katleept

Title: "One Demon at a Time"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: R
Summary: They will face all their enemies and best them one at a time, together, as a family.
Warnings: Slash, Los Magnificos Vampiros AU
Word Count: 3,071
Timeline: Takes place in modern day, following "Despite All Odds", "Brother's Keeper", "Snarl Fest", "Josiah's Howls", "Happiness of the Heart", "A Wolf in Their Midst", and "Love Eternal"
Date Written: 12 April, 2011
Disclaimer: Vin Tanner, JD Dunne, Buck Wilmington, Ezra and Maude Standish, Nathan Jackson, Josiah Sanchez, Chris Larabee, Inez Recillos, and The Magnificent Seven are © & TM CBS, The Mirisch Group, MGM, and Trilogy Entertainment, not the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

The full moon rode high in the night sky tossed and turned with building storm clouds as five men for whom time had ceased to hold much meaning until tonight met in the empty Dallas streets. "Anything?" the Vampire in black asked and then frowned, his pale forehead furrowing in concern, as his right hand man shook his head, his long, shaggy curls bouncing across the top of his duster. Chris turned and met Buck and JD only to have Buck also shake his head.

"Sorry, pard," Buck drawled, his mustache drooping with his sadness, "but the only whiffs we got o' 'em have been covered good. Josiah knows what he's doin'."

"No, he doesn't," Chris snarled, and JD tried not to flinch as their leader's furious eyes flashed red. "If he did, he never would've been stupid enough to take Nathan away from us."

Buck placed a calming hand upon his younger lover's shoulder. The Kid had been somewhat shaken ever since Chris had thrown what Buck simply considered to be one of his biggest temper tantrums since they'd been turned after Nathan had failed to come home. They had all immediately known what had happened, and although they had been suspecting, Chris had been more pissed off than a rattlesnake with its coils caught in a bear trap. Buck had taken JD into their room and held him quietly inside the safe confines of their bed, but they had still heard Chris raging on for hours on end before he'd finally calmed down enough to gather them for a search party.

"Chris," Vin spoke quietly, "I done told ya Nathan went off on his own free will. Josiah didn't even have ta take 'im. We made 'im want to go."

Chris snarled, his red eyes flashing onto his soul mate. Vin held up a casual hand. "Don't shoot th' messenger," he reminded him. "I'm just sayin' we should've talked t' him better."

"And I'm saying Nathan should have used his damn mind!" Chris exclaimed fiercely, his glistening fangs flashing in the shadows of the night. "Josiah's a Werewolf! He can't be trusted! How many times have we all been almost staked by those damn, mangy beasts?!"

Vin nodded, the fingers of his raised hand curling in the crisp, Autumn air. "Yeah, but not by Josiah."

"It's just a matter of time," Chris growled before whirling around, the long tails of his black trench coat twirling about his long, lean frame as he spun to face the last member of their party ambling up to them. "Well? What took ya so long?"

Ezra shook his head and let out a little puff of air, a habit he'd managed to keep throughout the century plus in their new lives as Vampires. He no longer needed to breathe, and yet menial labor still managed to exhaust him. Chris would have rolled his eyes at the Southerner if he hadn't been so angry. "Ah'm sorry, Mistah Larabee," Ezra answered. "Ah thought Ah was on to somethin', but th' trail went cold."

Chris' red eyes narrowed at Ezra, whose gold tooth winked innocently in the darkness and emerald eyes met his boldly and unashamedly. He knew he was hiding something, had known for a long time now, but whatever Ezra's secret was, Chris' instincts told him it was one that would bring them no harm and, thereby, could wait until they had Nathan safely back into their fold. "Come on," Chris commanded, turning about on his heel and starting to stalk deeper into the city. They'd keep hunting for Nathan until daylight, and if they hadn't found him by then, he'd continue to hunt through the day and bring his men back out tomorrow night.

The four Vampires trailing their leader cast glances at each other and slowly shook their heads. They all knew that they were facing a turning point where they would have to do something about Chris' distrust of Josiah and his anger at he and Nathan or risk losing one or more of their brothers. Three of them were not yet ready to face Chris' anger straight on, however, and the one who was had yet to hit upon the means of getting Chris to see reality and understand that Josiah was still one of them and his anger at the lovers was unwarranted.

Ferocious howls suddenly pierced the air, making the blood they'd supped upon coil with an icy coldness inside the pits of their undead stomachs. "Werewolves!" Chris snarled and set out running with the remaining members of his clan hot on his heels.

Vin's ears perked up as one of the howls changed into a plaintive wail. He'd been listening to Josiah howling with his pack and had understood the difference in their tones indicating a fight, but now he knew that the Priest had been hurt. "JOSIAH!" he screamed and overtook Chris running after the pack.

Chris paused, stunned, his mind whirling as his men whipped about him, running faster than he'd seen them run in decades. His mind flashed back to every time one of them had been taken before and how their family had come together and unstoppingly beat down the odds until they were able to bring their missing brother home. His own heart was aching, and in that moment, Chris finally realized that Josiah was still their missing brother whom they needed to bring home. He was a Werewolf and couldn't be trusted, but he was still their brother who needed them.

