Agent Fox Mulder (i_want_2) wrote in multi_fiction, @ 2009-05-07 16:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | au, het, magnificent 7, rated: adult, without a trace, x-over |
Fic: It's Just A Sweet Fantasy 5/7 The Magnificen Seven/Without A Trace
Title: It's Just A Sweet Fantasy
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own The Magnificent Seven or Without A Trace.
Characters: Chris, Vin/Martin, Danny, Jack, Vivian, Buck, JD, Ezra, Mary.
Prompts: rounds_of_kink Day Off From Work, Hating Undercover Assignment.
Words: 23,261
Sequel to: Hide And Seek
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven/Without A Trace
Pairing: Martin/Danny, Chris/Martin.
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Angst, Language, Sexual Content, Violence, Ensemble.
Summary: At a conference in New York City, Chris goes missing. His disappearance dredges up old memories and an old case thought long solved.
Author's Note: Fall - 2002. Thank you to huntersglenn for the inspiration.
______________________________________
Part 5: Mornings Mist Soon Parted.
Tuesday - 6:55 p.m.
"You may do as you please, but I intend to remain behind." Ezra knew that his words would mean trouble. From the looks he received from the team, he hadn't been wrong.
Already at the door, Buck looked from JD to Travis. "Do as we please? Seems to me that's all you've been doing." Finally, he turned to face Ezra. The incredulous look on his face said what he thought the entire situation. "Chris is missing, and you're still playin your little games."
"That's enough." Travis was tired. Reaching up to pinch his nose, he sighed. "This is their investigation. It is not up to us who stays and who goes. What Agent Standish has done or not is not up for discussion now."
"Oh." Buck took a step back towards the table. "I think now's the perfect time."
"Do not attempt to assuage your guilt by crucifying me." Leveling his best glare, Ezra met Buck's from where he sat. "In this matter, we all share guilt in one form or another."
"Yeah, well, you're the one who's been holdin out on him." A hand was placed on Buck's shoulder to hold him back, but he didn't need it. He wasn't about to cross the table to kill the little bastard. "You knew Vin was alive all this time and said nothing!"
"Au contraire!" The words sounded absurd enough that they made Ezra smile a moment before he sobered up. He started to say more, but an interested look from Travis made him close his mouth. "I could not legally inform Chris of Martin's identity."
Buck snorted. Shaking his head, he pulled back.
While the other man may have been letting it go, Travis wasn't. "How did you find out?"
This made Ezra shrug. "I found him." He started to leave it at that, but they weren't going away. Glancing to the Director, he found the man staring back at him. "In Seattle, three years ago. Mr. Larabee was receiving calls in the middle of the night. In all his wisdom, he believed the caller to be his missing lover. Who knew he would be correct?"
"No one showed up that night." Frowning, JD released Buck's shoulder. He stepped around the taller man to get a better view of Ezra. "I remember we waited over three hours."
"The man is a trained agent. He had his location staked out for weeks, any changes would have been instantly noted." As he spoke, Ezra effected a bored air. He scratched up behind his ear to add realism. "I knew that if I merely awaited our query long enough, he would reveal himself. Obviously, he did."
JD swallowed down a look of disappointment. "When did he show up?"
"As Mr. Larabee was leaving, Martin quite literally crossed his path. I followed him home, but chose not to reveal myself. Once I knew his home address and the plate number from his vehicle, it was only a matter of simple deduction to find out who he really was." After lacing his fingers together, Ezra put them behind his head. "You can imagine my surprise when I found out he was not only a Special Agent, but a former undercover operative."
"That actually explains a lot." Her voice drew every head in the room. Standing with her hand on the door knob, Vivian smiled at the gathered agents. "Time's up, gentlemen. Your ride is here to escort you back down to the lobby."
Ezra sat up straight. Smiling at her, he placed his hands on the table. "I do not intend to vacate from this spot until Mr. Larabee has been located."
"I do not care what your intentions are. You're not staying here." Vivian moved in to the room and held the door open. "Agents Fuller, Markhouse, and Johansson will see you to the elevator." As she spoke, three burly men appeared outside the doorway.
Rising from his chair, Travis adjusted his coat. Buttoning it up, he smiled at the others. "I can see the lady means business. Best not to disappoint her." He cast a quick look to Ezra. "Even you."
Ezra's eyes flared for a moment before he settled down. With a quick nod, he stood up. "Very well, but I wish to remain informed of all updates."
"We'll have to see about that." Watching them file out one by one, Vivian offered each of them a handshake.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday - 7:10 p.m.
His back hurt. Add to that his head hurting and he wasn't sure which was giving him the more pain. There was plenty to go around. Shivering, he realized for the first time that he was cold. He tried to drag the covers closer only to realize he wasn't in a bed.
