Rock A Bye Baby

by subtleshadeofgrey

ATF Agents are hard men. When their bosses arrange for them to develop their softer side are they up to the challenge? And can two lonely men find the love they fear they will never know? Ezra/Vin Yes it's slash folks!

6. Chapter 6

Rock A Bye Baby Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine, except the babies and the villain.

Warning: some mentions of a homophobic nature from a canon character - but it's not one of the boys (or Maude) Needless to say that I do not condone homophobic attitudes in any way shape or form.

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Ezra stood, mouth agape, staring at the sight before him. His unflappable, one would almost say unfeeling ….cold hearted…selfish…bitchy…Ezra drew himself back and gave himself a mental slap. She was, of course, none of those things…mostly, and never all at the same time. His mother, who he had seen with his own eyes stay calm and unruffled while fleecing Mafia bosses or sweet talking many a law enforcement officer into doing her bidding was lying in an ungainly heap on his hardwood, Indian rug covered floor.

And, as usual, he blamed himself. This time, however, he felt there might be some justification. He knew perfectly well that it was the sight of the twins that had triggered her attack of the vapours and he had to admit that they did look awfully real and he had neglected to inform her of the experiment. Twins had always made his mother a little unsettled for obvious reasons; he, himself, still got a tad melancholy when he contemplated what could have been.

His issues with their shared past notwithstanding Ezra quickly realised that he had a more pressing problem as Victoria began a whimper that experience had taught him would soon become a howl and that might arouse his mother in a rather upsetting fashion; yet if he tended to the infant's needs he would be leaving Maude on the not so cold, not so hard yet still undignified place on the floor.

"Oh my goodness!"

Evie Travis hadn't been able to resist her motherly instincts when she had felt compelled to check up on Ezra. After the story Orrin had regaled her with, passed on by a much more relaxed than usual Chris Larabee, for which she was glad; she had begun to worry about the widower's state of mind. After the hostage situation and it's attendant kerfuffle she had hoped that Ezra would have a more relaxing evening. It was a forlorn hope, she realised, as she heard the wailing infants in the background to their conversation. Ezra was putting on a brave front but the exhaustion was obvious in his voice. The man had only been out of hospital a fairly short time and had returned to work two weeks before to be greeted with a not overly long but intense undercover assignment. She just couldn't bear to leave him in such a situation, so, retrieving from the oven and boxing up the chicken casserole she had intended for dinner, she bid her husband a hasty goodbye and thrust a take out flyer in his hand as she hurried out the door.

She entered the Townhouse, casserole in hand, to be greeted by the frazzled agent, which she had expected, and a sight which she had most certainly not!

Evie was glad that she was not the type of person to be easily startled otherwise her casserole would have ended up in the same place as the lady who she suspected to be the infamous Maude, at least going by the descriptions she had been regaled with, and it being a given that the mentions of horns and a tail were not to be taken literally.

Placing the food offering on the hall sideboard she immediately moved forward to take the disgruntled babies.

"Give them here Ezra and take care of your mother dear. I'm sure that if she stays there too long she will catch a chill in her kidneys. That is if she is really…" Evie had heard many tales of the way Maude Standish treated her only son and she hadn't been impressed. She wouldn't put it past the woman to be faking it, although to come right out and say so would be rather rude.

Ezra got her point immediately and mentally praised both her good character judgement and her manners. But Maude was definitely not scamming him. The proof was obvious.

"Lord no! Mrs Travis" he answered as he reached for the first aid kit which was kept in the hall sideboard for easy access. He experienced a fleeting memory flash as he paused in his explanation to search out an ampoule of 'smelling salts.' He remembered the look on Vin's face which had no doubt been mirrored on his own by the evidence of the team's laughter, as the kits handed to each of the team were only half the size of the ones that Nathan had given to them. He had felt that their medic's comment alluding to the desirability of keeping a paramedic team on standby at all times based on their penchant for finding trouble was going a little overboard, but less than two months later both he and his partner were fighting for their lives in intensive care. Point taken.

"Whilst Ah agree that Mother is hardly the type to swoon" he positioned the ampoule under his mother's elegant nose, "she would never allow a designer original to come into contact with the floor; and she IS wearing Dior."

