Best Laid Plans (2/11) - Mag 7/SPN/SV
This is the sequel to Ghost Town which should be read first.
Title: Best Laid Plans (2/11)
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Lyl_Devil and Pen37
Rated: PG
Fandom: The Magnificent 7, Smallville, Supernatural
Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester; Chloe Sullivan; The Seven: Chris Larabee, Buck Wilmington, Vin Tanner, Ezra Standish, Nathan Jackson, Josiah Sanchez, JD Dunne; OMC - Mathew Tanner; Eventually - Sam/Chloe
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators. Mathew Tanner is mine
Chapter Summary: Mathew Tanner is having nightmares about his ancestor Vin Tanner. What could it mean? Chloe confronts Mathew and demands to know what's going on in Four Corners.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11: Epilogue
JD, Josiah, Vin, Chris, Buck, Nathan & Ezra
banner by scrollgirl
Best Laid Plans: Chapter 2
“How could you?”
Mathew didn’t recognize the voice. He forced his eyes open and found himself looking into blue ones identical to his own.
The man in front of him was shockingly familiar. “How could you?” He shouted again.
“Vin?” Mathew asked tentatively. Or was he looking at himself dressed in Vin's buckskin coat and wide brimmed hat.
The figure grabbed him by the front of his shirt. It was then Mathew realized he was wearing the t-shirt and boxers he’d gone to sleep in. “This is a dream,” he said as he tried to fight against the iron grip on his clothing.
“I trusted you,” Vin growled as he yanked Mathew around and gestured at their surroundings. “They trusted you.”
Mathew looked to where Vin was pointing, they were outside in the desert and he baulked when he realized where he was. Though he’d never been here, he knew instinctively that this was where the six had died.
As things came into focus he saw the bodies of his friends, Vin’s friends, lying in the dust. “I don’t understand!” Mathew wailed.
Vin threw him to the ground and pulled out his gun. “You betrayed me.”
“No I didn’t!’ Mathew shouted. “No I didn’t!”
“No I didn’t!” Mathew stopped as he found himself sitting bolt upright in bed. His T-shirt was soaked with sweat and his heart was pounding. Another nightmare.
Mathew threw off the covers and stumbled to the bathroom. Turning on the taps, he splashed cold water on his face. He’d had similar nightmares several days running; ever since the little display he’d put on for the Winchesters.
He stared at his reflection. The memory of Vin’s anger was like a hammer pounding in his skull. Josiah hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he looked like his ancestor. Or maybe he was really angry at himself and that’s why ‘Vin’ looked so familiar.
“Damn it,” he muttered reminding himself why he hated this psychoanalysis crap. Mathew straightened and scrubbed his hands through his hair. Sleep was a distant memory as he wandered back into the bedroom.
As he’d done on the previous nights, he opened the small wall safe and checked on the leather pouch. It was still there and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Mathew’s attention was drawn to the wooden box that had held the heirlooms which sat on his dresser. The nightmares had to be a result of the guilt he felt in allowing the Winchesters to burn the mementos of the six.
While he had told his older siblings of the fortuitous turn of events concerning the town’s deeds, he’d left out the part about the Winchesters and had yet to acknowledge the loss of the heirlooms. He was going to have to tell Jason and Rebecca the rest of the story. Luckily they lived out of town and he wouldn’t have to face them when he confessed. Then maybe the nightmares would stop.
***************************************
Mathew still had his sunglasses on as he tried to enter his office undetected. He looked like hell and felt hung over. Lack of sleep would do that.
“Rough night?” Travis chuckled from behind him, taking exceptional glee in catching his friend like this.
So much for stealth. “Not feeling well,” he mumbled and continued toward his door. He should have just stayed home but there was too much prep work that needed to be done. His head ached and the nightmare was making him feel unsettled.
Mathew looked toward his assistant. “Annie, anybody wants to see me send ‘em to Travis.”
She nodded her eyes full of concern
“Mathew, seriously. You okay? You don’t look so good.” Travis asked as he joined him at the door.
“Nothing a few more hours of sleep and the magical key to Saunders’ downfall wouldn’t cure.” He unlocked his office and stepped inside.
“So about that,” Travis paused waiting for Mathew to enlighten him as to his decision about the hacker.
“I’ve got someone working on that,” he replied. “Not your problem.”
