By: Anita
"That was one of the stupidest moves I’ve ever seen."
Buck and JD turned to the sound of the loud voice that came from the bar. The rough looking stranger and his six friends had ridden into town only an hour ago and headed straight to the saloon. Seven men riding into town at once was enough to raise any alarm and these men looked dangerous. Scruffy and dirty, they had mean spirits to match.
Chris and Vin were due back from escorting a prisoner to Eagle Bend at any moment. Buck knew they’d be tired and wanting a quiet drink when they got in and was not looking forward to their walking in to find these strangers in town. Right now, though, it was Ezra he was worried about.
The impeccably dressed gambler had been standing at the bar, prior to the unruly gang’s entrance, showing Inez a few simple card tricks. Inez had been wanting to learn some to show Billy the next time she looked after him for Mary. The lovely blonde had been spending a few evenings with Chris Larabee in the past weeks and there was not a man or woman in town that wasn’t happy to seem them finally start getting together.
The rough men had walked in and ignored everyone, the need for whisky the only priority in mind. Thirst abated, they had then started turning their attention to the other patrons in the bar. Ezra had just demonstrated how to flick a hidden card from the sleeve of his jacket into his hand, slowly so that Inez could copy his motions, when the largest of the men had spoken.
Ezra turned to the man, seemingly casual but coiled for strike. In a voice that oozed like honey over hotcakes, he threw down his challenge, totally unbeknownst to the loud-mouthed stranger.
"I doubt you not, sir. For it is with the sincerest of regrets that I am often compelled to face the undeniable fact, that it is men of your character that allow men such as myself, the opportunity to continue in our chosen profession. Indeed, you are an undeniable necessity and without such, a man of my meager skills could not possibly co-exist with any degree of success.. and so sir, I thank you for your point of view and hope never to alter it in any way in the near future. God help this great country should men such as yourself suddenly find themselves with the misbegotten ability to recognise an underlying skill that could possibly unburden them of their ill gained materialistic burdens in the mere blinking of an eye."
Speech finished, Ezra bestowed a thankful grin to the man, utterly sincere in its delivery, before turning back to Inez.
Bruce McFee frowned for long moments after the fancy man turned away from him. The tone of voice and polite sincerity of the man’s face had given him cause to pause and frown. He tried valiantly to sort through the array of undecipherable words just thrown his way, putting them together with the respectful and honest tone, and coming up blank.
"Another bottle here!" he growled finally to Inez, giving Ezra one last confounded look and turning back to his men.
JD, too, was struggling valiantly. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to hold back the snigger that had built with each word Ezra had said. Half of the words he hadn’t been able to catch either, as fast as Ezra had fired them out, but he knew Ezra enough to know he was taking the piss out of the man in his own stylish manner. Buck gave JD a little kick under the table and it was nearly the younger man’s undoing.
JD was saved from his outburst by the saloon doors banging open violently. The black thundercloud that walked in was awesome to behold.
"Shit." Buck cursed softly.
Chris Larabee was in no mood for anything but a drink, or several to be precise. He’d thought of nothing else for the entire ride back with Vin. The whole three days had seen nothing but problem after problem, the prisoner nearly driving both he and Vin insane with his pleas of innocence and attempts at escape.
Things had been tense from the second they had picked the boy up from the prison wagon. He was only an innocent looking kid and it was hard to imagine that he had ever seen brutality in his life, let alone instigated it. But the evidence didn’t lie and this kid had killed a woman and her young child in cold blood. Hearing the charge that had been made on the young kid, now sentenced to hang for his crime, Chris’s heart had steeled over. This was the one crime that he could not view objectively and there was nothing that even Vin could say to him that would sway his mind.
The unfortunate flip side to the situation, was that the one thing that Vin Tanner could not abide, was a man being wrongfully accused. There had been no eyewitnesses to the murder, despite the pile of evidence against him. As far as Vin was concerned, none of the statistical facts were enough to hang the kid. If no one saw him do it physically, there was question. Killing a man in the heat of a fight when it was kill or be killed, was one thing. Capturing a man, putting him on trial and allowing objective strangers to decide whether he should live or die months after the heat was gone, seemed cold and inhumane to him. It somehow seemed as heinous as the alleged crime itself.
There was also the fact that he knew first hand what it was like to be sentenced to death. The warrant hanging over his head was like an outstanding debt that he had no intention to pay.
