The November 2001 Challenge (The "Ezra's got a Gun" Challenge): offered by Bernadette (egorthemuse)  Start a story with -- "Ezra Standish pressed the gun harder against the suspect's left temple. An evil smile crossed his features as he pulled the trigger. He knew the chamber was empty, he had checked it himself.  The sound of a gunshot exploded around the room. Blood splattered across Ezra's face. He stood in shock, staring down at the man he had just killed. "Ezra!" Vin yelled at him, "What in the hell have you done?

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TITLE: Silent Echoes
CHALLENGE: November 2001|
UNIVERSE: ATF/AU
MAJOR CHARACTERS: Ezra, Vin, Chris
RATING: PG-17 (Language)
ARCHIVE: Yes, Please
SPOILERS : None that I know of
NOTES: Occurs August 1999
AUTHOR: Q'Mar
EMAIL: marmaeve@aros.net

Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven belongs to Mirisch Entertainment Inc., with all rights and privileges thereof. This work is a work of fanfiction, for the amusement of the author and fandom who have nothing else to do since they aren’t making any more episodes of the show. No money or other renumeration has exchanged hands, this is just for fun, guys!

 

Ezra Standish pressed the gun harder against the suspect's left temple. An evil smile crossed his features as he pulled the trigger. He knew the chamber was empty, he had checked it himself. The sound of a gunshot exploded around the room. Blood splattered across Ezra's face. He stood in shock, staring down at the man he had just killed.

"Ezra!" Vin yelled at him, "What in the hell have you done?

"I killed him." Standish gasped. "I killed him."  Terror was griping him, the sound of the gunshot reverberated in his mind. How could he have done this? What kind of Monster had he become? "I killed him."

‘Killed who?" Vin asked. "Ez? You okay?" He got out of his hotel bed and flipped on the lights. Ezra lay scrunched up in the other bed, shivering. "Ez?" Tanner approached the bewildered undercover agent carefully. Standish was twisted up in the bedding and his eyes were bright.

"I checked it! I know I did! But I had to have been mistaken... It fired. But it was empty! He’s dead. I killed him." Ezra continued to babble. "He’s dead." The southerner seemed absolutely devastated.

Vin gently shook him."Ez, It’s okay. No one’s dead. Ez? Come on yer dreamin’." Standish made no response. He repeated himself over and over. Tanner checked him for fever. The undercover agent was burning up.

"Vin?" Standish said and the sharpshooter was pleased for a moment. Ezra gripped hold of his arms and pulled him towards him. The moment of lucidity was an illusion. Whatever Hell Ezra was inhabiting in his delirium apparently included his friend. "Vin, I’ve killed him. Oh Lord, I’ve killed him."

"Nobody’s dead, Ez. It’s a dream. Yer sick." Tanner tried to reassure him, but the fever had the southerner heavily in it’s grip. Now aware that Ezra was too sick to understand that he was ill, the Texan figured they needed help and needed it soon. He grabbed the bedside phone and dialed 911 while trying to soothe the confused man. Standish seemed utterly grief-stricken. He began to moan and rock still repeating the litany of "I’ve killed him, he’s dead" and "but I checked the chamber! It was empty."

"911 operator, please state the nature of the emergency?"

"Operator? This is ATF Agent Vin Tanner, my partner and I are at the Hilton, up in room 314. He’s sick, burnin’ up! I cain’t git sense outa him. He’s confused real bad, and we need an ambulance."

"How long has he been sick?"

"Was fine earlier... Easy Ez, it’s okay... I got ya."

"Was he showing any signs of illness before this Agent Tanner?"

"No Ma’am. He was fine when we went to dinner. Was talkin’ about this last trainin’ session we had. There’s a Law Enforcement trainin’ seminar down here at the hotel. We ran the simulation fine, but Ez is a bit o’ a perfectionist, if ya git my meanin’. Was real worried that he’d screwed us up, cause o’ Murphy."

"Murphy’s law?"

