Brothers
(disclaimer: the m7 characters belong to mgm, trilogy and mirisch. no copyright infringement is intended with their use)
This fic is a sequel to "Any Other Day" and answered four challenges on the M7 challenge fic list that I will reveal at end of story.
"There's seven of them." Keith Rounds pointed to the newspaper clipping his younger brother held up to the clear partition. "But this one here," his finger tapped twice. "He's the one I want you to focus on."
"You're asking an awful lot." The young blond opposite the partition adjusted the phone receiver and turned the picture around to see which man his brother had indicated. The photo was grainy, taken at some awards ceremony. Seven men in tuxedos, one holding a plaque proclaiming an accomplishment he couldn't make out. Carefully Rory memorized the faint details of Keith's target.
"I took care of you, Ror," Keith growled. "I was there every day for you since you was fourteen. He changed all that when he betrayed me and put me in here."
"I know. I know." Rory scratched his head and looked around nervously. " I just don't…" his dark blue eyes met his brother's icy glare. "Okay, Okay." He sighed wearily. "I'll do it."
"Promise me, Rory," Keith insisted. "He has to pay."
"I promise you, Keith. I'll do it."
Ezra finished typing the final report and quickly saved the document. With a satisfied smirk, he leaned back in his chair and stretched while he waited for the printer to do its job.
After a week of helping Team Two, he was finally getting caught up on all of his extra reports and paperwork. Glancing at the clock, he smiled again to see it was only 7pm. He'd been afraid that it would take him a lot longer to get everything finished, but after the rest of the team had decided to go on to the Saloon and wait for him there… he'd been able to work much more efficiently.
His phone rang, startling him as it broke the quiet stillness of the empty office. "Standish," he answered automatically.
"What the hell are you thinking, answering the phone this late on a Friday?" Buck shouted through the line. " I could have been Travis, you fool!"
Ezra chuckled. "Enjoying the drinks already, are you, Mr. Wilmington?" He held the receiver away from his ear.
"Hell yeah! This place is rocking tonight. You coming?"
"How could I resist such an offer?" Ezra shook his head, shutting down his computer. "I'm just turning things off now. I'll be there in ten."
"I'll order you one of those bloomin' onions then."
"Joy," Ezra said to a dial tone. It took only a minute to get everything else turned off and lock up the office.
"He coming?" Chris asked as Buck tucked his cell phone away.
"Yup." Wilmington grabbed his beer and took a swig before continuing. "Said he was just locking up, will be here in ten."
"Good." Josiah leaned back in his chair as JD handed a drink to Nathan. "Man needs to relax a bit."
"Think that'll happen in here?" Nathan asked waving to the Friday night crowd.
Josiah chuckled. "Not really, but it might take the edge off." He raised his mug in a toast. "To taking the edge off."
"Amen." Vin said, raising his own glass as the others followed suit.
A comfortable silence fell around the table as the jukebox blared a new Hank Williams, Jr. tune and a rowdy group at the pool table started singing along.
Chris shot a dirty look toward the crooners.
"They really need to…" JD started to comment but was cut off by Buck's sudden movement.
"Hey!" The ladies' man jumped to his feet and tried to yell over the crowd but the noise swallowed up his shout.
"What's wrong?" JD asked as Buck started to weave through the throng. "Where's he going?"
"Maybe he saw a lady friend." Josiah smiled over his drink.
"She must have made quite the impression to get a reaction like that," Nathan added.
Vin watched Buck for a moment then stood. "Going to check it out," he told Chris.
"Problem?" Larabee asked.
Tanner shrugged. "Just a feeling."
Vin caught up with Buck after pushing through the bar's growing crowd. "What's up?"
"She was right here!" Wilmington shouted back. "I swear she looked right at me."
"Who?" Vin questioned, able to see that this woman was obviously more to Buck than simply a pretty girl.
"It was her." Buck grabbed Vin's upper arm and pulled him close so he didn't have to yell. "From Halloween a year ago- the chick who hypnotized Ezra." He spoke directly into Tanner's ear.
Vin jerked back and glanced around. "What does she look like?"
"Long blond hair with red streaks, wearing jeans and one of those nice flirty shirts that look more like a poncho…no arms."
"She has no arms?" Vin frowned.
"No, the shirt has no arms." Buck turned, searching again. "She was right here," he repeated.
"I'll check outside." Vin nodded and headed for the door.
Vin understood the urgency now and was anxious to find the lady himself. Over a year before, Buck and Ezra had visited a fortuneteller at a Halloween party. Ezra had ended up having strange spells that they still hadn't figured out. The team searched every source they knew of to find the mysterious woman, but she had disappeared completely.
Outside, the night was warm with a light breeze that lifted Vin's hair off his neck as he scanned the parking lot.
"Searching for someone in particular?" a sultry voice asked.
Distractedly Vin glanced in the direction the voice had come from. "Yeah, sort of." He turned back to his search then did a double take. "How?" he knew it was her. Buck's description had been accurate and she wore an expression that told him she knew he'd been looking for her.
"I'm perceptive that way." She grinned and flicked her cigarette onto the pavement, smashing it out with a turn of her designer leather boot.
