A/N Sorry for the wait. Although I know where this is going, for some reason this chapter did my head in. Through some of the PM's I've gotten I've realised some of you reading really do pay attention to the details and I had to really go back and make sure I wasn't backed into a corner on many points. Hopefully it's believable, but really I'm just trying to get to all the action now and finish it up right. It'll be all systems go from here :) And thanks to those of you that have messaged me, it really has given me the encouragement this monster needed to get it finished! Your feedback has been priceless and made the process totally worthwhile :)

26. The Calm

Half an hour later they were eating the pizza Chris had ordered and Vin had filled Chris in on the conversation, told him his thoughts on who would and wouldn't join with Eddie and drawn him some sketches of the layout of the clubhouse and where the underground entrance should be, according to Suzy.

Vin had already realised he'd again lost his appetite with Sugar's call. Chris was watching him, noting how the tension had returned to him with the phone call and wanting to help take the pressure off, but he was taking it slow. He knew if he started making demands Vin's back would get up and that would get both of them nowhere fast. There was one part of the conversation he wasn't about to ignore though.

"So this conversation you had with Charlie... what did you mean when you said Sugar knows what you're doing all this time?"

Vin swallowed the suddenly dry food in his mouth and took a swig of his beer, taking his time as he put the bottle on the table.

"Sugar knows somethin' about my past... I don't know what." Seeing Chris's expression he went on. "Charlie's Sugar's oldest friend. He cornered me this mornin' when I got to the clubhouse, was waitin' on me. They've been watchin' me move in on Billy and they're okay with that, just not happy I took too long to get the job done."

Chris frowned, piecing together what Vin had told him in the past and what he was saying now. "What do they know? That your mother was killed? That you think it was Billy that killed your parents?"

Vin went still. "I never said I thought it was Billy."

Chris gave a short laugh. "And you think I'm that stupid? You've attached yourself to him from the second you got here. You've sacrificed your health and put your life in constant danger and it's all revolved around him."

Vin stared back at him, jaw hard, but not denying it.

"Look, I get it. I told you before I get the revenge thing, but be straight with me here or I can't help you out of this. You're in deep with your own war, yet you're caught right in the middle of theirs. It's gonna get you killed if you don't take a step back and think this through. That's why I was hoping you came here. I thought you finally realised you don't have to do this alone."

He'd spoken almost the same words as Sugar on the phone. Everyone thought he was about to get himself killed. Hell, he was beginning to not see a clear way out. It all came down to one thing though; could he trust Chris Larabee?

Chris watched Vin's thoughts churning behind his vivid eyes and waited again. He'd said enough. It was time for the Texan to decide.

"Yeah," Vin said slowly, after a lengthy pause. He took the last swig of his beer and sat back on the couch again. "You're right. I do think it was Billy."

Chris smirked. "Not so hard was it?" He got up and went for more beer, opening two and handing one to Vin.

"Here's the thing though," Vin said when Chris had sat down again, but this time he avoided eye contact and the words came out through a too tight throat. He sounded calm, emotionless, but was anything but. "It wasn't a car accident. He raped and killed her. Slit her throat, him and his men."

Chris's frown deepened in shock and for a long while he couldn't think how to respond. Then his mind started putting things together and his eyes grew wide as the pieces fell into place. "The kid Murphy told me about... back in Texas. Jesus Christ, that was you? You saw it happen?" It was unfathomable.

Vin just nodded once, still not meeting his gaze. He didn't know what he'd see in his expression.

"Jesus," Chris said again, letting the full extent of that knowledge and what Vin's life had been sink in. Then, a second later. "Wait a minute. Murphy told me that Billy had raped and murdered his own woman..."

Vin did meet his eyes then and Chris saw the pain on his face. More importantly though, Vin saw understanding.

"Billy's your father," he said in a voice of total shock.

Vin sighed. "And now you know why I can't walk away from this."

They were silent for a long while, each thinking things through.

