WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE?
By Wendy Hislop

Part one

"Damn, paperwork," Chris grumbled to himself as he put the finishing touches to the files from the team's last three cases. He often wondered how Vin made it through the piles of paperwork with his dyslexia, when he himself struggled to get through the pile with no handicap at all. But he knew his young friend and fellow agent was nothing, if not resourceful, and stubborn. With a little help from Ezra and the others, he always managed to get the reports done somehow. Glancing up from his work, he noted that Vin's desk was still unoccupied. The sharpshooter was late back from lunch, which was unusual, but with all this paper work to finish, may be not unexpected.

Chris shivered as he felt an icy cold finger run up his back, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. Slipping another anxious look toward Vin's desk, he shrugged it off as he sighed and went back to work.

Having become immersed in the scattered files on his desk, Chris was startled by the ringing of the phone. Signing his signature to the last file, the agent was unpertubed as he answered the phone,

"Chris Larabee."

"What would you give?"

"Sorry? This Agent Chris Larabee of the ATF. Have you got the right number?"

"What would you give?" The voice repeated before the line went dead.

Chris frowned as he held on to the phone totally confused with the conversation he had just had. He was about to hang the phone up, when he glanced over to Vin's desk--it was still empty.

"Buck!" Chris called as he slammed the phone down and jumped up from his seat at the same time.

Wilmington knew that sound and was up out of his seat and in his friend's office before he could again. They had been friends for more years than he could remember and even though Vin Tanner had come to take a special place in his old friends, Buck was still there for him.

Buck stomach knotted when he saw the look on Chris's face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask, but he knew he needed to, "Chris? What is it, what's wrong?"

Something was wrong Larabee could feel it. He didn't know how to explain the link that he and Vin had, it had just been there from the first time they met. An unspoken bond that was instant compared to the long friendship that he had formed over time with Buck.

"Don't know Buck," Chris searched for the words he needed to explain his seemingly unfounded fears, "I just need to find Vin that's all. It's probably nothing." he tried reassure himself more than his friend.

Buck was as unconvinced as Chris was but said nothing as he backed out of the room to get the attention of the others.

"I believe that Agent Tanner's place of abode would be the best place to start. I am sure that he has assumed his white cape and is rescuing some poor citizen of Purgatorio as we speak," Ezra suggested, as the five men tried to work out the best strategy to finding their missing agent.

"He could have got caught up visiting Nettie. I mean after the flu bug she had, may be he went to check on how she was doing." JD jumped in.

"He did offer to deliver some lumber to the Cross Street Mission for me. He could be there." Josiah chimed in.

All the men had some selfless reason where Vin could be and why, but none would voice their worry that Vin would never had let that stop him from being late or calling in.

"Or he could be getting milk," Buck countered in frustration, "Damn Robin Hood!" he muttered as he tried to plan where to start. "Okay, JD you call Nettie, find out if he has been there. Josiah you take the mission." Glancing toward their leader's office Buck rubbed at his chin. "Chris would be the best to check out Vin's place, they trust him there, and it might give him somethin' to do cept twiddle his thumbs, worrin'."

Chris stood staring out his window at the street below. *Where the hell are you Vin?* The shrill ring of the phone jerked him back. "This better be you Tanner," he growled as he picked up.

"What would you give?" The same voice asked.

"What the Hell do you want?" Chris snapped at the stranger's voice.

"What would you give?" The line went dead in a repeat of the earlier call.

"Damn!" Chris cursed as he slammed down the phone. Just as the phone touched its base, it rang out again. Picking the handset up Larabee lurched into defense action. "Listen you bastard, I've had just--,"

"Agent Larabee?" Chris surprised Captain interrupted. "I hope that is not your usual procedure to answering phone calls from your office?" Captain Ash asked, his displeasure obvious in the lilt of his voice.

"No Sir. Sorry sir. A crank call. What can I do for you Captain?" Chris apologized as he paced around the desk impatiently

Chris heard the uncomfortable cough coming from down the line as the voice seemed to soften, "Chris, I have some bad news...."

Buck knocked on Chris's door, but getting no response, he let himself in. The desk was empty and he was wondering when and how Chris had managed to slip past them and leave. *Vin was teaching Chris all his tricks* About to leave himself and see if he could find the errant leader, he caught sight of a boot behind the desk.

Moving further into the room, he walked around the desk to find Chris sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. His face was grief-stricken to point that Buck thought he would throw up at the memories it conjured up in his mind.

"Chris? What's wrong?" Buck asked as he stooped down to his friend's level.

Chris didn't move, just stared blankly into space.

"Come on Pard, don't do this to me," Buck coaxed, even attempting a smile, but only managing to twist a corner of his mouth.

"His gone Buck," Chris' green eyes were dull and lifeless.

Buck tried to control his rising panic and he put his hand on to the white knuckled hands the gripping tightly at Larabee's knees. "Ain't gone, just misplaced that's all."

Neither men heard the five men enter and silently listening with growing fear from inside the door way.

"No," Chris shook his head, "They found him the river Buck. They killed him. They blew his face away and killed him." He raged as tears flowed down from the corners of his eyes. "God Buck, they killed him." He sobbed as Buck's arms enfolded around him.

Part Two

If it was possible for five men to feel the earth crumble under their feet at the same time, then this was it. None of the men could believe what they had just overheard. Only the look of devastation on their leader's face told them the truth that Chris believed it to be true. Vin was dead.

"Ez? Nathan? It's not true is it?" JD choked as he struggled to stop the tears that were threatening to let lose from his moist eyes.

Nathan moved closer to the young agent, his arm draped comfortingly over his shoulder as he battled his own emotions. "I- don't--," he couldn't go on.

Ezra let his body fall against the wall, as he was for once unable to find words to fully explain the pain of not only losing Vin, but seeing his friends in so much pain. <<Vin gone, he can't be>>

"Damn it Buck, I can't go through this again," Chris moaned into his friend's comforting shoulder.

Buck glanced over to the others and saw their faces were reading the same sense of shock and horror that he himself was feeling. Taking a deep breath, Wilmington pushed Chris back so he stared in the grief-stricken face. "Are they sure? There could have been a mistake." he asked clawing for any thread of hope he could.

"God Buck, don't you think I asked?" Chris' face stared back twisted in agony, "Ash said-- they found Vi--his jeep, his wallet, even described the clothes he was wearing." he whispered as his head fell back against the wall, his eyes closed. "I knew something was wrong Buck, I just knew it." he sighed.

Buck searched his friend's defeated frame and made his decision. "Well I don't know about you pard, but that might be good enough for you, but it ain't for me. You might be willing to give up on Vin, but I ain't!" he said as he stood up and waited for his friend to react.

"Buck!" Josiah censured as he moved toward to protect his already traumatized friend. "Enough!"

Glaring at the big man, Buck put his hand up to silence Josiah, "I ain't giving up on Vin not until I see it with my own eyes that he is gone," he said as he turned and looked down at Chris," and I would've thought that you of all people Chris Larabee would have more fight than to give up on Vin like this."

Buck's words hit their target as Chris flinched and leapt up from the floor. Grabbing hold of his old friend's shirt he angrily pushed him back against the room until he had Wilmington pressed against the far wall. "Vin's --dead-- hear me DEAD! I'm not giving up. He's gone!"

"And you're off the floor." Buck quietly stated as he slowly brought his hands up to circle Chris' wrists, gently plying his friend's fingers from his shirt. "If it is Vin then I want to know it all so we can get this *bastard*. Chris, we ain't going to find out anything sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves."

Chris shook his head as he looked at the others sadly, "I don't know if I can do this anymore Buck," casting his eyes toward Vin's empty desk, Chris took a deep breath, before stalking toward the doorway. "Lets go."

The scene at the lake was a mixture of the official and the curious. The team pushed their way through the crowd. None of the six could understand why people found some morbid fascination at watching the end of someone's life. Stepping under the yellow police tape, Chris nearly stumbled when he saw the black plastic of the body bag. He surprised himself to find his steps quickening as he realized Buck was right, he needed to see for himself that it was Vin.

The homicide detected looked up from his notebook to see six men making their way toward the murder scene. "What the--! Hey you!" the short, stubby detective called as he moved quickly to stop the men.

Chris glared at the detective, but didn't stop as he continued toward the body.

"Stop those men!" The detective called to the uniformed officers.

Four officers quickly rushed forward and blocked the team's way as the detective ran to join them. "And just what the hell do you think you are doing?!" he demanded of the trespassers.

"Agent Larabee ATF and that man over there is supposedly one of my men. We want to see him." Chris' voice quietly menaced.

The detective's blustering features softened a bit at the information, " I'm Detective Matthis. I am sorry agent Larabee. I'm sorry about your man, but the body has already been identified as one...??? " he glanced at the notebook.

"Vin Tanner," Buck finished for him. "We know that. We are here to make sure that *is* who it is."

The detective didn't like people pushing their way into his territory, but the looks on the six men's faces told him it would be less trouble if he agreed. "They were about to take your friend away. You can go and check on him, but don't touch anything. This is still a murder investigation and my case, understand?" he huffed before pausing. "He's not a pretty sight--your friend," he warned as he nodded to the uniform officers to let them past.

"Buck, I don't--," JD was part of the team, but he didn't know if he could stand this being the last sight if Vin he would remember.

Wilmington pressed his hand to the young agent's shoulder, reassuring him he understood. " It's okay kid, you wait here."

JD watched as his five friends continued on. He saw Buck lick at his dry lips as he readied himself to unzip the bag and continued his vigil as the others stood protectively around Chris as the bag was pulled open. The young agent's stomach lurched as he watch the tough Chris Larabee's shoulders hunch over as the three men crowded in closer to him. <<It was true>> He then observed something strange as Buck appeared to find interest in the feet of the body.

The younger man moved closer as he detected a change in his friends as they pointed and became suddenly animated.

"I don't believe it!" Buck smiled as he sighed in relief.

"Thank you Lord," Josiah seemed to whisper.

JD didn't want to go closer, but he wanted to know what was going on and he wasn't going to find out standing back here. "Buck? Is something wrong?" he asked as he tried to steer his eyes from the disfigured face.

The mustache curled up with Bucks broad grin. "It ain't him kid. IT AIN'T VIN!"

The detective could see the change in the atmosphere around the men and over heard the agent's rather loud statement. Moving in quickly he nodded to the body, "So, you are saying that this is not Vin Tanner?" he asked.

