Comments:
The ATF (Alcohol, Tabacco and Fire Arms) universe was created by Mog.
Lenny Hoskins is my creation.
I don't have any medical knowledge so please forgive any mistakes.

Warnings:
Strong Language, violence and drug use.

They assumed it to be just like any other summer day but the men that sat in the large conference room on the 7th floor of the ATF building were about to find out that it was a day they had been expecting but secretly hoped wouldn't come. Chris Larabee raised his cold blue eyes to the blinking flourecent light that was failing to brighten the front area of the room, he would have to remind the maintainence crew to fix it, if they didn't then he would just put a bullet in it and put the damn thing out of it's misery.

The dark clad leader looked down at his watch, the meeting was supposed to start at eleven. He looked at the still empty leather chair that was placed between Buck and Josiah, Ezra still had another five minutes to join the rest of the team in the conference room. His eyes went to the large wooden clock that had been placed on the wall above the door, it agreed with his watch. The southerner was going to be late again, he silently cursed him. This meeting had been called by Harrington, the man that Chris answered to and he knew that it wasn't going to look good for the team if Ezra showed up late.

Chris could feel someone's eyes watching him, he turned his head so he could look into the pale blue eyes of the ex-bounty hunter, he could never hide anything from Vin. The normally quiet man's gaze moved to the empty chair and back again, he shrugged, indicating that he had no idea why Standish was late.

"Where the hell is he?" He growled not realising that the others had heard him.

"He'll be here Chris, you know how Ezra likes to make an entrance, especially when the meetings are called by the big boys from upstairs." Buck assured him, the large smile that crossed his mustached face did nothing to reassure Chris.

"One day Ezra is going to push them to far." Josiah commented from the end of the table, he had been quiet all morning, not voicing the concern that he felt for the younger man that he hadn't seen since the day before. He knew that something was troubling him, he had watched him when he knew he wasn't looking and sometimes the facade that he used to keep them away would fall, revealing troubled emotions. Josiah had wanted to speak to him but had so far been unable to get him on his own, he knew he wouldn't talk in front of the others.

"So what did Ezra do to piss them off anyway?" JD asked the group, he yelped when Buck slapped his arm. "What?"

"That's Ezra's business JD, if he want's to let us know what happened when he was with the FBI then he'll tell us." Buck still had a few things to teach the kid, especially when it came to respecting a man's privacy.

All eyes and chairs turned to the door when they heard a cough that announced someone's arrival, they expected it to be Ezra but it wasn't, it was Harrington. Chris groaned, this wasn't going to be good, Ezra was going to pay for this. Chris watched the man walk towards him, he could see the hesitation in the man's brown eyes, he also looked like he had some bad news.

'Something's wrong.' thought Chris, his eyes quickly darted to the empty chair.

Harrington sat his tall thin frame into the chair that was always reserved for him, he didn't look directly at Chris, his eyes moved around the table looking at the elite group. He sat for a moment watching the men that sat before him, a group of men who seemed to have nothing in common and yet were like family, they were willing to die for each other and now they were about to find out that they had been betrayed by one of their own.

"Gentlemen are we ready to start this meeting?" Harrington asked them, his steady but firm voice gaining their full attention.

"Ezra's not here yet Sir." Buck informed him.

"Mr Standish will not be joining us." Harrington finally looked at Chris. "There is something that I have to tell you and I thought it would be best to do it as a group, I don't want you hearing any rumors."

"What's happened?" Chris demanded as he leant towards his superior. "Has something happened to Ezra? Is he . . . ?" He left the last question unspoken.

"No Ezra is fine." The use of Ezra's first name worried everyone. "At five o'clock yesterday afternoon Mr Standish entered my office and handed me his resignation." He waited for a reponse before continuing.

"He what?" Chris asked, the words were barely heard because his jaw was clenched tightly.

"Mr Standish resigned." Harrington repeated.

"Ezra quit, just like that?" Buck ran his hands through his hair as he let out an exasperated breath, he couldn't believe it.

"Yes he did." Harrington answered calmly.

"What was his reason?" Josiah asked as he inwardly kicked himself for not speaking to Ezra sooner, he had known something was wrong, he should have made more of an effort to talk to him, instead of waiting for an opportunity.

"He didn't give me one." Harrington took in Chris's quiet form, he could see the anger building, his hands were clenched so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"He didn't say anything at all, nothing that told you why he wanted to go back to the FBI?" Nathan asked him, he always knew that Ezra would do it, he just wished that he had pegged the man wrong.

"He resigned from everything, this team, the ATF and the FBI. Mr Standish is now a civillian as far as were concerned."

"What the hell is going on with him?" Vin finally spoke up, he was stunned, he thought he knew Ezra better than any of them, he thought they were friends and that he would talk to him if things got bad, he was obviously wrong.

"Why did you accept his resignation?" Chris spoke in a calm but cold tone, he kept his eyes glued to his hands so they wouldn't see the disgust that he now felt for the southerner. He knew that he would run out on them, he had always known, he just thought the man would have the guts to tell them to their faces instead of taking the cowards way out.

"I didn't." Harrington spoke bitterly of his confrontation with Ezra. "He started out calm enough. I asked him for an explanation, he said that it was in his letter. I told him that I wouldn't accept it unless he told me personally. I wanted to hear his reason not read it." He paused for a moment. "He walked out and went over my head. Judge Travis accepted it without question."

"Why would he quit without telling us?" JD asked Buck, he needed an explanation.

"It's simple JD. He ran out on us." Chris said bitterly.

"Chris, I know Ezra can push a person's limit and he has trouble with authority but should you judge him so quickly." Harrington didn't expect this, he thought they looked after each other.

"He didn't give a reason. What else are we supposed to think?" Chris growled at him, he realised who he was talking to and raised his hand as if to apologise.

"Perhaps you should use your skills to find out what that reason is and leave your judgement of the man until you know why he left." He pushed his chair back and stood up. "Gentlemen." He turned and left room, closing the thick wooden door behind him.

"Aw hell!" Buck shouted as he got up, he knocked his chair over but ignored it. "Why would he do that?"

"Does anyone know anything about this?" Nathan asked them, he hoped that Ezra had a good reason, God help him if he didn't.

"I noticed that he seemed to be troubled about something." Josiah admitted to the group. "I was going to talk to him, I should have tried harder, it might not have gone this far if I had."

"And when did you notice this?" Buck asked him, he kept his voice as calm as he could but he didn't really succeed.

"The last couple of weeks." He lowered his head, it was now as heavy as his heart felt. He should have done something sooner.

"Two weeks! Why didn't you say anything to us about what you knew!" Buck didn't even try to stay calm any longer.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why, I should of spoken to him and you as soon as I noticed that something was wrong. I just thought it was best to wait until I got him on his own before I talked to him, just never seemed to happen."

"Ezra is always on his own, he hardly ever seeks out company, even more so in the . . ." Nathan stopped in mid sentence. "Your right Josiah, he has been different lately, he's kept more to himself during the last few weeks. I didn't realise it till you mentioned it."

"Did anyone else notice anything?" Chris asked them. There were no answers, everyone had suddenly found their hands very interesting as the guilt began to plague their minds. "Vin?"

The silent man shook his head, how could Josiah and Nathan notice something that he hadn't. Ezra seemed the same to him. Now that they had pointed out that something was wrong he still wasn't able to see it.

"I still want to know why he didn't tell us?" JD demanded to know as he broke the silence that had settled over the room like a shroud. "Why did he quit like that?"

"Let's find out shall we." Chris smiled but it was a smile that held no humour, only a promised threat, if Standish didn't have a good enough reason he would kill him. "Nathan, Josiah you go to his office see if you can find anything. Buck, JD see if you can get your hands on that letter." Chris looked at Vin. "Were going to his apartment, if he's there we'll make him talk, if he isn't then we search the place." He looked down at his watch. "We meet back here in an hour."

Nathan and Josiah made their way down to the end of the hall to Ezra's office, their stride stopped anyone from interrupting their short journey, their steps were full of purpose, they intended to find out why Ezra had resigned without speaking to them first. Josiah tested the door to find it unlocked, he opened it and looked around the small crack that he had created to find it empty of any inhabitants. He nodded to Nathan and they both entered the room, the door was closed quietly.

Nathan looked around the empty white walls, there were no pictures, no plant life, nothing to show that someone usually occupied the small office. They moved as one to the desk that was also lacking anything that made the room look homely. He realised that Ezra's office had always looked like this, the southerner had been with the team for six months and he had never done anything to show that he was settling in. It was as though he had always known that he was going to leave, like it was inevitable.

"Nathan start on that side." Josiah's baritone voice brought him back from his thoughts and he began to search through the drawers on the right side of the desk. He closed them again, banging them into the desk showing his frustration at the situation.

"Nothing." Nathan looked across at Josiah. "You?"

"This bottom drawer is unlocked." Josiah frowned.

"So." He didn't know what an unlocked drawer had to do with Ezra leaving.

"It's always been locked, always."

And!" Nathan was becoming agitated.

"Ezra sent me in here once to get something for him. This drawer was locked, I went back to him and told him that I couldn't find what he wanted and I asked him for the key to this drawer." Josiah thought back to the day that it had happened, he remembered the glazed look that had appeared in Ezra's eyes.

"Josiah will you just tell me what the hell your talking about!"

"He said no, that the drawer was always locked and always will be. He obviously had something important in there that he didn't want us to know about."

"Great, more secrets." Nathan growled. "Come on, let's go and see if Buck and JD had any success."

Josiah looked back into the room, regretting the fact that he had never really noticed it before. Everyone else had little things that made their offices look lived in but Ezra had nothing, he suddenly realised that his apartment was the same, he had only been there once but the image of the cold apartment stayed in his mind. He mentally kicked himself again for not trying to get closer to the man and find out what was wrong.

"Buck your supposed to be watching the door." JD told him as the older man tried to look over his shoulder.

"Have you found it yet?" Buck asked him.

"No, it's not here." JD slammed the file cabinet drawer closed. "The Judge must have kept it."

Buck and JD had made their way to the Personnel File room on the second floor of the ATF building. JD had used the knowledge that Ezra had given him in the fine art of picking locks to gain entry to the room and file cabinet. They didn't think that Ezra's file would be there but they had to try the most simple choice first before they went on to the harder one. It would prove to be more difficult to get into the Judge's office than the file room.

"Let's go and see if Debbie is willing to help Ezra." Buck suggested as they left the crowded room and headed to the elevator that would take them to the tenth floor and the main office of Judge Travis.

Buck stopped outside of the office and made sure that he looked presentable as if he thought his good looks alone would get the young secretary to help them.

"That's not going to work Buck, she has no interest in you." JD smiled dispite the dire situation that they were in.

"It might help." Buck replied but his eyes held none of the mischevious glint that was usually there before he tried to chat up the opposite sex.

They opened the door without knocking and entered the well furnished outer office. Buck moved towards the pretty blonde that sat behind the large desk that was situated in front of the Judge's main office. JD stood back and fidgited with his hands while Buck did all the talking.

Buck stood in front of the young woman who didn't look up from her paperwork, he ran a hand quickly through his hair before speaking. "Debbie, JD and the rest of the guys were hoping that you could do us and Ezra a favour. You see Ezra . . ." Buck stopped as the blonde head lifted revealing blue eyes that showed intelligence, this girl wasn't just a pretty face.

"I wondered what took you so long." Her voice was soft and it sent a shiver down Buck's spine, he had tried often enough but she had never accepted his advances.

"Huh?" He looked down at the folded letter that was handed to him.

"This is Mr Standish's resignation letter. I knew that you would be here as soon as you heard the news." Debbie smiled at him.

"But . . . " Buck stammered.

"I know there's something wrong Buck, I was here last night when Ezra spoke to the Judge." She forced the folded piece of paper into his hand. "I like Ezra, I want to help him, I just wish that he knew he had such good friends." She stood up revealing a frame that was almost as tall as he was, the clothing showing her thin but toned figure. Debbie began to push him towards the door after taking a quick backward glance to the double doors of the main office. "Now get out of here before the Judge finds out and fires me."

"Thanks Deb." Buck looked down at the letter then back to Debbie. "Thanks."

"JD get him out of here please." She watched as JD came forward and grabbed Buck's arm, he dragged him away from her and out of the office.

Buck waited until they got back into the elevator before looking at the letter that held the reason for Ezra's resignation.

"Aw gawd!" He exclaimed as his fist slammed into the elevator's wall. "I hope Ezra isn't at home because Chris is going to kill him."

JD took the photocopied letter from him and instantly knew what Buck was talking about. "Shit!"

