******************

Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Ain't mine, and the universe is Mog's.
Author's Notes: Don't know why, but my muse has gotten stuck in this and
won't let me work on anything else until this is out of my system.
Enjoy!

******************

A person's beliefs are grounded by the belief in themselves by others'.
What happens when someone believes what they see, and not what they
know?

******************

The team had been given a weekend leave after the 6 month case they had
just closed. It had been hard, especially for the younger ones in the
group. JD Dunne and Vin Tanner had went undercover at a local high
school to find out who was running guns in the faculty. There had been
three fatal shootings of teenagers when the police department had asked
for their help.

JD had uncovered the dirty teacher and unfortunately paid for it, with
a
beating that was suppose to result in death, but thankfully Vin had his
usual impeccable timing. Buck Wilmington had insisted they pull the
plug
on the case after seeing the bruised and bloody body of his friend, but
Dunne had convinced them they were too close to end it then. So, with
reluctance they continued and finally busted Mr. Ian Thompson and his
thugs.

Chris Larabee talked them all into coming out to his ranch for the
little vacation and was happy when they had all agreed, but like
anything else when your the best at what you do, the reprieve was
interrupted by the fateful call to duty.

"Buck, you and JD circle around the back and see what you can find
out."
Larabee's stern voice echoed in the huddle. "Ezra, your with me here in
the front. We may need you and your fast talk." Standish let a half
grin
crease his face as the leader continued. "Josiah, you and Nate place
yourselves at the far end of the building so when the hostages are
released you can tend to them." Chris waited for the men to disperse
before his eyes fell on the sharpshooter. "Vin, I need you across the
street on the roof. SWAT has their snipers in various positions, but.."
The older agent couldn't bring himself to finish his thought. His gut
was protesting the words, knowing that to ask Tanner to take this
assignment, meant he would be vulnerable for any snipers' the
terrorists' might have.

The long-haired agent let a slow smile cross his features, reading his
best friends' thoughts perfectly. "Don't worry, cowboy." Vin slapped
the
man lightly on the shoulder as he grabbed his 30/30 lever action rifle.
It wasn't federal issue, but it was the only thing Tanner would use.

"Watch your back." Larabee felt his voice catch as he followed the
retreating man.

"Do not worry, Mr. Larabee. I'm sure our Mr. Tanner will accomplish his
task with perfection as usual." Standish tried to hide the concern in
his words, but the raised eyebrow and smirk from his superior told him
he had failed.

"I'm sure he will." Chris turned back to the federal mint and wondered
yet again how they ended up in these situations.

*******************

"Eagle one to Eagle two, do you copy?" Larabee's voice crackled over
the
walkie-talkie causing JD to jump slightly.

Buck grinned as he pressed the reciever on his two-way. "Eagle two in
position. No movement from this side. Over."

"Ten-four. Stand-by."

"Hey, Buck. Who do you think would pull something like this?" Dunne was
impatient and over-exuberant in normal situations, but in a crisis, he
was downright unstable.

"JD, if I knew that, then we would be one step closer to enjoying those
steaks we left at Chris's. Now, would you please chill." Wilmington
shook his head and sighed.

"I was just asking a question, you don't have..." The kid's words were
stopped by a hand over his mouth.

"Listen." The older agent pulled his hand away and pointed to the bay
doors near the back of the building. As they watched, two men emerged
in
masks, leading a couple of civilians.

"Eagle two to Eagle one. We have contact." Wilmington clasped his
walkie-talkie to his pants and motioned for JD to go to the right while
he went left. A flanking technique militaries had used through out
history. The bandits never knew the men where there until they felt the
9mm Beretta's pressed to the base of their skull.

"Easy does it boys. My finger's kinda of itchy today." Buck's usually
jovial voice had dropped to a deadly whisper. "Now, you two are gonna
come along peaceably." The two agents' pushed the terrorists' around
the
building with the hostages following at their heels.

As soon as Larabee spotted them, he motioned for a couple of black and
whites to take the prisoners' and get them to the precinct asap and see
to the newly released captives.

"You two alright?" Chris's eyes roamed the agents' in front of him and
sighed when he found no new holes.

"Piece of cake." JD's grin sliced his face in half, but quickly
vanished
as Wilmington cuffed him in the back of the head.

"Sometimes, son..." The older agent rolled his eyes and turned back to
the action.

*********************

"You inside. This is Special Agent Larabee of the ATF. Throw down your
weapons and come out with your hands up." Chris placed the bullhorn
back
on top of the squadcar and waited.

"Mr. Larabee. Do you actually believe these miscreants will comply?"
Ezra quirked an eyebrow toward the leader and was met with a cold grin.

"Hell no. I just like to make it fair."

Standish couldn't help the slight chuckle or the sudden gasp of
surprise
as the hostages began emerging from the entrance. "I believe your words
have power today."

