Hey all! So all I've done so far have been little one parters. Here I am with my first multi parter. Hopefully, one of several. Big HUGE thanks to Lisa C for her beta help! This is still a work in progress, but I really wanted to share what I have so far, so here we go.

Disclaimer: Mag 7 does not belong to me. Very sad. Credit for the ATF AU goes to Mog.

Title: Out of the Past

Author: Lanna
Email:
Category: Gen
Universe: ATF
Main Characters: JD/Seven
Rating/Warning: Um, I'm putting this as a mature rating due to mentions of child abuse/murder along with mentions of animal cruelty. Plus language and violence.
Summary: One year ago, JD Dunne quit his job and disappeared. Now, Vin Tanner has tracked him down and means to discover just what, or who, JD is running from.

Out of the Past

Prologue

Los Angeles, California: Present time:

Vin Tanner was a patient man. Being an ex bounty hunter, Army Ranger and current ATF agent, he had to be. But he was starting to get a little restless, sitting in his rental car, staking out the building across the street-something he had been doing all day now-waiting for his target to show himself. Waiting for the man that he and the rest of Team 7 had spent the last year searching for, and hoping that this wasn't yet another dead end. There had been a lot of dead ends and, as disheartening as they were, the team were not will willing to give up until they found the man they sought and got answers.

Until they found JD Dunne.

A year earlier, Team 7's youngest member had started behaving strangely in the wake of a call from an old friend back east. A few weeks later, he had suddenly quit his job, left a video message saying goodbye and asking that they not look for him, and disappeared. Though not completely, it seemed. On the third month anniversary of his leaving, all their computers had suddenly gone blank at the exact same time for a period of five seconds, only to come back on with the message, "I'm okay," in large, bold letters. The message had stayed there for a total of ten seconds before the screens went black again and then returned to normal. The incident was repeated again on the sixth month anniversary and again at the one year mark just a couple of weeks ago.

Tech support had been in a tizzy trying to trace the source to no avail. JD was just too good to allow himself to be tracked electronically.

Sighing, Vin looked at the scan of the newspaper article he had with him. The caption read, 'Securetek Industries Celebrates Fifteen Years of Top Security Performance.' Below the headline was a picture featuring a group of proudly smiling people. Well, all but one was smiling. On the edge of the group, bearing a circle around him, was a young man with black hair well past his shoulders and thick glasses. He stared at the camera, clearly uncomfortable with having his picture taken. While the others had been identified by first and last name, the young man was identified only as 'Kyle.'

Vin received the scan in an email two days earlier from an old bounty hunter friend, Karl Stanley. After JD disappeared, the remaining men, disregarding his request not to look for him, sent his picture out to every contact, friend and associate they could think of, asking that they be contacted immediately with any and all information. Between the six of them, they had pretty much the whole country covered, avoiding the media just in case JD had been in some kind of trouble, based on what had gone on.

Karl Stanley was a retired hunter living in L.A. In the email he sent the article in, he said, 'Vin, long time, boy! Hope you've stayed sharp! I picked up the paper yesterday and saw this article. Call me crazy, but the kid I've circled looks like he could be the one you're looking for. His hair is longer and he's wearing glasses, but he might be worth checking out. Don't be a stranger, kid! Drop me a ling some time! Would love to hear for you. Karl.'

Vin smiled a little as he thought of the old hunter. The man was a legend among Bounty Hunters, one who Vin had the honor of spending some time with back when he was hunting. The man was right. The kid in the picture certainly could be JD. But then, so could the young men in many of the other pictures they had received over the year. Having kept that in mind, Vin had printed the email off and gone into Chris' office to discuss it with him. They decided that Vin would go check it out, but that they wouldn't tell the others. All the dead ends were beginning to take their toll and they feared that Buck, in particular, wouldn't be able to handle another one that looked so promising. So, Vin had taken the first flight out, only telling the others that he was going to visit a sick friend. That way, if it didn't pan out, they would be spared that terrible pain of disappointment over yet another failure.

Arriving in Los Angeles yesterday, he found the address of the Securetek the article was about and spent the current day watching and waiting. And waiting...and waiting. It was now close to five in the afternoon, and Vin was starting to wonder if he would have to come back for another go tomorrow, when the building door opened and the object of his stake out emerged, a ball cap jammed on his head.

Vin quickly slouched further down in his seat, watching as his target glanced quickly around, then started off down the street. He waited a moment, then got out of the car and crossed the street, following at a discreet distance. They ended up at a parking garage a couple of blocks away and he took up a position, waiting to see what his target came out in. A few minutes later, the young man emerged driving a familiar looking crotch rocket that set Vin's heart pounding.

Knowing that it could just be a coincidence, that there were thousands of bikes just like that all over the country, Vin quickly memorized the plate, then made his way back to his car. Grabbing the laptop he brought with him, he got online and logged into the ATF Database. Finding the tool he needed, he entered the plate number and, a moment later, up popped the information that he needed.

"Kyle Daniels. 122 Kentwood Drive North East, apt 402," Vin read out loud. He eyes were drawn to the picture and he clicked on it, a smile crossing his lips as a nice, big, full color picture popped up. "Gotcha now, kid," he whispered. Calling up a map, he studied the directions, then put the computer aside and pulled into traffic, heading for his next destination.

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He pulled up outside an apartment complex a half hour later. He sat for a few minutes, studying the area, then got out and went up to the front door, scanning the names on the buzzer board and confirming that 'Kyle' was indeed in 402. Figuring it was unlikely that the kid would let him if he buzzed, and not wanting to spook him, Vin decided to wait and see if an opportunity presented itself. Returning to the car, he settled in for another wait, which turned out not to be very long. About forty minutes later, Vin watched as a pizza delivery car pulled up, and decided to take a chance.

Hurrying across the street, he called out, "Hey kid! you here for 402?"

The delivery boy looked up and nodded, and Vin smiled. "Great. What do I owe you?"

"Fifteen ten," the kid replied with a quick glance at the bill.

Vin pulled out a twenty, told the kid to keep the change, then took the pizza and headed for the door. He buzzed the unit and a moment later, JD's voice filtered out. "Yes?"

"Pizza," Vin answered, doing his best to disguise his voice. The door unlocked and Vin headed in, taking the elevator up to the fourth flood and easily finding 402. Raising the box to hide his face, he knocked on the door, raising an eyebrow as he heard JD call out, "Who is it?"

"Pizza!" Vin answered.

There was a pause, followed by the sound of several locks turning, then the door opened slowly and JD quietly asked, "What do I owe you?"

Lowering the box, Vin said, "Nothing. It's on me." He watched JD freeze, his mouth opening in shock, eyes widening behind the large glasses, and couldn't help the little smile that crossed his lips. "Hello, JD. Long time no see, kid."