A/N: Sorry about the long gap between updates, real life has been *crazy*. It's a nice long chapter though! The next update won't take nearly as long, but it'll probably be about a week I'm thinking. Thanks for sticking with this story guys!

As a sorry/I just think you should all read this fic because it's awesome, I seriously recommend Another Round by Indigo-Night-Whisp. It's an old west fic with Team-Dad Chris dragging Ezra and Vin out of a bar fight, and it is seriously one of my favorite one shots. It's also the only M7 fic she (I think?) has written, so I'm hoping it'll be new to a lot of people.

Shout-out to the reviewers: JudyL068 ( :) Thanks. Ezra is often such a contained character, I figure he'd still try when he was drunk, just wouldn't be very likely to succeed, lol. I did join the group, thanks for the invite :)) Leandra Falconwing (lol, yes, he is just not quite brave enough to try and go against Nathan-three angry gang members, sure, but Nathan? Nah. And yes, Ezra knew Chris would not have cared for that idea, at all.) Guest (Hearing I made someone's day is always awesome :)) Mhart (lol, Ezra either has really bad or really great timing depending on your point of view. You have to wait for the next chapter for the Chris-JD convo, but I think you'll like the one he has with Buck as the beginning of this one.) Lunaz (Yay, I'm glad you liked all the fluffiness :) They probably all need that hug, lol) Guest (Are you the guest that was sad about everyone being mad at Ezra? If you are I'm extra glad you liked the fluffiness, you inspired the extra dose of it.) Kathy (Yes, JD is in for a talking too before too long. As for Chris and Sharpe, you'll have to see...:)) Kittyranma (I'm trying :) Hope you find this chapter interesting too) Busaikosensei(Ch12 lol, I love the designation Pouty!Ezra, he really is in the last couple chapters. Yes, Josiah is still a little too worried to have processed just how bad that video tape has to be, and I have this image in my head of his chest slowly swelling up as he watches it... Ch13, Ha, no, his license might still be in his pocket, but he's not gonna be driving anywhere right now ;)) Tellygirl (lol, I think there are a lot of M7 fans who would do the exact same thing, without thinking twice. I gotta tell ya, I wouldn't want them to find out I framed somebody...)

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Buck stared exasperatedly at a jittery JD, who was looking at Buck to save him, "Well, of course I told Brady when I updated him. Why the heck didn't you tell Chris in the first place?"

JD looked at him like he was crazy, slowly saying, "Because he'd be mad." Buck groaned and rubbed at his forehead. He knew the others liked to joke that he didn't act much older than JD, that that was why the two got along so well, and most of the time he felt like he had to admit there was some truth in it. Right now the age gap couldn't have seemed bigger if he were ninety and JD was in preschool.

"And you decided that lying to him would make him less mad?"

Looking mighty offended, the boy snapped back, "I didn't lie!"

"Withholding vital information is lying, kid. Withholding it to save your own butt, even with Vin's included, doubly so. You know that's what's Chris is gonna say, and he's right." JD slumped then, looking miserable.

"I'm in trouble, huh?"

"Big time." JD was the one to groan this time, putting his face down on his keyboard.

"Today sucks." Buck reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Look on the bright side, tomorrow has to be better."

JD raised his head just enough to glare grumpily at Buck, "You realize you just cursed us, right?" Buck sighed and knocked on the top of his desk.

"There, I knocked on wood, no curse, happy?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not real wood."

Buck rolled his eyes to the heavens. "Your head can be pretty wooden sometimes, why don't I knock on that?"

As JD was scowling at him, Vin came out of Chris's office where he'd wheeled Sharpe, Buck hoping that the reason he'd taken so long wasn't because Sharpe had new bruises on his body, and JD's head shot up and in Vin's direction, "Chris knows we hit Sharpe, wants to know if you ever placed Sharpe under arrest. I really hope you did, 'cause he sounds pissed off over text-I didn't know you could do that. The only reason he woulda texted instead of using the radio is if he was too mad to talk, too."

