Redundant Part Five teaser

Because I’m evil like that.

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It had snowed overnight. The fact that Ezra was up at the crack of dawn to
watch the flakes drift down was a point of concern for the undercover agent.
Insomniac though he might be, he assumed his injuries and medication would
guarantee at least six hours of continuous sleep. Unfortunately, his
subconscious had other ideas and kept throwing new nightmares his way. It
was probably just the medication, at least that's what he told himself for
reassurance. They just needed to solve this case and he'd be back to normal
in no time at all. If he had a normal anymore. . .

The clang of a frying pan on the stove implied one of the team was up and
making breakfast. He heard the fridge open as the smell of coffee teased
his nose.

"Please let it not be Vin," he murmured almost inaudibly. Josiah was
snoring peacefully on his camping cot next to the modest full size bed and
Ezra had no desire to wake him. Josiah, Nathan, and Chris had gotten in
late the night before, and the tension of the past weeks was telling on the
team. Besides, he was happy going to pieces by himself. He didn't need an
audience.

But now that the others were waking, he wanted to get out of bed. If they
caught him brooding he'd never hear the end of it. Besides, lounging around
was losing its appeal after a week in the hospital. Was it just two days
ago that he was released? It seemed like years. The events at the bust
nearly two weeks ago seemed even more distant. It would have been nice if
they never happened.

There he went brooding again and footsteps were coming down the hall so the
master bedroom was about to be invaded by more than Josiah's unholy noise.
Ezra pushed himself away from the headboard, back cramped after slouching
against its hard surface for too long. Trying gingerly to stretch, he
decided it was still a little soon to think about moving his ribs in any
way, and so he swung his right leg over the bed's edge, glad Josiah had
decided to camp out on the other side. His crutches were almost within
reach, and he realized they were intentionally a little beyond his arm-span.
Nathan ensuring that he would have to wake one of them before gallivanting
across the countryside. As if he could.

Buck caught the derisive snort as he poked his head around the door. "You
up?" He whispered unnecessarily over Josiah's chainsaw effect.

"Let me think on it," came the sarcastic reply. Ezra tried to hook the
crutches with his fingers once more. Seeing them start to tip, Buck came
forward to assist and helped swing the bulky knee brace around. Ezra smiled
wanly and scooted to the bathroom, reminding himself that, should he refuse
to leave the privy, his teammates would inevitably become concerned and
break the door down. Besides, he was done brooding. Just as soon as he
stopped staring at his battered face.

He hadn't gotten a good look at himself yesterday. Lord knows he hadn't
seen a mirror in the hospital, and the day before he had been put straight
to bed when he arrived home. After that he had only hopped into the
bathroom to relieve himself, but truthfully, he had ignored his reflection
on purpose. His right cheek was badly bruised, as was his eye, but the
swelling had gone down considerably since he had first woke up. It didn't
feel like his brain was trying to pulse out of his skull anymore, either.
Hopefully the cuts on his forehead and nose wouldn't scar. They were rather
noticeable and in his profession he relied on blending in when needed. He
was amazed he didn't have any dental damage, if his nightmares about being
slammed into the kitchen floor were true, but his one molar did feel a
little looser than before. Of course, the thugs had been focusing on
causing the most painful damage in the shortest amount of time. At least
they were efficient thugs.

Well, he must be feeling better if he was making caustic remarks, even just
in his head. He stared into bright green eyes, searching for something.
Exactly what, he wasn't sure.

"You okay in there, Ez?" Buck tapped lightly on the door.

"I'm fine, Buck."

"Breakfast's on, if you feel up to eatin' right now?"

Ezra was notorious for not eating breakfast (or waking up in time to
actually have breakfast), but he had been up for hours already and the
smells were making his stomach growl. With a final glance at the mirror, he
hobbled out into the hallway. Someone had thoughtfully moved the throw rugs
from the floor, so he had a much easier time getting around than the night
before.

"Nathan even remembered to bring that fancy creamer you like," Buck added as
he walked toward the kitchen, throwing a grin over his shoulder.

"Since there's no Starbucks for miles, I'm grateful."

“Hell, Ez, there ain’t nothin’ around for miles.” Buck joked as they entered
the dining area. The table had been covered with files, notes, and
pictures, but someone had thoughtfully cleared a few seats.

