Two Shaken Agents

by Megan

Disclaimer: Mag 7 doesn't belong to me

Author Note: Thanks for Enola for betaing the fic.

The door to the waiting room suddenly burst open. Five men entered into the room, not slowing down as they looked around for a familiar face. Stopping in front of Travis, Chris spoke. "How are they?"

"The doctor hasn't come out yet. Didn't except you to be here so soon."

"We were able to catch an earlier flight. What happened?"

"I don't know. It was supposed to be a simple bust. Buck and JD were just there to help out. They were in the surveillance vehicle. No one is sure what happened. Somehow, some of the criminals escaped the main bust. Then there was a car chase and the car somehow slammed into the surveillance vehicle."

"They weren't supposed to be doing anything except testing listening devices."

Before Travis could reply, a doctor approached the group. She had immediately recognized the Seven . Before she could say anything, Chris spoke up. "Doc? How are they?"

"Not good. The fact that for some reason they were wearing their vests, was the only thing that saved them. They both lost a lot of blood, which we replaced. JD was lucky to only come away with some bruised ribs. He also has a strained shoulder and various lacerations. Buck received the worst. He must have been standing when the vehicle was hit. He has several cracked ribs, several deep lacerations. He's going to even have more bruises than JD and be very sore. "

Nathan frowned as he took in the information "It's bad, but not that bad. What aren't you telling us?'

The doctor sighed. "I told you, they both lost blood. We're getting blood back into them, but we don't know, with the other injuries, how long they will be unconscious and they are both at risk for infection."

Chris growled slightly. "They'll be fine."

"I hope you're right. Once we get them settled, you can sit with them. Just take turns and don't bother the nurses."

Nathan spoke up. "We won't. Thank you."

The doctor nodded. "Just make sure the rest of you don't show up here anytime soon. I'm getting tired of patching you all up."

Nodding, the group followed the doctor to the room. Pausing just outside of the room, the Doctor turned and stared at the group. "Remember, you can visit but try to limit how many of you are in here."

With a nod, the doctor allowed them into the room. The team entered the room and paused, eyeing all of the machines that were hooked up to their two teammates. Chris moved over to stand in between the two beds. Staring at the two men, he sighed. "You two are not allowed to be on your own for a week, ever again."

There was no response from the two injured team members. Nathan spoke up from where he was standing, "They have a good chance Chris. Besides, those two wouldn't want getting you angry at them."

Before Chris could say something, there was a knock on the door. Turning, he frowned when he saw Travis standing there. "Travis?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt. But we need to talk."

"About what?" Josiah asked.

Closing the door to the room, he stare d the team. "I just got off the phone with the director of the DEA. He wants us to investigate what happened here."

"It's a bust gone bad. What is there to investigate?"

Looking at Ezra, Travis sighed. "The director thinks the man leading the bust -- a Stan Martin – screwed up big. It was the man's first case. When Buck and JD were assigned to help him, it was on orders that Stan would listen to Buck and follow the suggestions that he made. Mr. Martin is saying that he followed every rule that was laid out for him. We don't believe him. We think he decided to follow his own rules and in the process put five people in the hospital that didn't need to be."

Josiah frowned "All the evidence that we could get would be circumstantial. It'll come down to who do we believe more."

Travis shook his head. "Maybe not. Buck and JD were working on new listening deceives that we were thinking of using. They were given permission to test them during their time with the DEA. They might have recorded the different meetings. If they did, and with whatever else you can find out, that should be enough to show that Stan wasn't following procedures. He's dangerous. Five people injured in one bust. Three of them in the surveillance van. That doesn't happen."

Looking down at the two men in the hospital bed, Chris nodded. "We'll find out what happened."

Travis nodded. "Good. Keep me informed. Don't worry, though, those two will pull through."

Josiah nodded. "They will."

As Travis left, Chris looked over at the remaining team. "One of us will stay here at all times. Josiah and Ezra, you two can interview the other men. Nathan and Vin, go over what happened at the bust. I'll stay here and go over the recordings if there are any."

