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Chris Larabee watched as George Manning paced lazily in front of him. Three men held the gunslinger captive while two other men held JD’s arms. The space felt crowded with so many bodies crammed into such a small area. Manning reached the end of the one-room cabin and turned back to face them. Sullivan, the crook’s right hand man, watched from just behind the big man, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He stood in front of the room’s only window.

"Never thought I'd see the day."

Larabee growled deep within his throat and locked angry eyes on Manning. He reflectively tightened the muscles in his arms, but the men behind him only clenched their hands more firmly around his biceps.

"What day would that be?" His steady voice betrayed none of the savage fear that trembled inside him. Where the hell were Buck and Vin? Shouldn't they have made it back by now?

"The day you were bettered, Mr. Larabee. The day you bow down when someone bigger and meaner stood before you."

JD snorted. "You mean uglier."

One stride brought Manning face to face with the youth and with a bellow of rage, he crashed his knuckles across JD's cheek. JD's body whipped around with the force of Manning's power. His knees buckled but he didn't fall because the men holding him wouldn't let him. JD turned back to face his tormentor, and Chris noticed how the kid's head wobbled on his neck. His cheekbone sported a bright red mark where he'd been struck.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you manners, boy?" Manning sneered and stepped closer until his anger-thinned lips curled only inches from JD's face. "Kids are supposed to be seen and not heard."

"He ain't no kid." Anger seethed deep within Chris' chest, and it was all he could do not to struggle uselessly within his captors’ grasp. "Just leave him alone, bastard."

Manning turned surprised eyes in Chris' direction. Larabee clenched his teeth hard and swallowed with difficulty. The gleam of pure hatred in Manning's eyes couldn't be missed and Chris had inadvertently just given the man the perfect target to get what he wanted.

"Hold the boy."

"No, wait." Chris heard the desperation in his own voice shivering through; the words forced themselves past his defenses before he could think. "Let’s you and me settle this man to man. You don’t need him." He clamped down on his fear and lowered his head until his eyes glared out from under his eyebrows. "Or are you the kind of man that would work over a boy just to show how strong you think you are?"

"Thought you said he weren’t no kid."

Chris faltered and Manning let out a bellowing laugh that blasted through the room like a heat wave. He threw his head back and his barrel chest moved as he opened his mouth wide to give the laugh full reign. Finally, the big man sobered and turned shining eyes toward Chris.

"Knew you’d fall one day, gunslinger. And I just thank the stars I’m here to see it." The grin that stretched his lips wide faded and his eyebrows drew together in one furrow above his eyes. "String him up."

The men moved quickly and took the stunned JD to another corner of the room. They stripped off his jacket and began working on his vest before he began to struggle in their grasp. "No, dammit! Let me go!"

Chris too began to fight the men holding him. Anger welled up inside with the sound of JD’s anxious voice across the room and strength surged through his limbs, but still he was no match for the behemoths that held him firm. He twisted and kicked to no avail.

Finally, chest heaving with exertion, he lifted his head and the breath in his throat choked off when he caught sight of JD. The kid was strung up, wrists and ankles tied and drawn in opposite directions, leaving him spread eagle and vulnerable. His jacket and vest had been removed, and his white button-down shirt had been ripped open to expose pale, smooth flesh beneath. JD’s lips were pressed together, his nostrils flaring as deep breaths rushed in and out through his nose.

The tight pull of the ropes at JD’s wrists bowed his chest outward and his belly hollowed and filled with the deep breathing of his panic. His bonds creaked when he clenched his fists tight and rotated his wrists, obviously testing their strength.

"This is more like it." Manning stepped into Chris’ line of sight and blocked out JD’s straining form. "Now maybe you’ll do as I ask: Leave Four Corners and don’t look back, Larabee. My men outnumber your pitiful seven, and we have the firepower to back us up. We want things back the way they were before the law rode in."

Chris shook his head and tried to ignore the image of JD in his mind. "I can’t do it, Manning. Even if I could, Judge Travis would be here within the week with a new hire."

