The Name is Bond, Ezra Bond

By Nadine

Crossover with 007 Universe

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The Aston Martin led a parade of pickup trucks and SUVs down the road. Ezra would slow down then speed up staying just out of reach of the vehicles behind them; wanting to keep the pursuing parties interested in the chase. The ATF agents looked for a safe place to keep them busy and far from the Chosen headquarters.

Vin had been studying the map; they had familiarized themselves with the area earlier and didn’t have a lot of choices. "There’s that old mining camp coming up, think the sheriff would mine if we damaged a few of the buildings?"

"We can ask her later," Ezra spun the car in a circle before making the turn. Those in pursuit couldn’t miss seeing them go down the dirt road. Unknown to the two agents a black helicopter flew overhead and kept Spectre’s personnel informed of their whereabouts.

++++++++++++++++++++

The team regrouped in the basement laboratory of the lodge. Nathan was grim as he told the others of what he and JD had found.

"Spectre’s people have taken the next step and tried the virus on a human subject. They didn’t get the expected results, the virus mutated. It not only killed the subject, a drifter passing through town, but the scientist giving the injection as well. Both died terribly in great pain. Their bodies are in a clean room after having gone through sterilization."

Nathan held up a journal, "One of the scientists working on the virus keeps a written log of everything he does as well as what was going on around him. It’s more of a personal diary than a record of his work."

"The only good news is all their hard copies of the research seem to be here. There is only one scientist, a Dr. Barms, who is still alive and working on the virus and he is here at the lodge. Blowfeld has had every one else connected with the project killed."

JD added what he had found and done. "With the information on hand and with Nathan’s help, I’ve been able to make adjustments to my programs. They can now destroy the research on the Spectre virus in any form no matter how it’s hidden. I’ve already sent out the programs over the satellite connection belonging to the Chosen." JD looked around the room. "The only thing left for us to do is destroy what’s here. All the paper work and the living samples are stored here."

The team went to work; James went to look for the missing scientist and Josiah to keep watch. Chris brought the propane tanks down from storage, they would help in burning everything in the laboratory. The big bottles were used in the kitchen for cooking and as a backup if the electricity failed. Bond went to deal with the missing scientist. Buck set up the hot bombs that Felix had given them especially for this mission. Meanwhile JD and Nathan piled everything they could find on the virus in the middle of the room, not wanting to leave anything to chance, making sure that everything would be incinerated.

Bond came back as they were setting the timers. "There’s no one in this wing. Blowfeld and company must be in the main part of lodge."

"You want me to reset the timers for later?" asked Buck.

"No, all this has to be destroyed. We can’t take the chance of someone disarming them," Bond answered him

"What about the other scientist? With him Blowfeld can set up shop somewhere else." Nathan wanted to know.

Chris held up his hand at the sound of some one on the stairs.

++++++++++++++++++++

"Will you stop that?" demanded Ezra, Vin had been singing softly, ‘We got a mighty convoy, trucking through the Night’, ever since they turned on to the dirt road. The fact Vin only knew the chorus was irritating.

"I can always hum ‘Dueling Banjoes’," Vin said.

"Please don’t." Ezra answered as his hand caressed the top of the gear stick lifting the cap up to expose the red button that launched the car seat. Vin decided that he didn’t feel like humming after all. Ezra checked the mirror; "Our friends are still behind us. The well trained troops of the enemy are still blindly following us."

"Yeah, met types like that in the Army," Vin told him. "Trained to follow orders literally, no thinking required, point them at an objective and let them loose. They keep going till they either obtain the objective or die trying. We’re going to need to find a way to keep them busy and out of the way."

The car hit a bump in the road and started to skid, Ezra quickly regained control. The road out to the old mining camp hadn’t been used since the last snowfall. Snow covered potholes and an uneven surface made driving difficult. A full moon and a pack of headlights helped to light the way, still driving was tricky. The camp came in sight, a chain was stretched across the entrance with a sign declaring danger no trespassing.

