Disclaimer: I do not own the Magnificent Seven or the characters. I do not use this forum for profit. I do own the story and it’s premises.

Birthday Fic: This is my first slash story, as I don’t think I am good at it, but I wanted to try for Tena’s birthday request. Tena wanted some Chris/Vin with some dangerous undertones.

Author: Stormm

Fandom: ATF, Chris, Vin, All Seven.

Premises: Chris and Vin

Rating: FRAO Mild Slash

Warnings: Some language, some graphic violence, adult sexual content, same sex sexual relationship implied.

Title: Don’t Piss Me Off!

Chapter: 1 of 3

Chris slammed his office door as he walked passed the cubicles that held the other agents of his team.

Each of the other agents had looked up in surprise, but quickly looked away or returned to the work they were currently doing.

All except one. He sat at his desk and glared at the closed door that was hiding the one man who heart held his.

Vin got up from his seat, exiting his cubicle and walked over to the door of his lover and team leader.

He knocked brusquely and waited for an answer.

“Come in,” came the commanding voice of Chris Larabee from the other side.

Vin turned the knob and opened the door to ATF Team Leader’s office.

Chris looked up from the computer screen he was busily glaring at.

“What do you want?” snapped Chris.

“Hey, Cowboy, don’t take my head off. I ain’t the one that gave ya the ultimatum,” said Vin calmly sitting down in the chair across from him.

Chris shook his head in dismay and yelled, “I’m sorry, Vin. It’s just I can’t believe! I’ve put my life on the line for this department and now they’re trying to railroad us. It ain’t good enough that we risk our lives every day for these bastards. Our blood ain’t good enough for them. They want more!”

“Chris, take it easy. There ain’t nothing ya can do about it right now. Anyway, Ezra’s lookin’ into it. I’m sure he can figure it all out. He’s got all the files and I’m sure there’s somethin’ in there to prove our innocence.”

Chris glared at his lover and friend and knew he was right. His green eyes softened as he gave way to reasoning.

“You’re right, Cowboy. It’s just that it’s so damn frustrating,” replied Chris, running a hand through his short blond hair.

“Well, it’s Friday, Pard. We had a discussion and we decided ya need somethin’ to take ya mind off ya worries.”

“We?” questioned Chris, eyeing his sharpshooter with suspicion.

“Yeah. Me and the boys,” answered Vin smirking.

“And?”

“And there’s a football game comin’ on over the weekend.”

“Who?”

“Ezra, Buck, JD, Josiah and even Nathan.”

“And of course, yourself,” said Chris eyeing him with lust.

“Now, Cowboy, remember. No hanky panky with the others around.”

“It’s not as if they don’t know about us,” piped up Chris as he pulled some files from his desk.

“Yeah, but the point of the weekend is about being together as a team, Chris,” admonished Vin.

“Okay, okay, Pard. No hanky panky,” replied Chris dejectedly.

“So what time should we come over?” asked Vin.

“We? Aren’t you going to be already there?” asked Chris surprised.

Although he and Vin were lovers and it was basically out in the open among their team members, Vin still kept his old apartment in town in one of the rougher neighborhoods.

Chris had asked him several times to give it up, but Vin refused, saying that he needed to hold on to it in order to feel some type of independence.

Vin loved Chris and vice versa, that was for sure. Their on again-off again relationship had been going on for seven years. And even though, they would never admit it, neither was happier than when they were together. But each still had their reservation as to how much they were willing to commit to it.

They would die for each other, fight for each other, watch each other’s back, but they would not give up too much of their independence to each other.

Buck had once said that it wasn’t independence that they did not want to give up but rather their own mirrored stubbornness when it came to giving their heart completely. Both of them had their hearts torn apart at one time or another and both were slow to take that chance again.

Buck explained to them that he considered them the two toughest hombres he had ever met in his life, yet they were both scared of what the wrong kind of love might do to them.

“Well?”

“I got to pick up something first. Then I’ll be over tonight to help ya get ready for Saturday,” replied Vin assuredly.

Chris did not like the fact that his lover was not going to be around until later. He knew once Vin was over at his old place that sometimes he got lost in it and always returned later than Chris liked. Sometimes he thought he was trying to avoid him.

