ATF Universe
July 24, 2000
Disclaimer - TPTB, those rich folk in Hollywood and/or Nashville, own them. Mog created the Universe they're playing in. I'm just using and abusing them to satisfy my sick and perverse addictions.
Thanks to Tiffiny, Peggy and Suzy for the inspiration. Or, you may blame them. Tell me later.
Some references to my ATF genfic, Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire in this.
"Okay, boys," Chris began. "We've got a week. Vin, Ezra and I will be going inside. Ezra already has the contact made with Gundersen. Vin, you'll be playing Ezra's second. I'm going to be his buyer. Buck, you and JD will take the perimeter. No one goes in, no one goes out, without their picture being taken. Josiah, you and Nathan will be going inside the club, mingling with the crowd. Get a feel for the place. Establish yourselves as regulars.""Why the club?" Josiah asked. "Why aren't we meeting him at the warehouse?"
"Gundersen does all his preliminary business in plain view, so to speak," Ezra spoke up. "He likes to see how his clients react. He also gets to do so in a non-threatening environment."
"It's only after the meetings at the club that he'll invite anyone to the warehouse," Chris added. "Just one of his quirks, I guess."
"Maybe because he's got good bouncers and metal detectors at the door, too," Vin put in. He was about to say something else when his cell phone began ringing. He gave an apologetic look to Chris before answering it. "Tanner..."
"Vin, it's Kel," the voice on the other end began, only to be interrupted.
"Kel?" Vin was obviously surprised to hear the voice of his old friend. "You in town?" he asked. The other members of the team listened and watched as Vin spoke on his phone. When Vin noticed that he was the center of attention, he asked Kel, "Hey, can I call you back? I'm in a meeting right now."
"Can you meet me at Rollo's?" Kel asked quickly. "I really need to talk to you."
Vin heard the need in his friend's voice. He checked his watch and looked around at his team members. "Sure, how about one o'clock?"
"I'll be waiting," Kel replied and ended the call.
Vin put his phone away and focused his attention back on the group. At least that's what it seemed to the rest of the team as they continued the meeting. In reality, Vin kept thinking about Kel. About why the man had called him. It had been well over a year since they'd last seen or talked to each other. Last Vin knew, Kel had gotten promoted and was working out of the Omaha office.
"Vin? You coming?"
Vin looked up to see Chris in front of him and the rest of the team headed for the conference room door.
"Uh, yeah... I mean, no," Vin stammered, gathering the papers in front of him.
"Who was on the phone?" Chris asked, his curiosity piqued, especially so, seeing how flustered Vin seemed.
"Oh, just an old friend," the sharpshooter replied. "Back in town for a few days. Thought I'd meet him for lunch - if that's okay with you?" He and Chris had already planned on going to one of the local delicatessens for lunch.
"Sure, I'll just go on my own," he replied. "Go on, catch up with your friend. Don't worry about coming back late."
"Thank, Chris," Vin said, and headed for the door. He stopped when he felt Chris's hand on his arm, turning him around.
"As long as you do come back," the blonde said before capturing Vin's mouth with his own.
"I will," Vin promised.
+ + + + + + +
Vin waited in the lobby of Rollo's, a small restaurant/tavern on the outskirts of Denver. It was not the prettiest place in the world, and certainly far below Ezra's standards, but the food was good and so were the people that worked and ate there. He turned when he felt the hand on his shoulder. There, before him, was his old friend Kel.
He'd met Kel Demnor while he was in rookie school for the US Marshal's Office. The two were assigned as roommates and Kel had also wound up helping Vin out with some of the writing assignments. At first, the two had just been friends, hanging out after classes, doing homework together, and occasionally getting into trouble together. And, physically attracted to one another, they found themselves in bed together after hours, as well.
It wasn't until after graduation, when both men got their assignments, that they realized that their relationship had only truly been one of friendship, and convenient sex. There really wasn't any love involved. Both had easily given up the other in pursuit of their careers - Vin heading down to Houston and Kel to Chicago. Sure, they'd gotten together, in more ways than one, when they'd met up at training seminars or rare assignment that brought them together, but neither would call it a relationship. Not even when they were both working in the Denver office for those six months. Not like the one he had with Chris, anyway...