Chris pulled his black Dodge Ram into the curb outside of the townhouse that Ezra Standish had spent the last six months of his life. He had never been to Ezra's home and had to rely on Vin's directions. He got out of the airconditioned car and felt the heat of the summer's day as it hit his cool skin, he slammed the door and waited for Vin to lead the way to Ezra's front door.

When they reached the overhanging green vines that led the way to Ezra's apartment Vin grabbed Chris's arm and held him back. "Keep your anger in check Chris, don't force him to put up his wall of defence before we even get our foot in the door." He waited for an answer. "Okay?"

Chris ignored him and stepped up to the entrance, he banged on the door causing it to rattle on it's hinges. It also caused the sleeping figure that lay in the large bed that was centered in the middle of the main bedroom to jerk awake. Chris used his fist to knock on the door once more, he didn't wait for an aswer, he turned the doorknob and found it to be locked. He stepped back and used his right leg to kick the door in, it only gave slightly so he had to use even more force. It finally opened and he put his hand out to stop it swinging back and hitting him as he walked through into the hall.

Vin followed him without saying a word, he knew there was nothing that he could do to calm him down, he just hoped that if Ezra was home he wouldn't say or do anything that would cause Chris to completely loose his temper.

Chris stormed through the hallway looking into the rooms as he passed them, he saw the blank walls, the boxes that he thought had been packed, he didn't stop to think that they had never been unpacked, this made him even more angry. He stepped into the large living area, it was empty, he moved on until he came to the main bedroom and saw the man he was looking for as he raised himself from the bed.

Ezra looked at the clock on the side table and groaned inwardly. 'They're early.' he thought to himself. He turned his sleep filled eyes to the two figures that stood above him. "Is there something that I can help you with Mr Larabee?"

"You can start by telling me why you quit your job." Chris demanded as he took in Ezra's appearence, there were dark circles under his eyes, his colour was paler than normal and he was wearing a loose t-shirt that revealed a loss of weight. Ezra usually wore long loose fitting shirts with a light jacket, the clothing had obviously hidden his thinning frame from them. Chris thought for a moment that Ezra was sick but he soon changed his mind.

"That is none of your business." Ezra glared back at him, his own stare was unflinching and just as cold as Chris's. The emerald green eyes showing a threat that he was more than willing to carry out.

"You work for me Standish, the least you could do is give me an explanation for why you want to run out on us." Chris spoke calmly and Vin stepped forward, he knew that when Chris spoke that way he was at the end of his patience.

"I don't work for you anymore so you can get the hell out of my home!" Ezra stood up from the bed and pushed his way through the two men.

Chris grabbed Ezra's upper arm and spun him around, he then pushed him backwards until the smaller man's back slammed into the wall behind him. He saw Ezra grimace in pain and ignored the painfilled expression. "I want to know why you quit and your going to tell me!"

"I'm not telling you anything." Ezra said coldly as he tried to push the man that he had thought was once his friend away. "You don't deserve a reason."

"What about me Ezra?" Vin looked into the green eyes hoping that he would see something that would show him that Ezra still cared about his job and his friends but his next words cut him like a knife.

"You!" Ezra spat out as his angry gaze turned to Vin. "Your a joke Tanner, you think you know me! You know nothing about me! Your pathetic, both of you are!" He felt Chris's fist as it was driven into his stomach, it forced the air from his lungs and he tried to double over and clutch his stomach but strong arms held him up.

"He knows your a coward." Chris smiled down at him.

Ezra's expression didn't falter, he carefully moved his right arm around Chris's waist and removed the gun that he knew his ex-boss kept hidden in his pants waist band.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Ezra yelled at him as he placed the gun against Chris's stomach.

Chris looked down and saw his own gun but he also saw something else. He stepped back from Ezra and then looked sideways at Vin. "Look at his arm Vin."

Vin saw what Chris was pointing out. He saw the needle marks that lined the top of Ezra's forearm, he could tell that some of them were old while others were still fresh.

"What have you been using?" Chris asked him as he hid his own feelings. "Heroin? Is that it?" Chris stepped further away from him. "Your a user?"

"I'm going to ask you to leave nicely and I don't want you or any of the others coming back here. I don't want to see either of you again." Ezra pulled the ammunition clip out of the gun and then handed the unloaded weapon back to him. "Get out."

Ezra leaned back against the wall of his bedroom while he listened to the footsteps of the men who he knew were no longer his friends as they left his apartment. He took a few minutes to get himself back together and then changed into some clean clothes. He pulled on an old pair of faded blue jeans, a short sleeved white shirt which he didn't bother to tuck into the loose fitting pants and then black boots. He took his gun out of the bottom drawer of his dresser, checked it to make sure that it was fully loaded, he took an extra clip from the open drawer, put it in his back pocket and then left his room. Ezra cringed at the sight of the broken lock, he grabbed his keys and wallet from the small table in the hall and walked out not bothering to close the door, he knew he wouldn't be coming back.

He looked down into the street and saw that Chris's Dodge was still parked in front of the building, the car's two occupants were waiting for him. He walked to the garage that held his black Jaguar, he got into the expensive car and started the engine. He took a deep breath and drove out of the garage, he reversed into the street, drove forward and stopped his car next to the dodge. Ezra put the car in neutral and got out, he walked around the car's bonnet until he stood in front of Chris's car. He pulled the gun out of his waist band and placed a bullet in each of the Dodge's front tires, stopping them from following him which he knew they wanted to do. He kept the gun aimed at the shocked faces while he backed up to his own driver's door. Ezra got back into the Jaguar and drove away from his life and the men who were no longer his friends.

Buck watched as Chris stormed past him, he didn't even acknowledge any of the four men who were waiting for his and Vin's return. He knew by the cold expression that his friend and leader wore that Ezra had been home, he heard the office door slam shut behind him. Even though he was no longer in the room Buck could still feel the anger that had followed Chris out of the elevator, it hung in the air like a shroud. He thought that if he waved his hand through the air in a cutting motion he would hear the anger fall to the floor.

"I take it Ezra was home?" Josiah asked as he quickly moved a stack of paper work when he realised that Vin was going to sit down on the desk that he was occupying.

"Oh he was at home alright." Vin growled as he landed heavily on the corner of the desk.

"What happened?" Buck asked as he leaned against the door frame of his office, he already had an idea but Chris's fury told him that the confrontation had gone badly.

"Did anyone notice that Ezra had lost weight?" Vin's question surprised all of them.

"Ezra lost weight?" Nathan pulled his feet from the desk they were resting on and stood up, he moved closer to Vin. "Is he sick? Is that why he left?" Nathan hoped that this explained why Ezra's resignation letter had assassinated their friendship with such finality. The reason had showed the disgust that he had felt working with the six men for the last six months.

"Yeah he's sick but it's self inflicted. Ezra's sick by his own choice." Vin answered him, the sarcasm was heavy in his voice, he lifted his pale eyes and looked at Nathan. "He has needle tracks on his arm, he's been using drugs." He looked around at his friends and saw understanding in their eyes. "You guys don't seemed to be as shocked as I thought you would be." Vin's eyebrows lifted, the movement asking the question that he didn't want to voice.

"It explains his letter of resignation." Buck mumbled. "It's not pleasant."

"Are you sure Vin?" Josiah was stunned, his mind was suddenly clouded with bewilderment.

"I'm sure, Chris asked him and Ezra didn't deny it." He pulled his eyes from Josiah. "Some of the marks were old, he's been using for a while."

"Why didn't we notice?" JD asked, his voice was hoarse, the emotion that he felt caused his chest and throat to contract.

"Ezra is very good at hiding things from people." Josiah reminded them. He could feel the guilt at his failure to help his friend when he needed him.

"Josiah?" Nathan's face showed the shock at the acknowledgement of what he remembered. "That draw that was always locked . . . you don't think that he kept drugs in there do you?"

"He could have been using it for that reason." Josiah saw the look of confusion that the other men held. "He always kept one of his desk drawers locked." He thought that was a simple enough explanation.

"He wouldn't have used anything here, we would have noticed if he was drugged out." Vin dismissed the thought. "He isn't that stupid. Well I thought he wasn't stupid."

"We have to help him." JD stated with confidence. "He needs our help."

"He doesn't want our help JD." Vin told him, he knew it would be a wasted effort on all their parts to try and help him.

"How do you know that, maybe he quit because he wanted help, maybe he thought it was the only way to ask for our help!" JD growled at him.

"First of all he pulled a gun on Chris and told us to leave, he didn't want to see any of us again." Vin got off the desk, he ignored the expressions that told him to keep talking and moved to an empty chair. "We waited outside for him. He left straight away but we couldn't follow him, he shot out the front tyres of Chris's car. So we have no idea where he is." He turned his gaze to Buck. "And if that letter is as unpleasant as you say . . . "

Buck walked back into his small homely office and picked up the letter, he came back out, his eyes not looking down at the hateful words that filled it. "Here read it for yourself." He handed it to Vin and watched his face carefully as he read it.

"Bastard." It was one word but it voiced the disdain that Vin felt towards Ezra Standish. "Who's going to show it to Chris?"

All eyes turned as one towards Buck. "Whoa! Hold on a minute, I don't want to be on the receiving end of his anger." Buck protested as he put his hands in front of him. "I'm not doing it."

"Your closer to him than any of us Buck, he'll be more lenient with you." Josiah assured him.

Everyone jumped when they heard Chris's voice vibrate off the walls.

"All of you in here now!" Chris yelled out of his now open doorway.

They only hesitated for a moment before hurrying into Chris's office. Each man found a position to stand or sit and watched and waited for Chris to speak.

"Buck did you get that letter?" Chris's voice was calm but cold, the anger and hatred that he now felt for Ezra was evident in his voice.

Vin moaned as he realised he still held the letter in his hand, he moved forward and passed the letter over Chris's desk to his leader who was now sitting in his chair. He quickly stepped back and hid behind some of his friends. They all watched carefully as all the emotions Chris felt stayed hidden behind his calm facade.

"Incompetent." Chris continued to read. "Lack of trust . . . , fears for his life . . . , difficult to get along with . . . , domineering . . . ," the anger began to show, "disgraceful attitude." Chris threw the paper away in digust. "I've read enough!"

"What are we going to do Chris?" JD asked him, he backed away at the look in his eyes.

"Nothing, the Bastard deserves to rot in hell." Chris growled at him.

"We can't just . . . " JD began.

"That was an order JD, we do nothing." Chris pulled out a folder from under a cup of cold coffee. "We have another case to deal with." He had cut off all any notions of helping Ezra, he had given an order that most of them agreed with and others reluctantly followed. "We received some information regarding a small arms transaction . . . " Chris began to give out the information that had been passed onto him by Judge Travis.

Ezra used his well trained green eyes to scan the quiet side street, eyes that were trained by his mother and not the the FBI Academy that had recruited him. He didn't recoginse any of the homeless figures that lined the street, he hadn't looked at their faces but instead watched their body language. His mother had told him that even though people could disguise themselves with makeup and clothing, they weren't able to disguise their body language which usually stayed the same and it was this mistake that often gave them away. But the eyes that watched had to know what to look for, they had to be able to recognise certain characteristics. Ezra knew what these would be, he knew the different habits that his former workmates had and he knew he would have no trouble picking them out of a crowd.

His eyes darted up and down the street one last time before he stepped into the small dirty restaurant, he grimaced at the smell that came from the greazy kitchen. Ezra first looked to his left then to his right, he spotted the man he was looking for immeadiately. A huge smile covered his handsome face as he made his way to his long time friend, he ignored those around him, he knew that Lenny would have checked them out when he first came in.

"Lenny!" Ezra didn't sit down at the booth his friend occupied, he stood to the side and his eyes took in the form that sat before him. Lenny Hoskins who had been a training instructor at the FBI academy still had the same light blue eyes that hid the child that had never grown up, his face was lightly tanned as it had always been, the rugged handsome features were clean shaven and the graying hair was closely cropped in a military manner.

"Jesus Ezra, you look like hell!" Lenny gasped as he looked up from his coffee, his gaze taking in every detail, the haunted look in his green eyes, the dark circles that stood out against the pale skin, the figure that was a lot thinner than he remembered. "Hell Ezra." He stood up quickly and took his friend into his arms, hugging him fiercely and slapping his back. "I didn't think you would go this far." He pushed him away and looked into the green eyes that now smiled back at him, the haunted looked had dissapeared. "Will you sit down before you fall down."

Ezra did as he was told and when the thin blond waitress showed up at his side he ordered a cup of coffee, he waited until she moved away and then smiled back at his friend. He could see the worried look that was in his eyes. "Don't worry about it Lenny, I'm fine."