The four men stared dumbfounded at the sight before them, but that
suddenly changed as gunfire erupted. They had no idea where the bullets
came from, but as the screams met their ears, they knew where they were
going.

**********************

"Nathan, get down." Josiah and Jackson had broke cover the minute the
first prisoner had surfaced, but were both scrambling to get away from
the rapid fire.

"What the hell happened?" Nate pushed a woman toward the bushes behind
him as he crouched beside Sanchez.

"I have no idea, brother. I saw the terrorists come out of the building
with hands raised and then the gunfire."

The younger agent threw his friend a disbelieving glance. "You mean
this
was started by one of our own." Jackson couldn't understand it. They
had
won. The hostages were being released.

"It seems that way and it gets worse." Josiah turned to face the other.
"The first shot came from Vin's position."

"You've got to be joking. Vin would never fire without reason." Nathan
protested, knowing Tanner would never do anything unprovoked.

"Lets just hope he has a damn good reason." The missionary's son gazed
back to the carnage that now littered the parking lot of the mint. At
least three dead and more than five still lay wounded. "A damn good
reason."

***********************

"Eagle three, report." Larabee yelled into the two-way but was met by
static. "Damnit, where the hell is he?"

Buck glanced from JD's now ashen face to the furious one of Chris. "You
can't be thinking this is his fault." Wilmington gasped.

The leader swiveled toward his friend. "I know Vin, and he would never
endanger innocent lives." The blue ice glare cut straight through Buck.
Larabee let his gaze rest on the other two surrounding him, before he
took off toward the rooftop of the nearby building.

As he reached the entrance, he glanced over his shoulder to the scene
still unfolding. *What the hell went wrong?* He shook his head and
slung
the door outward, taking the stairs two at a time.

************************

Vin Tanner stared at the chaos and then at the rifle he held loosely in
his hands. He started to turn and go downstairs to help, but he was
stopped as Chris rushed through the doorway.

Larabee paused to catch his breath and lost it once more as his eyes
fell on the ashen face staring at him. He raised up and began to walk
to
Tanner, but Vin backed away. "Vin?" It was a simple question but
apparently wasn't taken as such.

"You think I did it, don't you?" The younger agent didn't hide the
anger
that was engulfing him.

The leader paused, not sure how to approach the situation, which was
the
wrong thing to do. Tanner took the silence as a yes.

Vin threw the gun at Larabee's feet, along with his sidearm and badge.
"Go ahead, take 'em." The sharpshooter passed the older man without a
glance back.

"VIN!" Chris turned to stop the other's retreat but it was too late.
"Damnit." He ran a shaky hand through his sweat soaked hair and felt
like throwing in his badge as well.

"Eagle one, come in, please." Ezra's southern drawl sounded foreign
over
the airway, but Larabee answered.

"Go ahead."

"I think you better get down here. The situation has reached a point
I'm
afraid may turn explosive."

Chris immediately knew something was terribly wrong when Standish
hadn't
used any of his ten dollar words. "Shit." He reached down and grabbed
the weapons and badge, before fleeing the rooftop.

*********************

"Where the hell is he?" Captain Dan Jorgenson of the Denver PD SWAT
faced off with Buck.

"I'm telling you for the last time, take it easy. Chris will be down
with Vin in a minute." Wilmington was trying his damndest to keep his
temper reigned in, but the good captain was trying his patience.

"Whats going on?" Larabee's gruff voice cut off any more conversation
between the two.

"I was just asking the agent here where the bright ass who caused this
mess was. I thought you boys were suppose to be the best." Jorgenson
had
left his brains at home or he would have known to let well enough alone
at the sight of Chris's expression.

"Let me explain something to you, Capt. We are the best and until all
the facts are in, I suggest you refrain from accusing any of my team of
anything. Do I make myself clear?" Larabee had stepped toe to toe with
the SWAT officer and their faces almost touched.

"Loud and clear." Dan stared at the leader for a moment before
returning
to his own team.

"Chris, what the hell is going on?" Buck gazed at his friend with a
helpless scowl.

"I don't know. But what I do know, is something is not right here, and
somehow, Vin is jammed right in the middle of this mess." Larabee
trailed off at the approach of Josiah and Nathan. "Whats the verdict?"

At the grim faces of the two agents', the news wasn't gonna be good.
"Four DOA's and five seriously wounded, not including the perps. Their
all dead." Sanchez paused at a thought.

"And.." Chris wasn't usually an impatient man, but the longer he stood
here the farther away he let Vin get, both emotionally and physically.

"Well, thats the strange part. All three were shot once in the head
from
long range and within mere seconds of one another." Josiah saw the
puzzled looks reflecting his own.

"Mr. Sanchez, I am not a gambling man, but if I were, the odds to that
would be highly improbable." Ezra pulled at his sleeve.