Opening his eyes, he saw darkness. That was to be expected. He could remember being in an alley. There was enough smell of it in the air to confirm that fact. It was funny, every where he went, the alleys had the same putrid stink.
Swallowing hurt as his mouth and throat were dry. That meant he had been breathing through them for hours. He only did that when he was unconscious. Vin complained to him about it from time to...
Chris blinked. Something about Vin. He had to remember. No matter how much his head hurt, he had to try. Wincing as a pain shot through his temple, he reached up to rub at it.
He must have made a sound because something moved towards him. The next moment, Chris was blinded by a brilliant light. He brought his hand to up to block the light. "Get that out of my eyes." His voice was a croak from the lack of moisture.
"Mr. Larabee? A lot of people have been looking for you."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday - 7:38 p.m.
It had been a long day. Glancing over at the clock, Danny felt like he was slowly going out of his mind. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he had last heard from Martin. As much as he wanted to focus on the current case, his mind kept wondering back to Martin.
Picking up his cell phone, Danny checked the voice mail. Yet again there was nothing in the inbox. Closing it up, he sighed.
There was something he could do while he waited for Jack to get back, though. Standing up from his chair, he switched the computer in to screen saver mode to password lock it. If he was lucky, he would only be gone for a few minutes.
On his way towards the tech labs he passed by Vivian and Marcus. He gave them a short wave and a smile. They would spend the next hour talking about their day. Where the rugrat had gotten to, he wasn't sure. That was okay, his parents would make sure he stayed out of trouble.
The thought of their family made his chest hurt a little. He had hoped to have a family of his own one day. He wouldn't really have that with Martin, but then again, it looked like he wouldn't ever. What they had was new and exciting now, but what about in the future?
Danny shook his head. He would think about that later. The sound of his shoes on the stone floor helped drive the thoughts from his mind. Before he knew it, he was at the entrance to the labs.
Cellular transmissions fell under the purview of the labs on the right, so he made a quick turn. It was a little dark in the halls because it was night. The low level of lighting in the labs was for the geeks.
There were probably a dozen people in the labs on a good day. Now, there was only the nerd who had a crush on Vivian. Danny couldn't remember his name, but Martin and he were on speaking terms. This made him pause. He was dating a dork. How in the hell had this happened?
Some times the Universe was just full of surprises.
Danny cleared his throat to get the man's attention. He smirked when the guy jumped almost out of his seat. This gave Danny a view of the screen and almost wished he hadn't. "Video games, man? Aren't you a little old for that?"
The guy glared at Danny as he fixed his lab coat. "It is a MMORPG, it is not a video game." He was about to go back to his character when he heard Danny clear his throat. "What do you want, Taylor?"
"Taylor am I?" Danny was impressed the guy even knew his name. "Well, I was wanting to know if you can track Martin's cell phone yet."
"I have a program waiting for active pings. So far, nothing." Grabbing his mouse, the man leaned forward to his screen again. His hand flew over the keys so fast it was difficult to tell what he was typing.
"What about history? Is there any way you can check his past cellular activity?" A small part of Danny enjoyed the put upon sigh the Tech let out.
"You know I cannot legally do so without a warrant or the cooperation of the phone company." His tone of voice asked why they were even having this conversation.
That did it. No longer willing to be brushed aside, Danny crossed the short distance between them. Grabbing the Tech's chair, he spun him around to look at him. Bending down until he was in the man's face, Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Martin is missing. I am not asking you nicely any more. Find. Him."
"Missing?" The man's eyes went wide. "Why didn't you say something before?" Brushing Danny's hands off his chair's arm rests, the Tech pushed his chair down three computers. This one was connected a series of harddrives through a maze of wires.
Danny stood up and crossed his arms. "How long is this going to take?"
The man snorted. "Only a few seconds. Their firewall is a joke."
Watching the geek go to work, Danny raised an eyebrow. That had been too easy. May be it was time he reevaluated just whom he was crushing on. This line of thinking made him narrow his eyes. Who else was Martin flirting with?
An electronic thud filled the room.
"Uh oh." Fingers tapping on the keys, the Tech shook his head. "No, no, no."
"What's happening?" Alarmed, Danny moved to stand behind the geek. On the screen he saw a red popup flash with a FBI warning. Then, to his surprise, all the computers in the lab suddenly shut down. "What the hell is going on?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday - 7:50 p.m.
As he felt the pull of the elevator against his body mass, Jack sagged a little. It was a relief to be back in the office. He hated being out in the field during the cold months. It was getting bad already, and it wasn't even winter.
That didn't bode well for the future.
Jack hated snow. It was the one element he never felt comfortable in. The kids loved it, they seemed to take great thrill in how much it bothered him. May be, he figured, he should just move to Florida. The white sand looked enough like snow that he was certain the kids would forgive him.