"So what does Sugar know? If he knows about your past and who you are..."

"I don't know how much he knows, but what he does he's keepin' to himself. He didn't even tell Charlie."

"But is there any chance he can know you're an agent? And what reason would he have to keep things to himself about you? What are you to him?"

Again Vin shook his head. "No way he knows I'm an agent, but why he'd keep things to himself I have no idea. I'm nothin' to him."

"He only knows you as Vin Turner? Even though he knew you as a kid? How does that work?"

"I grew up with the name Turner. Found out years later my birth certificate actually said Tanner. I dug as much as I could but didn't have a hell of a lot to go on where my mother's family is concerned. I know she used my grandmother's maiden name. No idea why my mother put that name on there. Maybe she was raised by her, but I never did find out. When I's a kid, she kept me away from the club, mostly. When they were around I just... wasn't. She tried to make sure'a that. No-one really paid me any attention." That was another lie, Billy had paid him plenty of attention when he was drunk enough. "They barely knew I existed. I was her brat, her problem. Most of 'em wouldn't have known my first name let alone what was on my birth certificate. When they put me in the first state home I was listed as Turner. I never knew later if it was a spelling mistake or if someone maybe did it on purpose, but I kept usin' the name."

"But you enlisted as Tanner."

"I wanted it to be separate from what I'd become involved in."

Chris shook his head. What a double life Vin had led, literally. His undercover name was more than something that had been used for his work. He'd been using it his whole life. "So he knows you enlisted, did he know before you let those records leak to them?"

"Yeah, I told him I was enlisting. He thought it would be good fer me."

"But he doesn't know about the NTF?" Chris had to press again. It was worrying, to say the least.

But Vin shook his head, although Chris saw the uncertainty lurking there. "He can't know. I wouldn't be sittin' here if he did."

"How did you keep that from them?"

"I was trainin' with him at the time I went off to enlist. After I served, I didn't go back right away. I made no contact with anyone during those years and I joined the NTF up in San Diego."

"And why did you pick the NTF? From what I hear you could have had your pick of jobs, private ones too that would have made you good money."

Vin grinned sheepishly. "Heard they were puttin' together a special operations unit, to try an' infiltrate the Joker's down in Texas. Seemed like a golden ticket."

Chris felt his own lips twist in a wry expression.

Vin shrugged. "I was always gonna go back there, one way or another. The military though... it changed me. I didn't really enjoy the life but it taught me a lot. At one point before I enlisted I was thinkin' about joining the club the legitimate way. Would have been easy, I was already a shoe in with Sugar as my trainer. Then the longer I served, the more people I met all tryin' to make a difference... I started thinkin' maybe there was another way to do it. Maybe it wasn't so much about wantin' to do it the right way, but makin' sure I'd have a life after it was over."

Chris was impressed. "I'm glad to hear that. Cos this will be over."

They shared a glance and Vin nodded. He understood what Chris was telling him and to his surprise he realised he was ready for it. He wanted to move on.

"And your exit strategy? Do you even have one?"

Vin felt the familiar tension in his stomach. "I said I wanted a life after, didn't say I knew how that was gonna happen." He sighed again. "Things kind of snowballed since I got here. It's all moved so quick I feel like I'm gonna have a hard time jumpin' off this ride."

"There's no way to leave the club? To make them believe you signed on after you left them if they ever find out?"

Vin tilted his head. "Depends on how I leave... or maybe I just end up livin' on some island somewhere on the other side of the world to avoid endin' up like Lucas Walsh... Maybe I'll meet up with Suzy there."

Chris remembered Vin telling him about the undercover agent's fate when he was in the hospital. It hadn't ended well for the man.

"You expecting to hear from her?"

"Nope. Hopefully she's long gone by now."

"Well," Chris said finally, clearing away the empty box and beers and grabbing his laptop. "We may as well see if we can dig anything up from here and figure out how they're going to try and annihilate each other tomorrow."

