Here's the next part. A big thanks to Sue for betaing and offering some great ideas.


Boulder 2010

Buck put down the magazine he'd been flipping through and stood to stretch. He'd swapped places with Nathan a little over an hour ago, which meant their replacements would be here within the hour. He wasn't sure who it would be, probably Chris and Vin since JD and Josiah were the only ones who had any leads to follow up on at the moment.

Buck sighed, his need to move having taken him to the side of Ezra's bed. He sure had missed the enigmatic Southerner. He sighed again. Even though they were getting a chance to get to know Ezra… Steve, again, it wouldn't be the same. "It won't be the same, pard," he said softly wrapping a gentle hand around Ezra's wrist.

He startled when the hand clasped his wrist. Buck looked at the hand and then up to Ezra's face. Dazed green eyes stared at him for a long moment, then tracked around the room before returning to Buck who smiled broadly.

"Hey, there," he said, not sure what Ezra's response would be to a stranger. 'Steve,' got to remember to call him 'Steve,' Buck admonished himself.

Ezra blinked and licked his lips. "Water?" he rasped.

Buck's grin grew and he nodded, releasing his hold on Ezra's wrist as he stood to pour a glass. Ezra's hand didn't release his wrist. Buck turned back to see confusion on the pale face. "Gotta let me have my arm if you want a drink, pard," he teased.

Ezra didn't let go, he squeezed Buck's wrist tighter as multiple emotions crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" Buck barely caught himself before saying 'Ezra.' He grasped his friend's wrist again and put his other hand on his shoulder. "I can get the doctor."

The confused green eyes closed tightly as Ezra shook his head. "What happened, Buck?" he finally asked, opening his eyes again.

Buck opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He swallowed hard. "You know who I am?"

Ezra frowned and let go of Buck's arm to rub his forehead. "Of course, Buck. Why am I in the hospital?"

Buck couldn't think of what he should do. He should call Nathan in, or the doctor, but all he wanted to do was keep Ezra talking to make sure this wasn't a dream. He grabbed the pitcher of water from the table and poured a glass, taking a big gulp from it himself before refilling it and offering it to Ezra.

The act of sitting up and drinking was obviously painful and took a lot out of Ezra. His eyes closed as he lay back down.

"Just rest, Ez," Buck said with a smile thinking Ezra had drifted back to sleep.

Green eyes popped open and Ezra bolted up. "Chloe!" he gasped, wrapping his arms around his stomach as his wound protested the abrupt movement.

"Hey!" Buck exclaimed, catching Ezra around the shoulders to keep him from falling back and causing himself more pain. "Don't worry, we're on it, Ez. Chris and the others are looking for them as we speak."

Ezra breathed raggedly against the pain, but finally was able to get some control back. He turned his head, confusion on his face again. "Buck? What happened? I'm… I'm so confused. I'm not dreaming am I? Am I undercover?" He shook his head. "No, I am Steve Tanner… but… I'm also Ezra Standish." He looked into Buck's eyes. "Right? I'm not crazy… am I?"

Buck gave Ezra a slight squeeze and shook his head. "No, Ezra, just a little lost." He chuckled. "God, it's good to see you again."

"Please, Buck," Ezra begged. "What's going on? How did I end up here?"

"You were shot, Ezra," Buck said. He located the controls for the bed and raised it so that Ezra could lean back comfortably.

Ezra sighed as he settled back, then frowned. The events from earlier in the day replayed. "Kenny Long. He shot me." He ran hand through his hair. "He took Chloe?"

"Yeah," Buck said, uncertain whether Ezra could take any more. He decided not to mention Lauren at the moment. "You're sure it was Long?"

Ezra nodded. "Yes, he was blackmailing Chloe, trying to get money from me through her. He recognized me, was surprised to see me," Ezra said, sending a questioning glance at Buck.

"It's a long story, pard," Buck said scrubbing the back of his neck.

"I appear to have plenty of time," Ezra replied, sounding so much like himself that Buck couldn't help but grin. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

Buck settled his hip on the edge of Ezra's bed, his grin undiminished. "I never thought I'd see you again, Ezra. We were preparing ourselves to get to know Steve Tanner." He held up a hand as Ezra started to ask another question. "Do you remember the meet we were going on to get Long?"