So to say the trip had been tense may be somewhat of an understatement. Confounded by the kids heartfelt pleas to let him just escape, the tension had escalated to the point of violence. It was hard for both men to accept that there was an issue between them that they could not simply resolve. Respectful of each other’s views to the point of an almost higher understanding, they were both dismayed to find that their passions were overruling their ability to find neutral ground on this issue.
By the time Chris had ridden into town, Vin was miles away, both mentally and physically. They’d taken separate trails back to town for the last several hours of the ride, both confused by this ridge between them, the first they had faced and both angry that it was there in the first place.
By the time Chris walked into the saloon, he saw nothing but the bar and the bottles behind it, the scowl on his handsome face enough to deter his friends from greeting him. They watched silently as he strode to the bar in his habitual assured stride and was handed a bottle and glass immediately.
Ezra caught Buck and JD’s eyes as Chris sidled up next to him without saying a word. He knew better than to approach the man when he was in this mood.
The doors opened again and Nathan and Josiah entered, sharing a quiet laugh as they walked in. The smiles died on their faces as they caught their friend’s faces, all turned to them in anxious and desperate attempts to warn them of the state of Chris’s mood before they did something foolish, like try and say hello.
Josiah raised an eyebrow in question and Buck nodded to Chris’s back before giving his head a shake in the negative. Nathan turned to Josiah, both knowing what that gesture meant, and detoured to Buck and JD’s table.
"Better to sit yourselves here fer a bit boys, the bar ain’t a safe place ta be," Buck said, pouring his friends a drink each from his own bottle.
Having seen the man in black stalk in and not speak to any of the other patrons, Bruce McFee and his six men made the incorrect assumption that he was alone. Resenting the way he had walked in and commanded full attention of the barkeeper by nothing more than his intimidating scowl, they were drawn to him with interest.
Chris felt their hostile eyes and almost smiled. This was just what he needed to vent his anger. He almost thanked God for the opportunity of release. He had to fight his hand from creeping to the handle of his gun, placing it instead casually on his thigh as he sat on the stool only a foot away from the biggest of the men. He’d sized them all up in a glance as he’d walked up, noting their size and the guns they all carried with a cool assessing gaze.
"So a man’s just gotta be rude around here ta get some respect, huh?" Bruce said to his friends.
"Hell, bitch, get me another drink!" another man said to Inez.
Inez moved quickly to do his bidding, knowing the six peacekeepers of the town were all watching avidly and trying to avoid a confrontation. She knew, though, that that was impossible. The air was charged with pent up violence. The temperature seemed to rise with each second as glances were exchanged, smirks given. The eruption into violence was inevitable, she had been in the game too long not to know that. Her only focus now was on containing the damage as much as she could without getting in harms way herself when the bullets started to fly.
"Inez, honey, allow me to relieve you from your duties for the night." Ezra said, moving through the bar to take the glass from her hand. Inez looked at him, wanting to stay and help, but seeing the unrelenting look in Ezra’s eye. He would not allow her to stay and be harmed any more than he could ever hurt her himself. With a small nod and a look that clearly told him to be careful, she left the bar.
Bruce was about to make another smart comment when the wooden swing doors again opened and a long haired, lean man in Buckskin pants and hide coat entered, looking for all the world like he’d just walked in from camping with a tribe of Indians.
Vin felt the heaviness of the air the moment he stepped through the doors to the saloon. With an experienced eye, he took in his friends at their table and the seven burly cowboys all lining the bar as he walked casually to the counter and nodded to Ezra, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.
Ezra noted the smile and his brow furrowed only slightly. Only a fellow master in reading a man’s face could detect that Vin was happy about the situation he had found. Indeed, it wasn’t just his face that gave him away, but the lean stealth of his movements, showing his predatory intent. There was the subtlest of change in his posture, a slight pushing back of his shoulders as he walked, his hips angled forward just the smallest degree. Only Ezra noted all this and found himself wondering at it.
Vin chose his spot, a small distance from Chris, but a distance non-the less. He had thrown back his first shot and poured a second, not having acknowledged anyone in the bar, when a voice addressed him from his right.
"They kick you outta the reservation there, Injun?" Bruce said, snickering along with his friends.
Vin tilted his head ever so slightly to the left to look at the man, showing him his faint smile. Not breaking eye contact, he threw back his next shot of whiskey and put his glass on the bar.
