'm beginning to think that someone warns the Doctor's about us before we get here." Chris commented to Josiah as he pushed the door open.
"They have a warning printed on the front desk of the Emergency room." Josiah admitted.
"They don't?" Chris frowned over his shoulder at him.
"Afraid they do." Josiah was serious. "We've all spent too much time here Chris."
________________________________________
The twenty minutes that they had to wait for Ezra to be brought to the room felt like an eternity, Chris had repeated what Doctor Franklin had told them but they all still needed to see Ezra to be sure. Chris continued to pace the room but this time he walked between the two beds, his shadow danced across the sleeping form in the occupied bed, he looked at Lenny each time he turned, he wanted the agent to wake up, they needed to talk.
"Chris would you please sit down!" Buck growled at him, he thought if Josiah could get away with being angry at him then he could also but the glare that was thrown at him told him was wrong.
"Why don't you all just leave." Lenny told them, he wasn't use to such attention, especially from people who didn't even like him.
"How you feelin' Lenny?" Chris stopped next to the head of the bed and looked down at the angry expression. He ignored it.
"I have a headache and your presence isn't making it any better." He opened his eyes and looked around the room, Ezra's absence reminded him of what had happened. "Ezra!" He sat up and pushed away the hands that tried to force him to lie back down. "Let go of me!"
"Ezra's fine Lenny, they're bringing him down here soon." Chris used more force to push the agent back down.
"He's alright?" The doubt filled his eyes, he looked around the faces that stared back at him.
"Yes. He'll be here in about ten minutes." Nathan told him.
"Here . . . you mean here . . . in the same room . . . here?" Lenny began to shake his head, he ignored the pain that it caused. "Oh no . . . I love him like a brother, you know that, but I refuse to stay in the same room
as him. Hell all he does is complain."
"The only person I hear complaining is you." Chris smiled at him.
"Yeah well you would take his side." Lenny growled at him. "You like him!"
"Looks like it's seven against one this time doesn't it?" Chris didn't wait for an answer. "Guys, you want to give us some time alone before Ezra gets here." He watched the others leave the room, he took the nod that Josiah gave him as encouragement.
"Something is wrong with Ezra, if you lied to me . . . " Lenny tried to sit up again.
"No he's fine. We just need to talk that's all."
"About what happened?" Lenny asked him.
"Yes and Ezra." Chris pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down. "We got an ID on the guy who abducted you, ran it through the computers. Nasty guy, you’re lucky you got out of it with your life."
"I was undercover, trying to get some evidence against a guy named Jordian, I didn't get anything on him but I did get something on a guy that worked for him. Merchant, that was the case that Ezra was working on." He saw Chris nod in agreement. "I was at this restaurant in town having dinner with Jordian and the next thing I recall I was waking up, handcuffed to a chair in that warehouse, must have put something in my food."
"You have any idea why they grabbed you?" Chris wanted to know.
"To get at Ezra."
"But how did they know about the connection between you two, how did they even know about Ezra?" Chris was confused.
"Tanner." Lenny stated simply.
"Vin?"
"One of Merchant's men recognised him, knew that he was ATF so they started running some checks, found out that Ezra was also ATF so they dug deeper, found out about the rest of you guys, they planned on using one of you but then they found out about me. Merchant reported to Jordian, who instantly recognised me from my photo, it went from there." Lenny rolled onto his side so he could look at Chris. "They knew Ezra was a loner and that it would take more of a threat to get what they wanted, so they decided to fake my death, gave them the results that they expected, but then Ezra did something they didn't expect, he asked for your help." Lenny lifted his eyes looked into Chris'. "I heard everything, I know what he went through and I want to thank you for being there for him Chris."
"That part's not over yet Lenny but we'll get into that in a minute." Chris didn't flinch under Lenny's scrutinising stare. "Why would they go to all that trouble? Why not just kill Ezra and Vin while they were on the case?"
"Because you would have known who killed them." Lenny grimaced at him, Larabee already knew the answer he just wanted confirmation of what he was already thinking. "Then you would have not let up until you had Merchant in custody and from there you would have gotten Jordian. No they had to do it in a way that wouldn't connect them to the case."
"Do you have any idea who the man was in the burnt out car and how did they know about your prosthesis?"
