Part Eight:

Choices

He was hungry.

 It was the kind of hunger that was deep and penetrating, gnawing away at one's inside until they could think of nothing else but to satiate the desire. Even while he slept, he could feel its gravelly tendrils reaching for him through the dreamscape, reminding him that he was a physical creature when in his dreams he wanted nothing to do with flesh. Eventually, the need for food became so intense, Chris Larabee found himself drawn out of the comforting embrace of his sleep into stark cold of reality. He opened his eyes and found himself breathing it in with its entirety, trying to shake the feeling away so he could return to sleep but soon realised that with wakefulness came a strengthening of the yearning.

 He sat up with a start, mostly because he had no idea of where he was.

 He felt like a man who had emerged from a deep sleep and for a moment, the recollections of the past few days remained vague and obscure. The scent of Mary lingered on the pillow and suddenly, he realised he was home, sleeping in the bed shared with Mary whom at present was not in the room. Chris recognised the sheets on the bed, took in the sight of that familiar pattern of flowers against white linen and a stray thought ran through his mind that it was her favourite, being a wedding gift from Inez.

 Home.  

At last he was at home. He let his head dropped into the pillow again, burying his nose against its softness and taking a deep breath, letting his soul melt inside him with warmth when he breathed her in. Every time he drew breath, he felt Mary invading him, comforting him with her scent and tears ran down his cheeks without his even being aware of how deliriously happy he was to be home finally. As he closed his eyes and hugged the pillow close to him, the details of everything that had happened to him resurfaced in his mind and Chris began to weep softly because he was spared nothing.

 Chris remembered it all. The rages where he had done things that made him sick just thinking about it and would be with him until the day he died. He saw the men he had killed in his dementia, who had been just as twisted out of shape as he had. He would carry their faces with him forever as well as the guilt of knowing that it was he who ended their lives in a vision of pain and violence. Other memories were not as brutal but no less devastating. Chris thought about Laurel Chase and how he has lusted after her. He closed his eyes and try not to become overcome with disgust. Beautiful she might have been but Chris could not view the entire coupling as anything but odious. There was no pleasure to be had there and the only reason she had forced him to succumb was because of what she had done to him.

Vin.

 The memory of what he had said to his best friend had been the worst recollection of all. He had to close his eyes just to come to grips with the memory of what he had said and done to Vin and it made the pain all the more worse. Vin who no doubt would have been the chief architect of his freedom. Oh, he knew that all the seven had come to his rescue and had no less feeling for his return than the tracker but Chris knew instinctively without having to hear it for himself that Vin would have tirelessly searched until some clue as to his whereabouts surfaced.

 The words he had used stabbed at him when Chris remembered them in all its stark cruelty. At the time he had been oblivious to what he was saying but now that he was himself again and recanted them, he knew that each insult would have torn the tracker inside even though Vin would never show it. Chris did not know how he was going to face the man again. In fact at the moment, he was having trouble trying to understand how he could ever face any one of his friends. He was not clear what had happened to him, having only a vague recollection of some talk about a drug. Drug or not, it did not remove the stain of what he had done.

 Suddenly, he heard the sound of something moving in the room with him. Foggy as his senses might have been, he still had presence of mind to react to danger. Chris sat up immediately and winced at the aches and pains in his body when he positioned himself upright and saw the curtain's billowing through the open window. The noise he had heard came from the corner of the room and were soft chimes that were more pleasant then they were loud. It took a moment for him to register what had caused that noise.

 The mobile of colored birds circled the crib, allowing the breeze to continue their unending journey in an infinite circle. They swayed a bit in their course but mostly held firm, trapped by pieces of wire that allowed them to have the magical consistency of flight. Chris' breath held for a second and then two as he pushed himself out of the bed, his bare feet touching the floorboards, allowing the blood to circulate through his body for the first time in days in an upright position. He had to steady himself for a few seconds and Chris was struck with the thought with how long he had actually been in that bed. Everything after Mary coming to see him was a blank and he prayed that there were no more unpleasant memories to fill in that space of time as well.

 The crib was rocking ever so slightly and Chris was almost afraid to approach it but he could not stop himself from advancing further. The crib was the one and Mary had selected in Sweet Water more than a month ago. Little ribbons of blue were tied here and there and made it look very much like something an infant would find homely. Chris glanced at the coloured birds floating over the crib and remembered carving them. At the time, he had not told Mary that he had done the same just before Adam was born.

 Peering over the edge, Chris saw the baby staring in fascination at the movement overhead, expressing his excitement by wriggling happily within the soft warm confines of his bed. His blue eyes followed the circular pattern of flight by the shapes overhead and there was the barest hint of a smile on his bow shaped lips, as he remained mesmerized by what he was seeing. He paid no attention to Chris' arrival probably because he had no idea of the man's presence since peripheral vision at this stage of life would have been fleeting and undiscernibly to a mind so soon from the womb. He was clad in the baby clothes Chris recalled Mary knitting over several weeks during the tertiary part of her pregnancy.

A small smile reached the gunslinger's face when images of her delicate fingers working the yarn into some kind of sense surfaced in his mind. Chris took another step closer until he overshadowed the crib and attracted the child's attention. Blue eyes identical to his own shifted from the colorful scenery above and met his gaze. The presence of someone drew a little gurgle from the babe's lips and he wriggled even faster, still wearing that happy expression on his face as he stared at the new arrival.

 Chris reached out slowly, almost afraid to touch the fragile creature before him. Inside the hardened gunslinger, there was a well of something about to burst free, breaking through the cracks formed in its confinement by the ordeal of the past few days. The baby saw his hand and reached out, wrapping his tiny fist around one full-grown digit. He held his father's finger in his small hand and brought it to his face, examining it with curiosity and then uttering another gurgle before deciding it looked good enough to eat and began gnawing at it with his toothless gums.