Over at the table, Buck, JD, Nathan and Josiah each exchanged confused glances. If Vin Tanner had ever acted more out of character it was with that one look. A man who studiously avoided trouble at all cost, it was almost as if he was welcoming a fight. Something had happened out on the trail. Whilst it wasn’t unusual for Chris to sink into a dark mood, he never shut Vin out and the two had yet to look at each other. Both of their frames were tight, poised, ready.
With that one smile, Vin lit the spark, the length of the fuse not yet determined as Bruce growled back at him.
"What the fuck you grinnin’ at? You’re lucky I’ve let ya sit there that long. Get the hell outta here before you cain't walk outta here on your own."
Vin didn’t even look at Ezra who was right in front of him. He didn’t care who was behind him on this. He’d take them all on one by one, or all at once, he didn’t care. His world was out of whack, the balance all wrong with the tie between him and his best friend knotted in the middle. Still, he wasn’t going to throw the first punch. He was still a Tanner.
"If it’s all the same, think I’ll just keep on drinkin’," he said in a quiet, level voice.
Bruce turned to his pals in disbelief. "Did he just say no?"
"Think he did. Think that’s exactly what he said!" one of the other men said excitedly, looking around the room, anticipating action.
Bruce turned back to Vin. "I ain't askin’ ya, long-hair, I ain't drinkin’ with no Injun-lover!"
Vin gave a mock sigh and once more put down the glass in his hand. Ever so slowly, like a spring uncoiling, he raised his lean frame from the stool and stood, pushing the stool backwards and facing up to the bully with the big mouth.
"Well get on with it then," Vin said in the same quiet tone, smile now gone and a hard glint in his startling blue eyes.
Taken aback for the moment, Bruce tried to work out this man whom he had obviously misjudged by his scruffy appearance. Seeing nothing to give away the man’s intent from his cold, hard eyes, he stepped in a little closer to him, attempting to intimidate him with his far greater height.
"Them’s mighty loud words your sproutin’ for such an ugly bastard," Chris Larabee said in a quiet, deadly voice, not looking up and appearing focused on the drink in his hand.
Ezra thought he could hear mice scuttling somewhere beneath the floorboards, so deathly quiet was the room. He looked at his friends, all staring back at the bar trying to work out just what the hell was going on. Vin and Chris were both chasing a fight tonight, that much was obvious. It seemed as though their leader had just spoken those provoking words more to turn the fight to himself, than to back his best friend.
"Well lookie here boys, looks like we got us another taker." Bruce said.
"This is my problem, Cowboy, stay the hell out of it." Vin said, angry and not turning around. The use of the word "cowboy" not carrying its usual affectionate tone.
"Seems to me, you got more’n you can handle here, Pard."
Vin whirled around, presenting his back to the danger behind him.
"You sayin’ I cain't handle this?"
"I’m not sayin’ anythin’."
Both men glared at each other, both angry beyond mere words.
"And looks likes we got us some entertainment here tonight after all!" Bruce McFee said, content for the moment to watch this fight progress.
"I’ll put a dollar on the long haired one," one of the men said.
"Two on the man in black."
Vin spun back to the men as Chris stood up beside him.
"You boys wanna find somethin’ else to entertain yourselves with?" Chris said quietly.
"Don’t reckon we wanna miss this lovers spat, eh Quinn?" he asked his friend next to him, giving him a nudge.
"Reckon not, Bruce, that one with the hair’d have some claws on ‘im, reckon he’d fight like a girl fer damned sure."
Vin took another step towards the men and all hands crept towards their holsters.
"Gentlemen please! I would ask that you refrain from violence in this establishment," Ezra said in a final attempt to stop the violence. He nodded at Chris and Vin, knowing better than to use their names in front of these strangers. "As your usual skills of defusement seem to have manifested into something quite the opposite tonight, might I suggest some rest for you after your weary travels?"
Vin didn’t spare Ezra a glance. "Don’t reckon I’m that tired Ez. Think I might stay fer a spell."
Vin felt Chris standing beside him, had expected it despite their current grievance. He didn’t look at him, there was no need. They knew what the score was. You back your friends first. No question.