Vin paused, processing all of that, and then a hand was reaching up to tug it's way through his tangled hair, and Buck bit back another groan, because he hadn't, had he? "Shit." Yep, shit was right. Dammit Junior.

When the hell had he become the grown-up here? "He awake yet?" It had been long enough that if Sharpe wasn't they should probably see about getting the mule-faced piece of crap medical attention-not that Buck would mind letting him suffer, but it wasn't worth the risk of JD or Vin getting in trouble. More trouble.

"Yeah, stirrin' and bitchin'. Figured we'd start questioning him soon."

Buck nodded, "I know it's just words, but get your butt back in there and tell him he's under arrest, read him his rights, get things started official like." Vin was second in command, and under most circumstances he'd be the one issuing orders, but at the moment Junior looked like he was in over his head, and hell, Buck had been a cop when the kid was still in high school. Supposed to be in high school, anyway. He could take over for a little while. Vin nodded at him, looking like he was back on firmer ground, letting him know the kid was going to let him. He snagged one of his crutches and pulled himself to his feet, "If he's awake it's time to get Travis, he wanted to be told if we found anything important, and I can guarantee one of his agents being involved with a hit on another is important. I'd wait on questioning him until Travis is down here." The director was liable to be more than a bit ticked off they'd waited this long to tell him. Another reason for Buck to go up himself, he hadn't actually done anything, and could act as a buffer between Travis and the boys if this got his dander up.

That the director hated to see any of his agents injured, and Buck still had a rather noticeable injury couldn't hurt, either. Buck had to try not to roll his eyes when JD looked at him dubiously, biting his lip. Other than needing rides-and help up the stairs that night the elevator in their building had gone out-Buck had been getting around just fine, crutches or no. He'd come and gone from the building a couple of different times today, he wasn't helpless. What the heck did the kid think was gonna happen in the elevator trip to the top of the building? Buck grinned at the kid, trying to reassure him, even if he had a feeling his grin looked more commiserating than anything, and balancing on one leg, he used the crutch he had to lift and grab the one that had been lying out of reach, ignoring JD's squawking as he turned towards the door. He was fine.

Then again, since JD seemed half convinced Chris was gonna kill him for his little stunt, instead of just scorching his ears and assigning him every bit of paperwork that crossed his desk for the next couple of weeks, he probably thought the director would do worse, and was just wishing Buck didn't have to go get him. But the twenty years he had on the kid had taught him that putting off things like this just made them worse. Besides, if any of them should be worried it was Vin. The man would be pleased they'd found the leak; it was the bruises on him, particularly the broken nose that had been swelling up beautifully (and was gonna make questioning Sharpe a pain in the ass, dammit), that he wasn't going to like. But there wasn't anything to be done about that now, and anyway, Travis knew that if Vin wasn't around, then Chris wasn't around, and the whole rest of the team would go with them.

If Buck were either a bit more of a coward or a bit braver, he'd say nothing about the injuries, hoping that the director would be angry enough at the situation Travis would ignore it when he saw them, but he wasn't willing to take that risk. Halfway down the hall to the elevator bank he noticed a spotty trail of blood that must have been left by Sharpe's dripping nose and cursed vividly. It looked like the blood had slowed enough that the trail didn't go much farther towards their office from where he'd first seen it, but as he started forward he could see that there were spots here and there that led all the way to the elevator bank, and decided to get in the one next to the one the blood trail had come from. Buck wasn't sure he wanted to see the inside of it. Vin was ordinarily more careful than that, you'd think he at least would have tilted Sharpe so the blood dripped onto his shirt, not the floor. Clearly, this was getting to all of them. If he didn't think a guy on crutches scrubbing blood up would probably draw at least as much attention as the blood he'd have tried to wipe it up himself.

The elevator couldn't have been too bad or someone would have reported it to security.