Chris blinked and hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he reached up and picked up his son. He saw Mary everywhere and the memory of Adam became so strong at that moment that Chris could hardly breathe. Old habits kicked in and he slid his hands in all the correct places before lifting the baby out of his crib. The child did not react very much to being carried; having decided in the short time of his existence that he liked being carried. Chris held onto his son the way he used to carry Adam in his arms so long ago, feeling the loss of that beautiful child more profoundly than ever before and only being able to bear the pain because of the happy face that stared at him in expectation.

There was a rocking chair near by and Chris nestled into it. He had built that too for Mary because Sarah had always liked to do the same when Adam nursed. The chair creaked slightly as Chris put his weight into it and leaned back, allowing himself to rock slightly as he cradled his son in his arms. Chris could only stare at that angelic face that was still smiling at him, unaware of the boundless healing he was administering to his father's ravaged soul.

 "Hey there pardner," Chris found his voice.

Naturally the child did not answer but the audio stimuli induced another interested gurgle.

 "I guess I'm a little late getting here but I'm your pa." Chris answered his voice little more than a hoarse whisper. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here with you and your mother. Things, as you'll understand later on ain't never simple when it comes to our family."

 Little Michael did not seem to mind and wriggled his tiny form in understanding.

 "We got a strange family," Chris found himself speaking, feeling the emotion escape from him with each word he spoke until he was almost to the point of sobbing again but he managed to maintain control. "Ain't gonna be like most others." He whispered, looking about the room and realising that this moment more than anything else convinced him that he was home. "But they'll never let anything happen to you, just like I'll never let anyone hurt you. I promise you that Michael."

 The child regarded his father with a somewhat unflappable expression, laced with a tiny smile that he was listening even if he did not wholly understand the words, he comprehended the emotion behind them. At that moment, he seemed frightfully reminiscent of someone else Chris knew who seem to wear that same face no matter what Chris asked of him. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to Chris that was so right that he was not about to question it and he looked at his son's face again.

 "How does Michael Vin Larabee sound to you?" Chris asked softly.

 "Sounds wonderful." Mary answered as she stood by the doorway, watching the exchange over the last few seconds and tried to hide the emotion in her eyes with a little smile.

"Mary," Chris looked up at her and then at their son once more. "You were right," he said almost breathless. "He is beautiful."

 "Chris!" Billy wiggled past her and hurried to him. "You're okay!"

 The boy crossed the space between them in a second and wrapped his arms around Chris who unfortunately for the bundle in his arms could only respond by running one hand through the boy's hair. "How's the man of the house been taking care of things while I've been gone?" Chris asked, suddenly feeling doubly bless because he was not the father of one but of two wonderful children.

 "Just fine," Billy beamed. "I took care of things alright."

 "Good," Chris smiled warmly. "What do you think of your new brother?"

 Billy looked at Michael and grinned. "He's a little small but that just means I get to push him around when he gets bigger."

 "Little brothers weren't made for much else," the gunslinger chuckled. He left Billy's gaze for a moment and looked at Mary, his eyes welling up with emotion as he saw the tears in her eyes as she stood by the door way, trying not to allow the moment to overwhelm her. He could understand her feelings on the matter because he was experiencing much of the same. Until this moment, neither of them had truly believed that things would be okay, that they could move past the terrible events of the last few days. However, as he continued to stare at her conveying so much without saying a word, Chris knew that he was home and beyond that fact, nothing else mattered.

 Mary watched Chris for a moment with his two sons, trying not to weep in front of Billy because it would not be right to shed tears on such an occasion. She bore her happiness to see Chris in her eyes and knew that he could see her delight in having him home and being able to present him with a beautiful new son. There was a time when she was not sure that he would ever return to them, even though the seven had liberated him from the nightmarish place he had been trapped since his abduction from Vesta City.

 After she had seen him in the jailhouse three days ago, Chris had lapsed into a terrible delirium of fire through which he suffered for two days until last yesterday. For two days and nights, Mary prayed to the same god that allowed such villainy to happen to him to allow him to survive its ravages. Alex and Nathan had worked tirelessly to keep his body temperature from rising beyond acceptable limits and both healers had performed a special kind of magic in their determination to keep him alive. Yesterday, the fever finally broke and everyone who waited with abated breath was finally allowed to release a grateful sigh.

 Mary composed herself and walked towards her family as Chris spoke to Billy while at the same time holding his newest child in his arms, looking perfectly at ease with holding the babe who was similarly comfortable in his father's arms. Upon reaching them, she took Michael from Chris and returned the infant back to his crib. The child whimpered a bit at being removed from the warms arms of his father only to be abandoned inside his crib soon forgot his troubles when he was once again occupied with the crib mobile hanging over him.

"Billy," Mary looked at her oldest child. "Inez has some lunch waiting for you." She said gently.

Billy who was perceptive enough to know that his mother and father wanted a moment alone did not argue as he nodded in answer and gave Chris another hug before leaving the room. Once they were alone so to speak, Mary and Chris merely stared at each other. Before in the jailhouse, he had been so in pain that there had been little opportunity for a proper greeting but now, the moment was at hand and Mary crossed the floor and ran into his arms.

"Oh god Chris," she said embracing hard. "I thought we'd lost you."

The wall of emotion that he had been restraining in front of Billy burst forth and he held her tight, breathing in the scent of air and feeling a shudder of unbound gratitude flood his body at being able to do so again. The ordeal of the last days had been burned into memory with long lasting repercussions he was certain would rise soon enough but for the moment at least, he was home with her and that was all that matter.

 "I could have died," he whispered holding her close, never wanting to let her go. "I could have died Mary and you still would never have lost me."

************

Despite the fleeting burst of energy that had allowed him to leave his bed and make a proper greeting not only to his wife and eight-year-old son, as well as the newest arrival in his growing family, Chris still spent the new few days in bed. Chris' return had been a tonic for Mary's own recovery and she was soon fussing over her new family without any sign that little more than a week ago, she had almost lost her life bringing little into the world. Chris on the other hand still had a great deal of mending to do, not merely from the physical trauma of what had happened to him but also the mental ordeal he had been forced to endure.