"Kel," Vin smiled, and then gave the man a welcoming hug. "Good to see you again."
"Good to see you, too, Vin," he said, returning the embrace. "You hungry? I've missed Rollo's tortellini and proscuitto mix."
"I'm starved," Vin replied, now leading the way to a booth in the dining room. "But I'm more anxious to hear about what's up with you," he added.
The two men sat down and politely listened to the waitress as she told them of the specials of the day. After giving their orders, Vin looked again at his old friend. Something was wrong. He was always good at reading people, especially people he knew. It was the way that Kel stared blankly out the window. The way he kept turning the glass of soda in his hand. The way he bunched his eyebrows.
"Spill it," he finally told the man.
Kel took a deep breath as he continued to spin the glass of soda. Finally, he met Vin's gaze. "Maria's dead," he said.
"What? How? When?" Vin seemed to ask all three questions at once. He was totally confused.
In response to Vin's questions, Kel said nothing, but took out an envelope from his coat pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it before placing it in front of Vin. "It's all there," he said.
Vin was shocked at first. But when he finally looked up at Kel, he saw the sorrow and fear in his eyes.
Vin was halfway out the restaurant's door before Kel caught up with him, shouting his name.
"Leave me alone!" Vin yelled, shaking the man's hands off him.
"Talk to me, Vin! What are you going to do?" Kel pled.
"I don't know," he whispered and headed for his motorcycle, leaving his friend behind.
+ + + + + + +
Chris checked his watch again. He'd told Vin that he could be as late as he wanted, but dammit, Vin still wasn't back. It was now four p.m. And he'd practically promised that he'd be back. Chris Larabee wasn't normally the jealous type. But then, he'd never had reason to be jealous before. He slapped a palm to his head. It's an old friend of Vin's. Probably someone from the Marshal's office, back in town for some training seminar or something. But Vin didn't have too many friends there. Not since that incident with EJ Banks. Since they'd met and gotten Vin transferred to the ATF... Chris cursed silently to himself and picked up his phone.
He dialed Vin's cell phone first. No answer. He tried the apartment. No answer. Shit. He paged him. Waited. Paged him again. Waited. At five o'clock, he left the office and headed for Rollo's.
Half an hour later, sitting in the restaurant's parking lot, with no sign of his wayward agent anywhere, Chris brought out his cell phone. He was just about to punch in Vin's number when it rang in his hand.
"Larabee," he said.
"Hey, Chris, it's Vin."
"Vin, you alright?" Chris asked. "Wondering what happened to you, pard'."
"I'm fine," Vin replied. "Look, since that bust is a week off and me and Ez aren't supposed to meet up with Gundersen again until Friday, you mind if I take a personal day or two?"
Chris's mind spun. He heard the hesitation in Vin's voice, knew he wasn't 'fine,' but couldn't quite pinpoint what he was instead. "Gonna be spending time with your friend?" he asked, feeling that twinge of jealousy he'd been trying to repress.
"Uh, yeah," he answered quickly. "I'll see you in the office in a couple of days."
"Vin, wait," Chris pled. "What about tonight?" They'd planned on meeting at Chris's ranch for dinner and whatever else came to mind that evening. "You can bring your friend. We'll just have dinner."
"Sorry, Chris I'll have to give you a rain check," Vin replied. "Some other time, maybe," he added and ended the call.
Chris slowly put his phone away. He had a bad feeling about this old friend of Vin's...
+ + + + + + +
Vin dropped the phone down onto the old couch. Looking around the old motor home, he wondered if this should be where his life ended. Most of his good memories had had something to do with the place. Why shouldn't his last one be there as well? Wouldn't be messing up someone else's carpeting, either, he thought grimly.
That's right, Tanner, kill yourself. Take the easy way out. Coward!
Vin squeezed his eyes shut. No. He couldn't do that. Maria didn't. Kel didn't.
At least not yet.
"Fuck," he muttered.