"You see Detective," Ezra jumped in to explain in relief, "When Mr. Tanner's mother delivered our friend she enumerated ten fingers and toes, and to this day Vin has been blessed with keeping everything he was born with. As you can see, sir, this poor unfortunate person is minus an extremity."

"Your body, he ain't got a piggy toe on his right foot," Buck translated for the nonplused detective.

Nathan had noticed that Chris showed no change in expression as he stared at the body and became worried for their leader. "Chris? Did you hear? It's not Vin," he gently reiterated thinking the good news hadn't sunk in yet.

Chris looked up from the body and looked at his friends one by one, "Then where the hell is he, and why is this body wearing his clothes?"

Part Three

The numbing darkness was lifting as Vin's awareness slowly returned. Forcing open his eyes, he was suddenly assaulted by a bright light. Squinting against the burning illumination, he tried to use his arms to shield his face, but found himself unable to move.

"What the hell?"

Glancing down, Vin was at last able to focus and he was not happy with what he could see. Naked except for his boxers, his wrist were chained to the cold steel chair that he was seemingly held prisoner in. Any attempts to move his lower limbs, proved just as futile proving that they seemed to be in the same condition. He tried to search his pounding head for the reason for his predicament and only found a hazy memory of a face.

*Glad to see you're awake, Mr. Tanner. I was beginning to think that she might have been a bit too enthusiastic with the drug. She does so love playing with new things.*

Vin was startled by the voice that sliced through the darkness, but the information it carried did manage to jog the sharpshooter's memory.

She had appeared to be distressed, her clothes ripped and tattered as she ran on to the road, forcing him to slam the brakes on his jeep. The hysterical woman was frantic as she pointed to the alley way, her cut lip and bruised face seemingly proof of a crime having taken place.

<<Help me!>> he remembered her crying out, <<My brother, he needs help. Oh God, help us.>> He had a vague memory of reaching for the radio and as he was about call 911, there was a sharp stabbing pain in his back and within seconds there was nothing.

<<Drugged>> "What do ya want?" He asked as he continued to pull at the chains that bound him.

"Please refrain from trying to free yourself, Mr.Tanner. It is hopeless and, you'll only hurt yourself and that's 'our' job."

"Yer Job? And what job would that be?" Vin demanded as he ignored the advice and continued to tug at the bonds.

There was an audible sigh from the darkness before the voice continued.

"You are a stubborn man, Mr. Tanner. Tell you what, let me call you Vin. I mean, Mr. Tanner is so formal."

"Formal? And here, I didn't bring my tux." Vin replied sarcastically as he tried to peer into the darkness. "What do ya want?" he asked again.

Another voice joined the first, both seemingly finding Vin very amusing.

"Oh you are going to be fun. As to what I want, well, the reason isn't all that important to you. You are a means to an end. Chris Larabee's end in fact."

<<Chris?>>Vin was suddenly distracted by the clicking noise and as the sound emerged from the dark, he squinted into the light to see the *helpless* woman break through the blackness. Her cold smile unnerved the sharpshooter as she walked toward him, her stilettos tapping on the cement floor.

"Glad to see you heal fast," Vin snarled at her, as he noted her blemish free face. "Gonna make knocking ya teeth down yer throat not so expensive for ya."

"Oooh don't pout Vin," the woman smiled as she slinked over to him, moving slowly around his chair. "So you fell for my damsel in distress routine," she purred, her long finger nails scratching their way across his back until she leant down and licked at his ear. "Being a gentleman is nothing to be ashamed of."

Vin hissed as he felt the nails break skin and threw his head sideways to avoid the warmth of stroking tongue.

She feigned disappointment as she looked up at the darkness. "Should I be offended? He doesn't like me," she grinned. "Ready hon'?" she asked as she ran her hand down Vin's arm to his fingers.

Glancing back at Vin, he noticed her nose crinkled as she smiled, "Say cheese," she said at the same time as she grab the middle finger of his left hand and pulled back until it snapped.

Part Four

Vin felt his skin crawl as the woman's hands ran down his arm before coming to rest on his fingers. He had an idea of what was coming and tried to prepare himself. Taking a deep breath, he tried to anticipate the pain as she gripped his finger and with an agonizing lack of speed, began to bend the digit back until the bone had no option but to break. Vin's preparation had not been enough.

Vin silently screamed as the bone tore free of muscles and snapped. Panting, he clenched his teeth, only allowing his body the barest of flinches in acknowledgment of the pain as he defied his captors. If all this was to get to at Chris in some way, then he was damned if he was going to give them what they wanted.

Discouraged by the lack of sound emanating from their prisoner, Anna entwined her fingers in Vin's long hair and painfully yanked his head back. "Listen blue eyes," she whispered coldly into his ear, "it's not you we're after, you are just a means to an end. So stop playing hero. It hurts, I know it does. I just broke your fucking finger-- and I'm still playing nice."

"Well, " Vin argued as he tried to tense his neck as she pulled harder on his hair. "I didn't--ask to play yer game, so--I don't have to--play by--yer rules." he retorted breathlessly.

"Willing, or not blue eyes, you're going to play," she hissed as she viciously shoved his head forward.

Chris looked up from the body and looked at his friends one by one, "Then where the hell is he, and why is this body wearing his clothes?"

"Exactly what I would like to know, agent Larabee." Detective Mathis interrupted.

Still stunned from his exhausted emotions being tossed from one extreme to another, Chris frowned as he tried to fathom out the detectives meanings as he still struggled over Vin's whereabouts. "Meaning?!"

"Come on Agent Larabee," Mathis seemed perplexed, "Your a cop. Don't tell me you got where you are by being stupid?" Engrossed in the body, and in making his point, he missed the glare that shot from Larabee's eyes.

"We have a body, that was set up for all intense and purposes to be taken as the body of one Vin Tanner. Who has anything to gain from this scenario? Only person comes to mind-- one Vin Tanner." Mathis finished triumphantly.

"Excuse me sir," Ezra jumped in, "Are insinuating that our brother officer and gentlemen, Mr. Vin Tanner, not only assassinated this poor individual, but arranged for him to be discovered, so that the fore mentioned Mr. Tanner could vanish without a trace?"

"If the shoe fits," Mathis responded.

"That's just the point!" Chris scowled at the detective as he took a step, to be closely followed by Nathan, who was ready to save Mathis, should the need arise. "The--shoe--doesn't--FIT. Talking of stupid! How stupid do you think a trained police officer would be to try and disappear and leave this obvious clue to the body's identity?" Chris snarled as he pointed to the foot with the missing toe.

Mathis wasn't going to give in that easy, "Maybe it was as close as he could get, given his time frame. Maybe he didn't notice until it was too late? Maybe...,"

"Maybe *detective*, someone wanted us to think it was Vin." Chris tossed in his own explanation.

"Well, as good a theory as mine agent Larabee. We'll just have to find your Mr. Tanner and see what he has to say won't we?" Mathis condescended as he started to walk away.

"Opprobrious jackass!" Ezra mumbled,

"Exactly." Josiah agreed with a encouraging hand to the southerner shoulder.

Stopping in his tracks, Mathis turned, searching the six men faces, "Of course you will let me know if Mr. Tanner contacts you, so we straighten this little puzzle out?"

"You'll be on the list." Chris snarled.

"Yeah, last!" Buck added contemptuously, stepping around to stand beside Chris.

Mathis ignored the last comment as he walked away, knowing he had made his point to the agents, whether they agreed with him, or not.

Part Five

With his head on a constant swivel, alternating from the road ahead, to the silent man sitting beside him, Buck drove back toward the ATF building. The elation they had been feeling at finding out that the body that had been found had been wrongly identified as Vin's, had been replaced by out-right fear as to what had actually become of their friend. They had just come from checking Vin's apartment, they had known, even before checking Purgatorio, that the sharpshooter had not been there, but Chris had insisted that they try.

Buck, like the others had no idea what had happened to their fellow team member, but unlike the others, he had dreaded something like this happening again. The look of despair that now masked his friend's face was a look, he had never wanted to see twice in one lifetime. It was the past slapping him across the face as he watched the older man in turmoil over the questions of Tanner's fate.

It might have mattered to Buck once, that Vin had replaced him to stand at his friends side, but in the first heartbeat as he had watched the two men answer each other's questions seemingly without the need for words, he knew it was meant to be. Vin had given Chris that invisible thread of connection to someone that had been missing since his wife and son had died, for that, Wilmington would be eternally grateful to the sharpshooter.

"You okay, pard?" A stupid question, Buck had decided, but it was conversation, and conversation was better than the silence that gave Chris time to think.

"Sure," Chris answered as he looked out the window of the car, "I'm fine, but I'm not the one missing am I? Damn it, where is he?" He knew his friend didn't have any answers anymore than he did himself, but he couldn't help himself. Hounding Buck for answers to unanswerable questions was better than smashing his fist through the car window in frustration.

Buck shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with his past, his bounty hunting days?" He offered an abstract thought.

"No," Chris dismissed Buck's idea, "If it had been that, I'm sure the body we found would have been Vin's. He's alive Buck, I know it."

"Oh Hell Chris, ya were so sure he was dead, just hours ago. What's changed?" Buck asked as he played Devil's advocate with his friend.

Glaring at Buck, Chris remembered the scene he had pulled in his office. "I just know. I reacted with my heart, instead of my head earlier, that won't happen again." Larabee's eyes turned hard, "That won't save Vin. Whoever has him," his voice was like ice as his hand balled into a fist, "for whatever reason is playing some twisted game. I just hope we figure out what the name of that game is, before it's too late."

The six men rode the elevator in silence, each painfully aware of the gap that their missing team mate made in their group. JD opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind when he realized that voicing his frustration would not help. The ride continued in silence.

When their floor was reached, the doors opened and the six men started down the corridor to their offices.

"Agent Larabee. I have some messages for you," One of the floors secretaries called as she stood and walked around her desk to hand the agent the notes she had taken. "Captain Ash in particular asked that you call him as soon as you returned." Looking at the group, she was disappointed that the handsome brunette agent was absent and was even more than a little put out that Agent Wilmington wasn't making his usual passes at her.

"Thanks, Laura." Chris smiled halfheartedly as he took the offered messages and casually flicked through them.

"Oh, hang on, I forgot," Laura said as she leaned back over her desk to pick up a large envelope. "This was delivered for you."