Buck, JD, Nathan and Josiah all exchanged meaningful looks as they weighed up the situation in silence. Then the sounds of wood scraping on wood could be heard as the rest of the Magnificent Seven stood as one and joined the fray. Together, they stepped up to their friends and faced off with the mean-looking cowboys. This was their saloon, their town. If one had a problem, they all did. For whatever reason things had escalated to this point, you couldn’t intimidate one man without facing another six. It was a silent pact. They protected what was theirs.
Ezra sighed in acceptance as his friends joined the fight. No-one moved, knowing that at any second hell was about to break loose. Stares were exchanged, hands twitched in readiness to go for holsters slung low on lean hips.
Experienced as these men all were in gunplay, some could almost smell the gun-smoke in the air in anticipation. One move and it would be on.
It all happened at once and was over in the blink of an eye. The slight widening of the big cowboy’s eyes, a fraction of a second before he went for his gun was all it took for Chris Larabee to reach for his colt, drawing and firing on the man before he had even touched his own weapon. Gunshots erupted all around, a lightening fast, deadly firefight in the confines of the saloon.
Chris knew Vin was the most amazing shot he would ever see, but a lightening draw he wasn’t. His mare’s leg wasn’t set up for close battle and Chris aimed to even the odds. In a spree that lasted no more than ten seconds in total, Chris Larabee took out four of the seven men before they knew what had hit them. The legend already known for his exploits throughout the land, solidified his reputation in a battle that would be written in the history books. That day, unbeknown to them, the Magnificent Seven stopped the McFee gang cold, wanted across three states for their thieving and murdering.
Vin got off two shots, both times entering into bodies already fatally wounded and not yet beginning to fall to the ground, Chris Larabee's bullets having already hit home. When the last shot fell, the seven had not moved and stood as they had moments before, only now with seven dead men at their feet. It was as if the striking hammer of justice had just flown through the room and felled the men in one giant sweep.
As the smoke began to settle, the silence evaporated.
"Anyone hit?" Nathan asked, looking at his friends in concern.
"Umm.."
Buck whirled to JD. "Where?!"
"It’s not bad, Buck," JD said, clutching his arm.
"Sit down, JD, let Nathan take a look." Buck said.
"It’s not bad," JD protested, letting Buck push him into a chair.
"Anyone else?" Nathan said, looking at them all in turn. He narrowed his eyes at Vin, whose back was still to him. "Vin?" he said, almost accusingly.
Vin paused a moment longer, said "M’fine, Nathan," and turned and shouldered his way out, angry beyond words that Larabee had just robbed him of venting his anger.
"Chris?" Nathan said.
Ezra felt like an intruder. He’d seen the flash of pain on Chris’s face as Vin had turned and walked out. It had been present for no more than a second, but he’d caught it, standing in front of him behind the bar as he was. Then the cold mask had descended again and a less astute person might have questioned whether he’d actually seen anything there, but Ezra knew he had. As Chris, eyes again cold, turned and followed Vin out the door, Ezra knew it wasn’t over.
"Reckon we gotta talk," Chris said flatly.
Vin had known Chris would follow him out, was maybe even waiting for him in the shadows of the porch, leaning out over the rail with his back to the saloon doors. Both of them knew what they’d been trying to accomplish in getting into a fight with those men, knowing what they really needed was to have it out with each other.
"Nuthin’ ta say."
A long minute stretched out, both men becoming angrier by the second, both dismayed that a silence between them could be uncomfortable. It had never happened before.
Finally Chris spoke. "Dammit Tanner, you’re a stubborn bastard."
"That comin’ from you," Vin returned with a snort.
Chris reached out and spun the younger man around to face him. "There’s a fine line between stubbornness and disrespect, Pard."
Only the use of the word pard softened his words to any degree. Chris Larabee was hurt, questioning his own thoughts and pissed off as hell about it.
"Seems there’s a fine line ‘tween bein’ loyal and bein’ blind." Vin said, shaking Chris’s hand off and boring his eyes into his, letting him know that he, too, was as pissed off as hell.
For a moment they just stared, eyes boring into each other, too pissed off to speak. This had been building for three long, tiring days, fueled by the constant presence of the young prisoner who reminded them constantly of their differing opinions until they had finally offloaded him.
Buck peered through the window by the saloon doors, having made sure that JD was indeed fine.
"Don’t look good out there," he said, real worry creasing his brow.
"Whaddaya mean, Buck. It’s just Chris and Vin."