What he did not understand was that Vin was not trying to avoid him, in fact, he loved to be around him. The love and warmth he felt being near him always invigorated him to the point that it had become an emotional high.

The problem was that Vin was not ready to commit fully, not even to Chris. As a friend, he was fully there, but as a lover, that was a totally different matter.

“Okay, then I’ll see you later,” said Chris dismissing Vin.

Vin nodded and rose from the seat towards the door. He turned and gave Chris one longing look as he walked out.

Chris sighed softly, knowing what the look meant. He was in for a wake up call once Vin came finally to the ranch. He just hoped that he was able to handle it.

***********************************************************

Chapter: 2 of 3

Chris arrived at the ranch later than expected. The others had left the office earlier that evening, including Vin, but Chris had some paperwork that he needed completed before heading home for the weekend.

When he got to the ranch, he went straight into the house, not stopping at the barn or the stable to check on the horses first as he usually did.

He had decided to get the files he had brought home with him to work on over the weekend out of the car and quickly hidden from the sight of Vin Tanner and the others.

Vin abhorred seeing work being in the house over the weekend and many a times, admonished Chris about it. Chris was not in the mood to hear his lover’s complaint tonight so he put them in the locked desk in his home office, knowing Vin would never even feel the urge to look in there. Vin knew and respected that Chris’ home office was off limits. Even to him. It was Chris’ private space.

Once that was done, Chris went out to the stable to check on and feed the horses. He and Vin both shared a love of animals, especially horses. He quickly completed feeding them and brushing them down before going inside.

He had got only about half way to the house when all of a sudden he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He fell to the ground, holding on to his leg, screaming in pain as he did.

He staggered towards the door of his home. He was just about to open the door when he heard gunfire and shots pelting the area around the door.

He grabbed the doorknob, throwing the door open and diving inside the house.

Once inside he righted his body and crawled towards the door, slamming it shut against the onslaught of gunfire.

“Damn!” cursed Chris as he moved towards where he kept some of his weapons. He quickly grabbed one of the handguns and as he did, he noticed the red liquid that covered his hands.

“Shit! I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Chris, taking a box of bullets out of the same cabinet and starting to load the handgun, although it kept slipping through his hands.

He clambered up towards the little window in the front door to look out of it and see if he could tell where the shooting was coming from.

But the shooting had stopped, leaving Chris unsure of its direction. Chris breathed in a sigh of relief, but as he did a thought occurred to him that gripped his heart in fear.

Vin. Vin would be home soon. The shooters were still out there and that meant Vin would be walking into a certified trap. Chris realized that he could not let that happen.

He crawled over to where his duster lay where he threw it on the couch and frantically searched the pockets for his cellular phone.

He dialed Vin’s cellular number, hoping that the Vin had not turned it off like he usually did when he went into his old neighborhood.

But as it rang several times and then finally went to voice mail of his cellular phone, Chris knew Vin had not changed his habit in any way whatsoever. He had turned his cell phone off as he usually did when back in his old territory. He would only turn it on when he was back in his car. He felt that he needed to be alert when back in Purgatory, as it was so-called nicknamed, if he did not want to end of dead or taken like most of its residents.

Chris placed the cell phone in his pants pocket and crawled to the door that led to the outside, hoping he could get a glance as to where they were.

Just then he felt the door as it was pelted by bullets. One projectile came through the two-inch thick wood and continued onward through his shoulder, shredding tissue and bone as it did.

Chris cried out, quickly trying to move away from the door as blood flowed freely out of his hand as he clutched his shoulder and his leg onto his hardwood floors.

He thought about his lover and fear gripped Chris’ heart. He could not, no. He would not let Vin walk into this trap. If something happened to him, he did not know what he would do.

He tried to think of a plan. A plan that would save both him and Vin, but his mind seemed to wander and focusing was becoming hard. He figured it was from blood lost and the excruciating pain he was currently in. His heart was beating fiercely in his chest. He had to warn Vin. He just had to.

His last thoughts as darkness started to cloud his vision and mind was that this was suppose to have been a relaxing weekend, but it was turning out to be one he and Vin would probably had wished never happened.

***********************************************************

Vin hopped into his jeep wrangler and pulled away from the curb that was in front of his old digs. He knew he would be at the ranch in 20 minutes.

