Fragment Scenario: Vin's flashback POV to the events during Gryph's story "Liability"

Curled up in the hard plastic chair placed for his convenience beside his dying 'grandfather', the man kept one hand under the cover of the patient's blankets and the other over the patient's limp hand. He had no worries of the patient being disturbed by his touch, as the old man had long since lapsed into a coma he was destined to never awake from. The nurses were content to leave him by the old man's side, glad that someone cared enough to see that their patient did not die alone.

Patting the gnarled fingers under his hand, Vin felt a measure of pity for the poor guy who had no one left in the world who loved him. Unwanted and unwelcome, a destitute soul cast aside and forgotten, with only a cold lonely death to look forward to.

Vin was uncomfortably aware that it could so easily be him lying in that bed.

He pushed that thought away. He had a job to do, and the pretense of acting the old man's 'grandson' worked perfectly to accomplish his duty. Through the open door, he had a clear view of the hospital room across the hall. Leaning back in his chair, gazing absently into the distance as he held his 'grandfather's' hand, he kept track of anyone going in or out of the opposite room. In his mind's eye, he matched each figure to the list of acceptable persons his 'employer' had granted clearance. Thankfully, the list was small. The patient's doctor, the two shift nurses, the alternate target, and a handful of known associates who may or may not show.

Right now, no one was visiting the patient whose door he guarded. The alternate target, a man with a background almost as strange as his 'employer's', had already been and gone. Vin had left his post only so long as to see the man safely to his car, where he knew the target would be safe. He'd stopped following the man after the first few days; when it became obvious that outside of the hospital itself, the man was already better protected than Vin could make him. Seems his 'employer' forgot to mention a thing or two about the car, not that Vin was all that surprised. The man who'd contracted his services wasn't prone to giving away too much information.

So one target was easily accounted for, even as he remained constantly on the move. As long as the man remained with his car, he was safe. And as the only places the man left his car were the secure grounds of the Knight Foundation or the hospital itself, the only place the man was truly vulnerable was when he went to visit the friend lying injured in her hospital bed.

The woman in the bed, however, was completely vulnerable at all times. So here he sat, perfectly positioned to see to the safety of both of his charges, and terribly bored by the task.

Next time he got called for such a duty, he sighed to himself, he was gonna borrow JD's Gameboy. And to hell with what anyone thought of a grown man playing Nintendo by his dying 'grandfather's' side. Never mind one with a silenced .22 calibre pistol tucked under the covers.

A noise down the hallway pulled him from his thoughts, and he quietly stood up to check the bathroom mirror's reflection of the hall leading to the elevators. Leaning casually against the wall in the shadows of the room's open door, Vin watched the peculiar trio make their way slowly down the hall.

A tall, muscular man with skin darker than Nathan's led the procession with an imposing air inherent to his size. Vin tensed slightly at the sight of him, but continued with his inspection of the other two. His sharp gaze passed first over the stunning blonde female who would have driven Buck to fall down in worship if the lady's man could see her, then swept over the nervous-looking man clutching a bouquet of bedraggled flowers in a death grip. Long before they reached the door to his target's room, Vin had relaxed as recognition set in.

They were on his list of acceptable visitors.

Calmly, he retook his seat with a view of the door to the room across the hall. He watched surreptitiously as the trio entered, listening to their banter with pang of longing. It had been less than year that he'd been with Team Seven, but he'd already grown closer to them than he'd been with anyone in a long time. He missed them, their company and teasing, and felt guilty for having disappeared on them to come here. But he'd had a debt to pay, and his new teammates knew nothing of his other life… and Vin had no intention of them learning about it either. He trusted them, but he sure as heck wasn't sure if he trusted them that much! At least, not yet...

Seconds after going in, the nervous man in the suit ducked back out and scurried down the hall to the nurse's station. Vin, eyebrows raised, watched curiously until he saw the nurse on duty hand the man a plastic vase. No sooner had the man received his objective, than he turned to scurry back toward the target's room. As the man approached, Vin pushed himself further into the shadows to avoid being seen.

The man had one hand on the doorknob when he suddenly froze. Vin froze too, stilling his quiet breaths as he tightened his grip on his gun. As the man's head lifted to scan up and down the deserted hallway, Vin's hunter's gaze was doing the same. He didn't know what had the strange little man spooked, but he couldn't afford to take chances with his target's protection. Even as the man slipped into the hospital room, Vin was engaging his Hunter's instincts to thoroughly canvass the area for any potential threat.