One thing was clear in his mind the moment the thoughts running through it became his own and not some byproduct of a drug induced dementia and that was the well of black hatred that seethed in the depths of him, waiting release again. Only this time, it did not require Venom to engender that rage just the memory what Laurel Chase had done to him. In his life, there were few moments that affected him so personally that he could be so angry as to actually consider the taking of a life to not be unjustified. The murder of Sarah and Adam at Ella Gaines hands had been one of those times and it was a question never answered because in the end, it was Mary who struck the final blow and a part of him was grateful that he never had his answer. 

This time, there was no question in his mind about what he was to do. There was no dilemma was allowed to tumble about in the dark of his mind and give him reason to wrestle with his conscience at the morality of killing. When it came to Laurel Chase there was only one decision.  

He was going to find the bitch and kill her. 

In all his life he had prided himself in being in control, even at those moments of despair, Chris had maintained some part of himself intact. The memories of Sarah and Adam though painful were his to do with, his to comfort him in the cold nights when the longing became to much and his to use when he needed the rage to start sharp and alert. They were his most precious possession rivalled only by the presence of Mary and Billy in his life who with them had brought him peace of mind and happiness the likes of which he never thought he would have her again. What Laurel had did was worst than killing them. 

She had killed them inside him and that was a sin for which there was no forgiveness.  

Nobody did that to him and got away with it. No one. 

Thus Chris took his convalescence seriously because he intended to get well because the moment he was fit enough to ride he was going back to Calumet and he was going to have his revenge. In his nightmares, he still remembered the men he had killed and even though they seemed somewhat distant, Chris could not forget that he had been made to murder them with his bare hands. Like some trained circus animal, she had him perform before an audience and then, his stomach would lurch every time he thought of his private performances for Miss Chase. Even though Mary had assured him that he was not responsible for whatever sins he might have committed under the influence, Chris still could not bring himself to tell her about his intimacies with Laurel. 

In the meantime, the rest of the seven dropped by to see him and Chris started to feel some semblance of normalcy returning to his life as familiar faces presented themselves once again. Nathan was most frequent of course, dropping by several times a day to see if he was mending properly while the others continued their duties guarding the town while Vin and Buck divided their time between that and the ranch. A little more than a week after his rescue from Calumet, Chris found himself in the backyard, finally believing himself strong enough to hear the details of how he had been rescued. 

Vin did not like the truth being revealed to him which only made the gunslinger grateful that Mary was in the house with the rest of the women, except Alex that is because Chris had asked for the doctor to be present, when the discussion was finally carried out. Chris felt profoundly grateful to the tracker who was trying admirably to spare him but Chris had to know for himself. Most of what he remembered was vague images and he had to understand what had happened to him in order to recover from the experience.  

His relationship with Vin had been distant since they returned from Calumet and from what he was told by Buck, it appeared that Vin had born the brunt of his rages while he had been suffering withdrawal. Buck did not elaborate what Chris had said to Vin specifically but judging from the difficult the normally talkative man had when discussing the subject, it did not require any feat of genius for Chris to realise that he must have been exceptionally cruel. When Chris had tried to apologise, the tracker had shrugged it off, saying that he understood that Chris was not in his right mind. 

Perhaps that was true but Chris could still see the hurt in his eyes. 

*********

"Well I got one to thing to say about this stuff," Alex held the vial of white powder in her hands that had been the cause of so much heartache to Chris Larabee and by some extension her own husband. She was seated at the edge of the back porch with the rest of the seven, offering her expertise on the Venom while inside the house, the sound of Mary and the other women were chattering happily, no doubt discussing the arrival of baby Michael as women tended to do. Alex herself was eager to join their company but for the moment, she had business to take care of with the lawmen of Four Corners and in particular, Chris Larabee who wanted to know what it was that had poisoned him. 

"It's a work of art." 

Her response immediately garnered a look of distaste from all the men around her who most likely could not see the beauty she was discussing. She could hardly blame them of course. As a doctor with research skills, they could hardly be expected to see the same things she did when she looked through a microscope or appreciate the expertise that had gone into the creation of this substance. 

"I beg to differ." Ezra commented, never being able to keep a comment to himself. 

"Tell me." Chris said nothing, remaining stony as he waited for Alex to explain herself to them.

"It's a mixture of organic material, fused together with something I can only assume is animal pheromones of some kind and chemicals." Alex replied, glancing at the contents for a moment before facing them again. "The result is a narcotic a thousand times more dangerous than opium and infinitely more devastating than morphine. This thing doesn't make you go out of your head like hopeless opium addicts who can only spend their time scavenging for more of the stuff. Combined with a certain amount of mental suggestion, this substance can literally turn a group of men into army that will without question or conscience. Its a good thing she decided to use this for just the purposes of entertaining the blue blood because if she decided to sell this to someone who could use an army, there's no telling what she could do." 

"She won't." Vin replied shaking his head, confident of that fact. "Too much out in the open." The tracker said looking at the others involved in the debate. "I tracked her days and no one knew who she was or where she could have come from. After you got back Chris, I talked to the Judge. Best they knew she did her schooling in New York and then nothing. She knows how to cover her tracks." 

"The lady is accustomed being hidden." Ezra frowned, disliking the conclusion they were being led to. "Am I to believe that even if we are to enlighten the authorities as to what is taking place in Calumet, our villainess is likely to escape the law nonetheless?" 

"I reckon so," the tracker returned giving Chris an apologetic look because he could tell the gunslinger wanted his vengeance badly. To the others, it was not so visible but to Vin, he could see it like the colours of the day. The need for vengeance was so potent that it virtually radiated from Chris Larabee and would continue to do so until something broke the cycle of rage. 

"Well we have to do something." Nathan retorted, just as familiar with the product inside the vial as Alex because they had worked on deciphering its secrets together. "The organic stuff as Miss Alex puts it ain't something that can be manufactured out of chemicals lying around. It can come from only one source." He paused as the idea surface in his mind and he had to swallow to force himself to say it. The human body." 

