Bonding Seven Style by Kathy Bilier

Chris Larabee looked up from his desk as Agent Vin Tanner knocked on his door.

"Hey pard," Vin called as he stuck his head through the doorway. "What time you plan on getting to The Saloon tonight?"

Chris hesitated.

"Uh, I won't be going tonight." His eyes looked over to the coat rack with the zippered suit bag hanging on it. Vin, too, saw the bag.

"Oh, going somewhere?" The question was asked with a certain disdain in Tanner's voice.

The ATF team known as the Magnificent Seven had just busted up a huge gun running gang that was working out of the Denver International Airport. It had been a long, tough investigation. They had busted one Paul Palmer, head of airport maintenance. He had caved and given out the names of several of his associates. The Seven had been working the D.I.A. case for two months and were in need of serious unwinding. It was customary after the conclusion of a case to unwind at The Saloon, a local bar the Seven had adopted as their own.

Vin looked at Chris waiting for an answer to his question.

"Yes, I'm going to the opera with Mary. They're doing La Boheme."

Vin didn't know or care what La Boheme was; all he knew was that Team Seven's leader would not be with his men tonight.

"Mary. Should have figured." With that, Agent Vin Tanner turned on his heel and left Larabee's office. Chris got up and followed him back to desk.

"Vin, it's not what you think. Mary has season tickets to the Performing Arts Center. She called two days ago to ask me to go with her. Believe me, I'd much rather be with you guys then the opera but I'm already committed."

Vin made a grunt and waved Larabee off.

Fine, Chris thought, as he stormed back into his office, slamming the door behind him.

Agent Buck Wilmington and his ever-present sidekick, roommate, and unofficial little brother, agent J.D. Dunne, bounded into the office. "Hey Vin, you check with our fearless leader about tonight?"

"Ain't coming" was Vin's terse reply. "Going with Mary to see some opera, La Amen or something."

"You must mean La Boheme, Puccini's masterpiece," drawled agent Ezra Standish. "I saw it performed in Atlanta; truly moves the soul. Does this mean that Mr. Larabee has forsaken our company in favor of both beauty and culture this Friday evening?"

"You deaf or something? I already said he ain't coming." With that, Vin stalked out of the office, not to be seen for the rest of the day.

Agent Josiah Sanchez, the counselor of the group, and an ex-preacher, had witnessed the exchange between Chris and Vin, and between Vin and his fellow agents. Josiah knocked on Chris's door and entered, not waiting for an invitation.

"What do you want" barked Larabee.

"To talk, brother, just to talk. Thought you might need a friendly ear right about now." Considering how private a person Larabee was, Josiah wondered if he'd spill the beans or throw him out of the office.

"Yeah, thanks, I could use a friendly ear right now. Vin's all ticked off cause I'm going out with Mary tonight. He thinks I'm dumping the team for a woman. Not so, Josiah; I agreed to this two days ago."

Josiah listened thoughtfully. "Maybe Vin just doesn't understand what your relationship with Mary really is?"

Vin wasn't the only one who was curious. The six other members of Team Seven had engaged in several lively discussions about Chris and Mary in the six weeks they had been dating.

"To tell you the truth, Josiah, even I don't understand what my relationship to Mary really is."

Later that evening found Chris and Mary riding in silence to the Denver Performing Arts Center. Mary wondered what was wrong with Chris. He seemed to be in a very black mood, hardly saying two words to her since he had picked her up.

"Chris, is everything okay?"

"Fine," was his one word reply.

He seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. Mary began to grow quite concerned with Chris's almost rude behavior. While no one would ever accuse Chris of being chatty, tonight's silent treatment was almost more then she could bear. Mary continued to try to make idle conversation but to no avail. Chris sat in his seat, staring straight ahead, looking like he was a million miles away.

Mary was miserable throughout the entire first act. She simply could not concentrate on the opera, no matter how beautiful it was, with her date in some state of obvious distress. With intermission only a few minutes away, Mary made up her mind that she would get to the bottom of this. After all, wasn't she the Denver Clarion's star investigative reporter?

As the lights came up for the intermission, Mary stood up and forcibly took Chris by the arm. "I'd like to speak to you outside please."

It was not a request, it was more like a command! She found a quiet spot in the corner of the lobby and just laid into Chris.

"Are you going to tell what's wrong or am I going to have to ferret it out of you?"

"There's nothing wrong," was his half-hearted response.

"Chris, don't insult my intelligence. Now out with it. You have been a bear ever since you picked me up tonight. Is it something I've done, or do you just hate the opera that much?"

Mary's sapphire blue eyes were flashing. Chris could tell she was very upset, and she would not let up on him till he confessed the truth. He let out a long sigh.

"All right, here's the story. After a big bust like the D.I.A. case, the team always meets over at The Saloon for a few drinks. They're all there right now. This is the first one I've missed, but I had already committed to taking you here and I don't go back on my word. Look Mary, I know I haven't been very fair to you tonight. In fact, I've been a real jerk! I don't blame you for being pissed at me. In fact, I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again."