Taking the package, Chris studied the envelope, finding something the size of videotape inside. "Who delivered this?" He asked as something started to knot in his stomach.

Laura shrugged as she tried to remember. It had been a busy day a lot of messages came and went. "I'm not sure, Agent Larabee. I received four mail drops today, all destined for different sections of the department. It could have been in anyone of them. Why? Is there something wrong?" She asked, finding herself talking to thin air as the agents moved quickly down the hallway.

Throwing open the conference doors, Chris stalked over to the video equipment as he pulled the tape from the envelope.

"Chris!" Buck asked as he followed close behind, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Ezra entered last, closing the doors behind him, making sure that the group's privacy would be protected.

"Chris, Damn it! Talk to us," Buck demanded as he watched his friend shove the video into the machine.

"I do believe we shall have our answers shortly, brother," Josiah said, sounding calmer than he was actually feeling.

The static screen blared into the silent conference room before clearing to show a darken room. There was a collective intake of breath as light appeared to light a lone figure seemingly strapped to a chair.

"Vin!" Chris whispered under his breath.

"Bastard!" Buck snarled.

"Thank the lord, he's alive," Josiah prayed out-loud.

They all watched with some degree of relief as Vin struggled to consciousness.

"That's it Vin, you can do it," Ezra whispered mumbled encouragement from the back of the room. "Show them just what a Tanner is made of."

The camera zoomed in, until Chris could make out the confusion in Vin's blue eyes as he tried to comprehend what was happening to him. Larabee found himself joining in his young friend's struggle as Vin realized that he was being held against his will and attempted to wrestle free from the cofines that held his arms and legs. He continued to watch as Vin began to apparently talk to someone off screen, though with no sound Chris couldn't make out the words that were being spoken.

"That explains how the body happened to be wearing Vin's clothes," Nathan said as he cast a clinical eye over Vin's partially naked body. He was somewhat pleased that Vin seemed to be basically unharmed and just hope he stayed that way.

The shrill ringing of the telephone, brought everyone but Chris out of their shocked stupor. As he was nearest to the phone, Nathan answered, reaching for the hand-set without taking his eyes off the monitor. His face paled as he listened to the voice on the other end. "Chris, you'd better take this," Nathan said as he held out the phone.

"Not now Nathan!" Chris snapped as he stared into the screen.

"NOW, Chris. He wants to know how you liked his gift."

Chris leant across the table, snatching the phone from Nathan's hand. "You Sonofabitch!" He cursed into the phone, never once taking his eyes off Vin.

Ezra went straight into action and ran from the room to order a trace on the phone call.

"You haven't answered my question, Larabee, what would you give?"

"If you've so much as--,"

"What? Hurt a hair on your friend's head? Keep watching Larabee, I've just started." The voiced hissed as the line went dead.

Chris slammed the phone down, just as a digitally blurred figure grabbed at Vin's hand and pulled, breaking the sharpshooter's finger.

"I've just started." The voiced echoed in Chris' head as the camera zoomed into Vin's pain wracked eyes, "I've just started."

Part Six

Vin found himself suddenly awake and searching for air, as he was woken from an apparent sleep by ice cold water hitting his near naked body.

"Can't have you nodding off there Hon'," the voice the sharpshooter had come to hate crooned. "Anyway, it was time for your bath." She chuckled.

Vin's hands began to curl into fists, when his left hand reminded him of his broken finger. Clenching his teeth from the pain and the cold, he tried to stop himself from shivering. If he had thought he was cold before, the water made sure he would never be warm again.

"What a brave little soldier you are. Not a sound, not a whimper." She smiled as she stooped down in front of him. "So brave and so handsome, and those eyes," she sighed as she ran a finger lightly over his cheek.

Vin kept silent as he tried to move his head away from her touch.

"You don't have to like me, but you can at least be civil," she snapped as she moved closer. Leaning her head to the side, she stared intently into Vin's face with an all-knowing smile.

With the best of intentions not to show any emotion to his torturer, Vin was still unnerved by her glare. Determined not to look away, he winced as he felt pressure on the top of his foot. Pressure that soon deepened into agony as something seemed to be trying to bore it's way into his flesh.

She pushed harder on her foot, twisting and grounding the pointed stiletto into her stoic captive's bare foot. Her heart raced as she watched his face, waiting for the moment when he would crack and scream as her deliberately honed shoe broke flesh to meet bone. But as she stared into the brilliant blue eyes, all she saw was pained defiance.

"Damn you!" She cursed as lips curled back, baring her teeth to him. "I'll have you on your knees begging," she promised as she slammed all her weight on the one shoe, embedding the heel into Vin's foot.

Vin expelled an audible gasp of air as he felt the object break skin and bore into his foot. His senses went into over drive as his body reacted to the cold and pain that was being inflicted on him and he violently shivered, but still managed to remain silent.

"Oops," she giggled, "I dropped my shoe, silly me. I'd better put it back on." She grinned. "A person could get hurt in bare feet, you know that Vin?" She wasn't pleased with the reaction she had gotten from Tanner, but at least it was a reaction. Palming her hand against Vin's cheek, she slowly ran her hand down his neck, traveling further down his wet and heaving chest. Slowly she moved down, never breaking eye contact with the hate-filled eyes, until she reached his feet. Grabbing hold of the body of the stiletto, Holly began cruelly grinding it into the now bloody foot.

"My father taught me this trick. He always said the stiletto was the best weapon for a lady against attack, though I did redefine his idea's a bit," she explained as she slowly pulled the heel from Vin's foot. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," she clicked as she shook her head. "Look at that," she said pointing to the bloody shoe. "Really! You have ruined a perfectly good heel. Oh well," she shrugged as she put the shoe down and stepped back into it.

"Ain't ya gettin' tired of this shit yet?" Vin croaked.

"Tired? No, it's too much fun." She answered in all seriously.

"What do ya want?"

"I *want* a lot of things, Mr. Tanner," she replied licking her lips. "But mostly I want the head of the 'great' Chris Larabee and you're going to get it for me."

"Never happen," Vin stated the simple truth.

Vin's captor put her hands on his bound arms and used them as leverage to lean in close to the bound man's ear, "Oh yes you will. By the time we are finished with you," she whispered. "You will be pleading for Larabee to save you. You will beg, Vin."

Trying to control his shaking body, Vin managed to smile, "I ain't begged for nothin' in my life and I ain't about to start now. Ya might as well just kill me and get it over with. Yer gonna do it anyways." The smile faded with his oath. "I'll never let you use me to get to Chris."

"You know the really sad thing is, you really think you have a choice," She giggled, her tongue whipping out to lick Vin's cheek.

Part Seven

"Well?" The male part of partnership asked as the woman left the room slamming the door behind her.

"Well, what Marcus? You've been watching the monitor haven't you? Taking it all down in glorious color," she snarled kicking off her shoes.

"No need to be pissed at me Hol', I'm not the one that didn't fall for your not so subtle charms," Marcus chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" She continued to rant. "I told you we should' ve taken Dunne. I would've had him crying for his mommy by now, but no, you wanted Tanner." She argued as she picked up her bloodied stiletto. She curled her lips back in disgust at the agent's blood that now stained the heel, "Damn it, and to top it off, there goes a perfectly good pair of shoes," she whined as she tossed the bloody high-heel against the far wall.

"You know why we took Tanner. If he and Larabee were any closer they'd be blood and you know to make a man bleed to death, you must cut through to his heart." Marcus venomously countered. "Anyway, if I remember correctly Hol', the thought of getting your hands on Vin Tanner wasn't exactly unappealing to you."

"Well," Holly sighed as she forgot her anger and thought of the pretty blue eyes. "He is handsome," Her mouth slowly parted, her tongue snaking across her lipstick red lips as she reached out to run her finger down cohort's chest, "But Marcus, he takes all the fun out of it." She pouted. "He refuses to do what I want and show us his pain in those pretty blues of his. You know I need to see it, to feel it!"

"Don't worry babe, we'll break him and you'll get what you need. We'll break them all." Marcus promised as he lifted Holly's wandering finger to his lips and kissed its tip. "It's early days yet. Tanner's hard-ass facade can't last forever," he crowed, a fanatical gleam in his eyes.

Holly already turned on by the pain she had inflicted on the agent, "Especially when it's your turn, hey babe?" She asked as she moved in closer, rubbing her groin into Marcus's eager body.

"Damn you're a sick woman," Marcus smiled as he leaned in to plunder her mouth with his own.

Grinding her body against Marcus, Holly kissed him back before bringing her teeth down hard on his bottom lip.

"Damn it Hol', save that shit for Tanner!" Marcus growled as he put his finger to his bleeding lip.

"Why should he have all the fun?" She smiled demurely before leaning in and licking the blood from Marcus's lips.

With an exasperated laugh, Marcus gently pushed her away as he pulled a syringe from his pocket. "For now, we have work to do. I think Vin needs a new perspective, something to brighten up his new and drab existence."

With a malicious smile, Holly took the syringe lifting the cover to bare its needle to the light. About to start for the room, she felt her arm suddenly grabbed from behind. "You're hurting me," she snapped as she spun around to glare at Marcus.

"Yeah and I'll hurt more if you get carried away. Tanner's no good to us dead, or zoned. We need him to feel everything," Marcus warned. "Remember, just enough to put him on the edge. We need.'you' need his pain Hol'."

"And we'll have it," Holly replied, a smile returning to her face as she eased her arm from Marcus grip. "And Chris Larabee's."

Part Eight

"Have you been here all night?"

The voice startled Chris out of his exhausted slumber, dragging him out of a nightmare that he hoped he had only dreamed. "Wha..."

Rubbing his eyes with the base of his hands, he slid his feet off the settee. The disheveled agent's dull green eyes eventually cleared enough for him to make out his visitor. "Captain," he nodded as he dragged himself to his feet.

"I asked if you've been here all night?" Ash repeated as he walked the rest of the way into his agent's office. "But I guess that's a stupid question, seeing as I just had to dodge the odd set of sprawled legs in the outer office. Hasn't anyone got a home to go to?" He asked in a weak attempt to lighten the mood. "Anymore calls?"

"Nothing," Chris closed his eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess they want us to sweat the video out for awhile."

"And still no idea who's doing this?" Ash's brow furrowed.

"No idea, just that they want something from us and they're using Vin to get it." Chris sighed as he stretched his legs and walked to the window. "I'd give them want they want if they'd just tell me."