"Don't worry about it, look at you, I've never seen you look so sick." Lenny argued with him.

"I'm supposed to be a drug addict remember, I have to look the part, this won't work otherwise." Ezra sat back as the waitress placed a cup of coffee in front of him, he took a sip and screwed his face up in disgust. "They have to believe it or they won't leave me alone until I tell them what's wrong, my cover will be blown before I even get in there."

"I'm sorry Ezra, I couldn't think of another way. We have to catch this guy, two of my men have been killed already." Lenny hated to bring Ezra into this but there had been no other choice, he was the perfect candidate.

"I know Lenny, don't worry about it, I mean it's not like I lost any real friends." Ezra muttered as he looked down into his coffee.

"They bought it then?" Lenny asked him. He felt a tinge of regret for his friend. He knew Ezra was having a hard time with the rumours of him being on the take while he was with the FBI, he had been transferred without any say in the matter to the ATF. He knew that Ezra had finally begun to settle in and found a group of men who cared about him more than he knew and he now had to ruin his friend's life to catch an ATF agent they knew had become dirty, they just didn't know who he was. The crooked agent had sold information that had gotten two good FBI agents killed, he had also put out feelers for a contract on Larabee's life.

"There was no doubt in Larabee's mind." Ezra remembered the look that had been in his leader's eyes when he saw the needle marks in his arm, Chris now believed that he was a drug addict. "Are you sure about this Lenny, there's no mistake?"

"No mistake, Joey never lied to me Ezra, he owed me his life." Lenny repeated, he had already told Ezra everything on more than one occasion. Joey was a snitch who always gave him good information. He had been shocked the day Joey had told him about the ATF agent. He didn't have a description or name and before Joey had been able to get anymore information he had died of a drug overdose. Lenny though didn't believe that it had been an accident. "We know he's part of Travis's ATF team but that's all."

"And you really think that this will flush him out?" Ezra needed to be sure that he wasn't doing this for nothing.

"If you play your part right Ezra." The silence filled the booth for a few minutes before Lenny spoke again. "So how did you convince them?"

Ezra turned his arms up and Lenny took in a quick intake of breath, he hadn't noticed them until Ezra showed them to him, both arms had needle tracks, doubt quickly crossed his own mind. "Vitamin shots. Believe it or not my mother has a Doctor who would do a lot of things if you paid him enough, nothing seriously illegal though. Told him what I needed and he gave it to me. A few injections a week, anymore would have just made me sick, he used a needle that would leave these types of marks. He said they would fade after a few months."

"And the weight loss?"

"Skipped some meals." Ezra shrugged, he didn't tell him that he had lost his appettite once he had agreed to take on the job.

"You sure your ready for this Ezra?" Lenny looked for any doubt, he knew Ezra was putting everything on the line to help him, he could loose his friends, his job but most importantly, his life. He had to be completely sure that he wanted to do it. "You can back out if you want to, I'll understand."

"I'm ready Lenny." Ezra assured him, he knew what had to be done and he knew that he would loose his friends doing it but he owed Lenny, he had been the first real friend that he had in his life and he loved him like a brother but he never admitted it to him, it had taken a long time to admit to himself. Lenny had been one of his instructors at the Academy and he had taken him under his wing, he had also made sure that Ezra was transferred to the FBI section that he worked in so he could continue to take care of him. Lenny had stood by him during the trouble that he had in the FBI, he believed him when he told him that he wasn't on the take. Ezra knew he would do anything for Lenny.

"Here's where I want you to go." Lenny handed him a piece of paper with an address. "You be there at two tomorrow afternoon, Judge Travis will make sure that Larabee and the rest of his team raid the building, they'll arrest you and whoever else will be there and take you back to the ATF building where Travis will make sure they keep you a few days. Hopefully once this guy finds out what you've been up to he'll make himself known to you, maybe even offer you the job of killing Larabee."

Lenny had discussed the whole situation with Judge Travis, he had to make sure that there was someone in the ATF that knew what Ezra was doing, it was more for Ezra's protection than anyone elses. The Judge had informed him of the already strained relationship between the southerner and his boss and that it wouldn't take a lot to destroy the friendship that had begun to grow slowly. The rumors that Ezra had been on the take would help his cover as well.

"And you?" Ezra asked him.

"I'll be there when they bring you in." Lenny forced a smile onto his face. "I have an appointment to see Larabee in the morning to discuss rumors that Agent Ezra Standish is on the take and will stay for a few days to conduct interviews with your colleagues." He saw the flicker of emotions that passed through Ezra's eyes before his wall was forced back up. "We have to make it look bad Ezra, that way this guy will think your just as crooked as he is."

"Yeah I know, it's just that . . ." Ezra shook his head as he tried to push the pain of more rejection away.

"It's just what Ezra?" Lenny asked him carefully, he knew how easy it was for Ezra to push people away, it had taken him years to gain Ezra's trust.

"No, it's nothing really, just a stupid thought." Ezra wished he hadn't said anything.

"I know you don't like keeping them in the dark Ezra but we have to make it believable so this guy will hopefully try to help you." He kept repeating the reason for the operation that Ezra had agreed to undertake.

"I know Lenny." Ezra smiled at him but his eyes showed a different emotion.

"They'll understand Ezra." Lenny saw the doubt cross his young friend's face.

"I highly doubt that Lenny." Ezra knew by the look that Chris had given him that the man would never forgive him, even if he did have a good reason for doing it. The man would think he ran out on them, that he didn't trust his friends enough to tell them what was going on. "There not like you. They don't trust me, never did. Hell most of the time I don't think they even like me." Ezra stood up from the booth. "Lenny."

"Yeah Ezra?" Lenny looked up into the green eyes, the haunted look had returned. He wasn't sure if it was part of the cover or from what the young agent had just told him.

"Can you also make sure that there is a Doctor there tomorrow, I'm sure that Larabee is going to try and beat the shit out of me at some point." Ezra didn't wait for an answer, he turned away from his friend and left the dirty restaurant.

"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny whispered under his breath, he was going to do everything that he could to make sure that Larabee and the rest of the team understood why it had to be done this way.

Lenny Hoskins stepped out of the elevator onto the seventh floor of Denver's ATF building. He began to walk down the wide corridor that had been decorated with large potted plants towards the offices that housed Ezra's six friends, he silently prayed that these men would still be his friends once the operation was over. He stopped at the first open doorway he came to and looked into the small office, he saw a man who was not much younger than Ezra. He coughed into his hand and the man looked up, he saw eyes that mirrored his own, the young man had the same light blue eyes that his mother had given him, he also had a head of hair that desperately needed a haircut. 'The youth of today.' he thought to himself.

"Is there something that I can help you with?" Vin asked the man who stood in the doorway to his office.

"I'm looking for Chris Larabee, I have an appointment to see him."

"About?" Vin eyed him suspiciously, he didn't like the look of the man.

"That's between Agent Larabee and myself." Lenny took a step forward. "Are you going to show me to his office or am I going to have to ask someone else?"

Vin hesitated as he looked the man up and down, he looked like a military officer, he could never understand why some men wore their hair in such a short way. He pushed his chair out and stood up, he walked past Lenny without giving him another glance. "Follow me."

Lenny walked behind the man he believed to be Vin Tanner, Ezra had described them all to him during one of their long phone conversations. They stopped outside a larger office and Tanner knocked on the door.

"What!" An angry voice called out from behind the closed door.

Vin opened the door and stepped inside, he indicated to Lenny to wait but he didn't, he walked right into the large office and up to the desk. "Someone here to see you Chris, said he has an appointment." Vin quickly removed himself from the office before Chris could take his anger out on him.

Vin could understand the reasoning behind his anger, they all felt angry and betrayed by what Ezra had done, by what he had become, it was against everything they fought for. He knew that Chris also felt a lot more, he was the one who had selected Ezra for the team, he was blaming himself for misjudging the man, he felt that what Ezra had done reflected on himself and the team. Ezra had made them all look bad.

Lenny waited for him to acknowledge him but he didn't, he coughed again but it didn't cause the man to react as it had Tanner. "I don't have all day Agent Larabee." He still waited and while he waited he wondered why Ezra respected this man so much.

"What do you want?" Chris asked him in a cold tone as he kept working on the paperwork that had been sitting on his desk for the last week.

"When your ready Larabee, I'd rather talk to you than the top of your head." Lenny told him as he sat down in one the comfortable chairs. He looked down at the chair knowing that Larabee had finally looked up at him. He felt the soft leather with his finger tips while he kept his eyes down. "They don't have chairs like this with the FBI."

"I asked you what you wanted!" Chris growled at the man that sat before him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you finally decided to join me." Lenny smiled at him. He could see the threat in the blue eyes that glared back at him, he didn't flinch, he was use to it, Ezra had given him the same look quite often when he first met him. "Agent Lenny Hoskins, I'm with the FBI." He pulled out his ID and showed it to the man who sat across the table from him, he didn't bother to try and shake his hand, he knew that Larabee would refuse it. "I won't beat about the bush Mr Larabee." He turned his eyes to the photo that sat on the table, he could see six of the agents. "Fishing trip?"

"Something like that." Chris tried to calm down. "Are you going to tell me what your doing here or am I going to throw you out of my office."

'You couldn't handle me Larabee.' Lenny silently told him. "When was it taken?"

"Two months ago." Chris stood up, he had all intentions of throwing the man out and he was going to cause him an injury in the process, he didn't care if he was with the FBI.

"Agent Standish didn't go?" Lenny wondered if it had been Ezra's choice or if it was because he wasn't invited.

"I believe it's time you left." Chris walked around his desk but the agent's words stopped him from carrying out his silent threat.

"I'm here to investigate allegations that Agent Standish has been selling information in return for money or drugs." It took all of his control to hide the shock that he felt at the amount of hatred that had filled Larabee's eyes at the mention of Ezra's name. He couldn't understand it, he knew Ezra was a good judge of character so he didn't even want to begin to comprehend why he respected this man.

"Your here to what?" Chris asked him.

"Come now Larabee, I didn't know that it was a requirement of the ATF to be deaf as well as stupid." Lenny was beginning to enjoy himself. He didn't like this man and he wanted him to know it, he obviously succeeded, the expression on Larabee's face and the look in his eyes would have scared the hell out of any normal man but Lenny Hoskins wasn't a normal man.

"And where did these allegations come from?" Chris was fuming, if the man had been here for any other reason he would have literally thrown him out of the window, even if it was the seventh floor.

"I knew you heard me the first time." Lenny couldn't take the smile off his face, he was going to enjoy telling Ezra about this when it was over. He looked around the office and ignored the threatening look. Lenny saw another holiday photo on the file cabinet, again Ezra was missing from the picture. "I take it Standish doesn't like fishing."

Chris didn't answer him, he leant back in his chair and waited, he wasn't going to play any more of his games. He lifted his feet and placed them on the corner of his desk, the left crossed over the right.

"Perhaps you would like the rest of your team to hear this, I'm going to need to talk to them anyway." Lenny leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. "I don't really want to have to repeat myself."

Chris pulled his feet from the desk and stood up, it took everything he had not to kick the crap out of the man in the chair on his way past. He practically tore the door from it's hinges. "All of you, get in here now!" He left the door open and returned to his chair.

Lenny only had to wait a few minutes until the rest of the team filed into the room, he looked at each man and was able to match each of them with a name from the descriptions Ezra had given him. He looked away from them, his eyes turning to the photo on the file cabinet again. He made a mental note to ask Ezra if he had been invited.

"Well?" Chris demanded. "Are you going to tell them or not."

"Why don't you tell them." Lenny allowed his gaze to fall back on the five men.

"Agent Hoskins is from the FBI, he's here to investigate Standish. Seems he's been selling information for money and drugs." Chris informed them.

Lenny watched their reactions carefully, each man showed the anger that they felt, only three showed hatred but not as much as he had seen in Larabee's eyes. The two that didn't show any hatred towards Ezra were Dunne and Sanchez. Ezra had told him that JD Dunne wasn't experienced enough to mistrust people as yet and Sanchez liked to give people the benifit of doubt before he judge them.

"I said allegations Larabee, it hasn't been proven yet." Lenny reminded him. He decided it was more than dislike that he felt for this man. "Where is Agent Standish anyway?"

"He quit the day before yesterday." Vin told him.

"And his reason for quiting?" Lenny asked again.

"Apparently he didn't like working with us." Chris spat out, his voice was full of disgust.

"Where is he now?"

"We don't know but we do know that the allegations must be true." Chris continued to answer his questions.

