Stakeout

"Who made this coffee?" Ezra asked as he poured himself a cup.

"I think it was JD." Buck answered.

"Are you sure that you didn't make it?" Ezra asked.

"I'm sure. Why?"

"Well, mr Wilmington, your coffee making skills aren't that... what?" Ezra asked as Buck rose from his desk.

"You complaining 'bout my coffee?" Buck asked as he stepped up to Ezra.

"Well... Yes, your coffee is not as, how should I put this, admirable as, say JD's." Ezra said and took a sip of his coffee.

"Don't drink my coffee then!" Buck bellowed and went back to his desk.

"JD, what have you done with old Buckley today?" Vin asked JD who were seated at his desk.

"Nothing." JD answered. "Well, I might have accidentally turned on the stereo on a loud volume when he was asleep."

"Accidentally?" Josiah asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted to get back at him for his prank on me." JD defended himself.

"You mean when he threw water at you yesterday?" Nathan smiled.

"Yep." JD said.

+ + + + + + +

15 minutes later the seven agents all gathered in one of the conference rooms to go through their mission.

"Okay. You know what we're doing." Chris started. "We're going to stake out the apartment on 45th Street. It belongs to Gina Tresonne, the girlfriend of our suspect, Mark Mitchell.

"Do we have to wire the apartment first?" Vin asked.

"No, team 3 have already taken care of that." Chris said.

"So where are we watching from?" JD asked.

"In a big house across the street from the apartment."

"Who's taking first watch?" Buck asked.

"Actually..." Chris started. "The whole team will be there at all hours."

"What?!" All the men exclaimed.

"Yep, incase the suspect shows up we need to move in fast and apprehend him." Chris explained.

"How big is the house?" Nathan asked.

"3 bedrooms, one big kitchen, two bathrooms, large livingroom... Do I need to go on?" Chris said.

"Sounds okay." Josiah said. "When are we leaving?"

"In two hours." Chris said. "Y'all go home and pack then we meet two hundred yards from the house."

"Right." the six agents said and they all got up.

+ + + + + + +

Two and a half hours later the seven men had all gone in the house. Chris and Vin settled down by one of the bedroom windows, which was facing Gina's apartment. They took first watch.
Buck and the rest threw their bags in the other bedrooms, apart from Ezra who hung all his clothes on hangers or neatly folded them and put the on a shelf. After that Buck and JD went over to Chris and Vin.

"Seen anything yet?" JD asked.

"No. She's not home." Vin said.

"Okay, boss, what are we supposed to be doing now?" Buck said to Chris.

"You can start by not calling me boss, Buck, I hate that. Do whatever you want." Chris said.

"What do you mean?" Buck asked.

"Watch tv, talk, sing, do cartwheels, I don't care. Two of you will relieve me and Vin in four hours okay?" Chris said.

"Yes, boss... I mean Chris." Buck smiled as he got *the* glare from Chris.

"Do we have to keep out of sight?" JD asked.

"No. Usually there is a family with three teenage kids living here, so if you make alot of noice... it doesn't matter." Chris said.

After that JD and Buck went down to the other men who had placed themselves in the livingroom, watching tv. JD sat down beside Josiah and Buck fell down in one of the available chairs.

"What are we watching?" JD asked after a while.

"It appears mr Sanchez found a prayer meeting televised live on tv. We have no chance of changing the channel because he's sitting on the remote." Ezra sighed.

"Brothers, this is good wholesome television." Josiah said quietly.

"I can't watch this." JD said as he rose from the couch. "Where the stereo?"

"Over there." Nathan pointed to a black cabinet.

"None of your music, kid!" Buck cried out. "I don't like those Pineapple Smashers!"

"They're called Smashing Pumpkins." JD said. "I'm not gonna listen to them, I'm going to listen to the Goo Goo Dolls."

"I hate those too." Buck said.

"I'll use the headphones." JD said as he went and retrieved his Goo Goo Dolls cd and the headphones.

+ + + + + + +

Three hours later Josiah and Nathan took over watch and Vin and Chris came down. Ezra and Buck were sitting playing poker in the kitchen, while JD sat in the livingroom rocking out to his music.
Vin sat down by the kitchen table and Chris asked if anyone wanted something to drink.

"A beer'd be good." Buck said.

"You're on duty, Buck." Chris said.

"Fine, whatever's available then." Buck said with a sigh.

"I'd like some icetea." Ezra said as he started shuffling the deck of cards.

+ + + + + + +

The next morning Ezra came down dressed in his impeccable manner, white shirt, black pants and a reddish black waistcoat. He was cleanshaven and his hair was as perfect as ever. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.
A few minutes later Buck came staggering down and poured himself some coffee and slumped down on a chair beside Ezra. Buck was looking very tired and it looked like he hadn't seen a razor in a few days.