"And what if it's you they want?"

Chris swung around, glaring at Ash. "They'd have me in a heartbeat." Chris answered unreservedly. "Any of us would give our life for Vin, as he would for us."

"I don't know Chris," Ash joined Chris by the window. "Maybe that's what makes your team the best, but maybe that's your weakest link. Whoever this is, he knows which strings to pull and if you give him what he wants, you'll be opening the flood gates for this type of attack to happen again."

"Damn it, what do you what us to do?" Chris demanded of his boss. "Have you seen the tape at all?!" Stalking to his desk, the irate agent pulled open a draw and taking out the tape, tossed on the desk "Look at it!" He snarled as stared Ash down. "Vin's hurting and they are just getting started. Unless we find out where they are, or give them what they want, they're going to kill him."

"What makes you think they won't anyway?" Ash replied playing devil's advocate. "You know how this works, just as well as Vin does." Pausing, Ash continued softly. "Playing Devil's advocate here Chris, he could be dead already."

Chris closed his eyes at the thought, his voice barely audible in reply. "He's not."

"Chris?"

The ATF leader's tired eyes sprang open, the determined green orbs blazing, "He's not!"

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Wrapping the last of the copper wire around the unconscious agent's arms and legs, Marcus then attached the alligator clips before letting his fingers trail wires down to the transformer. He had to make sure that everything was right, after all they didn't want to kill him, not just yet anyway.

The first charge ripped into agent's unconsciousness, jerking the Texan's arms and legs even before he had registered the pain. The next, lancing through seemingly every muscle and sinew of his body, attacking nerves until they appeared to be on fire.

"Awake yet Vin?" Marcus asked as he turned the switch again.

Vin's eyes flew open as the electricity sent his whole body convulsing in the chair. Rigid clawing fingers stretched from twitching arms and as his legs went into spasms and pushed against their restraints Vin couldn't control the scream as he felt himself cooking inside his skin. He had never felt anything like this pain in his life.

Vin was still gasping for air, when the painful surges abruptly stopped. With the sound of his heart beating in his ears, and sweat bleeding from every pore of his body, he collapsed bonelessly in the chair. Hands that had been only moments before stretched in silent agony now hung limp and trembling at the ends of the chair arms.

"Seemed to have had a slight accident, there Tanner," Marcus smirked as he enjoyed the sight of the ATF agent sitting in his own waste. "You're lucky you only pissed yourself, jolts as big as these have been known to tear through tendons and break cartilage's."

"F.f.fuck you," Vin managed to gasp as he struggled to calm his body that continued to shake uncontrollably.

"No," Marcus glared at the agent. "Fuck you Tanner, fuck you and your whole fucking team. Chris Larabee is going to regret the day he passed me over."

Part Nine

Opening the door to the Federal building, the young uniformed police officer yielded way to allow a young woman to exit, before entering. Heading straight to the front desk, he smiled, offering the package he carried for inspection to security as he showed his ID and walked through the metal detectors. "Can you tell me what floor I can find Agent Larabee and his team?" He asked as he took back the now secured parcel.

"You'll find Team Seven on floor four, Officer..... Lane," the officer explained as he checked the ID and gestured to the elevators.

"Thank you sir."

Making his way to the elevators the young officer nodded politely to off loading passengers before boarding the conveyor and pushing the button for the fourth floor.

@@@@@@@@@@@@

"This is impossible," JD snapped out-loud as he lost his patience and pushed the keyboard away. Endless hours of eye blurring and files of completely useless information and he was still no closer to finding Vin. Looking down at his ten perfect fingers, JD unconsciously shuddered at the memory of seeing the disguised figure on the video, pull back and break the Texan's finger and wondered how Vin had stopped himself from screaming. His anger at the torture, his friend was being forced to endure was festering into rage, knowing that the animals that had him, were not finished. "Shit!" He cursed as he leapt from the chair and stalked to the water dispenser.

"Our young friend seems to need to hear some encouraging words," Ezra said as he watched JD staring morosely into his cup of water. The Southerner wished he could say something, but he couldn't, his was fighting his own desperate battle. <Caring isn't worth all this pain> He argued with himself.

Buck sighed as he tried to find the words to help JD. He knew how much the younger agent respected the sharpshooter, he was forever having to listen to, Vin taught me this, Vin taught me that. The ladies man found himself somewhat usurped at times by the shadow of the outdoor Texan, who could hunt and fish. Hell, Buck would swear the way JD talked, that Vin could kill a grizzly bear with his bare hands. Realizing how jealous he sounded, Buck shook his head as he slowly pushed himself up from the chair. There was nothing any of them could do, but hope.

Josiah watched as Buck walked up to their youngest agent and began to coax JD to talk. Why hadn't he been the one. He was the one that knew the right words that were supposed to help in situations like this. But how could he comfort others when all he had in his heart was a burning rage to choke the life out of the so-called 'people' who were doing this; the finality of death was far too pleasant a gift to impart to these animals.

How long could Vin last? Nathan sat at his desk, his mind busy cataloging the injuries and their consequences. Hypothermia, shock, a broken bone and puncture wound. <Okay, not healthy, but not life threatening yet> Vin was strong, he was the probably the fittest agent on the team, he out of all of them could survive, he was too stubborn not to.

"Excuse me, Can you tell me where I can find Agent Larabee?"

Five sets of eyes turned toward the voice.

"I have something I was told to give him."

Part Ten

"And just what would that be?" An exhausted Chris asked harshly from the doorway of his office. He didn't care who this officer was, or what he wanted, but the ominous sight of the video size package grasped in the policeman's hand was enough for the ATF leader to have to ask the question. Chris was tired and so past desperate, he was sliding headlong into despair.

The blonde agent had a fair idea of what was inside the parcel and wanted nothing more than to rip it from the officer's hands and hurl it out the window sight unseen. Why should he give Vin's tormentors the satisfaction of giving them what they wanted, while the team could nothing but watch helplessly, as their friend went through the agonies of Hell? But Chris needed to will himself to watch, maybe in knowing that the team would see the tape, Vin wouldn't feel so alone.

Who was he kidding? No matter how much Chris wanted to believe that Vin would garner some inner strength from knowing they were doing everything to find him, a man could stand only so much.

"I'm Officer Lane sir and I was told to put this in Agent Chris Larabee hands only," the young officer replied, wilting under the glares of the six men.

"Well your looking at him," Chris replied, locking eyes with the young officer as held his hand out for the package, the ATF leader had a fleeting sense of recognition, before the feel of the parcel sucked it away.

"And just who told you to pass this on to Agent Larabee?" Buck asked the young officer as he watched Chris flinch as he took the parcel.

"I was instructed by a fellow officer just not far from here to bring this to you and place it in your hands sir," the officer answered to Chris.

"This officer have a name?" Buck continued to delve for information as he kept a concerned eye on his friend.

"Officer Carvell was his name sir," the young man answered professionally.

"You're telling us that a police officer that you did not know, walked up to you, handed you a package and asked you to deliver it to a federal building and you just did what he asked, no questions?" Nathan asked incredulously.

"No sir," the officer replied with a strenuous shake of his head. "He had correct ID and also explained to me with some urgency, that a Federal Agent's life was on the line. After stressing the need for you to receive this evidence and his reasons for not being able to do so himself, I followed all security procedures before bringing this to you sir."

"Breathe, son," Josiah tried to calm the seemingly over-awed officer.

An uneasy smile of gratitude passed over the officer as he took a deep breath and waited for the inquisition to continue.

"Would you be able identity this 'Officer Carvell' again?" JD asked with a hint of hope that this police officer could lead them to Vin's captors.

"Yes sir, I believe I can," the officer replied.

"Take a seat Officer.....Lane wasn't it?" Buck gestured to a chair. "We'll be with you shortly."

Heading toward the conference room, the team took a collective breath as Chris opened the package and slipped the now all too familiar video into the machine.

Officer Lane waited for the team to disappear around the corner, before quickly getting to his feet and following them. Turning the corner he was just in time to see the conference door shut and checking to make sure he was alone, moved silently to the door. Gently taking hold of the handle, Lane's bit his bottom lip as he carefully turned the knob. He knew the six men would be far more interested in the screen than in what was going on behind them.

Unable able to see directly into the room, Lane still managed to see the face of the one that was important, Chris Larabee and he waited.

@@@@@@@@@@

The screen flickered for a moment before Vin's seemingly lifeless form came into view.

"God, he looks terrible," JD accidently gave voice to his thoughts.

"But he's still breathin' and that's all that matters," Buck attempted to find some hope in what seemed like a hopeless situation.

"What's he doing to Vin?" JD asked fearfully as he watched a digitally blurred figure moving busily around the sharpshooter's legs before disappearing off screen.

"Oh Lord," Josiah whispered, having a good idea by the wires attached to Vin's body what was about to happen.

The six men gasped in unison as they watched Vin's body suddenly lurch into spasms, his fingers seemingly pleading to them for help by clawing at the air as the electricity surged through his body.

As Vin's scream shattered six hearts, six men stopped breathing.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Damn it Hol' dial the fucking number!" Lane cursed under his breath as he watched from the doorway

Part Eleven

Unable to continue watching the gut churning scene on the monitor any longer, JD leapt to his feet, violently shoving his chair behind him before stalking to the window as the last sound of Vin's tortured screams died away. How could the others just sit there, watching as Vin suffered like that? Closing his eyes to the view outside, JD tried to dam back his emotions, but as his friend's tormented cries echoed in his mind, tears escaped from under their confinement and slipped down his face.

Grey eyes now hued with darkening storm clouds, watched the young agents movements, before reluctantly turning their attention back to harrowing show in which their sharpshooter starred. Feeling sick to his stomach and being the closest to the screen, as soon as the tape had run its course Buck stood, punching the control button to deaden the screen before joining his friend at the window.

"You okay kid?"

Forever seen as the young cub of the group, JD always felt the need to prove himself as a worthy member of the ATF. He knew he was part of the team and he was never treated as anything else, but with youth came the inevitable burden of insecurity. At times when thing effected him, he would try and conceal his emotions, falsely believing that to the others, it would show weakness, but as he turned to face the older man, JD made no effort to hide his tears this time. "Never seen--How could someone do that to another person, Buck?

"I don't know how kid," Buck answered his voice catching in his throat as he struggled with his own emotions. "They're gutless cowards, and lost any right to breathe air the minute they made a game out of torturing another human being."

