"Come on, Vin."

Chris had been forced to stop by and pick up Team Seven's sharpshooter when the starter had died on his jeep the day before. Shaking his head, the blond still wondered why Vin even kept the thing. How many times had he or one of the other members of their team tried to talk the stubborn Texan into just getting a new 'mode of transportation', as Ezra had put it?  Sure, Vin was a public servant and didn't make the big bucks, but Lord knew he didn't spend what little he did make on his living arrangements.

Chris sighed. That was another topic of dispute that they had been round and round about. Why in the world did Vin choose to continue living in the worst part of town?

Well, Chris Larabee had made up his mind that he was going to talk some sense into one Vin Tanner today. He had enough to worry about with this team on the job, without having to worry if his best friend would be killed by the unreliable hunk of scrap he called a jeep, or shot down in a drive-by shooting outside his own home.

Just the thought provoked a strange worry to settle into Chris's gut. Where was Vin?

Glancing at his watch he noticed the time. 6:55am. He had told Vin he'd be here to pick him up early. They were starting a new case and both wanted to get a head start this morning.

Chris remembered his stern speech to the others just the previous day about getting to work on time and getting things set in motion as soon as possible. Ezra was always a bit later at arriving, which Larabee overlooked when the adept conman was working undercover, often doing his best wheeling and dealing until the wee hours of the morning. But otherwise, he expected all of his agents to show up on time and ready to get to work. It had been Monday morning, and of the seven of them only he and Josiah had been on time.

Buck had claimed to be stuck rescuing some poor damsel in distress whose vehicle just happened to have a flat tire outside of the condo he and JD shared.

JD had been with Casey out at her Aunt Nettie's for the weekend. She happened to live just on the outskirts of the west side of the city.

Even Nathan had been late because he had taken his wife, Rain, to the airport. She had a conference to go to in LA and he had wanted to see her off.

But Ezra had somehow taken the wrath of Larabee to a new level as he simply stated that he had been 'held up in the parking lot that the city insisted was a thorough fare.'

It had not really been the southerner's excuse or even the fact that he was late 'again' that had set off the blonde tornado that tore into his agents about the value of taking their jobs seriously enough to simply be on time for once.

No, that hadn't been it at all. Had the team still been in its early stages together there might have been more hurt feelings to heal or ruffled feathers to smooth, but over the past year and a half they had come to know each other pretty well. And the others had come to realize that their hard nosed, stubborn, and often seemingly cold leader had a definite soft spot when it came to a certain Texan. The brotherly connection the two shared could be equally as frustrating as it was comforting.

Simply put, Vin had also been late and Chris Larabee had spent the better part of Monday morning trying to track the errant sharpshooter down. When Vin had finally called to say that his jeep had once again broken down on the freeway and his cell phone had taken an unceremonious tumble when he had gotten out of the vehicle, the savage beast of fear that had taken up residence in Chris' gut changed to anger at the next available target, which just happened to be the poor unsuspecting agents in the outer office.

That had been his Monday morning.

By the afternoon, his own butt had been chewed out about an unfinished report that had actually been finished and lost by some moron in the records department. Travis had called to inform him of a budget meeting on Wednesday that he would have to spend the next two days and nights working on. But the final straw came when he started out of his office to get some coffee and stopped just inside his door to observe his team.

They were supposed to be working on the new case, but no. Team Seven's leader knew his men too well.

Just by the look on his face and the one word answers of yes and no, Chris could tell that Ezra was on the phone to his mother. Buck and JD were too busy insulting each other and throwing things at one another's desks to even notice that he was watching them. Bits and pieces of Nathan's and Josiah's phone conversations told him that they, too, were taking personal calls. Nathan was talking to Rain and she hadn't been gone for more than five hours. Josiah was lining up tickets for a baseball game.

Swinging his eyes around to the one person he thought might be working or at least would realize he was watching, he lost control all over again. The Texan wasn't there. It was stupid and irrational, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Trying his best to control the tide of emotions bubbling to the surface, his voice had been low and cold.

"When you ladies get done with your own personal agendas, do you think we might get some work done here today?  I mean they do pay us to be here, on time,"  he added, just to make another point. The others jumped slightly, knowing they had all been caught.

Glancing at the vacant desk and back at the others, he started to ask about Vin's whereabouts when the elevator dinged and the AWOL agent stepped off. Empty cat food container in hand and oblivious to the dangerous situation before him, Vin strolled into the office without a thought. Finally looking up as he started for the break room to dispose of the can he had used to feed the stray cats that seemed to gather in the parking garage, he stopped cold at the look of deadly intent flowing from the green eyes of his best friend and boss.

"What?"  Vin asked innocently.

The others waited for the explosion that never came. Chris turned back into his office, the coffee forgotten, and slammed the door.

"What?"  Vin asked once again in earnest.

It had been a quiet and cold afternoon after that. Chris had stayed bottled in his office and only spoke one sentence to anyone as he stormed to the elevator at quitting time. Stopping beside Vin's desk, but not even looking at him, he gave his warning.

