Lost

Disclaimer: I don't own the Magnificent Seven, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Warnings: Angst, Slash, Violence

Rating: FRT

Lost
Chapter 14


Buck smiled, taking in the still lingering smells that permeated his home. Home, now that had a real good sound to it. It had been a great day, Nathan had arrived first a crock pot and the makings for chili in his hands. Right on his heels had been Vin, carrying everything he would need to make some of the best bread Buck had ever tasted.

"Hey Buck, you making the popcorn before or after we eat?" Vin asked as he began to mix his dough.

"I was thinking fix it first, kind of like an appetizer."

"Well what ya waiting on?"

Buck scowled playfully, "Waiting on you to get your skinny butt out of my way. Popcorn maker is in that cabinet," he pointed to the door Vin stood in front of.

"I ain't skinny," Vin growled, moving aside.

"Sure ya ain't," Buck scoffed. "Hell boy if ya turned sideways ya could hide behind a fencepost," he teased.

"Jealous Bucklin?" Vin asked, his eyes twinkling playfully.

"Jealous? Now why would I be jealous when I have this fine physique?" Buck questioned, gesturing at his own body as he spoke.

Vin glanced at Nathan, winking, "I reckon it is a fine physique at that, getting to be more of it every day."

"You're damned right it's a fine...," Buck trailed off, his eyes narrowing on the younger man. "What do you mean more of it everyday?"

"Ain't no wonder, I mean you ain't as young as ya used to be," Vin continued innocently. "Maybe you better not have any bread or chili today Buck, best stick to the boiled cabbage and plain popcorn."

"Vin's got a point Buck," Nathan piped up, getting in on the teasing. "Bread and chili are pretty fattening, best not have any cookies or pie either."

"Now you just hold on a minute Nathan, if you think I'm gonna sit here and eat popcorn and cabbage while you boys chow down on all this good food you better think again."

"Ain't no reason to get mad Buck, we're just looking out for you," Vin soothed.

"Looking out for me? You call torturing a man with all these good smells and then telling him he can't have hardly any of it, looking out for me?" Not waiting for an answer, Buck grabbed the popper from the cabinet. Stalking to the other side of the kitchen, he plugged it in and placed a bowl under the spout.

"What ya think Nathan?" Vin asked.

"Well it is a house-warming, I guess we could let the man have a small helping of chili and maybe a slice of bread," Nathan replied thoughtfully.

"Think he could have a cookie too?"

"I suppose one cookie wouldn't be too much, but no more than that Buck," Nathan warned.

"No more than...it's my house and I'll eat whatever I want," Buck sputtered. As his two friends burst out in laughter, he shot them a glare worthy of Chris. "That wasn't funny."

"Yes it was," Vin argued through his laughter.

"Was not," Buck mumbled as he turned back to his popcorn.

The rest of the day had gone like that, the teasing and bantering increasing as the others arrived. Soon the house had filled with the smells that meant home for each man. Though JD had taken pity on them, opting to buy some boiled cabbage rather than attempting to make it himself. His reason had been simple, even though he had found a simple recipe that he felt confident he could make, boiled cabbage was strong and could overpower all the other smells in the house. Buck couldn't argue with that, having smelled the stuff being cooked once, it was a smell he wasn't likely to ever forget. After putting his pot of cabbage on the back of the stove, where it would stay warm, JD had turned to Josiah.

"What ya making Josiah?" JD asked the big man as he began to pull ingredients from the bag he'd brought.

"Rosemary crepes."

"Crepes, isn't that something you have for breakfast?"

"You can, but crepes are good anytime. These should go real good with the chili," Josiah added.

"Crepes with chili?" Chris asked, sounding as skeptical as the other's looked.

"Yep," Josiah grinned. "Don't you boys trust me?"

"Well," Vin drawled, "now that you mention it..."

"Thought you liked my cooking Vin?"

"I do Josiah, but ya got to admit some of your experiments haven't turned out so good."

Josiah mulled this over, "I suppose that's true, but this isn't an experiment."

"So you've made this before, with chili?" Buck questioned.

"Well no," Josiah admitted, "but it's a proven recipe."

"Proven by who?" Chris wanted to know.

"I'm hurt boys," Josiah rumbled, hand to his heart. Seeing that none of them were buying into his act, he finally decided to be straight with them. "I got it online, it's rosemary crepes, stuffed with four cheeses and topped with a white sauce and tomatoes."

