Rope Enough

by Brandgwen

Disclaimer: Profiler is the property of NBC and Sander/Moses. The Magnificent Seven is the property of Watson/Densham and CBS. The ATF universe belongs to Mog. I'm not making any money, I'm not worth suing.

Author's Note: This is an ATF/Profiler cross-over, inspired by the challenge put forward by Michelle Naylor. Background is gleaned from a number of ATF fics, in particular "How DID He Get That Car?", by Mog and "Your True Family", by Ruby. Thanks to to everyone who helped me with the background information.

What You See

Bailey had to admire the man who paced before him. The instant Larabee had realised the gravity of his agent's situation, he had reacted. The first thing he did was call the office on his mobile.

"Hey, Vin, its me. We've got situation, down here... Yeah, I want Buck to contact Nathan. Tell him we may have to take down the whole racket from his end... I know, Ez was closer, but we have to make do... Okay, I want the rest over here, now... I don't care, drop everything... Alright, half an hour? See ya."

Bailey smiled a tight, wary smile. "I don't recall requesting assistance."

"We need Standish in the field, ASAP. The sooner he's cleared, the better."

"Fine. Shall we go have a chat, then?"

Larabee followed Malone down the corridor to the interview room where Ezra was being held. The undercover sat, calm and silent, waiting for his boss.

"Agents Larabee, Malone," he acknowledged their arrival, but did not smile. The truth of the matter was, Standish found the idea of these two men being together in the same room unnerving. He had known Bailey during his time with the FBI, even worked with him on occasion. He had always thought the older agent to be honest and fair - the type who would defend his own men to the hilt. Malone had been one of the first to condemn Standish when accusations of misconduct had begun to circulate.

"So, do you feel like answering those questions, now?" Malone didn't care if he did or not. He would get the information out the agent, regardless of how cooperative he decided to be.

"Where would you like me to begin?"

"How about around seven o'clock last night?"

Standish glanced at Larabee. The nod he received was almost imperceptible, but Bailey did not miss it. "Seven o'clock? Well, I had previously acquired information suggesting one of the members of the faculty staff was involved in the warehousing of illegal firearms."

"Where did you get this information?"

Again, Standish looked to his boss for permission. Larabee gave it. "One of my fellow agents is working undercover in the biomedical sciences faculty. He had overheard a conversation in which the liberal arts faculty was mentioned, however, no names were given. I remained in the building after hours, with the intention of searching the private offices."

"Wouldn't that evidence be inadmissible?"

"Yes, but the intention was to find a lead, not prove any connection. The question of admissibility was never to come up."

Malone shook his head. With Standish, an act was only wrong if you were caught.

"It took me a little over an hour, I suppose, to go through all the rooms," Ezra continued.

"Find anything?" this time it was Larabee who interrupted.

"Nothing directly incriminating. However, Booker, a geography professor, did have a list of Denver telephone numbers noted down, that seemed somewhat familiar to me."

"Worth looking at," Larabee agreed.

"Alright, so that places you in the building during the time the murder would have taken place," Bailey returned the conversation to his own investigation, "yet you saw nothing, heard nothing?"

"The staff offices are all located on the fifth floor. I restricted my movements to that area."

A humourless smile flashed across Malone's face. "How can we know that?"

"You can't. The question is, can you prove otherwise?"

Larabee frowned. The last thing he needed was for Standish to get defensive, yet Malone seemed intent upon provoking him. "Unless you have any other questions, I think that's enough."

"Just a few more," Malone's gaze never left the former FBI agent, "you told Agent Grant that you saw the body in the tree, but wouldn't say why you didn't report it."

"I was working undercover. I knew there was a lecture finishing in half an hour and the students leaving that class would report the crime. I saw no reason to call attention to the fact I had remained in the building longer than I should have."

"Uh huh. When you looked in the tree, you must have been shocked. Yet, the man who saw you do it said you didn't even look surprised."

Standish actually smiled. "Well, you know me, Agent Malone. What you see is rarely what you get."