He woke up to find that it hadn't been a dream after all. He could feel the proof. Of course, the white clinical room was a dead giveaway. Dead...

'God, why couldn't they just have killed me? The morons couldn't do anything right.'

The drug dealer, he assumed, had hired the intellectually challenged thugs and told them to kill the undercover agent.

'They couldn't even kill me and get it right. My friends.'

That word brought him up short.

'Friends, what a joke. They believed I sold information for money. Like that's a surprise.'

He couldn't understand how his associates would think that of him. He was a con man and a gambler; he had never denied that. That's what made him the best undercover agent in the ATF, what also made him the most untrustworthy, evidently. He could still hear in his head the words from the phone call last night.

Last Night

He had been sitting at home with a glass of whisky in his hand, wondering what the emergency meeting was for. A. D. Travis, their boss, had called everyone in., well, almost everyone. He made it clear that Ezra Standish was not to be there. "Great, Ezra, what did you do now?" was the general consensus, as the men had left to report in with Travis. Then came the phone call from his supervisor Chris Larabee.

"Agent Standish, you will report to this office at 8:00 AM sharp, tomorrow. You are being dismissed and will return to the Atlanta FBI to face charges. The charges will be explained tomorrow."

With that said, he had hung up. Ezra Standish stared at the phone. All his life he had never had anyone love him or care whether he lived or died. He had started to believe he had finally found a family, with these six unique men, that he had something worth the effort to become a part of. He had been so wrong to let these men through the wall that he had put up to protect himself, at an early age, from the lack of love or caring that a child should get, at the very least, from a parent. His mother hadn't wanted him nor had the many relatives she had left him with.

He shook himself. He took a long look around him. It seemed that he would be leaving tomorrow. Calling the movers, he said, "Yes, I'm in need of your services. I'm moving tomorrow and need the condo packed by noon... Yes, I realize that the express job will be extra... Okay, you can be here at 5:00 AM.. No, I will not be here. I'll leave the door open for you... No, I'll want it all put into a storage unit, and I'll be storing my car also... Yes, thank you."

With that done, Ezra decided that clearing out his desk and office now would be easier than tomorrow after the dismissal. So, with that in mind, he left, not locking his door nor caring if someone came in and took everything. He would not be back.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

When Chris Larabee had put this team of misfits together, he had never dreamed that they would be the strong family they were now. Except for Ezra Standish. He wouldn't let them in, or so they had thought. He had noticed lately that Ezra was coming closer to letting them be his family. He had seen the hurt at the "What did you do now?" comment before he could cover it. They had been teasing him, of course, but he knew this had hit too close to home. The southern agent was always in trouble for something. They always told him he should just get an office on the same floor as the Judge; it would be a shorter trip and save time. But this had him worried. If Ez was in trouble then he would be here instead of them. He could see the rest of the team was concerned, as they had come to the same conclusion.

They knocked and entered the Judge's office, waiting expectantly. The Judge saw his elite team and the concerned looks on their faces. They had every right to be concerned, so he came right to the point.

"Gentlemen, I'll get to the point. I needed to talk to all of you before we tell Ezra. I just spoke to a warden from Atlanta. They are supposed to contact Standish about everything concerning a Carson Maggiono. There was some mix-up, and they are just now getting around to notifying us that he was released early." Seeing the worried glances being traded, he continued, "They contacted the FBI and were transferred to my office. Now the problem is Agent Standish arrested this man, the usual threats and all, but Maggiono also tried to kill Standish several times."

He stopped till the men's outburst had quieted down.

"This man has devoted his prison life to trying to destroy Ezra. He has paid off law enforcement agents, in the employ of mobsters, to start rumors and sabotage Ezra at every chance." He held up his hand for silence. "The man knows Ezra's every move. They don't know how yet; they're looking into it. We have to decide the best plan of action to protect Ezra. We all know he is impossible on a good day, and this is not a good day. I'm thinking of a cabin on a little island that belongs to a friend of mine. I've already OK'd this protection detail and secured the cabin. What do you all think?"

All six men grinned. The Judge just took care of the biggest problem with protecting Ezra: The ability for him to escape. With an island surrounded by water, they could cripple the boats so he couldn't leave.

"Okay men, get everything ready. It's SOP-gear and whatever else you can think of. We meet at Ezra's in 30 minutes. No one tell him the real reason. Understood?"

This last was aimed at JD, the youngest, whose soul shined through his eyes and whom Ezra had no trouble reading. JD nodded. He would be careful around Ezra.

"Vin, go to Ez's. Tell him it's a protection detail for a VIP. That should keep him from asking too many questions until we get there, hopefully. I'll get your stuff. Go."

Vin nodded, as did the others. They moved as one as they got ready to protect one of their own.

Chris turned back to the Judge. "What else?"

The simple question made Travis raise an eyebrow. Chris' steady gaze told him that he was waiting.

The Judge sighed. He had known he would have to tell Chris, but it didn't mean he would do it willingly. "Okay, the rumors are that Maggiono was not happy with Ezra's transfer. He couldn't cause any more problems for Ezra here, so he has put out a contract."

Chris's loud expletives echoed in the room.

"Why didn't you say something? I wouldn't have sent him home."

With that, Chris started out of the room, only to be stopped by Judge Travis's authoritative voice.

"Agent Larabee." Chris turned smoldering eyes on his superior. "Chris, I didn't say it sooner because the man hired a ghost."

Chris had to suck air into his lungs. "He didn't hire the Panther? That assassin's a myth." He prayed it was a myth. Sighing, he said, "All right, I understand why you didn't tell us right away."

Chris turned to leave when Travis said, "Chris, all myths are based on some fact. Just keep that in mind. Good luck, you're going to need it. Ezra's not going to be thrilled at being held prisoner." Chris gave their trademark two-fingered salute and strode out.

Judge Orrin Travis, feeling every bit of his sixty-two years, shook his head at the possibility of the Panther being real. If the assassin was real, he was going to regret going after Larabee's agent. The man was fierce when it came to protecting his men. He would take on Hell or the Devil himself to ensure his family was safe. No, if the Panther did exist, this would be his last mistake. He just hoped and prayed that all would come back safe and unharmed.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Across town, Vin pulled up to Ezra's condo. The Jag was in the parking garage, but there were no lights on at all. He knocked on the door. No answer. He tried again. Again, no answer. He took out the spare key Ezra had given to him the last time he had had to pick the lock because Ezra, after being seriously injured, wouldn't answer the door to let Nathan and the rest of the Team check on him. He inserted the key but never had to turn it; the door pushed open. It was unlocked. Ezra was positively anal about locking his doors. Vin took out his Glock 9 mil. and slowly entered the room. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness and searched every room. Not finding anything, he deemed it safe to turn the lights on. He had just started to investigate when Buck and JD entered. They stopped dead in their tracks finding themselves on the business end of Vin's gun.

Putting their hands up, Buck said, "Whoa there, Pard. It's just us. What's going on? Where's Ez?" Buck put his hands down slowly as Vin relaxed.

"I don't know, Buck. The door was unlocked."

JD interrupted at this. "No way! Ez nearly takes my head off when he comes over to the CDC and the door's unlocked."

Both men, knowing JD was right, were getting worried. "Spread out. Look for anythin', a struggle, somethin' to tell us where he is."

The men covered the whole apartment and met back in the living room. Exasperated, JD said, "Nothing. It's just like he disappeared into thin air."

Buck and Vin agreed; there was nothing to go on. Vin was getting a really bad feeling. JD, remembering, asked, "Did anyone check his answering machine or the redial?" Both men shook their heads; they hadn't thought about that.

JD went to the phone and hit redial. He didn't have long to wait.

A woman answered, "Anderson Storage and Movers. We can move you around the clock. How may I help you?"

JD went white as a sheet; he couldn't believe this. This was a wrong number or something.

"Yes, ma'am. My name is Agent JD Dunne with the Denver ATF." Hearing this, Buck and Vin moved closer; JD never used his title unless it was important. "I need your help in a very important matter. Did an Ezra Standish call you?"

The woman answered, "Yes."

"Okay, I need you to tell me when he called and what he needed, please."

Buck and Vin exchanged worried glances listening to JD's side of the call.

"Could you please cancel that order? Thank you, ma'am, you've been a big help." JD slammed the phone down "Sonavabitch!" Now the men were beyond worry. JD never cussed. Buck was just about to question the upset agent when the rest of the Team walked in.

"So, Ezra ready yet?" Nathan asked then took in the three faces. "What's wrong? Where's Ez?"

Chris could also tell bad news was coming.

"Spill it," he demanded. They didn't need this now.

Buck looked at JD. "Want to tell us what that call was about, son?" he asked softly. He could see this was tearing the young man up inside. He put his hand on the young man's shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

JD took a deep breath. "That was a 24-hour moving service. Ezra called them at 11:30 PM. Told them he had to move tomorrow and to have everything packed and stored by noon."

"Damn Southerner!"

"Shit!"

"Wait brothers. The Judge said he wanted to tell us first before Ezra. He also said that the warden had called the FBI first, then transferred to the Judge," Josiah explained.

Nathan looked at the profiler and, not hiding the irritation he felt, asked, "Your point?"

"Nathan, Ezra didn't know about Maggiono being released. So that means something else had to have happened to him," Josiah said.

"When I got here there were no lights on and the door was unlocked," the sharpshooter stated.

JD shook his head. "The lady said that he was going to leave the door unlocked and wouldn't be here. Said he wanted the stuff put in storage, and the Jag also."

Chris listened to this. "JD, did you check the recorder? The one that records incoming and outgoing calls?"

Chris was hoping that Ezra had forgotten about it. JD had installed it when Ezra had started to get threatening calls. Now, wondering if this was related, JD pushed the phone desk back. The recorder was still running. He had been replacing the tape for two months now.

"Yes!"

They had a break now.

"I'll rewind it two calls before the movers."

JD figured it would be the one before, but it never hurt. They listened as Ezra tried to politely dissuade the telemarketer then just hung up. They all had a picture of the disgust the southerner must have had on his face at the rude sales person.

In unison, they said, "I cannot abide rude people."

Their laughter died in their throats when they heard Chris's dispassionate voice come on. They all stared at the offending machine, all knowing that wasn't his voice or his message. Then they heard Ezra talking to the moving company, his voice sounding flat and dead as he told them what he wanted, then hung up. Shocked eyes turned to their leader, waiting for him to give the orders to save their agent.

Chris had never heard Ezra's southern drawl so lifeless and barren. Never. He took in the expressions of his men.

"JD, get that tape to the lab. I want it analyzed, and don't let it out of your sight. Buck, I want every file that exists on Carson Maggiono. Nathan, Josiah, he wasn't taking the Jag so find out how he was leaving - bus, rental, plane. Vin, you're with me. We'll try to track him down. Tomorrow's Saturday so that means he's walking into a trap. Meet at the office as soon as you get your information, and call and keep me updated."

They left the condo, locking the door behind them. They were praying that they would be in time. None of them noticed they were being watched.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The man watched silently as the men left the undercover agent's condo. He had expected them to show up. He knew Larabee would find out about Maggiono, then put his agent in protective custody. He couldn't let that happen.

It was well known in all areas that The Magnificent Seven's leader was fiercely protective of his agents, his family. He shook his head at Team 7's nickname: The Magnificent Seven. Their fellow agents had given them the name, and they lived up to it. He had followed them around for five months to find the best way to get to Standish.

Maggiono had made that impossible with the threatening calls from prison. The Team never let him alone for long. Whether Standish knew it or not, these men considered him important.

So that had left him to improvise. He had stalked his prey and learned his habits, his favorite food, drink, wine, game, art and music. He even knew how the man felt about his associates. He would die for each and every one of them, but not let them too close, emotionally. So he had used that. The idiot thugs he had hired should be finishing up with Standish by now. He had known when he had made that phone call that it would send the agent to do something stupid. So the thugs had laid in wait for him. Changing his mind, Panther decided that he wanted to play with his prey some. Test him and the group. So far, they had done everything as expected. God, how he was loving this challenge.

The man was startled out of his thoughts with the shrill ringing of his phone.

"Yeah."

Listening for a minute.

"Fuck! That's not how he was supposed to react. All right, call the paramedics. Make sure it's from a pay phone."

Shit! Standish was a fighter not a quitter. Maybe he had gone too far. With the thugs helping him, he had sent pictures and all kinds of proof to the ATF office that he was on the take and, with the rumors at the FBI, he was finished. He had given specific instructions - beat him, shoot him where he'll bleed a lot, then leave a cell phone close by and leave. They were to watch and make sure he did call for help. He actually had a bet with Maggiono that Standish would call for the paramedics at the very least. God damn it, he knew Standish. Panther did not make mistakes.

'Okay, Standish will get to the hospital and someone will recognize him and call Larabee. Standish thinks these men have given up on him, so he'll do whatever he has to do not to deal with them or them knowing about the phony call or the supposed evidence. Well, maybe this has possibilities, after all. Between Standish's stubbornness and the infamous Larabee temper, this may be better than I thought.'

The stranger in black hurried to his car and to the hospital, not wanting to miss the up-and-coming fireworks.

TWO

Ezra shook his negative thoughts out of his head; there was no time for self-pity. He had more important things to worry about. Like how to get out of this godforsaken place? When the individual that hired those imbeciles found out that they had failed, they would be back and he had no one to turn to for help.

Big surprise there.

He needed to find a safe place till he could find out who wanted him dead. It was a long list, after all. Besides, he wasn't sure how long he had been here, but he was positive that, by now, they had called Larabee. One thing he did not need was for Larabee or the rest of the Team showing up with their smug, condescending attitudes and telling him that he wasn't good enough for them. Like they had not made that clear already.

He really wasn't sure how they would take this new threat. Before they had been almost obsessive in about his safety as when any one of them was in danger. He had thought he was going to go crazy with the way they smothered him. Now, his so-called family believed the lies that were presented to them. He had really thought they would know him by now.

Lady Luck had turned fickle on him. Again.

Pushing those thoughts out of his aching head, he tried to rise and barely clamped down on the scream that the pain caused. Ezra lay there and took several deep breaths; this time he sat up more slowly. He managed to sit up then started to stand when dizziness hit. He stayed seated until the room stopped spinning. Taking his time, he slowly stood up and walked to the door and opened it. Taking in his surroundings, Ezra saw a supply closet. He made it in, locking the door and taking inventory. He needed scrubs. Check. Bandages... Check. Most importantly, someone had left a lab coat, with no nametag, but he could make it work. After all, that's what he did best.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Becky Denton had been a nurse at Four Corners General Hospital for ten years. So when she recognized Agent Standish, she knew from years of dealing with Denver's most famous and deadly ATF team that the hospital was about to be invaded by men that were fierce when one of their team members was down. They were a family, very loyal to each other. The Team would be by their fallen brother until he left, and then stayed with him till he could handle things by himself. She had heard some of the stories of how the one now wounded was impossible to deal with after he went home, but she really didn't see any difference. They all were impossible when hurt. She had been stunned when the agent had been there for over an hour and still no sign of the other members, so she had called Agent Larabee.

"Larabee." Chris was frustrated and angry. He wanted the people responsible for this attack on his family. Most importantly, he wanted to find Ezra.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Agent Larabee, this is Nurse Becky Denton at FCGH. I thought you'd like an update on Agent Standish's condition."

That got Chris's full attention. "He's there? What happened?"

That surprised Becky. "He was brought in over an hour ago and is in recovery. He had been beaten and shot. He's stable. I'm sorry, if I had known I would have called you sooner."

"It's all right. We should have checked there anyway. Thanks Becky, we're on our way now." He shut the phone and looked into the concerned blue eyes of Vin. "Let's go. He's at the hospital."

Vin was calling the others as they walked back to the truck.

"Pard, how bad?"

Chris looked at Vin, knowing what he was asking. "After the tape we heard, he won't cooperate or believe a word we say. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. I just hope JD was able to get the voice analyzed. That is the only proof we've got." Taking a deep breath, not really wanting to say the words out loud, he continued, "Vin, Maggiono hired an assassin. Judge said that he hired the Panther."

Chris heard Vin's sharp intake. "Chris, the man's a myth."