"So she's killing people to get this stuff out of their bodies so she can use to make more of that venom stuff?" JD asked, shuddering at the horror of it.  

"She couldn't do it any other way." Alex confessed and saw the faces tightening with disgust around her. Chris's eyes were unreadable and she did not want to imagine what he must have been thinking, now that he knew that he had been an unwitting recipient of a substance that had no doubt cost a great many their lives. 

"I think we better start writing the other towns around Calumet," Josiah spoke in his deep voice. "See if there have been any strange unexplained deaths. I don't know much about law but I think we better start collecting our evidence if we're going to stop this woman. We do this the way we usually do things and she'll just get a fancy lawyer to get her out of trouble when it finally gets to a judge." 

"Josiah's right," Chris said quietly. "We need to establish some kind of pattern." He exhaled loudly as he pushed aside his need for vengeance at the moment and considered how they would stop this obscenity from happening once again. "Alex, did she tell you how long the Arena had been around?" 

"No more than two years," Alex said automatically, having committed everything she had heard from Laurel Chase to memory. "However, business has been very lucrative since it began." The lady doctor offered. 

"Alright," Chris ruminated on her words for a moment and then responded. "We need to know if there have been any unexplained deaths as well as disappearances. All the men who fought and died in the Arena had to come from somewhere. I don't think that all of them were drifters like she said. What happened to me," he paused a moment and composed himself as the memory of his capture surfaced and brought with him a resurgence of rage that had no place in his mind right now. "Seemed like something Laurel was very accustomed to doing so I'll bet there have been others. At the very least, those men's families have a right to know what happened to them." 

"Damn straight," Buck agreed wholeheartedly with that course of action. No one should have to endure the terrible feeling of not knowing what had happened to a husband, father or friend, the way they had when Chris' fate was a still an unknown. "Sure as hell they're out there." 

"We ought to wire the law around and about those parts," Nathan suggested. "Get some men out there to shut that place down." 

"That may prove more difficult then we think," Ezra commented. "We are operating under the assumption that she conducted her affairs in Calumet without the assistance of local law enforcement. I would suggest that we enlist the aid of Federal authorities." 

"You mean the army." JD guessed what Ezra was alluding and found that it was not entirely an unreasonable request since where else could they turn if they could not trust the law in the towns surrounding Laurel’s enclave. 

Chris took a deep breath, aware of what would be the most expedient way of settling this issue in regards to bringing the army in on this. Ezra was correct, they could not attempt to bring Laurel to justice on their own. He had learnt much about the enemy since he had fallen under her spell and knew enough to say for certain that when he finally went back to Calumet, Laurel would be ready for him. Unfortunately, the method that would smooth the way in the matter of the army’s participation would require him to contact the one person he did not wish to tell about his fall from grace. However, if he wanted to stop Laurel, he would have no choice and Chris’ hatred for her at the moment overrode even those sensibilities.

 "I’ll wire the General." Chris said quietly, making the offer heard so that he could not change his mind. 

"That would make things a might easier," Josiah nodded in agreement. 

"Chris," Vin noted how much Chris disliked the idea and spoke directly to his friend. "You don’t have to do this."  

"Yes I do," Chris said with a sigh. "If I want this bitch stopped in her tracks, we’re gonna need all the help we can get because the risks if we get caught are too much." 

He saw the ripple effect at the realisation of what capture would mean cross all their faces and no one liked that prospect at all. Chris saw Alex’s eyes cloud in fear as she regarded Vin and suddenly Chris had an idea that should Laurel chose to retaliate for his escape, it would not be he who suffer the brunt of her anger. It would be Vin. It was Vin who had spearheaded the attempt to retrieve him. Vin who had been certain that it was Laurel who had been responsible for his abduction from the very beginning and Vin who had finally breached the fortress of the Arena to retrieve him.  

"We ain’t taking no chances." Chris stated just so they all understood. "Let’s just shut Calumet down and do it with our skins intact. We can worry about settling with Laurel later." 

Yet as Vin looked in Chris’ eyes, he knew that Chris was lying. 

***********

When all the visitors to the Larabee home had finally went their separate ways, Vin found reason to remain behind. Since this had all began and following Chris’ return home, neither tracker and gunslinger had opportunity to talk. Considering what had taken place after Chris had been liberated from Calumet, the lack of silence could have been blamed from anything that could be considered reluctance or simple avoidance.

Chris was still outside in what passed for the backyard of the home, seated on the porch staring at the stars. During his confinement, Laurel’s leash had kept him from seeing the night sky unless he was allowed out of his cage to fight. Now that he was free again, Chris wanted to soak as much of the starlight as he could instead of being merely content to catch glimpses of it during a life and death struggle. His insides hollowed each time the memory of the Arena surfaced and Chris knew it would be this way for some time to come, perhaps even for the rest of his life.

 "Chris," Vin said taking a seat next to him.

 "Vin," Chris acknowledged his best friend and the pregnant pause between them lengthen as both waited for one or the other to speak.

 Finally it was Vin who broke the silence, since he had a genuine reason for seeking Chris out at this time. "I don’t you should be going back with us to Calumet." 

The gunslinger turned to him sharply and glared with obviously strong objections to the suggestion. "I’m going." 

Vin had guessed it would not be this simple but he was not going to allow his friendship with Chris cloud his judgement the way revenge had tainted Chris. He supposed if he was in Chris’ place he would be just as thirsty for revenge but the entire purpose of a best friend was to keep one from carrying out such foolishness when it was clearly ill advised to do so. "You ain't ready to go back and face her." 

Chris glared at Vin with a mixture of astonishment and outrage, wondering how Vin could think it his place to make such a statement. He had endured nothing of the hell that Chris had been through, how dare he claim that Chris was not ready to face Laurel Chase. "How would you know what I'm ready to face?" Chris finally allowed himself to speak. "You ain't the one who became some kind of monster thanks to that bitch!"  

No, Vin thought inwardly, I'm just the one who had to sit and take it when you decided to blame me.

