A Gift to Die For

Part 1

"Hey, check this out." JD captured the groups attention as he bounded into the conference room. In his hands he held an unopened box of chocolate coconut candies.

"Mrs. Travis sent this down for us" he explained, setting it on the table in front of the group.

"Oh, coconut," Buck gushed, "my all time favorite."

Chris stared suspiciously at the box, "What in the world for?" he asked.

JD glanced at the note in his hand, "just says, ‘thanks for the interview.'"

"Did someone give an interview?" Josiah asked, reaching for the note.

Vin shrugged, "Maybe she just meant that time she talked to us after a drug bust."

"Well, you gentlemen can assess the various reasons she might have sent it." Ezra said, opening the package, "while I partake in some refreshments." ; He popped a candy into his mouth, nodding his approval, "mmmm, Belgium chocolate."

Buck shot Ezra an annoyed look and snatched the box away from him. "Chocolate is chocolate, Ezra," he announced. He took a piece and slid the box down the table to Vin and Nathan. "Right, JD?"

"Yep," JD agreed around a mouthful of candy.

"Ah, culture shock," Ezra groaned.

"Not bad," Nathan admitted, chewing slowly, he tossed the box to Chris, who also took a piece and chewed it. ;

Josiah picked up the box and ate the last piece then tossed the box in the direction of the room's garbage can. His throw was off and the box hit the side of the can and crashed to the floor. He scooted his chair back and picked it up to toss it into the can. A small piece of paper floated out of the box to land on the floor.

Josiah picked up the paper, his brow creasing in a frown. He opened the paper and scanned it. There was something written in a language other than English.

"Ezra," Josiah said, trying to ignore the sinking sensation settling in his gut, "you know what this says."

;Ezra shot him a curious look, but took the paper and read it. He stood up, shoving his chair back so violently that it tipped over, his face paling to a chalky white.

"Ezra?!" Concerned, Chris stood up and grabbed his arm, "What did it say?"

Ezra stared at him, his usual poker face slipping as he made no effort to mask his horror.

"Congratulations, one of you has just been poisoned, you'll be dead in 48 hours," he read to them.

For about two seconds you could have heard a pin drop in the horrified silence of the room as the seven men tried to digest what Ezra had just told them. Suddenly they all began talking at once.

"Ok, everyone hold it," Chris said sternly, putting some parade ground steel into his voice to get their attention. He waited while everyone turned panicked faces toward him. He didn't bother asking Ezra if he was sure what the note said, Ezra was their language expert, well except for when Spanish was concerned. But, what could he tell the rest of them.

"We don't know for sure that the note is genuine." He said ; the first argument that came to mind. "This could simply be a ruse."

The excuse sounded hopelessly lame to his ears, but it seemed to calm the rest down. Or maybe they just realized the futility of panicking.

Chris took a deep breath. "Ok... I will call Mary and make sure she didn't send this," he began.

"Don't tell her about the poison," Buck interrupted.

Chris nodded in agreement. ; “Don't worry. Ezra, see if you can trace the note: where the paper came from, the ink, and take it down for fingerprint analysis." Ezra nodded, glancing at the paper in his hand as if it might bite him at any second.

"Nathan, trace the chocolate." He nodded. “Vin, I want you to contact the lab and have them run fingerprint analysis. ;The rest of you, start looking through records, see if there is anyone with the resources to pull this off that also has a reason to be ticked at us."

"We should also get a blood test done, to see if this story is legit," Nathan suggested.

"Alright, Josiah, you arrange that," Chris said. "Oh, and Vin, get the box tested as well."

The group nodded their understanding and the meeting, which had never really begun, broke up. ; + + + + + + +

JD hunched over his laptop, busy setting parameters for a search of all felons that might still have a major bone to pick with the ATF. When they where set he hit the search button and the hard drive whirred. JD glanced back at Chris's office. He could see the ex-SEAL talking animatedly on the phone, to Mary he assumed. Chris hung up and glanced out of his office at his men. JD happened to catch his eye and Chris shook his head. No, the chocolate hadn't come from Mary. Damn, JD cursed silently trying to ignore the queasiness in his stomach.

"Anything?" Buck asked suddenly, making JD jump.

JD glanced down at his screen, the computer was still searching. "Not yet," he answered.

Buck frowned at him, "You OK?" The kid looked a little to pale for comfort.

"Fine, Buck," he said willing his voice to remain calm. ;

Nathan happened to be walking by at that moment and heard the question. He stopped and regarded JD seriously for a minute. "Stomach?" He asked, although it really didn't sound like much of a question.

JD nodded.

"I wouldn't worry," Nathan assured him, "I seriously doubt anyone would be feeling the effects of the poison already. It's probably just nerves." He gave JD what he hoped was an encouraging smile and continued back to his desk. ;

JD's computer suddenly beeped. He glanced at it. Five matches. Quickly he pulled them up. There was one from a drug bust ten years ago. No good, he was still in jail. ; Two that were recently reported dead, but hadn't been added to the database yet. So that left two men. A Raphael Tonis, and a Mark Davis. "Chris, I might have something," he called.

Chris strode out of his office and leaned over JD's shoulder. "Tonis and Davis," he said thoughtfully. "Yeah, both of them would certainly have the resources and a motive."

Nathan put his phone down and came over to join them. "I managed to convince the guy at the candy store to help," he began, "he thinks he might remember a man buying the box we got: Caucasian, light brown hair. Although he might be inclined to remember more if I was to offer an added incentive," he conceded.

Chris nodded. "If he's right, light brown hair would fit Davis." He tipped his head towards the screen, and Nathan leaned over to see.

"It would at that," Nathan admitted.

"What do we have, boys?" Chris called.

Vin spoke a few words into the phone a strolled over. "Good news," he announced, "the lab guys found fingerprints on the note, and the box," he added glancing at Nathan, "they're running them now."

"Fingerprints besides ours?" Buck asked. Vin nodded, leaning against JD's desk.

"Nathan?" Chris asked turning to him.

"The lab guys went over the chocolate residues in the box, but I haven't heard back from them yet," Nathan said. "Now did everyone eat some chocolate?" he asked, letting his gaze drift to each member of the team.

They all nodded. "JD and I had two pieces too," Buck offered, not looking especially thrilled.

"The note did say, one of you is poisoned," Josiah pointed out, holding up the paper Ezra had copied it on to, "so we can probably assume that only one piece of candy was poisoned. If any."

"That's a good point," Chris nodded. He was about to say more when the phone from Nathan's office rang. He reached over JD's desk and snatched up the phone hitting the third line button.

"Jackson...yes, I did...OK....yes, go ahead and do that...alright...thank you." Nathan hung up the phone to find the rest watching him anxiously.

"The lab boys confirmed that the residue in one area ;of the box was poisoned. The rest of the box was clean. ;The note was right. Only one piece was poisoned." He swallowed around the lump in his throat. "They're trying to isolate the specific toxins, once they do that they'll be able to make a blueprint of it and hopefully come up with an antidote, if one doesn't already exist." He looked at the floor for a minute and then back up at the men clustered anxiously around him. "But, ya'll need to understand that there is a chance they won't be able to produce an antidote," he said the last part softly as if he really didn't want to say it, never mind understand it.

JD groaned softly and sank back in his seat, covering his face with his hands. Buck dropped his hand on his shoulder, a feeble attempt to comfort him. Josiah sucked in a deep breath and uttered a short prayer to the higher powers that be. Vin looked at Chris to find Chris staring at him in nothing short of intense worry. Vin could practically read his mind, there was nothing he could think of to say, he was feeling the same way. He could handle it if he, himself, was poisoned, but not if someone else. His best-friend. One of the group.