Lenny raised his eyebrows. " And what proof do you have that he has been selling information?"

"We went to see him at his home yesterday to find out why he quit." Vin spoke up again. "He had needle tracks, he'd lost weight and he looked sick. Were pretty sure that he's become a drug addict."

'You certainly know how to do your job Ezra.' Lenny thought to himself. "You only noticed all this yesterday, doesn't make any of you look good now does it." He saw the look of guilt cross the face of Agent Sanchez.

"How come the FBI is investigating him and not the ATF?" Josiah asked him. Any hope that he had that there was a reason for what was happening was shattered.

"I investigated Standish two years ago when the same type of allegations were brought to my attention, I couldn't prove anything then but I hope to now, especially after what you have just told me Agent . . . " He looked at Vin but the younger man didn't answer him. Lenny looked at Chris. "Did you recruit him, he seems to be just as deaf as you are."

"The name's Vin Tanner." The ex-bounty hunter growled at him, he knew he didn't like this man.

"And like you he heard me the first time." Lenny chuckled out loud. "Your raids must be fun to watch, you probably have to repeat all your instructions twice."

"Get on with it." Chris warned him.

"I'm going to be hanging around for a few days, question each of you individually in regards to Standish." He looked around at the men. "I was hoping to talk to Standish himself but it seems you drove him away."

"What makes you think that were going to talk to you?" Vin asked him coldly.

"Judge Travis thinks it actually, I have his permission. You can check with him if you want." Lenny got up from his chair and walked towards the door. "I'll be checking through his arrest records this afternoon so I won't need you but please make yourselves available tomorrow." He smiled at them then left the room, as soon as he had his back to them he allowed his own look of disgust to surface, he now knew that these men weren't going to understand, even if one of the reasons for Ezra going undercover was to save Larabee's life.

Ezra walked into the run down building on Laymen street, he still wore the same clothes that he had been wearing the day before, he hadn't bothered to change. He made his way to the middle of the room, passing the people that were laid out on the floor, he could see the empty needles that lay next to them. The building must have been a regular hangout for drug dealers and users. He bent down and picked up an empty needle and pulled a rubber strap off the arm of an unconcious drug addict and took both items with him. Ezra turned around to see a black man approaching him, he wore a double breasted suit and dark glasses to hide his eyes.

"Agent Standish?" The man spoke loud enough for the people who lay around them to hear what he was saying, when they were questioned by the ATF they would be able to repeat the conversation that was being spoken for their benefit. "I believe you have some information for me."

"Have you got what I asked for?" Ezra knew that Lenny had arranged for this man to be here, he was going to be arrested with him, more proof that he was a bent agent.

"If I remember correctly we agreed on two thousand." The man pulled out an envelope that was filled with hundred dollar bills.

Ezra took another envelope that was filled with false information from his jeans pocket and handed it to him, he took the money and tucked it into the loose waist band of his jeans. "There going to be here any moment, don't do anything rash, their likely to shoot you."

The man laughed at him but stopped when he saw that Ezra was serious, he watched as the smaller man took some pills out of his shirt front pocket and swallowed them. He frowned at him when he saw the needle in his hand.

"For the show." Ezra told him. "There here." He could see a flash of metal from the corner of his eye. Ezra took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds then let it out slowly. He shut away all of the emotions that he was feeling behind a solid wall and became the person that he knew Larabee and the others were going to despise. He heard the umistakable voice of Larabee as he made their presence known. The pills that he had gotten from his mother's Doctor were already taking effect on his system, the voices began to echo in his mind and he became unsteady on his feet. He lifted his arms above his head and then let the needle and strap fall to the ground, he knew they would see it.

The ATF team leader had given his men their instructions, they split into three groups, each man wearing an ATF jacket and made their way into the building, Vin stayed with Chris as they made their way through the front entrance, Buck and JD moved down the alley that ran along the left side of the building so they could enter through the back, Nathan and Josiah made their way the right side and gained entrance via the fire escape.

Chris recognised Ezra immeadiately, he pushed the anger aside, he was here to do a job, once the raid was complete he would let his anger out and Ezra was going to be on the receiving end of that anger. He motioned to Vin to go around to the left and then wait for his signal.

"ATF! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" Chris yelled out to them. He watched as Ezra slowly lifted his hands over his head, he saw the needle and rubber strap fall to the ground.

Chris and Vin moved as one towards the two suspects, he knew the other four members of the team would watch their backs. Chris stood behind Ezra while Vin checked the other man for any weapons. Vin removed a semi automatic from a shoulder holster and emptied it of it's magazine, he then tossed it to Nathan who was standing behind him with Josiah. Buck and JD soon joined them. He put his own gun back in it's holster and pulled out his handcuffs, when the man was secured he finally allowed his eyes to look at Ezra. He could see by the look in his eyes that he was doped up, he looked away in disgust.

Ezra turned his eyes away from Vin, he knew he got off lucky with just that look but he knew he would recieve more from Chris and he did. He felt the gun slam into his right kidney, he fell to the ground and tried to curl up as the pain tore through him. He didn't have a chance. Chris's arms pulled him back to his feet, he roughly pulled his arms behind him and handcuffed his wrists. Ezra could feel the metal cutting into the skin, he then felt the world spin as he was spun around to face him again.

"You make me sick Standish." Chris then used his gun again to force the air out of Ezra's lungs, he grabbed him before he fell to the ground and slammed his fist into his face, he didn't grab him this time but instead allowed him to fall to the floor.

Ezra wasn't able to put his hands out to protect himself from the fall, his head slammed into the cement causing white spots to flash across his vision, he blinked his eyes to try and clear it.

"I make you sick, your the one beating up a man who can't defend himself." Ezra held onto the spit and blood that filled his mouth.

"I'm giving you what you deserve." Chris retaliated.

Ezra's vision blurred but he didn't know if it was caused by the pills or from his head hitting the floor, he closed his eyes and opened them again to find Chris leaning over him. He gathered all the spit and blood from his split lip and spat it into Chris's face.

"You son of a bitch!" Chris hawled Ezra to his feet and dragged him towards the front door while everyone watched, none of them tried to stop him and that was going to be something that Ezra wasn't going to forget.

Ezra knew what he was going to do but there was nothing he could do to stop him, he closed his eyes and turned his head to the side just before he was slammed into the cement wall. Chris grabbed a handful of hair and pulled Ezra's head back, he then hit his face against the wall. Ezra could feel the cement tear the skin away from his cheek, he could feel the blood as it began to run down the side of his face, he felt Chris pull his head back again, this time it was his forehead that took the full force of the blow, he blinked his eyes hoping to stop the blood from flowing into them.

Chris used one hand to hold Ezra against the wall and the other to wipe the spit from his face, he then pulled him back towards him and pushed him out the door, he dragged him across the street towards his car, he didn't stop, he threw Ezra into the side of the Dodge and let him collapse to the pavement. He could see the damage that he had caused but he didn't care, the man had betrayed him, he was selling information to help feed his drug habit, as far as he was concerned Standish got what he deserved, he just wished that he could give him more.

"Chris?" Vin called from behind him.

"Did you see the needle?" Chris asked Vin as he turned around.

"Yeah. We found this on the other guy." Vin handed him an envelope, he pulled out the piece of paper. "This is about the raid we had planned for when Tascon brought in another shipment of guns." Chris didn't even hesitate, he kicked Ezra in the side and enjoyed the cry of pain that finally came from him. He bent down and quickly checked his pockets, he felt the thick envelope that was in his waist band and pulled it out. "There's at least two thousand here." He handed it to Vin. "Put him in the car before I kill him."

Vin pulled Ezra up to his feet and held him against the car while he opened the car door.

"Aren't you going to take a turn Tanner? I know you want to." Ezra asked him coldly. He was struggling to stay on his feet, the beating he had just received and the pills he had taken were trying their hardest to take him into a black void but he fought against it.

"I wouldn't waste my breath." Vin shoved Ezra into the back seat and slammed the door shut. He then got into the front passenger seat, he wasn't going to sit in the back with Ezra.

Chris excelerated the car away from the curb, leaving the other agents to clean up the aftermath of the raid, they would ask the normal questions, take names and then head back to the ATF building with the second prisoner.

Ezra leaned his head back against the seat, he was feeling strange, the Doctor had told him that the effects would only last a few hours and that he would have to act after that. 'That's okay.' Ezra thought to himself. 'I can act, just look at my face.' He laughed out loud at that thought.

"What's so funny?" Vin turned his head as he heard Ezra's laughter.

"You are. Did anybody ever tell you to get a haircut?" Ezra laughed again but he began to choke on the blood that flowed down the back of his throat, he leaned over and spat it out onto the back seat. He looked into the rearview mirror and saw Chris's blue eyes threatening him. He smiled in return and then sat sideways so he could wipe the blood that was still flowing from his head wound onto the back of the seat. He felt himself lunge forward as the car was brought to a sudden halt.

Chris slammed on the brake and when the car stopped he leaned into the back and slapped Ezra across the face. "You keep doing that and next time I'll do more. You understand me?"

"How can I refuse such a polite request." Ezra smiled back at him, he turned his head and spat onto the seat again. "Seems I can refuse." Ezra quickly pulled away as Chris practically jumped into the back seat.

"CHRIS!" Vin yelled at him. "He's not worth it. Your just going to get yourself into trouble."

Chris threw Ezra a disgusted look and turned away from the smile that grew on Ezra's face.

'You've just bought yourself more trouble than you can handle Larabee!' Ezra told himself. 'Your going to regret what you did.' He had known that Chris was going to react but he didn't know it was going to be with so much hatred.

Chris Larabee threw Ezra through the double doors that led to the holding area in the basement of the ATF building, he wanted to announce their arrival so everyone could see what the man had become. Ezra who was still unable to protect himself fell onto his left side, his shoulder jarring painfully as he hit the recently cleaned tiles, the blood that flowed from his face left a small trail as he slid along the freshly polished white floor, he only stopped when he hit the legs of the man standing near the elevator.

Lenny had looked around when he heard the doors crash open only to see his friend of ten years thrown onto the floor and then land at the bottom of his feet. His eyes moved from the look of hatred and disgust on Larabee's face down to the battered visage of Ezra Standish, he saw the blood that covered both the left side of his face and his white shirt and his own blood began to boil.

'Shit Ezra, I didn't think you were serious.' Lenny berated himself for not listening to Ezra. He put the battered image that lay before him in the back of his mind where he could retrieve it at a later time, it would help give him the incentive to beat the shit of Larabee, not that he really needed any, he now hated the man with a passion. He was going to pay dearly for what he had done to Ezra. Lenny bent down and rolled Ezra off his left side onto his back and took on his own character.

"We meet again Agent Standish, or should I say Mr Standish." Lenny hid the emotions that he felt when Ezra's green eyes looked up at him, he could see that his vision wasn't focused, partly from the blood that had flowed into his left eye from the wound that sat just above the eyebrow and from something else. Ezra actually looked liked he had taken something. 'No wonder your the best at what you do Ezra.'

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ezra asked him through gritted teeth. He forced his eyes to focus on his friend, the only friend that he had left in his life. He saw the concern that flashed in his eyes, it quickly dissapeared but Ezra understood, he had to hide everything, he had to be like Larabee. There would be one difference though, Lenny wouldn't hit him.

"Seems you've been up to your old tricks." Lenny smiled down at him.

"And what tricks would they be?" Ezra tried to change his position, the weight of his body was causing the handcuffs to press further into his wrists.

Before Lenny could say anything, arms passed his vision to grab a handful of Ezra's shirt. He watched as he was roughly pulled to his feet and then slammed face first against the wall, leaving another trail of blood. "Is that necessary?" Lenny asked Chris with a hint of amusement in his voice. In his mind he could see himself allowing his anger to take control by pulling Larabee away from Ezra and inflicting the same sort of punishment that he had on his friend but much worse.

"Very!" Chris growled at him as he pulled Ezra away from the wall and began to drag him towards one of the interview rooms.

Lenny followed them to the empty room and watched as Larabee pushed Ezra towards one of the chairs. Ezra hit it with a force that caused a cry of pain to escape from his bleeding lips. Both the chair and Ezra fell to the floor in a heap. Lenny inwardly winced at the face that was contorted in pain. He wanted to yell at Larabee to stop but he knew he couldn't so he did the next best thing.

"Has Judge Travis been informed that you have Mr Standish?" Lenny asked Chris in a casual manner that even suprised himself.

"No." Chris answered him as he moved forward to pick Ezra up off the floor, he straightened the chair and pushed the southerner into it.

