Vin stood and started to approach the wagon. He was listening to Buck frantically trying to wake Chris, and the tracker's heart was beating furiously as his mind imagined the possible scenarios. Tanner stopped abruptly when he heard...

"What!? What the hell's the matter with you, Buck?" Larabee's hoarse morning voice said as he reluctantly opened his eyes. He had lain awake for a while in the middle of the night, and had only fallen back into a deep sleep an hour or two ago.

"Jesus Christ, Chris!" Buck took the tan hat off of his head and whacked his old friend with it. "I thought you were dead, you bastard."

Chris sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "Why in the hell did you think I was dead?"

"Yer damn pulse must still be weak from loosin' blood 'cause I sure as hell couldn't find it, and Ezra said the Spikes' kid kicked you in the stomach," Buck took a deep breath, "dang if you didn't just scare 10 years off of my life."

Chris just grinned and patted Wilmington on the shoulder as he scooted out to the end of wagon to sit beside Ezra. "Can't believe you thought I was dead. I'm fine, Buck…but I am going to require your assistance."

"Yeah yeah," Buck gathered himself and jumped down from the wagon to assist Chris with a man's morning routine. He then escorted both he and Ezra over to the campfire. Both men were doing surprisingly well. Buck could feel each of them taking a fair amount of their own weight when walking, although he still kept his arm around their waist at all times. "You two are gonna be back on yer feet in no time, 'specially once we make it back to town…..with real beds and real food."

"….and real whiskey," Chris smiled.

"In yer dreams, Larabee," Vin shook his head.

Larabee had been scrutinizing the tracker since he sat down by the campfire. Honestly, it was hard to judge any of their conditions. They were all tired, dirty and disheleved. He didn't have any idea how Vin had convinced Nathan to let him come looking for them, but he was sure glad he did. "How're you feelin', Vin?"

"I'm fine," the long-haired man answered, and then followed up with, "well, at least a hell of a lot better than I was," when he saw the look of skepticism on Chris' face.

They soon began making preparations to hit the trail. Vin and Buck hitched Nettie's horses to the wagon and saddled Pony.

"Which one of ya is ridin' my horse?" Chris just now noticed it was Pony that Buck was readying, "and where the hell is Peso?"

"Nettie rode my horse," Vin replied, "Buck drew the short straw, so he got yer black beast, although maybe not as short as JD, who got to deal with Ezra's monster of a horse."

"Chaucer is a fine animal, Mr. Tanner, as long as one treats him as such."

Vin laughed and changed the subject, "what are we gonna do with those two?"

"Leave 'em," Chris answered, "their kin'll come lookin' for 'em."

"Sounds fine to me," Vin stood and approached the two captives, "you hear that? When your kin get here and untie you, you just ride right on back to Illinois…..'cause if I see yer faces around here again, I will shoot ya."

Buck added, "and ya won't like where he'll shoot ya."

"Whatta ya say we load up and get the hell out of here?" Chris asked and actually made it to his feet by himself. He didn't have to stand long. Vin quickly threw Larabee's arm over his shoulder. Buck assisted Ezra to his feet and over towards the wagon.

"I think I could drive," Chris offered. Buck was behind Larabee and quickly looked at Vin and shook his head, no.

"I'm gonna drive," Vin instructed, "but you and Ezra can sit up in the back….if you don't wanna lie down."

"Gee, thanks," Chris rolled his eyes but crawled up into the wagon bed as instructed. He had already decided that he would sit today, and it looked like Ezra was going to as well. Both men positioned themselves against the opposite outside walls of the wagon.

"And we're off," Vin smacked the reins and the horses made their way back to the main trail.

A couple of hours later they ran into JD and Nathan with the "ransom" wagon full of supplies.

"Howdy, boys," Buck rode up to them. "You can turn around and head on back. We got all of our merchandise back in good shape, including Ez and Chris."

"You sure about that, Buck," Nathan tried to get a look at his patients from a distance.

Chris saw Nathan standing on the wagon and holding his hand up to block the sun glare. "We're fine, Nate," the blond yelled, "you can sit down and relax."

Ezra, too, waved at Nathan, and said, "doing wonderfully, Mr. Jackson...no worries."

As Vin drove his wagon past, Nathan settled back on the seat and yelled back, "I'll check those two liars out once we make it back to town."