"I fear Mr Wilmington is correct. There was something decidedly off-key with our returned comrades this evening and it had nothing to do with those loathsome creatures," he indicated the dead cowboys strewn over the dusty floor.
"It’s not like brother Tanner to seek out conflict with his fellow man." Josiah said thoughtfully.
"Hell Chris is always pissed off," JD said, thinking back to the events that had just occurred and trying to see what his friends had seen. Chris had looked mighty angry, but that wasn’t unusual for him. It was true that Vin had been a bit weird, but JD liked Vin for the way he stood up for himself and other people. Although, he had to admit, Vin usually was the last to resort to physical violence, picking fights only worthy of his time. "You think something happened out there.. to the prisoner?" he asked.
"I dunno, kid, but the way them two are glarin’ at each other, that porch is about to set itself on fire," Buck said, still looking out the window.
"Shouldn’t someone go out there?"
Four sets of eyes all looked at JD incredulously.
"Off ya go, JD," Buck said, nodding to the door with his head.
By his tone JD knew he would have gotten a special Buck slap to the back of his head had he been within arms reach.
"OK, maybe not," he mumbled.
"This isn’t about bias or bein’ blind, its about the law," Chris said.
"Like it was in there tonight?" Vin shot back, knowing that wasn’t fair, he’d provoked that fight as much as Chris had, he just hadn’t got a shot in.
"Them boys were gonna have a go no matter how it got started." Chris said, seething.
Vin sighed. "Face it, Chris, it’s about you not lettin’ go of the past."
Chris moved in a fraction closer. "That’s got nothin’ ta do with it," he said, voice low.
Vin held his gaze a moment, willing him to admit the truth. Seeing that wasn’t going to happen tonight, he said, "Maybe not" and made to walk away.
Chris again grabbed his shoulder.
"Didn’t think Tanners’ walked out on a fight."
"Didn’t know I was havin’ one."
Blue and green flames met head on like print burning in an open fire, beautiful but deadly.
Chris dropped his hand. "You’re just as guilty then. You’re assuming because you’re innocent, everyone is wrongfully accused and doesn’t deserve to die."
Vin looked away angrily before turning his gaze back. When he next spoke, his voice was anguished. "How the hell do you know I’m innocent," he said in a rough, low voice.
Chris saw his friend’s pain and hated himself for causing it, but Vin was wrong about this. "Cos I know you."
Vin exploded, stepping back and raising his voice. "That’s the whole point don’t you see?! You KNOW me! You know I couldn’t kill a man in cold blood cos ya KNOW me. But them there people that pass judgment in that courtroom, they didn’t know me, they didn’t know that kid. They don’t know what a man really is and isn’t capable off, evidence be damned! No-one saw me do it, though Eli lied ‘bout that. No-one saw that kid do it neither."
"So you’re sayin’ he should just go free?" Chris said in disbelief.
Vin took a breath. "I’m sayin’ no-one but him and God knows fer sure who did it. It weren’t a clear-cut case, despite all them people votin’ a majority. I’m sayin’ who are we to play God like that, deliverin’ him to hell."
"Cos that’s what we do, we uphold the law." Chris said.
"Fuck off Chris, since when does the law come first with you?"
Chris had been listening to Vin’s words and was starting to understand where his friend had been coming from, but became angry all over again with that question thrown at him.
"Say what you mean, Vin."
Vin sighed, starting to think words weren’t going to resolve this after all. Knowing his friend wasn’t going to like what he had to say, pigheaded bastard that he was, he voiced his thoughts anyway.
"I’m sayin’, you saw that kid as a means to take revenge on the man that killed your family. You weren’t bein’ fair-"
Chris moved in closer and said in a deadly tone, "It had nothing to do with my family-"
"If you say so-"
"That kid killed a woman and child I never even knew!"
"But it weren’t them strangers you were picturing he killed was it. You were picturing Sa-"
Chris had Vin’s shirt in his hand and bailed him up against a post.
"Don’t – say – her – name." He said and Vin heard the anguish, the anger and deadly intent behind it, all at once.
"Fine," Vin said, resigned that the conversation was a lost cause. "You wanna let go of my shirt?"
Chris wasn’t ready to let go just yet. Vin had opened up something in him that needed to come out. Thought’s so long festering he’d let them become a part of him, accepting them without question. He wasn’t giving them up without some backlash and Vin was right in front of him, picking at him, offering himself up as the conduit through which he could let them go.