Manning stepped back and deliberately swept his arm out to include JD. "Even this doesn’t convince you? Do your men mean nothing to you?"

Grimness settled on Chris’ features like dust from the road, and he ground his teeth together so hard the muscles in his jaw stood out starkly. He ignored the question and went with his gut instinct to drive a needle under the man’s skin. "If we’re so pitiful, why don’t you just come in and take over the town yourself? Surely you and your band of fighters can handle seven gunmen."

The question struck home. Chris noticed with satisfaction the frustrated ire replacing the look of power on Manning’s wide face. "Have it your own way, Larabee." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "The kid will pay the price of your refusal." He jerked his chin toward one of his men. "Sullivan."

"Manning!"

Chris’ shout of warning didn’t faze Sullivan. The man stepped up to JD and smashed his fist across the young man’s face. He struck JD several times, and Chris watched as JD’s head snapped from side to side under the force of the blows. His body jerked in the ropes and his hands opened wide to claw at the air. When Sullivan stopped and stepped back, JD lunged forward in his bonds, his head hanging so that his hair swung down to hide his face. His shoulders heaved and as Chris watched, JD took a deep breath and spat. Blood splattered the floor at Sullivan’s feet and the man stepped forward again, but Manning stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Second chance, Larabee. Changed your mind yet?"

"Let him go, Manning. You keep hurting that boy and no amount of guns or men will keep you safe."

Manning chuckled. "Stubborn till the end. Very well." He nodded and Sullivan stepped forward again.

"NO dammit!" Chris’ shout was punctuated with Sullivan’s fist pumping hard into JD’s belly. The kid convulsed forward as far as the ropes would allow and his neck arched out when his head snapped up. A gust of noise exploded from his open mouth, and the surprise in the sound clenched hard around Chris’ heart. Sullivan pounded his fists into his victim’s body, taking turns without stopping, pummeling right and left into JD’s abdomen. The kid jerked in the ropes and his head snapped helplessly back and forth.

"Enough." The quiet command stilled Sullivan and the man stepped back, panting hard with the exertion of beating JD.

JD’s head drooped low. His hands were open, the fingers no longer clenched. His shirt had come untucked with all the pummeling and hung loose from his shoulders.

"Dammit." Chris whispered the curse and stared hard at the young man until he saw the smooth chest gently rise and fall with JD’s breathing. Thankfulness swam thick as blood through him, and he closed his eyes to regain his composure.

"Last chance, Larabee."

Chris opened his eyes to find Manning standing in front of him. The gunslinger jerked his arms but his holders still stood firm, their grasp unflinching. Movement near the door caught his attention but he didn’t turn to look. Renewed hope sprang within him along with anger that rekindled in his chest. He stubbornly struggled within the men’s grip. Nothing could satisfy him more right now than….

"Hold it right there." Vin’s raspy voice, full of the kind of threat that froze most men in their tracks, spoke from the open door. Sullivan reached for his sidearm, but Buck’s warning reinforced Vin’s.

"I wouldn’t do that if I were you." Buck leaned in from the open window across the room with the barrel of his rifle aimed unerringly at Sullivan. The man brought his hands up in surrender.

Chris jerked his arms free and hurried across the room. "Vin – knife."

The ex-bounty hunter unsheathed his knife and handed it to Chris without taking his eyes from Manning.

"Where are the rest of the boys?" Chris made it to JD’s side and he began cutting the youth down as he asked his question.

"Busy surrounding the cabin in case we needed backup." Vin stepped farther into the room and gestured with his gun. "Drop your guns, boys. You won’t be needin’ those anymore."

Manning’s hired guns complied and shuffled toward the corner of the room Vin indicated. Buck climbed gingerly in through the window and helped cover the men as he moved carefully toward Chris and JD. He was unable to look away from the captives and check out how his young friend was doing.

"How’s JD?"