God, he hoped no one had reported it to security. Buck felt like time was dragging almost to a stop as he climbed in and managed to bend over far enough to press the button without overbalancing. Being tall could make some things tricky when it came to crutches. He adjusted his stance, bouncing a little as he straightened up, wincing as a dull flare of pain spread through his ankle. Nate kept telling him it was taking so long to heal because he wasn't staying off of it enough, and Buck knew he was right for all he'd told him to stop his fussing, but things kept coming up. Admittedly, this was a heck of a lot more important than when he'd been hobbling around the break room table, chasing after Vin for the sandwich he'd snagged. As the elevator started moving he tapped one of his fingers on the handle of his crutch, thinking over what he was going to say to Travis, and wishing the elevator would move faster so he had less time to worry about it.

Still, he couldn't say he was particularly happy when the chime sounded, doors opening so he could-crutch? What the heck do you call it anyway? Hop maybe, he thought-so he could hop slowly out into the large reception area, smile charmingly at the Director's lovely assistant, banter back and forth a bit, (whatever she said, Buck knew Sheila loved him) and then, after getting the all clear to go on in, pushed open the door and shuffled his way through, just beating the director opening it for him. "Bucklin, find a seat. I hear if we want your ankle operating at full capacity anytime soon you should be taking it easy." Vin was right, Nathan was a snitch. "Now, what do you have for me?"

"Ezra's been located, sir. He was attacked at The Sprawl, but he's alright. Chris has him. Our old S.O, Captain Brady and a good amount of his boys from DPD are helping clean things up, containing the scene."

"Thank God." A deep sigh left Travis, his body slumping for just a moment before he straightened again, "Are the attackers in custody? Do we know if they can lead us to who's behind this?"

"Yes sir, three of them. And," Buck scratched at his head, not sure how Travis would take this, "From what we can tell, they ain-don't got anything to do with that email, just random Damnation bangers who didn't care for having a fed in their bar. Bu-", Travis cut him off before he could tell him they had a lead.

"How did they know he was a fed? What the hell was that boy doing at The Sprawl anyway?" Uh-oh. Buck winced a bit for Ez at the 'that boy'. Looked like he hadn't just pissed off 'Dad' and 'oldest brother' (and a drunken JD goading an equally drunk Ezra into helping him place Team Seven & Friends on a family tree, labeling them as they went was still probably the funniest thing he'd ever witnessed. Gary from forensics was the perfect 'creepy cousin who shall one day kill us all'. He wasn't sure how Josiah would feel about really having six kids, though), but also 'Great Uncle and possible family benefactor'.

"I can't rightly tell you the answer to the first question, but as to the second I'm pretty sure he was getting plowed. Uh-Director."

The director gave a sound somewhere between a chuckle and an exasperated sigh, "I suppose that's a lot better than some of the things he could have gotten up to today." Buck smiled, careful not to say anything one way or the other to that comment. "I can tell you have something else to tell me, what is it?"

"There is a leak, and we found it, or Vin did, actually. It's Charles Sharpe, Director Travis." Buck felt almost apologetic as he told him, knowing Travis was the type to feel the betrayal of any agent, even one Buck didn't figure he'd had much to do with. Sure enough, there was a slightly sharp intake of breath, a disgusted shake of his head, and a muttered curse Buck couldn't quite hear but could still feel the intensity of.

Then Travis smiled just a bit, shaking his head again, but not in disgust this time, "You boys sure move fast." The older man clambered to his feet, "Alright, is he in the Team Seven office? I have a few important matters I'd like to discuss with the gentleman." Buck grinned, wondering if he had been meaning to sound like Hoss there. Either way, he wouldn't mind seeing the tough old man take Sharpe apart a bit. Which reminded him...

"Director...you see, there was an incident..."

"How badly is Sharpe injured?" Travis was still standing behind his desk looking down at Buck, definitely not happy, but he wasn't as angry as he might have been, and clearly not surprised at all.

"Well, his nose is broken, gonna have a couple shiners to go with it, and he was unconscious for a while...got a nice bruise on his jaw too, way it was swelling it might be cracked. Don't think there is anything else." He figured there were probably more bruises from the couple times the dick had hit the floor, but Buck hadn't actually seen them, so they didn't count.