Grabbing another beer from the fridge, Vin collapsed back onto the couch and wondered how his life had come to this.
+ + + + + + +
Chris entered the Team's offices and stopped, surprised to find Vin Tanner working away at his desk.
"Vin? Thought you were gonna take a few days," he said, starting again and making his way to the sharpshooter's side.
"I am. Just had some things to do," Vin replied, looking up for only the briefest moment before returning to his work.
"What happened to your friend? He still in town?" Chris asked, silently hoping that Vin would say 'no.'
"Yeah, he's still around," Vin said casually. Or at least he hoped it sounded that way. "He's here for a quick business meeting. I'm probably gonna meet with him later."
Chris put a hand on Vin's shoulder only to have the sharpshooter shrug it off, bending down to reach for something in his bottom drawer. He decided to press further.
"Where do you know him from?" the blonde asked, his curiosity was definitely piqued, now.
"He's an old Marshal buddy," Vin replied, still sorting through the paperwork before him.
Chris nodded. "So what about tonight? Do I get to use my rain check?" he asked.
Before Vin could answer, however, Buck and JD entered the office, each of them loudly announcing their presence.
"Chris! Will you tell Buck to lay off?!" JD demanded. "Can't a guy go on a date with his girlfriend without getting the second degree from him?"
"When you got two hickeys on your neck, you're practically advertisin' what you did," Buck began.
"Therefore, you probably know exactly what happened already, Buck," Chris chimed in with a grin.
"But that's only the first part of the story. I want to hear the rest of it!" Buck responded, gripping the youngest agent in a headlock. "Don't you wanna hear it, too, Vin?" he asked.
"Nope," Vin answered quietly, not even bothering to look at the men.
"What's with him?" Buck asked Chris, letting go of JD as he nodded towards Vin. The sharpshooter was usually one of the first to help Buck in his relentless teasing of the youngest agent.
Chris just shrugged his shoulders.
"Gentlemen," Ezra called from the office doorway. "I'm afraid the timeline for the Gundersen case has to be adjusted somewhat."
"What's up, Ezra?" Chris asked.
"It seems that Mr. Gundersen has to leave the country. He's graciously moved up our meeting so that we may donate our finances to his travel funds," the southerner explained.
"Where and when?" Buck asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon at the warehouse," Ezra replied.
"He's giving up his 'getting to know you' session at the club?" Chris asked.
"Apparently so," Ezra answered. "I do believe that a former client of his might be planing on turning state's evidence, which includes giving up Mr. Gundersen, next week."
"So that should be good enough, right?" JD asked. "We won't even have to do the bust."
"The key word here, Mr. Dunne, is 'might,'" the undercover agent interjected. "There is no guarantee that that will happen, therefore, we must continue with our plans."
"He's right," Chris said. "Alright, get Nathan and Josiah in here. Let's draw up a new game plan," he added before heading to his office.
+ + + + + + +
An hour later, the team was assembled in the conference room. "Okay," Chris began. "Ezra, Vin and I will still be the ones going in. The rest of you will come in and make the bust when I signal the end of the transaction. Team Three will be providing the back up and perimeter coverage," he finished.
He looked his men and waited for any questions. When he got none, he dismissed them, telling them to study the layout of the warehouse and review their roles in the operation. To his surprise, Vin was the first one out of the room. He was disappointed.
+ + + + + + +
Vin sat at his desk and took a quick glance at the plans for the bust. He knew his role. He'd played Ezra's bodyguard enough times to be able to breeze through this scenario as well. He focused on something else.
He'd decided last night to take matters into his own hands. He would not wait for fate. But first, he'd had some things to do, including following through with this case. It was the only one he was working on at the moment, so settling things at work wasn't too much of a problem. There weren't many other things, either. He'd made a list. He laughed to himself then. He'd read all about suicidal people making their lists of things to do, closing out bank accounts, paying up debts, giving away their belongings...It was the right thing to do.
Telling Chris was the right thing to do, too. He knew it. But he just didn't know how to, yet. Hell, he couldn't even look the man in the eye anymore. How the hell could he tell him that their life together was over?
