Author's Note: Here come the boys! Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable from either Mag7 or Glee. I also don't own the ATF AU (I think MOG does). I am just borrowing to play! (Disclaimer good for all chapters…just in case I forget to post it!)

Denver International Airport – Mag 7

"Damn."

Five men turned their eyes toward their boss at the hissed expletive as he looked around the crowded seating area while their youngest member never looked up from his handheld. Denver's ATF Team Seven had just gotten home from a long shared assignment in Texas when the massive storm system blew in from the mountains, trapping them at the airport. Everywhere in the place appeared to be crawling with people – those coming and those going all now trapped together. Big as it was, the airport was not set up for a long-term stay by so many folk.

Five pairs of eyes raked the room, looking for places to sit. After the case they had just finished, they had planned to hole up at the ranch for some well-deserved downtime to clear their heads. It had been a nasty one – the gunrunners had been the side business…the Ladislao clan's main job had been a slavery operation. Children, women, young men – they ran everything, for work in sweatshops and fields, for prostitution, and even for organ harvesting. While proud of their part in bringing them down, they needed some clean air and time to heal from the things they had seen.

Being stuck in an overcrowded airport was not helping.

"Let's go see if we can request some space in the employee areas," suggested Buck Wilmington, even as he winked at a group of high school girls who were staring at them. The ladies' man had played back-up for most of the mission, but sported a bandaged left arm – the bullet had come a little too close.

"An excellent notion," replied Ezra Standish with a practiced smile that belied his green eyes darting about, conveying how desperately uncomfortable he was in the crowded room. The undercover agent had been in the worst part of the mission, pretending to be a buyer and having to watch as the "merchandise" was set before him. When the bust went down, he had been the obvious target and his ribs still hurt from the tackle that had moved him out of harm's way.

Chris Larabee gave a brief nod and began stalking towards the exit, silent and menacing, knowing his men needed some space - the sooner the better. Despite their best efforts, there had been an exchange of gunfire, and two close calls for his team. That never went down well with the overprotective boss.

Vin Tanner tailed the leader and undercover agent, his blue eyes focused on both of them with concern. The sharpshooter was even scruffier than usual after three days in a blind waiting for the word to take out the Ladislao boss. His very distance had kept him relatively safe, both physically and psychologically, but his friends had not been so lucky.

"Come on, hotshot," said Buck, pulling JD Dunne along by the arm as he ambled after them. As usual, the youngest of them felt the need to focus on the cyber-world a little while longer, and proved to be a danger to both himself and the people around him.

The last two men exchanged tired glances and then trailed along behind them. Nathan Jackson rolled his shoulders to release some tension and then hoisted his first aid kit back up on his shoulder. The agent could only be grateful that his services as medic had barely been necessary.

"We best move along, brother," said Josiah Sanchez in his deep, rumbling voice. "They'll leave us behind at the rate Chris and Ezra are going."

"Not that I can blame them for running," replied Nathan, giving him a wide grin. The group's profiler simply gave him an amused smirk. Josiah could foresee some difficult days as each member dealt with the particularly troublesome case. Chris and Ezra were simply going to be the two worst.

Lord, if you're listening, we could sure use some rest.

After a few words with airport security, the team was shown to a half-hidden seating area. The room itself was reserved for employees only, but they had been granted leave to relax there. The seven men sprawled out in the corner furthest from the door. The seats formed a square-shaped "U", with four seats against the wall, and a line of seats going up either side of the row.

Folding his jacket and putting it under his head, Vin stretched out on the floor and propped his feet up on one of the chairs against the back wall. He may have been relatively safe in his blind, but staying at the ready, waiting for the call, had not allowed him to rest. The plane ride certainly had not provided any relief, and now he just wanted to find a flat surface and sleep. If it had to be the floor, then so be it.

Ezra glanced down at his teammate and gave a tired smile.

"I would be wearing Armani today," he muttered, shifting in the cushioned seat. "If I thought for one moment that Judge Travis would have the kindness of heart to allow my expense report by, I might just join you down there, Mr. Tanner."

