Epilogue:

Status Quo

 They remained in Broken Hill for another two days until Vin was fit to travel before the seven made their way home to Four Corners. As always, the journey from Calumet back to Four Corners was once again wrought with concern over one of their number, except this time it was not Chris but rather Vin around which their thoughts centered. The tracker was still very weak and neither the doctor nor Nathan had at all been impressed that they were setting out off for home so quickly but Vin when he was conscious would accept nothing less. Chris, who at this point, could refuse the tracker nothing, decided to grant his best friend's wish to be at home with his wife who was a healer in her own right.

So they began the trip for Four Corners again, leaving Calumet behind and revisited by all the same emotions of which relief seemed to be the most prevalent. Chris never wanted to see the place in his lifetime again even though his feelings on Laurel were another matter. His revenge burned hot inside him, needing to be satisfied but Vin's near death had brought some perspective to the situation. He would risk none of his friends in some obsessive quest to bring Laurel Chase to justice. This entire episode of his kidnapping and then addiction to the drug Venom had showed him just how much he meant to them. They had never given hope until they had found him and for that, Chris was profoundly grateful.  

Before all this had began, Chris had told Vin just how much his friendship had meant to the gunslinger, never realising those words were an ominous indication of how Vin would be required to prove the depth of that affection. Buck had told Chris about how it was Vin who had carried the rest of the seven through the days of his disappearance, ensuring that no one gave up and leaving no stone uncovered as they continued their search. When they had found Chris, once again it was Vin who was to bear the brunt of his rage during the withdrawal stage of his restoration and listened to all the ugly words Chris had used in order to escape.  

Chris had never felt more ashamed in his life as he rode back to Four Corners, ruminating on how he had regarded Vin during all this and feeling especially mortified that he had not given the tracker the credence when Vin had suggested that they let Laurel go. By forcing them to leave Four Corners so soon after bringing him home, Chris had not only led his friends to a trap but had also placed his need for vengeance above their lives and in doing so, almost succeeded in getting Vin killed. Chris was mortified by his lack of sensitivity to the friends who had forgiven him too easily he thought.

Even though they assured him it was not necessary to make his apologies, Chris knew he had apologies to make. He had them to make not only to Vin and the other members of the seven but also to Alex whom he had hit when she had tried to help him inside the corridors of his prison in Calumet and Julia, whom he had almost... 

Chris swallowed the bile in his throat because he could not even bring himself to say what he had almost done to Julia, except that he was surprised Ezra had not come gunning for him. Lord knows if circumstances were different, he would not know if he would show that much restraint. Instead the gambler had worn that damnable poker face and replied that he understood that it was not Chris himself who had attempted to hurt Julia but the Venom inside his veins. While Chris had been grateful that Ezra had not made it any harder for him, the gunslinger did not feel completely absolved. Julia Pemberton had more or less said the same thing to him but Chris could not help but noticed the glimmer of apprehension in her emerald coloured eyes when she looked at him. Chris had a feeling that Julia would never be able to regard him in quite the same way before. He could not fault her for that. His words to the lady had been cruel and his actions had been damn near criminal. It would have been worse if V in had not made his timely arrival and prevented Chris from doing something unspeakable. 

Alex had been so busy trying to keep him alive while he went through his withdrawals that no apologies had been necessary, the lady merely shrugged her shoulders when he had tried to make one and told him the same thing, that it was the drug. He felt a surge of warmth remembering how hard Alex had tried to convince him that everything he had said had been because he had been in a heightened state of paranoia and near schizophrenia and he should not hold himself accountable for all his words. 

Still, Chris could not help but wonder how much of it had been the Venom and how much of it had been him. 

Laurel had told him that there was darkness inside of him, one that had been there for as long as he could remember. While Chris had denied it at the time, he could no longer say that her words were flights of fancy. All that he had done in the last weeks had proven that there was indeed something inside him that waited for the opportunity to escape to wreak its savage worst upon all those around him. The Venom had allowed it to escape but not aided in its creation. That was the part of the whole situation that kept Chris wide away during the nights following his return to normal life. He would spent it holding Mary in his arms while listening to the baby inside its crib, breathing a soft feathery breath and wondered how such darkness could exist in his soul when there was so much reason for living around him. 

He had his family back. Not just Sarah and Adam but a new entity in the form of a baby named Michael Vin Larabee. Chris looked at the child and remembered that visit from Darien Lambert so long ago, when Darien had claimed that his progeny in the future would save humankind from the oblivion of extinction. The truth was, it was more than just extinction that the child had prevented, he had reached his tiny hand into his father's soul and reminded Chris at a time when it was most needed, that while he was capable of much violence, he was also capable of much life. Michael had reminded him that he was a creature of two shades, of dark and light and the trick to getting through life was to walk the razor's edge between the both. Fortunately for him, Chris thought as he blinked away the thoughts in his mind and focussed his gaze on the friends before him, he had a lot to keep him balanced. 

