Chasing Signals

by Jackie

Part 1

The pinks and purples of another miraculous sunset peaked through the dense fall foliage, turning the yellow, gold, and reds to shimmery fire. The beat up Jeep that Vin Tanner insisted on nursing along for what seemed like an eternity, plodded slowly up the narrow, pothole infested paved road, its engine laboring all the way. Chris Larabee, leader of the ATF's infamous Team Seven, peered down at the sheer drop off on his side of the road, and tightened his seatbelt. Should have brought the Ram, he thought to himself, his thoughts interrupted as a large rock the size of a softball, plummeted from above denting the hood of the Jeep. Cringing while waiting for Vin's impending shout, Chris thought to himself, Okay, maybe it was a good idea to have left the Ram at home.

"Damn it, now I've got a big ass dent in the hood. Do you believe that?" Vin snapped as he gestured angrily at the damage.

Chris smirked and shot Vin an innocent look, "I don't really think anyone will notice. I mean really," Chris ticked the items off on his fingers, "you've got three different paint colors, a primer coat, a dent in the door, from when you kicked it for not starting, and a twisted rear bumper from when you backed into my barn last week."

"I'll have you know, she is a work in progress; besides I told you I'd fix your barn, the clutch slipped. You're just lucky you're still as spry as you are or you would have had tread marks across your skinny butt." Vin pointed out as he gave the Jeep a little more gas to get up the rapidly increasing incline.

Chris let the "skinny ass" remark pass without comment. "How much further do we have to go anyway? You said this was the ultimate spot for a jaw dropping sunset, well as I see it, the sun is setting; without us." Chris stretched in his seat and shifted around trying to find a more comfortable position, "It'll be dark before we get there and I have no intention of sitting in the moonlight with you; you don't have the right equipment."

Vin scowled over at Chris, "Just hold your horses, they told me to follow the road until it ends. It's just up ahead, I can feel it."

"Ha! I would believe it, if you hadn't been saying that for the last forty-five minutes." Chris glanced ahead at the lengthening shadows, "Maybe you should turn your headlights on? We wouldn't want you to take us over the side of the mountain by mistake."

"Didn't know when we started this little sojourn that I was going to be 'Driving Miss Daisy', so just hush and watch the scenery." Vin snorted as he made a sharp turn around a fallen log.

Chris frowned and crossed his arms refusing to take the bait. "You've been spending time with Ezra, "sojourn' is not a word I would think to find in your colorful vocabulary."

"I'll have you know he took me to an opera last weekend and it was very cultural." Vin replied as he stuck his tongue out, "it was entirely in Italian."

"You don't speak Italian, Vin. I'd be surprised if you made it through the whole opera without falling asleep." Chris cackled "Did Ezra tell you it would be in Italian before you went?"

"People hate a smartass," Vin frowned and pulled off into a small gravel area, "All right Cowboy, you will soon be eating crow," turning off the Jeep's engine and hopping out; he turned back to the team leader, "Ok, even you have to admit," Vin gestured through the opening in the trees, "that is jaw dropping beautiful."

Silhouetting the mountain range before them, were a multitude of hues ranging from the darkest violet to the palest pink, and the sun just peaking over the mountain tops as it sank further into the west.

Chris slowly stepped from the Jeep trying to mentally process the scene laid out before him. Blinking in astonishment he moved to stand at the edge of the clearing; looking out over the valley below, to the mountain range where the sun was slowly diminishing. He had to admit that Vin was correct; it had been awhile since he'd seen such awe inspiring vision. He felt a presence beside him and looked over at Vin, who had a serene look on his face.

Grinning, Chris sank down onto a nearby fallen log to wait for the "show" to end, content to rest in silence; alone in his thoughts. Darkness was not long in coming, and all too soon he noticed Vin turning to head back to the Jeep.

"I don't know about you but I am starved," Vin pulled the door open and slid behind the wheel, "time to end our commune with Nature and rejoin the real world."

"There you go; channeling Ezra again." Chris dragged himself up from the log and made his way back over to the Jeep, noticing through the windshield that the sharpshooter had a perplexed look on his face. Opening the passenger side door, Chris stood there as he watched Vin turn the ignition and nothing happened, "What?"

Vin tried turning the key in the ignition again with no result, flipping on the headlights he cursed, "Some beech! Probably the starter," popping the hood and hopping out, he went to the back of the vehicle and dug a flashlight out of the crate in the small storage area. Sauntering to the front of the Jeep his raised the hood, "You wanna lend me a hand here, Cowboy?" Vin peered around the hood waving Chris over.

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Chris squinted down into the engine as Vin aimed the flashlight inside, "cause if you do in fact need a starter I'm fresh out."

Vin shot Chris a look, "Remember what I said about smartasses? Just hold the hood up for me." Chris grabbed the hood as Vin reached in and started wiggling hoses and wires. After a few moments of mumbled curses Vin batted Chris's hand away and dropped the hood with a bang.

Aiming a look at Vin, Chris asked, "And what did your assessment of the situation tell you?" Vin just opened the driver's door and flopped onto the seat ignoring the team leader, "Okay, guess I'll make that call to the auto club now." Chris snorted and dug in his pocket for his cell phone. Scowling down at the phone when the display read "Searching for Network." Dropping onto the passenger seat next to Vin, Chris laughed harshly holding up the useless phone, "No signal."

Vin dug out his cell and before he even looked at the display he knew it would read just as Chris's had, "Mine too." Dropping the phone into the center console Vin banged his head against the steering wheel, "Guess we're going to have to walk down the road until we can get a signal, better grab your coat and we'll get a move on."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, wasn't planning on being out in the cold for an extended period, Vin." Chris grabbed his fleece pullover and put it on as Vin grabbed a backpack out of the back.

Vin zipped up his coat and slung the backpack over his shoulders, "Helps to be prepared." Digging in the back of the Jeep he pulled out a canvas jacket and held it out to Chris, "Here, looks like you could use this."

Chris pulled on the coat and buttoned it up, "Thanks, appreciate it."

+ + + + + + +

Chris glanced down at his cell phone and moaned, still no signal. What? Were they in the Bermuda Triangle for cell phone signals? According to his phone they had been walking for about thirty minutes, not a car had passed by them, nor had he seen any lights indicating dwellings nearby. Disheartened Chris slid his cell phone back into his pocket and buried his hands in the sleeves of the coat Vin had given him.

"Maybe we should cut through the forest instead of following the road? Should cut our trip in half," Vin replied thoughtfully, as he aimed his flashlight into the darkness.

Chris stopped beside Vin, his gaze following the flashlight's beam into the darkness, "You know normally, I'd say let's give it a shot, if just the other night you hadn't made me watch 'The Blair Witch Project' with you. Right now, it's dark, damp, cold, and spooky. I believe that is the perfect recipe for disaster." The team leader pointed out as he kicked at a rock that was lying on the road.

Vin frowned and walked in a circle around Chris, looking him up and down, "Is the 'Bad Ass' leader of Team 7 sporting a yellow stripe down his back? You know there might be a hint of yellow showing up, didn't think I'd live to see the day when that happened. Chris Larabee scared of being in the woods, in the dark." Vin cackled slapping at his leg, "Do I need to hold your hand?"

Chris's face darkened and he flashed a scowl at the sharpshooter, "I am not yellow, I'm just weighing our options. We are both experienced in the outdoors, but at this particular moment in time we aren't properly prepared, and I don't want to end up on the news, because we got lost out here or succumbed to the elements."

"Look," Vin tried to explain pointing to where they should start their trek through the woods, "All we got to do, is head northwest and we'll be down the mountain in no time, we find a phone, call the auto club, and we'll be home before midnight. It's simple and it beats walking twice as far if we were to stay with the road. We'll be fine, there are no 'Bogey men' out here; and if'n there are?" Vin slapped Chris on the back and smiled, "you can have the satisfaction of knowing you were right."

"Fine," Chris threw his arms up in exasperation, "we'll do it your way, but I'm warning you. If I meet my end in these woods, I'm gonna haunt you; but good."

Chris sent a quick prayer up as they stepped off the asphalt road onto the forest floor, Vin lead the way and every few moments Chris would pull his phone out of his pocket to check the display. He was usually met with disappointment and frustration. He followed along beside Vin, who was trekking through the forest like he knew exactly where he was going; Chris hoped that was mostly the case.

After Chris tripped for what seemed the thousandth time Vin stopped their progress, "Is there something wrong with your feet, why are you tripping so much?" Vin shined the flashlight at Chris and noticed he was shivering, badly.

"Probably because I'm frozen through and through, and can barely feel my toes. Vin, we have not crossed the road once, we haven't come across one house." Chris complained though chattering teeth. "We've been walking for an hour; we should have come across something by now."

"We've got to be close, check your phone. You got a signal yet?" Vin asked and watched as Chris dug his cell from his pants pocket with shaking fingers.

Chris brought the display up, "Nothing, not even one bar. All this 'Searching for Network' crap is killing my battery." Powering the phone down, he pushed it back into his pants pocket. "I'm tired and ready for this little 'sojourn' to be over. Let's keep moving."

"It should only be a little further; we're still going in the right direction. Any time now we should come across someone or you could get your signal back." Vin continued down the trail, listening as Chris trekked along behind him.

They spent the next twenty minutes trudging along in companionable silence, Chris, miserable as his teeth chattered, despite his best efforts to stop it. Vin stopped and waited for Chris to catch up to him, "Let me see your phone." Vin held out his hand as Chris tried to pull the cell out of his tight jeans pocket.

"Damn it!" he growled as finally came free and shot from his grasp, skidding along the forest floor. "Sorry, I'll get it." He grumbled and bent over to grab the phone at the same time Vin did.

Vin pulled up short, right before they banged heads together, he watched as Chris ungracefully grabbed up the phone; slipping on the wet leaves and falling into an untidy heap at Vin's feet. "Ouch! Are you okay?" Vin asked as he took the phone from the team leader's up raised hand. Chris nodded and let his arm drop at his side. Vin shook his head in sympathy as he turned the phone back on and stared at the display waiting for it to come up.

"What's it say?" Chris groaned as he tried to pull himself up off the forest floor with some difficulty, hissing as he tried to put weight on his left ankle. "Son of a bitch, that hurts!"

"No freaking signal," Vin looked over to where Chris was trying to lean against a tree, "Thought you said you were okay?"

"Thought I was, I guess I'm just too frozen to feel anything." The team leader grimaced as Vin helped him limp over to a fallen tree.

"Guess this is the end of the line for you, Cowboy. Sit tight while I gather some wood to get us a comfy fire going," Vin grunted as he shrugged the backpack off his shoulders and dug through it until he found the thermal blanket. The sharpshooter tucked it around his friend and set about searching for adequate fuel. "That should keep you warm until I can get the fire rolling; it looks as if we are going to be in the forest a little longer than I thought."

"Unfreaking believable!" Chris groaned as the throbbing in his ankle intensified. "Is someone trying to tell me something?"