With a nod the group split up -- each wanting to find out what really happened.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

An hour later, Chris was sitting in the hospital room, with the laptop that had all the recordings that JD and Buck had made in the last week. Staring at the sound files, he turned to look at the two unconscious men. "If you two woke up right now, I wouldn't have to do this." )

With no answer forthcoming, Chris clicked on the first file. As he hit it, Buck's and JD's voices came over the laptop speakers..

"JD, you sure these things are working?"

"Yes, it's recording now."

"Ezra will like this, no more static humming in the ear. You ready to meet with these DEA agents?"

"I thought Chris said that we couldn't be loaned out to other teams without his knowledge."

"We're just there to help them out. The closest we'll get to the action is the surveillance van. We just need to make sure that the DEA doesn't do anything stupid."

"Are you leaving the listening device on?"

"Yes, Travis wants to see how well it works over the course of a couple of days."

Several moments of silence, just sounds of two people walking then: "Hey, Randy...."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"Randy Riker?"

The agent looked up at Josiah and Ezra. "Yea, that's me, what do you want?"

Josiah smiled. "We need to talk to you about the bust."

"Look, can we do this some other time?"

"We know it's a bad time, but the sooner you talk to us, the sooner we can get out of your hair."

Looking at Ezra, Randy finally nodded.

"What do you want to know?"

"Did you see what happened to the surveillance vehicle?"

"No, I wish I did ,though. I've never heard of a surveillance team getting hurt like that. They're supposed to be out of the way."

Sharing a look with Ezra, Josiah frowned. "That's what we're trying to find out. Do you remember if Mr. Wilmington mentioned anything about not liking the placing of the vehicles." Ezra asked.

"Yeah, Buck talked to Stan about it. Said he should move it a side street. It would've been a better position and if things went bad, the surveillance van would have been off the main road. Stan agreed and said it would be done, but it wasn't. "

Josiah and Ezra shared a glance, then Josiah spoke. "Did Buck mention anything else about the plans that Stan had laid out?"

"Several things. He said the plans might fit in the rules, but with some improvements on the plans, everyone would be safe."

"Did Stan make these improvements?"

Looking at the Southerner, Randy shook his head. "No, he didn't. He said he would, but when we got to bust, he changed everything back to his original plan."

"Thank you. You've given us a lot of information. We'll leave you for now."

As the two members of Team Seven left, Randy called out to them. "Tell Buck it wasn't his fault. Stan didn't listen to him."

Josiah nodded. "We will."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"Buck, he isn't going to listen. I bet he doesn't change his plans."

"Nothing we can do about it if he doesn't. It's his plans."

"It doesn't seem fair. He doesn't listen to anyone. Heck, even the FBI will listen to us when we make suggestions and change parts of the plan."

"There isn't anything we can do. At least we have a recording of it. If anyone gets hurt, he won't be able to wiggle out of it."

"How did we get stuck helping these guys again?"

"We were the only ones not involved in something or at a conference. Now come on. It's time for dinner. Let's head out. Tomorrow we'll see what happens."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Chris sat back from the computer. Looking over at the two unconscious men, he sighed. "You know, as much fun as it is to listen to your recordings, I would prefer hearing this directly from you two."

Neither man gave any indication that they had heard Chris. Putting the computer down, Chris got up and took a walk to the two beds. Looking at the two men, he shook his head. It was supposed to be an easy week for Buck and JD. Play with some toys and relax. Not one where they would end up fighting for their lives because a leader of a team couldn't be bother to take their advice.

Hoping that either of them would start to wake, after several minutes he turn back to the computer. Plopping himself back into the chair, he clicked on the next audio file.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"Stan, what time is the bust going down? You forgot to mention it in the meeting."

"The meeting is at two Everyone should be there at noon. We want to set up early."

"We'll be there. You make the changes?"

"I looked into what you said. You made good suggestions, I'll follow through on it."

"Good, see ya then, Stan."

There were the sounds of Buck walking away. And then, quietly, in the background.:"I thought you weren't going to change the plans?"

"I'm not Walter. The locals don't know anything. Everything's fine. The surveillance van is well out of the way. It's not like any of these criminals are getting away. Now make sure everyone knows they need to show up at eleven. I want to have everything set so these guys can't move it."

"Will do."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"Walter Snapple?"

Looking up from the old magazine, the older DEA agent frowned. "Yes?"

