The Comet by Cattraine

The huge multicolored ball of gases and minerals sailed silently across the night sky, an astronomer’s delight. It shone especially bright over a particular portion of the southwest sky, and it left chaos in its wake when everyone awoke the next day---different, and providing scientists, fundamentalists and geeks debate material for years to come. The Loki Syndrome as it was dubbed, after the mythological trickster, would become the bane of Team Seven’s existence.

Larebee’s Team Seven met in the conference room two weeks later, having pulled themselves together and grimly intent on sorting themselves and their ‘problems’ out so they could continue to function as a crack ATF team and work efficiently together.

Chris sat at the head of the long table looking much the same, grim, blond and black-clad as per usual. The only noticeable difference was the pair of wrap-around shades he wore shielding his eyes. The shades were a necessity now that his irate gaze had the tendency to set objects and people ablaze. That shielded gaze kept veering to his right, where Vin Tanner sat quietly.

In fact, everyone’s gaze inevitably kept returning to Vin’s face. They couldn’t resist his new Elvish glamour. Handsome before, now, after the comet’s passing, he was breathtakingly gorgeous. He made the Queen of Elfland look like the south end of a northbound horse. Sapphire eyes set in that exquisite square jawed face, flawless golden skin, full, lush lips, perfect features all topped by long, silky golden brown hair and delicately pointed ears.

Everyone in the room at one time or the other found themselves fantasizing about nibbling those delicate ears. Only Buck had had the balls to actually try (only Buck didn’t really have balls anymore) and Tanner’s temper had exploded and he had threatened to shoot the lot of them to put them out of his misery.

Now they all tried valiantly not to stare too long at that beautiful, blushing face, fully aware that not only were they in danger of being shot by Vin himself but that Larabee was jealous of anyone who lingered too close to the younger man, a fact made clear by the evidence. Chris had set fire to no less than three leering FBI agents and an annoying love struck secretary in the past week alone.

Tanner himself was heartily sick of the whole mess. Not only did he have to sneak in the building muffled in a ball cap and hoodie every morning, he had to run a gauntlet of love struck office workers and agents. Granted, the offerings of pastries, flowers, and home cooked meals left in the Team Seven break room were nice, but he was getting sick of the marriage proposals and crude propositions for sex that were clogging his mailbox and email. It proved especially embarrassing to the shy young man when a large portion of them were discovered to be from Judge Travis.

Larabee blinked hard and tore his eyes away from that radiant, now scowling face and turned to Buck at his left.

Bucklin had taken his unexpected gender change in stride. In fact, Chris suspected it never even slowed him down, and he had to admit that Buck made a strikingly attractive woman despite his impressive height and broad shoulders. Tall, with an amazingly voluptuous Mae West figure, topped with curly black hair with dark blue eyes in a smiling, pretty face, he, err, she was popular with everyone in the building---most of whom he had dated or was in the process of dating. Buck was in the process of adjusting his push-up Wonder bra, displaying what Larabee privately felt was a tad too much cleavage than should be on view in the workplace. However, Chris was willing to cut him some slack since he was still adjusting to dressing as a woman. Though he made a mental note to talk to him about sensible footwear. How the hell was he supposed to chase down a perp in four-inch stiletto heels? And where the hell did he find shoes to fit those enormous feet?

His gaze shifted down the table to Buck’s left and he bit down on his lip hard to suppress a snicker at the sight of the oversized squirrel wearing a black beanie that sat on the table at Buck’s elbow, chattering away, while Buck nodded absently. The fact that JD Dunne turned into a squirrel every time he got excited about something never stopped being funny. As he watched, JD held up a compact in his furry little paws for Buck to check his bright fuchsia lipstick. Chris slid a glance to his right again at Vin’s muffled snort of amusement and they shared a private grin.

Farther down the table Ezra Standish was slumped in his seat, dark smudges under his eyes, absently rolling a coin over his knuckles, as he scowled out the window at a coterie of cooing pigeons on the ledge. Ezra was currently banned from every gambling establishment within a thousand mile radius, simply because he was the luckiest man on earth now when it came to bets. He could not lose and it was taking all the joy out of his life. Posters of his face were plastered up in every casino, racetrack, bar and seedy pool hall in the state. He was reduced to trying to talk the office into a friendly sports betting pool in a vain effort to keep himself entertained.

Larabee privately thought Standish would work himself out of his depression once he realized that he could always disguise himself for a clandestine visit or two to Las Vegas. However until that particular idea dawned on the gambler, he kept his thoughts to himself. Standish probably had more money stashed away in his Swiss bank account now than Chris could earn in a lifetime.

His attention shifted to Nathan, who was surreptitiously trying to peel a tenaciously clinging strand of ivy off his sleeve. The plant had ambushed him as he walked through the lobby. Plants loved Nate. His small house now looked like a jungle had exploded around it. He had to hack his way out to the driveway every morning with a machete and last week he had discovered a rare species of orchid growing in his garage---no mean feat for a plant in Colorado in February. Chris had been obliged to incinerate a large monster tumbleweed that was blocking his Volvo that morning before he could leave for work. The one good thing was that Nathan could now gift his girlfriend Raine with an endless supply of fresh flowers. Hell, rosebushes burst into spontaneous bloom when he walked past. Nate was actually contemplating retiring early and opening a plant nursery. There was a fortune to be made with his new gift.

Larabee frowned and looked around the room, suddenly realizing he was missing a team member.

“Where the hell is Josiah?”

He narrowed his eyes at a suspiciously innocent looking elf.

“He isn’t outside walking on the water in the courtyard fountain again, is he?”

Wide blue eyes met his and Larabee abruptly forgot what he had been talking about, unable to tear his gaze away as those full lips parted and Vin spoke.

“Naw. He stopped at the shelter again this morning. Somethin’ about banishing a plague of head lice.” Vin scratched his own silky head thoughtfully.

Larabee nodded, satisfied. As long as the big man wasn’t down at the city morgue resurrecting Tito Valdez just so he could have the fun of killing him again, he didn’t care. They had more important cases to concentrate on---like arresting the newly dubbed Ice Queen, Mary Travis, who had apparently taken to gunrunning to fund her newfound passion for diamonds. She had frozen open the safes of two high-end jewelry stores and turned the guards into human Popsicles in her latest caper. Word was, her next target was the armory.

“Okay. Let’s bring this meeting to order. Buck, stop primping and pay attention! And no Ezra, I do not want to bet on which damned pigeon is gonna fly away first. Lets get cracking people, we have work to do.”

END

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