He searched for a map of the cemetery. The satellite image wasn't the latest one and so he called Buck to send over the current data on the area. The rest of the team would show up when they either had something useful or had exhausted all avenues. It was already late but they wanted to find something that connected the bikers to the area. For them to be able to get weapons inside, they would have to have something in place.

"What's your plan for the morning?" Chris asked.

"Thought I'd head to the cemetery before sun up, scope things out and find a good spot near the burial site. Billy's expectin' me to be watchin' for Eddie, so that's what I'll do."

"You think he'll expose himself like that?"

"I think he'll be there, just not part of the main crowd." Vin thought about it. Now that he had a chance to stop and put things in perspective he was going to use his time well. "Eddie will try and blend into the background, he'll probably be in civilian clothes."

"You think there'll be a lot of civilians?"

"Definitely. You know the stats, bikers only represent a small percentage of actual numbers. I think Eddie will be close though, he won't be able to help himself. Billy's plan is straightforward, take out the high-value targets first, damage the chain of command. It's supposed to start with Eddie, so it'll be a matter of whether he gives himself away."

"And you think he'll do that?"

Vin grinned. "Well... if I had a mind to, I'd work it out." He wasn't bragging, it was his forte. He'd look for signs, observe the crowd in detail until Billy showed himself through the smallest of gestures. There were certain behaviours and signs a leader in Billy's position would show which would belie his attempt to hide himself, no matter how discreet he tried to be. "But Billy's men might not. If they can't identify him they'll move on. Sugar, Charlie... then whoever they can hit."

"And Eddie? Will he be aiming to do the same thing?"

"I don't think he'll be as discriminating. He'd want Billy, but he can't be sure the man will actually show. So he'll probably just try and take out as many as they can. He wants the chapter shut down, that means anyone loyal to Billy will have to be taken down."

Chris shook his head. Bloodthirsty didn't cut it. For a moment he wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

"It's too late for me to try and find Sugar an' Billy will be expectin' me to have taken up a position... My only problem is using my vantage to do some good. I won't be able to get a weapon through there, even if I had one."

Chris thought about that. "Unless..." he looked at the cemetery. "The burial is going to take place here, this is the area owned by the club. It's pretty flat ground and there's not many buildings around. There's the mausoleum, but that's too exposed to the front of the main entrance. The chapel and main maintenance shed are too far away..."

Vin looked further from the burial site, to two massive crypts standing alone. He pointed to them. "I'd have to take a look myself, but they would be my pick."

Chris studied the large structures and gauged the distance to the burial site. He glanced up at Vin with an eyebrow raised, to which Vin only gave a cocky grin. "Seriously?"

"Like lickin' butter off a knife."

Chris shook his head, but grinned back all the same. Maybe the Texan really was that good a shot, he had no reason to doubt him.

"If you took up position there it would give us some unexpected cover. Nobody would be expecting a sniper that far out."

"I'd need a rifle."

"I can organise that. Even better, I'll send someone in with you."

Vin frowned but Chris stopped his protest. "You're not the only professional around here. I'll have a man meet you out there. Whether he stays or not will be your call, but if he doesn't take up position with you he'll be setting up at another spot. We're going to have snipers positioned on most of the buildings surrounding the area."

Vin held his look a moment longer before Chris put a phone call through to Brett Thomas, leader of the DEA's Denver mobile unit. If the man was put out by the lateness of the call he didn't show it. Chris would bet he was going over his own plans for the morning. After a brief conversation he hung up and turned back to Vin.

"Agent Pearce will meet you there at 6.00."

Vin nodded, thinking about what equipment the man would bring. It would make him feel better about the situation if he had his own rifle, or at least had time to set up the rifle he'd have access to, but he would make do. As always, he hoped he would not have to actually use it, but he knew more than most people that it paid to be prepared.

"And you? The rest of the team?" Vin asked.