"Don't you think you should. That way you can explain it to both of us why you have Standish in custody and why he is in this condition."

'You tell him Lenny.' Ezra smiled. 'And while your at it, hit him for me.'

Lenny pulled out his cell phone. "Would you like to call him or shall I?"

"The man deserves what he gets." Chris growled at him as he tore the cell phone from his hand.

"I agree but you still have to stay within the law Larabee." Lenny's warning was serious. "You don't want him laying assualt charges do you?"

"He doesn't have any witnesses." Vin told him while Chris was talking on the phone.

"Oh, it's like that is it, I suppose he was resisting arrest too." Lenny gave him a look that asked for a challenge.

"The Judge is on his way." Chris informed them as he went and sat down in the chair that was placed on the other side of the large plain table.

Ezra heard the words that buzzed in his painfilled mind, he groaned and allowed his head to fall to the table. It landed with a loud thud. "Ow!" Ezra rolled his head off the cut that was on his forehead and opened one eye to watch Lenny, he needed to see him standing there, he wouldn't get through this otherwise. He couldn't stop the smile that covered the bottom half of his face.

"Something funny Standish?" Lenny asked him. He could see that whatever he had taken was effecting his personality, he suddenly became concerned that he was going to give everything away.

"Nope, nothing funny about having some bastard beat the crap out of you while your hands are handcuffed behind your back." Ezra yelped out in pain when Chris used his boot to kick his shin under the table. "Bastard." Ezra mumbled while he kept his head down, he wasn't going to lift it, if he did he would throw up, he hated doing that.

Lenny knew that small piece of information was meant for him, he filed it along side Ezra's battered image. He allowed his eyes to shift so he could see Larabee's expression, he didn't like what he saw but he knew that when the opportunity became available to him he would wipe that look off his face and replace it with one of pure guilt.

"What the hell is going on here!" Judge Travis yelled at all four men as he entered the interview room.

The Judge had waited outside for a moment before entering so he could gain control of his emotions and put what he called his poker face into place. It was a face that he had used during all his years of being a Judge, you weren't able to show how you felt and had to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. He was just grateful that he knew that Standish had gone under cover because if he hadn't know about the operation he would have thought the man was guilty without giving him a second thought. Standish was a man who was very hard to get to know, he wouldn't allow anyone to break through his emotional defenses and any person with that type of personality was hard to trust.

"So good of you to join the party Judge." Ezra smiled at him. "Now we can perhaps have a trial, these men seemed to have condemed me without one."

"Larabee, I asked you a question." The Judge showed the anger that he felt at the scene that was laid out before him, he was shocked at the injuries that Ezra had recieved and knew that they were inflicted by Chris.

"We raided the building on Laymen street and caught him selling information regarding the Tascon raid that was supposed to happen next week." Chris kept his eyes trained on Ezra's head, he hoped for some sort of movement that would allow him to hit him. "We arrested him."

"Is that what you call it?" Ezra asked him as he kept his head down, he could feel his stomach turning. "You didn't even read me my rights!"

"Is that right?" Travis asked him.

"Things went a bit to quickly . . . " Chris started but Ezra interrupted him.

"You mean you were to busy throwing me against a cement wall!" Ezra decided not to say anymore, it was making his nausea worse.

Travis moved forward and knelt down next to Ezra, his used his hand to gently lift his head off the table, forcing the smaller man to sit up. He saw the emotion that the haunted green eyes held. He memorised each injury, the split lip, the torn left cheek, the cut above Ezra's eyebrow and the blood that covered the left side of his face. "Tanner, take the cuffs off him and then go and arrange for a Doctor to check him over." The Judge looked at Larabee. "I don't want you questioning him until the Doctor says he's okay to answer your questions."

Ezra took in a quick intake of breath when Vin removed the handcuffs, he didn't do it in a gentle manner. Ezra lifted his arms and outwardly grimaced when the pain ripped through his cramped shoulder muscles, he placed his hands on the table so Travis could see them. The sight of the blood on his wrists made his stomach roll violently.

"I need to use the bathroom." Ezra moaned as he tried to keep the bile down.

"Hoskins you take him, Tanner go with them, ask someone else to get the Doctor on your way back." Travis ordered them. "And while your doing that, Larabee and I are going to have a talk."

"You tell him Judge." Ezra told him as he was pulled painfully from his chair. "Make the Bastard pay for what he's done." He turned to Vin when he gripped his arm to tightly. "Enjoying yourself are you?"

"Handle him carefully Tanner or it is going to cost you your job." The Judge warned him when he saw the strained expression on Ezra's face. They had no right to treat Standish in a way that they wouldn't treat another prisoner.

"Your in for it now Tanner, you piece of shit." Ezra laughed at him but stopped when his stomach threatened to empty itself. "Good Lord."

Lenny grabbed him by the arm and hurried him to the bathroom that he knew was down the corridor, he walked quickly, leaving Vin behind. "How you doing Ezra?"

"I'm going to be sick Lenny?" Ezra moaned.

"Just hold on a minute okay." He squeezed his arm gently and then lead him through into the bathroom.

Ezra pushed him away and ran into one of the cubicles where his stomach violently emptied itself. Lenny wanted to help him but he knew that Tanner would be right behind them so he leaned back against one of the wash basins and listened as his young friend continued to be sick. He managed to put a look of disgust on his face when he heard Vin walk into the room.

"Bastard nearly threw up on my shoes." Lenny told him. Vin only glanced at him and then looked into the cubicle, he could see Ezra bent over the toilet bowl, his shoulders heaving with the effort of throwing up, he shook his head and turned away from him. Lenny didn't see any sympathy at all on the young agent's face. 'And I thought these men were supposed to be your friends Ezra.'

They had to wait another ten minutes for Ezra to finish and each time he threw up Lenny inwardly hated Chris Larabee a little bit more, he didn't think that he could hate him anymore but he did. He didn't know what was causing Ezra to be sick, it could have been the drugs that he had taken to make his character more believable or from the beating that he had received, he decided that it was probably the latter, he would find out after the Doctor checked him over.

When Ezra had finally finished he dragged himself off the floor, he could barely stand, he felt weak and his legs were unsteady. He made his way gingerly to the wash basin and turned the tap on, he splashed cold water onto his face and couldn't stop the grunt of pain when the water hit the abrasion on his cheek and the cut on his forehead.

"You finished yet?" Vin growled at him.

"I will be once I take care of you and Larabee." Ezra retaliated.

He gave Vin a cold look that he didn't usually allow these men to see and he smiled when the ex-bounty hunter actually flinched, a normal person wouldn't have seen it but Ezra knew how to read people, he had been trained by the best; his mother. It was the only good thing that she had done for him, apart from what she had taught him, she had done nothing else, she hadn't been the mother that she was supposed to be. She hadn't wanted him or loved him and Ezra knew that there was nothing that he could do about it so he had accepted it. That was when she wasn't around though. When she did visit all the resentment that he felt came to the surface and the visit usually ended in an argument.

Ezra pulled out a paper towl and carefully dried his face, he then walked towards the door with Lenny and Vin following him. Lenny led him back to the interview room while Vin went to arrange for the Doctor to come and see Ezra.

"Great friends you've got Ezra." Lenny whispered to him.

"Not anymore." Ezra knew that he had lost them, what had happened over the last hour proved that he never had them. Real friends would have given him the benefit of the doubt and then tried to help him with his problems but not these men. Larabee had beaten with with a hatred that he had never seen in his eyes before and the others had let him but that was the reason why he had agreed to go undercover, he knew that they would react, he just didn't realise that it would be this bad.

"Why is Standish in that condition?" Travis asked Chris as he sat down in the chair that Ezra had been sitting in, he looked down and saw the blood that was on the table. The sight of it sickened him, it wasn't the blood that made him feel sick, it was the way that Chris had treated Standish, he knew he would react to the situation but he hadn't expected so much violence.

"I lost my temper." Chris told him truthfully.

"You loose your temper again and you will be suspended." Travis told him coldly. "Do you understand me?"

"He deserves what he gets Judge, the man's a traitor." Chris began to argue with him.

"That's not the answer I wanted." Travis warned him.

"I understand you." Chris allowed the anger that he felt to show, he couldn't understand why he was protecting the bastard.

"Only one person stays in here with him when they come back. And that person is not to be you or Tanner." Travis stood up and looked down at the blood again. "Is that clear."

"Yes."

"I want to know when the Doctor gets here." The Judge stood over him. "And if his injuries are serious then I may consider suggesting that he press assualt charges against you."

"Why are you protecting him! He's a drug addict and he's been selling information to pay for his habit!" Chris stood up angrily, the chair fell to the floor behind him.

"Because it's my job! What he did is reflecting back on me but what your doing is worse, you don't treat any other prisoner this way! Your making me and the ATF look just as bad as Standish is!" The Judge turned his back on him and walked towards the door, he could see Lenny returning with Ezra. He knew that Ezra was risking and loosing everything to protect Larabee's life and bring a killer to justice. Travis turned to look over his shoulder. "You have a job to do Chris, so get your emotions under control and do it!"

Travis stormed out of the room, he stopped Lenny and Ezra outside in the corridor and made sure that no one was within hearing distance. "You okay Ezra?" Travis asked him quietly.

"No." Ezra admitted to him.

"He was being sick." Lenny informed him. "The beating Larabee gave him probably caused it."

"The Doctor will be here soon Ezra, I'll have Lenny stay with you until he gets here. Okay?" Ezra didn't say anything, he was too busy trying to kept himself upright. Travis looked at Lenny and saw the anger flash through his eyes. "You stay with him Lenny, I've made sure that Larabee won't touch him again." Travis left to intercept Tanner and move him to the observation room so he could still watch Ezra but not cause him any more harm.

Lenny took Ezra by the arm and helped him back into the room, he made sure that it looked more like he was dragging him back. He didn't hestitate once he placed Ezra into the chair. "Judge said he wants me to stay with him and he wants you to leave." He spoke in a manner that told Chris he wouldn't accept an argument, he dismissed Larabee and expected him to leave the room without another word. He did. But he knew he would go into the next room so he could watch Ezra through the two way mirror that had been built into the wall that Ezra was facing.

Lenny closed the door behind him, he went back and sat in the empty chair. He watched as Ezra folded his arms on the table and laid the uninjured side of his face onto his arms.

"You want some water?" Lenny asked him in a flat tone.

Ezra lifted his head and nodded, he then allowed it to fall back onto his arms. Lenny stood up and went to the door, his stuck his head out through the opening and saw JD and Buck at the front desk with the man that he had arranged to meet Ezra. He guessed that the other agents were already in the other room with Larabee and Tanner.

"Agent Dunne. Would you please bring me some water!" Lenny called to him.

JD looked up from the paperwork that he was filling out to see Agent Hoskins poking his head out from behind the door of one of the interview rooms, he had the same opinion of the man that everybody else did. He didn't like him.

"I'm not your . . . "

"Now Dunne!" He shut the door and went back to the chair. "I don't know how you managed to work with such incompetent assholes." Lenny smiled at Ezra although his voice held a sarcastic tone. His back was facing the mirrored wall so he knew they wouldn't see the expression that his face held but they would hear every word he said.

"That's exactly what I said in my resignation letter." Ezra lifted his head and smiled back at him. "Well, I left out the asshole part of course, can't use that sort of language even if the term does desribe them perfectly." He began to rub his temples, trying to force the pain to leave his skull. "You didn't tell me why you were here."

"I got some new information on you." Lenny leaned forward, Ezra had started the game. "Seems your back to selling information to the guys that were trying to put in jail."

A knock sounded on the door interrupting the conversation, JD entered and walked to the table, he placed a large paper cup of water in front of Hoskins.

"It's not for me." Lenny told him as he forced the anger to stay out of his voice. "It's for him." He nodded towards Ezra who hadn't looked up to see who entered the room.

"Then you give it to him." JD turned around and walked out the door.

"Now you know why I resigned." Ezra spoke bitterly.

"And here I was thinking it was because you were selling information to pay for your drug habit." Lenny stood up and turned around to face the mirror, he smiled at the men he knew were on the other side and then walked over to the corner of the room where they wouldn't be able to see him.

"Yeah well, there was that too." Ezra smiled as his eyes followed him.

Lenny nodded his head towards the water and put his most serious expression on his handsome face, he knew that no words would be needed. Ezra had no doubt what the expression meant, he drank some of the water.

"So who were you selling the information to?" Ezra didn't answer him. "Was it Tascon?" He still didn't answer. "I could sneak Larabee back in here if you like, I'm sure he would have some questions for you."