He broke the little container with glee and watched as his mentor and tormentor; much loved and loathed in almost equal measure, came to, coughing and spluttering like a landed fish.

"Hello Mother. Nice to see you too, although faintin' at mah feet is likely to boost mah ego to … well your level."

Maude Standish was, for once in her life, lost for words. Her mouth opened and closed silently, doing nothing to dispel Ezra's imaginary fish analogy. He reached towards the woman, who was now sitting on the floor rather than lying on it, and gently tapped her lower jaw upwards to close the gaping mouth. As though he had flicked a switch her brain moved back into gear.

She could have sworn! She gazed at her, so called, loving son's empty arms. Was she hallucinating? And was her dutiful offspring smirking at her predicament? Maybe this was 'the change of life' that all women went through? No! It couldn't be that.! Why, she was no older than… um, yes…well.

"Ezra! What on earth is…."

Ezra raised an eyebrow as Maude heard a mewling baby's cry come from just behind her. He watched as she stared with horrified fascination at the unknown older woman who came into her line of sight cradling two babies. He took steps instantly to put her out of her misery. They could be almost casually cruel to each other, Lord only knew, but neverthat cruel.

"They are not real Mother. You are not a grandmother…and Ah am not a father."

Both women heard the wistful quality in the quietly spoken words but didn't embarrass him by commenting.

Maude held out her hand imperiously, expecting to be assisted to her feet. Ezra duly obliged and after a slight stagger, corrected by a subtle hand to her elbow, she turned her curious and, rather hostile, to Ezra's mind, gaze upon both the babies and the woman holding them.

Before she could say something that HE would regret, even if she didn't, Ezra made the introductions.

"Mother, may I present Mrs Evie Travis, Judge Travis's wife…you remember Judge Travis Mother, he is mah Boss."

Ezra kept his fingers mentally crossed that she wouldn't choose this moment to teach him one of her infamous 'lessons' He winced at her actual reply but felt, all in all, that he'd gotten off lightly.

"Of course Ah remember Judge Orrin Travis Ezra. It was that self same redoubtable official who sentenced me to six months at the State's foremost correctional facility several years ago." Maude couldn't resist the dig but in all fairness, not a habit which she wished to cultivate, the sentence could have been far worse. And his wife certainly wasn't to blame for any of it. Whether there was anything else to blame her for remained to be seen. If the woman had hurt her darlin' boy in any way! And what on earth were these strange dummies doing here?

She blamed Chris Larabee. The man had to be good for something besides glaring! Shaking off the stray thought that the leader of Team 7 was also very good at smouldering gazes she turned her attention back to the issue at hand.

"It is an honour to meet you Mrs Travis." She held out a regal hand and Evie had to resist the urge to bow down and kiss the diamond ring that adorned it. Instead Evie shook the proffered hand lightly. They quickly adjourned to the living room as they conversed, Maude keeping as wary an eye on the infants as she would an unexploded bomb.

"Likewise I'm sure Mrs Standish. I have heard a lot about you from Orrin and the team, though not from Ezra." Evie placed the babies in the obviously non government issue cribs as she replied having calmed them with a little rocking; sometimes it was all that they required. She awaited the woman's reply, fully expecting it to be hostile, or at least dismissive; that was if the stories of her frosty demeanour were truthful. She was astounded, therefore, to see an almost perfect replica of Ezra's dazzling smile, the one that reached the eyes. Although this one did not flash gold.

"Mah darlin' boy's manners are far too polished for him to say what he really thinks of me Mrs Travis, especially to a lady of quality such as yourself."

Maude had not failed to notice the low key yet expensive ensemble. Evie Travis may portray the homely housewife but she was as sophisticated as they came.

Evie was torn. She knew, from what she had heard from impeccable sources that she should dislike the 'southern belle with a heart of pure stone' as Orrin had called her, on sight, yet she felt an inexplicable liking for the tough, elegant and effervescent woman. She decided to withhold her judgement until she got to know her better.

"You had best sit down Mother, while I explain my current situation."