"If we don't come up with anything more to go on tonight, then we'll be taking up positions near the main gate." He indicated the area on the map. "We'll have four complete teams inside the cemetery, with full reinforcements outside the gates, as well as air support if it comes to that." Chris would like to think that was overkill, but he was starting to truly feel that it might not be enough.

They continued to research the area for a while until Vin realised he didn't have much left in him. The food, the beer and perhaps the confession had no doubt conspired against him and his head was dropping forward where he sat on the couch, hand resting on his sore leg that he had stretched out on the coffee table before him.

"I got a spare room if you wanna catch some sleep. You're welcome to crash the night and head out in the morning. There's not a lot more you can do tonight."

To his surprise Vin swung himself off the couch. "Think I'll take ya up on that." He made to grab his phone, charger and all, just as there was a knock at the door.

..

Buck had been held up waiting on some latest maps to be sent to him and he decided to hand deliver them.

"You know, Chris," Buck said with a shake of his head as he entered, "you should start payin' that old woman out there for information. I'll bet she knows what every person in the building had for breakfast this mornin'. She said you had a bona fide criminal in here."

Chris shook his head. "Damn. She'll probably poison the next pie she sends over."

"Hey Vin."

"Buck," Vin greeted in return, settling back on the couch for the moment.

The rest of the team must have communicated as they all turned up a minute after Buck did. Ezra took the seat next Vin, who again had his injured leg stretched out on the coffee table.

"Glad ta see ya made it back in one piece."

Ezra grinned. "Likewise my friend. I owe you for that."

Vin nodded and that was that. The next minute he was scowling as Nathan approached him from the kitchen, a medical kit the size of a small ambulance having materialised from seemingly nowhere in his capable hands.

"Shit Nathan, I'm -"

"Fine, yes, so you keep saying. Then next time I see you you're covered in a new layer of cuts and bruises. Humour me."

Vin leaned back into the couch and tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling like it could deliver him patience as Nathan prodded the small bandage Nettie had put over the cut on his temple. Ezra gave him a look of sympathy, he knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of Nathan's missions to heal.

"So you boys been busy?" Vin asked, to stop them looking his way. He could see the curiosity on their faces as Nathan revealed more bruises as he moved his shirt out of the way.

"We don't know much more about the businesses surrounding the area. There doesn't seem to be anything that ties them to the club. We've been communicating with Murphy. He appreciates the intel you gave for the layout of the clubhouse," Josiah told him.

Vin swatted Nathan's hand away when the man gestured for him to let him check his knee. He'd humoured him all he was going to. "Look, I'm bruised ta hell an' I've strained parts a'me that have no right bein' strained that far." He gestured to his knee, "but there's nothin' but time that's gonna be helpin' with any of it, so you may as well stop yer hoverin' an' let me be."

Nathan frowned, giving Vin his best intimidating glare, but to his astonishment the Texan just gave a low throaty chuckle. "I've had old ladies glare me down better'n that today, an' I tolerated this," he pointed to the bandage on his head, which he promptly pulled off to Nathan's dismay. "I sure as hell ain't takin' it from you too."

Nathan looked at the jagged cut a moment and was apparently satisfied his brains weren't about to fall out of his head because he stepped back out of Vin's space.

"When this is done, you're going back in the hospital. You need some scans done to make sure that bruising isn't anything more serious. You also need to get that knee looked at properly. You shouldn't be drinking beer either, aren't you still on antibiotics? You look a little dehydrated."

Chris frowned at that and gave Vin a long assessing long, then apparently determining that Vin's need to relax with a beer outweighed his need to rehydrate, he gestured for Nathan to take a seat. "Back off Nate, he knows what he's doing. Lets get back to business." Besides, he wasn't sure if Vin would have told him as much as he had if he hadn't of been a few beers down and exhausted, so he was grateful.

