Author's Note: This is a one shot with the Magnificent Seven. The inspiration from this comes both from the song, the ballad of Irving, and from JD's views on gunfighters. I reckon someone had to teach the kid that even if you're the 142's fastest gun in the west, you need to be on the lookout for number 141…. ;)

Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Magnificent Seven, I do not make any money on this. If I did, I would be working my way towards owning them… No harm will ever come to them in my care, that not some of Nathan's skunk juice can't fix….

Somebody is Always Faster

The seven peacekeepers of Four Corners were just returning home after having successfully delivered a prisoner to Eagle Bend. They had decided to stop for a while at midday in a clearing that Vin directed them to. JD and Buck took care of the horses, removing the saddles so that the horses could rest more easily, then left them where they could reach the small stream to drink. They were in no hurry and could take the time to enjoy the peace of the wilderness. Vin had slipped away into the bushes, stating that he would see if he could rustle them up something to eat.

"Do you imagine that boy knows he ate just before we left Eagle Bend," Josiah mused.

"If he can find us something, I won't mind it," Chris shrugged. "Probably spotted a rabbit or something, they're pretty good eating."

Nathan gathered some firewood while Josiah filled the coffee pot. Ezra frowned a little over a boulder, before dusting it off with his handkerchief so that he could sit down on it.

"Little dust 'n dirt never hurt anyone Ezra," Buck chuckled as he watched the gambler.

"And far be it for me to be the first unfortunate demise from said circumstance," Ezra drawled, enjoying the puzzled look on Buck's face before he figured out just what it was he had said.

Chris watched them in silence as Buck tried to offer a snappy comeback but failed. He was still attempting it when Vin returned, two plump rabbits in his hand and an almost boyish smile on his face.

"Reckon them two enjoys that," he decided as he pulled his knife and started cleaning out the rabbits.

"Reckon they do pard," Chris nodded and no more was said between them at the moment.

"If you want, I can cook those things Vin," Nathan offered. "I got some dried herbs with me, should be just fine with roast rabbit. Got some salt too."

"Reckon yer 'cookie' then," Vin smiled softly as he skinned the rabbits and cleaned them out before letting Nathan take over. Burying the guts and other remains he then proceeded to wash his hands clean in the creek. Ezra watched and noted how he used handfuls of sand to clean every speck of blood away. Vin Tanner was a man who was truly at home in the wild, and he never seemed to need anything from civilization, not even soap.

Having finished with the horses, and waiting for the rabbits to get done, JD found himself growing rather bored. The rest seemed to be content with just sitting and waiting, but he wanted to do something, anything. He considered asking Vin if he would teach him more about tracking and such things, but the young man had taken a seat on the ground, his legs stretched out and propped up on one elbow while he blew tunelessly into his harmonica. Vin always appeared very laid back and never seemed too bothered by JD's questions, but JD still had sense enough to know that there were times when the tracker would prefer to simply have a quiet moment.

Buck appeared to be pestering Nathan about the best way to cook a rabbit, Chris was whittling away on a piece of wood. No doubt the carving would later be presented to Billy Travis. The small boy treasured the carvings Chris made for him, and the gunfighter delighted in bestowing them on him on occasion. Ezra was amusing himself with a deck of cards, and Josiah was reading a book. Sighing softly he decided he would have to look to himself for entertainment, and decided it was as good a time as any to practice his fast draw. Positioning himself in front of a tree he fixed it with a deadly stare, hoping he could look just as fierce as Chris Larabee, and he could just see the bark shrivelling from the trunk in fright. His hand poised over his holster he waited for the tell tale sign that his opponent would draw, a leaf twitched and JD whipped his gun out with lightning speed, he hoped.

Sliding his gun back into the holster he waited for the tree to settle, then began again.

Once he had come out of the duel as the victorious party several times in a row he heard Vin drawl softly behind him.

"Looks like that there tree ain't got a chance with a feller as fast as ya kid."

