It was just past nine and Chris was gathering the files that he'd need for a budget meeting. He'd been in his office since a little after eight and had spent much of the time preparing for the meeting. Most people probably thought his job with the ATF was filled with action and shoot outs. In reality, he frequently spent more time dealing with bureaucracy than he wanted to think about. Just as he was getting up, the phone on his desk rang. He hesitated thinking he should let it go to voicemail so he wasn't late for the meeting but then it occurred to him that maybe whatever it was would be a good excuse for him to miss the meeting all together. He dropped the files on the desk and reached for the phone as he sat back down. "Larabee."

"Hey, Chris," he heard.

"Buck? I thought you and Ezra were supposed to be on a flight out from Denver."

"We were but the flight's been delayed a couple of hours."

"Don't tell me. Let me guess. The pilot just happens to be a woman and you've swept her off her feet," Chris joked.

"I wish. It's weather or something. I don't know exactly. All I know is our flight won't be getting in until about 4:00 – 4:30 mountain time and I was wondering if you or one of the guys would mind picking me and Ezra up at the airport."

Chris knew Ezra had driven and was immediately on guard at Buck's request although he couldn't figure out what could have gone wrong at a seminar. "Something happen? I thought Ezra had driven and parked in the long-term lot."

"He did. I just don't think he's going to be up to driving. I'm not sure he'll even be able to get in the Jag."

"Stop tap dancing," Chris demanded. "You've never been good at it. Just tell me what sort of trouble the two of you got into."

Chris heard Buck take a deep breath before he started on his explanation. "Well, Chris, first you need to know that nothing that happened was our fault."

"It never is," Chris said wryly. "Go on."

"You know the seminar ended yesterday. There was only a morning session so afterwards, Ezra and I thought we'd get some lunch. The hotel has this great little restaurant with an outdoor patio looking over the harbor. Let me tell you, it's got the best crab cakes you're ever going to eat. Next time you're in Baltimore, you have to try them."

Chris didn't even try to stop his eyeroll as Buck went on with his delaying tactic. He just had to wait him out and he'd get to what happened…eventually.

"Anyways, we were just getting ready to leave and I noticed this absolutely beautiful angel standing by the stairs leading down to the lower level."

Hearing the mention of a woman, Chris let out a sigh. "How did I know there was going to be a woman involved in this somehow."

"Now, Chris, it's not like that. There was some drunk guy hassling the lady. It looked like she was trying to get away from him so I went over to see if I could intervene and get him to leave her alone. I didn't realize Ezra had followed me. Anyway, this guy was huge…Jolly Green Giant big and he didn't take real well to me telling him to leave the lady alone."

"Wait, let me guess," Chris interrupted. "This giant of a man decided he didn't want you interfering and threw a punch."

"Um…yeah."

"And Ezra happened to be at the other end of it."

"Uh…not exactly. Ezra was sort of behind the guy. Anyway, I ducked his punch. And…well…instinct sort of took over and I…uh…I tried to hit him back."

"Oh, you didn't," Chris said as he started to visualize what the most likely outcome of the altercation was."

"Um…the guy ducked and…well…um…Ezra didn't."

"So, you ended up clocking Ezra." Chris was going to point out how many times he'd come close to doing just that when Ezra's smart mouth got the better of him but stopped himself. "I've got the feeling that's not the end of it."

"Not exactly. You know how I said there were stairs leading to the lower level? Well, when I hit him, Ezra went ass over tea kettle down them."

Chris winced in sympathy and shook his head slightly. "So, what's the damage?"

"The worst of it is that he broke his right ankle and bruised his ribs all to hell. And I don't think there's an inch of him that's not covered with bruises of some kind. Oh, and he's got a black and eye from when I hit him. It swelled up good. And he somehow split his lip when he fell. Good news is that he didn't dislocate his shoulder and the doctor said he doesn't have a concussion. Oh, and he didn't need stitches to in his lip." Buck tried to sound cheerful when he said the last.

"Oh, I just bet he had a party because of that." Chris shook his head slightly. He'd like to say he was surprised that his agents had found trouble at a seminar but then he thought about who it was. At this point, he didn't think there was a single member of Team Seven he could send away for something no matter how simple and they wouldn't find trouble. "Do I want to ask what happened to the Jolly Green Giant?"

"The police showed up then and I think they took him away. I was trying to make sure Ezra wasn't too badly hurt."

"And the girl?" Chris prompted knowing that, somehow, Buck would have managed to make some connection with her.

"Missy? She's ok. Hey, you'll never believe it but she's a flight attendant. We're going to get together next time she comes through Denver."

Chris found himself shaking his head. Only Buck could manage to knock his teammate down a flight of stairs and still come out with a rendezvous with a girl. "Only you, Buck." He grabbed a piece of paper and pen. "Give me your flight information and I'll pick you up at the airport."