"Anybody hungry? We've got a TON of food in here," JD smiled and grabbed an apple from a basket and took a big bite. He then tossed another one to Vin, who caught it beautifully with one hand.

"Thanks, JD," Vin chomped the sweet fruit and looked to his passengers, "you boys want anything?"

Chris looked at Ezra, who shook his head. "We'll keep," answered Larabee.

The journey home took another two and a half hours.

"Let's get those two up to the clinic," Nathan said as soon as he dismounted from the wagon back in Four Corners, "you too Vin."

"I would prefer a stop by the bathhouse on the way," Ezra looked at the approaching healer.

Before Nathan could argue, Chris simply said, "agreed."

"You're gonna get your bandages wet," the dark-skinned man countered.

"Who cares….if you're gonna take 'em off and change 'em anyway?" Larabee asked.

"Fine," Nathan relented. "I imagine Buck is lookin' to take a bath too, so I guess JD and Josiah are gonna have to help me with these three." Nate, JD, and Josiah had been able to clean up the previous evening when they had ridden into town.

Once the men were fully-immersed in the warm water, Nathan cut away the soaked bandages. He would have to wait to examine Chris' and Ezra's incisions and the burn wounds to Buck, Vin, and Chris' legs until they got back to the clinic, but Nathan took advantage of the relaxed tracker and checked out the bullet wound to his shoulder. It had now been four days since the men had been shot, and the healer was impressed. It was still sore. Vin had tensed and pulled away when he pressed against the exit wound to check for any infection, but the stitches looked good and there was minimal redness.

Ezra had washed, shaved, and then promptly fallen asleep in the tub. Josiah gently woke him when it was time to get dressed and head up to Nathan's clinic. Vin had already accompanied the healer to have his leg wound examined, and his shoulder re-bandaged. Buck was dressed and ready to assist Chris.

The men had already gotten a whiff of the mouth-watering smell before they made it to the clinic stairs. At the top, on the landing outside, was an enormous spread of homemade food and desserts.

"Help yourselves, gentlemen," Mary invited. The town had already made plans and preparations to have a memorial feast today when they thought Buck, Chris, and Vin had been killed in the burning barn. Everyone was more than happy to change the celebration from a funeral to a welcome home feast.

Chris had to rapidly take charge of his own legs and support, as Buck let go and walked away to grab a chicken wing.

"Buck!" JD said as he quickly moved next to Larabee in case his assistance was needed, although he too couldn't wait to get his hands on all of the amazing food.

"What?" Buck said with a mouth full of chicken. It had been over a day since he had eaten anything even resembling a meal. He and Vin had ridden through supper the evening before to find Chris and Ezra and then settled for coffee for breakfast that morning.

The aroma had even awakened Ezra from his sleepy state, and his stomach growled in anticipation. He just hoped he would able to keep it down. He and Chris had not had solid food for nearly 5 days.

"Let me get you two bandaged up, and then you can eat," Nathan smiled at the drooling peacekeepers.

Vin was already back outside and piling a plate full of food. "Dang Vin, leave some of the desserts for the rest of us too," Buck joked as he walked past with Chris and JD into the clinic.

Ezra was already on one of the beds, and Chris headed for the other one. Standish closed his eyes for a moment, waiting for Nathan. Lying on a real bed felt unbelievably good. His eyes quickly shot open when the healer's cold hands started pushing and probing at his side.

"I take it that still hurts a bit," Nathan clearly saw the change in expression.

"A bit, yes," Ezra hissed out.

"It actually looks pretty good, Ezra," Jackson marveled, as he set about re-bandaging the gambler's side and ribs. "Ya just need to eat...and drink good, healthy things for the next week or two, and you should heal up and get your strength back. Your rib'll be sore for a while, but that just takes time."

Nathan turned to the man on the adjacent bed, "same for you, Chris. No drinkin' and no fightin' for a couple of weeks, and you'll be good as new." Nathan stopped and examined the stitches a bit closer on Larabee. "Looks like your stitches got pulled and bled a bit, but it's stopped now." It just now dawned on the healer that he didn't really know what had happened with these two yesterday. He assumed that Vin and Buck had found them and rescued them easily from the Spikes' boys, but now he felt like he had to ask, "what did happen after those boys found out they had taken you two instead of a wagon full of supplies?"

Chris glanced to his left and green eyes met green. "Nothin' really," Chris said, and Buck, who was now on his second plate of food, huffed. "Vin and Buck showed up before dark, and we decided to leave those boys for the rest of their clan to find 'em."