Vin gave Nathan a triumphant grin, to which Josiah chuckled at the look on the ever-a-medic's face. JD came back from the bathroom and sat on the spare single couch that faced the coffee table and they caught Vin up to where their investigations had taken them, discussing the information they had each gathered at length, which became rapidly obvious wasn't much to go on.

"None of the buildings are affiliated with the club, that we know of. Of course there could be some connection we've missed, but nothing appears obvious," Ezra stated again, thinking.

"There has to be something," Buck said. "No-ones seen the entire Texas chapter gathered in one place? Where the hell are they riding in from?"

Josiah looked over the list again, showing Vin. "Most of it's storage. There's a toilet paper, or paper storage unit, meat storage-"

"Ew," JD said, "next to a cemetery?"

"Yeah, seams a bit off..." Josiah conceded. "The police have looked over the buildings in the last few days and haven't noticed anything out of place. Another drive-by was done tonight, but there was no activity at all. There's a metal sorting plant, that actually takes up a fair strip of the bank... a coffin manufacturing plant-"

"That's convenient," Chris put in.

"-A cookie manufacturing plant-"

"Seriously?!" JD was appalled.

"That's fertile land, kid," Buck said with a snigger.

Josiah went on as if they hadn't spoken. "There's also a pipe making facility, a salvage yard and a lumbar yard. They're the main ones on the strip bordering the cemetery. There's others but they're more out of the way. The meat plant, lumbar yard and metal sorting are the two closest to the bridges."

"And they've all been looked at," Nathan added.

Chris noticed Vin staring at the map. "Vin?"

Vin looked up, eyebrows raised.

"Something wrong?"

Vin pursed his lips, shook his head. "No."

Chris couldn't put his finger on it, but something in the Texan's face made him think he was lying. "Vin..."

Vin looked around the room, at each of them and saw they were all looking at him in return. Damn it. His brain told him to shut the hell up, to handle it alone, but his gut... his gut told him he could trust them to handle it. He blew out the breath he'd been holding. "The salvage yard," he said on the exhale.

Chris closed his eyes and gave his head a shake, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose at the sudden tension the Texas put there. "You were gonna keep that to yourself?"

"No... yes... aw hell." Vin sat back into the soft couch and ran a hand through his tangled hair.

"Well it's a start," Josiah said and Vin looked at him. Josiah smiled and looked from Chris back to Vin. "He told us and we didn't even have to pull his fingernails out to get the information. I do believe our boy is starting to learn he's part of the team."

Chris's frown hadn't left but he conceded that Josiah was right. "What makes you think there's a connection to the salvage yard?"

Vin pointed down at the aerial shot, which had a recent date on it and Chris made out a large area of what looked like the remains of motorcycle frames. "There's more bikes than cars. I'm pretty sure I heard one of the boys mention they could get some parts out from the salvage yard for an old bike. Figures they'd own it, or be associated with it."

"There's not a lot of cover there, but room enough to store some weapons," Nathan said, peering at the map.

"There's a shed, that'd be big enough."

Chris made a phone call, requesting another police drive by to see if anything looked out of place at the yard.

"I really think we should check it out ourselves," Vin said, frowning. "If they are usin' the place to store their weapons, they'll be guardin' it well."

"Let's wait and see if the cops spot anything first, then we'll move on it. Best thing we can do is think ahead before we get out there and start sifting around. This is a big area to cover without something to go on," Chris replied.

"And they'd still have to get the weapons inside the cemetery itself," Buck added.

Half an hour later Chris got a phone call that everything was quiet at the yard, no lights, no movement, completely dark and locked up. He looked at Vin as he relayed this information, seeing the frown on the Texan's face. "What?" he asked as he hung up.

"Nothin'... probably nothin'..."

Chris looked at his watch with a frown of his own and after a moment he sighed. "Josiah, Nathan, you guys wanna take a drive past there on your way home, see if the cops missed something?"

Even as Josiah made to stand, Nathan right behind him, Vin was getting to his feet. "I'll go. I'm the one with the gut feelin', I may as well be the one to check it out."

