Disclaimer: I own nothing and all mistakes are mine. Sorry this chapter took longer to upload than the others, I got distracted by stuff.
Confined
"Vin? You still with us Junior?"
The voice echoed down the well, but the words were lost on Vin Tanner. He was caught in memories, nightmarish memories that had their claws in too deep for him to break free.
Buck looked up from the well and towards the others, "Well the lantern is lit but I don't think anyone's home"
Jimmy was now bundled up in several blankets and wrapped tightly in the arms of his mother. He looked up at the remaining seven as they discussed Vin and added his two cents to the conversation.
"Mister Chris?"
The gunslinger looked over to Jimmy and nodded his head to show that he heard.
"It's dark and cold down there and deep too, Mr Vin was tired and he was stopping me from sinking, I think you should get him up now, mama has spare blankets and I'm sure she won't mind will u mama?"
Without acknowledging Jimmy any further Chris turned and swiftly walked back to the well.
"Vin, we're gunna get you out now tie the rope to yourself, understand pard?"
Faintly he heard a confused reply, "too…tired…can't…dark…Chris?"
Realising what the implications of the words meant Chris leapt into action, quickly tying the rope to himself ad barking out orders. "Josiah, Buck, Ezra, JD hold the rope, lower me down and then pull us up when I give the signal, one tug more rope, two tugs, get us the hell out. Nathan, get our blankets and sleeping rolls!"
He then quickly started to climb down the well towards the struggling form of Vin at the bottom.
He was halfway down when Vin seemed to stop struggling entirely and disappeared from view.
"Buck! Hurry up! Vin's gone under!"
All of a sudden the rope loosened considerably and Chris practically fell the rest of the way, landing with a splash and going under himself. He could barely see anything in the murkiness of the water. Surfacing again he tugged once on the rope, "Give me more slack I can't find him!"
Taking a deep breath Chris dove under again, feeling his way through the gloomy depths of the well.
How long has he been under now? Did he even hold his breath? I can't see a thing!Damn it Vin!
After what felt like hours of feeling along the wall, hands encountering the solid texture of the stones, Chris felt something give under his hand, VIN! Reaching both hands out around the object the gunslinger found that it was Vin, his buckskin jacket dragging him down, wrapping an arm around the trackers still form, Chris tugged the rope twice, and felt the rope jerk as it was pulled taut by the others. After a few seconds they broke the surface and Chris gasped in a deep breath, his own so loud he didn't know whether Tanner had taken a breath or not.
When they were free of the water, the tracker's limp form started to slip from the gunslingers grasp. Wrapping his other arm around the lean frame he tightened his grip. Vin's head slumped forward to land on his shoulder, and Chris thanked God when he felt the faint puffs of air against his neck.
When they were near the top of the well, Josiah leaned in and took Vin from Larabee's grip. Buck, JD and Ezra made short work of pulling Chris up, but by the time they had Nathan had Vin wrapped up in the saddle blankets of all seven of them and laid out on some bed rolls. Vin was still unconscious.
"Nathan?"
The healer looked up at the men crowding around him and his patient. The looks on their faces told him everything, in the short time that the seven had been riding together that had all found the missing pieces of themselves. JD had found the role models he needed and the family to replace his mother, Josiah had found the flock to steady out his need to search for his crows, Buck had found a surrogate younger brother in JD and he'd got Chris back with interest, Ezra, god knows what Ezra had found in the rest of them but Nathan had seen the changes in the man, Chris had found a reason to live, Nathan had found people who accepted him and stood up for him despite the colour of his skin.
Jackson didn't know what Vin had found, the tracker spoke so little of his past that it seemed that no one knew anything about him, it seemed obvious that his dark past haunted him, his fear in the well proof of the torments that had been inflicted on one so young , it shocked Jackson when he found out that Vin was only a couple of years older than JD, he looked an age older, but the healer had come to the conclusion that Vin seemed old because he had been through so much. But he appeared to have found a life-line in Chris, and damned if Nathan was gunna let him lose that now. Realising that he still hadn't answered Nathan raised his eyes to Chris.
"He's got some cuts and bruises from fallin' down, big lump on his head, musta hit it hard, swallowed some water, he should cough it up when he comes to, it's not the obvious injuries I'm worried about"
Chris raised an eyebrow in question but it was Josiah who answered, "Sometimes scars are left on the inside rather than the outside, brother Vin seems to have enough of both for all of us."
JD spoke up at this "But he always seems so…so…calm" his voice rising in pitch as he tried to get across how Vin appeared to him. In a strange show of affection Ezra placed his hand on Dunne's shoulder, "Mr Tanner has an excellent poker face, just not when it comes to poker."
Chris turned back to the Wilson's "I believe we are done here" Mr Wilson nodded, "We can take it from here Mr Larabee, plus we have one of our own that needs tending to"
Jimmy vigorously shock his head, "Mr Vin got hurt not me, he kept me safe"
Chris tipped his hat to the family before turning to the others. Understanding his silent order all five packed up their stuff, loading it onto their mounts quickly and efficiently.
Nathan spoke up again as soon as he had finished. "It's quite a ride back ta Four Corners, think Vin should ride with each of us for a little while, make sure the horses don't tire."
Chris absently nodded his head, watching, almost blankly, as Josiah passed Vin up to JD. The thought that it was a good think that Vin was fairly small popped into his head as he watched the youngest of the seven wrap one arm around the sharpshooter and picked up his reins with the other.
It was gunna be a long ride back.