The Standard Disclaimer: Characters belong to Mirisch/Trilogy Productions/CBS etc. I make no claims upon them. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue.
Date of Creation: July 27, 2002
Rating: PG-13 (Violence)
Warning: Contains Wiccan elements. Anybody who is offended shouldn't read this story.
Author's note: Mark this date on the calendar! I've written this story in record time (two days). This is my second Mag-7 fanfic and I've finally seen The Seven Samurai (took me three days to get thru it) and the original movie The Magnificent Seven. Now I've rented The Return of the Magnificent Seven and Guns of the Magnificent Seven along with the series pilot for perusal this week. (The video store didn't have The Magnificent Seven Ride). This is also the second in the series "The Supernatural Adventures of Cuervo and The Seven". I've got ideas for other stories in this series, but these two were the big mutant plot bunnies that forced me to write them NOW. If anybody else can think of anything to write in this same vein, please feel free.
This story refers to events in Cindy Combs' The Sentinel/Mag-7/MacGyver/Stargate: SG-1 cross-over story Synchronicity in Chaos, although you probably don't have to read that story first to understand this one. This story, however, is not "officially" related to "Synchronicity in Chaos" nor "sanctioned" by Cindy Combs (although she's read it and pointed out a couple of mistakes and a point of divergence).
This story is (barely) a Mag-7/The Sentinel cross-over (two minor characters of The Sentinel have a Cameo Appearance).
Also note: This story contains general Wiccan/Pagan/Shamanist theory and information. It is not intended to accurately represent or portray any one particular tradition or pantheon.
This is set in the ATF AU, and thanks to Mog for creating it.
This story hasn't been beta-read (don't know anybody to do it), so any mistakes you can blame squarely on me.
The first thing that registered was pain. His head, his right arm, his right knee. And a ringing in his ears. Also a sharp lump under his right ribs, and he wondered why his bed had a sharp lump in it. And why it was so hard. And what the weight on his back was. And why the light was flickering.
Slowly, as consciousness continued to return, so did memory. Josiah realized that the weight on his back was probably part of the ceiling of the elevator. The sharp lump was a fragment of something... something... from the... explosion...
Explosion! Josiah remembered suddenly that there had been an explosion just as the elevator doors were closing, which was probably why he wasn't dead. And close on the heels of that memory, Josiah remembered something else: he hadn't been alone in the elevator.
Vin.
Josiah and Vin had arrived at the federal building at the same time that morning, and had been in the elevator together when the explosion occurred.
Josiah slowly, carefully, levered himself up onto hands and knees, his body protesting all the way. 'I'm getting too old for this...'
But soon he was able to move about, looking for his companion. And after a few seconds of frantic scrabbling about, the big man's hand encountered something. Leather. Vin's jacket. Josiah slid his hand up the jacket edge until he encountered the person wearing said jacket. He was buried under debris. Josiah carefully moved the pieces of metal and grating and god-knew-what until he had unburied the long-haired Texan.
"Vin!" Josiah cried. Or thought he did, at least. The ringing in his ears that he'd registered earlier told him he'd been deafened by the blast, and he could only hope it was temporary. But never mind that now, Vin probably couldn't hear, either, and so Josiah simply shook him, hoping for a response; not daring to move him too much because he had no idea how badly hurt the young tracker might be.
After a few seconds, to Josiah's relief, Vin moved on his own. He grabbed Josiah's arm and used it to pull himself up into a sitting position. He squinted at Josiah, and his lips moved, but of course, Josiah could hear nothing. He indicated so by tapping his ear and shaking his head "no".
"Vin, can you hear me?" Josiah asked, doubting that the other man could, but needing to confirm it. Sure enough, Vin looked askance at the bigger man, and slapped at his ear. Josiah shook his head, resigned. Vin's expression cleared as he realized the problem, and threw his hands in the air while rolling is eyes in annoyance tinged with fear. Hopefully, their hearing would return soon. Hopefully.
In the meantime, they examined their surroundings. The elevator was a mess. Part of the ceiling had come down, and the door, which had been about two-thirds of the way closed when the explosion had happened, was bent sharply inward and torn. Both men kept clear of the sharp edges while trying to ease their way out, but there wasn't enough room. Vin made to try it anyway.
"Dammit, Vin, don't you dare!" Josiah yelled. Of course, Vin couldn't hear him, so Josiah grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the door. Vin jerked his arm away.
"Dammit, Josiah, I'm tryin' to go git help!" Vin yelled. Of course, Josiah couldn't hear him, so he simply tried again to edge out around the door. Josiah grabbed him again, but not before Vin's shirt caught on an edge and tore. Vin quickly smacked Josiah's hand away and pointed to where he was now hung up. Josiah sighed and helped "unstick" him, when suddenly, something made the hairs on the backs of both men's necks stand up.