Mary looked up into his green eyes and saw honest emotion there. She knew how torn he was, how he really wanted to be with his team, but Chris was far too honorable a man to have backed out of tonight's date. What Mary Travis said next surprised the hell out of Chris Larabee.

"Hey cowboy, how 'bout we mosey over to the saloon for a beer?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked incredulously.

"I've seen La Boheme before. Let's blow this high-priced popsicle stand and have us a really fun time."

Chris just shook his head in wonder. "You never cease to surprise me."

"And that, Mr.Larabee, is the way it should be." With that, Mary placed her arm through Chris's and started for the exit.

The six ATF agents sat around their usual table, sipping drinks and relishing their latest high-profile bust. To the casual observer, it looked like six friends having a good time. To Inez Rosillos, they all looked like lost souls, like some thing or someone to be precise was missing from the group.

J.D.Dunne was trying in vain to tell another one of his corny, unfunny jokes. No matter how J.D. tried, he would never be mistaken for Jay Leno.

"Son," drawled Ezra Standish, "you simply have to try to improve your repertoire of amusing anecdotes."

Nathan replied "What Ez is trying to say, J.D., is that you're simply not funny."

"Am too," J.D, said defensively.

"Am not," replied Jackson.

"I have to agree with Brothers Jackson and Standish," intoned Josiah Sanchez. "It ought to be a federal offense to tell jokes like you tell them."

J.D. started to protest when something caught the corner of his eye. "Holy Jesus, will you look at that!"

Five pairs of eyes followed J.D.'s to the front door. In walked the missing-in-action Chris Larabee, all decked out in dress clothes with a very beautiful blond in a short cocktail dress on his arm.

Six pair of eyes followed Chris and Mary as they made their way over to the table.

"Got room for two more?" asked Chris as J.D. re-arranged the chairs.

"Please sit down Ms. Travis. May I offer you a libation?"

"Yes, thank you Mr. Standish, a glass of Merlot would be nice."

Inez came over with a Merlot for Mary and a beer for Chris. Chris cleared his throat.

"Inez Rosillos, Mary Travis."

The two women smiled at each other. Somehow they both knew they would become fast and good friends.

"What are you doing here, pard? You look like you should be going to some funeral," laughed Buck.

"It was my idea, Mr. Wilmington. Chris told me how the Team always meets here after a big bust."

"Well Ma'am, it's Buck, Mr. Wilmington is my father. Glad the two of you could make it."

Mary looked around at the men whose lives were so interwoven with Chris's. If she was to be part of Larabee's life, she would have to be part of their lives as well.

Vin Tanner got up and sauntered over to the pool table. He was the only one not to have welcomed them. Mary sensed that Chris and Vin needed to talk now. She extracted herself from one of J.D's. so-called jokes by excusing herself to go to the powder room.

With Mary gone from the table, Chris went over to challenge Vin to a game of pool. He picked up a cue and began to rack up the balls.

"So, what is this," Vin asked. "A mercy visit? Don't think we can get along without you? And since when do you have to bring her here?"

"Not like that at all, Vin. I was willing to sit through the opera. It was her idea to come here. She wants to get to know the team better. Plus, she knew what missing tonight meant to me."

"I think the lady's gotten under your skin, Chris."

Chris just smiled at the long-haired sharpshooter. "Come on over. Let's have another beer."

An hour and a couple of rounds later, Chris and Mary got up to leave.

"It's been a pleasure gentlemen. I hope to do it again soon."

"Anytime, Miss Mary," Josiah answered. "Anytime at all."

Chris helped Mary on with her shawl and placed a protective arm around her waist as they left the bar. Action that was not missed by the remaining six men.

"I believe, gentlemen, that Cupid's golden projectile has finally pierced the hard armor of Mr. Larabee's heart."

"Huh?" said Buck. "Ezra, speak English for once."

"Buck, you idiot," said Josiah. "Chris is falling in love."

"Though," Nathan Jackson mused, "I doubt even he realizes it yet".

Chris walked Mary up to her door.

"Thanks. Going over to The Saloon with me really meant a lot."

"Chris, I want to be friends with the guys. They are a special part of your life." She looked deep into his green eyes and took a very big leap. "I want to be a special part of your life."

He pulled her close and just held her. Breathing in the scent of her. Reveling in the softness of her skin, the gentleness of her touch. As he kissed her, waves of heat permeated his entire being. Their kiss was passionate and oh-so-full of promise.

He gazed down at her and said simply, "Mary Travis, you are a special part of my life."

He kissed her forehead, said he'd call her next week, got into the Ram and drove home.

That night Team Seven became Team Seven plus Mary. She was now a permanent member of the group. Little did they all realize how soon Mary Travis would become a permanent part of the Team Seven leader's life.

THE END