Tragic Miscommunication

Disclaimer: Not mine belongs to them *points finger accusingly*.

Okay – So I've had to repost this...not fun...Sorry if you've already read...but maybe you'll enjoy a re-read?

A/N- Thanks for the overwhelming support of the last chapter, you guys are great.

Chapter 1: The Build Up

"Guys...its 3:10, hurry it up..."The blond leader called to his men, wanting to get the weekly meeting out of the way so they could all go home.

Josiah and Nathan, always the most prompt, entered the conference room shortly after Chris's reminder, with JD dragging Buck in his wake as the older agent continued to send flirtatious winks and charming grins to the newest secretary.

"That means you too Agent Standish..." Chris added when he noticed the undercover agent throwing covert glances at the elevator doors. Scowling, Ezra joined his team in the meeting room.

"Vin?"Chris questioned, unable to see his tracker.

"Yup Cowboy?" came the drawled answer from behind him, Chris spun to see Agent Tanner sitting two seats up from him, Cheshire grin on his face matching the mischievous spark lighting his eyes.

"Jesus Tanner! Don't Do That! Make some noise when you move why don't you?" he chided the sharpshooter.

Vin just grinned "Wouldn't be much of a tracker then, would I?" he asked, as serious as anything, except for the telling fidget he was not bothering to hide in the company of family.

Chris shook his head in mock exasperation, and was glad for the light hearted banter that was indicative of the relationship he shared with the younger man, he knew that what he was going to say in their afternoon staff meeting was probably not going to go down very well, in fact he would be surprised if Vin didn't leave with a less than sunny disposition, but Chris was sure that the strength of their relationship could weather the rigours of Authority and subordinate, it always had in the past.

"Sit down, Sit down...come on boys, today would be nice..."he waited, somewhat patiently, whilst the six took their seats around him before speaking again "Okay, I understand that its Friday afternoon, you're all tired and ready to go home, but the topic of this meeting is important, and should have been officially addressed once it became clear that casual reminders were not having the desired impact"

Chris could tell that the serious tone of his voice had their complete attention, Buck had stopped making eyes at the secretary through the glass wall, JD had stopped elbowing Buck, Ezra was no longer fidgeting and Vin had put his chair back down on all four legs and was listening intently.

Chris continued "We are the best that ATF has to offer, the high ups know it, the other teams know it, even the donut girl and the janitor know it..." he could see the proud knowing grins, and he didn't blame them, but he could see the wariness in their eyes that said they knew he was gearing up to reprimand them, and right they were.

"We are the best, and more importantly, you lot know it too..." Chris met the eyes of each man, most confused and some a little wary, "We have the best bust rate, the highest annual rake in, and the most successful overall outcomes of any team in the country, but what has the higher ups concerned, and quite frankly, me concerned as well, is the fact that we also have the highest insurance coverage, most trips to the hospital and more work related injuries than any other ATF team on record."

The previously proud shoulders slumped a little and certain sets of eyes, some more so than others, refused to meet his, "The records set and held by this team are not adequate reason to risk your lives, in the future, there will be official reprimands and consequences for needlessly reckless behaviour and maverick attention to safety protocols...understood?"

Chris fell silent, sighing internally as an outraged drawl from his left answered his question.

"What the hell ya'll looking at me for?"Vin rocked the seat back on its heels, and glared at his team members, who had all turned to stare accusingly at him during Chris's lecture.

Buck snorted in response, "Well Junior, it could be those beautiful baby blues..." the ladies man trailed off at Vin's angry one fingered retort, just as Josiah chimed in "You do have a penchant for the risky...".

Vin opened his mouth to retort but the preacher was quick to add, "We're not having a go at you brother..."

Vin seemed to settle, until Ezra added his two dollars worth "We may not be, but our estimable leader most certainly is..."

Chris almost flinched as the accusing blue eyes met his own green, and he turned to face the rest of his team in Vin's defence, determined that they shouldn't gang up on his sniper, despite how true their accusations may be, "Guys leave off; I'm talking to all of you...every single one of you, myself included has been known, to needlessly and recklessly fail to follow standard safety protocols on more than one occasion,"

Buck, JD and Ezra went to interrupt him at this point, but Chris knew what they were going to ask and was happy to comply, "The Montgomery case; Ezra you went into the buy unwired, unarmed and without back-up, Buck, you broke cover to save Ezra's ass, JD; you left the surveillance van halfway through the shootout without a vest...The Kansana child trafficking ring; Buck gave his vest to a child, Ezra gave himself as a hostage so two children could get out, Josiah failed to check in afterwards, because he was busy with the children..." he could see that his word were having an impact on the desired parties, JD was refusing to meet his eyes, Buck was nodding his head in rueful agreement, and Ezra was a shade pinker than he normally was.