Ezra started to back away from the group, feeling out of place. But, a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see Nathan watching him, concern etched on his face. Ezra stopped and attempted a weak smile which Nathan tried to return. The attempt was as pathetic as Ezra's had been.

Chris cleared his throat, "OK, boys...we...uh...". He took a deep breath and mentally shook himself, "O.K." he said again. sheesh, can't I say anything more intelligent, come-on Chris, they're counting on you. "We need to get blood tests done, and get the hospital on an antidote too." He turned to Josiah, "Did you call them?"

Josiah nodded solemnly, "Their scheduled in twenty minutes."

Chris looked at his watch. "Let's go." He nodded toward the exit, and the seven began to file slowly out of the office. Chris stood there and watched them. They looked like zombies. Damn it. He was going to kill the s.o.b. that did this to them. This sure looked like Marc Davis' work. If it was God help him. A hand on his arm startled him back to reality.

"You coming?" Vin asked him softly, trying not to appear concerned.

Chris gave him his trademarked half grin/ half sneer, "After you, cowboy." Vin shook his head and led the way toward the elevator.

Buck paced across the floor in the hospital waiting room. Man, he hated waiting.

"Do we have any more leads on who did this?" Nathan asked into the silence. He looked around the room. Buck was pacing, Chris sitting in a chair with his elbows resting on his knees, Vin was leaning back in the chair next to him, Josiah was standing behind them leaning on a door jam, JD was sitting back in a chair on the other side of the room with his knees pulled up to his chest, and Ezra was standing a little to JD's right with his hand resting on the back of JD's chair. ;

They all looked at him, but surprisingly it was JD who answered, "We had kind of narrowed it down to Marc Davis."

Vin sucked in a breath, "Davis...I thought he was still locked up.”

Chris shook his head, sitting up straight, "He's on parole." "Well, I can sure understand why he would be ticked at us," Buck said, pausing in his pacing long enough to regard the rest seriously, "It's not everyday, someone walks into their organization, rips it apart from the inside out, and then kills his brother,” he said flatly.

"Let's not jump to morose conclusions," Ezra put in, "there is no proof that Davis is the sick perpetrator behind this most recent attack on the ATF."

"Ezra's right," Vin voiced his opinion, "besides we're still waiting on the fingerprints from the lab."

"When are they going to be done?" Josiah asked, his gravelly voice cutting through the room.

Vin turned slightly to see him better, "About an hour, was the last report I got." Josiah nodded and went back to leaning on the doorjamb.

"Mr. Larabee?"

Chris turned to see a technician come up holding a clipboard. "That's me." He stood up to meet her.

"I'm Dr. Smith," she introduced herself, "we have the results on the blood tests." She wordlessly handed the clipboard to Chris. "I'll give you a minute." She nodded sympathetically to the group as a whole, then turned and left.

Chris watched her leave, steeled himself and looked down at the clipboard.

Part 2

They watched Chris as a mouse might watch a cat who was getting ready to pounce on it. To their surprise he actually relaxed as he read the report. Buck and Vin exchanged suspicious glances and finally Buck couldn't take it any more. He strode forward and snatched the clipboard out of Chris's hands. Then he read it.

"Well!" JD exclaimed.

Buck looked up at the group, his expression one of dread. His gaze passed over all of them and then settled on Chris, who was watching him calmly. "Chris-" he choked out.

"No," Vin whispered, his stomach tightening into knots.

+ + + + + + +

It was Chris, not him. For one second JD was elated. He was alright, he would make it.

Then reality hit him. Chris was going to die.

;No. Not Chris. Nothing ever touched Chris.

He was the one who could walk right into the middle of a firefight and not get touched.

This could not be happening.

+ + + + + + + Chris glanced from face to face and found all of them watching him with an expression of complete horror or despair on their face. For some reason Chris found the whole situation slightly funny.

"You boys look like you're at a funeral."

"We could be," Ezra said, his voice catching slightly.

"I'm not dead yet, Ezra," Chris said, raising his eyebrows.

"Chris, I didn't-"

Chris held up his hand, cutting off any apologies Ezra was trying to offer. "Look," he started, "I'm not giving up yet. We can still track down Davis and get the antidote out of him." It was fairly easy for him to sound confident, now that he was certain none of his team was in danger from this invisible threat plaguing them.

Buck caught on to what Chris was doing, "And you do have the best team in the ATF backing you up." He sauntered over to Chris and slapped him on the back. Yeah, sure, Buck thought to himself. Now we get to see just how good we really are.

"Gentlemen?" Dr. Smith walked back up to them. "I assume you've read it." Chris nodded, handing her back her clipboard. "Mr. Larabee, I'm very sorry," she offered.

"Thank you," Chris said politely, "but I'm not finished yet."

"Can we assume you have your personnel working on finding an antidote?" Ezra asked.

Dr. Smith looked over at him and nodded, "Yes, we do. I am confident that our technicians will be able to find a cure. But, we would like you to stay in the hospital so we can keep an eye on you."

Chris shook his head, "Forget it. I'm not going to be stuck with needles when I could be out catching this guy."

"Agent Larabee, I strongly argue you to reconsider," She insisted.

"Chris, maybe you should stay here." Vin stepped forward and Chris did a double take at him. He looked horrible.

"I'll be fine," His words were meant for Dr. Smith, but he was looking at Vin, "I'll be a lot more useful out there." He gave Dr. Smith a small grin, "Trust me."

Dr. Smith sighed, "Alright, but please be careful, and come back if you feel the slightest bit ill." After Chris had nodded that he would she continued, "Now this poison is a very fast acting poison, several signs that you should watch for-" she paused as Chris shook his head.

"Don't bother, I don't want to know."

"I think it's important," her voice trailed off as Chris shook his head firmly. "Alright. We'll keep working on an antidote. Good luck Agents." She nodded to all of them, turned on her heel, and walked away. ; Ezra looked at the others a moment and then held his hands out. "Shall we go?" Chris nodded silently and Ezra shooed JD and Buck towards the elevators. The rest followed him, except for Chris who lagged behind.

He grabbed Vin's arm as he walked by. "Two things," he said.

Vin looked at him sadly, "Anything."

"One: stop looking at me like I'm dead. I'm not giving up and I don't expect you to either."

Vin looked at the floor, "Chris, I'm sorry...it's just...Chris, I was the one who shot his brother, I should be the one poisoned."

"Vin," Chris reached out and grabbed his chin so he could look Vin in the eye, "it's not your fault. Got it." When Vin nodded he continued, "and two: if the worst happens," Vin opened his mouth to object and Chris ignored him, "I want you to keep the team together....promise me," he ordered.

After a moment Vin nodded, "Alright. You've got my word."

Chris smiled, "Glad to hear it. Now let's go catch some bad guys."

+ + + + + + +

"Chris," JD called over his CB.

"Go ahead, JD," Chris answered.

"I found out Davis' current address," he reported from his position in Buck's passenger seat. His laptop beeped once. "His mail is still being delivered too."

"Nice work, JD, let's go." They pulled up to an apartment building on fifth Avenue. "Kinda desolate, ain't it," Vin remarked to Chris as he killed the ignition and climbed out.