Picking up his cell phone headset, he voice commanded for Chris’ cell phone number to dial.

He could hear the phone ringing on the other end, but after the fifth ring, Vin was starting to worry. By the seventh ring, it finally went to voice mail and Vin knew something was wrong.

Usually, Chris would never let his cell phone go to voice mail. Chris’ cell phone was the first telephone number that anyone of them would dial and it was his connection to the office.

It was also the phone number that was on each and every one of the team member’s emergency data had as the next of kin number. Call this number when injured, found, lost or just being a pain in the ass.

It was the fact that Chris always had a fear of missing an important call from one of them, a call that was the difference between life and death that he would not let it go to voice mail. He never had in the seven years that Vin and the others had known him.

That was the one reason why it bothered him now that it did.

He disconnected the phone and decided to call Buck and the others. He had a feeling he was going to need them and soon.

***********************************************************

Chapter: 3 of 3 - Epilogue

Vin arrived at the ranch within minutes. Just as he pulled up the driveway, he saw Buck arriving behind him, pulling up just to the left of him.

Just as Vin opened the door, something ricocheted against the side of his jeep and both Vin and Buck ducked quickly behind their vehicles for cover.

“Buck!” Vin called from behind his jeep.

“Yeah?” responded Buck.

“Can ya see ‘em?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nah. I think they up on the hill. We need Ezra and the rest here and fast!”

“Gotcha, Pard!” Buck then started dialing the others cellular phone numbers as Vin scanned the area.

“Vin!”

Vin looked over and saw that Buck was finished. “Yeah?”

“The boys are on their way. I told ‘em about the situation and they’re coming armed to the teeth.”

“Did they make sure that local authorities know what’s going on?”

“Yeah. JD called them and they said they’d be here in the next 10 minutes,” replied Buck.

“Which means they ain’t gon’na be here for the next thirty minutes,” added Vin.

“Did you think Chris is inside?” asked Buck worriedly.

“Don’t rightly know, but I aim to find out and if anything has happened to him…” He trailed off, Buck understanding what Vin did not put into words. Chris was important to them both, but especially to Vin, who Buck knew was Chris’ lover.

“I’ll cover you, Pard, while I wait for the others. Be careful. We don’t know who they are or why they’re here,” said Buck determinedly. He knew they had too many enemies in their line of business to take whoever it was likely.

Vin nodded and then started to creep along the side of the car, inching closer to the entrance door to the house.

As he moved back and forth to keep himself as a hard target, he noticed that there was no movement coming from the house. The shooting seemed to have halted for the moment, but Vin did not want to take a chance on for how long it would stay quiet.

When he finally reached the door and as his hand touched the doorknob, a shot rang out and the bullet hit the area where his hand was only a minute ago.

Vin pushed his way quickly into the house, almost knocking the door off its hinges. It was then that he noticed the blood that flowed over the hardwood floor.

“Chris!” he yelled, hoping to receive some type of response from the blond ATF leader. But no response came.

“Chris! It’s me Vin! Where are ya?” he asked, seeing how the blood now became a trail that led into the living room area. Vin followed it, his heart beating frantically in his chest as he thought of what he might find at the end.

“Chris! Damn it! Answer me!” yelled Vin, as he noticed the trail was leading further and further into the interior of the house.

He was about to yell again, when his foot caught on something and he almost stumbled to the floor. He looked down and saw a hand, it was covered in blood, lying across the hardwood floor from the inside doorway of a closet.

Vin quickly pulled the door of the closet open and as he did, he watched as his friend came tumbling out of the small storage space.

“Chris!” exclaimed Vin as he knelt down next to his friend. Chris was unconscious and Vin noticed he had not moved since he had found him.

“Damn, Pard. What did they do to ya?” said Vin as he started examining the bleeding blond.

He saw that Chris had been shot not only in the shoulder, but also in the leg. It looked to Vin that he had lost a lot of blood. His blood was almost everywhere and it stood frightfully against his pale skin.

Vin reached into his pocket and took out his cellular phone and dialed Buck, who was still outside. As the phone was picked up he heard a gun go off outside.

“Buck?” he called over the phone.

He heard another shot coming over the “Yeah?”

“They’re shootin’ again?”