"Improbable, yes. Impossible, no." Chris glanced down at the rifle he
held and for the first time noticed its warmth.

"What do you mean, Chris?" Nathan asked.

"How many snipers did Jorgenson have stationed?" The leader stepped up
to the nearest car, placing Vin's sidearm and badge on top and then
popping the chamber on the rifle.

"Three, I think." Wilmington stepped up beside his partner, noticing
the
silver star for the first time. "Where's Vin, Chris?" Buck didn't like
the sinking feeling entering his stomach.

"Nate, did you see the bodies of the gunman?" Larabee never ceased his
inspection as he quizzed the other men.

"Yeah."

"Were all the entrance wounds the same?"

"Yes. Why?" Jackson also came to stand with the two men.

Chris shut the rifle and turned to his men. "I think we have a very
serious problem." The leader hated the words before they ever left his
lips. "I need you boys to buy me some time, until I can find Vin. And,
get all the info you can on Jorgenson and his team. If things stand the
way they are,.." Larabee paused.

"Vin's gonna take the fall for this." JD had remained quiet up until he
had figured out were the others were headed in their conversation.
"Theres no way, Chris. He would never fire unless fired upon." Dunne
felt compelled to defend his friend.

"I know that JD." The older agent stopped, taking control of his voice.
"I know that, JD, but until we come up with the reason this happened,
their gonna look for Vin's head on a platter."

The six men exchanged worried glances. "You bes' hurry, Chris. I don't
know how long we can keep them off our backs." Nathan looked toward the
SWAT leader, who was talking intently to a news reporter.

"I will." Larabee grabbed the badge from the hood of the car and ran to
his truck, wishing the whole way he would wake up from this nightmare
soon.

*******************

*I still can't believe he lives in this part of town.* Chris shook his
head at the run down streets, and gang grafitti on the walls.
Purgatorio. The brick building that Vin called home was the only one
that didn't sport a turf symbol, which had a lot to do with Tanner. He
had fought long and hard to get the streets clean and was succeeding,
somewhat.

Larabee sighed as he spotted the new blue Wrangler in front of the
home.
The younger agent had only purchased the Jeep recently and was
overjoyed
with it. The leader pulled his black Dodge in behind it and swallowed
back the fear that had clutched his heart.

He knew without a doubt Vin would never kill anyone in cold blood, but
after his inspection of the 30/30, the three missing bullets, his
belief
was wavering. *Only one way to find out the truth.* Larabee opened the
door and was stepping out when he saw his best friend emerging from the
building with a suitcase in hand.

"Where are you going?" Chris slammed his truck door and rushed to meet
the other man by his Jeep.

Vin glanced up briefly, but continued throwing his luggage in the back
of the topless vehicle and attempted to get in, when he felt the grip
on
his forearm.

"I asked you a question." Larabee rarely lost his temper, especially to
Vin.

Tanner finally raised his eyes to meet that of his friend's. "I'm
taking
a vacation." The hoarse whisper held an underlying fury the leader had
never heard before.

"I've never known you to run." Chris let his hand drop as the
sharpshooter straightened up and shut the Wrangler's door.

"I ain't running from nothing. I turned in my badge. I'm through and
theres nothing more to say." Vin turned once more, but again was
stopped. "Damnit, Chris, let me go." Tanner whirled on his friend.

"What the hell's gotten into to you? First, you think I'm accusing you
of murder, then you throw your badge and guns at me, now your leaving
without so much as an explanation. I wanna know whats going on, and I
wanna know now." The aquamarine gaze locked with the ice blue one.

As Vin stared into those eyes he saw nothing but concern and worry.
"Damn." He sighed heavily and ran both hands through his hair, shifting
away from the other man. "I'm sorry, cowboy."

Larabee thought he had imagined the soft words, but as the younger man
turned back toward him he knew they were real. The anger and rage were
gone and Vin's usually refined stature had returned.

"Nothing to be sorry for, just wondering why you felt the need to run
from us." Chris replied. *From me.* He added to himself. He had kept
everyone at bay until he saw this lanky man save Nathan. The moment
their eyes met, he knew they were destined to be friends', hell
brothers'. "Lets go up and talk." Larabee raised his arm, clapping
Tanner began the neck. "That is if we survive the trip." The leader had
noticed their yelling match had attracted the local colors.

Vin chuckled softly. "Don't worry about them. Their the watchdog group
I've put together, they won't bother us." Tanner slapped his friend's
back slightly before leading the way to the apartment.

*******************

"Where are they?" AD Travis paced the bullpen, staring each of the five
agents' down.

"They were going to follow up on a lead. They'll be.." Wilmington cut
his speech short as Orin stopped in front of him.

"Don't give me that crap, agent. You know as well as I do that
Jorgenson
is trying to pin this thing on Tanner and if he doesn't show up soon
with his side of this story, I'm afraid there won't be anything I can
do
to help." AD sighed. "Just tell them to hurry when you talk to them."
Travis turned and went back to his office.