"Yeah," Chris said softly, watching as Ezra and Buck's car continued around the block to the rear of the building, while Nathan and Josiah pulled into a space a little beyond apartment. Then Vin and Chris casually strolled up to the building. To anyone watching from the fourth floor, where Davis' room was, it would look as if they were headed to the first floor door. They waited for a count of ten and then carefully made their way up to the second story. After another count of five Chris kicked the door open they charged into the room, their guns drawn. Chris waved Vin into a room adjacent to the main room, while he swept through the main room and into a bedroom. Nothing.

"Clear." Vin stepped back into the living room.

"No-one here," Ezra announced as he and Josiah entered from the rear of the apartment.

"He's gone," Buck grumbled, stalking into the room followed closely by JD and Nathan.

"From the looks of this place he's been gone quite a while." Vin said motioning to the kitchen. There was moldy bread on the counter and a cobweb in the corner. ;

Ezra ran his hand over a table top and frowned at the dust on his hand. "I'd estimate at least a week."

"Well, someone must at least come by and get the mail, cause there is no mail here," JD said from the doorway where he was checking the mail box.

Ezra's reply was cut off by a choked off cry of pain from Chris. Ezra spun around to see Chris slightly bent over, one arm wrapped around his midsection. He staggered and nearly fell as Vin and Nathan rushed to his side. Vin grabbed Chris and eased him into the chair Nathan produced.

"Breathe, Chris," Nathan ordered calmly. "It'll pass in a minute." he promised.

Chris sucked in a deep breath as the severe pain faded to a dull ache. "I'm alright," He gasped, trying to get his breathing under control. Vin and Nathan hovered worriedly over him, looking for some sign he really was alright. Chris straightened up and flexed his shoulder muscles. "I'm O.K." he repeated.

Nathan straightened up, "Are you sure?" he asked suspiciously.

Chris nodded, "Are they going to come and go?"

Nathan nodded reluctantly, "yeah...at least until we find that antidote."

"Then we better hurry up," Buck chimed in trying to lighten the mood, "I can't afford these extra years, Chris," he joked.

Chris grinned slightly and stood up, swaying slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Vin grabbed his arm to steady him. "Maybe you should go back to the hospital," he suggested gently.

"Vin," Chris said warningly. Tanner held up his free hand in a mock surrender gesture. He kept his other hand on Chris' arm, to assure himself of Chris' vitality as much as to steady him.

"Let's search this place before we leave," Chris said, trying to change the subject.

"Already on it," Josiah commented from where we was searching through Davis' desk. "You stay there." It didn't sound much like a request. Chris sighed.

JD strode over to the garbage can, picked it up and unceremoniously dumped it's contents on the kitchen floor. "JD!" Buck and Nathan yelled together.

"He can send me a cleaning bill!" JD snapped, and began pawing through his rubbage, looking for something, anything that would lead to Davis or an antidote.

"Has it occurred to anyone that we are operating illegally," Ezra remarked conversationally from his post searching through kitchen drawers, "we don't have a search warrant."

"So!" Vin responded.

Ezra beamed and went back to happily digging through Davis' personal possessions.

"I think I've got something," Buck announced. He was kneeling on the floor helping JD, dig through the garbage. He held up a receipt.

Nathan left his position by Chris's side and walked over to Buck. "Yep, this is the chocolate store," he said turning the receipt over, "and this is the kind of chocolate we got." He pocketed it and turned to Chris, "he's our boy alright."

At that moment Vin's cell phone rang, causing both him and Chris to jump. Vin let out a breath and pulled the antenna on his phone out. "Yeah," he said into it. "Yes, this is Agent Tanner....are you sure?....O.K....alright....thank you." He snapped the phone shut.

"Davis' prints weren't on the note," he said flatly.

"What!" Buck exclaimed. "Are they sure?"

Vin nodded, "Yeah, according to the lab they found some girls prints on it, a Maria Shina," he shrugged, "that name mean anything to anyone?"

Ezra shrugged, "Not to me," he admitted.

"Me neither," Buck said, "maybe Davis has a new girlfriend."

"Let's get back to the office and JD can run the name," Chris said. Then after a few moments thought, "Buck, Josiah, you two want to stay here and chat with the Neighbors. See if they noticed anything strange, or anything at all that would give us a clue where Davis might be, or who this Maria Shina person is?"

Josiah nodded, "with pleasure." He grabbed Buck's arm and hauled him out into the hallway, "let's go Buckley."

The sound of the door closing cut off Buck's comeback.

+ + + + + + +

"You O.K.?" Vin asked, quietly. The silence in the car was starting to become stifling.

"Hmm...." Chris turned to look at him, watching as Vin divided his attention between the road and him.

"Are you alright?" Vin asked again.

"Yeah," Chris said simply.

After a short pause, Vin tried again, "Chris, what's wrong?" There was no answer. "Chris!" Vin turned to look at him. His eyes were crammed shut and his head pressed back against the headrest. Vin reached over and grabbed his hand. "Chris?!....come on, stay with me," Vin pleaded, panic starting to creep into his voice.

Chris crammed his head back against the seat as the severe pain threatened to steal his breath. It felt as though his insides were being grabbed and twisted by some invisible hand. He shut his eyes tightly and concentrated on breathing. He could hear Vin faintly calling his name and then felt someone grab his hand. Impossibly, the pain increased, he groaned slightly, squeezing Vin's hand tightly, trying to ride it out before he gave Vin a heart attack. Then as suddenly as it had appeared the pain was gone, leaving him gasping for breath.

"Chris?!" Vin demanded when he felt the pressure on his hand decrease. "That's it. We're going to the hospital."

"NO!" Chris gasped, "Vin!....I'm fine."

Vin glared at him. "Yeah, you look it," he said sarcastically. He shook his head, but continued onto the office.

He pulled into the parking structure of the building, and killed the engine. He jumped out and hurried around to Chris' side. Chris slid out of the vehicle and nearly fell as a wave of dizziness descended on him. Vin grabbed his arm, supporting him, as Nathan parked his car and ran over to lend a hand.

"What happened?" Nathan barked, getting his shoulder under Chris's arm.

"What do you think," Vin snapped. Together they maneuvered Chris into the elevator. "He should be in a hospital." ;

"Don't start with me, Vin," Chris growled, but the threat would have been more effective if he had been able to stay upright on his own. ; Nathan reached out and held the doors open and waited for JD and Ezra to join them.

By the time they reached their floor, Chris had managed to get his breathing under control and thankfully the dizziness had subsided once again. He hadn't been able, however, to shake the four bodyguards he now had. ; Nathan, Vin, JD, and Ezra herded him into their set of offices. "Sit!" Nathan ordered, not sounding very sociable. Chris sat.

JD made a beeline for his computer and started looking for a Maria Shina.

"Ezra," Vin called.

"Yes."

"You want to call Mike, from team two and have him send some men over to watch Davis’s apartment?" "Sure thing," the southern drawled.

Part 3

"Well, that was helpful," Buck said sarcastically.

"One lady did admit to seeing a young girl with a light brown haired man entering the building," Josiah pointed out helpfully, as they walked back into Davis' apartment.

"Yeah, but she couldn't remember if they had actually gone into Davis' apartment or one of the other rooms." Buck slammed the door shut in disgust, and it hit the doorjamb and bounced back open. "I just love honest to God American buildings." Buck shook his head and reached over and shut the door again, this time a little more gently. It stayed shut.

"Take a look to your left," Josiah instructed. Buck did as he asked. "Now, down." Buck looked down.

