End of the Dream

by Klingoncat

Disclaimer: Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner and all other Magnificent Seven regulars belong to MGM, Mirisch, and Trilogy Entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks Mog for the ATF AU

4 A.M. Thursday:

Chris Larabee looked at the clock, groaned, sighed, and decided that he might as well get up. The dream that had awakened him, the last of a string that had pretty much dominated his nights for the past month or so, had left him confused, tired, frustrated, and in need of a long cold shower. He rose from the bed swearing. It wouldn't be so bad to wake up fully aroused, but he was alone, and the arousal was the result of yet another night of erotic dreams about his best friend, co-worker, and to top it all off, his subordinate in the work place.

Even if he could get his head around wanting his best friend, who just happened to be another man, the fact that he was Vin Tanner's superior on the job meant any move he might make, if he was so inclined, would be totally unacceptable. Besides the fact that, as far as he knew, his best friend, Vin had absolutely no interest in another man as a sex partner, let alone as a lover...

"Lover - where the hell had that come from? Get a grip Larabee." A coldshower, make that yet another cold shower, was just what he needed.

Also Around 4 A.M. Thursday:

About 40 minutes away in Denver's Purgatorio, Vin Tanner was also wide awake. He had no doubts about who and what he wanted, he'd known that since very shortly after joining Team 7. He also knew without a doubt that he'd never get what he wanted. If nothing else, he was a realist, and his boss, Chris Larabee, simply wasn't in his league. For one thing Chris was straight as a rail, had been married and fathered a child. Even if that hadn't been the case, he was drop dead beautiful, self-confident, and could basically have anyone he desired. He certainly would have no reason to desire a scruffy, half-educated, unpolished Texan like himself. But that never stopped him from dreaming, hoping, and, face it, aching for the touch of his friend.

"His friend." It still amazed him that he could actually call the man that. Somehow it was true and it was the best thing that had ever happened to Vin Tanner. He was not about to do anything to jeopardize that, which was why he was wide awake at 4 A.M.

It didn't help that over the past few weeks something had changed; Chris's behavior toward him had changed. One minute, he treated Vin as he always had, and the next he was distant and cold. He was also giving off mixed signals. The other day, Vin had felt the prickly sensation he got when someone was staring at him, and had looked up to see Chris watching him with an odd, faraway look on his face. Then Larabee had suddenly blinked and looked away, as if he'd sensed Vin looking back. Ten minutes later, though, when Vin had asked him a simple question about the plans they'd made earlier to work on the barn at his ranch, Larabee had completely shut him out.

Vin didn't know what to make of it, especially since it hadn't been just one incident. There had been several other times he'd noticed the contradictory behavior in his friend. A warm look from Chris followed by total ice minutes later. If it kept up, he had no idea how he'd stay sane.

The worst thing was that no matter how hard he wracked his brain, Vin couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong, or if he had slipped and let the man see his desire. He thought that he had hidden signs of his attraction, but now he had to wonder. He sighed and decided he might as well get up. He wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight.

5:30 A.M. Thursday: ATF offices of Team 7:

Vin knew he was usually the first one in, although this was quite a bit early even for him. He locked his Jeep and decided to skip the elevator, opting for the stairs instead. He never liked small spaces and he could work off some of his tension climbing the eleven flights to their floor.

While Vin climbed, another vehicle entered the garage. As Chris Larabee parked, he noticed the Jeep. He vaguely remembered that Vin had been having some problems with the old wreck lately and figured it had been there overnight. Vin was an early riser but this was a bit early even for him. Chris had only come in at this hour because he had such a huge pile of paperwork that had accumulated over the past weeks. Team 7 had wrapped up a major case and begun another right on the heels of it, partially because Team 4 was temporarily out of the picture due to several injuries sustained on a recent case that went very badly. Meanwhile, the leads for this one had seemed to just drop in their laps. Typical. Two months ago they had three teams sitting on their thumbs. Now they were all scrambling to cover an abundance of strong leads. It was just like the old saying Josiah was so fond of - "feast or famine." They would get a feast while he was getting no sleep. Chris had just entered the break room to start up a pot of coffee when he thought heard a noise in the hallway. He stopped and listened, heard nothing and decided his lack of sleep must really be catching up with him. He needed that coffee and was just filling the pot when he heard a sound behind him. He nearly dropped the pot when he turned to find the object of his disturbing dreams standing in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing here this early?" both men asked, as if on cue, in almost perfect unison.

Vin grinned, deciding that he liked the startled-deer look on his boss's face. "Hell Larabee, I'm always here early. Didn't mean to give you a heart attack."