Ezra didn’t even slow down, going straight through snapping the chain in two. A long line of pickup trucks and SUVs followed.

++++++++++++++++++++

The mining camp had made money for the first miners to strike gold there. A lot of money, that is till the yellow mineral ran out. The good folks of Moose Head found themselves in need of another means to make a living. Skiing was gaining in popularity at the time, so the town collectedly decided to move to the base of the mountains in another part of the valley. The tourist trade came to Moose Head and all had prospered.

Over the years the camp had been turned into a graveyard for old abandoned cars and equipment. The water tower still stood and a few of the other buildings. The Aston Martin was parked between the saloon and the water tower. The men inside watched the vehicles fan out in their hunt.

"How long do you think we can keep them here?" asked Vin

Ezra had been checking the readouts on the infrared screen in the car. There seemed to be a lot of action going on at the entrance to the camp. "Our adversaries are working intensely to obstruct the route we arrived by. We may be able to use that to our advantage."

Vin checked on the information JD had dug up on the mining camp. "Says here that’s the only way in or out. The other end of the road has been allowed to go back to its natural state. In other words no one has used it in so long its over grown and impassable."

"That too is to our advantage, if we can keep the remainder of our adversaries occupied till the ones building their barrier have finished."

Vin had been studying the water tower as they talked. "Ez I got an idea."

++++++++++++++++++++

Vin climbed back in beside Ezra with a grin on his face as he tossed the clasp to the bolo on the back seat.

"Well what did you do?"

"Did ya ever made a spider web with thread when your were a kid and get the other kids to run into it?" asked Vin

Ezra gave Vin one of his you got to be out of your mind looks.

Vin just shook his head at Ezra’s deprived childhood. "I took the rope from the bolo, it’s strong and it’s too thin to be seen in the dark. I ran it from the water tower’s wooden legs to the main support of the saloon. We’ll get a pickup to follow us. He hits the rope and pulls down the tower. It should smack down on whatever vehicles are behind him and confuse the rest."

Ezra sat there a full minute than shrugged his shoulders and said. "What the hell." And started the engine.

Ezra and Vin played a game of bumper cars with their pursuers, while the Aston Martin was reinforced with armament and bulletproof glass the other cars weren’t so lucky. The bullets shot at 007’s car bounced off, usually into the vehicles of the Chosen leaving them dead in the street. Two large pickups tried to trap Ezra and Vin between them, only to find themselves crashing into each other when Ezra made a sharp turn that had them going straight for the water tower.

The pursuers kept following. The sport car shot under the rope Vin had stretched across the small space between the tower and the old saloon. The truck caught the rope across the windshield and pulled the old wooden supports out from under the water tower before snapping. The wooden tank came crashing down on it and the few remaining trucks. That left the blockade at the entrance for them to deal with.

The men building the blockade had done an excellent job. They had dragged an old rock truck and an abandoned commercial car carrier to block the entrance. Learning from the last encounter they placed their own automobiles on each side of the blockade, lining them up so their prey couldn’t drive around them.

"What do you think Ez?"

"The machineguns." Ezra answered him.

Vin brought the guns on line. The panel covering the guns swung back, the machineguns of the spy car were fully loaded and ready. Ezra drove the car in a large arc firing. The bullets took out tires and radiators of the vehicles on either side of the blockade. That left the trucks blocking the entrance. Ezra swung the car back around and stopped facing the blockade.

"Rockets?" asked Vin.

"By all means."

Vin did the honors and two rockets flew from the Aston Martin to explode and destroy the rock truck blocking their way. The car trailer then collapsed onto what was left of the rock truck making a ramp. Ezra aimed the car for the makeshift ramp, hitting the booster as they started up. They shot through the sky to land with a bump on the other side of the burning cars. Both were feeling pretty pleased with themselves. Their pursuers were trapped behind their own blockade, unable to follow. They weren’t prepared for an air attack.