"But he's more than just another human being Buck, it's Vin."

Buck glanced over to Chris, hunched over in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees, seemingly staring at the white knuckled fingers that had tightly entwined his hands into one fist. To anyone that didn't know the blonde, they would say his lack of action meant that he was unmoved by what he had seen. Buck knew better. He had only seen this pure inner fury once before and had hoped never to be a witness to seeing Chris suffer through it again. Though the ATF leader's body may to a casual observer appear still, inside was maelstrom of rage that when released would destroy all in its path.

Hoping a touch of hand on JD's shoulder would comfort the young agent; Buck looked helplessly around the room. "I know kid. We all know." Buck sighed.

The shattering tone of the phone was of no surprise to the six stunned men, nor the swiftness and ferocity of Chris's actions as he snatched the receiver from its cradle.

'What would you give?'

"I'm going to kill you!" Chris coldly swore at the amused voice before the line went dead. For not the first time, the ATF leader's impotence made itself known as he slammed the receiver down. "Fucking sonofabitch!"

No one in the room doubted Chris's cold and murderous promise.

Ezra stood at the back of the room, a position he tended to guard for the distance he believed it allowed him. Never really feeling like a full-blooded member of the team, and yet knowing he himself was mostly at fault for the situation, he had however felt a connection with the Texan. Whether it was a mirror of a lonely childhood they both suffered, or in some small way an intangible link like the one the young man had with their leader, the Southerner didn't know. All he did know for certain was that he joined Chris Larabee in hoping he would be allowed to reap some measure of justice.

Needing to feel close to the others, Ezra pushed himself from the wall and was about to join the rest of the team when he noticed that the conference door was ajar. Moving quietly, he grabbed the handle and yanked open the door to reveal a surprised Officer Lane leaning in the doorway. "Something we can do for you *officer*?" Ezra demanded with less than his usual Southern manners.

The young policeman looked flustered as six sets of cold eyes turned to the intruder.

"I--I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," Lane's feigned embarrassment quickly covering his satisfaction at being able to enjoy first hand the benefits of his labors. He had started to panic when Holly hadn't made the schedule call, but the phone's tone had at last signaled the next part of the game. As his father used to say, 'nothing like rubbing salt in the wound as you're making the cut'. "I was wondering how much longer you might be? I have to get back to my precinct." He asked as he stepped into the room

"As long as it takes!" Chris answered sharply as he continued to scrutinize the young officer. There was something about the young man that was familiar. "Have we met before today?"

"No sir," Lane lied as he nodded toward the empty package. "Did it help? Whatever was in the package I mean, did it help?"

Distracted with the mention of the tape and everything he had seen, Chris physically winced as he forgot about the faint trace of recognition and brought his mind back to what was important. Ignoring the officer's question, the disconcerted man called the younger agent over. "Take Lane and get all the details he can remember about the officer who gave him the tape and don't let him go until you've picked his brain clean, you hear me?"

Taking a couple of deep breaths, JD nodded and led the uniformed officer from the room.

Lane stopped at the doorway and turned back, "Don't know what this is all about, but if I can help," he added a smile. "I will."

Ezra stepped to the door and watched the two young men walking down the hallway. Something wasn't right about this man. One thing his often absent mother had taught him was to identify a fellow deceiver and there was something definitely left of center with this so-called 'Officer Lane'. Glancing back at Chris, the Southerner took his chance and slipped out the doorway with the intention of finding out more about this helpful young man.

Part Twelve

The cool and desperately needed liquid that was now sliding down his throat suddenly hastened Vin's gradual crawl back to awareness. Gulping greedily at the thirst quenching fluid, the injured agent drank too fast and began to choke. Coughing and spluttering, Vin finally managed to dislodge the liquid from his throat so he could suck in the much more necessary life-giving oxygen.

"Ungrateful bastard!"

Vin felt a stinging blow to his cheek and even though he no longer felt he had any control over his battered and shaking body, he still managed with some effort to pry his eyelids open. He then watched with some satisfaction through the gap of his heavy-laden eyelids as his female tormentor apparently attempted to clean his exhaled liquid from her clothes.

Brushing at the damp spot that marred her tight red sweater, the brunette pushed her hair back from her eyes, and noticed for the first time that her actions were being watched.

"Don't look so smug." Holly allowed her eyes to savor the trembling frame of the weakened agent. "I'm not the one sitting in my own piss now am I?" She gloated over Vin.

"T-think that w-worries m-me?" Vin struggled to speak as he tried to contain his body's tremors.

Holly studied the agent's face more intently than she had since they had taken him, wondering what made this man so stubborn against everything they had put him through. "What does worry you Fed? Does anything get through that thick skull of yours? I don't think you have any brains in that head of yours at all, you know that." She began to rage at Vin. "You don't even have the sense to call for help when you're dying, and anyway you look at it, you are a dead man."

"E-every--everyone d-dies," Vin stuttered as his teeth clicked against the cold air on his naked skin.

Reaching to grab a handful of Vin's hair, Holly's nails scrapped at Vin's scalp as she yanked his head back. "Some fucking sooner than others, isn't that right Fed?"

"W-watch--y-yer own hour--gl--ass l-ady," Vin managed to squeeze his voice from his constricted throat.

Holly released Vin's hair, rubbing his scalp as she walked around to the back of the chair. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" She asked as she leant down to pick up her surprise from under Vin's chair. "Am I supposed to be scared?"

"N-no t-threat--promise," Vin faltered as he struggled to stay alert.

"From you?" Holly smirked as she moved back around to face Vin. "I don't think so. Bit hard to be seen as a threat when you're a cripple." She smiled as she swung the weapon she had just acquired and smashed it against Vin's lower leg.

Vin's scream of agony echoed through the room until it died away as he passed out from the pain.

With her breasts heaving with the excitement Holly listened to the lyrics of pain that she had managed to evoke from the agent. Shaking fingers fondled the baseball bat as she licked her lips, silently urging Marcus to hurry back from his meeting so she could find a release for her excitement and wishing Tanner was awake so she could hear his pain again and again ringing in her ears.

Part Thirteen

Lane watched with silent gratification at the morose and downcast features of the young agent walking beside him. The young man's efforts to hide his misery failed terribly as every pain inflicted on Vin Tanner was worn in kind on his fellow ATF teammates faces.

"I don't mean to pry, Agent--?"

"Agent Dunne," JD replied as he gestured at the chair opposite of his desk for the officer to take a seat.

Taking the offered seat, Lane cast a more analytical eye over the young agent. He couldn't help thinking that maybe Holly had been correct after all, when she had suggested Dunne for their target, he would have been a much easier egg to crack than the stubborn Texan. In fact for someone who hadn't suffered any of the physical pains of his friend the young man still managed to carry every second of Tanner's agony in his hazel eyes.

"As I was saying Agent Dunne, I don't mean to pry, but I couldn't help notice the obvious distress that the package I delivered has caused you all. And I'm so sorry for my interruption back there," Lane apologized as he looked back toward the hallway from where they had just come. " I was waiting for a good time to let you know that I was present, but I can see now that there is never a good time to interrupt something like that. What that man was enduring was-- horrific."

JD looked up for the first time, seeing only concerned in the uniformed officer's face, "That man is an ATF Agent, and one of the best."

"Oh, one of yours. Then I really am sorry." Lane said sadly as he shook his head. "How animals like that could be breathing, let alone be free on our streets is--," he paused, apparently shaken.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll find him. So you think the officer I took the package from could had have something to do with this? I'd hate to think that I have in some way become a partner in this."

'Well, Officer Lane that is what where here to find out." JD said as he took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on what was so far their only clue. "Now, just what did the officer look like?"

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Ezra watched the two men from the corridor. He still couldn't put his finger on what the problem that he had with the young officer that had brought the tape to them, but he just knew something wasn't right. With Vin's abductors seemingly no closer to sharing the reason for their senseless torture and with the sharpshooter quickly running out of time, the Southerner was willing to run a check on the director of the ATF, if it would get Vin out of the Hell hole he was in.

Slipping unnoticed past the two men, Ezra moved quietly into Chris's office and closed the door. He wasn't sure what the ATF leader would think about him borrowing his room and his computer, but he needed the privacy and needed to know why Officer Lane unsettled him so much.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"What would I give?" Chris's voice was barely audibly as he sat slumped in his chair, his elbows resting on the conference table as his hands rubbed at his exhausted face. "I'd give them the fuckin' world if they'd only ask for it."

"They don't want anything, other than what they are already getting Brother," Josiah said as he took the seat beside his stressed leader. "They seem to want you to suffer and you are."

"So what are you saying Josiah," Buck angrily retorted. "We just stand around and wait for these sick hallmark moments to arrive and instead of wanting to wring some bastards neck, we look happy about it and that way he doesn't get what he wants?"

"Buck," Nathan sighed as he took a seat opposite the others. "Josiah didn't mean it that way and you know it. Now sit your ass down before you fall down. We're all exhausted and none of us are thinking too straight."

Sliding his fingers through his hair, Buck nodded as he took a seat. "Sorry Josiah, didn't mean to take it out on you and you're right I know that, but Vin's running out of time. God," the mustached agent groaned as his feeling of helplessness had him leaving his chair and pacing the room again. "I've never felt so damn helpless in my life."

"I have," the despair in the blonde man's voice was a sign of a stirring of ghosts. "And I don't want going back to feeling that way again."

Everyone in the room knew Chris was referring to the bomb that had taken his wife and son and no one, even his oldest friend Buck ever spoke of that time. It was always that silent horror that no one wanted the ATF leader to relive.

Buck stopped his pacing and with his hands on the table leaned over toward his friend. "None of us wants to go there, Chris. We'll get him back, I promise you we will."

"What happened to all that 'helplessness' you were feeling?" Chris asked.

"I just remembered who these guys are dealing with," Buck smiled with renewed confidence in their friend's ability to survive. "No matter what, Junior's just too damn stubborn to let these bastards beat him."

"And one ornery Texan when he's riled," Nathan chuckled.

"He's a survivor," Josiah added. "If anyone can make it through this, Vin can."

"You're right," Chris agreed half-heartedly, "But even a stubborn and ornery Texan has his limits," he said as he stood up from the chair and walked around to the video machine to eject the tape. "So, lets find these bastards and give each of their body parts a different zip code."