Chris drove the point home"The only reason head office has over looked it this long is because we get results...which we can't continue to do if we're dead."

Chris was happy to see that the point had been understood and accepted by the majority of the team, Buck nodded apologetically at the sharpshooter and Ezra smiled in apology, realizing that Chris was right; Vin wasn't the only one to needlessly risk his life.

Chris had been glad to step in and point out the error in the teams allegation that Vin was the only one to ever break protocol, especially knowing how strongly Vin reacted to criticism and blame from those he cared about, the Texan couldn't give a flying rats ass what anyone else thought of him, but his teams opinion did matter.

However when he turned and saw the shit-eating grin on Tanner's face, directed at the rest of his team, Chris let loose, "And you!" wide blue eyes snapped to his "The rest of the guys are right, you are the worst of the lot..." Vin started to protest, but Chris cut him off "The rest of us have averaged 12 injuries since last December...you on the other hand have amassed 128!" Chris watched as Vin rocked his seat back further, obviously intent on arguing.

The leader reached out, and with a firm hand to Tanner's knee, yanked the chair back onto all four legs "Just listen...you behave recklessly, with absolutely no regard for safety protocols 99% of the time, I have it on record that you were told to wear a vest in the Montgomery case, and didn't, you weren't harnessed at all, despite being 20 feet off the ground, and you didn't wait for the all clear before turning off your radio"

"You just said that JD, Buck and Ez didn't follow..." Vin tried to get a word of defence in, but Chris was gesturing rather pointedly by this stage as he once again, spoke right over the top of his tracker.

"I've already spoken to them, and I won't tolerate any more dangerous stunts, you on the other hand, pull this shit on a regular basis, you're only human Vin, you're going to get yourself...or one of us Killed!" Chris spoke heatedly, and knew the instant that he said them, that perhaps his last words had been going a little too far.

"I'd never...I wouldn't...I ain't ever gonna ..." Vin seemed at a loss for words, unable to comprehend the thought that Chris felt he was a danger to not only himself but the rest of the team as well, he would never endanger his team mates, he wouldn't!

Wounded blue eyes looked to a different set of green, belonging to one who always had the words when he needed them "Ez...you know I'm not, I don't..." he trailed off as Ezra shook his head.

"Vin, I agree with Mr Larabee on this one, we often note you for your willingness to sacrifice your life needlessly, perhaps a little more care would see that fragile life not snuffed out due to some ill conceived action", Vin didn't really hear beyond Ezra agree with Chris, eyes already beseechingly turned to Nathan.

"Nate, surely you understand! I's just doing my job..." Vin's voice was soft, almost broken, as if Nathan was his last port of call, and he was sure he was t be turned away into the stormy black sea again. Nathan didn't like the pallor of Vin' skin, knowing that the tracker could be in a mild state of shock, knowing how high Vin held his friends opinions, and how insecure and self doubting he could be, Nathan actually hated the fact that he though Chris was right, but in truth, he'd rather hurt Vin's feelings than let the reckless behaviour go unchecked and end up with Vin dead because of it.

"Vin, I've had to patch you for the most unnecessary reasons over the past few months, accidents that would never have happened had you followed safety protocol, you endanger your life needlessly on almost a daily basis, and you may not care for to live, but I won't see you dead because of some stupid inability to follow direction" Nathan finished as Vin slumped back in his seat, head down, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

Chris continued, speaking to Tanners downturned head "If you don't start following orders and taking some care with your life Vin, I will officially reprimand you, or suspend you if I have to, I will not have someone who irresponsibly endangers himself or others on my team, is that understood? " Chris stopped, clearly expecting an answer.

Vin was silently fuming, unable to believe that they would all gang up on him this way, upset that they though he would deliberately allow one of them to get hurt on his watch. It was a betrayal, pure and simple, he didn't act recklessly, and he only did what he deemed necessary to safe guard their lives! Not try to get them killed! How dare they, he thought they trusted him, like he trusted them, he would never doubt the fact that they had his back, like they obviously doubted him!

Chris's voice broke through his silent tirade "Agent Tanner...Do You Understand?" Vin's head snapped up and he got to his feet, slamming the chair into the wall behind him, angry and upset that they could possibly believe he would allow himself to endanger their lives.