"Tell Chris I'm takin' that personal day, after all," he told Buck on his way out the door.
+ + + + + + +
Buck couldn't help but notice that Vin had been quieter than usual. But when the young agent practically ran from the office just then, he couldn't keep his questions to himself anymore. He marched into Chris's office and took a seat in front of his old friend's desk.
"What's up with Vin?" he asked. "He's been actin' all squirrelly since he got that phone call yesterday. And who's this 'Kel' person, anyway?"
"For your first question, I don't know," Chris began. "For your second question, he said it was an old friend from the Marshal's," he finished.
"Never heard him mention that name before," the mustached agent went on. "You don't think this has to do with that whole EJ Banks fiasco, do ya?"
"I don't know, Buck," the other man replied. "I tried to ask him about it. He was about as closed mouthed as he could get."
"Well, he just tore outta here," Buck said. "Seemed mighty upset about something. Said to tell you that he'd be takin' that personal day after all, by the way," he added.
Chris just nodded his head. He'd have to get to Vin somehow.
+ + + + + + +
Vin sat on the ground next to his motorcycle. Looking over the city of Denver, he again wondered how his life had changed so much in the span of twenty-four hours. How one day he was a member of the best ATF team around, had friends that would do anything and everything for him and was in a loving and passionate relationship with one of those friends. And then the next day, if everything Kel had shown him was true, all of that was going to come to an end.
He should have known. He knew they were playing with fire. But they were just stupid kids, still in the academy. 'Yeah, but how do you explain what happened later? When you were full-fledged Marshals, asshole?' he cursed himself.
+ + + + + + +
"Agent Dunne," JD spoke into the phone, cradling the receiver between his cheek and shoulder.
"I'm looking for Agent Tanner."
"I'm sorry but he's out of the office right now," JD replied. "Can I take a message?"
"Yes, can you have him call Kel Demnor at the US Marshal's Office? He should have the number. Thanks."
JD wrote the message down and went to put it on Vin's desk. He saw three other messages there from the same man.
"Hey, Buck? Who's this guy that keeps calling Vin? This is the fourth time he's called today," JD asked.
Buck just shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Chris said it was an old friend of Vin's, from the Marshal's Office."
JD nodded and returned to his own work.
+ + + + + + +
Vin returned to his apartment, and opened the door, only to find Chris sprawled out on his couch. He stopped in his tracks just inside the doorway. Chris in his apartment was not what he needed right now. He still hadn't figured out how to tell him.
"'Bout time you showed up," the blonde drawled, rising to meet Vin at the door.
"What're you doin' here, Chris?" Vin asked, dropping his helmet onto the table to the right of the door.
"Came to see you, that's all," Chris said. "Been horny all afternoon, was hopin' you were, too," he added in a hushed whisper, reaching down to caress Vin's crotch at the same time he leaned in to kiss the younger man before him.
He was disheartened when Vin ducked away from him and headed into the kitchen.
"Vin?" Chris called, following him. "What's going on?"
"Nothin's goin' on, Chris," Vin replied, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"No, something ain't right with you," Chris pressed. "Something I should know about you and Kel, maybe?" he added, hoping he didn't press too hard; hoping that Vin would say 'no.'
Vin's head shot up at the accusation. "No!" he replied firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get up early in the mornin' for a bust. Boss hates it when I'm late," he said, pushing his way past Chris.
"You ain't never been late for a bust, Vin, because the boss is the one you're usually sleeping with the night before," Chris retorted, clearly upset that Vin wasn't letting him in.
"Not tonight, Chris," Vin said, teeth clenched. "I got a headache," he added sarcastically.
'Shit, Tanner! Just tell him! Ain't got no call to be mad at 'im!'
"Vin, please," Chris pled softly.
Unable to meet Chris's gaze, Vin just said, "A friend died, okay? And I don't wanna talk about it yet."
That said, Vin walked into his bedroom and closed the door. Chris heard the distinctive click of the lock and sighed, running a hand through his hair.
