Prequel to: A Well-Deserved Reward

Three weeks.

Chris paced back and forth in his office with a look on his face of compounded anger and concern. For three weeks Ezra had been undercover on a grueling, hellishly dangerous assignment, and most of that time he'd been cut off from any contact with his backup at all -- most of that time he hadn't had any backup at all, thanks to the FBI's interference in the case and in spite of Team Seven's best efforts. They'd made the bust this morning at ten-thirty amid a rain of bullets, snatched Ezra away from two of the arresting FBI agents who were trying to 'make it look good' by roughing him up, and had carted him back to the office at Travis' insistence...

...At which point the judge had demanded that the Southern agent immediately come into the conference room to be grilled by himself and everyone else who'd had a finger in that particular pie. Travis had refused to allow anyone from Team Seven to accompany Ezra, hadn't even allowed him to so much as get a drink or have Nathan check over his injuries, and the 'short debriefing' had now been going on for three hours. "What are they trying to do, kill him?!" Chris ranted.

"Nope, just break him," Vin drawled from the couch -- but in spite of his apparently relaxed position he looked every bit as worried and angry as Chris. "Don't think anybody in that room would much care if he keeled over dead, though." When Chris growled the sharpshooter blew out a frustrated breath. "Pard, we've talked about this before, you wearin' a hole in the carpet or snappin' at me ain't gonna change the situation. Travis weren't none too happy when you told him what was goin' on and he's takin' the whole thing out on Ez."

"I know," Chris huffed out. "But dammit! How was I supposed to know the old bastard was homophobic? He'd always backed us up before, I just thought..."

"You thought you were protectin' the team by bein' honest with him," Vin finished for him. He peeled himself up off the soft leather and walked over to his lover, stopping the constant movement by grabbing hold of Chris and giving him a little shake. "Cowboy, you have got to get it together. When Ez comes out of that room he's gonna need us, and if you're runnin' hot and cold mad like this he's gonna pull away from you 'cause he won't understand it ain't directed at him -- remember, he's been livin' in Hell for three weeks and now that room full of brass bastards are draggin' him back through it again to make sure he didn't miss a spot." He leaned forward and kissed the hard line of Larabee's mouth tenderly until he felt it soften under his insistent lips, then pulled back again to look into his eyes. "Chris, we gotta be thinkin' about this, about what the three of us have and what we're gonna do to keep it, not about how damn mad we are at our boss."

Chris looked down into Vin's bright blue eyes, seeing a banked rage there that equaled his own but also the love the sharpshooter had for he and Ezra -- enough love that he was willing to put his anger aside for the moment. He smiled slightly, raising one hand to caress Vin's cheek. "What did I ever do so right to deserve either of you?" he asked, shaking his head. "You're right, I have to control myself or I'm just gonna make it worse for all of us. Now what do you say we go plant ourselves outside the conference room door, and if they aren't out in five more minutes we go in and rescue our better half?"

Vin let him know in no uncertain terms that he was agreeable to that, and the two of them left the private haven of Chris' office and stalked to the conference room's closed double doors...and then they stood there, side by side, waiting. The rest of Team Seven left their desks and joined them, forming a supportive wall at their backs but not saying a word; they were all angry, and they would back whatever play their leader saw fit to make. Luckily, the doors opened before time was up.

Ezra stepped out alone, his head down and his shoulders bowed with weariness. He looked up when he realized his path was blocked, his light green eyes dull and dark-circled in his pale face, and there was a question in those eyes that almost broke his lovers' hearts. "Another minute and we would have been comin' in after you, Ez," Vin answered softly.

"Are they done?" Chris wanted to know. The smaller man nodded and started forward again, and Larabee quickly moved in to grab his arm when he saw that Ezra's knees were starting to buckle. Vin was just as quick to wrap a supportive arm around their lover's waist, frowning over the bowed head at Chris when he felt Ezra trembling. The team leader nodded. "Come on, Ez, let's get you off your feet..."

Travis came out at that point, the FBI and IA officials trailing behind and then detouring around him on their way to the elevator. The judge looked sourly at the men clustered around the undercover agent. "Don't you gentlemen have work you should be doing? Agent Standish isn't the only one whose report I expect on my desk by the end of the day."

