Chris Larabee walked slowly over to the pair of desks that belonged to Vin Tanner and Ezra Standish. Ezra looked up, but relaxed when he realized that Larabee wasn't even looking his way. Instead the man was staring at Tanner.
And the sharpshooter was ignoring him. He had to be ignoring him, because Vin Tanner would not have missed his boss standing next to his desk.
Chris frowned, then glared, as if that alone would force Tanner to acknowledge his presence. Normally, of course, it would. But Tanner was being obstinate.
A snicker from across the room had Larabee turning his glare in that direction. But the other four members of the team had all averted their gazes. Ezra adjusted his tie, continuing to watch the unfolding drama. They'd all known it was inevitable. Larabee had been a bear all week and Tanner had borne the brunt of his ire just because he was always close by.
Of course, it helped that the other five always made themselves scarce when Chris got into one of these moods. Which he did at least once a year-at budget time.
Not to say that Chris Larabee was an easy-going guy normally. Hell, no! It's just that at budget time he was worse than usual. And this year he'd gone overboard. He'd even pissed off Vin Tanner. And that hadn't happened in a very, very long time. But Tanner was using a different tactic than he usually did. He'd stopped talking to Larabee. In fact, he'd totally ignored him all day long.
Luckily, they'd been in the office all day, catching up on paperwork, and not out in the field.
Chris cleared his throat. Vin finally looked up, but still didn't speak to his friend and boss. For several long seconds the two men stared at each other.
"Tanner."
"Larabee."
"God Damnit Tanner!"
"Probably."
Chris frowned and looked around at the others. The other men were no longer making an effort to look uninterested.
"Can I talk to you?" Chris asked his sharpshooter.
"Thought you already were," Vin replied.
"Ah, yeah," Larabee said, looking around again. He muttered something, staring at his feet. Vin leaned toward him.
"Excuse me?"
Chris looked up again, glancing around at the others. He shifted his feet uncomfortably and muttered again.
Vin leaned back in his chair. "Sorry, Chris, you're gonna have to speak up. I left my hearing aids in my other jeans."
Larabee closed his eyes briefly when he heard muffled chuckles from in the corner, where Buck Wilmington had his desk. He vowed to shoot the man first chance he got. When he opened his eyes again, Tanner was still waiting for him to speak. He grimaced, deciding he'd shoot Tanner first, then Wilmington.
Realizing that Vin was not going to give in, he sighed. "Fine. Okay. I'm sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear? I apologize," he growled.
Tanner blinked. He looked at Ezra, then turned and looked at the others. When his gaze found Larabee again, he frowned. Then he shook his head and stood up. He walked over to the closet in the back of the room, near to Buck's desk. He opened the door and reached inside, pushing some boxes out of his way.
Chris looked at the others, but each looked as confused as he felt. Tanner came back out of the closet, carrying several heavy black parkas with ATF logos on the back. He began handing them out to the rest of the team.
As he walked back over to Larabee, the others stared at him. Vin moved to stand in front of his boss, slipping on his own parka.
"Tanner, what the hell are you doing? It's ninety degrees outside!" Larabee snarled.
Vin looked around the room, then back at Chris, zipping up the parka.
"Gettin' ready," he replied, as if that explained everything.
"Getting ready?" Chris' question was matched by the others. "For what?"
"Cold."
Chris rubbed a hand across his face. He felt surprisingly calm, and wondered if that might be a sure sign of insanity.
"What cold, Tanner?" he asked, knowing that his friend would make him play this out to the end.
"From hell," Vin answered succinctly.
"Hell?"
"Well sure, Cowboy. Seeing how it just froze over, I figure the cold will be hitting here soon."
For a good fifteen seconds, no one said a word. Then a snicker was heard. Then another. And another. Finally a muffled laugh, followed by a muttered, "Shhhh."
Tanner continued to watch Larabee, his face calm and serious.
In the end, Buck just couldn't contain his merriment any longer. As it was, his face was turning red trying to hold it in. But, it was a lost cause. He laughed. JD joined him, then Josiah and Nathan. Ezra merely raised his eyebrows and smiled, which for the southerner was as good as a full-bellied laugh.
"Tanner."
"Yes, Chris?"
"I should shoot you."
"But you won't."
"I wouldn't be too sure."
"Hell, pard, you're gun would just freeze up in the cold."
Finally, even Ezra lost it. He started to chuckle, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. When he fell out of his chair and landed on the floor, the others got up and walked over to his desk.
Chris and Vin stood over the cackling man on the floor.
"He ain't complain' about the wrinkles he's gettin' in his pants," Vin commented.
"Or the dirt," Chris added.
"Damn! Hell must really be froze over," Vin remarked.
"Yep. Got another coat?" Chris added.
"Sure, pard. But wouldn't it be simpler to just leave the building?"
"Hmm, maybe you're right, Tanner. How about I buy you lunch?"
"You owe me that much for being such a grouch all week," Vin replied, as the two men walked away, Vin removing his parka and tossing it over Ezra on the floor.
"Yeah, maybe, but you can't believe the paperwork nightmare I've had to deal with."
"Worse than Buck's reports?" Vin asked, as he opened the door, then followed his friend into the hallway.
"Hell, worse than Ezra's," Chris said.
"That ain't possible, Cowboy," Tanner insisted. The men's voices slowly faded out as the rest of the team stood over the still laughing Standish for several moments, then turned and went back to work.
The End
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