Beside him, he could see that Sam was feeling about as worn down as he. It was small comfort that she was wearing heels instead of sensible shoes. He would almost say that would teach her, but then again, this was Sam. Thankfully, she was a vain person.
For a moment, he considered running his hand down her back. She looked like she could go for a back rub. Speaking of which, Jack stretched his shoulders. All this back and forth was killing him.
After what felt like forever, he heard the ding of the elevator. Jack didn't even bother hiding his sigh of relief.
Sam sent him a smile of amusement. The doors opened and she took the lead stepping off.
Following after her, Jack indulged in a little sight seeing. His smile slipped when her behind stopped moving. Quickly looking up, he found the source of her surprise.
Standing outside their office doors were a set of guards. That could mean anything, but most likely signaled trouble for them. Squaring his shoulders, he headed past them. They let him go without even so much as batting an eye.
Unlike the trouble he had been expecting to find, there was only staff. Well, his staff plus one.
Standing next to the white board, studying the time line, was Victor Fitzgerald. Watching him, Danny and Vivian sat at the conference table. Neither of them looked happy to be there.
Jack decided it would be best for him if he took point on this one. Clearing his throat, he waited for Victor to turn and stare at him. "AD Fitzgerald, what can I do for you, sir?"
In a signal that something was definitely off, the man smiled. He actually looked happy. "Congratulations, Jack."
"What for?" Jack wanted to take a step back towards the doors. The only thing keeping him there was his intense loathing for showing weakness to this man.
"The case has been solved." Reaching in to his pockets, Victor jingled his change. "As of forty minutes ago, Chris Larabee was found." His smile took on a less pleasant, almost savage appearance. "They tell me he was beaten pretty badly, but he was responsive."
It felt like someone had sucker punched him in the gut. Jack took a shallow breath. "That's good news, that he's alive and getting medical attention." Frowning, he tried to smile. "Do they know who did it?"
"No, but I'm sure the authorities will soon enough. They are good at finding their man, after all." Pulling his hand from his pocket, Victor let his gaze sweep over Danny and Vivian. "Such a lovely team you have here, Jack. Though, they are looking a little ragged. May be you should take some time off."
"I planned on it." Jack held his ground as the other man walked past him. He refused to flinch when the man smirked at him. The moment he heard Victor's shoes echoing in the hall, he refocused his attention on Danny and Vivian. "What the hell just happened?"
"Point to Victor." Rising from the table, Vivian used it to help her up. Weariness made her eyes half lidded. "I had no idea what was going on, Jack. One moment I was helping Marcus pick out a pattern for our home office furniture and then the next, that man was picking apart everything he saw."
"It's all right. Whatever he said, it's just for show." No matter how much it pissed him off, he couldn't let it get to him. Jack was going to find that man alone one day, and give him a piece of his mind, and possibly a knuckle sandwich. "He came here to rub it in our faces that we failed to solve the case."
"That's not all." Danny stood up a little slower than Vivian. His own fatigue made him sag in his suit. "They took Khevos."
"Khevos...Antonen, the computer Tech?" It took Jack a moment to place a name to the face in his mind. The kid barely spent any time away from his computer. "Why?"
"I had him searching for Martin. He was getting in to the database and then suddenly all these alerts popped up." Straightening up, Danny's voice took on a more outraged tone. "I had him do it, Jack! We both knew it was risky, but I didn't think they would be monitoring it."
"Calm down, Danny. We'll get to the bottom of this." Jack had to close his eyes. The headache he had been nursing for the past ten hours was coming back in full force. "What about Martin? Has anyone heard from him?"
"No." Her voice soft, Vivian reached up to put a hand on Jack's shoulder. She understood what this was doing to them. "I don't think we're going to either."
A painful spike made Jack wince. "What makes you say that?"
"Victor. For a man whose son has been missing all day, he's been remarkabley quiet about it." She gave Jack a squeeze when he opened his eyes to look at her. "If he didn't have a hand in it, he certainly knows who does."
"Why do I get the feeling we've been sandbagged the whole way?" Pulling out her desk chair, Sam dropped in to it. She steepled her fingers over her face, then dragged them down over her nose. "I am so tired of this crap."
Something about what she said clicked in Jack's head. Closing his eyes again, he let his body sag. "Of course. I don't know why I didn't think about it before."
"Jack?" Danny tried not to sound too interested.
"Ezra said it. He's always going off on some wild tangent, but in all those words is a kernel of truth." Reaching in to his jacket, Jack grabbed his cell phone. His anger caused him to nearly snap it in to as flipped it open. Dialing through the memory, he found the right number and hit send.
The line was answered on the second ring. "Forty minutes, Jack, you are losing your edge."
"This isn't about that asshole you call a boss." Jack turned away from Vivian's smirk. "Tell your associates, I want my agent back, now!"