"No Ma’am, Agent Murphy. He’s always tryin’ ta score off the boys when we git stuck at these things. Ez thought he failed the course, but he did fine that I saw. Full points, not that that matters..."

"So he was coherent?"

"As much as Ez ever is. He’s real fond o’ big words. Had a headache, though. Thought it was one o’ his migraines. They git real bad."

"How often does he get them?"

"Depends. If’n Mills is ridin’ his case, too often. Can be couple times a week, If’n Mills ain’t involved, Ez gits em every couple o’ weeks. Doc said ta avoid the "stressor", but ain’t no way Ez can avoid that Fat Brained Ass, Pardon my language Ma’am."

"No offense taken. How is Ez? Does he have a full name?"

"Ezra P. Standish. Ain’t got no clue what the P. stands fer. We normally run outa Denver."

"S-t-a-n-d-i-s-h?" She spelled.

"Yep. He’s breathin’ hard. But he seems clear, not like when he had that Pneumonia."

"How recently was this?"

"Got over it a few months ago. Bad one. He got hisself soaked trying ta stop Priamris from shootin’ Harrison. Harrison’s a good guy. Ma’am how soon’s that ambulance gettin’ here?"

"It’s still a couple of minutes away, there’s a traffic accident over on Third and the Rig is having some trouble getting around the rubberneckers. Is his condition worsening? Has he thrown up?"

"No Ma’am, might be a sight better if he did. Whatever he has has got him good. He’s sweating buckets. Them blankets is soaked. No don’t do that! Ez!"

"Agent Tanner? Are you alright sir?"

"Ez, It’s okay. Got a ambulance a commin’ You got a fever. Ah Ez. Don’t do that."

The phone hit the floor with a thud and 911 recorded the struggle.

"I checked it! It was empty! I know it was..."

"It was empty, I believe ya, Ez! It’s okay."

"No, it’s not, I’ve killed him! I’ve killed him, Vin! I’ve killed Chris!"

There was a loud noise as a gun went off.

"Agent Tanner? Agent Tanner" The 911 operator called.

"I’ve killed him. I killed Chris Larabee!" Ezra moaned into the phone. The 911 operator tried to reason with the fevered southerner, but he didn’t seem to hear her. Because of regulations, she was required to send a "check" to Denver to find out the condition of a Chris Larabee. The computer brought up Christopher M. Larabee as SAC of RMETF Seven out of Denver. Further checks revealed that both Vin Tanner and Ezra Standish worked on Team Seven. Ezra continued to moan the litany of torment into the phone.

"911?" Tanner’s voice came back on the line.

"Agent Tanner are you alright? We recorded a gunshot!"

"I’m fine. Dang fool grabbed his mock pistol. They use ‘em in the testin’. Make sounds but no bullets. I ain’t got a clue what he’s thinkin’ right now. He ain’t killed Chris. I was just talkin’ ta him before we went ta bed. Whatever nightmare he’s a ridin’ has gotta be Hell." Vin said sadly. It was bad enough that Ezra had such dark things in his past without worrying that he’d ruined his future by killing Chris.

Ezra was shaking. During their struggle for the pistol, Ezra had ended up on the floor between the beds. He was crunched into a ball, but was banging his head against the floor. Vin grabbed a pillow and let him thump against that.

Standish was wild with grief and terror.

"Hotel Security" A gruff voice bellowed through the door "What’s going on in there?"

"ATF," Vin shouted back "All clear, got a man sick outa his head. 911 is sendin’ an ambulance."

The door swung open and two men wearing ill fitting suits came in. Both had guns, but they holstered them seeing that it was indeed all clear.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Don’t know, was fine when we went ta bed, woke me up with a nightmare. Ma’am? Where’s that ambulance?"

"Just pulling into the driveway, Agent Tanner. Hang on."

"Thank you Ma’am."

"Did he fire his gun?" one of the security guards asked.

"Nope, he fired this Damn thing" Vin held up a cherry pink mockup. "We got ‘em fer the session downstairs. Make noise but no bullets."