Travis had placed his hands on his desk, putting his weight on them as Buck talked, jaw growing tighter as he leaned forward, "I can't believe I'm saying this, and I won't be repeating it, but-dammit, you've been in law enforcement for how long? Don't you know not to mark a suspect up where it's visible? Better yet, how to not leave a mark? Either way, you don't touch the face!"

Buck spluttered, torn between shock at what the usually straight laced Travis was saying, and indignation that he was the first suspect when there were two hotheaded young pups downstairs, who, unlike him, might not have known those unspoken rules. "I didn't! Hell, sir, I can't even take more than two steps without crutches right now!"

There was a pause and then Travis nodded, "Tanner?"

"Got his nose." Travis raised an eyebrow and Buck continued, very aware that the pride that had somehow crept into his voice with that statement wasn't appropriate, but unable to contain it, "JD's the one who popped him in the jaw." He hurried on, wanting to finish the story before the director decided he'd heard enough-Buck recognized that expression-and headed for the elevator, "They were provoked, Director Travis, and badly. Vin overheard that pile of-uh, Sharpe, talking to two guys, who we're pretty sure are the same guys JD got video off of the street cams following Ezra, saying if they," Buck swallowed, his stomach rolling at the thought, "did their job soon we'd be the Magnificent Six."

"A death threat? You're telling me there is a hit out on Standish?"

"Yes, sir."

"Next time, tell me that first." The director was already heading towards the door, opening it and waiting impatiently for Buck to pull himself up and start that way, holding back the sarcastic comment he would have given Chris-'really, before I told ya he was safe?-, knowing the director would not appreciate it. Not that Chris would have appreciated it either, but that wasn't the point. "We're going to get some answers, sooner rather than later."

"Yes, sir." Buck moved as fast as he was able, but Travis still got to the elevators before him, picking out, of course, the one that Vin had used. Buck said nothing as they stepped in, and neither did Director Travis, though he was pretty sure his jaw clenched when he saw the really quite small and already mostly dry puddle of blood underneath where Sharpe must have been standing. To his surprise the director pulled out first his handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket, then a flask from a pocket that must have been sewn on the inside. He doused the handkerchief with something that was definitely not water, whatever it looked like, and, to Buck's amazement, knelt down and started scrubbing at the spot, the alcohol making it come right up, searching out a few stray spots before he climbed to his feet, folding the handkerchief so that the bloody part of the fabric was on the inside with layers of cloth around it and sticking it back in the inside pocket with the flask. "Thank you, Director."

"No need to thank me." The man's face was grimmer then it had been, and nothing else was said for the remainder of the ride or the trip down the hall. As they entered into Team Seven's office Buck frowned as he realized the boys were nowhere to be seen, meaning they were in Chris's office.

"Sharpe's in there, reckon that's where Vin and JD are too." He pointed and started heading that way, not at all surprised that Travis beat him to it. Buck cringed as the older man opened the door and he got a clear view of a bright light shining in Sharpe's face, Vin standing over him holding it, while JD sat on the top of Chris's desk, leaning down to snarl at the man, like they thought they were detectives from a movie set in the 1940's. He'd told them he was getting the director, what the hell did they think they were doing?

The wavering light made the bruises and slightly terrified look on Sharpe's face stand out keenly, and while Buck personally thought it was a good look for the little weasel, Travis couldn't condone it, and he knew that. That the two acted guilty as sin the second they noticed them didn't help, Vin shutting off the flashlight and clasping his hands behind his back, like he thought if they couldn't see it anymore they'd forget about it, JD straightening up and pasting an innocent expression on, as though he hadn't just been snarling threats in Sharpe's face. "So boys, learn anything useful?"

They exchanged a look, JD opening his mouth and then shutting it, opening it again to say, "Maybe?"

The director continued to stare at them for a long moment, the intensity of his gaze deepening as he did, "Come out and tell me about the maybe." Not as stupid as the scene they'd walked into might suggest, they hurried out into the hallway. Sharpe, who seemed to have finally caught up with what was going on, called out before the door was swung shut behind them.

"Director Travis? I didn't do anything! You've got to believe me!" The man's swollen nose and jaw made his voice come out muffled and distorted.