His face contorted as his full Vampire side exploded onto the surface. His fangs peeled back his pale lips, and his snarl rose, echoing in the city, as he chased after the howl that was growing fainter amongst the excited, celebratory howls of the other beasts.

It was quiet when they entered the building, too quiet, and every one of the Vampires' spines curled, their hairs standing on end, as they each dreaded and expected the worst. They edged into the building, their noses instantly picking up the scents of heavy blood that had been spilled and wet dog. Though there was not a single light on in the hospital's storage building, each man could see as plainly as day.

Blood and fur were everywhere. Severed paws and snouts lay, discarded, upon the cold, linoleum floor. They picked their way carefully among the carnage, only Chris not caring where he stepped. JD winced, his stomach churning, as he heard a sickening crunch and looked to where Chris' boot was planted down upon the bodyless muzzle of a Werewolf.

They continued on, their instincts and guards on full alert, fanning out slowly with Chris in the lead and Ezra at the end. Their weapons were drawn, their fangs bared. Vin prowled on the left side, his reddened eyes sweeping the room swiftly. Buck was on their right, carefully keeping JD in between himself and Vin though the youngest Vamp's stomach was so sickened that he failed to notice his lover's protective side coming out in full play.

Chris and Vin stopped, their eyes falling down upon the same crumpled form in the midst of the warehouse. "Damn," Chris growled.

"Josiah!" Vin exclaimed, slipping his mare's leg back into his holster and racing to their downed friend.

The Werewolf wasn't even moving. Chris stood, still and watching, his full guard still up, as his men again went around him. This time, they gathered around their fallen brother as Vin slowly and gently turned him over. He was caught halfway between wolf and man. Bloody scratches rattled his body, and part of one rib was sticking out.

JD's brown eyes widened at the sight. Buck reached out, caught his hand, and held it tight. Had they still been mortal, JD would have thrown his face into Buck's shoulder and probably shed a tear or more, but as it was, he forced himself to stay riveted and watch.

Josiah's eyes were still yellow, the primal lupine side of him reflected clearly in their glowing embers. He tried to smile when he saw his brothers looking down at him with great concern, but he could barely even lift the corners of his mouth. "They took him," he whispered, and blood dripped out of his mouth.

"I know," Vin spoke softly, cajolingly. He touched Josiah's muscular, bleeding shoulders with an embrace that was infinitely caring but yet also as light as a feather. "We'll get him back."

"They're gonna kill me."

Vin's ears twitched; he watched Josiah trying to peek around to find Chris and immediately understood. It wasn't his pack Josiah was afraid of; it was of facing the one man he was determined not to battle to the death. He'd fight him for Nathan, but if Chris attacked him now, he'd barely lift a paw to defend himself . . . not, Vin knew, that he was capable of doing so any way. He gave his shoulders a teeny squeeze, just enough to reassure him, he hoped, without adding to his pain. "We ain't gonna let 'im."

Josiah's once bushy tail was now but a few scraggly hairs hanging on a bone that was still attached to him by a single ligament; still, his tail hairs limply hit the floor in a meager attempt to wag at those words.

Vin smiled, his blue eyes twinkling sadly. "Promise, pard. We're gonna get through this, an' we're gonna get Nathan back."

He noticed that Ezra, Buck, and JD had all stopped looking down at Josiah. Even his expert ears barely caught the downed Werewolf's soft, nearly silent whimper as a shadow fell across his battered face. With his hands still on Josiah's shoulders, Vin looked up from his crouched position and met his lover's darkened eyes. "Chris?" he asked quietly. He didn't want to, but he'd fight his soul mate fang and claw if he had to to protect their nearly dead brother.

Chris stared at them for a long moment, and in that moment that seemed to stretch for all eternity, Vin sensed the emotions of all six of their family members pounding a mad rhythm as fear and sorrow clawed for dominance in each of them. At long last, Chris spoke, and though they had no need of air, Vin felt a great whooshing pass amongst himself and the rest of their family as relief released the tightening of their muscles and heightening of their fears. "Finish transformin', pard," Chris spoke, looking down at Josiah, "an' then we're goin' after Nathan. We'll get him back," he snarled, his fangs glistening in the dark night, "even if we have to rip every damn one o' those Werewolves apart."

{Ought to, any way,} he thought, stalking off ahead of their family, {for takin' you from us.} It had taken him too long to see that Josiah just wanted to still be one of them again. It had nearly taken one of his oldest friends dying before Chris had finally been forced, tonight, to accept that Josiah was fighting against all of the primal instincts of the Werewolf inside of him to still be their brother. He was still their brother, Chris knew now, though there might yet come a day when he had to fight him to protect their family. He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at his family gathered around their nearly, permanently dead brother. He didn't want to fight him, he finally accepted, but he would if he had to to keep their family safe.