"It looks like a brochure." Buck picked up a small, colorful packet and thumb through it. "For a seasonal ski resort. Pine Lodge," he shrugged and stuffed it into his back pocket. “Maybe Davis was going to take a vacation after he's through killing Chris," he spat out the last words and headed for the back door.

Josiah followed him. "We will find the antidote, Brother," he assured Buck.

"Yeah," Buck said bitterly, "has anyone been keeping track of the time?" he asked rhetorically. "Two days, we only have two days!" he snapped, "and one of them is about over." He slammed out the door and led the way to Josiah's car, parked on the side of the road. Josiah sighed helplessly and followed him.

+ + + + + + +

"Nothing!" JD said. The room looked like he had just announced someone's death sentence, and for all practical purposes he had. "I can't find any trace of a Maria Shino. It's like she doesn't exist."

"She has to exist," Buck said, sounding frustrated.

"Just not in our data banks," Vin added.

"Maybe we should look in someone else's," Ezra said, from where we was distractedly playing with a deck of cards.

"Any ideas?" Josiah asked.

"Jacqueline." Chris suggested.

"My thought exactly," Ezra smiled and stood up. "Do you know where she is at the moment?"

"Yeah," Chris said nodding slowly. "Tamber Hills, about three hours out of town."

"Well, gentlemen, I'll take my leave now." Ezra grabbed his coat off the back of his chair.

"I'll go with you." Chris stood up.

"NO!" All six of them said at once. Chris shot them all dirty looks. "JD, go with Ezra," Vin said, taking command, "Ezra, you have your cell phone?" Ezra nodded, "O.K. half an hour updates." Ezra nodded and moved to the elevators with JD in tow.

Chris turned the full force of his glare on Vin, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"My job!" Vin said shortly, "and trying to save your life in the process." ; Vin turned his back on Chris and started to walk away.

Chris started after him, but a sudden blast of pain cut his attempt at revenge short. He stumbled grabbing blindly for the desk to steady himself. Vin spun around at Chris's sharp intake of breath in time to grab the arm Chris was trying to use to catch himself. But, he wasn't prepared when Chris suddenly slumped to the floor, he grabbed Chris around the waist trying to keep him on his feet. Buck moved in to take his other side and together they eased him into a chair. Nathan knelt in front of him.

"Chris?...come on Chris, talk to me," Nathan ordered, trying to distract him from the pain.

Chris nodded, trying to assure them that he was alright, but he couldn't get the words out. His chest constricted making it hard to breathe. A dull roar filled his ears and he was vaguely aware of Vin holding onto his shoulders, bracing him. Then he felt nothing.

+ + + + + + +

A half an hour later Ezra pulled his Jag into the parking lot of what appeared to be a simple restaurant. But, he knew better. The restaurant was a front, this was really a CIA office building. The waiters, waitresses, and cooks, were all CIA employees, all highly trained. The restaurant was closed today, but the woman he was looking for should still be here.

He and JD walked up to the back door and knocked twice. A female voice asked who was there. "Ezra Standish and John Dunne, ATF." The door was swung open and a lovely young brunette woman gestured for them to come in.

She shut the door and turned to face them. "Ezra, JD, what a nice surprise," she smiled, "what brings you here?" Her smile faded when she saw their faces. "What happened?" ;

Jacqueline Kyle was an old friend of Chris' that Ezra had met about six months ago on an assignment. He didn't know much about her, but he did know that she hid behind a carefully crafted facade of harmlessness. Her unusual beauty and delicate looking features made her stand out, not what you would expect from an assassin or spy which was actually what she counted on. Kyle was a CIA agent and about as dangerous as they came. She was very highly trained and lethal. Ezra never would have believed she was capable of actions like that, if he hadn't witnessed it with is own eyes.

Those same eyes were about as hard as granite when Ezra and JD finished explaining what had transpired in the last few hours. "What can I do?" She said, her carefree attitude vanishing before his eyes.

"We need to know something about a Maria Shina," JD explained, "I can't find anything in the ATF files."

Jacqueline nodded, sitting down at her computer. "Maria Shina...." she hummed thoughtfully as her computer searched through hundreds of different databases. "O.K. here we go." A photo popped up on the screen, followed by a list of vitals.

"Try cross-referencing it with Marc Davis," JD suggested leaning forward for a closer look.

She nodded, her fingers dancing across the keyboard, "Nope," she shook her head slowly as she read through the data rolling across the screen. "No connections I can- wait a minute." She pointed to a line at the bottom of the screen, "a Gloria Shina went to school with Anthony Davis."

"Gloria?" Ezra asked.

"Maria's younger sister," Jacqueline explained.

"Ah," Ezra nodded, "and Anthony would be Davis' younger brother, the one Vin shot during the assignment two years ago."

JD nodded, "Yeah I remember him."

"That's it." Kyle continued reading down the list, "no other connections what so ever." She turned to look up at Ezra, "are you sure she's involved?"

"Why would her fingerprints be on the note if she wasn't in on it?" JD pointed out.

Kyle was about to reply when movement on a monitor across the room caught her attention, "You guys bring friends?" she asked, producing a revolver from the small of her back.

"Down!" Ezra yelled, grabbing her wrist and dropping to the floor. Just in time. Two men kicked the door in and showered the room with bullets.

Jacqueline nudged Ezra and mouthed, "Wait here, cross fire."

Ezra nodded, "Alive."

"Will do." She backed away, crawling on the floor behind desks to stay beneath their line of fire. There was a slight lull in the flying bullets as the two men reloaded. Ezra jumped up from beneath the desk to fire in there direction. He could see JD doing the same from two desks over. He saw a slight glint of metal and the a light brown haired man gave a slight gurgle and collapsed in a heap. The second one was cut down by JD's fire.

"Alive!" Ezra yelled, "we need him alive!" ; He stood up from behind his desk and moved over to the two men who where both sprawled on the floor. The first man was quite obviously dead, a wicked looking knife sticking out of his neck.

"He's alive." Kyle said, toeing the second man, "kind of." The man groaned.

"Close enough," JD decided. He moved to stand over the man and pointed his gun at his face. "Hello!" he called loudly. Kyle shot Ezra a glance and moved to secure the rest of the area. Ezra shrugged and watched the kid.

The wounded man opened his eyes, and saw JD's gun, then he saw JD. He swallowed, "What do you want?"

"Where's Maria Shina?" JD demanded.

"I don't know," the man insisted.

"Uh huh," JD smiled nastily, a trait he picked up from Chris Ezra decided, and cocked the gun.

The man visibly jumped, "I don't know," he whined, "she just said something about Pine Slope...I don't know where it is."

JD turned to look at Ezra, "Pine Slope?"

Ezra shrugged, "I've never heard of it...Jacqueline!" he yelled.

She came running, "What!"

"Ever heard of Pine Slope?" Ezra asked calmly.

She looked annoyed, then sighed, "Pine Slope?....No, doesn't ring any bells, and I'd check, but..." she gestured to what was left of her computer. "And by the way, we should be leaving."

"You're right, these gentlemen doubtlessly have help on the way." Ezra turned toward JD. "Let's go, Mr. Dunne, he'll survive until the cops get here." JD nodded and backed away from the man on the floor.

They had just reached the door when an explosion caused them all to drop to the floor. "What was that?" JD demanded, the building hadn't exploded.

"My car!" Kyle exclaimed darting toward the door. She reached the entry just in time to see the rest of her car disappear in a ball of fire. "Damn it!" she thunked her hand on the railing, "my boss will love this." They could here sirens in the distance.