"I'm Ezra Standish, my colleague here is Josiah Sanchez. We were ask to investigate the incident that happen. We would like to know, if we may ask you some questions?"

"Sure. I have nothing to hide."

"We have some questions about the bust that went down. We were wondering if you could tell us if the plans for the bust were changed or altered to take in any suggestions?" Ezra asked.

Walter shook his head. "No, Stan didn't feel that the suggestions were useful."

"Did he even listen to the two ATF men?"

Walter stared at the the Southerner. Rubbing his head, he sighed. "I wish he had. He didn't like the ATF men. He thought they were just there to annoy us. He did everything by the book, then when they suggested anything different, he didn't do it. I thought it was just tension between locals and visitors. Now, though, I wish I said something."

"Did anyone else complain?"

"Look, the bust went wrong. It happens. I'm sorry that the agents got hurt."

Josiah frowned. "Three of your own men got hurt. Don't you want to see justice?"

"Look, the bust went down by the rules. Bad things happened. Now excuse me."

As the man left, the two agents shared a glance. "That went well." Ezra stated.

"Could have gone worse. Lets finish up talking to people. Then we will let Chris and the rest know what we found out."

With a sigh, Ezra agreed with Josiah.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"What time did Stan want us to meet him?"

"I caught up with Walter. He said everyone is meeting up at the warehouse at noon."

"I don't trust him. I don't think he's going to make the changes."

"Hopefully he will, we can't do anything about it though. Just make sure tomorrow he sets up right. Alright, then I guess we should get going. We're going to need to be awake tomorrow. Don't forget your vest."

"Why? we'll be in the surveillance van."

"Humor me. We'll wear it tomorrow. I don't trust this guy. Besides, it isn't going to hurt."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

As the recording ended, the door to the room opened. Turning around, Chris was reaching for his gun when he saw who it was. "Ezra, Josiah, next time knock. "

Ezra smirked, looking over at the two unconscious team members. "Have they woken up?"

Sighing, Chris shook his head. "No, they haven't twitched."

"They will wake up." Josiah stated.

Almost as if Josiah said the magic words, JD started to wake up. The three men moved over to the bed. They watched as JD slowly came back to consciousness. Finally, the young agent opened his eyes.

Staring at the three men that were around his bed, he frowned. "Buck?"

Josiah spoke up. "He's here, next to you."

"What happened?"

The three men exchanged glances. "You don't remember?"

"We were in the surveillance van. We were keeping track of the bust. Everything went FUBAR and then...I don't know. When can I leave?"

"Not until the Doctor says you can."

Looking at Josiah, JD sighed. "When will that be?"

"When you're better."

Falling silent, JD was quiet for several minutes. Finally, he spoke softly. "Buck will be okay?"

Chris nodded. "He will be."

Taking Chris's statement as truth, JD fell quickly back to sleep.

The three men as one, turned to the other bed in the room – each hoping that Buck would wake up. When after several minutes, when that didn't happen. Chris spoke up. "Now, that you two are here, you can tell me what you found out and you can listen to the audio with me."

Ezra sighed. "There isn't much to tell. From what we found, Stan didn't listen to Buck's suggestions. "

"That's what I've heard on the audio as well."

With a last glance at the one sleeping man and the other unconscious one, the men moved over to where the computer was placed.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"What the hell!"


"He's going to chase the guys! They're coming this way!"

"Damn it. I've called in help for the the other two. Where is the chase going?"

"Sounds like it's coming this way."

"I told him not to put the van here."

"Get on the radio and warn him to be careful."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"Here is the spot."

Looking around at the bits of metal, glass and crime scene tape, Vin shook his head. "You sure?"

Nathan nodded. "Yep. The van was parked here. The suspect's car rammed into it after Stan shot at it."

Looking down the street, Vin frowned as he spotted the side street that was less than fifty feet away. "Why didn't he just have the surveillance van moved to the side street? It would have made more sense!"

"That's what the others will find out. But I have to agree with you, it would have made more sense for the surveillance van to move there. It would have been out in the open here."

Vin walked over to the the outline of the surveillance van. Looking down at the picture of the crash, he shook his head. "JD and Buck wouldn't have known what had hit them or coming. They would only be able to hear the chatter. Why did Stan shoot the car here and not further down?"

