Fic: Five Secrets Vin Tanner Never Told (Magnificent 7/various)
Title: Five Secrets Vin Tanner Never Told
Claim: Vin Tanner (Magnificent 7)
Fandoms: Magnificent 7/Supernatural, Stargate SG1, Sentinel, Pretender, Heroes
Prompt: In order, 013-Yellow, 024-Family, 074-Dark, 064-Fall, 020-Colourless
Summary: Like the title says, five secrets Vin never told. It's probably five separate AUs rather than one, but that's just what happened. Some of these will be further expanded on, some won't.
Table
Vin hadn’t slept well in weeks. Maybe even months. It hadn’t started with his foster parents having a baby of their own, but that hadn’t helped either. He just knew that something was not how it was supposed to be. Even at seven Vin understood this. He just couldn’t get anyone else to.
That was why he was wandering the dark, silent passages of his newest home in the middle of the night. He could hear the baby gurgling in the other room, but that had become a familiar sound, almost comforting in its innocence.
There was a sudden pause in the house where everything went silent, even the baby, and Vin stood still as well, terrified to break the silence. Then the baby whimpered softly. Vin felt dread pool in his stomach and weight his limbs, but he dragged them in the direction of the baby’s room anyway. From the doorway he spied a dark figure leaning over the crib. The figure didn’t so much as look at him, but Vin was pulled into the room and shoved against the wall, nonetheless.
Finally the figure turned and looked at Vin, though Vin couldn’t see his features, shadowed as they were. The man reached out a hand and stroked Vin’s cheek, lifting his chin. Vin found himself staring into yellow eyes that looked anything but human.
“Leave Emily alone,” he said, though his voice shook. The man smirked.
“Aren’t you just precious,” he murmured, brushing a lock of Vin’s hair from his face. Vin flinched from his touch. “Lonely little orphan boy. You know they don’t want you anymore. Why would they possibly need a boy like you when they have a child of their own? A beautiful baby girl.”
The man turned and left the room, disappearing as he stepped into the light of the hallway. Vin sank to the ground and stared at Emily long after the man’s gone. He didn’t move until his foster mother came in the next morning.
Daniel woke suddenly to see intense blue eyes staring at him. It took a moment for images of cover stones, apathetic strangers and angry fists to fade and recognition to sink in.
“Vin?” he asked softly, staring into the younger boy’s wide, concerned eyes.
“You had a nightmare,” Vin murmured, voice barely above a whisper. Daniel considered himself lucky to get even that much since he hardly saw Vin actively talking to anyone. It was then that Daniel realized that Vin was in his room in the dead of night and Daniel knew that he never made enough noise to alert anyone to his nightmares.
“Did you have a nightmare too?” Daniel asked quietly. Vin looked away and Daniel sighed, knowing that Vin would never admit to what he considered weakness. Daniel patted the bed next to him, and Vin hesitated before he climbed on. Daniel wrapped an arm around Vin’s shoulders and was surprised to find the younger boy shivering.
“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?”
Daniel simply nodded since they both knew the answer. Vin curled into his side and Daniel was stunned since the boy had never been one to show or to seek affection.
“I’ll write,” Daniel promised. Vin simply shrugged. The older boy looked at the top of Vin’s head, all he could see of the other boy, and frowned. He remembered what it was like to learn that his grandfather didn’t want him after his parents died and how absolutely alone he’d felt.
“I’m scared,” he admitted, and smiled wanly when Vin’s head shot up to stare at him in surprise. “There’re going to be a lot of older kids there and I won’t know anyone. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to handle the work. High school work is very different to college work.”
“But you’re a genius,” Vin protested, more animated than Daniel was used to seeing him. The older boy’s smile grew warmer at Vin’s sincere expression.
“Only with some things, with others I’m at a complete loss.”
Vin snorted in disbelief and Daniel felt affection well up within him at Vin’s faith. He hadn’t realized just how much the younger boy had come to mean to him.