Ezra frowned, tilting his head then rubbing at his forehead. "Vaguely. I know we were supposed to meet his buyers in the middle of nowhere. Did we succeed in apprehending the miscreant?"

Buck shook his head. "No. One of Long's ex-bosses showed up, cut your caravan off. You and Vin got Long's mistress and her daughter away from the area, but not far enough from the truck to avoid injury when Long blew it up."

Ezra closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, the sadness in them made Buck's heart ache. "Leslie. She was there, with Lauren. I knew her from college, didn't realize she was pregnant when we broke up. Leslie was always trying the newest drug back then. I couldn't…" He licked his lips. "I loved her, but I couldn't live with a drug addict and she didn't want to get clean at the time."

Buck patted his leg in understanding.

"I didn't know she was pregnant or I would have stayed. At least to get custody of Lauren…" Ezra trailed off. "She's dead," he said, "killed by a drunk driver not so long ago. I… I think she really was clean, but I wouldn't let her see Lauren. She'd let me down so many times."

"It's okay, Ezra. You had to protect your daughter."

Ezra nodded, but didn't look up. "What happened?" he repeated.

"You and Vin were injured when the truck exploded," Buck continued. "You made it through surgery, but were in a coma and the doctor… he wasn't very optimistic. Before we even got a chance to visit you, Long tried to kill you. He had escaped from the scene in all the commotion. He came to the hospital and tried to suffocate you, almost succeeded, but fortunately all the monitors you were hooked up to let the nurses know when you were in trouble."

Ezra's eyes were wide with consternation as he watched Buck relive the past. He could tell from the older man's unembellished phrasing that Buck was upset by the memories. "Vin was all right?"

Buck nodded distractedly. "Banged up and cut up, but okay. He saw Long at the hospital right before your alarms went off. Vin still thinks he should have been able to do something…" Ezra snorted, causing Buck to huff in agreement. "Yeah, we all are too good at taking credit for things we can't control. Anyway, the authorities did eventually catch Long. He was in prison for everything we could throw at him, including attempted murder of a federal agent, but somehow he got paroled a few weeks back."

"How did I end up as Steve Tanner?" Ezra interjected with a yawn. He didn't think he could remain awake much longer.

"Maude," Buck said sourly. "She was there when Long tried to kill you. Somehow she found out about Leslie and Lauren." He met Ezra's eyes. "When you first woke up, you weren't responsive to much. Maude convinced us that you should be moved to protect you from Long who was still on the loose. When you did start to 'recognize outside stimuli,'" Buck said, emphasizing the last bit as if it were something he'd memorized, "you didn't know who you were, didn't recognize anyone. The doctors didn't expect you to recover your memory. Maude… well, she got Chris' power of attorney overturned and proceeded to reinvent you."

Buck sighed. "We didn't really have any way to prevent her from doing it. And until Long was caught, it actually seemed like a good idea. By the time he was in jail, it was too late, you were Steve Tanner."

Ezra let his head rest back against the pillow thinking about his life as Steve Tanner, as Lauren's father. He shook his head. Steve Tanner could be a real bastard. But, he was also Lauren's father and Ezra wouldn't give that up, even if he hadn't been the best father possible. "I wish she would have let you continue to be part of my life," he said sadly. "I could have used your assistance. Lauren needed the guidance her six uncles would have given. I screwed up, Buck."

"Ah, come on, Ezra, can't be that bad. Lauren's an Olympic-bound gymnast, you're a successful business man," Buck cajoled.

"Cold-blooded bastard most would say," Ezra corrected ruefully. "And I'm afraid Lauren's a bit spoiled."

Buck chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing ol' Uncle Buck is here then. Between the six of us, we'll straighten you two out." He paused. "Seriously, though, Maude was right about not letting us form a connection to Steve while Long was still on the loose. Would have defeated the purpose of giving you a new life."

"And after?" Ezra asked.