Looking around the area, Nathan walked half way down the block. "If Stan had waited a few seconds to stop them, the surveillance vehicle would have been safe. The suspect's car wouldn't have been hit the trash here and the suspects wouldn't be that hurt."

Looking at what Nathan pointed out, Vin had to agree. "You're right, I wonder why he didn't wait?"

Shuffling through the photos, Nathan sighed. "This shouldn't have gone down like this. Stan might have followed procedures, but he didn't seem to worry about his team's safety. He just wanted to make sure that he got the bad guys while following the rules."

"Chris would never approve a plan that would leave the surveillance team in even a little bit of danger."

"Neither would Buck. I bet Buck asked for the plans to be changed and they weren't."

Vin nodded in agreement. "We done here?"

"I've seen enough. Let's head back to the hospital room."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

"The suspect's car is coming this way...Be careful..let it pass, the blockade can stop them, Stan?.."

"Buck, he isn't listening-- he turned off his radio."

"Shit! JD, can we tell where they are? Any one else talking?"

"No, they aren't listening. Buck!!"

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

The men stared at the laptop. As the audio stopped with a loud crash, the men in the hospital room stared at each other. They all could imaged what had happened in the vehicle when the suspect's car had hit it. Glaring at the computer for several minutes, Chris shook his head. "When I get my hands on to Stan..."

"You'll have help, Cowboy."

Turning, the group in the room, watched Vin and Nathan entered. "When did you get back?" Chris asked?"

Nathan spoke as he walked over to the two unconscious men. "Just now. We finished viewing the crash site. I don't know what the DEA lead was thinking but he could have taken out the suspects without endangering the surveillance team. If he had even moved the surveillance van to a side street, it wouldn't been near the action. Have they woken up?"

Ezra nodded. "JD woke up about an hour ago. We're still waiting for Buck to wake."

Stopping at Buck's bed, Nathan stared at the man. "He's awake, aren't you Buck? You can stop faking that you're unconscious."

Two blue eyes open up and glared at the forensic expert.

As the others joined Nathan at Buck's bed, Josiah frowned. "How long have you been awake?

Eying the group of men around him, the injured man shrugged his shoulders. Nathan reached over and handed Buck a glass and straw. After a sip of water, Buck thanked Nathan.

"So, how long have you been awake?"

Glaring at Vin, the injured man sighed. "Not long."

"Not long. You want to tell us about Stan?"

Looking at Chris, he shrugged his shoulders. "The idiot who didn't bother listing to anything we had to say? Sounded like you figured it all out."

Snorting, Ezra shook his head. "Anything that we didn't hear or figure out?"

Yawning slightly, Buck shook his head. "He thinks he knows everything and as long as it follows the rules and he can't get in trouble, he doesn't care what happens to anyone else."

Sharing a look with the rest of men, Nathan sighed. "All right, you've told us enough. You get some rest. The doctor might let you out tomorrow."


"You're not fine, you need to heal. And don't worry, when they release you, you both are staying at the ranch."

Looking at Chris, Buck yawned again. Before his eyes closed, he murmured, "Not fair. We can take care of ourselves."

"Not this time. Now go to sleep."

With a soft sigh, Buck fell into a healing sleep.

Chris shared a glance with the rest of the team. "Stan's going down for this. This whole thing should have been avoided."

Vin frowned. "You have a plan?"

Smirking evilly, Chris nodded. "Yes."

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Looking around the lunch room, Josiah headed over to his target.

Josiah sat down next to the DEA agent. The agent frowned. "What do you want?"

Grinning, the profiler took a bite of his sandwich before speaking. "I think, son, that you need to really think about what just happened at the bust."

"What, consider the alternatives or something? I've already thought about it. I didn't do anything wrong."

Holding on to his anger, Josiah shook his head. "Now, that isn't true. You might not have done anything wrong by the rule book, but by following it blindly, three of your agents and two of my team members are lying up in a hospital room fighting for their lives."

"It wasn't my fault. They knew what could happen."

"Yes, we all know what could happen in a bust, but we have other people's objections and ideas to make sure we've done our best to keep everyone safe."