"I don't understand. You are…"
"I'm Aislinn, or Lady Aislinn as your friends know me." She stepped closer, folding her arms in front of her. The tassel of her blouse tickled his forearm.
"What the hell is going on?" Vin asked. "We looked all over for you."
Aislinn shrugged. "I come to you. That's how I work."
"I don't understand." Vin shook his head, repeating himself. None of this made sense to him. "What did you do to Ezra that time?" he questioned.
Aislinn continued to smile, reminding the sharpshooter of a mischievous cat. The lights in the parking lot made the red in her hair glow pink as she tipped her head to the side.
"I merely opened his eyes a little, she answered finally.
"You almost got him killed," Vin accused angrily.
"Oh, on the contrary." Aislinn straightened and shook her head. "I believe he saved your life."
Tanner scowled. "How the hell do you know that?"
"Maybe you should be a little more concerned about why I'm here now." Her pretty face grew serious and her accent thickened slightly.
Vin looked into her dark eyes, trying to determine if she was for real. Everything about her raised suspicion, but he needed answers. "What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.
"I told you- I come to you."
"Why?"
"Your brother needs you," she said solemnly.
Vin looked at her questioningly. "I don't have a brother."
Aislinn shook her head again and reached for him. "Not a physical brother, here." She touched his head. "But rather here." She laid the flat of her hand on his chest.
For a moment, it was as if he could hear nothing but the beat of his own heart, then her voice whispered beneath the rhythmic pounding. "Fate has tied you together as seven. He needs you."
"Hey, Vin!" Buck's voice cut through the spell and Vin turned away from Aislinn.
"Here!" He spun back "Who needs…" She was gone. "No, damn it." He ran a few steps, searching the parking lot for her.
"You find her?" Buck asked as he caught up.
"She was right here," Vin growled.
"Now you sound like me," the ladies' man chuckled. " I was probably seeing things."
"No." Vin pointed to the spot where he'd stood talking to her. "We stood here talking and then she was gone."
"Seriously?"
"She must have run off when you came out, but it happened so fast."
Buck glanced around. "But she was really here? What'd she say?"
Vin walked to the corner of the building and searched the side lot before turning around and walking back to Buck. "She said I needed to help my brother," he answered and headed back inside.
Buck stopped walking. "You have a brother?" he asked with shock but the door was already closing behind Vin.
Ezra knew something was wrong the moment his consciousness began to return. His head ached viciously and the last thing he remembered was stepping from the elevator into the parking garage.
He was on his side, his face pressed against some kind of vinyl material and when he tried to move he found his arms and legs were bound securely.
"Easy, Tanner. We're almost there," a voice sounded from somewhere behind him.
Tanner? Ezra tried to get his bearings, blinking in the darkness. Was Vin there, too? What was happening? Turning his head, he tried again to figure out where he was when it clicked. The feeling of movement…he was in the backseat of a car. Was Vin in the front? He tried to speak but his dry throat produced only a moan.
"I said, shut up." A fist struck his hip with little force. Whoever had him was too distracted with driving to do much else.
Ezra tried to go over his choices, but quickly faced the fact that there was nothing he could do but wait. He only hoped that Vin was okay.
The ride didn't last very long and, as he listened to the tires turn off the main road and onto gravel, Ezra wondered how long he'd been unconscious. The car stopped and, as the driver climbed out, Standish tried to brace himself for what was to come. The door at his feet opened and his captor grabbed his ankles, pulling him roughly across the seat. With no way to protect himself, Ezra was helpless. His knee slammed against the car's frame and he ended up on the ground. Small stones dug into his shoulder and side as he strained to peer up at his captor.
The man before him was young. Tall and muscular, he struck no chord of recognition in the federal agent when he squatted in front of him and leaned close. "I'm gonna help you up and you're gonna cooperate. You make a sound without my permission and you'll regret it," he threatened, pulling a knife from his belt. "Understand?"
Ezra cleared his throat. "Perfectly," he rasped. "Tanner?" He tried to ask but the kid was already cutting the ropes at his ankles and hauling him to his feet.
"This way." Roughly, he was pulled into a small house. The interior was almost dark, lit only by the fading evening light but it was clear the kid knew his way around. Quickly they navigated through a sparsely furnished living room and into a small cluttered kitchen.
"Where's Vin?" Ezra tried to ask again as they stopped and the kid opened a door.
"Funny." The blond scowled then shoved Ezra into the blackness.
His hands still bound behind him, Standish tried to brace himself for an impact with the floor but panicked when he went airborne. He bounced hard, sharp edges of a wooden staircase battering his ribs and back. He screamed, his left arm taking the brunt of one tumble. The intensity of the pain shot through him as he flipped again, dropping suddenly onto a cold cement floor.
Gasping, he pressed his face against the gritty coolness, focusing on biting his bottom lip and struggling against the waves of nausea sweeping over him. He couldn't get sick; he would not throw up. He swallowed, squeezing his eyes closed and trying to calm his breathing. He needed to figure out what was going on. Was there any way to get out? Where the hell was Vin? He knew he'd heard the kid speak to Tanner…was Vin still up there? Was Vin dead?
He moaned, grief and anger washing over him at the possibility his friend was gone. With the enormity of it all overwhelming him, he gave in to the darkness.
TBC...