The black helicopter had been monitoring the speeding car since it had left the Moosetail saloon. They were under orders to take the passengers alive. The men in the helicopter had been unable to keep track of the vehicle while it had been in the mining camp. Out on the open road was another matter. The plan now was to force the car off in to a ditch and take the occupants captive. Lining up the car in their sights they fired off a missile to hit the ground next to the vehicle.

Ezra fought the wheel as the Aston Martin jumped when the first rocket exploded on the road beside them. The next explosion flipped the car over; the Aston Martin rolled till it came to a stop on its side.

Vin pushed the air pillow away from him and than reach over to shake Ezra. "Ez, you ok?" Getting a moan for his trouble. "Ez?"

"I’m alright Vin." Pushing the driver’s side air pillow away from his face. "Let’s get out of here." Both worked to open the door on the passenger side. Vin pulled himself out with a little help from Ezra. Before exiting the vehicle Ezra made sure to set the homing device and lock the car. No sense in letting the bad guys have the alluring sports car.

They had made it to the ground and taken care of the first individual who had tried to take them down. But a rifle butt to Ezra’s stomach and then to the side of his face had Ezra down and out. Vin wasn’t fairing much better, he had taken out the first two men. The third was being careful not to get too close. If Vin and been willing to leave Ezra he could of gotten away, but that was out of the question for Vin Tanner, he wouldn’t leave a friend behind. So he stopped and put his hands behind his head and surrendered. Under guard Vin carried Ezra to the waiting helicopter.

++++++++++++++++++++

Chris held up his hand at the sound of some one on the stairs, it was Josiah coming back down.

"There’s a helicopter heading this way, looks like its going to land. We’ve got maybe ten minutes before it gets here."

"Alright everyone up to the kitchen and lock the door behind you." Once upstairs Chris turned to Buck, " How long on the timers?"

"Got another twenty minutes. Enough time to get us back down to the van."

"Good I want you, Nathan and JD to take off and get down to the van, wait for us there. James and Josiah you’re with me. We’ll go take care of our missing scientist and Blowfeld." All three men started to protest the orders.

Josiah was getting impatient at the delays. "Enough, if all of us go traipsing up there we’ll all be caught and killed. Blowfeld will set up shop somewhere else and all this will have to be done all over again. Go." Even at a whisper Josiah’s voice could and often did rattle windows.

The three men turned to look at Chris in mute appeal; he only shook his head. After making sure it was clear the three started back to the lift, sticking to shadows to stay out of sight of the fast approaching helicopter. This left the others to make their way into the main part of the lodge.

Chris turned his glare on Josiah who had the grace to look sheepishly at his boss, "Sorry Chris, but I’m getting a bad feeling that we need to get off this mountain top, and the sooner the better." Chris, James and Josiah made it into the main building of the lodge before the helicopter touched down. They watched through a window as the passengers disembarked. It was too far away to distinguish details other than three were armed and two were prisoners. The two prisoners had been thrown off the air ship in to the snow. One stood guard as the other two dragged their prisoners toward the house.

James whispered to the others. "Let’s let them take us to Blowfeld."

Chris and Josiah nodded in agreement. They waited in a room off the hallway as the five from the helicopter made their way in to the lodge. They left the door to the room they hid in open a crack to keep watch. When the guards passed with their prisoners, they followed.

The guards were not gentle in their handling of their prisoners; dragging them along banging into the walls and furnishings. The three couldn’t get a good look at who the two men were and stay out of sight. The guards came to a maintenance closet and pushed the prisoners inside, locking the door. Leaving one man on guard out side the others went on. The guard pulled a chair over to the door and sat down, his rifle in his lap.

"Do we get them out now or pick them up on the way back?" Whispered Josiah from around the corner, out of the guard’s line of sight.

"On the way back, now at least we know where they are." Chris whispered back.

"You two act as if you know who’s in there." asked a puzzled Bond.

"Who else but our two trouble magnet little brothers." Smiled Josiah, "I’m surprise they didn’t surface sooner." Bond pushed a button on his wristwatch; a green light blinked on and off, Bond smiled as well when he turned the device off.