'A friend died.' Why couldn't he just tell me that before? Hell, he should be attending a funeral, not a bust! Or maybe it was too late. Maybe that was why he was upset? Chris looked once again at the bedroom door before heading for the apartment door. Everyone dealt with grief differently. He hadn't been the most pleasant person after Sarah and Adam's deaths, he conceded. He'd give Vin some time.
"Vin? You don't have to go tomorrow," he said, having returned to the bedroom door. He got no response.
+ + + + + + +
After Chris finally left the apartment, Vin was able to relax. Well, as much as he could, considering. Unable to fall asleep on his own, Vin finally resorted to taking several Tylenol PMs, absently realizing that he'd just found a way of preventing the dirty carpet problem when the time came.
+ + + + + + +
The morning of the bust, as the two ATF teams were gearing up, Chris approached Vin. He saw the dark circles under the younger agent's eyes. Felt the edginess emitting from him.
"You don't have to be here, Vin," he said. "We'll understand."
"I'm fine," Vin replied, not meeting Chris's gaze. "I need to do this. It'll keep my mind off other things," he added.
"You sure?" Chris asked.
"I'm fine, Chris. Let me handle this on my own," he responded.
Chris nodded and returned to his office to get himself prepared for the meeting with Gundersen.
+ + + + + + +
"Ah, Ezra, good to see you again," Eric Gundersen said with a smile as he shook the undercover agent's hand. He nodded to Vin and then looked at Chris.
"And this is my client, Mr. Larken," Ezra returned, introducing Chris.
"Gundersen," Chris replied, nodding his head to the arms dealer. "I take it you have what I need?"
Gundersen gestured to two of his men, who brought out a case of automatic weapons. After dropping the box onto the table, one of them opened it up. Chris approached the case and took out one of the weapons, inspecting it carefully. He tried the action and felt the heft of it before putting it back, satisfied.
"I'll take them," he said.
"Wonderful," Gundersen replied with a smile. "I believe Ezra quoted you my price. Do you still agree to it?" he asked.
"It's all here," Chris said, picking up the black briefcase at his feet and handing it over to Gundersen.
The arms dealer opened up the case and quickly counted the money. Closing the case he turned and offered his hand to Chris.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Larken," he said.
"Sure was," Chris responded.
As the two groups of men headed out of the warehouse, each carrying their portions of the transaction, Chris whispered "Now" into the microphone he had hidden in his jacket. Within seconds, shouts of "ATF! FREEZE!" filled the warehouse. Gundersen and his men were not ones to listen to law enforcement demands, however, and the sound of gunfire soon filled the air.
Less than five minutes later, the scene was deemed clear and Gundersen and his men were either dead or in custody. Two ATF agents from Team Three were wounded, but not badly, as well. Chris looked around, making sure that all of his men were still standing and intact.
He saw that Vin's right coat sleeve had a dark stain on it.
"Nathan!" he called, rushing over to the sharpshooter. "Vin? You okay?" he asked when he got there.
"I'm fine, just a scratch," Vin replied, batting Chris's hand away.
"Vin, let me see that," Nathan ordered, opening up his med-kit.
Vin reluctantly took off his jacket, revealing a small bullet wound on his upper right arm. Nathan was just about to clean it off with a gauze pad when Vin grabbed the dressing from him.
"I can do it, Nate," he said. "Like I told Chris, it's just a scratch."
"Let him take care of it, Vin," Chris ordered.
"It's just a fuckin' scratch!" Vin shouted. "Jeez Louise, ya think I was gonna bite the big one or somethin'. I think those guys on Team Three need ya a little more, Nate," he continued, glaring at both Chris and Nathan.
Chris was not in the mood for a fight. He nodded to Nathan, indicating that he would deal with Vin, that he should see to the other injured ATF agents. Reluctantly, Nathan obeyed.
After watching Nathan head off, Chris turned back to Vin. Only Vin wasn't there anymore.
"Shit."
+ + + + + + +
When all was said and done, when the bad guys were either at the morgue, in the hospital or behind bars, when the good guys had processed all the evidence and cleared the scene and were busily writing up their reports, Chris decided that it was time to deal with Vin.