"Yes agent Larabee, I UNDERSTAND perfectly..." Vin turned and stormed out of the conference room, slamming the door behind him.

The rest of the team looked after him in surprise, but no-one spoke until the outer door leading to the staircase also slammed shut behind the irate tracker.

Ezra turned to Chris, "Well that went down well..."

Chris sighed as he got to his feet "The salon in 20" he invited the group to their usual watering hole, as he left the conference room and returned to his office to shut down for the day, his eyes lingering on his best friends desk as he passed, unable to forget the spark of betrayal in the upset, angry blue eyes.

The rifle was solid in his hands, as again and again he shot at the paper target at the other end of the field.

Over and over in his head 'one of us killed...one of us killed...one of us killed'

The rain pouring down as the team made their way from the car park into the saloon seemed to match their feelings that afternoon, thankfully the saloon was rather quite so early in the evening, Chris and the team were seated at their usual corner table, half isolated from the rest of the room.

Chris placed his beer on the table, sighing at the empty seat to his right, turning to Buck he asked "You don't think I was too hard on him?"

Buck shook his head reassuringly "Junior isn't stupid, he knows you...we...care about him, you were right Chris, he does put himself at risk too often, we all do it, I know, but Vin seems to be constantly endangering himself..." Buck trailed off as Josiah pitched in.

"Chris, Vin has been on his own, reliant on only his self for a long time, a life time I'd bet, and it's going to take him a while, if he ever does, to get used to the fact that we've all got his back, whether he likes it or not" the big man palmed his own bottle between his club like hands, easily able to snuff life, yet so gentle in the ministration of his friends...family.

"He was the last to join our misbegotten crew of misfits, and is still realising where he stands, he may always doubt that a little, but you know as well as I do, that in agreeing to join the team, Vin was agreeing to let us in, to become one of us, and all the trust, loyalty and friendship that entails... I think our young brother just finds the reality a little hard to accept after such a long time of having no-one in this world he could rely on."

Chris relaxed, assured of the correctness of his actions, by those whose opinions were the only ones he truly cared about, "You're right, he's just going to get used to having people around who care about the fact that he seems to have a death wish, and would like to see that wish remain ungranted. He'll learn, hell, just think back to what he was like those first few weeks after he joined us, I don't think he said two words to anyone, he wouldn't even look me in the eye most of the time...then we stood by him during that IA shit about the Jefferson kid shooting and I think he started to realise that trust and loyalty are a two way street...If I have to upset him to keep him alive, then I suppose I was only too glad to do it."

Chris, looking much happier than he had five minutes ago, settled back into his chair, swallowing the last dregs of his beer, indicating to Inez, the pretty Mexican owner, for another round.

Nathan, feeling guilty in his part of the whole debacle, spoke up " I hated having to side with Chris, however right he is, just the look on Vin's face, it's enough o break your heart, he's just so insecure and shy in some ways, but like Chris said, I'd rather upset him than see him dead..., that boy has the thickest head I have ever seen, stubborn and self reliant to fault, but he's going to have to realise that those two things don't work on me, " Nathan noted the indulgent smiles around the group, knowing of the 'momma bear' and other such thoughts running through their minds, and was half glad for it, it was his job to take care of the team, and when Tanner finally learned to accept that, and his help, it would be none too soon.

The medic continued "Just last week he walked around for four hours after the bust with a dislocated shoulder after Wilkes pushed him off that ladder, I thought I was going to have to corner him myself, but I really wanted him to come to me" Nathan smiled as he remembered "he did though, it took him long enough and I couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong, but he did come to me and let me put it back in...boy didn't even flinch, which actually pisses me off, to be so used to pain that a dislocated shoulder doesn't even register, it makes me want to find the person or people responsible and rip their fucking hearts out" Nathan fell silent for a second as he glared at the bottle in his dark hands.

The others would have been shocked at the usually mild manner Nathan Jackson's outburst except that they felt the same way and knew how protective Nathan got when his family was involved.

With a brighter face Nathan continued "I think we forget sometimes exactly how young he is, he acts so much older and has such wisdom and age ingrained in him... " he stopped when he felt the confused, questioning looks.

Chris interrupted "You know how old he is?...it's not in his records, I asked him one day and he said he didn't know...couldn't remember..." he looked at Nathan, waiting for an answer.

Nathan winced "I didn't know it wasn't in his records, I just assumed...imagine not knowing how old you are..." seeing the impatient looks he got to the point "I don't know his birthdate or anything, but the hospital has pretty accurate methods for age determination and they've got him down as being between 21 and 23" Nathan almost smiled at the stunned looks he was receiving, understanding how they felt he added "Shocking, I know.. I would have said 27 or 28 at least...boys been through so much..."