"You had a long recovery, Ezra. And Lauren, too." He raised his hand to forestall Ezra's concern. "She wasn't hurt badly, but emotionally it was hard for her. Leslie was going through a detox program, you were introduced as her father, but didn't even know yourself, let alone your daughter." Buck shook his head. "Trying to add us back into the equation too soon would have been difficult and by the time things were 'normal' and safe, well, you weren't Ezra anymore."

Ezra frowned. "You didn't even try?"

Buck shook his head vehemently. "No! Of course we did. We all visited in those early days. Kept hoping you would recognize us or at least remember us from one visit to the next. You had some real memory problems at first. Once you were able to hold a thought from one day to the next, Maude said it upset you to see us." Buck frowned. "Maybe that was a sign that you did remember, maybe we should have insisted on seeing you, but she made it sound like we were detrimental," Buck made finger quotes to emphasize the word," to your recovery. Who knows, maybe our visits were keeping you from healing," he tapped his head, "up here."

"I should probably be angry with Moth…" Ezra trailed off as the door opened and Nathan came into the room followed by Chris and Vin.

Nathan looked at Buck with a frown. "Why didn't you tell me he was awake?"

Buck smiled broadly and shrugged. "Sorry, Nate. Me and Ez got to talkin'."

Nathan, Chris and Vin shot Buck a glare before casting a look at Ezra to see what his reaction would be.

"Mr. Tanner?" Vin asked, his tone uncertain.

Ezra shared a brief look with Buck and suddenly it was as if the last ten years had never occurred. Buck bit his lip at the flash of mischief in those green eyes and tried to keep his smile from cracking his face. It didn't matter though, because Ezra had already shifted into his game face and their three friends were too caught up in seeing the Southerner awake and coherent for the first time in a decade to pay attention to Buck.

"Yes," Ezra replied calmly, "I'm Steve Tanner."

Vin blinked, not sure what he'd been expecting, only that the lack of Ezra's southern drawl was not it.

Chris stepped forward. "Mr. Tanner, I'm not sure what Buck," he indicated his old friend with a small wave of his hand, "has been telling you, but…"

Ezra frowned. "Mr. Wilmington has painted quite an unusual picture. I'm not really sure what to make of it," he replied looking from Chris to Vin and then to Nathan as if expecting an answer.

Buck sat down hard in the chair trying not to laugh. Chris frowned at him, but Buck had a hand over his face.

"Well," Chris continued, trying to figure out what he should say, "whatever he told you…"

Ezra interrupted again, noting that Vin and even Nathan were now paying more attention to Buck's quivering form than to himself. "While I admit, I still don't have all the pieces, I must say that," he suddenly dropped back into his normal southern drawl, "I've always been able to rely on Buck to tell me the God's honest truth when it really mattered."

Chris ignored Buck's uncontrolled, almost hysterical laughter as he stared deep into Ezra's eyes. Vin and Nathan moved up beside him, doing the same.

Ezra didn't hide the feelings he had for these men who had become like brothers to him. Those feelings showed clearly on his face to anyone who knew him, and as one, they moved closer to the bed.

Buck watched from his chair, a sappy grin plastered on his face. He didn't bother to wipe the tears from his eyes. It was just too good to be true.

"Ezra?" Nathan finally asked. "You really remember us?"

"Yes, Nathan," Ezra said meeting the black man's intent gaze for a long moment before he looked to the blond. "Chris," he said simply then shifted his eyes to his namesake. "Vin."

Vin shook his head, a slow smile blooming on his face.

Ezra could no longer hold back his own grin. It felt so good to see them again.

The three men smiled back, unable to resist the Southerner's honest welcoming grin, only to watch it fade as Ezra recalled the situation.

"Any word on Chloe?" he asked.

Chris shook his head in response, but also to help himself shift gears to the more serious matter at hand. "Haven't heard from the kidnappers since just before you went into surgery." He glanced at Nathan, "What, about six hours ago?" Nathan nodded. "They were fine then," Chris continued. "The kidnapper showed us a short video of them both together before he hung up. Said he'd only talk to you."

Ezra nodded leaning back against the pillows as his body began to protest the activity. His mind also started to fog over from the pain medication and blood loss. "Them?" he asked after a long moment.

