Sunstroke, Insanity, and Faith
May. 15th, 2010 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_gal
Josiah, JD, Buck, Vin, and Ezra, Nathan ... Meet (not the Magnificent Seven but) the Tucson Seven (or six, anyway. #seven is coming).
Title: Sunstroke, Insanity, and Faith
Genre: Gen... an introduction to the characters before I use them in crossovers.
Fandom: Magnificent Seven
Prompt: 199 – myxophobia (fear of slime)
Summary: An undercover cop finds himself in deeper than he ever expected when a local priest hires him to defend the church in an all out gang-war.
( Part One... )
( Part Two... )
( Part Three... )
( Part Four... )
( Part Five... )
"Oh good god." Ezra's low whisper broke the silence, and Vin looked over, alarmed. "There's slime," Ezra complained quietly. Vin blinked and looked down at the shorn weeds that passed as a lawn in this rundown neighborhood. Someone had dumped out a plastic kiddy pool and the green algae and slime made a short river that Ezra had stepped into. Looking down, Vin realized that Ezra was wearing the sort of expensive men's shoes that Vin generally wouldn't be caught dead in.
He looked up at Ezra, not sure what to say, and Ezra just sort of sagged and shook his head as if Vin was somehow defective for not understanding the horror of slime. However, Vin wasn't talking when they were trying to get close to the house. Knowing Buck and JD's hunting strategies, Nathan had scaled a neighbor's tool shed, and checked their target's roof. The eaves vent was crooked on one side, so either the guys had been in the attic or they were still there. Considering how hot attics got in summer, Vin had vetoed going in after them, especially since he wasn't up to crawling onto someone's roof right now. As much as he knew that his gunshot wound was minor, it still hurt like a son of a bitch and climbing walls and crawling through attics wouldn't improve that.
Nope, they were going for the backyard windows. It was a dangerous approach, but Vin hoped that these guys were arrogant enough to skip a proper lookout. And it would help if Ezra hadn't developed some sort of slime phobia. Shaking his foot, Ezra carefully stepped over the algae trail and moved to the side of the house, his mouth still twisted into a disgusted sneer.
Rolling his eyes, Vin picked another spot on the wall and flattened himself against the hot adobe. Nathan was already in place closer to the kitchen window. The man might be studying to be a doctor, but he knew his way around a weapon about as well as any cop Vin had ever met. Nathan leaned in toward the window and then pulled back, shaking his head. No suspects. Vin leaned over to check the window nearest him. Through the broken blinds he could see three gang members. A cheap coffee table was littered with beer bottles and cigarette butts. A soccer game was on the television, the announcer shouting in Spanish as one of the teams made a goal, and the three guys had all their attention on the set. Vin flashed the others a quick "3" on his fingers and then he started inching down the wall to check the next window.
Ezra was muttering something to himself, but he had a gun in hand and he was edging toward the bedroom window nearest to him. He might complain about slime and insanity, but the man got the job done. He looked in and then his thumb went straight up into the air. He'd found Josiah, and from the thumb-up gesture, Josiah was alive and in reasonable health. Vin was shocked at the sudden relief that swept through him. He may not have known Josiah long, but he hated the idea of a man with so much goodness in his heart being killed by animals who would kill for a six-pack of beer.
Vin gave a nod and moved toward the kitchen window. He could only see a ragged tower of pizza boxes and a scattering of plastic bags. He gave the others a shake of his head. Nathan had moved closer to Ezra's position. Whatever conflict they had between them, they were working together, and Nathan was covering Ezra.
Vin ducked and cringed as his side burned. If he called Captain Rodriguez right now, he could get a quick trip to the hospital where they had the good drugs. Unfortunately, Josiah would probably be dead before Vin could explain even half the story.
When he moved close enough, Ezra leaned over and whispered. "Your preacher looks a little worse for wear, but he's alive in the bedroom."
Vin didn't even bother arguing about Josiah being his preacher, and Nathan looked murderously angry. For a healer, he looked like he wouldn't mind doing a little killing right now. "They're torturing him," Nathan hissed.
Edging toward the window, Vin looked in. Josiah was tied and his face was mottled and red. They'd slapped him around some, but it was hard to tell if they 'd done that before or after tying his hands behind his back. From the look on Nathan's face, it didn't really matter; they'd taken Josiah and Nathan wanted him back. Vin shook his head. As much as that sort of loyalty appealed to a part of him that he thought had long ago given up on fairy tales and myths like loyalty, this wasn't the time to lose their heads. Josiah was safe, he wasn't in immediate danger, and they needed to do something smart. Even though he hated admitting it, something smart would include calling Captain Rodriguez and getting backup. Now that Vin had eyes on a hostage, the hard questions would have to wait until after this mess was cleaned up.
"I'm calling for help," Vin whispered as he reached for his cell phone.