"Don't even think about it," murmured Chris, his eyes closed and head tilted back against his own chair on the right side of his agent. "I wouldn't pass it along."

The other five agents gave soft laughs as they found their own ways to relax.

"Humph," snorted the undercover agent, covering a wince as he shifted his ribs. "Plebeians, the whole lot of you."

Nathan gave the Southerner a searching look, noting the lines of pain deepening around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes. Digging into his pack, he pulled out a bottle of water and some aspirin. He sat down to Ezra's left. As the chestnut haired man cracked his eyes open to peer at him in curiosity, he gave him a direct look.

"You need to go ahead and take these."

Ezra tilted his head and spotted the pills. He frowned, but Nathan gave a minute shake of the head.

"They're just aspirin. I don't want to give you anything stronger when we don't know how long we'll be here. I can see the pain you're in though, and this will just take the edge off. Your side has got to be hurting…Josiah packs a wallop even when he's not trying."

"Mr. Jackson," Ezra began.

"Shut up, Ez, and take the pills," interrupted Chris. The team leader had opened his eyes when Nathan began talking. Buck's injury had only been a scratch really, but Josiah had tackled Ezra as the bad guys had tried to cut him down with a hail of bullets. Neither of them had taken a hit, but that had been a whole lot of power for the ribs to take.

Clear green eyes shifted to meet his gaze as the owner clearly weighed the idea of arguing. With a shrug, the undercover agent gave up on the idea and took the pills without further argument. Chris' eyes narrowed on his friend's face for a long, searching moment. Ezra blinked, brow wrinkling in confusion. Vin gave a tired laugh from the floor, closing his eyes even as he chuckled. As the other men looked down at him and the silence grew, he opened his eyes to give them a bland stare.

"What?" he asked. "Ez didn't really try arguing about takin' the pills, and to top it off, he didn't say a word about Chris callin' him 'Ez'. Any wonder the boss is suspicious?"

Nathan gave a big grin as Josiah chortled, wagging a finger in Ezra's direction.

"He's got you there, brother! You aren't usually so casual."

"Yeah, Slick, you're slipping," teased Buck. His legs were stretched out and his chin rested on his chest, but his eyes peered at his friend across the aisle. He nudged JD, but their technology expert just gave him a light shove in return and continued focusing on his hardware. The older man just rolled his eyes as the younger ignored him.

Ezra gave a frown to the entire group, though they could see it was merely a façade. He slumped back down in his chair and stretched out his legs. Closing his eyes, he folded his arms over his chest and ignored the chuckling from the other men.

"Oh, shut up, all of you," he grumbled, shifting as he tried to get comfortable.

Josiah gave another chuckle and settled back to try and get some rest, as Nathan moved back over next to him, taking a seat in the chairs against the wall, stepping over Vin as he did so. The sharpshooter just shot a grin up at Ezra from his place on the floor as he watched his injured friend get checked over by their leader one last time. Ezra did not even bother to open his eyes, just flicked a hand at him in exasperation. A hint of a smile drifted across Chris' face as he shot Buck a look of mingled amusement and affection. Buck just shrugged, tilting his head towards the oblivious JD as the hacker's fingers flew across his miniature device with confidence.

His tired eyes scanning his men and the room one last time, Chris leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankle. Folding his arms over his chest and lowering his chin, he tried to settle in for some well deserved rest. Fortunately for all concerned, Judge Travis had given them a month's leave, citing personal and medical necessity. The team had volunteered to give up their saved vacation time if necessary, but the judge had pulled some strings with the higher-ups, and used all of his influence to get them this time as paid leave. It was an unusual move, but they had been going non-stop for nine months now, and although their physical injuries were lighter than usual, their psychological wounds ran deep. He closed his eyes, determined to get what rest he could while they were stuck here.

Damn, I want to be at the ranch right now…why is there always bad weather when we're trying to get home?