Vin chuckled as he roamed the immediate area; looking for wood dry enough for use, "Don't ask me? That little stunt was 'all' you." Chris just waved him off and pulled the blanket closer about his quaking shoulders.

Chris realized that at some point he must have dozed off, because when he peeled his heavy eyes open, the sharpshooter had a cozy little fire going and the team leader was sitting on pine needles, leaning against the log. Vin was squatting near the fire, stirring something in a mug. "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep." Chris remarked on a jaw cracking yawn.

Looking over his shoulder at his groggy friend, Vin smiled, "Welcome back, Cowboy. You looked awfully worn out, so I let you rest." Vin reached forward and grabbed a second mug he had warming near the fire, "Here, drink some of this, it'll warm your insides."

Chris untangled an arm from the blanket, reaching for the mug with a trembling hand, "What is it?" He sniffed at the mug before taking a tentative sip, smiling slightly when he realized it was chicken noodle soup, at least it hadn't been plain broth; he absolutely detested plain broth. When he finished he set it back on the ground, sleep trying to over take him once again. Vin dropped down beside him and they sat in companionable silence until Chris could fight sleep no longer.

As Vin sat there he realized that Chris was lightly snoring, "Why do we have this kind of luck, can you tell me please?" Vin called softly to the sky above.

Sometime during the sharpshooter's musings Chris had fallen over and was leaning against him, he didn't have the heart to disturb his friend immediately, so he waited; keeping vigil as the night lengthened. Looking down at his watch he groaned, now he was missing Monday night football. They were all supposed to meet at the Saloon to watch the game. At least the boys would start looking when he and Chris didn't show up, only problem was, they had no idea where to start looking.

Vin slowly pulled himself out from under Chris and put a few extra branches on the fire. He knew the road had to be close; he'd kept them on a true path down the side of the mountain. Once he was satisfied with the strength of the fire he dropped back down next to his friend.

+ + + + + + +

"It's halftime and they still haven't shown up, this is not like Vin or Chris. They would have called if they were delayed or not coming." Buck checked his cell phone for messages and swore when his voicemail was empty. Where were they? He just knew they were in trouble. When those two got together, trouble was never far behind.

The waitress brought another round of drinks, as the five agents sat around the table waiting for their two missing comrades. As Josiah sat at the table he twirled his beer bottle in a ring of condensation that had gathered on the tabletop, "What were Vin and Chris supposed to be doing this evening before the game?"

Ezra let out a bark of laughter and grinned widely; causing his gold tooth to glint in the neon glow from a nearby sign, "Vin was taking Chris up on one of the mountains nearby; he told me it was to look at a spectacular sunset."

At that particular moment Buck was taking a sip of his beer, when what Ezra said registered he almost choked, "What! Vin took Chris to see a sunset?" Wiping his chin he giggled, "Can you picture 'Bad Ass Larabee' sitting still long enough to watch a sunset?"

"That still doesn't explain where they are now, the sun set hours ago. Maybe we should go look for them." Nathan supplied as J.D. suddenly jumped up and yelled at call a referee made.

"Where do you think we should start? They could be anywhere." Josiah grabbed up the bowl of pretzels sitting near J.D. before they became a missile, "Should we split up or stay together?"

"We could cover more area if we split up, but cell signals are spotty at best on many of these mountain roads. How about splitting into groups of two?" Buck suggested as he peeled at the label on his longneck; waiting for input from his teammates.

J.D. dropped back down into his chair with a harsh grunt, and grabbed a pretzel from the basket in front of Josiah, "I hate to point out the obvious, but there are five of us, which does not split evenly."

"Mr. Tanner has mentioned wanting to explore Castle Rock, Mount Zion, and South Table in the past. Maybe we should start there. I believe he'd told me that they were 'just a hop, skip, and a jump' from one another." Ezra leaned forward, drawing designs in the water rings on the table and looking expectantly at the others.

Josiah pushed back from the table, "I think we should go. I can go with Ezra. Nathan, you take J.D. and Buck; sorry, but you will be on your own. We can each take a mountain and start from there. Check any scenic routes first."

"Sounds like a plan to me, we should check in with each other every thirty minutes, or as long as the cell signals hold out, just to keep track of one another." Nathan explained as he checked his cell for a charge.

Buck drained his beer and requested the check when the waitress stopped by; as he dug out his money; Buck sincerely hoped that Chris and Vin were somewhere safe and warm; and that the time had just gotten away from them.

Once outside the agents met at the end of the lot where they had parked their vehicles, looking at each man Buck directed, "I'll take South Table. Ez, you take Castle Rock, and that'll leave Mount Zion for Nathan." Then Buck pulled open the door to his truck, slid in and turned the key in the ignition. He grinned as the engine roared to life, "That's my girl." He crooned to the truck, patting the dashboard lovingly. Waving to the boys; he pulled from the lot.

Watching the GMC's taillights Ezra sighed dramatically, "And so the adventure begins." Strolling over to his Jaguar, he called to Josiah when he noticed that the Profiler had gone to his own vehicle. "If we are to spend an extended period of time in a vehicle searching for Messer's Tanner and Larabee, I should think we should travel in comfort." There was no way he was going to ride in the behemoth of a vehicle; the thing needed shocks or struts or both. Why Josiah would not invest in a newer vehicle was a mystery to him?

Josiah's forehead wrinkled in thought, as he looked back at the undercover agent, "What if Vin went off-road? Your Jaguar was not built to handle the mountain terrain, unlike my Suburban."

Pulling open the door on his car Ezra groaned melodramatically, "My dear Mr. Sanchez, the last time I rode in your conveyance I needed a spinal adjustment. My vehicle is much more comfortable."

Giving Ezra a toothy grin Josiah countered with, "Yes, but my vehicle is much more practical." In pure dogged determination he unlocked his vehicle and pulled open the driver's door, which chose that particular moment to squeak loudly in protest.

Nathan and J.D. had been watching the whole scene unravel and Nathan was fast approaching the end of his tether, "Ezra, take Josiah's vehicle. You know how Vin is, he'll have gone off-road or pretty damn close to it."

Scowling, Ezra thought to protest again, but his cell phone's incessant ringing dissuaded him. "Standish here." He answered matter-of-factly.

Buck's voice blared through the ear piece, "Ezra you better stop arguing and let Josiah drive his Suburban." Then the line went dead, ending the conversation.

"How does he do that? He must be taking lessons from Mr. Larabee." Ezra grumbled as he secured his vehicle and tromped over to Josiah's; giving the Profiler the "Evil Eye" the entire way.

"Do you have something wrong with your eye, Ezra?" Josiah asked as he started the truck, piercing him with a meaningful look.

Ezra shook his head as he made a great show of putting on his seatbelt, "No, Mr. Sanchez, let's get this rescue mission started." Ezra raised his gaze to look out the windshield and did a double take, "What in the world is that?" he asked aghast, pointing to the figure sitting on the dashboard.

Josiah grinned, "That my dear sir, is my bobble head angel. A couple kids at church gave it to me, said it was my guardian angel. There are no words to describe her." He tapped her halo and her head started bobbling up and down.

"I am speechless." Ezra choked out trying to sink down in his seat, he hoped no one recognized him in the ancient Suburban with the bobble headed angel camped out on the dashboard.

Josiah chuckled and turned the Suburban out into traffic, "Glad you came around to my way of thinking about taking my truck, Brother."

"Not like I had a choice." Ezra mumbled under his breath and turned his gaze out the window.

"Sorry, I did not hear you? Could you please repeat yourself?" Josiah pulled the truck to a stop at a red traffic light and slid a glance at the pouting agent.

Ezra huffed, "It does not bear repeating, my dear sir." The undercover agent pointed to the traffic light which had just turned color. "The light is green you may proceed."

+ + + + + + +

As Vin sat against the log with Chris leaning against him, he could of sworn he heard a car's engine. He held his breath hoping to hear the noise again, there it was. It was coming from just to the right of their location, "Chris! Chris, Wake up!" Vin called and patted the team leader lightly on the arm.

Groggily, Chris opened his eyes and shivered violently, "What is it, Vin? I was having the most wonderful dream. I was at home, sitting in front of the –," Vin clamped his hand over Chris's mouth.

"I heard a car. You wait right here, I'm going to try and find it." Vin snagged up the flashlight and took off in the direction in which he'd heard the vehicle.

"Be careful! It could be a trick; you know 'things that bump in the night'? " Chris called after the sharpshooter as he gathered the blanket tighter around his quaking limbs, and tried to move his ankle into a more comfortable position from where Vin had propped it on the backpack, "Hope he finds someone soon, I really don't want to be what's for dinner."

Walking for several minutes, Vin noticed that the engine noise was gradually getting louder. Whoever it was, the sharpshooter figured that they had stopped for some reason, and he hoped they remained still until he found them. After what seemed like an eternity Vin could see what he thought were headlights shining through the underbrush. He was not disappointed. "I really wasn't looking forward to being a news headline, talk about embarrassing." He whispered to himself.

Vin flipped off the flashlight and crept closer, it paid to be cautious; he had not the slightest inkling if these people were friend or foe and Chris's life depended on him making the correct decision, the poor man was already thinking something was waiting in the darkness for him. Quietly moving branches out of his field of view he noticed that the vehicle appeared to be a late model Suburban that looked suspiciously like Josiah's, could it really be the Profiler? No way could he be that lucky. Inching closer Vin tried to discern who was inside the vehicle, but it was too dark. He could hear what sounded like arguing coming from inside, but it was muffled by the auto glass and engine noise.

As Vin was about to step out and request assistance, safety be damned, the passenger door was flung open and a man burst from within. It was Ezra, he'd know that Southern twang anywhere. "Ez! Ez, am I glad to see you!" the sharpshooter called as he pushed through the brush where he'd been concealed. He'd never been happier to see the undercover agent as much as he was right at this moment.

At the suddenness of his name being called, Ezra whipped round to where the voice had come from, and from the tangled undergrowth the sharpshooter made an appearance. Stunned to silence, all Ezra could do was stare.

Vin laughed in relief, "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you. Chris hurt his ankle and I think he's on the verge of being hypothermic if his skinny ass isn't already. I had to leave him back at the fire, I wrapped him in a thermal blanket, and gave him warm fluids. Who'd you bring with you?" Vin realized he was rambling, but he couldn't stop himself, he was giddy with relief.

"I have Mr. Sanchez with me, how far away is Mr. Larabee?" Ezra asked as he finally was able to shake himself free of his stupor.

Josiah came around the front of the Suburban, "Vin, what in the name of Heaven has happened? You were expected at the Saloon hours ago, what have you and Chris been doing?"

Vin moved to the edge of the roadway, "Chris and I got into some trouble a few hours back. The Jeep broke down and we took off on foot. It's been all downhill from there."

