Ezra had spoken to his supervisor at the FBI that morning, emailing his resignation letter with immediate effect. His office had no personal effects to be collected and he'd erased his computer and shredded any hard copy files before leaving on Friday. Closing that chapter of his life with barely a sigh of regret, Ezra looked forward to the next chapter. First order of business would be clearing Vin of the erroneous murder charge and getting the bounty lifted from his head.
Touching down lightly on the roof of the Saloon, Ezra leaned his broom against the chimney and made his way towards the fire escape. Climbing down, he paused on the landing on the first floor and held his arm out in response to Vin's whistled call.
Landing on Ezra's forearm, Vin hopped up to settle on his shoulder hurring at him anxiously. The Texan was still a bit nervous about this meeting, but he trusted Ezra and wanted to show that he had his back, just as the Southerner had shown that he was willing to protect him.
Chris, Buck, Josiah and Nathan were sitting around the table in the Saloon's private room with coffee, waiting on Ezra in various states of impatience. Buck was curiously lifting the cloth covering the table and chortled when his suspicions that it was actually a poker table were confirmed. He'd heard rumours of high stake poker games being played by wizards wanting to experience an illicit thrill of playing a Muggle game for money and now he knew it to be true.
"He set the time, but he's the one who's late," complained Nathan, scowling at his wrist watch. Unable to talk his colleagues out of this meeting, he was a bundle of nerves after spending the night and morning imagining all the different traps the southerner could have set for them. Tutting, he started drumming his long fingers on the tabletop and eyed his cup of coffee suspiciously.
"On the contrary, Auror Jackson, I am precisely on time whereas your watch is running fast," argued Ezra as he swept into the room wearing fashionably tailored, forest green wizard's robes. Scanning the room automatically, he scowled into the shadows of one of the back corners just as the falcon shrieked and snapped its beak in the same direction.
All four of the seated men jumped at the sudden cry of the bird on Standish's shoulder, their hands flying under their robes to clutch their wands.
"Gentlemen, it appears that either you have intentionally brought an uninvited guest with you, or someone separate to your number has rudely invited themselves to this gathering," drawled Ezra, frowning at the bug on the wall near the window.
"Only the four of us entered the room, Standish," declared Chris, glaring at the Southerner and then the bird, both of whom kept their eyes on a fixed spot over his head. Skin crawling, he slowly turned to study the far wall too.
"In that case, since I know that Ms Recillos keeps her premises spotlessly clean and vermin free, the bug lurking high on the far wall in an interloper," announced Ezra, drawing his wand and pointing it at the insect. "I'd suggest you reveal your true form immediately or I will force you to do so."
The cockroach seemed to fall off the wall, transfiguring into a young man with long, untidy dark hair under a crumpled wizard's hat and a determined look on his face.
"Ezra P. Standish, I am arresting you on the charge of harbouring a known fugitive. Vin Tanner, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Jess Kincaid and for jail break."
"Kid, what the hell are you on about? Vin Tanner ain't here," yelled Buck, standing up and smacking the boy on the head, knocking his stupid hat from his head. Chris scowled at the young man and clutched his mug of coffee with white knuckled intensity. Nathan and Josiah remained seated too, unsure of what was happening but willing to follow the lead of Chris and Buck. Josiah picked up the crumpled hat and stared at it curiously, wondering if it was supposed to look like that or whether it had met with an accident. Also, whether the boy's brain had been under the hat when the accident occurred.
Frowning at Buck, JD nearly dropped his wand as he tried to evade the older man's attempt at getting him in a headlock and trying to retrieve his hat from Josiah. "He is too! He's right there on Standish's shoulder!"
"Tanner's registered form is a coyote, Junior Auror Dunne, which you'd know if you'd done your homework," reprimanded Chris sternly, pushing the fact that he'd seen Tanner turn into a mink to the back of his mind, "What are you doing here, anyway? Arbitrator Travis ordered you back to Boston."
