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Rating:
PG-13 Language
Disclaimer:
The Magnificent Seven is owned by Trilogy, Mirish and MGM. No money
is being made. This fanfic is purely for entertainment purposes
Comments:
Thanks to Mog for starting the ATF/AU. A huge thank you to NotTasha
and Judy for betaing for me. I want to thank Penny, Marla, Heather
and Robin for all their help and encouragement.
This
is just a goofy little story. Please don't take it seriously. I know
that this is most likely *not* how federal agents spend their
workday. <g> I'm just having fun with the guys, they'll get
back to work tomorrow.
Please
let me know what you think. :)
The Handwriting on the Wall
By:
Ruby
The
office area of Chris Larabee's ATF team was quiet, with only a few
of his agents in attendance. Vin Tanner sat in front of his desk,
leaned back in his chair, feet propped up. The young Texan had a grin
on his face as he watched something across the room.
Buck
Wilmington stood beside the sharpshooter. The tall ladies man's
hands rested on his hips, one foot out in front of the other. With
raised eyebrows and an incredulous look on his face, he was also
intently gazing at the far side of the office.
Sitting
on the edge of his seat, with his shoulders hunched forward and his
long black bangs almost covering his eyes, the object of both men's
scrutiny stared at the small computer screen in front of him,
oblivious to their presence.
Shaking
his head, Vin glanced up to Buck. Seeing the tall man's wide eyes
and his smile, he sighed and went back to observing their youngest.
Every
so often, JD's head would tilt to the left and he'd stare at the
screen for a while. Then, cocking his head back to the right, he'd
continue to watch the monitor with rapt attention. JD actually got up
out of his seat once, twisted his upper body to the right, and gazed
at the screen from an upside down advantage point. Finally
straightening back out, he'd harrumph loudly while running his hand
through his unruly black hair. Sitting down hard in his chair, he'd
twirl it around, and around, finally reaching out a hand to stop his
spinning. Then, he'd lean back and shake his head. Reaching forward,
he'd click the mouse and wait for a few seconds before sitting on the
edge of his seat to watch the screen intently again.
The
cycle was repeated over and over.
For
an hour and a half, Vin and Buck had watched Dunne's antics. The
steps weren't always repeated in the same order, but close enough
that the two Federal agents had come to anticipate JD's moves and
pretty much knew what would come next.
Vin
couldn't help but wonder what the heck the kid was doing. And he
knew it was just driving Buck nuts. If it wasn't for the bet the two
men had going, they'd have long since been over there finding out
just what the kid was up to. Quietly, the two men had passed guesses
back and forth, till Buck let the line 'Bet me' spew forth. Vin
grabbed the gauntlet and money was tossed in the pot. Now the two
agents were hell bent on guessing right before they went over there
and busted the kid.
"Whatcha
doin'?"
The
softly spoken question sounded like a gun going off and Buck was
twirling around to confront their attacker. Vin turned his head
sharply at the sound.
Nathan
Jackson walked up to stand between the two men.
Buck,
with his hand still over his heart, quickly spoke. "Hope
someone `round here remembers the number for 911. I might just be
needin' it," he grinned.
"Cute,"
Nathan smiled. "What's up?" He looked from Vin to Buck,
then over to JD.
"Well,
we're tryin' to figure out what in the heck the kid's doin' over
there," Vin answered, softly.
"Oh."
Buck
shook his head. "I'm tellin' you, Vin, the kid's lookin' at porn."
"Yeah,
right," Vin scoffed.
"Well,
it's better'n your ideas," Buck countered. "I can't
believe you thought he was-"
Holding
up his hand, Nathan interrupted Buck. "Have either of you
considered the possibility that he's over there...," he paused,
raising his eyebrows in mock disbelief, "working?"
Buck
laughed, hitting Vin on the arm as he rolled his eyes. "Think,
Nathan." He tapped his finger against his temple. "Chris is
gone. Won't be back for a while. Who's gonna be workin'?" He
shook his head, snorting in disbelief.