"I mostly certainly agree with you, Mr. Tanner. Now let's collect our friend and head home. We'll arrange for the removal of your vehicle in the morning, it should be safe until then. I don't know of any sane person who'd want to steal it" Ezra directed as they followed Vin back through the forest.

Vin just stuck his tongue out, "You're just jealous because she's a work in progress."

"I take it that your cell phones weren't working?" Josiah asked, effectively changing the subject, as they moved over a fallen tree stump.

Vin chuckled darkly, "We couldn't get a signal, been trying for hours with nothing. I didn't want to leave Chris behind, he seems to think there maybe something hiding out to get us, but I heard a vehicle's engine. As luck would have it, it turned out to be you two. Where are the others?"

"Mr. Tanner, you neglected to tell us what mountain you planned on exploring, so to save time we had to spread out. As soon as I can get a signal on my cell I will contact the others to let them know we've found you, or that you found us." Ezra huffed as he tripped over a protruding root and landed ungracefully in the leaves and dirt, "I hate nature."

"Keep telling yourself that Ez, it shouldn't be much further. We should see the fire soon." Vin aimed the flashlight in the direction they needed to go.

"I am fine, really, don't concern yourselves;" Ezra snapped sarcastically, picking himself up and brushing off his hands, he scowled down at the dirt now ground into the knees of his slacks. "Typical."

Josiah and Vin turned to look at the undercover agent, Vin grinned at Ezra, "Thought you'd be squawking louder if you'd actually hurt yourself. You okay?"

"Lead on, Mr. Tanner, there's no need making Mr. Larabee wait longer than necessary." Ezra huffed and followed Josiah into the darkness.

Part 2

Chris Larabee sat next to the fire in a miserable heap, fearing that he would never be warm again. Groaning lowly as a violent shiver shook his body; his muscles screaming their protest to the frequency of tremors, "Damn Vin, where'd you go Siberia?" The snapping of twigs in the direction he'd seen the sharpshooter go drew his attention. He could almost imagine some hideous creature materializing from the darkness; gore dripping from its fangs as it came looking for fresh meat. Desperately, glancing around the ground where he was sitting, he looked for something to use as a weapon, in the chance that his soon to be visitor was exactly as he imagined. "Vin, I will haunt your ass if I get eaten tonight!" he called as he scooted further away from the log he'd been resting against, in the hopes of finding something, anything to use as a weapon.

Growling in frustration, when he couldn't find anything; he struggled to pull himself to his feet. No one was going to catch him unaware. Wincing as his ankle protested his sudden movement he finally managed to hop over to a nearby tree and brace himself against the trunk out of the area lit by the fire. He waited silently out of sight as the rustling increased, his teeth chattering loudly enough that he was afraid someone or something might hear.

Vin's voice suddenly came from the darkness on the other side of the fire, "Chris, guess who I found. I found Ezra and Josiah; they're going to give us a lift down the mountain." As Vin stepped closer he noticed the thermal blanket lying on the ground and Chris was no where to be seen. His heart stuttered to a stop, what happened to Chris? He hadn't been gone that long. "Chris! Chris where are you!" Vin shouted at the top of his lungs, looking around the campsite desperately.

"Here, I'm over here." Chris groaned as he limped around the base of the tree, "Didn't know who was coming, didn't have any weapons."

"Well Cowboy, there ain't nobody here except us four. I told you there weren't no Bogeymen out here. You ready to get out of the cold?" Vin grinned when Chris flipped him 'the Bird' and dropped down onto the log he'd been sitting on before.

"Mr. Larabee, I'm sure you, like myself would prefer to get off this mountain as quick as possible." Ezra suggested as he zipped his jacket higher, "It's gotten rather frigid this evening and you look about done in."

Vin and Josiah covered over the fire and made sure it was out completely, while Ezra scooped up the thermal blanket and tucked it around their team leader, noticing that his lips had a blue tinge to them and he was shivering violently.

Once Vin and Josiah indicated that they were done, Chris made the effort to stand once again; Josiah hurried over, "How's the ankle? It obvious you are not getting out of the woods without assistance." The profiler draped one of Chris arms over one shoulder, while Vin did the same with the other.

"Let's get a move on, I just know there's something waiting out there, that's just the way my luck is going this evening." Chris complained as he tried to look over his shoulder back the way they'd come.

Ezra led the way back to the Suburban with the flashlight lighting the way, he could hear Chris's every harsh breath as he moved along with Vin and Josiah. "How are you fairing back there, Mr. Larabee? I believe the truck is only a few more minutes away." Ezra stopped and turned to look at the trio. Vin and Josiah were both breathing heavy from carrying more and more of Chris's weight as he was worn down from the pain in his ankle and trying to keep it elevated as they made slow progress toward the truck.

"How much further?" Chris groaned as his ankle throbbed in time with his heart. At least he wasn't freezing anymore, all he could think of was his ankle and how much it hurt. He would have taken his jacket off if they'd stop for just a moment; he was starting to feel rather warm.

"Not far now, Cowboy. We're almost there and then you can rest." Vin breathed out as he labored to get his friend out of the woods.

"Stop. Stop, this is not working any longer." Josiah replied as he stopped their forward progress. Vin looked at Josiah questioningly, until the profiler swung the team leader up into his arms and resumed walking.

Chris's protests fell on deaf ears as Josiah trudged on toward the truck, "Ezra, go start the truck and get the heater going. Vin, you take the flashlight and lead the way out; Chris, hush and try to relax."

Ezra hurried ahead to where they had left the Suburban, thanking any who would listen that it was only about one hundred yards ahead of them, by his calculations.

+ + + + + + +

As the undercover agent was climbing up into Josiah's vehicle his cell phone started ringing, grumbling as he fished it out of his inside jacket pocket, he answered without seeing who it was, "Hello?"

"Ezra, it's J.D., Nathan and I were wondering if you've had any luck yet?" J.D.'s voice faded in and out as Ezra tried to concentrate on what the younger man was saying. He hoped that the signal would stay strong enough for them to at least finish the conversation.

"J.D., we found Chris and Vin. They ran into some trouble." Ezra answered as he started the truck, cursing as his phone trilled; informing him that the signal was lost. "You would think with today's technology, that someone would figure out how to keep signals from being lost." He griped out loud as he put his phone away; glancing over toward the trees he could see the beam from Vin's flashlight. So much for getting the vehicle warmed up before they arrived; now if they'd had his Jaguar, there would have been heated seats and he could have remote started it when he'd gotten within range of the vehicle.

When the sharpshooter opened the passenger side rear door, Ezra called out, "J.D. just called, I told him we found you, but then the signal was lost. We'll have to try again once we get moving."

"No problem, I can call them." Vin moved out of the way when Josiah finally made it to the road with Chris. "Hurry Josiah, all the heat is getting out."

"What heat? This thing takes a century to heat up; we'll be off the mountain before we can knock the chill off." Ezra shouted out as he flipped all the dials to their maximum settings, shivering as the cold air permeated the cabin.

Helping the team leader onto the bench seat, Josiah blew out a tired breath, "Putting on a little weight there, Chris? All right, Ezra quit your complaining and shift over, I'm driving." Once he was sure Chris was all the way inside, he slammed the door shut. Moving to the back of the vehicle he opened the lift gate and dug out a blanket, tossing it up to the back seat. He slammed the backend shut and trotted around to the driver's door and hopped in his seat.

Chris moved the blanket and lifted his leg when Vin slid in on the other side, promptly setting it on the sharpshooter's lap when he'd settled himself on the seat. Sliding a glance at Chris, Vin sighed, "So now I'm your ottoman?"

Chris tiredly laid his head back on the seat back and groaned as he shivered violently, "Yup. You got me into this mess, so I think you owe me at least that. Oh, and you owe me dinner." He shook out the blanket and burrowed down into it, sniffing slightly at the odd smell. "Uh, Josiah, not to sound ungrateful or anything, but this blanket has a funky smell to it."

Josiah let out a sudden laugh as he turned the Suburban around and headed down the mountain. "Sorry, its been living in the back for I don't know how long. Just hold your breath." Glancing up in the rearview mirror, he watched as Vin picked up the edge of the blanket and tentatively sniffed at it, the sharpshooter pulled a face and pushed the blanket away, tucking it in tighter around the team leader.

"Think your blanket needs a bath, Josiah, it's taken on a life all its own." Vin retorted while waving his hand in front of his face.

"Well it'll have to wait, our next stop is the ER; no excuses." Josiah glanced back in the rearview mirror, looking for some type of reaction from the team leader, he wasn't disappointed.

Without cracking open an eye, Chris Larabee raised his right fist into the air and gave Josiah the thumbs down. "I do not need the ER. Just take me home and I'll be fine. Nothing a roaring fire, steak dinner and a cold beer won't fix." He supplied around chattering teeth.

"No arguments, Cowboy. It's the ER, now hush up and let me call the others and let everyone know we're okay." Vin shot Chris a meaningful look when Chris meant to comment. "Hey, J.D. it's Vin."

"Vin, hey you okay? I was talking to Ezra and we lost the signal." J.D.'s excited voice could be heard coming through the earpiece.

"We're all right J.D.; we're coming off the mountain with Ez and Josiah, as we speak. The Jeep broke down and we couldn't get a cell signal to call you all." Vin looked out the window, but couldn't see much through the darkness.

J.D. rambling drew Vin's attention back to the conversation, "So where did you all want to meet up? Did you want to go to the Saloon or somewhere else? I don't know about you but I'm starving."

"Well Chris took a spill during our trek through the woods and hurt his ankle, frozen through too. We're going to make a quick stop by the ER and have them give him the once over." Vin grinned as Chris adamantly shook his head "No."

Vin could hear J.D. relaying the information to Nathan about Chris and the ER, after an extended pause J.D. advised the sharpshooter, "We'll meet you at the ER, Nathan said to make sure you tell the staff everything that happened, he said Chris just plays everything down."

Vin laughed heartily, "Don't I know it, he's already crying about going."

"Okay, see you soon, I'll call Buck and have him meet us there too." J.D. supplied before ending the conversation.

Vin looked down at his cell, noticing that he had one line left on his battery, "Hey, Josiah you got a charger that might fit my phone? It's almost completely dead."

"Hand it up, I'm sure one of the chargers up in the console will fit." Josiah pulled to a stop at the end of the mountain road before turning out into the evening traffic. "How's the ankle doing Chris?"

Chris lifted his head and stared at the back of Josiah's head blearily, with a large yawn, "It's still there, complainin' all the way."

Ezra turned in his seat so he could see the team leader, "Mr. Larabee, at our current speed we should arrive at our destination in about fifteen minutes, is that satisfactory or should I advise Mr. Sanchez to get the lead out?"

"No, this is fine because you all are just going to take me home. I will reiterate, for those of you having trouble grasping what I am saying. I do not need to go to the hospital." Chris growled and turned his glare out the window at the passing motorists.

