Fight Night
by Squeakypeep
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Part 2/7Disclaimer: Not Mine blah blah..No profit..blah blah….You've heard it all before and others are more eloquent than I.
Rating: Language a bit harsh in places. Slushy, romantic, suggestive.
Acknowlegements: Mog's Universe, apologies to anyone whose toes I've stamped on - I've read so many fics I can't recall who belongs to whom. Angel belongs to me and this is my first fic - go easy. I'm Irish so Texas speak was a challenge and I have a UK spellchecker - you have been warned. I still have to have the American jokes in these fics explained to me!
Warning: OFC If you don't like the boys getting hitched this Series is not for you. Think M7 meets Mills and Boon!
Comments: Squeakypeep@hotmail.com - be nice.
Nathan's Story
Everything was ready. Rain stood in the candlelit cabin, shifting her weight from foot to foot, feeling her pulse flutter nervously in her throat. She was alone, and she shouldn't have been. They were late. What could possibly have gone wrong?
Hearing a vehicle she moved to the window and watched Chris, Angel Tanner, Casey, Mary and Buck alight, along with an older gentleman she didn't recognise. Not Nathan. She sighed again.
24 hours Earlier
'Come on Rain, we'll be late.'
'Nathan, I have to finish this paper. If it's not ready…'
'I know, I know. You'll have marks deducted. But Honey, it's the Match of the season. Ya know the guys won't wait for us.'
'If you leave me alone I'll be quicker, Nate.'
Nathan Jackson huffed and disappeared into the living room.
It was fight night. The much awaited rematch between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Mary Travis had used her press contacts to get enough of the sought after tickets for the whole team, and their dates, to attend. Nathan was delighted. Ringside seats. He loved boxing, and heavy-weight boxing in particular. He'd wanted to be early enough to make sure he got a seat beside Ezra. He and Standish may not see eye to eye but he sure knew about Boxing. He was positive he'd made allowance for every eventuality. Every eventuality except Rain it seemed.
He paced from one side of the living room to the other, pausing in front of the door to the den on each pass. Finally, he got an angry glare from Rain and retreated onto the couch. He checked his watch again.
Rain was attempting to complete a paper, the marks for which would be counted towards her examination results. She was in her final year of her Nurse Practitioner Course and with Christmas only a few months away they were taking final in-house exams before the 'big one' in the Spring.
Nathan couldn't understand why she was so intense about the exam, it wasn't the real thing, just a practice. If he were brutally honest he would have been the same for any exams he took himself, he was a perfectionist by nature. But this was FIGHT NIGHT. Sometimes you just had to adjust your priorities.
He looked at his watch again. He had arranged a cab but had eventually sent it away when the driver had complained that they were so late, he'd miss his next pick-up. He would take the Cherokee. They were cutting it fine but if he took the back route they should still get there before the main event. They had already missed the earlier bouts.
Ten minutes later Rain emerged, giving Nathan a small smile as she picked up her bag. He grabbed his keys and set off out of the apartment. Rain rolled her eyes. He was usually such a gentleman, always allowing her to precede him, holding the doors and guiding her by the elbow. Tonight she felt like an Arab woman made to walk five paces behind her lord and master. Her already simmering temper went up by another degree.
Finally en-route Nathan relaxed slightly. He had tried to explain to his fiancé why this was so important, tried to get her to be enthusiastic, but she didn't seem to understand. Like most women he knew, she didn't 'get' sports generally. Rain had argued that paying to watch two grown men pound each other, dressed in little more than underwear, was not her idea of amusement. She definitely didn't 'get' it. Initially she had refused to attend but he'd managed to do a deal on that one. He grimaced. Opera. That was his idea of hell.
They were making good progress. Fast progress. Rain started to complain about being tossed around as Nathan screeched around the corners.
'This would have been unnecessary if you had been on time. Honestly Rain, it's not like you didn't have any warning.' Another degree.
'Nathan, Don't go there. You know I would have done it earlier but for the fact you were so busy babysitting JD, that I had to entertain your sisters who were only here to visit YOU. I don't care if I never see another Mall.'
JD had been injured in a bust the previous week and with Buck, Josiah and Chris away at a conference and Ezra and Vin undercover with another team it had fallen to Nathan to be mother hen. Unfortunately, it had clashed with a visit from Nathan's two sisters and Rain had ended up taking them round every Mall in Denver, just to keep them busy. They seemed to enjoy their visit but it put Rain behind on her work schedule.
'Ya could have finished it later.'
She shot him a dirty look. Yeah right, after the post mortem at the Saloon. She'd be up all night finishing and she still had to work tomorrow.
'I think we're about 10 minutes away. We should still make it.'
They continued in silence for less than a minute before disaster struck.
The bang was accompanied by the violent jerking of the vehicle and a curse from Nathan as he fought to work over to the shoulder. Pulling the tilting Cherokee to a halt Nathan leapt out and glared at the front Driver's side wheel. Great. Now he had a tyre to change.
Looking around to see if they could just abandon the car and get a cab he remembered he'd taken the back roads. All the businesses were closed for the night and there was not another vehicle in sight. Nothing moved. They were in the middle of precisely nowhere.
