Summary: *ATF/AU* Camping— A Midwestern starry night, an incredible Colorado sunrise, and the sun setting on the Rocky mountains
Disclaimer: I do not own anything "The Magnificent Seven" related, Characters of M7 do not belong to me, I like so many others before me am merely using the amazing universe of the ATF, no monetary compensation received, just the pleasure of creative writing as stress relief
Rating: T
Author's Notes: This story continues the story arc I have been creating. It is other snippet I am posting (out of order as I finish them). It follows most of the ATF canon, but new characters are being introduced.
I hope I have posted something others will enjoy reading. If I ever create an idea, that others are able to run with and it inspires great works of creative writing, I would be honored, to be that muse
Please be kind in your reviews! Not Betaed
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop
Camping by Sapphire Lee
The men of Team 7 were planning a camping trip on Chris' ranch, just to get away from the stress and demand of their jobs for two days. They were working out the logistics and planning for the supplies to pack. It was near the end of the work day Thursday. Only another 30 minutes till quitting time.
"Man I need this weekend" exclaimed a tired Vin as he pushed back from his desk slumping down and resting his head against the back of his chair.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, the last month has been hectic, exhausting" JD chimed in.
"Awww, I can't type another report, my eyes are blurry" Buck complained.
"Let's meet up about noon, maybe noon-thirty at the ranch tomorrow"
"Is that a Tanner-ism?" Chris teased.
"Yup"
"As tempting as this weekend of communing with nature sounds, I won't…"
"Forget it Ez, you are coming, end of discussion" Chris ordered "the entire team is getting away, we ain't leaving you behind". The last month had taken its toll on all of Team 7, but Chris was particularly concerned about the toll the most recent mission had taken on his undercover agent. Ezra was looking slightly haggard, which was saying a lot for the usually fastidious man.
"You do understand Mister Larabee, that you can't actually order me around when we are not at work or on a mission".
Chris grinned ominously and leaned in on Ezra's desk where he was sitting, "just try me".
"As you decreed, Mister Larabee, I shall acquiesce to your wishes" Ezra capitulated deciding he was too tired to argue. The last month of undercover work had drained him mentally. He was not up to a verbal tango with his boss. He thought longingly of his soft bed at home. He couldn't wait to get home, toss his suit jacket on the back of a chair and lay down.
"Come on Ez, it will be fun, besides it wouldn't be the same without you" JD pleaded.
"Oh yes, sleeping on the hard ground, freezing our posteriors, eating a repast Chris cooks, fun, fun, fun" he drawled sarcastically. Maybe he was slightly on his game after all
The elevator dinged, signaling the arrival of someone on the fourth floor of the federal building. "Hello gentlemen" came a cheerful voice.
Seven pairs of eyes turned towards the figure striding across the floor to the bullpen. Sherry had just left school and decided to drop by Vin's work office. Sherry dropped herself into a chair on wheels and rolled over to Vin's desk. She handed him a plastic container she carried. He snapped up the container and tore off the lid.
"Mmmm" Vin breathed deep, there was nothing like the smell of home baked cookies. "Oatmeal chocolate chip, I've died and gone to heaven" he said with a look of pure contentment on his face.
"Hay, share the wealth" Nathan demanded from over at his desk.
Vin took out 5 cookies, snapped the lid on and tossed the container to Nathan, who caught it mid-air. He pulled out a few cookies and passed the box over to Josiah at the desk next to him, but before Josiah could get at the food inside, the cookie container was snatched out of his hands by Chris, who intercepted the box and grabbed two out. Josiah grabbed the two cookies out of Chris' hand and shoved him away. Chris chuckled and pulled two more cookies out and passed the box on to JD. He pulled out three cookies and passed the container over to Buck. Buck pulled out three cookies and handed the container to Ezra, there were two cookies left inside. Ezra looked in the box and looked over at Sherry. She grinned at him, trying to wait him out. Ezra simply raised an eyebrow at her. He knew she'd give before him. Unable to beat Ezra in a waiting match, Sherry sighed in defeat, leaned down and reached into her satchel. Out of it she pulled a baggy with more soft and chewy cookies and tossed them to Ezra.
"I am such a push over" she muttered, Ezra just grinned and eagerly snacked on his peanut butter cookies.