He'd do whatever he had to to protect their family, but he himself had almost destroyed them with his unrighteous anger at Josiah. That anger should have been turned toward the Werewolves who had turned him, and now, at last, it finally was. He'd fight Josiah if he must, but he'd find every way to keep from doing so before then and any possible way to cure him of the Werewolf disease and keep him still undead. He was still their brother. Their family should have been whole now, but it still wasn't. They had one more to find and bring home, and then they'd be whole.

He watched as Ezra, Buck, and JD went closer to Josiah. His ears wriggled as he heard them along with Vin softly talking the Priest through his transformation, and his green eyes glistened as he watched Vin holding his hand. Josiah had been there for them all when they had first been transformed. It had been he who had taught them how to handle their beasts and blood lust, and now, together, they would help him learn those ancient secrets again.

Chris' hands curled into fists, his claws biting into the tender flesh of his own palms to control the unshed tears that welled inside his green eyes. Josiah had always given them everything he had, and yet he had almost killed him all because the Werewolves had turned him. They were the ones to blame, not Josiah, and he'd rip them all asunder with his bare hands just as soon as his family was able to move again!

Still, he realized, watching the others in the pale moonlight as the moon slipped out from the clouds behind which she had been hiding, they had more trouble yet. Ezra was keeping a secret from them. He had turned some one and was caring for that person, and though Chris suspected he knew who and why, it was not something that could continue to go unnoticed or unpunished. Josiah's Werewolf could yet break free of his fragile control to attack them. As long as he'd known these men, his clan mates, his brothers, they'd had problems, but they'd always ridden above them together, and they would again best these by facing them together.

He waited for his family to come to him in the shadows, his keen mind calculating all they had yet to face. They had more problems than whose guns he cared to stare down, but they would beat them. They would just have to take them one at a time, and together they would survive, renew, and keep their family together forever. They had to help Josiah first and then get Nathan back. Once their clan was whole again, Chris would find out exactly who Ezra was hiding and contend with her, and then together they would learn again just what family and love meant and how to control their inner Demons. They'd do it all and win together as the family they were destined to be; they just had to take it one Demon at a time.

He turned back and saw Vin watching him. There was a small smile on the Texan's face now, and it instantly sparked Chris' own grin in reaction. He walked back over to them and was relieved to see Josiah laying, naked and in human form, in their midst. They would let him rest for a bit, then transform again, and together they'd go after and rescue Nathan.

Vin stood and walked around Josiah and their brothers kneeling around him to embrace Chris. "'Bout time, cowboy," he whispered.

Chris gazed into his eyes, his own green orbs mournful. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Fer what?" Vin asked, grinning with a light tease. "Fer keepin' tryin' to knock some sense into ya?"

"Yeah," Chris whispered, "an' for puttin' up with me an' my temper an' loving me."

"Always," Vin answered and lovingly kissed him.

It had been too long since they had shared such a tender and sweet moment, and Chris wished that their loving, passionate kiss could last forever as he returned Vin's kiss with all the endless passion and eternal love he'd always feel for this wonderful man alone. Then he heard Josiah get up and turned, still in Vin's arms, to watch as JD, Buck, and even Ezra hugged him. He shared a look with Vin, then gently pushed him forward. Vin hugged Josiah tightly, unshed tears glistening in his own eyes, before stepping to the side.

Josiah walked forward, his eyes gazing into Chris'. "I'm sorry," he said and held out his hand.

Chris forced down the tight lump of emotion forming in his throat and took his brother's offered hand. They gazed into each other's eyes, memories of all their fights over the last several decades and all their times spent together as brothers before then flashing through their minds, and then Chris stepped forward and pulled Josiah into a hug. Vin slipped backwards into the shadows, wiping a tear from his eyes, as JD wept openly for the first time since they'd been turned. Buck clasped his soul mate's shoulder and hugged him tightly. "That's 'bout as close to an apology as Chris gets," he said happily, grinning from ear to ear and his blue eyes dancing.

Ezra watched his family rejoicing and silently mulled over the debate he was facing alone. Sooner or later, he'd either have to tell them the truth of what he had done or they would learn the reality for themselves. Would they ever forgive him as they finally had Josiah? he wondered. He remained unsure of that answer which he desperately sought, but he did know two things: No matter what happened, they would always be a family and would always love one another. He smiled, his gold tooth sparkling merrily in the darkness, as he surmised he pretty much had his answer right there. They would forgive him eventually for they were a family and, as such, would always love one another!

He headed out with them to search for Nathan and knew that not only his but his other five brothers' hearts had been lifted a thousand fold. Soon, they would find Nathan, and they would all be together again as they were destined. He thought back to his mother, long buried, and his smile grew. {You were wrong, Mothah,} he thought, not for the first time. {There is family an' love in this world, an' Ah am blessed with both.} Their future had never looked brighter, and Ezra could scarcely wait to grab it with both hands.

As he always had, Chris took the lead, but this time, even his heart was rejoicing. They were almost whole now, and soon all their family would be together again. Then, together as they were always meant to be, they would face all their Demons and best them all one by one!

The End