Blood

Nathan woke up startled by the phone. He reached over and answered it.

"Yeah."

"Nate, where are ya?" Vin's voice was heard from the other end of the line.

"Huh?" Was all Nathan got out.

"You were supposed to pick me up... remember, my car broke down," Vin said.

"Aw, shit, Vin, I forgot. I'm sorry, I'll be there in 20 minutes, alright?"

"Fine, but I'm blaming you if Chris is mad when we'll be late," Vin said with a chuckle.

"See ya," Nathan said and hung up.

35 minutes later Vin and Nathan exited the elevator and found that Chris had not come in yet. Josiah came up to the two agents and looked questioningly at them. Vin threw his hands up in the air and exclaimed:

"It's not my fault!"

"No, it was my fault," Nathan said. "I sort of overslept and forgot that I was supposed to pick Vin up."

"Fine, brothers. Brother Larabee is also a bit late," Josiah said. "Although he had the manners to call in and say where he was."

"Sorry then!" Vin said and went to his desk.

"What's up with you?" Buck asked as Vin shrugged off his tanned duster.

"Nothing," Vin said and opened a case file.

"Fine. Sorry I asked," Buck said and turned his attention to JD. "What are you doing, kid?"

"Jeez, Buck," JD sighed. "Don't you have anything to do?"

"Nope, and neither do you," Buck said.

"I'm busy," JD said with a grunt.

"Doing what!?" The mustached man laughed. "We ain't got nuthin' to do."

"Well, I'm busy," JD replied again and went back to reading or whatever he was doing.

This was starting to feel like a bad day. Buck thought.

Everyone was in a bad mood and it started to make Buck feel uneasy. His fellow agents usually were in a good mood, especially JD. The fact that JD wasn't up to talking proved that something was very wrong.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and revealed Chris. He stepped and nodded slightly to his friends before he went into his office and closed the door. Shortly thereafter Vin went into Chris' office looking a bit anxious.

What had happened to make everyone act weird? Buck asked himself.

Buck started thinking about anything that might have happened before the weekend. Suddenly it hit Buck like a ton of bricks.

"Shit!" He exclaimed.

"Buck!" JD whined as Buck sudden shout made him drop the papers he was reading.

"Sorry," Buck said.

"Now I have to sort the papers again!" JD said and shot Buck an angry glance.

"I'm sorry, kid. I was supposed to sort out those papers. I totally forgot about that," Buck said.

"Well, if you hadn't disappeared Friday night . . .," JD sighed as he gathered the papers together and started sorting them again.

"Let me do that," Buck said.

"No, leave me alone," JD said angrily and pushed Buck away.

"I said I was sorry, kid," Buck said and tried to lay a hand on JD's arm but he was yet again pushed away. "Okay, sorry."

"Buck!" Chris' angry voice was heard through the door.

"Comin'!" Buck answered and walked towards the door.

Buck cautiously stepped into his boss' office and found him sitting behind his desk with Vin flanking him on the right. Both men looked angrily at Buck as he closed the door behind him. Before any of them had a chance to open their mouths Buck said: "I'm so sorry, Vin. Chris, it's all my fault."

"I know," was all Chris said.

"You were supposed to have written and turned in the report an hour ago," Vin said and glared at Buck. "Why did you volunteer to do it when you couldn't handle it?"

"Well, I . . .," Buck started.

"JD said you went out on Friday night and didn't return until Sunday evening. I'm guessing you weren't writing the report in the library," Vin said.

"Well, no..," Buck hung his head.

"Okay, Wilmington," Chris said.

Oh boy, this is serious. Buck thought as Chris used his last name.

"This is the third time in 4 months you fail to turn in the report on time." Chris continued. "That's three times to many."

"It's never going to happen again," Buck said quietly.

"That's what you said last time too!" Chris barked angrily.

"I . . .," Buck started but was interrupted.

"Agent Wilmington, you have three hours to turn in that report," Chris said.

"Yes, sir," Buck said and left Chris' office.

This was not a good day. Buck thought as he sat down at his desk. Vin, Chris and JD were all furious with him. Who was next?

"What the hell?!" Ezra southern voice exclaimed.

"Shit," Buck muttered under his breath.

"Who the hell have spilled coffee on my brand new Armani suit!" Ezra's voice was sounding more and more furious.

"It wasn't me," JD said as Ezra looked at the kid. "Hell, I don't even drink coffee."

"WHO!?!" Ezra suddenly yelled and it made Buck jump.

"What are you yelling about?" Chris asked as he looked out of his office.

"Somebody has spilled coffee on my brand new Armani suit. I want to know who the son of a bitch is!?" Ezra growled.

The fact that Ezra was actually cursing and not using any of his fancy words made Buck nervous since he was the guilty one. Suddenly he felt somebody's breath against his back. As he turned he saw Ezra standing over him with a furious stare. "You!" Ezra didn't need Buck to actually confess it, he knew anyway.