"Well Chris, I hate to burst your proverbial bubble, but this vehicle is going to the hospital whether you want to or not. So sit back and enjoy the ride." Josiah retorted as he hit the button to lock all the doors.

Chris just snorted, "Like that's going to stop me, all I have to do is pull up on the lock and I can get out. I'm not a little kid."

"Really, you could have fooled me. With all your whining, I thought I had picked up a small child." Josiah stared at Chris through the rear view mirror.

Chris frowned and burrowed down into his jacket and the blanket, refusing to rise to the bait. They had another thing coming if they thought he was going into that ER without a fight.

+ + + + + + +

Buck made a hard right into the hospital's parking lot, grimacing as the tires squealed their protest and pulled into the first available parking spot he could find. He jumped from the truck barely taking the time to lock and close the driver's door, before bolting across to the Emergency Room entrance.

The hospital wasn't very busy at the moment and he slid to an abrupt stop at the Information Desk, "A friend of mine was brought in just a little while ago, name's Chris Larabee!" he huffed out breathlessly, startling the young woman sitting at the computer.

Smiling politely at the ladies man she asked, "What was your friend's name again?"

"Chris, Christopher Larabee. It's spelled L-A-R-A-B-E-E." Buck impatiently tapped on the counter top as she typed slowly on the keyboard.

Chewing on her lip she scrolled down the list of names of people currently being attended to, "I'm sorry, bear with me one moment. I'm not seeing any Christopher Larabees." Seconds ticked by slowly and Buck glanced around the waiting area, not seeing anyone he recognized. The woman's sudden outburst returned his attention to her, "Oh, I think I just found him. He's in under the name Christina Larabear. The man who was giving me the information had such a strong accent, I could barley understand him."

"Seriously?" Buck stared down at the young woman in amazement, "Well, you might want to update your records. His name is Christopher Michael Larabee." Leaning forward Buck whispered to the woman, "I don't really think he would appreciate you referring to him as 'Christina', just a suggestion."

"Oh, yes I'll definitely fix it; of course, you'll have to wait out here. He already has three visitors at the moment, and really only two are usually allowed." The woman remarked and wrote down the correct name to be entered into the computer.

"Can I at least run back and let them know I'm here?" Buck smirked at the woman, but she frowned and shook her head. Raising a skinny arm she pointed to the waiting area. Buck scowled and bit out, "Fine!" He realized he probably should have sweetened her up a little and she might have let him slide back there. Now he had to wait until someone came out so he could go back.

Dropping down into an available chair, he glanced over at the television mounted on the wall. It was some news program talking about the economic situation of the country. He'd seen the broadcast earlier so he just zoned out, alone in his thoughts.

Buck had become so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Nathan and J.D. coming through the entrance, after a quick stop at the information desk they moved toward the waiting area.

Finding an empty seat next to the ladies man, the medic dropped down beside him, "Any news on Chris?" Nathan asked startling his friend.

Laughing loudly to cover his start Buck asked, "When'd you get here? Where's J.D.?"

Nathan couldn't help himself and let out a loud laugh, "We've been here for about ten minutes, tried to get your attention but you were in you own little world. J.D. is over at the vending machine getting a soda."

Looking up he saw J.D. coming back with a water, and two cokes, "Here," J.D. handed Buck a Coke and Nathan the water, "Thought you might want something to drink. I know I was pretty dry."

"Thanks, J.D. Vin, Ezra, and Josiah are in the back with Chris. Hopefully someone will make an appearance sometime soon and let us know what the heck is going on."

"Oh look! 'SpongeBob' is on, I love this show." J.D. slapped Buck on the arm, "You love it too, you know you do."

"That was our little secret, J.D." Buck groaned and looked at Nathan, "You better not say anything."

Nathan held up his hands, "Your secret is safe with me." Nathan seemed to think on that a second before adding, "Well for now anyway, you never know when blackmail could come in handy."

Buck looked toward the doors leading to the treatment area trying to 'will' one of the three into appearance, just so their worry could be alleviated. "What is taking so long? I thought it was just a hurt ankle and a little freezer burn." Buck asked impatient for information, "This place is quieter than a graveyard, you'd think they'd move faster."

"Relax Buck, getting excited is not going to make the doctors work any faster." Nathan explained as he took a swig of his water, "Watch Sponge Bob with J.D. and they'll be out here before you know it."

Buck growled at Nathan, "What did I tell you? Don't be talking about 'Who lives in a pineapple under the sea,'- Ah, no!" he cried out.

"Sponge Bob Square Pants!" J.D. cried out and started laughing like a crazy person, slapping his leg.

"You realize no one in their right mind would mistake you for ATF agents." Josiah called out, as he joined the three men currently occupying the relatively empty waiting room.

"So, how's it going? Is he going to live?" Nathan asked as Josiah sat down across from the trio.

Josiah scrubbed at the back of his neck with one beefy hand, "He's being difficult, been fighting us and the doctor's tooth and nail." The profiler leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands between them, "They want to take his core body temperature."

J.D. looked at Josiah in confusion, "Ok, what's wrong with that? Geez we've all had our temperatures taken." Josiah just raised his eyebrows and looked to Nathan to explain.

Nathan sighed, "They want a core body temperature. That's not done orally; they can even check it by using an electronic thermometer in your ear. But the tried and true way is-"

"Up the caboose!" Buck choked out, trying not to laugh, "I'm sorry, I know this is serious stuff, but I can just imagine Chris's expression when they said how they were going to do it."

"Really, okay that's just wrong. I thought they only did that to little kids and animals, wow, yuck. Glad it's not me." J.D. cringed in his seat, feeling sorry for their team leader.

+ + + + + + +

"I told you I'm fine, just fix my ankle and I'll be on my way." Chris growled at the doctor who was insisting that he needed additional medical attention. He was developing a raging headache, and along with the screaming his ankle was doing he just wasn't in the mood for a battle of wills.

The doctor crossed her arms, giving the team leader a hard look, "You've been out in the elements since sunset, you fell down the side of a mountain which has resulted in a severe sprain of your left ankle. You came to the ER looking half frozen; I just want to check you over, make sure everything is functioning as it should."

"Yeah, Cowboy, just let her check. It's just a little thermometer, it'll be in then out and you're done." Vin commented from where he was sitting in the corner of the exam room.

Chris turned to shoot Vin a glare and almost pitched off the gurney, as he righted himself he snapped, "If it's so easy; you do it." Turning back to the doctor, "And just to clarify, I did not fall down the side of a mountain. I slipped on wet leaves and lost my balance."

"Mr. Larabee, the longer you fuss with the doctor, the longer we have to wait. Do us all a favor. Suck it up, bend over and take it like a man." Ezra hissed as he grabbed up the thermometer in question, handed it to the doctor and stared down his team leader. "You sir, would demand the same from any one of us."

Chris looked at the undercover agent in surprise. In the time that he'd known Ezra he'd only raised his voice a handful of times. Glancing at the doctor he noticed her smirk, and scowled right back. The room was uncomfortably silent for several moments until the team leader finally, realizing he was fighting a losing battle dropped back onto the gurney; sighing in resignation, Chris flopped an arm across his burning eyes, "Just get it over with, I have no dignity left."

"Wise decision, Mr. Larabee," The doctor turned to Ezra and Vin, "If you gentlemen will step out for a few minutes we'll get this over and done with." She shooed them out, before calling in a nurse that was waiting nearby.

Ezra moved to stand further down the corridor, glancing down at his cell phone he groaned, "It's now almost midnight, none of us have eaten and he's sulking. If he'd just relinquish some of his pride we could get out of here and get this horrid night over."

"It's okay, Ez. Everyone is just out of sorts; you know Chris can be a handful when he's hurtin' or sick. Hell, I'd think something was really wrong if he wasn't being just plain ornery." Vin soothed as he looked back to the curtained off area of the treatment room. "He's got his tail feathers ruffled and that's a good sign, I'll be happy if we can get outta here before the clock strikes midnight."

A few minutes later the nurse poked her head out and motioned that they could return. As Vin ducked back in he noticed that Chris was scowling even more, if that was even possible. "Don't tell me the Doc lost the thermometer?"

"No she didn't lose the thermometer. Like I said. I'm fine." Chris remained on the gurney, waiting as the nurse and doctor worked at splinting his ankle. "Go tell the boys to get ready, because as soon as they're done we're blowing this Popsicle stand, and getting some food. I, for one, am in desperate need of a beer."

Ezra was about to make a comment when the doctor interrupted him, "Mr. Larabee, the only place you should be going is home to bed. I've got some prescriptions here for you and they do not include alcohol." She turned to Vin and Ezra, "Your friend here," she turned giving Chris a smile, which he ignored, "he's not hypothermic." The team leader snorted in reaction to her remark, "In fact, he's actually running a temperature of 101. I believe he's come down with the flu, a very good possibility considering the rash of outbreaks in the area recently."

"Told you to stop kissing toads, Cowboy. Now look at you, you're going to be one miserable S.O.B. to be around." Vin laughed now that he knew the diagnosis wasn't so bad.

"So, what are you doing about the ankle?" Ezra asked the doctor she stood up and went to wash her hands in the sink.

"Well, I've been in contact with the orthopedic doctor and he wants to see Mr. Larabee in his office on Monday. An appointment was made for ten in the morning." She moved her gaze back to her patient, "Ok, so here's what's happening. I'm giving you crutches, use them. Do not put any weight on that ankle, at least not until after you've seen the orthopedic doctor."

Ezra rolled his eyes; they were in for some fun this weekend. The man was a horror when he was out of sorts. "I can assure you that Mr. Larabee will have plenty of caretakers this weekend."

The doctor nodded and picked up some papers, "Okay, good. Keep an eye on his temperature; make sure he has plenty of fluids, the non-alcoholic kind. He needs to take his meds, keep the ankle elevated; ice would help, and make sure he keeps his appointment." She slid a look back at her patient, before again returning her attention to his friends. "He, of course, knows all of this, because I've already tried to explain it once." She held out the papers to Ezra, "Here are the discharge instructions, the orthopedic doctor's information and most importantly, the prescriptions." The doctor moved to leave the cubicle, "Take care Mr. Larabee, if you have any questions feel free to call the number on the discharge instructions. Oh, and I'll have Peggy bring you some pain medication in a moment, just enough to get you through until tomorrow, most of the pharmacies are closed this time of night."

"Thanks." The three agents called out in unison as the doctor and nurse stepped out. Vin grabbed up Chris's shirt and tossed at to him.

"Hey, what's your issue?" Chris growled as he pulled the shirt over his head and settled it over his lean torso.

"Got no issue, Cowboy, I'm starvin' and no one has eaten yet. I'm just a little pecky right now." Vin moaned grabbing onto his growling belly. "At least McDonald's is open late."

Glancing down at Chris, who was struggling to pull his pants on over the ankle wrappings, Ezra sighed, "Mr. Larabee, please stop. You know those pants are not going to fit over that bulky dressing, we'll just have to ask for some scrubs."