"Okay." The guard seemed appeased and stopped looking for bullet holes.

"Base?" the other spoke into his radio. "Got an all clear. It was one of those noisemakers from the Training seminar. The agent who fired it is sick. Should be an ambulance at the door. Hank, you get them up here. Room 314."

Standish stopped moaning and went totally limp. Vin desperately checked for a pulse. It wasn’t as strong as he liked but it was there...

 

<Denver, Rout Federal Building, Team Seven Offices 9:30 P.M.>

"What the hell did they call us in for? I was in the middle of a Date!" Buck grumbled.

"The Police seemed to think it was important." Josiah reminded him, keeping the amusement out of his voice. Four of the members of Team Seven sat in their briefing room waiting for the Police who had called them in. Buck had obviously dressed in a hurry, from his interrupted date. Nathan was wearing his ‘grubbies’ and had been repairing the air-conditioning unit at his place. His girlfriend, Rain, wouldn’t come over until it was fixed. JD was wearing gear that indicated an unusual hobby, mountain biking. He’d have to have a little talk with their youngest. It could be fun, but it was also dangerous and JD didn’t always think about his safety.

Two of their number were off at a Law Enforcement Seminar in New Jersey, and their Leader was off at a black tie event at the Brown Palace. At least Sanchez hoped so. The relationship between Chris and Mary Travis was explosive on occasion, and although the Senior Travises were with them it was no guarantee of good behavior on either part.

Two Police officers came into the briefing room. The older one was calm but the younger was nervous. Obviously the "Feds" unsettled him.

"Do you know where your boss is? We can’t raise him on his phone or pager" The older one asked.

"Why? What do you want with Chris?" Buck demanded.

"Some guy named Ezra Standish says he killed him..." The younger cop told them.

The room erupted.

 

<Denver, Brown Palace Dining Room>

Chris Larabee pulled on his tie. He hated events like this. Judge Travis was watching him with amusement from across the table. Evie Travis and Mary were off talking to some of the "important" people in the room. Larabee hated this, hated being shown off like a side of prime beef. Giving Travis a glare, he wished that he was someplace else, that something, anything would come up...

There was a commotion at the door. Two Denver Police officers were trying to enter the dining room. The Matre’d tried to stop them, but the officers wouldn’t be stopped. Following them were four faces Chris found very familiar.

"Chris!" Buck bellowed effectively ending all conversation in the room. The whole group pushed their way over to where Larabee stood beside the table waiting for them.

"Agent Larabee? We need to ask you some questions..."

"To Hell with that. Ez is sick, Pard. Real sick. Running a high fever, Delirious...They’re at the hospital. We’ve gotta go!" Buck yelled.

Chris felt his heart pound. Delirious? Damn, what had happened since he spoke to Vin a couple of hours ago? He nodded at Buck, calming the man. His team was anxious, but eased as he took on the leadership. Taking a couple of steps across the room, people rushed to get out of his way, Chris reached Mary and Evie Travis.

"Sorry to cut our evening short. I have to go. Will you and the Judge see her home okay?" He said to Evie, not waiting for Mary’s answer. Mary had an unpleasant expression on her face, but Evie took control assuring Chris that they would take care of Mary. Larabee only vaguely heard her.

"Do I have to remind you that you have work tomorrow? The Pullman Case?" SSAC Mills said with a smugly superior expression on his face. "I’m sure that that sniper of yours, Tanner can take care of the situation..." He made as sudden squawk as Chris grabbed his jacket.

"I warned you, you son of a bitch, to stay out of my Team’s business. I didn’t want them sent to any more of these Damn seminars that you’ve been tying our time up with. If you interfere any further with my team, I’m going to have Aske over in OPR find out what the Hell it is you’ve got against them and Charge you for the junk you’ve pulled over the last few months. The Pullman case isn’t even a real case, it’s a Damn simulation! It’s not as important as the well being of my Team. For the LAST time, Stay away from my men!" Chris yelled. The other leaders from the different divisions in the room nodded approval, the constant problems caused by Mills for Team Seven had disrupted their own operations with the Team. Mills had caused serious conflict and impeded operations in his attempts to remove the "disruptive" members of Team Seven.