Vin then heard the ping of a bullet that sounded awfully close to Buck’s phone.

“I would say so, Stud,” replied Buck as Vin heard a loud bang coming over the phone.

“Did ya get the boys?”

“They’re on the way, Vin. Did ya find Chris?”

Vin swallowed the lump that he had been carrying in his throat for the past few minutes since finding Chris and said, “Yeah. Buck…it’s bad.”

“How bad, Vin?” came Buck’s worried question.

“He took one in the shoulder and one in the leg. Looks like he been bleedin’ for a while and lost a lot of blood. He’s out right now…” Vin cautiously touched the carotid vein in the blond man’s neck and felt the weak pulse. “…but I do got a heartbeat so he’s still alive.”

“Well, the boys should be here in about two minutes. JD says that they were just getting off the exit. I just wish I knew who was shootin’ at us!”

Vin could hear the frustration that came from Buck’s voice. He was just as frustrated. He was also worried about Chris and wanted to get the men who would try and hurt his lover. But for now, he was just satisfied to be near him and to make sure that he was kept alive.

Just then he heard Buck yell out a whoop of joy.

“Buck! What is it?” questioned Vin.

“It’s the boys!” screamed Buck over the phone. He could hear guns being fired in rapid succession over the phone. He just hoped it was from his friends and not the bad guys.

Vin moved towards the window that was situated towards the road leading up to the house. He saw Josiah’s SUV pulling up behind Buck’s truck and Vin’s jeep.

He sighed inwardly and thanked the powers above for keeping Chris alive until helped arrived.

He crawled back to Chris’ side and looked down at the unconscious blond, lovingly and said, “Ya have the luck of the Irish, Cowboy.”

“I…I…ain’t Irish,” came the soft whisper.

Vin noticed that he was staring at a set of green eyes, peering through half-mast eyelids.

“Chris! Ya awake!”

A cough came from the ATF leader on the floor as he tried to talk to his lover and let him know that he was still with him.

“I…ain’t…ain’t dead, yet,” replied Chris, struggling to stay awake.

“Ya better not be, Pard. I ain’t come all the way here for no reason,” teased Vin. He was relieved that it looked like Chris might have beat death one more time.

Suddenly he heard Buck’s voice over the phone. “We got ‘em, Vin!” We got ‘em!”

Vin breathed out a breath and said as he gazed down into his lover’s eyes, “Help’s on the way, Chris. Just hang on, Pard.”

Chris did not answer. Vin saw dazed green eyes gazing at him lovingly.

Just then, Vin heard someone coming through the front door. He looked to see Nathan and Josiah hurrying quickly towards them.

Nathan knelt down next to the half-conscious blond, laying his black bag down on the floor within reach.

“Hey, Chris,” said Nathan quickly working on his wounds. “How you feeling?”

Chris stared at him with hooded green eyes trying to clear the fog from his brain. “Huh?” was all that came out.

Nathan looked at Vin worriedly and said, “He’s lost too much blood, Vin.” He then looked at the blond whose eyes seemed to be closing and said, “Stay with us, Chris. Help’s on the way.”

Vin turned eyes of worry at the young doctor. “I need to stop him from losing any more blood, Vin,” said Nathan answering the question that was in those blue seeing eyes. He then quickly went to work to stem the blood that Chris was losing.

Josiah came to stand over the trio and Vin looked at him voicing a silent question that Josiah automatically knew what it was.

“They belonged to Santini family.”

“Shooters?”

“Yeah. It seems that Chris was the target.”

“I don’t think Chris was the only target, Josiah,” replied Vin thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” asked Josiah concerned.

“How come they picked this weekend to move on Chris?”

“Maybe because it was convenient?”

“No. I think they knew we were all going to be here this weekend all along. What better way to get rid of a thorn in Santini’s hide, all at once,” Vin replied angrily.

“You think Santini also planted that evidence that Travis said that Team 11 found?”

“You mean the one that has them accusing us of doctoring evidence to save Chris from prosecution?” asked Nathan as he finished off packing Chris wounds and tying them off.

“Yeah, Nate. Think about it. The so-called evidence that was dropped on Travis’ desk last week by someone unknown that was conveniently found by Team 11 couldn’t be used to convict any of us. They had to make sure one way or the other that we weren’t around to cause them any problems.”