“I saw my parents die,” Daniel confessed suddenly. A number of adults knew, and Daniel was sure it was on file somewhere, but he’d never actually told anyone before. He was surprised by the tension he felt in the boy curled up next to him.
“I saw my ma die too,” Vin said, his voice soft and fragile. Daniel pulled the thin boy closer and offered him what comfort he could.
“My grandfather was my only family left and he didn’t want me. I wasn’t anything more than a nuisance to him.”
It hurt to remember being abandoned, but if it would help Vin in some way then he was willing to delve into aspects of his past that he’d hidden deeply within himself.
“My dad wanted me and died,” Vin confessed softly, as though speaking the words aloud would change the world in some fundamental way. Daniel could tell, if only from the way Vin associated those things, that Vin still hadn’t dealt with what happened. He sighed and rested his chin on the boy’s head. Vin warily wrapped an arm around Daniel and when the older boy didn’t push him away he allowed himself a little comfort.
“I just want you to know that you don’t have to feel like that. Alone and afraid. Okay?”
Vin simply shrugged again and Daniel knew that whatever had hurt Vin had scarred him deeply. Maybe even more deeply than could ever really be healed.
“We’ve got each other, even when there’s no one else. You’ve got my back, right?” Daniel asked.
“Course,” Vin replied and Daniel smiled at the expected answer.
“Well, I’ve got yours too. It doesn’t matter where I am, you’ll always be my little brother. Better even, because I chose you.”
Daniel didn’t comment when the slim shoulders began to shake ever so slightly and he felt dampness spread across his side where the younger boy had his head tucked against Daniel.
“I choose you too,” Vin said, voice choked with emotions he would never express. “But we can’t tell anyone.”
Daniel was surprised, since he didn’t mind either way, but it seemed important to Vin. He wondered if it had something to do with how Vin’s father died.
“Alright,” Daniel agreed. “It’ll be just ours.”
Vin looked down at the kid who’d stumbled and fallen in front of him. The kid looked up, bruise blossoming around a swollen eye, the other wide with fear. Vin frowned and looked back the way the kid had come only to see a group of boys running toward them. Vin growled softly and placed himself between them and the kid even as he dropped into a defensive stance.
“Something the matter, Jake?” he asked of the boy in the lead when the group slowed to a stop. Jake sneered but held back.
“Kid’s ours.”
“No, he ain’t,” Vin said, watching the boys through narrowed eyes. They were wary of him, had been since not long after he’d shown up in their territory. They’d learnt quite quickly that even when he didn’t win a fight he didn’t exactly lose either. He might be bruised and bloodied by the end of it, but so were they.
“No I’m not,” the kid echoed from somewhere near Vin’s elbow. Vin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“You can’t save them all, runt,” Jake spat before he turned and walked away. The other boys obediently followed him, but not before throwing insults and glares in Vin and the kid’s direction.
“This ain’t the neighbourhood to be wandering alone,” Vin told the kid as he rounded on him. He was certain that the boy wasn’t more than ten or eleven.
“I can look after myself,” the boy protested as he stood to his full height, which still didn’t bring him up to Vin’s shoulder.
“I’m sure you were looking after yerself just fine when Jake gave you that shiner,” Vin said wryly as he gestured at the kid’s eye.
“He didn’t give it to me. He couldn’t even catch me.” The kid seemed affronted at the very idea.
“Dark’s coming. You should get home,” Vin said as he turned to walk away.
“It’s not home,” the kid told him with more vehemence than Vin expected. Vin turned to look at the kid once more, a little surprised by the determined set to the kid’s expression. He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.
“You’d best be coming with me then. It ain’t safe out after dark.”
He continued the walk back to the building he’d claimed as his own, not looking back to see if the kid followed him. He wasn’t surprised when the kid appeared at his side, jogging a little to keep up with his quick strides.
“I’m Blair.”
“Vin,” was his short reply.
“Is that short for something?” the kid asked curiously. Vin couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into.
“Kevin.”
“That’s cool. It’s nice to meet you, Kevin.”