"I'm sorry, Ezra," Buck said and suddenly felt small sitting down.

"I can't believe you did this!" Ezra yelled.

"I'll buy you a new suit, Ezra," Buck tried to calm Ezra down but that only made things worse.

"A new suit! I don't need a fucking new suit! Why couldn't you keep the coffee in the cup instead of on my suit!" Ezra was turning bright red from anger.

"I'm so sorry," Buck said.

That's when it happened... Ezra's fist suddenly connected with Buck's jaw and Buck was knocked off his chair. It took a few seconds for the men to react but Vin rushed up and grabbed Ezra from behind to stop him from hitting Buck again. After recovering from the initial shock Buck was on his feet at punched Ezra in the gut. Ezra doubled over, gasping for air. Buck was ready to punch Ezra again but was stopped by Chris. Chris placed himself in front of Buck and stared angrily at him. "What - the - hell - are - you - doing?" Chris growled.

"He punched me first," Buck defended himself.

"Well, he had a reason," Chris said.

"A reason?! A coffee stain on a suit?" Buck almost started laughing.

"Must I remind you that he was in on the report you were supposed to do." Vin said. "Ezra even volunteered to do it before you, but you said that you didn't have anything to do, so we trusted you to do it."

"I said I was sorry," Buck said. "You alright, Ez?"

"Fuck off," was all Ezra said and broke free from Vin's grip and left the office.

"Wilmington, this is your final warning," Chris said. "If you ever turn a report in late again I'll have no choice but to fire you.

"Fire me? You're kidding, right?!" Buck said.

"No," was all Chris said and went back to his office.

After that all the men went back to their desks and Buck started typing the report and managed to turn it in 30 minutes before the deadline. After that Buck left the office since he didn't feel welcome there.

+ + + + + + +

Two days later Buck sat at his desk when Ezra came from the elevator. Buck hadn't seen Ezra since the incident and he was expecting it all to be over so he looked at Ezra and smiled slightly. What Buck got back frightened him. Ezra shot Buck an icy glare and if looks really could kill, Buck would have been dead in a second. Great! Now Ezra's wants me dead. Buck thought.

"Meeting in 10 minutes," Chris announced.

"Right," all six men answered.

10 minutes later the seven agents were gathered in the conference room and Chris started going through the mission. They were going to apprehend a gang of weapon smugglers which 4 ATF teams had been watching for several weeks. Team 3 had announced that two men from the gang had discussed the meeting on Wednesday at 8 in the evening. Now Team 3, 4 and 7 were going in to apprehend the whole gang plus the buyers of the weapons. After that the seven men went over the plans to the warehouse and planned where they were going to go in. "Okay, on a final note," Chris said as the men got up. "I know the last few days have been a bit difficult but I hope you have solved your problems?!"

"Sure, we have," JD said with a smile.

+ + + + + + +

At 7.45 in the evening the three teams had taken their positions in the warehouse. Buck had first been placed with Ezra but, without Buck knowing, Ezra had switched with JD.

At around 8.10 the whole gang of 10 members and the three buyers were discussing the weapons. All teams were wearing earpieces and suddenly they heard Chris' voice: "Team 7 and 4 - move in."

"ATF - FREEZE!" Vin yelled as the teams rose from hiding.

Instead of complying the gang members drew their weapons and heavy gunfire began.

"Give it up, you're surrounded!" Chris yelled.

None of this seemed to have any effect on the men who continued firing. The ATF teams returned fire and soon they had taken out almost all the members. Buck set off after a gang member who took off running, trying to escape. "Freeze!" Buck yelled.

The only thing the man did was duck behind a few crates and started firing furiously at Buck. Buck dove for cover and returned fire. Suddenly he heard that one of his bullets hit the target and the gunfire stopped. After sitting still for a while Buck went to check and found the shooter dead.

Buck returned to the rest of the team who had managed to either kill or apprehend the rest of the gang. Two members of team 4 had been grazed by bullets but they were doing alright.

"The sons of bitches were using bullets that can pierce through our vests." Chris said after examining a bullet.

"Thank God nobody was hit," JD said.

Team 4 and 3 left with the suspects who were still alive, in handcuffs. Chris left to call the coroner. JD sat down on a crate to catch his breath while Josiah and Nathan talked quietly.

With nobody noticing, one of the "dead" suspects started moving and reached for his weapon and aimed it at Buck.

"DIE!" The man screamed.

"NO!!" Ezra yelled and pushed Buck out of the way as the men fired.

Vin shot the man immediately as Buck fell to the ground and Ezra landed on top of him. Buck recovered quickly from the hard impact of the floor.

"You saved my life, Ez," Buck said to Ezra who was still on top of him.

When Ezra didn't respond Buck looked at him. Ezra's eyes were closed and he was seemingly unconscious. Suddenly Buck heard JD gasp in shock.