“Damn!” exclaimed Ezra who had just walked into the house. “That was amazing deduction on your part, Mr. Tanner. I did not think you had it in you.”

Erza threw him a wicked smile as he perused the lean body on the floor in front of him. “How is our colleague, Mr. Larabee, doing?”

“Need to get ‘im to the hospital as soon as possible, Ezra,” interjected Nathan.

Just then, they heard sirens coming closer to the house and knew that help had arrived.

“It seems that help has arrived, Mr. Jackson, as they say, in the nick of time,” said Ezra walking outside to direct the EMTs into the house.

“Ya hear that Chris,” said Vin to the blond head that seem to loll on his lap.

At that moment, Ezra came leading in two EMTs along with JD and Buck following closely behind.

Buck’s eyes roamed over the blond and the blood that was trailing around him. “Nate?”

Nathan heard the worry and fear in the big man’s voice and knew what he was asking. “Don’t know, Buck. We need to get him to the hospital, fast.”

Buck nodded and watched as the EMTs helped Nathan to prepare the blond for transportation to the hospital. Vin held his lover until he was forced away by the abruptness and quick movements of the EMTs.

“Come on, Vin,” said Buck grabbing the lithe agent by the arm and practically pulling him away from his lover’s unconscious form.

“Chris?” came Vin’s soft call as he was unceremoniously led out of the house to the brisk air outside.

“Vin?” said Buck noticing the glazed look of the younger man. He knew that Chris and Vin were lovers. It was no secret among the team. It just was not a known fact of the agency itself outside of the team.

He did not want Vin to break down in front of the other agents that were now coming in.

It was normal procedure when a fellow agent was involved with a shooting for other agents of their organization to come in and investigate the scene of the crime.

“Vin,” said Buck again, trying to get the young man’s attention.

Vin eyes finally focused on Buck and looked at him with confusion and fear.

Buck grabbed the young man by the shoulder and moved him to the side as the EMTs and Nathan, followed by Josiah, JD and Ezra, led the gurney that held Chris out to the waiting ambulance.

Vin’s pain filled eyes followed the gurney as it pulled towards the waiting ambulance, a deep sigh leaving his constricted throat as he watched his friend and lover being taken away.

“Buck?”

“I know, Vin. I know. Let’s go and meet them at the hospital,” suggested Buck gently as he pulled Vin towards his parked truck. “JD, you take Vin’s jeep and follow us to the hospital.”

JD nodded that he understood, staring at the disheartened young agent as he was led away by his friend and roommate.

“I’ll go with the ambulance,” stated Nathan as he quickly trotted off to join the fast moving EMTs.

Ezra and Josiah then walked back to the other car that had brought them, planning on following the others to the hospital.

They all got into their cars and sped away after the ambulance, leaving the other agents and police to mop up the crime scene with heavy hearts.

**********************************************************

Vin sat in the hospital waiting room with Buck, JD, Josiah and Ezra hoping for word on their leader. The doctors had looked at his leg and found it only to be a flesh wound. It took a couple of stitches, but the doctor said he would be fine. He was just worried about Chris.

Nathan had left to find out what was going on since they were not allowed pass the double doors leading to the emergency room.

It had been four hours since they had brought the blond agent into the emergency room and the others were frantic with worry.

As Vin was about to get up and pace again for the fifth time since they had been there, Nathan came walking quickly through the double doors, a young looking woman doctor following close behind.

All six men got up and rushed over to them, causing the woman doctor to back up, startled by their quick movements.

“Slow down, boys,” exclaimed Nathan, holding his hands up to stave off their bum rush of the doctor.

“How is he?” asked Buck.

“How bad is it, Nate?” questioned Josiah.

“Is Mr. Larabee still with us?” came Ezra’s concerned query.

“Can we see him?” said JD excitedly.

Only Vin, who stood with his arms crossed in front of him, glaring at Nathan and the woman, did not voice his own concern.

“This is Chris’ doctor. Dr. Ketelsen,” introduced Nathan.

“How is he, Doc?” asked Vin finally, his eyes screwing up in pain.

