"JD, get down!"They'd been snowboarding all weekend, over doing it as usual. But the weather had been perfect — clear, and cool enough to keep the powder from turning to slush.
"JD!"
They'd taken off on their own, leaving the main trails for the amateurs. There were more trees to worry about here, but they were easier to dodge than the moving targets the less-experienced surfers made themselves.
"JD!!"
They were still on the resort's mountain, still in an area that had been cleared for advanced skiers and snowboarders, so they hadn't worried about hidden rocks or sinkholes in the snow pack.
"JD?!"
Nor had they thought about the possibility of an avalanche; the resorts made every effort to blow the upper slopes to prevent such occurrences. But it had snowed last night. They couldn't tell from the elevation at which they'd been snowboarding, but enough snow had fallen to make the higher climbs unpredictable.
"JD!!!"
They didn't know what set it off, but all of a sudden, Vin heard the sound; it stopped his heart, because he knew instinctively what was only seconds away from engulfing them.
A snow slide. Not an actual avalanche, but enough snow to surround them in a thick cloud of white and to pelt them with hail-sized chunks of icy debris.
Vin had lost sight of JD. They'd only been a few yards apart when it hit and Vin had tried to warn his friend, but he feared the kid hadn't heard him in time.
"JD! Where are you? JD, answer me!!"
Vin pulled a bailout turn and dodged behind a tree for cover as the shower of snow rushed around him. It was many minutes before the white powder settled and Vin was able to look around for JD.
He was nowhere in sight.
"JD!" he'd begun calling as he ditched his snowboard and began walking in the direction he'd last seen the kid.
But he could be anywhere from buried right where he'd stood, to somewhere beyond if he'd ditched off the trail as Vin had, to halfway down slope if the gust of snow had caught and carried him.
"JD!! Where are you?!"
It was then that he found him. Stepped on him actually, though the kid was in no condition to complain. Vin dropped to his knees beside his friend and began scooping the powder and ice off of him, so that he could assess JD's injuries. When he'd cleared the snow from around his face and neck, Vin checked to make sure JD was breathing.
He wasn't.
"JD! Oh, God. JD!!"
Vin's own breath was now coming in gasps. He knew what to do. He'd been trained. They all had. Nathan had made certain of it. But sitting in some damn classroom talking about this stuff, working on plastic mannequins didn't mean shit when your friend was lying there unconscious, not breathing. Dying.
"JD!!! JD!!!"
Vin squeezed his eyes shut tight and forced himself to calm down, then to concentrate. What had he been told in class? No breathing meant ... what? Breathe for the victim? That was it. So, how many breaths? How many? Two? Yeah, two. Okay.
Vin placed his left hand on the kid's forehead in order to tilt his head back. He then leaned down close, with his ear next to JD's mouth, checking once more for breathing. Still nothing.
He placed his right palm beneath JD's chin, then moved his other hand down to pinch the kid's nose closed. Vin took a large breath, then wrapped his lips in a tight seal around his friend's mouth and exhaled deeply. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw JD's chest slowly rise. Vin released him to take another breath, hearing the passive exhale of air as JD's chest sank, before plying his mouth again to JD's, breathing for him.
Then he waited.
"Come on, JD. Breathe," he whispered, pleaded. "Please." But JD did not respond.
Vin then checked the kid's pulse at the side of his neck. It wasn't fast like his own, but it was definitely present. So, he closed his mouth over JD's again and resumed the rescue breathing.
Suddenly, he felt the kid move beneath him. Vin pulled back and JD drew in his own breath, and then exhaled. A moment later, his brown eyes fluttered open. Vin smiled at the kid and though JD did not smile back, Vin knew the kid recognized him.
Vin began working to remove the rest of the snow and icy debris that still covered his friend. When JD's arms were finally free, he brought them up to Vin, laying them on his arms. JD now smiled, his dark eyes locking with Vin's deep blue ones. And suddenly it was Vin who was helpless.
He felt frozen in time and space, unable to move, yet his lips were drawing nearer to JD's until they touched, warm against cold, but soft and inviting. He could feel JD's hands on his body, moving over it, caressing it. He felt the young man's lips moving over his own, his tongue slipping inside to dance and tease.
Oh, God. JD!