"And I had better pop that casserole into the oven to keep warm added Evie as she turned back to retrieve said dish from the hall. There should be plenty for the two of you and I doubt whether you are up to cooking tonight Ezra dear; then I should get back to Orrin. I left him clutching a take-out menu as though it were instructions for building a nuclear device, written in Swahili."

"There was no need for you to go to so much trouble Mrs Travis." Ezra had to admit to himself that the aroma was enticing to his too long ignored stomach. He ignored the uncomfortable thought that he was about to partake of the Judge's dinner. The man could drown him in paperwork if he so chose in order to exact his revenge.

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Buck Wilmington, self proclaimed 'supreme master of romance' put the finishing touches to his master plan. There was no way he was going to forego the pleasure of Mandy's company just because JD wanted to go and play dungeons and dragons with Casey, or whatever the pair did when they were alone together. He'd bet the farm that they weren't… well neither would he with Miz Nettie in the next room!. Buck shuddered as he drew the baby blanket up a little higher to hopefully obscure the baby's features from his date. His, not only beautiful, flight attendant; she was also the biggest challenge he'd enjoyed for months. They had already been on four dates and he'd gotten past her defence perimeter but hadn't yet invaded her inner sanctum, so to speak. Despite what he'd let JD believe Mandy was holding out on him, which of course she had every right to do, Buck Wilmington had never pressured a lady - but then they'd usually surrendered by now. But this would be the move that would convince her. Babysitting Buck. Caring Uncle Buck. Yep! Who could resist caring Buck? As long as he didn't let her get too close he was in line to score a touchdown.

"Please don't draw attention to yourself kid" he begged the blissfully sleeping babe. Telling your date that you've agreed to help a friend by playing the caring uncle; pointing out the infant with a shhh, he's asleep was one thing. Explaining that you're looking after a dummy because your boss thinks you don't have any social skills is something else entirely.

Buck straightened his tie as the doorbell rang. Operation 'Baby Luvva' was a go.

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Dinner was delicious. Ezra didn't even have to taste the food to know that; it was evident by the lack of complaint from his usually fussy companion. And as long as she was putting food into her mouth there was no opportunity for questions to come out of it. All too soon, however, the time for explanations came around and he duly obliged….giving her the bare bones of the reason for his sudden fatherhood. He left out most of the detail, including irrelevancies such as falling hopelessly in love with your partner…your male partner. Not that he thought for a moment that she would be shocked at his homosexual status. Maude Standish had stopped trying to foist limpid eyed heiresses on him when he was in his early twenties. Although that might have had more to do with the shame of his career choice as he declared his intention to join the FBI than it did his lack of interest in the opposite sex.

Ezra waited for the condemnation; the disappointed glance or the long suffering sigh that usually followed his attempts to explain his endeavours to lead a normal life; if pretending to be someone else half the time, getting shot on a all too frequent basis and acquiring a family of six men who would no doubt qualify as quite insane in any normal strata of society could ever be considered 'normal' The only thing normal about his world was the less than generous pay check that entered his account every month.

One other thing that he considered normal was his mother's constant tendency to surprise him. Expecting a lecture, a tirade or even a subtle administering of a sedative and a hasty departure to destinations unknown in an attempt to help him regain his senses, ( not that she had stooped so low yet but he thought it best to keep the thought to himself just in case she got the wrong, or right, idea ) He was therefore surprised when she smiled indulgently at him and walked over to the nearest crib, Ethan's, with the command.

"Well Ezra, introduce me to mah grandchildren….and explain to them why Ah am far too young for the role."

"Yes Mother." Honestly, could his life get any more surreal.

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"Oh Buck, that is so sweet and kind of you! Of course I don't mind eating in, I have nieces myself so I quite understand."

Buck beamed at the soft glow in Mandy's hazel eyes. It was working like a charm. Mandy had been impressed by his caring nature (tick), ensured of his friend's faith in his reliability (tick), and reassured that he felt strongly enough about their embryonic relationship to let her see this side of him (tick). All boxes safely ticked. Now, dinner catered by Alfredo's and then…paradise. There had been an awkward moment when he'd had to step in front of her to prevent her dashing straight for the infant…what was it with women and cuddling anyway, well, unless it was HIM they were cuddling! But she had seen his determination to protect Junior's slumber as 'adorable' - her words.

