December 9, 2000

Disclaimers: The characters and places of Magnificent Seven do not belong to me. No profit other than pleasure was made from this story.

Miller stood with JD in his arms. The young man was shirtless, his sweaty chest rose and fell with his breathing. His head hung back, his throat arched in helpless abandon and his arms swung limp beneath him. The curving arch of his upper torso accentuated his ribs. Buck clenched his fists in rage when he caught sight of the bruises adorning JD's body.

The kid's abdomen hollowed inward as he took a sucking breath. One hand twitched and lifted to grope weakly for his neck.

Miller moved quickly. He knelt and placed JD on the ground. Reaching behind himself, he grasped a rope and looped it deftly around JD's throat.

"No!"

Buck's shout brought Miller's head up. The man smiled, his thick eyebrows lowered over dark eyes. Insane anger creased his face, carving deep furrows bracketing his mouth. Miller looked down at JD and firmly slapped the kid's face. JD jerked away from the blow then his eyes blinked open.

Before he could react Miller finished tying the rope around his neck. JD struggled briefly, but he was obviously in no shape to fight back. Long hours without food or water and Miller's rough handling had weakened him.

Buck watched from his position tied to the tree. Despair gnawed a hole deep inside him. The expression of utter fear he saw on JD's face made him want to rip Miller's heart out.

"Now, JD, let's get you up here boy." Grasping JD under his arms, Miller yanked him up from the ground. The kid wobbled but the big man held him up easily. With one arm around JD's chest, Miller swung his other arm, tossing the coiled rope up into the overhanging tree branches. The long rope sailed over a limb and dropped back to the ground. Miller let go of JD and pulled on the rope.

JD sagged; his shoulders slumped, and he pressed one hand to his belly. His britches hung low on his hips, exposing his discolored flesh.

A sudden tightening of the rope around his neck brought both his hands to his throat. The rope pulled taunt above him, held securely in Miller's hands. JD's back arched and he rose to his toes. His fingers clawed around the rope cutting off his air.

"Let him go, Miller! Don't do this!"

Buck's shout didn't even elicit the man's attention. Miller moved to the tree trunk and expertly tied the end of the rope to a low branch. He'd pulled the slack from the rope and walked around his victim. JD stood carefully, his body stretched to allow him air. His britches hung precariously low on his body, barely held in place by his hips. His chest pumped, his belly undulated with his breathing.

Miller walked over to Buck. He turned and pointed back at JD, his intense stare never leaving Buck's face. "See what you made me do? If you had just died, taken the bullet meant for you, that kid wouldn't be suffering right now!"

"NO!" Buck surged forward but his bonds held him in place. Miller stepped closer almost casually and swung his fist, blasting violently into Buck's jaw. The gunslinger fell back. He shook his head and glared a challenge at Miller. The man moved closer, a determined look etched on his hard face. He swung again, clipping Buck solidly on the jaw, then scooped in low, plunging his knuckles into his victim's belly.

Buck doubled over, gagging in agony. Hot pain flared then burned bright in his abdomen. The rope holding him to the tree felt tight around his middle, adding pressure to the hurting area. When his vision cleared he lifted his eyes to find Miller gone. The man stood in front of JD. His fists were clenched.

No, God no! The power he'd felt in Miller's blows would kill JD. He'd obviously already been punched; the bruises on JD's belly and ribs were testimony to that. But now with insanity infused in those knuckles, Miller's fists would inflict damage that would prove fatal.

Buck gasped, desperate to regain his voice. Before he could scream, Miller pulled his arm back and thrust forward, mighty muscles bunched and rolling in his biceps. He plunged his huge fist into JD's abdomen. Hard bone rebounded off tight flesh and JD's body bucked. The kid gagged, his face turned red with effort. He let go of the rope with one hand and held his arm out to Miller, a silent entreaty, begging the man to stop.

Miller struck again, driving violently low into JD's belly. JD's arms jerked open in reaction. Buck felt his own gut lurch in sympathy. The kid's knees gave out and he hung limp, his upturned face staring sightlessly at the sky.

