"I swear to you Wilmington, if you don't drop that weapon right now, you ain't gonna like the consequences."
"This is not a weapon Vin, it's a basting brush."
"In your hands, that's a weapon. Step away from the grill, and nobody gets hurt."
Buck reluctantly stepped back, but not before slathering more sauce on one of the steaks. "That's my dinner Vin – you can't stop me from fixing it up right."
"Ah Buck, you're not even gonna know there is meat under there with all that fiery sauce on top." JD teased.
"You ruinin' these fine hunks of Texas cattle? Ought to be ashamed of yourself." Josiah took the brush from Buck's hand, looking down at the sizzling meal. "I'd say these are pretty much as close to perfect as the can get. Nathan, you got the rest of the dinner ready in there?" he called into the house.
The patio door slid open as Nathan deftly pushed it with one foot while balancing bowls of potato salad and coleslaw, along with his own bottle of beer. "Hold your horses Josiah. I only have two hands."
"And neither is holding a beer for me. That's just plain inconsiderate my friend." Nathan's glare, while not up to the standard set by Chris Larabee, could still be quite effective, and Buck gave a calming smile as he took the food and set it on the table.
"Chris is bringing the beers. You got everything off the grill Vin?" The sound of the platter on the table was his answer, as Vin then reached across, grabbing Buck's plate. A moment later it was set back in place with a moderately blackened steak taking up most of the surface.
"Don't know why you insist on doing that to a perfectly innocent hunk of meat." he mumbled, taking his seat while spearing a more traditionally prepared serving.
"You all just don't understand what Barbeque is really supposed to be."
"I'm from Texas Buck – I know barbeque. What you have there is the charcoal."
"You guys gonna fight or eat?" Chris handed beers around the table, putting what was left from the box into the tub of ice sitting in the shade.
"See no reason we can't do both."
"Well I do Buck. This is going to be a nice peaceful dinner. We've all earned it and I fully intend to enjoy it."
"Guess there has been enough tension in the last 24 hours to do us for a while." Josiah agreed.
For a few minutes there was nothing but the sound of knives scrapping on plates, and the occasional grunt of satisfaction. Eventually, JD broke the silence.
"I know we ain't supposed to talk work at the table, but did any of you know Ezra could shoot like that?"
"Can't say that I did. I knew he was good. I've seen his scores from the range. But that was some kind of fancy trick shot he pulled off."
"Yeah, to hit the mark square on when shooting from the ground – you don't luck into that." Vin agreed with Chris, sounding genuinely impressed.
JD was still curious. "What about that little gun of his? Up his sleeve like that? Never seen anything like it. It was such a bit of a thing."
"Be grateful he had it kid, or Chris wouldn't be sitting here with us. And you wouldn't be wiping corn off your chin right now if he hadn't taken down that guy on the catwalk when the shooting started. I never even saw the guy up there." JD took Buck's less than subtle hint and grabbed a napkin.
"I'd seen the derringer rigging before, one night when we were sitting on stake out. He was setting it up while he went on about some previous undercover job he'd done. Something about a cult I think." Josiah answered. "But never saw it in use. Something to behold."
"Is it even regulation?" Nathan wondered.
"Don't care. He kept me and the kid here alive, so I don't intend to put anything questioning it or him in the report the Judge sees." Chris looked around at the others, making sure they all understood the message.
"Nothing out of the ordinary that I saw there." Buck agreed. "Unless you count being laid out by a kick to the gut and whack to the head, and still managing to pull your weapon, fire a shot behind your back with a busted up hand and hitting the target square between the eyes, dropping him before he can kill your team leader. If you do count that, then yeah, that was all a little out of the ordinary."
"That part can go in the report. Along with my recommendation for a special commendation."
Josiah shook his head. "He won't like that Chris. The boy hates having attention drawn to himself."
JD almost chocked on the mouthful of beer he had. "Hates attention? Ezra Standish? Do you know a different Ezra than the one I see every day Josiah?"
"Kid's right on this one Sanchez." Buck agreed. "All you got to do is listen to the way he talks. All them fancy words. And the clothes. I've seen peacocks don't look as fancy as he does most of the time."
"That's all on the outside Buck. Camouflage. Keeps you distracted from the real deal." Vin added.
Chris leaned back, looking at his sharpshooter. "That really what you think?" He added Josiah to the question. "What you both think?"
"Chris, the man has been with us for almost 6 months now, and I don't think any one of us know more than we did the first day he walked through the door."
"You just finished telling us you guys talked that night you were on stake out."
"Surface talk Nathan. The kind of conversation the keeps you from really getting to know someone. He talked about jobs and arrests. Nothing personal at all. And I'm betting he hasn't told any of you much more."
"Now that you mention it, he does seem to keep his life pretty quiet. Hell, I couldn't even tell you what the "P" in Ezra P. Standish stands for."