However, Vin kept that bitter thought remain unspoken, reminding himself that Chris had been through a lot and he was hurting from being used and manipulated. It was the anger talking, nothing else. Instead, the tracker decided to take the calm approach. "Chris," he said after a moment, gathering his thoughts and responding. "You're barely on your feet. You've got your strength back but not enough to face this. We both now that she'll be waiting for us, mostly because she knows you'll go after her." 

"I'm going." Chris repeated himself firmly, prepared to be completely unmovable on this point. "You can ride with me or you can stay behind but I'm going to Calumet whether you like it or not." 

"You got responsibilities here." Vin replied. "Mary just went through hell delivering your child. You got a family who's been worried sick about you. Don't you think you have a responsibility to them?" 

"Don't you dare tell me where my responsibilities lie!" Chris barked at him angrily. "I got more responsibility than you can possibly imagine. How would you know anything about responsibility? When things get hard, you disappear, come back when the dust settles. You are the last person to lecture me on my responsibilities!" 

Vin said nothing, even though there were many words he could have used to hurt Chris as equally as he had been but the tracker did not have it inside him to be deliberately mean, especially when it was to his best friend. Rising to his feet, he decided there was nothing more to say and started walking away. "Be seeing you pard."

Chris stared at the back of Vin striding away and felt a wave of anguish rise up inside him. It was only after Vin was out of sight and earshot, did Chris respond.

 "Damn."

**********

 Chris did not see Vin again until three days later after the telegram had alerted the seven that a platoon of soldiers would be meeting them on route to Calumet, having received direct orders from a general in Washington to cooperate fully with the lawman from Four Corners. As they prepared to ride out, the rest of the seven were aware that there was something between the tracker and the gunslinger and though they wished it were anything but so considering how deeply their friendship had been tested of late, no one moved to intervene.

When the seven took a break in their journey to Calumet, the tracker had withdrawn into the darkness, professing to take on the role of camp lookout as he so often did during their trips away from Four Corners. Chris of course knew the reason for Vin's reluctance to be in their company and felt somewhat guilty for being so harsh with the tracker when it was obvious the younger man had been worried about his welfare. After hours of enduring the line of tension than ran through the group, Chris decided that enough was enough.

Pouring a cup of hot coffee for himself and for the tracker, Chris finally trudged off to find Vin.

Vin was staring into the horizon and merely looked over his shoulder to give Chris an indication that he was aware of his presence and the gunslinger could approach without the fear of having a bullet put through him. The younger was sitting cross-legged, staring into the full moon above head and Chris wondered how someone so young could seem so old at times.

Taking the space next to Vin, Chris handed him the coffee and received a non-committal grunt of thanks, as both men remained seated side by side for a few more minutes, saying nothing. Since it was his show, Chris decided it ought to be him that spoke first because he was the one who ought to be apologizing.

 "Vin, I'm sorry." Chris said with a loud exhale, as if the admission was a physical discomfort. "I said some things that weren't called for. You've been my friend through a lot of bad times and a lot of good ones. I was angry but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"I still don't think you ought to be coming with us." Vin stated, not looking at him as he made that declaration.

Chris supposed he should be angry but he did not feel it and perhaps a little part of him knew that Vin was right. Besides, he had behaved badly enough as it was to be able to endure a little bit of petulance if Vin chose to display it.

"You're probably right." Chris admitted. "I ain't up to what I normally am and I've so filled with hate right now, it's hard to think straight but I have to do this."

"Why?" Vin shifted his gaze towards him for the first time during this entire exchange. "Because you lay with her?"

"I barely remember it," Chris found himself speak about the most difficult aspect of his captivity. Not even the killing had made him as uncomfortable about this because he had killed men before this and had not as much trouble with his conscience but the fact that aside from her circus animal, she had also made him her prized stud. "I know I wanted her like I wanted nothing before and every time I saw her, I wanted her even more even if I didn't know why."

"The others don't know," Vin said quietly. "They know how friendly you were with Laurel but not how far it had gone." Vin had inadvertently learnt the truth during his attempt to free Chris from the Arena where they had faced each other across the battle not as friends, but for the first time as enemies. "I didn't say nothing." 

"I didn't think you would." Chris remarked with a little smile. "I can't expect you to understand but I've got to go after her. I need to know that what happen to me was because of that drug, not some part of me that actually wanted the woman." 

Vin nodded in understanding because he would hate to have that specter in the married bed with him for the rest of his life, wondering whether he had betrayed his wife because of the weakness of the flesh or because of the poison that had been put into his body.  

"We've seen a lot of bad men and women come and gone in our time, ain't we Chris?" Vin asked suddenly. 

"That we have." Chris agreed bitterly. If there were to count the enemies they had faced over the years, then a wretched number that would be. From the warden at that prison where he had been Inmate 78, to Ely Joe, Guy Royal and Stuart James, Don Paulo, Selina Quint to even more outrageous villains like that mechanical creature from the future and the evil Goa'ulds Sekhmet and Isis, they had literally seen it all. 

"This ones scares me Chris." Vin confessed. "Never thought I'd hear myself say that about a woman especially but she scares the hell out of me." 

Chris could understand why. Laurel Chase was unlike any enemy they had never known. Behind the extraordinary beauty was what could only be considered a monster. He had thought Ella was insane but at least had a reason for doing what she had. Even though the crime had left profound effect on his, Chris to a certain extent the motivation that caused the murder of his son and wife. However, with Laurel there was no reason and while profit seemed to be on her agenda, Chris did not get the impression it was about that at all. 

"No conscience, no morality, nothing." Chris found himself musing. "She does what she does because she can and nothing else." 

It was true. Over the last few days, he had given great thought to the matter of Laurel Chase, particularly after information started coming in through the wire when inquiries had been made about the woman. Before her disappearance following her graduation from some fancy school in New York, Laurel Chase had everything. She had a family who loved her, a happy childhood and yet Chris could not help wondering if the fire that had taken her parents was entirely accidental. 