“You found a hacker?”
“Travis, I won’t involve you. Trust me it’s handled. Now if you don’t mind,” Mathew said as he indicated he’d like to close the door.
Travis nodded and backed away.
Mathew settled into his chair, threw off his sunglasses and girded himself for the call to his older brother. Well confession was good for the soul and maybe Jason could help him understand why he was dreaming about Vin.
He had just picked up the receiver when his door burst open and a petite blond woman barged in with Annie hot on her heels.
The blond stopped in front of his desk and waited.
“I’m sorry, Mathew,” Annie said, exasperation clear on her face. “I told her you weren’t available - ”
“It’s alright Annie,” he said, replacing the receiver and motioning that Annie could leave. As the door snicked shut, Mathew stood and offered his hand. “Mathew Tanner,” he said as he waved her to a chair.
“Chloe Sullivan, The Daily Planet.” She shook his hand but did not sit.
“What can I do for you, Miss Sullivan?” Mathew asked congenially, clenching his teeth behind his fake smile as he too continued to stand. Inside his mind was railing against having to deal with the press. While he had a few supporters in the ranks of the media, most of the articles he’d read recently had painted him as an opponent of progress.
Alex Saunders had friends in all the right places and the mudslinging was in high gear. The woman’s combative stance and hard look convinced him that most likely his opponent had figured out a way to turn the national media against him too.
“I’d like your take on this,” she said as she thrust a manila folder at him.
Mathew took the proffered material and opened the file. The color drained from his face as he looked at the photograph. It was of him and the six standing in the graveyard.
He lowered himself into his chair as he flipped through the other pictures. It was clear that she had been at Four Corners yesterday evening. Crap. He looked up at the reporter and she had a knowing smile on her face.
“Before I printed the story about the faux haunting you are masterminding, I thought I’d at least hear your justification,” Chloe said as she finally sat down and pulled out her note pad.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. These are obviously faked,” he protested but it sounded weak even to his ears.
Chloe snorted. “Is that the way you want to play this?”
Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he studied the blond. “What is it you think you saw?” he asked.
“You and your six cronies recreating the ghost heroes of Four Corners in an attempt to generate sympathy for the preservation of the town.”
That’s what he’d thought she was going to say. If he denied it she’d run the story and accuse him of duplicitous acts which would completely undermine his efforts to reclaim the town for the Tanners. Not to mention bring Sam and Dean back to town once they saw the photos and realized they’d been played.
“What do you want me to say? It’s not what you think.”
“I must admit I was surprised to find that you had stooped to these kinds of theatrics. Everything I’ve read about you indicated that you were supposedly an honest lawyer trying to stand up against Alex Saunders.”
“And what do you think of the illustrious Alex Saunders,” Mathew asked. “Are you one of his paid publicists?”
“First this is not about me,” Chloe said indignantly. “And second I resent the idea that I write for anyone. I tell the truth Mr. Tanner. That’s all I do. Alex Saunders is small potatoes compared to the Luthors and if they don’t scare me - well,” She quirked a smile at him leaving him to fill in the blanks.
At the mention of the Luthors, Mathew paused. Travis had suggested that Saunders and the Luthors were connected. Now he remembered where he’d heard her name before. “Wait. Aren’t you the reporter who’s been writing that series of articles about the Luthors’ land holdings?”
“You’ve been reading my work?”
“This is New Mexico, not the moon,” he scoffed and went on to explain. “We’ve been trying to show that Saunders obtained his claim on the Four Corners land illegally, but so far my people have been unable to gather the proof we need. In our research, my associate, Travis Witt, came across you exposé on the Luthors. Truthfully, we weren’t sure how it all related but it still didn’t give us what we were looking for.”
“How do you know that Saunders obtained his rights illegally if you don’t have any proof?” Chloe asked. Mathew smiled as he studied the blond; her excitement was showing.
He’d been impressed by her articles. She’d gone up against the Luthors and was still here to talk about it.
“You interested in Saunders?” he asked trying to gage his ability to trust her.
“Absolutely. He’s why I came down here in the first place,” she admitted. “I thought maybe your situation was somehow connected to my investigation."
“You really believe Saunders is connected to the Luthors?” Now Mathew’s excitement was showing. If she was already investigating Saunders, maybe he could turn that tenacious ability for uncovering the truth to their little dilemma.