The Head of Operations, Denver, Muhulland, was about to interrupt, but a single Glare from Larabee shut him up. Team Seven’s volatile leader had information that could destroy him and he certainly wouldn’t be afraid to use it in a crowd of VIP’s if Muhulland kept him away from one of his men in a crisis. Chris Larabee was like an outraged wolf when it came to a member of his ‘pack’ being hurt. Get between him and his goal and pay the consequences, Muhulland knew that they were way too high for him. Let the idiot go racing off to attend to Standish. It made him look like a fool and eventually he’d make enough of these mistakes to be removed. Muhulland wasn’t about to risk his political advancement on the explosive moods of the likes of Chris Larabee. Smiling slightly, he suddenly found himself the target of interest of General Carpenter from Cheyenne Mountain. NORAD’s commander gave him a look that made him extremely uneasy.

As Team Seven headed out of the dining room, Deborah Rinaldi, the team’s office manager stopped them.

"You’re booked on the 11:10 to Newark. There’ll be a car there for you. I’ll download the map directions to JD’s laptop. Call me if you need anything else. I’ll be waiting to hear." She said, handing them a strip of paper with the Flight confirmations on it.

"Thanks Darlin’," Buck said. "Just for that I’ll take you to the Millennium Ball!" he promised.

"Thanks all the same, Agent Wilmington, but I’m not sure Paul will understand." Deborah quipped. "Make it another box of those fabulous chocolates, and we’re even. Now go and let me know how that smooth talking rascal is!"

"You bet!" JD yelled, grabbing Buck’s arm.

They left the dining room, but Buck kept muttering, "Chocolates, What Chocolates?"

"Agent Larabee?" The older Cop asked racing to keep up with the men of Team Seven as they ran to the parking garage.

"Yes?" Chris asked absently. His attention was on getting to his SUV and then to the airport.

‘Do you know any reason why Agent Standish would want to hurt you?"

Chris stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the Police officer.

"Huh? What the Hell are you talking about?"

"Agent Standish told 911 that he’d killed you. We had to run a check to see if you were alright. It’s required, even if the person is delirious..."

"He said what?" Chris was having a hard time understanding what he was being told.

"Damn, Stud. The Weldon case!" Buck said catching on. "Remember a couple months ago? Ez had to fake shooting you. I bet that’s what he’s got his mind twisted up on!"

"Weldon case?" the younger officer asked.

"Yeah, Undercover case." Buck said as they reached the vehicles. "Had to pretend to shoot you. Really upset him, Pard." he continued.

"We had to do it that way. It was the only way they’d believe that you two were dirty." Chris said, a little taken aback. He’d had no idea that Standish had had a problem with the ruse they’d run. He hadn’t said anything, but then again with the tight-lipped southerner, anything was possible.

"He understood why we did it that way, approved of it even, Stud. But it bothered him. A lot. I wish Vin had been along, He can talk to that stubborn Idiot when no one else can get through." Buck frowned. The others were watching them curiously. They hadn’t been involved in the Weldon case, except for JD who was nodding at Chris.

"He was shaking for hours after we finished up. Marty drove him home because he was so unsteady." JD added.

"Ezra wouldn’t willingly hurt a member of this team." Chris told the officers. "I’m not in any danger from him. The man’s out of his head with fever, you tell me. It’s got to be a flashback. You can go back to your other cases, because I’m okay." They wouldn’t be able to leave if they thought he was in any danger, and he Knew that Ezra would hurt himself before harming him."Really it’s okay."

"We believe you, but why don’t we give you an escort to the airport? That way you can get there faster and there won’t be any commotion," the older officer smiled. "Like last time you boys went tearing out of here for the airport. Something about that sharpshooter of your’s being kidnaped. Or was it the time when the big guy was suspected of murder. Or maybe when the kid here got himself in trouble with the Police in Los Angeles? You boys get into too much trouble to run loose. You know that?" He chuckled. "It would be best for everybody if you don’t go storming up into the airport. You’ll confuse all those techies trying to get the place Y2K compliant!" He teased, garnering a slight smile from Chris. The younger officer brought the patrol car around and he got in. They led the way sirens blaring.

