Lost

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

Warnings: Slash, Angst

Rating: FRT

Lost
Chapter 18


Speaking quietly, the three men visited for a little while. It didn’t take long, however, for Chris to notice Vin’s increasing discomfort as he fidgeted in the bed. Fidgeted? That alone was enough to tell Chris how much pain the younger man must be in. Vin Tanner did not fidget,anybody who knew him knew that. “You okay cowboy? Want me to get the nurse?”

Vin shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“There ain’t no shame in taking something for the pain Vin, you don’t have to always be tough.”

“What the hell would you know about it Chris?” Vin growled.

Chris sighed, he had regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, but it was too late now. The best thing he could do, was to use the thoughtless statement, try to turn it into a way to help Vin. “I know you’re lying there in obvious pain and too damned stubborn to take something for it. Buck thinks you’re afraid of becoming addicted, I don’t agree. I think you’ve got this idea that you have to always be the tough one, and tough men don’t admit when they’re in pain. Ain’t that right?”

Vin shot him a glare that would have had a weaker man searching for a change of shorts. “You son of a bitch,” he growled. “Who the hell do you think you are? You think this is some kind of macho thing? Hell, I want something for the pain like you wouldn’t believe, but I’ve seen what painkillers can do to a man and I won’t let that happen to me.”

“So instead you’re going to lay here in pain?”

“My business if I do,” Vin stubbornly insisted. Anybody who knew him would recognize by the set of his jaw that there was no point in arguing any further. As far as Vin was concerned the discussion was over.

“You’re a stubborn bastard, you know that?”

Vin let out a chuff of air, “Hell you just now figuring that out Chris?”

The blond grinned, “No, I guess I’m not. You know I didn’t really mean that crap?”

“Yeah I know,” Vin replied with a small smile.

Ezra had listened to the argument with growing concern for the friendship between the two men. “Perhaps I could offer a means of assisting you with managing your pain sans the need for painkillers.” He hoped that if he could help Vin to alleviate some of his pain, he could stave off any further arguments between his young friend and the blond, as well as helping Vin to feel better.

Vin gave him a quizzical look, “What ya got in mind Ez?”

“Have you ever heard of the practice of acupressure?”

“That anything like acupuncture?”

Ezra smiled, “It is indeed my friend. The simplest way to describe it…”

“Simplest? You sure you’re Ezra P. Standish?” Chris couldn’t resist teasing. He hoped to lighten the mood, making up for his earlier attitude.

Ezra scowled, “I am reasonably certain that I am in fact the person known as Ezra P. Standish. Contrary to popular misconceptions Mr. Larabee, I am capable of speaking clearly and simply. If I choose to avail myself of a more eloquent vocabulary than most employ it is not an indication of an inability to speak clearly, nor an inability to appreciate the simple things life offers one.”

Chris shared an amused glance with Vin, “Yep, that’s Ezra.”

“Yep,” Vin agreed, a grin spreading over his face.

“May I continue now?”

“Oh by all means, please continue Mr. Standish,” Chris replied with a sweeping gesture.

“In fact Vin acupressure is essentially the same as acupuncture but without the needles,” Ezra continued as though he’d never been interrupted.

“You really think it’ll help?”

“I have seen it work, I’m sure it could help you too. Besides, what do you have to lose?”

“Good point,” Vin had to admit. “You know anybody who knows how to do it?”

Ezra flashed him a grin, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers.

Vin was surprised, though he supposed he shouldn’t be. “When did you learn to do that?”

“Sometime ago,” Ezra quietly replied. “I suffer from migraines, have done so for most of my life.”

“Damn it Ezra, why didn’t you ever tell me?” Chris demanded. Visions of the younger man being struck down by a migraine while undercover, leaving him vulnerable and unprotected, raced through his mind. “I never would have allowed you to work undercover if I had known you get migraines.”

“Precisely why I never informed you,” Ezra admitted. “It isn’t a problem Chris, I assure you.”

“Because of the acupressure?” Vin asked, diffusing the argument before it could turn into a battle royal.

“Exactly,” Ezra smiled. “I was introduced to it on my second undercover assignment. A young lady by the name of Li Pong, a ward of the man I was investigating, found me lying on my bedroom floor in the grips of a particularly bad migraine.” Ezra’s voice took on a wistful quality as he spoke of Li Pong, leaving no doubt that the girl had meant something to him. “Recognizing the symptoms I was experiencing and realizing that her guardian would have no compunctions in using my so-called weakness against me, she used an acupressure technique to alleviate the pain. Afterwards, she took great pains to instruct me in the use of acupressure so that I might remove the pain myself in the event of future attacks. If you like I could give you a treatment now.”

Vin thought about it for a moment, but he didn’t have to think long. “Sure, thanks Ez.”

Without another word, Ezra went to work on his friend. Applying pressure in key points on Vin’s body, he soon had the younger man relaxing under his experienced touch as the pain receded into the background until it faded away entirely.