"Whats up with this captain anyway? He went straight for Vin before the
shooting had even stopped." JD tapped the keys of his computer
dejectedly. They hadn't found anything in the men's files from the p.d.
and had done full backgrounds with nothing, except they had all done
tours in the army.

"I don't know, JD, but it does seem he is determined to take down Vin
no
matter what." Josiah put down his coffee cup and picked up another
file.
Dan Jorgenson had been the model of excellence since joining the force,
but the older agent had a gut feeling something was missing. "JD, did
you say the captain and his team had all served in the army?" Sanchez
stood up and walked to the younger agent's desk.

"Yeah, they all got honorable discharges, but they didn't serve their
full tours. Seems they all got out early..." Dunne paused as he scanned
the computer screen. "Thats strange."

"What is it, kid?" Buck also came to stand next to the youth.

"Well, they all had the same commanding officer but at different times,
but Jorgenson said in a statement he made when forming the team, he had
never heard of or seen these guys before." JD turned happy eyes to his
friends'.

"I'm not following, son." Wilmington frowned.

"Okay, I'll tell ya again. Each man on the SWAT has served tours in the
army under the same commanding officer but at different times." The
young agent stopped until understanding became evident in the four
mens'
faces. "And Jorgenson stated that he had never heard of or seen any of
these guys before they applied for SWAT." JD waited.

"And you are attempting to tell us what, Mr. Dunne?" Ezra threw the
agent an exasperated look.

"Guys, come on. I've read the army jackets. They were the best and each
received at least one commendation, even their commanding officer
seemed
to think highly of them. So, wouldn't you think they would be some
plaques or something showing their accomplishments and this would be
seen by any who had served on the base or in the same outfit."

"But, what does that have to do with the SWAT team, JD?" Nathan raised
a
quizzical brow to the kid.

"Well, don't it seem sorta suspicious to you guys that all these guys
ended up on the same squad. Thats little more than mere coincendence. I
mean, they served in the same branch, under the same guy..." Dunne was
beginning to get frustrated at his fellow co-workers.

"So, what your saying is maybe this was a setup. That Jorgenson has
snowed everybody and is really a mastermind, who has devised a team of
mercenaries that are protected by the law, because they are the law.
Son, you've been watching way too much television. What do you think
they are? Some kind of hired killers or something?" Wilmington started
to laugh at the youngster audacity, but stopped when Josiah placed a
hand on his shoulder.

"What if there is some logic to what you said." Sanchez looked from one
man to another. "It is very farfetched but as Chris said earlier, not
impossible." The five men shivered at the very thought of even one word
of what had been said being true. A proverbial wolf in sheep's
clothing.

"If this turns out to have any basis of truth, then why go after Mr.
Tanner or what does that have to do with what happened today?" Standish
hated being the devil's advocate.

"I don't know, Ezra, but my gut says we better find out soon." Jackson
grabbed some files from JD's desk and headed to records, while the
others branched out to start their own investigation.

***********************

Vin took two beers from the fridge and handed one to Chris as they both
walked to the living room. Larabee took a seat near the window and
waited as Tanner leaned against the wall.

"I didn't fire first." The agent watched to see if the other man
believed him before continuing. "I was listening to you over the walkie
and knew Buck and JD had two of the perps. I also saw the hostages
leaving the building and the gunman right behind them. I was about to
lower my rifle when I caught a glint from one of the terrorists' and
saw
his hand coming from behind his head. I reacted." Vin took a long pull
on the beer, glancing out the window.

"Nobody found any weapons near the perps." Larabee kept his voice low
and firm, trying not to sound accusing.

"I figured as much." Tanner turned his gaze back to his friend. "I saw
the guns Chris. They were as plain as you and me sitting here. The
thing
is, I took those guys out and there shouldn't have been any other
casualties."

"Then who shot the civilians, Vin?" The leader rose and came to stand
by
the younger agent.

"If it wasn't me or the bad guys, then.." The lanky man let his voice
trail off not wanting to accuse anyone without proof.

Chris turned and stared out the window this time, his mind running
through possible scenerios he didn't like. "Damn, something's
definitely
not right here." He swiveled back to Vin. "Why didn't you say all this
back at the mint? Why did you throw down your badge and run?" Larabee
waited, watching a number of emotions cross his friend's face, until it
stopped on sadness.

"The whole scene was like a waking nightmare." The sharpshooter's voice
had dropped so low, Chris had to lean toward him to catch the words.

"What do you mean, Vin?"

"When I was in the Rangers, we were ordered to this town in the
Mid-East. We were just suppose to be there as a show of force against
these radicals, The Holy Reformers. Some religious cult that believed
Christianity was the only religion and used terrorist attacks to
enforce
their beliefs." He paused, caught in the past.