"You’re right, the tracker Q planted on Ezra says the same." Josiah raised an eyebrow at that disclosure so Bond explained. "The reports on those two said they usually end up in the middle of whatever was going down. We thought we’d play it safe and have a way to track them if we needed to. Q had it placed under the cap on Ezra’s gold tooth."

Josiah could tell that Chris was intrigued by the idea and wasn’t surprised when Chris asked. "Does Q have a way to make the tracking devise permanent and can he put one in both of them?"

"Chris?" Josiah frowned at his boss but couldn’t help thinking along the same lines himself.

Loud noises came from the maintenance closet as the sound of shelves crashing to the floor came through the door. The guard got to his feet to check on his prisoners, while he was distracted Josiah stepped out of the shadows and hit him hard, the man went down. Josiah sat him back in his chair and propped up his rifle in his arms minus, the bullets of course. Stepping around the unconscious guard he opened the heavy door to the closet and looked in. There sat Ezra and Vin on the floor tangled up in towels and cleaning supplies that had fallen from the shelves over their heads.

"You two stay put, we’ll pick you up on the way back. And try to stay quiet." Josiah closed the door and relocked it.

It took a moment for it to sink in that it was a friend who spoke to them. But before Ezra or Vin could get up to demand that they be allowed to go with them the door was shut and locked. Vin crawled over to the door and tried it just for good measure, it didn’t budge. There was no lock on the inside of the door; nothing for Ezra to pick open and the door was too thick to break down.

"Damn."

"I agree Vin, nor am I comfortable just waiting for them to return for us. They may need our assistance to bring this affair to a successful end."

Vin fingered the buttons on his shirt. "You remember how to work the triggering device on the watch?"

"I believe I do." They got to work setting up the explosives. As they worked Ezra asked. "Vin how were you inconvenienced getting out of the saloon?"

"There was a guard dog inside that fence behind the saloon. Remind me to thank Q for the fancy boxers the next time I see him."

"You weren’t hurt by the beast were you?" Ezra stopped, wanting to check for himself but not wanting to look at such a personal area.

"Nah, only my pride, think I’ll ask Q if I can keep the underwear."

The two men crawled under the shelves on the back wall and started to pull down towels and blankets to protect them from the blast.

"Ez, you doing all right? The side of Ezra’s face was black and blue and his eye was starting to swell shut."

"Nothing time won’t alleviate, that and a hot shower."

"Ok… Ez?"

"What?"

"How’d ya spend the summer with James?"

"Being educated and enlightened about the fairer sex."

"Uh?"

Ezra sighed. He had hoped that Vin had forgotten about James’ comments or at least would not ask for details. "James took me on a tour of the oldest and most prestigious of Europe’s brothels." Ezra smiled at the memories; it had been a very enjoyable and beneficial way to spend the rest of the summer. Even at twenty-one he hadn’t been that experienced or skilled with the ladies fair. James had filled in for all the uncles and big brothers he never had while growing up.

Vin must have sensed that Ezra didn’t want to talk any more about it when he brought up his watch and started to press the triggering mechanism.

++++++++++++++++++++

When Josiah shut the door he really didn’t expect the pair to stay put. The time it took for them to break out of the closet would keep them busy and out of trouble for a little while. Maybe long enough for them to get this business over with. They could pick their younger brothers up on the way back.

Josiah quickly caught up with James and Chris. The guards they had been following had gone into a room with double doors. Chris got on one side of the doors and Josiah on the other with James squatting in the middle. With just a nod Chris and Josiah kicked the doors in. As the doors flew open James fired his gun taking out the two guards.

There were Ernest Blowfeld and Dwight Hamit sitting before a fireplace. Blowfeld was petting his cat; as the threesome stormed their way in he addressed them.

" Mr. Bond I was being to think your weren’t coming." An eyebrow rose at the sight of Josiah. "Mr. Sanchez it has been a long time, I thought you got out of the business of tilting at windmills"

The light from the fireplace made the shadows darken on Josiah’s face making it hard to read. The sound of his voice spoke of restrained rage that his words masked "Not long enough, Blowfeld. As long as you keep trying to destroy the world people like me will be stopping you?"