Part Fourteen

Ezra switched on Chris computer and with a quick glance, to check the door was still closed to the outside offices, started clicking away at the keyboard, taking advantage of a few tricks learnt on his travels. He smiled as he remembered his mother's words of wisdom, 'Ezra darlin', it is to your advantage to know your target's weaknesses and strengths'. And God Bless the woman, she may have come up short in mothering class '101', but in teaching a son how to look out for himself and find out about anything and anyone, she got an 'A' plus.

By leaving a cyber trail, Ezra was sure their resident 'woodsman' Vin Tanner would call it 'covering your tracks', the Southerner hoped to conceal his trespass into official territory. With the PD's personal files easily infiltrated, it was mere seconds before the name of the young and enthusiastic uniformed officer was pulled up. Intent on reading the information as he scrolled down on the monitor, Ezra didn't hear the door open and it was only the penetrating glare of the Larabee laser stare that told Ezra he had been caught.

"Want to tell me why you have felt the need to use 'my' computer in 'my' office, when you have a perfectly good working model on your own desk?" The ATF leader asked as he swept into the room followed by what was left of the team.

"It is what you would call a 'hunch'," Ezra replied.

Moving quickly to his desk, Chris frown deepened as he scanned the opened file. "Well, it better be a damn good hunch Standish. Not only have you invaded my office, but you have used my computer to break, at a rough count five laws that I know of and probably half a dozen that I don't."

"I assure you, Chris, I'm nearly as good at what I do as our young Mr. Dunne. It will be untraceable," Ezra said with a slight trace of pride in his voice as he pushed his chair back to make room for the others to view the data.

"I don't get it?" Buck shrugged as he peered over Ezra's shoulder to view the monitor, "Why are we wasting our time checking up on messenger? When should be out there, looking for Vin and the bastards who are doing this to him."

"Looking where Buck and for whom? Where would you suggest we begin?" Ezra frowned. "I believed our 'messenger' was a good a place to start as any we have had so far."

Resigning himself quickly to the truth of the Southerner's statement, Buck conceded, "Point taken." And he began to read, frowning as he pointed to a particular part of Lane's profile. "Didn't that boy say he never met you Chris?"

"That's what he said, but there's something--I just don't know," Chris sighed as he rubbed his eyes and wearily began read the information that seemed to have caught his old friend's interest. Chris's green eyes suddenly became alert as he glanced from the monitor to the outside office where JD still sat with the young officer. "I'll be damned."

"What is it brother?" Josiah and Nathan moved in to get a look at what had brought their leader to life. "He interviewed for a position on Team Seven?" The big man asked.

"Yeah, and that's why his face wouldn't register straight away. Damn it!" Chris cursed as tried to work out what this new information meant, if it meant anything at all. "He was just one of many that tried out for the position we ended up giving to JD, but I do remember him now. He thought he was real clever. Had all the answers before I'd even ask the questions." The blonde frowned.

"I don't remember him," Buck said as he joined Chris in watching staring into the uniformed officer's back.

"No, you had made up your mind who you wanted--JD, I interviewed this one. With his credentials, I thought he deserved a hearing, but there was something about him-- something I --I just didn't trust him."

"And now?"

Turning to Buck, Chris's former tired face, was set in grim hope. "Now? There is now way he doesn't remember me, he was pretty upset at not getting the position and I'm certainly not into coincidences at this point. Vin can't afford us to overlook anything." Spinning around, Chris went into action. "Nathan, Josiah, I want you to take down his home address and stake it out."

"What do want Ezra, JD and I to do?" Buck asked.

"I want JD and Ezra to do what they do and see what else they can find out about this 'Officer Lane'. Buck, you and I, we're going to become his shadow. He breathes, we exhale."

Part Fifteen

Vin knew he was hurting, but trying to confine the pain to one particular area of his body was beyond any ability the defeated Texan had left in him. His pain had long ago progressed from being merely a symptom, to having evolved with torturing intensity into a life force all of its own. This new entity would laugh at him as it set fire to his skin before using its sharp teeth to go to work gnawing on his bones. All the while an incessant voice kept reminding the sharpshooter that he would die as he lived most of his life, alone.

The young Texan wasn't really surprised he had ended up this way, he had always expected as much, and until now, it had never worried him. But that was before he met the team and realized he'd found somewhere where he really belonged. And that was before Chris. The ATF leader had become the brother Vin had never had, and it was only that his death would hang one more brick around Chris's already laden neck, that kept the sharpshooter hanging on.

'I know what--- yer doin' and-- ya ain't go no right. Ain't yer fault-- cowboy, it ain't.'

Draped casually over the ripped and beaten old leather couch, Holly ignored Vin's seemingly irrational ramblings as she continued to clean his blood and skin out from under her nails. Every now and then she would glance to the doorway, her chest heaving, as she'd sigh in exasperation. She was bored.

Not that she hadn't had her fun, far from it in fact. An intense shiver aroused her again, as she remembered the ATF agent's reactions to her baseball swing. Even, Tanner with all his stubbornness and inner strength couldn't hold back the scream as the bat smashed splintered bone. 'A home run if I ever saw one' she giggled to herself.

Meeting Marcus had been a connection to a fellow mind and his plan of revenge against Chris Larabee was just too much fun to pass up. So what, if she didn't know the man from Adam, that never stopped her from having a good time with strangers before.

Now, Marcus was late, and she had grown tired of baby-sitting a drooling vegetable.

The sound of approaching footsteps had Holly reaching for the gun that she had stashed under the sofa's cushions. Quickly on her feet she aimed at the doorway.

"Honey, I'm home," Marcus called out, delivering the line in a very bad Cuban accent.

"Bout time to," Holly sulked as she locked the safety and threw her gun on to the couch. Charging at Marcus, she leapt into his arms, entwining her legs around his waist like a snake around its prey.

Marcus recognized the intensity of his lover's renewed passion. Gently dropping the sports bag he carried, he wrapped his arms around her and peering over her shoulder inspected their captive for new damage. "I see you been playing again," he chuckled as he kissed her neck.

"It's only his leg, he's got another one," she giggled back as she leaned back to look into his eyes. "Well?"

"Well, what?" He asked with a smile as he levered her off and put her down with a peck on the check.

"You know very well what." Holly sulked as she light-heartedly hit his arm. "How did they react to the tape?"

"You should've seen them, Hol'," Marcus's face lit up as he gloated over the misery he was inflicting as he watched Holly walk over to their prisoner. "They're twisting in the wind. They have no idea who's doing it, or why, and it's killing them. Mr. head-up-his-ass Larabee has found out he isn't as clever as he thought he was and it's going to cost him big time."

"I just wish we could have seen their faces when we left that body in Tanner's clothes and they thought 'Sweet Cakes' here, was dead." Holly evoked an unconscious flinch from the barely conscious agent as she ran her fingers over his fevered skin, "Now, that in it self would've been worth the price of admission. So, what's next?"

"Game over," Marcus flashed a superior grin as he picked up the sports bag and stepped over to Vin. "You did everything I asked? Got everything packed in the car?" He asked as he unzipped the bag.

"Yep, and still had time to play," Holly sniggered as used her foot to prod at Vin's damaged leg.

"Chr--is?" Vin moaned, licking at his split and swollen lips.

"No, not Chris, " Marcus said gently as he continued working near Vin's chair, "But I tell you what, Agent Tanner. We are very sorry for what we have done. Aren't we Hol?"

Holly stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "Yeah, sorry," she patronized.

"So sorry in fact, that we are going to let you call Agent Larabee to come and get you," Marcus spoke through clenched, as he frowned at his lover.

"Chr-is?"

"Yes that's right. He can then get you to the hospital and it will be like this never happened. Okay?" Marcus soothed as he finished what he was doing and patted Vin's arm.

Vin's eyelid's flickered and he was trying so hard to understand what he was being told, but it was like catching air, it was there, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"Ca-ll?"

"That's right, Vin," Marcus kept his voice soft as he nodded to Holly to bring the phone closer. "I'll call Chris and you can tell him where to come and get you."

"Do--n't know--where--"

"That's okay Vin, they'll trace the call and Chris will find you. You have to stay on the line though. Understand Vin?" Marcus emphasized.

Scarcely hanging on to consciousness, Vin tried to grab at one thing he was being told and hold on to it. "St-ay on --phone?"

"That's right," Marcus affirmed as he made the call to the ATF, "Go the back way," he gestured to Holly as he waited for the connection. "If anyone seen us come in, they're not going to see us come out." Hearing the ATF answer, Marcus turned his attention back to the phone. "Agent Larabee's office please. He's not? Well, this is about Agent Tanner…. ..I think you better connect me to him wherever he is…….You will……. Thank you ma'am."

Unlocking the chain to his left wrist, Marcus placed the phone in Vin's hand and helped the weak man place it at his ear. "Now, you talk to Chris. Tell how much you're hurting. That you need help."

"Chr-is?"

Marcus smiled as he watched the quivering agent, barely able to stay conscious, doing his best to call for help. The young officer actually hoped that Larabee made it in time to see what they had done to his friend. He did look a sight. With Tanner's face and body scratched, burned, broken and covered in dried blood and urine, he would be a sight that Larabee wouldn't soon forget. But alas, the whole point was to make the ATF leader suffer and to do that Larabee had to make it just in time to see the fireworks display Marcus had planned for him.

Holly watched from the window to the fire escape as Marcus checked under the seat one more time. "Come on Marcus. Can we get outta here? Now?"

"Just checking hon'," Marcus grinned. Pleased with his handy work and that Vin was still grasping the phone to his ear, he jumped up and joined his lover at the window. Both took flight down the fire escape without a second look.

"Chr-is--need--ya--"

Quite pleased with the situation they had left Agent Vin Tanner in, Holly and Marcus quickly made their way down fire escape and were making their way back to the car, when Marcus suddenly stopped, roughly shoving Holly back hard against the wall.

"Shit!" Marcus cursed.

"What is it? What’s wrong?" Holly asked as she tried to maneuver past her partner in an endeavor to find out what had stalled their progress.

"Stupid bitch, get back! You want them to see us?" Marcus snarled, holding Holly off with his arm as he took another careful look around the corner of the building. There was no mistaking the profile in the car. It was Larabee and one of his team. His self-assured façade began to crumble as he realized that his plan hadn’t been so clever after all.