"Tanner can turn into a falcon and a mink. I was in town visiting a friend and saw him do it right downstairs in the Saloon when Yates first saw him," charged JD hotly, ignoring the second part of Chris' comments. "And Standish was the owl that carried him off up to a cabin he built up in the mountains."
The air crackled ominously, raising the hairs on everyone's bodies. All eyes turned to Ezra, who was suddenly looking like the extremely dangerous and powerful wizard he actually was, his green eyes snapping with magical energy. The falcon on his shoulder spread its wings, shrieking loudly before snapping its beak as its blue eyes glared at the Junior Auror. JD gulped, finally realising the peril he was in, and his hand flashed towards his wand. Chris and Nathan stood, the former's wand appearing in his hand with a supernatural speed even for a wizard. Josiah simply placed his wand on the table before leaning back in his chair, taking another sip of the superb brew he'd been supplied with and wishing he had something to eat.
Everyone's wand sailed over to be snatched from the air by Ezra's left hand; his right held his own wand unwaveringly pointed at the men before him. Nathan crossed his arms against his chest, glaring at the Southerner and feeling justified in his own convictions of the Southerner's corruption. Buck and Chris watched Ezra warily, reluctantly impressed at his command of nonverbal spells. Josiah just chuckled as he slouched in his chair, sipping on his coffee and settling to watch the show.
"This is what is going to happen, gentlemen – and I use that term very loosely and in some cases quite erroneously," commanded Ezra in his silky drawl, angry at the boy's presumption and interference, "We are all going to sit down like civilised beings and discuss matters. No-one will be arresting anyone at any point. If they try, they'd better be prepared for some very unpleasant and irrevocable consequences. Is that clear?"
Hopping off Ezra's shoulder, Vin transformed and stood next to his friend with his wand out and pointed at the others, glancing sideways at his friend he asked, "Ya sure 'bout this, Ez?"
"Yes Vin, it will be fine. All the men present, aside from … Junior Auror Dunne, was it?... is known to me and they are all equitable men. They'll give you a fair hearing," reassured the older wizard, seeing four of the five men under his wand relax a little at his words. Sheathing his own wand, he tossed Chris, Buck, Nathan and Josiah their wands and received a small nod of thanks in return. An uneasy truce had been declared.
Scowling, JD demanded, "What about my wand, Standish?"
"Son, first of all, it's Mr Standish to you. Show a little respect for others and you may actually see some returned. Secondly, I don't know you, nor have I heard anything about you. What I've seen of you doesn't inspire me to extend you any trust at all, so I'll be keeping a hold of your wand until such time as you can show that you have some control over your actions," replied Ezra evenly, hiding the impatience and disgruntlement he felt at the presumptuous pup's attitude. He knew that the boy was overcompensating to try and impress all the older and more experienced Aurors, but he wouldn't take rudeness from anyone. "Now why don't we all take a seat and partake of the delicious refreshments that Ms Recillos has been kind enough to supply? Good decisions are rarely made on empty stomachs."
Josiah was already seated, so Nathan resumed his seat next to him. Buck and Chris had been sitting opposite them, facing the door, and moved to retake their preferred spots. Vin sat next to Chris with a quick nod, after giving him a searching look and apparently finding something to satisfy in the steely look that was returned. Ezra stood behind the vacant chair between Josiah and Vin, waiting on JD to take the seat the southerner had graciously magicked to sit between Buck and Nathan, along with an extra place setting. He had only been expecting four guests after all.
Slowly and sulkily, JD did so and sat there brooding. This was not turning out the way he'd planned. He'd had this great idea to track down and capture Vin Tanner before turning him in to prove his worth as an auror to both Travis and Larabee, resulting in them begging him to be on the new A.T.F. team. Now, this fancy dressed, rich guy had taken his wand and treated him like a child, he'd never get on the team. Looking up when he felt the man next to him nudge his shoulder, he rolled his eyes when faced with Buck Wilmington's exaggerated pout. Great, now he was being mocked by the class clown.