They were being watched. The two men exchanged glances, then both looked out of the elevator. There, beside a support pillar now blackened and chipped, a misty glow coalesced. The feeling of a presence there was very strong.
Josiah closed his eyes and concentrated. In college, there had been an incident involving one of the dorm rooms on his floor. Rumors had circulated that the room was haunted, and Josiah, fascinated, had agreed to spend the night there. He'd awakened in the wee hours of the morning to a cold room and the strong sense of a presence beside the bed. That was the night that Josiah had discovered that if he closed his eyes and cleared his mind, he could "see", in his mind's eye, the person that went with the presence. That night, it had been a distraught former student who'd committed suicide in the room. Now, he "saw" six men, dressed in blue jeans and t-shirts, standing by the post. Josiah could feel their anger from across the garage.
"We got company, Vin." Josiah told the younger man, and was relieved when he was able to hear himself speak, although still not very well.
"WHAT!?" Vin yelled. Apparently, his hearing was starting to recover, too.
"I SAID WE GOT COMPANY, JUNIOR!" Josiah repeated. Vin looked at the older man, startled. He looked back at the support post. Clear as day, he saw the men Josiah had "seen".
"Hey!" Vin yelled at the men. "Could you give us some help, here?" Josiah was surprised, at first, then he realized Vin must be seeing them differently than Josiah did. Like Cole Sears in The Sixth Sense, Vin probably saw them as if they were ordinary people. He didn't even realize they were dead. That probably meant Vin was a stronger "channeler" than Josiah. And that solidified a suspicion of his. A couple of years ago, they'd met a Sentinel, Detective Jim Ellison of the Cascade, WA Police Department. A Sentinel is someone who's senses are heightened substantially above ordinary peoples'. Although Josiah hadn't known about it until a second meeting with him and his Guide, Detective Blair Sandburg - who helped Ellison control and focus his abilities through a kind of psychic connection between the two - he'd quickly learned a lot about the whole thing from Blair when he took him aside during a party to ask about some things he'd observed. He'd also learned that Blair thought that Vin might have inherited some Sentinel abilities, although he wasn't a Sentinel himself (which Ellison, who'd been one of Vin's commanding officers in the Rangers, had assured them of because Ellison couldn't "sense" it in the younger man as he could in other Sentinels he'd met). At the time, they'd discussed the fact that Vin had at least one heightened sense: sight. However, Josiah had told Blair in private that he thought maybe the tracker also had a heightened sixth sense that he would be uncomfortable discussing. Blair had let it go, then. But Josiah was now convinced he'd been right. Vin had at least two heightened senses, and was able to, among other things, see ghosts.
"Don't bother, Brother." Josiah told the other man. "They can't help us, even if they wanted to."
"What? What are ya talkin' about?" Vin asked, confused.
"They're dead, Brother." Josiah replied. "And they're very angry about something."
"Dead?" Vin said, startled. "But, I c'n see Œem clear as I'm seein' you!" Josiah placed a paternal hand on the young Texan's shoulder.
"Little Brother," Josiah said gently, "physical sight isn't the only enhanced sense you have. You're evidently clairvoyant, and you can also see ghosts. So can I, but not as well as you can. I can also sense that they're angry, and not very nice."
"So who are they, and what are they doin' here?" Vin asked, but before the older man could say anything, the six "men" spotted the two in the elevator, and started towards them. And it was obvious they weren't trying to sell Girl Scout cookies. Josiah and Vin could both feel the aggression pouring off the six men, and knew they were in trouble.
They retreated to the back of the elevator, Josiah standing protectively in front of his younger friend. Although Josiah didn't have a lot of experience with ghosts, he obviously had more than Vin, and hoped he could at least put up a good fight. Hopefully, he could hold out long enough for someone to come for them, for, early in the morning as it was, there were other people in the building, and they had to have called for help.
The first "man" slipped right through the door, and came at Josiah, who grasped the small cross around his neck and began to chant something in a language Vin didn't recognize. He hated having to be covered like this; it went against the grain to just stand by and let someone else protect him, but Josiah was correct in that Vin was totally out of this depth here.
The first ghost took an angry swipe at Josiah, scoring his arm with vicious slashes that immediately seeped blood. Then the ghost slashed at the big man's face, but Josiah brought his arm up to block and the ghost only added to the gouges on his arm.
Suddenly, there was a low growl, and a hiss, and the ghost backed off. Surprised, Josiah and Vin looked down at the floor, and found — a little orange and white tabby cat.
Cuervo had been delayed coming into the parking structure that morning by the new gate guard, who'd only been there a few days, and obviously didn't realize that Cuervo owned the garage. Cuervo was a cat, after all, and this was his day home (John, his "first" human, was a college student, and his place was Cuervo's night home).