Chris stiffened. With a jerk of his head he motioned Nathan to take his place with Ezra. "Take him to my office and check him out," he ordered. "I'll be right behind you." He took in the warning look Vin shot him, waited until his men had disappeared and then made eye contact with the lead agent from Internal Affairs, who was frowning thoughtfully. When the other agent gave him a small nod Chris turned his attention to the judge. "Judge Travis, you'll have Team Seven's reports next week as per the regulations that say we have five working days to complete them under normal circumstances."

Travis' jaw set. "I said today, Agent Larabee, and I meant today -- these aren't normal circumstances. Starting Monday you have a new case..."

"No."

The judge's eyebrows nearly hit his hairline at the flat denial. "What do you mean no?! You will be starting your next assigned case first thing Monday morning, I'll have the preliminary information down here within the hour and I expect to meet with the seven of you about it tomorrow."

"You'll either have to delay the start of that assignment until Wednesday or get another team," Chris replied coolly. "My men will be coming in tomorrow to finish their reports and we'll look over your information then, we'll meet with you to go over the details of the case on Monday or Tuesday." He took a deep breath to maintain his control, mindful of Vin's silent warning. "My undercover agent just came off an assignment that was in no way what it was represented to us as by the other federal agency involved and was then forced by you to debrief right after the bust this morning without even being allowed to go to the bathroom first -- and you've had him in there better than three hours without a break. He's exhausted and quite possibly hurt..."

"Hurt?" Denby, the IA agent who had stayed behind, was beginning to look interested. "You're telling us you think Agent Standish was injured in some way, Agent Larabee? Why do you think that and why don't you know for sure?"

"Two of the...other agents at the bust went a little overboard taking him into custody," was Larabee's answer. "But I wasn't allowed the time to let anyone check him over, so I have no idea how much or how little damage may have been done before Buck intervened -- or if he'd sustained any other injuries during the past three weeks that we haven't had opportunity to hear about." He folded his arms across his chest. "I think my agent has been through enough today. I refuse to tie him to a desk for the rest of the afternoon and probably on into the night when the regulations say it isn't necessary."

Travis had actually paled a little, and Chris could only hope he'd made the man see what he'd been doing. Denby looked from one man to the other and restrained himself from shaking his head at the judge; he wasn't sure what was going on, but he'd thought something was off about the way the man was treating Standish during the briefing and now he knew he'd been right. He also made a note to contact one of his counterparts in the FBI about their two 'overboard' agents, that sounded like a definite breach of conduct in the field and someone would need to get on it right away. "Judge Travis," he asked smoothly. "Is this a situation Internal Affairs should be concerned about?"

"It's partially my fault, I think, Agent Denby," Chris jumped in before the judge could say anything. He knew Denby as a fair man and knew he wouldn't officially involve IA unless he had to...and the last thing they needed in this situation was an official investigation. He'd only signaled the man to stay as a way to make sure Travis didn't dismiss him out of hand. "I was having a meeting a while back with the judge and said something to him about Standish that I think he must have taken the wrong way. I believe now that it's come to a head we can probably work it out ourselves without you boys having to get involved."

Denby sighed in a put-upon way but with amusement in his eyes as he shook his head. "No one ever wants us involved, Agent Larabee, I'm used to it. But if you can't work it out give me a call and I'll arrange for mediation." He smiled slightly -- at Chris, not Travis. "We're there to help if you need us, remember. And I'd hate to see our best team break down because of a...misunderstanding."

"I wouldn't like that either," Travis agreed gravely. "But I think Chris is right, Agent Denby, I'm sure we can work this out ourselves."

The Internal Affairs agent took his leave, but Travis had barely opened his mouth before Chris was talking again. "I don't want to hear it right now," he said. "With no respect intended, sir, pull your head out of your ass; it takes two to tango, or in this case three. And no matter what your personal opinion is of our lifestyle there was no excuse for what you pulled on Standish today, none at all." Without waiting for a response he turned on his heel and walked back toward his office and his two lovers, leaving the older man standing openmouthed and rather shell-shocked in his wake.