"Larabee can expect a fight then because I won't have my hands held behind my back." Ezra stared at the mirror. "The man is a coward."

"You wouldn't be able to take him." Lenny laughed but he knew Ezra would, he'd seen him fight and he knew that after a childhood spent with many relatives and their children he had to learn how to fight to protect himself, he had gained a black belt in Tae Kwon-Do but he knew it was something that he rarely used, he didn't need to. It was like his poker skills, his mother had taught him how to cheat but he didn't have to, his skills won him the game and he knew that it was the same when he had to defend himself. His fighting skills were enough to stop an opponent, he didn't need to use the martial arts training that he had. He also assumed that it was something that Larabee and his team didn't know about.

"I know I can take him, there's a lot of things he doesn't know about me." Ezra smiled but the expression showed a man that none of the men watching behind the mirror had seen before. "They'd be surprised at what I'm capable of doing."

Lenny knew he was speaking the truth. Ezra hid a lot of things from people, especially the side of him that he was talking about. He had only seen it once and he didn't want to see it again and he was afraid that that side of him would show itself when this was all over.

Chris was too angry to sit in a chair, he paced the length of the small observation room, leaving a trail of anger that followed behind him. His eyes continued to glare through the mirror at the man he had come to hate. He listened as the comments passed between the two men and he wanted nothing more than to go into the other room and kill the son of bitch but he knew the Judge was serious, if Standish didn't press charges, he would. He just couldn't understand why he was defending him. He finally stood still when the word 'coward' was spoken and he listened as Standish confidently asserted that he could take him in a fight, he acknowledged the underlying challenge the words held and silently accepted it with a slight nod of his head but he failed to notice the hostile expression that he had never seen before. It was a mistake that he was going to regret.

"I don't care if it costs me my job, I want to get some time alone with him." It was a simple statement but it held a menacing threat that he intended to carry out.

"He's not worth loosing your job over Chris." Vin tried to tell him as he struggled to control his own emotions.

Vin had thought that Ezra was a good friend, someone that he could trust and confide in but now he had to watch and listen as he tore that friendship apart as though it had meant nothing to him. He didn't think he could hate anyone as much as he had despised Ellie Joe, the man who had framed him for murder but his feelings for Ezra Standish had become an uncontrollable torrent of anger and hatred that he had never felt before. He couldn't understand why he was allowing the southerner to fuel his anger in such a way. Usually he was able to keep his anger under control but he wanted to lash out at Ezra. It wasn't just the fact that he had become a drug addict and was selling information to the men they were trying to put behind bars, he had taken the friendship that Vin had tried so hard to create and destroyed it without any remorse and he wanted to hurt him like he had hurt their friendship.

He knew that it had been a struggle for Ezra to allow a friendship to grow between himself and the rest of the team, he had fought them all the way but they had finally begun to break down his wall of defense only to have him repay them in such a way that completely shattered the trust and companionship that had started to develope. He thought he had made one of the worst mistakes of his life allowing a friendship to grow with this man, to get close to him but he was going to find out that he had made an even bigger mistake for thinking that Ezra had been capable of doing such a thing to destroy their growing friendship, that it was his own lack of faith in the southerner that had damaged the friendship beyond repair.

"Yes he is!" Chris turned his cold stare to the door when it opened, he watched as Nathan and Josiah found a position to watch the man they had called a friend, a man they had begun to trust with their lives, a traitor they now so readily accepted as being the enemy. "Well?"

Josiah knew he was asking about the man they had arrested with Ezra. He looked at Nathan and knew that he wasn't willing to supply the information that would cause Chris's anger to grow so he had to do it.

"The man's name is Randolf Henson, he had no trouble telling us everything in the car on the way back. He didn't want to receive the same treatment that you gave Ezra." He flinched back from the expression that Chris gave him but he knew that it had to be said, he didn't like the way Chris had treated Ezra but deep down a part of him agreed with it and allowed the punishment to be handed out to the former agent. "He was buying information from Ezra." Josiah confirmed then hestitated a moment. "He also paid for information on six other occasions, four times with money and twice with herion."

"And?" Chris knew there was something else.

"Henson said that Ezra's been selling information to other people but he doesn't know who they are."

"Did he say how long this has been going on for?" Chris demanded to know.

"Two months." Josiah answered.

"Even more proof to nail his coffin shut." Chris smiled but the humour didn't reach his blue eyes, instead they became even colder.

"Has that Hoskins guy got a nerve or what?" JD complained to Buck as they entered the crowding room. "Did you hear him . . ."

"JD! Just tell him to go to hell next time!" Chris growled at him stopping the conversation from going any further.

JD nodded and stepped back out of the way, he knew Chris was angry, livid in fact and he didn't want to get in the way of that anger because he was likely to lash out at anyone. As the minutes passed the observation room began to echo the silence that overcame the the two men in the other room, they no longer spoke to each other.

"He hasn't got a lot to say anymore, has he?" Buck commented.

"Which one?" Vin asked him, he watched as Hoskins began to pace the length of the room, he had taken an instant dislike to the man and he knew his instincts were always right.

A knock at the door tore everyone's eyes from their scrutiny of Ezra Standish. The man who dared to interrupt them was Henry Glading, an ATF agent who was on light duties while he recovered from a gunshot wound that he had received while on duty. He worked behind the front desk of the holding area and had been there when Standish was brought in. After everything had settled down he had made a phone call to someone who would find the agent's arrest very interesting.

"The Doctor's here." He announced to the crowded room, he could feel the anger that filled it. Before he could escape the room Chris's threatening voice spoke to him.

"Let Judge Travis know he's here." Chris told him. He felt sorry for Glading, the man was aging in body and not years. The injury that he had suffered caused him to look ten years older that his real age of thirty three, even his red hair was already thinning, leaving a high receding hair line that he tried to cover by brushing his hair forward.

"Sure. You want me to send the Doctor in to see Standish?"

"No, I'll do that." Chris followed him out the door, leaving the others to stay and watch.

Lenny looked towards the door as it opened, revealing Larabee and an older man as they entered the room. His gaze moved back towards Ezra, the worry that he felt was hidden from his light blue eyes. Chris didn't make any introductions as the Doctor moved towards Ezra and placed his bag on the table.

The Doctor roughly took Ezra's jaw in his hand and lifted his face up so he could see the injuries that had been inflicted. Ezra tore his head away from him and gave him a glare that caused the Doctor to step back from him. The Doctor looked over at Chris, his expression asking him to calm the prisoner down.

"You let him look at you or you stay like that." Chris warned Ezra.

Ezra turned his head back to the Doctor and looked up at him, his green eyes holding a warning of their own but the Doctor took courage from the fact that two other men were in the room with them. "Has he vomited at all?" The Doctor asked Chris as he checked Ezra's pupils.

"Yes." Lenny answered him as he tried to control his anger.

"Are you still feeling sick." The Doctor asked him.

"Only when I look at him." Ezra nodded towards Chris.

"How many fingers do you see?" He only lifted one.

"Just the one and if you use that finger again I'll break it." Ezra told him, he enjoyed the look of fear that quickly flashed in the man's brown eyes.

"Has he lost consciousness at all?" This question was also aimed at Chris as he tried to swallow his fear. The green eyes that stared back at him unsettled him in a way that most prisoners weren't able to do.

"No I haven't." Ezra growled at him. "You can ask me these questions. I'm not dead yet."

"He's only trying to help you Standish." Lenny told him as he allowed the smile to creep onto his face. Ezra always gave as good as he got.

"He has a slight concussion but it's not serious." The Doctor explained as his fingers probed the various injuries on his face and wrists.

"Now why doesn't that suprise me." Ezra grimaced as he tried to pull away from him, the Doctor was purposely pressing harder than he needed to.

"Is he up to answering questions?" Chris asked him as he ignored Ezra's pain.

"Yes." He bluntly answered him as he took a bottle of antiseptic out of his bag and began to clean Ezra's wounds. He cried out at the pain the Doctor was unnecessarily causing him.

"Doctor Aitkens." The Judge called him from the still open doorway.

Aitkens turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. "Judge Travis it's nice to see you again. Is there something I can do for you?"

"If I hear the prisoner make another sound you'll be out of a job." The threat was clear in the calm tone that the Judge had used. He had to do everything to control his anger at the situation that Ezra had been placed in through no fault of his own. "Carefully, finish what your doing then get out."

Travis made his way to the empty chair across from Ezra and watched as the Doctor continued to administer the medical treatment that the undercover agent required. He inwardly grimaced each time the handsome face showed the pain that Ezra was feeling. Aitkens carefully taped small gauges over the wounds on the southerner's face hiding them from the Judge's sight, he then bandaged the torn wrists of the prisoner.

"He should be fine, just watch him for any signs of nausea or blurred vision." The Doctor informed them.

"What about something for my headache?" Ezra asked the Doctor.

Aitkens pulled a small bottle of pain killers out of his bag and placed them on the table. "Two every four hours." He turned to Chris. "No more than what I just told him."

"What about some Methadone?" Ezra looked around the room, a pleading expression covered his face. "I'm going to need something."

"No." The Judge's word was final.

"You can't say no! I'm going to go through hell if you don't give me something!" Ezra yelled as he stood up. Chris moved towards Ezra quickly and pushed the smaller man back down into the chair.

"You get nothing!" Chris smiled down at the painfilled expression, finally seeing the fear that he wanted to see.

"You can go now Doctor but I want you back in the morning to check him again just to make sure that he's doing okay. We don't want any unnecessary law suits." The Judge spoke quietly but his tone left no room for arguments. "Hoskins."

Lenny watched the Doctor leave. "Yes?" He came forward and took the opportunity to take a closer look at Ezra, he could see the pain that still filled his eyes, he knew it was real but he wasn't sure if it was physical pain or emotional.

"I don't care if he hurts himself but if anybody else does I'm holding you responsible." Travis turned his head to look at him. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Yes Sir I do." Lenny smiled at him, he was grateful that he now had the chance to protect his young friend the way he had wanted to since the operation had started.

"Good, now let's get on with it." The Judge stood up and walked towards the door. "Chris." He indicated for him to follow him out of the room. He stopped just outside the door so Ezra and Lenny could hear the conversation. "What have you got?"

Chris looked inside the room and then turned his back to block the door. "The man that we arrested with him has admitted that he bought information from him on six other occassions and that Standish was also selling it to other people."

"Did he say who they were?"

"No."

"I want to know their names and we need to know if any of the information he sold has anything to do with future operations." He stepped closer to Chris. "I want to know everything, you have seventy two hours to get it, after that his arrest will be processed as normal." The Judge glared at Ezra over Chris's shoulder and then walked away. He knew that if there was any more trouble Hoskins would call him, he gave him the authorisation to look after Ezra without the others becoming suspicious.

Chris smiled and walked back into the room, closing the door behind him. He had all intentions of making the man suffer without actually touching him.

"I want to see my lawyer." Ezra demanded as he tried to stand up again.

"No." Chris pushed him back down then sat on the corner of the table.

"I have a right to see my lawyer!" Ezra yelled at him.

"For the next seventy two hours your mine, you have a right to nothing. As far as everyone else is concerned your not here."

"You can't do that, it's against the law!"

"What you did is against the law and your going to pay for it." Chris ignored his protests.

"Is that before or after I make you pay for what you did to me." Ezra's expression was cold and threatening, he had every intention of returning the beating, he no longer thought of this man as a friend, he lost all the respect that he had felt towards his leader.

"You don't have a hope in hell." Chris smiled at him, the humour that he felt showed on his rugged features. He got up and went to the mirrored wall and tapped on it, he mouthed Josiah's name and then used his finger to motion him into the room. A few moments later Josiah entered the interview room, he didn't know why Chris wanted him in there but he was sure he would find out.

"Are you going to get him to preach to me, show me the error of my ways." He didn't hide the malice from his voice.

Ezra thought that out of the six men who made up the team that Josiah would be the one to keep Chris under control but he had stood to the side with the others while Chris beat him, he had made no effort to stop him. Ezra looked at Lenny and thought of the two FBI agents that had been killed, he knew that he couldn't back out now, he had to go through with the operation, he couldn't allow anyone else to be killed, even if it meant loosing his job and the friendship that he thought had begun to grow between himself and the rest of the team. His green eyes moved back to Chris and Josiah and he realised that there was never a real foundation for the friendship that he had with these men, if there was it wouldn't have been so easily broken.

"He's here to keep you in line." Chris sat down in the chair and leaned back, he folded his arms across his chest.

"His size doesn't intimidate me." Ezra looked up at Josiah as he moved behind his chair.