"Morning Ez." Buck said and yawned.

"Good morning." Ezra said as he finished his cup of coffee. "Do you wish to have some breakfast?"

"No, I think I'll pass." Buck said and yawned again.

"Why, brother Buck, breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Josiah said as he came down the stairs. "Ezra, Buck, you're up next."

"I know." Buck said and poured himself another cup of coffee. "Any sign of the suspect?"

"No, none at all." Josiah said. "I expect to see you two in 15 minutes."

"Yep." Buck said. "Ez, that breakfast thing..."

"Yes?"

"D'ya wanna fix me something?" Buck stiffled a yawn.

"Well, what do you want, mr Wilmington?" Ezra asked. "I'm having fried eggs and some sandwiches."

"Sounds great." Buck said.

10 minutes later JD came down the stair, looking extremely perky, with a smile on his face. Buck shot him a glare and envied how he always seemed so alert.
JD poured himself a glass of milk and stole one of the sandwiches Ezra had made. Then he sat down beside Buck who was on his third cup of coffee. Shortly thereafter Buck and Ezra went to relieve Josiah and Nathan.

Three and a half hours later Vin came down the stairs. He buttered a couple of sandwiches and poured himself some coffee. He then went out on the porch that was at the back of the house. There he found JD sitting in the sun with a glass of juice. They didn't have to worry about being seen because the garden was surrounded by a tall hedge.

"Morning, Vin." JD said as Vin sat down.

"Morning, JD." Vin greeted.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess." Vin said. "Anyone seen the suspect yet?"

"Nope, no sign of him at all." JD said as he finished his glass of juice.

Suddenly Chris threw the door opened and said:

"Suspect in sight."

"Move, JD." Vin said and almost threw JD out his chair.

Josiah threw JD a bulletproof vest. Chris and Vin were ready even before JD had strapped his vest on. Buck and Ezra came down the stairs wearing their ATF jackets and vests. Buck helped JD to get the vest on and threw him his jacket. After the seven agents were ready they moved swiftly across the street hiding behind cars and so on. Ezra was first at the door and waited for his fellow agents to come.

"Shall we knock?" Ezra said.

"Yep, in our own special way." Buck said and kicked in the door.

"ATF, freeze!" Chris yelled as they entered the apartment.

The suspect stood by the window facing the back and he spun around when the agents entered the apartment. He put his hands up in the air and Vin moved in and handcuffed him. Suddenly a shot rang out and it hit Vin in the leg. Instinctively all men dove for cover as more shots rang out. Vin cried out in pain and fell to the floor clutching his bleeding leg.

"You said he was alone!" Chris barked at Ezra.

"There was noone but him." Ezra yelled as he fired a couple of shots towards the kitchen.

"Damn it, Ezra. I'll have you ass for this!" Chris yelled as more shots rang out.

Josiah had managed to take out one of the shooters who had been standing in the kitchen. There was intense gunfire coming from everywhere. After a while Chris were able to figure out that there were at least three more shooters. All of them were located behind doors, tables or in another room.

"Cover me, Ezra, I have to get to Vin!" Chris ordered as he saw Vin lying in the line of fire, not able to get out of the way.

Ezra started shooting so Chris could crawl over to Vin and pull him behind the couch. Suddenly Ezra heard a shot ring out behind him and then he was thrown headfirst into a table, then he lost consciousness. Buck spun around in time to see another man standing in the doorway shooting Ezra in the back. He screamed furiously and fired several shots at the man. Just as the man went down a shot hit Buck in the head and he lost consciousness immediately.

"BUCK!" JD cried out as he saw Buck fall backwards on the floor.

Chris managed to kill another man who was standing in the doorway to the livingroom.
Suddenly a silence fell over the apartment. Chris cautiously looked up from behind the couch and found that all the shooters were dead.

"Is everybody alright?" Chris asked.

"No, call the ambulance!" JD said sitting with Buck's head in his lap.

"Ezra and Buck are down." Nathan said to Chris.

"Damn it! Chris yelled angrily. "Vin, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Chris. Go check on the others." Vin said as Chris pulled out his cellphone and dialed 911.

"This is Agent Larabee with the ATF. I have three agents down, I repeat three agents down. We're located at 45th Street, apartment 2B."

"Buck's dead." JD whispered as Chris reached Buck and JD.

"What?!" Chris said as he knelt down beside Buck and JD.

"He's dead." JD said with tears in his eyes.

"Let me check him." Nathan said and felt for a pulse. "Buck's still alive."

"He is?" JD gasped.