Feeling the anger simmering he opened the back and got out the jack. No slouch physically, he soon had the blown tyre off and was unlatching the spare.
'RAAAINN.'
Rain had been sitting in the passenger seat bemoaning the waste of a perfectly good evening. She jumped.
'What? Nathan, you Okay? You hurt yourself?'
'Dammit Rain I thought you got the spare fixed.'
'It's your car Nathan. I thought you got it fixed.'
'You were driving it when it punctured Rain.'
'I was collecting it from the airport for YOU, Nathan. Don't blame me for this.'
'You've been using the car all week. When exactly would I have got that done?'
'Driving YOUR sisters Nathan. You had it a couple of times.'
'I was working.'
'And what do you think I was doing?'
'Shopping.' Another degree. Maybe two.
'Well stop griping and call a cab.' Rain threw herself back in her seat and glared out the window.
Nathan was furious. They were never going to make the fight and there wasn't even a TV to see it on. He pulled out his cell.
'If we'd have been on time, we'd have been IN a damn cab, Rain.' Another degree. Rain was close to boiling.
Nathan called for a ride but was told they'd have to wait a minimum of half an hour. He felt his control snap.
'Fuck!'
'What did you just say?'
'I said Fuck, Rain. Fuck Fuck Fuck. I sat through that fucking opera and this is what I get. God dammit Rain. Why couldn't ya just be on time for once?' Another degree and Rain was past the point of no return.
'Don't you curse at me Nathan Jackson. This is not my fault. Stupid reason to leave the house anyway. Sitting here may actually be more entertaining than being deafened by screaming, chanting, blood thirsty hoards anyway. Who wants to sit in a sweaty auditorium and watch grown men addle their brains? Only idiots with less grey matter themselves.'
'I do.'
'Exactly.'
'Are you calling me an idiot?' Nathan was standing in the lee of the open driver's door.
'If the hat fits, Sweetmeat…'
'Don't call me Sweetmeat, Rain…'
'Why not?'
''Cause I hate it.'
'You never told me that.'
'Well I do.'
'Fine. Anything else you hate you want to tell me about?'
'Yeah. I hate that you're always late. I hate finding cold cups of coffee abandoned all over the house. I hate the ring in the bath and I particularly hate it when you disregard what I want 'cause YOU think it's unimportant.'
'I don't.'
'Yeah? Tonight is a prime example. Seeing the fight was important.'
'My paper was more important.'
'It's a fucking practice paper Rain.'
'My career is more important than a boxing match, Nathan.'
'It's more important than everything, including me.'
'What the hell do you mean by that?'
'We are supposed to be getting married. You HAVE to wait till you're qualified, THAT certificate is more important to you than the marriage certificate. I'm lower on your list than your bloody career.'
'You can talk. Team 7 is your life. I'm always second to that. In fact I come after Chris, Vin, Josiah, JD, Buck and… hell, I'm even lower on the list than Ezra. Why the don't you just marry one of them?'
'Don't be so stupid Rain.'
'I'm Stupid?'
'Yeah. Funny cops are frowned on. You know that.'
'Do I? I'm just a stupid student whose stupid career comes above a worthless piece of paper.'
'If you think being married to me is worthless why are we engaged?'
'Hell if I know. But we can fix that.' She tugged off the ring and threw it at him. 'I hope the seven of you are very happy together.' Rain climbed out of the car and set off down the street.
'RAIN!'
She kept walking and disappeared round a building. Locking the car, Nathan set off in hot pursuit. He reached the corner just in time to see her getting into a cab and driving off.
Swearing Nathan reached for his cell again.
'Sanchez.'
'Josiah, Nathan.' Nathan could hear the crowd in the background and shouted to be heard.
'Brother Nathan where are you? It's a great match, they're in the third round. Tyson is getting in a few hits but Lewis is outreaching…'
'Josiah. Had a flat. Can ya pick me up on the way to the Saloon?'
'Sure. How's Rain?'
'Don't ask.'
Next Day - Team 7 Offices
'… Tyson shoudda had 'im in the fourth.'
'Nah, it was Lewis the whole time. Tyson never stood a chance.'
'You missed a great match Nathan.'
'I know Chris, you all told me last night at the Saloon, remember? Now if we could just get on with some work…'
Talk of the fight continued and Nathan seethed. To top of his night Rain had locked him out of the apartment. He'd slept in the car and come into work early to change.
Eventually Josiah sidled up to his desk.
'You seem troubled Brother, and it's not just the fight is it?' Josiah kept his voice low, which immediately attracted more attention than shouting would have.
'What's up Nate?'
Jackson sighed. 'Had my own fight, with Rain.'
'So? Making up is half the fun.'
'Not this time Chris. She gave me the ring back. In fact she threw it back. Took me twenty minutes to find it.'
The rest of the team gathered round Nathan's desk, making sympathetic noises.
'She'll get over it, Nathan. Give her time.'
