The Beginning of the End

by Maggie

Warning: This is just a piece that had been floating around in my head for a while and I promised them friends of mine a reintroduction fic of sorts. I hope this doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!

"Damnation, Tanner, would ya be still. You're jumpier then a cat ona hot tin roof." Buck Wilmington threw the bagel he had been attempting to eat, at the man pacing back and forth in front of him.

Vin sighed, running a hand through his long, sandy hair. "Sorry, Bucklin. I can't remember ever being this nervous. Hell, when Chris asked me to do this, I was happy, but now I'm not sure I can." Tanner suddenly sat down beside the mustached agent, slumping back against the couch cushions.

Buck turned sideways and stared at the sharpshooter. He could see the emotions playing in the younger man's eyes and couldn't help but smile.

"What the hell are you smiling at? I'm getting ready to have a nervous breakdown here." Tanner grabbed one of the arm cushions and hit the other agent in the chest.

This just made Wilmington start laughing. "I'm sorry, pard, but it's damn hilarious. You, the sniper, lone wolf, moves like a shadow in the night, is scared shitless about standing up in front of a few friends and saying some words." Buck saw the blue eyes go wide with fear and this put him into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Buck." Tanner grabbed the forgotten cushion and began bashing it continuously across Wilmington's back and head, until he was also taken with fits of laughter. "Yeah, I guess your right." Vin suddenly became quiet, as he looked out the balcony window across the ocean that lay beyond it. "I've waited all my life for this, what should I be afraid of?"

Buck regained his composure and looked toward his friend once more. "Exactly. You'll have friends there watching your back and the person you love more then anything there to stand by your side." The agent reached across and settled a hand on Vin's shoulder. "I've never been happier then I am right now, pard. When two people come together in love, it makes me realize this world isn't out to destroy us like we think. You just remember something for me, Vin?"

Tanner glanced toward Buck. "Anything."

"You deserve just as much happiness as anyone, no matter what." Buck squeezed Tanner's shoulder, then dropped his arm back onto the couch. "So, now, let's go make somebody else happy." Vin nodded and they both rose to their feet, but before they could take a step, the phone began ringing.

Buck reached out and grabbed it, ignoring the disgust on Tanner's face. "Buck Wilmington at your service." Wilmington felt a smile break across his face the moment he heard the voice on the other end.

"Buck, let me talk to Vin." Chris Larabee sounded down right menacing.

"Sorry, pard, but no can do. You know the rules." Buck smiled wider,as he successfully dodged Tanner's lunge for the phone, causing the younger man to sprawl unceremoniously onto the carpet.

"Fuck the rules, Buck, they don't apply here." If Chris could have reached through the phone, he would have undoubtedly strangled his friend.

"Now, Chris. You both promised to humor me and it wouldn't be half as special if you didn't follow the rules." Wilmington pulled the phone away from his ear, when the cursing started.

Vin smiled, as he heard Larabee's tirade. "Don't think you're going live through this, pard." Tanner finally got up from the floor and gave the mustached man an evil grin.

Buck just ignored him and put the phone back to his ear. "Calm down,Chris. Don't need you having a heart attack just, yet. By the way, where's Ezra and JD?" Just as the question left his mouth, Wilmington heard a southern accent drift through the phone line.

"Mr. Larabee, I thought I left explicit orders, you were not to even touch the telephone." Standish sounded almost paternal in his comment.

"Go to hell, Ez. I want to talk to Vin." Chris began to say more, but Buck could here a struggle ensue, then another voice filled the airways.

"Ah, Buck. I do hope our efforts were not thwarted." Wilmington could just imagine the smile on the undercover agent's face.

"Nope. We're good and tell Chris he'll see Vin in about an hour." Buck didn't wait for a reply, as he hung of the phone. "Well, Junior, looks like it's almost time."

Tanner turned from the balcony window once more and locked eyes with Buck. He saw in them a mixture of gratitude and sadness. "You okay, Bucklin?" Vin walked over and placed a hand tentatively on the other's forearm.

Wilmington shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts that had suddenly surfaced. "Yeah. Just remembering another day similar to this one." Buck smiled. "Only, Chris was never as happy as I've seen him now,Vin, and I thank you for that."

The two men shared a moment of friendship, then Buck patted Tanner's hand. "Let's go, before the old man kills Ez or JD."