"You can blame it on me," Ezra promised her, "let's get out of here." He grabbed her and dashed towards his Jaguar.

"Hold it." Jacqueline pulled away from him long enough to give the car a quick once over. "It's good."

Ezra floored it once they were all in. "I need to call Vin, maybe they have some good news."

"Drop me off at about two blocks," Kyle ordered, "I'll keep on it on this end, and send up a few smoke screens for you...they'll be a lot of questions about those guys."

"Are you going to get in trouble for this?" JD asked her worriedly.

She smiled, "Don't worry about me,"

Ezra pulled the car to the curb and she hopped out. "If you need someone bribed, threatened, or...whatever let me know," She instructed.

"Don't fret, we'll get this bastard." Ezra gave her a two fingered salute and pulled the car back onto the road.

Part 4

The first thing Chris was truly aware of was that it was dark. Then he realized he was lying on his back. On the couch in the lounge, to be specific with Josiah's Navaho blanket thrown over the top of him. How in the world did he get here? What did he do, fall asleep while typing reports or something. He propped himself up on his elbows which only made his head swim, he fell back down with a sigh of exasperation. These were classic signs of a ten alarm hangover...but he didn't remember getting drunk last night.

He heard some soft footsteps and suddenly Vin was by his side. He leaned over and felt Chris's forehead, a rather odd thing to do in Chris's opinion, then gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey cowboy, how ya feeling?"

"Fine," Chris said suspiciously, "you mind telling me what's going on?" He watched the slight smile of Vin's face fade away to be replaced by a worried frown.

"You don't remember?"

"No," Chris said starting to get annoyed, would he be asking if he remembered. "What happened?" he asked again, "Did I get drunk last night or something?"

"Chris, you were poisoned," Vin said softly.

"Poisoned?!" Chris echoed with disbelief. "Your nuts," he announced, "and I am going home. What is it two in the morning?" With that said, he swung his legs over the side of the couch and made an effort at standing, he got most of the way before he was forced to grab onto something as the world tilted. Unfortunately, that something happened to be Vin who used his arm to force him back on the couch.

"Chris, calm down," Vin ordered firmly. Chris was hot to the touch and shaking. Vin figured he must be delusional. Nathan warned them that this might happen. "Close your eyes," he ordered. Chris glared at him, so Vin reached over and slid his hand down Chris's forehead and kept it there. "Now, take a deep breath." He waited until, grudgingly, Chris complied. He felt Chris relax a little, so he removed his hand and Chris opened his eyes. "Better?" Vin asked.

Chris nodded slowly, "Yeah" he said slowly. "Sorry," he said, as if embarrassed by being temporarily unable to ;remember. Vin reached back, hooked a chair, and slid it over near the couch. "Don't worry about it," he assured him. "Why don't you try to get some more sleep," he suggested.

Chris nodded, "One question first." Vin nodded. "Why didn't you take me to a hospital?"

Vin sighed, "Nathan and I were going to, but Buck convinced us to wait. Then Dr. Smith called to update us on the search for an antidote. They're still looking by the way, and she said there was nothing they could really do for you in the hospital that we couldn't do here. So...we thought it would be better if you were actually nearby when we found the antidote."

Chris smiled slightly, "Always the optimist."

Vin glared at him. "We will find the antidote," he promised.

Chris held up a hand in surrender. "Have you heard from Ezra?"

"Yeah," Vin nodded affirmatively. "They found Jacqueline, and the last we knew, she was checking the CIA database for our mysterious woman."

Chris shivered slightly pulling the blanket up around him. Vin frowned, "Are you cold?"

Chris nodded slowly, "Yeah."

Vin looked around the room for something else to put over him. He spotted Chris's faded black duster slung over a chair. We retrieved it and laid it over Chris. "Better." Chris nodded wordlessly. "Now, try and get some sleep, Ezra will call in a few minutes, hopefully with some good news."

Chris nodded, trying to ignore the constant pain emanating from his torso.

Vin waited until Chris's breathing evened out. A good indication he had fallen asleep and then quietly rose and moved to the doorway for an update on Ezra's search.

"How is he?" Nathan asked, catching sight of Vin.

Vin shrugged morosely, "He didn't even remember what had happened until I told him." Vin slumped into a chair, "and he's got a fever."

Nathan grimaced, "normal symptoms."

"Any news from Ezra yet?" As if cued, the phone suddenly rang.

Buck grabbed it before the first ring had even finished, "Agent Wilmington."

"Buck, it's JD," JD announced unnecessarily.

"What happened?" Buck demanded, putting him on the speakerphone, "you're late."

"Yeah, well we ran into some trouble," JD said vaguely.

"Is anyone hurt?" Josiah asked leaning closer to the phone.

"No-one important," Ezra cut in.

"Never mind that," Buck interrupted, "what did you find?"

"Well, Jacqueline didn't find any connection between Davis and Shina except for that Shina's sister went to school with the younger Davis. The two siblings barely knew each other," Ezra told them. "Kyle is still working on it for us, but she had to...uh, relocate."

"Uh huh," Buck said, "What'd you guys do blow up her office?"

"No, but that's not to far off," JD said flatly.

"We had a visit from two gentlemen that didn't have our best interests at heart," Ezra explained, "The one left alive, claimed not to know where Shina was, all he had apparently been told was that she was at a place called, Pine Slopes."

"Pine Slopes?" Vin stood up and walked over to the desk the phone was on. "Is that it?"

"Yep," JD confirmed, "But, Jacqueline is still looking. She said she’ll call if she can find anything else....how's Chris?"

"Not good." Vin didn't bother mincing words, "Alright, boys come on back."

"On are way." They heard a click that signaled JD hanging up the phone.

"Damn!" Vin expressed all their feelings in one word.

"Pine Slope," Josiah said thoughtfully, "that's got to mean something."

"I've never heard of it," Nathan announced. He reached for a map and spread it on the table, "Any idea where I should start looking?"

Vin was about to put his two sense in, when a yell from the adjoining lounge interrupted him. "Chris!" Vin jumped up and dashed towards the other room. He swung the door open and nearly collided with an exiting Chris. The near collision caused Chris to lose his already precarious balance and collapse to the floor. He immediately surged back up again as Vin grabbed for him. He struggled to get away from Vin.

"Let me go!" He yelled hysterically, flailing against Vin, "They're in the car!"

"Chris!" Vin grabbed his arms and shook him, "Calm down!"

"Stop it!" Chris screamed, trying desperately to break Vin's hold on him, "you're killing them!"

"Sarah and Adam," Buck whispered, desperately.

"He's delirious," Nathan added, moving in to help Vin.

"Chris!" Vin pushed down on him, and Chris collapsed against Vin who caught him and lowered him to the floor, "Chris, listen to me!" he yelled. "Sarah and Adam aren't here!"

Chris sagged limply against him, Nathan reached over and helped Vin move him from the floor to the couch he was lying on. "Vin?" Chris whispered hoarsely.

"Right here, cowboy." Vin leaned over Chris, "Hang in there, you're going to be fine." He desperately wanted to believe what he was telling him.

"Pine Slopes!" Buck abruptly yelled.

Vin twisted to see him digging into his back pocket. He pulled out what looked like a brochure and waved it at him triumphantly.

"Pine Lodge," Buck explained, "It's a ski resort. I found the brochure in Davis's apartment." He thumbed it open and read it. "It's twenty minutes from here. I'll bet a years paycheck that Davis and Shina are both there with the antidote."