Nudging his horse towards the wagon where Vin was presently resting at the back in a prone position, Chris dismounted onto the wooden floor of the wagon before tethering his horse next to Peso's so that he could take a moment to talk. Nathan was up front at the reins while Ezra and Josiah were engaged in some interesting piece of debate usually pitting ethics and morality against each other. Buck, Chris noticed was as usual tormenting JD with mischief and Chris found a little smile cross his face as he remembered his conversation with the boy a few nights ago. 

No, he corrected himself, JD was not a boy any more. He was a man.  

As Chris nestled himself next to Vin who was staring contemplatively at the sky and the landscape in no particular order, Chris could not blame him for taking in the view. It was a beautiful sunny day, with just a hint of cool in the air to indicate that summer was nearing its close. The air was filled with the scent of dried vegetation and there was just a faint whiff of soil in the mix to make one feel very much intoxicated by the moment. 

Vin was lying against the buckboard with his bedroll providing a soft cushioning effect against his back. His stomach was still bandaged tight and had a dressing that would require changing shortly, if the stain of blood through the white was any indication. However, Vin was not calling attention to it mostly because he hated being fussed over by anyone except Alex whenever he was sick. Chris had a feeling that it was like that with all men. Lord knows, Mary being at his side, forcing that god awful chicken broth that was one of her mother's recipe (curse the woman wherever she was), down his throat was more incentive for him to get better than any tonic that Nathan and Alex might produce. 

"Hey there pard." Vin greeted Chris as the gunslinger sat down to get comfortable. His voice was a little strained but other than that, Vin seemed no worse for wear even though the bandage around him might say otherwise. 

"How you doing?" Chris asked as he reached into his dark coat and pulled out a piece of cheroot.  

"Better than I was before we went to Calumet." Vin retorted as he changed position slightly since his rear end was starting to get a little numb. Moving brought an involuntary grimace to his face and he soon nestled back into position. 

"Take it easy," Chris reminded. "You ain't even close to mending yet." 

"If you were any kind of friend," Vin gave him a look. "You'd let me have that cheroot." He said with a little boy look of pleading that was about to convince Chris when suddenly they both heard Nathan singing out.

"Just because I ain't looking at you two, don't mean I don't know what's going on. Chris, don't even think about giving him that cheroot. He ain't fit to smoke just yet." Nathan said with enough edge in his voice that indicated he expected to be obeyed on this point and not even Chris Larabee was about to argue with Nathan when it came to the welfare of his patients. 

"Sorry pard," Chris shrugged his shoulders with a little smile.  

"Damn," Vin frowned and gave Nathan a dark look over his shoulder before turning back to Chris. "Its ain't gonna get any better when I go home." He complained.  

"It could have been worse." Chris remarked taking a deep breath of his cheroot and garnering an even darker look from Vin when he exhaled, deriving great pleasure from the act.  

"It could have been." Vin answered, his temper a little short and robbing him of his tact, such at it was under normal circumstances. "That's what happens when you don't listen to me." 

Chris supposed he had that coming and did not take too much offence at the remark. "That's true." Chris nodded somberly. "You were right," he said with a heavy sigh. "I wasn't ready for her and I let her get the better of me." 

"Well, you weren't the only one who was caught off guard, pard." Vin conceded, feeling a little guilty hearing Chris say that and aware that the gunslinger probably felt bad enough with out his having to rub salt into a wound almost as raw as the one he was wearing under his bandage. "She caught all us by surprise." 

"Maybe," Chris was not about to exonerate himself so quickly. "We might have seen things a little more clearly if I had been thinking straight and not with one thing on my mind." 

"Hell," the tracker looked at him with utter empathy for his feelings without even having to say it. "After what she did to you, I wanted to kill her." 

Chris could very well believe it to and after all the unkindness that Vin had bore the brunt of during his withdrawal symptoms, Vin was almost as justified as he was in wanting some vengeance. "She ain't gonna be far away," Chris commented. "Now that I'm thinking a little straighter, I have a feeling she'll be around." 

Even though Vin's desire for vengeance might almost be equal to that of Chris, he could not say he liked the idea of having Laurel anywhere near Four Corners and in particular Alex. After all, it was Alex who invaded her private bastion and rendered her unconscious while they perpetrated Chris' rescue and Vin knew how Laurel reacted to things she took personally. He glanced at the bandage instinctively. 