Buck, now serious as well, sent a look to Chris and shook his head. Chris sighed, understanding that Ezra hadn't known about Lauren's involvement.

"Ezra," he said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "They got Chloe and Lauren."

Ezra's eyes widened and for a moment the room was still. Then, Ezra flipped back the sheets over his legs and swung them off the bed. He had to grab the side rail to steady himself, and that gave Chris and the others time to stop his progress.

"Ezra," Nathan said, "stop! You can't be going anywhere just yet."

"Stand aside, Nathan," Ezra hissed, trying to catch his breath against the pain in his side, but refusing to settle back in the bed.

"We don't even know where they are," Vin added, stepping in to help keep the stubborn Southerner in the bed.

"Damn it, Ezra," Buck said, gripping the younger man's arm. "Listen to us," he pleaded.

Ezra stopped struggling, mainly because his burst of energy had left him light-headed and weaker than before. He allowed his friends to help him back into bed as Chris explained.

"JD's working with the FBI as we speak, trying to track the cell phone signal," Chris said, wondering if they'd be having this much trouble with Steve Tanner and deciding that they probably would. "The feebs graciously accepted our help after a quick call to the Judge who pulled some strings for us."

Ezra looked up at Chris. "Did you see the video?"

Chris nodded. "They were scared, but not hurt." He snorted. "Actually, they looked pretty pissed off," he added with a smile.

Ezra nodded, his eyes closing of their own volition. "Find them… find my daughter… please." He forced his eyes open one last time, catching each man's eyes.

"You got my word as a Tanner," Vin said, a slight smirk on his face. "From one Tanner to another, we'll get 'em back."

Ezra smiled and faded off to sleep.

Chris turned to Buck. "What the hell happened?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake Ezra… Ezra! Not Steve Tanner, but Ezra Standish. He still couldn't believe it.

"I don't know, Chris," Buck said, grinning ear to ear. "He was a little befuddled when he first woke up, but then he looked right at me and said my name. Could have knocked me over with a feather."

"Shhhh," Nathan admonished as Buck got louder and louder with his excitement.

Buck nodded and continued more softly. "He remembered going out after Long all those years ago, though the details were fuzzy for him." Buck's smile dropped as he went on. "Said it was Long who has Chloe and Lauren. Was Long who shot him in the parking lot."

"Damn," Vin said. "If I ever find out how he got paroled…"

"Later for that, Vin," Nathan said. "Are you sure it was Ezra?"

"You heard him, Nate," Buck said, "that was our Ezra. One hundred percent, right down to the accent."

"Maude did say he'd pretty much lost the accent since the accident," Chris reminded Nathan.

"Yeah," Nate said, rubbing one hand over his smooth head. "I just can't believe it." He looked up. "I'm damn glad he's back, just can't explain it. I suppose I should go let the doctor know…"

Chris caught his sleeve as Nathan turned to go. "Call Josiah and JD, let them know, then you and Buck head out and get some rest."

"Maybe we should wait 'til he wakes up again to say anything," Vin suggested. All eyes landed on him. "Just in case."

Just in case it was a fluke. No one wanted to voice that thought though.

Chris sighed. "Nate, tell the doctor he woke up and… hell, there's no way we can keep this from Josiah and JD. They'll take one look at Buck and know something's up."

The others, including Buck, chuckled at the truth of that statement. The man was practically vibrating with his excitement.

"Just tell 'em what happened when you get back to the house," Chris advised. "We'll call you when he wakes up again."

"Dang," Buck complained. "I almost hate to leave."

"Come on, Buck," Nathan said, grabbing his arm and heading for the door. He looked back at Chris and Vin. "We'll call you if anything comes up."

Chris nodded and sank into the chair Buck had been using.

"We should call Maude," Vin said.

"No, not yet," Chris replied scrubbing one hand over his face. "Let's just wait for him to wake up."

Vin nodded, dropping into the other chair by Ezra's bed. There was no way he was going to miss seeing Ezra wake up again. He'd waited for ten long years for this moment.


tbc... I have a bit more done on the next chapter, but have a few things to add, thanks to Sue :). It will probably be the weekend before I get to post it. Let me know how you like it so far.