"And?"

Tanner shook his head from the reverie. "They had taken over this
church
full of patrons. At least twenty of them, men, women, even children.
They demanded that we leave the land and take all that soiled it with
atheist talk. I still have no idea why we were really there. It wasn't
our jurisdiction, hell, we weren't even trained for these kind of
situations. There was this local negotiater that talked them into
giving
up the hostages. They did and was following them out, just like they
did
today." Vin looked Chris dead in the eye. "I saw their guns then too,
only my commander stopped me from firing. They cut them down like they
were nothing. They shot them in the back, Chris. Some of them were
barely old enough to walk." His voice caught and turned back to look
out
the window. "I swore I would never let that happen again. My LT had the
nerve to tell me later when I asked him why he took my gun away, that
we
were there to watch, nothing more."

Vin felt Chris's hand on his shoulder and allowed the strength from it
to engulf him.

"Look, Vin.." Larabee never had a chance to finish his sentence as the
glass in the window suddenly shattered and a searing pain burned
through
his left shoulder.

**********************

"What did you find?" Josiah and the others had met in the conference
room for privacy and didn't relish what they had found.

"Seems our young Mr. Dunne was on to something. I went and talked with
some friends at the precinct and they told quite a story." Ezra opened
his briefcase and extracted a manilla folder. "There has been four
murders in the past five months that the murder weapons trace back to
ones that had been taken from the evidence room at the county lockup.
They weren't stolen, just misplaced, so to speak."

"How did they know the murders' were committed with these guns?" Nathan
pulled out a leather chair and sat down.

"It appears the murderer likes weapons of uniqueness. Each of the
firearms used were specially crafted and left a significant signature."
Standish slid the jacket to the middle of the table.

"What does that have to do with Jorgenson and his men?" Sanchez picked
up the file and began glancing through it.

"Nothing, unless you look at the way the murders' were committed.
Mercenary style. It has caught the attention if IAD and they have
formed
this expose' on our wonderful SWAT team." The conman made his contempt
known with his last words.

"But what does that have to do with Vin and the shooting earlier?" Buck
threw down his paperwork with a sigh and began to frantically pace the
room.

"What if Vin messed up their plan somehow, and the only way to cover
their tracks is to find another scape goat, so to speak." JD looked up
from his paper and was met with very surprised looks. "What?"

"They were in on it. The whole robbery and hostage situation was a
setup
and because we happen to be there..." Jackson stopped and stared at his
friends'.

"We messed up their plan." Wilmington's sinking feeling turned into a
quicksand pit. "We better contact Chris and Vin quick." He reached for
the phone, but before he could pick it up, it began ringing.
"Wilmington."

"Buu..cck?" The voice was weak but recognizable.

"Chris? Where are you, whats wrong?"

"Vin's pll..a..ceee." The line suddenly went dead.

"Chris! Chris!" Buck began beating on the phone and finally slammed it
down in frustration.

"Buck, whats wrong?" Dunne had never seen his friend so frantic before.

"Somethings wrong with Chris and he's at Vin's. Lets go." The five ran
from the room forgetting about anything and everything.

******************

Chris Larabee stared longingly at the now dead phone in front of him,
hating the feeling of helplessness and the gunbarrel at his temple.

"Good job, Larabee. Seems you gave Mr. Tanner a few more hours to
live."
The gray haired man chuckled softly as he holstered his 9 mm and went
to
stand beside the half-conscious form of Vin. "Its amazing sometimes how
I can read people so well. Here I thought you would be some hardass, no
reason, kind of guy and all I had to do was threaten a friend and you
turn into a pussycat." The man emphasised his sentence with a hard kick
to Tanner's left side. The younger agent yelped softly, trying to roll
away from the attack.

"Who the fuck are you and what do you want?" The older agent's blue
eyes
had become hardened as he watched the scene.

"Why, that is rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm General
Steven Blankenship, retired of course." The man laughed and delivered
another blow to Vin's side.

Chris knew losing his temper wouldn't help matters, but watching this
lunatic injure his best friend was testing his limits. "That only
answered one of my questions. What do you want with us?"

The general finally walked away from the hurt agent and faced Larabee.
"It seems you and your team may have stumbled onto my little operation
that is yet fully functional. Therefore, I need to do a little damage
control, namely, take you and your men out of the game." The stoned
faced man turned briefly to the shattered remains of the window then
back to his men. "Get these two in position. I want this quiet and
fast." Blankenship gave the two agents' a quick once over before
leaving
the apartment.

"You know you'll never get away with this don't you!" Chris struggled
unsuccessfully with his captor, wincing as a pain shot through his
wounded shoulder.