"That ain't comforting." Vin answered. "She's insane. She's smart like Alex says but she's completely insane." 

"Yes she is," Chris nodded in agreement and then cleared his throat as he move on to more delicate matters. Laurel Chase could keep. She would return at a later date no doubt, bringing chaos with her and this time, Chris would be ready for her since they would be on equal footing this time. Mary, Alex, Julia, Inez and all the other women in his circle at Four Corners had taught him that women could be just as formidable as men and Ella Gaines had showed him that women could be killers too. Laurel was a lesson all onto herself and what she had to teach Chris was not something he had yet to define yet. However, he knew that unlike any previous foe, the battle he fought with Laurel Chase would be one of the mind and not of the fastest draw. 

Taking a deep breath, Chris moved on to a much harder subject. It was not often he could dip into the emotions inside his heart and release them for others to hear. While it was permissible with Mary, it was all the more difficult when it came to the men he rode with, those he called his friends. The nature of male relationships made such disclosures difficult but considering what they had been through, Chris felt that it was necessary to make an exception. 

"Thank you Vin." Chris said quietly.

Vin raised his eyes to meet Chris. "What for?"

"You know what for." Chris remarked, unswerving in his gaze. "You didn't give up on me, not even when I was a goddamn bastard and saying things I swear to you I never meant. You've been my friend from that first day and I ain't never been sorry that you decided to come into my life. Maybe letting you in was the first step to letting in a whole lot of other people, like Mary." 

Vin swallowed, finding it just as difficult as Chris to talk about emotions and how they felt about each other. "You were my friend," the tracker's eyes dropped to the wood on the wagon floor, smoothed by years of erosion and use. "First one I ever had really." His Adam's apple bobbed once again. "Before you, there was no one. No one who gave a damn whether I lived or died. It was...." he paused as he composed himself a moment before forcing himself to speak. "Lonely."

Chris could understand that. After Sarah and Adam had died, he had drifted from town to town, looking to die and unable to appreciate the new dawn that came with each day, wondering why he was still breathing when all he wanted was to be with them. Those few years had been hard enough but for Vin, it had been a lifetime of loneliness, of never belonging or being a part of something. He had been surrounded by people in the state run home for boys he had been secreted after his mother had died and Chris knew that it was perfectly possible to be alone in a room full of people. From there, he had lived with the Indians for a time, learning their skills and while he was tolerated among their company, he was not one of them. Chris could picture Vin's life, the loneliness that must have been overwhelming until he came to Four Corners and found six men who would die for him and a woman who had proven time and time again that whatever he was mattered not because she loved him.

"You don't ever have to worry about that again Vin," Chris said with a smile. "You got a family here, not just the one you'll start with Alex one day but all of us." Chris hesitated for a moment as he made the revelation that he had been holding back even though he and Mary had discussed it and it was now a done issue. "But I want you to be apart of my family too."  

"I'm too old to adopt." Vin retorted with a crooked smile and succeeded in having Chris lean over and swiping the top of his head with a mock slap.

"Actually, I meant that since we're naming the baby Michael Vin Larabee..." Chris started to say. 

"Michael Vin?" Vin's eyes widened. "You're naming your son after me?"

"No," Chris shook his head with a hint of sarcasm. "It was this other Vin I met down in Purgatory. Wouldn't know him though, real wild and woolly sort."

"Screw you Larabee," the tracker retorted.

"That'll teach you for asking the obvious. Of course we named him after you." Chris deadpanned. "Mary and I also talked it over and we want you and Alex to be Mikey's god parents."

"Mikey?" Vin looked at him.

"Yeah Mikey," he answered. "I've gotten used to calling him that. Besides, ten years from now, he'll probably hate it."

"Can you blame him?" Vin returned.

 "No," Chris said with a perfectly straight face. "But at least I ain't calling him Christopher Junior." The gunslinger retorted with a hint of annoyance as he remembered what his father used to call him and still did much to his embarrassment.

"Chris," Vin looked at him, deeply touched at his request. "I ain't never been anyone's godfather before but I reckon I could be one to your boy."

"Its gonna be a full time job," Chris pointed out and knew without doubt by the smile on Vin's face that it was one responsibility that Vin would not mind at all.

"No kidding," the tracker said with a smirk, feeling for the first time as if things between himself and Chris were on their way to being mended. Not even Laurel Chase could stand between that.

"If he takes after you," Vin mused easing back into the saddle and letting the sun warm his face. "Its gonna be a career."

However Vin remained silent because keeping the younger Larabee safe was a duty that he did not mind at all. Not one bit.

Besides, like father like son.

THE END

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