"Thank heavens," Ezra sighed, his eyes still scanning the backyard for danger since Nathan was steadily watching inside the house.
Vin hadn't even gotten the cell phone out before the house burst into action. A crashing sound made Vin drop to one knee and then there were shouts and screams and the unmistakable pops of a small-caliber weapon followed by the larger bark of something big... .44 or .357 big. Nathan slammed the butt of his gun into the bedroom window, shattering it, and Vin spun away and raced for the backdoor. Ripping it open, Vin pointed his guns at two gang members who had their weapons pointed toward the hall. "Tucson Police Department, put your weapons down!" Vin bellowed. The two hesitated, caught between Vin and whoever was in the hall.
"Do it!" JD screamed. His weapon was barely visible above the eye that peeked around the corner. Vin didn't like the kid making a target of himself, and he stepped farther into the room. If these two wanted to take a shot at someone, they'd better not shoot at some wet-behind-the-ears kid who didn't look old enough to carry the weapon he was pointing.
"Tucson Police... I will fire. Put your weapons down and put your hands behind your head now. Right now." Vin shouted, doing his best to command the situation with his voice... his presence. One of the gang members looked wildly from Vin to JD and back, and Vin could almost smell the fear rolling off him. He was high as a kite, and it wasn't a good trip.
"Pendejos!" The other swung his gun around toward Vin. Vin had a moment of perfect clarity, where he could see but he couldn't get his body to move as quickly as his brain seemed to be moving. This guy was going to shoot him. Shoot him again. Why the hell hadn't he called for backup? A gun fired, and Vin pulled the trigger on his weapon. The recoil made the barrel twitch up before Vin could pull it back down to target the shooter, but he was already falling. His hands were thrown wide as he fell, and the second gang member had dropped his gun and was running for the door. Vin targeted the second guy, but he wouldn't shoot a fleeing suspect.
When Vin turned his gun back toward the first guy, he could see in the unnatural curve and stillness of his body that he was gone. JD moved toward the living room, and with a nod for JD to watch his back, Vin went to check the kitchen. The room was empty, so the other two gang members must have taken off before he came through the back door. "Clear!" he called. The second he did, he flinched. Fuck. There went his undercover operation.
Vin walked back through the tiled back entry to look at the dead gang member. Buck came out from the back room, his weapon still drawn but at his side. Sure enough, he had an old .357.
"So, Detective Tanner?" Buck asked. His expression was almost amused, but Vin held his breath. He'd seen these guys with illegal weapons. He'd watched Nathan treat a gunshot wound without reporting it, and his testimony could put these guys in prison for a couple of years. Vin glanced over at JD, wondering what sort of man JD would be after a couple of years in prison. All Vin knew was that he didn't want to find out.
"Did we all come through unscathed?" Josiah asked as he walked out of the back bedroom, rubbing his wrists. Nathan was right at his heels and still looking a little twitchy.
"Looks like," Buck agreed. He crossed his arms, his gun still in one hand. Vin could feel his guts tighten as he watched the group slowly forming. JD drifted closer to Buck. Buck leaned against the wall as Josiah came up behind him, and Nathan was sticking so close to Josiah that you couldn't get a piece of paper between them. This was a team. And Vin had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do.
"Might I suggest that we vacate the area," Ezra commented. He must have gone through the window after Nathan because he'd come walking out of the back bedroom; however, he still managed to look starched, even with drywall dust sprinkled through his hair and over his shoulders.
"Have two dead men back there, and one out here," Josiah commented. "If a man can kill another, he should be willing to explain his reasons to the world. Killing should never be done in the dark—literally or figuratively," Josiah said calmly. "Who killed this one?" He looked at the man who had fallen in the living room.
"I think I did," JD said, his voice shaky. "I shot him. He was getting ready to shoot Vin, and that was even after Vin said he was a cop. He was still going to shoot him." The more JD talked, the faster and higher his voice was going. Whatever work JD had done for these guys, he hadn't killed.
"I don't think your shot took him. I think mine did," Vin said. With his heart in his throat, Vin carefully put his weapon away. If he misjudged these men, this would be the time for them to kill him and walk out without ever having to worry about the cop who had learned too many of their secrets.
"Wait," Ezra said, "did I hear correctly that Mr. Tanner identified himself as an officer of the law?" Ezra looked at Vin with something close to panic in his expression.
"Tucson Police Department, gang unit," Vin agreed. He held his breath as that information travelled through the group. Buck still had his weapon in hand, but he wasn't pointing it anywhere; Nathan had gone gray, but despite the fact that he had been caught committing a couple of felonies, he wasn't pulling his gun out. Hopefully that was a good sign.