"Who else have you sold information too?" Chris began the questions that Ezra knew would be coming.

Ezra ignored him and took two of the painkillers with the water that Lenny had demanded JD bring in for him. 'There's another suprise.' Ezra thought to himself, he hadn't expected JD to react the way he had. He knew that the kid had looked up to him so he couldn't really blame him for the way he felt. His cover destroyed the image JD had of him. He decided not to blame JD, he didn't really know any better and he always seemed to allow the others to lead him rather than let him have his own opinions.

"I'm not answering any of your questions." Ezra glared at him.

"I've got seventy two hours, I can wait but I'm sure you can't. By tomorrow your going to be feeling a lot worse."

"My suffering will be nothing compared to what you and the others are going to go through in a few days when I get out of here." Ezra was serious, he knew that they were going to feel guilty about what they had done to him but how guilty would be determined by how strongly they felt about the frail bonds of friendship that he decided no longer existed.

"I doubt that very much." Chris didn't allow his smile to waver.

"You've been wrong before, you'll be wrong again." Ezra saw the warning look that Lenny gave him.

"Who else have you sold information to?" Chris repeated the question.

Ezra answered him by folding his arms on the table and laying his head on his forearms, he closed his eyes and waited for the pills he had taken to ease his headache. He also did it to get himself together, he didn't think it was going to be this bad. He tried to convince himself that he had agreed to do it because he knew they would react this way but he kept seeing the hatred and disgust in their eyes, it was as though they expected this, that it didn't surpise them to find out that he was a drug user and sold information. He was looking forward to seeing their faces when they were told that he had been working undercover, it was one of the conditions that he had given the Judge when he had agreed to do it.

"I asked you a question." Chris growled at him.

"Your mother." Ezra had enough, if they were going to treat him like this then he could at least return the favour.

Chris looked around at Lenny and knew that he would inform the Judge if he laid a finger on the bastard. "Who else?" The loathing that he felt towards Ezra sounded in his voice.

"Your mother." Ezra repeated.

"Very original." Chris laughed.

"Well the air in here is stale, makes it hard to come up with something that would wipe that stupid smile off your ugly face!" Ezra lifted his head and smiled back at him.

"What was the information that you sold." Lenny asked him.

"We all know that I'm not going to tell you anything so stop wasting my time!" Ezra growled at him.

"If that's the way you want it." Chris stood up. "Josiah, have Glading put him in one of the holding cells, we'll see if he changes his mind tomorrow."

Ezra's green eyes darted to Lenny and Chris saw the fear in them. "He's not going to help you."

"He won't need my help as long as you remember what the Judge told you Larabee." Lenny retorted. "And if any of you try to spend some time alone with him I'll know about it!"

Josiah took Ezra's arm but he roughly pulled it from his grip. "Don't touch me!" Ezra spat at him as he stood up and walked to the door.

Josiah looked at Chris and then followed Ezra, he opened the door and stayed close to his side as he made his way to the front desk.

"Henry, Chris wants him in a cell for the night." Josiah told Glading.

"They want me to suffer." Ezra corrected him. "Thinks I'll talk if I'm desperate for a fix." He needed to get the other ATF agents in Travis's team to know that he had been brought in and why and he knew that Glading was one who liked to gossip. Ezra despised anyone who was an informer of other people's problems, they had no respect for a person's privacy but he was going to use this man to his advantage. What Ezra didn't know was that Glading had already made contact with the man that he had gone undercover to catch.

"That's not true Ezra." Josiah spoke quietly.

Ezra was grateful for the opportunity that Josiah had just given him. "And I suppose it wasn't true when you stood by why Larabee beat the shit out of me. None of you want to help me, you only want to condem me for what I did." Ezra turned on him. "Where's the understanding that your supposed to give a friend? None of you even asked me why I did it."

"That's enough Ezra." Josiah tried to warn him.

"Nothing's enough, Larabee is going to pay for what he did, even if I have to kill him." Ezra had said it, he now hoped that Glading would tell a few people what he had overheard and it would spread through to the other agents. It would then be only a matter of waiting to be contacted. Ezra knew that it would happen, the others had done exactly what was expected of them, they had actually done more than was necessary.

"Let's go Standish." Glading came around the front desk and began to lead Ezra away from Josiah and towards the holding rooms. Glading walked Ezra to the end of the hall to the last holding room and unlocked the door, he gently pushed Ezra into it.

"Is this so they can't hear me scream?" Ezra asked sarcastically.

"You didn't mean what you said did you Ezra?"

Ezra was suprised by Glading's question and the use of his first name. "What did I say?" Ezra pretended to be confused as he looked around the small white room that held only a bunk and toilet.

"About killing Larabee?" Glading reminded him.

"Look at me Glading, look at what he did to me." Ezra stepped closer so that Glading could see that he was serious. "Of course I meant it. The man is making me suffer and I intend to take pleasure in seeing him suffer when I get out of here."

Ezra turned his back on him and walked further into the small room. Glading closed the door and hurried back to the front desk so he could make another phone call.

Ezra had no idea how long he'd been in the holding room, he was tired but knew that he had to stay awake, a drug addict who needed a fix wouldn't be able to sleep, he was also hungry but had refused the meal that Glading had brought to him for the same reason, he could do all of that when it was over. He'd given up walking from one wall to the next and was now sitting in one of the corners of the room. He had kept expecting Larabee to open the door so he could spend some quality time alone with him but Ezra knew it would end up being quality time for him and not Larabee.

He quickly jumped to his feet when he heard the lock on his cell door being disengaged, the thick door opened revealing Glading and not Larabee.

"What the hell do you want?" Ezra instantly became agitated and paced the room.

"We have a similar acquaintance Ezra, he asked me to bring you something." Glading told him as he stood in the doorway. His shift was due to end in an hour at four am and this had been the first opportunity where he was able to approach Ezra without anyone else knowing.

"If your talking about Larabee he's not . . ."

"No, I'm not talking about him." Glading explained patiently, he could see that Ezra was already suffering the effects of not having his regular fix of heroin.

"Then who the hell are you talking about?" Ezra began to run his hands through his hair as he walked around in small circles.

"Let's just say he's a friend for now."

'Contact.' Ezra thought to himself, he hadn't expected it to happen this quickly. "What have you got?"

Ezra watched as Glading looked up the hallway and then stepped into the room. Ezra only just managed to hide his shock, he knew that he was in trouble. Glading's left hand held a needle and a rubber strap, he knew that the needle was full of heroin, in his right was a small package of pills. Ezra recognised them as being Methadone pills, they were used to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. He instantly knew that this was a test and if he didn't make the right choice the whole operation would end here and now. He stepped forward and looked into Glading's eyes.

"Where did you get that?"

"I told you that you have a friend Ezra, he wants you to have one of these but it's your choice which one you take." Glading explained.

Ezra knew he didn't really have a choice, this had to be done, his shaking hand took the needle and strap. He hoped that Glading would then leave but he didn't, he was waiting to make sure that Ezra injected it into his system. Ezra quickly walked to the corner of the room and sat down, he tied the strap around his left upper arm and used his teeth to keep it tight. He opened and closed his fist to make a vein and then forced the needle into his flesh and slowly injected the heroin into his blood stream.

Ezra was familiar with the effects of heroin and knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before the illegal substance reached his brain and when it did he would feel an intense pleasure. But that wasn't going to be the only result of the injection that he had just given himself. Once the pleasure part of the drug's effect was over his pupils were going to become constricted therefore causing his vision to blur and his speech would also be effected. The drug was going to interfer with his brain's ability to perceive pain but that wasn't going to be the worst of it. First time users such as himself became nauseated and vomited. He hated throwing up, he despised it as much as he despised early mornings.

He also knew that if he was still here the following night that Glading would bring another syringe that would contain more heroin, he would have to try and speak to Lenny on his own and tell him to get him out of here. If he passed the test then the crooked agent would contact him outside of this building. He didn't want to become a real addict, it was bad enough pretending to be one. Ezra curled up into a ball on the cold floor and let the heroin take it's toll on his body. Lenny was going to kill him when he found out what he'd done, he laughed at loud at the thought. His friend was going to have to wait his turn behind Larabee and the others.

Glading moved forward and gently removed the needle from the crook of Ezra's arm and released the tight strap that still bound his upper arm and left the room, closing and locking the door so Ezra could enjoy his fix. He went back to the front desk to report to their mutal friend that Ezra had taken the heroin, he had passed the test that he was given.

"Well I for one like the idea of making Standish get up at five in the morning, there's nothing better than making a man suffer what he hates the most and for that bastard it's early mornings." Buck smiled as he made his way to the holding rooms with Nathan. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"But why did it have to be us." Nathan complained as they reached the door to the room at the end of the hall.

Buck unlocked the door and then stepped inside while Nathan waited in the doorway. What he saw made his anger grow out of control. Ezra was sitting in the corner of the room with a large smile on his face, his knees drawn up to his chin. Buck moved closer and knelt down next to him, he could see the constricted pupils and droopy eyelids.

"Where did you get it!" Buck growled at him.

"Get what?" Ezra asked him innocently as his smile grew wider, causing the dimples to appear on his handsome face, he hadn't felt this good in a long time.

Buck reached down and grabbed a handful of Ezra's hair and dragged him to his feet. "Where did you get it!" He yelled into his face.

Ezra tried to pull his head away from Buck's grip but he didn't let go, he attempted to push him away but the bigger man turned him around, pulled him back and then slammed him against the wall in the same way that Chris Larabee had done the day before. Ezra grunted as his body struck the wall, he didn't feel any pain.

"Buck what are you doing?" Nathan asked while he stayed in the doorway.

"He's high on something, probably heroin." Buck answered as he turned Ezra around to face him.

"I'm only going to ask you once more." Buck warned him.

"Then that will be once more that your wasting your breath." Ezra continued to smile, he wasn't feeling the pain that he should be because the heroin still hadn't left his system.

"Bastard." Buck didn't hold back when he used his right fist to punch Ezra in the stomach, he pulled him back up to stop him from doubling over.

"Why Mr Wilmington . . . do you always copy what . . . your boss does, I seem to . . . remember already going through this . . . yesterday." Ezra gasped as he tried to replace the air that had been forced from his lungs. He was really beginning to despise these people for the way they were treating him. No excuse was going to be acceptable.

Buck hit him again and allowed him to fall to the floor where he began to kick him in the side. Ezra tried to move away from his boot but the wall stopped him from going any further. Nathan quickly came forward but wasn't fast enough to stop the kick that cracked two of Ezra's ribs on his right side.

"Buck stop it!" Nathan pulled him away and then knelt down next to Ezra.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Ezra yelled at him. "You fucking bastards! Get away from me!"

"Ezra, let me have a look." Nathan tried to stay calm, he actually felt angry at Buck for what he had done.

"NO!" He crawled away from him and curled himself back up into a ball in the corner of the room. He wrapped his arms around his sides. "Your not going to touch me, none of you are!"

"Buck, you better go and let Chris and Hoskins know what's happened, I'll stay here with Ezra." Nathan looked up at him and saw that there was no remorse on his face. "Buck!"

"I'm going!" Buck growled at him.

When Buck had left the room Nathan turned back to Ezra and saw the tear that rolled down his right cheek, the small bandage on the left side of his face soaked up the tear that had fallen from his left eye. "Why?" It was a simple question that Nathan didn't have an answer to. "Why are all of you treating me like this?"

"I'm sorry Ezra." Nathan sat down on the floor next to him and waited for the others to come, he didn't know what else to say to him. It was a few minutes before Lenny Hoskins ran into the room to see Ezra curled up in the corner, the tears had stopped but his cheek was still damp.

"What the hell happened here?" He struggled to get his emotions under control, he wanted to hit someone very badly.

"Ezra somehow managed to get hold of some heroin during the night, Buck got angry." Nathan explained.

"How the hell did he get heroin in here and what do you mean by angry. What did he do?" Lenny demanded as he took some deep breaths. His anger was finally flowing from his body only to be replaced by the need to comfort Ezra but he knew he couldn't do that, not now, he would have to do it later and it tore at his heart that things had to be done this way.

"If you don't believe me check his eyes." Nathan told him. "From what I can see it was probably only a couple of hours ago that he shot up."

"You didn't answer my second question Jackson." Lenny growled at him.

Nathan ignored him as he stood up and walked out of the room leaving him alone with Ezra. Lenny hung his head and then looked at Ezra.

"There's two of them, I met one last night, Henry Glading but I don't know who the other one is yet." Ezra whispered to him.

Lenny nodded and tried to smile at him but it came across as an angry grimace.

