Fragment Scenario: Occurs in a deleted flashback sequence set three years ago, a few months before Vin joins the ATF and Nick teams up with Michael. Vin and Nick find themselves inadvertently working the same case, so decide to combine efforts to catch their guy. They're meeting to finalize their strategy before splitting up to work their own angles; Vin searching with Peso in the woods, and Nick with Karr on the streets.

"What is that?" Karr asked in disbelief. "Oh, you must be kidding."

Watching the tracker approaching with his preferred mode of transportation, Nick smiled. "What's the matter, Karr? Afraid of a little competition?"

"Competition! That's not 'competition'! That's wannabe dog food!"

Narrowing his eyes a little at the unexpected venom in Karr's voice, Nick stared down at the dark Stealth parked by the side of the road. Karr wasn't the friendliest of beings by a long shot, but he didn't usually have such a powerful reaction to anything either. Cool and indifferent were good descriptive words for the aloof AI. This immediate and intense dislike wasn't like Karr.

Or at least, Nick thought, it wasn't like him to broadcast it if it were.

Pushing his partner's strange behavior from his mind, Nick turned to meet the approaching Texan. Tanner, leading the large black horse by the reins, was dressed in worn boots, old jeans, a dusty rawhide coat, and a battered Confederation-style Calvary hat over his long curls. If it weren't for the very modern, very high tech, very powerful rifle carried in his right hand, he could have been some character stepping straight out of the Old West.

"You look like a cowboy," Nick said once he was close enough.

Vin tipped his slouching hat with a wry grin. "Yep."

"Whatever. You know what to do?"

Vin sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Give me some credit, Nicholas. I'm a better tracker than you are!"

Nick's eyes narrowed at this subtle slur, but he let it go unchallenged. Vincent Tanner was indeed a better tracker than he was, but Mark Busiek was his case first and Nick had higher claim on him. Vin would do as ordered and drive the skittish terrorist out of cover and into the back streets of Choteau, Montana. Not that there were all that many backstreets to work with, but as long as they kept him away from the more populated side of town by the public swimming pool, things ought to go okay.

"Fine. Just remember to keep your weapons concealed," he added needlessly. "There are kids all over the place around here."

Vin rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I've got the Vinnebago parked at the campsite and I've had a non-stop stream of critters on two legs and four come by to see ma horse. Even Peso, vain sonuvabitch that he is, can't take much more of their attention. Can ya, mule?" he asked the black gelding affectionately, reaching over to rub the gleaming white blaze between his huge dark eyes.

Peso blinked at him, then nuzzled his hand, eliciting a chuckle from the quiet Texan bounty-hunter and a snort of disgust from the otherwise silent artificial intelligence.

The sound attracted the horse's attention, and even as Nick and Vin moved away to continue planning their hunt, Peso's mobile ears were twitching with interest. As his rider draped his reins across his long neck with a pat on the glossy coat, the curious gelding was stepping cautiously toward the source of the discordant noise. He sniffed experimentally, but could not detect any life-scents beyond those of the two humans wandering off down the hard-packed trail.

Turning his head to eye the dark box with strange round legs humans often rode around in, Peso realized with a start that he could not sense even the residual stinky odor so typical of these fast, noisy contraptions. This confused him, and he smacked his lips in consternation, tossing his head with a frustrated whicker.

Observing the blasted creature with all scanners, Karr scowled at the filthy, stupid beast. "What's the matter, glue-bait? Pea-brain can't grasp the concept of a talking car? Ha! A toaster-oven has more intelligence than you."

Oblivious to the disdainful tone but attracted by the mystery of a bodiless, scentless voice, Peso bent close to the hulking dark shape and snuffled at the Stealth's windshield. Horse spittle dripped onto the pristine MBS-finish, much to Karr's disgust.

Emitting a rumbling that was almost a growl, the AI backed rapidly away from the four-legged pest. The gelding shifted nervously at the hasty movement, but stubbornly held its position.

Karr sneered. "Get away from me, you flea-bitten mongrel. Go pester your barbarian of a rider." Then ignoring the horse altogether, the AI pulled back onto the road and drove to a spot further down the deserted parkway. He passed right by his partner and the Hunter, but paid no attention to their inquiring looks as he put distance between himself and the infuriating equine.

Ears cocked curiously, Peso tracked the black car's motion until the sleek vehicle came to a halt. Then, unconcerned with the redrawing of the battle lines, broke into a trot and set off after it.

The AI growled dangerously as he idled his engine, every single scanner he had locked on the 1200-pound ungulate jogging his way. After a nanosecond's debate, he studiously resisted the urge to target his lasers.

Waiting until the beast was five meters away, Karr angled into the ditch and shot backwards back up the road. The horse jerked and half-reared as the Stealth zipped past, and the two humans paused in their scheming to stare. Heedless of the spectacle he was making, the AI guided the Stealth out of the gently sloping ditch onto the dusty shoulder of the road and kept right on reversing.

This time Peso didn't bother to wait for the car to stop. Pivoting on his right hind leg, he was already loping back the way he'd come, mane and tail flapping in the breeze, before Karr had gotten more than 30 meters away.