“Yeah, sure,” Vin said looking around to make sure no one was watching too closely as he moved aside a sheet of corrugated iron boarding up the wall of an abandoned building. He gestured for Blair to go first and then he fitted it back into place behind him. He surveyed the small room to make sure that nothing had been moved while he’d been gone. There were other occupants in the building, but his room was mostly inaccessible through the main part of the building. The ceiling had collapsed long before he’d moved in.
“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Vin said with a shrug.
“You live here,” Blair exclaimed. Vin knew better than to be offended. There’d been a time in his life when the idea of living like this had seemed beyond him, but that was a long time ago. So long ago that it was almost like he’d always lived like this.
“It’s better than the alternative.”
“Yeah,” Blair said finally, his expression troubled. “I guess.”
“Trouble at home?” Vin asked gently. Blair’s head shot up and he glared fiercely at Vin.
“It’s not home,” he repeated. “Naomi’s coming back soon and she’ll take me away.”
“That’s good then,” Vin said neutrally. He really should have known better by now than to pry into a runaway’s home life.
“I just have to stay there so she can find me when she comes back. It’s not so bad really, as long as I stay out of his way,” Blair admitted. His widened in shock and he clamped a hand over his mouth. Vin grew alarmed.
“Kid? Kid! Blair!”
“You can’t tell!” Blair told him urgently as he looked at Vin imploringly. “You can’t tell that he did this. Naomi will get in trouble and the pigs will take me away. Promise you won’t tell.”
“I promise,” Vin said to placate the distraught boy. He could guess at the general situation, but it wasn’t much to go on. At least Blair seemed to have someone who’d look out for him. Vin just hoped that Naomi, whoever she was, was reliable. Still, as Jake had said, he couldn’t save them all. Especially when he couldn’t even seem to save himself.
“We should get some sleep,” Vin added finally when Blair looked like he’d calmed down some. Blair nodded and curled up in the pile of blankets that made up Vin’s bed. Vin kept watch.
Vin looked up from where he was practicing disassembling and reassembling his weapon. The new captain, Jared Addison, walked across the grounds speaking with the drill sergeant. Vin knew there was something more to the captain than met the eye, and he was sure it had to do with the death of Private Matthews, but he didn’t know the details. He didn’t want to know the details. It was difficult enough keeping his head down without becoming involved in a murder investigation. This was probably his last chance and he wasn’t going to blow it for any reason.
He wasn’t like a lot of the other boys who’d been recruited. Most of them had families, homes and solid educations, even if most of them didn’t appreciate that fact. A few had juvie records, but there was a good record of their lives so far. Vin had gaps that he knew the military couldn’t account for and he certainly hadn’t volunteered the information. It meant that his commanding officers were harder on him than the others, but he was willing to accept that if it meant he kept his past to himself.
Captain Addison looked across at him and Vin ducked his head. Moments later a shadow blocked his light and Vin looked up to see Addison. He was on his feet in moments, snapping a sharp salute.
“At ease, Private,” Addison said with a smile. “Sit down.”
Vin sat, movements stiff with tension, watching Addison as he did so. Addison sat down next to him, looking off into the distance.
“If you do as well in other aspects of your training as you do with handling weapons then you’ll be a credit to the army,” Addison told him as he turned to look at Vin.
“Thank you, sir,” Vin said, tone polite but distant.
“Things have been tense around here recently,” Addison began. Vin shrugged casually. The official version was that Matthews had fallen down a ravine in a training accident and broken his neck. Vin knew better and he figured the captain did too.
“I wouldn’t know about that, sir.”
“What about Private Matthews? Did you know him?”
“Not very well,” Vin told him, looking at a point over Addison’s shoulder. “I’m here to serve my country, sir, not to make friends.”
“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Addison replied watching at him closely. Vin couldn’t shake the feeling that Addison was seeing more than Vin wanted him to, or that Addison was more than a Captain in the army. Addison looked too much like a man playing a role and despite how well played that role was Vin could tell the difference. He wasn’t sure what it was about the man that made him think that, but Vin trusted his instincts.
