Alternate Universe "Haven"
Disclaimer: Mag 7 doesn't belong to me.
Author's Note: Thanks to Brate for creating this AU and Enola Jones for being an awesome beta .
Follows Fire Control.
Throwing another fireball, Buck cursed when it wasn't what he wanted. Staring at the burning wood for several minutes, he reached for the nearby bucket and poured water on the fire. As the small fire fizzles out, the fire starter sighed and leaned back against a nearby tree.He had been at it for the last two days. Ever since Nathan had allowed him to leave the infirmary. He spent the time trying to figure out what was going on with his power. It wasn't working like it should, since the warehouse and the drug.
He had avoided everyone for the last few days. He didn't want to worry the rest of the team with what what was going on. It wasn't anything they could help with. Besides, a fire starter that couldn't control his power was a danger. That was one thing that Stan had right. If he lost control in the house, he could easily burn it down or kill one of the other men by accident.
Shaking his head to dislodge the thoughts, he turned his attention back to the small pile of wood he had set out around the pond. He would get it right, sooner or later. No one needed to know.
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Chris glared around the living room. He had been searching through the house for the last hour, looking for Buck. He wanted to talk to him about the way he had been acting the last few days, but he had disappeared again. With a growl, the blond finally gave up and sat down in a nearby chair. This couldn't keep going on. Buck seemed to disappear into thin air the minute anyone needed to talk to him, since the warehouse.
Rubbing his forehead, he tried to figure out where the pyorkinetic would have gone. With a sigh, Chris closed his eyes, Leaning back against the chair, he took a deep breath. Wracking his brain, he tried to figure out where Buck would have gone to hide.
Focused on this thoughts about where Buck had gotten to, he didn't notice Nathan coming into the room. “Chris, have you seen Buck?”
Opening his eyes, Chris glared at the healer. “No, I've looked everywhere. He isn't in the house.”
“Have you tried outside?”
“I thought you told him he wasn't allowed to go out. He was still recovering.”
“When did any of you follow my instructions about staying put?”
“True. Feel like joining me?”
Jackson nodded. The two men headed out the door in search of their missing team member.
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They started their search at the barn to see if Buck's horse was still in the corral. Reaching the fenced in area, they quickly picked out the gray amongst the other horses. With a shared glance, the two men headed towards the pond; the only other place they could figure out the pyorkinetic may have disappeared to.
Walking past several burn marks, Nathan looked over at Chris. “I don't like this. What do you think he's doing?”
Looking up at the form ahead of them, sitting and staring out at the small pond, Chris shrugged his shoulders. “If I didn't know better, I would say he's working on control.”
“Why would he be doing that? He's never had problems with it before.”
“You ever figure out what the drug might have done to him?”
“We never found Stan's stash of the drug. The remnants in Buck's blood didn't help us at all. As far as I could tell it did nothing to him.”
Chris shook his head. “I think it did affect him more then he was willing to tell us, and I don't think he can hide it anymore.”
“You have a plan on how you're going to get him to talk?”
“Nope.”
Looking over at the telekinetic, he sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
Shaking his head at the comment, Chris headed towards the lake. 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Reaching the lake, it didn't take them long to find Buck. They could see him sitting at the edge of the pond as he flipped small fireballs into the water, watching them sizzle when they hit the the surface of the pond. Nathan turned to Chris. “He doesn't look like he wants to talk.”
Chris stare at Buck. “He will. We won't give him a choice. He needs to talk.” With that said, Chris walked up Buck, followed by Nathan.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Not looking away from the pond, Buck shook his head. “No.”
Nathan and Chris shared a glance. With a sigh, Larabee settled down next to the fire starter. “Consider the alternatives. You can talk to us out here about what is going on, or we can drag you back to the house and stick you in a chair and stare at you till you decide to talk.”
Buck shook his head. “Or I could not talk about it, and you could leave me alone.”
Sitting down next to Buck, Nathan shook his head. “That isn't happening, so talk.”
Running a hand through his hair, Buck sighed. “There isn't anything wrong.”
Jackson shook his head. “You want to try again?”
“No, not really, I'm alright.”
Chris snorted. “You are far from alright. This has something to do with your fire, doesn't it?”
Shivering slightly, Buck stared down at the dirt. “I can fix it.” Taking a closer look at the fire starter, Nathan didn't like what he saw. “Chris, he needs to get back inside. He's shivering and exhausted. I have a feeling that he over did it.”
Larabee was silent for a minute, then nodded in agreement. “I think you're right.”
Without waiting for Buck to protest, Chris and Nathan manhandled him up from his seated position and started to walk him towards the house.
When it registered what was happening, Buck started to protest. “I don't need to head back in. I'm fine out here. Just needed a break.”
Snorting in disbelief, Nathan spoke. “No, you need more then a break. You need to sleep, then eat something. Unless you can tell me when the last time you ate something was.”
The silence from the usually loud man was a answer in itself. “That's what I thought. You'll rest in your bed, eat what I give you, and answer anything we ask.”
“No, I won't. “
Chris shook his head. “No, you will follow what Nate says. Then talk, you don't have a choice. You don't need to handle it on your own. Besides, you won't hurt us.”
Opening his mouth to protest, he closed it again when he realize he had nothing he could say to prove his case.
With a sigh of defeat, he allowed the two men to bring him back to the house.
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Blinking his eyes open, Buck frowned as he found himself staring at the ceiling of his room. The last thing he remembered was Chris and Nathan coming up to him at the pond and manhandling him back to the house. “So, you're finally awake. Chris will be glad about that.” Frowning, the fire starter turned his head to the side, “Thought you and JD were camping.”