By this point, neither Vincent Tanner nor Nicholas MacKenzie were even pretending to be doing anything else but watching their chosen partners' antics. Bright smiles gracing their usually stern faces, the two men stood casually by the treeline and followed the impromptu game of tag like spectators at a sporting event.

"Dang," Vin said deliberately loud enough to carry, "wish I had some popcorn."

Nick's smile widened and his ice-blue eyes sparkled as he felt his partner's irritation flare down their link. Slanting a conspiratorial grin at the Texan beside him, he raised his voice to call out to the aggrieved AI. "Hey, Karr! Quit playin' around! We've got work to do!"

The AI's answering snarl was clearly audible to everyone, and both men chuckled as they heard it.

Peso, frightened by the violent outburst, slowed his pursuing canter. Easing to a halt, the horse collected its muscles back under itself, readying for action, even as his ears pricked forward attentively.

Witnessing this unexpected reaction by the persistent beast, Karr's lightning-quick mind immediately processed the data and plotted a course of action based on the analyzed results. Changing his direction mid-roll, the Stealth began advancing on the wary gelding as the vicious growl of his engine increased in tone and volume.

Seeing his horse's ears angling backward with every foot Karr approached, Vin got a bad feeling. "Eh… Karr? I really don't think you should be doing that."

Karr never so much as hesitated in his drive.

"Maybe you should listen to him, partner. Tanner understands horses a lot better than either you or I. We should probably take his advice on this."

"It's a dumb animal. I'm not going to back down from a beast. This ass is going to learn not to challenge its superiors!" The AIs voice was dark with the promise of violence and victory.

The tone racked the gelding's anxiety up another notch and it pressed its ears flat along its neck in reaction. Weight shifting from side to side, the horse bared its teeth and neighed challenge.

Vin stiffened as he read his mount's increasingly aggressive body-language. "Karr," he warned, "back off now."

Nick didn't know exactly what was happening, but he'd been in enough battle zones to recognize the heightened tension of stepping into a mine field and quickly seconded the Hunter's order.

Karr ignored them both, choosing instead to launch a sudden charge at his frozen target. But in a move that surprised everyone, including his experienced rider, Peso met the charge head-on. The gelding's tense muscles exploded into action as the powerful hindquarters propelled the horse forward from standstill to full gallop between heartbeats.

"Peso!" Vin yelled, breaking into a run toward the combating pair as a jolt of fear shot through him. "Peso! Stop! Whoa, boy! Whoa!"

"Karr, get out of the there!" Nick yelled from his side, the older man having caught up to him without Vin's notice. "Karr, stop! You'll kill it! Karr!"

But neither horse nor computer were listening as the played their own deadly game of 'chicken'. Less than ten feet now between them, it was unlikely either would be able to react quickly enough to avoid a collision. Nobody was under any illusions about what would happen if they hit. Fifteen hundred pounds of muscled momentum or not, the Stealth was designed to be virtually indestructible and could crash through concrete walls without so much as a scratch. Peso didn't stand a chance.

"PESO!"

Then they were out of time and Vin could only stare helplessly, heart in his throat, as he waited for the inevitable.

It never came. Never slowing, never deviating… the seven-year old gelding, wily and fearless, leapt up into the air just as the prow of the Stealth passed under his nose.

Vin and Nick watched in shock as the animal's hooves briefly crashed down upon the Stealth's cabin roof before Peso launched into another jump to fully clear the still moving vehicle.

Karr screeched to a stop as soon as he was clear, his CPU unable to process the fact that an animal with a brain the size of a walnut had just outsmarted him.

Vin, careless of Karr's stupefaction, bolted to his rearing mount and threw his arms up to calm the excited animal. He still hadn't fully grasped what his horse had done, but he was ridiculous relieved the contrary beast was still alive. He praised and scolded the gelding all in one breath, then wrapped his arms around the sweaty neck and hugged him tight. Nick, having recovered from his surprise enough to walk calmly to his flabbergasted partner's side, watched his childhood compatriot greet the horse with an expressionless mask. His eyes, however, gave away his pleasure that no harm had been done.

"Vin? He okay?" he asked softly.

Vin blearily looked up from where his face was buried in his horse's tangled mane. As the question registered, he hurriedly stepped back and proceeded to give the black gelding a thorough once over. Amazingly, aside from a slightly chipped shoe on his left fore hoof, Peso had come away from his death-defying stunt with perfect health. Vin laughed joyously as he kissed the snorting equine right on its soft, silky muzzle. "Dumb mule," he whispered, stoking Peso's jowls and throat. "Even if you weren't trying to kill yourself, you dang near gave me a heart attack." Then he pulled the horse's head down by its bridle until he could look into its wide, dark eye. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Looking between Tanner scolding his horse like a disobedient child, to his own stunned partner, it was finally just too much for Nick to take. With a gasp that started as snicker, he was soon holding his sides as he dissolved into uncontrollable laughter. Vin, ogling him with a dumbfounded look, joined in when Karr morosely rolled away to sulk.

Watching them all, Peso could only shake his head at their oddity.

Humans, he thought, and snorted.