The Dare
By Brate
"Is he gonna do it?" Vin whispered to his partner in crime. They had placed an envelope containing the 'dare instructions' on their boss' desk prior to his arrival, and he had yet to come out from his office.
"Does he have a choice? He lost the bet."
"He could kill us and hide the bodies."
"He'd be immediately suspect. I have confidence in our valiant leader to perform the task set out for him." Ezra sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "I have called the office and our subject is expected to remain there all day."
"Hmph." The sharpshooter stared at their nearly empty office. Buck had yet to show and the others were still at the conference for two more days. "Too bad they're gonna miss it," he mused.
"Never fear, Mr. Tanner. I took the liberty of installing a video camera last night in her office heating duct."
"You did not!"
"I most certainly did." Ezra smiled as he imagined the upcoming sight. "You came up with such a lovely consequence, I felt it only fair to be able to view it... repeatedly."
Vin chuckled. "So how are ya gonna start the taping?"
"That, my dear partner, is the most simple thing of all. Mrs. Travis' associate in the next office, a great admirer of pranks and the like, has graciously agreed to watch for Mr. Larabee's appearance and press a remote start."
"You sneaky bastard."
"I assure you, Mr. Tanner, my parentage has never been in question, unfortunately." The undercover agent glanced at the office doors. "Although I believe we are in luck for the first show," he smirked.
Buck Wilmington, demolition specialist, and all around groovy guy, bolted in through the outer door, heading straight for his desk, head held down.
"Hey, Buck. What's goin' on?"
"Nothing." Buck sat down at his desk with his back to his fellow agents, and grabbed a file folder, holding it in front of his face.
Ezra caught Vin's eye and winked. "Mr. Wilmington, did you happen to get into a traffic accident?"
"No," Buck answered, keeping his head down.
"Did your car have a flat tire?"
"No."
"Did you need to rescue a small kitten from a tree?"
"No," Wilmington replied, exasperated. "Why?"
"I was just wondering why you were so late. I arrived sharply at eight, greeting Mr. Tanner who was already seated at his desk. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Larabee arrived, and yet you did not get here until..." Ezra made a show of looking at the clock, "...well after nine."
Vin was enjoying the scene before him. Unable to contain his impatience any longer, he snapped, "C'mon, Bucklin. Show us some skin!"
After a moment's silence, the ladies' man, and formerly mustached agent, turned around and lifted his clean-shaven face for inspection.
"Ooh-wee. Smooth as a baby's bottom," Vin cackled.
"I must concur with our illustrious sharpshooter. Your visage is remarkably smooth... most becoming."
"Shut up, the both of you. This is the only day you'll see it. Tomorrow I start to grow it back out."
"That certainly is a shame. For beauty such as yours should remain unsoiled."
"Stuff it, Ez."
As Vin and Ezra struggled to control their laughter, Chris Larabee left his office, making a beeline for the exit.
"Where ya headed, Chris?" Buck asked.
"Out." Without another word, he left the agents watching the doors swing closed.
"What was that about?" Buck wondered aloud.
In response, Ezra picked up his phone, dialing quickly. "He's on his way," he reported, and hung up.
The newly clean-shaven agent looked back and forth between his teammates. "What's going on?"
"I'd imagine Mr. Larabee is going forth to perform his dare," Ezra offered.
"And what did you two idiots come up with?"
"Should we tell 'im?" Vin asked his cohort.
"No." Before Buck could protest, Ezra continued, "I think he'd rather view it, don't you?"
Tanner grinned and nodded. "Tell ya what, Buck. Me and Ez will bring a tape for you to watch tonight."
"I'm not sure I want to get involved in this," Buck worried. "Oh, what the hell. It's payback time."
~+*+~+*+~+*+~+*+~
"You have it?" Buck asked, and smiled widely when Vin whipped the videotape from behind his back.
Wilmington was dying of curiosity. Neither Vin nor Ezra had told what they'd made Chris do. And when the leader returned from running his mysterious errand, he'd refused to speak to any of them for the rest of the day.
"Got the popcorn?" Vin smirked.
"Can it and put it in," Buck demanded.
Moving across the room, the Texan pushed the tape into the player, pushed a button, and sat down on the couch to watch the show.
On the television screen, static was quickly replaced by the view of an office at the Four Corner's Gazette newspaper. Ezra had placed the camera flush against the screen of the heater, so the entire room was shown from the side.
"You sent him to Mary?" Buck asked, astounded.
"He needed a push," Vin defended.
The left of the screen showed the door to the office, while the right was filled with a large work desk, and Mary Travis busily typing at her computer. After a few moments, there was a knock on her door.
"Come on in," she called, not lifting her gaze from her computer screen.
The door was closed behind the black-clad man and as he started, she nearly broke her neck looking up so fast.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," Chris crooned, in a surprisingly tender and melodious voice.
"You make me happy when skies are grey..."
Mary had gotten over her initial shock, and the men watching the video saw a smile spreading across the reporter's face.
"You'll never now dear, how much I love you..."
Mary's eyes were shining as she looked upon the musical man.
"Please don't take my sunshine away." As the song ended, Vin and his teammates observed Mary stand up and clap, as their leader tipped his invisible hat, said, "Have a great day, Mary," and left.
After the door shut, Mary started to giggle. She laughed until tears were streaming down her face. She collected herself and went back to work, with the occasional chuckle escaping. The tape reverted to static, and Buck turned to face his visitors.
"You guys are cruel."
"It was Mr. Tanner's idea."
"Hey, you agreed! Besides, she liked it."
The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted the burgeoning argument.
"Wilmington... hey there, Chris." Buck motioned for the other men to remain silent. "Nah, just watching a tape... yeah, it is pretty good. I think it's one the boys would love to see... I don't recall the name, but..." Buck smiled at his companions and started laughing, "...it's a musical." As he hung up the phone, Vin and Ezra could hear Chris yelling over the line. Within seconds, Vin's cell phone rang.
"Aw, hell."
The End