"Oh my God," Nathan said as he saw blood pooling around the two men on the floor. "Who's hit?"

"Chris, call the paramedics!" Vin yelled as Chris came up to them.

"What happened?" Chris asked as he dialed 911.

"One of the men were still alive and tried to kill Buck and Ezra pushed him out of the way," Josiah said.

"Who's hit?" JD said.

"I'm alright," Buck said. "Is Ezra hit?"

"Yes," Nathan said.

"No," Buck whispered. "Ez? Ezra, wake up. Ezra, wake up!"

"He's unconscious, Buck," Nathan said as he examined Ezra.

"Get him off me!" Buck was starting to panic.

Nathan and Vin gently rolled Ezra off Buck and they all noticed that Ezra was bleeding heavily from his right side. Buck saw a large red stain on his own shirt, realizing that it was Ezra's blood he felt nauseous.

A few minutes later the sirens on the ambulance was heard and soon Ezra was placed on a stretcher and carried to the ambulance. Chris rode in the ambulance with Ezra while the rest of the seven took the ATF van.

5 minutes later Vin had broken at least 3 traffic laws and screeched to a halt in front of the hospital. The men jumped out and rushed to the admissions desk. The nurse behind it immediately recognized them and said:

"Who?"

"Ezra Standish," Josiah said.

"Uhm... He's being prepped for surgery. The bullet is placed between two ribs and punctured a lung."

"God . . .," Buck whispered.

"I will have the doctor come out and talk to you as soon as we know more. But until then all you can do . . .," the nurse said.

"...is wait in the waiting room," Josiah finished.

One and a half hours later Buck nervously paced back and forth in the waiting room. JD sat and flipped through a magazine while Josiah and Nathan sat and talked quietly. Chris and Vin were attempting to find out more about Ezra, but all they got was that he was still in surgery.

Suddenly the doctor came out in the waiting room and he was met by six anxious faces. He looked down into his papers and then to Chris.

"How's he doing?"

"He's still in surgery and it seems to be going well. Although we have a problem though...Mr. Standish has sustained major blood loss."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Buck said.

"Well, Mr. Standish has a rare blood group and we don't have enough blood..."

"I have the same blood type as Ezra!" Buck exclaimed.

"Are you willing to donate blood?" the doctor asked.

"Of course!" Buck said.

Two and a half hours later Buck had donated blood that was now being given to Ezra. Ezra had now come out of surgery and the doctor said that they had been able to remove the bullet and that Ezra's damaged lung was now functioning well again.

After a bit of arguing with the nurses in the ICU the six men were all let into Ezra's room together. As they entered they found Ezra in bed heavily bandaged around the chest and he was hooked up to all kinds of monitors. Buck noticed a bag of blood which was slowly dripping into Ezra arm.

Chris and Vin sat down in two chairs at the end of the bed while Josiah and Nathan sat down by the window. JD and Buck sat down on either side of Ezra, on the bed. Buck gently took Ezra's hand in his and squeezed it.

The six men remained sitting like that for the next two hours. Suddenly Buck felt Ezra's hand twitch in his own. Buck squeezed Ezra's hand a little bit harder and when he felt Ezra respond he quietly said:

"He's coming to."

Soon Ezra's eyes fluttered open and the green eyes looked at the six smiling faces looking at him. After a while Ezra smiled slightly and whispered:

"I am doing alright, gentlemen."

"Ezra . . .," Buck began.

"Mr. Wilmington," Ezra said and first then noticed that Buck was still holding hands with him.

"Are you still mad at me?" Buck asked.

"I . . .," Ezra began but Buck interrupted him.

"You saved my life, Ezra. I'm in your debt forever."

"No big deal," Ezra smiled.

"Well, Buck, you saved Ezra's life too," JD said.

"Whatever do you mean, Mr. Dunne?" Ezra said.

"Well, Ez, I don't know how to break this to ya . . .," Chris said.

"Why do I have the feeling that something horrendous will be coming out of your mouth . . .,?" Ezra said hesitantly.

"You have Buck's blood in your veins," Vin said.

"What!?"

"You know that me and you have the same blood type?" Buck said and Ezra nodded. "Well, the doctor said that they didn't have enough blood so I gave some."

"And they gave it to me?" Ezra was shocked.

"Sorry, Ez. Maybe I shouldn't have done it?" Buck said.

"I assume you want me to be forever grateful?"

"No, I'm not assuming anything," Buck said.

"Thank you," Ezra said and gave and honest, open smile.

"You're more than welcome," Buck said.

"Well, at least now I know why I want to pick up that ugly nurse . . .," Ezra said and nodded towards a blonde nurse outside. "Mr. Wilmington, it seems you have given me some of that horrible taste of yours too..."

This remark made all six men burst out laughing and soon Ezra joined them. Ezra yet again squeezed Buck's hand and mouthed a thank you when nobody else saw.

The End