TITLE: When Heroes Hurt
AUTHOR: The Chronicler
CHALLENGE: Intervention
UNIVERSE: ATF
RATED: PG-13
SUMMARY: Ezra gets in over his head. But can the guys pull him back before it's too late?
NOTES: Though this was a quick 15min. answer to the W.O.W. challenge, I was wondering if it might be worth expanding into a longer story.
FEEDBACK: Pretty please.
ARCHIVE: Yes, yup, you bet.
EMAIL: chronicler_of_knuckles@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~
When Heroes Hurt
By The Chronicler
~~~~~~~~~~
How did this happen? Happen to him?
Always in control, always smooth, always with an ace up his sleeve, always with a way out. He was the best, damn undercover man ATF had... hell, that anyone had ever had!
Sure, the pressure was enormous, but he could handle it.
Going under for days, weeks even. Changing names and characteristics as often as he changed socks. Damn, he had a calendar on the fridge to remind him of just who he was supposed to be from one day to the next.
He opened doors, got inside, struck at the core of the bad guys. He was the greatest fear of every crime organization in the world: He's the guy they shouldn't of trusted.
So...
How could this have happened to him, Ezra P. Standish?!
It was that damn bullet! The one that had torn through his shoulder. It was then that they had given him the pills.
Harmless looking little things, capsule shape, pink. Almost look like they should be threaded and worn around the neck.
Only a couple at first. Just enough to dull the pain.
But he was the only one who could close up the bust. The bad guys knew only him, or at least the character he had been playing. They trusted him. If he had just dropped of the radar, they'd never get this close again.
Chris had said he didn't care, that'd they'd find some other way. That his man was too hurt, in too much pain...
So, Ezra took more of those little, itty-bitty, pain-go-away pills... and the pain did go away. Just a few more pills... just a few...
Just enough to get the job done.
But that bad guy rolled on another. And, again, Ezra went to work.
And then that bad guy rolled, and then another, and then another...
Take it from Ezra P Standish... Honor among thieves? HA!
And the jobs just kept coming, and Ezra had to keep on doing his thing. And the pills...
Those pretty little pills...
Those damn little pills...
Those fucking, damn, little pills...
... just kept coming.
Not that anyone noticed. Sure they knew he was on pain killers. But they also knew that Ezra didn't like to be obvious about his weaknesses. So, when they didn't see him taking them, they just assumed that he was doing so in private. And, when the time came three months earlier, they just assumed he stopped taking them.
After all, he was Ezra P Standish, confidence man extrordinair!
So what if he was short tempered? So what if he wasn't getting any sleep? So what if he walked about numb from his head right down to his toes? So what if he leaped right into danger as if he was indestructible?
Hey, damn it all to hell, HE WAS EZRA P. STANDISH!
Those damn sharp eyes of that damn, curiose little boy! John Daniel Dunne! Always watching him with those big hazel eyes, studding him, memorizing every move. He was the first to make note in the changes of their undercover man. Kid had been a narcotics officer way back when... well, as far way back as the kid went. He knew the signs. And he saw the signs in Ezra.
Damn, why did it have to be the kid? J.D. looked up to him. He looked up to all the others on the team, but it meant more to Ezra. No one had ever looked up to him like that before. Hell, who wants a con artist as a role model? But J.D. did look up to him.
And what did Ezra show him?
Showed the kid that even Heroes could screw up.
And what did J.D. do when he found out? He told Chris, of course.
And what did Chris do?
Well, after Ezra quite when Chris confronted him in a heated yelling match, Chris went to extremes.
Kidnaped from his own apartment by his own coworkers, his damn so-called friends, Ezra P. Standish came face to face with ATF Team 7's version of Intervention.
~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR: The Chronicler
CHALLENGE: Intervention
UNIVERSE: ATF
RATED: PG-13
SUMMARY: Ezra gets in over his head. But can the guys pull him back before it's too late?
NOTES: Though this was a quick 15min. answer to the W.O.W. challenge, I was wondering if it might be worth expanding into a longer story.
FEEDBACK: Pretty please.
ARCHIVE: Yes, yup, you bet.
EMAIL: chronicler_of_knuckles@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~
When Heroes Hurt
By The Chronicler
~~~~~~~~~~
How did this happen? Happen to him?
Always in control, always smooth, always with an ace up his sleeve, always with a way out. He was the best, damn undercover man ATF had... hell, that anyone had ever had!
Sure, the pressure was enormous, but he could handle it.
Going under for days, weeks even. Changing names and characteristics as often as he changed socks. Damn, he had a calendar on the fridge to remind him of just who he was supposed to be from one day to the next.
He opened doors, got inside, struck at the core of the bad guys. He was the greatest fear of every crime organization in the world: He's the guy they shouldn't of trusted.
So...
How could this have happened to him, Ezra P. Standish?!
It was that damn bullet! The one that had torn through his shoulder. It was then that they had given him the pills.
Harmless looking little things, capsule shape, pink. Almost look like they should be threaded and worn around the neck.
Only a couple at first. Just enough to dull the pain.
But he was the only one who could close up the bust. The bad guys knew only him, or at least the character he had been playing. They trusted him. If he had just dropped of the radar, they'd never get this close again.
Chris had said he didn't care, that'd they'd find some other way. That his man was too hurt, in too much pain...
So, Ezra took more of those little, itty-bitty, pain-go-away pills... and the pain did go away. Just a few more pills... just a few...
Just enough to get the job done.
But that bad guy rolled on another. And, again, Ezra went to work.
And then that bad guy rolled, and then another, and then another...
Take it from Ezra P Standish... Honor among thieves? HA!
And the jobs just kept coming, and Ezra had to keep on doing his thing. And the pills...
Those pretty little pills...
Those damn little pills...
Those fucking, damn, little pills...
... just kept coming.
Not that anyone noticed. Sure they knew he was on pain killers. But they also knew that Ezra didn't like to be obvious about his weaknesses. So, when they didn't see him taking them, they just assumed that he was doing so in private. And, when the time came three months earlier, they just assumed he stopped taking them.
After all, he was Ezra P Standish, confidence man extrordinair!
So what if he was short tempered? So what if he wasn't getting any sleep? So what if he walked about numb from his head right down to his toes? So what if he leaped right into danger as if he was indestructible?
Hey, damn it all to hell, HE WAS EZRA P. STANDISH!
Those damn sharp eyes of that damn, curiose little boy! John Daniel Dunne! Always watching him with those big hazel eyes, studding him, memorizing every move. He was the first to make note in the changes of their undercover man. Kid had been a narcotics officer way back when... well, as far way back as the kid went. He knew the signs. And he saw the signs in Ezra.
Damn, why did it have to be the kid? J.D. looked up to him. He looked up to all the others on the team, but it meant more to Ezra. No one had ever looked up to him like that before. Hell, who wants a con artist as a role model? But J.D. did look up to him.
And what did Ezra show him?
Showed the kid that even Heroes could screw up.
And what did J.D. do when he found out? He told Chris, of course.
And what did Chris do?
Well, after Ezra quite when Chris confronted him in a heated yelling match, Chris went to extremes.
Kidnaped from his own apartment by his own coworkers, his damn so-called friends, Ezra P. Standish came face to face with ATF Team 7's version of Intervention.
~~~~~~~~~~