“Of course not, sir,” Vin said agreeably, if noncommittally.
“It’s a terrible thing when the forces we look to protect us become corrupt,” Addison commented, almost indifferently, but Vin could feel the man searching his expression for something even as he looked away. Vin held back his grimace at the guilt that worried at him at the mild recrimination.
“Yes, sir,” he replied faintly.
Addison sighed and nodded a little.
“Let me know if you think of anything that can help,” Addison said, standing. Vin stood automatically and watched as Addison turned away. He frowned, feeling uncomfortably aware that he’d let both Addison and himself down.
“Captain,” Vin called, but hesitated when the man turned to look at him once more. “Sergeant Miller might have the answers you’re looking for.”
“Thank you Private.” Addison nodded to him, expression solemn, and Vin knew he’d done the right thing. Regardless of the truth behind who exactly Addison was Vin knew the man was going searching for justice and that wasn’t something Vin could stand in the way of.
“Captain,” Vin called once more and Addison looked at him inquiringly. “You’re doing a good thing, sir, but there’s going to be some heat when you’re done. Might do to disappear quick.” Addison searched Vin’s expression once more and gave him a half smile and a nod of acknowledgement.
Vin moved silently through the underbrush, sticking to the shadows of the few scattered trees as he went. A twig snapped and Vin ducked, finger flexing slightly on the trigger as he looked around. Whoever it was managed to blend seamlessly into the surroundings, which quite significantly limited the possibilities of who it could be.
Vin hunched further into the shadow of the tree and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them once more his irises were clear. He swept his gaze over his surroundings until he came across the red-orange anomaly hiding behind some bushes. It had been several months into his time with the Rangers that he’d discovered his ability to shift his sight so that he could see things differently. Infrared was just one of the shifts he had managed so far.
The man crept forward slowly and Vin waited until his target was out in the open before he raised his weapon and fired. Bright blue paint splashed across Chris’s back and the man growled in frustration. Vin grinned triumphantly and silently moved on. There were still five others to find.
Claim: Vin Tanner (Magnificent 7)
Fandoms: Magnificent 7/Supernatural, Stargate SG1, Sentinel, Pretender, Heroes
Prompt: In order, 013-Yellow, 024-Family, 074-Dark, 064-Fall, 020-Colourless
Summary: Like the title says, five secrets Vin never told. It's probably five separate AUs rather than one, but that's just what happened. Some of these will be further expanded on, some won't.
Table
Vin hadn’t slept well in weeks. Maybe even months. It hadn’t started with his foster parents having a baby of their own, but that hadn’t helped either. He just knew that something was not how it was supposed to be. Even at seven Vin understood this. He just couldn’t get anyone else to.
That was why he was wandering the dark, silent passages of his newest home in the middle of the night. He could hear the baby gurgling in the other room, but that had become a familiar sound, almost comforting in its innocence.
There was a sudden pause in the house where everything went silent, even the baby, and Vin stood still as well, terrified to break the silence. Then the baby whimpered softly. Vin felt dread pool in his stomach and weight his limbs, but he dragged them in the direction of the baby’s room anyway. From the doorway he spied a dark figure leaning over the crib. The figure didn’t so much as look at him, but Vin was pulled into the room and shoved against the wall, nonetheless.
Finally the figure turned and looked at Vin, though Vin couldn’t see his features, shadowed as they were. The man reached out a hand and stroked Vin’s cheek, lifting his chin. Vin found himself staring into yellow eyes that looked anything but human.
“Leave Emily alone,” he said, though his voice shook. The man smirked.
“Aren’t you just precious,” he murmured, brushing a lock of Vin’s hair from his face. Vin flinched from his touch. “Lonely little orphan boy. You know they don’t want you anymore. Why would they possibly need a boy like you when they have a child of their own? A beautiful baby girl.”
The man turned and left the room, disappearing as he stepped into the light of the hallway. Vin sank to the ground and stared at Emily long after the man’s gone. He didn’t move until his foster mother came in the next morning.