"Save it. We've vowed a loyalty to the general and all your hostage
negotiation training ain't worth a damn." The red haired soldier pushed
the reluctant agent to the back bedroom, throwing Larabee to the floor
once there. "Keep quiet or I'll put a bullet in both your brains right
now." The man stepped aside and the other captor dropped Vin beside
Chris, then they both turned, locking the door behind them.

Larabee didn't waste a second. "Vin, can you hear me?" He eased the
younger man onto his back, noting the pool of blood beginning to form
on
the floor under Tanner's right arm. "Come on, cowboy. Talk to me." The
leader ignored the agony of his gunshot wound as he began a quick
examination. "Damn!" Chris swore, as he found the bullet entrance just
above Vin's right lung, but low enough to cause damage.

"That was my first thought." The sharpshooter's voice was low and
husky,
but had an underlying strength.

"How do you feel?" Larabee was now checking for an exit wound.

"Like I been shot and kicked." Vin let a semblence of his slow grin
crease his lips.

"Well, your sense of humor still sucks, so I guess thats a good sign."
Chris tried to give the younger man a glower but the relief at seeing
his friend alive made him fail.

"You alright?" Tanner asked, coughing suddenly. "Whats going on?"

"Some insane general is trying to kill us. Nothing out of the
ordinary."
Chris reached behind him and quickly took the pillow from its case and
wrapped the sharpshooter's chest. "And I'm fine. Just a nick in the
shoulder."

"Damn, you wanna be a little easier there, pard." Vin glared at his
best
friend, but was met with a sly smile.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't want Nathan chewing my ass out
cause I didn't get the bleeding stopped." Larabee finished his
bandaging
and quickly began seeing to his own wound. "Your ribs feel broke?"

Tanner lifted himself slowly to a sitting position with only slight
twinges of pain. "Naw, just bruised a little. Whats the plan?" Vin had
remembered bits and pieces of the men's conversation, especially the
part about ambushing the guys.

"We get the hell outta here and warn the boys." Chris's voice dripped
with anger.

"What are we waiting for." With Larabee's help, Vin stood and the two
men began searching the room for weapons. "Damn. They took all of 'em."

The two agent's stared dejectedly at the empty safe that usually housed
the sharpshooter's guns.

"I guess that means we do this the old fashioned way." The leader's
face
split into a grin.

Tanner rolled his eyes. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better."

******************

"Step on it, Buck!" JD's young voice rang through the truck cab.

"I'm going as fast as I can, kid." Wilmington never let his gaze leave
the road, but knew their youngest partner was worried. Hell, they all
were. Josiah, Nathan, and Ezra were following in the conman's Jag, both
had lights blinking.

"What do you think has happened?" Dunne chance a glance at his best
friend.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound good." Buck let one hand drop from
the steering wheel long enough to give the boy a reassuring squeeze to
his shoulder.

All words ceased as the two cars approached Purgatorio. It was the
worst
part of the city, but Vin insisted on living here and somehow he had
become the community's protector. So, the fellows had let the badgering
stop concerning his dwelling, as Ezra would say.

They pulled into two empty spaces and before the cars engine died, they
were headed to the apartment building. Before they opened the door, JD
grabbed Wilmington's arm.

"Buck, whats that?" Dunne pointed upward to the top windows near the
corner. Something was being lowered.

The other four chanced a glanced upward, wondering about the object.

"It looks like a sheet tied in knots." Nathan moved toward the corner
of
the building, trying to get a better view.

"Isn't that Brother Vin's apartment." Josiah was standing beside the
healer.

"I believe that would be a correct assumption, considering Mr. Larabee
just crawled out the window and is now dangling on the sheet." Ezra's
voice caught as fear ran up his body. Chris was slowly descending the
rough impression of a rope.

"What the hell is he doing?" Buck didn't stop to get an answer as he
headed toward the alleyway, knowing the firescape was on that side.

He was halfway up the stairs when he saw Larabee attempting to swing
himself toward the structure. "Damnit, Chris, what are you doing?"

The older agent, hearing his name, swiveled his gaze and breathed a
sigh
of relief as he spotted his friend's pale face. "Trying to get the hell
out of that apartment. Wanna give me a hand here." Larabee pushed off
the building with his foot and aimed at Wilmington. Luckily, Buck
reflexes were very good as he caught the leader and pulled him over the
side of the escape. "Thanks pard." Chris flashed him a warm, but
painful
smile.

"Where's Vin?" Jackson and the others had followed the womanizing agent
up the stairs.

"Should be right behind me." The older agent turned to the sheet but
found nothing. "Damnit Vin, come on."

The six men stared at the unmoving sheet, each willing it to move.

"I'm going back after him." Chris grabbed for the makeshift rope, but
Buck intercepted his hands.

"I don't think so. Your bleeding like a stabbed pig." Wilmington moved
over slightly, letting Nathan get in position to check Larabee's wound.

"Damnit, get out of the way. I've gotta go back for Vin." The leader
tried once more but was met with two more pairs of hands.