She smiled as she realized they were working toward the same goal. “I think that if you tell me the truth about what you were doing last night, we might be able to help one another.”
“I may be out of my mind but I think I can trust you,” he said as he reached for the folder on Four Corners.
Mathew handed her the file that contained everything he had on the land deals surrounding Four Corners including the original Tanner deeds. He leaned back in his chair waiting for her to peruse the rather thick folder anxious to see what she would make of it.
Chloe studied the documents, paging through them. She bit her lip in concentration. A gesture that Mathew found entirely too endearing in someone who ten minutes ago was accusing him of fraud.
Chloe’s eyes went wide as she worked her way to the end of the file. “So what this is telling me is that your family still owns the land. Saunders claim has to be falsified but you can’t prove that your family didn’t sell it all off at sometime.”
“You’re quick. I’m impressed.”
“I know shady land deals when I see them.”
Mathew leaned forward. “You know how to prove what happened?”
“Oh, I think I can help you.” She sent a blinding smile his way as she pulled a document from her bag. Chloe stood and spread the blueprint across his desk. Mathew walked around to view the document from her side.
“I’ve seen this before,” he said. “These are the plans for the housing community that Saunders wants to build. How can this help me?”
“Look again.” She smirked.
Chloe pointed to the area that was identified as future development on every version of the plans he’d seen but on these there was the outline of a large factory.
“I don’t understand. This is supposed to be a housing community.”
“It won’t be. It may have started out that way but there’s something bigger going on. Eventually they will change direction and by the time anyone figures out that the housing development has become an industrial park it will be too late.”
“Where did you get these?”
“Trade secret,” Chloe quipped. “And speaking of trading secrets. You owe me one before I go any further.”
He looked at her confusion on his face. “But I don’t know anything about these alternate plans.”
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. “Your little ghost town. If you want my help, I’m going to need to know everything that’s going on.”
Mathew sighed. Chris was going to be furious but he could see no other way. She had the answers he needed and while he’d enlisted Sam’s aid there was no guarantee that the hunter would ever even call him back. “Let’s take a little drive, Miss Sullivan there are some people you need to meet.”
Title: Best Laid Plans (2/11)
Author: strangevisitor7
Beta: Lyl_Devil and Pen37
Rated: PG
Fandom: The Magnificent 7, Smallville, Supernatural
Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester; Chloe Sullivan; The Seven: Chris Larabee, Buck Wilmington, Vin Tanner, Ezra Standish, Nathan Jackson, Josiah Sanchez, JD Dunne; OMC - Mathew Tanner; Eventually - Sam/Chloe
Disclaimer: The characters you know and love all belong to their respective creators. Mathew Tanner is mine
Chapter Summary: Mathew Tanner is having nightmares about his ancestor Vin Tanner. What could it mean? Chloe confronts Mathew and demands to know what's going on in Four Corners.
Chapter List:
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11: Epilogue
JD, Josiah, Vin, Chris, Buck, Nathan & Ezra
banner by scrollgirl
Best Laid Plans: Chapter 2
“How could you?”
Mathew didn’t recognize the voice. He forced his eyes open and found himself looking into blue ones identical to his own.
The man in front of him was shockingly familiar. “How could you?” He shouted again.
“Vin?” Mathew asked tentatively. Or was he looking at himself dressed in Vin's buckskin coat and wide brimmed hat.
The figure grabbed him by the front of his shirt. It was then Mathew realized he was wearing the t-shirt and boxers he’d gone to sleep in. “This is a dream,” he said as he tried to fight against the iron grip on his clothing.
“I trusted you,” Vin growled as he yanked Mathew around and gestured at their surroundings. “They trusted you.”
Mathew looked to where Vin was pointing, they were outside in the desert and he baulked when he realized where he was. Though he’d never been here, he knew instinctively that this was where the six had died.
As things came into focus he saw the bodies of his friends, Vin’s friends, lying in the dust. “I don’t understand!” Mathew wailed.
Vin threw him to the ground and pulled out his gun. “You betrayed me.”
“No I didn’t!’ Mathew shouted. “No I didn’t!”
“No I didn’t!” Mathew stopped as he found himself sitting bolt upright in bed. His T-shirt was soaked with sweat and his heart was pounding. Another nightmare.