Chris tightened his hold on the steering wheel. He wasn't sure what to say. He knew that, but the Judge said that every myth is based on a little bit of truth. He just hoped it wasn't true this time.

Both men were lost in their thoughts as they screeched to a halt in front of the hospital. Chris left his truck in the emergency lane with his lights still flashing. As they strode into the hospital, they found Buck and JD going toe-to-toe with the doctor and the security guards. He shook his head; those two could find trouble anywhere.

"What's the problem here?" Chris used his authoritative voice to get the attention of his agents and the security guards.

"Chris, they lost Ezra," JD stated.

The security guards, not used to Larabee's death glare, took a step back from the fierce man in black. "What do you mean they lost Ezra?" Chris growled out.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The Panther had gotten to the hospital shortly after the ambulance. He had seen them take the agent to surgery. He had been waiting for Team 7 to show up. He wasn't surprised when two of them had come in demanding information on their friend. He had been mildly surprised that Standish had already escaped. He didn't think that he would have had the strength to move after getting out of recovery only twenty minutes ago. He had underestimated the undercover agent. He would not make that mistake again. He was the Panther after all; he had never made a mistake, at least that was until he had taken on Team 7. Now he was losing control of the game and making mistakes left and right. Time to take his control back.

He watched as Chris Larabee walked in and took command of the growing situation between his agents and the security guards. He was still fascinated by how Team 7 worked. Larabee didn't have to say a word to his men. As soon as Larabee took over, his men scattered to find Standish. He was really going to love this, tearing the ATF's best team apart. What a challenge. He really loved his work. Besides, he wanted his revenge; because of them he'd made more mistakes in the last day-and-a-half, then in his entire career.

The assassin stayed to listen to what the doctor had to say about his prey's condition. He leaned against the nurse’s station, looking like he was waiting to speak to the doctor so as not to look too suspicious.

"Agent Larabee, you need to-" The doctor got no further than that because he had a very angry Larabee in his personal space.

"Listen here, you pompous ass. YOU lost my agent, not us. I want to know his condition and all details concerning my agent. Now."

The slightly shaken doctor stepped back from the angry and hostile agent. "Yes well, Mr. Standish was unconscious when he came in. It also looked as if he had never regained consciousness after being left for dead. He was shot twice in the fleshy part of his side. He lost a lot of blood. The officer that came in with him stated that there had been a cell phone nearby. He would surely have called you and your associates for help if he was able."

Chris closed his eyes feeling a lurch in his heart at that last statement. He turned his frosty glare back to the doctor. "I suggest you tell me what I need to do when we find him because we will be taking him with us."

The doctor refrained from telling the agent exactly what he could do with his agent and himself. "Agent Larabee, he will not be able...."

Chris was at the end of his patience with the infuriating man when Nathan and Josiah came up. He turned his back on the doctor. "Nathan, get the damn instructions for Ez." Turning his full anger on the doctor, his voice dripped ice. "We will be taking him with us." He walked off to find the con man.

'Standish better hope to hell he's all right, because if he's not, I'm going to wring his damn southern neck.'

He knew it wasn't the hospital's fault his agents never could follow orders or stay put in this godforsaken hellhole. They all despised it and never missed the opportunity to escape, but he would be damned if he would take crap about his agents from anyone, especially not some overweight, pompous, judgmental asshole. God, he was starting to sound like Ezra.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

JD went to the room Ezra was supposed to be in on the off chance he might come back. Not likely. Buck went to search the floor Ezra's room was located on. He started with the supply closet. Going on past experiences with Ezra and Vin's escape attempts, it was the logical choice. He saw the hospital gown that had been thrown in the corner. He also noticed the missing bandages.

'Damn southerner couldn't just stay put for once. Noooo, he had to go and handle this on his own. Well, we'll just have to fix that. When we find him that is.'

As Buck was thinking this, he started going down the stairs hoping he and Vin could trap the con man between them on the staircase.

Vin, having tried to escape the hospital many times before, knew how to follow the gambler's thoughts. So he waited at the bottom of the basement's stairs since it had a different exit, separate from the rest of the hospital. He and Ezra had discovered the exit the last time they were here. He knew this would be the escape route he would chose, so Ezra would too. They thought a lot alike, especially when escaping this awful pit of hell people called the hospital. He just hoped the con man would allow them a chance to explain.

'God, I just figure out how I feel about ya, Ez, then this happens. You will let me tell ya how I feel. Even if I have to tie ya up, you will listen.'

Finding the thought of Ezra tied up to be appealing, he started to harden. He clamped down on his body's emotions. First things first: find Ezra and restore the friendship with the rest of the Team. Then he could concentrate on his possible relationship with the wily southern man who had been haunting his waking and sleeping dreams.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Ezra, having finally made it to the basement stairs' door, was almost out of strength. He never realized how much he had let the others in. He now found himself wishing that he could allow one of the others to help him. He had learned the hard way that he was a fool. The men didn't want him or trust him, much less as part of their family or anything else. How could they believe he would do that? Couldn't they see this was a frame-up? That he could never sell a fellow agent out or take a bribe from anyone for anything? But of course, he was Ezra Standish, which meant that he was not given the benefit of doubt, which even a common murderer received.

'God, I'm weak, in more ways than one obviously. Maybe I should rest for a moment,' he thought to himself, but he kept going not knowing how long he had to make his escape.

He walked slowly down the stairs, concentrating on each step he took trying not to pass out or think of the pain. He was only four steps from the bottom when he heard a soft drawl.

"Going somewhere, Ez?"

Not looking up, he continued down the stairs. It was taking even more willpower not to give into the overwhelming desire to let this beautiful creature in front of him take control and help him. Then he remembered why he couldn't ask for help. 'God, I must be weak to even have these thoughts.'

His mother would be laughing at him, telling him, "If I've told you once, baby boy, I've told you a million times. Never have emotional attachments to anyone or anything. You think these men want you around? They'll never trust you or ever like you for who you are. You are nothing to them, so they are nothing to you. I thought you would have learned that by now."

"Mr. Tanner if you are here to escort me to the ending of my career then, for your information, I have till 8:00 AM. Do not fear, Mr. Tanner. I wouldn't want to give you or the others the pleasure of thinking me a coward. I will be there. So, now if you will excuse me, I'm leaving."

With that, Ezra started to slip past Vin when his strength left him. Vin caught the con man as his knees buckled and the smaller man passed out. He lowered the man gently and cradled his secret love in his arms, as he heard Buck coming down the stairs.

"Buck, hurry up and git Nathan." After hearing the venom in Ezra's voice, he now knew it was going to be an uphill battle just to repair their friendships with the con man, not too mention when he tried to tell the handsome undercover agent that he was in love with him. Whispering in his soft Texas drawl, Vin let his love show in his warm, whispered words, "I've got you, Love. I'll take care of you. You just got ta have a little bit a faith. I'll take care of the rest. Ya have my heart, my faith and anything else you need ta help us through this. I give my word as a Tanner."

Buck had heard Vin tell him to get Nathan, so he ran up the stairs and burst out the door, colliding into Chris.

"Damn it, Buck, be more careful," he said to Buck's retreating back. He watched Buck zero in on Nathan and take him aside. He saw the ex-medic start towards him and watched him go down the stairs. He grabbed Buck before he started back down the stairs.

"Spill it."

Buck looked at him, sizing him up. He had overheard Vin's words of love to the con man. He had already known of the love each one felt for the other; he had seen all the looks, when one of them thought that no one else was looking. He wanted to make sure they had a chance. Only he, JD and Nathan knew about this; at least, they thought they were. He wasn't sure how Chris
would handle it, but he didn't want to take any chances yet.

"Chris, when he was talking to Vin, he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with us. Pard, you can't go down there. If he comes to, he will fight us more if you're there. Remember, he thinks that call was from you."

Buck hoped this would work. Ezra always said that the best lie was one with a little bit of truth to it.

Chris knew Buck wasn't telling him everything, but he also knew that he was probably right. So instead he went to get JD and see the results of the voice analysis. Hopefully it would go a long way in convincing Ezra that it was a setup; that this whole thing was a goddamned set up.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Nathan found Vin cradling in Ezra in his arms, whispering soft words into the con man's ear. Vin looked up at Nathan not even bothering to hide the love he felt for the man in his arms.

"I love him, and if you or the others have a problem, *you* will take it up with me," Vin growled protectively.

Nathan grinned at the tracker. "We've known for a while." At the cautious and confused look on Vin's face, he continued, "Vin, Buck, JD and I have seen the love the both of you have for each other. And yes, Ez does love you too."

Buck interrupted at this. "Vin, he gives you looks of love, as much as you do. We just kept hopin' that ya'll would figure it out for yourselves."

Ezra moaned in pain, and Vin tightened his arms around the man he loved. His heart was soaring at the knowledge of Ezra loving him. Then it dropped just as fast at the thought that someone wanted to kill Ezra and that that person may have destroyed any chance he had.

Buck put his hand on Vin's shoulder. "Pard, we'll fix this somehow, but you need to let him go-"

Vin interrupted at that in a soft, deadly drawl, "I will never let him go."

Buck put his hands up complacently. "Easy pard, I jus' meant long enough for Nathan to look at him."

Vin relaxed at this, grinning sheepishly and loosening his grip, but still holding him. "Sorry, I still could lose him. It scares me."

The other two men covered their shock well at the usually quiet Texan's admission. He was so much like Ezra in the fact that he wouldn't tell you anything personal. He really did love Ezra, a lot, if he was voicing how scared he was at losing the undercover agent. They just hoped the rest were as accepting as they were.

Ezra moaned, mumbling, and Vin leaned down trying to hear what he said. When Vin raised his head, he had tears in his eyes. "He said 'Do not waste the effort, Doctor. No one will care or miss me.' God, how will we be able to convince him differently? How can I convince Ezra that I love him? He's already givin' up on us and himself."

Nathan's training took over. "One thing at a time. Let me look him over."

Nathan was doing what the guys referred to as pokin' and proddin' when Ezra raised up yelling, "I didn't take the money." He then collapsed into Vin's arms, sobbing. They all traded looks not knowing what to say or what was meant by the statement. Vin was rocking him and making soothing noises.

Chris, JD and Josiah all stood watching. They had watched most of the scene being played out in front of them. JD was nervous. He didn't know how the two men watching were going to react. When they had first come down, he had tried to walk over to the men, hoping to alert them to Chris and Josiah's presence, but Chris had held him in place with a warning glare.

Chris had known all along about the two oblivious men. He hadn't realized that anyone else had noticed. He should have known better; his Team was the best for a reason. It wouldn't be likely that they would miss how Vin and Ezra felt about each other, even if those two did.

Chris stepped forward after the injured agent had calmed down and fallen into a feverish sleep. "'Bout time you found your heart, Cowboy." He grinned at the shocked expressions.

Buck finally found his voice and managed to choke out, "You knew?"

Chris merely said, "Yep," then looked at Nathan and asked, "How is he? Can he travel? I want him at the island ASAP. The assassin is close, I can feel it."

Vin nodded his agreement; he could also feel the assassin.

Nathan had finished his examination and answered, "He's weak, and needs lots of rest. He can make it. Let's just get the meds from the doctor before we leave." Chris nodded.

Vin watched each man to see if there was going to be a problem. Chris, knowing what his best friend was thinking, said, "Vin, we all accept your love for Ezra."

Vin looked at the ex-preacher who had been silent. "What do you think, Preacher?"

Josiah looked Vin in the eye and said, "Brother, for someone so knowledgeable about what goes on around him, how could you be so oblivious to how Ezra feels about you? 'Course, I can ask him the same question. I'm thrilled for the two of you. It's about damn time. Now, you have to inform our wayward brother of the great fortune you two have in finding each other. I'm very happy for you both, Vin."

Vin accepted this gratefully from his family. Now, as Josiah had pointed out, he needed to tell Ezra that they were a couple. Should be interesting. Ezra hated being told what to do. Maybe tying him up would be his best bet in convincing the agent how much he did love him, and a hell of a good time.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

No one noticed the man watching them.

'Well, well, looks like I have another kind of bait to add to the possibilities of torturing and killing Ezra Standish. I should call Maggiono and see if he will pay more for this added bonus.'

No one noticed the man in black leave the stairwell to go make plans for the upcoming battle.

His first stop was to kill the idiots that screwed up. He had told them to shoot him once, not twice. He had been very specific about that. Not only that, they made him doubt his God-given ability and that was totally unacceptable. He knew Standish wouldn't lie there and die. No, Standish was a fighter.

'Now, time to get this party rockin'.'

This would be his crowning achievement, taking down a whole ATF team, and the best at that.

THREE

The doctor had insisted he re-check Ezra before he would allow them to take him. He was still not happy about it but figured if he made sure they had the prescriptions and that Standish hadn't injured himself further, then neither he nor the hospital would be held accountable. He had had just about enough of Team 7; he personally couldn't wait to get rid of them. He cleared Ezra and left him to the Team.

The six men had watched the whole time as the doctor checked the con man over. Ezra never responded. The doctor had told them he was still unconscious. That was to be expected with blood loss and trying to leave without any help.

Nathan had asked for the prescriptions - an antibiotic and painkiller. He needed the first few days in shot form and a sedative, also, to make the trip easier on the southern agent in case he woke up.

When the doctor cleared him to leave, they were ready to start the trip to the island. Hopefully Ezra would stay unconscious until they got to the island. They still weren't sure how to handle the damage the assassin caused their most vulnerable brother.

Josiah took JD and Buck in the Suburban with their gear. They were driving to the dock and taking a boat to the island. The rest headed to the ATF's hangar with Nathan as the pilot. With this bunch, one never knew when they might need a hospital. Chris wanted something faster than the boat in case of emergency, not to mention a faster way to get Ezra to safety. He knew the assassin was still around. He could feel it. He had never believed in ghosts or myths, but he was starting to believe the Panther was real. He just wasn't sure how to handle it because the Panther never did anything the same. It was always different, except the stalking of his prey. Chris ran a hand over his face, trying to rub the growing anxiety away. He would tell everyone when they got squared away at the island. They would have to go back through all the files that were thought to be the Panther. If he was real then this would be his last game hunt. Permanently.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

As the chopper landed, they all let out an appreciative whistle, except Ezra, as he was still unconscious.

"Damn Chris. The judge say what his friend did for a living?"

The island was in the middle of a river, thirty minutes from the mainland. It was set on a high cliff with tall trees surrounding it, but what amazed them was that the house was built like a fortress. It had a high wall with barbed wire on top surrounding the courtyard. Inside the court were a helipad, basketball court and a swimming pool.

After the chopper had landed, Chris said, "We'll look around after we get Ez settled." He turned to Nathan asking, "Is he okay? He's been unconscious for a long time."

Nathan was about to answer when they heard a buzzer go off. All three pulled their guns and surrounded the chopper, making an effective barricade between Ezra and the possible threat. They relaxed when they heard Josiah's booming voice, telling them to open the gate. They all exchanged sheepish looks.

"Vin, you and Nathan take Ez in; I'll let the stragglers in." Walking up to the gate, Chris yelled, "Hold your horses, I'm coming. Damn it to hell, where is the lever...."

He finally found it behind a hidden panel. It had two different buttons, one for the whole gate, then one for a door. He pushed the one for the door. When it opened, he saw the three men with their hands in front of them like they were holding reins for a horse. Chris lifted his eyebrow in question.

JD smirked saying, "You told us ta hold our horses."

Chris shook his head and smiled. "Smart asses. Let's get everything unloaded and situated. Then we need to make a plan, and I'll tell ya what the Judge left out about Ezra's situation."

The men nodded and Chris walked up to the house. As he entered the house, he was struck by the awe-inspiring view. It had a spacious entryway leading into a living room that was huge with vaulted ceilings. The house was decorated in a cool southwestern design.

'Okay, let's see how long it takes the children to break something. Judge must not have known what this place was like, or he did and wanted to take revenge on his friend by unleashing his team on this place.'

Chris was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a loud crashing noise towards the back of the house. He looked at his watch. 'Only been here forty-two minutes; that's a new record, for them.'

Hearing another crash, he picked up his pace. He took the steps two at a time hearing loud swearing as he neared a room.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Vin gently lifted Ezra into a fireman's hold. Following Nathan into the house, they both stopped at the beautiful surroundings. Vin asked, "Thought Chris said this was a cabin, not a palace."

