Rest For The Weary

By: Angela B
Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be
Warning: Did my own betaing
April Challenge: Take one of the pics and make a story.

Vin scooted his backside deeper into the sand and stretched his long, lanky legs out before him. His spurs clanking together as he crossed his ankles. He had ridden out from the ranch earlier and had now found him the perfect hiding spot to sit, relax and ponder on the events of the last couple of days. He loved the men he worked with like brothers but, like all family members they needed their space, so he had mounted up and ridden to the secluded arroyo. Wiggling a bit to get comfortable, Vin leaned his head back began his reflection.

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"Ba-Daaa-Dum," JD said, following his latest joke.

Buck quickly hit his friend in the back of the head and yelled, "Da-gummit JD, that's the thirtieth bad joke in a row you've told. Give us a break!"

"It was more than that," said Ezra helpfully from his desk, his smile showing off his white teeth.

They were in the final stages of a case in which they were cooperating with the DEA to capture a drug dealer, who was trading drugs for weapons. Ezra had been left out of the undercover work because they already had a man under and too many agents undercover only made the job harder. So Ezra was on the outside using his talents elsewhere.

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Nathan opened the door to the suite they would be using for their base of operations. Walking in and seeing the plush surroundings, the extravagant marbled bar stood as the focal point. Walking further in, they found a giant sized TV with a DVD/VCR hooked up to it. Across the room was a complete stereo system; everything had been hooked up to surround sound. Chris had been held up at the office and would be coming in later that night. He had not sounded happy on the phone when Nathan had last talked to him last.

Walking into the master bedroom, Buck let out a whistle and said, "Oh this is sweet."

"Wicked!" JD stated.

"Well, I have to admit, this is fricken' cool," Josiah said with a smirking grin on his face. Oh yeah, he could he enjoy this without any problems.

"Oh for pete sake's, it's just a suite," Ezra said, sounding a bit bored, as he pushed his way into the room. "You gentlemen act like you've never been in one before."

Three men rolled their eyes and kept their comments to themselves.  No use getting into a discussion with the loquacious gentleman now.  Just roll with it and forget it, they thought. They moved to unpack their belongings and set up their equipment. Just after they had settled down and began relaxing the door opened and a slightly unsociable Chris walked into the room. The rest of them heaved a sigh and was beginning to wish the blond hadn't shown.

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Agent Murphy was a non-descript kind of person. He nervously licked his lips as he walked down the corridor towards the suite. He had heard about these seven men and even talked to a couple of them before flying in. All he wanted to do was get along with these men and survive the next couple of days without coming out of it looking like a complete idiot or get killed by the fearsome leader. Arriving at the door, he paused one last time and took a deep breath before using the doorknocker to announce his arrival.

Nathan opened the door with a friendly smile and warmly greeted him.  After a quick introduction the men got down to business. The gun dealer was supposed to go to supper that night at a rather exclusive diner. It was quickly agreed and arranged that eight men would also being having supper there. Chris finally arrive and it was plain to see he was going to be the downer of this little party.  As Rzra put it, "He was socially inadequate for humans. As the men walked down to the parked cars, they were quickly divided among vehicles, with Josiah and Murphy riding with a very agitated Chris.

Murphy climbed in the back seat and buckled up. Chris angrily started the truck and pulled put of the parking lot only to have another driver pull out in front of him. This seemed like the last straw for the man and Chris began yelling in fury at the other driver, who was blissfully unaware of the rage going on behind him.  Murphy scooted further back into his seat and tightened his seatbelt even more. Angry people behind the wheel were not necessarily a good thing in his way thinking.

Once out on the main street, Chris seemed to yell at every driver going by. At one point Josiah looked back to find Murphy huddled into the corner as far as he could. Poor guy, thought Josiah. The man didn't understand that the reason he and Josiah were put in the truck with Chris was because Nathan didn't want to have to make any hospital runs tonight, so he had suggested that the two most passive people ride with the steamed locomotive. Josiah shook his head as Chris went off on another fit, the words could equal that of a sailor. Heaven forbid one of the other more forthright members of their group rode with Chris tonight. There surely would have been an ugly scene and a possible hospital trip.