Daniel woke suddenly to see intense blue eyes staring at him. It took a moment for images of cover stones, apathetic strangers and angry fists to fade and recognition to sink in.
“Vin?” he asked softly, staring into the younger boy’s wide, concerned eyes.
“You had a nightmare,” Vin murmured, voice barely above a whisper. Daniel considered himself lucky to get even that much since he hardly saw Vin actively talking to anyone. It was then that Daniel realized that Vin was in his room in the dead of night and Daniel knew that he never made enough noise to alert anyone to his nightmares.
“Did you have a nightmare too?” Daniel asked quietly. Vin looked away and Daniel sighed, knowing that Vin would never admit to what he considered weakness. Daniel patted the bed next to him, and Vin hesitated before he climbed on. Daniel wrapped an arm around Vin’s shoulders and was surprised to find the younger boy shivering.
“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?”
Daniel simply nodded since they both knew the answer. Vin curled into his side and Daniel was stunned since the boy had never been one to show or to seek affection.
“I’ll write,” Daniel promised. Vin simply shrugged. The older boy looked at the top of Vin’s head, all he could see of the other boy, and frowned. He remembered what it was like to learn that his grandfather didn’t want him after his parents died and how absolutely alone he’d felt.
“I’m scared,” he admitted, and smiled wanly when Vin’s head shot up to stare at him in surprise. “There’re going to be a lot of older kids there and I won’t know anyone. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to handle the work. High school work is very different to college work.”
“But you’re a genius,” Vin protested, more animated than Daniel was used to seeing him. The older boy’s smile grew warmer at Vin’s sincere expression.
“Only with some things, with others I’m at a complete loss.”
Vin snorted in disbelief and Daniel felt affection well up within him at Vin’s faith. He hadn’t realized just how much the younger boy had come to mean to him.
“I saw my parents die,” Daniel confessed suddenly. A number of adults knew, and Daniel was sure it was on file somewhere, but he’d never actually told anyone before. He was surprised by the tension he felt in the boy curled up next to him.
“I saw my ma die too,” Vin said, his voice soft and fragile. Daniel pulled the thin boy closer and offered him what comfort he could.
“My grandfather was my only family left and he didn’t want me. I wasn’t anything more than a nuisance to him.”
It hurt to remember being abandoned, but if it would help Vin in some way then he was willing to delve into aspects of his past that he’d hidden deeply within himself.
“My dad wanted me and died,” Vin confessed softly, as though speaking the words aloud would change the world in some fundamental way. Daniel could tell, if only from the way Vin associated those things, that Vin still hadn’t dealt with what happened. He sighed and rested his chin on the boy’s head. Vin warily wrapped an arm around Daniel and when the older boy didn’t push him away he allowed himself a little comfort.
“I just want you to know that you don’t have to feel like that. Alone and afraid. Okay?”
Vin simply shrugged again and Daniel knew that whatever had hurt Vin had scarred him deeply. Maybe even more deeply than could ever really be healed.
“We’ve got each other, even when there’s no one else. You’ve got my back, right?” Daniel asked.
“Course,” Vin replied and Daniel smiled at the expected answer.
“Well, I’ve got yours too. It doesn’t matter where I am, you’ll always be my little brother. Better even, because I chose you.”
Daniel didn’t comment when the slim shoulders began to shake ever so slightly and he felt dampness spread across his side where the younger boy had his head tucked against Daniel.
“I choose you too,” Vin said, voice choked with emotions he would never express. “But we can’t tell anyone.”
Daniel was surprised, since he didn’t mind either way, but it seemed important to Vin. He wondered if it had something to do with how Vin’s father died.
“Alright,” Daniel agreed. “It’ll be just ours.”
Vin looked down at the kid who’d stumbled and fallen in front of him. The kid looked up, bruise blossoming around a swollen eye, the other wide with fear. Vin frowned and looked back the way the kid had come only to see a group of boys running toward them. Vin growled softly and placed himself between them and the kid even as he dropped into a defensive stance.