Ahhh, life didn't get much sweeter than this.

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After the initial shock, on both sides, Ezra watched with delight as Maude indulged him by treating the babies as almost real. One couldn't expect more than that because Maude was not the nurturing type; he doubted whether she treated even real babies as such. But she was putting in the effort, and doing it for him; quite extraordinary. He chose to ignore the suspicion that some of her reaction could possibly be a response to Evie's support; a sort of 'anything you can do, I can do better' attitude. He could live with that; at least she was trying. It had been, all in all, quite an unusually good day. He touched his fingers to his lips as he remembered the gentle pressure of Vin's mouth on his own. A very good day indeed.

Maude finished redressing Ethan, taking an approving glance at the designer label on the little outfit…nice to see that at least some of her lessons had stuck, and placed him in the quaintly old fashioned antique pine crib, rocking it gently as she did so. Ezra had explained to her about the experimental programme and how the babies functioned. She wondered if there might be a market for such a service in the world of high tech corporate toys and made a mental note to investigate possible investment opportunities later. She looked down at the little boy; he did bear an astonishing similarity to her Ezra at the same age. Walking over to an identical crib she winced at the sight of Victoria; had they taken the memory from her mind the manufacturers could not have created a more perfect replica of her little Lauren Amelia.

"Mother?"

Maude turned with a smile that did nothing to disguise her pain; Ezra was the one person she did not have to hide the pain from; she could not hide it even if she had wanted to, not after the way she had trained him to read people. But Ezra understood that when she replied "Ah'm fine dear", she really was, even if she actually wasn't. It was the way he, himself, felt.

"So darlin' tell me more about this experiment. Is there a wager riding on the outcome…and what on earth are you going to do with all this paraphernalia when it's over?" she indicated the cribs from their positions in the comfortable chairs they had retired to after clearing away the dinner things. Ezra made a mental note to return the casserole dish to Evie, preferably when the judge was absent.

Ezra told her of Josiah's adventure, Chris's adjustment problems, which gained a rare expression of sympathy from the southern woman, and about his and Vin's plans for the baby clothes and furniture. He also told her about the bottle sterilizer incident; his and Vin's trip to Hubbards and Vin's conversion to muesli and luxury cars.

Maude watched with fascination as she listened to her son get carried away in the retelling of the past few days events. She had waited so long; never thought it would happen at all, in fact. If truth be told she was concerned that she had trained the ability to love out of the overly sensitive and passionate boy. But here he was, declaring his love for his co-worker with every sentence that passed his lips.

Vin Tanner; if she remembered correctly, and whilst her memory was not eidetic like her son's, she had no trouble picturing the lean, longish haired, blue eyed Agent. A memory of him lying hurt and exhausted in the hospital bed next to Ezra's, pretending to be asleep so that she could have private time with her unconscious baby flitted across her mind. She had liked him instantly. She had hoped that he would prove to be a good friend to her lonely boy. Well it looked like she had gotten more than she had wished for; she had little doubt, from the sappy look on her son's normally cynical features that the feeling was mutual; Ezra would not allow himself to be excited if the feelings were one way. Besides, the way he kept brushing his lips as he spoke - an obvious tell if ever she saw one. She would have to check the Texan out. If he passed muster then they would have themselves a strong ally, but if he hurt her baby boy, then God help him, because the devil would be helping her.

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How could it all have gone so wrong so quickly!

Buck sat staring at what remained of his lasagne and sighed forlornly. It had seemed like such a good idea too. The trouble had started when he had underestimated the pull a crying baby had on the female psyche. He now fully understood the phrase 'babe magnet' and it wasn't what he had thought at all. It was the baby that was the magnet alright, but not for his romantic benefit. The moment that Junior had begun to wail Mandy slipped straight into motherly mode…and she didn't even have any kids. Something suddenly tickled at his subconscious at that thought; something to do with Vin, and Ezra. Nope, it had gone; oh well if it was important it would come back.