Arriving at the restaurant, Nathan took one look at the two passengers and shook his head. Poor Murphy and Josiah didn't look too good. "I'm sorry," Nathan, said in a quiet whisper, as the two men came up to him.

"That's okay, Nathan. It's not your fault. You can't do anything about his irrational behavior," Josiah said calmly. Inside his nerves were still shaking.

Dinner was over much to quickly over with, from some's point of view. Josiah and Murphy walked back to the pick-up hesitantly, it was no use subjecting anyone else to that behavior. He could take it just as good as the next person. Though the man in black did seem calmer, they weren't to sure about the ride back to the hotel.  Thankfully, Josiah managed to get the man talking about something of interest to him and they enjoyed a peaceful ride back to the command post. Murphy was happy to have other people around to keep the man distracted. He could, when absolutely necessary, deflect people's attention away from whatever was bothering them but was thankful he
didn't have to.

Turning in that night, Murphy asked, "What are we doing tomorrow morning?"

Ezra patiently explained they would meet up in a central location and go to breakfast together and then follow the gun dealer for the day.

The next morning the men were up and at it. They decided a good breakfast was in order and went looking for a restaurant. Pulling up to the front door, Josiah let the guys out and went to park.

"Denny's?!" Ezra said incredulously.

"Sure Ez. They got great food," JD said happily.

He had been bouncing all over the place since he got up. The team had to admit of all of them JD was the bounciest person and his stories kept them in stitches, though they wouldn't admit it. Making it very hard to ever forget him. Murphy just hung back and went along. It didn't matter to him where they ate, or how Larabee wanted to proceed with the case, he was suited to be a follower, not a leader and he was quite content.

Ezra quietly accepted this answer after getting his complimentary cup of coffee and followed the rest to their table. As they waited for their food, JD popped up and said, "Hey you hear about the one-legged dog?"

"One-legged?" the other six team members asked in unison. Setting off a chain of laughter. They all knew this joke by heart, as it was one of JD's favorites to tell. JD laughed right along with them, he could admit when he flubbed. Most all of them could.

After breakfast they went back to the motel room and prepared for the day. They knew the gun dealer had planned to meet his party far away from civilization. They had already strategically planned on the execution of taking down the man and his fellow criminals with him. Getting the men into their assigned vehicles took a moment but,
after a couple of false starts because JD forgot his earphones for
the wiretap and Buck forgot his sunglasses they got underway.

Chris maneuvered his truck out onto the busy street, followed by Nathan in the Jeep. Murphy had climbed into the middle position of the black truck and strapped himself in. Josiah gave him a friendly smile. They followed the arms-man into the nearby mountains. Halfway to the site, the gun dealer made the black truck as a tail and tried to lose them. Chris stepped on the accelerator and floored it. They flew through the one-way passage at unbelievable speeds.  Murphy tried to hold to the ceiling to brace himself but, couldn't keep his lightweight body from sliding from side-to-side on the slick leather seats like a crazed pinball in a wild game hitting the men repeatedly. After the third apology to them, Murphy gave up and resigned himself to the fact he was just going slide back and forth.  Josiah was thinking getting some fat on the man wouldn't hurt and in fact would be appreciated. Bony hips were bruising, if not lethal.

They finally came to a screeching halt and all eight men piled out of their vehicles and seven gave chase. They ran up to the guardrail and looked down into the gully, on the other side the mountains rose high like spires of a church steeple. Vin thought briefly how he'd like to come back and climb it. He figured at a good death-march rate, he could be at the top in an hour. Instead he followed his teammates over the railing and took a short cut. Murphy stayed behind knowing there was no way he could keep up at the pace they were moving out at. Besides, he wasn't about to get in their way. Those seven men looked downright terrifying in that particular mode
Murphy watched the seven men go after their prey. It was like they were all mentally connected and needed no words to know what each was thinking.

In no time at all Vin and Buck had the gun dealer on the ground and handcuffed. After dragging the man back up the hill they stood around waiting for the FBI to come pick up their apprehended criminal. The seven men debated on what to do for the evening. Vin suggested, "We could grab a bite to eat and watch a movie,"

"Yeah," JD said enthusiastically, "And I know the perfect one."

Six men moaned because they knew exactly which one JD would pick.  The same one he always picked after a good bust, `The Magnificent Seven'.


The End