He was back at his post a few minutes later, having assured himself that the incident was a false alarm. The floor was secure, and as his visual sweep from a neighbouring room had attested, the blinds were still drawn across the window to the target's room. That window was the biggest vulnerability to the target's protection, but his 'employer' had made certain its access was cut before he'd even conscripted Vin to the job. The woman and her visitor's were keeping it cut, per their instructions from the same man who'd appointed Vin their temporary guardian.

It wasn't very long after he once again settled himself in his chair that the door of Room 441 opened again and the trio backed out. Not bothering to move, Vin looked through his eyelashes as they said their final goodbyes to the injured woman and turned to leave. He stayed where he was, listening to them noisily making their way down the hall to the elevator. He listened to the elevator arrive, the doors open and close as the trio loaded themselves on the already burdened box, and then heard the sounds of old gears screeching as the elevator continued on with its descent.

In the silence that followed afterwards, he contemplated getting up to have a peak into the room across the hall. He'd met the woman lying prone on that unyielding bed once, when she'd been strong and vital with life. He'd been impressed with both her strength and intelligence, and by her depth of caring for the ones she loved. And she'd been nice to him, trusted him with the safety of her niece, even though she'd just met him and had surely known what he was. But then, she loved the man who'd called Vin to guard her, and she knew enough about him to how dangerous he was and still trusted him. That she'd trusted Vin because her man trusted him had been a revelation, but it had given the lonely Texan hope. If this wise, gentle woman could love and trust a killer like the Ghost, then maybe there was hope that one day someone could feel the same about him.

His pager vibrating quietly at his waist interrupted his melancholic musings. Checking the number, Vin smirked as he stepped out onto the balcony to dial. Speak of the devil…

The phone in his hand rang once before a loud click resounded down the line. Vin stood hipshot as he surveyed the busy parking lot of the hospital's main entrance. "It's Tanner," he drawled quietly, turning to lean against the balcony railing so he could keep his target's room in sight.

"Give me an update," the cold, mirthless voice on the other end briskly commanded.

Unconsciously, Vin straightened to attention. Then adopting a tone as emotionless as his 'employer's', gave his report in short, clipped sentences. "Targets are secure. No unauthorized visitors, no sign of threat. Target one is at the Foundation, target two is alone. Target one visited target two earlier this morning without event, and aside from the medical personnel, the only other visitors target two has had were three on the authorized list. There was a possible incident as one of the three visitors became tense and wary outside the target's room, but a security sweep revealed no weaknesses. The three visitors left just minutes ago, and target two is once again alone."

There was a quiet sigh, then the voice returned with just a little more life to its tone. "Good," his 'employer' said. "I just received a phone call from one of those visitors. He thought he was being watched and wanted to warn me."

Vin's head jerked at this news, and his lips tightened at the subtle insult. "No way did he see me!" he asserted, incensed at the implication that'd he given away his position to a civilian.

"I didn't think he had," the voice agreed calmly, then just the slightest hint of humor tinged the rest of his words. "Duck is a rather paranoid man. He probably just imagined it, and it was only coincidence that he really was under surveillance. Law of averages says he has to be right at least once in his life."

"Huh," Vin grunted, not quite appeased.

"I'm closing in on the shooter," the voice continued, all hint of humanity gone as the killer within emerged. "Keep a closer watch on both Alex and Michael. The bitch has to know I'm on to her, and may get reckless enough to make another assassination attempt."

"The prey is always more prone to attack when cornered," Vin murmured quietly.

The man on the other end of the phone heard him. "This prey won't get the chance to strike," he snarled, sounding more like an animal than the human predator he was. "If she dares to try anything, take her down. Hard. But wound her only; do not kill her! I repeat: don't kill her unless it's absolutely necessary. I want the bitch myself!"

The viciousness in the words, the promise of violence they contained, would have been enough to make most people cower in fear. But Vin Tanner wasn't most people, and he understood the motivation driving the other man perfectly. Someone had dared to harm that which was his, had preyed on a defenseless woman to antagonize her foe. Now that someone would pay with their life...

The predator had just become the prey.