Chris reached down, determined to get his foot into his jeans, "I am not wearing scrubs, just give me a moment and I'll have them on." He gritted out as his ankle began to protest the abuse, "Damn it. You all could give me a hand instead of just standing there like bumps on a log."

Vin grinned and clapped his hands, Chris gave him the finger, "Testy, aren't ya, Cowboy. Be right back, I've got an idea."

Ezra reached down to pull the pant leg off as Chris was reaching down to pull it up. Chris tried to knock Ezra's hands away, but Ezra reached up and slapped the inside of the team leader's leg right above the knee.

"That hurt, Ezra." Chris snapped out as he grabbed the offended leg.

"I know." Ezra grinned wickedly and quickly pulled the pants off and set them in a nearby chair, "You certainly are tenacious. You'll just have to wear a pair of scrubs home. And as Mr. Tanner would say, 'Suck it up!' Now behave, before I have to take matters into my own hands."

"You can be replaced." Chris ground out as he waited on the gurney for Vin to return.

Ezra leaned back against the counter, "No you won't. I'm too good at what I do; besides no one else would put up with my expense reports."

A few minutes later, Vin sauntered back in with a pair of dark grey sweats tucked under one arm. "I'm back. You are in luck, because for some strange reason Buck had a pair of your sweats in his truck. Is there something you'd like to confess?"

Chris gave Vin a withering look and held out his hand for the sweats. "There's nothing to confess, the sweats could have been sitting behind his truck seat for months."

Vin handed over the sweats, watching as the team leader pulled the pants up over lean hips, "Damn, Cowboy, you losing more weight? Tie them things tight, I don't want to be blinded."

Once Chris was completely dressed, Ezra handed him his crutches. As they were about to make their escape the nurse showed back up.

"Oh no, you don't; first you take these and then you can go." Peggy, the nurse, held out a packet of pills and a small cup of water.

"No. I'm good. Pain killers make me loopy." Chris replied as he pushed ahead and out of the cubicle.

"Mr. Larabee, you are going to want these sooner rather than later. Once you start moving around, the pain that settled down is going to rear its ugly head, tenfold. Trust me." Peggy followed Chris down the hallway as he crutched himself toward the exit.

"Ma'am, I'll take those, he's beyond listening to reason at this point. Better to let him have his way, and pick up the pieces later." Ezra took the pills from the nurse and pocketed them, "Have a wonderful evening, thanks for all your assistance."

Peggy stood speechless in the hallway as all three men walked out into the waiting room.

Part 3

Biding their time in the waiting room, the four agents watched as their team leader slowly and painfully made his way across the floor, with Vin and Ezra following behind

Buck hopped up and placed a steadying hand on his trembling friend, "Damn, Stud, you look like hell. You going to be okay?" Without waiting for an answer he continued on, "Listen my truck's just outside, I can give you a ride home. Let the boys go get something to eat."

"Actually Buck, I could use something to eat myself. Does anyone have any ideas?" Chris asked looking around at the others.

"I vote for McDonald's, the drive-thru's open all night." Vin called out cheerfully.

"Yeah, me too. I love their food." J.D. got up to join the group, standing next to Vin to show a united front.

Ezra scowled, "I for one have no intention of subjecting myself to the gastrointestinal disturbance guaranteed to occur if I eat their food. I vote for the Saloon, Inez has the kitchen open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights."

"Ezra we were just there, and Chris here looks as if he is fading fast." Buck pointed out as he watched Chris rub at his red rimmed eyes.

"Listen, I'll do whatever you all want. Let's just speed up the decision making process." Chris groused, hobbling over to a nearby chair.

"I'll eat whatever is the main consensus. At this point I do not care, let's just do as Chris says and make a decision." Josiah pulled himself out of the chair he'd been occupying.

Nathan sat nearby, closely watching the team leader. Over the last few moments he'd noticed the flushed look and the shivers increasing. "Here we are discussing our stomachs when Chris is obviously in pain. What did the doctor say Chris?"

Before Chris could answer Vin chimed in, "Oh, he's got a severe sprain and the flu. He wasn't hypothermic at all; in fact he's got a fever. He has a doctor's appointment on Monday morning with an orthopedic surgeon. I say we just stop by McDonalds on the way to Chris's place."

"The flu. Why didn't you say so earlier? You shouldn't be out running around in your condition." Nathan hurried over clapping his hand on Chris's forehead, "You're burning up."

Chris scowled at Vin before returning his attention to Nathan, "Thanks, Vin, you could have left that little piece of information out. Nate, I'm starving. I promise as soon as I eat something I'll get home and go to bed."

"I know you're going home to bed, because we are taking you. We'll get McDonald's because it's on the way." Nathan explained as he reached down and pulled Chris up from the chair.

"Nate, come on. I don't feel great, but I don't feel horrible, yet." Chris bemoaned realizing that he was sounding like a child, but really not caring at this point. "Let's go to the Saloon. I don't think I could handle McDonald's tonight."

Josiah just smirked; he knew exactly why Chris wanted to go to the Saloon. It was a sure bet the man was going to try and sneak a drink. Josiah glanced up to find the team leader staring at him. Josiah just shrugged and smiled. Chris just gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment.

"Okay, come on times a wastin' and I'm starving." Chris growled and hobbled toward the door.

"I guess we're going to the Saloon. Come on boys, before ol' gimpy beats us outside." Buck called and hurried after Chris.

"Buck, it's my ankle that's screwed up, not my ears." Chris snapped, cringing against the cold wind that blew through the exit doors.

"Where's your coat?" Nathan asked as he moved up beside the team leader.

"Forgot it, Vin rushed me out the door this afternoon. I was supposed to have been back home by now." Chris's breath showing in the cold air. "Okay, who's drivin'?"

"Well, Nathan, Buck and Josiah's vehicles are here. We left Ezra's at the Saloon." J.D. supplied as he jammed his hands down into his pockets.

"Come on Chris, I've got an extra coat that's got a little more insulation than the canvas coat Vin lent you." Buck directed Chris over to his truck. "Actually, now that I think about it, it might be one of your old ones."

"Buck, I'm beginning to wonder why you have Chris's clothing living in your truck." Vin grinned as he passed by on the way to Josiah's Suburban.

"No clue, just happens." Buck replied as he handed Chris the coat to put on. "We'll see you at the Saloon."

"Ok, no problem." Vin called as he ran to catch up to the others.

"You sure you want to go to the Saloon?" Buck asked as he pulled out of the hospital lot, "I could just as easily take you home, you know you don't have to keep up appearances with me."

Resting his forehead against the cool glass of the passenger window Chris sighed, "I don't know what I want. I feel like shit, but I don't want to let the guys down."

"Stud, you're not letting the boys down. If you feel that horrible you shouldn't feel obligated to stay out, if any of them have anything to say about it, and I know they won't, they'll have me to deal with." Buck pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nathan.

Chris barely listened to the conversation, the aches and pains of his body demanding his full attention. Gritting his teeth against the building pain, he cursed when he realized that Ezra had the pills he'd refused back at the hospital.

"Didn't take the pain killers did you?" Buck asked as he reached behind the seat and pulled out a bottle of water, "Pays to be prepared, here you can take your pills with this."

"No I can't" Chris bit out as he took the proffered bottle.

"Just take the pills, I told you, you don't have to be tough with me." Buck glanced at Chris noticing how pale he looked.

The team leader just laughed, "I can't take the pills because Ezra has them, I've really screwed the pooch this time."

"You don't have anything?" Buck asked and Chris shook his head, "There should be some Tylenol in the glovebox. Take some of those until we can get Ezra out to your place."

Digging through the papers and other paraphernalia, Chris located the bottle and swallowed down four tablets. After he managed to close the overloaded compartment, with some difficulty, he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. In a matter of minutes he was starting to drift off to sleep, while half listening to some tune Buck was quietly whistling.

Buck made sure that he took extra special care to miss the potholes and rough spots on the road so as not to disturb his sleeping friend. The trip that would normally take about forty minutes was drawn out to almost an hour, and by his calculations the boys would probably show up at Chris's another hour after that.

Chris woke suddenly when they turned into his driveway; Buck had inadvertently hit a deep gouge that had been dug into the gravel drive.

"Damn, Stud, where's that come from?" Buck cried as he righted the vehicle.

"Sorry, forgot to tell you. We had a really bad storm the other night, torrential downpours, the works. I haven't had time to fix it yet, I'll work on it tomorrow." Chris pushed himself up in the seat, groaning as the pain in his ankle came to life once more.

Buck pulled the truck up to the house and parked near the garage, "Chris, don't worry, me and the boys will take care of it. All you got to do this weekend is rest and relax. Now let's get you inside."

Chris slid out of the truck and took the crutches from Buck when he came around on his side. "Thanks, now scoot so I can get in the house. Mother Nature is screaming my name."

Buck waggled his eyebrows at Chris, "Oh why didn't you say so; I can carry you into the house. Get there a lot quicker that way."

Chris scowled at Buck and made his way to the front door, "Yeah, you'll get a crutch upside the head a lot quicker that way too, your choice of course."

"All right, a man on a mission, that's what I like to see. Let me get the door for you." Buck hopped up the stairs and opened the door so Chris could go in. He watched as Chris made his way down the hallway, "Hey! You need any help, you just call."

"I'm sure I won't!" Chris called back as he pushed his bedroom door closed behind him, listening to Buck's booming laugh coming from the area of the kitchen. "It's gonna be a long weekend."

+ + + + + + +

The boys had arrived at the Saloon in record time, unbeknownst to Buck and Chris, the remaining five decided against actually eating at the Saloon. The ATF agents gathered around the bar, clamoring to get their orders in so that they could get back on the road. Several customers watched as they spoke amongst themselves, trying to decide what to bring their injured leader to eat.

"He'd want a steak and fries, oh and how about a chocolate milkshake." Vin called out over the din of the bar patrons.

"No, I think he'd want one of Inez's famous burritos with extra hot sauce and a coke." J.D. supplied from somewhere in the back of the pack.

Nathan shook his head "Guys, the man has the flu and is injured; he's not going to want something heavy to sit on his stomach before he goes to bed. No, he should have chicken noodle or maybe the vegetable beef soup. Order something light, but nutritious."

Josiah turned back to the bartender taking their order and smiled apologetically. "Um, add the bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. Cooked medium, and order of – Oh wonderful, onion rings, a large order. That one goes in the bag marked 'Buck', pecan encrusted Salmon with the asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes is marked 'Ezra'. Lastly, I need 2 quarts of chicken noodle soup with a bunch of crackers." Josiah glanced back at the group and noticed that they were frowning, "That should be it, and we'll be waiting here."

The bartender gathered up the numerous tickets and moved to the back. Josiah turned to the group, "What? Did I get something wrong?"

"What about Chris's steak, he said he was starving." Vin griped with his arms crossed over his chest, "The guy's been through enough tonight."