"Still the melodramatic Josiah? I would never destroy the world completely where would be the profit in that?"

Chris had patted Hamit and Blowfeld down and removed their guns while James and Josiah kept watch. It was James who now spoke to Blowfeld.

"Where’s Dr. Barms?"

Blowfeld sat back down in his chair and went back to stroking his cat, not putting it down even when Chris checked him for weapons. He acted as if having three men hold guns on him was normal and that he was some how in control of the situation.

"The doctor is no longer in my employment."

"You had him killed?"

"Of course."

At this Chris turned around having finish with Hamit, his gun trained on Blowfeld.

"Why?"

"Where did you get this one?" Blowfeld asked Bond. "He seems to be unenlightened on the realities of the situation."

Chris studied the man sitting in the chair patting the white cat. He didn’t seem to be that dangerous. But then most killers didn’t fit the Hollywood stereotypes. "You didn’t answer my question."

Just than the old lodge shook from the force of an explosion and Blowfeld smiled. "That’s why. Now only I can save the lives of the people living in the municipality of Moosehead. Your explosions have sent the virus into the air and to those with whom those air currents come in contact with." With the same confident look on his face Blowfeld added. "You will pay me anything I want for the cure."

Hamit growled at Blowfeld "You never planned on giving the Chosen the virus did you?"

"Of course not, you and your little group were merely useful at the time."

Hamit sat back into his chair with a defeated air about him. James, Chris and Josiah started to chuckle. Blowfeld looked at the men holding guns on him with a puzzled expression. It was Josiah who explained.

"That was thought of, we used incendiary hot bombs especially made for virus elimination. We even added the propane tanks from the lodge for good measure. Everything in the lab was burned to ash even before the building over it could catch fire. The only thing that’s left of your laboratory is a charred hole."

Hamit jerked his head toward Josiah. "The arsenal! That could catch on fire." Four pairs of eyes turned to him. "We have been stockpiling explosions and armaments under ground here for the last two years. They are in bunkers under the courtyard. They’re all connected to the basement that the lab’s in." Another blast rocked the building, this time stronger, the force of the blast knocking the men off their feet. Blowfeld took advantage of the distraction and pulled a gun out from under his cat shooting Bond in the arm as he made for the door. Another explosion and the building was starting to come down around them.

"How much explosive do you have stockpiled?" shouted Josiah as he pulled Hamit to his feet.

"Enough to blow off the top of this mountain." Hamit shouted back over the noise of the lodge falling around them. "We need to get out of here now."

James looked round for Blowfeld and started for the door, gun in hand. Chris called him back.

"We’ll get him later, he’s got no where to go." James took one last look down the hallway, turned and headed out with the others.

The lodge was burning, every few minutes another explosion would occur. Tracing their path back the way they had come, they soon found themselves outside of the maintenance closet that had held the two younger agents. The door was off its hinges. The two wayward ATF agents were still sitting on the floor looking stunned.

"Think ya used enough dynamite there Butch?" Vin asked Ezra who hadn’t moved, just sat there blinking his eyes at the destruction.

Chris looked in at the pair on the floor partially buried under cleaning supplies. Between him and Josiah they managed to pull them out of the closet, in the process getting a good look at them for the first time. The phrase ‘chewed up and spit out’ ran through Chris’ mind, as he looked them over. "You two going to be able to walk on your own?"

"Of course, lead the way." Ezra leaned a little toward Vin and Vin was leaning toward Ezra. The two would help each other stay upright leaving Chris free to take on any one who tried to stop them with Josiah bringing up the rear with Hamit and James. They made it outside in time to watch the helicopter take off and race off into the night sky only to see it get shot down minutes later by a pair of USAF fighter jets. The group turned towards James.

"Felix had them standing by just in case."

"Good, I hope Blowfeld was on it." Chris said as till more explosions rocked the ground. The courtyard and buildings around them were burning out of control. There was only one way left open for them to go.