"It has nothing to do with them," Chris said a little shakily, seething with a rage he could hardly contain any longer.
"Fine, I said. You keep tellin’ yerself that."
Chris gave him a shove into the post again and suddenly Vin became angry back, shoving forward as good as he’d just gotten.
"Don’t be takin’ that anger and guilt out on me, Larabee."
Chris stepped forward again, "I got no guilt. It’s people that don’t care if murderers walk the street with decent folk that should have the guilt. I just wanna make sure innocent people can’t be hurt by murderin’ scum."
"Cos that kid sure looked like murderin’ scum!" Vin said back, almost shouting in his frustrated anger.
"Oh, Jesus, Ezra go out there," Buck said.
"Me?!" Ezra looked faint as he peered out the window next to Buck. They could hear most of what was being said and didn’t think the situation would be resolved with talk at the rate it was building. There were unresolved issues creeping out of both men.
"Sure, use some o’that fancy talkin’ a’yours, son. Do it fer the kids!"
"What kids?! There are no kids out there." Ezra took a seat in mock exhaustion, "Stand down from these ridiculous requests put make upon me, I fear my lungs are constricting with the demands."
JD laughed despite his concern.
Nathan took Ezra’s place to look outside.
"Still, Buck’s right, someone should do something," he said in concern, seeing his friends a mere inch apart, glaring at each other for all they were worth.
"On the contrary, Mr Jackson, this just may be the tonic our rankled friends seek."
"You sayin’ them beatin’ the crap outta each other’s a good thing?" Buck said, turning to stare at him.
"What brother Standish is saying, is that our quarrelling brother’s each have unresolved issues that are finally being brought to light. It just may be that it is the strength of their friendship that allows them to bring such matters out in the open… with no blood yet shed." Josiah said thoughtfully.
"Yet, being the operative word," Ezra said quietly.
"Ain’t no general picture of a murderer, they come in all shapes’n sizes." Chris said.
"Could be right in front of ya, even," Vin prompted.
"Why, you plannin’ on murderin’ someone?" Chris said.
"Thinkin’ about it, less you’re willin’ ta let go a’my shirt." Vin said stubbornly, jaw hard, eyes set.
"Fine!" Chris said, shoving him back again.
Pissed off at being shoved yet again, Vin shoved back. Hard.
"Don’t push me, Vin. I’ve had enough of your shit the last three days."
‘Then don’t fuckin’ push me again."
Ezra wasn’t watching anymore but he could hear the riled banter coming from the porch clearly. He rolled his eyes.
"Oh dear, it’s descended into the -Push me, shove you- domain."
Then, as the sound of loud scuffling and an "oomph" and a cry of pain could be heard, all men ran to the door.
Asked later who really started it, neither man would say. It was the only out and out physical brawl they had ever had with each other, though neither could be sure that it would never happen again.
They had both moved to shove each other out of the way and ended up locking grips, grabbing each other around the arms and trying to move the other out of their way. Vin had lost his footing on the porch step and they had both gone over the edge, tumbling down the short step and into the dusty street.
As they’d landed, Chris had hit Vin in the face with his fist unintentionally as he’d landed on top of him and Vin had instantly hit back. As the rest of the seven rushed out to the porch, punches were being swapped and neither was holding back.
Chris ducked a huge right from Vin and caught his friend with a returned left hook, taking satisfaction in seeing him stagger to the side and hit the ground. It was a perfectly timed punch, connecting so solidly the men watching all winced with sympathy.
Vin jumped back to his feet, feeling the effects of that perfect punch but not letting it keep him down. He put his head down and charged the older man, barreling into him and sending them both staggering back wildly into the railing. So great was the force of the charge, wood splintered and they ended up entangled in the porch.
Vin stood first and grabbed a dazed Chris by his shirt, hauling him up and punching him hard to his face, dropping him as he sent him back to the wooden debri.
"That all you got, old man?" Vin taunted, wiping the blood from his split lip and panting.
Chris pushed himself up and stood facing Vin again. "Got more than you can take, -junior- all that hair o’yours must be gettin in the way, you ain't seein' straight."
Vin’s flashed Chris a smile, inviting him to forget taunting with words and bring it on.
