Hi Grayangle - Thanks for the review! To answer your questions, well, this is a Magnificent Seven story placed in a Star Trek realm setting, with a tab bit of crossover to The Sentinel thrown in for good measure. It takes place, in the Star Trek time line, some time after the end of the Original Series, but before Next Generation. The Original Series is the only one I know all that well, so that is what I'm working with. The Wild Card is a smallish scout and patrol craft. I can't think of an equivalant right off hand. In today's navy, kind of like a PT boat or a destroy (the Wild Card)as compared to aircraft carrier (the Enterprise). Clear as mud?
knoteach
Part 5
Chris and Vin looked at each other in shock. What the hell?
"Ezranok," Vin said softly. "What do you mean? How could her death be your fault?"
"I couldn't stop him," the boy whispered, still staring at the door that hid Blair and the doctor from view.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Vin gently turned the boys face away from the door and led him over to a chair to sit down. "Ez, why don't you tell us what happened?"
The boy gave him a confused look at the cropped form of his name, but started talking, "The Keepers some times would take me with them when they were going to be away from the ship for a few days looking for… for those they wanted to buy. They would take me along to see if I would be able to heal them, if they were hurt or sick, they could buy them really cheap, then after I healed them, the price would go way up. The collar kept me from talking, but I could signal them whether it was possible or not.
"About six months ago we stopped at a little waystation near Gaerhinoss V, there are some stables there that the Keepers have done business with before. I saw Blair there as they were headed back to the ship, and I recognized him as gudizaras. I tried to hide it, but they knew somehow. One of the keeper hit me when I wouldn't tell them what I had seen. Blair saw him hit me and ran over shouting at them not to hurt me," Ezranok sat quietly in the chair as he related the incident, silent tears running for him cheeks.
"Blair was so young he didn't understand what was happening, so he immediately started to heal the cut that the keeper had given me and they knew. I tried to stop him, but it was too late. When Blair's mother came running behind him, the keepers killed her and took Blair. He saw and felt her die. I helped him out of the shock after we were back on the ship, but it's been hard for him." Ezranok finished.
Chris too felt the pain of the boy's story, and moved over to his side setting a comforting hand on the child's back. "It wasn't your fault, Ezranok."
"But it was!" Ezranok insisted, clenching his hands into fists and hitting his leg in frustration.
Vin moved quickly to calm the coming storm. Swiftly, Vin picked the troubled child up and maneuvered him until he was sitting on Vin's lap within the protective circle of his arms, "No, Ezranok, it was not," he enunciated clearly. "It was not your fault that they hit you. It was not your fault that Blair saw it happen and came over to help. It was certainly not your fault that they killed his mother to get him. You are not responsible for their actions, only your own."
Chris sat quietly by, listening and thinking that for a man that normally said little, Vin had quite a way with words and children.
It took a few repetitions, but Vin finally broke through the haze of grief and guilt that had enveloped Ezranok for the last six months and the boy finally broke down crying. Very gently, Vin gathered the boy close and let him weep. After a few minutes, Ezranok's arms crept around to encircle Vin and he let him hold on as tightly as he wanted to even though it was a little difficult to breathe. Chris, trying to help too, slowly rubbed small comforting circles on the child's back. A full twenty minute later, Ezranok had called sufficiently for Vin to try easing out of the boys grasp.
"Ez, I need you to let go," Vin requested.
Ezranok immediately complied, but again gave Vin a strange look. He opened his mouth to say something, but all of a sudden his eyes lit with horror and he quickly placed his hands on Vin's sides where he had just moments before gripped him.
Vin left a little warm tingle where Ezranok's hands touched him, then the boy bolted out of his arms and across the room in fear. "What? What happened Ezranok?"
Ezranok looked from one man to the other, trembling in fear, all the while whimpering, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
Worried, Chris rose from his seat and stepped up beside where Vin was now standing, giving Ezra room so as not to feel trapped, but close enough to be available if needed. "Vin?"
"I don't know. I felt a tingle when he touched me there for a second, but nothin' else," Vin assured his Captain then turned his attention back to the terrified boy. "What's wrong, Ez?" Ezranok only continued his murmured apologies and trembling. When there was no answer, Vin reached for the boy only to come to an abrupt stop, when Ezranok cowered away from him, bringing his hands up to protect his head.