The delay had saved Cuervo's life. He'd only been caught by the outer shock wave of the blast, and had been thrown several feet backward. He'd also been hit by flying debris, but only small, light pieces. Cuervo had lain, stunned, for some minutes, but having heard the voices of two of The-Seven-Who-Have-Attractive-Energy-And-Treat-Cuervo-Well, he'd shaken himself fully awake and started towards them. He had to know if they were alright, for he really liked them all alot. Also, The Seven's energy was delicately balanced among them, and if anything happened to any one of them, the Energy Network would fall apart.
As he approached the Moving Box that the two were in, Cuervo suddenly sensed peculiar energy. It felt like Likes-to-Hurt-Others energy, and that wasn't good. It was also stronger than usual, and Cuervo realized that these Likes-to-Hurt-Others were no longer in Solid Form. And that was even worse, because he knew that, while any of The Seven could take on Likes-to-Hurt-Others in aphysical fight, none of them could fight them in Energy Form. That was Cuervo's job.
And now Cuervo stood protectively in front of the two he knew as Wise Oak and Quiet Hunter. The six men had backed off, and apparently sensed at least some of Cuervo's power, but it was six of them against Cuervo and whatever energy he could pull off the Two, and Cuervo knew it wouldn't be enough.
This was definitely bad.
As the stalemate continued, Cuervo suddenly thought of something. The Seven had returned from a long absence some time ago smelling of Protective Energy and Spirit Guides, and Cuervo had realized that Hunter knew a Guardian. Cuervo had recognized upon their first meeting that Quiet Hunter smelled - faintly - of Protective Energy, too, and he wondered if the Guardian's Spirit Guide might be willing to help them now.
Cuervo sent his mind rapidly along the World Energy Network (made up of what some called "Ley Lines") and called for the Spirit Guide Who Protected and Guided the Guardian Who Smelled Like This.
Josiah had not been surprised that the ghosts were afraid of Cuervo. Cats had, in Egyptian mythology, been the guardians of the Underworld, and therefore had some power over the Shades of the Dead. They had also been used by Wiccans as familiars. But he didn't know if there was anything the small tabby could do that would stop these six.
In the meantime, the anger the six ghosts felt finally overpowered their fear of the cat, and they attacked again. Josiah once more resumed chanting, hoping that whatever he could do combined with Cuervo's presence might help protect them. He got a nasty slice across the chest by one ghost, and one on the face from another for his efforts.
Then, suddenly, behind him, Vin cried out. Josiah turned to him, and was slashed across the upper back and shoulders, but Vin was unharmed. The young man caught his glance and gestured outside the elevator. Josiah turned to look - and gasped, stunned.
A silver-grey wolf and a big, Black Panther were crouched, poised to strike, just outside the elevator doors. Cuervo saw them, too, but instead of reacting with either aggression or with fear, he mewed what sounded suspiciously like a greeting as he bounced out of the elevator to stand beside them. Then, to Josiah's and Vin's horror, all three animals attacked!
Josiah had thrown himself on top of Vin to protect him. Suddenly, an interrogative meowsounded in Josiah's ear, and a rough tongue scraped his cheek. Josiah opened his eyes to see - Cuervo, calmly sitting beside him, his face an inch from the big man's. Josiah tried to look past the cat, but saw nothing but cat. So he pulled himself up off the smaller man and they both looked around.
The six ghosts were gone.
The wolf and the panther were gone.
Cuervo rubbed possessively against Vin's ankle.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Josiah looked at Vin. Vin looked at Josiah.
"What just happened?" Vin asked. Josiah shrugged.
"I don't know, Brother, and I'm not sure I want to."
"Sounds good to me."
Three days later, all forensic evidence had been gathered, and Chris figured the rest of his team would like to know whatever was known about the bombing.
"Seems the remains of Kelly's men are claimin' credit for this one." Chris said, to the accompaniment of groans and hands thrown into the air.
"I thought we got all them with the Russell Station bombin' thang?" Vin said, exasperated.
"Apparently not." The blond man replied. "Anyway, this was a suicide bombing thing, and six bodies of known associates of Kelly's were pulled out of what was left of a truck-bomb in the parking garage." Chris passed around photos of the men.
Josiah was startled. He looked towards Vin, who looked up at him, stunned.
The six men in the photos were the ghosts that had attacked them in the garage.
"Something wrong, Vin, Josiah?" Chris asked.
"Uh, nothin'." Vin muttered. Josiah kept silent. If Vin didn't want to mention it, he would respect that.
"Uh, ok." Chris said uncertainly, feeling like he'd missed something. "Anyway, so we have to be on the look-out for more of these yahoos. Now, for our next case, we have"
The End
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