He replayed the latter part of the evening's events in his head and decided he would rather have been in Josiah's position today than his own.

"What the!" Mandy stared in horror at the 'baby' in her arms. Buck had tried to get ahead of her but his long legs had jammed themselves under the little used and too small dining table, and he had taken too long to get himself free. By the time he reached the flight attendant's side she was holding junior by his hair and dangling him in front of the agent like a prize exhibit in a county fair. He winced as he imagined what the chip would make of the action.

"Please Mandy, love, it ain't what you think…."

"What I think is that you thought that if I saw you in a caring light you'd get me into bed quicker…and you used this doll to do it."

Buck blushed and shuffled nervously, unable to meet the hard hazel eyes. Talk about hitting the nail on the head!

Mandy took his silence as confirmation of his intent and thanked her lucky stars for her escape from the lothario's clutches. She had the urge to throw the toy across the room but it had, after all, given her a timely warning; and it was really cute, so she settled for ramming it hard into Buck's chest at the same moment as her knee connected forcibly with his crotch. She watched with satisfaction as he crumpled, clutching the baby like a protective shield. Grabbing her coat and purse from the back of an armchair she flounced to the door.

"Don't bother calling again Bucklin. And don't think that you can con anyone else at the airport to go out with you either. After I'm done with you you'll be lucky to get a flight let alone a date." Mandy stormed out the door leaving a wailing baby and a whimpering agent on the floor.

Buck sighed once again at the memory. While his own bruising would heal quickly he feared that the on board computer would leave a lasting black mark against his and JD's skills. The threat of therapy, and losing the competition loomed large.

Buck wondered if there was anything that JD could do to reset the balance as it were. He had been taking an awfully deep interest in the technical manual lately. Buck's moustache twitched in consideration and he smiled. One thing you could say about Ole Buck, he told himself happily, was that you couldn't keep the old dog down for long. All he had to do now was persuade his partner that a little corrective surgery was in order. He rose to his feet and limped across to the kitchen; he was sure he had a pack of frozen peas in the icebox.

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Sundays went as most Sundays do, quietly. Nathan and Josiah went to church, Nathan keeping a tight grip on baby Joseph's carrier, and then on to the mission for dinner. Buck and JD were invited to Miz Nettie's for Sunday lunch and Nettie found herself quite taken with the infant - but she still couldn't see what the fuss was about. She made a note to herself to have a long talk with Vin; he was acting awfully strange lately, and from what she had heard was starting to spend a little too much time with the fancy pants undercover agent. No doubt the reprobate con man was leading her boy astray. She would have to convince Vin that no good could come of associating with the man. There was something not quite right about him. She hadn't been on this planet for seventy years without being able to spot a bad apple and she had a suspicion that he was definitely some sort of fruit, if you get the meaning. No, she wasn't having her boy exposed to the likes of him.

Vin and Chris spent the day at the ranch, just tending the horses and relaxing. Chris learning to care for little Alice and, by the look on his normally stern features, enjoying the experience. Vin would rather have been at Ezra's or had Ezra come over but a phone call had revealed that Maude was visiting and he didn't want to interfere in their all too infrequent time together. Maude hadn't seen Ezra since he was in hospital in a coma and by the time he was conscious she had gone. Some of the others had been scathing at her behaviour but he'd seen the look of devastation on her face and understood that she couldn't face watching her only child die. Maude was a complex woman, much like her son and Vin was an expert at understanding Ezra so he saw the truth through the cold mask. He hadn't said anything though; as far as the woman was concerned he wasn't awake during her brief visits to their shared ICU room. It was then that his admiration for her began to become liking. However right now he just wanted to strangle the woman for keeping him away from his love. He wanted more kisses dammit!

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Monday.