"Gentlemen, might I suggest-"
Ezra stopped talking as a hand clamped over his mouth. Appalled at the personal affront, he swiped Josiah’s hand away impatiently and sputtered from the taste of the salty skin over his teeth.
Chris stepped forward and Vin threw a punch right at his head, which the older man barely managed to duck. Still crouched, he punched Vin in the stomach, doubling him over and leaving him gasping for air.
Not content with that, Chris then shoved the gasping man to the ground. He wasn’t prepared, however, for Vin to leap to his knees and tackle his own black-clad legs. The unexpected force sent his own body toppling sideways and he landed hard to the unyielding earth, his own air whooshing out of him.
Vin slowly got to his feet, staggering a little, breathing harder, his lip bleeding down his jaw line, trickling down his neck. He thought he may have broken a rib where Chris had punched him, a little off center and to his ribcage. He stood above his friend, looking down, his anger rising a little as he realized he couldn’t kick the man while he was down. He was about to tell him to get up again when Chris again turned the tables, spinning on the ground and taking out his own legs in one amazingly fast move. Both on the ground now, they dragged each other up, wrestling before pushing each other back, Vin getting in another hard punch.
Chris felt his nose protest at the onslaught of Vin’s fist and blood instantly gush down his face. It flowed over his lips and he swiped at it with his sleeve. Knowing Vin thought he was preoccupied with his wound, Chris dealt a punishing blow of his own that Vin met head on as he stepped towards Chris.
Vin thought he was going to lose consciousness as he tried to sit up. There were two black figures standing above him now and he blinked slowly to determine which one was his enemy… Enemy? That gave him pause. Chris would never be his enemy. He suddenly wanted to tell his best friend that. He opened his mouth as Chris bent to haul him to his feet and he protested, pulling back, wanting to say it was over.
Chris had a moment’s regret as he saw the dazed look on his best friend’s face, but then Vin had opened his mouth to make some other taunting comment and Chris felt his anger surge again. He dragged Vin up and shoved him back again so he could get another punch in.
As Chris mercillessly dragged him up, Vin got pissed off all over again. Goodwill be damned he struck out, aiming to send his opponent to the ground and end it that way.
Chris took the punch and gave a few more back. By now they were trading punches one for one. A slogging match that saw rapid bruises start on their faces and blood start flowing harder from split lips, burst noses and cuts on their faces.
In a practiced move, Vin suddenly twisted and maneuvered Chris in front of him, grabbing him around the neck in a choking hold that instantly cut off his friend's air.
"Unresolved issues be damned, Josiah, I’m stopping this now," Nathan said, moving to step forward.
"Juuuuust a second there, Nate," Buck said, watching.. anticipating.
Chris managed to pry Vin’s arm away just enough to sink his teeth into the muscle that had been cutting off his air and felt him let go with a howl of pain.
"You fuckin’ bit me!" Vin said incredulously, cut off as Chris quickly spun and threw another punch to which Vin responded with one of his own, landing his fist on Chris’s cheek, although this time just glancing from his skin. Another half-deflected blow to Vin’s face came from Chris. It had been a long trip and both men had been bone weary before they’d even started fighting. They couldn’t go on much longer.
"Gettin’ those demon’s a’yours out well and good, Cowboy?" Vin asked, staggering and straightening himself, swinging wildly at Chris and having to right himself again as the momentum carried him sideways.
"The only demon I got is you, Tanner," Chris returned, catching Vin on the chin.
Vin stepped back and bone tired now, charged Chris again, getting him in a clenching hold as they both staggered to remain upright.
"Us murderer’s tend ta give that impression," Vin panted, still in a clutch hold with Chris, both trying to push back, both knowing they needed the other to remain upright.
Chris managed to step out of the hold. "Dammit this isn’t about you!" Chris said angrily.
"Like hell it’s not! If you’re sayin’ he deserves ta hang, then I do too! There’s as much evidence on me as him! You’re so intent on upholdin’ the law, why don’t ya take me in too?!"
Chris blinked at that and a part of his muddled head finally got Vin’s point, but the other half wanted to finish this. He grinned at Vin, his teeth coated red with his own blood. "Well lets go then," he said and swung out again, missing and falling, knocking them both over again.
Both struggled to get up, finding it beyond their power. They lay panting in the dirt, sapped of energy, tired of thinking any more.
"Gonna kick yer ass, Larabee." Tanner said.
