Runners

Fanfiction
Title:	Runners
Author(s):	Gil Hale
Date(s):	27 February 2005
Length:	627 K
Genre:	gen, AU
Fandom:	Magnificent Seven
External Links:	Runners at the author's website
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Runners is a Magnificent Seven story by Gil Hale.

Author's summary: "An ATF AU with Vin and Ezra as teens living on the street and JD a 10-year-old runaway they’ve taken under their care."

Reactions and Reviews

This is not only a good story, but an interesting example of the Alternate Universe business we were discussing few weeks back. It's a Magnificent 7, *using* the modern-day ATF universe, *then* altering the ages of 3 of the cast (two are turned into teenage runaways, the third into a child), and having two of the adults 'adopt' them.

Shouldn't work - and it's a long way from the Old West original - but for me it's a good story: the age-challenged characters are still recognisably themselves, even the child JD, and the four adults are Gil's usual modernised but recognisable ATF versions of the TV characters. *And* she's used touches of common Mag7 fanon to tie the story in closer to the characters the readers know (for instance, Vin's ornery and sour-tempered but beloved horse Peso is pure fanon, but much too good to waste).

The storyline is a solid cop drama, but the main interest is in the developing relationships, which are emotional but skirt just clear of sentimentality (a trait rather more prevalent in the majority of M7-as-kids stories) and for the most part echo rather than copy the way the original characters relate.

I still prefer them as all adults, but this is one of the two or three best of this type in this fandom.

Gil's other, older stories also can reflect on that discussion, now I think of it. She did two The Sentinel/Professionals crossovers that used the popular TS universe where guides are persecuted and maltreated, then introduced present-day Pros characters as yet another Sentinel and Guide; she also did those two quite fabulous Sentinel/ATF Magnificent 7 crossovers.