The Charmed Seven Family Past Series Disclaimers: Charmed and The Magnificent 7 weren't created by and aren't owned by me, and I only use them in fanfiction for fun without any money-making involved.
Author's Note: I used the first name of the friend who got me into Charmed, for JD and Vin's mother, but the character is not intended to resemble the friend in any way.
Main Characters: Michelle Dunne Tanner, Michael Tanner, Nathan, Vin, JD
Series Note: Follows Part 5: The Third Son. This story takes place before and after Vin and JD are born.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Jessie Jane for her input which has helped me improve this story.
Closed AU until this whole series has been posted.
Warnings: Deaths of some major characters (parents of Vin and JD) - not gruesome deaths though.
Hanky warning: You may need a hanky for a few scenes of this story, especially the first two.
Spoilers: A few spoilers about JD and Vin for "The Seventh Brother". Spoilers for "The Magnificent Seven" episodes: "Ghosts of the Confederacy" and "One Day Out West".
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Teaser
Many years ago, before Gloria and Terrence Potter were born, there was a town called "Four Corners", plagued by crime, in one of the western states of America. Bank robbers and other such criminals, armed with guns and not afraid to shoot people to get what they wanted, made the town an unsafe place for all who lived there. One particularly chaotic day, the town's sheriff and deputy cowardly fled from the town, too afraid to stay there any longer.
One of the men who lived in the town, named Nathan Jackson, worked as the town's doctor, although it wasn't an official position. He was in his late twenties and was dark-skinned - a former slave who'd been a stretcher-bearer in the Union Army where'd he'd picked up medical information from a field hospital. Nathan was almost hanged in Four Corners because he'd been unable to stop a white man from dying of gangrene - men who worked for the dead man had blamed Nathan for their boss's death so had wanted to avenge it, especially as their boss's doctor was dark-skinned.
Two un-prejudiced and fearless American men, who were skilled at riding horses and fighting, joined forces and rescued Nathan from certain death. The two men were a blond named Chris Larabee, and a Texan with medium brown shoulder-length hair named Vin Tanner; they both happened to be in the right place at the right time.
After that, the three new friends teamed up with four other white American men (some were existing friends of the first three men) to save a quite distant, Native American village of a tribe called the Seminoles. It was being threatened by a group of cruel and racist, white Americans – formerly members of the Confederate Army who had fought against the regular U.S. Army in the war; the Confederates had lost and all the slaves had been freed. The group was led by a heartless and racist man, who was a former Confederate Army colonel named Colonel Anderson. The village was eventually saved by the seven men, who had defended it until the group of attackers was no longer a threat. The men rode their horses back to Four Corners after the village was safe.
A new circuit judge came into Four Corners shortly after the men had ridden back to the town, and the men were persuaded to stay there as peace-keepers. By that time, the seven men were all firm friends, although there were some closer friendships within their group. Then, they did a very good job of protecting the town and its citizens, but some good people still lost their lives when the seven were unable to protect them.
The men grew older, but they continued to protect the town as long as they were able. Working hard at their jobs didn't stop them finding wives and starting families, meaning that there would be future generations to continue their family names - names their descendants would be proud of because of their forefathers' many good deeds.
When Nathan was fifty-two years old, he became ill and eventually died, as there was no cure for his illness. One week after Nathan died there was a small funeral held for him, and only his remaining closest friends attended to pay their respects. Their oldest friend and fellow peace-keeper, Josiah Sanchez, had died five years before Nathan's death after his heart had grown weaker and weaker until it stopped completely.
During the funeral, Vin Tanner, wearing a smart black suit for the occasion, wept openly for the loss of his friend as Nathan's coffin was lowered into the ground. An older, similarly suited man with short and slightly graying blond hair - Chris Larabee - stood beside him and laid a supportive hand on Vin's shoulder.
"He died after many years of doing what he liked doing best, Vin," said Chris comfortingly.
"I know, Chris, I jus' can' believe he's really gone," answered Vin, his speech broken up because of his crying. That day was the saddest day of his life so far; he'd never thought about losing one of his close friends - he didn't like to think of such things, hoping he'd be the first to go. Of course, they'd all been just as sad when Josiah had died, but Josiah had been older and they'd been more expectant of the outcome from the onset of his illness. Nathan's very sudden death took them by surprise and deeply saddened them all.
"He's gone to a far better place now, Junior - they don't have no crime and he won't never need to patch up any injured folks ever again," said another man with graying, dark-brown hair and a mustache. He was Buck Wilmington, Chris Larabee's oldest friend - they'd known each-other even before they'd been in Four Corners. "All the bad ones go to Hell, Junior."
Vin looked at the gravestone beside the open grave - the person buried there was their oldest friend and fellow peace-keeper, Josiah Sanchez, and he would've had something to say in agreement with Buck's words, as he'd believed strongly in things like Heaven and Hell. Thinking about that, opened the dam further, and more tears fell from Vin's eyes.
Another dark-suited, dark-haired man, about five years younger than Vin walked over. He pulled Vin into his arms and let him cry into his chest. "Let it all out," he encouraged through his own tears. The man who was then comforting Vin was JD Dunne, the youngest of the peace-keepers.
Chris and Buck walked over to join another man who was slightly younger than them, with glasses and graying mid-brown hair. He was slightly younger than Nathan and the man's name was Ezra Standish.
"How you holding up, Ez?" asked Buck, still trying to keep his own tears at bay. He didn't want to cry in front of his friends - even if some of them were crying in front of him. Someone had to be strong for the others' sake.
"I can't believe he's really gone," answered the man in a southern drawl, sounding on the brink of crying. "It was so sudden."
"He had a good life though, everyone has to go eventually."
The six men all looked at the grave and remained silent, remembering the good times they'd shared with their friend.
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Not long after the saddest day of Vin's life, Vin became ill and was confined to bed.
One day, in the early morning, Chris and Buck stood by Vin's bed, sad that their group was slowly breaking up, and missing the days when they were all together, without any health problems.
"He's not goin' to get better is he?" asked Buck, his voice low and sad.
Chris shook his head, a lump forming in his throat at the thought of losing his best friend, who was slowly dying. He'd bonded well with Vin from the first moment their eyes met across the street, when they'd seen Nathan before he'd been put into a noose to be hanged. There had been a silent communication between the two, simply by meeting each-others' eyes and exchanged nods, and they'd gone after the hanging party to rescue the dark-skinned man.
Suddenly, Vin opened his eyes and looked at Chris, who was watching him. Then he spoke in a weak, soft voice; "Cowboy, thanks fer everythin'. I'm goin' ta join Nate an' 'Siah now." Then Vin closed his eyes and his chest stopped moving. He was at peace with the world and would soon happily re-join the two friends he'd lost.
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Many years later, both Vin and Nathan accepted the Elders' offer to become Whitelighters, as a reward for the good work they'd done during their lives, protecting the good people from the bad ones. They found it easy to believe that witches and other magical beings were real as they weren't alive anymore and anything was possible since there was really an after-life.
Josiah hadn't accepted the Elders' offer of becoming a Whitelighter, as he wanted to spend the afterlife with his sister, Hannah. In the afterlife, people were cured of all ills, so Hannah was now as sound of mind as Josiah. The two lived together in Heaven, happy to be reunited and glad that their cruel father was somewhere else and would never be near them again.
To be continued…