“Something the matter, Jake?” he asked of the boy in the lead when the group slowed to a stop. Jake sneered but held back.
“Kid’s ours.”
“No, he ain’t,” Vin said, watching the boys through narrowed eyes. They were wary of him, had been since not long after he’d shown up in their territory. They’d learnt quite quickly that even when he didn’t win a fight he didn’t exactly lose either. He might be bruised and bloodied by the end of it, but so were they.
“No I’m not,” the kid echoed from somewhere near Vin’s elbow. Vin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“You can’t save them all, runt,” Jake spat before he turned and walked away. The other boys obediently followed him, but not before throwing insults and glares in Vin and the kid’s direction.
“This ain’t the neighbourhood to be wandering alone,” Vin told the kid as he rounded on him. He was certain that the boy wasn’t more than ten or eleven.
“I can look after myself,” the boy protested as he stood to his full height, which still didn’t bring him up to Vin’s shoulder.
“I’m sure you were looking after yerself just fine when Jake gave you that shiner,” Vin said wryly as he gestured at the kid’s eye.
“He didn’t give it to me. He couldn’t even catch me.” The kid seemed affronted at the very idea.
“Dark’s coming. You should get home,” Vin said as he turned to walk away.
“It’s not home,” the kid told him with more vehemence than Vin expected. Vin turned to look at the kid once more, a little surprised by the determined set to the kid’s expression. He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.
“You’d best be coming with me then. It ain’t safe out after dark.”
He continued the walk back to the building he’d claimed as his own, not looking back to see if the kid followed him. He wasn’t surprised when the kid appeared at his side, jogging a little to keep up with his quick strides.
“I’m Blair.”
“Vin,” was his short reply.
“Is that short for something?” the kid asked curiously. Vin couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into.
“Kevin.”
“That’s cool. It’s nice to meet you, Kevin.”
“Yeah, sure,” Vin said looking around to make sure no one was watching too closely as he moved aside a sheet of corrugated iron boarding up the wall of an abandoned building. He gestured for Blair to go first and then he fitted it back into place behind him. He surveyed the small room to make sure that nothing had been moved while he’d been gone. There were other occupants in the building, but his room was mostly inaccessible through the main part of the building. The ceiling had collapsed long before he’d moved in.
“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Vin said with a shrug.
“You live here,” Blair exclaimed. Vin knew better than to be offended. There’d been a time in his life when the idea of living like this had seemed beyond him, but that was a long time ago. So long ago that it was almost like he’d always lived like this.
“It’s better than the alternative.”
“Yeah,” Blair said finally, his expression troubled. “I guess.”
“Trouble at home?” Vin asked gently. Blair’s head shot up and he glared fiercely at Vin.
“It’s not home,” he repeated. “Naomi’s coming back soon and she’ll take me away.”
“That’s good then,” Vin said neutrally. He really should have known better by now than to pry into a runaway’s home life.
“I just have to stay there so she can find me when she comes back. It’s not so bad really, as long as I stay out of his way,” Blair admitted. His widened in shock and he clamped a hand over his mouth. Vin grew alarmed.
“Kid? Kid! Blair!”
“You can’t tell!” Blair told him urgently as he looked at Vin imploringly. “You can’t tell that he did this. Naomi will get in trouble and the pigs will take me away. Promise you won’t tell.”
“I promise,” Vin said to placate the distraught boy. He could guess at the general situation, but it wasn’t much to go on. At least Blair seemed to have someone who’d look out for him. Vin just hoped that Naomi, whoever she was, was reliable. Still, as Jake had said, he couldn’t save them all. Especially when he couldn’t even seem to save himself.
“We should get some sleep,” Vin added finally when Blair looked like he’d calmed down some. Blair nodded and curled up in the pile of blankets that made up Vin’s bed. Vin kept watch.