The flight was uneventful. Apparently, the Denver Police had sent word ahead, because there was a squad car waiting beside the big Suburban at the rental lot. Driving to the hospital went very quickly behind a patrol car with lights going. JD was tapping on things, but everyone recognized that it was his usual brand of stress relief.

 

                                                                                <<<7>>>

They garnered tons of stares as they entered the hospital. Although it was nearly morning, there were many people in evening dress in the Hospital lobby. Chris in his tux drew some interested glances, as did Buck, though his apparel was far less formal. The scoundrel caught several of the women "Checking him out" and made sure to smile at each. Nathan’s grubbies didn’t endear him to the committee, who had put a lot of effort into the late night star gazing party. Josiah received several curious looks and one woman licked her lips suggestively. It was enough to startle the large profiler for a moment. JD had more trouble because of the mountain biking suit. His bottom was repeatedly pinched.

"That’s my boy!" Said Buck, grinning like a pleased parent as JD complained all the way down the hall.

 

Vin was dozing in a chair beside Ezra’s bed. The southerner had been strapped in, his restless thrashing having thrown him out of bed twice since he was brought in. Continuing the litany of his nightmare, Standish was still crying out that "he’s dead, I’ve killed him" and "but it was empty! I checked it!" Tanner had a grip on the undercover agent’s wrist and even as he dozed murmured reassurances.

"Hey Cowboy." Chris said softly and Vin woke up. "How you doing?"

"I’m okay, but he’s not, Chris. Why does he think he shot you? He’s been sayin’ it for hours." The Texan’s expression was full of worry.

"Flashback, Junior." Buck said "Weldon case. Had to fake shooting Chris."

"Ain’t never heard of a Weldon case" Vin said with some anger. "When’d it happen?"

"Couple months ago. You were at the Dallas Conference." Chris said, listening as Ezra Standish cried out again that he’d killed him. "Just me, Buck, Ezra, and JD."

"Damn it, Larabee! You Know better than that!" Vin hissed angrily. "Ez don’t do fake betrayal well. Too many people think that he’s that way, Chris. He’d never willingly hurt any o’ us. Never!"

"I know, Vin. But it was necessary for the situation. He agreed with me. I didn’t know it had bothered him like this." Chris looked at the restless agent.

"Hell Cowboy! Don’t you git it? He holds onta the bad stuff. He’s still holdin’ onta the "Don’t run out on me again" thing!" Larabee stared at him. "It’s true, Chris. He keeps worryin’ that if’n he’s late or gits inta trouble that you’ll think he’s run out! He didn’t need this. Not with Mills ridin’ him!"

"We had to do it that way, Pard." Buck said softly.

"Did any o’ you think ta talk ta him after? Why the Hell didn’t ya tell me? He’s my partner. I know how he takes this stuff! Ya shoulda told me! Now he’s sick and it’s gonna take a whole lot o’ work ta convince him he didn’t betray us!" Vin Tanner growled. He was a very angry man.

"Well when he wakes up and sees Chris that should take care of it?" JD said. "Shouldn’t it?" He added uncertainly.

"If’n he’s got it inta his head that he betrayed us, It ain’t goin’ away that easy." Whatever Vin was going to add to that statement was forgotten as Ezra twisted himself up further and cried out.

"Michelle? Why? The chamber was empty! Why did you reload it?"

"Ah, Damn it!" Vin cried out. "Ez, Listen ta me. Nobody here is hurt. If’n Michelle loaded the gun, it’s her fault." He tried to ease the southerner out of the twisted mess of blankets. Josiah helped him and he nodded a thanks. "Ez. Come on, Pard. This ain’t the way it was."