Chris couldn’t help it, a grin lit his face.
"Bring it on, Tanner."
Vin glanced sideways and saw Chris’s smile, feeling his own surface out of nowhere, fighting to keep it at bay but failing.
"Fuck you Chris."
"Not in this lifetime."
"Well kids, all done playing in the dirt?" Buck asked, smiling now that it appeared his friends were done.
"Fuck you, Bucklin," Vin said, so quietly it was almost missed. "Can’t believe ya fuckin’ bit me."
Chris chuckled at that. "Can’t believe you tried to cut off my air."
Buck moved in and helped Chris up then turned to Vin and dragged him up too. Vin let out a groan as he straightened out and his hand went to his right side.
"You hurt, Vin?" Nathan asked, immediately concerned.
Vin caught Chris’s guilty look and quickly denied his pain. "Nope, just a mite sore, Nate. Gonna get me a bath and get some sleep." He turned away and started to head off to his wagon to get a change of clothes.
"Are you hurt, Vin?" Chris repeated, also noticing Vin favouring his ribs.
Vin turned back and held Chris’s gaze. "M’fine, Chris… you?"
"Nothin’ that wont be ok tomorrow."
Vin held the intense look and gave a slight nod. Things would be ok. They’d get around it.
"Gentlemen!" Ezra said as Chris, too began to move off, "If you are both finished indulging in your primitive debating, might I remind everyone that there are numerous bodies to be removed from the saloon floor, to which I think – hey, where are you all – hey!" he called anxiously after his six "friends" who were now all walking away from him.
Vin was later than usual getting to the saloon in the morning. Everyone except Ezra and JD were present and Vin ordered a coffee as he headed over to the boys at their usual table.
"Mornin’" he said, sitting down with a groan.
Before anyone could answer him, Nathan reached over and poked Vin in the ribs.
"Arrgghhhh! Jesus Nathan!" Vin yelled, pushing back from the attack.
"Fine, huh?" Chris frowned, a half smile on his swollen lips. His face, like Vin’s, was a complete mess of bruises and cuts.
"Aw, hell Nate, ain’t nothin’," he complained as Nathan deftly moved in to investigate. He’d just exposed the wickedly bruised tan skin beneath Vin’s untucked shirt, when JD came bounding in, clutching a telegram.
"Guys! Check this out!" he said excitedly, heading over ready to burst with his knowledge.
"Spit it out, kid ‘fore ya explode," Buck said around a mouthful of eggs.
"It’s from the Sheriff at Eagle Bend. Say’s that kid you took in has been released. The real murderer was found dead with a note. It was the woman’s own lover that killed them then hung himself!"
JD waited for the reactions he had expected and frowned when they didn’t come.
"Think I’ll head out for my patrol, c’mon JD," Buck said, getting up and grabbing JD by the arm, dragging him out.
"What the-"
"Let’s go, kid."
Nathan gave Vin a stern look and stood up from his inspection. "I’ll be in the clinic… waiting for you," he said, holding eye contact with the stubborn man until Vin nodded.
Josiah and Nathan both followed JD and Buck out and Chris and Vin found themselves alone at the table.
"I was wrong, Vin." Chris said simply. He was quiet a moment and then he sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "It was personal for me, you were right about that. I thought I’d moved some, but… hearing what that kid did, was s’posed to have done… it just kinda set me off all over again…"
"It’s OK, Chris. I knew what you were thinkin’. I was wrong, too. You’re not biased, I just said that to set you off, get it out and done. Man’s been through all you have’s got a right to be pissed off with the world… just wanted you to admit what it was you were really pissed off about."
Chris sighed again and looked at Vin, "I need a drink.
Vin didn’t even bother saying it was a mite early, just grinned back. "Reckon we both do."
As they moved over to the bar, Vin said, "Reckon I kicked your ass, Larabee."
"How ya figure that, Cowboy? Seems we both walked away," Chris said, grinning now.
"We’ll ya had to resort ta bitin’ me n’all…"
"I’m not gonna say again how you deserved it for trying to choke me to death…"
"Well I at least reckon it’s your buy. Seein’s how my arm’s a mite sore, prob’ly got rabies or somethin’."
Chris shook his head at his best friends dramatics, "If you’ll shut the hell up then Jesus Vin, all right, I’m buying the first drink!"
The End