Mathew threw off the covers and stumbled to the bathroom. Turning on the taps, he splashed cold water on his face. He’d had similar nightmares several days running; ever since the little display he’d put on for the Winchesters.
He stared at his reflection. The memory of Vin’s anger was like a hammer pounding in his skull. Josiah hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he looked like his ancestor. Or maybe he was really angry at himself and that’s why ‘Vin’ looked so familiar.
“Damn it,” he muttered reminding himself why he hated this psychoanalysis crap. Mathew straightened and scrubbed his hands through his hair. Sleep was a distant memory as he wandered back into the bedroom.
As he’d done on the previous nights, he opened the small wall safe and checked on the leather pouch. It was still there and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Mathew’s attention was drawn to the wooden box that had held the heirlooms which sat on his dresser. The nightmares had to be a result of the guilt he felt in allowing the Winchesters to burn the mementos of the six.
While he had told his older siblings of the fortuitous turn of events concerning the town’s deeds, he’d left out the part about the Winchesters and had yet to acknowledge the loss of the heirlooms. He was going to have to tell Jason and Rebecca the rest of the story. Luckily they lived out of town and he wouldn’t have to face them when he confessed. Then maybe the nightmares would stop.
***************************************
Mathew still had his sunglasses on as he tried to enter his office undetected. He looked like hell and felt hung over. Lack of sleep would do that.
“Rough night?” Travis chuckled from behind him, taking exceptional glee in catching his friend like this.
So much for stealth. “Not feeling well,” he mumbled and continued toward his door. He should have just stayed home but there was too much prep work that needed to be done. His head ached and the nightmare was making him feel unsettled.
Mathew looked toward his assistant. “Annie, anybody wants to see me send ‘em to Travis.”
She nodded her eyes full of concern
“Mathew, seriously. You okay? You don’t look so good.” Travis asked as he joined him at the door.
“Nothing a few more hours of sleep and the magical key to Saunders’ downfall wouldn’t cure.” He unlocked his office and stepped inside.
“So about that,” Travis paused waiting for Mathew to enlighten him as to his decision about the hacker.
“I’ve got someone working on that,” he replied. “Not your problem.”
“You found a hacker?”
“Travis, I won’t involve you. Trust me it’s handled. Now if you don’t mind,” Mathew said as he indicated he’d like to close the door.
Travis nodded and backed away.
Mathew settled into his chair, threw off his sunglasses and girded himself for the call to his older brother. Well confession was good for the soul and maybe Jason could help him understand why he was dreaming about Vin.
He had just picked up the receiver when his door burst open and a petite blond woman barged in with Annie hot on her heels.
The blond stopped in front of his desk and waited.
“I’m sorry, Mathew,” Annie said, exasperation clear on her face. “I told her you weren’t available - ”
“It’s alright Annie,” he said, replacing the receiver and motioning that Annie could leave. As the door snicked shut, Mathew stood and offered his hand. “Mathew Tanner,” he said as he waved her to a chair.
“Chloe Sullivan, The Daily Planet.” She shook his hand but did not sit.
“What can I do for you, Miss Sullivan?” Mathew asked congenially, clenching his teeth behind his fake smile as he too continued to stand. Inside his mind was railing against having to deal with the press. While he had a few supporters in the ranks of the media, most of the articles he’d read recently had painted him as an opponent of progress.
Alex Saunders had friends in all the right places and the mudslinging was in high gear. The woman’s combative stance and hard look convinced him that most likely his opponent had figured out a way to turn the national media against him too.
“I’d like your take on this,” she said as she thrust a manila folder at him.
Mathew took the proffered material and opened the file. The color drained from his face as he looked at the photograph. It was of him and the six standing in the graveyard.
He lowered himself into his chair as he flipped through the other pictures. It was clear that she had been at Four Corners yesterday evening. Crap. He looked up at the reporter and she had a knowing smile on her face.
“Before I printed the story about the faux haunting you are masterminding, I thought I’d at least hear your justification,” Chloe said as she finally sat down and pulled out her note pad.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. These are obviously faked,” he protested but it sounded weak even to his ears.
Chloe snorted. “Is that the way you want to play this?”
Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he studied the blond. “What is it you think you saw?” he asked.
“You and your six cronies recreating the ghost heroes of Four Corners in an attempt to generate sympathy for the preservation of the town.”