He found him in the armory, helping to inventory and clean the weapons used at the bust. He noticed how Vin winced when he moved his right arm.
"Vin?" Chris called, getting the sharpshooter's attention. "Got a minute?" He tried to sound casual, like he wasn't on a fact-finding mission.
"Yeah, Chris. What's up?" Vin responded, looking up from the splayed Glock parts in front of him. He tried to sound casual, like he didn't know Chris was on a fact-finding mission.
Chris took a quick look around, saw that they were alone. "How's the arm?" he asked, reaching out to touch the bandaged wound.
Vin caught the hand before it made contact, saying, "Stings a little, but it's fine."
"Looks like it could use another bandaging," Chris remarked. "I want Nate to take a look at it, make sure you don't need any stitches."
At the sound of his name, Nathan entered the small room, carrying his med-kit.
"Nate, Chris," Vin began with a sigh as he stood up. "Will ya just leave it alone? I'm fine!"
But before he could protest further, Chris shoved him back into his chair and basically pinned him to it. Vin struggled beneath the weight of his boss as Nathan reached for his right arm.
"No!" Vin screamed. "Don't touch it!"
"Come on, ya big baby," Nathan admonished. "Ain't like you never been shot before. I'm just gonna check it out," he continued, reaching for the bloody bandage.
"Then put some goddamned gloves on!" the sharpshooter quickly shouted, still trying to squirm away from the two men.
Chris raised his hand to Nathan, stopping his actions. He looked at Vin then. Saw the fear, worry, and dread, at the forefront of the emotions being reflected in his eyes.
"Vin?" He whispered the name questioningly. There was a hint of fear in his voice as well.
Vin closed his eyes tight, tried to figure out the right words to say. Finally, he looked at Chris, met his gaze, and said, "My friend, the one I told you about, she's Kel's wife. She died of AIDS. Kel is HIV positive."
"So what does that have to do with you?" Chris asked.
Vin, his eyes still locked with Chris's, whispered, "Me an' Kel..." leaving just what he and Kel were or had done, unsaid.
Chris stepped back, barely realizing that he'd still been holding Vin down. His mouth opened involuntarily. He didn't know how to respond. If Vin was HIV positive, then he...
"You been tested yet, Vin?" Nathan asked, always the level-headed one.
Vin shook his head.
"But you and Kel...?" Chris asked, slowly regaining his senses.
"Not since I was with the Marshals, Chris," the younger man affirmed, his words and tone telling Chris that he'd been faithful to him.
"That's almost two years," Chris responded, hopeful.
"Still, you never know," Nathan put in. "You should still get tested. And tell anyone you've been with since then to do the same."
"Only one person on that list," Vin spoke softly, still looking at Chris.
"Good," the medic began. "Now, if you are really concerned about your blood getting all over the place, you'll let me take a look at that wound and bandage it," he finished, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. After a quick look at the wound, he added, "Yup, looks like you could use about a half dozen stitches or so."
"Good. When he's finished getting stitched up, he can get tested," Chris practically ordered. "I'll drive him there myself."
+ + + + + + +
In the privacy of Chris Larabee's truck, the blonde man finally let his emotions get the best of him.
"When were you gonna tell me, Vin?! Huh?!" he exploded, slamming his fist into the steering wheel.
"Tonight," Vin replied quietly, wincing at the violence of Chris's action. "Just been tryin' to figure out how."
Chris was about to shout out something else; some other hurtful comment about how careless Vin had been, how irresponsible, how selfish. But when he looked at Vin, he knew that the sharpshooter had probably already done that to himself. He was already in Hell. He didn't need any help getting there.
"I'm sorry, Chris," Vin began. "If I had any idea...I never would've...shit."
"I know, Vin," Chris responded, putting a gentle hand to Vin's cheek.
"You oughta get tested too," he suggested, guilt taking a firmer hold.
"Planned on it. That's why I'm taking you there, not Nate," Chris replied.
Vin nodded and turned away from Chris to stare out the truck window.
"I love you, Chris," came out in a hoarse whisper.
THE END