Legacy IV: One is the Loneliest Number

by Ace

Note: Just another bit of fluff. Thanks to my Beta, I really appreciate all you do. Thanks once more to Mog for this lovely sandbox that we play in.


The man rolled over in his bed, stretching a little bit. He yawned once, then a smell drifted into his nostrils, arousing his senses. He slowly peeled open his eyelids when hearing a sizzling-type noise coming from a different room in the apartment. Smells like…bacon, he thought to himself. Did I fall asleep at Mr. Larabee’s last night?

His thoughts were interrupted by a new noise. It sounded like a door opening and closing. The undercover agent jolted upright in his bed, realization setting in. Someone was in his apartment. He quickly jumped out of bed, reached and grabbed his t-shirt from the chair and pulled it on. He then took his sidearm from the dresser top and slowly creeped out of his room, pistol held up in front of him. His eyes scanned the living room; nothing appeared out of place there. Then the noise from his right had him advancing forward to the kitchen. He stood for a second, took a deep breath, then with gun ready, he took the corner into the kitchen quickly.

The scream of his intruder had him yelling as well, but he deftly flung his gun hand off to the side.

“Good Lord child! What are you doing?” he questioned slightly in anger as the teen dropped to her knees to pick up the remnants of the egg she once held.

“Sorry Ezra,” she told him. “But scare the crap outta me will ya?” she added, getting her composure back.

“My apologies, but you had me pretty worried myself, thought someone was trying to vandalize my apartment,” the man replied, now settling down himself. “What are you doing here by the way?”

“Well, Chris went with Buck and Vin to the conference in Las Vegas, and JD headed out to be with Casey this weekend, and you know Josiah and Nathan, they’ve always got plans, so your place was the only one that wasn't empty,” she informed him.

“I thought Mr. Larabee left you a key,” Ezra commented, checking the safety on his gun before laying it on the table.

“Well, he did, but…” she paused, bending down and wiping the rest of the yolk up, and then tossing the napkin in the trash. “It’s just…well…I was afraid.”

“Afraid? You? Excuse me, I thought I was speaking with Samantha…” Standish began sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up would ya,” the girl told him, standing back up and turning to the stove. “It’s bad enough that I’m afraid to be alone out there, much less having to listen to you joke about it.”

The southerner quickly stopped himself from continuing, realizing she really was afraid to stay by herself; he could tell by her voice. She wasn’t joking around about this.

“I’m sorry,” he began, his tone more sympathetic. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well it ain’t something you have to tell everyone about either,” she stated, using a fork to move the bacon from the frying pan over to a plate.

“Understood,” Ezra responded, walking over to the stove. “There anything else you’re afraid of?”

“Slithery things,” Sam commented, laying some more bacon in the frying pan. “Creepy crawly things, and things that just make you go, uh,” she added emphasis by making a face and shaking all over.

Ezra’s gold tooth flashed at the girl’s description of "things".

“Oh, and thunderstorms,” she added.

“Ah, well, I’ll be sure to keep those in mind,” he replied, watching her flip the bacon strips over. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, I’m fine,” she remarked. “Well, you could make coffee. You do know how to make coffee don’t you?” she asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

Ezra moved away from the stove over to the counter. “Yes I know how to make coffee.”

Sam grinned to herself as she listened to the southerner rattle around in this cabinets, no doubt looking for the coffee.

“The coffee grains are in the first cabinet by the fridge, top shelf,” she stated loudly enough for the man to hear.

She stood and listened to one cabinet open and shut, then smiled to herself again.

“I knew that,” Ezra mumbled more to himself than the teen.

After he put the coffee on, Ezra turned back to watch as the teen set the bowl of cooked eggs on the counter along with the plate of bacon. He never ate breakfast unless he was at Larabee’s ranch, usually just grabbing an expresso from the Starbucks on his way up to the office.

“When did you have time to prepare this?” Ezra gestured to the food.

“It was all in your refrigerator,” the girl commented, then added with a smirk, “oh, yeah, sorry I forgot, you don’t venture there often.”

“Ha, ha,” Ezra laughed dryly as the teen walked past him into the living room. “Another question, how did you manage to gain entrance into my little abode?”

“Well,” the teen turned, grabbing two used cups from the coffee table, “I was at Crystal’s but she had to visit relatives, so I had her drop me off here. Of course, as I expected, your extra key was at the top of the door so I just let myself in, went into the guestroom and fell asleep.”

“I…how did you know my extra key was there?” the undercover agent questioned.

“Gee Ez, and I often wonder why I was picked to work with LEGACY,” she began sarcastically. “Duh, they teach us this stuff, course, you, Vin, Buck, and JD all leave them in the same place. Must be a guy thing.”

Ezra closed his eyes in slight annoyance as the teen took the dirty cups to the sink. He turned and took two mugs from the cabinet and filled them with the freshly brewed coffee. Sam walked over and filled hers with some milk, adding a couple spoonfuls of sugar, and lifted the mug to her lips. She and Ezra both took a sip of the coffee at the same time. They looked at one another in disgust and quickly raced to the kitchen sink, spewing the brew into the sink. Ezra sat his cup down and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. The teen coughed a little, and looked up at the man, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Not a word,” he threatened sternly, causing the teen to laugh.

“We can always have milk,” she remarked, moving to sit at the small table.

After they each filled their plate with eggs and bacon, Ezra looked across the table and smiled.

“Dear, just so you know, my key will always be above the door,” he stated sincerely.

“Thanks Ez, I appreciate it,” the girl replied with a grin. “And just so you know, I won’t tell JD that you actually sleep in the t-shirt he bought you for Christmas.”

Ezra looked down at the shirt he wore. Imprinted on the front of the shirt were the words The South Will Rise Again with a confederate flag as a background for the slogan.

Ezra smiled and began to eat his freshly cooked breakfast; one of life's simple pleasures. That’s what Josiah was always talking about and now maybe he was catching a glimpse of how Larabee lived.

THE END

Legacy V
Safe in the Arms of Love

Feedback: Welcome as always.


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