"I'm worried that if she gets her hands on you, this time she's gonna kill you pard." Vin answered. "She strikes me as being mean enough to do that out of a spite and nothing else." 

However, for some reason he could not explain, he just knew she would not kill him. 

*********

They met the army in a small town called Broken Hill and continued the journey towards Calumet, feeling the dreaded anticipation of entering that place of sin pressing up against their lungs with each mile they neared. Upon continuing the last leg of the trip, the inquiries that had been undertaken in response to Laurel's victim began to surface with the detailed report the Lieutenant was able to make on their behalf. With the General's claim that the matter was of utmost importance, Lieutenant Berenson had been most thorough and found this trek to the middle of nowhere was worth the journey in the face of what he had learnt. 

Over the past two years at least one hundred men had gone missing in one shape or another across the Territory, particularly around the area where Calumet resided. Most of these were drifters. However, some were family men. The pattern though non-existent at the time was now easy to discern with what Chris knew. They were always healthy men with young families who were never in town of their residence when they disappeared. Often, the local authorities had attributed the disappearances to men who simply discarded the shackles of responsibility since they were young enough to taste like elsewhere. 

Whether or not this conclusion had been reached by local law as a genuine explanation and not some clandestine attempt to conceal the work of murderess was inconclusive, Berenson remarked. However, the rest of the dead particularly the drifters, were mutilated in almost the same way, the removal of glandular organs with almost surgical precision. Without doubt, Chris and the rest of the seven knew that this was the work of Laurel Chase. Since Berenson had suspected a common tread linking all these deaths, decided that the gunslinger and his cadre of lawmen were correct and was eager to aid in the capture of what he was calling a mass murderer. 

Almost two of the longest weeks in Chris Larabee's life, they finally returned to the familiar surroundings of Calumet. However, the moment the town came into their sights, it was clear that something was wrong. The place that the seven had remembered was full of life, with people coming from far and wide to sample the delights to be had in this modern day Sodom. However, as the seven rode into the main street of Calumet this time, they could see no signs of life. Tumble weeds rolled across the empty streets and the wind that whistled through the buildings was the only thing that was moving in the entire town other than that. 

"What happened here?" Buck looked around at the empty windows and remembered when there were beautiful working girls leaning over every painted sill, beckoning customers to sample their pleasures. The restaurants were boarded up, the doors locked and the buildings abandoned. It was like a ghost town except things were dilapidated or worn with age. The paint was still fresh and it was easy to believe it was only less than two weeks ago, this was a place of entertainment and revelry.  

Chris felt his heart hardening inside his chest as he guessed what had happened and wondered how soon it was before Laurel had made the decision. Had she decided the night he had escaped or had she mulled it over first. In either case, it mattered little.

"She's gone." Chris said icily.

 "Gone?" Berenson looked at him. "Are you telling me that in two weeks the lady simply left a most profitable enterprise?"

 "One does not keep profit for very long if one does not know when it is time to leave." Ezra pointed out. If it were he in Laurel's shoes, aware that Chris Larabee would be coming after her, with bloody vengeance on his mind, he would disappear too.

 "I'm sorry pard," Vin responded, genuinely sorry that Chris would not face his nemesis, even though in secret he was glad of that fact.  

Chris scowled deepened as they continued through the town, each step closer towards the heart of Calumet more or less confirming what was obvious from the start, Laurel was gone. In going, she had shut Calumet down and removed any possible clue as those who might be inclined to come after her. In truth, Chris did not know why he was surprised even though he was terribly disappointed. He had wanted his vengeance so badly, he could almost taste it but he knew that things between the woman who had sought to make him her consort was far from done. There would be another time and another place. Of that Chris had more faith than the sun rising and setting in the sky. 

The gunslinger studied Laurel's kingdom closely, since this was his first chance to see it. Laurel had allowed him the freedom to leave his cage when he had been her creature but little more than that. He had never even seen the outside of the Arena until his horse reached the tall structure that looked so much like a gladiatorial amphitheater of ancient times that it was possibly eerie. However, in retrospect, Chris supposed he really ought not to be surprised since that was essentially what Laurel had sought to create her. The structure was a monument to her genius. 

"Berenson," Chris asked as they came to a halt in front of the stadium and spent a few minutes admiring the awesome beauty of building of the structure so drenched in blood as this had been. "You and your men got any dynamite with you." 

Berenson, not much older than Vin and seemed to be decent enough fellow by the standards of the seven, threw a quick glance at Chris. "Some, why?" 

"I may have some use for it." Chris replied, still staring at the building.

"Doing what?" The lieutenant questioned.

"I can guess." Nathan remarked with a little smile as the rest of his friends hid the smirk on their faces as the lieutenant began to understand.

 "I'm bringing this obscenity down." Chris met his eyes with a patented Larabee glare that did not more to expression his feelings than any explanation was capable. "You got a problem with that?"

Even though the lieutenant had more than a dozen men at his disposal, he was not about to cross swords with the menace he was seeing in those eyes.

"Not a one." He replied. "Not a one."

*********

 Chris and Vin stepped into the Arena.

While Buck was busily setting the charges to reduce this place to a pile of rubble, the lieutenant had dispersed his men around the abandoned remains of Calumet, sifting through the discards to see if anything remained that would lead them to the present whereabouts of Laurel Chase. Flanked closely by Josiah, Nathan, Ezra and Vin as he entered the huge doors of the Arena, Chris could not help but deny that he felt ill at ease being in this place even though its seats were empty and none of the carnage committed here was visible. Still, it nonetheless reeked from the undeniable stench of death.

"You okay?" Vin found himself asking and Chris did not realise why until he discovered he was almost breathing in pants.

"Yeah," Chris nodded and crushed the feeling inside him ruthlessly. He was not giving her any more power than she already had over him.  

They progressed down the aisle until they reached the private box where he had first had chance to see the true purpose of the Arena for himself and felt his throat dry when he cast his gaze into the empty ring that had been the crucible for so much carnage. He noticed a small set of steps circling the high walls of the ring, taking the traveler who descended downward it a path to the centre stage. Chris found himself pulled down those narrow steps closely followed by his friends who were not about to leave him alone for a minute in this somewhat haunted place. 