"Hay Ez, you want to share those?" JD asked hopefully.
"Not on your life Mister Dunne" the southern man drawled.
"So what is going on with all of you? Work day is almost done" she said conversationally.
"We are planning a camping trip to get away for the weekend"
"Yeah, it'll be on Chris' ranch"
"ooooh, camping, I loved camping in California. I haven't been since I moved here, to Denver. I used to love going to Lake Tahoe on the California and Nevada border. Oh but Big Sur, on the Pacific coast was incredible also" she reminisced. "The sunset was so beautiful, the colors reflecting off the waters and the clouds as the sun descended over the horizon".
"Well if you haven't seen the incredible Colorado sunrise, or the sun setting on the Rocky mountains, or the unobstructed stars, without any light pollution, you haven't seen anything yet" Buck challenged "A Midwestern starry night is unlike anything you've ever seen on the West coast".
"Oh really?" Sherry said in amazement, "sounds romantic".
"Many a woman would agree with you" Buck said with a twinkle in his mischievous eyes.
"I bet they have"
"Cherie, it would be very romantic with the right company" Ezra drawled, shifting his voice in that way he knew affected Sherry in just the right way.
"Well gentlemen, I hope you have an enjoyable time" Sherry said, trying not to let anyone see how Ezra's suggestive words caused her pulse to speed up and goosebumps to rise on her skin, "I have a date with my couch and a good book this weekend" Sherry gathered up her plastic container and lid, preparing to leave the office. "Vin, you still planning on stopping by my house on Sunday, when you get back?"
"Uh-huh" Vin answered without pausing in his eating of the cookies.
"Why don't you join us Sherry?" JD asked, "you can see the sunset, sunrise, the stars, the whole nine yards. You ain't seen nothing till you seen the country from Chris's place"
"That is a sweet gesture, but I couldn't possible intrude on your weekend. Having me there would prevent you from enjoying yourselves. Besides, after the frenzied month of cases you have been working on, you deserve to unwind and just relax with the guys"
"Yes Sherry I agree with JD, you should come with us, I insist, we can't have you living here in Denver and missing out on the best the area has to offer" Chris said, a wicked gleam in his eyes, he loved to see the sparks that flew with both Vin, Ezra, and Sherry in close proximity. It amused him to no end seeing Vin and Sherry interact. Plus, he thought it would be good for Vin to see Sherry and Ez spending time together, with the others around to make sure Vin didn't shoot anyone.
"I can just guess how this is going to work out, the first few hours would be pure fun and adventure, then it would get tiresome, and…"
"Did she just call us boring?"
"No I didn't, what I meant was…"
"If Sherry wants to camp, I'd be happy to offer my services to assist her sometime" Ezra offered.
"That's a real kind offer Ezra, but I …"
"What are you talking about Ezra, you hate camping…"
"Don't worry, we won't go over 8-10 miles, tops"
"That is not true, I dislike camping"
"Now guys I'm not in shape for miles of hiking…"
"Do you have camping gear?"
"We're not hiking, we'll be riding"
"Yes I do have some, but…"
"You can ride right?"
"Yes, but…"
"Great, it's settled, Sherry is coming with us"
"Now hold on second, I never agreed…"
"Meet us at the ranch at noon-thirty on Friday"
"Don't you worry about anything, we got it covered"
"Wait a second, I have school, I have to teach, I just can't drop everything and leave"
"I do believe you are entitled to a thing called a substitute teacher?" Ezra drawled.
"Yes but…"
"Perfect, get one of those for the day"
"But…"
"It will be great, we can show you all kinds of stuff on the ranch, there are hundreds of acres of land at Chris' place"
"Yes I am aware…" Sherry was unable to get more than a few words in edge wise.
"I'll email you a list of the necessary supplies to pack" JD said offered helpfully turning to his computer and typing rapidly. "What's your email, never mind, I can get your personal email myself" he said more to himself than to anyone else.
"What a minute, how are you getting my email? Do I even want to know?"
"No you don't, JD here in addition to surveillance is a wiz at trace and hacking"
"I never found a firewall or security program that could keep me out" he touted proudly. JD hit the enter button and turned to Sherry with a proud look on his face, "There done, you now have a list of things to pack and things we have extra of if you are missing something".