"Well, tell me what’s going on then!" Though not adverse to be being on the receiving end of some rough treatment herself, Holly only just managed to control her rage at Marcus’s disagreeable attitude. Shoving his arm out of the way as Holly pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest as she casually leaned back against the building wall.

"Damn it! They must’ve followed me."

Holly sarcastically sniggered from behind him as she drew the correct conclusion and realized her ‘brilliant’ lover wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. "No! You think?"

"Shut your face! I have to get us out of here," Marcus ordered. With his face set in a grim mask of trying to find a way out of the situation they were now in the young man tapped the back of his head against the wall in frustration. "Untrusting bastards!"

"Mm, I know," Holly commented dryly as she pushed herself off the wall and turned to study the man that only a short time before, she had taken as her lover. "It’s such a suspicious world these days." She mocked as she noticed the sweat that now beaded his top lip. "No one trusts anyone. It’s so sad."

Marcus glanced obliquely at his lover. "You seem to be finding all this very fucking amusing. Do I have to remind you, that we left a bomb in this building that we’re hiding behind and that if it doesn’t get us, the men out there in that car, will? Either way, we’re ‘both’ going to go down if we don’t think of something and quick." Marcus threatened as he turned away to peer around the corner at the still occupied car.

Holly was now looking at her lover with new and less enamored eyes. She didn’t like what she was seeing. The once confident and vengeful police officer seemed to have transformed into a sniveling and spineless coward and as far she was concerned, their coupling had become an instant bore.

Torturing the ATF agent had been amusing, but with the full weight of the Federal Government now closing in, suddenly Holly couldn’t see herself relegated to the bleak surrounds of prison life and there were only two people standing in her way of freedom. ‘One would be soon barely identifiable, even with the help of a DNA chart and glue gun, the other--? Soon, neither man would be a problem’

A shaking hand, weakened by pain and fatigue, struggled to keep its grip on the telephone as Vin labored to stay conscious enough to answer the voice that seemed to be beckoning him to answer. No longer able to pinpoint one particular pain over another, Vin’s flesh had seemed to him to have become skin misery that he had been unable to shed as his injuries and lack of food and water, ate away at last of his strength.

"Agent Larabee."

The voice on the end of the phone was a Godsend. Vin closed his eyes and made a silent plea of thanks as he exhaled a shuddering sigh of relief, "Chris?" Hearing the weakness in his voice, Vin instantly panicked, afraid that Chris wouldn’t hear his cry for help. "Chris….please," he entreated through a dry and constricted throat

Buck sat in the car opposite his old friend, watching as Chris Larabee’s knuckles turned white with the pressure that they were applying to the mobile that was pressed to his ear. A taunt face, pale and tired, frowned at interruption of the tailing of their suspect.

With his decision made to take the phone away from Chris before his grip smashed it into a thousand irreparable pieces, Buck watched stunned as the tense features of his friend’s face instantaneously began to melt away, "Vin?"

Buck sat in the car opposite his old friend, watching as Chris Larabee’s knuckles turned white with the pressure that they were applying to the mobile that was pressed to his ear. A taunt face, pale and tired, frowned at interruption of the tailing of their suspect.

With his decision made to take the phone away from Chris before his grip smashed it into a thousand irreparable pieces, Buck watched stunned as the tense features of his friend’s face instantaneously began to melt away.

"Vin?"

Relieved and still fearful in the same breath, Chris Larabee clung desperately to his phone, now his only link to his missing friend. "Vin?" Chris pleaded a little more frantically when he pleas were met with silence. "Tell me we're tracing him?" He asked Buck without taking his focus from the phone in his hand.

"They where told to trace all incoming, just in case the bastard rang again," Buck said as he began to push buttons on his mobile. "I'll call 'em and stay online with them until we get a positive on his position. Keep talking to him."

Chris lost his concentration on what Buck was saying at 'they were told', as the long drawn out silence at the end of his phone made his chest constrict, panic beginning to take hold once more.

"Vin? Come answer me, pard," Chris begged, but he could hear nothing but the sound his own heart pounding in his chest.

"Damn it, Tanner, I know you won't let them win, you stubborn sonofabitch! But if you don't talk to me in the next ten seconds, I'm going to have you up on charges of disobeying a senior agent."

===============================

Though happy to hear Chris's voice, Vin was finding it harder and harder to keep control of his trembling body. His eyes barely ble to focus, fluttered and closed. He was tired, tired of the cold that had settled into his bones and tired of the pain that was gnawing its way at his body.

"Vin?"

< Not ya too-- leave me alone-- let me sleep, damn it. >

"Vin? Come answer me, pard."

< I did -- didn't I? >

"Damn it, Tanner, I know you won't let them win, you stubborn sonofabitch! But if you don't talk to me in the next ten seconds, I'm going to have you up on charges of disobeying a senior agent."

"Jest-- try it-- Larabee."

Chris smiled as he exhaled, his shoulders slumping into the back of the car seat. "Thank God."

"It can't be. Are you sure?" Buck practically shouted down the phone line.

"What is it?" Chris asked worriedly, scared at being so close it was all going to be snatched out of his grasp.

"Laura can you get the rest of the team to that address ASAP. You're a doll," Buck grinned down at the phone as if the dispatcher could see his gratitude through the line.

"Well?" Chris repeated.

The smile faded as Buck ducked a little so he could get a better look at the building that they had seen Marcus Lane enter into. "He's been here all the time."

Chris's face paled as he looked from Buck's concerned face to the building across the way. "What-- you mean-- all this time? Fuck!"

Without thinking Chris dropped the phone and made a mad dash from the car.

"Shit!" Buck cursed as he pulled his weapon and bolted from the car. "Damn it Larabee! Hold up!" He called out after his impulsive friend. " For God's sake will ya wait up!"

Having drawn his gun, Chris blocked out Buck's desperate pleas as he ran across the street. "I'm coming Vin, Hold on."

Part sixteen

Quite pleased with the situation they had left Agent Vin Tanner in, Holly and Marcus quickly made their way down fire escape and were making their way back to the car, when Marcus suddenly stopped, roughly shoving Holly back hard against the wall.

"Shit!" Marcus cursed.

"What is it? What’s wrong?" Holly asked as she tried to maneuver past her partner in an endeavor to find out what had stalled their progress.

"Stupid bitch, get back! You want them to see us?" Marcus snarled, holding Holly off with his arm as he took another careful look around the corner of the building. There was no mistaking the profile in the car. It was Larabee and one of his team. His self-assured façade began to crumble as he realized that his plan hadn’t been so clever after all.

"Well, tell me what’s going on then!" Though not adverse to be being on the receiving end of some rough treatment herself, Holly only just managed to control her rage at Marcus’s disagreeable attitude. Shoving his arm out of the way as Holly pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest as she casually leaned back against the building wall.

"Damn it! They must’ve followed me."

Holly sarcastically sniggered from behind him as she drew the correct conclusion and realized her ‘brilliant’ lover wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. "No! You think?"

"Shut your face! I have to get us out of here," Marcus ordered. With his face set in a grim mask of trying to find a way out of the situation they were now in the young man tapped the back of his head against the wall in frustration. "Untrusting bastards!"

"Mm, I know," Holly commented dryly as she pushed herself off the wall and turned to study the man that only a short time before, she had taken as her lover. "It’s such a suspicious world these days." She mocked as she noticed the sweat that now beaded his top lip. "No one trusts anyone. It’s so sad."

Marcus glanced obliquely at his lover. "You seem to be finding all this very fucking amusing. Do I have to remind you, that we left a bomb in this building that we’re hiding behind and that if it doesn’t get us, the men out there in that car, will? Either way, we’re ‘both’ going to go down if we don’t think of something and quick." Marcus threatened as he turned away to peer around the corner at the still occupied car.

Holly was now looking at her lover with new and less enamored eyes. She didn’t like what she was seeing. The once confident and vengeful police officer seemed to have transformed into a sniveling and spineless coward and as far she was concerned, their coupling had become an instant bore.

Torturing the ATF agent had been amusing, but with the full weight of the Federal Government now closing in, suddenly Holly couldn’t see herself relegated to the bleak surrounds of prison life and there were only two people standing in her way of freedom. ‘One would be soon barely identifiable, even with the help of a DNA chart and glue gun, the other--? Soon, neither man would be a problem’

A shaking hand, weakened by pain and fatigue, struggled to keep its grip on the telephone as Vin labored to stay conscious enough to answer the voice that seemed to be beckoning him to answer. No longer able to pinpoint one particular pain over another, Vin’s flesh had seemed to him to have become skin misery that he had been unable to shed as his injuries and lack of food and water, ate away at last of his strength.

"Agent Larabee."

The voice on the end of the phone was a Godsend. Vin closed his eyes and made a silent plea of thanks as he exhaled a shuddering sigh of relief, "Chris?" Hearing the weakness in his voice, Vin instantly panicked, afraid that Chris wouldn’t hear his cry for help. "Chris….please," he entreated through a dry and constricted throat

Buck sat in the car opposite his old friend, watching as Chris Larabee’s knuckles turned white with the pressure that they were applying to the mobile that was pressed to his ear. A taunt face, pale and tired, frowned at interruption of the tailing of their suspect.

With his decision made to take the phone away from Chris before his grip smashed it into a thousand irreparable pieces, Buck watched stunned as the tense features of his friend’s face instantaneously began to melt away.

"Vin?"

Part seventeen

Relieved and still fearful in the same breath, Chris Larabee clung desperately to his phone, now his only link to his missing friend. "Vin?" Chris pleaded a little more frantically when he pleas were met with silence. "Tell me we're tracing him?" He asked Buck without taking his focus from the phone in his hand.

"They where told to trace all incoming, just in case the bastard rang again," Buck said as he began to push buttons on his mobile. "I'll call 'em and stay online with them until we get a positive on his position. Keep talking to him."

Chris lost his concentration on what Buck was saying at 'they were told', as the long drawn out silence at the end of his phone made his chest constrict, panic beginning to take hold once more.

"Vin? Come answer me, pard," Chris begged, but he could hear nothing but the sound his own heart pounding in his chest.

"Damn it, Tanner, I know you won't let them win, you stubborn sonofabitch! But if you don't talk to me in the next ten seconds, I'm going to have you up on charges of disobeying a senior agent."

===============================

Though happy to hear Chris's voice, Vin was finding it harder and harder to keep control of his trembling body. His eyes barely able to focus, fluttered and closed. He was tired, tired of the cold that had settled into his bones and tired of the pain that was gnawing its way at his body.