It seemed benign as he stepped into the ring, now that it was robbed of all its viewers and combatants. As the lawmen each made their own inspection of the place, Chris found himself staring up at the empty stands and for a moment, he was revisited with a memory so strong, it almost made him sick to the stomach. In the back of his mind, he could still hear them chanting his name. Calling him out and inspiring within him the insatiable need to vent his inner demons and quench a thirst that he had not known until he had breached this walls and became its star attraction. 

"Memories?" A voice spoke out of the shadowy entrance that took the combatants from the ring to the passageway that returned them to their cages when the fighting was done. 

Chris whirled around as they all did and found themselves staring at Laurel Chase. 

She stood before them, confident and unafraid, with the barest hint of a smile on her lips. Those who had not chanced to see her before this, discovered that the description of her beauty had not been an exaggeration. However, once the effect of that overpowering loveliness faded away, it was replaced with the notice that she was dressed rather oddly. Instead of the fine, expensive dresses Chris had seen her wear with such success, she was dressed in what appeared to be the uniform of a Union soldier.

 "Laurel." Chris took a step towards her.

 "Come any closer and Mr Tanner will die where he stands." She replied coolly, totally prepared for his reaction. 

Chris froze in his tracks. In fact, everyone except Vin did. Eyes immediately starting flying over the high walls of the stadium walls searching for the sniper that had to be there for Laurel's threat to be of any value. It was very soon discovered that there was not merely one sniper but several, hidden very carefully with their barrels aimed directly at the ring. However, Chris was certain she had them aimed at only one target.

 Chris withdrew and Laurel's smile grew wider, now that she was certain she had their attention as well as the upper hand for the moment at least. 

"So these are the rest of the Magnificent Seven." Laurel remarked, casting her gaze on the men before her. "How unfortunate Mr Wilmington and Mr Dunne are not present to complete the set. I should have like to have met them. I hear Mr Wilmington is quite the ladies man," she continued to prattle, oblivious to the fact that each man was thinking furiously at how they might break the stalemate they now found themselves in. "I would have like to have seen if his charms matches his reputation."

 "You'll have your chance." Vin hissed. "You ain't getting out here." 

"Mr Tanner," Laurel glanced his way. "I wonder if you have any idea the death you have earned. Trust me by the end of this day, you'll have some idea."

 "You don't have a lot of time Laurel," Chris declared, taking her attention away from Vin whom she was glaring at with naked hatred despite her manner of civility. "The army is here, just how long do you think your snipers are going to keep them from coming in here? You can't kill all of us."  

"Oh Chris," Laurel shook her head and let out a disappointed sigh. "You are a beautiful man and a wonderful lover, when your heart is in it which I assure it was despite your claims to the contrary. You too Mr Tanner, utterly beautiful. There are women who dream of men like you two all their lives and never come quite close to finding it. Unfortunately however, it does appear that such beauty is seldom coupled with the intelligence to match." 

"I could say the same for you Madam." Ezra found himself remarking.

 "You do not interest me Mr Standish," Laurel looked at him indifferently. "However, believe me when I say this to you that my attention is not something you would desire." She paused a moment and then added. "And don't interrupt me again." 

"Talk is cheap," Chris retorted, determine to take her attention away from Ezra because when she made the threat, Chris honestly believed her. 

"Really?" Laurel looked at him again. "You think you are in control of this situation? You, stupid arrogant man. I control Calumet. I control every building; every person and every event that took place here. I controlled it as easily as I have controlled you and while you might be foolish enough to believe that your army friends might rein me in, you have entered this place with your lives at my sufferance. I remained to offer you my good-byes Chris, not to give you delusions of grandeur. Being men does not make you equal to me. I walked out of that school in New York with this face and I have built an empire in pleasure. Calumet may not breathe after this day but there will be other places and I am not always required there. The Arena amused me for a time and now that amusement is over because I have found you." 

With a cold smile, Laurel smiled. "We are far from over." 

"Yes we are," Chris growled. "I will hunt you down and kill you myself!"  

"Let the games begin," she replied, not at all perturbed. "And Mr Tanner, if you are still with us. I invite you to join the hunt." 

"I ain't going anywhere," Vin returned her dark gaze with one of his own. 

"That remains to be seen." With that she ran her hand through her hair.  

A shot fired and it was all that was needed. The seven went for their guns but the first shot was also the last shot with Laurel moving to the darkness of the entrance as soon as the trigger had been pulled. 

"VIN!" Chris nearly screamed when he saw Vin Tanner sinking to his knees, blood gushing out of a bullet wound in the lower half of his abdomen. For a moment the tracker almost seemed surprised as he gazed in strange wonder at the gaping wound in his belly, with blood all over his hands. Almost as if it were coming from a great distance, he heard Chris calling after him but Vin did not have the voice to answer, as he soon became preoccupied with waves upon waves of blinding pain. 

Chris crossed the space between them as the others closed in on Laurel when a second shot was fired, halting their progress with a reminder of the snipers that could reduce them all to the same state that Vin Tanner. Nathan immediately tossed his gun aside as he hurried to Chris' who was holding Vin in his arms, keeping him from collapsing into the dirt. 

"YOU BITCH!" Chris took a step towards her when Josiah shouted in respond.  

"Chris!" The preacher warned. "Don't move!"  

Chris was breathing hard, unable to believe that it was possible to feel this kind of rage in his entire life. She was standing before him, a smile of triumph on her face, looking as if she had just been dealt aces. "I will find you!" He warned impotently. "There ain't no where you can hide from me!"  

"Perhaps that is true," Laurel answered, unaffected by his rage. "However, the question right now is the one I am interested in seeing you answer. In fact, I think all your friends will be similarly enthused. What is more important to you Chris, revenge or the life of your friends?" 