"I'm getting pretty fast huh?" he beamed, turning towards the tracker.

"Yep, reckon so," Vin allowed the hand with the harmonica to drop. "Reckon if we're ever challenged by a crop of trees, we'll put ya on the front line to deal wi' 'em."

"Aw heck, don't have to make fun of me," JD complained. "I just, well, a man needs to be able to draw quick, doesn't he?"

Chris didn't look up from his whittling, but a smile played at the corners of his mouth as he listened. Buck had openly adopted JD as his little brother. Vin though he was really not much older than JD seemed to have taken it upon himself to teach the kid other things he needed to know, things that did not lie in Buck's area of expertise.

"Reckon he does," Vin nodded again. "Least if he's the kinda fool to stand on the street 'jist to see if he's faster than the other fool standing on the street, right cowboy?" he winked at Chris who responded with a glare.

"Even if you don't call anyone out, you still might need to be able to draw fast," JD insisted. "You have to be fast at times Vin, don't you?"

"Like I said, reckon so," he nodded, turning the harmonica over in his hands, tapping it as if to dislodge some dust. "Tell ya something though, knew a feller once, name's Irving, 'e was pretty fast too at that."

"How fast?" JD's eyes sparkled.

"Was the 142's fastest gun in the west," Vin drawled. "Pretty dang fast, faster than what ya are fer sure."

"Reckon it is at that JD," Chris offered, curious to see where Vin was going with the story.

"142," JD pondered the figures a moment. It didn't sound that fast, but then again if you thought about how many gunmen there were in the west, well, then it was really rather impressive, really impressive. He gave a low whistle, praying he would be that fast at some point.

"Irving rather enjoyed that," Vin went on. "Sure did, he kinda figured it was important to be fast, in case someone wanted to call ya out or sumpthing like that."

"Well, it is," JD agreed.

"Yup, an' he did good too, right decent fella," Vin tapped the harmonica again, then blew an experimental tone. Frowning at the instrument as if he wasn't pleased with the result. If that was it, Chris had to admit he agreed with his opinion, the tone had been somewhat false…

"I reckon ya would'a like ta meet him JD," Vin went on. "Happy fella, always smiling, bit on the fat side, but he weren't a bad sort."

"Where is he now then?" JD asked eagerly.

"Oh, well, ya see, about that," Vin paused for a moment. "He kinda thought them gun fighter reputations could be nice like, so he was asking around about this feller, the 143'd fastest gun in the west, but well, didn't quite work out."

"Why not?" JD spun the gun in his hand.

"Number 141 kinda found him first," Vin stated with a smile. "So now I reckon that there 143 that he was looking for is 142, kinda works that way. Old Irving was damn fast, but someone is always faster."

JD simply stared at him, trying to grasp what he had been told.

"He's right JD," Christ put in. "Sure, it's good to be fast, but no matter how fast you are, someone is always faster. You'll be fine until you meet him, but sooner or later you will, someone is always faster…"

JD shook his head as if he found it hard to believe and Vin just chuckled. He wasn't surprised that JD didn't quite believe him, the kid was young and naïve. With time he would understand what Vin was telling him, if he was still alive then…

Nathan informed them that the rabbits were ready, and everyone dug out their tin plates and mugs. Ezra balanced his precariously on his lap, a napkin spread over his trousers, before he handled the rabbit carefully with utensils. Buck held the plate in one hand and ate from it with the other, the same as Chris did and JD glanced their way before doing the same thing. Pausing Chris dug out a bottle of whiskey from his saddle bag, pouring some into his coffee before passing it to Buck who did the same. Smiling he tossed the bottle towards Vin who barely looked up as he caught it. The bottle went around but neither Ezra nor JD made use of it.