"That does sound good," Vin admitted.

"Yeah," Buck agreed.

"Does sound like it'd go good with chili," Nathan added.

"Well, now that it meets with your approval, can I get busy cooking?"

"By all means Josiah, carry on," Chris grinned.

Buck's eyebrow went up, "You been taking lessons from Ez stud?"

"The name is Ez-ra Mr. Wilmington, why is that so difficult to remember?"

Buck grinned, "Ain't hard to remember at all Ez...ra. So Chris, answer the question."

"Nothing wrong with being polite Buck," Chris defended himself.

"Sure there ain't, but you don't usually go around sounding like Ezra."

Chris shrugged, "Just seemed to fit."

Nothing more had been said, but for the rest of the day Buck had watched his old friend a little more closely. He wondered if Chris realized what was going on, he quickly decided that he probably didn't. Ezra was harder to read, but Buck didn't think he had any more of a clue than Chris, though for different reasons. Finally though, the day, like all good things, had come to an end. Buck looked around the room, his friend's voices still echoing in his mind as scenes from the day continued to flash in his mind. Yep, it had been a good day and for the first time since buying this small ranch, the place felt like home.



THREE MONTHS LATER

Buck jerked awake, his eyes going automatically to the figure in the bed. Satisfied that the man still breathed, he stood and walked to the window. Staring out at the city nightscape, he began to pray for the life of the man in the bed. "God I know I don't talk to ya nearly enough, but I could really use your help here. Vin could really use your help," he added softly, for good measure. "You see that man over there lord?" he asked, gesturing over his shoulder to the man in the bed. "We both know he ain't worth a hill of beans, but ya see God, he's the only one that knows where Vin is, so I'm asking ya, I'm begging you, please let him wake up."

"No change?" Chris asked needlessly as he stepped into the room, interrupting Buck's prayer.

"No,” he replied dejectedly. “Have any of Ezra's contacts come through?"

Chris could hear the note of hope in Buck's voice, he hated to take that hope away, but with the shake of his head that was exactly what he did. "We will find him Buck," he promised.

"Yeah, but will it be in time?" Buck asked, glancing again at the bastard in the bed. "Damn it! There's got to more we can do than wait for him to wake up and tell us what he knows."

"We're doing all we can Buck," Chris assured him, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze. Glaring at the man in the hospital bed, he wondered again how everything could've gone so wrong so fast. They weren't even on a case. The last one had been rough on everybody and Travis had given them light duty. So they'd been spending their time, checking liquor licenses and gun permits, nothing hard at all. Until Vin had gone to inspect Good Time Charlie's, an after hours club that catered to strippers and their clientele. Nobody knew what had happened. All they knew for sure was that Vin had called for back-up and there were gunshots in the background when he did. By the time help had reached the bar, the place was shot to hell and Vin Tanner was missing. The only person in the place was Ben Lewis, a bouncer at the bar and by all accounts the definition of scum. Unfortunately they couldn't get any answers from Ben, not unconscious and with a slug from a .44 in his gut. An ambulance had been called and Ben had been rushed to the hospital. That brought them to now. Ben had survived surgery, but he had yet to wake up. Even if he did, there was no guarantee he'd talk to them.

"He better damn well tell us what he knows or I swear I'll beat it out of him," Buck growled, as though reading Chris' mind.

"He'll tell us Buck, we'll make sure of that."



Vin lay curled up on the floor of his cell, fighting the urge to moan as another wave of pain hit him. A stupid liquor license inspection, that's all it was supposed to be. No reason for back-up, a simple, easy assignment. He should've known better. He'd noticed the large number of vehicles in the parking lot, too many considering the place was closed. Like a fool, he'd shrugged it off, deciding they probably belonged to employees who were setting up for the opening. "You're an idiot Tanner," he berated himself. He'd walked into the bar like the greenest rookie, hell even JD probably would've realized something wasn't right. "Guess that'll teach me to keep my mind on the job." He wondered who was more surprised, him or the bastards filming their little snuff flick. For a moment nobody moved, a moment that allowed Vin to see all he needed to. He'd seen the teenage girl tied to the pool table, the man raping her as he sliced her to ribbons with a knife, the camera that filmed every sick minute of it. As though it had been rehearsed, they all came out of their stupors in nearly the same instant. Vin yelled ATF as he reached for his gun, while simultaneously several men in the bar reached for their own weapons. Somehow he'd managed to hold them off long enough to call for back-up. Hadn't done him any good, within seconds of making the call, he'd found himself out of ammo and surrounded by the enemy. The boss had ordered the room cleared and Vin taken to a place better suited for questioning him. He'd struggled, but he was outnumbered. He'd only gotten in a couple of swings before something clipped him in the head and his world went dark. He'd woke up in this cell, alone and nursing a monster headache. Glancing around at what was obviously an old jail, Vin figured this time his number was up. Nobody knew where he was and if they'd left the bar empty there wasn't much chance the other's would ever find him.