Once everyone had settled, Ezra tapped the table with his wands and the platters in the middle of the table filled with a veritable cornucopia of delectable Mexican foods, filling the air with the scent of delicately spiced meats. Chicken enchiladas, spicy beef burritos, a tureen of chicken tortilla soup, corn and black bean quesadillas, sizzling steak fajitas and Baja fish tacos were complemented by crisp tortilla chips, guacamole, sour cream and tangy salsa fresca. Layered cornbread was eagerly snatched up by everyone, although Chris snatched the bowl of refried beans out of Buck's hands with a stern shake of his head. Everyone, even JD, smiled at the look of pure innocence on the gregarious wizard's face when denied that particular dish.
Once they had all eaten to repletion, although Vin was still munching on the leftovers of the chips, guacamole, cream and salsa, Ezra tapped the table again and all the dishes – except Vin's zealously guarded leftovers – disappeared back to the kitchen. Mugs full of fresh, hot, strong coffee appeared much to Chris, Vin and Josiah's satisfaction, with jugs of juice and water for those less enamoured with the jitter inducing brew.
"I believe now would be an excellent time for me to take the floor," announced Ezra, gazing around at the gathered wizards. They'd eaten in almost silence, only broken by requests for things to be passed. As everyone looked back at him expectantly, he launched into the history of Vin's run in with Eli Joe, detailing all the glaring discrepancies in the Auror's reports.
Scowling into his coffee, Chris listened with growing dismay to the set up that had been perpetrated against Tanner by someone who had taken the same oath to uphold the law that he had. Clenching his jaw, he reflected on what he knew of Yates and realised that none of it was exactly good. As much as his distant cousin from the south annoyed the living hell out of him, Chris snorted when he realised that he trusted the green eyed wizard more than Yates. When Ezra finished his report, Chris looked up to find almost everyone at the table looking at him expectantly. Feeling somewhat defensive, he snarled, "What?"
Chuckling at the obtuseness Larabee was showing, Ezra exchanged an amused look with Buck and decided to point out the obvious, "Auror Larabee, as head of this motley group of law enforcers, I believe the others are waiting for your input on my findings."
Frowning mightily, Chris replied, "Then why are you, Tanner and Dunne staring at me? None of you are on my team."
Ignoring the almost comical and childish glare thrown his way by Dunne, as though it was his fault the little twit wasn't on Larabees team, Ezra winked at Vin who was blushing and turned his eyes back to the green eyes that packed a much more effective glare. "Your opinion has a lot of bearing on Vin's fate, which guarantees you both his and my attention. Junior Auror Dunne is simply showing natural curiosity, I suspect. So, are you going to impart your words of wisdom, or do you plan to keep us in suspense?"
Realising his glare had no effect on Standish and was only making his own head hurt, Chris sighed gustily and slumped back in his chair. Running a hand through his unruly blond locks, he growled, "Tanner didn't do himself any favours by running, but I got to admit that the evidence you've presented leads me to believe that he's been framed for Kincaid's murder by this Eli Joe character."
Ezra's smile blinded the others at the table, but it was shadowed by the power of the smile on the face of the Texan.
Josiah couldn't help smiling when he saw those grins, realising with a jolt that the two men weren't all that much older than the Dunne boy. Glancing at Nathan, he chuckled when he saw the conflicting emotions on the medic's face. His friend seemed pleased that Tanner was innocent, yet disgruntled that it had been Standish who was the voice of reason and justice. Next to Nathan, Dunne was sulking with his arms crossed over his chest, which prompted another deep, rolling chuckle from the oldest one at the table. Buck was grinning just as wide as Vin, but then in the short time he'd known the man, Josiah had noted that happy was the moustached man's default mood. Lastly, he looked at his dour, sullen leader and paused…
Chris Larabee was shaking his head ruefully and smiling. Would wonders never cease?
TBC