">NO<" Buck's scream of denial felt pulled from his soul. His vision darkened, tunneled down to JD's unresponsive form. He didn't see Miller stride quickly over to him and hardly felt the blows as the man pummeled his face. Darkness came for him and dragged him under, kicking and screaming for JD. He didn't hear the gunshot that caught Miller in the chest and brought the man down. He didn't have the satisfaction of hearing the man's last gurgling breath as blood bubbled out of his mouth. He didn't see Josiah and Ezra hold JD while Nathan cut him down. He descended to hell, thinking all was lost and he never wanted to wake up again.

Wisps of images drifted about, fragile and translucent as ghosts. His grasping fingers passed through, disturbing the pictures as if they were smoke. JD's face floated past, Miller's right behind him, and Buck snarled. Determination bled into the images, gave them substance and they solidified in front of him.

Miller held a gun, his face contorted with anger. His finger tightened on the trigger and JD's voice rang out, "Buck!" Time slowed, became easy to manipulate. Buck turned sideways, amazed at his dexterity and watched the bullet whiz past him. A dull thump signaled its target had been hit. Buck looked behind him, staring in shocked disbelief as Miller's daughter crumbled to the ground, a seeping wound in the center of her chest.

"Nnnnooooo!" Miller's cry of anguish echoed, vibrating off the inside of Buck's mind. He reached up to hold his head and turned back to the criminal. Miller had his hands around JD's throat, his strangling fingers pinching deeply into the kid's flesh. The cry of denial that still echoed in Buck's head gathered strength and burrowed into his chest. It became his own as he stretched forward, reaching for his friend. JD and Miller shrunk away. Buck looked down to find himself tethered to the ground by ropes that sprung up like snakes and wrapped around his legs.

He lifted his head, fighting the bonds, and saw JD collapse in Miller's grasp. The kid sunk to his knees and opened his arms wide with his face turned to the sky as if in prayer. Miller jerked JD cruelly, forcing gurgling sounds from the young man's throat. With a terrible sigh that took his life with it, JD died.

Buck screamed.

Sound and color exploded. Hands reached for him, pushed against him and held him tight. Still caught in the ethereal nightmare he fought, confused with the very real pain squeezing his arms. Voices shouted words at him and the noise reverberated against his skin, he couldn't understand what they said.

Every muscle strained and he bucked against the many holds but found himself pressed down, held mercilessly. He kept his eyes closed, unaware of the tears squeezing past, afraid of the hellish images he was sure he'd see if he opened them.

Breathing was difficult; something heavy pressed against his body, baring down on his chest and abdomen. The earlier blows lay as bruises on his torso. That unwanted memory made him surge again, tearing to be free. Firm steady hands held him and he froze. His hearing grew acute in the silence and he became aware of his heavy breathing.

Something warm found his face. He jerked away from the touch but it followed him. The presence moved to his mouth and chin, then down to his throat. Soft gentle fingers cupped around his jaw and carefully turned his head. Lips pressed near his ear and moist breath warmed his skin, stirring his hair.

"Buck. I'm alive."

Words. How could words cause his heart to leap and his chest tighten? The voice he thought he'd lost to heaven spoke to him again.

"Open your eyes, Buck. Look at me."

Hell waited for him if he opened his eyes. "No."

He felt the lips pressing against his ear spread into a smile. Warm wetness dripped on the side of his face and rolled down to the corner of his mouth. Salt exploded against his tongue.

"I'm alive, Buck. Miller's dead and I'm alive. You're alive too, just open your eyes."

Buck clenched his jaw and swallowed. Muscles all over his body began to relax and he felt the hands that held him loosen their hold. He turned his face toward the voice. His eyelashes flickered as he opened his eyes, tentative and afraid.

JD -- alive, right here beside him.

Buck slipped out of his friends' grasps and took JD's face in his hands. The kid looked terrible, eyes shadowed with bruises, lip swollen, dried blood crusted under his nose -- but he smiled and brought his hands up to cup the back of Buck's hands.

"See? Told you."

Buck carefully pulled JD to him, cradling his head against his shoulder. He shut his eyes again, unafraid that he'd wake up in hell. JD was alive, he was alive, and that's all that mattered.