"I got the chicken noodle soup for him. Grease and spice aren't great companions for the flu; unless of course, you and J.D. don't have any reservations about cleaning up the aftermath." Josiah explained as he sat on a stool at the bar.

Vin and J.D. looked at each other and shook their heads. "He'll be okay with the soup." J.D. agreed. He had no desire to be cleaning up any kind of bodily fluids; he knew either he or Vin would get relegated to the nasty task, especially if the others pulled the age card.

Ezra reached into his pants pocket to take out his wallet and found a small brown envelope, he looked at it in confusion, trying to remember what it was. Opening the packet he peered in, "Oh, shit." Four pairs of eyes turned to his with question, "I have Chris's meds; he refused to take them earlier. I put the pills in my pocket, because I figured he'd soon realize that he really needed them. I have his prescriptions too."

"Damn, Ez. You better go ahead and drive to Chris's. Don't worry about your dinner, we'll get it and you can square up with me later." Vin replied as he dropped down next to Josiah.

Nathan dug in his pocket for his money and handed it to Vin. Holding out his hand to Ezra, "Give me the prescriptions, I know of an all night pharmacy, I'll just pick them up on the way to Chris's."

"All right, gentlemen. I'll see you all in a bit." Ezra and Nathan both moved to the exit to perform their delegated tasks.

+ + + + + + +

By the time Chris had managed to take care of Mother Nature and scrub up from his adventure in the woods he was exhausted. The chills had once again begun in earnest and his head was pounding in time with the beat of his heart. As he pulled on a clean t-shirt and a thick sweatshirt he looked longingly toward the bed, his loudly growling stomach had him heading back out toward the kitchen.

"Wow, Stud. You look like ten miles of bad road. Maybe you should just go to bed now and eat later." Buck whistled as he turned away from the stove when he heard Chris coming up behind him.

Chris sniffed the air detecting the aroma of warming chocolate, "Thanks Buck, I appreciate your observation. Is that chocolate I smell?" Chris lowered himself gingerly into one of the kitchen chairs.

Buck grinned as he turned back to the pot simmering on the stove, "Yes it is. Thought I'd be nice and make you one of my famous hot chocolates. It warms the insides and will help you fall asleep."

Before Chris could say anything, Ezra breezed in, "Good morning. I had hoped to arrive before you went to bed Mr. Larabee and it appears that I am in luck. I have your meds from the hospital, you really should take these." Filling a glass from the tap the undercover agent placed the pills and water in front of the team leader. "What in the world is that heavenly aroma?" Ezra sniffed at the air appreciatively and glanced into the pan, Buck was standing in front of, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes it is, and if Christopher is a good little 'doobie' and takes his pills, I'll give him an extra large helping." Buck threw a glance over his shoulder at his friend who had yet to pick up the pills.

"That's blackmail. Here I am wounded and sick and you're trying to bribe me with your chocolate." Chris pouted but choked down the pills, "I'm holding you to that extra helping."

Ezra just stared at his team leader in amazement, "All I had to do was get you some hot chocolate and you would have taken your meds? I don't believe it." Ezra pulled down three mugs and waited for Buck to finish. "I hope you made enough for all of us."

"No Ezra, I wouldn't have taken my meds for just any hot chocolate, Buck's hot chocolate is like pure unadulterated heaven. I can't get enough of it." Chris grinned holding out his hand to accept the full mug Buck had prepared.

Ezra sniffed his mug and smiled widely, taking a small sip he moaned, "Buck, I hate to admit this, but Mr. Larabee is correct. This is absolutely delicious, bordering on the 'better than sex' category. I must have the recipe."

Turning around to lean against the counter Buck wagged his finger at Ezra, "Sorry there Ez. The recipe is in my head and that's where it will stay. Chris has been trying to get it out of me for like fifteen years, but I haven't budged. Of course, I do take pity on him at times and brew him a special batch. I also make it on Christmas so make sure you're here and you'll get some."

Chris took a long drink from his mug and sighed in contentment his eyes drifting shut, savoring the moment. Buck and Ezra joined Chris at the table and the three drank their hot chocolates in companionable silence.

By the time they were done drinking their chocolates Chris was struggling to keep his eyes open. Buck reached out to take the mug from Chris's lax fingers. "Come on, Stud. Let's get you tucked up in bed."

Chris jerked awake and yawned widely before slurring out, "No Buck, I want to get something to eat first."

"Mr. Larabee, I can assure you that the morning is not far off and you can have a hearty breakfast instead. Right now you would probably fall asleep in your plate. Not an attractive prospect, I can assure you." Ezra gathered up the empty mugs, rinsed them, and placed them in the dishwasher.

Buck got up and pulled Chris to a standing position, but Chris's body had the rigidity of a wet noodle. Chris's head fell forward and Buck heard a small snore. Laughing quietly he slung his friend over his shoulder, "Pain meds kicked in, he's got no tolerance for them."

"Lest you forget, Mr. Wilmington, he hasn't had anything to eat for quite a few hours, I'm sure they went right to his head." Ezra grabbed up Chris's crutches and hurried ahead to pull the covers down.

Once in Chris's room, Buck dropped his cargo gently onto the bed. Ezra handed him some extra pillows, which Buck propped under Chris's injured ankle. After pulling the blankets up to his shoulders they crept to the door and turned the light off. At the sound of car doors slamming Buck pulled the bedroom door shut and sprinted to the front door.

Buck reached the door just as it shot open. He was able to snag the door before it bounced off the wall. Throwing a heated glare at Vin and J.D. he indicated that they needed to be quiet.

Vin and J.D., laden down with boxes of food shuffled into the kitchen, "Sorry!" they crowed in unison and Ezra hissed at them.

"Mr. Larabee just fell asleep and here you two are lumbering in like a herd of buffalo." Ezra admonished taking a box from Vin and setting it on the counter.

"Don't be getting your panties in a bunch, we said we were sorry. The boxes were awkward and the door moved faster than we intended." Vin growled back, flopping down in the kitchen chair, "I didn't figure I'd be eating dinner at what?" he looked at the clock on the stove, "Shit it's three o'clock in the morning. We should be sleeping not eating."

"We got you a burger with all the fixings and a large order of onion rings, Nathan wouldn't let us get Chris a steak. He's got chicken noodle soup instead." J.D. mentioned as he popped the top on a can of Mountain Dew.

Ezra pulled out the two quarts of soup and moved them into the refrigerator, "He can eat these later." Picking up his meal he set it on the kitchen table along with a glass of iced tea. "Where's Josiah?"

Vin laughed evilly, "Oh well, he'd gotten himself this monster coffee while we were waiting at the Saloon and when we were turning into Chris's driveway, he took a sip. Did you find the gully in Chris's driveway?" when Ezra laughed Vin continued on, "Well needless to say he hit it full speed, the gully I mean, and sent coffee up his nose and down his front. Me, I bit my lip."

"Josiah's outside cursing six ways to Sunday, trying to mop up the coffee and clean himself up. I thought I might have heard him say something about breaking Chris's other leg for not forewarning us." J.D. giggled as he was drinking his soda.

Buck poked his head in the kitchen and snapped, "Guys, I can hear you all the way back in the hallway, hush, Chris is sleeping remember?"

"What's wrong now Buck?" Nathan asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Nothing, when'd you get here?" Buck asked taking a seat at the table.

"Just now, got Chris's meds so we don't have to go back out tomorrow." Nathan joined them and J.D. handed him his dinner, "I can stay for a while, but I promised Raine I'd be home by one o'clock to take her Christmas shopping. It's gonna be a long day."

"Okay, where's my dinner. I'm starving." Josiah belted out as he stepped in the kitchen. He was greeted with five hisses. "What, where's Chris?"

"He crashed, he was sleeping in his bed, not so sure now with all you loud mouths. You know how grumpy he is when he's feeling low." Buck replied and took a large bite of his burger.

"Who's taking first watch?" Josiah asked as he sat down.

"I've been watching him already, so whoever's next better get to it. By the way, I'm gonna get a little snooze after this, I've got the guest room." Buck stuck his tongue out at Vin who scowled.

"Hey, I was gonna take the guest room. I was stuck out in the woods too you know. It could be me laid up instead of Larabee." Vin groused and washed his dinner down with a Coke.

"Mr. Tanner, I believe it was your faulty vehicle that left you in the woods. Have you ever heard of the concept of routine maintenance?" Ezra pointed out as he threw the remains of his container in the trash.

"Blow me, Ez, I had just changed the oil, she was purring like a kitten." Vin pouted and grabbed another can of soda. "I'll take the next watch. That way when you are doing the morning chores I'll be snuggled up in bed. Shit, no wait! I've got to get my Jeep off the stupid mountain."

"Naturally. Aren't you the one who told me that there was nothing wrong with honest work and honest sweat? Do your watch, then you can wake me and I'll take you up the mountain to wait for the tow truck." Ezra explained on a yawn.

"Thanks, Ez. You're all heart, thanks for the sympathy." Vin snorted and dropped his head on his hands. "I'm too tired for this."

+ + + + + + +

Treading softly back the hallway, Ezra stopped at Chris's bedroom door and listened, hearing nothing he slowly wrapped his hand around the doorknob and turned. Pushing the door open just a little, he wondered if their leader was still sleeping. Leaning partially through the doorway Ezra looked toward the bed, trying to discern the shapes on the bed in the dim light.

Chris had apparently gotten restless and had turned onto his right side, somehow keeping the stacked pillows beneath his ankle. The awkward position did not appear to be comfortable to him, but their team leader was his own enigma. Closer inspection revealed that the comforter was currently trailing onto the floor amongst the other bedding, and Chris was curled up as if to conserve body heat. Ezra could tell he was shivering, even from his current locale.

Sighing dramatically, Ezra tiptoed into the darkness of the bedroom. He had not wanted to turn on the lamp for fear of waking their sick and injured friend. Reaching the bed, Ezra carefully straightened the blankets and laid them back over Chris, tucking them up over his shoulders. Chris suddenly moved, and fearing that he'd awakened the man Ezra froze in place. The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow, as he waited for Chris to settle back down. He watched as Chris reached up to his shoulder, grasped the blankets, burrowing further into the warmth.

Silently counting to ten before backing slowly out of the room, Ezra hoped to make his escape with no one being the wiser. He pulled the door to without making a sound and turned to head to the guest room only to run flat into Josiah. Biting his lip to keep a startled yelp from getting out he glared at the larger man.

Josiah moved to the side to let Ezra pass, "You know Ezra, no one would ever guess that you were so caring. You spend all of your time trying to cover up your good nature, even though it would do your soul well to let it out more often. The good Lord rewards those with an honest and caring heart." Josiah whispered clapping Ezra on the back.

Huffing, Ezra moved up the hallway, "Save the sermon and praises for someone worthwhile, Josiah. My soul is too crooked and stained to save. I didn't do anything different then the rest of you gentleman would have." Stepping through the guest room door, Ezra called out lowly, "You would do better to save one of the others, good night," looking down at his cell phone he smirked, "I stand corrected, good morning." The undercover agent closed the door effectively ending the conversation.