Chris grunted as the last rope gave way and he supported JD’s full weight. "He’s out. Sullivan worked him over good." He gently lowered the young man to the floor, cradling his head to keep from bumping it against the hard wood, and pulled open the kid’s shirt. Dark bruising was already beginning to show on his belly and jaw.

"Where’s Nathan?"

"Right here." The dark healer entered the house and quickly moved over to kneel next to JD and Chris. Josiah also entered and nodded to Buck.

"I got ‘em, Buck."

Nodding his thanks, Buck lowered his rifle and stepped back to give Josiah room, then moved to JD. "Son of a bitch." The exclamation brought no reaction from his surrounding friends as Buck caught sight of JD and his injuries. "My god. What did they use on him, a battering ram?"

"It’s not as bad as it looks, Buck." Nathan was gently palpating JD’s abdomen, and the young man groaned softly and frowned but didn’t wake up. "He’s not bleeding, nothing’s broken."

"Thank God."

"He took a pretty good pounding, Nathan. You sure he’s okay?" Worry strained Chris’ voice and the older man reached out to gently touch JD’s forehead.

After a moment, Nathan nodded. "Yeah, he’ll live. He may not want to for a few days, but he’ll live."

JD’s head lolled over on the floor and Buck reached behind to grab the kid’s discarded jacket. He rolled the material into a bunch, then lifted JD’s head and gently shoved the makeshift pillow under his neck. "Take it easy, kid."

JD’s eyes opened and he squinted up at the men hovering over him. "Wha--?"

Chris spoke first. "It’s over, JD. We got Manning."

"Good." The young man swallowed and grimaced then brought his hand up to his belly. "Stomach really hurts."

"Gettin’ used for a punching bag can do that to a man." Nathan grinned down at the kid and patted his shoulder. "You’re gonna be fine, JD. Just lie there and rest for awhile and let us take care of this mess."

Nathan sat back on his heels and looked at Chris. "I need to go get some of my stuff in the wagon. Make sure he don’t move ‘til I get back." Waiting for conformation from Chris, the healer rose and left the room.

Chris bent over JD. If he didn’t get this said now, he’d lose the nerve and it would never be said. And JD deserved better. "I’m sorry, kid."

JD opened his eyes again and stared up at Chris. His cheekbones were scraped nearly raw from Sullivan’s knuckles and blood tricked from the corner of his lips. A split swelled his bottom lip, which gaped open when he attempted a smile. JD winced and pressed his mouth closed. He swallowed, then looked up at Chris. "We all do what we gotta do. If it hadn’t been me, he would have chosen somebody else."

"I’m proud of the way you didn’t show your fear, JD. None of the others could have done better."

JD blinked, then closed his eyes. He opened them when he spoke again. "Thanks, Chris."

Chris heard Buck shift at his side and glanced up at his old friend. The gunslinger had pushed his hat far back on his head and furrows wrinkled his brow. "Take care of him, Buck. I’m gonna go finish what JD started." With a hand on Buck’s shoulder, Chris pushed himself to his feet, then walked over to take care of Manning. It would be a long trip back to town.

JD groaned softly and Buck bent over him. "You okay, kid?"

JD’s hand rubbed at his belly but he nodded. "Yeah, I’ll be okay. Just feels kind of like a hot poker ramming through my gut right now."

Buck chuckled. "Don’t sound okay to me. You need a few days of rest."

Silence sat between the two friends for a while as Chris, Josiah and Vin corralled Manning and his group and led them from the house. It was at least five miles back to town, and Chris planned on the criminals walking the whole way. Loud grumbling and groaning followed the men as they left.

When the ruckus had quieted down, Buck looked down at JD and noticed the kid had fallen asleep. He leaned closer and touched the young man lightly on the cheek. "I’m proud of you, kid."

JD mumbled and turned his head into Buck’s palm. A slight smile lifted the corners of his injured mouth and JD sighed in his sleep. " . . . Thanks, Buck . . . "