Chris stared at her for a moment. For an instant, he almost did not understand but then it did not take Laurel long to enlighten him.
"You can catch me Chris," Laurel said with a smile. "None of my snipers will shoot you unless you move to harm me directly. When the shooting starts, only your friends will die, not you. You can still come after me, you can still have your revenge but if you do that," her face hardened like vicious granite. "Then you kiss the Magnificent Seven goodbye, starting with your precious Mr Tanner." 

Checkmate.  

Chris could not believe it! She had him checkmated and she knew it! More than anything in the world he wanted to kill her but if he made one move towards her, the others were dead. This entire exercise of shooting Vin in cold blood was to see what his decision would be. The sheer magnitude of calculation behind a mind that could do this staggered him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Ezra and Josiah staring at him, wondering what he would do. Nathan was too busy to pause because the healer was working frantically to save Vin's life.

After what should have been a second but felt more like infinity, Chris swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and raised his eyes to meet hers. "You're right, we ain't done yet. I will catch you, make no mistake on that. Just not today."

 "I look forward to our next meeting," she answered, retrieving a familiar blue hat and coat from the darkness and wrapped it around herself. "Don't feel too badly Chris," Laurel smiled and this time it was not one of cold indifference or even vicious calculation, just a smile from one opponent to another. "I won the day but the war is just beginning."

 With that she retreated into the darkness and was gone.

***********

By the time the seven had recovered enough to begin a search since their first consideration had been to deal with Vin’s injuries, there was no sign of Laurel Chase or her snipers. No doubt, she had escaped the same way she had manage to move around Calumet without being noticed, by the disguise of the army uniform she had worn. In any case, it mattered little that she had made her escape because Chris was almost certain their paths would cross again. The ominous warning she had made in her swan song was more than enough to convince him of that.

 In the meantime, Nathan had his hands full attempting to keep Vin alive. The tracker had been shot to the stomach, an injury that promised a slow painful death had he been unable to get medical treatment. Vin was incoherent with pain as they made the frantic journey back to the nearest town, all the while Chris was gripped with the outrage of what had been done. He had suspected that Laurel had something of a grudge against the tracker but not even he had suspected how deeply than went. According to Nathan, the bullet that had entered his body had done so with a specific target in mind. If the shooter’s aim had been any less accurate, it would have severed Vin’s spine and left him a cripple.

Chris was certain that had been Laurel’s intention.

Almost a day after they had confronted Laurel Chase, Chris and the rest of the seven found themselves back in the town of Broken Hill where Nathan had the aide of a real doctor to help perform the surgery that was necessary to save Vin’s life. Nathan did not have the skill to perform the massive undertaking of putting Vin’s insides back together again and while the healer did not come out and say it, Chris had the impression that he was glad that Alex was not here. Even though Nathan was confident that she could conduct the operation well enough, no wife ought to have that kind of responsibility over her husband’s life. 

As the waiting continued inside the lodging house they had taken refuge during their stay in Broken Hill, Chris found himself outside in the starlight, trying to catch his breath and dispel the overwhelming guilt he felt at the situation that had been borne out of his desire for vengeance. Somehow, he should have known that Laurel would use Vin to make her escape. After everything she had done to him, Chris had still underestimated her and that was almost a fatal mistake on his part for Vin. 

"Chris," JD emerged from inside the building. The youth had been despatched by his older companions to find the gunslinger following the doctor's emergence from the room where he had been tending to Vin and presented them with some good news.  

"Yeah?" Chris barely looked over his shoulder at JD, his eyes were seeing something out there in the night and JD had a very good instinct that he was probably searching the dark to see if Laurel was there. 

"The doctor says Vin is going to be all right," JD volunteered, aware of how badly Chris must feel about Vin’s injuries if what he had been told by the others was any indication of how events had transpired during their confrontation with the lady.  

"Good," Chris answered neutrally. "I’ll be there in a minute." He added after a moment, telling JD he wished to be alone at this point. 

JD almost went but the younger man paused and found himself saying what was on his mind, throwing caution to the wind as he did so. "Chris, it ain’t your fault." JD felt someone ought to say it because it appeared as if Chris felt responsible for what had taken place even though none of this had been within his control.  

"Yes it is," Chris refused to be exonerated because inwardly, he knew the truth and this was not borne out of his usual need for self recrimination when things went wrong. "Vin said I wasn’t ready to face her and he was right, I wasn’t. I was so filled with hate and revenge that I didn’t think and I walked straight into her trap." 

"We all walked in Chris," JD reminded the older man and sounding not at all like JD but a man in his own right, borne out from their cultivation of a tempestuous youth with dreams of glory in the West. "It wasn't just you. We all had her pegged for being gone." 

"Vin didn't," Chris insisted. "He didn't come out an say it but he knew she might still be around." 

"If you don't mind me saying so," JD found himself brave enough to speak his mind further since Chris had yet to shoot him dead. "You ain't exactly a hundred percent yet and after she did to you, you have plenty of reason to want to go after her. Just as much we wanted to help you. You want to blame someone Chris, then blame all of us because we were after a lynching and she showed us just how dangerous wanting revenge can be." 

Chris found himself regarding JD with a hint of admiration, wondering when that boy had become a man and was extremely grateful that he had. "You're too young be thinking so straight." 

"I had good teachers." JD smiled. "Come on," he urged. "Nathan said that Vin might come out of it for awhile, I know he'd want to see you." 

Chris nodded in compliance and glanced into the night again, wondering where she was right at this moment.  

Whether or not she knew it, Laurel Chase had opened up Pandora's Box inside Chris Larabee and while he was more or less himself again, keeping ruthless control over his emotions as always, Chris knew he had also changed. Hate could consume some people, destroy them inside out but not Chris. Hate had never been that for him. He nourished it, fed it and then used it be a stronger man and thanks to Laurel; he would damn near be invincible with the emotion he kept in reserve for her. 

"She was right," Chris looked at JD after he had stolen another quick glimpse of the moon overhead. "Things ain't done between us. Not by a long shot."

TO BE CONTINUED...