Buck sort of nodded. "Seems quiet around here. I guess the neighbors are either working or they don't want to get involved. Before we call the cops, Nathan and Ezra should probably take off. They weren't directly involved in this." Buck looked down at the dead body and then he looked up at Vin, his gaze unflinching. For half a second, Vin realized that Buck was giving him a choice. Vin either accepted Buck's terms or they were going to be enemies because Buck would protect his own, and Nathan was one of his own.
"A man must face his own demons, but this is a burden you two don't need to worry about." Josiah reached out and put a fatherly hand on Nathan's shoulder.
"So, I suppose I should go pack for a very fast trip over the nearest international border," Ezra said wearily, but it was an odd tone, like he'd done this before and he really wasn't all that surprised. Vin frowned at that. If Ezra was some sort of international criminal well-practiced at running from the law, why would he have come here? Saving some club couldn't have been that important to him.
The only thing Vin knew was that he didn't want to make trouble for these people. In the middle of a territory under attack by gangs and politicians, they'd found a team.
"As long as we can explain these three deaths, I think your involvement is unimportant," Vin said carefully. Leaving Ezra out meant leaving out the guns in the basement of Players Only. What the hell was he doing? Vin was not only going to lose his job, but he was going to go out in a blaze of glory and internal reprimands that were going to get him blackballed from any police force west of the Mississippi.
From the look on his face, Ezra wasn't buying any of it, but Nathan had his head cocked to the side and he was studying Vin as though seeing him for the first time.
"Since Vin here followed me and JD after we didn't check in for a while, I suppose that means his car is out there," Buck said slowly. "I guess you two can find your own way home."
Nathan watched Vin for several seconds before nodding in agreement. "I suppose we can."
Ezra made an impatient noise as Nathan hurried him back toward the bedroom. "I would much rather utilize the door, which is, after all, the civilized way of entering and exiting."
"Yeah, but I want a chance to wipe off anything I might have touched," Nathan said.
"Ah, excellent point," Ezra agreed.
Vin watched them leave, and even now he kept his eyes on Buck's gun. If Buck took this chance to turn on him, Vin wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting his own weapon out in time to defend himself. His only consolation was that he'd have an extra second to call himself an idiot for putting his trust in someone.
"So," Vin kept his voice slow and cautious, "I decided to check this place out and I just happened to show up in time for you to break through the ceiling?" Vin was guessing, but from the white dust on just about everyone's head, he thought it was a good guess.
Buck smiled. "Hell no. JD and me figured we were in a shitload of shit, and then we saw our friend the cop show up. We figured it was a good time to make our move and trust you to have our backs," Buck offered cheerfully. "Now Josiah, are you sure you don't want to maybe sit down? You took some mighty big hits back there."
The look Josiah gave him would have made a flower wither, but Buck just smiled wider. Not knowing what else to do, Vin got out his cell phone and called for backup. As soon as he hung up the phone, he looked at the group. "Wait, how do we explain my gunshot wound?"
Buck's smile fell off, and Josiah crossed the room so fast that Vin fell back a step just out of surprise because Josiah was one hell of a big man when he was coming straight at you. "Where are you hurt?" Josiah asked. Before Vin quite knew what was happening, Josiah had his shirt off and was talking about medical training and Vietnam. By the time the uniformed officers showed up, Vin had JD, Buck and Josiah all hovering over him.
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Date: 2010-05-15 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2010-05-16 01:30 am (UTC)Definitely awaiting the reveal of #7!
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Date: 2010-05-16 12:58 am (UTC)Hmmm, I wonder if 'the one that got away' might cause problems later on for the crew. Also, I wonder about the mistaken gunshot, as I'm not sure about the amount of internal damage as well as blood loss, versus if they'll be able to tell anything from the prick where Nathan had given him an IV and if there's any healing already haven started to take place (like clotting and the like). I'm gonna guess that it's not a through-n-through (why thank you CSI for your nifty jargon), so the bullet might still be in there, causing more damage, so that might give them some blood, but I'm not sure it's going to be enough.
However, there may be strings to be pulled and ears to whisper in that could get this mess all cleared up, since it was a relatively known fact that the cops wanted to be on Josiah's good side. Who knows, maybe the seventh member of their lil posse might be able to finagle something. XD Speaking of which, can't wait to see their debut.
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Date: 2010-05-16 02:50 pm (UTC)And I agree that there are also strings to be pulled her.
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Date: 2010-05-16 02:06 am (UTC)I love that Vin didn't try to back off from the detective bit. He could have said he was just telling the perps he was a cop when he wasn't.
Great chapter.
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Date: 2010-05-16 02:51 pm (UTC)Ezra does seem like the kind to take offense at slime. And poor Vin... he likes these guys enough that he doesn't want to lie to them. He wants to trust them, even if that's the hardest thing in the world for him to do.
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Date: 2010-05-16 02:07 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2010-05-16 05:28 am (UTC)Too late...
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