"I think Ezra would love these odds," Josiah commented.

"Alright, Buck call JD and Ezra and tell them to meet us there," Vin ordered, "Nathan should we chance taking Chris?"

"Yes, we need that damn antidote, and we need it now." ;

"Alright, help me with Chris. Josiah get the gear," Vin ordered.

+ + + + + + +

JD watched the speedometer in Ezra's Jaguar climb to seventy. Ezra would undoubtedly kill him if he knew how fast he was going, but Ezra was currently asleep in the passenger seat and they didn't have any time to waste. Ezra's cell phone rang once and JD managed to extricate it from Ezra's jacket without waking him or crashing the car into the telephone poles on the side of the road.

"Hello?"

"JD?" It was Buck voice.

"Yep."

"Where's Ezra?"

"Sleeping. We're taking shifts. What's wrong?"

"Wow!" Buck took a second to be momentarily impressed by the fact that Ezra let someone else drive his beloved car. "We think we know where Maria and Marc Davis are," he announced. He quickly gave them Directions. "You should make it there about the same time we do. Watch yourself on the way in," Buck instructed.

"Will do. Good luck."

+ + + + + + +

Chris spent the entire trip to Pine Lodge drifting in and out of consciousness. The few times he was lucid he was in incredible pain and Vin divided his time between trying to make Chris comfortable and beating himself up.

"Damn it!" he growled for about the eighteenth time.

"Vin?"

Vin glanced down at the motionless figure of his best friend. "Chris?" He leaned over him, "You alright?"

"Never better." Chris's pain filled answer did little to reassure him.

"Yeah you sound it," Vin said bitterly.

"This isn't your fault, Vin," Chris retorted, making an effort to sound more alert.

Vin sighed, "sure-" any further response he was going to offer was cut off when Chris suddenly gasped in agony and tried to curl up into a ball. "Chris!" Vin pulled his shoulders up, making sure he could still breath. Chris clutched at his arm, desperately trying to force some air into his lungs. "Hang on, Chris, it'll be better in a minute," he promised.

As Vin spoke the pain eased slightly to a more bearable level. Chris took a deep breath and his breathing slowed. Vin shifted his hold on his shoulders, "Jeez, Pard you're freezing." He pulled Chris closer to his chest hoping more body heat would help warm him up. "Buck, crank the heater, will ya." Buck obligingly switched the heater on high. Josiah reached over to spread a blanket over them.

For the next ten minutes the only sounds in the SUV was the hum of the car motor, it's heater, and Chris's ragged breathing. "What is our time?" Buck finally asked quietly.

"Two hours." Josiah answered.

"Two hours," Nathan echoed slowly.

"Is he going to make two hours?" Buck asked miserably. Vin raised his gaze to glare at Buck, but it was a glare without any real heat behind it. He was simply voicing what the rest of them were wondering.

"We're here," Nathan announced as Buck pulled in the driveway. They stared out at the main building of the Pine Lodge Ski Resort. It was deserted as was normal during the off season, and from the looks of it the grounds crew hadn't been working overtime. The grass really needed a trim and some of the sheds could have used a coat of paint. There were no lights on anywhere in the compound. The perfect hideout, out of the way, and the last place any one would think to look.

"Are we there?" Chris asked groggily.

"Yeah, I thought you were sleeping," Vin remarked.

"On and off."

"Josiah, give me a hand." Vin eased himself out from under Chris and opened the door.

"I can walk," Chris insisted, but there was no force behind the words.

"Sure you can," Vin humored him. He levered Chris out of the van and together he and Josiah propped him up. Buck and Nathan were already moving towards the nearest building, their guns drawn alert for trouble.

Part 5

"Quiet," Buck remarked, returning from searching the rooms off the main compound living room.

"Too quiet," Vin agreed from his perch by Chris, who was lying on the only couch in the room, looking pale and lifeless.

"Vin!" Josiah called from the balcony of the main room. "Take a look at this." Vin stood up glancing at Buck. Buck nodded and moved to stand closer to Chris.

"What?" Vin asked walking over to stand by Josiah who was looking down over the edge of the balcony. The building was built on the edge of a cliff and it provided a spectacular view.

Josiah nodded over the edge of the railing and Vin leaned over to take a look. He saw Nathan working his way down to a body and by the way the body was lying, it was definitely dead.

"It's Davis!" Nathan called up as he reached the bottom of the gorge.

"What happened?" Vin hollered, "do you think he fell?" "Nope," Nathan said, "his throat is slit."

"His throat is slit?" Josiah asked back, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Your telling me," Nathan yelled up.

"Ok. Come back up," Vin shouted down. "So who killed Davis?" he asked no one in particular.

"I did," a voice behind them announced.

They both spun, bringing their guns to bear on a tall black haired woman. "Who the hell are you?" Vin demanded.

"Maria Shina," She announced proudly.

"You're the one behind this?" Josiah asked her.

She nodded, "That's right, Mr. Sanchez." She smiled waving her gun, "Of course, it was just dumb luck that I got the team leader." She leveled her gun at Vin, "of course, now I can take you all out at the same time."

"Hey, Lady!" a shout from behind Shina distracted her for a vital half second, which was all the time Josiah needed to rip the gun out of her hand. She let out a wild scream and launched herself at Vin. Caught of guard Vin was thrown backwards against the railing as her momentum carried them both backwards. The railing slammed into the small of his back and for a horrifying second he wavered on the brink before her momentum carried them both over the edge of the balcony.

Vin felt himself falling, then someone grabbed onto his arm, stopping his fall cold. Maria wasn't so lucky. With a hysterical scream she fell to her death. Vin felt himself being hauled back over the balcony. He accepted the hand JD held out to him and pulled himself up.

"Vin!"

He leaned over to see Nathan halfway up the cliff. "Who is that?" He yelled up to them.

"Maria Shina," JD answered instead.

"JD? When did you get here?"

"About two seconds ago. We've got trouble," ; He said without preamble.

Nathan climbed back on to the balcony, "What happened?"

"We just got a call from Jacqueline," JD began, "She said there was no connection she could find between Davis and Shina, but there was one between Shina and Raphael Tonis."

"Tonis." Vin turned the word into a swear.

"She's his fiancé," JD explained.

"Tonis," Josiah echoed slowly. "That explains the poison." Tonis had been a chemical engineer who was caught by the ATF while trying to bomb a crowded hotel conference room.

"Where's Ezra?" Vin asked looking around worriedly.

"He came in the other way," JD answered.

"Let's get back to Chris and Buck." Vin turned and his heel and hurried back to the main living room. ; They were halfway into the compound when a laugh echoed through the building followed by a gunshot. Vin pulled his gun out and sprinted the rest of the distance. ; They burst into the room in a standard sweeping movement. They saw Buck sitting up groggily rubbing his head staring at Ezra, who was holding his gun, still pointed at Raphael Tonis. Tonis lays motionless on the floor not two feet from Chris. A wicked looking hunting knife on the floor next to him. ; JD hurried over to help Buck to his feet.

"Ezra," Nathan said slowly, trying to get his attention. Ezra never even moved. "Ezra!" he said sharply. The gambler flinched visibly, raising his eyes to see Vin, Nathan, and Josiah approaching him slowly.

He backed away from them slowly, "He's the only one who Knows," Ezra said in horror. He had just shot the only person who could have saved Chris.

Vin reached out to take the gun from Ezra's hand. "You did what you had to." He tried to soothe him.