Nathan could only nod.

Vin gave him a nudge. "C'mon let's git him to a room. I'd hate to be holding him like this when he wakes up. He's not gonna be a happy camper as it is, and I'm purty sure he would like to be in a different position when I tell him I love him."

Nathan agreed, "He'd probably be more receptive to it." They looked around and then at each other. Nathan asked, "Suppose Chris brought a map?"

Vin shook his head. "Nope. Let's try upstairs."

They had just cleared the landing when they heard Ezra groan. Nathan went to the room that was closest to them. Vin had just cleared the doorway when Ezra came to and started struggling.

Ezra came to not knowing where he was, just that he was upside down and in a lot of pain. So he grabbed the doorframe and pulled, gasping at the burning in his side. He managed to pull the person holding him off balance, and then kicked out, hearing a grunt of pain from his captor and then a loud crash. He hoped there weren't more; he was getting weaker by the moment. He felt
another pair of hands on him as they crashed to the floor in a heap of body parts and curses. The pain was too intense, and he let the welcoming darkness take him.

Chris walked in seeing Nathan and Vin untangling from the con man as gently as possible. "Take it Ez woke up and didn't take kindly to his position?" Chris couldn't keep the smile from his face at the disgruntled looks on their faces.

Nathan turned Ezra over. "Vin, help me get him to the bed. Need to make sure he didn't bust his stitches." Chris pulled the blankets back and then helped Vin get Ezra's shirt off. "Damn, he's bleeding again." Nathan quickly removed the old bandages to look at the stitches. "Well, he didn't bust any, just pulled on them some." Nathan changed the bandages. Looking at them, he said, "I'm goin' to wake him up so be ready. Vin, hold his shoulders. Chris, you take his legs. Ready?"

Both nodded. Nathan took out the smelling salts and passed them under Ezra's nose a few times.

They saw the grimace on his face. Nathan nodded to Vin to talk to him.

"C'mon Ez, I need ya to wake up."

Ezra heard the soft drawl that he loved so much, felt the feather soft strokes on his forehead and cheek, and turned his face into the touch looking for comfort. He hurt all over, but nothing hurt more than his heart. The men that he worked with and thought of as friends believed him to be a disloyal, common thief and traitor. What hurt the most was that Vin thought the same as the others. Knowing the man he had mistakenly fallen in love with thought him so low and dishonorable caused more emotional pain than anything in his lonely and loveless childhood ever could. Now the man that held his heart wanted him to wake up. Must be late to the dismissal hearing. That thought caused him to come fully awake. He tried to rise, but found himself effectively pinned and looking into the eyes of his former friends and secret love.

"I would appreciate it if you gentlemen would take your hands off me, NOW!" His eyes were hard, green flint, and his voice was as cold as an Antarctic iceberg.

The coldness in their friend's voice caused the men to flinch.

Chris took a deep breath and started to say, "Ez, it's not what you think-"

That brought a harsh laugh from him. "What's not what I think? Huh, Mr. Larabee? The fact that you men think I stole money and that I'm on the take? That I'm so dishonest and disloyal to the Team I was starting to think of as my family? Now, I repeat get your fucking hands off of me, NOW!" The last was said with a snarl, but the men held him still, not sure of how to handle the irate southerner.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Vin figured, since he hadn't pulled away from his hand, that maybe he could still get through. "Ezra."

Ezra never took his eyes from Chris. Vin grabbed Ezra's chin and tightened his hold on it when Ezra went to pull away. Ezra gave into Vin's insistent grip and looked into the intense sapphire eyes that he'd now given up all hope of ever loving him.

Vin, seeing the pain in his eyes, spoke softly, "Ez, we do trust you."

When Ezra went to jerk his head away at that, Vin just tightened his hold and told him, "You had your say; now you will listen to our side."

Ezra felt himself getting weak, so he didn't have much choice. He would listen and bide his time before leaving. He nodded indicating he would listen.

Vin had seen the emotions flicker across the con man's face, then saw his "poker face" slam down firmly in place. Looking into emotionless eyes, Vin sighed. "Ezra, the phone call was a setup. It wasn't Chris."

Nathan and Chris had stayed quiet, letting Vin handle this but still having a good hold on the agent. They had been surprised to see Ezra give into Vin so fast, not sure if it was his weakened condition or his love for Vin that caused it.

Vin still saw no emotion in his Heart's eyes. If he couldn't convince him that it had been a setup, then he stood a snowball's chance in hell of getting the stubborn southerner to believe he really did love him.

"Ezra, ya know I wouldn't lie to you. What would I have to gain from it? Remember the recorder we had set up for those threats?" He waited till Ezra nodded, then continued, "We listened to it after we couldn't find you. The door bein' unlocked, I was afraid that they had already taken you."

Vin stopped at Ezra's sharp intake of breath, thinking that it was just another denial coming from the stubborn man, not because of something he had let slip.

Vin was losing his patience trying to reason with this man.

'I would have to fall in love with someone that surpassed Larabee's own stubbornness,' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath. Maybe he should lay his heart open to the man. Maybe he could get through with his heart, instead of with logic and reason.

He looked at the other two men. "Mind if I talk to him alone." It was a statement not a request. The other two decided it might be safer with the others.

Backing out of the room, Nathan said, "Just remember he needs sleep. I'll be back with some food later." With that, he shut the door.

Vin gazed down lovingly at Ezra, seeing something in his eyes he hoped was love. He framed Ezra's face with his hands.

"Now that we're alone, I'm going to be totally upfront and honest with ya. Ezra Standish, I love you." He kept going this time when he heard Ezra's sharp intake of breath.

"I have loved you too long to let your stubbornness, pride and an assassin take this chance from us. Ez, Love, give us a chance. I know how hard it is for ya to trust, much less love another person. I'm asking you to give me your trust and faith; between us we can make it."

Vin had been watching as the beautiful emerald eyes warmed and let the love show as a single tear escaped. He caught the tear on his finger and, without indigo eyes leaving green, he licked the tear from his finger and then traced Ezra's bottom lip with it.

Ezra flicked his tongue out to taste the finger that had just left his soon to be lover's mouth. He wrapped his tongue around the finger, seducing it into his mouth so he could love it properly.

Vin moaned as he watched Ezra lick his finger, then take it into his mouth and gently suck on it. "God, baby," he said breathlessly.

He couldn't take it any longer. He removed his finger and slowly leaned down. Placing a hand on each side, he looked into his soul's eyes and, seeing the barely contained passion in those emerald depths, he took the soft lips in a gentle kiss. Their tongues slid softly against each other, tasting and exploring, Ezra whimpered every time Vin prevented him from deepening the kiss. Vin pulled back when he felt Ezra wince at the pressure on his split lip, both of them breathless as Vin watched Ezra try to get his raging emotions under control.

Ezra was absolutely stunned that Vin loved him. "Vin Tanner, I have loved you from the first time I saw you. Your heart and soul are filled with so much good and compassion. I never dreamed it would be possible for someone as good and loving as you to want someone like me."

Vin put his finger on his love's lips to prevent him from saying anything else. "Ezra, I love you with every fiber of my being, but I will not have you putting yourself down. You have a good, strong heart and a generous soul." He could see that Ezra was still having trouble believing this was real and how he was trying to keep his eyes open.

"Baby, you need to get some sleep. I want to make love to you, but not until you are fully recovered. I don't want anything to keep you from the pleasure, okay?"

All Ezra could do was close his eyes. He was too exhausted and his emotions too close to the surface for comfort. He needed to think, but he needed a clear head. He needed to make sure he could really believe in what Vin had said and trust that he was telling the truth. His meditation came in handy once again as his breathing evened out and he went into a controlled, light sleep.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Vin sat quietly watching as the man he loved drifted asleep. He was worried. He'd seen the doubt and suspicion in the con man's eyes as they closed. After he was sure Ezra was asleep, he leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his love's lips. God, he was still hard. He had been shocked at the depth of passion in the southerner's eyes and, when Ezra had sucked his finger into his hot, moist mouth, he had almost exploded.

'Okay Tanner, this isn't helping; get it under control.'

With a supreme effort, he pulled his body under control. He looked at the beautiful owner of his spirit, then turned and left. They needed to have a plan for the assassin. He could feel the threat that was closing in, and he had no intention of letting anything happen to his Mate, not now, nor ever.

Vin came into the kitchen and dropped bonelessly into the closest chair. The men stopped their dinner preparations and joined Vin at the table.

Chris set a cup of coffee in front of him. "How did it go?"

Vin took a sip and grimaced; it was too weak for his liking. He gave a soft sigh. "I thought he believed me, but I saw the doubt and insecurities 'fore he feel asleep. I'm afraid that after he's had time to rest and think, he's going to let the insecurities and doubt come between him and the truth that I really love him."

Josiah spoke up, "Vin, you're going to have to remember, he grew up without a loving family. He was left with relatives that didn't love or want him. The only time he was wanted around, they used him and cast him off after he served his purpose. Give him time to digest this. This is all very new to him. He doesn't show it often, but he does let his heart make the most important decisions for him. If he didn't, he would be just like Maude, and he wouldn't be part of our family. Besides, we'll be here to help get the point across." The rest nodded their agreement to this.

Vin smiled his gratitude, then he turned serious and looked at Chris. "I can feel the assassin, Chris. He's close, too close, for a small island."

Chris sighed; this wasn't a good sign. They all had complete faith in Vin's instincts, and if he could feel him then it was worse than he had first believed. He then looked up and met each man's gaze.

"Maggiono hired the Panther." Chris held up his hand to forestall the denials he knew would be coming. "Just listen. The Judge got this from a reliable source. I didn't believe it at first. Now, I'm not so sure. I pulled all the files on all unsolved assassinations. We need to find something that will help us protect Ez."

JD spoke up then. "There won't be anything. The man is real and dangerous."

All heads swung to look at the youngest of them. Instead of seeing the normal window to his soul and compassionate eyes, full of life, what they saw sent chills down their spines. JD's expression was one of a man that had seen something that had transformed him beyond his twenty-five years. His eyes were cold, hard and full of promised revenge. They held the knowledge of living through and surviving hell and the willingness to take it on again to save his family. They sometimes forgot that they didn't know everything that had happened with JD back in Boston on the police force, that the young agent had secrets, just like the rest of them.

Chris was about to question JD when a loud crash came from behind them. No one had noticed Ezra standing behind them. He stood there barely able to stand, and he had an automatic weapon in his hand pointed right at them. He had a look of deep sorrow, regret and something else.

FOUR

Ezra felt Vin's soft lips brush his before he left. He got up after the door had shut and stared out the window. After a few minutes of his thoughts running in circles, he gave up. It really was a moot point. They had no faith and trust in him.

End of story.

End of the illusion of family he had so foolishly allowed.

First, he needed to get off this island. The assassin would be coming for him. His friends, no, former associates, thought he was a lowlife, traitorous thief. He knew they had never believed in him and never would.

Tanner's declaration of love was a con. He would admit that it had almost been believable. Almost. Tanner just needed to learn when not to overextend his acting skill. He was quite surprised; he hadn't thought Tanner had it in him. How Tanner had found out about his feelings for him would just have to go unanswered.

'All right, time to vacate these premises. Mr. Larabee will have disabled the transportation, so I'm going to be forced to insist that some be made available to me.'

With that, he started the search for a weapon. He knew that the others would have brought more than enough firepower. All he had to do was find it. He started with the room next to his. It was Nathan's. That made sense; the ex-medic always wanted to be close to the injured individual, even if it was the amoral gambler as the dark healer often referred to him. Ezra's world suddenly tilted. He lost his balance and grabbed onto a small, wall-mounted, stone waterfall. Ezra fell when the waterfall gave under his weight, his breath being knocked out of him.

Ezra lay there until he caught his breath and was sure he could stand again. He pulled himself up using a chair. As Ezra stood he came face to face with a hidden compartment with a vast selection of guns. AK-47's, hand guns, shotguns... Whoever owned this place should be under surveillance with this stash. Ezra took one of the automatic machine guns and grabbed the four clips he found. He also grabbed the empty clip and loaded the weapon with it. They may have given up on him, which was to be expected, but he stilled valued them and would never take undo risk with their lives.

Knowing he was losing strength, he knew he needed to hurry. The coming confrontation was going to take all of his control and resolve. He had to get out of this prison they had put him in before the assassin found him. He could not let these unique men die because of him. He stopped outside of the kitchen door. He could hear their voices. He took a deep breath and let his survival instincts kick in. He listened to them, not hearing the words, just concentrating on the voices and the different sounds. When Ezra was assured that all six men were in the room, he opened the door. Not realizing something was behind the door, he knocked over a statue. Kicking himself for not being more careful, knowing that the element of surprise was over, he
pointed the empty weapon at his ex-compatriots.

Ezra looked at the stunned disbelief on the men's faces and couldn't help his smirk of contempt. "Come now, gentlemen, why would this shock you? You all think the worst of me already. This should only be a reinforcement of that judgment."

Chris took a step forward but stopped when Ezra pointed the gun at him.

"Mr. Larabee, just the one I wanted to speak with. If you would be so kind as to give me the part out of the disabled boat, then I will take my loathsome presence someplace else." It was getting harder for him to stand, but the sooner he left, the better.

Ezra kept his face and eyes blank, waiting for the outburst that would be coming from the dark clad leader. Chris didn't disappoint him.

"Damn it, Ezra, what the hell are you talking about? The phone call was a setup; it wasn't me. We had the tape analyzed, proved that it wasn't me. You will not be leaving this island. We won't let you, so just hand over the gun."

Chris stopped and watched as his undercover agent thought about this. He saw the cold fury in his eyes and knew that Ezra didn't believe a word he had said. When he got his hands on this Panther, he was going to suffer greatly for this.

"Ez, think about-"

Ezra had had enough of the lies. "Nothing to think about, Mr. Larabee. Did you think that I would really believe a doctored up document? You took the doctored documentation, which they sent you, as evidence against me, then became Judge, Jury and Executioner." He was getting angrier, his southern accent deepening as the venom dripped off his words. "You want me gone. So be it. Give me the parts, and I'll be ecstatic to oblige you in your fondest wish." Ezra, in his weakened condition, let his anger take control, and he missed that Josiah had slipped out the back door.

Josiah, seeing the irate southern agent was letting his anger consume him, slipped out the back door and ran to the front one, hoping to come up behind the injured man before he could hurt himself or the others. Josiah knew Ezra didn't have it in him to hurt any of them, no matter how angry he was. The gun was the problem. He would have to be careful when he grabbed the agent. He didn't want the gun to go off and accidentally shoot someone. Josiah could still hear Chris and Ezra as he made his way slowly behind the smaller, irate man. He looked at everyone and got the barely perceptible nods that they were ready, except from Chris who was still distracting Ezra. He was waiting for their leader's sign.

Chris had watched as the big giant came up behind the unsuspecting agent. When he felt that the time was right he yelled, "Now!"

Josiah grabbed Ezra around the chest at the same time Chris grabbed Ezra's hand that held the gun and pointed it to the ceiling. Buck and JD had grabbed Ezra's legs before he could do any damage with them. Chris took the gun and went to secure it, but it was empty. He looked up, astonished, at the struggling agent. The damn fool had been so convincing.

'Well, duh, stupid. He is the best undercover agent for a reason, and you should have known that even angry he wouldn't take a chance with our safety.'

A grunt of pain brought Chris out of his thoughts. Ezra was fighting Josiah and the others with everything he had. Chris had reached the end of his patience with the impossible man.

Vin had watched the whole thing in silence. When Ezra had come in holding a gun on them and didn't even look at him, Vin knew that Ezra was afraid that he would try, once again, to convince him of his love, so he still had his work cut out for him. His gambler's wall was still firmly in place. It hurt that Ezra hadn't believed that he loved him, but he wasn't giving up on his
Mate. He would find a way. Somehow.

Vin had watched as the argument between Chris and Ezra grew and as Josiah grabbed him from behind. The fight Ezra was putting up was still going strong as he threw his head back and caught Josiah in the face.

He saw Chris had had enough and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Cowboy. Gettin' mad won't help. It'll just encourage him to push ya harder. Let's get him secured to somethin', then maybe we can git him ta talk."