"Now guys, she obviously doesn't want to offend us, so don't force her" Josiah tried, Sherry looked at him gratefully for his support, until he continued, "Of course it is insulting that she would rather stay home than spend time in our company, mighty insulting at that". Sherry dropped her head into her hands and shook her head.
"I never meant any insult, all I am trying to say is…"
"Nonsense Miss Van Alstine, its been settled already, you shall accompany us on our exploration of the vast yonder".
"Communion with nature" Josiah put in helpfully.
"I feel like I was just steam rolled" Sherry muttered "I never stood a chance did I?"
"Nope" Buck said with glee, "you were just outdone by the best ATF team there is"
"OK, OK, OK, I give, I'll go, BUT, on one condition, another girl has to come along camping. That's my requirement".
The bullpen was silent for a moment, then chaos reigned. Each man throwing out names of women they thought might be interested incoming at the last moment.
Finally, Nathan had an idea, "I got it! I'll ask Selena, she loves the outdoors, and if she is not on call this weekend, then she would love to come".
"Nathan get on it"
Nathan grabbed his cell phone and called his wife, "Hello Selena honey, how are you doing? Great, I'm just finishing up for the day too. I was wondering what your work schedule was looking like this weekend? Oh really, that's too bad, I understand, yep, I'm still going on the camping trip, leaving tomorrow, guess who's coming with us? Yes, Sherry." Nathan put the phone against his chest and said "Selena says hi to everyone", "Ok I passed along your greeting, everyone says hi back. Uh-huh, Uh-huh, Ok, see you tonight at home, bye baby" Nathan hung up his cell phone
Nathan looked at all the expectant faces, "She'll come!"
"The prospects of this weekend are definitely looking much more favorable" Ezra said with a smile at Sherry, Sherry returned the grin
"As much fun as camping is and spending time with all of you is always an interesting experience, I am excited to have another female coming. Plus, this might keep you pranksters on better behavior with another guest coming".
"Don't count on it, Selena is like family, like you are, we don't put on airs for family".
"I wasn't" she said with a defeated sigh.
"You'll see, it will a lot of fun, I can show you all kinds of interesting things out on Chris' ranch" Vin said with excitement, "it will be a great weekend".
"Hay JD, print out all those astronomy charts, we can use them to try and pick out constellations at night".
"Already on it" he said turning back to his computer.
"Well then I got to be going, I have much I have to get ready if I'm going to play hookey tomorrow from school. I have to request a substitute, set up my lesson plans, pack…" Sherry said as she stood and gathered her bag and cookie container to leave the office. Ezra stood preparing to accompany her down to the parking garage. Vin leapt to his feet and cut him off, getting to Sherry before he did. Ezra just narrowed his eyes at Vin.
A sudden thought occurred to Sherry "Ezra, you are planning on coming camping, right?" Ezra stopped starring daggers at Vin and turned to look at Sherry.
"Of course my dear, it was decreed I attend, and so I wouldn't miss it. But with you and Mrs. Jackson coming I am sure to thoroughly enjoy myself with company that has such refined sensibilities and witty repartee"
"Oh come on Ace, you know you enjoy being around us too" Buck teased.
Ezra couldn't think of anything he liked better than being around the men who were a family to him. They provided him the love and stability that was missing from his life before arriving in Denver. But he would never own up to those sentimental thoughts.
"Yes you boorish reprobates are the highlight of my existence" he said with a teasing light in his eyes and the dimples flashed.
"You men are a bad influence on me" she said shaking her head slightly but with a smile on her face, "Bad influence for sure" she chided.
"Yup, we are the worst influence" Buck said proudly.
"Come on Sherry, I'll help you pack and fill you in on the details of what to expect" Vin said, excited that she would be coming on the small vacation, he put his arm gently around her shoulders has he led her to the elevators and out of the office. Vin was most in his element when he was in the outdoors. He wanted to share wonders of the outdoors with Sherry. Sherry looked out of the elevator at Ezra, she caught him looking at her and winked at him. She caught sight of his dimples and grin as the doors slid shut.
December 2011
More Chapters coming
What kind of mischief can be found on a camping trip?
Review please, I would be interested in your thoughts, if you liked it, how it can be improved, positive constructive advice, apprentice writer here, Thanks Lee