Vin
grinned at both men. "Yeah, Nate, where you been? When the
cat's away, the mice play." He glanced over at JD. "I just
wanna know what that little rat is up to." Smiling, he looked
back at his friends as he slowly stood up. Stretching cramped
muscles, he reached for the sky. Twisting his neck from side to side
he heard it pop and looked satisfactorily at the two men. "It's
time to find out."
*****
JD
jumped a foot in the air. Twirling around on his feet, he fell
backwards, landing hard on his desk, butt first. "Holy hell,
Buck! Scare the living daylights outta me, why don't you?!" He
rubbed the back of his head where Wilmington had slapped him to get
his attention.
"Whatcha
doin', kid?" Vin asked, leaning to the right, trying to see the
computer screen behind JD's body.
"Nothin'."
He smiled sheepishly.
"Don't
look like nothin' to me, JD," Buck narrowed his eyes. "Just
what have you been doin' over here?"
JD
didn't move. With a stubborn look, he leaned back, effectively
covering his computer screen from prying eyes.
"We
ain't Chris, kid. You can tell us." Vin crossed his arms in
front of his chest.
JD
didn't move an inch.
"What's
up, JD?" Nathan asked, curious.
JD
looked over at the medic. Sighing, he shook his head. "Nothin',
Nate. Really." Embarrassed, he looked down, feeling his ears
burn. "I was just...I'm...well..." He looked up, then
finally threw his arms down and slid off the desk, sitting back in
his seat. "Fine." He held his hand out to the monitor,
inviting his inquisitive friends to have a look. "Inquiring
minds, and all," he harrumphed under his breath.
He
watched as his three friends stared at the monitor. He couldn't help
giggling at their baffled expressions.
"It's
just a gray box." Vin shook his head.
"Looks
like a picture of a brick wall," Nathan replied.
"What
the hell?" Buck asked. "I figured for sure it was
nekk-" A hard elbow to the ribs silenced him. Buck glared at Vin
for a second before turning his attention back to the screen.
"Okay.
I give. What is it?"
JD
shrugged his shoulders. "Well," he looked back at the
monitor, "I found this site this mornin'." He pointed to
the small, gray picture. "See, this is a wall in a buildin' that
was built over Portland, Oregon's very first cemetery. People say
that they've seen objects appear on the wall - handwriting, pictures,
things like that. They have a camera trained on the wall and they say
if you watch it long enough, you'll see something." He looked
back up at his friends, wondering what he'd see on their faces.
Buck,
his eyes narrowed, stared skeptically at the screen.
Grinning,
Vin shook his head.
Nathan
looked interested as he studied the small gray wall.
JD
turned back to the monitor. "Here." He clicked the mouse.
"You're supposed to refresh the screen every few minutes. The
picture will be updated."
Buck
laughed. "If you ask me, all this is a bunch of hooey!"
"I
don't know, Buck. The page says that mysterious events have happened
there," JD answered.
"Just
`cause someone says somethin's true, don't mean it is," Buck admonished.
"I
know that, Buck. I'm not a kid, you know," JD rolled his eyes.
JD
looked up to catch the three men grinning at each other.
"What?" He asked. "Well, I'm not."
"Okay,
JD." Buck grabbed him by the head, giving him a Dutch rub.
JD
squirmed out from Buck's grasp. "Stop it, Buck. I'm being
serious here."
Vin
looked down, a wry grin on his face.
JD
looked back at the screen. "Laugh all ya want, but people have
written about the things they've seen." He moved the mouse.
"Here, look at this."
The
three men moved closer. Another page with a list of links was pulled
up. Each link went to a page where a person had written their
comments about what they'd seen on the wall. Sometimes a link to a
screen capture that they'd taken of the wall would be included in the comments.
Nathan
was just behind JD's left shoulder. Nudging JD's arm, he spoke while
pointing at the screen. "Here, JD, click on this link."
"Very
small face," JD read out loud. "Hey, there's a pic."
"Well,
click on it."
All
four men watched as a new small gray box came up on the screen.