Chris nodded. He knew that Ezra would continue to goad him if he responded to his anger. "All right, what do you think? We would never be able to keep him cuffed." He stopped at Vin's evil grin.

Vin simply said, "Knots." Then he went in search of ropes to hold his con man in place till they got some answers. Then he'd get his stubborn, soon-to-be-lover to come to his senses.

Chris started to grin. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. They all knew Ezra Standish, Houdini reincarnated, couldn't get out of ropes because of the knots. The man was notorious for always escaping anything or anyplace, but knots. He was hopeless with knots. Thank God. Chris turned and looked at his agents. They still had Ezra effectively pinned. Ezra had stopped struggling; he was panting and pale from the exertion of the struggle.

"Okay, let's get him back upstairs, but don't let him go yet."

They found Vin waiting at the door to Ezra's new room with rope in his hand. They all had big grins at that thought. Ezra had slipped into unconsciousness, so they took advantage of this and quickly tied him to the sturdy, wooden-framed bed. Having to be careful of his injuries, they secured his arms at his sides by looping the rope above his elbow and then running it underneath him and tying it to the opposite side of the bottom railing. Then proceeded to do the same with the other arm. He had some room to move with them being at his side. They secured his legs, so he couldn't kick out at them.

Buck smirked at Chris and Vin, and then stated, "Ya'll do know he ain't goin' to be a happy camper when he comes to. So, how we gonna handle this?"

Chris took a deep breath. "First, one of us is to be with him at all times. Second, when he wakes up, let the rest of us know. We need answers, and I'd really like to know where he got that weapon. None of us brought it. He didn't, so where did he get it? Let's search the house. Start with the rooms up here. He was too weak to get too far. Vin?" Vin nodded at the unspoken question; he would be staying to watch over Ezra. "Then we'll met back here and see if we can't come up with some answers and a plan."

Nathan stopped next to him. "I'll be right back. Need to make sure he didn't rip his stitches."

Vin nodded and watched as the men filed out. He sat down and studied Ezra's profile. He was so pale that the bruises on the left side of his face stood out even more.

"God, Ez, what did they do to you? And what proof did we git? What money?" Vin whispered as reached out and traced his Heart's face.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

"Damn, fool southerner," Nathan was muttering to himself as he went to his room to get his medical bag. He stopped as he took in his room. He now knew were Ezra had gotten the gun. He stepped back into the hallway.

"Hey, guys, I found it."

The men came in and looked at the wall Nathan was staring at. Buck let out a low whistle. "I thought the Judge said this belonged to a friend of his, not an arms dealer. By the way, didn't he say this was a cabin?"

"Chris, maybe we should contact the Judge," Josiah suggested.

Chris agreed. This was getting strange, and he really hated strange, especially with Ezra in danger. "First, seal this back up; we'll check it out later."

They watched as Josiah slipped the lever back and the panel slid shut. They couldn't even tell where it had been.

"JD, git your computer. Buck, grab the files in the kitchen. We'll set up in the hallway so Vin can be in on it. Josiah, Nathan, we'll move two of those couches outside Ez's room."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

After they had gotten their makeshift base camp set up, Chris told Vin about the hidden gun stash while Nathan took care of the sleeping gambler's injuries. Nathan had a worried expression when he came into the hall, looking at the others as he said, "He managed not to tear any stitches, but he's got a fever. A very high fever."

"Is it safe to keep him here?" concern evident in Chris's voice.

"There isn't anything they can do, right now, that we can't. We'll need ta keep him cool, give him antibiotics and watch him carefully. I'll let you know if we need to take him."

Chris nodded. "Okay, let's get everything we know out on the table. Then I'll call and update the Judge, and git some answers on this friend of his."

Bringing a chair out, Vin put it where he could see and hear Ezra. Vin sat down saying, "What money is he talkin' 'bout?"

"And what 'doctored up documentation' is he referring to?" Nathan asked.

"Why won't he believe us about it not being Chris that called?" Buck couldn't understand it; they even had proof it had been a setup.

JD shook his head. "Won't matter. Panther will have watched Ezra long enough to know how he'll react, how we'll react, and how to counter anything that would help or convince him otherwise."

JD was lost in his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up seeing the expectant looks. 'Damn, I don't want to do this, not again,' he thought to himself.

JD took a deep breath. "You all remember that I was on the Boston P. D.?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I had been there for a year when my partner Dustin started to investigate a company, a jewelry store, that had taken his grandmother's family heirloom. It had been passed down the family line from Mary, Queen of Scots, herself. Anyway, she had taken it to just get it cleaned. She took it to a new store 'cause the one she normally went to went out of business. They told her that it was only going to take a day, but it ended up takin' them two weeks. Well, when his grandmother picked it up she knew it was a fake right away and brought it to Dustin. Dustin reported it to Robbery. He checked in with Robbery everyday for four months. They kept putting him off, telling him there was nothing to find, that his grandmother was just getting senile.

"Well, he started doing his own investigation on his downtime. Dustin stayed at it for over a year. He had stumbled into an international jewelry theft ring that only markets in heirlooms that had a history. When Dustin got too close, they hired an assassin to take care of him."

JD stopped to catch his breath. He had never talked about it, and to think Ezra was now on the Panther's hit list was scaring the holy shit out of him.

"This assassin was known for never killing the same way twice. He would wait until no one would take the hit, then would call and set his own price. They never had a choice since nobody else would take it. He stalks his victim, like his namesake does prey, until he knows everything about them - their likes, dislikes, favorite music, food, wine, how they react to things, what upsets them." JD got up and started to pace, his hands flying wildly as he continued. "He knows their work habits, home life, friends and family. Hell, even down to what brand of aspirin they use. The worst is he knows their fears inside and out. He'll take all that information and come up with the best way to destroy the victim before he kills him."

He stopped and looked at his friends with tears in his eyes. "Know how he got the name Panther?"

Nobody said anything, just watched as JD dropped dejectedly down on the couch. Buck gently squeezed his shoulder. JD looked up at them, tears coursing down his face.

"He knew Dustin so well, knew how much he hated the big cats, and Dustin never told anyone. Panther used one of Dustin's snitches to lure him to the zoo. I asked if he wanted me to go with him, but he said it wouldn't take long. It wasn't that important, he said." JD took a calming breath and continued. "The Chief called me into his office the next morning. He told me that Dustin had been found dead that morning. An animal keeper found his body in the panther's cage. There were two new panthers in the cage also.

"They checked out the two new ones, and they had been taken out of the wild only a week before. They have some kind of blood test that can tell them what kind of diet the animal had in the wild. The panthers had certain proteins that can only be found in Asia. If they had been brought in legally then it would never have shown up. The level was way too high. Never paid much attention to it just thought that it was bad timing on Dustin's part, until his mother mentioned at his wake that he had always been terrified of the big cats. He never told me about his fears, or the *GOD DAMN* case he was working on. The only reason I found out was because I found the folder in his desk at home."

JD leaned back resting his head on the back of the couch. "The newspapers got ahold of the police report, and they found out something we didn't know, that someone had put out a hit on Dustin. They dubbed the new assassin 'Panther' for his ingenious way of killing the Police Officer." JD's voice was cold and full of hatred.

"I didn't think he was new. Panther was too methodical and thorough to be some impatient, hotheaded newbie looking for a name. So, I started going through all the unsolved assassinations; it became an obsession to find this bastard." JD looked at the others; he saw that they were as worried as he was.

"Guys, the reason Ezra doesn't believe us is because the Panther will have known about Ez's past." He saw the questioning looks. "How the FBI believed him to be on the take, his lonely childhood, having had no friends before us and how vulnerable he feels about it." JD was struggling with all the unwanted memories again. "Panther will have done everything he could do to manipulate the situation against Ezra, to isolate him from us. He's playing with him and us."

"JD, you've obviously got some kind of profile on this Panther, with so much detail. How did you connect him to other cases?" Josiah asked. He may just have a protg in JD.

JD was surprised by Josiah's question. "I never made a profile, Josiah."

Josiah looked at JD and said, "You did make a profile, son. You just didn't realize it. The research you did, the facts you gathered, make the profile." Josiah looked at the others; they seemed skeptical about this.

They all knew from experience that a profile was always needed in murders. It could determine if it was a serial murderer or not. It helped in finding rapists and bombers. Team 7 used the physiological profiles on the men Ezra might have contact with, if they did at all. Some, as Ezra would say, were a few aces short of a full deck, and he didn't like taking chances with the other six men's lives. Actually, the only time they had used the profiles, was when Ezra asked for them. Ezra said he wanted to make sure he was reading the "mentally challenged miscreant" right, but they knew it was his way of protecting them.

They just weren't sure this would help on the Panther. The man had been a myth for over twenty-eight years. How could they possible make something out of nothing?

Josiah looked back to JD. "Do you still have the file of information on the Panther?"

JD nodded and, opening his laptop booted it up. It only took a couple seconds and then his fingers were flying across the keyboard. "Yeah, I've kept up with it. Hoped one day I'd get the bastard." He pulled up the file he was hoping would help them save Ezra and avenge Dustin. "Okay Josiah, what do you want?"

Josiah took out a pen then some paper. "All right, JD, first give me the things that you noticed are the same in every case."

JD read his notes and said, "1) Stalks victims for at least five months. 2) Intense information on the likes, dislikes, and most importantly, the fears of the victim. 3) Uses the information gathered to destroy the victim's professional and personal life. 4) Then uses the most ingenious way to kill the victim. 5) Using the victim's greatest fear to kill them, if it's possible. That's all I got." He looked up to see the stunned expressions on his friends' faces. "What?"

Josiah shook his head and smiled. "Son, if that's all, then you may have just given us the best chance of catching this son of a bitch than anybody in the twenty-eight years that he has been around."

Vin and Chris jumped up and went into Ezra's room, cutting off JD's response. They had heard Ezra moan and then hiss in pain as he tried to move. Nathan was right behind them as the rest of the men followed him in. Vin stood on Ezra's left tenderly rubbing his thumb in soothing circles across the pulse point on Ezra's neck. Nathan went to Ezra's right, putting his hand on the feverish brow. He could feel the heat coming off the undercover agent in waves. He looked up and saw the worried eyes of Vin and then the rest of the team.

"Buck, hand me my bag. Good thing that doctor gave me antibiotics and the pain meds 'fore we left. He's gonna need them."

Nathan pulled out a syringe and the medicine bottles. He injected both the antibiotic and the painkiller. Nathan had found that with this bunch, the first three days on meds, it was usually easier with injections, especially with Ezra and Vin. Those two were impossible when they were sick.

The sharp pain in his arm brought Ezra out of his fever-induced, restless sleep. He opened his eyes and looked over to where the pain was coming from. The pain and anger he had been feeling since this started grew tenfold with the help of the fever that coursed through his body.

He spoke slowly through clenched teeth, his words clear and sharp. "Get your hands off of me now."

He startled all of them except Vin; he had felt his pulse rate change and knew he was waking up. He had hoped that Ezra would have calmed down some. Damn, when he got his hands on that Panther he was going to tear him apart two ways from Sunday for this. Ezra pulling against his bonds brought Vin out of his vengeful thoughts.

"Ez, settle down. You're only goin' to hurt yourself more." Vin gently, but forcibly, took his chin and turned the angry green eyes towards him. "Ezra, please calm down. I know you're angry and you believe we are against you, but think Ezra. Doesn't this seem a little too convenient? It happened right after we left you alone for the first time in over two months since you started getting the threatening phone calls. Calm down enough and jist think about it."

Vin could see the anger lessening, but he couldn't tell if it was because Ezra believed him or from the pain medicine kicking in. He saw Ezra falling asleep and wanted to try something different. Maybe Ezra's subconscious could help them out. Vin had heard this worked with coma patients. "Ezra Standish, I love you with all of my heart and soul. With every breath I take, my love for you only grows stronger. Ez, please believe in me. I need you in my life. Think about it, with your heart, and you'll know I'm telling you the truth." Vin saw Ezra's breathing had evened out. He could only hope his plea for Ezra to believe in him would be heard and understood.

Vin felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Josiah. "Vin, what you just said, as long as it came from your heart, he will respond to it eventually. We just have to keep at him. Come on. Let's find a way to get this bastard." Josiah pushed the reluctant sharpshooter in front of him and out of the room. "Okay JD, let's finish this. Maybe we can have a plan before the Panther attacks." The others settled back down, ready for the long night that was coming.

FIVE

Midnight found the weary men still hard at work. They had just gathered all the information on all of the unsolved assassinations, and Josiah was organizing the information into their profile. They just hoped it gave them a way to stop the Panther from killing Ezra.

"Okay, this is what we have." Josiah looked up to make sure he had everyone's attention.

All of them stopped what they were doing, and gave him their full attention. "He is an organized offender with above average intelligence. Socially competent, he has complete control over his emotions in every aspect of his life, but especially during the crime. He follows his crimes in the news and media; takes immense pleasure in his victims' pain, both physical and emotional. Thrives on challenges. He blends into his environment." Josiah stopped to make a few adjustments in his notes.

Nathan had listened quietly until now. "So if he's been watchin' Ez for so long then he also has been watchin' us, right?"

Josiah nodded.

"If he likes a challenge then he is no longer just after Ezra. As a team, we pose an even bigger challenge to him. His plan to distance Ezra from us has worked, but the fact that we didn't let him go has to have made the challenge even greater. Can't we use this against him?"

Everyone was lost in thought when JD remembered something in the files. "I can't believe I forgot about this!"

His fingers flew across the keyboard. "Dustin's grandmother got this package in the mail from the police department. At least that is what it said on the return address, but I checked with everyone involved with the case. Nobody sent it. It was his grandmother's stolen brooch - the original one. When that happened, I went back through all the cases I had figured were the Panther's and checked with all of the people involved in the case. First, the family to see if they had received anything saying it was from the police station. Then with the detective in charge of the case. Nothing. Nobody in the police departments knew what I was talkin' about. The families just thought that the police had found and returned it. Most of the returned items had been missing over five months; there were a few that had been missing over a year. The brooch was the first one that didn't belong to the victim."

Vin felt a chill that swept through his soul at the thought of how close the assassin had gotten to his Mate. "Ezra lost his derringer five months ago. He was tearing up his condo, the Jag, and his office. He said that he was positive that he had left it on his nightstand, and then it was gone the next day. That was right before the Boxell case."

Josiah looked at JD, beaming with pride. "JD son, I think you have missed your calling. For your first profile, you've surpassed most veterans in this field."

JD, glowing and blushing at the compliment, said, "Thanks, Josiah, but I had an incentive for this one."

Buck, grinning and beaming with brotherly pride for his best friend, slapped him on the back.

Chris had been silent, taking in all the information. "JD, you really did a good job. I'm proud of you. You just gave us a way to take care of our Panther problem."

The others glanced at their leader with some skepticism.

"Think about it. He loves a challenge. Like Nathan said the bigger the better. What would he do if the challenge suddenly disappeared?" He and the others turned to Josiah for the answer.

Josiah, catching on, said, "If we left our black sheep defenseless, then he would be discouraged enough to move in for the kill, so to speak."

"I ain't leavin' him by himself, Chris," Vin stated in his soft Texas drawl.

"I didn't expect ya to, Cowboy. In fact, if you left, I have a feeling he would know it was a trap. If he has watched us for so long, I'm sure he's figured out how you and Ez feel about each other. We are going to hold back on this plan for a week, at least. I want to see if we can get Ezra to trust us again."

Chris looked at his men seeing the crack ATF team he had put together that now was his family. He felt a warm sensation in his chest that had been slowly replacing the cold and empty space that had been his heart since his family had been murdered. When he looked at his family, he only felt pride and love. Knowing his Sarah would approve of every one of them, he would almost bet that Ezra would have been her favorite.

"Now here's the plan."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Chris stood looking out the window but not seeing the beautiful sunrise that was taking place in front of him. His mind was going over the last three days with Ezra. When Ezra had awakened the next time, he wasn't as angry towards them, and his anger seemed to be lessening each time he did wake up. It would only take Vin talking to or touching Ezra to calm him. He was starting to respond better to Vin for those few minutes he was awake. Of course, Nathan did have him pumped full of painkillers the whole time. Vin had refused to leave Ezra's side, having decided that he needed to be there every time Ezra woke up. Josiah had agreed, saying that it could only reinforce what Vin had been telling Ezra. It did seem to be working. He just prayed it was so. They were running out of time.