"I'll go. You gentlemen take care of our fearless leader and I shall
return with the lost sheep." Standish stepped forward, taking the sheet
with both hands and lifting himself easily into the air.

"Be careful, Ezra." Larabee tried to hide the fear, but the loss of
blood and the intensity of the situation made it impossible. "He's
hurt." Chris whispered the last as the blackness threatened to engulf
him.

"Don't worry, pard. We'll take it from here." Buck patted his friend's
good shoulder as he supported the semi-conscious man.

"They're waiting for you." Larabee got the words out before falling
limply into Wilmington's arms.

"That means Ezra could be climbing into a trap." JD looked up quickly,
catching the undercover agent disappearing over the window sill.

************************
 

The sight that greeted Standish was a frightening one indeed. Vin was
struggling with a giant twice his size and was apparently losing. The
undercover agent didn't waste anytime as he entered the fray and quickly

subdued the attacker but unfortunately he hadn't seen the second captor
until it was too late.

He felt the blade slice threw his side, instinctively turning to the
culprit responsible.

"Seems we have a new member to this party!" The red headed soldier
grinned as he dangled the blood soaked knife in front of Ezra.

"Well, as my sainted mother would say, its always better to be
fashionably late then to never arrive at all." Standish lunged for the
oaf and breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of the man's nose
breaking,
coupled with his slumping to the floor unconscious. "Thank you mother
for convincing me to take those boxing lessons." He swiped a hand across

his sweat-soaked brow and immediately noticed the silence surrounding
him. *VIN!*

Ezra turned to the last place he had seen the sharpshooter and was half
relieved, half scared when he found him lying on the floor. He rushed
over and knelt by the lanky agent's prone form.

"Vin, Mr. Tanner, can you hear me?" The conman reached a shaky, bloody
hand out and touched the other man's cheek. A slow moan followed the
action.

"Damn, that hurts." The whispered response was music to Ezra's ears and
made him feel light-headed. *Correct that, Standish, that would be due
to
the blood loss you are experiencing.* He looked to Tanner once more and
was met with tired, pain-filled blue eyes. "CHRIS!" The sharpshooter
attempted to get up but only succeeded in gasping in pain and falling to

the floor.

"Easy, Vin. Mr. Larabee is fine. He's with the others. Just rest." The
older agent patted Vin's shoulder lightly and was happy when he saw him
drift off into what he hoped was a peaceful sleep. He started to stand
when he heard a shout in the next room. Ezra drew his 9mm and aimed it
to the broken remains of the bedroom door.

"EZ! Where are you?" Buck's boisterous voice caused Standish to relax.

"We are in here, Mr. Wilmington and would you be so kind as to call the
paramedics..." The undercover agent never finished his sentence as he
too succumbed to the blackness.

************************

"Damn, if they ain't the sorriest looking bunch!" Buck couldn't contain
the grin that split his face as he saw the two agents sprawled side by
side in Vin's bedroom floor.

Nathan quickly gave them the once over. "Ezra's bleeding pretty bad, but

the cut ain't that deep, so it shouldn't leave a scar."

"He'll be happy to hear that." JD had just finished a sweep of the
apartment with Josiah and stood in the doorway watching.

"What about Vin?" Wilmington had knelt beside the sharpshooter and saw
the pale face.

The healer checked the bandage Chris had put on Tanner's wound earlier
and frowned. "The bleeding had stopped but looks like either he hit
something or someone hit him and got it aggravated again. His ribs don't

seem broken, but we do need to get him to the hospital." Jackson
replaced the makeshift bandage and turned to head towards the living
room.

"Looks like Ez did a number on this fellow." Sanchez squatted beside the

still unconscious captor.

"Indeed I did, Mr. Sanchez. He had the nerve to attack me while I was
fending off the other miscreant from harming Mr. Tanner." Standish
raised his head and slowly rolled onto his right elbow.

"What other guy?" Dunne looked around the room expectantly, but it was
only them and broken nose.

The conman glanced around quickly. "He must have fled when he saw me
take now that gentleman over there."

"That means he's heading toward his boss." Buck gazed at his partners'
and saw the same expression he knew was reflected on his, anger. "If he
tells that bastard we're on to him, we'll never be able to prove
anything."

"Then I suggest we get our fallen comrades taken care of and put a halt
to that prospect." Ezra stood up, swaying slightly, but quickly regained

his footing. "Shall we?"

JD shook his head. "You better hope we get out of here before Nathan
finds out what your up too."

A frown crossed the conman's features. "Indeed." He looked past the
younger agent's shoulder, spotting Jackson heading back toward them. "It

is always approriate for a gentleman to exit the same way he entered. I
shall join you downstairs." Standish backed toward the window hastily
and had just started down the makeshift ladder when the healer entered
the room.

