"And to think I used to pity the children raised in an orphanage." Ezra muttered to himself as he strolled the streets, wandering with no destination in mind. He'd tried to find something productive to do with himself to pass the hours. There was no decent poker being played this early on a Friday, and any efforts to strike up friendly conversation with anyone failed as he found his concentration wandering. That detail made him glad there had been no games to be found. He'd spent a few minutes helping Mrs. Potter with some incoming supplies, and stopped to check on Chaucer, who expressed extreme displeasure over being denied his afternoon exercise. A few peppermints mollified him for the moment, but there would be a price to pay the next time they went out. Chaucer would see to that.

His effort at an afternoon nap was fruitless as well, as his mind churned with scenarios that Jessop might be considering. He tried to convince himself this was all nonsense, and that the stranger outside of town was a wandering vagrant, but he knew better. He'd seen the look of hatred when they spoke. Jessop had come here for a reason, and Ezra could reach only one conclusion on what that was. He debated breaking his promise and leaving to confront the problem on his own. Again, he knew better than to bother. His stroll had convinced him he was being watched. Simply walking into the livery had been sufficient to bring Chris and Josiah out into the street, waiting close by and watching until they saw him walk out. The salute he'd given them did nothing to make either man feel the least bit ashamed of the scrutiny their teammate was under. As he hadn't seen Vin since lunch, he concluded the tracker was likely keeping an eye on things as well, albeit more subtly.

As the dinner hour drew near, and dusk began to settle, he actually considered detouring to the church. Perhaps Josiah was looking for a hand. His own afternoon had left him sufficiently restless that he was even willing to run the risk of being drafted into physical labour. He certainly had the nervous energy to spare. He was relieved of making the choice when he spied Josiah walking toward the jail house. As there were no guests behind bars to his knowledge it was likely he was searching for JD. When he saw him leave the building a moment later, carrying extra weapons, he concluded a plan had been formed, and headed toward the likely meeting place – the saloon. He had taken only a few steps in that direction when he saw Chris and Vin heading to the same destination and picked up his own pace.

"Ezra Standish, as a duly authorized officer of the law I am arresting you based on warrants in New Orleans and Savanah. Surrender yourself, and hand over your weapons."

Ezra froze when the shouting began. Dear Lord, why was he going to make this a public spectacle? What was to be gained? He decided not to turn, standing still in place, but speaking loudly, trying with very limited success to keep his tone civil.

"Sheriff Jessop, you have been informed of the invalidity of such claims. Any effort to take me into custody is a futile and superfluous gesture, serving only to make you appear imprudent and desperate."

"Drop you guns or prepare to pay the price."

That was all that was needed to cause the people on the streets to duck for cover. They were all to familiar with the randomness of gunfire during a battle, and few questioned this unknown sheriff's intention to make good on his threat. The icy tone left no room for doubt.

Ezra remained still. He could see Chris, Vin and Josiah had all veered from their initial paths, heading quickly toward the confrontation. He knew from their posture what had to be going on behind him – that Jessop already had his weapon drawn and aimed. A quick analysis told him there was literally no move he could make that would not result in a bullet to the back.

"Don't try it Jess-" Chris got no further with his warning before the shooting started. Ezra had leapt to the right the moment Chris spoke, dropping to the ground and spinning at the same time, his derringer dropping into his hand to fire. Bullets ripped past where he'd been standing an instant before. He fired both shots from his small weapon, their sound drowned out by multiple other gunshots echoing in the street. It was over in seconds.

Ezra sat up cautiously, his eyes glued to the weakly twitching figure on the ground ahead of him. Drawing his Colt from its holster, he slowly approached and knelt near the dying man. He could see the life draining from Jessop, and despite it all, struggled to understand. "Why? What possible benefit could you have hoped to achieve from this?"

"Seeing you die was all I wanted." He coughed weakly, trying to raise his gun. Ezra shoved it aside, even though the effort wasn't needed. He watched as his father's eyes glazed over, and his head fell to the side.

He knew he should be feeling something but could not begin to sort out what that should be. The effort to decide was cut off by a shout from behind. "Nathan – we need you – Chris is hit."

Ezra was on his feet instantly, spinning around to look at source of the shouting. His blood chilled when he saw Josiah leaning over the downed man as Vin ran to the stairs leading to Nathan's clinic calling for help. Without a second thought for the lifeless body beside him, he charged to the far end of the street.

"Please God – don't let this happen." He skidded to the ground beside Chris.

"Steady Ezra – calm yourself. It's not bad." Josiah tried to settle him, while keeping pressure on Chris's shoulder.

"Mr. Larabee, I would be greatly obliged if you could find both the strength and the willingness to soundly berate me for whatever purpose strikes your fancy at this time."

Chris gave Ezra a half smile. "Can I save that for a bit later? Hate to waste the opportunity when I ain't feeling fully charged for it." He nodded his head toward where Jessop lay. "You get his guns?"

"No need. He is no longer in a position to make use of them. I watched him take his last breath."

"I'm sorry Ezra."

"Well, I suppose it is good that someone is."

Nathan moved in next to Chris, gently nudging Ezra aside. Vin pulled him to his feet and they both took a step away. "I can't leave you guys alone for 10 minutes without one of you getting yourself shot." Chris winced as Nathan prodded, but said nothing. He focused his gaze on Ezra, who stood quietly a few steps away. Too quietly.

"Don't start Ezra. I'll say the same thing Nathan did. I don't want you apologizing for the actions of others."

"Shut up and stay still Chris." Nathan poked a bit more, and Chris silenced himself. "The shoulder ain't bad. Likely hurts like the dickens, but it's more a deep graze than anything."

Vin chuckled. "I'd been willing to bet your hurtin' more elsewhere, seeing as how this knocked you so hard on your ass." He grinned, looking back to see if his light tone had the desired effect of relaxing Ezra. The grin faded quickly as he took a hard look at the southerner, who was growing pale and unsteady. "Ezra, look at me. You hit? Ezra?"

There was no response other than a soft "oh" as Ezra went limp and fell to the ground before anyone could catch him.

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tbc