Shall We Dance?

MAIN CHARACTERS: Ezra

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is in response to the Father's Day challenge issued on the Mag7/Las Vegas list. Thank you to Antoinette/RiverOtter for betaing and to Sarah for creating this wonderful AU for us to play in.

DISCLAIMER: Mag7/Las Vegas alternate universe was created by Sarah (aka Midnight Profit) and is based on the "Las Vegas" TV series. This AU is not related to the Mag7/Las Vegas RPG created by Lisa O. and Ruby. Trilogy, MGM, and the Mirisch Corporation own "The Magnificent Seven" characters. NBC Studios, NBC Universal Television, DreamWorks Television, and Gary Scott Thompson Productions own "Las Vegas." They are not mine. The only purpose of this story is for entertainment. No money is being made.

Ezra Standish whistled softly as he walked through the employee-only corridors of the Montecito. When he stepped through the door to the Security Office, he said in a cheerful voice, "Good evening, Gentlemen."

Vin and JD looked up from their computers. "Hey Ezra," said JD as Vin nodded in acknowledgement.

"Whatcha doing here?" asked the Montecito's computer specialist.

"I thought I would deliver these incident reports since I will be absent tomorrow," replied Ezra as he held up the folder in question.

"Oh . . . that's right," said JD. "The big 'date' is tomorrow."

"Yes it is," replied Ezra as he placed his folder in the Security Chief's inbox for his attention. At the same time Chris stepped out of his office with coffee cup in hand, immediately spotting the Pit Boss. "Ezra," said Chris as he walked down the three steps to the bullpen. "Those for me?"

"Yes, they are," replied Ezra. "Some reading material for later."

"I'm sure they'll be quite entertaining," said Chris. "Will I need a dictionary for this batch?" One thing was for certain the Pit Boss was long-winded in his reports. What would take a normal person one page to write, Ezra seemed to drag it out to three quite often using drawn out and elaborate language.

"You might want to have one at hand," suggested a smiling Ezra, enjoying the teasing rapport.

"We were just talking about Ezra's big date tomorrow," chimed JD.

"Date?" repeated Chris before taking a sip of his hot coffee. He then remembered the 'date' in question and continued, "Ah . . . the date. You're definitely a lucky man . . . there are quite a few of us that are jealous that you were asked. . ."

Ezra chuckled as he replied, "So it seems. Mr. Wilmington has already offered his services in case I fall ill and unable to attend."

"That definitely sounds like Buck," replied Chris.

"So, are you gettin' her flowers?" asked Vin as he smiled.

"I have ordered an appropriate floral corsage," replied Ezra as he adjusted the cuffs to his shirt. "Now gentlemen I do hate to cut this interrogation short but I do have my duties to return to. I shall see you later."

After the Pit Boss left, Vin commented out loud, "He's definitely got it bad. . ."

The next evening. . .

Ezra, with corsage in hand, arrived promptly at the appointed time and knocked softly on the apartment door. A few moments later it opened and there stood a smiling Nora. It was hard to believe it had only been a couple months since he and the other men had saved Nora from Wickes, a brothel owner who used force to get ladies to work at his establishment. Thankfully Nora had been reunited with her daughter, Abigail, and the two were now doing wonderfully, Nora working in Housekeeping at the Montecito while Abigail had started school.

"Ezra, please come in," said Nora as she held open the door wider and stepped aside for the man to enter.

"Thank you," replied the Pit Boss as walked in and took in the surroundings. "Quite a lovely place you have here."

Nora smiled. "Thank you. It's a nice apartment . . . perfect size for me and Abby . . . and it's in a great neighborhood."

"Uncle Esra . . . Uncle Esra . . ." said a very exited little girl as she ran down the hallway to greet their guest. She was wearing a pink dress with a matching bow in her curly hair. "You're here!"

"Of course I am," replied Ezra as he laughed softly. "And might I say you look beautiful."

Abby beamed as she replied, "Mommy bought it for me . . . it's new . . ." Spotting the clear container in Ezra's hand, she continued, "Is that for me?"

"Yes it is," said Ezra as he knelt in front of her while opening the container. "This is called a corsage and you wear it on your wrist like this." He slipped it over her hand and Abby smiled.

"It's pretty," said the little girl and then she brought it up to her nose. "And it smells really good too."

"Abby, what do you say to Mr. Standish," said Nora, making sure her little girl remembered her manners.

"Oh . . . thank you, Uncle Esra," said Abby quickly.

"You are most welcome," replied Ezra as he stood.

"Abby has been excited about this all week," explained Nora.

A complete opposite of how he found Abby two weeks ago, thought Ezra, as he remembered back to the day. . .

Ezra had a few minutes before he had to report to work so he thought he would stop by the daycare and visit his favorite little girl, Abigail. When he arrived he was surprised to find Abby sitting by herself coloring.

Amber, the daycare worker, had spotted the pit boss, and walked over to greet him. "You're here to see Abby?" she asked, recognizing him from his many previous visits.

"Yes, I am," replied Ezra.

"Hopefully you can cheer her up," commented the daycare worker. "She's been very quiet ever since she returned from school."

Ezra nodded as he walked over and took a seat in one of the small chairs next to Abby.

"Hello Abby, how are you doing today?" asked the Pit Boss as he noticed her untouched snack next to her.

"Hi Esra," replied the little girl who still had trouble pronouncing his name. "I'm ok. . ."

"Is something wrong?" queried Ezra.

The little girl shook her downturn head 'no'.

"Why didn't you eat your snack?"

"I wasn't hungry," replied the little girl softly.

Ok, something was definitely not right because Ezra couldn't remember a time when the little girl was not hungry.

"How was school today?" asked the Pit Boss.

"Ok," said the little girl softly.

"Did something happen at school?" he asked. "You know you can trust me . . . tell me anything."

The little girl sighed as she pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him.

Ezra took the document from the little girl's hands and slowly opened it. His gaze reading the paper that announced there was going to be a father/daughter dance in two weeks. He suddenly realized why Abby was so upset.

"Is it about the dance coming up?" asked Ezra.

Abby nodded 'yes' as she said quietly, "My daddy is an angel up in heaven so I don't have anyone to go with me. . ."

Her soft statement nearly tore his heart into two. Ezra took a breath before he commented, "Well, I bet if a little girl wanted to bring her uncle instead it would be acceptable. . ."

Abby lifted her head and looked Ezra in the eyes. "Do you think?" she asked.

"Yes, I do," replied Ezra.

"Will you go to the dance with me, Uncle Esra?" asked Abby in a hopeful voice.

Ezra smiled. "I would love to, Miss Abby."

A huge smile broke out across her face as she leaned over and gave Ezra a huge hug. "Thank you Uncle Esra."

"Esra, we're gonna be late," declared Abby, bringing the Pit Boss back to the present.

Ezra laughed softly as he replied, "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

"Like I said, she's a tad excited about tonight," explained a smiling Nora as she gestured to the empty flower container from Ezra. "Here . . . I can take that. . ."

Ezra handed the box to Nora and then said to Abby, "Well, young lady we do have a dance to attend . . . shall we go?"

The little girl nodded her head excitedly and took Ezra's hand. "Bye Mommy . . . see you later. . ."

"Bye Peanut," said Nora. "Now you two have lots of fun . . ."

"Oh we will," said Abby. "Won't we Esra?"

"Yes, we will, peanut," said Ezra as the two walked out of the door for their big 'date'.

END

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The Las Vegas Chronicles