Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven belong to MGM, Trilogy, etc.
Universe: ATF
Characters: Vin, JD, Buck

Tally
By MMW

Buck stood in the doorway staring at his young roommate and the team Sharpshooter. He could see what they were doing but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why they were doing it. He was tempted to ask, but the looks of concentration on their faces cautioned him against interrupting.

After a few minutes, he settled on the couch; something about seeing these two normally over active men so focused on a task fascinated him. That fascination combined with their very precise actions proved to be more interesting that what he’d been watching on television a little while ago.

Entranced by the fluid motions of Vin and JD, Buck watched as they carefully counted out the items before making a mark on a tally sheet, removing that which they had just counted and repeating the process.

After just over an hour, the two men stopped their work and sighed. Their heads came together as they combined their totals, spoke softly to each other and made a notation on another pad. Buck was about to ask his question when JD picked up the container and emptied it into a large bowl. Surprised and more curious than ever, Buck finally asked, “Just what are you to doing?”

Two startled faces turned toward the mustached agent. “What?” JD asked, not quite processing the question.

Buck sighed and repeated, “What are you two doing?”

“We’re preparing,” Vin said seriously.

“Preparing,” Buck repeated. “For what?”

JD and Vin exchanged a look. Seeing Vin nod his assent, JD turned to his roommate and big brother and explained, “Every year we go to the state fair and try the guess the number of jelly beans in the jar game. Every year we lose. This year we’re doing research.”

“Yeah,” Vin continued. “We figure if we can figure out how many jellybeans of different sizes go into this jar, we can just do some math to figure out how many are in the big jar.”

Buck just looked at the two faces before him. Finally, unable to settle on one emotion, he chuckled softly and shook his head. There just wasn’t anything for him to say to that. “What are you going to do with all those jellybeans after you count them?” he asked, taking in the ten already empty bags and the ones they still had to go through.

JD and Vin looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Eat them, of course!” they exclaimed together.

The End

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