"Yes, he's got a pulse and he's breathing." Nathan said. "I gotta check on Ezra."

5 minutes later two ambulances arrived and took care of the three wounded agents. Vin was doing alright, even though he was in a lot of pain and bleeding quite heavily. Buck and Ezra were still unconscious when the ambulances drove them to the hospital.

The four remaining agents stopped a cab and Chris flashed his badge and told the cabdriver to step on it.
Within minutes the cab screeched to a halt outside the hospital and the men jumped out. They rushed into the emergency room and asked where their friends were.

"All three men are being examined."

"Are they alright?" Chris asked.

"I will ask the doctor to come out and talk to you as soon as we know more." the nurse said. "Now, gentlemen, the waiting room is right over there."

+ + + + + + +

45 minutes later the four men sat together. Chris worried about that Ezra wouldn't be alright, especially since Chris had been so mad at Ezra at the time of the shooting. Josiah and Nathan sat trying to calm JD down who was hyperventilating, because he was so worried about Buck.
A couple of minutes later a doctor came out and the four men went up to him.

"How are they doing?" Josiah asked.

"Mr Wilmington is in surgery as we speak. Mr Standish is being stitched up. He's a bit sore but he's alright thanks to the bulletproof vest he wore."

"What about Vin?" Chris asked.

"Mr Tanner is being stitched up in surgery. His leg wound is more serious but the bullet went straight through his leg so he'll be just fine." the doctor reassured them.

"What's the condition of mr Wilmington's headwound?" Nathan asked.

"The bullet appears to have grazed his head but he was bleeding heavily so we had to take him to surgery." the doctor said.

"Can we see Ezra?" Chris asked.

"Yes, you can. But you have to bear in mind that he's been given painkillers. So if he seems a bit odd don't worry." the doctor said as he lead the men to a room.

"Thank you." Josiah said as they went into the room.

+ + + + + + +

Ezra lay in one bed, he had a big bandadge on his head. He seemed to be asleep so the men quietly sat down in a few chairs.

suddenly Ezra opened his eyes and looked at the men. a small smile grazed his lips and then he closed his eyes again.
20 minutes later the men were still seated in the room where Ezra lay asleep. After a while the door to the room opened and two nurses wheeled a bed in and placed it beside Ezra. In it Vin lay with his eyes closed and he was heavily bandadged around his leg. The nurse told the agents that Vin would be coming out of the anaesthetic in a while.

+ + + + + + +

"Gentlemen." A voice suddenly said.

"Ez!" Chris said and walked up to him.

"Am I in trouble, mr Larabee?"

"Why do you ask?" Chris asked.

"Well, I seem to remeber that you raised your voice to me and said, and I quote; 'Damn it, Ezra, I'll have your ass for this.' So I would like to know if you're still angry with me?" Ezra said.

No, Ezra. I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry for yelling at you before." Chris said with a small smile.

+ + + + + + +

After about an hour Vin had woken up and he was doing quite alright. The six friends still hadn't heard a thing about Buck and JD was on the verge of tears because he was so worried about his 'big brother.'
Suddenly the door to the room opened and the doctor came in. JD jumped out of his chair and took a big leap to land infront of the doctor.

"How's Buck?"

"Mr. Wilmington is doing fine. He's got a light concussion and a large gash on his forehead. But he will be just fine." the doctor said and the six men let out a sigh of relief.

"Where is he? Can we see him?" JD was excited.

"If you want we can wheel him in here?" the doctor said who understood that the seven men were closer than a family is.

"Thank you, doctor." Josiah nodded and the doctor left.

A couple of minutes later they wheeled the bed in where Buck lay, asleep. JD pulled up a chair to the side of the bed and grabbed Buck's hand.
Within 15 minutes Buck started to wake up from the anaestethic and JD refused to let go of his hand. When Buck's eyes finally fluttered opened JD couldn't keep the tears away from his eyes.

"Kid, why are ya crying?" Buck rasped.

"I was so sure you were dead." JD said.

"Dead? Nah, it takes more to kill Ol' Buck. 'Sides I ain't gonna let you live in my apartment alone." Buck smiled.

"I don't ever want to live alone in your apartment." JD said.

"You know what, kid, I think it's our apartment, right?!"

"I'd like that." JD smiled happily.

"Buck, you have alot of paperwork to take care of." Chris said after a while of silence.

"Paperwork! Chris I nearly died." Buck said.

"Well, just because you get hit in the head by a bullet doesn't mean that you'll get off the paperwork." Chris said not managing to keep the smile out of his face.

"I'll do the paperwork as long as no stakeout ends like this again." Buck sighed.

"I'll do my best to see to that." Chris said and squeezed Buck's shoulder gently.

The End