Chris led the way back to the small gatehouse that sheltered the top of the lift. The fires from the ground and the lodge lit their way. Explosions rocked the ground. Bond was clutching his arm with his good hand as the blood spread through his fingers. Ezra and Vin held each other up as they limped into the lift. Josiah had custody of Hamit and dragged him along with them. Once everyone was inside Chris initiated the controls to start the lift, nothing happen.

Hamit looked over at Chris, "The controls won’t work on automatic if the computer is out or the electricity." As if on cue the lights dimmed.

Chris shouted into his radio lead "JD can you start the lift from down there?"

JD answered back. "Nothing to connect to, …wait a minute." The men inside the lift were silent, as JD looked through his data banks for a solution…JD called back. "Look for a manual override, it even has it’s own battery back up system."

Chris turned to Hamit. "Your life is riding on this as well as ours, where is it?"

"Out there," Pointing to the shelter outside the cab. "It’s inside the gatehouse. You can’t operate it and ride the cab down at the same time. Someone has to watch it to make sure the system doesn’t stall on the way down." Hamit told him.

Bond stepped forward, "I’ll stay, it’s my job to take those kinds of risk. Go with your men."

Chris turned and punched Bond in the jaw sending the British agent to the floor of the cab unconscious. Another explosion shook the lift sending Hamit, Vin and Ezra to the floor to join Bond. Only Chris and Josiah managed to keep their footing. Chris eyed Ezra’s jacket, "Ezra give me your jacket."

Ezra’s unswollen eye grew wide as he realized what his friend and boss was planning. "You can’t, it’s in the middle of the night." Ezra tried to stand and back away from Chris at the same time. "I’ll stay, at least I’ve had some experience with the paragliders."

Josiah grabbed him and swiftly stripped him of the jacket. "Boy you can hardly stand let alone safely fly this thing down." Holding the jacket out to Chris he said, "If I was a slimmer man..." letting the sentiment trail off, Chris patted Josiah on the back in understanding. There was no way for a man the size of Josiah to fit into that jacket. Chris was closer in size to the undercover man. Ezra was shorter than Chris, but he was as broad across the shoulders as the man in black. The jacket should fit.

Seeing that his boss wasn’t going to listen to reason Ezra showed him how to put the ski jacket on and operate the paraglider. Vin got to his feet and limped over to Chris. "Ya can’t do this cowboy, it’s too dangerous."

Chris glared at the younger man. "Not too dangerous for you and Ezra but to dangerous for me."

"Yeah."

Chris placed his hand on Vin’s chest and gently pushed, sending Vin back to the floor. Vin let out a yelp when his sore bottom met the floor. As Chris exited the lift he stopped and asked Josiah. "You’ll take care of them for me."

Josiah shook his head yes and added "May God go with you my brother." He than shut the door and waited, after a few minutes the lift slowly started down.

++++++++++++++++++++

"What the hell is keeping them?" asked an impatient Buck. The fire and explosions still rumbling on top of the mountain illuminated the sky over head. Rocks kept falling forcing the men to stay inside the shelter of the gatehouse. So far nothing of significant size had fallen. "JD ya get any word from them since the lift started?"

Instead of answering JD walked over to the opening of the shelter and looked up as the cab of the ski lift came into sight.

"About damn time." Exclaimed Buck as the cab shuttered to a stop. Buck, Nathan and JD were at the door waiting for it to open. Vin and Ezra limped out only to be grabbed by Nathan and made to sit down as he started to examine them.

"Leave us be, James got shot in the arm, he’s bleeding bad." Vin told the medic. Nathan rose and went over to the British agent. Josiah got off the lift with Hamit in tow and headed for the parking lot. Ezra and Vin got up from the bench Nathan had forced them to sit down on, wanting to follow Josiah. Buck had watch them disembark and came up one short.

"Where’s Chris?"

No one answered Buck. Ezra and Vin were struggling to keep up with Josiah. Nathan had finished wrapping James’ arm, it was a clean wound. The bullet had passed through the muscle with little damage other than the loss of blood. James too tried to regain his feet; Nathan tried to stop him. "Take it easy, you’ve lost a lot of blood." Bond shook his head and got to his feet.