“Well, gentlemen,” started the woman doctor. “Mr. Larabee suffered two bullet wounds. He’s lost a lot of blood, so we had to give him a transfusion. He went into shock just before the ambulance got him here, but we got him stabled. He’ll be staying with us for the next few weeks. His shoulder needs surgery to repair the damage so he is also going to need physical therapy during and after his stay here. His leg will be in a cast for a while also. The bullet broke the bone.”

“We can we see him?” came Vin’s question, which was pretty much on everyone else’s mind also.

“Once he’s settle I’ll come get you. We also need some forms filled out so if one of you could…”

“I can take care of that,” stated Buck, knowing that Vin was in no shape to handle the task.

“Very well, Mr….”

“Wilmington. Buck Wilmington. And this here is Vin Tanner, Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish and JD Dunne. You already met Nathan Jackson.”

“Yes. Mr. Jackson has informed me of your relationship with the patient and his medical history. Very well, Mr. Wilmington, if you will follow me, I’ll get you started on the forms. I’ll be back to take the rest of you to see your friend Mr. Larabee as soon as it is possible.”

“Thanks, Doc,” said Vin, sighing in relief. He would be able to see Chris and put his mind at ease, otherwise if he did not he would definitely loose whatever was left of his mind.

“Don’t worry, guys,” said Buck starting to leave with Dr. Ketelsen. “He’ll be alright. Chris is stronger than you think.”

Although Buck’s statement was heard by all of them, Vin knew it was especially made for his sake.

Vin nodded and watched as Buck left with the doctor. He then sat down again in the chair to start another long wait.

**********************************************************

It was four hours later when Vin and the others were told that they were now able to visit Chris.

Dr. Ketelsen had explained that although he was only in guarded condition in ICU, she still wanted to limit the number of visitors at one time.

It was determined that Vin and Buck would be the first, then followed by Ezra and JD and lastly Nathan and Josiah.

When Vin reached the ICU room where Chris was situated, he hesitated at going through the doors as he heard the sound of beeping machinery and the swooshing of what was most certainly a ventilator.

Buck stood stoically by his side, his one arm draped around Vin’s neck. “Listen, Vin. Just ‘cause it may look bad, it ain’t. You know Chris. He don’t do nothing the easy way,” smirked the big man.

Vin smiled lightly at that comment and knew that the man was trying to lighten the mood.

Vin blew out a breath and then walked through the doors that would lead him to his lover’s side.

What he saw there although was not a welcomed sight was still not as bad as his imagination.

The area Chris was in had another patient. The other patient was on a ventilator. It relieved Vin somewhat that at least Chris was not. He knew how much his lover hated those machines and how panic he would have been if he awoken to find himself attached to one.

As Vin moved closer to the bed, he saw that Chris’ shoulder was immobilized and his leg was in a cast. The cast was elevated and the blond was lying on his back. Vin stared at his lover, happy to see his wrapped chest move up and down in a slow rhythm that meant to him that he was alive, although not well.

Buck moved to stand next to the young man and looked down on the sleeping form of his long time friend. His face was pale and he knew it was from the lost of blood and hoped that as time went on, it would become less so and more like the face of the man he knew so well.

Vin touched the one hand that was not hooked up to an intravenous drip and felt the coolness there. He stared at it hard and started to gently rub it hoping that the blond would awaken, but it was not to be so.

“Damn, Chris,” said Vin softly. “Ya couldn’t stay out of harm’s way.”

“C…couldn’t let them get you…too,” came a soft response.

Vin raised startled blue eyes to the face of his lover and found he was looking into the opened glazed green eyes of the man he held to his heart.

“Chris? You awake?”

“Hmmm.”

Buck smiled broadly at hearing the voice of his leader and friend. “I’ll be damned!” exclaimed Buck. “I knew you was too hard to kill.”

“D…on’t…piss…me…off,” came Chris stuttered response.

“Ain’t the one who shot you, Pard. Seems to me that you the one who pissed someone off,” chuckled Buck. He could not believe that Larabee was awake. But then Buck thought he should have known better when it came to Chris Larabee. Nothing could keep him down long enough. Not even bullets or drugs.

“How…cough…did…” started Chris.

“Hey, Cowboy. Take it easy. Ya just got out of surgery about two hours ago,” said Vin touching the man’s arm gently.

“Water?”

