A/N: This is going to be a collection of one and two shots set in my Troublemakers Universe (considering calling it the Young Peacekeepers au. I don't think anyone has claimed that name), along with maybe some half story/half world building info for you guys. I am still working on Nathan's chapter of that, but it's winding up long, plus I've fallen in love with my ATF story.

This is the first part to a two parter that was referenced in JD's chapter of Troublemakers, it should make sense if you haven't read that, but it will be better if you do :) While there is none in this first chapter, there will be spanking of a teenager and adult in the next chapter.

You all can decide for yourselves what the word Buck accidentally teaches JD means, I looked up a bunch of old timey swear words but couldn't choose. Whatever floats your boat.

I have been asked to add a hanky warning it starts funny, but then gets all emotional h/c, you have been warned, lol.

Reviews are like gold, and who doesn't like gold?

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What does _ mean?

"Ezra, I asked you to meet me at the church half an hour ago." Josiah stood to the side of the round table, arms crossed and an unhappy expression on his face as he stared down at the young gambler, who quickly smiled up at Josiah, pretending he hadn't noticed him standing there until just now, when the preacher had been staring at him for a good thirty seconds before he said anything. Buck guffawed under his breath at the kid's gall, glad that for the handful JD could be he didn't pull that kind of crap.

"Oh, Josiah, Ah'm sorry, Ah must have lost track of time." Nah, from the incredulous look JD was giving Ezra, half admiring and half expecting lightening to strike him at any minute, Buck didn't have to worry about that.

"Funny, how easy it is to do that with your watch in your pocket." Ezra's grin turned slightly sheepish then, giving in gracefully for him. "C'mon, I want to talk to you."

Ezra sighed dramatically as he pushed himself up from the table and Buck tried to exchange an amused look with Chris, but he was too busy staring intently at his whiskey glass, though Buck could tell from the way his head was tilted that he was paying more attention then he wanted them to think. "Ah will have to continue our game some othah time, gentlemen." As he walked towards the saloon doors with Josiah flanking him, Buck heard a slightly apprehensive sounding, "But Ah haven't committed any wrongdoing, Mr. Sanchez, Ah swear." Josiah's louder voice rumbled back at the boy, fading off as Buck strained to listen.

"Did I say you did? I wanted to talk to you about an opportunity I heard about. I know you don't want to go away to a teacher's college, and I don't want you to either, but Mrs. Potter was telling me about this correspondence course..."

His cards abandoned on the table, Buck stretched back in his chair, hand tucked firmly in the waistband of his pants, his feet quickly up on Ezra's vacated seat. He wondered if Chris would notice if he reached over and poured himself another measure of the man's whiskey. Even with the game cut short Ezra had still nearly cleaned him out, he wouldn't be buying his own drinks 'til payday. "Hey guys, why does a milking stool have three legs?" Buck didn't say anything for a minute, holding onto the futile hope that something else would distract JD from his terrible jokes. "Guys?"

Buck sighed, "I dunno JD, why?"

"'Cause the cow's got the utter! Get it? Get it?" JD laughed so uproariously at his own joke, that Buck couldn't help but smile back at him, shaking his head, "The cow's got the utter!"

"Yeah, I get it, JD." Buck leaned over and snagged Chris's whiskey, the man tipping his head back enough that he could glare at Buck from under his hat but not making a move to stop him as he poured a measure first in his own glass and then in Chris's. JD pushed his glass forward and Buck eyed him and his flushed cheeks dubiously. They'd already eaten dinner and the kid had only had the one drink, but JD had morning patrol and the last time he'd been hung over Buck had wound up doing it for him.

He spoiled the boy, he really did. With a sigh he poured about half as much as he'd poured in his own glass in JD's and passed it back to him. "I ain't planning on carrying you back to the boarding house, ya hear?"

"Geez Buck, I ain't a baby. I can handle my booze." JD's voice was indignant as all hell, and he finished up with an eye roll.

"Don't get sassy now." JD spluttered and this time when Buck tried to exchange an amused look with Chris he was right there, grinning that thin, surprisingly sweet, grin back at him. Yep, it was a good night.

A few minutes later, Buck having finished what he'd poured for himself and succeeding in once again 'snagging' Chris's bottle, poured out another shot or two for him and Chris, pushing JD's glass back without adding anything to it, the kid not even noticing, when JD asked again, "Hey guys?" Buck braced himself for an even stupider joke than before, since JD's cheeks had gone from pink to apple red and his eyes seemed a bit glazed, but instead, head tilted to the side philosophically, he asked, "Why does Ezra get nervous about talking to Josiah sometimes? Why does he think he's gonna be in trouble when he ain't even done anything?"