"6:45am. Be ready!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Chris felt bad about his gruff behavior and had calmed down considerably. In the early dawn of a new day, the whole thing seemed foolish. He had even decided to make it up to the guys by buying lunch from the deli down the street from the office. But now that gnawing edge of fear and anger were quickly returning as the seconds ticked by and still no Tanner.

A frown settled on the leader's face as he stared up to the window that marked his friend's dwelling. Blowing out a frustrated breath, he exited the vehicle and stormed into the rundown tenement.

'He better fuckin' be okay,'  Chris thought as he trudged for the stairs, completely ignoring the elevator that seldom ran right. 'First I'm going to beat the shit out of him for scaring me, and then I'll rail on his butt for leaving me sitting out there waiting on him.'

Even as he took the steps two at a time, his anxiety and anger grew. The day before slipped back into the forefront, and he began to work out just how he was going to take out his frustrations on anyone who dared to be one second late or use government time for personal frivolity again.

Making it to the top landing, he suddenly pulled his gun as he noticed the door to Vin's apartment lay wide open. With his heart pounding in his chest, he inched silently closer, keeping along the wall. Eyes watching everything closely, and ears attuned to the least sound, Chris noticed what sounded like a TV or radio going. The voice sounded strange, frightened even. Then the words stuck in his head as he stood inches from the doorway, his back against the wall. He heard something about the World Trade Center and explosion. Then Vin's loud cry nearly stopped his heart.

"Oh my God!"

Chris moved to the doorway and stood transfixed by the sight as he followed Vin's line of vision. Team Seven's sharpshooter stood staring at the television with a dazed look on his face. The same look that would be mirrored across the nation.

~~~~~~~~~~

Vin knew someone was there, and in the back of his mind he figured it was Chris, but it could have been the devil himself and he wouldn't have cared at the moment. Nothing else seemed to matter as he watched the surreal scene unfold before his eyes. It was like some Bruce Willis movie. He kept waiting for the guys in the white hats to come riding in and save the day. But they didn't. They couldn't. Not this time. This was real. This was happening. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Like the rest of the nation, Vin could only stand and stare at the TV with feelings of horror and helplessness that would echo around the world.

Vin had been on his way out the door. He had seen Chris drive up, but was still a little pissed about how surly the man had been the day before, so he waited a couple of minutes, making sure he had his keys and new cell phone. Turning on the TV low like he sometimes did before he left, he started out the door. A breaking news story caught his attention as he opened his door to leave and he stepped back toward the set to see. Everything after that had been pretty much a blur as his entire mind was flogged with the fateful scenes played out in live and dying color.

He never even remembered doing it, but evidently he sat down on his couch, and somehow Chris ended up seated beside him. Just having the man he thought of as a brother with him, beside him, gave some comfort. Neither of them spoke, other than to utter an occasional curse as the scene went from bad to worse. Word of the attack on the Pentagon only reinforced what he had already suspected, and the whole thing continued to spiral downward. Hijackers. Four planes. The Towers collapsing. The Pentagon in flames. All of those people gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chris had walked in to the replay of the second plane hitting the Twin Towers and ended up seated beside Vin on the couch, his gun hanging limply still in his hands. It was well over an hour before he even managed to start thinking enough to make a few necessary calls and check in with the rest of the team. He just needed to be sure everyone was okay. They would all probably be a little late today and even when they got there he doubted much work would get done.

Somehow it didn't matter. Looking over at the saddened face of his best friend, he felt the pain that so many others would be feeling, but there was also a small sense of relief. Vin was alive and so was the rest of his team, his new family. He had learned the hard way that in tragedy you looked for some light to guide you through. A big portion of his light sat beside him. His brother not of blood, but of the heart. They would need each other in the coming days. It was going to be rough for everyone.

Vin put on a very tough exterior, and could rough and tumble with the best, but he had a heart the size of the state of his origin and at times like this it showed. Wide-eyed innocence was once again being brought to an abrupt and frightening reality. The entire nation would reel from this blow for some time. And Vin Tanner's heart would bleed with the rest of them.

To say Vin's life hadn't been easy was almost an understatement, but he had survived. How he had become the decent and loyal man that Chris would trust his own life to, his soul even, was nothing short of amazing.

Larabee himself had been through hell and lived to tell about it. He, too, would feel the pain, anger, and

confusion that would grip the nation for weeks and months to come. But if Vin had taught him anything, it was that no matter how bad things got or what shit life threw at you, there was one thing to be sure of. Life went on even when you weren't so sure you wanted it to.

America would go on. America would survive. They would survive, even though at moments like this with all of the pain, suffering, and devastation that was playing on TV and radio stations around the world they might not be so sure they even wanted to.

~~~~~~~~~~

On September 11, 2001, nothing else really seemed to matter as eyes were riveted to the scenes that were broadcast to them. Life would not be the same for anyone. These heinous acts would touch everyone around the world in some way or another.

All the little squabbles from the day before seemed insignificant. The others being late and the reasons why seemed trivial. Where Vin lived or what he wanted to drive around in seemed unimportant.

What did matter were family, friends, and freedom.

The freedom to live and love. The freedom to fear and fight.  And the freedom to hurt and heal.

It wouldn't be easy, but for now nothing else mattered.

The End