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Magnificent Seven ATF/AU
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Redundant
By Foggynite

Rating: PG-13, warning: graphic violence in part two

Disclaimer: see part one for details

Sorry for the delay- my host didn't want me playing in the sandbox apparently. This one's short for now, but I'll add more soon. (Not like last time soon either.)

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Ezra was sore, tired, injured, and had been stuck in a jostling jeep being driven by a one handed driver for almost three hours holding on for dear life since the sharpshooter appeared to have a deathwish.

"Mr. Tanner?!" He yelled, trying to be heard over the roar of the freeway and Vin's questionable taste in music.

"You say sumthin', Ez?" Vin called back with a smirk.

The conman moved his mouth, but neither could hear what he was saying.

"What was that?" Vin turned down the volume.

"For the love of God, turn off that racket!" His outburst in the relative quiet of the jeep startled both of them.

"Jeez, no need ta yell. . ." Vin grumbled good naturedly, used to Ezra's protests.

"I apologize, Mr.Tanner. I forgot to modulate my tone." Ezra laid his head wearily back against the head rest. Maybe if he took the rest of his painkillers he'd pass out and miss the rest of the drive. . .

Vin turned the volume up just a little and started singing along to some Texas heart break lamentation.

No. . . He'd probably just end up conscious, sick to his stomach, and the butt of every joke with his luck.

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"Alright. We've got Vin and Ezra in the jeep, Buck and JD in the pick-up." Chris and the two remaining members were doing some last minute plotting at the office. "Nathan, put another message in for the judge and double check the guards on Rocci. Josiah, get in contact with the local PD out there and warn 'em we might have trouble. But keep it low profile and only to the officer Mary supplied."

The widow hadn't been very pleased when Chris asked his favor. Being Mary, she had gotten the entire story out of him in about five minutes and told him before he asked that he had use of the cabin. He, in turn, got his hackles up at her tone and decided he couldn't use the cabin. She hadn't liked that. In fact, she looked about ready to belt him for getting into trouble again and being reluctant to let her help. Her coworkers had watched through her windows in shock at the shouting match, and were even placing bets if it came down to slugging it out.

"Now you listen here, Chris Larabee. I'm a grown woman and if you think your safety is none of my business, you've got another thing coming." She'd gotten right up in his face about it, in the middle of her office. "Don't you worry about me,I can take care of myself- and I'm not about to lose another man I love, so you're gonna go to my cabin till this is resolved, even if I have to drag you there myself, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

Too bad for the bettors, since that last statement killed the argument. Chris couldn't have looked more surprised if she'd hit him over the head with a two by four, but both were embarrassed as the closest thing to a declaration of love in their relationship was uttered. Mary blushed, Chris coughed. Then he meekly accepted the cabin keys and the number of an old contact of hers with the local PD.

"Thinkin' bout Mary?" Nathan asked with a smirk mirrored by Josiah, snapping Chris back to the present.

"Huh?"

"Just figurin', since you got that dopey grin on and all. . ."

They both fled before Chris caught on to the statement. Sighing and seriously considering reconsidering his luck at having picked a bunch of smart asses for a team, he decided he'd better not tempt fate and let it be.

Grabbing an evidence box containing all the information from Rocci, he headed for the cabin.

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"Hey, Ez. We're here." Vin tapped the southerner with his good arm, waking him from his light doze.

"And where exactly is here, Vin?" Ezra asked through a yawn.

"Hell if I know- middle of NOwhere. Least it's secluded." He hopped out and grabbed the duffel bags from the back, slinging them over his uninjured arm, then went around to help Ezra if need be.

A few seconds later, Buck pulled up in his beat up truck. JD bounced out of the passenger side and came over to Ezra's door.

"You guys okay? How's the arm Vin? Your head alright Ez- you look like ya got a head ache. Wait here, I'll find your pills. . ." He bounced off again.

"Somedays it seems like I was born with a head ache." Ezra mumbled under his breath. Vin was just laughing.

"And Chris thinks I'm a terror on a road trip."

"Anyone gives you chocolate, Mr. Tanner, and I'll shoot you both myself."