In two days, the final phase of the plan would be put into action. It was risky, but what else could you do faced with this kind of predator. While Vin and Nathan had taken care of Ezra, the rest of the Team had been covering the island looking for the assassin and setting traps that might be needed for the plan. They had located his lair, full of surveillance equipment, but no sign of the Panther. He had the Team go over the house with a fine-toothed comb looking for listening devices. It was decided that the bugs would be left where they were, since none of them had made it upstairs. If anything it had helped in their plan. Besides, he didn't want to tip the Panther off to the fact that they were on to him. Buck and JD had found were he had tied his boat and watched till it had returned. That gave them their first glimpse of the assassin. JD, using a computer program that sketch artists used, made a composite drawing and then ran it through the system. The check turned up nothing. When they caught him, then they might get a hit using fingerprints.

They had found out, that first night, that they had no communication with the outside world when he had tried to call the Judge. JD had rigged what had been a phone and managed to get a message out through his computer, but he had no way to confirm that it was received. Not to mention what they had turned up going through the house. Enough arms to keep a third world nation in war for a good eleven months. The Team had been relieved, though, as they now had plenty of firepower to take care of their Panther problem. The Judge's friend would have a lot of explaining to do. Chris was having his doubts about this being the house that belonged to the Judge's friend. He would have to wait until they got back to be sure.

Chris was brought out of his thoughts when a glare from something in the trees caught his attention. 'Good, he's watching us,' he thought as he turned to wake his team. They needed to keep the show up for their audience.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

When Ezra awoke, the sun was just rising. He looked around to get his bearings. Head cradled on crossed arms and resting on the side of Ezra's bed, Vin Tanner slept. Ezra tested his muscles to see if any of them worked. He stifled his groan when he tried to move his arms and realized they had him tied to the bed. He was going to have to invest in some lessons on untying knots; this was ridiculous. He found he was extremely sore in his side, and he had a headache that could rival an eruption from Mt. St. Helen's. Other than that, he was just peachy.

'Okay Ezra, extremely too early for the sarcasm,' he thought to himself. 'At least without anyone to be able to appreciate your charm anyway.' He could move his arms from the elbow down. 'The Team must be getting a big kick out of this one,' he thought. Ezra remembered all that had happened since the Team had been called to the Judge's office. He remembered what Vin had said about this happening the minute the Team had left him totally alone since the threats had started. The more he thought about it, the more things were becoming clearer, but he wasn't sure if he really believed that the Team still trusted him. The FBI had believed in the rumors. That was with only the Jag as their evidence, and that had been his mother's doing. The Team had been given doctored up documentation and photographs.

He watched the sharpshooter that was resting so close to him. Ezra moved his hand over to the sleeping man's head. He stopped within a hair's breadth of the soft sienna locks. He felt so vulnerable right now. His emotions were so raw. How could he possibly open himself up again, after all this? Ezra was still angry, but not nearly as angry as he had been. He felt lost.

Ezra laid his hand on the tracker's hair, softly stroking it. He watched as Vin's breathing changed, indicating that he was waking up.

Vin felt the soft strokes that were petting his hair. He almost was afraid to break the spell, but he turned his face into the gentle strokes. When Ezra was about to pull his hand back, Vin grabbed it, holding it to his cheek. He could see that the fever had broken as he looked into the clear emerald eyes of his heart mate.

"Mornin'. How ya feelin'?"

Vin saw Ezra licking his lips. Getting the glass of water that was on the nightstand, Vin stood so he could help Ezra rise up and take a drink.

"Thank you," Ezra whispered turning away from Vin, not being able to look him in the eye.

It broke Vin's heart that Ezra couldn't face him. "Ez, please look at me," Vin softly pleaded. Ezra turned to Vin, but still wouldn't look him in the eye. Vin sighed. Sitting down next to Ezra, he leaned down, gently cupping his face. "Baby, look at me, please?" Startled emerald eyes, full of hope, met the loving sapphire gaze.

"Ezra Standish, I love you. You're my heart and soul."

Not giving Ezra time to doubt his declaration, Vin bent down and took his Spirit's lips gently. His tongue traced his gambler's lips, asking for permission to enter. Ezra moaned and his lips parted welcoming the sharpshooter's tongue into his mouth, the wet tongues gliding, rubbing against each other, dueling for dominance. Vin deepened the kiss, exploring every delicious inch of the willing mouth. Groaning, he released the sweet mouth and pulled back enough to let Ezra see into his soul. "God, Ez, I love you. I know you can read the truth in my eyes, in my heart. All you have to do is believe in me, in us. Trust what your heart is telling you." Leaning back, he waited for his con man to say something.

Ezra was stunned at what he was seeing. The love he had given up all hope of seeing was a burning blue flame of endless love and desire that shone brightly in the handsome Texan's vivid sapphire eyes. Taking a deep breath and swallowing past the lump in his throat, he said, "God, how I've dreamed of you saying you love me. Vin Tanner, I have loved you since the first time I saw you, and it has only become stronger as our friendship grew. I love you, Vin." Ezra went to touch Vin, but the rope stopped him. He looked at Vin with a pleading look. "Could we dispense with the restraints, please?"

Vin got a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he purred, "I don't know Ez, I kind of like ya like this. Having you at my every whim, at my mercy." Then he turned serious, all playfulness gone. "Will you behave?" Ezra nodded. "Do I have your word that you won't try to escape or do anything stupid that could get ya killed?"

"Vin, I give you my solemn word of honor that I will do nothing to endanger myself. Now," Ezra indicated that he was ready to be released.

Vin could hardly refuse his soon-to-be-lover's pleading gaze. He leaned down and kissed Ezra ever so slowly and very sensually as he undid the knots that were binding him. When Ezra felt the ropes give, he brought his hand up and tangled it in Vin's hair, pulling Vin to him. He plunged his tongue deep into the hot, moist cavern of Vin's mouth, ravaging as he went. Vin growled deep in his throat as he felt Ezra's hand traveling up underneath his shirt, searing his skin as it went. Vin pulled away when the need for air became too great. He rested his forehead on Ezra's, both panting from the lack of oxygen. Vin sat up and, never breaking physical contact with the man he loved, said, "We have to talk first." Seeing Ezra nod, he continued, "Let me get the others. Sooner we get the plan in motion, the sooner I can have ya all to myself."

Ezra grabbed Vin's arm as he pulled away. "Vin, I'm not ready to face the others. They still think-"

Vin put a finger to his lips effectively cutting off the rest of the sentence. "No Ezra, they don't think that. Just hold on and we can explain everything. Trust me?"

Ezra never hesitated. "Yes, I trust you, without reservation. I'm not sure about the others. They may not believe-"

Once again, Vin stopped his words. "Ezra, listen to me." He waited till he was sure Ezra was listening this time. "We didn't know what money you were talkin' about. Would you just hold on a minute? Let me get the others, so we can explain everything at once. Okay?" Ezra nodded.

After Vin left, he got up and stretched his sore muscles, gasping when he pulled on his stitches. He slowly sat back down so as not to further irritate his side. Ezra couldn't believe that Vin loved him. Him. Ezra Standish. Con man. Gambler. Undercover agent for the ATF. Maybe he was hallucinating. If that were the case, he would gladly stay in this state of mind forever. The pain in his side and that kiss proved beyond a doubt that he was awake and that Vin's kiss had been just as real. Vin loved him. He loved Vin. He couldn't help the smile that lit his whole face. Vin actually loved him. 'Okay Standish, get ahold of yourself. Yes, Vin loves you, but first you have to deal with the Team. No matter what Vin said, you don't honestly think they would believe you that easily, do you?' Ezra shook the negative thoughts out of his head and started to prepare for the upcoming confrontation.

SIX

Vin Tanner was in seventh heaven. Ezra believed him. Actually believed him and loved him back. And that kiss…. It had taken possession of his soul and pulled it into Ezra's, leaving no doubt that they were truly soul mates. When he walked into the kitchen with a brilliant smile on his handsome features, the Team knew they were almost home free.

Chris snarled when he saw the tracker, "So the traitor awake yet?"

Vin grabbed Chris and threw him against the wall, holding him by the throat. He growled out, his voice like ice, "He ain't no traitor, asshole." As the others were pulling him off of Chris, Vin snarled, "Ya'll don't care what happens to him anymore. Do us all a favor and leave." Grinning, Vin looked at Chris, mouthing, 'He's awake. Need to see him together.' Chris nodded his understanding, as did the others. All but JD, Vin and Chris left the room.

Staying with the plan, Chris said out loud, "Fine, Tanner. You trust him so much. You love him. You can stay here with the traitor. Alone. He's your problem now. I wash my hands of the turncoat and anyone who takes up his side. We're out of here in two days." Chris said this with a smile, but his voice held nothing but contempt. Not aimed at Ezra, but at the Panther. They all knew he was listening to every word.

JD, true to form, stuck up for the Southerner. "Chris, we can't leave them out here alone. Maggiono might find them here. And Ez ain't a traitor. He would never do anything to hurt us."

Chris looked at the young agent, still smiling, but his voice was still full of hate. "You sure about that, JD?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You leave, you do it without me." With that he went into the other room where the others were waiting quietly.

"Larabee, I should have known you were no good. Ez ran once, but he came back. But you want to desert him while he is unconscious and defenseless. What does that make you?" With that, Vin slammed the swinging door into the wall and joined the others with Chris right behind him. Vin led the way to the room and opened the door. They all stopped when they didn't see Ezra on the bed or in the room.

Chris swore and looked at Vin, who was casually leaning against the doorframe. "Did you let him go?"

Vin nodded.

"You let him go and then left him alone?"

Vin nodded again.

"Want to tell me why?"

Ezra came out of the bathroom and answered for him. "Because, Mr. Larabee, I gave him my word of honor that I would do nothing to endanger myself. Therefore, I'm still here." Pushing away from the doorway, Vin went and helped Ezra to the bed as Nathan came back into the room carrying his medical bag.

"Hey Ez, good to see ya awake. Lay back. I want to see how those stitches are doin'." He was still holding Vin's hand, as he did as he was told. "Does it hurt to breathe?" Nathan asked as he was listening to Ezra's heart.

"No, I'm just sore." Ezra tightened his hold on Vin's hand. Looking at Chris, he said, "I need for you to know I-"

Just like before, Vin silenced him by putting a finger on his lips and shook his head no. "Baby, let us tell you everything we've found out so far. 'Kay?"

Then he nodded to Chris to start talking, "Ez, we never got anything, ever, pictures or documents, showing that you were on the take, trading information or a traitor. It was all a setup. The phone call was a setup to get you not to trust us." Chris could see that Ezra was listening to him and let out a sigh of relief. "Ezra, do you remember Carson Maggiono?"

Ezra had paled at the mention of the name. "Yes, I remember Maggiono. I could never prove that he was behind the rumors and the little mishaps that continued to plague me, until I was transferred here. He's still in prison. Why?"

Vin had noticed his Mate had lost all coloring and was gripping his hand tighter. "Ez, what aren't you telling us?"

The normally calm, unemotional gambler was fidgeting and finally gave into the impulse to move. He let go of Vin's hand, sat up, swung his legs over the side, stood up so fast that he became dizzy and started to fall. Josiah caught him right before he hit the floor.

Vin came around the bed and pushed past Buck and Chris. "Damn it, Ez, what were you thinking?" he growled.

Nathan had pushed Josiah out of the way so he could get to the gambler. "You should know better, by now, than to move too quickly. Does anything hurt?" Nathan asked as he checked his pupils.

Ezra's southern accent was thick, as he said, "No, just my pride. I need to move if I'm going to tell you all this." Nathan and Vin stood up and offered their hands to him so they could pull him up.

The southerner went to leave the room. "Thank you. May I suggest we go downstairs and discuss this?"

Josiah blocked his path at the door. "Sorry Ezra, you can't go down there. If you'll hold off on the explanation until we explain what's going on."

The con man stood there for a minute then turned, went and sat down on the bed, crossed his arms over his chest and waited expectantly. "All right, gentlemen, explain."

"I think we should let JD explain. He did do most of the work," Josiah said.

Bright red with embarrassment, JD said, "Thanks, but it's your field, Josiah."

"Josiah's right. You should tell him about it; you know all of it by heart. Jist tell him," Buck stated, giving his roommate and best friend a gentle shove.

Ezra was starting to feel like a ball at a tennis match, going back and forth between the competitors, which wasn't helping his growing headache. Rubbing his temples, he said in a stern voice, "Gentlemen, please! That is enough! Mr. Dunne, it would seem that you are the most knowledgeable, so please tell me."

Everyone had been surprised by the outburst. Vin looked at Nathan, and Nathan mouthed "headache."

Still with a stern voice, not without some irritation and without even raising his head up, he said, "Mr. Tanner, Mr. Jackson, it is extremely rude to speak of someone while they are still in the vicinity. Before you ask, yes my head hurts, and no, I don't want anything. Now, will everyone be quiet and allow our young friend to explain what has brought us to this impasse."

"Pard, looks like someone's after your job." Buck elbowed Chris in the side. Ezra glared Buck into silence, a glare that even Chris had to admire, which only set off the other men. The tension they had all been feeling eased some at the reality that they really had their lost brother back. For good.

Vin could tell his gambler was getting tired, so he sat, leaning back on the headboard. Then he pulled Ezra between his outstretched legs, settling Ezra with his back to him and wrapped his arms around him, cuddling the owner of his Spirit protectively.

"We need to tell him before he falls asleep," Nathan said as he pulled a throw blanket over the two men.

JD sat on the bed facing Ezra and Vin. JD told Ezra everything about Maggiono getting out early and putting a contract out on his life; his time in Boston and his partner Dustin; how the Panther got his name and his M. O.; what they had concluded was the Panther's plan. JD and the others waited as Ezra thought all this over.

Ezra was too tired to move, but he couldn't help the nervous energy that was making him restless and that only left him more exhausted. Vin snuggled the restless man closer, hoping to give him some comfort with his touch. Ezra couldn't help but think that this was just getting more bizarre by the moment.

"You said this - Panther?"

JD nodded.

"This Panther, knew my weaknesses and tried to alienate me from my family and friends. Right?"

JD nodded again.

"That would indicate he has watched me longer than five months. He knew to alienate me from you, but he would not have known to go as far as to assume that I would automatically take the phone call at face value. No, Maude trained me too well for that. He would have to know me intimately to know that that could devastate me." Ezra was thinking aloud, putting things in order. "How did you arrive at the conclusion that he had been watching for five months?"

Vin didn't like where this was going, but answered his question. "You derringer. It went missin' five months ago. Panther always takes somethin' from his victims before he…" Vin wouldn't finish that thought. He knew that Hell would freeze over before he or the others would let that happen.

Something in the back of his mind was trying to make itself known. "Yes, it went missing then, but all of you have known me for two years. We have been through hell together. Can any of you say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you can predict how I will react to any given situation?"

That got everyone's attention. None of them had ever been able to really read Ezra. He would allow them to see what he wanted them to and that was it. Sometimes they had caught glimpses, but they were quickly covered up. They had only gotten to know him as he slowly allowed them into his heart, but up until then, it was just a guess as to what the man was feeling or thinking.

"That would mean that it's a friend of yours, Ez. That doesn't make sense." Buck's confusion was showing on his expressive face.

"You're wrong, Mr. Wilmi-" Ezra gave one of his rare smiles that showed his gold tooth. "You're wrong, Buck. You gentlemen are the only ones that have ever fallen into that category. The only ones that have proven to me that it was worth the effort of having a friendship, or better yet, the effort of having a family. You definitely have proven that we are more than friends, but a very strong family. For that, I owe this Panther a debt of gratitude." Vin tightened his hold at the mention of the assassin.

Josiah walked over and put a hand on the con man's arm. "About time you figured that out, son." He gave Ezra's arm a squeeze and, smiling, said, "Now, I'm going to go down and start something for us to eat before Buck and JD take it into their heads that they can cook."