He'd never thought about the kid like this. It never occurred to him before. He knew about JD and Casey — they were perfect for each other. Yet JD felt so right in his arms at that moment. Or did he?
What about Chris? Vin asked himself. JD was fun to hang around with — and, as it turned out, was a damn-fine kisser — but he wasn't Chris. He didn't have those fiery green eyes or hair that seemed to be a thousand shades of blond. He didn't have the years of hardship, of pain, of grief etched into his face. He didn't have the touch of experience and knowledge in his fingertips. He hadn't lost to murder a child and a wife whom Vin would always regret never meeting. And he wasn't so empty that he needed to be refilled. So strong that he had to be shown how to let go, even for just a moment.
Chris was everything Vin hoped JD would never, ever become, because he wouldn't wish that man's suffering on anyone. Yet it was that very man that Vin was in love with — in spite of, or because of, what life had dealt him.
He wanted to be in Chris's arms for the rest of forever. He wanted to run his fingers through his hair and over his skin. To kiss those lips and be kissed by them. To be one-half of that man's whole being. To be a new reason for him to not only go on, but to want to go on, to want to be alive and to live again.
How could he not have realized any of this before today? How could all of these things not have been crystal clear to him before this moment?
Chris. It was Chris. It had always been Chris. Even before he knew of the man's existence. And now, looking back, it was there in that moment when their eyes had first met, on that day when, together, they saved Nathan's life. A silent communication, an understanding, a touching of their souls.
But did Chris know any of this? Could he? Or was he as blind and ignorant as Vin had been? Or was Vin simply wishing for the impossible? Chris was a man who'd had a family, who'd loved — still loved — a woman. An incredible woman to hear Buck tell it: how could he ever compete with her? Even if Chris wasn't as straight as a steel beam.
Oh, Chris. Please. Chris....
Vin blinked his eyes and saw JD staring at him. "It's okay, Vin. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine," the kid said, but how could he know? How could he even begin to know what clamorous revelations were happening silently within Vin's own head?
Suddenly Vin felt hands on his body — more hands than JD possessed. Something large and restraining was being fastened around his neck. Then, as he was pulled onto his side, he felt something hard being placed against his back. He was then rolled flat again.
A strange face appeared before him. "Hang on. We're gonna get you down this mountain. There will be an ambulance waiting to take you to the hospital. Just try to relax and let me and my partner take care of you."
Then the stranger's face disappeared and was replaced by JD's again. "Don't worry, Vin. I'll be boarding down right behind you. I'll call Chris and the guys, and then I'll meet you at the hospital. Don't worry. The ski patrol's gonna take good care of you."
Ski patrol? That strange face had belonged to the resort's equivalent of a paramedic. But why weren't they taking care of JD? Why was he the one strapped to a board when JD had been the one caught in the snow slide?
Or had he?
"JD?" Vin managed before the kid's face disappeared again. "What happened?"
"You saved my life. You took the time to warn me out of the way, but that didn't leave you enough time to get clear of the slide yourself. You shouldn't have done it, Vin. But, thanks."
"I didn't get clear?"
"No. You were buried for at least five minutes before I found you. And you were unconscious for at least fifteen, until just before the ski patrol got here— Okay, Vin. They gotta take you down now. Don't worry. I'll be right behind you."
JD patted Vin's chest. A moment later, he felt the paramedics moving him, heard the starting of their snowmobile engines, and then felt the wind across his face as they began their decent.
So nothing had happened. He hadn't kissed JD. But, all that stuff about Chris ... was it true? Or was it only something which made sense within a dream?
Did he love Chris? Did he?
And what would he see in the man's fiery green eyes when he came to visit him in the hospital?
Did he even dare to hope?
~ fade ~
May 2001Please do NOT repost this story anywhere outside of the Blackraptor Fiction Website.
Characters from "The Magnificent Seven," were used without permission and this story in no way signifies support of, or affiliation with, The Mirisch Group, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment, or CBS Worldwide, Inc. The M7-ATF universe was created by Mog, and extra thanks go to her for allowing other people to play within it. The story itself and any non-Magnificent Seven characters belong to the author. This story will not be sold for any reason.
Thanks to my beta reader for all of her help and encouragement!