And One for All

By Debra Noellert

Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven is owned by MGM. Without A Trace is owned by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Productions. No profit was made, and only respect intended.

Notes: This is part of the Blood Ties universe in which Martin discovers he has a long lost twin in Vin Tanner. Martin calls Vin after rescuing a teenage girl. Spoilers for 'All for One'. Some mild language.

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Vin Tanner was throwing some shredded cheese and garlic on his pasta when his phone started ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey Vin," greeted the newest member of his family.

"Hey, Little Brother. What's up?" Vin smiled as soon as he recognized the voice of his newfound twin. But something in Martin's tone told him this was more than a casual call.

"Same old, same old. People go missing and we've got to find them. I helped rescue a teenage girl today. It looks like she's going to make a full recovery." Martin wasn't bragging, to him it was just shoptalk. Still, Vin suspected this case might have affected Martin more than he was letting on. "That's not really what I called about, anyway. I wanted to ask you to do something for me."

Vin easily heard the need in Martin's voice. "Consider it done."

"But . . . you don't even know what I want," stammered Martin.

"I know it's important to you. Reckon I don't need anything more than that," explained Vin. Through the phone Vin heard Martin release a tired chuckle. He grinned in response, glad that he'd lightened Martin's mood at least a little.

"Well, for the record, what I want is for you to promise that if I ever start to take our relationship for granted or abuse your loyalty in any way, that you'll knock me in the head until I stop being so stupid," insisted Martin in a rush.

"Well hell, I can do that easy," assured Vin, which drew another chuckle from Martin. More seriously he asked, "Where's this coming from Martin?"

"That girl I rescued. We got the missing persons report from the detention facility where she was serving an eighteen-month sentence for vehicular manslaughter. Only she wasn't really the driver. She took the rap for her older sister, figuring they'd go easier on a minor." Martin sighed. "She gave up more than a year of her life, and how does her sister thank her: by ditching college and turning into an addict. She broke out of the facility to try to pay off her sister's drug debt and get her sister clean. She'd even agreed to prostitute herself to pay off the debt. Her sister didn't deserve that kind of loyalty."

"And what, you think you're just as undeserving of my loyalty?" Vin didn't like the parallels Martin was drawing.

"Last time I looked, I was the only addict in this family," Martin pointed out gravely.

Vin bit his lip to keep from cursing. "You've been sober for a while now," Vin insisted, pushing on when Martin tried to interrupt. "I'm not disregarding your addiction. I know how serious it is. And, for the record, if I ever get even a hint that you might be using again, you can forget all of that intervention crap. I'll just kidnap you, and stash you somewhere safe until you're sober, through withdrawal and ready to see reason. Probably have Kojay do a cleansing ritual just to be sure."

"Cleansing ritual?" Asked Martin, fairly certain he didn't want to know what it involved.

"The point is I don't need to be protected from you. Could you hurt me? Sure. I could do the same to you. It's damn near inevitable that one of us is going to say or do something that hurts or offends the other. We'll likely yell. We might even tussle, but eventually we'll get over it and make up. That's what families do. And Martin, there ain't anything you're capable of doing that would change the fact that you're my family. Are we clear on that?"

"Yeah, we're clear, brother." As quiet as the words were Vin could hear Martin's relief.

"Good. Now about you coming to Denver for a visit . . ."

The End