"We'll see." The expression on the director's face left no doubt of who he was most likely to believe, and if it had been any other situation Buck would've hated the way Sharpe's face crumbled, might even have still had some sympathy when his expression transformed into rage a second later.

"This is insane! You have no right to hold me here!" As it was, he took great pleasure in watching the few seconds of all out tantrum the man threw as Travis firmly shut the door behind them, the sounds muffled almost to nothing once it was shut.

Wasting no time, Travis turned to Vin, "What exactly did you hear?" Vin told him, Buck feeling tempted to go 'talk' to Sharpe for awhile as it was rehashed.

"Do you have any proof?"

Vin looked surprised, and then hurt and a little angry, "Director, I ain't ly-"

"Tanner, if I didn't believe you you'd already be in the holding cells. I'm asking if you have any proof that will hold up in a court."

Vin didn't do anything for a minute, just standing there, to the point that Buck was a little worried he was being purposefully insubordinate, before he slowly and reluctantly reached into his pocket and pulled out-a flat tan square? "Conversation's on this, sir."

"That a bug?" Travis seemed slightly amused, "Never heard of someone bugging themselves before, but as long as it works. A lot easier to hide than a wire."

"It's a bug, sir, only way better than the standard one's we have, its range is much farther, and it can't be detected with any of the usual scanners and the file goes right to a secure server I set-up." Buck jerked his head at JD, now was the time to go get that file, not try to sell the director on his tech.

"Why don't you go get it up on your computer for us, kid."

"Yeah, of course." JD looked at the director to make sure he was actually dismissed, rushing down the hall to his computer when the man nodded.

"So, what is this 'maybe' JD was talking about?" All of Travis's attention was now on Vin, and he straightened, almost coming to attention as he answered.

"Some a what Sharpe was sayin' made it seem like it had t' do with enemies Ezra made when he was in the FBI, maybe even all the way back t' somebody he went t' the academy with. He didn't say nothin' concrete, all vague threats, but it's there." Goddammit, hadn't the FBI done enough to Ezra? It was bad enough that if the other agency was even remotely involved things would be complicated endlessly, if it was any of the bastards who'd scapegoated him in the first place that was behind this, and Buck got his hands on them...

"Hey, guys!" JD's head came around the corner, "I've got the file up and forwarded to where you can hear Sharpe." He disappeared before Buck could do more than wince at the way he included the director in his shout of 'hey guys', and with Buck falling back to last they made their way down the hall to stand in a clump behind JD's desk. Even after hearing Vin repeat what the man had said twice now, having to say it himself to Director Travis, he still found himself shocked at the level of animosity in Sharpe's voice when he was talking about Ezra. JD went to stop the tape after Vin had clearly handcuffed Sharpe and, by the sound of it, all but wrestled him into the elevator, but Travis stopped him. Vin sidled a bit away and behind the rest of them as the tape played, Buck grinning a bit as his lesson in what the stop button did played back, though the director didn't look very happy. Travis motioned for JD to stop it a minute later, turning to Vin.

"'Another inch and a half to yank them before I cause permanent damage', Agent Tanner?"

Apparently at a complete loss for what else to say, Buck hoped so anyway, because otherwise it was just plain stupid, Vin choked out, "It was the truth?"

"That a statement or a question?" He waved Vin off before he could answer, "That's not the point. Did you forget you had a recording device in your pocket when you were threatening him, Tanner?"

Another pause, Vin's face flushing just a bit, and a quiet but distinct, "Yes, sir," leaving his mouth as he realized what the director was actually upset about. Damn kids. Like Travis really gave a shit if a traitor's shoulders were sore. Of course it was Vin threatening him on tape that was the problem. JD started the tape again at Director Travis's request, Buck wondering when they got to the bit with Kelly why the hell Vin hadn't said a word to him. Kelly's word was good, he wouldn't say anything about it, but in a situation like this you needed to know who knew what. The insistence on innocence mixed with nasty comments about Ezra, Sharpe clearly trying to rile them up, when the boys were questioning him was hard to listen to, but they were right, Sharpe had brought up the FBI a couple different times, and not just when he was trying to tell them they had the wrong man pegged as a traitor.