“You can’t have any just yet, Mr. Larabee,” said a voice from behind them.

Vin and Buck turned to find Dr. Ketelsen had come into the room. She quickly moved over to the other side of Chris’ bed.

“Hello, Mr. Larabee. I am your doctor, Dr. Ketelsen. How are we feeling at the moment?” she asked as she checked the IV bag.

“L…ike shit,” said Chris under hooded green eyes.

“That’s to be expected when you have been shot so many times,” answered Dr. Ketelsen. “Any pain?”

“Can’t…can’t tell. Can’t feel…anything.”

“Well, Stud, that just means you’re on the good stuff,” said Buck smiling.

Chris would have smiled back, but at that moment it felt like too much effort. “Makes…me feel tired.”

“Good,” came Dr. Ketelsen’s response as she checked his pulse. “That’s exactly what I want. I want you to sleep and to rest. You will be staying with us for awhile.” She looked at him and smiled.

She then turned to Vin and Buck, putting on her doctor face and said, “You can have a couple of more minutes, gentlemen. Then the others can visit for a couple and then I want my patient to rest. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” replied both Vin and Buck.

Seeing that her orders would be obeyed, Dr. Ketelsen then turned and left the room.

“She’s a tough one, Chris,” smirked Buck.

“I wouldn’t try it if I were you, Buck,” said Vin taking his lover’s hand again in his.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Vin,” said Buck snidely.

“Yeah, right,” retorted Vin, knowing that the big man was already making plans about the blond woman doctor.

“Listen, I’ll be outside if you need me,” said Buck, seeing this an opportunity for Chris and Vin to have words alone. “I’ll be back tomorrow to see how you doing, Stud. Now you listen to the pretty doctor and get some rest. We have everything under control.”

“That’s…That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Chris trying to glare at the ladies man.

“Your glare ain’t up to par, Stud. See you outside, Vin.” And he left, whistling on the way out.

Vin turned back to look at Chris and said, “He’s right you know. Your glare ain’t as effective as it usually is.”

“Piss…me…off,” came Chris’ weak retort.

“I try not to, Cowboy. But it ain’t that hard considerin’ it’s you,” said Vin happily. “Did ya miss me?”

“Al…ways, Vin. Want to…go home.”

“In a couple of weeks. Right now ya need ya rest. I’ll be around. Don’t you worry. Ain’t leavin’ ya. Ever.”

Chris eyes widened at this statement. He knew Vin had just declared his deep love for him and he knew he could not abuse it or take it for granted. Not without losing the best thing that ever happened to him since Sarah and Adam.

“Same…same here, Pard,” answered Chris, his hand now squeezing Vin’s.

Just then, Ezra and JD walked into the room and Chris and Vin quickly removed their hands.

“Hey, he’s awake!” came JD’s surprised voice.

“Well, Mr. Larabee. I must say that I expected you much worse for wear considering how we discovered you at your abode.”

“He’s doing better than any of us thought, Ezra,” came Vin’s statement as he winked at Chris.

Chris smiled slightly at this. It felt good to see Vin smiling and by his side again. This was the way it should have always been. He had accomplished what he set out to do. Vin was safe and no harm had befallen his lover. He did not think he could of withstood losing him too as he had lost Sarah and Adam.

Vin could see how pensive Chris had become and it worried him. But he also knew that once they were back at the ranch, things would right themselves again and everything would be as it should be.

“Listen, I’ll be outside if ya need me,” he said softly to Chris. He squeezed Chris’ hand gently and left the room, leaving Ezra and JD to their visit.

Chris glazed eyes tracked the young lithe body of his lover as he exited the area and knew that he and Vin had some catching up to do once he was released from the hospital.

“Vin?” called Chris before the young Texan could walk through the doorway.

“Yeah?”

“Ya better…be…don’t piss me off…by not being there,” said Chris a small wicked smile gracing his face.

Vin knew what he meant and responded, “Whatever ya say, Cowboy.” Vin left the room whistling the same tune that Buck had when he left.

Chris slowly listened as the sound faded away from them and knew what the song meant. It was the “Kenny Rodgers” song “Crazy in Love”.

As Ezra and JD voices droned into the back of his mind, Chris smiled as he realized what was waiting for him when it was time to leave.

The End.