Nathan had pronounced Ezra dehydrated, underweight and thoroughly bruised, but his medical opinion was that the undercover agent would be fine after a few days of rest and regular meals. Ezra had concurred while protesting that he was fine right now, but the other six men had overridden him and helped Chris and Vin bundle him into Larabee's truck for a long weekend at the ranch. The Southerner had fallen asleep ten minutes into the ride and had barely awakened enough to walk partially under his own power into the house, where his lovers had stripped off his clothes and tucked him into the center of their bed. He'd awakened the next morning and tried to convince the other two agents that they really should put in at least a token appearance at the office, but his silver tongue couldn't argue as persuasively as the still-dark circles beneath his eyes or the colorful bruises decorating his slightly too-visible ribs and so Chris and Vin both stayed put. Unfortunately they also wanted him to stay put in bed, something Ezra really didn't want to do.

Chris and Vin had anticipated that. Ezra might appear lazy to people who didn't know him, but in reality he was easily bored and couldn't stay inactive for long. And since right now active was something he didn't need to be, his two lovers had concocted a plan they hoped would force him to get some much needed rest.

After Ezra's third attempt to get out of bed and get dressed, instead of forcing him back under the covers Chris instead pulled him into the bathroom where Vin was just finishing filling the Jacuzzi-sized whirlpool tub with water, and when the smaller man opened his mouth to comment Chris captured his parted lips in a breath-stealing kiss and didn't let go until Ezra was almost limp in his arms. Vin stepped in at that point and the two of them helped their lover into the hot water and then stripped off their own clothes and joined him. He opened his mouth again, but this time Vin's questing tongue was there to stop him. "Vin and I have plans for you, so from this moment you can consider yourself to be completely under our control," Chris informed him with a chuckle, running his fingers through Ezra's hair before picking up a washcloth. "No comments, complaints or suggestions allowed, got it? All you're going to do is lay back and enjoy."

Vin pulled back and grabbed a washcloth of his own and the two of them began to gently but thoroughly bathe every inch of their lover's compact body. Ezra watched them with a slight frown. "The others..."

"Won't be comin' around until Sunday," Vin told him. "Guess we'll have to let you have your clothes back then." He stroked across Ezra's ribs, firmly enough not to tickle, and frowned himself. "Don't usually lose this much weight when you're under, baby."

Ezra blinked at him, having forgotten that the other men only knew the barest details of the past three weeks of his life. "Reno was running two days after I got in," he explained. "We never remained in one place longer than a few days, and since he was using rather heavily food had ceased to be any sort of priority for him. He quickly became so paranoid that I was walking on eggshells just to keep him from turning on me, and I developed a real fear of him killing me in my sleep." He shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the side of the tub. "I was never so relieved in my life as when the lights came on in that warehouse yesterday morning and I saw all of you there waiting for us."

Chris stopped washing and so did Vin, and Ezra let out a sigh when he was abruptly enfolded in a warm dual embrace. He wrapped one arm around each of his lovers but didn't open his eyes. "It's all right, you got me back."

"You should never have been there in the first place," Chris murmured into his hair. "God, Ezra, when the FBI lost you...I know I've said this before, but you are never working for those bastards again. If they ask again the answer won't be no, it'll be hell no."

Ezra opened his eyes and there was a shadow in them as he looked up into Larabee's hazel green ones. "And then they will simply go over your head to the judge, who will be more than happy to comply with their demands."

"Then that's when we tell Travis what he can do with his job," Vin answered decisively. At Ezra's shocked look he shook his head and raised one hand to caress the Southerner's cheek. "Baby, Chris and I already talked about this. The job is important, yeah, but so are you; if he forces us to choose, ain't no choice to be made."

"But the others..."

"...Are with us one hundred percent," Chris told him gravely. "Team Seven won't be accepting any more joint cases with the FBI, this last fiasco was the straw that broke the camel's back." The kiss he gave Ezra this time was gentle but still reassuringly possessive. "We won't let them hurt you again."

Vin kissed him again too. "No one messes with what's ours -- and we done claimed you as ours."

Ezra's eyes went from astonished to sultry in a single blink. "Maybe you should do it again, just to be sure."

"Oh, we plan on it." Chris knew the Southerner was changing the subject, but he wasn't going to push the man right now. Ezra had been pushed enough lately, they had time -- and right now, actions might speak louder than words. He reached a long arm over the side of the tub and retrieved something. "But I think there's something else we need to do first."

Ezra rolled his head back to see, and then groaned. "It's been three weeks, Ez," Vin chided with a smile; he knew the protest was mostly for effect. "Now you just relax and I'll wash your back while Chris takes care of it."

