Miami Dade
May 1st
6:25 pm
Ryan Wolfe walked into the bullpen, solemn eyes seeking out Horatio. "Guys, you need to hear this."
Bewildered, Horatio, Eric, Calleigh, and Vin walked over to him. "What's going on?"
Wolfe looked at them. "Security's in absolute shambles. About an ten minutes ago, six ATF agents stormed in like they were the damned hounds of hell and demanded that they see their agent. One of the uniforms told them there weren't any ATF agents here, and their leader just leaned over the desk and snarled at the cop. 'Well then, you'd better find one.' The poor guard just about peed in his pants. I mean, this guy's dressed in solid black and has the most piercing green eyes I've ever seen, and he's standing there pointing a gun at the guy. Right now, the agents are in an interrogation room, waiting for confirmation of who they are from the Denver ATF offices."
Wolfe broke off at a strange choking noise from Vin. He, Horatio, Calleigh, and Eric turned around to look at him.
Immediately, Horatio tried to think about what they had said that could have caused this. Vin had backed up against a wall and was plastered against it, shaking and eyes wide.
His hoarse, raspy whisper came out half choked and strangled sounding in the silent room, "What's they's names?"
Wolfe tried to calm Vin down, worried at his sudden reaction. "I'm not sure what their names are. I'd recognize them if I heard one, though," he soothed.
Tanner finally managed to stutter out a name, "Chris. Chris Larabee. He one of 'em?"
Now it was Wolfe's turn to be surprised. "Yeah, he is. How'd you know?"
He hadn't even finished his sentence before Vin was out the door and headed towards the interrogation rooms.
The others ran after Tanner through the crowded hallway. One look at the distraught man had people parting in their path like a hot knife slices through butter.
Horatio and the others managed to catch up with Vin just as he reached the room and flung open the door. Immediately, all noise stopped. As if sensing his presence, six men turned as one to face him.
"Chris?" Vin was breathing raggedly and Horatio was absolutely positive that human eyes weren't meant to be opened that wide. Protectively grouping around the shaking man, the CSIs wondered what these men wanted with Vin. If they were going to try to harm him, all six would have to deal with them first.
"Vin."The leader, a thin blonde man dressed in midnight black, spoke quietly and the others all fell in behind, waiting almost without breathing.
Trembling, the slim sharpshooter ghosted his way over to the motley group before him. In the total silence of the room, his harsh breathing was the only sound that pierced the quiet. Horatio worriedly noticed that Vin's whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
Vin finally stood in front of the man in black and reached out a trembling hand. Chris stood still, fighting the impulse to get Vin back where he belonged, among his team, now. He watched as Vin backed away and started shaking even harder, snatching his hand away at the last moment.
Oh God, what if this wasn't real? What if it wasn't Chris? What if I really have lost mah mind? What if. . . .
"Vin, look at me." The soft command broke through Vin's tumbling thoughts and slowly, he brought his eyes up to meet Chris. "Vin, I promise you this is real. None of us are dead. We weren't in the warehouse when it exploded. Nichols took us out to try and get some information from us about five minutes beforehand. None of us are dead."
Horatio, Calleigh, Wolfe, and Eric choked, astonished at what happened next. Vin, who always flinched at so much as a friendly slap on the back, who had never so much as initiated a handshake, allowed himself to be drawn into a hug. An actual hug. Shoulders shaking with silent sobs, Vin buried his head in Chris' chest, allowing the man to pull him close and hold him tight. Mouths dropped as Vin's body sagged and the man in black gently lowered both of the to the ground, cradling the back of the lean sharpshooter's head in his hand. Completely ignoring what the hug might look like to anyone else, Buck, Ezra, JD, Nathan, and Josiah kneeled around the two and added their strength to the embrace.
"You're not alone, brother. We have you." Josiah soothed the shaken young man, repeating the phrase like a mantra. "We have you, brother. We have you."
Silently, Horatio ushered his shocked team and security personnel from the room, giving the new arrivals and Vin some privacy for their reunion.
"God, Chris. I'se thought all of yah was dead!" Vin's voice was raspy and muffled from being pressed into Chris's chest. "They wouldn't let me go in ta get ya. I tried, but they'se wouldn't let me." His voice broke on the last part.
"Junior, we weren't in the warehouse." Buck tried to sooth the agitated sharpshooter, stroking his trembling back. "We're all fine. Not even a broken bone among the lot of us."
All seven just stood there for a good ten minutes, letting Vin reassure himself that they were all there and reassuring themselves that Vin was still there. Over it all, Josiah's mantra soothed their frazzled nerves and calmed Vin's shaking.
Getting his thoughts under control, Vin finally loosened his death grip on Chris and moved to the table. He sat on the edge as close to Chris as he could manage without actually sitting on his lap, unwilling to be separated.
//Cowboy?// Vin 'sent' to Chris.
//Yeah Pard?// He smiled at the golden glow swirling gently around his mind. He'd missed his warm fuzzies.
//There anyway we kin go now? Don't really fancy tryin' ta 'splain everthin ta tha team upstairs, when e'en I don't know what rightly happened.//
//I think we can manage that. I don't want to mess with any damn CSIs right now either, and I'm fairly sure neither do the others. CSIs make my head hurt.//
//Hey! Don't ya go 'n insult 'em just fer tha fun a it!// Vin paused for a moment before adding sneakily//It's only fun ta do tha' when it's tha feebs.//
//Got me there, Pard.//
"You guys got anything you want to share with the class?" Buck asked. He and the others were staring at Chris and Vin in amusement. "You're doing your freaky little silent talking deal," he pointed out evilly.
"Bucklin, I reckin if ya can't hear me 'n Chris talkin', ya'd best git yer ears checked."
"Well Hell, Junior, I ain't that old!"
Chris stopped the playful teasing. "We're leaving. We'll come back in the morning to deal with any loose ends and take care of getting Vin back where he belongs."
At this, Vin ducked his head. "Ah'll take care a tha' last part. Tha folks tha set this up fer me ain't gonna let anybody move me anywhere 'less I tell 'em it's OK." He paused and added softly. "Tha Capt'n is real protective a his cubs."
Still refusing to separate himself from his team, Vin started walking towards the parking lot, leaving the others to wonder who exactly "The Capt'n" was.
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Dr. Alexx Wood was walking to the morgue when she saw Vin Tanner. Not an unusual occurrence, but this time, her head swung around and her jaw hit the floor as she registered the full picture.
He was walking with a group of seven men. Not only was he walkingwith them, which was unusual in itself considering the people in Miami Dade had finally just accepted that Vin would always walk a few steps behind a group, but he was right in the middle. There couldn't be more than a few centimeters of clear space between him and a slim blond dressed in solid black. The other five were crowded around him, as though they were afraid he would suddenly disappear.
So intent was she on watching this strange phenomenon, Alexx didn't see the clear glass wall in front of her. To the amusement of the technicians inside, she walked straight into it and appeared to bounce off.
"You O.K, Doc?" Oh God, her sweet assistant had seen the ungraceful crash.
"I'm fine." Vowing to listen to the gossip next week, she continued down to the basement, her head at almost a 180 degree turn.