Countdown

Disclaimers: Characters of M7 do not belong to me

This is another oldie- written to fulfill a challlenge. We were given the following qoute to base the story on.

"Time it is a precious thing. Time brings all things to your mind. Time with all it's labours along with all it's joys and Time brings all things to an end."

Ezra glanced anxiously around the dark room, his focus drawn against his will to the only source of light. The digital face of the small timer cast a faint red glow around its proximity; it's illumination raising a feeling of dread instead of comfort.

20:00

Twenty minutes, he had twenty minutes left. He struggled uselessly against the handcuffs linking his arms together around the thick post, stretching him awkwardly and pressing his back against the rough wood as he wondered to himself…"twenty minutes left of what?" A chance for rescue? An attempted escape? His memories? His family? His life? His breath? His body?

"Breathe Ezra." He commanded out loud, his tongue running over the cut on his bottom lip. It wasn't enough to imprison him in the unfinished dirt floored basement with a ticking bundle of dynamite less than six feet from him, first they had to seek their joy in beating the snot out of him.

18:30

God, where was the time going? Larabee was going to kill him. Well, want to kill him that is, he'd already be dead. Blown to bits, the tiny scraps of his Armani suit would probably not even be recognizable. Did it comfort him that his closeness to the bomb insured he wouldn't feel much pain?

17:00

He was going to die. He couldn't escape. Besides the fact that he was handcuffed, there was the whole broken ankle to contend with…and screwed up shoulder. The adrenaline spiking in his body was helpful at blocking the pain for now but he still hurt. Ezra shook his head and squeezed his eyes closed tightly, trying to control his emotions. His cover had been blown…somehow. One minute he'd been sitting at dinner with John Brookhaven trying to dig up information on the next shipment of illegal tobacco products coming into Denver, and the next, he'd been herded into a limo, stripped of his wire and pistol whipped. When he'd come too, Brookhaven had been very clear about how he felt about undercover agents, ordered his goons to rough Ezra up and when they were finished…had him locked away in this dirt hovel.

16:00

Ezra blinked the sweat and blood from his eyes and wondered what the team was doing now. The team, Team 7, his friends, his family. He'd never had a real family before and there was a time he hadn't expected the men of team seven to be one either. He remembered the tension when he'd transferred in from the FBI. The looks of curiosity mixed in with the doubt, and trepidation. Could they really trust him? Then he'd screwed up and walked out on them during their first mission. He'd come back but it'd set the course for a long hard road to developing real friendship.

15:00

Then there was the whole fact that for the longest time Ezra had shut the other men out. He hadn't wanted to let them close. Not Josiah and his paternal tendency, or Nathan and his quick judgments. Not Vin with his ability to read right through the fronts Ezra put up. Not Buck with his anything goes attitude and not JD with his naïve willingness to trust. He certainly hadn't wanted to get close to Larabee. Hell he knew without a doubt that all he'd ever end up doing was disappoint that man. It is what he was good at, according to his mother anyway.

14:00

Mother. He'd had some good times with mother, and some bad times…worst of all though, never enough time. He never had figured out what it was about him that made others push him away. When his mother couldn't use him for her latest 'project' he was carted off to some relative or old friend. Never a real explanation, until finally he'd started to do all the pushing himself. Saved time that way, and grief, and pain.

13:00

God, if it was so cold in here why the hell was he sweating so badly? The dirt floor was damp and he didn't even want to imagine the things that might be dwelling with him in this dank hole.

12:00

Was that damn clock speeding up? All he wanted was out! The stale air was heavy and his breaths were coming in gasps. He tried to think of something pleasant, like the time he'd finally agreed to go along with the others on one of their weekend fishing trips. He was no outdoors man but they'd dragged him along, ignoring his complaints and making him a part of things. Then there had been the time when his mother had come to town, and virtually humiliated him in front of the others, pointing out failing after failing until Chris had stepped up and shut her down with a few choice words of support for Ezra. There was the barbecues out at Chris' ranch, the drinks at The Saloon. The football games at Buck and JD's. Each memory stirring the reminder in Ezra that he had finally found his family.

11:00

The good times had been tempered with the hard times. Too many times spent in the hospital waiting room, pacing and wondering what would happen to one of his brothers. Would the doctor be able to save Vin's leg? Had Buck lost too much blood while they waited for the ambulance? Why hadn't Nathan's vest protected him from the perp's shot? Too many times waiting. Ezra smiled…at least there'd be no hospital wait for the others this time.

10:00

God, he would miss them.

9: 40

Ezra looked up suddenly, hearing banging to his left but the darkness left him disoriented.

"Ezra are you in there?"

More banging.

For a moment Ezra thought he was hearing things, but then it registered. They had found him.

9:10

"I'm here! Chris I'm in here!"

9:08

"Thank God, we'll have you out in just a minute."

9:07

"There's a bomb in here so if you could hurry it up a bit, I'd appreciate it."

9:05

"What the hell did you just say?" Buck was shouting over the renewed and suddenly frantic banging.

9:03

"There's a bomb!"

9:01

"Does it have a timer? How much time is left? Can you reach it?" Josiah asked.

9:00

"Yes, Eight minutes and fifty –nine seconds, and no, I'm handcuffed to a support beam."

8:55

Ezra watched the numbers ticking down as he listened to the others working at getting him out. He debated at what time he should tell them to back off and get away.

"Ezra are you hurt?" Nathan asked.

He ignored Jackson. "You need to get away from here."

8:40

"Not a chance Standish." Larabee shouted back at him.

"What does the bomb look like?" Buck questioned.

"It's a bundle of approximately 8 sticks of dynamite, wired together and attached to the timer."

"Shit."

"Exactly, now would you please all just move away?" Ezra could feel his fear growing. This was worse than his own impending death, he didn't want his family to be hurt, but they were ignoring him.

7:00

"Mr. Larabee…Chris, please pull back!" Ezra tried again, wincing as he pulled he struggled against his bonds again.

6:00

The door to the tiny basement burst open suddenly, causing Ezra to yell in spite of himself. For a moment he'd feared that the bomb had gone off early. Early morning light shown through the hole as Buck and Chris dropped into the room.

"I didn't realize I was literally in a hole." Ezra mused out loud, earning incredulous looks from both men before Chris moved behind him and started to unlock the cuffs and Buck moved to disarm the bomb.

"How did you find me?" Ezra asked, his jaw clenched to keep from crying out as Chris worked.

"JD's been watching 'Get Smart' reruns again. He put a tracker in your shoe as a practical joke. Are you hurt?" Chris repeated Nathan's earlier question while Ezra tried to process the whole practical joke explanation.

"My shoulder is out, and my ankle is possibly broken." Ezra answered matter a factly. He hissed as Chris eased his cramped arms down to his sides.

"I'm gonna help you up." Larabee told him as he slipped a strong arm around the Southerner's waist.

"We're good here." Buck turned around and held up the diffused bomb, the clock stopped with 4 minutes and 21 seconds left on the timer.

"I thought you were suppose to save the day with one second left on the clock?" Ezra smiled faintly as Buck moved to support him from the other side.

"Yeah but what an unoriginal ending, this way is much better don't you think?" Buck laughed and motioned for Josiah who knelt at the hole above them to trade places with him, knowing Josiah would have an easier time lifting Ezra.

"I know I'm getting to old for those kind of last minute rescues." Josiah added as he dropped into the room and gave Buck a hand climbing back out. Chris just shook his head as Ezra answered.

"Indeed, gentlemen, I would have to agree…your timing was impeccable as always."