And Buck, none too sober himself, instead of taking the time to give a thoughtful answer to the sixteen year old kid in his care, something he regretted almost immediately, blurted out a thought he'd had more than once about a woman he didn't really think deserved the title of mother, "That's 'cause his Ma is a _" The second it left his mouth Buck felt his eyes widen, heard Chris choking on his drink next to him, half convinced Inez would appear out of nowhere with her broom to banish him for using such a word in her bar, but instead he got Chris's hand connecting with the back of his head, sharp and solid, making his ears ring. "Ow, Chris!" Chris glared at him, face hard and suddenly looking a hell of a lot soberer.

"Watch your mouth."

"Seriously, pard? Ain't a kid." Chris leaned back in his chair, as though he were considering what to do with Buck, Buck putting his feet back on the floor and straightening in his seat, meeting his gaze squarely. He'd known Chris since he was a little younger than JD, and the older boy, and later man, had looked out for him, especially after his Momma died. Even now, there was no doubt he was Chris's man.

But he meant it when he said he wasn't a kid, and after being the one to look after Chris these last few years, the one to have literally pulled his ass from the gutter more than once, Buck wasn't quite willing to let Chris just dictate to him.

"What's that mean?" They both blatantly ignored JD, who'd been looking back and forth between them like an owl twisting its neck the whole time.

"How'd Ezra feel if he heard ya say that about his Ma?"

"Hell, Chris ya don't like her either." Buck's response sounded a lot more defensive then he wanted it to, and he scowled. He wasn't the sort to talk that way about a lady himself, but, well, Maude didn't count.

"Never said I did, don't mean you talk about a friend's ma like that." Chris's glare was eating into him a bit and Buck shifted in his seat, because Chris did have a point there. He didn't care a lick about Maude, but he did about Ezra, and even after all she'd done to the boy he was still very attached to her.

"Well, maybe you got a point there..." That was when he heard it. His doom in the form of a still changing and at the moment more than tipsy voice asking a question that was going to get Buck killed.

"Hey Inez, what does _ mean?" There was a moment where Buck was too scared to look over, not sure what he would see, but then JD yelped and he had to. Inez had set down the tray of drinks she'd been carrying to a nearby table, and taken a firm hold of JD's upper ear, twisting neatly.

"It means, chiquito, that if I hear you say it again that I put soap in your mouth. Comprehende?"

JD tried to nod, yelped again, and settled for, mumbling a quiet, "Yes'm", while looking pitifully at her.

"Bueno. Now, tell me, where did you hear this word?" Inez's face had softened, but she still had a hold of the kid's ear, and JD did exactly what Buck expected him too-kept his mouth shut, but gave it away anyway, his eyes sliding right over to Buck. "I see." She let go of JD's ear, and smoothed her hand over his shoulder to let him know he was forgiven, and Buck wasn't the settling down type and he knew it, but if he was...and then she turned on him like a dragon, shouting at him to get out of her saloon, half Spanish, half English, all loud and angry, and Buck kind of wished it were all in Spanish, because what he could understand was not exactly complimentary.

No fool, he removed himself from the table quickly, backing away from the angry woman, "Sorry, I'm sorry! C'mon Inez, I'm leaving. Not like I meant to teach the boy that, it just slipped out!" Inez clouted him firmly around the ear, not hard enough to hurt hurt, but enough to make him put a hand over his ear in case she did it again. "Hey, Chris already smacked me!"

"Good! You deserve it!" Buck could see Chris chuckling back at the table, grabbing his whiskey bottle with one hand and JD with the other one as he hauled himself to his feet. "Come back tomorrow when the whiskey hasn't made you so estupido! Tonight, out!" Buck was to the batwing doors by then, and he backed through them with his hands up in surrender, Chris coming round from beside Inez to follow after him, tipping his hat to her, JD trailing in his wake.

"Night Inez."

"Goodnight Inez."

"Goodnight Senior Chris, JD." She stalked away, muttering under her breath, Buck still a little shell-shocked, standing and staring over the curves of the batwing doors. Chris shoved his shoulder lightly to get his attention as he started heading towards the boarding house, and resigning himself to being on Inez's bad side for awhile Buck started trudging after, putting out a hand to steady JD as the kid nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Hey guys?" Buck fought a groan, "I still wanna know-"

"JD." Chris's voice was heavy with warning, but JD didn't seem to be taking him seriously. Next time, Buck wasn't refilling his glass.

"But, Chris-"

"I'm serious, JD, I'll tan you if I hear you say that again." JD pouted and looked over at Buck to rescue him, who shook his head.

"I ain't gonna try and stop him, you shoulda figured out when he smacked me for saying it you shouldn't be. You might notta known what it means, but ya shoulda knew enough to know you shouldn'ta said it to Inez." Boy wasn't stupid, in fact Buck was more than certain that JD was a sight smarter than him-which meant Buck didn't believe it when he played dumb to get out of trouble.

"You said it first." JD mumbled it angrily, clearly feeling he'd been hard done by.

"Now, I shouldn'ta done that, and I certainly shouldn't be talkin' that way around you, I apologize for that. But in case you forgot, I already got smacked for it twice. Seems that shoulda taught you something, but if it hasn't I ain't gotta bit of sympathy for you."