"Merchant is the man in the car, Jordian didn't like the idea that he had let two ATF agents get so close even if they couldn't get any evidence on him. Guess they knew about my pin from my medical records."
"It wasn't in your FBI file. Thompson told us that he didn't know you had a second one." Chris told him.
"Thompson?" Lenny smiled. "He helped you with this?"
"Yeah."
"One down and the rest of the FBI in Atlanta to go." Lenny smiled.
"He also told us about your mission to clear Ezra." Chris saw his embarrassment and quickly went back to the original subject. "So how did you know all this?"
"Stephens didn't worry about talking in front of me, he planned on killing me, just wanted to wait so he could do it in front of Ezra, and he took pleasure in his emotional pain."
"I'm going to cause some physical pain on that arsehole shortly." Chris growled.
"Now you can talk about Ezra." Lenny yawned but he wasn't going to allow his exhaustion to stop him now.
"You said you heard what he went through, Josiah talked to him back at the office, after he told us what was going on. He's afraid of losing you Lenny, actually he's terrified of going through it all again, he thinks that if he was no longer your friend that he wouldn't have to go through it again. We haven't had a chance to convince him otherwise yet."
Chris looked down at his hands and wanted for Lenny's response, he was surprised by what the agent had to say.
"I know, I felt the same after he nearly died." Lenny looked at Chris and smiled. "What? You think that I don't have fears either?"
"No, it's just that . . . " Chris actually stammered.
Lenny moved onto his back. "When we came back from the cabin, those first two days when I wouldn't let you see Ezra, it was his idea, and he wanted to be able to talk freely without worrying about interruptions, without having to deal with you guys. He told me about how he felt when he thought I'd been killed, told me that he didn't want to go through it again, I told him that I felt the same way after he'd been shot. We got it out of our systems and came to an understanding, he may say it Chris but he won't end the friendship."
"Josiah sounded pretty sure." Chris warned him.
"No, he knows I mean too much too him, besides," Lenny grinned mischievously, "we promised we wouldn't do that to each other, all we have to do is remind him of that promise."
"It won't be that easy Lenny, a promise isn't going to stop him from hurting." Chris told him.
"I know Chris, I know." He rolled his head to the side.
"I'll talk to him when he's better." Chris patted his shoulder then turned at the sound of the door opening.
"Ezra's here." Josiah told him then stepped aside to allow the nurses to roll the gurney in.
Chris knew that Lenny wasn't going to stay down so he grabbed the struggling form and helped him to sit up, by the time he had placed the pillows behind his back they were already lifting Ezra onto the bed. Chris turned around then stepped to the side so Lenny could see his friend.
Lenny's eyes travelled over Ezra's still form, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his pale features were slack, the only tube that ran to his body was an IV tube, two small gauges had been placed on his stomach, and Lenny frowned in confusion.
"They had to make an incision to get to the bullet." Chris saw the confusion on Lenny's face, he knew it was because of the gauges.
"But he's going to be okay?" Lenny asked again but kept his eyes on his friend, he had to stretch his neck to look around the nurse that kept blocking his view, he didn't get angry, he knew she was only doing her job and once Ezra was comfortable she would leave.
"Yes he's going to be fine." Doctor Franklin told him.
Lenny didn't look at the owner of the voice.
"Mr Larabee, I insist that if you are going to stay that you make sure these men get plenty of rest, I don't want them sitting up and talking into the small hours of the morning." Franklin moved forward and pulled the pillows out from behind Lenny, he then forced him to lie down. "I won't hesitate in sedating either of them if I have to." This statement was aimed at the patient who glared back at him.
"We're in hell." Chris muttered, he was unaware of Josiah standing behind him.
"No, hell will be when Ezra wakes up." Josiah squeezed his shoulder.
________________________________________
Ezra tried to force his eyes to open but he couldn't, they were too heavy and he didn't have the strength to fight them, he felt the gentle touch of someone's hand wiping his face, he wanted to acknowledge the touch but again the lack of strength stopped him from doing so, he even tried his voice but nothing worked. He listened as the voices broke through his mud-filled mind, he recognised Lenny's voice and his tone told him that his friend was fine, he was arguing with Nathan, something about eating hospital food.