"Ya'll better eat up while you can," Vin drawled as he came from the kitchen
with a plate of eggs and mug of coffee for Ezra. "Chris wants us to go
through everything, maybe figger out what these guys think we know. Seems
like if we know what, we'll have some direction to go in."

"Wonderful." Ezra eyed the mound of papers with near-despair. The sheer
amount of information on the case was daunting, and if they hadn't realized
what this looming 'Something' was before, it meant they would have to go
through everything with a fine toothed comb.

Shaking his head, Buck just dug into his own breakfast with a rueful grin.
Vin smirked and went to wake up JD.

***************************************
Later that evening
***************************************



Taking a break from the case files, Josiah, Buck and Ezra settled in to
watch an old black and white movie playing on the single station the
battered TV received. Bouncing around half the night, JD was banished to
the far side of the family room to fiddle with his lap top, and Buck threw
the youngest member’s stash of candy bars in his general direction as the
demolition expert settled on the couch with Josiah. Ezra had been given the
recliner so that he could prop his injured leg up without much trouble.

It wasn’t even ten minutes into the movie before Buck, semi-bored, spoke up.

“So this English dude, he gets lots of women right? Action and intrigue and
all that?”

“This ‘dude’ is already married,” Ezra responded absently.

“Then why’s he in France all over the place instead of at home gettin’ some
lovin’?” Trying to be as obnoxious as possible, Buck grabbed a handful of
Josiah’s trail mix and rammed it all in his mouth. Ezra had seemed
withdrawn all day, so he figured the best way to get him riled was to insult
one of the “classics.” Man never could turn down an argument against Buck
when it came to being refined.

Rising to the bait as expected, Ezra glared at Buck around Josiah. “He is
extrapolating his fellow aristocrats from the certain death of Madame
Guillotine, Bucklin. It’s a noble pursuit that even you should be able to
recognize.”

“Then why’s he dressed like a woman?”

“In order to effect the release of his social brethren, he must first blend
in with the revolutionary rabble to reach them.” Ezra turned back to the
screen while Josiah continued munching complacently. Buck smiled.

“Seems kinda funny to me, him dressing up like a woman. Plus, he’s named
after a flower.”

“It’s a very elegant bloom, but you miss the point. He has many disguises,
not just the old woman, so that he may evade capture. In a time where
France was in major political upheaval, slaughtering the innocent
bourgeoisie as well as any ‘enemies of the people,’ this one man and his
chosen few were willing to risk life and limb, using their resources as
English noblemen, to rescue these unfortunate people.”

“Unfortunate oppressors,” Vin muttered to Ezra as he sat on the carpet next
to the arm chair.

“So he goes undercover. Dressed as a woman.”

“Yes, Buck.” Ezra deadpanned.

From the kitchen table, Nathan couldn’t hold back a slight snicker. Chris
exchanged amuse glances with him over the latest case file. The rest of the
team had realized was Buck was doing and waited to see what the results
would be.

“Ain’t you done that once, Ez?” JD chimed in from the window seat. Laughter
erupted around the room and Ezra sighed in good-natured resignation.

“Toss me one of them Snicker bars, JD,” Vin called out over Ezra.

“Oh Lord, let me get back to bed first,” the conman murmured, mockingly
reaching for his crutches while JD set aside the laptop to rummage in his
bag of snacks.

“Catch.”

The bar nearly pegged Ezra in the head and went sailing off down the hall.
Shrugging, JD threw another but it bounced off Vin’s cast. A third one was
ready to be launched, but Vin was trying in vain to reach the second with
the tips of his toes.

“You two are picking up every single thing you hooligans throw in here,”
Chris intoned from the dining room table without looking up.

“JD’s the one with bad aim.” Vin pointed out as he triumphantly snagged the
second chocolate bar with the edge of a throw blanket.

“Fine. JD.” Chris was using his leader voice.

“Yes, sir.” JD sighed and went to get the Snickers in the hall. Just as he
slid off the window seat, however, the window seemed to explode next to him.
The team dived for cover with guns drawn before the last of the glass hit
the floor.

“JD?” Chris called from behind the kitchen island.

“I’m fine.” He had dropped in front of the seat on all fours, and cussed up
a storm when he landed on window shards. Unfortunately, he was pinned in
his position. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere, though.”

Vin had pulled Ezra down next to him on the floor, and now inched towards
the hall, using the couch as cover. Josiah and Buck crouched behind the
flipped coffee table, while Nathan waited around the corner of the hall for
Vin and Ezra.

TBC. . . .