"He's alive," Nathan announced leaning over Tonis, "barely."

Josiah eased Nathan out of the way and moved to stand over Tonis. The chemical engineer opened his eyes blearily, just to see the huge ATF agent standing over him. Josiah knelt next to him and grabbed his collar, "where is the antidote?" he demanded.

Tonis laughed, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth. "It's to late," he snickered, "but, maybe the answer will fall from the sky for you." He smiled and the light faded from his eyes. The last person who could have saved Chris was dead.

Vin sank down onto a chair by the couch Chris was lying on, with a sound that was half sigh, half sob. Ezra continued to stare in horror at the dead figure lying at his feet until Josiah gently steered him towards a chair a few feet away. JD stood motionless next to Buck staring in abject despair at the pale, deathlike figure of Chris. Nathan, a doctor to the end, closed Tonis's eyes and tossed a blanket over him. Buck glared at the shrouded body and then to be fair included Nathan, "I wouldn't have shown him that respect," he snarled angrily and then plopped himself in an overstuffed chair and stared at the floor.

+ + + + + + +

The room was deathly silent except for the labored breathing of one Chris Larabee. Vin held his cold limp hand in his, as if by sheer physical contact he could keep Chris alive.

Damn it. Vin thought to himself. He would have liked a shot a Tonis, a chance to beat the antidote out of him....but, Ezra did what he had to. The ;gambler had told him that he had walked into the room to see Buck on the floor and Tonis holding his knife at ;Chris’s throat. The only thing he thought...the only thing he could have thought of....of was to pull the trigger. At least now they still had a chance....Chris could have been dead by now if Tonis’s knife had found it’s mark..

They still had a chance.....Vin shook his head....some ;chance...but, maybe....

"I don't believe this!" JD suddenly exploded, and began pacing restlessly across the huge room.

"Fall from the sky," Vin suddenly said thoughtfully. The rest turned to stare at him, wondering if Vin had suddenly lost it. He noticed their scrutiny and elaborated, "Tonis didn't strike me as the poetic type. That has to mean something."

"Ok." Josiah said, playing along, "What would fall from the sky on a ski resort."

"Snow," JD said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Snow," Vin repeated, running his hand over Chris's forehead. Chris stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.

"Why would that give us the answer?" Buck asked.

"Well, they do make snow at places like this," Nathan commented.

"Son of a bitch!" Ezra cried, standing up. The others stared at him, unsure of whether to be more surprised at his unusual show of emotion or by the harsh language that he hardly ever used. "The antidote must be in one of the snow makers."

Vin stood up, "Nathan, Josiah, stay here, the rest of you come with me." He darted out the door heading for the sheds by the ski lifts.

+ + + + + + +

"Ta-da!" with a grand flourish Buck held up a vial or greenish liquid.

"Be Careful!"

"Don't Drop it!" Vin and JD warned at the same time.

"I wonder if they will insist on reimbursement for their ruined equipment?" Ezra commented as they headed for the door. JD paused to glance back at that mess they had just made of all the snow making machines and answered with a wide grin.

+ + + + + + +

"Alright, Vin hold him up," Nathan instructed. After scrutinizing the vial, he deemed that it had to be the antidote. Ezra had a sneaking suspicion that even if it wasn't it couldn't do any more harm to Chris's rapidly deteriorating health, so Nathan had decided to chance that it was in fact the antidote.

Vin did as instructed and lifted Chris's head and shoulders while Nathan poured the liquid down his throat. For a horrible second Vin didn't think Chris would swallow it and that he would choke on it instead, but then he felt Chris's throat work and knew he had swallowed it.

"Now what?" Buck asked.

"We wait," Nathan answered, "hopefully we got the antidote in time."

"Perhaps we should transfer him to the hospital," Ezra suggested.

"That seems like a wise idea," Josiah agreed.

Nathan nodded, "OK, let's go."

+ + + + + + +

Twenty four hours later found five members of the ATF's top team sprawled in various positions in hospital waiting chairs, sound asleep. The remaining two were in the ICU section of the hospital. One dozing lightly in a chair beside a hospital bed. The bed contained the team’s leader, whose body was still fighting the devastating poison coursing through him. He stirred slightly, awakening the man resting beside him.

"Chris?" Vin asked, for what seemed like the eightieth time since they had brought him in. Each time he would hope that there would be an answer or at least a small reaction to his question. Each time there would be nothing, save for a beep or two from the machines in the room. Dr. Smith had assured him that they were doing everything they could and that only time would tell if they had gotten the antidote in him on time. Vin kept hoping they had. They had passed the 48 hour limit imposed on them by Tonis and Shina, and Chris was still alive.

"How's he doing?" The quiet question startled Vin enough that he jumped nearly upending the chair. He turned to see Ezra standing in the doorway looking caught between concern and amusement.

"Sheesh, Ezra." Vin ran his hand over his eyes. "The same," he sighed.

Ezra walked over to stand beside him and dropped a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He'll pull through Mr. Tanner," Ezra assured, "He's strong."

Vin thought he detected a small hint of envy in his voice, but decided to let it slide for the moment, "I thought you were sleeping?"

Ezra crooked a smile, "You ever try sleeping in waiting room chairs?" He reached over and pulled a chair closer to Vin and sat down, "I got a call from Mike Wilder."

Vin raised his eyebrows, "Really? They catch someone at Davis's apartment?"

"Yeah. Shina's sister, Gloria," Ezra paused, "I told Mike what happened." Vin merely nodded. Mike Wilder was a good friend and Vin trusted him to keep any nasty details to himself. "He went and had a little chat with Gloria. Apparently she was also involved in Tonis's plan for extracting revenge on us for spoiling his attempts to kill the people behind his parents death," Ezra explained.

"So where does Davis fit in?" Vin asked

"As far as we can tell, he was simply a pawn to throw us off their trail."

"It almost worked too," Vin said softly, his eyes drifting back to Chris. "How much trouble are we in for the fiasco at Pine Lodge?" He asked after a moment.

Ezra smiled, "None if I have anything to say about it. I called Miss Kyle and told her what had happened and she told me she'd take care of any police investigations that indicate us in an unfavorable light."

"What about the Judge?"

"I haven't talked to him yet," Ezra admitted, "I was kind of going to let Josiah handle him. Anyway, the judge has a soft spot for Chris, I suspect he'll go pretty easy on us."

Vin nodded, glad someone had their head on straight through this whole mess. "Thanks," he said simply.

Ezra flashed him a mock two-fingered salute, "My pleasure."

Part 6

"How is anyone supposed to get some sleep with you two jawing?" A raspy, but much welcomed voice complained.

"Chris!" Vin glanced over to see him awake and lucid. "How do you feel?"

"Better," Chris said. "What happened?"

"How much do you remember?" Vin asked.

"Last was a ski lodge?" It was said with a slight question on the end.

Vin nodded, "Well, we found the antidote, obviously. Davis is dead, Maria Shina is dead, and so is Raphael Tonis."

"Tonis?" Chris asked incredulously. "How does he fit into this?"

"Just after revenge," Ezra cut a long story short. "And we caught Gloria Shina, Maria's sister, she'll be going to jail a long time." Chris nodded, already starting to feel exhaustion starting to pull him back under.

"Hey, sleeping beauty's awake," ; Buck teased, squeezing into the room, followed by JD, Josiah and Nathan. They were wearing identical smiles of relief. ; "You sure look better than the last time I saw you," JD grinned, making no effort to hide his relief.