"Very funny, Tanner, but I know even you don't come in this early. Why today?"

Vin thought on that for a moment, then answered semi-honestly, "Don't really know, boss. Couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd get caught up on some of that paperwork you been naggin' about all week."

"Well if you think you got a lot of paperwork, you should see my pile. I'm gonna make some coffee and get to work." Chris turned to finish setting up the coffee, then headed into his office while it brewed. After Larabee left the room, Tanner strolled over to the counter. Looking over his shoulder, he quickly added two more scoops of grounds to the pot. If he was gonna do paperwork at the crack of dawn, he needed ecent coffee.

By the time the rest of the team arrived, the coffee pot was empty and there was a major dent in two piles of paperwork. It was Buck who first wandered into the break room, and, finding no coffee came out loudly complaining about how the first one in was supposed to make coffee... Luckily Larabee's office door was closed.

Vin's response startled Buck. "Jist cause ya sleep 'til all hours don't mean we gotta save yer lazy behind a cup of coffee. 'Sides, Buck, all ya do is gripe about my coffee. Thought I'd give ya a break and let you make a pot of that colored water ya like to drink."

JD laughed, licked his finger and gave Vin the point, while Buck shook his head and went in to restart the coffee pot.

Vin was glad the others had arrived. It had definitely been awkward for the last hour or so, even though Chris had basically stayed in his office working. When he had come out for coffee, the tension in the room had been intense. The normally laid-back Texan was starting to have doubts about his own ability to maintain his composure while in proximity to the blond. He really liked this job and the rest of the team. He didn't want to have to start all over again.

Thursday finally ended. Since they were still doing preliminary work on the new case, everyone was spending most of the time in the office, which was exactly what Larabee did not need right now. It wasn't everyone that was bothering him, though, just one lean, ornery Texan. One Texan who was currently giving him flack, never mind that he hadn't said a word. His silences said more to Chris than most people's words did in an hour. Larabee knew he was being unfair to the man, his friend, but he was just too tired to get a grip on his emotions and that alone was enough to piss him off. Hopefully he'd get some sleep tonight.

Friday: After another busy day - with a fair amount of progress made on the case - it was finally time to kick back. Team 7 made a habit of "debriefing" at Inez's place at the end of the week, unless a case prevented it. Buck was determined that tonight they would all show up, since Vin had not shown up for the past two weeks; he was determined to get the Texan to join them. He knew there was something going on with Chris and Vin but he sure couldn't get either one to talk about it. So he figured if he could get them both a bit drunk, maybe he could get to the bottom of it. With that in mind he approached the Texan.

"Hey, Vin, you gonna stand us all up again tonight?" he called out as the Texan grabbed his jacket, preparing to leave.

Vin realized that his absence had been noticed and that to avoid the inevitable questions he probably should make an appearance at the aloon tonight. "Nah, Buck, I'll be there." he drawled aware that Chris was standing in the doorway to his office watching the exchange.

"Great, Vin, see you there," JD added as he too grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

On the other side of the office, another observer watched. Ezra was more than sure something was very wrong and he'd decided that he was going to get to the bottom of it. He had even gone to the trouble, and the sacrifice, of checking out an anonymous vehicle from the motor pool, planning to track the tracker and find out where he'd been spending his off hours. It just wasn't like him not to show up, and Ezra knew it had to be related to the tension between him and their boss. Tonight he planned to find out what was up. Ezra could have kicked Buck for putting Vin on the spot like that; he was sure the man would not have gone if Buck hadn't made an issue of it. Well, he would wait and watch.

+ + + + + + +

Vin looked around the bar. Josiah and Nathan were playing darts, a pastime they both had become addicted to recently. Buck was chatting with a new barmaid, while JD and Ezra were talking. Vin suspected that Ezra was laying odds on Buck's chances. Chris drank quietly at the other end of the table. All seemed normal, except that Chris was sitting on the far side of the table from him. He'd had little or no conversation and virtually no eye contact with the blond. It was only around ten, but Tanner had had enough of being ignored He quietly headed out, casually wandering to the door, careful to not call attention to the fact that he was slipping out early. He breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled his Jeep out of the lot with no one aware that he had left. No one, at least, except Ezra, who was on his way out the side door, ready to follow the Texan so he could start to make sense of what the hell was going on.

Up until a few weeks ago, it had been a very long time since Vin had isited a gay bar. It never had been his type of "scene", but with the tension between himself and Chris he needed something. He wasn't sure exactly what he hoped to find, but he knew that he needed to find some way to ground himself. He'd been here a number of times over the past few weeks. although there had been no shortage of offers, he'd maintained his solitude, much to the frustration of several would be "suitors" and to the amusement of the two older gentlemen who owned the bar. Frank and Ernie had been a couple for many years but they enjoyed watching the action. They would gossip enthusiastically between themselves and other regulars about the various comings and goings and occasionally make friendly wagers on who might end up with whom and when that might occur.