"Hey! I can cook. It's Buck that can't." JD ducked as Buck took a swipe at his head and took off out the door with Buck hot on his heels.

"The hell you can! Last time, I almost had to have my stomach pumped."

The others laughed as they listened to the friendly banter. Nathan got up from the bed. "I better go help Josiah with those two. You need to get some more rest. I'll bring something for ya to eat after your nap," the dark healer said sternly, and then his face softened as he said, "It's good to have ya back, Ezra."

Ezra tensed as the dark clad leader approached them after Nathan had left. Vin, sensitive to his Mate, used one hand to hold him and the other to lightly massage the tense shoulders. Sitting down on the bed, Chris gave Ezra one of his patented Larabee glares. "Standish, you ever do something like that again, and I'll shoot you myself. Is that clear?"

Ezra relaxed saying, "Crystal." He took a deep breath, "Chris, about the gun..."

Smirking, Chris looked at their undercover agent. "Don't worry about that. We all know that you would never hurt any of us, no matter how angry you were. But you ever point a gun at me again, be prepared to shoot."

Ezra couldn't help the devilish grin. "Not a problem, Mr. Larabee." Chris just shook his head, laughing at the cocky gambler, just glad to have his family back together.

Chris got up to leave. Looking at his two men, his family, he couldn't help but say, "I'm happy for you both. We all are. It's about damn time, too." With that, he left.

After Chris shut the door, Vin put his lips to Ezra's ear and whispered, "Are you okay?" Vin smiled when he felt his southerner shiver and nod. "C'mon, let's get comfortable. Nathan'll have my head iff'n I don't let ya get some sleep." Vin nudged his gambler into moving.

Ezra groaned at having to leave the embrace, but complied. "As long as he leaves the other one for me," he quipped after Vin had moved from behind him.

"Oh Ez, that was bad, real bad. You've been hangin' 'round JD way too long." Ezra just grinned up at his tracker with an innocent look on his face.

Vin just smirked at his gambler. "Now, lay down and rest," Vin said as he moved to sit in the chair so he could watch over his Mate.

"On one condition, Mr. Tanner," Ezra said.

"And what would that be?" Vin asked, not really wanting to have to tie the stubborn man back up but would if it proved to be necessary.

Ezra pulled the blanket back and made room for Vin. "If you join me." Simply put, how could Vin refuse? He couldn't. He gracefully moved to the bed and lay down, pulling Ezra down with him. Vin cuddled the smaller man to his side, with Ezra's head on his chest. Soon both men were sleeping peacefully, safe in the knowledge that they had found their Soul mate and were protected by their family.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The Panther had been enjoying his game with the "Magnificent Seven." He had intercepted Judge Travis's phone call to his friend about the use of the friend's cabin. That had been a stroke of genius on his part. He had sent Team 7 to one of Maggiono's places that the FBI had missed. He had barely gotten the downstairs bugged before the Team had arrived. That had been disappointing, but he could make do with that. The first night had been quiet. The next day had been a revelation. He had never made this many mistakes since he had started in this business. It would seem that he was losing his touch, acting like an amateur. How he could have mistaken the Team's feelings for Standish was beyond him. Maybe he needed a break? No, he would just lay off the tough cases for a while and do some easy ones. That way, he could sharpen his skills. Yeah, that's what he would do.

First, he had to take care of Standish and the two that were going to stay with him. He could, at least, still have some fun with them. He was really disappointed in Larabee. Not much of a challenge now. Oh well, this would be over in two days, or at least the wait would be over, but the fun will have just started. He couldn't wait to see the look on Standish's face when they came face to face.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The two days had gone by fast for the ATF's Team 7. They had used their time wisely. Following the plan, they had kept up the staged arguments with Vin and JD. They only saw Ezra when Nathan checked his bandages or brought him food. Chris saw him when he went upstairs to go to bed. JD tried to get a message out to someone, hoping they could bring in reinforcements. Chris and the others had searched the house for anything they could have missed. Josiah and Nathan found a tunnel in the master office, which led out to a cove on the other side of the compound. That had been the only part of Chris's plan they hadn't finalized - how to get back up to and into the house without tipping their hand. They would take the boat because it would be the easiest to leave and swim back. The assassin would be watching and would see Nathan flying the chopper into the compound. By playing up Vin's time in the army to their advantage, they now could take the boat without the Panther becoming suspicious.

Vin spent his time with Ezra. He was enjoying the open and honest emotions that Ezra was sharing with him. They talked about anything and everything, except what was happening with the assassin. He had tried to get Ezra to talk about Maggiono, but Ezra had realized how easily Vin could be distracted and used it. Not that the soft-spoken Texan was complaining. It was just getting harder not to give into his desires and make love to his charismatic gambler. The soft, sensual kisses, the heated caresses and the emerald eye's glazed over with passion were almost his undoing, but he was hellbent on waiting till this was all over before he and Ezra took their relationship to the next level. Ezra seemed to have taken that as a challenge, trying to break his control, and Vin enjoyed every minute of it.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Now in six hours, they would finish what Maggiono had started when he had hired the Panther to kill their brother. All weapons had been double and even triple checked. The tunnel had been checked, and they had made easy-to-feel markers along the cave wall so there would be no light. They wanted no possible mistakes, as the end was so close.

As the final day ended, they brought up all their dinners so they could all eat together and take comfort in their family before tomorrow. Now that everyone was through eating, Chris needed to know something; he had waited long enough. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Ezra, you haven't told us why Maggiono wants you dead. Most criminals don't go after cops with this kind of a vengeance."

Ezra was sitting between Vin and Buck, on one of the couches they had moved into the room. Chris was sitting on the only chair, Nathan and Josiah took up the other couch, and JD was lying on the bed. Ezra knew this was coming and had been able to distract Vin from pursuing the answer. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and started pacing. He hadn't actually had to think of what had happened all those years ago.

"Well... Aw hell!" How could you explain something like this and have these men understand?

He stopped pacing. Leaning against the wall, he took a deep breath, held it then slowly released it. He did this a few more times till he could picture it in his mind, like it was yesterday.

"It was my second assignment with the FBI: Carson Maggiono, Sr., an old-timer from the Old Country. His beliefs were no drugs and killing of innocent people was absolutely never tolerated. He earned everyone's respect. Even mine. It had taken me months to get into his inner circle, but I did manage to get next to him. I started out as his accountant and, in a matter of weeks, moved to being his right-hand man." They could all hear the smugness in his voice at the accomplishment. "No one had ever gotten this close before. I had access to everything. Only problem was his son didn't like that he had been replaced. I knew I was being watched so I couldn't get any information out. I had no back up. I knew going in that I would be alone. That was fine by me, that's how I worked, but it also meant that I had no go-between. If I needed to get the information to someone, I had to take it in myself. So, when I couldn't get away without a shadow, I started writing to my old friend, Ezra Standish out of Atlanta, Ga." He had to stop his narration at the outburst from his friends.

"What the hell were YOU thinking?" Ezra's eyes flew open at that. It had come from Vin and Chris simultaneously.

"Son, that was not one of your brightest ideas." Josiah let his anger show in his voice.

Ezra was surprised that they thought him that stupid. "Excuse me, gentlemen, did you or did you not ask to hear this story?" This was said with just enough venom to get their attention. At least the others had not voiced their opinions, but it wasn't hard to read their thoughts.

Buck, hoping to break the glaring contest going on between Ezra and Chris, asked, "Ezra, why'd you go and do a fool thing like that for? You could have been caught."

"Nice to know what you gentlemen truly think of my talents and skill," Ezra replied his southern accent thicker with irritation. He raised his hand to silence any further comment. "Save it, I don't want to hear it."

He then closed his eyes, effectively blocking them out. Again taking a deep breath and holding it, he counted to ten then released it. He did this several times. He detested the technique but it had never failed him. He used it to bring any kind of emotion he needed to the surface or to squelch an unwanted emotion. It was why his "poker face" was so solid. He could always use a painful experience if the emotion was needed in an assignment without any problems. He had a million of them. He never had need of joyful ones. When he was in the right frame of mind, he started his narration again.

"I have never trusted anyone and certainly not the FBI Director that had recruited me. I was told that I would be assigned to the Chicago Division. I had been in the process of moving to Atlanta before I was hired. Well, since I was already moving, I simply set up a house and a job, but as a civilian, Ezra Standish. I knew I had to trust one person to pull this off. I chose the only ex-husband of Maude's I had liked. He owned businesses all over the world and had enough politicians in his back pocket to keep himself out of trouble if this blew up in my face. Trenton put Ezra Standish, civilian, on the payroll as an International Investment Agent. The very nature of his title would explain why he was never in the States long enough for someone to figure out he didn't exist. His paycheck went to various charities to keep up with the image. Trenton knew that if Ezra Standish ever received mail that something was wrong and to put the letters into a safety deposit box in his bank. If or when I turned up dead, he would hand over the letters to a friend of his in Washington, neither of us trusting the Director of the FBI then.

"For a month, I kept the letters boring and as longwinded as possible." He stopped at the laughter that that statement brought from his friends. Ezra had his eyes closed, but allowed them to see the smile that their laughter caused, and then continued, "Jr. was not the brightest offspring one would want. He became bored in a week, but I kept the letters like that and set up regular outgoing letters to Ezra Standish for over a month. Then I started slipping information into them. I did that for over three months. Every now and again I would see the surveillance team and would give them the agreed upon sign that everything was fine. Everything was fine, until Jr. decided he had had enough of me and hired someone to kill me. What Carson Maggiono, Jr. didn't realize is his father had been watching him, long before I came along. The Sr. knew about the drugs and kept an account of every transaction Jr. had done, every person he had killed because of the drug dealings." Ezra stopped and for the first time since he had started the story, he looked at his family, his eyes swimming with unshed tears and emotion. His accent thick with emotion, he let them see everything he had never shared with another human being, and continued, "The Sr. also knew about the hit. He allowed the hit to continue as planned.

"We were all at a public function: Carson Maggiono, Sr., Jr., the FBI, and me. I thought the Sr. had found out who I was when he tackled me to the ground. It wasn't until I heard screaming and had to push the Sr. off of me that I rolled him over and saw the blood on my hands. I held him, screaming for someone to call an ambulance. He grabbed ahold of my hand, getting my attention. He told me..." his voice cracking, Ezra tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. Ezra's head jerked up at the feel of the hands on his shoulders and he looked up into the cobalt blue eyes of his Heart.

Vin's heart broke at the haunted look in his gambler's eyes. He pulled Ezra into his comforting embrace and held him. After a few minutes, the sharpshooter led him back over to the couch where he was once again placed between he and Buck.

"Thank you, JD," he said as he took the glass of water that was handed to him. JD sat down next to Nathan on the arm of the couch as he waited for his friend to finish the story.

Vin prompted the reluctant con man when he didn't continue. "What did he say to ya, Ez?"

Ezra let out a heart-heavy sigh. "The Sr. knew I was FBI; he said he'd known for a while. He said that he wished we could have met under better circumstances because he would have been proud to have me as his heir, his son. That he had found what he had been missing with his own son, in me. Then he asked me to do him a favor, to consider it as last request from a father to a son. He told me the location of the evidence that would put his son away for life. He wanted me to be the one to put his son behind bars and keep him there. Then he surprised me when he said he had one last thing to do before he could die with honor.

"The Sr. waved off the paramedic when he had tried to look at his wound. He demanded we help him stand and then sent the paramedic to get his son, who was conveniently not around when the shot had been fired, and still had not made an appearance. When the medic came back with Jr., the Sr. pulled away from me. He then backhanded Jr. and told him 'You are no longer my flesh and blood; you are dead to me.' Then he spit at Jr.'s feet. He then turned to all of his people who had come back from looking for the hit man, who no one had found, and said, 'This man, Ezra Standish, is family. He speaks for me, you will cooperate with him on my last request, and then my lawyer will take care of you through my will. From this day forward, no harm will come to him. He has the Maggiono family's protection, just as Carson Maggiono, Jr., is no longer my son and has no protection.'

"I held him as he died in my arms. Let me tell you, that speech shocked me and everyone there. It didn't help when the rumors started at the FBI. Everyone remembered that statement and forgot the time, the effort, the evidence, the many crimes that were solved because of the Sr., and the year-and-a-half trial. All forgotten at the hint of a rumor and that damn Jag Maude gave me. So there is the whole sordid tale, Mr. Larabee, as to why Carson Maggiono, Jr., wants me dead."

Chris frowned as he thought this over. It suddenly hit him what was bothering him. "Ezra, why isn't any of this in your file?"

Ezra just looked at him and replied without emotion, "Simple. I was tainted and a reminder of what an incompetent job the Director did. Leaving me in a compromising and deadly situation that could have turned disastrous, they sent me back to Atlanta after the trial. The rumors followed me there, and when you approached them about the transfer, they jumped at it. If they had put that in my file then you, or whoever, might not have taken me."

"Ezra, what did you do with the letters you wrote to yourself?" Josiah was stunned at the sheer genius of the ruse.

"The letters were the only thing that kept the Bureau from filing charges against me." He smiled at their obvious confusion. "They didn't file charges for assaulting a superior, and I didn't release the letters to the press, letting the nation know what an imbecile we had for an FBI Director. The letters are still in the safety deposit box."

JD's enthusiasm showed as he asked, "So who'd ya hit, Ez?"

Ezra's grin turned wicked as he told them, "The Director, of course."

Laughing, the others said together, "Of course, who else!"

Nathan was the one to call an end to the evening when he saw Ezra stifle a yawn. "Time for bed, Ez, and no arguments." He included the others in his statement. "That goes for the rest of ya'll, as well. C'mon, git goin'." Nathan made shooing motions with his hands as everyone got up to leave. "We have only four hours till this starts, and we all need some sleep."

"This will be over soon, Ezra, then we can get back to normal," Chris told him as he was leaving, and then he turned around, smirking, and added, "Well, what passes for normal for us, anyways. We're not going to let you down, not now, not ever. We are a family. No one will tear us apart." The others let Ezra know the feeling was unanimous.

"Get some rest." With that, he left pushing the rest his family out of the room, leaving Ezra to Vin's care.

Vin turned away from the closing door and looked into passion-filled emerald pools. Backing away from the advancing con man, Vin groaned, saying, "Now, Ez, you know that I want to wait till this.... Ooof." He landed on the bed with Ezra on top of him. He barely caught his breath when Ezra stole it back with a passionate, soul-searing kiss. They parted both breathing heavily from lack of oxygen. Ezra rose up with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and said, "I know you want to wait, Love. Doesn't mean I'm going to make that wait easy on you." He winked at Vin's disbelieving look and rolled off his would-be lover. Getting off the bed, he started stripping his clothes off, ever so slowly. Vin was astonished at the lengths Ezra was going to just to test his willpower, which was rapidly reaching its limits with each piece of clothing Ezra removed.

Ezra knew he was pushing his sharpshooter, but Vin had thrown out the challenge, whether he knew it or not. Of course, he had no intention of making Vin lose his control. He wanted their first time to be special too. He just never could resist a challenge though. Ezra stopped his hands at the waistband of his boxers and, looking at Vin, gave him an impish grin, saying, "Well, since you wanted to wait, I guess it's time to go to sleep." Pulling back the covers, he slipped under the blankets. Arching his eyebrow, he asked, "Care to join me?"

Still lying on the bed, Vin decided sleeping on top of the blankets, fully clothed, would be the wisest choice. Grinning, the soft-spoken Texan leaned over giving Ezra a chaste kiss on the lips. "When this is over, I will get you back for all this."

The charismatic southern gambler gave him a Cheshire cat grin, asking, "Is that a promise, Mr. Tanner?"

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Standish, that is a promise." Vin sealed this with another kiss then tucked Ezra against him. "Now, go to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us." Both men fell asleep praying that everyone would come out unharmed and safe.

SEVEN

As dawn slowly made its presence known, the seven made ready for the upcoming battle. Not a battle they would normally prepare for. No, this was a battle to save one of their own and to take vengeance on the one that nearly tore them apart. That was something these life-hardened men looked forward to. The anticipation was palpable.

"Buck, you git the charges planted?" their dark clad leader asked, leaving nothing to chance.

The normally gregarious cowboy was all business as he answered, "Yep, it's all ready. We're ready to start."