"If you'd just tell me what it means I wouldn't be curious anymore," His voice had taken on a wheedling tone, and Buck found himself equally parts irritated and amused. Boy was like a dog after a rabbit when he wanted something.

"Enough."

"But-"

"No buts but your own, go on now, run ahead and get ready for bed, you got dawn patrol and I ain't doing it for you this time." Buck just raised an eyebrow as JD made a face that was probably meant to be a scowl, but really just looked like he was pouting harder, "Go on, I said, you'll thank me in the morning."

"...Fine. Night."

"Night, Kid." Buck reached out and lightly squeezed the kid's neck, and most of JD's pout melted away, smiling a hint of a sideways smile at Buck before he hurried ahead.

The two men slowed their pace, Chris smiling as JD yawned audibly in front of them, face about splitting in two. A minute later when JD was far enough away he couldn't hear them, almost to the boarding house doors, Chris pointed at JD's fading figure firmly, with the hand that was still clutching the whiskey bottle, "Little pitchers have big ears."

"Yeah, yeah, I know I screwed up Chris. I didn't expect him to take to the thing like a toddler with a shiny new toy."

"Inez's face was something else."

"I was too scared to look at first." Buck confessed. They were at the boarding house by now and Chris leaned himself up against the porch column, opening his bottle and taking a pug, Buck flopping down onto the steps next to him, taking the bottle and his own drink when Chris passed it to him. A long comfortable silence stretched between them, the sort that used to be an almost everyday thing between them, but had all but disappeared after...after.

It was only now, now after six months settling down in Four Corners, six months after they had against all odds started to form a family again, that those silences had started to reappear. Six months after Vin Tanner. If Buck were a different sort of man he might be jealous, and sure, it hurt sometimes to know there was something Junior gave his oldest friend that he couldn't, that he no longer was and never would be again Chris Larabee's best friend.

It hurt like hell. Like hell. But the truth was, it had nothing to with Vin. That was all between Chris and him.

Before Vin, he hadn't really ever thought he had a hope of getting Chris back at all. Now, here they were, Chris next to him on the porch, sharing his whiskey, yet another misadventure to remember between them, only now there were others to join in. It wasn't a bad lot. No, he thought, taking another pull of the bottle before passing it up to Chris, not a bad lot at all.

"You know who probably woulda made you eat soap if she'd heard you say that? Especially 'round JD?" There was a chuckle and a wistfulness in Chris's voice, and Buck's breath caught in his throat, a lump growing quickly after, because as surprised as he was to hear Chris say the words he knew exactly who he meant. It was only the second time he had heard Chris reminisce, not mourn, not rage, since that horrible, horrible day.

He tried to chuckle back, knew Chris still couldn't handle dealing with anyone's grief but his own, that he should be feeling triumphant right now, delighted that Chris was talking about Sarah at all, and he managed back what he thought was a reasonably cheerful, "Hell Pard, I got no doubt about that," and a rueful chuckle to boot. Part of him was delighted, this kind of moment still felt all but impossible, was impossible most of the time.

The thing was, Chris might be in a rare good mood, joking around, but he was right. Sarah would have been furious with Buck. Would have been disappointed.

She used to tease him after Adam was born, that he would make a good Papa and what was he waiting for? Go find her a sister to talk to and make some cousins for Adam. He wondered what she would think about that if she was watching down on them tonight. Buck hunched in on himself a little, not really noticing when his companion tried to pass the bottle down to him again. Chris's boot nudged his side and reluctantly, hoping the man would attribute his red eyes to drink, Buck looked up in Chris's general direction, not quite meeting his gaze.

Buck had tried only once to cry on Chris about Sarah and Adam and learned his lesson well. The words had hurt more than anything else. It had been over two years ago now, and part of him knew that things had changed-but then again, he remembered that knife to his throat during their first few days in town, the man he'd called his brother since he was a fifteen year old kid holding it there, and figured they hadn't changed that much.

Chris nudged him again, a little harder this time, and Buck finally met his stare. Sincere and knowing green eyes looked down at him, clearer than he would have expected for the amount the older man had put away, "Mostly though, I reckon she'd be pretty proud. I am." He choked up, so surprised he couldn't help it, a strangled croak of a sob escaping around the lump in his throat as he swallowed. Chris looked away, and Buck's heart squeezed, wondering if that had been too much, if he'd ruined it. Then Chris's hand was on his shoulder, far enough over his fingers were curling along the back of his neck, squeezing lightly, and Buck slowly relaxed, realizing that the other man had probably just been trying not to embarrass him. Chris's fingers started lightly rubbing at his neck, something he hadn't done since Buck had been a teenager, mourning his mother, and if his face was a mite wetter then it had been he knew he wouldn't be scorned for it.

It looked like he was wrong, and things had changed a lot more than he'd realized. More than he had dared to hope. He'd been happy to get Chris back at all, but this, this right now, felt like he had his big brother back, all of him, or as close to all of him as he could get.

No, his wasn't a bad lot at all.