"I'm sorry Lenny I had to do it, there wasn't any other choice, it was a test, I had to take it."

"It's okay Ezra, I understand, I'm not angry at you." Lenny heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door and looked around to see Chris Larabee standing in the doorway. "What did Wilmington do to you?"

"I think he cracked some of my ribs." Ezra winced more at the anger that appeared on his friend's face than the pain he felt as he pressed against his right side, trying to show Lenny which part of him had been hurt.

Lenny knelt down in front of Ezra, he gently gripped his arms and pulled him to his feet. "Think you can make it to the interview room?"

"Aw hell!" Ezra knew he was going to be sick, he pushed Lenny away and rushed to the toilet bowl and began to throw up, he could feel the pain as it exploded in his side when his stomach muscles contracted but nothing came up, they were only empty violent convulsions, there was nothing left in his stomach.

Lenny waited until Ezra was finished and then helped him to stand up, he led him to the bunk and laid him down, making sure that he was comfortable. "On second thought, why don't you get some sleep while I call the Doctor and then speak to the Judge." He smiled at the expression that overcame Ezra's painfilled face. Ezra knew the Judge was going to give Buck hell but Lenny knew that he was going to do a lot more than that. "I'll come back when the Doctor gets here."

Chris watched as Lenny took care of Ezra but waited until he left the room before he said anything. "Why are you treating him like that, he's supposed to be the enemy now, he's a drug user, he sold information."

"Because I am a better person than you Larabee and besides, I can keep my emotions under control, I don't allow them to rule my way of thinking." Lenny walked away from him and pulled his cell phone from the inside pocket of his black leather coat. "Doctor Aitkens please."

Chris controlled his anger and followed Hoskins back to the interview room. He noticed that he didn't go in but stayed outside while he phoned Judge Travis. Chris went into the room and saw that Vin had joined Buck and Nathan.

"You want to tell me what happened before the Judge gets here." He glared at Buck.

"He either had a needle on him when you brought him in which is unlikely or someone gave him some during the night because he's flying higher than a kite." Nathan told him.

"I didn't ask you Nathan." Chris kept his eyes on Buck's face.

"I got angry, the bastard made me loose control." Buck protested.

"You better hope that you don't loose your job." Chris sighed.

"Don't you think that we should be trying to find out who supplied him with the heroin." Nathan asked Chris.

"Not right now, we have to sort this out first before the Judge gets here." Chris told him.

"There's nothing to sort out Chris. Buck hit him without cause." Nathan didn't like what Ezra had become but he also didn't like the way they were treating him either. He had his reasons for not trusting or liking Ezra when he had first joined the team but he thought the man had proven himself on more than one occassion since then. He deserved some sort of compassion for what he had become "There was no reason to beat him like that."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that Nathan." Chris warned him coldly.

"The Judge will be here in twenty minutes." Lenny interrupted them as he entered the room, he had heard everything that Nathan said but chose not to let them know it. "I don't suppose anyone wants to tell me what happened?" He was answered with silence. "I thought as much." He turned back towards the door. "I'll wait for the Judge out here shall I?" More silence. "Yep, just like I told Standish, a bunch of incompetent assholes, no wonder he turned to drugs, couldn't cope with working you guys." He left the room with a smile on his face. He was going to follow those remarks with his fist when he got the chance.

Vin held Chris back, they didn't need anymore trouble, Hoskins could wait.

Lenny took the Judge to the holding area and entered the last room to find Ezra sleeping on his left side. Lenny knelt down next to him and gently shook his shoulder. "Ezra?" He shook him again. "Ezra can you hear me?" He watched as Ezra's eyes slowly opened, he saw confusion in the green eyes that were unable to focus on him. "Ezra?"

"Lenny?" Ezra muttered as he closed his eyes again.

"Yeah Ezra. Listen, Judge Travis is here, can you tell him what happened?" Lenny used his right hand to wipe the hair from Ezra's forehead and felt the slight fever that flushed his skin.

"I'm too tired Lenny, just let me sleep." Ezra tried to roll away but cried out in pain when his right side made contact with the hard mattress, he quickly rolled back onto his other side.

"I'm going to check your ribs Ezra." Lenny waited for him to answer him but he didn't. He lifted Ezra's shirt and winced at the bruising that had already begun to form. He carefully used his fingers to press against his ribs. Ezra tried to move away from him so he quickly removed his painfull touch. "You get some sleep Ezra. Okay?" He stood up and went back to the Judge

"Is Ezra still suffering from the concussion that Larabee gave him?" The Judge asked him, the anger wasn't hidden from his voice.

"No it's the heroin he injected." Lenny explained to him. "The after effects will make him drowsy so he'll probably sleep for a while, he also tried to throw up after it happened." He took his eyes off Ezra and then looked at the Judge, his own expression was serious. "First time users of heroin usually suffer from nausea and vomiting."

"Why did he do it?" Travis wanted to know.

"Ezra said it was a test, that Henry Glading brought it to him. But Ezra says there's someone else." Lenny had explained about Henry Glading when he spoke to the Judge on the phone. "Judge, he wouldn't have done it unless he thought he had to. I think the guy were after was testing him like Ezra said and now that he's passed the test it should only be a matter of time before he contacts Ezra again."

"Do you think that he'll approach him here?" Travis asked him as his own eyes watched Ezra.

"No but your going to have to keep Ezra here for the full seventy two hours or he might become suspicous, he'll probably use Glading to pass on any information to him." His gaze turned back to Ezra's sleeping form. "We can post a guard outside this room while he's in here, they would expect that. Unfortunately it would have to be Larabee's team because we don't know who this other guy is. We can start by getting Jackson to stay with him for a while, he's seems to be getting soft about the whole situation. He doesn't agree with what Wilmington did. Overheard him arguing with Larabee."

"If I had known that it was going to be this bad for him, I would never have agreed to this operation." The Judge spoke silenty, the regret that he felt was evident in his voice. "Agent Hoskins, I think it's about time we took care of Mr Wilmington." Travis left the holding room.

Lenny gave Ezra one last glance and silenty apologised for what he was putting him through, that he would make them pay for what they did to him. He closed the door and followed Judge Travis back to the interview room.

When the Judge entered the room he looked at each man, he saw the false expression on Jackson's face but didn't see any guilt or sympathy for Ezra on the others and this made his anger explode. He ignored everyone else in the room and stepped closer to Buck. Travis waited and watched Lenny in the mirror as he stepped into the room and stand just to the side of the doorway, he knew that Lenny wanted to witness and enjoy every moment of what was about to happen.

"Would you like to explain to me what happened this morning." Travis spoke firmly as his angry gaze moved back to Wilmington.

"I entered the holding room to find out that Standish had injected heroin into his system." His eyes moved quickly to Nathan for confirmation of what had transpired thirty minutes earlier.

"Don't look at him, look at me!" The Judge demanded.

"He wouldn't tell me, I got angry and I hit him." Buck continued.

"How many times did you hit him?"

"Twice."

"And?"

"He fell to the floor and I kicked him." Buck hung his head as he waited for the tongue lashing that he knew was coming.

"Your badge and your gun please Mr Wilmington." The Judge saw the hesitation in his body language. "NOW!" He ignored the shocked expressions that filled the interview room and took the items that he asked for when Buck handed them to him. "You are suspended without pay until further notice. If I see you in this building before that notice is given you will loose your job!" He waited for any comments but there was none. "Get out of my sight!"

"Judge you can't do that!" Chris argued.

"Do you want to join him Mr Larabee?" Travis practically yelled at him, he wasn't going to hide his anger any longer.

"I've got a job to do remember." Chris reminded him. The sacarsm didn't fail to reach the Judge.

"Then why aren't you doing it!" He snapped at him then turned his eyes back to Buck. "I thought I told you get out!"

Buck looked around the room at the faces before him, they showed understanding, he nodded to them and left.

"Chris, I want you to arrange a roster, each of you are going to take a turn staying with Standish. He's not to be left alone, I don't want this happening again." He stepped closer to the man who always dressed in dark clothing. "The drugs or the beating. If anybody else touches Standish, they won't be suspended, they'll be fired." He nodded to towards Lenny. "Hoskins here will take the first shift." He glared back at Chris and then the rest of the men. "Is that understood!" He waited for their acknowledgements. "Hoskins, when will the Doctor be here?"

"Any minute now." Lenny answered him.

"Make sure Aitkens doesn't do the same thing he did yesterday and I want Standish back in this room when the Doctor is finished with him, we need to know about that information he sold. Do you think you can handle that?" The Judge turned around. "You don't seem to have done a good job so far."

"It's the people that I have to work with." Lenny shrugged. "There not very good at what they do."

"I'm beginning to agree with you on that point." The Judge glared at his men then stormed out of the room.

Lenny knew that each of the five men wanted to hit him, he could tell by their expressions of anger and hatred, he would glady take them up on their offer after Ezra was safe.

"He has two cracked ribs on his right side." Aitkens informed Lenny as he examined Ezra's side, he felt the southerner's forehead and then stood up. "He also has a slight temperature. How long ago did he inject the heroin?"

"Somewhere around three this morning." Lenny answered him as he watched over his examination of his friend, he was ready to hit the man if he caused Ezra any pain.

"The pain killers that I gave him yesterday will help bring his fever down but don't give him any until your sure the drug's effects are out of his system." He leant down and pulled some bandages from his bag. "Can you sit him up so I can strap his ribs."

"Sure." Lenny sat on the small bunk and carefully lifted the still sleeping man up into his arms. He allowed Ezra's head to fall back onto his shoulder and watched his face carefully while the Doctor bandaged his ribs. He felt Ezra move within his embrace. "It's okay Ezra, the Doctor's fixing you up."

"Like he did yesterday." Ezra muttered as he pulled his eyes open.

"Not this time Ezra, I gave him my word that I would cause him a serious injury if he did that again." Lenny smiled at the Doctor.

Aitkens finished strapping Ezra's ribs and then changed the gauges on his face, once he was finished he left the room leaving the two men to talk.

"Do you want to pull out of this Ezra?" Lenny had waited until the Doctor closed the door.

"No." Ezra didn't move from Lenny's embrace, he need his friend's comfort. "It can't get any worse than this, could it?"

"It might Ezra." Lenny pushed him to the side and turned him around to face him. "The Judge has arranged for them to take turns watching you so Glading won't have a chance to offer you anymore heroin."

"I think I'd prefer the heroin." Ezra moaned.

"If it's any help Nathan's leaning more to your side, he had a go at Chris about what Buck did to you." Lenny tried to console him.

Ezra couldn't hide the surprise that he felt. "Nathan?" He watched as Lenny nodded his head. "If you asked me, Nathan would have been my last choice. We've never really gotten on, don't know why, suppose he just doesn't like or trust me. But then none of them do."

"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny smiled at him trying to break him out of his sombre mood. "I can't understand it, I mean your witty charm and good looks usually persuade people." He took a deep breath when Ezra didn't react and changed the subject. "Did Glading give you any idea who this other guy is?"

"He said he was a mutual friend, that's all."

"Are you okay Ezra?" Lenny was beginning to worry about him.

"No I'm not Lenny." Ezra lifted his green eyes to look at his only friend. "I thought those men were my friends, I knew they were going to react but not like this. What Buck did this morning . . . " He hung his head. "I didn't expect that."

"I'm sorry Ezra." Lenny repeated as he took him into a hug.

"Yeah, you and me both."

"Judge Travis wants me to take you to the interview room. You up to it? I can tell them that the Doctor said you have to rest for a while."

"No, let's just get it over with. Hell maybe I can cheer myself up by pissing them off." Ezra smiled but it was forced and didn't reach his eyes, they seemed to have a permanent haunted look that Lenny knew was going to be difficult to remove.

Ezra stepped into the interview room, the whiteness of it's walls matching his pale complexion. He knew what the day had in store for him, it wasn't going to be pleasant. It was going to be a lot worse than what he had thought it would be before he agreed to take on the assignment. He felt terrible, emotionally and physically, his ribs ached with a passion, reminding him of the anger that Buck had shown towards him that morning. Lenny followed close behind him and settled into a position in the corner of the room facing him so the others that were watching through the two way mirror wouldn't see him. He would be able to use his facial expressions to talk to Ezra.

Ezra held onto his ribs as he eased himself down into the chair, he kept his eyes down cast and wouldn't look into the cold hate filled eyes of Chris Larabee. He couldn't understand why this man now hated him so much. He knew he would be angry but hateful, it was beyond his comprehension. His eyes quickly lifted and turned to the left to look at Lenny who nodded back at him.

"Who gave it to yo