Vin looked up from where he was practicing disassembling and reassembling his weapon. The new captain, Jared Addison, walked across the grounds speaking with the drill sergeant. Vin knew there was something more to the captain than met the eye, and he was sure it had to do with the death of Private Matthews, but he didn’t know the details. He didn’t want to know the details. It was difficult enough keeping his head down without becoming involved in a murder investigation. This was probably his last chance and he wasn’t going to blow it for any reason.
He wasn’t like a lot of the other boys who’d been recruited. Most of them had families, homes and solid educations, even if most of them didn’t appreciate that fact. A few had juvie records, but there was a good record of their lives so far. Vin had gaps that he knew the military couldn’t account for and he certainly hadn’t volunteered the information. It meant that his commanding officers were harder on him than the others, but he was willing to accept that if it meant he kept his past to himself.
Captain Addison looked across at him and Vin ducked his head. Moments later a shadow blocked his light and Vin looked up to see Addison. He was on his feet in moments, snapping a sharp salute.
“At ease, Private,” Addison said with a smile. “Sit down.”
Vin sat, movements stiff with tension, watching Addison as he did so. Addison sat down next to him, looking off into the distance.
“If you do as well in other aspects of your training as you do with handling weapons then you’ll be a credit to the army,” Addison told him as he turned to look at Vin.
“Thank you, sir,” Vin said, tone polite but distant.
“Things have been tense around here recently,” Addison began. Vin shrugged casually. The official version was that Matthews had fallen down a ravine in a training accident and broken his neck. Vin knew better and he figured the captain did too.
“I wouldn’t know about that, sir.”
“What about Private Matthews? Did you know him?”
“Not very well,” Vin told him, looking at a point over Addison’s shoulder. “I’m here to serve my country, sir, not to make friends.”
“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Addison replied watching at him closely. Vin couldn’t shake the feeling that Addison was seeing more than Vin wanted him to, or that Addison was more than a Captain in the army. Addison looked too much like a man playing a role and despite how well played that role was Vin could tell the difference. He wasn’t sure what it was about the man that made him think that, but Vin trusted his instincts.
“Of course not, sir,” Vin said agreeably, if noncommittally.
“It’s a terrible thing when the forces we look to protect us become corrupt,” Addison commented, almost indifferently, but Vin could feel the man searching his expression for something even as he looked away. Vin held back his grimace at the guilt that worried at him at the mild recrimination.
“Yes, sir,” he replied faintly.
Addison sighed and nodded a little.
“Let me know if you think of anything that can help,” Addison said, standing. Vin stood automatically and watched as Addison turned away. He frowned, feeling uncomfortably aware that he’d let both Addison and himself down.
“Captain,” Vin called, but hesitated when the man turned to look at him once more. “Sergeant Miller might have the answers you’re looking for.”
“Thank you Private.” Addison nodded to him, expression solemn, and Vin knew he’d done the right thing. Regardless of the truth behind who exactly Addison was Vin knew the man was going searching for justice and that wasn’t something Vin could stand in the way of.
“Captain,” Vin called once more and Addison looked at him inquiringly. “You’re doing a good thing, sir, but there’s going to be some heat when you’re done. Might do to disappear quick.” Addison searched Vin’s expression once more and gave him a half smile and a nod of acknowledgement.
Vin moved silently through the underbrush, sticking to the shadows of the few scattered trees as he went. A twig snapped and Vin ducked, finger flexing slightly on the trigger as he looked around. Whoever it was managed to blend seamlessly into the surroundings, which quite significantly limited the possibilities of who it could be.
Vin hunched further into the shadow of the tree and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them once more his irises were clear. He swept his gaze over his surroundings until he came across the red-orange anomaly hiding behind some bushes. It had been several months into his time with the Rangers that he’d discovered his ability to shift his sight so that he could see things differently. Infrared was just one of the shifts he had managed so far.
The man crept forward slowly and Vin waited until his target was out in the open before he raised his weapon and fired. Bright blue paint splashed across Chris’s back and the man growled in frustration. Vin grinned triumphantly and silently moved on. There were still five others to find.