That’s what he’d thought she was going to say. If he denied it she’d run the story and accuse him of duplicitous acts which would completely undermine his efforts to reclaim the town for the Tanners. Not to mention bring Sam and Dean back to town once they saw the photos and realized they’d been played.
“What do you want me to say? It’s not what you think.”
“I must admit I was surprised to find that you had stooped to these kinds of theatrics. Everything I’ve read about you indicated that you were supposedly an honest lawyer trying to stand up against Alex Saunders.”
“And what do you think of the illustrious Alex Saunders,” Mathew asked. “Are you one of his paid publicists?”
“First this is not about me,” Chloe said indignantly. “And second I resent the idea that I write for anyone. I tell the truth Mr. Tanner. That’s all I do. Alex Saunders is small potatoes compared to the Luthors and if they don’t scare me - well,” She quirked a smile at him leaving him to fill in the blanks.
At the mention of the Luthors, Mathew paused. Travis had suggested that Saunders and the Luthors were connected. Now he remembered where he’d heard her name before. “Wait. Aren’t you the reporter who’s been writing that series of articles about the Luthors’ land holdings?”
“You’ve been reading my work?”
“This is New Mexico, not the moon,” he scoffed and went on to explain. “We’ve been trying to show that Saunders obtained his claim on the Four Corners land illegally, but so far my people have been unable to gather the proof we need. In our research, my associate, Travis Witt, came across you exposé on the Luthors. Truthfully, we weren’t sure how it all related but it still didn’t give us what we were looking for.”
“How do you know that Saunders obtained his rights illegally if you don’t have any proof?” Chloe asked. Mathew smiled as he studied the blond; her excitement was showing.
He’d been impressed by her articles. She’d gone up against the Luthors and was still here to talk about it.
“You interested in Saunders?” he asked trying to gage his ability to trust her.
“Absolutely. He’s why I came down here in the first place,” she admitted. “I thought maybe your situation was somehow connected to my investigation."
“You really believe Saunders is connected to the Luthors?” Now Mathew’s excitement was showing. If she was already investigating Saunders, maybe he could turn that tenacious ability for uncovering the truth to their little dilemma.
She smiled as she realized they were working toward the same goal. “I think that if you tell me the truth about what you were doing last night, we might be able to help one another.”
“I may be out of my mind but I think I can trust you,” he said as he reached for the folder on Four Corners.
Mathew handed her the file that contained everything he had on the land deals surrounding Four Corners including the original Tanner deeds. He leaned back in his chair waiting for her to peruse the rather thick folder anxious to see what she would make of it.
Chloe studied the documents, paging through them. She bit her lip in concentration. A gesture that Mathew found entirely too endearing in someone who ten minutes ago was accusing him of fraud.
Chloe’s eyes went wide as she worked her way to the end of the file. “So what this is telling me is that your family still owns the land. Saunders claim has to be falsified but you can’t prove that your family didn’t sell it all off at sometime.”
“You’re quick. I’m impressed.”
“I know shady land deals when I see them.”
Mathew leaned forward. “You know how to prove what happened?”
“Oh, I think I can help you.” She sent a blinding smile his way as she pulled a document from her bag. Chloe stood and spread the blueprint across his desk. Mathew walked around to view the document from her side.
“I’ve seen this before,” he said. “These are the plans for the housing community that Saunders wants to build. How can this help me?”
“Look again.” She smirked.
Chloe pointed to the area that was identified as future development on every version of the plans he’d seen but on these there was the outline of a large factory.
“I don’t understand. This is supposed to be a housing community.”
“It won’t be. It may have started out that way but there’s something bigger going on. Eventually they will change direction and by the time anyone figures out that the housing development has become an industrial park it will be too late.”
“Where did you get these?”
“Trade secret,” Chloe quipped. “And speaking of trading secrets. You owe me one before I go any further.”
He looked at her confusion on his face. “But I don’t know anything about these alternate plans.”
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. “Your little ghost town. If you want my help, I’m going to need to know everything that’s going on.”
Mathew sighed. Chris was going to be furious but he could see no other way. She had the answers he needed and while he’d enlisted Sam’s aid there was no guarantee that the hunter would ever even call him back. “Let’s take a little drive, Miss Sullivan there are some people you need to meet.”