He listened as a voice whispered in his ear, it was Chris, and it must have been his hand that he felt. Ezra inwardly smiled when Chris requested that he wake up, that they needed his help that only he could shut Lenny up. Ezra refused, he was going to get as much peace as he could before he faced his friend’s complaints. Lenny was never able to deal with pain. He felt the comforting feeling that the touch against his skin and the sound of his friends arguing brought to him. He allowed himself to float away in that comfort, he knew it would still be there when he woke up.
________________________________________
Chris looked around the room, he could make out the sleeping men in the darkness, he had left a light on earlier but Doctor Franklin had showed up and turned it off, the man wasn't going to force them to leave but he sure as hell made sure that his patients were well looked after. They were spread out on the floor and in the spare chairs that the nurses brought in, no one was going to leave until Ezra woke up. He tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes, when it didn't work he stretched his arms above his head. That didn't work either, he didn't want to sleep, he was going to have to wake someone up so they could sit with Ezra, he didn't want the Southerner to wake up to a darkened room and not know where he was. He grimace at Buck's form, the man snored loud enough to wake the dead, and that was how both Lenny and Ezra slept.
"Who the hell is making all that racket?" Lenny grumbled.
"Now that would be you Lenny." Chris informed the waking agent, he turned away from his vigil of Ezra and turned on the bedside lamp, it's weak light fell across Lenny's face, illuminating the paleness of his skin.
Lenny opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice, he grimaced at Chris, this wasn't going to be a pleasant stay, he'd already argued with Nathan earlier. "Me? I just woke up."
"Yeah, and it was peaceful before you did." Chris smiled at him knowing that his cheerful mood would aggravate him. "I've never known someone to complain so much."
Lenny's expression caused a small laugh to escape from Chris's lips. "I haven't heard a word out of Ezra."
"That's because he's too lazy to wake up!" Lenny retorted.
"Wake up? How am I supposed to sleep with you complaining all day?" Ezra added to the conversation.
"It's about time Ezra." Chris turned to him, he turned on a second light and listened as the others began to stir.
"I woke up earlier when someone refused to eat their dinner but I couldn't spoil your fun." Ezra grimaced in pain when he tried make himself more comfortable.
"Try not to move Ezra." Chris placed a hand against Ezra's chest to stop him from moving.
"Chris . . . may I ask you why I'm sharing a room with him?" He still found it difficult to open his eyes, he was beginning to think that they had been taped shut.
"I heard that!" Lenny growled at him.
"We didn't want you trying to find your way to him when you should be resting in a bed. We could separate you now that you each know the other is going to be okay." Chris told him.
"Please." Ezra muttered before he fell back to sleep.
"He didn't mean that." Lenny assured Chris who was smiling in satisfaction at him.
"Uh huh." Chris nodded at him.
________________________________________
"Ezra?" Chris whispered in the Southerner's ear, he watched him grimace. He quickly moved his head out of the way when Ezra's left hand swiped at him, he grabbed it and pulled it back down before he could pull the IV tube out. "Come on Ezra, wake up."
"Why?" Ezra demanded.
"The Doctor's here, he wants to talk to you." Chris told him.
"Tell him to come back later." Ezra used his right hand to try to push Chris away from him, someone else grabbed it. He then felt the sharp pain the bright light caused to his skull when someone forced his eyelid open, he threw his head to the side only to have another hand stop his movement. "Is this some sort of conspiracy against me?"
"Are you in pain Mr Standish?" Franklin asked him.
"Don't I sound like I'm in pain?" Ezra forced his eyes open and looked at the blurred figure leaning over him. "I seemed to remember being shot in the stomach at some point."
"No, you sound like the stubborn mule your friends describe to me but I've turned their description into a more polite form that I would use." Franklin commented as he lifted Ezra's wrist to check his pulse.
"Are you feeling nauseas at all?" Franklin continued his questions while he probed the patient's stomach.
"If I was I'd throw up on you!" Ezra replied, he already disliked this Doctor but then he disliked all Doctors, he pulled his arm free of Chris' grip and slapped the Doctor's hands away from his stomach.
"Sorry wouldn't do you any good." The Doctor pulled at his scrubs. "Plastic."
Ezra glared at Chris who was agreeing with everything the Doctor was saying.
"And if you continue to be unpleasant I will make sure that your three week stay will also be unpleasant."
"Three weeks." Ezra's mouth dropped open.
"Well, no, but it could be." Franklin smiled at him then left the room.