Together the two of them pulled the smaller man around and positioned him so that he was on his knees with his head resting on folded arms on the side of the tub. Vin moved back in with a sponge while Chris got behind Ezra and ran appreciative hands over what he considered to be the most perfect ass he'd ever had the privilege to encounter. Doing what he needed to do took only a moment, and he smiled when he heard Ezra's appreciative little moan at the internal rush of warm water; their lover was nothing if not responsive. Once the bag was empty he pulled the nozzle out of the tight portal and replaced it with a small plug, and then he and Vin moved Ezra back into his original position. "Ten or fifteen minutes should do it," Chris said, fishing the washcloth he'd been using out of the water. Together he and Vin washed Ezra's thick hair and rinsed it clean, and then they helped him out of the tub and dried him off -- over his objections, each of which was silenced by a kiss. They let him have his privacy to deal with the enema but were waiting outside the bathroom door when he was finished to escort him directly back to bed.

More protests led to more and deeper kisses until Ezra was back in the center of their king-sized bed and panting for breath. Chris and Vin followed him down and began tenderly exploring his body with hands and mouths and tongues, and it wasn't long before Ezra was panting for a different reason. A final dual caress to his erection sent him over the edge, and he allowed himself to float in a happy haze while his lovers licked him clean. He murmured sleepily when they finally moved back up his body to share his essence with him and was prepared to settle in for some sorely-missed cuddling before getting up...when knowledgeable fingers started to tease his sensitive nipples. He groaned against the side of Vin's neck, the sound more of a pleased acknowledgment than a protest.

Vin chuckled and captured his mouth again, taking his time to explore every inch of the moist, hot cavern and keeping his hands busy on Ezra's nipples while Chris moved lower to toy with his balls, rolling them in his fingers and then tugging gently while he began to mouth Ezra's reawakening cock. The Southerner came again in short order and again let himself float...but he popped back out of his enjoyment of the afterglow when Chris and Vin traded places and the sharpshooter slowly inserted a slick finger into his body while caressing his inner thigh with his free hand. Chris was lapping at his nipples now and then began to suck on them one at a time as Vin added first one more finger and then two, stretching the tight hole to receive him. Ezra moaned when the invading fingers brushed his gland and then again when the fingers were replaced by the sharpshooter's own hardened member, and when Chris began to suckle in time with Vin's long, slow thrusts Ezra couldn't help but cry out his pleasure. It took longer for him to climax this time, but the welcome sensation of Vin's hot seed filling him brought him to yet another orgasm.

And then Chris and Vin switched places again.

When Ezra woke up he found himself alone in the big bed and the light seeping in around the drawn shades in the room told him that several hours had passed. His body felt like it had melted into the mattress but he was still considering getting up to look for some clothes when his lovers returned to the room, both fully dressed and smiling at him. Vin was carrying a tray, and while he set it on the nightstand Chris sat down on the opposite side of the bed and patted his undercover agent's chest. "Hey sleeping beauty," he said huskily, and then leaned in for a very tender kiss. "Feel like some breakfast?"

Ezra smiled sleepily and pushed himself up on his elbows. "I'll join you in the kitchen."

"That's what you think." Vin pushed the pillows up behind his back and then moved the tray so it sat on his lap. "If you're really good we might let you hold your own cup of coffee."

"Coffee?" Ezra sat up a little more and sniffed suspiciously. "Who..."

"I made it," Chris reassured him. "But before you get any you have to eat." He scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs. "Now open up like a good little undercover agent."

Ezra blushed, but he opened his mouth and let Chris feed him the eggs. His two lovers took turns feeding him his late breakfast a bite at a time, and once all the food was gone they allowed him to savor a cup of hot coffee with plenty of cream and sugar. Ezra was feeling almost too full by the time he was done, but it was a good feeling after weeks of deprivation. He relaxed back into his pillows with a contented sigh. "Thank you, gentlemen. And now if you would let me have my clothes..."

"Nope," Chris and Vin chorused. Ezra's face fell, but his expression went from dejection to surprise when the two men began stripping out of their clothing and crawled back into bed with him. "You don't need your clothes, baby," Vin purred, stroking Ezra's chest, careful of the still-livid bruises. "Told ya, you won't be gettin' them back until Sunday when the others come over."