Josiah laughed softly; Ezra was about as pleasant as Chris when there was a lack of sleep. Moving to the living room, he lowered himself into Chris's favorite recliner. He could hear Buck's snores coming from the direction of the couch and the soft electronic beeps coming from some video game J.D. was playing while stretched out across the second one.

Vin moved into the living room from the kitchen, dropping down onto the hearth with a sigh. "Sun will be up in a few hours, Nathan just high-tailed it outta here. Said Raine was going to kill him because he promised to be home at one, well it's four now. By the time he gets home it'll be getting onto five."

Josiah nodded in agreement, "Ezra just went to bed, if I were you I'd wait until later in the morning to call about your Jeep. You're going to be paying extra for the weekend, don't want to pay more for the early hour. Of course if you would subscribe to an auto club you wouldn't have to worry with that." Josiah watched the emotions play across Vin's face.

Rubbing at gritty eyes Vin groaned, "You know Josiah, even if I had a membership to an auto club it wouldn't have mattered. There was no cell reception on that mountain. Hell, Chris was going to use his auto club, but we couldn't get a call out. This could have happened to anyone, cars break down."

Sighing deeply Josiah replied, "I wasn't blaming you, Vin. I was just saying that you could save yourself some of the towing fees if you had subscribed to an auto club. Things happen. I completely sympathize with you, it's happened to all of us at one time or another."

Vin just grunted and leaned forward to rest his head in his hands, "I've got to go check on Chris. I'll be right back."

"Ezra checked just a little while ago, he was sleeping then. I think he'll be fine until daybreak. Why don't you go grab some shut eye," Josiah yawned as he extended the foot rest on the recliner and settled in.

"Maybe I will, I'll sack out in the den. See you in the morning." Vin groaned as he pulled himself up and trudged to bed.

Soon the house was quiet except for the random, snores, snuffles, and sighs coming from the six men occupying the team leader's residence. The sun rose slowly in the east, the sky lightened, bringing with it the promise of a cold and clear day.

As the morning moved on the sun's rays entered through the master bedroom's windows, streaming across the floor and making their way ever closer to the king sized bed where the team leader lay oblivious to the new day.

Chris lay perfectly still as consciousness slowly returned, he didn't want to be awake right now. There were just too many aches and pains clamoring for his attention, and to top it all off, there was a pesky sun beam trying to penetrate his tightly closed eyelids. Groaning loudly he pulled the pillow from underneath his head and slapped it over his face. Issue number one confronted and destroyed. "Yea, Larabee! Score one for you." He thought acidly, if only the other issues were as easy to deal with.

He continued to lie on the bed praying that his bladder would go back to sleep, but it was not meant to be. So, unless he wanted an embarrassing mess he was going to have to drag his ass from his comfortable bed and take care of it. Throwing the pillow across the bed he levered himself up onto his elbows and glared at his traitorous ankle, which was just now joining the party. Slowly moving his feet off the bed, he ventured to put an infinitesimal amount of pressure onto his bad foot, effectively short circuiting his brain. Letting out a yelp he tried to pant through the pain, while trying to see past the flashes of white light obscuring his vision, "Holy shit! What the Hell? Owww, just shoot me now."

"Well now, Cowboy, I think that'd be the waste of a good bullet. So what'd you do?" Vin looked down at his friend who was quickly wiping tears from his eyes.

Scowling up at the sharpshooter Chris growled, "All I tried to do was get out of the bed. Didn't even put my full weight on it."

"Well you weren't supposed to put any weight on it, doctor told you so. Just stay in bed, I can get you what ever you need." Vin slumped onto the edge of the bed and scrubbed at his neck.

"I have to get out of bed for some things, Vin." Chris grabbed for his crutches, pulling himself up slowly and moving to the bathroom.

Vin laughed out loud, "Why didn't ya say something, I could have gotten a pitcher from the kitchen."

Chris stopped his trek across the bedroom and threw a look at Vin, "There is no way I'd take a piss in a pitcher, that's just gross. As long as I'm still breathing I will make it to the bathroom to take care of business."

"I'm just saying, Cowboy. Just to make your life easier, and anyway, that's why God invented soap and water." Vin called as Chris entered the bathroom.

"Vin, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Chris sighed and slammed the bathroom door behind him.

"Just trying to help out. I'll just wait out here, in case you need some help." Vin leaned back on his elbows and waited for Chris to reappear. Man, Chris's bed sure was comfortable, perhaps he'd check it out just for a few moments; there was no harm in that.

Chris exited the bathroom about ten minutes later to find Vin snoring softly on his bed, shaking his head he grabbed his robe off the hook on the door. Putting it on and tying it tight, he made his way out toward the kitchen; everyone else appeared to be still sleeping.

Noticing his prescriptions sitting on the counter he debated whether he should take them. The heavy ache in his ankle convinced him otherwise, downing the pills with a glass of water he grabbed up what he needed for a bowl of cereal. Once he'd finished eating he made his way back to bed. As he entered the room he felt the chills start back up, suppressing a groan he painfully pulled off his robe and crawled back into bed. Pulling the blankets up to his chin he curled up so that he wouldn't accidentally kick his friend in his sleep.

Sighing heavily he waited for sleep to overtake him once again.

Part 4

Josiah startled himself awake with roof rattling snore, blinking tiredly he glanced around the room now bathed in the late morning sun. Buck and J.D. were still sacked out on the two couches. Listening to the quiet house for a few moments, he realized that it appeared that no one had begun stirring. Pulling himself from the recliner Josiah stretched rather boisterously; resulting in loud groans from the room's two other occupants.

"Do you have to be so loud when you get up? Some of us are trying to get a little shut eye." Buck complained turning onto his side to face the back of the couch, effectively blocking out most of the sun's rays.

Josiah laughed heartily, "Only when it's quarter to twelve, we've slept most of the day away. Get your lazybones up, there's work to be done. There are animals to tend to, cleaning to do, meals to fix, and the boss to look after."

J.D. groaned and stretched as much as his 5'9" frame was able, before rolling off the couch and racing into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. "I'm making high test this morning, if you all want regular you're gonna have to wait."

"Dang it J.D., that stuff will peel paint, I want to leave some stomach lining." Buck complained as he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position and scrubbed at tired eyes. "Where's everyone else?"

"Still sleeping would be my guess." Josiah replied from where he was looking out the window, "Looks to be a cold one today, not looking forward to going outside."

Buck stood up and scratched at his chest, yawning widely he sighed, "Guess it's time to roust the dead."

"Just don't bug Chris; I can't deal with that right now. I need some coffee first." Josiah called as he wandered into the kitchen.

Buck just waved him off and wandered down the hallway, his first stop; the guest room. Smiling widely as he tested the door knob and found it unlocked, he slipped silently into the darkened room. As he crept toward the bed he noticed that though Ezra had his head buried in the blankets, one lone foot was sticking out. This is too good to pass up, Buck thought to himself as he used his index finger to lightly trace from Ezra's toes up over his instep. He almost giggled out loud as the foot jerked spasmodically, and then counting silently to five; Buck traced from the instep up to the ankle bone. The foot disappeared beneath the blanket. Buck clapped a hand over his mouth to keep the belly laugh in and moved in for the kill. Using the tips of three fingers, he started at the toes and quickly, but very lightly walked his fingers up Ezra's foot and to his ankle.

Ezra burst from the blankets with a blood curdling scream, "Spiders! There are spiders in the bed!"

Buck started laughing hysterically, tears streaming down his face, his stomach muscles clenching in pain.

Josiah burst through the door, with J.D. hot on his heels. Once he determined that no one was dead or dying he scowled at Buck, "You just scared ten years off of me, what were you thinking?"

Just as Buck was about to explain himself a body flew through the air tackling him to the ground.

"What the hell is your problem, Buck? That is no way to wake someone from a sound sleep." Ezra yelled at the top of his lungs as he knelt on the ladies man. With a snarl he reached down and pinched Buck's side, causing him to yelp in pain. "I hope that hurt you reprobate, so much for a calm start to the morning!" Ezra stood up, glared at Josiah and J.D. before stomping down the hall to the bathroom. Grabbing the bathroom door he slammed with a wall shaking "Bang!" Behind the door, Ezra let a small smile creep across his face. The slamming of the door had made him feel a tad better; the little devil sitting on his shoulder hoped Chris gave Buck what-for.

Shaking his head in consternation, "Well, I hope you are proud of yourself." Josiah sighed from where he was staring down at a grimacing Buck Wilmington. "If that didn't wake Chris up, nothing will, and speaking of, I wonder why we haven't heard from Vin and Chris?"

"I'll check, you might want to go and check the bacon." J.D. called as he ran down the hallway to Chris's bedroom. He knocked on the door, waited, and when he received no response he poked his head in, the room was empty. "Where in the world are they?" he asked quietly. Walking slowly through the room he checked the bathroom with no results, heading quickly for the kitchen he rehearsed what he was going to say in his head, Chris and Vin aren't here and I don't know where they are. What he actually said when he burst into the kitchen was, "Chris and Vin are missing! Nate's gonna kill us!"

"What do mean they're missing? Did you check the bathroom?" Josiah asked as he pulled the bacon from the frying pan. Chris couldn't have gone far, the man was sick and had a bum leg for goodness sake.

J.D. quirked an eyebrow at Josiah and huffed, "Of course I checked the bathroom. The house isn't that big."

"He probably drug Vin out to the barn to take care of the animals, and Chris, ever the perfectionist probably followed along." Buck reasoned as he finished off his coffee, grabbed up his coat and stepped outside.

Ezra stepped into the kitchen looking fresh and put together, "Have you seen Mr. Tanner? The house seems strangely quiet without his lively persona. I was going to take him to pick up his vehicle today."

As Josiah was cracking eggs into a bowl he quipped, "Apparently they are not in the house, Buck is checking the barn and out buildings. I am sure they are around somewhere, I can not imagine Chris going anywhere with as poorly as he was feeling."

Ezra sniffed at the coffee and frowned, moving over to the sink he dumped the coffee and began preparations for a new pot. "What are you preparing for breakfast this morning, Mr. Sanchez?"

Josiah turned from the counter with a large mixing bowl in his hand, beating merrily away at the eggs, "Ah, this morning you shall be blessed with my special omelets, guaranteed to jumpstart your day."

"Mr. Sanchez, if you would be so kind as to put a small portion of eggs to the side without your doctoring. My stomach is rather touchy this morning and I don't think it would fully appreciate the culinary splendor your omelets are sure to achieve."

Laughing as he pulled down a small bowl, "Sure thing Ezra, you just make sure that you make some of your special coffee and I will spare your sensitive digestive system."

Ezra sighed and pulled down two different coffee blends and set about measuring them out, "I am much obliged, Mr. Sanchez. I will make sure you get the first cup."