'You aren't going to let her get away are you Nate?' JD was concerned. If Nathan and Rain couldn't make it what hope did he have with Casey? They'd always been a couple.
'I may not have a choice JD. I said some pretty nasty things. Things I didn't know bothered me, little things, got blown out of proportion. I'll have to wait and see what happens.' He gave them a rough outline of the argument. Nathan had decided that Rain was putting off getting married because she didn't really want to marry him anyway. The others disagreed.
'Go talk to her.' Chris.
'Let her have time to work it out. Give her some space.' Buck.
The advice was coming thick and fast. Nathan's head was spinning.
Chris looked at his EMT. Reaching a decision he said, 'Right, pack up were going up to the cabin to fish. Nathan go home and get organised you and Josiah are in charge of the food. Ez, Vin, JD, Beer and equipment. Buck, come with me, we have some things to do before we go.'
Nathan rolled his eyes, as did Ezra. They both knew it was not an invitation, but a command.
Present
This was dumb. Nathan was so depressed he just wanted to slouch in front of the TV and get drunk. Instead he was driving up a mountain in Josiah's old truck for a weekend of fishing. JD and Vin were fighting over a bag of chips and Josiah was singing boy scout songs. Ezra sat in the passenger seat moaning about spending time in the 'wilds'.
'Shut up Ezra.'
'Mr Jackson, please do not use that tone with me. It is not my fault I was unable to dissuade Mr Larabee. I have no more desire to head off for a weekend of 'bonding' than you, I just choose to be more vocal about it.'
'Well don't.'
Josiah stopped singing and the 'kids' in the back had finally decided to share.
Silence.
Nathan sighed.
Earlier in the Day
Rain came from the ER to greet her guests. 'Chris, Buck, to what do I owe the pleasure?' Her smile was feeble in her pale face and fooled neither man.
'Rain can we talk to you for a minute?'
She led them over to an empty examining room and sat down to listen, answering their questions and feeling her heart lighten.
Present
Nathan climbed out of the truck. He could see Chris's Ram but there were no signs of life but for the faint light coming from the cabin. Ezra was asleep against the window of the passenger side.
'Leave him Brother. You know what he's like if he's woken.' Josiah joined him at the back of the vehicle as they released the children.
'I'm tellin' ya it was a wolf.'
'No way Vin.'
'Let's go check it out.' Vin and JD set off back down the track to look for the animal Vin was sure he'd seen.
'Guys, what about the unloading?'
'Won't be long Nate.' They'd gone.
'I want to check the generator. I'll be back in a minute. Go on in Brother.' Josiah also left.
Glaring at Ezra's sleeping form Nathan grabbed a cooler and a couple of poles and headed to the cabin, muttering under his breath. Chris and Buck could give him a hand.
He struggled to open the door with his load and practically fell through when the bolt gave under his assault. Righting himself he looked up. At Rain.
His mouth dropped open.
'Nathan.'
He glanced about the cabin, taking in the candles and lack of company. He'd been set up.
'Rain…'
'Nathan, Please. I have something to say and I need to say it before I loose track, Okay?' Nathan nodded. She sure was pretty. He skin glowed in the candlelight and the flowing white dress gave her an ethereal air.
'Firstly, I'm sorry you missed the fight. I understand it was important to you and I should have had more consideration. I apologise.' She lifted her hand as he tried to interrupt. 'I'm not done.'
'I will try to remember not to leave cold coffee about the place and to clean the ring from the bath.' She smiled slightly, 'You have to promise not to be too picky.' Nathan bristled.
'I regret that you feel that I put my work ahead of you, it's not true. I love you too much Nathan, nothing is more important to me than you are. I wish I had never suggested we wait to get married, I want nothing more than to be Mrs Nathan Jackson.' Nathan felt his anger slipping away to be replaced by another stronger emotion.
'Rain…'
'I want to put that right. Nathan will you marry me?'
Nathan reached for her. 'Anytime Kitten.'
A few minutes passed.
'How about now?'
'What?'
Rain took his hand and led him to the door. Opening it she revealed the rest of Team 7, Casey, Mary, Angel and an older man, dressed as…. a preacher. All were grinning widely.
'Are you serious? How?'
'Your AD pulled in some favours.'
'Hell Rain, I'm ready. Where do I sign?'
Epilogue
The wedding ceremony had been lovely, Mr and Mrs Jackson were tucked up inside the cabin and Angel and Mary had returned to town with the Preacher.
The remaining members of Team 7 prowled around outside in the rapidly cooling air.
'What the hell do you mean 'what equipment?' Where are the bedrolls?' Chris glared at his sharpshooter.
'We were goin' fishin' Cowboy - at the cabin. We didn't bring any equipment but fishin' poles, food and beer. Twinkie?' He held out the packet, a slight twitch to his lips.
'I don't want a damn twinkie.'
'Beer?' This from Josiah. He was grinning.
'I wonder if'n the newlyweds'd like some company?'
'Mr Tanner even you cannot consider that a spectator sport!'
Buck opened his mouth, a devilish grin on his face...
'Shut up Buck!!' He was bombarded with twinkies.
THE END