Buck still hadn’t gotten an answer, he walked over to James and blocked the man’s path. "Ya going to tell me where Chris is?" He asked the British agent.

"He’s still on top of the mountain. He stayed to operate the manual override on the lift."

"How’s he going to get down? The way ya talked the whole top of the mountain is full of ammunition going off."

"Ezra’s jacket."

Realization hit Buck "Aw hell, the paragliders."

"Yes." Bond answered Buck, but was puzzled by the smile growing on the man’s face.

Buck looked over at Nathan and JD. "Go get the van, we need to go pick up Josiah and the young’uns." Buck helped Bond to the door of the gatehouse and out into the darkened parking lot.

They drove out to the far end of the lot where they found them looking up, watching the sky. Hamit sat at their feet, all the fight gone out of him. Josiah had gotten his binoculars from his pack and was scanning the sky.

The fires were burning brightly, every few minutes there was an explosion to add to the chaos. It was too far away to make out details but the glow from the fires could be seen for miles. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

"There!" yelled Vin. Josiah swung his binoculars to where Vin was pointing. There against the glowing sky was a black dot that was growing bigger as they watch.

"Why isn’t he opening his suit?" questioned Vin.

"He doesn’t want to chance being blown back into the fire." Buck told him.

"Come on Chris, come on Chris, open the damn chute," Vin was chanting, his eyes never leaving the man falling through the sky. Ezra had joined Vin not even aware that he was doing so, together they chanted "Come on Chris, come on Chris, come on Chris, come on Chris."

JD looked to Buck, he would follow Buck’s lead and he didn’t seem to be to worried. So JD would try not to be as he watched Chris fall.

They held their breath till finally Chris opened the paraglider and observed as it filled with air. The men on the ground watched him guide it toward the town lights. Buck took a good look at the pale faces of Ezra and Vin and started laughing.

"It’s not funny Buck, he could have been killed," growled Vin.

Buck’s laugher appalled Ezra, "He’s not yet back on terra firma." Ezra reminded the lady’s man.

Buck gasped out. "YOU TWO do this to him all the time. He’s just getting back at ya. Hell Chris is more than capable of operating that paraglider. We did night jumps all the time as Navy Seals."

"How many years ago was that?" snapped Ezra. "We must go after him and make certain of his wellbeing."

Buck stopped laughing; a grimace marked his handsome face. "What do you boys mean by years? Chris and I both have kept up our certification. You children have no idea what Chris and I are capable of." Buck stopped his tirade, the pair looked like they were about to fall down and James didn’t look much better. Buck would find a way to make the young’uns understand later. Maybe next time the two would think before performing a similar stunt. Now he needed to get them to a hospital and checked out.

Not giving them time to think up excuses he loaded everyone into the van and got back on the road. They needed to leave before the sirens got there. But even in the rush to get out of there, Buck couldn’t resist asking. "Tanner where the hell is the rest of your pants?"

++++++++++++++++++++

Two days later found James Bond and Chris Larabee sharing a pot of coffee in the kitchen of the rental house. Felix told the team that he had rented it for a full week. They might as well put it to good use and rest up in it. Ever practical Felix wanted to get the government’s moneys worth. All the reports had been written and turned in to Felix, with copies going to M. No one outside of a few highly placed officials would ever see them.

Buck, JD, Nathan, and Josiah had headed out for the ski slopes. Josiah went along he said to help carry back the body of whichever one of them got hurt. Buck went to look for snow bunnies. JD and Nathan went to ski, they enjoyed skiing as much as Vin and Ezra; only in Nathan’s case not as recklessly. The two afore mentioned ATF agents were sitting uncomfortably in the living room. The pair was under strict orders from Nathan to stay put. Ezra had a slight concussion and bruised ribs. Vin was bruised all over, mainly on his butt, which made sitting awkward. After an overnight stay in the hospital they were allowed out under the watchful eyes of their teammates. Chris and James stayed behind to make sure they followed orders.