But Josiah put a hand out and rested it on his shoulder. "Vin teamwork, remember?" he said with a grin. He turned without letting Vin protest again and Vin sank back on the couch in defeat.

"Be careful, if there's anyone there they'll hear ya comin' a mile off an' they wont stop to ask who ya are this time'a night." Vin looked at his watch. "Make that mornin'."

Josiah nodded as he and Nathan left.

Buck's phone rang and after minute he relayed the conversation. "Bikers were stopped at the southern checkpoint. Around 20 with Texas plates. They had no weapons."

"That solves that mystery," JD said.

"How many you think we should be expecting?" Buck asked Vin, who's frown seemed to be fixed now in place.

"Hell of a lot more than that. Reckon they're the decoy, gonna ride straight through the front gate, headin' up the procession."

"How many men would be coming up from Texas?"

"They're not just comin' from Texas," Vin said. "Eddie's been playin' recruiter, gatherin' the troops on his way up. Dependin' on just how unpopular Billy's made himself, there could be hundreds. We won't know 'til they show up in the mornin' I guess."

"Was Eddie with them?" Chris asked, thinking not, considering Buck hadn't mentioned it.

"No sign of him."

Vin yawned again. Seemed catching an hour here or there wasn't working out well for him. He seemed more tired every time he woke up. He rubbed the back of his neck just as his phone beeped. Glancing down he flipped it open, frowning down at the display. He took his foot off the coffee table and reached for Chris's laptop as he looked up at Chris. "The co-ordinates Sugar said he'd send for me to meet up with him." Either Sugar had held off sending it or it had taken a while to come through.

Buck got up and came over, sitting on the arm of JD's chair just as the youngest team member put his feet up on the coffee table. Buck immediately slapped them back down.

"Hey! Vin did it!" he grumbled.

"Vin gets a pass, he's got a bum knee."

JD scowled but kept his boots down.

Vin continued searching for the location and after a minute he was frowning at the screen in thought. "Damn..."

"What is it?" Chris asked and Vin turned the screen to face him. He studied it a moment and then met Vin's eyes. "Damn," he agreed.

"What?" Buck asked impatiently.

"Cheyenne. The co-ordinates are for Cheyenne," Chris said.

"But that's North," Ezra said, his brow puckering. "Why would they be that way?"

"To throw us off. Fooled us didn't it?" Buck said with a shake of his head.

"You think they're legit?" Chris asked.

Vin was thinking it through. He pulled out the large map Buck had brought and then studied it again, glancing from it to a map of the area the coordinates pointed to. It took him a few minutes but finally he swore again, and this time it was heart felt.

"What?!" Buck asked again, his need for sleep starting to outweigh his already limited patience.

"They're already here," Vin said quietly and with conviction, looking straight at Chris.

Chris frowned, looking at the two maps and trying to see how Vin had come up with that theory. He looked at the Cheyenne map, saw what looked like a large open field, or a camp ground and beside it was a rail line, which followed the length of the river running south. All the way through to Denver south, where both the rail line and the river bordered the old cemetery.

"You think they came down on the rail."

Vin eyed the narrow river, which would most likely be dry parts of the year given how small it was. "Don't think they took a ferry," he smirked.

Chris twisted his mouth as if to say 'funny' and eyed the maps again.

"When you say already here..." Ezra said.

"I mean they must be holed up somewhere... somewhere close. Maybe they've been here for a while. Hard to know when no-ones been watchin' the train tracks to see what's been comin' in."

"And there's a platform right near the first bridge there, right outside the back lane entrance to the cemetery," Chris said, eyeing the two small bridges that crossed from the rail line, over the river to the cemetery. The platform was also situated between the salvage yard and the scrap metal sorting facility.

"You think they're there and they'll just cross on over to the cemetery in the morning?" Buck asked Vin. "They still wouldn't get their weapons inside."