For the last couple of weeks the talk of the Diamond Club had been the new, hot young man who'd turned up and was driving a number of the local "studs" to distraction with his seeming disinterest. Frank had been watching and was convinced that this would change when the right person asked. An acute observer, he'd noticed which of the men had been dismissed without a second glance, but more importantly he'd noticed which had given the lean, long-haired man pause. He was, as it were, creating a "profile" as to what the man was looking for. Some of it was easy, obvious; for example, tall, blond, and, from more careful observation, someone who wasn't a talker. He'd watched the tall blond neighborhood man, Kyle, get a serious second look from the quiet man, but, as soon as he'd started laying on his long winded come-on, he'd been shut down faster than either Frank or Ernie had believed possible. So slowly Frank had added "ingredients," figuring that eventually the right combination would break down the barriers and the slim man would give it up.

The betting pool was growing as more and more of the regulars joined in, either watching and trying to zero in on when, or participating as the men who were interested tried various approaches, looks, and attitudes to try to win over this desirable young man. Tonight Frank had made another observation. The man seemed to like his men to be a bit older than himself, maybe even ten years older from the reaction he'd seen when one of the slightly older men decided to approach him. The suitor actually was invited to sit and drink with the younger man for a short 3D while, before he too was sent on his way.

Tonight started out about the same. The young man that Frank and Ernie now thought of and referred to as "the prize" had entered and taken his "usual" spot at the bar. Although it faced away from the room, it offered a clear view of everything in the mirrored wall behind.

As Ezra watched Vin enter the bar on the far side of Denver, the pieces of the puzzle slipped into place with amazing clarity. It made perfect sense; in fact, such perfect sense that Ezra chided himself for not figuring it out sooner. It was almost obvious now that he'd seen it. He followed Vin into the bar, hanging back and taking the stairs to the balcony as he saw Tanner approach the bar. He found a spot near the edge and sat back to watch, ordering a brandy when the attractive waiter came by. He'd been watching the Texan for about a half hour when another brandy was delivered to his table. As he looked up with a question on his face the waiter gestured to another table close by where two middle-aged gentlemen sat. At his glance, one of the men gestured for him to join them. Since they'd sprung for an expensive brandy, he decided to do so.

After introductions were made and Ezra was settled in, Frank gestured to Tanner and asked if he was yet another hopeful waiting for a chance with the handsome young man.

Caught completely unaware, Ezra nearly spit out the mouthful of brandy he'd just taken. "Ah - no - but I do have an interest in his activities here, if you have some insight you'd care to share."

Frank squinted at the man, trying to figure out his angle. Then it hit him. "You know him, don't you." It wasn't a question

Ezra realized that this man was a lot sharper than he'd assumed. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"So, why are you up here while he's..." A gesture again toward the man below, along with a raised eyebrow. The man definitely had an interest in Tanner's presence. Ezra decided he wanted a little more information.

"Tell me what you've deduced, " Ezra challenged, "and I might be able to provide some additional information."

After Frank filled him in on what they had observed and surmised over the past few weeks, Ezra laughed, especially at the "profile" and the betting pool. "Well, I can certainly complete your profile as to what he's looking for. However I'm fairly certain that no one will win your pool, not unless one particularly contrary, hard-assed cowboy comes to his senses. Given the current state of affairs, that's not likely to happen in the near future, at least not without...."

Ezra suddenly stopped, groaned, and dropped his head to the table.

Frank looked at his partner in confusion and concern. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Standish, are you okay?"

"Actually, no, I'm not. To finish my thought," Ezra continued as he raised his head, "at least not without a bit of outside help." Looking at both of his new acquaintances he finished, "Oh God, I've become a Yenta!"

Seeing the confused look on the other men's faces, Ezra relented. "You see, that the man below is in love with his, and my, boss, and as far ash he knows the man is totally straight. Although thinking on recent developments, that may not be entirely correct." "This man, he's a tall, thin, older blond, who wears black and probably doesn't talk a lot," Frank recited.

"You are quite proficient in your observations," Ezra nodded to the older man, quite impressed with how close to the truth he was.

"It sounds like you may have a plan brewing," Ernie finally commented. "We'd love to see how it turns out. Being a true romantic at heart, it all makes sense. No wonder none of these guys could get anywhere with him."