"Why Michelle? Why would you want to hurt Chris?" Ezra moaned. "Why?"

"Who’s Michelle?" Nathan asked.

"Ain’t none o’ your business, Nate." Vin snapped. "The bitch is dead, and deserved it." The others were startled. Vin Tanner was never crude when referring to a woman, treating them all like ladies. If he was using such a word to describe "Michelle" she had to be really something bad indeed. "Ez?" He said softly " Michelle’s dead. She ain’t goin’ ta hurt Chris. She ain’t goin’ ta make ya do it neither."

"Michelle’s dead?" Ezra squinted in confusion. "But she was just here. She reloaded the gun..."

"I got it, Ez. Never got anywheres near Chris." Tanner went with the flow. Standish relaxed.

"Thank you Vin. If I’d hurt Mr. Larabee, I could never forgive myself." Ezra settled down against the pillows.

Vin sighed. He untangled the rest of the blankets back over the southerner. Standish watched him with very bright green eyes, then the undercover agent slipped into sleep.

"‘Siah? Would you watch him fer a spell?" Vin asked. The big profiler nodded, already intent on the sleeping man’s face. "If’n he wakes, ya holler? O.K.? I’m goin’ ta take a walk with these two fer a minute." He pushed Chris and Buck out into the hallway. He waited until they were out of hearing before unloading."What were ya thinkin’ Cowboy?" He asked. "Ya ’ve got ta know better than that..." Vin looked at Chris and saw how really worried the man was. "The Docs say he’s gonna be fine. He’s got some infection like Chicken pox. Probably got it from Billy last time he watched him for ya and Mary. It’s got him bad, cause he’s an adult not a kid. I know that everybody else had ‘em. Buck and JD had that little contest goin’ and Ez was the only one who hadn’t ever had any o’ the childhood stuff. The pneumonia a couple o’ months ago made him more ‘susceptible’ ta it."

"Chicken pox?" Buck said, with a gleam in his eyes.

"If’n you start teasin’ him, I’ll kick your tail, Navy SEAL or not, Bucklin." Vin scowled at him. " It ain’t good. He’s real sick and this junk ain’t goin’ away anytime soon.. He shoulda never had ta deal with this situation in the first place. If’n ya had ta pull that kind o’ set up, ya needed ta git him unwound from it. He’d die afore sayin’ it, but he takes all this stuff ta heart."

"I know." Chris said in a defeated voice "I should have known."

"Bucklin. Go get us some coffee. Machines down that way. Don’t pester the nurses." Vin commanded. Buck gave him an exaggerated salute, wiling to allow the sharpshooter to deal with Larabee’s mood. "Ez is kinda hard, ain’t he?" Vin asked. "The man’s only been on the team a little over a year now."

"Year and two months."

"Ya countin’ for a reason, Cowboy?"

"I’m afraid we’re going to lose him. Of all of us, Ezra seems to be... I don’t know. In the most danger. Most of the time when there’s an injury, it’s you or him. Mostly him. Do you know how many times I’ve been in the hospital with one of you?"

"How many, Cowboy?" Vin asked recognizing that Chris needed to let it out.

"76" Chris said. "I’ve sat with injured members of my team 76 times in a year and six months... Ezra’s the undercover agent. The point man for this, and that means that he’s the most likely to be hurt. But the two of you get hurt in ways I’d never expected...Buck and JD too. They’re careless, especially off duty. But you two. And then I’ve got the idiots above me pushing me to fire both of you, and Buck, but mostly you and Ezra. Especially Ezra. And all of this dark stuff in his past. I knew that he had a background that I didn’t want to get into. I’ve seen files like his, back when I was a SEAL. I know I didn’t want to push on it and Ezra is the best there is at undercover work. I don’t want to lose him, he belongs. But ..."

"All of us have got stuff in the past, Cowboy." Vin said softly reminding them both of a very long night at the Ranch that neither one would ever discuss. "Ya took us all on that way. Knowin’ that we all have dark sides."