Chris nodded, following Buck and Vin into Ezra's room. "Ez, you ready?"

"Yes, let us start this show." He started to walk out the door, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning, he looked into the probing sapphire gaze of the man who had stolen his heart.

Vin was concerned. He didn't like the revision his gambler had made, not at all, and was reluctant to go along with it. "Are ya sure about this?"

Ezra gave him a devious smile and threw over his shoulder as he walked out the door to prepare for his part, "Oh, quite sure, Vin. Trust me. It will work out better this way."

The ex-bounty hunter sighed. Ezra could be a force to be reckoned with when he thought he was doing the right thing, which was just about all the time.

Chris gave his best friend a sympathetic grin. "You sure about this, cowboy? He is a handful as it is."

Buck slapped Vin on the back, nearly knocking the tracker over. "Sure he is, pard. Now, let's go see if JD and Nathan are ready for the fireworks."

Vin shook his head, smiling. "Let's jist go get this sonavabitch. I'm ready to go home and get to know Ezra better."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Ezra's voice came across loud and clear over the listening device. Panther's smile was maniacal as he listened to the southerner drive the last person who cared for him away. He didn't think Ezra would've accepted the longhaired Texan's overture of love. Looks like he had been right. About damn time, too. He was starting to think he had lost his touch on reading people. Since
Standish drove all his other playthings away, he guessed he would just have to get creative with killing the agent. He was being paid to kill him, after all, not the rest of them. Maybe he wouldn't take another job to sharpen his skills. He could sharpen them on the rest of Team 7. It was their fault; after all, he never made mistakes till this contract. Someone should be made to pay for it, why not them?

The nondescript man stood watching as Team 7 left the undercover agent alone and defenseless. He assumed that they forgot that Standish would have no way off the island. Leaving in the heat of an argument tended to make one forget the important things. He would bet that Tanner would be back in a couple of days to check on Standish, but in a few hours that point would be moot. Panther looked down at his watch. Another thirty minutes and he would start, but for now he would just listen in case the Team came back. He started to pack up his camp; he wanted to be ready to leave after he finished.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Ezra hadn't mentioned how nervous he was about this. When he had suggested both JD and Vin leave with the rest of the Team, it had been met with some resistance, but they finally saw that it would be better this way. It had been an hour since the Team had left, and he was just waiting till his assassin came to kill him. He sat in the library, reading one of the many classics he had found. The library was floor to ceiling books, with a second floor looking over the sitting area. They had chosen this room because of the protection it offered, and the men could spread out, effectively covering the con man from all sides without giving themselves away until they were ready. The house had been filled with secret passages with most leading to different areas of the library. The room was set up to ambush unwanted guests. Since he had one coming, they would use what the host offered, to the fullest extent.

Ezra never looked up as the assassin came in and leaned against the fireplace. "So nice of you to join me, Mr. Laughon. It has been quite a while, has it not?" His voice was devoid of all emotion, just as his "poker face" was firmly in place.

Panther sighed, "So how did you know it was me, cuz?" He should really think about retiring after all these screw ups, but damn it, he just loved his work too much. He'd figure it out after he took care of this.

The southerner, never lifting his eyes from his book, made a request. "Tell me why you took this one, and I'll tell you how I knew it was you, dear cousin."

"Well, dear cousin," sarcasm apparent in the assassin's tone as he replied and, pulling his gun out, aimed it at the nonplussed agent, "I only take the contracts nobody else wants. And nobody wanted to kill an ATF agent. It was very simple; I set the price and he gets a dead ATF agent." Panther's smile was malicious, and his eyes sparkled with the untold horrors of Hell that he had planned for the southern agent. "But color me surprised when I find out that my long lost, conniving, manipulative cousin is my ATF target." His voice turned from sarcasm to dripping venom. Then, as suddenly as the hate appeared, it disappeared with an expression of curiosity. "I've answered your question. Now, how did you figure it out?" He fired a shot into the wingback chair Ezra was sitting in, missing his ear by only a fraction of an inch.

Not fazed at all, Ezra closed the book, putting it down as he stood up and walked to lean against the other side of the fireplace. Crossing his arms in front of him, he looked at his cousin for the first time. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes, high cheekbones, olive complexion.

"You have not changed much since that summer I stayed with ya'll. You still jerk your shot to the right. You missed me, but then again you are the now infamous Panther, so you intended to miss." Making a "tsking" sound with his tongue, he shook his head.

"Percy, Percy-" A shot rang out and pain flared in his side, his head connecting with the fireplace as he fell back.

"Don't you ever FUCKING call me that, again. BASTARD!" He was losing his composure. "Nobody calls me that!" He pulled the trigger two more times. One grazed his other side and the other, his biceps. He dragged Ezra back to the chair. Taking a deep breath, he demanded, "Now, tell me how you knew it was me!"

Ezra bit back a yelp of pain when Panther dug his finger into the wound on his biceps. When Panther didn't get any flicker of emotion, he used his other hand to dig into the hole in his side. Ezra hissed at the pain of fire blazing through him, but allowed no other emotion to surface.

Panther continued as if nothing had happened. "I don't remember you as a welsher, cuz."

"I never 'welshed' on anything. I was about to say, when you decided I was in too good of condition for your liking and put a few holes into my person," Ezra said with as much dignity as one could with blood flowing freely out of one's body.

Panther relented and moved back to the fireplace with the gun still pointing at Ezra. "So talk."

"As I was about to say, Percy-" Panther shot at the southerner's calf, barely grazing it.

"As I was saying, your first mistake was predicting my reactions. I am Maude's son. I have not shown emotion since I was a child. I believe it was a few months after staying with your family that I learned never to show anything, ever. Also, the Panther never took anything even remotely like my derringer. He only took possessions of great sentimental meaning." Gritting his teeth together through the pain, he said, "No one ever had the knowledge of what it meant to me. No one but you, that is, could have possibly known that that derringer held any sentimental emotions for me. I never told anyone about the day I got that, but you were with me that day. Only you knew. Explanation enough to satisfy your morbid curiosity?"

"So Auntie Maude taught her little Ezra her game, did she?" he said in a sweetly sickening voice. "Is Auntie Maude disappointed in her little boy? Huh, Ezra? Is she? Knowing you let these so-called friends close to you. She is, isn't she?"

Ezra winced at the word "friends."

"What else would my mother be?" Ezra already knew how Maude felt, so the attempt to get a rise out of him was wasted. "How about you enlightening me on who would benefit from my contracted demise?" Ezra asked trying to coax a confession out him.

"Carson Maggiono, Jr. doesn't just want you dead; he wants you destroyed. Which worked like clockwork. The Team left you defenseless, but I'm surprised Tanner left you. Maybe after I'm through with you, I'll pay your so-called friends a visit."

The assassin had been slowly walking towards the agent as he was talking. "Maybe I'll have me some fun with that sexy long hair of yours, show him what a real man is li-" Not seeing the injured con man as a threat, he was caught off guard as the agent barreled into him.

Ezra didn't think; he only reacted to someone threatening to harm Vin. He put his full weight behind the tackle, but due to blood loss and his already weakened condition, all he managed to accomplish was knocking them to the floor and knocking the breath out of them both. Panther recovered first, rolling the enraged, but weak man under him, casually resting his forearm across Ezra's throat. With each word he increased the pressure to his cousin's throat. "As I was saying, I'm going to show Tanner what a real man is like before I kill him. Unless of course, he likes it, then I may keep him around for a while." His grin was malicious in its innuendo.

Ezra was losing consciousness fast. He had failed by not being able to get the assassin to confess everything. He gave into the darkness.

EIGHT

It had taken the Team longer to get back to the compound than they had expected. They had just entered the cave entrance to the tunnel when they heard the first shot closely followed by another. Vin, with his heart in his throat, took off. Not caring about secrecy, he switched on his light, as did the others.

Chris grabbed Vin by the arm, swinging him around to face him. "Think, cowboy. We have to stick to the plan, at least until we get in there and get a handle on the situation." He could feel the barely contained rage coursing through the muscles under his hand. At Vin's nod of understanding, he turned to the others. "Josiah, take Vin's place." Josiah nodded and followed the others as they went to take their positions.

"Now, just a min-"

"No, Vin. You stay with me." With that, Larabee turned his back going to the door that led to the library, effectively putting a stop to any further discussion. Slipping through the door, Chris and Vin crab crawled to the end of the bookcase. Slowly rising to look through the shelving, Chris checked all positions. Everyone was in place.

The scene being played out in front of them froze their blood. Panther was digging his fingers into the freshly bleeding wounds on their southern friend. He didn't have to look at Vin's face to know it held a murderous rage, much like his own. He put his hand on the tracker to keep him from rushing into a dangerous, unpredictable situation that could get someone killed.

Vin's emotions were waging a war. Logical emotion, his mind, demanded he stay and assess the situation, then defuse it. Illogical emotion, his heart, demanded he go in and kill the threat to his Mate, now! Logic won out, for the moment, but the Panther had sealed his fate. Simple. To the point. End of Panther. End of story. The man was going to die. Painfully, very painfully. He watched, listening, but the third shot was his undoing. Chris was physically holding Vin back, but barely. He whispered frantically into the struggling man's ear, trying to calm him. Vin stopped struggling and nodded. He was in control, for now. The men listened as Ezra and the assassin talked, knowing that JD's equipment was recording everything.

They all heard the threats Panther was making against Vin and had been surprised when the injured man threw himself into the assassin's midsection, crashing both of them onto the floor. They watched as Ezra wrestled for control and lost. Chris, not watching Vin, couldn't stop the angry sharpshooter even if he had wanted to, which he didn't, but followed instead to make sure he didn't kill him.

Vin's blood boiled over as he heard the Panther's plans for him, but froze when he saw Ezra react to the threat to him. It warmed his heart to see Ezra wanting to protect him and sent a shiver of excitement through him, also. Then dread took hold as he watched.

After this, he and Ezra were going to have to have a talk about him putting himself in even greater danger just to protect him. It wasn't going to happen anymore if he had his way.

Vin's whole demeanor changed as he watched Ezra losing the battle. His protective instinct went into a primal state, sending him across the room in a flying tackle, pulling the assassin off the unconscious southerner. The air was knocked out of Panther's lungs again as he landed hard under the furious tracker.

He found himself at the mercy of the snarling, enraged man that was choking him. The look in the Texan's eyes froze his blood but not his instinct to survive. He punched Vin's head, right in the temple, but the ex-bounty hunter was too far into his rage and adrenaline for it to even faze him. Vin was sitting on the assassin's already bruised midsection, squeezing his knees together tighter till he could feel the ribs give, just as he could feel his windpipe give, yielding to the pressure that was cutting off the life giving air to the struggling assassin. His smile was menacing, and the Panther knew he had just met the Grim Reaper in the flesh.

Chris and Buck were trying to get Vin off the assassin. Nathan and Josiah were taking care of Ezra. JD couldn't decide if he wanted to help Vin kill the Panther or help the others get the Texan off him. JD sighed and knelt down next to Vin, putting his hand on the angry man's arm.

"He ain't worth it, Vin. Ez needs you right now. C'mon, let him go. Ezra needs you here, not in prison for killing this worthless bastard. You hear me, Vin? He's not worth it!" JD held his breath as he waited for Vin to make his decision.

Vin's fingers tightened, then he let go and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I hear ya, JD." He got off the Panther, watching him struggling for air, taking some pleasure in that. He went over to Ezra and knelt down beside him, holding the unconscious gambler's hand. "Nathan?"

Nathan looked at the distraught man. "He's fine. The only places are in the arm and the calf. Grazes. He hit his head. Have to wait till he wakes up to see if he has a concussion."

Seeing the doubtful look, Nathan held up a bag that was covered in red blood. "Seems Buck and JD's horror flick weekend paid off. Corn syrup and red food coloring. I knew he was paying attention." All three men burst out laughing, remembering Ezra's distaste in the movie choices that weekend.

Nathan went over to see about the assassin; even though he'd rather just leave him there to die, he couldn't. "Josiah, go git the backboard out of the chopper, please. We need to get him to the hospital right now."

No one argued; they just followed Nathan's orders. In ten minutes, they were loaded and taking off in the chopper. JD, Buck and Vin were going to stay a few days until Ezra was fit to travel, or rather Vin thought he was fit to travel. Chris thought it would be a good idea for Vin and JD to be as far away from the assassin as possible. Until the interrogations, that is, then he would simply tell Panther he could talk or he'd leave him alone with them. Very simple choice, to his way of thinking anyway. No way in hell would he want to be at the mercy of those two. A very simple choice.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Vin sat in the chair watching the man he loved sleep. They had put Ezra back into his room after the others had left and his wounds had been bandaged. He had enjoyed giving his southerner a sponge bath to get all the syrup off of him. Just the memory of running the wet cloth over the hard, muscular chest, down the flat defined stomach...

He stopped his runaway thoughts as he was squirmed in his chair to accommodate his ever-hardening cock. Vin changed the direction of his thoughts to be on the safe side. Chuckling to himself, Vin couldn't believe that his love had actually paid attention to the some of the horror flicks that JD had insisted on. Where else would he have gotten the idea for corn syrup and food coloring for blood? Thank God he had worn his vest or else that would have been his blood.

"And what, pray tell, do you find so humorous?" Ezra rasped out, putting his hand to his neck to feel for the damage to his aching throat.

Sitting down next to him, Vin stopped the hand from investigating any further. "Uh uh. Don't mess with it. It's going to be sore for a few days, so no unnecessary talkin'. Got it?"

"Yes... no-"

Vin put his finger on the lush lips, cutting the whispered voice off. "Didn't I jist tell ya, you couldn't talk?" He let the exasperation show in his voice and the humor in his eyes.

"No talkin' means no talkin'. Now, to answer your question, the fake blood. I was jist thinkin' that you'll be catching hell from Buck and JD, even Nathan for a long time. Not interested in horror flicks, huh?"

At Ezra's groan, Vin couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. It felt too good. The danger had passed and Ezra loved him. Life was good and about to get better. He could no longer hold back his passion for this man. He had almost lost him, and his soul was demanding a deeper connection to the owner of its other half to make them complete.

The tracker leaned down taking his lover's mouth in a hard, demanding kiss. Ezra opened his mouth to the insistent and demanding tongue. He moaned as he gave himself over to the sensations his tracker was causing in him. Ezra's moan turned into a growl when he felt Vin's hands travel down his chest, stopping at the hardening nipples, tweaking and teasing them till they were red and tender.

Sliding his hands down the taut muscles of his con man's flat stomach, feeling the ripples and spasms his touch was causing, Vin pulled back dragging in a ragged breath and resting his forehead against a breathless Ezra.

"Ezra, I want you. I want to feel you. Be inside you. But only if you feel that you are ready."

Ezra threaded his fingers through Vin's long hair. Pulling Vin's mouth to his, he stopped a hair's breadth from the luscious lips and whispered seductively, "Then by all means, Mr. Tanner, take me. I'm all yours."

How could Vin resist that invitation? He had no intentions of doing so as he took the mouth that was offered up to him.

Ezra was completely naked from the bath Vin had given him, and he felt that his lover was overdressed for the occasion. Undoing the buttons on Vin's shirt, he slipped his hands inside, moaning at the feel of his lover's warm skin. Ezra wrapped his arms around his Texan, drawing him closer. A growl was heard deep in his tracker's chest as Ezra's hand moved to the top button of his jeans. Ezra had Vin free and was holding his hard, hot, unyielding manhood in his hands within seconds. Vin threw back his head, growling at the feel of Ezra's talented fingers rippling up and down his hard shaft. Ezra couldn't take his eyes off the beautifully tanned god that was gracefully arching his back trying to push himself further into the pleasure that his hand was causing. Vin's muscles were taut with tension and begging for release. How was Ezra to refuse such an eloquent request? He just didn't have it in him to do so. Ezra did the only thing he could; he took the beautiful straining cock deep into his mouth.

Vin almost lost all control when he felt himself engulfed in the flaming heat of his heart's desire. He tried holding his emotions in check, not wanting it to be over quickly, but gave into the exquisite feel of his lover's mouth and touch.

Ezra built and stoked the fire that was Vin, until he came. He drank down all of Vin's essence, loving the flavor that was uniquely Vin. He held Vin to him. "You are beautiful, my lover. I loved seeing your face as you came. Vin, you are truly a gift from God, and I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone."