+ + + + + + +

Buck shivered in his coat as he cut across the yard at a ground eating pace, looking toward the driveway he sighed in relief as he saw the black Ram parked there in all its pristine glory. "They're here somewhere, Nate's gonna have a field day if he finds out Chris's been overexerting himself." He mumbled as he neared the barn. Slipping through the sliding door, he listened for voices and hearing none; he ambled along the aisle, taking notice that many of the stalls were already empty. Exiting the other end of the barn he found Vin in the ring with Peso and Chris sitting on a bench against the barn with his leg propped on a hay bale. "Mornin'." Buck grumbled as he took a seat next to the team leader.

"Is it? I thought it was more like afternoon." Chris rasped out as he focused red rimmed eyes on the ladies man. He was freezing his butt off sitting out near the barn, but he was really enjoying the sunshine.

"Ha ha. Everyone is worn out from yesterday's fiasco; you should be lounging in bed instead of catching a chill out here." Buck leaned back against the barn and closed his eyes, yawning widely, "I'm still beat."

"Was that Ezra I heard yelling earlier?" Chris asked as he readjusted his butt on the bench. Reaching down, he grabbed his beer and took a long pull.

Buck chuckled as he snagged the beer from Chris's grip, "Yes to your question. Chris, you know you're not supposed to be drinking alcohol while taking meds, and secondly, it's not even twelve, you lush."

Chris grabbed his beer back and pulled out his cell phone showing Buck the display, "Au contraire mon ami, it is 12:30 in the afternoon, lunch time."

"Hey, Buck!" Vin called from where he was exercising Peso, "I wouldn't mess with him right now. To say he's in a pissy mood would be an understatement."

Chris shot Vin the finger and scowled at Buck, "Why don't you and your cheery disposition go back inside." Looking toward Vin he growled, "As I recall, I did not ask either of you two yahoo's to join me. I know how to take care of myself, been doing it for years."

Buck stood up and pointed toward the team leader as he called out to Vin, "And this ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why you should take your pain meds as prescribed." Vin snickered from the safety of the ring as Buck turned back to Chris, "If you would just take your meds you'd feel a lot better."

Grabbing his crutches Chris hauled himself up, "You all are going to drive me crazy, you know that? I'm going inside to get some peace and quiet."

Buck and Vin watched Chris slowly make his way to the house. Buck grinned up at Vin, "Was it something I said?" Vin just shrugged his shoulders and went back to exercising Peso.

+ + + + + + +

As Chris entered the house through the back door, the smells of breakfast assaulted him. His stomach somersaulted violently, breathing through his mouth; he grabbed a bottle of water from the pantry and his prescriptions off the counter. He shoved everything into his pockets and began crutching himself back to his bedroom.

"Morning, Chris. Would you like the Sanchez special? It's got eggs, cheddar, red and green peppers, onions, jalapeños, refried beans, fresh guacamole and sour cream. Oh, and to top it all off we have bacon." Josiah recited for the team leader, frowning as he watched the color drain from Chris's face, "Are you okay?"

Breathing deeply through his mouth, he closed his eyes for a moment, "I'm not hungry right now. Maybe later, it sounds good, but I'm not feeling so hot. Think I'm going to go lay down for a while."

Josiah grinned, "I'll save you some, go lay down. We've got it covered out here."

Halfway down the hallway Chris realized that he had not reminded Ezra to take Vin up the mountain to get his Jeep. Stopping where he was he took a deep breath and yelled, "Ezra! When you finish eating take Vin to get his blasted Jeep." Not waiting for an answer he continued down to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. It was a slow trip to the bed; it's warm blankets called to him. He gingerly lowered himself to the bed he pulled the pills and bottle from his pocket. Next he labored at divesting himself of his winter accoutrements, pulling the hat, coat, gloves, and scarf off he viciously threw them in the corner of the room. They landed in an untidy heap. Normally he would have hung every thing up, this wasn't one of those times. Dumping the prescribed medication into his hand, not caring what pills he was taking, he washed them down with the water.

Chris leaned his crutches against the wall so that they were within easy reach, and then he piled the pillows on the bed for his ankle. Once those tasks were completed, he dropped back into his soft bed; pulling the blankets up to his chin. He sincerely hoped the pain meds kicked in fast; he needed some good sleep, even if it was drug induced.

He was just drifting off, or thought he was, when he felt the air pressure in his room change and the door creak, "Yes? I was just going to sleep." He sighed, pulling the blankets down from his face.

"Uh, sorry Chris but Vin wants to know where the extra fence rails are?" J.D. asked quietly.

Chris propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the young man suspiciously, "J.D. why does Vin want to know where the fence rails are?"

J.D. swallowed hard, "Don't be mad at Vin. We were helping with the chores, and you still had all that feed in the back of your truck." J.D. stuttered when he saw Chris's eyes narrow, "Well anyway, Vin was backing the truck down closer to the barn, and his foot slipped."

"What!" Chris shouted as he struggled to get out of the bed, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, well unless you count Buck chomping down on his tongue because he was laughing so hard." J.D. moved further into the room, "You don't have to get up, everything's under control. Vin even said he'd pay for the repairs at the garage. Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that last part."

Chris reached down and grabbed a tennis shoe, putting it on his good foot. Snatching up his crutches he hobbled out toward the barn. As he made his way, J.D. was babbling like a Magpie behind him.

"Oh shit! Vin you's in trouble, the debil's here." Buck slurred around his abused tongue. "Hey, Chris." Buck grinned and took a step away from the scene of the crime.

Scowling at Buck, Chris hissed, "Go inside and ice your tongue or something. Vin and I need to have a little one on one."

"Mr. Larabee, I can assure you that this was in fact an unavoidable accident." Ezra supplied as he stood blocking Chris's access to the fence, truck, or Vin. "I'm quite sure insurance will cover all the damage."

"Ezra, I want you, Buck and J.D. to go into the house before I have beat you all with my crutch." Chris growled as he began slowly making his way around to the other side of the truck, where Vin was draping a tarp over the rear half of the bed.

"Excuse me!" Ezra called as he slid around Chris to prevent him from getting too close, "Don't take your anger out on Mr. Tanner, I distracted him from his task and that's when the accident occurred. It's my fault."

"Sorry, Cowboy, My foot slipped and my boot caught on the accelerator." Vin explained as he leaned against the tarp, preventing Chris from getting the full view. "Why in the world are you out here in your boxers and a t-shirt? Where's your coat?"

"Don't change the subject, Vin. Are you okay, anyone get hurt?" Chris asked after he took a deep breath.

Vin and Ezra shook their heads. On the other side of the carnage Buck piped up, "I did, bout bit my tongue off." Chris shot him a glare. Buck just huffed and grabbed J.D. by the arm, "Come on J.D. he don't care."

Chris scowled and pointed to the house, "I do care Buck, but you guys need to go inside, let me talk to Vin."

J.D. leaned towards Buck as they were walking back to the house, "You know he's treating us like little kids, right?"

"Yes. Come on." Buck moved J.D. in the direction of the house. He could understand where Chris was coming from; hell the man was hurt and sick. He had to feel like hammered shit, and they were here destroying his property. Well Vin was anyway, the sharpshooter had certainly been having bad luck out here lately.

Chris turned and gave Ezra the stink eye, "May I have a private conversation with Vin? Don't worry; he'll still be breathing when I'm done."

Ezra just crossed his arms and held his ground, "I'll be the mediator."

Leaning against the truck Chris sighed, "You can't be the mediator, you're biased."

"He's right, I'll be fine." Vin slapped Ezra on the shoulder, "Go on in the house, maybe Josiah is starting on lunch."

"I am not so sure I share your confidence in Mr. Larabee's ability to restrain himself," Ezra slid a sideways glance at the team leader, though he appeared frustrated he did not appear as angry as he was before. Sighing dramatically, Ezra turned to Vin and saluted him, "Sir, should you need assistance I shall only be a short sprint away."

Chris patiently waited for Ezra to get out of earshot before turning on Vin, "Please. Please explain to me, why whenever some disaster happens around my home or myself that you are always right there?"

"Aw, Cowboy, didn't ya know? I'm your guardian angel, I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble." Vin laughed and clapped Chris on my shoulder.

Shaking his head in amazement, Chris looked at Vin, "Do you know how weird that sounds, besides how does wrecking my truck keep me out of trouble?"

Grinning widely as he peaked under the tarp, "Um, well. Okay, we all know you got a stubborn streak and the doctor's not gonna let you drive for, well probably, quite some time. Your truck now needs to go to the shop, hence you will not be tempted to drive it."

Chris let out a bark of laughter, "I think you hit your head, cause that's a little far out, even for you."

Scratching a design in the dirt with the toe of his boot, Vin shot a look at the tarp and then at Chris, "Okay, fine. Would believe self preservation?" Grimacing as he slid the tarp off the back of the truck, Vin waited for Chris's reaction.

As the tarp slid off the truck the team leader moved closer, he could see a few scratches on the bed, not too bad. As he moved to the rear he could see the busted out tail light and bent up bumper. Chris rubbed his forehead in exasperation, "Ok. Number one, I'm glad you're not hurt. Two, I'm not reporting this to my insurance company, they'll raise my rates."

"Chris, I just sunk a ton of money into the Jeep and bought a bunch of gifts for you guys and the kids at the church. I don't have the cash funds right now." Vin whispered with slumped shoulders.

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll pay to have the truck fixed. You're going to be paying me back in sweat. I have some projects I need done, and with this bum foot I'm not going to be able to do them." Chris explained as he turned to go back in the house. His foot was killing him and he just wanted to lay down.

"Uh, aren't you going to curse and scream at me? You shouldn't keep it all bottled up inside, not healthy." Vin remarked as he trotted to catch up with Chris.

"Don't think it would do any good, besides depending on the estimate you could be doing my bidding for a very, very long time." Chris snickered as he re-adjusted the crutches to a more comfortable position.

Vin smiled widely and clapped Chris on the back, "That's exactly why I picked you as a friend. A solid person to ride the river with."

"Thanks, Vin." Chris started across the yard once more, "It's not getting you out of work."

"It was worth a try." Vin shrugged, "I'd still ride the river with you. Hey, wait a minute. I did get you off the mountain without the news media getting involved. Think I should get extra points for that alone."

"Apology accepted Vin convoluted as it was; now let's go make sure Josiah's not making something that'll strip the wax off the floors. I intend to keep my innards intact." Chris laughed as they neared the back door.

"Ha! Speak for yourself, I happen to enjoy the taste of copious antacids. Oh and need I remind you to dig out the flame retardant tissue for the bathroom?" Vin grinned as he pulled the door open and the laughter and hollering from inside greeted them.

Chris grinned back at him and clasped Vin's forearm, "Just hold the door, Vin." Chris crossed the threshold to join the rowdy bunch and shouted, "So what's for lunch?!"

The End