The local newspaper had carried a story on the fire and destruction of the ski lodge. According to the news item the fire had started in the kitchen and spread to the lodge’s propane tanks, which exploded. Additional explosions occurred when an illegally stored arsenal caught fire, burning the hundred-year-old lodge to the ground. The owner of the lodge, a Dwight Hamit had let most his staff have the night off, limiting the loss of life. The Fed’s were looking into the illegal storing of armaments at the ski lodge. Mr. Hamit is a member of the supremacist group the Chosen and has refused to answer any question on the hoard of explosives. He is now in custody of the federal government, waiting charges.

Chris placed the paper on the table and smiled at the story. The Sheriff’s Uncle Clyde had run a nice piece covering all the bases. Not one word or inquiry about Blowfeld or the virus had come up. No one had even noticed the team’s part in the affair. By the time the local fire department had made it’s way via the back road everything had been burned to ashes. Felix’s people had swooped in and taken over for the sheriff, sighting the possibility of unexploded ammunition and Federal jurisdiction. Felix had made it a point to make it look as if Sheriff Scott had called them in.

All in all a good ending to the case. No one had gotten seriously hurt and there was no one asking questions. A car’s horn sounded outside bringing Chris back from his musing. He and James made their way outside, only to find Ezra and Vin had beaten them there.

The young men were bored and any excuse to get out from under big brother supervision was welcomed. Inaction was not their strong suit, the distraction of Q and Felix’s arrival with both the Aston Martin and Ezra’s jag was appreciated and seen as a possible means of escape.

Vin ran his eyes over the Aston Martin noticing the car showed no sign of the rough treatment it had received the other night. "She looks good Q, no trouble getting her back?"

"No gentlemen, the homing device worked admirably, we had no problems finding her." Q turned his gaze on James, "007 you might take a lesson from these young men. Not only didn’t they destroy all equipment I entrusted with, they found a way to return most of it."

James Bond British secret agent, 00 license to kill was taken aback at Q’s temper. He wasn’t that bad was he? And what if he was, what the hell did it matter? He got the job done. Oh well, might as well let Q vent. It will do him good for the next time 007 had to sacrifice equipment to save the world.

"Of course Q, I’ll pay attention." James said with a smile not meaning a word of it, knowing Q knew it too.

"Come along 007, M wants us both back home as soon as possible. Say your good-byes and get your things." Having dismissed 007, Q turned his attention to Ezra and Vin. "Gentlemen I couldn’t give you the chameleon system for the jaguar but I did make a few improvements for you." Q walked over to the jaguar and patted the bonnet. "I replaced the bullet proof glass with some of my own creation, much better than the commercial stuff and the important systems are now armored." With a smile he added. "I made a few improvements to the engine as well. Not only will you find yourself spending less time in the shop, she now has a bit more power to call on when you need it."

You would of thought someone had given Ezra the keys to Fort Knox at the beaming smile gracing his face. "Q, the keys please?" asked Ezra as he stood beside his car, Vin was already inside, both ready to make their escape.

"Oh yes here they are." Q tossed them to Ezra. Ezra reached up to catch them only to see a hand shoot out and pluck them out of the air. His eyes followed the hand that held his keys back to the body it belonged to and groaned.

Chris dangled the keys from his fingers and shook his head. "Back inside, both of you."

"A test drive is warranted, surely."

Chris had pulled Vin out of the car and was pushing Ezra ahead of them.

"No it’s not. And don’t call me Shirley."

END

Comments to: Nsscbs1978@aol.com

Please let me know if you liked the story. I have a new E-mail address. My apologies to anyone who wrote me since my last two stories were posted and didn’t get a response. I was having trouble getting my mail and didn’t know it. Hopefully the new address will change that. If you write I will answer.

All the tech terms JD used are real; thanks to the Screen Savers, a TV show that explains computers and other extraordinary technical stuff, so even I can understand it. It can be found on Tech TV.