"We have plans for you," Chris added, patting the Southerner's cheek. "We plan to give you good reason to stay in bed for a while, another day at least."

Ezra turned his head and kissed Chris' palm while he captured Vin's caressing hand in his. "I am sorry to disappoint, loves, but I'm afraid our earlier...activities have just about done me in for the time being."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that," Chris told him with a wicked twinkle in his eye. "Vin and I had some...ideas. Guaranteed to keep you in bed where you belong."

"And to keep you happy at the same time." Vin didn't want their oh-so-sensitive lover to get the wrong idea. He let his hand drift lower and slid under the blanket, still entwined with Ezra's, to lightly cover the Southerner's lax manhood. "We have three weeks of not bein' with you to make up for, think of today as a cram session."

Chris leaned in and very lightly licked Ezra's lips. "I'd say three weeks of hell have more than earned you a few days of total pleasure," he murmured. "Let us do this for you, Ezra, please. Just for you, for us?"

Ezra's green eyes filled up with tears, and his lovers enfolded him in their warm embrace and just held him until the wave of emotion had run its course. They didn't abandon their plan, though. Once the smaller man's hitching breaths had evened back out Vin allowed his hand to drift southward again and began to lightly fondle the soft cock and balls while Chris once again set himself to kiss Ezra thoroughly but gently. He kept an eye on Vin, however, and when he saw the sharpshooter pull out their toys he smiled into Ezra's mouth and adjusted his hold so that the Southerner was being ever so gently pinned in place.

Sure enough, the sound of the buzz of the small vibrator being turned on would probably have had Ezra leaping out of bed in alarm if Chris hadn't been holding him. "S'okay, baby, it's just me," Vin soothed. He peeled back the blankets and ran the gently vibrating object lightly along the inside of his lover's thigh, drawing invisible patterns with the tip on the pale, sensitive skin for several minutes until Ezra had relaxed again and even started to harden slightly. Vin trailed the vibrator up the length of that hardness, pausing at the tip to lightly fuck the small, weeping hole there with the rounded point of his toy before running it back down the other side. Ezra's balls were next, and they firmed nicely under the sharpshooter's teasing ministrations...but when Vin ever so gently pressed the tip into the sensitive area just below the delicate sac Ezra let out a cry and arched up off the bed. And then Vin started back the way he'd come.

Two more repetitions had the Southerner almost screaming with need, and the third pushed him over the edge and almost into unconsciousness again. But this time his lovers refused to let him go, stroking, kissing and caressing him until he panted his way back into semi-wakefulness. Then Chris traded places with Vin, and the sharpshooter draped himself halfway over Ezra's body, skin to skin, and began covering his face with tiny kisses. Once again the small vibrator traced a meandering path across his genitals but received very little response until the soft buzz was joined by a deeper, rougher hum that felt like it was creating an electrical connection between his cock and his spine. The new toy dipped down to his entrance and traced the puckered hole a few times before coming back wet and slick and every so slowly pressing its way inside. Ezra couldn't help but arch his back again and moan helplessly as he felt it draw near to his gland...and then it stopped in place and the smaller vibrator began tracing his cock and balls again, finally coming to rest just shy of the spot where his gland could be stimulated from the outside. The Southerner tensed all over as the dual vibrations forced him to an impossible high level of arousal, and then exploded with a feral scream when both toys were moved at once to trap the gland between them.

Chris and Vin cleaned their lover up and tucked him back in, taking their time and enjoying the experience. When they were done they each kissed him gently and then made to leave, but they turned back at the bedroom door for one last look. The sunlight leaking from around the drawn shades, hazing the dim room with the faintest of golden glows, and in that caressing light Ezra -- with his hair disordered and his face relaxed and open in sleep, the slightest of smiles still hovering on his lips -- looked like a young god in repose. Chris wrapped his arm around Vin's waist, pulling him close. "How the hell could anyone ever see him like this and let him go?"

Vin cocked his head thoughtfully, answering the sideways embrace with an affectionate squeeze of his own. "What makes you think anyone else ever has, Cowboy? I think this side of him must just be ours and ours alone."

Chris kissed the top of his head. "Then we'll just have to damn well keep it that way, won't we?"

"Yep." The sharpshooter soaked in the beautiful sight before them for a moment more and then gently tugged his other lover out of the room. "We for damn sure will."