"I don't like him." Ezra told Chris.
"What's new Ezra." Chris stared at him for a moment. "Ezra you can drop the act now, everyone's gone home to get cleaned up, Lenny's asleep, it's just you and me now."
Ezra frowned at him in genuine confusion.
"Josiah told me about what you said in regards to your friendship with Lenny. Do you still feel that way?"
"I promised him that I . . . " Ezra started.
"I don't care about what you promised Ezra, I care about how your feeling." Chris growled at him.
"You know how I feel don't you?" Ezra asked him. "You've been going through it all again, I didn't see it before, and I didn't know what this was doing to you."
"You not going to get out of it by turning this in my direction Ezra." Chris smiled at him.
"I know he's going to die one day Chris and it terrifies me, I know how it feels and I don't want to go through it again." Ezra admitted to him.
"So you’re going to throw away the best thing you have because you’re afraid of a bad moment in your life?"
Chris raised his eyebrows at him, he could see the emotional pain that filled Ezra's eyes.
"Three bad moments Chris. I don't want it to happen again."
"It's going to happen Ezra, whether your there or not, you’re going to feel the same pain, it won't be any less just because you no longer have any attachments with him." Chris explained to him. "I feel the same way about you guys all the time but if I allowed that fear to rule my life, I wouldn't have friends or the family that you guys made me a part of. You have to think about the good times Ezra, and if you end your friendship with Lenny then you would also have to do the same with us because the day will come when our deaths will affect you in the same way."
"When I thought Lenny died up at the cabin it was the first time I ever felt that pain, it nearly killed me Chris."
"I know Ezra. When my family died, I drowned myself in a bottle, I finally allowed Buck to pull me out, but it was a long time before I would let anyone get close again. I didn't think that I could deal with loosing someone else but I know that if it was to happen that I'd have friends to help me get through it. Just like you did after you got that phone call."
Ezra smiled. "I didn't have a choice."
"Not at the start Ezra, but you soon accepted it, I know you said you didn't have a choice but I also know it's because you wanted to." Chris leaned forward. "I know it's not easy Ezra, but when it does happen your friends will be there for you. It's what happens when you become part of a family."
"I'm still getting use to that idea." Ezra forced a smile onto his face.
"I don't want you keeping your friendship because of a promise Ezra, I want you to do it because you want to."
Ezra turned his head and looked at the sleeping back of his friend, he didn't realise that Lenny was awake and listening to the conversation.
"I couldn't throw that away." Ezra looked back at Chris. "He means to much to me, I've never had this sort of relationship with anyone else, I wouldn't have coped without him, he saved my life too many times and I don't mean physically."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear." Chris squeezed his hand.
"What about you? Are you okay?" Ezra asked him seriously.
"It brought up some nasty memories but I'm dealing with them." Chris nodded at him. "Your helping in your usual way."
"What did I do?" Ezra was almost speechless.
"You accepted our help Ezra, it's as simple as that." Chris replied.
Lenny rolled over and looked at the two men. "That's typical isn't it Ezra, you argue with me and talk to him."
Ezra flinched at the sound of Lenny's voice. "I can't talk to you when you’re in pain, you argue too much."
"And you don't" Lenny retorted then smiled at his friend.
"You weren't asleep at all were you?" Ezra glared at him then turned his stare to Chris.
"Nope, I'm going home today." Lenny grinned from ear to ear.
"Home? How long have we been here for?" Ezra asked Chris.
"Two days Ezra." Chris turned to smile at Lenny.
Ezra saw the look that passed between them, he wasn't going to let them get away with it.
"So who's home is he going to?" Ezra saw the smiles on their face's drop. "I mean you can't let him go back to Atlanta while I'm in this state and he can't stay at a hotel on his own."
"A hotel is fine Ezra." Lenny told him. "I'm use to being on my own."
"Not any more Lenny, my friends are your friends. Chris will let you stay with him." It was Ezra's turn to smile. "Won't you Chris?"
"Well Ezra, I . . . "
"You'd do that for me wouldn't you Chris?"
"Sure Ezra, I'd do that for you." Chris cursed him under his breath.
"Promise me you won't kill each other." Ezra ordered them. He smiled at the silence that filled the room as the two future house mates glared at each other.
The End
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
Master Fan Fiction List