"I know, It just feels... It feels like I’m going to lose my family again. I didn’t know I’d come to care this much, I didn’t want to care that much, not really... I’ve still been waiting to come about, to live..." Chris sighed. "And I never would have guessed that Ezra felt like that. That he’d literally be sick over the idea that he’d harmed me. Or that that tirade of mine would stick with him. I never meant for him to hold on to that comment like that. He didn’t deserve it then, and not now. It was wrong, I was Wrong."

"It’s become his whole world, Cowboy." Vin said and Chris stared at him. "But that’s ain’t a bad thing. He knows that we care enough ta want him, ta need him."

"You’re kidding, Please tell me you’re joking! He thinks the only reason we want him is because I yelled at him? That we need him for what? A scapegoat? He’s been that too many times." Chris gasped bitterly.

"Nope, ain’t kiddin’." Vin gripped his shoulder. " You’re wrong, Cowboy. It’s important ta him. He thinks it means that he has a place here. With us. That we ain’t goin’ kick him out or send him away. That we’re family. And he’s right too. We are family. Said so yerself. It’s goin’ ta be alright for all o’ us. We jest have ta make sure that we pay attention better. I shoulda seen he was gittin’ sick, you shoulda made sure he didn’t have all this "Weldon" case twisted up in his mind. Ez ain’t the type ta tell ya if’n he’s upset. Ya kinda have ta watch it. It ain’t hard, jest gotta know him better. Ya still act like ya don’t trust him."

"I do trust him, Vin!" Chris snapped "That’s the problem. I trust him enough to know he’d kill himself before he hurt one of us. He wants to be part of the team so bad it hurts, but he keeps to the edge... and I’m afraid I’m going to miss and he’s going to go over. Like in Idaho." His anger deflated and he slumped against the wall.

"He did what he had ta ta survive in Idaho Falls, Cowboy. He’s not gonna go over the edge, not as long as we need him."

"But all the stuff that keeps getting kicked up! What Previns wrote, Somerville, the Caxton case. I just don’t know. Now this Michelle thing."

"Michelle is jest what his scrambled mind latched onta. The Weldon thing didn’t make sense, was still botherin’ him and he tried ta make it make sense, I’ll bet. Makes sense if’n ya think about it. Michelle would do somethin’ like that." Vin said darkly. Chris looked at him, unsure if he wanted to know. Vin gave him a tight grimace in response and decided to cut off Chris’s decent into self blame. "We’re family, Larabee. We’ll get through this and every other damn thing. We made it through the Potter case, through JD accidentally shootin’ a civilian, through Buck’s little problem, Josiah gittin’ accused o’ murder, through Rain gettin’ kidnaped, Hell, Cowboy, we made it through Ezra wearing a Dress!" Chris laughed involuntarily. Vin gave him a ‘Tanner Grin’ in return. "Hang in there Cowboy! We’ll make it, ain’t goin’ ta go down ta the ‘silent echoes’ o’ our pasts. We’re a team. We pull togther ain’t nobody gonna stop us." Chris found himself laughing in response. It was true, they were both family and a team, and together nothing could stop them. They’d already proved that, and they’d do it again and again, until a certain stubborn boneheaded southerner believed it.

"Did the Doctor say how long he’s going to be like this?" Chris asked a couple of minutes later. He’d begun to settle down a little.

"Fever should break in a couple o’ hours. Can probably take him home in a day or two."

"I’ll send Josiah to stay with him."

"You jest want ta see if’n he’ll clean up his mashed potatoes." Vin laughed remembering the last Bar-Be-Que at Larabee’s ranch. "‘Siah’s got a real bad ‘Dad’ fixation when it comes ta Ez."

"If it’s the Chicken pox, he’s going to have some fun when it breaks out." Chris said with a laugh.

"Probably tape socks on Ez’s hands." Vin laughed harder, knowing that the southerner would find a way around them.

"Definitely something to leave to Josiah." Chris grinned, his humor restored. He began to laugh along with Vin. The Texan was right. They’d make it through the silent echoes, they were family.

THE END