"Say's that there's a face in one of the blocks." Buck
read. "You see a face, Vin?"
"Nah."
Vin paused for a second, and then spoke seriously. "Wait."
Squinting, he shifted his head to the left. "If ya turn this
way. Yeah, right there." He pointed to the screen. "It's Hoffa."
Buck
snorted. "We found 'im'," he laughed, slapping Vin on the back.
Bobbing
his eybrows, Buck suddenly pointed at the screen. "Hey, you
guys see what I see?" Grinning wolfishly, he put both hands out
in front of him, outlining a women's hips in the air. "Oh,
yeah!" Leering at the screen, he whistled.
"Oh,
Buck! Yer so full of crap!" JD rolled his eyes. He reached out
and pushed him, laughing when his best friend lost his balance and
fell into Tanner. Vin caught the chortling ladies man and pulled him
back upright.
JD
looked up to see that Nathan was still watching the screen with
interest. He cocked his head toward the monitor. "You believe
any of this, Nathan?" He asked earnestly.
The
tall black man ran a hand down his face. "Well, JD, down in the
South, there's lots of stories - things that never could have
happened, but people absolutely swear that they did. The plantations,
Civil War battlefields, the cemeteries are chock full of unusual
occurrences. I guess I've always kept an open mind about these things."
"You
ever see anything, Nate?" Vin asked, studying his friend thoughtfully.
Nathan
looked over at the sharpshooter, then down. "I've seen some
things," he answered quietly.
When
no other information was forthcoming the other men let the subject
drop and went back to watching the screen.
"Pffffffffttttttt!"
Buck suddenly guffawed.
"What?
What's so dang funny, Buck?"
Buck
pointed at the screen. He couldn't talk, he was laughing so hard.
Finally, wiping his eyes, he got his mirth under control. "This
one," he pointed at the screen. "Three faces and a...,"
laughing again, he barely got the word out, "...a turtle!"
He leaned over, grabbing his stomach while laughing hysterically.
Vin
chuckled. "Well, Buck, maybe it died there. Wants its
revenge." He widened his eyes imitating a zombie.
All
four men were now laughing.
JD
clicked on the link for the turtle. "Ah, no pic."
"I'd
sure like to've seen that one, JD," Vin smirked.
The
men went through more comments, mostly laughing at them. Not once
did any of the men see what was supposedly in the picture.
"JD,
can you go on back to that first page with the wall? We'll see if we
can see anything," asked Nathan, the only one out of the four
who still seemed curious.
JD
obliged. "Here ya go, Nate."
The
four agents stared at the screen for a good five minutes.
"It's
nice to see the taxpayer's hard earned money being well spent,"
Chris spoke from behind them.
The
four men jumped. Turning around, they tried to hide the screen from
their boss.
"Chris!
Hey, old buddy." Buck looked at the other three men, then back
to his old friend. "Didn't think you'd be back for a while."
"Really?"
Larabee asked sardonically, his eyes half hooded.
"Chris,
we were just...um...well...we're..." JD looked to his friends
for support.
Vin
shrugged his shoulders and Nathan stayed silent.
Chris
motioned for the men to move away from the screen. They complied and
he stepped forward. He raised his eyebrows, "I don't even want
to know what this is all about."
The
four busted ATF agents shifted uncomfortably.
Chris
was silent for a long moment, staring at the screen the whole while.
Rubbing his chin, he cocked his head to the side as he leaned
forward, his eyes narrowed. Placing his finger on the lower left
corner of the wall, he finally spoke, "Hey, is this a turtle?"
the
end (November 2000)
Sequel:
Live
Cams
I
used to have the link for The Wall here...but they took it down. How
sad. It's all
NotTasha's fault really. <g> I'd never have found the site if I
hadn't seen the link on her page. Anyway, thanks NotTasha, I've had a
ball looking at all the comments there. Oh yeah, the three faces and
a turtle comment really is there! Take a look. :)
Comments
Please let me know what you think. I'd love to know.
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