"A fine rabbit, excellently cooked," Josiah praised and Nathan smiled while Vin grunted in reply. The tracker still lay half sprawled on the ground, though he had dropped his harmonica back into his pocket as they ate. He had placed the hides to the side and aimed to take them back so that he could prepare them. He should be able to make something out of them, having learned working with hides from the same Indians that taught him his tracking skills.

Everyone finished their meal at leisure and then lingered over the last coffee. JD was still fingering his guns, fiddling with them while Vin kept his eyes on the shrubbery nearby, sitting up a little straighter.

"Vin, have you ever had to draw fast?" JD asked curiously as he approached.

"Can't say that I have," he decided, his eyes still on the bushes.

"Never at all?" he frowned as he dropped down on the ground beside Vin.

"Nope," Vin chewed his lip for a moment. "Reckon ya might want ta' keep a bit more quite like though."

"Why?" JD frowned, wondering if he had annoyed his friend.

"Got company, an' I'd prefer if ya didn't piss him off," Vin drawled easily.

"What's going on?" Chris wanted to know, Vin seemed as relaxed as he had before, but something was definitely going on.

"Rattler," Vin told him, his eyes on a spot of ground not far from himself. "Reckon as long as no one riles him up," he didn't have time to finish the sentence, JD had spotted the snake just then and leapt to his feet to get out of the way, the sudden movement all that was needed to set the snake off. Before it had been silent, but now the tail end vibrated as a warning, the body coiled up and the head rose up with a hiss in a deadly warning. "Reckon it's a bit late though, he ain't looking none too happy right now."

"He's about ready to strike," Chris had his gun out, but the snake was too close to Vin, he wouldn't be able to shoot.

"Oh God, Vin," JD couldn't turn his eyes away from the snake. It would strike and it would be his fault for having spooked the snake. Vin might have been able to move out of the way if he hadn't moved.

"Nothing I can do Vin," Chris stated, his voice tight. "He's not keeping still, I try, likely as not I'll hit you."

"I can't get it neither," Nathan sounded angry at the situation. He might be able to save Vin after he was bitten, but he couldn't hope to kill the snake before it struck.

"Well kid, here's your chance," Vin smiled. "Wanna see if yer faster than he is?"

"Vin," JD pleaded, unable to watch his friend suffer such a fate, but still unable to look away. The rattler still had his head poised in the air, hissing, and he pulled back his head ever so slight. "I can't shoot faster than a snake, no one can, they're so fast you don't even see them," he clamped his jaws shut. This was worse than a nightmare, and yet Vin seemed calm enough. He couldn't imagine how he could be, the snake hissed again, the rattle never seizing.

Then JD saw it strike, it moved so fast that the head was nothing but a blur, but he cried out knowing the fangs would find their mark in Vin's leg, there was no way the snake could miss.

Yet at the same time there was another blur as Vin's hand shot forward, and before JD even realized what had happened Vin held the snake by the neck, just behind the head. The snake thrashed about in his hands, and Vin grabbed it with his other hand. One quick motion snapped the back and he threw the still thrashing snake away from him to land close to the water.

"Better keep away from it fer a while," he stated calmly. "Takes them a bit a' time ta' fully die ya know, can still bite ya if ya don't mind yerself."

"What… but… how?" JD found himself standing with his mouth hanging open in shock. It was not possible, he had heard about such things, but he had always known it was impossible and had never believed it.

"No matter how fast ya are JD, someone is always faster," Vin grinned teasingly at him. "Don't reckon he thought anyone'd be faster on the draw than he was, but someone always is, no matter how fast ya are."

Looking between his friend and the still twitching body of the snake JD had to admit that he had a point. He never would have thought someone could be faster than a snake, it was impossible. Nothing was faster than a rattler. But Vin was still sitting there as calmly as ever, blowing tunelessly into the harmonica as if the snake had never been. He could see it though, he had seen the blur of it moving and he had seen Vin catch it even as it struck. It should be impossible but he had done it, and it probably meant that Vin was right. No matter how fast you were, someone was always faster….

The End.

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