Josiah produced flowers from behind his back, "We're going to get kicked out in a second so I thought I'd show you these before we left," he explained with a relieved smile.

"Who're they from?" Chris asked, looking at them from the bed. They were quite a bouquet, some Tulips, Daffodils, and several other of Chris's favorite perennials.

"Jacqueline sent them up," Nathan said, waving the card at him and then setting it on a table out of his reach. "She felt guilty for not being here," he explained.

Chris smiled sleepily, it was already becoming a chore to stay awake. "Alright, everyone out," Nathan ordered, seeing his expression, "before Dr. Smith catches us."

"To late," The soft voice of the Doctor said from behind them.

The men looked at her sheepishly. "I'll allow it just this once, but you are all going to need to leave," She said making an attempt at being stern. "Except for you Agent Tanner, you can stay with your brother."

"No!" Ezra said flatly causing everyone to look at him in surprise, except for Chris who was already beginning to drift off again. "You haven't had any sleep in about three days, and little food. Go get some sleep, eat something decent, and take a shower. I'll stay with Chris," he ordered. "The rest of you could use showers too," he added.

Vin raised his eyebrows at him. "I think he's saying we smell," Buck said with mock insult.

"Yeah, well your no bed of roses yourself," JD retorted to Ezra.

Ezra grinned, "unlike you gentlemen, I took advantage of the hospital showers."

Dr. Smith cleared her throat and motioned to Chris who was asleep again. Ezra shooed everyone out and returned to lounge in the chair by the hospital bed.

+ + + + + + +

"No!" a muffled plea jerked Ezra rudely out of the light slumber he was in. It took him about two seconds to realize where he was and what the sound was. He turned to see Chris tossing and turning restlessly. "No," he mumbled again, "not Vin, too"

too Ezra thought, he reached over and shook Chris gently by the shoulder. "Mr. Larabee....Chris! Wake up, come on it's just a dream," he insisted.

Chris jerked awake, wide eyed and out of breath.

"Chris, calm down," Ezra said keeping his voice low and soothing, "it was just a dream." He tried to convince him.

"Ezra?" Larabee asked groggily.

"Right here."

"Where's Vin?" his voice went from groggy to alarmed to dread, "he's dead isn't he?"

"Mr. Tanner is most assuredly NOT dead!" Ezra said firmly, "it was a dream, Chris," he added softly, "We made Vin go home and get some sleep."

He could see Chris didn't believe him. "I can call him if you'd feel better."

Chris seemed to make an effort to get himself together, "No, that's alright....sorry."

Ezra smiled gently and sat back down, "Mr. Larabee, I assure you after what you've been through, you're entitled to a few bad dreams. Now go back to sleep." He added gently.

"Yes sir," Chris said sarcastically, already starting to drift off.

+ + + + + + +

Ezra tried to make himself comfortable in the plastic chair in Chris's new room. They had moved him out of ICU about a half hour ago. He had been steadily improving since the antidote had been administered. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to get a hold of Vin or anyone else, so they were likely to be slightly upset when they went to the ICU and found Chris had been moved and knowing Vin and Buck they would both jump to the wrong conclusions.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Vin announced, entering Chris's room looking about two hundred percent better than he did the last time Ezra saw him. He shot Ezra a glare, which only served to convince Ezra he had judged the situation right.

Ezra tried to hide a smile, "My apologies, Mr. Tanner, but I did try to call you and tell you they had moved Mr. Larabee into a private room, but your phone wasn't turned on."

Vin glared at him and then turned his attention to Chris, "How ya feeling, Pard?"

"Better," Chris said, from where he was sitting up in bed, "How about you?"

Vin gave him a sidelong look and took up a perch on the end of the bed. "Fine, seeing as I'm not the one who nearly got poisoned by a piece of chocolate."

Chris groaned, "You needn't remind me." Ezra stood up, "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I am going to get some breakfast."

"Oh, yeah. The guys are in the cafeteria," Vin told him, "they said they'd wait for you."

Vin caught a flicker of something he couldn't quite interpret flash across Ezra's face, but it was gone as suddenly as it appeared. Ezra saluted them both with his index finger and took his leave.

+ + + + + + +

"Ezra," Buck called, waving. "We were beginning to think you'd gotten lost."

"It took Mr. Tanner a while to find the room," Ezra explained, joining them at their table, "They moved Chris down to a private room."

"That's great," JD grinned.

"I'll say," Nathan agreed. Josiah took a long look at Ezra and then turned to the others, "Why don't you guys go check in with Chris, I'll keep Ezra company."

Nathan gave him a curious look, and caught the nod Josiah sent him, "Sounds good," he said, "Let's go guys. Catch you two later."

"You don't have to stay" Ezra told him, "Go see Chris."

Josiah ignored him and waved the others away. "You want to talk about it?" He asked Ezra after a waitress had dropped off some pancakes.

"Talk about what?" Ezra said, stiffly.

"What ever is bothering you," Josiah answered patiently.

There was a long pause while Ezra contemplated answering him. He finally sighed, "I don't know how to explain it...I guess it's because we were so close to losing Chris...and I've never-" he broke off unsure of how to say what he was feeling.

"You've never had a group of friends like this before and your scared to death of losing them," Josiah hazarded a guess.

Ezra looked up at him, "Yes....I've never been really needed before," he started, "I've always dreamed of having a group of people I could count on, but I never expected it to happen..."

"And now that it has?" Josiah prodded him.

"It scares me to death," Ezra admitted with a nervous laugh.

"Well, that's normal," Josiah said calmly, "Changes always scare people. Usually the best changes are the worst, because they're unexpected."

"You think I'm a pessimist?" Ezra asked raising his eyebrows. "You tell me."

Ezra shook his head uncomprehending.

"What was the first thing you thought when we found out someone had been poisoned?"

"Honestly. I thought we'd be at a funeral by now," he admitted.

"See," Josiah pointed out, "now that is pessimism."

Ezra looked down at the table and then back up at Josiah, "Can I count on you not telling Chris I thought that?"

Josiah smiled, "Don't worry, I'm sure Chris was thinking the same thing." He slapped Ezra's shoulder, "Come on let's go see what trouble Buck and JD have gotten themselves into."

+ + + + + + +

"Marc Davis had been dead over forty eight hours?" Chris said incredulously from his hospital bed.

Nathan nodded, "That's what the coroner said."

"So who did the neighbors see at Davis's apartment then?" Buck asked.

"They only said, they saw a woman and a light brown haired man," Josiah pointed out.

"One of the guys that jumped us at Kyle's place was brown haired," Ezra pointed out.

"The one with the knife in his neck right?" JD asked. Ezra nodded.

"Probably hired muscle," Vin surmised.

"Anyone heard from Jacqueline?" Chris asked.

Vin nodded, "Yeah, I called her before I came back in to find out if she needed help straightening out are latest mess and she told me she had it under control."

"Ok, I would like to know how a CIA agent can handle domestic affairs?" JD said, "I thought they just collected secrets on other countries and stuff."

They all looked at Chris who shrugged, "I have no idea, and I learned a long time ago, that with her you don't ask."

At that moment the door opened and a Mary Travis, peeked her head in. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, come on in," Chris invited.

She shut the door behind her and smiled at Chris, "How are you feeling?" she asked sounding concerned.

"I'm fine, Mary, thanks," Chris answered. Buck snickered. Chris ignored him.

She held out a flat box, "I thought you were probably tired of hospital food." she began, "so I brought you a treat. Chocolate covered coconut...."

The End