The Strands of a Rope

By: Lady Angel

"Vin! Vin! Josiah!" Mary called, waving her arm as she ran towards them.

The six men had assembled once again in the waiting room, gathering their strength, dealing with
this tragedy as they did all others, together. They turned as one, to see Mary flying towards
them.

"I heard about the accident, where's Chris? I tried calling his ranch, but no one answered. I
got here as soon as I could, but the traffic from the accident. . ." Mary's voice trailed off as she took in Vin's, JD's, and Nathan's red rimmed eyes.

"What's happened? It was Chris, wasn't it? Is he alright?" Mary's voice was desperate,
willing them to tell her different. Ezra, Josiah, and Buck were silent, struggling to find a way to tell
her about Chris, but it was Vin who spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mary, Chris is. . .he's. . ." Vin couldn't finish but he didn't have to, Mary
could read it in his eyes.

"No. No. Not Chris! NOOOO!" Mary kept shaking her head, fighting Vin when he tried to take her into his arms, relenting only when her knees buckled under her.

Mary felt Vin pick her up and put her into a chair. Mary heard Nathan's voice, asking her if
she needed a drink of water. Mary saw Ezra take off his jacket and wrapped it around her, she
smelled the coffee that Buck had placed in her hands. But inside she was dying.

Not again. Please, God, I can't. . .not again. I can't do this again. I can't lose another
man that I love. Billy can't lose another father. Please, God, please.

"Chris. . .Billy." Mary whispered. Her son would be devastated, losing both of his fathers so
young.

"Mary, I'm. . .we're sorry." Vin's quiet voice barely penetrated her grief filled mind.

Mary heard the murmurs of the men that Chris called friend, brother. Mary knew that they were
hurting as much as she was, but right now, it wasn't important. She was being selfish, she knew that, but the grief, sadness, and loneliness was overwhelming. Mary has once again lost a man
that she loved, a man that was a father to her son, a man who had given her the gift of love.

Mary could only sit there, crying on Vin's shoulder, her tears splashing on the stiff plastic of
the seat and onto Vin's thin suede jacket. Vaguely she was aware of the others, JD, Nathan, Buck, Ezra, and Josiah form a protective circle around her, just how Chris would have wanted them to.

A woman's tears fell, combining with the tears of six men. Tears for the man that held them
together, for the foundation of their family, for Christopher Larabee.

"What? Are you sure? [pause] How the hell did that happen? [pause] I don't know, I'll find
them." With a bang, the doctor slammed down the phone receiver.

The middle aged doctor rubbed his eyes, I can't believe they fucked up like that!!! Incompetent idiots. He didn't relish what he had to do next, on one hand he was glad about the mix up, on the other hand it made him and the hospital look like fools.

Oh well. Every man is allowed at least one fuck up a year.

And so he left, looking for the remaining six ATF agents.

"Mary, would you like us to escort you home?" Ezra was kneeling in front of Mary, scared because she hadn't said a word for a very long time. "Would you like us to contact the Judge?"

Mary simply shook her head, still in too much shock to answer.

Suddenly, they heard a throat being cleared behind them. Buck and Josiah turned to see the doctor that had given them the news of Chris's death.

"Yes, doctor?" Josiah asked quietly.

"Mr. Sanchez, I'm afraid that there's been a mistake."

"Mistake?" Josiah hadn't raised his voice, but there was menace and steel embedded in it.

"Well, it seems that in all the chaos at the accident. . .that there was a slight mix up." The doctor nervously twisted his hands about themselves. He had their complete attention now, he could feel every one of their intense stares.

"Mix up?" Nathan repeated.

"Yes, it seems that Mr. Larabee's identification was mistakenly put with another victim of the accident. That victim subsequently died, and so we believed that Mr. Larabee had died."

The doctor's announcement was meet with incredulous looks, which quickly turned to looks of hope.

"Doctor, what are you trying to tell us?" Buck's voice held hope, his eyes pleading with the doctor to tell them what they needed to hear.

"Mr. Larabee is alive."

Tears again were shed, but these tears were ones of joy, newly found hope and faith.

One by one they quietly walked in, their eyes never leaving the face of the man in the bed. He had a broken leg and had a bleeding head wound that had worried the doctors, but now, thanks to modern technology, Chris would be fine.

Mary slid the tubes and wires out of the way, then laid her body down next to Chris's, needing to be close to him, needing to feel for herself that he was indeed alive, that he hadn't been taken away from her.

Vin took the seat on Chris's other side, took his hand, and settled back to wait for his big brother to wake up. Relief and exhaustion had taken their toll on the young man and he was soon fast asleep, his hand on Chris's arm.

Ezra sat next to Vin, relief and gratitude shown from his luminous green eyes. The southerner was grateful, that once more his heart was whole. He silently took back everything he had said about Fate, and thanked her for dealing him a hand from a stacked deck.

JD and Buck each took a corner at the foot of Chris's bed. The brothers sat silently next to each other, both sapped of their energy, but not of their strength. For their strength, their foundation, was lying before them in a healing sleep.

Nathan and Josiah sat across from Ezra and Vin, self appointed guardians to the family that they had been fortunate to find. As Nathan reflected over their mismatched family and the love and loyalty they shared, Josiah gave simple thanks to the Lord for giving them this gift of family.

The Ancients knew that once entwined, the rope would be stronger, more resilient, strengthen by time. They also knew that this rope could never be severed, for all eternity they would be as one.

Finis

Once again, yes please, feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Notes: Okay, if anyone is wondering, yes, my inspiration was from an episode of Nash Bridges. I thought I would just dwell on the guys and Mary's reaction to Chris's pseudo-death.

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