"Which I did. What happened, no one could've foreseen!"

"That's not true. We know that Buck asked you to move the surveillance vehicle to a side street."

Sneering slightly, Stan shook his head. "He suggested it, but there was no reason to move it. They were fine where it was placed, and if I had moved it. I would have had to change some of the placements of my men. It was a calculated risk."

Josiah stared at the man for a moment. "What about the two different times you gave?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Stan finished off the last bite of his lunch. Swallowing it, he grinned. "I didn't want your teammates to come when we were setting up and demand things changed. I didn't need their help in the first place. The fact that they got injured is their own fault."

"Their own fault?"

"Sure, they poked their noses in something that they shouldn't have. They wanted to steal the credit for the bust. But, I wouldn't let them. It's my bust and my success. If they had kept their poor suggestions to themselves everything would have been fine."

Josiah taking a deep breath. He tired to rein in the temptation to punch the man in front of him. "What do you mean they would try to take your credit? They were only there to help."

"No, they were there to steal my credit. With the successful completion of this op, I will be promoted. Your agents would've jeopardized it. It's a sad thing that the suspect's car rammed the surveillance vehicle. Though it won't stop my case from being recorded as successful."

Finishing his sandwich, Josiah shook his head. "No, you got something wrong. This bust wasn't successful. It was a mess. And your arrogance caused five agents to end up in the hospital."

Stan shrugged his shoulders, not paying attention to the other members of team seven circling him. "It's not my problem. They should have kept their thoughts to themselves. I didn't need thier help. They got what they deserved."

"Stan Martin?"

Turning, Stan frowned at the group of men. "What can I do for you?"

Glaring at the man, Chris spoke, barely keeping the growl out of his voice. "You are suspended and under arrest for the actions of purposely putting your team in danger on a bust."

"I did no such thing."

Vin shook his head. "We have proof. You refused to listen to your men and those supplied to you by the ATF. Then you put those men in danger when shooting a suspect's car near where they were stationed."

As this was being said, Nathan was handcuffed the man. Stan just stared at the men. "You don't know what you are talking about. And when I'm proven innocent of all this, I'll have your jobs!"

Stepping close to Stan and glaring down at the smaller man, Chris smiled. "You come near my men, and we won't have to worry about this investigation. You won't be alive to worry about it."

Stepping away, Chris motioned for Nathan and Josiah to drag the man away.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Three days later, Ezra and Vin walked into JD and Buck's hospital room. Looking at the two empty beds, the two agents frowned. Ezra turned and looked at Vin. Seeing the look, the sniper shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know where they went. They were supposed to stay here."

"You were the bounty hunter, can't you track them down?"

"No, they should be around here. They both know better than to leave the hospital."

"Well, where do you think our two missing team members disappeared to?"

Before Vin could answer, the two men in question limped slowly through the door. Vin grinned slightly. "I found them."

Rolling his eyes slowly, Ezra turned to their two teammates. "Where did you go?"

Sharing a look with JD, Buck grinned. "We got thirsty and decided to find something to drink."

Eying the two full water containers, Ezra asked. "You didn't like the water in this room?"

Buck and JD shared another look. "Nope, it was warm. You two taking us home?"Buck asked.

Eying Buck for a minute, Vin had a feeling that the two men had been out visiting the other agents that were still in the hospital. Dropping it for now, the sniper nodded. "Yes, we're here to take you to your rest and recovery."

"You're taking us back to the CDC right, we can help each other."

Ezra shook his head. "Our fearless leader has determined that you two need to stay at the ranch until you heal under protective custody."

"Protective Custody? Why, there wasn't anyone after us," JD asked.

Looking at JD, Vin grinned. "From yourselves. Chris figures he can't leave you two alone. Seems you get into too much trouble. So, he decided that while you finish recovering from your injuries, we would be able to keep an eye on you."

Buck frowned. "We don't need that. We're fine."

Ezra and Vin held back the laughter that was threatening to come out. Finally, after several minutes, Ezra could speak. "You aren't fine, you couldn't fight off a bunny rabbit. Now get your things before Chris comes looking for us."

With a sigh, the two agents did. With that, the four left the room.

The End