Ass clown didn't realize how close he'd probably come to serious injury. Vin had been wrongfully accused himself during his time with the Marshalls, knew how it felt, and had little patience for that kind of crap in the best of circumstances. At that point Travis decided he'd heard enough and began issuing orders, "Agent Dunne, I want you to get a hold of Agent Larabee and get an update from him. I want to know where they're taking Agent Standish and what security measures will be in place. Once you've done that clean up this file, make it something that won't ruin Tanner's career if we need to use it."

"On it, sir." If Buck hadn't nudged his ankle with a crutch JD would have crammed the radio on his head and started talking before Travis had finished.

"Agent Tanner, was the one in your pocket the only bug you placed today?"

"No, sir."

Travis did not look surprised, "I want you listening to the recordings for anything useful, use your discretion for which ones to go through first. If this goes any farther than Sharpe I want to know. Dunne, can you get the files up on Tanner's system?"

"Yes, sir."

"Wilmington, you're with me. Let's see if we can convince Sharpe to be a bit more talkative. Dunne, come knock on the door when you have your report compiled." He smiled a tight, decidedly scary smile, that was a bit out of place on the old man's face, and moved out of the row of desks and back down the hall to Chris's office.

Five minutes later Buck was leaning back languidly in a chair to the front and left of the one Sharpe was handcuffed to, chair turned so he was at an angle to the other man, whose own seat was positioned with the side facing the front of the desk. The director was perched on the edge of the desk, where he'd been quietly describing the unfortunate ex-agents he knew who had wound up in prison with the people they'd put behind bars, and the grisly ends several of them had met. Sharpe had spent a few minutes trying to convince the man of his innocence, now he just stared blankly ahead at the wall. If Buck hadn't had a prime view of how the muscle in his leg kept jumping he might have believed he was tuning it out, but once you noticed that it was easy to see from his shoulders that he was tapping his fingers as best he could. There was a pause in Travis's dialogue and Buck slipped in a line, "I know you're scared, but try not to piss on the carpet. Larabee is likely to cut it off if you do." Sharpe twitched a bit at that, and Buck shook his head in mock dismay. Really though, they'd only been in here for five minutes, what a pussy.

A knock came on the door then, and as Travis went to stand, Buck figured to go out in the hall and get the report from the kid, said kid opened up the door and barged right in, talking a mile a minute, making Buck sigh. He'd already had a talk with him about how just because you knock it doesn't mean you can walk in the third time JD had busted in on him and a lady, and the kid still couldn't seem to learn. "Hey Director, Chris said they're taking Ezra to the usual place," which meant the ranch, Travis would know that as well, and that the kid had enough sense not to blurt sensitive information in front of a suspect they could only hold for so long unless they got a confession or something definite on him, "and they've got a DPD unit for security, and he said he'd contact you directly later about more measures. Since they weren't connected they're letting them take the guys who attacked Ezra back to their lock-up, charging 'em with assault." The boy grinned suddenly, eyes shifting to Buck, "Guess Ezra freaked out a little when he thought they were leaving the Jag for the night, Captain Brady's gonna drive it home for him."

A sudden snickering from Sharpe drew all three of their attention, "What the hell are you laughing at, fuck stick?" Not language he usually would use around the director, but the tone of Sharpe's laugh had set him right on edge.

"You think you won, by catching me, but it's too late. It's too late." His snickering turned into full out laughing, and through gasps of laughter he choked out, "Hope he has a safe ride." Part of Buck was aware of JD shouting into the radio, telling Chris to get everyone away from the Jag, there was something wrong with it, but mostly his mind had flashed back to a time that was nearly six years ago now, the burned out metal husk of a car, Chris screaming, the sound like nothing he had ever heard before, and he was launching himself across the short distance, the broken ankle he'd forgotten about collapsing under him halfway through, sending him crashing to the ground in front of the still laughing Sharpe, roaring with pain and fury.