"Where the hell is Ezra?" Nathan gave each agent an accusing stare, but
was ignored, until his gaze fell on blue eyes that had suddenly opened.
He followed the glance Vin gave him and rushed to the window sill. He
spotted Ezra about half way down. "If you fall off that damn rope, don't

expect me to come down there and see if your still alive." The healer
sighed as he saw Standish step onto the fire escape. "Damn fool." He
turned back into the room and found himself alone with Vin. "Now, where
did they go?" Jackson threw his hands in the air as heard the front door

shut. "I don't know why I even try."

"How's Chris?" Tanner started to get up, but a restraining hand on his
shoulder stopped him.

"They took him to the hospital and I made sure to tell them to keep him
sedated until I got there or there would be hell to pay."

"Good thinking, Nate." Vin started to say more, but a sharp pain
assualted him and he gasped.

"Easy, just take it easy." Nathan checked his ribs once more and was
satisfied they weren't broken. "As soon as I get you to the hospital,
I'll find out what the others are up too. Alright?"

Tanner couldn't do anything but nod as he once again was engulfed by the

darkness.

*********************

24 hours later at Four Corners Mercy Hospital:

He heard their voices but didn't know if he was still dreaming or
finally coming back to reality. Chris blinked slowly, noticing the white

walls and ceiling surrounding him, the hospital. *VIN!* Larabee sat up
quickly in the bed and immediately regretted it. The mixture of blood
loss and sedatives decided his stomach no longer needed its contents.

"Easy, Chris." Buck placed a comforting hand on his friend's uninjured
arm and eased him back onto the bed. "Its alright."

"Buck?" The leader quickly sought out the familiar face.

"Right here, pard. We're all here. Safe and sound, well most of us
anyway." Wilmington grinned as he thought about one of his partners' in
particular but that quickly vanished as he saw the stricken expression
on Chris's face. "Now, you just take it easy there pard. I didn't mean
that the way you think I meant. Vin's just fine, in fact he's cooling
his heels in the bed next to ya." The jovial agent moved aside to let
Larabee take in the sleeping form of his best friend.

The older agent visibly relaxed and sighed, closing his eyes as he felt
his emotions trying to overwhelm him. "Then what the hell did you mean,
Buck?" The icy Larabee glare had returned full force as the blue eyes
opened once more.

"Well, I was talking about Ezra. He got sliced at the apartment when he
went up to get Vin, but its nothing, won't even leave a scar, but he
kinda left back out of the window when Nate wasn't looking to help us
collar the SWAT boys. And well, lets just say he's getting the Jackson
lecture on pulling fool stunts, which he won't soon forget." Buck
started chuckling as he saw the twinkle enter his friend's eyes.

Larabee soon sobered up as his mind drifted back to the apartment. "What

about Blankenship?"

"Who?" Wilmington asked.

"The psychotic general who planned to off us." Chris watched as the
other agent's puzzlement grew.

"The only bad guys we bagged was the SWAT. Once we took them into
custody they started spilling their guts about the shooting and how they

had been in on it and knew the robbers had weapons, but was ordered to
hold fire and then dispose of the guns before anybody else had noticed."

"So Vin wasn't at fault."

"Hell no! That boy saved a lot of lives. It was the trigger happy
officers that injured the civilians." The digust was evident in Buck's
voice as he saw the fury flare in Chris's gaze, but before they could
continue the conversation a southern voice caught their attention.

"I assure you I understand completely Mr. Jackson and it will never
happen again." Ezra tried to put on his most sincerest face but knew
from the look on Nathan's he had failed.

"Yeah right. You listen about as well as the other invalids in this
room." The healer snorted, which caused the five men surrounding him to
laugh.

"Can't a person get any rest around here." Vin opened his eyes to find
five smiling faces looking at him, but the one he wanted to see the most

was missing. He started to panic when he heard the voice.

"Bout time you woke up, cowboy." The sharpshooter glanced to his left
and met the blue eyes of his best friend.

"Figured the longer I stayed asleep, the better chance I had of missing
Nate's lecture." Tanner let a slow grin crease his face as he heard a
humph come from the foot of his bed.

"Don't worry, Vin. I think Nathan still has a few words left and if he
doesn't, I'm sure Ezra can recite them for you." JD grinned wildly as he

saw his family was together once again and alive.

"But, I'm sure Brother Nate will hold off until your able to stay awake
for longer periods of time." Josiah had noticed the drifting eyelids of
the patients. "Whats say we go grab a bite to eat and let these boys
catch some well deserved shut eye." Sanchez opened the door and waited
while everyone exited.

Chris tried to stop Buck, but his body was refusing to obey as his eyes
closed. *I need to know about Blankenship!* Larabee thought he had said
the words outloud but a muffled slur was the only noise that was heard
as the room fell silent.

***************

The End
PS: I HOPE YOUR HAPPY NOW KIM!!!!! ;-D