"Your agent? I assure you, I have no idea what you are talkin..." Ezra trailed off with a soft sigh. "Please hold on a moment while I confer with my associates."
It came as no surprise when their call was disconnected. Jack flipped the phone shut, but didn't put it away.
Holding himself a few feet away, Danny nervously flicked his fingers on his thigh. He wanted to ask several questions but knew they would not be well received.
All of them nearly jumped when the cell phone rang.
Eyeing it a moment, Jack reluctantly flipped open his phone. Putting it to his ear, he cleared his throat. "Jack."
"Third floor, section D." Then Ezra disconnected.
Jack's heart skipped a beat. His hand shook a little as he closed the phone. He frowned before he turned to the others. "Martin's been in the building the whole time. Section D."
He felt old as he turned to go. As he headed for the elevator, he caught the others following him in the reflection of the glass window.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday - 8:31 p.m.
He was pleasantly drifting in warm cotton. Whatever drugs they had slipped him, Chris was certainly beyond pain. He was almost beyond caring, if that were possible. Yet, with all the poking, prodding, and machines they'd stuck him through, he was still aware enough to notice things.
That was why he saw the door open. He had time to brace himself before a little blond headed bundle of energy popped up over his bed rail. Chris raised his arms to catch the kid. He needn't have bothered because someone did it for him.
Just before he reached over the rails, Tommy was grabbed from behind.
"Whoa there, squirt!" Holding on to his brother, Billy grinned at Chris over his head. He had to wrap his arms around Tommy's body to keep him from squirming free. "You're awake."
Chris' throat felt sore, so he nodded. Swallowing, he tried to wet his vocal chords. His first attempt at speaking ended with a croak.
"Daddy!" Tommy kicked at Billy's knees in order to be let down. "Let me go!"
"No! Your dad's hurt, remember what mom said!" Billy gave Tommy a little shake to get him to stop moving.
Being reminded of their mother, Tommy settled down with a pout. "How are you feeling, Daddy?"
"Tired." Chris was a little relieved to hear that he could speak. Smiling at the boys, he gingerly reached out to them with one hand. "How are you boys doing?"
"We're just fine." Billy sent a finger down Tommy's side to distract him from talking. It worked and he was rewarded with a giggle and a slap to the hand. "Mom's coming. She just had to stop and sign some papers for the doctors."
Chris nodded in understanding. For the trip, he had made her his medical proxy. "Every thing's going to be fine."
"I know." Dragging his brother to the chair beside the bed, Billy plopped down in to it. "Ever since they told her they found you, Mom's been crying her eyes out. Her makeup was all smeared and she looked like something from those freaky comic books JD likes."
Snorting, Chris had to hold his side to keep the pain from flaring up. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Hey, sport, why don't you take your brother and go find Uncle Ezra for me."
Tommy screwed up his face. "He smells like uncle Buck's back seat."
Rolling his eyes, Billy pushed his brother off his lap. "All right, but I get two extra chocolate fudge brownies when we get back to Denver."
"Deal." Chris could only sigh. He watched the brothers push each other on their way out. At that moment, he felt every bit of his age. Those two were going to be the death of him.
Nearly a minute later, a knock came at the door. This was followed by the appearance of Ezra head poking through the crack. "You requested my presence?"
"Close the door." Grasping the bed controls, Chris pressed the button to raise it up. Within moments, he was staring at the other man from an upright position. "I want to know why I was told to ask you about Vin."
The corner of Ezra's mouth curled up a bit. "Whom, may I ask, has been spreading the word?"
"Charlotte Wattson-Richmond." Chris grimaced like the name tasted foul in his mouth.
Ezra raised his chin a little as he stared Chris down. "Before or after you beat her to the point her Liver and Kidneys gave out?" His lips thinned in to a line.
Clenching his eyes shut, Chris paled a little. "I didn't do it." He wanted to say more, but a pain in his chest kept him from speaking for a while. When, at last, he was able, he felt almost too tired to speak. "She didn't want to answer any of my questions. I followed her out the door. That's where they caught us."
"Why did you call upon Marshal Bryce?" Ezra sneered at Chris' surprised look. "Yes, I am well aware you phoned him. The FBI are not as careful about their equipment as they used to be." Adjusting his tie, Ezra composed himself. "You are lucky to be alive."
Chris closed his eyes. It had been stupid, he knew that now. But the benefits outweighed the risks at the time. "I just wanted him back."
"Yes, well, these people do not care what you want, Mr. Larabee." Turning for the door, Ezra didn't bother to ask for permission. His hand settled upon the knob and he closed his eyes. "He is alive. Contact Jack if you still think he is worth it. Bare in mind, Chris, it has been three years." With that, he walked out.
Not for the first time, Chris wondered why he had ever told that man about their relationship. He would probably regret it for the rest of his life.
TBC