“Wow,” Vin whispered, pain free for the first time in days. “Thanks Ez.”

“You are most welcome Vin,” Ezra accepted the thanks with a smile. “As I cannot be here with you all the time I will endeavor to teach the others the necessary technique.”

“That’d be great Ezra, appreciate it.” Feeling more relaxed than he had in days, without the drugged feeling from the sedative they gave him for his treatments, Vin slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

“What happened to Li Pong?” Chris quietly asked.

Ezra sucked in a breath at the unexpected question. Fool! You should have known he would pick up on the emotion in your voice. You should never speak of her, not until you can do so without showing the feelings you had towards her.

Chris watched the other man, his eyes narrowed in concern. “Ezra, you okay?”

“Of course,” Ezra smoothly lied. “You wished to know about Li Pong?”

“If you don’t mind,” Chris confirmed.

“She was, as I said, the ward of the man I was investigating. At least that was what I believed at first.”

“She wasn’t his ward?”

“No, she was in fact his property.”

Chris scowled at that, “Human trafficking.”

“Of a sort, she wasn’t sold to him in any type of organized operation. Her uncle, who was her guardian, had become addicted to heroin. He sold her to support his habit. Luckily, the man who bought her was not interested in the child she was, but in the woman she would become. As a result, he had not yet touched her, allowing her to maintain a certain innocence.” Ezra paused, his voice becoming too thick to speak as the memories of his days in the role of Ethan Taylor flashed through his mind. Li Pong’s presence in that house had been the only bright spot in his life during those dismal days. “It was a difficult assignment, the man I was after was not a pleasant person by any means. However, I had a job to carry out and I did so with admirable results.”

Chris winced at the bitterness he heard in Ezra’s voice. “You don’t believe it was?”

Ezra glanced at him, wondering if he should answer that question honestly. Would Chris be angry for him or at him if he knew the full story? Ignoring his mother’s oft taught maxim, that, appearances are everything, he decided to take a chance. “My superiors certainly believed it. They of course could not understand why the life of a young girl who consorted with criminals would be of any concern to me. As I said, Li Pong helped me with my migraines. I had, regrettably, not had much contact with the girl until that time she found me suffering in my room. She had been sent to inform me that supper was about to be served. When she found me, she quickly set about helping me. I have never understood why she cared, but she was well aware that the man I was investigating would see the migraine as a weakness. Such a belief could have very well gotten me killed by the man. Over the course of the next few weeks, Li Pong taught me how to help myself when it came to the migraines. Her desire to aid me, did not go unnoticed by her owner,” he nearly spat the word. “Of course, being the type of man he was, he assumed there was something of a sexual nature occurring between us. As if I would ever do anything with a child and while Li Pong was nearly a woman, she was not quite grown. There was no way I intended to take advantage of her innocence.”

He hated to hear the pain in his undercover agent’s voice; he could feel the anger rising towards those who had caused it. “What did he do to her?” he quietly asked, barely controlling his anger.

Ezra flinched, hearing the anger in Chris’ voice, and misunderstanding it. “He had her stripped and suspended by her wrists. He then used a whip to teach her a lesson, marking her tender skin with cruel welts. As a punishment for me, he insisted that I witness her whipping. It was the first time I was forced to stand by while an innocent was hurt with no way of stopping it, lest I blow my own cover, wasting the government’s money and time in the process. She was a remarkable girl. Even after what he did to her, knowing I did nothing to stop him, she still came to me when she realized that she had found the piece of damning information I needed. Oh yes,” he smiled, seeing the surprised look on Chris’ face, “she had realized I wasn’t who I claimed to be. That is why I was amazed when she came to me only a week after her beating with the information I needed. Thanks to Li Pong we were able to shut down his operation.” He looked away, hiding his shame from one of the few men he admired. “Her thanks for the help she had given, including saving my life by not using my identity as a means to save herself, was a bullet in the heart.”

“Damn Ezra, that’s rough,” Chris said, sympathetically.

“Don’t waste your sympathy on me Chris, save it for those who deserve it.” Standing up, he headed for the door, suddenly needing some air. Turning back, he looked at the young man in the bed. “I could have killed him, I had the chance. I didn’t though, do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because it would have been cold blooded murder. So I did the right thing, and as a result two of the finest people I’ve ever known were forced to suffer.”

“Two?” Chris asked in confusion.

“Li Pong, though aside from the beating, her suffering was short-lived as the bullet killed her instantly.”

“Who else?” he asked when Ezra didn’t continue.

“The answer to that question lies in the identity of the man I was investigating; Rupert Browner.” Berating himself for a coward, Ezra nevertheless made a hasty exit after dropping his bombshell.

TBC

Well that was a surprise to me too. ;) That Ezra is just too good at keeping secrets. Hope y’all liked it. Please feed the muse with reviews.