The cabin was built to resemble the old log ones still preserved in national parks. But, even though it looked small on the outside, inside it seemed rather spacious. Buck was piling all the gruesome twosome's junk in the foyer while admonishing JD about over exerting himself as Ezra hobbled through on his crutches.

Couch. Must. Find. Stationary. Couch.

JD was sprawled on a loveseat, idly munching on a candybar. Ezra went for the nearest armchair and sank gratefully down with a sigh. His injuries, the fight with his mother, the hellish drive up here- all had worn him out and he just wanted to curl up and sleep until Rocci and all of his network were dead.

"So what we gonna do now?" The hyper youth asked of no one in particular after a few moments.

"We wait for Chris, Nathan, and Josiah to get here. Then we start planning," Ezra replied in a haggard tone.

"No, I mean now. I brought a pack of cards! Wanna play poker? I'm bored. Lets go exploring-"

Ezra just sighed.

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Chris' celphone rang as Nathan was pulling off the interstate, about an hour out from the cabin. Answering the phone, he prayed it was with good news and that his departed men were still safe.

"Larabee."

"Chris? It's Travis. I just-" A burst of static drowned his words. "-fice this morning. The past few days have been enligh-"

"Judge?" Chris cursed the fact that the celphones weren't connected to a satellite, like their pagers, and therefore had the tendency to hit dead zones. After a few moments it became obvious the connection was lost, confirmed by the mocking message on the phone's digital screen, so he did the first thing that came to mind- Threw the stupid thing on the floor of Nathan's Explorer rather vehemently. "Godammit!"

"Bad signal, brother?" Josiah's deep baritone drifted wearily from the backseat, where the large man was sprawled with his head leaning out the open window.

"Bad day. Bad week."

"Amen to that."

"I still don't see why they're gunning for Ezra," Nathan commented, resuming the conversation interrupted by the celphone. "It's not like we haven't got enough people to identify Rocci. Ez doesn't know who's higher up in the food chain, so he couldn't identify them. Team Three's taken over the case, so he's not actively doing research right now- especially the way he's been feeling. Yet those two thugs made it sound like he's already been written off for dead. Why?"

"Maybe he found sumthin' before the worked him over and we just don't realize it. He has no clue for sure, but maybe if we all look over the evidence and testimonies, something might click." Chris glowered out the window, peering into the night as though it might suddenly supply the answers he sought. "It may or may not be an identification issue. They've only threatened Ezra and JD, but Vin was there too and we were all at the bust. Yet they may suspect JD of knowing something more too- He did have access to their computers at one point when that punk was testing his skills. But I highly doubt even that pusher would be stupid enough to let him near any info on his bosses. These guys don't seem like the type to take risks."

"You sure, Chris? They let JD in mighty fast once they found out he was a computer wiz." Nathan glanced sideways at him, then returned his eyes to the road.

"But these syndicates are always on the look out for skilled hackers. So much security and information is digital these days, of course they're gonna jump at the chance."

"Unless they knew who he was from the beginning and were just setting Rocci up. For what, I dunno, maybe he laughed at the wrong time. They get Rocci out of the way as a convenient scapegoat for offing a few federal agents- if they had managed to kill any of us. Of course having Rocci in police custody would be a greater security hazard for them than having him dead. Unless they're using him to plant false information. But this is all speculation and I'm startin' to get a headache."

"You're not the only one."

There was silence for a few miles. Nathan turned onto a quaint looking, barely state maintenanced, two lane road. Their ears popped as the altitude increased. Chris sighed as he rolled down the window, enjoying the crisp night air and the sound of an owl in the distance. The soft vibration of the Explorer was broken by potholes and bumps, but he found himself sinking lower in the seat. A particularly loud snore from Josiah carried to the front, making Nathan laugh quietly and him smirk.

Hopefully, here in the mountains, they could come up with a game plan for getting out of this mess.

His eyes slowly drifted shut as his head leaned against the uncomfortable doorframe. Nathan noticed as their "fearless leader" succumbed to the effects of sleep deprivation and stress, and decided to keep a nice slow pace the rest of the trip.

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Before ya start shootin', yes there will be a part 5.