Nathan looked from Chris to Ezra to Buck and finally to Vin. "You fought with 'em? You couldn't even stand up, Chris."

"Where the hell did that come from?" Chris looked around then to see who had ratted him out, "I didn't say nothin' about fightin' anybody."

"You're sportin' a fresh black eye, and yer stitches got opened up some."

Shit, Chris had forgotten about Larry Spikes hitting him in the face. "Maybe I fell down…I don't remember." The Larabee glare was in full effect now with everyone in the room.

Josiah cleared his throat loudly, "Should I get Chris and Ezra some food?"

Chris nodded his thanks to the big man for the offer…and for changing the subject.

"Yeah," Nathan gave Chris a glance that said this wasn't the end of it, but he knew everyone was hungry. "Just don't get 'em anything too rich."

"There's no chance of that anyway," Buck laughed, "Vin's already eaten it all." Buck stood to head back outside himself.

Vin yelled after him, "look who's talkin'. Think that's plate number three for you, Bucklin."

Through the doorway, they heard, "you're on at least plate number four, ya mangy-lookin' pig."

It was true. Vin had eaten so much that he thought his stomach might burst, but the food was excellent…..and damnit, he was hungry.

JD wasn't going to say a word, but he was heading back for his third trip as well.

Chris and Ezra made due with one plate each, and they were able to keep it all down. Town folks wandered in and out of the clinic to say, "hi," and see how the men were doing as they grabbed food for themselves.

Despite already being stuffed, Vin couldn't help but grab one more piece of cobbler that evening.

Chris saw the skinny Texan leaning back in his chair and holding his hand over his stomach. "Ya wanna trade spots?" Larabee laughed. "Looks like you need to lie down more than I do, and you better unbutton yer pants before you bust somethin'."

"Already did," Vin smirked, as the others in the room chuckled. No one had any idea how a man that lean could eat so much. "You're all just jealous, and ya know it."

"If you puke on my floor, you're cleanin' it up," Nathan continued the teasing, "actually that goes for all of you."

Josiah and JD groaned and rose to their feet. As much as they wanted to simply sit there and digest, someone had to help Mary, Nettie, and Mrs. Potter return dishes to their rightful owners and help clean up.

"Be sure to thank all the town folks for us," Chris yelled out to JD and Josiah's retreating forms. In truth, Larabee was almost embarrassed by the lavish welcome. Most of the seven had not had anyone who cared that much about whether they returned home for a long time. He couldn't believe anyone, much less an entire town, would go to that much trouble on his and his men's behalf.

"You two," Nathan motioned to Buck and Vin, "need to get out of here and get a good night's sleep. I'm sure you're tired, and these two need to do the same," now indicating it was Ezra and Chris he was referring to.

"Just roll me to my wagon, Buck," Vin stood with his hand still resting on his stomach, and Wilmington gave him a gentle shove towards the door.

"I think I'm gonna head to my room too," Nathan yawned, his mind and body finally starting to relax now that everyone was back home, "just give a holler if you need anything."

He turned down the lights and made his way to his bed in the adjoining room.

"Ezra?" Chris spoke after a few minutes of silence, "you still awake?"

"That I am, sir."

"Thank you."

"For what, Mr. Larabee?"

"For savin' my life."

Ezra remained silent but turned to his right. Chris' hair glowed an orange-red color in the dim light of the lantern, and the seven's leader was propped up on his side looking at Standish.

Chris continued, "Buck told me that you shot Wiles and Tom Spikes. Either, or both, of them would have finished me off, and probably Vin and Buck too….if you hadn't rode in there. How did you know we were bein' set up?"

"It was simply an intuition that I had," Ezra thought back on that day, "there was an unknown young man in town, and he coincidentally rode out not long after Mr. Wiles did."

"You've been hangin' around Vin too much."

"That may be, Mr. Larabee, and I will work to remedy that," Ezra smiled, "and do my best to insure that it does not happen again in the future."

"So you're sayin' you should have ignored your gut?" it was Chris' turn to smile.

"Yes, I probably should have," Standish looked away from Larabee's green stare, "but I'm certainly glad that I didn't."

"I'm glad you didn't too, Ezra," Chris said quietly, and the two men drifted off into a much-needed and much-deserved sleep.

THE END

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