Vin grinned slightly. “We were, till Chris decided he needed backup with you. Called us back.”
“He didn't have to do that. He doesn't need any backup.”
“That's not what he said. Besides, he figured with the rest of us here, we can make sure you don't disappear.”
“I didn't disappear. Just wanted some fresh air.”
Vin grinned slightly. “That's not what Chris said. So, are you hungry?”
“Do I have much choice?”
“Nope, not really, unless you want Chris to force you to eat.”
“Then I guess I'm hungry.”
After a few minutes, Buck spoke up. “Aren't you going to get it?”
Grinning, Vin shook his head. “Its being brought. I was told not to leave the room. Seems they're worried you'll try to escape.”
Grunting in response, Buck lifted the covers and got out of bed. Standing on his feet, he wobbled slightly as he tried to get his balance.
Reacting quickly, Vin grabbed Buck before he fell over. “You need to eat first.”
“I'm fine, I can get dressed on my own.”
“Yea you can, just not until you eat. Nate said that you've used too much energy.”
Watching as Buck resettled himself on the bed, Vin sat down in his chair. “Are you ready to stop being stubborn?”
“I'm not being stubborn. I'm fine, just a little tired. Otherwise, I'm good.”
Vin was only able to snort in disbelief. Before he could say anything the door opened. “I have food.”
Looking over at Nathan, Buck's eyes widened. “I'm not that hungry.”
Placing the tray of food on the bed, Nathan stared at Wilmington. “You're to eat all of that. You haven't eaten in the last few days.”
“I haven't been hungry.”
“I wouldn't argue with Nate,” Vin put in. “He doesn't like it when we don't follow his orders.”
With a sigh, Buck started to poke at the food with Nathan watching him. Seeing this. Vin slid out of the room.
Just out of earshot of the room, he stopped as he ran into Chris. “Did you get anything?”
“Nope, he wasn't thinking about it.'
Sighing, Chris shook his head. “Guess then it'll be the hard way.”
Tanner nodded in agreement.
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Sitting down in the chair that was left open for him, Buck frowned at the rest of the group. “What's all this?”
“This is where we make you tell us what is going on. We know something is up, and since you don't feel like talking to us, we figure this was the best way to do it.”
Eying Chris, Buck frowned. “I'm alright, there isn't anything wrong.”
Nathan shook his head. “No, if you were alright, you wouldn't have exhausted yourself by throwing fireballs.”
“I was just practicing.”
“Why were you practicing? You've never felt the need to practice before.”
Looking over at Josiah, Buck shrugged his shoulders. “Just felt like it.”
The empath shook his head. “You know you shouldn't try to lie to an empath, What's really wrong?”
“Nothing I can't figure out. “
“This has something to do with the drug that Stan gave you? “
Shifting slightly, Buck looked over at Chris. “Its nothing.”
“I believe what our fearless leader is talking about is that you should share with us what, exactly, that drug did to you-- in order to make sure anyone else who many get injected with the drug can survive it.”
Glaring at Ezra, Buck sighed. “It's nothing, just having some problems with control.”
JD frowned. “What do you mean ,a problem with control?”
Looking down at his hands, he sighed. “Remember when Vin boosted me?”
The group nodded. “Well, it seems that the drug boosted my powers. It wasn't that much, but I can't control the new strength of it.”
Chris frowned. “Can't control the strength?”
Vin frowned. “Maybe you're just not used to it.”
Rolling his eyes, Buck sighed. “Which is why I was practicing. Which I can do by myself.”
Chris stared at the fire starter. There was still something that he wasn't telling them. “What's really the problem? If it was just that it's stronger now, you would have it under control by now.”
Buck looked around the room, hoping that something would happen so that he could avoid answering the question. When nothing materialized, he took a deep breath.”Sometimes its boosted more then other times. I'll get a hand on , then it will increase to a higher amount, then back down to where it had been.”
The group exchanged looks. Finally, JD spoke up. “So, its like a wave. It goes up and down. If we can just figure out how the wave is set, then you can get control of it.”
Staring at JD, Buck frowned. “Wave?”
Nodding, JD grinned. “We watch you practice and keep track of when the fireballs suddenly get too big. We plot it out and, using a computer program that a friend sent me, we'll see if we can figure out the pattern. At least give you an idea of what to except.”
Chris frowned. “Do you think it might work?”
Buck shrugged his shoulders. “We can try, I guess.”
“Alright, JD, Buck, work on it. We'll see if it works.” Nathan spoke up quickly. “Tomorrow. Buck needs to rest at least a day. He used up a lot of his reserves the last few days.”
Nodding, the blond look at the group . “Tomorrow it is then.” (looked at the)
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Glancing down at his watch, Chris frowned. He hadn't planned to be gone so long. Travis, though, had wanted to meet about their last few cases. He had hoped to be back before late afternoon.
Getting out of the car, he headed towards the pond, where it had been decided they would work with Buck on his control.
Reaching the pond, he spotted everyone relaxing around a rather large bonfire. Walking over, he glared at the group. “I take it that you figured it out?”
Buck grinned from his seat. “Yep, JD and his computer figured out the pattern.”
Moving closer to the group, Chris shook his head. “I'm guessing this is the celebration phase of the work.”
Vin grinned. “We figured that all of the burning wood should be used for something.”
Sitting down between Vin and Buck, he turned to look at Nathan. “You approve this?”
“Yep. Everyone is resting and getting fresh air.”
Nodding, Chris looked at the happy group. “So, you want to tell me how you figured it out?”
With a shared glance between the group, Buck started the tale.
The End