"Vin?"

< Not ya too-- leave me alone-- let me sleep, damn it. >

"Vin? Come answer me, pard."

< I did -- didn't I? >

"Damn it, Tanner, I know you won't let them win, you stubborn sonofabitch! But if you don't talk to me in the next ten seconds, I'm going to have you up on charges of disobeying a senior agent."

"Jest-- try it-- Larabee."

Chris smiled as he exhaled, his shoulders slumping into the back of the car seat. "Thank God."

"It can't be. Are you sure?" Buck practically shouted down the phone line.

"What is it?" Chris asked worriedly, scared at being so close it was all going to be snatched out of his grasp.

"Laura can you get the rest of the team to that address ASAP. You're a doll," Buck grinned down at the phone as if the dispatcher could see his gratitude through the line.

"Well?" Chris repeated.

The smile faded as Buck ducked a little so he could get a better look at the building that they had seen Marcus Lane enter into. "He's been here all the time."

Chris's face paled as he looked from Buck's concerned face to the building across the way. "What-- you mean-- all this time? Fuck!"

Without thinking Chris dropped the phone and made a mad dash from the car.

"Shit!" Buck cursed as he pulled his weapon and bolted from the car. "Damn it Larabee! Hold up!" He called out after his impulsive friend. " For God's sake will ya wait up!"

Having drawn his gun, Chris blocked out Buck's desperate pleas as he ran across the street. "I'm coming Vin, Hold on."

Part eighteen

Left sitting unprepared for the suddenly empty seat beside him, it took Buck only a second before he threw open his door and took flight after his impulsive and barely thinking friend. Keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Chris's Larabee's fast moving form, Wilmington's breath caught in his throat as he watched the ATF leader, without thought, run into battle with an oncoming vehicle.

Unable to do anything but continue to run, Buck saw the car just in time, come to a screeching halt. Threatening to kill Larabee himself when he caught up with him, the dark-haired agent’s breath caught in his throat as he watched his friend ignore the cursing driver, to slam his fists down on the offending hood in frustration.

"God damn you, Larabee," Buck puffed breathlessly, though he was silently grateful for the car's intervention as he managed to gain ground on the now running man.

At last at arm's length, Buck managed get an armful of the blonde man's shirt and use it as leverage to pull the ATF leader back against the building wall before he had a chance to blindly enter. "What are you trying to do, get your self killed?"

"Get the fuck off me, Buck," Chris demanded as he tried to push his friend's weight off him.

"Listen, if I have to shoot you in the leg to make you stop and use that stubborn brain of yours, I will," Buck promised as he continued his struggle to keep Chris pinned to the wall. "

With his jaws clenched tight, and his fingers flexing around the weapon in his hand, Chris's green eyes pleaded with Buck while his voice ordered his release, "Vin, mightn't have a minute."

Buck slowly backed off, softening his tone as he did so. "Don’t you think I know that? I think you sometimes forget; Vin is our friend too. I'm not asking you not to go in, Chris. Hell, I'm going to be right with you when you do, I just need to you stop and think before you act, okay?"

"Christ, Buck," Chris sagged against the wall, running his free hand through his hair. "How did one skinny-assed Texan get so important?"

"I’ve only questioned fate once before in my life," Buck’s eyes speaking of the pain of Chris’s loss of his wife and son. "Since Vin turned up, and you started caring again, haven’t questioned since. Sometimes you don’t ask why, you’re just grateful for it."

A faint smile, rarely seen on the ATF leader’s face over the last few days, creased Chris’s mouth, "You never cease to amaze me, Buck."

"I know, the ladies tell me that all the time," Buck winked, before laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder. "Now, how about we go and rescue Junior and take him home?"

"And serve someone’s fucking liver up for breakfast!" Chris snarled as he thought of the man who had caused all the suffering they all had been through.

"Sure, that too," Buck chuckled as the still angry, but more controlled Chris Larabee began to take shape.

M7M7M7M7M7M7M7M7M7M7

Every fever induced shiver, was akin to another attack on his already painfully raw nerves as Vin’s abused body fought to shut itself down, desperate in its search for a numb haven from the suffering it was being forced endure.

The faint hope of rescue had disappeared, along with the comforting sound of his best friend’s voice. He was alone again, and as his torture’s painful aftereffects continued to attack his body, he wondered if the promise of freedom and safety had ever been real at all.

"Ano….ther tric….k," Vin mumbled as the encroaching darkness began to cover him like a cold blanket. Even the reverberating sound of the phone slipping from his numb and shaking fingers to fall to the floor, failed to get an reaction as his head slumped forward into unconsciousness.

Part nineteen

One by one the buildings rooms were silently, but rapidly inspected, as Buck and Chris began their desperate search for their missing team member, and friend, Vin Tanner. And one by one the rooms were found empty, except for maybe someone's unique expletive on the wall. A thought for the day painted in various hued graffiti, a message that only the homeless biding time as they sought shelter, or some spaced out junkie riding his just purchased high would usually see. The stench of waste and dampness irritated the two men's noses, as the last of the first floor rooms was discarded. Gesturing toward the staircase that led to the second floor, Chris's silent command was accepted as Buck responded with a nod of understanding.

Years of neglect and misuse were not only visible but also audible as the stairs wooden bones creaked and moaned under the weight of Chris Larabee's boot. Tossing Buck a cautious glance, they both paused mid step, holding a collective breath as they waited for a reaction to their presence. With no sign that they had been heard, they continued up the stairs.

Garbage littered the second floor landing as Chris and Buck carefully made their way around the obstacles to begin their search. The first room seemed an unlikely choice. Its door hung askew as it held on to former use by one last stubborn hinge, but Chris knew nothing could be left unchecked.

With Buck at his back, Chris readied his weapon and taking a deep breath, he cautiously glanced into the room before entering. Both the central room and its partitions were empty. Silently cursing, Chris released the breath he had been holding and gave Buck the all clear.

Moving as a well-oiled team of two, Buck took the lead, finding the door to the next room closed. Running his finger along the door's outline, he checked for wires, or any device that could be a booby trap. Though he knew, finding nothing on their side of the doorway was no guarantee to what could be waiting as they opened the door.

Quickly moving to the other side of the doorway, Chris watched as Buck stooped down and slowly turned the door handle. The click of the latch had Chris tensing, as he aimed his gun at the barely opened door. Licking his lips, Buck softly expelled air, as he reached into the small gap to check for any traps on the other side. Shaking his head in the negative, Buck slid his hand back out, stood up and gave the door a gentle push open. The door squeaked as it opened and both men made their own silent prayer that the search would be over.

Again their hopes were dashed at the sight of the empty main room, but they knew he was in the building somewhere, they just had to find him. There were two doors that lead from the main room; Chris waved Buck over to the right, while he took the left.

Each man waited for the other to get into position, before Chris began to mouth the count. 'One, Two, Three.'

On three, both doors were opened, but only one found what they were looking for.

"Chris, over here!" Buck exclaimed, as he disappeared into the room.

'Vin is alive, Vin 'is' alive.' The blonde repeatedly told himself as he raced across the room.

'He's so pale, so still; too still even for Vin' "Move, twitch, do something, junior; anything," Buck pleaded of the younger man; reaching Vin's side just as Chris rushed into the room.

"Vin!"

The dark-haired agent didn't have far to look for his anguished friend; Chris was already kneeling at Vin's side with a trembling hand gently pressed to the injured man's chest. The fevered skin backed by the frantic heartbeat were not good signs, but damn, Chris was grateful for them. "Told him, he was a stubborn sonofabitch."

"They breed 'em tough in Texas," the shadow of smile appeared before disappearing as Buck saw the discarded baseball bat and noticed for the first time the distortion in Vin's left leg. "Fuck him!" Buck swore as he picked up the bat and tossed against the nearest wall. "Electrocuting him, wasn't enough?"

The guilt Chris had put aside as he searched for Vin returned with retribution so painful that it suddenly hurt to breathe. It should be his finger that hung swollen and broken at the end of a bloody wrist, worn raw with struggling against the metal bonds. It was his skin that should bear the scars of burnt flesh and it should have been his leg bones that shattered under the blow of a baseball bat. It should have been, but it wasn't.

"Fuck!"

"Chris?"

"Chris? We've got a problem."

The insistent alarm in his friend's voice dragged Chris from thoughts and he looked up to see Buck hunched over, apparently something of great interest under Vin's chair. "Whatever it is, Buck, leave it, we've got enough," Chris snapped.

"No wonder we haven't seen Lane. He was expecting us, though. Left us a gift," Buck said cryptically.

Needing to get help for Vin, Chris lost his patience and stooped down to rebuke the ladies man. "We haven't got fucking time for your...." It suddenly all made sense. "That's why Lane let Vin ring out. What type is it?" Chris asked of the wires, primer and explosives that made up the device that he was staring at.

"The good news is," Buck explained as he visually inspected the bomb. "It's not a pressure bomb, so we can move Junior and not set this thing off."

"That's the good news?" Chris responded wearily. "Buck, Vin's got a broken leg, he's half dead."

There was a sudden urgency in Buck's movements as bolted upright, searching his pockets for his handcuff keys to unlock the chain that imprisoned Vin to the chair.

"How long?" Chris demanded as he helped yank the last binding from Vin's arm.

"I can't defuse it in the time we have left," Buck answered as he leapt to his feet.

"How long have we got?" Chris asked as he joined Buck on his feet.

"Three minutes," Buck replied urgently as he looked at his watch.

"Sorry pard, I hope you don't feel this," Chris apologized as he nodded to Buck that he was ready. Working in tandem, each man bent over to wrap one of Vin's arms around their shoulders, while their free arms supported his back. Quickly, but carefully, they lifted Vin from his death trap and headed back the way they came.

Vin's head lolled from side to side, a moan escaping as the jostling edged the injured man closer to consciousness.

With a face set in grim determination, Chris was grateful that Vin was the lightweight that he was, but he hated to think what further damage the might be inflicting on the sharpshooter. "Faster, Buck," Chris urged the ladies man as they raced down the hallway toward the stairway.

"We're going to make it, Junior. Hold on," Buck said as he steadied his grip on fevered man in his arms.

Half way down the stairs and close enough that they could hear the outside traffic, Buck turned to Chris, the onset of a smile beginning to curve on his lips; just then, their time ran out.
 

TBC