Josiah was perhaps the least stunned, being the oldest, anything under 30 was young, but 21, that was just a boy, however, there was no way anyone could conceivably call Vin 'just a boy' age wise or not.

Buck was stunned at the differences between their own 22 year old prodigy and Vin, to be of roughly the same age, yet so, so different...he wondered what Vin's life must have been like for him to be so much older than JD, in some ways and yet the same age.

JD's only though was 'I'm not the only "Kid" on the team', Vin may actually be younger; he also noted that Vin was the only one of the team who had never called him KID, and actually always listened when he spoke.

Ezra had a particularly close relationship with the young, younger, tracker, for being so different the two seemed to have formed a special bond, and the fact that Vin was younger than he had though made absolutely no difference to the con man, except for perhaps a little increase in his protectiveness drive...but no, that had always been there.

Chris was stunned, at 39 he had assumed that Vin was maybe 10 years his junior and had always felt that he had a relationship with the tracker as one would have with a younger brother, now to find out that Vin was perhaps almost 20 years younger made him so angry, not at Vin, heavens no, his feelings concerning that boy were still the same, but life in general, Vin had shared certain facts with Chris, like the fact that he had been an army ranger until three years ago, and had been active for three years prior to that.

Who lets a 15 or 16 year old go to war, no matter how good they were with a gun, it was almost inconceivable, but if others in Vin's life, recruitment officers and commanders and the like, had been as assuming about Vin's age as he had, it wasn't inconceivable for the boy to pass as 18 or 19.

Vin was the little brother he had never had, and nothing would ever change that, he was still wise beyond his years, only that gap had widened a little bit.

Chris smiled as the barmaid placed the tray of drinks on the table before departing, grabbing his own, Chris took a swig before speaking "Vin is the same person we thought he was 5 minutes ago, nothing has changed, except that he's a little younger than we, or he probably, thought, I will speak to him about it and see if we can't get it cleared up and added to his records, that's if he shows for work on Monday...he was in a right snoot when he left this afternoon, I just don't want to lose him because of some stupid act. And if one of us got hurt, his fault or not...it would just about kill him" he sighed as he remembered the unusual display of temper as Vin slammed doors as he left.

Buck, seeing the unsure, worried look on his friends face was quick to lay his fears to rest "Chris you know Vin...he'll go away, angry at you, me, us, the world, and mostly himself" he saw the others nodding in agreement as he continued "He'll fume and bitch and moan about how unfair and disloyal we were being... Chris winced in almost physical pain at the thought of Vin believing they would deliberately hurt him, but Buck was quick to go on "Probably shoot the shit out of some targets at the range, beat all our records and his own, scare the shit out of some new recruits...and then actually get to thinking about what we said, and why we said it" Chris was almost smiling at the visual.

Nathan finished "And then that boy will come back to us, full of guilt and shame for acting like a brat and not believing that we had his best interests at heart, and either admit we were right, or that at least we may not be completely wrong and that he would think on what we said and take it into account."

Chris was already nodding in agreement as Josiah finished the prediction "and then it will be up to us to soothe the hurt conscience, make sure he understands that he has no reason to feel guilty that he let his temper get the better of him and that his consideration of the subject is all that you expect Chris,"

Chris nodded Ezra added the final line "and all will be calm chaos in paradise again".

JD snorted into his milk.

IT had taken the shredding of all of three targets for Vin to realise that he had been wrong to storm out, he owed them at least the consideration to think on what had been said, and he entered the office to apologise and tell them just that.

Only to find it empty.

He was sure that they wouldn't have left, not knowing that he at least needed a ride home, having come in with Chris that morning. Or at least he was sure until he found out from the office girl at the lobby that the team had headed to the saloon for their usual Friday evening wind down, were they chatted, and laughed and forgot the crap at work and were just a family.

Without him.

Sighing, pushing the hurt and betrayal away, as he always did when his heart got broken, it happened often enough, although none had seemed to ache as much as this betrayal. Vin pulled the collar of his coat up and stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, he decided to forgo calling a taxi or any such transport and set out into the night, glad for the 2 hour walk to Purgatorio and home, in the freezing rain. It matched his mood, and perhaps the cold would numb the pain he denied he could still feel.

A/N- Another chapter, I'm calling this one the build up...and can't you just feel Vin's heart break, come on guys, lets hit him where it hurts. Review.