Back to work. They had all been briefed on the special measures taken to help them care for the simulacrums. Chris was a little off put at seeing the way his office had been turned into a mini creche but was thankful that either Evie or Orrin's secretary Gloria Potter would be there to supervise. He may have begun to get used to one infant but four was incomprehensible. Heck, he didn't know how Ezra was managing with two. They had also been informed, quite forcibly, that the creche was only to be used if work took them out of the office and not for lunch breaks or other personal reasons; Buck's moustache had drooped at that. The list of instructions and clarifications that they had been provided with on entering their bullpen had also made it clear that no bad behaviour from other teams towards them or their charges would be tolerated. Chris snorted. They didn't doubt for a minute that certain teams would have unholy plans for them, they had already come in nearly two hours early today after he had received a call from the leader of team 8 that team 3 had something planned. Even Ezra was here, in what was, for him, the middle of the night. Poor guy looked exhausted already; he would have to make sure that Nathan kept an eye on him. He didn't fear the attentions of the other teams but his men had enough to deal with so he hoped that everything was going to go smoothly. Hah! Who was he trying to kid!

As always when he thought of things going wrong Chris looked around him for Vin and Ezra. No sign. He hoped that that wasn't a bad omen. He stood up suddenly to greet Gloria as she arrived for duty, users manual in hand.

Ezra was drowning. Quite ecstatically, delightedly and passionately drowning….in Vin's arms, in Vins's kisses and in Vin's declarations of his love. He had spent the entire Sunday feeling like a half of him was missing and he suspected that he had aroused his mother's suspicions.

Right now that wasn't the only thing that was aroused.

Vin held Ezra tight as their tongues met in a dance as old as the hills, and his hands which had started their hold around the slim waist dropped slowly to bring their shared arousal's closer together. It was so tempting to allow their passion to carry them away but both knew that the conference room wasn't the place and this definitely wasn't the time. Both of Ezra's babies were in their carrier next to them and it would only take one cry to give the alert.

They broke away with mutual unspoken agreement, spoken agreement being nigh on impossible when you've practically tied your tongues in a knot, and mutual sighs promising each other that they would find time later to 'continue their discussion'. By the time they had recovered enough to leave the room Ezra had Vin in fits of laughter at Maude's introduction to the babies and Orrin's unwanted introduction to the world of take-out. Vin took charge of Victoria and Ethan while Ezra detoured to use the facilities.

"Well, well, if it isn't little mother Ezra"

Ezra froze in the act of drying his hands but he quickly resumed and with an air of nonchalance addressed his would be tormentor. He hadn't even had to turn round to put a face to the voice; Ray MacNally of Team 3.

"Mr MacNally. To what do I owe this honour." The normally warm southern tones dripped with icey cool disdain.

MacNally had hated Ezra since he had arrived. He would claim that it was because of Ezra's less than stellar reputation with the FBI, part of the hate campaign that had driven him out of Atlanta, but they both knew that it was MacNally's failure to get the undercover job on Team 7 that had triggered his attitude. The big, brawny and vindictive agent with the IQ of a rodent didn't scare the much smaller and much, much, more intelligent southerner but he could have done without the man riling him. His bullying tactics had been getting progressively more vicious and Ezra had enough on his plate at the moment.

"That all ya got to say Standish? Or you too tired from playing with your dollies" He laughed at his own comment and moved in until he was threateningly close to the smaller man. "Need to watch yer back Boy. Don't need you swanning round making the ATF look like a bunch of nancy boys; you're a disgrace to your team at the best of times. If you ain't careful someone might teach you a lesson in how to act like a real man instead of a poncy magazine model."

The words weren't anything that Ezra hadn't heard before but the sudden sharp jab of a fist to his solar plexus which sent him to his knees was unexpected, and unwelcome. No real damage had been done but the shock of the event kept Ezra in that position as, with a parting shot of saliva spat at his feet, MacNally turned and left.

Monday, Ezra reflected ruefully from his kneeling position, was not shaping up to be a good day.

TBC

A/N If chapters have slightly longer (or shorter) gaps between them it's because along with juggling fanfic & work I have also added the torment of adult education to my commitments and have a 4000 word project to research and write, but delays shouldn't be more than a few days here and there.

So what do you think? Will Maude take Vin under her wing ( poor man!), will Nettie take to Ezra at all? And will MacNally survive crossing the line with Ez when (if?) the others find out. And somebody hide the screwdriver from JD before that boy turns into Dr Frankenstein!