+ + + + + + +

It was 3:00 in the afternoon, and the sun glistened against the waves, as they slowly lapped against the white sandy beach. A crowd of seven men stood in a half circle on the private stretch they had procured for this special occasion. They watched the water before them for a few minutes, until three of them broke from the curve.

Vin Tanner, dressed in khaki pants, white T-shirt and no shoes with his hair flying loosely about his face, stood across from Chris Larabee who was dressed just the same. Josiah Sanchez had taken the spot in the middle and slightly above them.

"My dear friends." Sanchez glanced around him, stopping his gaze first on Nathan Jackson, also barefooted like the other six men, and wearing a grin that made his teeth sparkle in the sun. Next, his eyes went to Ezra Standish, who was also smiling, but more reserved than Nate. After that was JD Dunne, who couldn't or wouldn't stop the smile encompassing his mouth and going all the way up to his eyes. Next, was Buck. The look that the agent wore was beyond description and caused Sanchez's heart to grow even more concerning what he was about to do. Finally his eyes stopped on the two men in front of him.

A pair who had started out as strangers, then grew into friends, and now were his brothers' and they had honored him more then anyone ever could two weeks earlier, when they asked him to officiate this ceremony. An occasion where he would forever bind them together and there was no way he would refuse. And so, here they were, Hawaii, one of only two states in the US that would sanction the giving of each other by the same gender, but that didn't matter to the men standing in front of him.

They didn't see each other as something so superficial, no, when they looked into each others' eyes, they saw only their souls.

"We are gathered here today, to bring a bond of love, honor, respect, and happiness to two special people. They have been a wall of strength for us in hard times and pillars of understanding for mistakes we may have made or will make in the future. These two men have passed far beyond our friendship and stepped into our brotherhood. We now must help them bind their love for one another from now until eternity." Josiah stepped forward and shook Chris' and then Vin's hands, then stepped back. "I believe the rest is up to you two." Sanchez smiled and nodded for them to proceed.

"Damn, this is gonna be harder then I thought." Larabee returned Josiah's grin and glanced quickly to the others around him, basking in their smiles of encouragement, before turning his attention back to Vin. "When you andI first met, I felt I had found the missing piece to my soul. I never had to say what I was feeling or when I was hurting, somehow you always knew. It scared me at first, but now, it feels like the most perfect thing in the world. Even though you and I have never needed words to say what needed to be said, I wanted this day so I could share with you and the others exactly what I'm promising." Chris swallowed hard, then slowly continued. "I can't promise not to be a son of a bitch sometimes." He paused, as he heard Buck snort beside him. He threw a sideways glare at the man and then started once more. "I can't even promise that I'll not be unreasonable or hard to live with, but I can promise that as long as I have breath in my body, I will love, honor, respect, and protect you with all I am." The team leader saw the same promise reflecting in Tanner's eyes, then took the chain, with the band hanging from it, from Buck and slipped it over Vin's head.

Tanner glanced at the ring now dangling from his neck and felt a lump form in his throat. He swallowed several times and then turned his gaze back to Chris.

"I want to start by thanking you." Vin swept his eyes to the others, "all of you," then back to Larabee. "I was scared the first time I met you. I was afraid of what I had found and afraid of what I could lose. I have fought to survive for a lot of years and knew if you or this team became lost to me, I would never be able to go on alone, again. You all gave me something I believed I would never have, a family. And you gave me something I dreamed of having, love."Vin stopped, trying to convince his heart not to beat out of his chest, but he saw the reassuring look from Chris and reluctantly continued. "I want to promise you something, cowboy. It's not always gonna be easy to deal with me, especially if I'm sick." The others began chuckling. "And it's not going to be easy for me to give up part of my independence to be with you. But I do promise that as long as I, too, have breath in my body, I will love, honor, respect, and protect you with all that I am." Tanner grabbed the chain Ezra was handing him and pulled it over Chris's head, letting it settle around the man's neck. "I, also, want you to know,that everywhere I am, there you'll be."

The two men locked gazes that were promising all of their words and more.

"Then," Josiah stepped forward again. "By the power vested in me, by the good Lord above, and the government we work for, I know pronounce you eternal mates." Sanchez grinned, as the two men shared a quick kiss to consummate the ceremony, then began shaking hands with the men surrounding them. "May we all ride together for eternity."

The seven men shared their congratulations and thanks, then stood quietly in a line watching the last rays of sun slide behind the horizon, testifying to the end of the day, but promising a brand new start to tomorrow.

The End

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