With tears in his eyes, Vin captured his southerner's lips in a soft, soulful kiss tasting himself as he deepened the kiss. Ezra moaned as the soft kiss turned aggressive, and Vin took possession of his mouth and his body. Vin's callused hands were ecstasy against his ultra-sensitive skin. He gasped as Vin slowly nipped and sucked his already tender nipples. Ezra threaded his fingers through Vin's long sienna locks as his Texan took his achingly hard, steel rod into the intense heat of his mouth.

Vin was thrilled that his lover was so vocal. He found the moans and growls extremely sexy. Vin took him all, massaging the silky shaft with his throat muscles till he felt Ezra coming and chanting his name as he sucked and milked the softening cock dry, not leaving a single drop untasted. Then he kissed his way up the smaller man's compact body stopping at the sweet mouth as he settled on his side next to Ezra.

Resting his head in his hand, he gently brushed the chestnut curls off his gambler's forehead. "You're my Soul, my Spirit, Ezra. You're the very air I breathe. I could not go on without you, nor would I want to. I need you in my life, in my heart, in my soul." Looking at Ezra with a roguish grin, Vin said, before stealing a kiss, "And in my bed."

Ezra didn't even try to hold the laughter back at Vin's playfulness, saying in a still hoarse voice, "Mr. Tanner, I do believe I love you."

"Ez, Love, can't ya call me Vin?" Vin gave his lover an imploring and pained look.

"For you, love, I'll make an exception." He held a slight smile on his face but could do nothing about keeping the mischievous glint out of his eye.

Vin's eyes narrowed at his southerner. "Oh really? An exception, huh?" Vin's hand snaked out and started to tickle his gambler into surrendering.

"Okayokayokay… Okayokay... I… gi- I give." Ezra had never had to be the one to surrender but with Vin that didn't matter in the least. In fact, he liked it a lot.

Laughing, Ezra said, "I give, Vin. You win. At least this time." Pouting, he added, "I am at an unfair advantage, Vin. I'm injured." Looking at the pouting lips, Vin couldn't help but lean over and nibble at the bottom lip, both moaning as the teasing kiss deepened.

A knock on the door broke them apart. "What do ya want?" Vin groaned out.

Buck yelled through the door, "Sorry to bother you lovebirds, but Chris just called. He needs us back on the double. I'll explain after we load the boat."

Vin looked at Ezra. Seeing a guilty frown, he asked softly, "What's wrong, Ez?"

Ezra felt horrible. "I didn't even inquire as to how the others were. I... we.... Aw hell!"

Vin couldn't help the feeling of relief that swept over him. Putting a comforting hand on his distressed lover's face, he said, "Ez, ya had something else on yer mind at the time, and I would've told ya if someone had been hurt. Okay?"

Ezra nodded but still felt bad for not asking about the others.

"C'mon let's get going." Vin gave Ezra a last, fierce kiss before they got up to get dressed.

NINE

Buck and JD had the boat loaded by the time the two lovers had come downstairs. Both agents were relieved to see their southern brother up and moving. They had heard the laughing upstairs but had decided that the two needed time alone. Seeing him up and moving was a big improvement over the last two weeks.

"Hey Ez, good to see ya, and you're welcome." JD grinned. He had ammo for future blackmail, and he wasn't afraid to use it.

Ezra raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "And what are you referring to that I should be thanking you for, Mr. Dunne?"

Buck came up beside him and put his arm over Ezra's shoulder. "Why, for saving your life, of course. Iff'n it hadn't been for those horror movies we showed that weekend, you wouldn't have had that idea for the fake blood. So we saved your life."

Vin tried to contain his laughter but lost the battle when he saw Ezra's smug grin. His con man was about to pull a con.

"Of course, the fact that I spent a year undercover in a Hollywood F/X make-up studio would have no bearing on this at all," was the cocky southerner's reply. Of course, this was a con. No way in hell would he do something like that. That stuff was too messy for his liking, but that wasn't something they needed to know.

Buck snorted, "Ezra Standish, there is no way on God's green earth you would ever work at a place like that. 'Member ya don't like to get your hands dirty."

Ezra gave them a brilliant smile. It felt too good to know that he was and always would be part of this very special family. Another first for him, stopping the con. "All right, I do owe you a debt for those horrible movies I sat through. I did get the idea from them."

Buck crowed knowing what Ezra had just done. JD laughed a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Great, Ez. The next time it's a Scream marathon."

Ezra threw his hands up in surrender. "I think I'll pass."

Vin came up behind his lover and put his arms around his waist. Resting his chin on Ezra's shoulder next to his ear, he said, "C'mon Ez, it's a great date movie and having all three together, that's a major snuggle session."

Ezra couldn't believe what he was hearing. It almost sounded like Vin was begging, and what was this about a date movie? Maybe he wasn't as well as he thought he was. To cover for the confusion he was feeling, he redirected their attention, "Gentlemen, why are the others not here? Why is our presence being requested back on the mainland?"

Vin sighed and tightened his hold on Ezra. "They had to take the Panther to the hospital, and Chris thought it would be safer for the assassin if JD and I were someplace else."

"And why would our esteemed leader think that?" Ezra was not sure he really wanted to know the answer.

JD sighed heavily. "Because, damn it, he almost killed you, and I would love to tear his heart out for what he has done to our family." His voice got steadily louder as he continued, "And I owe him for Dustin."

Ezra pulled out of Vin's embrace to stand in front of JD. He put his hands on his shoulders. "JD, look at me." The soulful amber eyes were full of hatred and fire. "Panther will pay. I promise. But he brought us closer. He gave me the knowledge of what a real family is. The trust, safety, love, and the total acceptance of a family. Son, for that I would not trade this horrid experience for anything in this world." He pulled JD into a hug. "He gave me all my brothers and Vin. For that gift, he has my forgiveness. For what he has done to your friend and to others, he will pay." Ezra pulled back to look into his youngest brother's eyes. He used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears. "You, my brother, are worth everything we went through, as are the others."

Hand still around JD's shoulder, he turned to the other two men. "Now, one of you gentlemen care to tell me what injuries the assassin acquired to need emergency care?"

Buck smiled at the southerner. "Well hell, Ez, he only had his ribs broken and his windpipe crushed to where he'll never talk again," Vin discreetly coughed into his hand, hoping to shut up the gregarious cowboy. No such luck. "Yep, ol' Vin here went Old Testament on his ass, with moves he must have learned in the Rangers. Never seen nothin' like that before."

"Ezra, I stood there and watched him shoot you, and when you tackled 'im and he was chokin' you…." Ezra moved to Vin, resting his hand on the stubbled cheek as Vin continued, "I couldn't stop myself. I wanted him dead so bad. He would be too iff'n it hadn't been for JD."

Vin pulled Ezra into a tight embrace, just needing the contact, not being able to get the picture of the assassin shooting and then choking his Spirit Mate out of his head.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Not letting Ezra out of his protective embrace, he asked, "Buck, why does Chris want us back? Somethin' happen?"

"Well, it seems that Panther was the one that called, pretendin' to be a warden, telling us that Maggiono had been released early. When the Judge called to get more information, he found out that Maggiono hadn't been released, but his parole hearing is tomorrow. Chris said that we had to get you there, Ezra, in time for the hearing, so you can testify against his release again. That's one of the reasons he wanted you dead so badly."

Grabbing the bag that Ezra had dropped, Buck made his way down to the docks. Ezra and Vin sat on the backbench as JD cast them off then settled down in the co-captain's chair with he and Buck arguing about which one should be driving.

Vin smiled down at his lover's upturned face soaking up the sun. He leaned down capturing the sun-kissed lips in a lazy, sensual kiss. He broke the kiss, looking into the deep emerald pools and whispered, "I love you."

"And I, you." was Ezra's breathless reply.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Two men and two women sat at a long conference table that faced two smaller tables. At one table, sat D. A. Colt Chandler going through a file, hoping that Agent Standish made it soon.

"Mrs. Chandler, could we please get on with this?" the parole board chairperson asked.

The petite woman in a gray pinstripe suit stood up, hopefully keeping the irritation out of her Texas accent. "Madam Chairperson, if we could only hold out a little longer, I'm sure that Agent Standish will be here soon."

"We have already delayed for an hour; the man is not going to show." Maggiono's attorney stood up. He had better things to do than waste his time here. "My client has been in prison for over fifteen years. He has been a model prisoner. He started several educational workshops. He will make a valuable member of society."

"We should take this at face value? What about the many attempts he has made to kill Agent Standish?" Colt had a bad feeling as she saw the smug grin on Maggiono's face grow. Colt knew something had to have delayed Standish; he had never missed a hearing, deep cover or not. He always made it. Her thoughts were interrupted as a guard brought in a message for her. Colt let a smug smile of her own cross her face as she read the note, but no one was the wiser as the burgundy mass of her curls blocked their view.

Putting her game face on, she said, "Madam Chairperson, if we are to believe that Mr. Maggiono has indeed reformed, I would like to hear from him on what it is he would do if he ever got out."

The Chairwoman nodded her consent. "That is an excellent suggestion. Mr. Maggiono, would you please tell us, in your own words, what it is you feel you can contribute to the outside?"

Carson Maggiono, Jr. stood at 6' 4", his hulking form, solid muscle. He had brown hair that was streaked with silver, having aged faster in the hard prison environment. But it was his steel gray eyes that held your attention. They were full of hatred and disdain for the people in this room. He had Standish killed, maybe he should add these people to that list, especially that bitch D. A. She had made his life just as miserable as Standish had.

Smiling at the members of the board, he said, "Thank you for giving me a chance to speak on my behalf." He did remember some of what his father had taught him at least. "On the outside, I would like to start a center for runaways and-"

Maggiono started at a Southern drawl. "How noble. Would that be so you can train your own assassins?"

Maggiono had not heard anyone enter the room and was surprised to see six men surrounding Standish. A very alive and healthy Standish.

Ezra strolled up to where Colt was standing and addressed the Board, "Please forgive my tardiness. I was delayed due to someone trying to assassinate me." Surprised gasps came from everyone but Maggiono and the six men that stood protectively around the agent and D. A.

Ezra moved within a foot of Maggiono, flanked by Vin and Chris. "It would seem that you are still an incompetent Neanderthal, Jr., and I'm still here to keep my promise to the Sr."

Maggiono lunged for Ezra as he turned his back on the secured prisoner, but that's what Ezra had anticipated. Allowing himself to be turned back around, he threw an uppercut to the surprised man's jaw, sending him into the prison guards' waiting arms.

Straightening his tie and jacket, he flashed a smile at the astonished men's and women's faces. Well, except for Vin and Colt. They had not been surprised at all. Vin knew Ezra could take care of himself.

"Damn, Standish. It feel as good as we thought?" Colt's low whistle and envious grin told everyone that she was serious. She gave Ezra a hug and kiss on the cheek. After introductions were made, she said, "Now, what say we take this celebration someplace else, gentlemen?"

Buck offered his arm to Colt. "That would be a pleasure, my dear, and you can tell us some stories about ol' Ez here that we don't know about."

Colt winked at Ezra as she took Buck's arm. "Has he ever told you about the first time we met?"

Everyone laughed at Ezra's dramatic groan. "She is going to be the ruination of me. I just know it."

Vin put his arm over his shoulder and, following the others out of the room, whispered huskily, "I'll protect ya, lover."

Ezra's blush spoke for him.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Vin had snuck out of the office while Ezra had been in conference with Chris, Colt and the Judge. He wanted to get his surprise set up before his lover got home. He had candles lit all around the bedroom, along with red roses. White satin sheets. Rose petals leading from the front door into the bathroom. He had just finished putting the finishing touches on everything when he heard the front door open. Vin slipped into the shadows not wanting to miss the look on his lover's face.

Ezra followed the petals into his room, stopping at the door. He was so surprised at the trouble his tracker went to for him. This would be their first night alone. No interruptions. He could see that Vin had wanted to make this a special night for them. His smile was blinding with its brilliance. He felt Vin's presence behind him. His eyes slid shut of their own violation as Vin divested him of his clothes. Ezra moaned as he felt Vin slowly kissing and nipping at his ear before whispering, "Come with me, but keep yer eyes closed."

Ezra's answer was cut off as his Texan lightly traced his lower lip with his tongue, retreating when it came into contact with Ezra's. Taking his lover's hand, Vin led him to the bathroom. He tested the water before he helped Ezra into the warm bath. His southerner's sigh of pleasure earned him a sensual kiss.

Vin was enjoying Ezra's obvious pleasure with his seduction. "Keep your eyes closed, Ez. I'll tell ya when to open them."

The husky Texas drawl sent shivers of anticipation down his spine. "Why don't you join me, lover?"

"I don't think so, Ez. Jist sit back and enjoy it. Let your other senses take over for you." As he said this, he trailed his fingers lightly down the relaxed man's torso. He picked up a washcloth and, dipping it in the water scented with sandalwood, ran it over every inch of his gambler's body.

"Okay, Ez, stand up." Ezra did so quietly holding Vin's hand as he got out of the bath. He stood still moaning as Vin dried him off. His skin was energized, his cock aching and sensitive from the bath, and the atmosphere electrically charged.

Vin, kneeling down in front of his gambler's weeping cock, slowly blew on it. He grinned at the sharp intake of breath and the low moan of pleasure as his tongue flicked at the rich, savory pearl drops. Touching Ezra with only his tongue, he swirled the tip, then taking just the tip into his mouth, he lightly sucked on it. Vin knew his lover was getting close and needed relief. He engulfed the hard, straining cock deep in his throat, just as his gambler came. Swallowing every last drop, he then rose up gracefully in front of Ezra, taking and plundering the mouth of his very satisfied lover.

Vin gazed down lovingly at the upturned face with its eyes still closed. He whispered seductively, "Open your eyes for me."

Ezra looked into the intense, sparkling sapphire liquid pools of his lover and drowned in the passion he saw burning in them. Taking Vin's hand and leading him to the bed, emerald gaze never leaving sapphire, he gently pushed his tracker down on the white satin sheets. A shiver of excitement shot through him, seeing the contrast of the tanned nude body of his lover against the shimmering white satin sheets. Ezra kissed the instep of his Texan's foot and slowly worked his way up to the back his knee. He repeated his actions on the other leg, but didn't stop at the knee. Vin growled when Ezra completely ignored his weeping hard-on, slowly moving up his body. Vin arched his back into the sensation when he felt the slick tongue dip into his navel.

Ezra moved up to Vin's ear, his whispering southern drawl causing his lover to moan and shiver. "Tell me, Vin. Tell me what you want."

Vin growled, "You."

Then he attacked his con man's mouth, ravaging it as his hand reached for the lubricant he had laid out earlier. He then trailed his fingers lightly down the hard, silky rod, accepting his gambler's wanton invitation as he spread his legs for the slick and questing fingers. Vin slowly prepared his lover, taking immense pleasure in the moans his southerner was making.

Ezra pulled his knees to his chest, letting Vin know he wanted to see his face as they made love. Emerald fire connected with indigo fire as the Texan slowly entered his southern mate.

Vin took his time, leisurely building the pleasure until he could no longer hold his own passion back. He wrapped his fingers around his gambler's hard-as-steel cock and, at the same time, found the hard little nub of his prostate, stroking both simultaneously. Ezra gave into the sensations and howled Vin's name as he came all over his tracker's hand and chest. Vin lost his control when he felt Ezra's muscles clench around him. He yelled Ezra's name coming deep inside his lover's body.

Ezra held his lover close to him as he regained his breath. Cuddling him to his side, he said, "I love you, Vin, more than life itself. You filled the empty void that served as my heart. You made me believe in something I never dreamed I could have - love and family. For that, you'll always have my love, my faith, and my belief in us and our family. I'll never doubt you again."

Vin had watched the sincere and honest emotion that showed clearly on his lover's face knowing Ezra would never hide his emotions from him again. He kissed Ezra lightly. His voice rough with love and emotion, he said, "Your trust, faith, love and honesty are all I've ever wanted." With that, the two lovers feel asleep in each other's arms knowing they were safe and, most importantly, where destiny wanted them. Together.

Fini