"If I had to guess Buck," Chris spoke, "I'd say private."
"Yeah – maybe too private." Chris looked to Nathan. "Anybody keeping the quiet that long is probably hiding something."
"Don't start with that again Nathan."
"You ever gonna tell us why he left the FBI. We've all heard the rumors. Bribes, sleeping – literally – with the enemy. Lot of serious accusations there Chris."
"And not a shred of proof to back any one of them up."
"So, why'd he leave?"
"Because he couldn't trust the men he was supposed to be working with. They left him hanging out to dry once to often."
"What do you mean left him?"
"Just what I said Vin. He was supposed to have back up on a sting he was running and nobody was there when things went bad. Spent 6 days in the hospital recovering from a beating and 4 stab wounds."
"Shit – that ain't right."
"No kidding Buck. After that he just handed in his badge and walked away. Judge approached me the next day about asking him to join this team. Won't deny that it took some convincing before I went along with it. Took more convincing to get him on board."
"And then he turned around and all but abandoned us on that first job – hanging back the way he did."
"Wasn't hanging back, was he Chris?" Larabee was pleased to see at least one of the men had figured it out and was a bit surprised it was JD. Looking around, he saw the truth dawning on the others as well.
"He hung back to make sure he wasn't abandoned again. Still close enough to move in when we needed him, but keeping his own back covered too."
"Kinda hard to blame him in light of what had happened." Nathan conceded.
"Say what you will about his style, he has never once left us hanging – certainly not the way he was treated."
"Think he's ever going to come to trust us Chris? Open up a bit. Maybe even accept an invitation out her to dinner?"
"Can't really say Vin. He's got a lot to get past before he's gonna be…" Chris stopped in mid thought. They all turned to look at him as the man went pale.
"Chris, you ok? You choking on something?" Nathan made a move toward their leader but stopped at the raised hand.
"I am one seriously fucking stupid son of a bitch."
Vin caught on first. "You never asked him? Six months and you never asked him out here to Saturday dinner?"
"Well I don't recall hearing any of you make the suggestion?"
"Never invited him to Inez's place for beer either." JD realized.
"Shit – not even to a movie." Josiah added.
"He just never seemed open to an invite of any kind. Doesn't even look up from his desk when we talk about lunch or dinner plans at work. Just goes along with whatever we order it most of the time." Nathan leaned back in his seat. "Damn, I don't even know what he'd want on a pizza – if he even likes pizza."
"Everybody likes pizza Nathan – but I get what you're saying." JD looked almost broken hearted. "We never gave him a chance."
"Don't suppose it matters if I point out he never asked to be invited along to any of this." Buck questioned.
"After the shunning he's been through? Don't think it would even dawn on him to suggest it."
"More than that." They all turned to Chris, suddenly deeply concerned by the tone in his voice. "It ain't my place to go into details, but let's just say he didn't exactly have the kind of childhood that taught him a lot about making friends. There's some kind of questionable child rearing habits his mother was into."
"He was abused?" JD sickened at the thought.
"Not the way you're thinking kid, but he didn't exactly have what anyone would call a warm and supportive family life."
"So, no family to speak of, no close friends – or friends at all for that matter. Left his last job with a cloud over his head and traitorous co-workers applauding his departure. Gee – wonder why he's so reluctant to open up to us?"
"Sarcasm isn't attractive on you Josiah." Chris glared. "Instead of detailing the problem don't you think we'd be better spending our time on a solution."
"I got one." Vin stood from the table and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To get him. Bring him out here."
"Well, there's a couple problems there. First, you can't kidnap him. He doesn't want to come you can't force him."
"Fine – I'll go invite him."
"Go where?" Buck asked.
"What?"
"You know where he lives?"
Vin stopped with his hand on the door. "Oh shit. That really ain't right. Six months and I don't have a fucking clue where the man lives." He looked to the others, who, except for Chris, were all shaking their heads, acknowledging their ignorance as well.
"You know Chris – you must know."
"Yeah, I do. But we can't just barge in like a herd of wild horses. In the first place, he was hurt in that arrest. He's got cracked ribs and a mild concussion, so stampeding in and hauling him out here is likely not a good idea."
JD was stunned. "He didn't let on that he was hurt bad."
"He wouldn't. Afraid we'd make a fuss." Chris said.
"More likely afraid we wouldn't" Josiah corrected. "From what you're saying, from what he's been through, he doesn't expect anyone to care, but I'm betting it still rips him up every time he's right about that."
"That sounds like the profiler in you talking."
"Maybe, Chris, but it's also the guy who should have been paying more attention."
"Don't blame yourself. He's had years to perfect the art of keeping things to himself."
"Hurt and alone. All the more reason for us to be checking up on him."
Chris looked around at his team. No, at most of his team. There was one man missing. One man who up until this moment hadn't been fully seen as part of that dynamic. The time had come to correct that.
tbc
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