Vin looked at Chris. "Is there a checkpoint stationed for that entrance?"

Chris nodded. "All entrances are covered. They'll be searched going through."

Vin shook his head. "Then they'll have their weapons inside already. They would have to have stored them there. If they did come on the rail they've had time to set up without us knowing. Everyone's been so focused watching the borders and they've already been putting things in place under our nose."

"Why would Sugar send you co-ordinates if they're not there?"

Vin shook his head. "He doesn't want me there. He's probably hopin' I'll ride up there and miss the whole thing."

And yet you're nothing to him... Chris thought. There was definitely more to the relationship, whether Vin realised it or not.

"The cemetery has been guarded for days," Ezra put in. "No unusual activity has occurred. And as you said," he nodded to Chris, "the buildings have all been checked thoroughly."

Nathan finally called after an hour and reported that all was quiet at the salvage yard. Vin frowned but let it go and Chris finally wrapped things up, sending everyone off to get much needed sleep.

"I'll be headin' out early," Vin told Chris, to which Chris nodded. Vin made to move off but stopped and turned back. "No matter how prepared we are I still think..." he scrubbed a hand through his hair, "this thing's gonna go sideways. Always does." He looked at Chris. "You make sure you an' the boys watch your backs."

Chris glanced over his shoulder at Vin, then turned in his seat to face him when he saw his serious expression. "You're worried about more than bikers taking each other out. What are you going to do when you run into Billy tomorrow? What's your plan exactly?"

"I'll be watchin' your backs. That's my primary concern, that ya'll don't get killed."

"And after that?"

Vin glanced away for a second, but it was a tell to Larabee who was starting to know Vin better than he imagined he could a person in such a short time. "After that, I'll make sure Billy stays put long enough for Murphy to call through that he has enough to arrest the son of a bitch so you can take him out of there in handcuffs."

Chris nodded, but didn't speak right away. "Alright. Let's say I believe that. You're just willin' to let him ride on out of here? Face the law for all he's done?"

"He won't be ridin', he'll be in the back of a squad car. Nowhere to go but prison."

"And prison is enough for you," Chris pushed.

Vin turned to him fully. "No. It's not. But it'll have ta be."

They held each other's intense gazes a long moment, both knowing Vin was lying through his teeth. He didn't intend for Billy to walk away from the place. He was going to end it. Chris's words seemed to echo in the air around them. 'I'd gut the motherfucker.'

"When this is done, it's done. After tomorrow, you're movin' past this."

Vin bit the inside of his lip but didn't say anything. He didn't think he'd be moving past anything tomorrow. He'd be lucky if he made it out alive. He nodded once and turned back to the hallway and the spare room that awaited him. Once there he plugged in his phone on the night stand, kicked off his boots and was out in seconds, not giving the situation a second more of his thoughts. He knew when to sleep and when to ponder, and this was a time for recharging while he could.

Chris stayed up a bit longer, looking over the maps and searching on his laptop. He wanted to be as familiar as he could with the site. He was happy that Vin felt relaxed enough to take the opportunity to sleep. It said a lot that he trusted him to have his back while he did and he didn't take that lightly. When he did finally get to bed sleep was illusive, his mind whirling through all eventualities, seeking for the unknowns. Too many. And then there was Vin, right in the middle of it. He sensed a resignation in the Texan tonight that he didn't like. It was beyond a resolution to get a job done and it bordered on accepting a fate he thought he had no control over. He wanted to tell him, then, that he didn't believe that. That fate was what you made it. He hoped he'd get the chance to show him that once this was over.

For Vin's part, it hadn't been his intention to crash at Chris's house when he'd gotten in his car earlier that day, but there was something about Chris Larabee sitting in the next room and knowing the man had his back that had sent him into a state of ease. For the first time in a long time he slept peacefully, not waking once until his phone alarm beeped at 4.00am. He wanted to get to the site first and scope the area before the DEA agent arrived.