Vin and Chris looked at each other, sickened by what they were seeing. Vin wanted just a few minutes alone with their prisoners; he had learned a few tricks during his time with Vulcans, including some very interesting punishments that were used in their old times. One specific one had been the customary penalty for child abusers, and he was itching to use it right now.
With extreme gentleness, Vin pulled Ezranok's arms down, then released them to force him to make eye contact. "Ezranok, I promise you, no one on this ship is ever going to hurt you. Now tell us what happened. I thought you were beginning to feel better about us, at least a little." Vin joked weakly, trying for a reassuring smile. From the look on Ezranok's face, he wasn't too sure he succeeded.
"I hurt you," Ezranok whispered.
Vin was surprised and stopped for a moment to catalog how he felt and look down at himself. He felt fine, no pain or anything else that would indicate injury. "I'm fine, Ez. you didn't hurt me."
"I fixed in, but I hurt you," Ezranok insisted, tears coming to his eyes again.
"How, Ezranok?" Chris asked form where he as standing watching the scene play out. If the boy was dangerous, they might have to restrain him, but he couldn't see how the boy could have hurt Vin without him knowing it. "How did you hurt Vin?"
Ezranok looked up at the tall blond man, then reached out placed his hands on the places on Vin side as he did before. "Here and here. I squeezed him too hard and broke blood vessels under the skin. I could feel it after I let him go."
Vin closed his eyes momentarily in pain and sorrow. Bruises. Ezranok had thought they would beat him because he had gotten a little over enthusiastic with a hug and lift a few bruises. Vin couldn't resist gathering the still trembling boy into his arms again and standing, holding the boy close to his heart.
Walking back over to the chairs they had occupied earlier, Vin sat down with his precious load. "Ezranok, it's all right. You fixed it. And even if you hadn't, it's no big deal," Vin soothed him. Looking up at his Captain, Vin saw his own sorrow echoed in the other man's eyes. Vin jerked his head toward the closed door, in a silent plea for Chris to get Nathan. Chris nodded and just as quietly headed for the door.
It only took a few minutes for Chris and Nathan to return, but within that time, Ezranok had fallen asleep in Vin's arms. Vin and Chris filled him in on what they had found out at which Nathan shook his head and reached for the boy. When he touched him, though, Ezranok started to stir and whimper, his arms wrapping around Vin's neck and holding on tightly, his face pressed into the side of Vin's neck.
Nathan stepped back, shocked at the boys reaction, then all three men sent confused looks at each other. Vin stood carefully and carried the slumbering form in and laid him down on the bed beside where Blair was sleeping. It took a couple minutes to get him to let go of Vin's neck, but eventually he was comfortable lying on the bed.
"He'll be fine, Vin, Captain," Nathan told the two worried men. "He's been through a great deal, and it isn't going to be easy sailing from here, but at least he's out of there."
"Understood, Doctor. We'll be on the bridge if you need us for anything," Chris told him, then tapped Vin's arm and indicated it was time to go. Vin nodded his understanding, but didn't say a word. Carefully, he set the two read cards on the table beside Ezranok before he left.
Chris and Vin didn't say a word as the head back to the bridge, Vin worrying about the boys and Chris worrying about Vin.
Ezranok and Blair had been through a lot. As Vin had listened to Ezranok's account of when Blair was taken, there had been no mention of Blair's father, and he had the sneaking suspicion that they would have trouble finding the man, if Blair even knew who he was. And Ezranok, with nothing but vague recollections from before the slavers, had even less chance of finding any family. What was going to happen to these poor boys. Vin had experienced what could happen to orphans even at this time, and it wasn't something he would wish on his worst enemy, let alone two boys that had already seen more than their fair share of pain.
Chris worried about how attached Vin was getting to the little Vulcan boy. He had noticed how he had shortened the boy's name while the talked to him earlier and was concerned. In all likelihood, the Vulcans would want to take the boy back to Vulcan and find him a foster home there, and as much as Vin respected the Vulcans and their way of life, he would probably have a hard time letting go. All Chris could do was be there for him when the backlash lit.