An hour after he woke up, they had come for him. Four of them, big, ugly men, with tempers to match. Of course he'd had to open his mouth, "What's the matter, y'all can't face a me man to man?"

Ugly number one reached into the cell and jerked him forward, slamming him into the wall. Before he knew what was happening, his hands were cuffed behind him and he was shoved to the ground. The next few minutes passed in a blur as the four men took out their anger on him, only stopping when a fifth, much smaller man entered the building. "I'd appreciate it if you gentlemen didn't damage our guest until I tell you to."

"Sorry sir," one of the men mumbled as another hauled Vin to his feet.

Vin found himself unceremoniously dragged from the building, down the wood sidewalk and into an old-fashioned saloon. "I'm disappointed," he drawled as he took in the room, "no film crew?"

"Perhaps later," the small man, who was obviously in charge, smiled. It was a smile that brought Vin no comfort, sending a chill down his spine. It was the smile of a predator who had just found his prey. "As you can see Agent Tanner," he smiled at Vin's start upon hearing his name. "We checked your i.d," he explained. "Now, as I was saying, I'm sure you noticed you're in a ghost town."

Vin nodded, he'd noticed alright.

"I've found it is the perfect place in which to question prisoners. The only people to hear your screams work for me so there will be no help coming. The nearest populated town is fifty miles away, but in what direction?" he asked with a smile. "I abhor liars Agent Tanner, so I will be painfully honest with you. You are going to die here. Nobody knows where you are, nor will they discover your location. The only person left at the bar was the bouncer and he was dead," he coldly informed Vin, not realizing he was wrong. "So, the only question is, will you die slowly or quickly?"

"Y'all know what happens to you if you kill a federal agent?" Vin asked, aiming his question at the four men rather than their boss.

The man in charge threw back his head in laughter, "Oh you are amusing young man. You saw what was happening at the bar, do you really believe any of us are concerned about killing a federal agent? For that matter, do you think you're the first agent to die in this town?"

Vin swallowed hard, so much for planting seeds of doubt. The backhand caught him off guard, snapping his head to the side.

"I believe I asked you a question," the boss snarled.

"I reckon I ain't," Vin growled. He refused to let this man see that he was worried, no matter how uncertain he was of his own survival. "What'd you bring me here for?"

"You mean why not just kill you back at the bar or somewhere along the way here?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think Agent Tanner?"

"Guess you're wanting to know something," Vin answered after a moment.

"Intelligence, how refreshing," the man smiled. "Now can you guess what it is I want to know? No? It is really very simple Vincent, may I call you Vincent? As I say, it's very simple...I want to know what you told your compatriots when you called for help?"

"What's your name?" Vin asked, grinning when he saw the surprised look on the man's face.

"Rupert Browner, why do you ask?"

"Just figured I should know your name when I tell ya to go to hell Rupert," Vin replied with a grin. The grin didn't last long as first one and then another beefy fist slammed into his unprotected stomach.

"Enough!" Browner ordered. "That was rude Vincent, I detest rudeness. Apologize," he ordered.

"Don't think so ya bastard," Vin calmly refused.

"Gentlemen I believe Agent Tanner needs a lesson in the proper way to address me," Browner stated, taking a few steps back.

It had taken every bit of willpower he had not to cry out in pain as the beating went on. It wasn't like he'd never taken a beating before, but this was different. It wasn't a beating meted out in anger, flailing fist missing as often as they connected. No, this had been a systematic beating, designed to break down his defenses until he told them what he wanted to know. When it was over, Browner had ordered him returned to his cell, with the promise of more pain to come if he didn't change his attitude. There were only seven problems with Browner's plan, the first was Vin's stubbornness and his absolute refusal to give into bullies. The other six were in the form of his teammates, men who wouldn't stop searching for him until they found him. God help Browner if Vin wasn't alive when they got here. With that thought, Vin finally gave into the pain, letting the darkness claim him.

TBC

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