"Actually," Ezra continued, "in order for my plan to work, it almost has to happen here, so it looks like you'll get a front row seat."

"You have a plan...already?"

"Well it's not complete, but yes I do believe I may have an idea that will accommodate the situation." Ezra paused. "Did you say that there are at least a couple of men around that might come close to your profile?" At Ernie's nod Ezra continued, "Might one of these gentlemen be persuaded to cooperate with us in a plan to unite these two star-crossed lovers?"

Frank and Ernie considered Ezra's words and decided that a friend of theirs would meet the criteria and could be convinced to help out. Now all Ezra had to do was work out the choreography, arrange to get all parties to the bar at the same time and then possibly get Josiah to pray.

+ + + + + + +

Vin Tanner was tired. Tired of being frustrated, tired of feeling like he'd never really get anything that he wanted. Tired of saying no to the things that he could have. He'd had a couple beers at the Saloon, and after getting to the Diamond he had a couple shots and he was ready. Ready to forget about what he couldn't have. So fuck it. If it wasn't going to be that unobtainable goal, Chris Larabee, then he would take what he could. It had been too long since he'd had someone to touch and to be touched by.

Using the mirror he looked around the room. There were several men here tonight who had approached him during the past weeks. A couple of them were really quite nice looking, and, he supposed, would turn out to be nice people if he gave them a chance., But tonight he wasn't looking for a friend. Tonight he needed more, needed someone to take him, hard and fast, and it really didn't matter whether they were nice or not.

He knew that most of the regulars probably wouldn't approach him, not unless he gave them some indication that he was now willing to consider company. He smiled ruefully to himself. "Hell, Tanner, yer gettin' as good at chasin' 'em away with a look as Larabee."

Having already zeroed in on who he was most attracted to, he turned and, making sure he had the man's eye, tilted his head just a fraction and asked the question with an eyebrow. The responding smile told him all he needed to know. He finished his drink and headed toward the exit with a tall blond who wasn't Chris Larabee close on his heels.

As the two men moved toward the door, an audience above looked on in shocked silence.

"Well, I'll be damned," Frank exhaled, "sure didn't expect that."

"I certainly would agree," Ezra replied, wondering if he could, or should, try to stop what was about to occur.

"Seems like someone just threw a very tall wrench into your plans Mr. Standish." Ernie added.

"Yes, indeed they have," Ezra agreed, "but then I was always good at using tools." His gold tooth gleamed as his smile widened. "I think we can make this work for us. I just have to figure out exactly how."

+ + + + + + +

As Tanner exited the bar, a blast of cold air whipped around his lean torso and a moment of hesitation caught him unaware. The surge of anger and regret that hit him was powerful but he pushed on, determined to shake the steely grip that held his heart had kept him from finding pleasure, even if was only for the body. Why, why couldn't he just once forget what he wanted and deal with what he needed? He kept walking, pacing himself so that he stayed a short distance ahead of the man who had followed him. Why did he already resent him? He was only responding to his own summons - it wasn't his fault that he wasn't theright tall blond. With a groan Vin turned to face the blond. He saw a man probably a year or two younger than himself who looked pleased to be invited and was totally wrong.

"I'm sorry," the Texan began, "this is a mistake - I, we, can't...."

The look of disappointment that flashed on the man's face almost made Vin relent, but, after the initial surprise at being dumped a mere 30 paces outside the bar subsided, he gave a rueful smile of his own. "Thought it was a bit sudden. You've been totally unapproachable - then boom - a nod and a wink... My name is Henry, by the way. Do you want to maybe get a cup of coffee or something and talk about it?"

Vin glanced back at the entrance to the bar and decided against sending this polite young man back to the knowing looks of the other patrons. Maybe a cup of coffee and some quiet company wouldn't hurt. Hell, it wasn't like his mind and heart were gonna let him get any purely physical satisfaction anytime soon, anyway.

"Sure, Henry, I think there is a little cafe about half a mile down the ay. Here," he indicated his Jeep, "let me drive."

Monday: ATF offices:

"So, Vin... you disappeared awfully early Friday," Ezra commented lazily as they drank coffee in the break room. "Decided on an early night?"

The Texan had to use every bit of self control to keep himself from reacting to the conman's observation. Ezra couldn't know that Vin hadn't actually gone home. He especially couldn't know where Vin had been and what he'd almost done. Keeping his expression totally neutral he replied 3D in his most laid-back drawl, "Nah Ez, just felt a little hemmed in. Needed to get out and stretch my legs, especially after being stuck in the office all last week."

"Indeed, I understand completely, Mr. Tanner, particularly since the atmosphere permeating these premises is as congested as it has become during recent weeks." Ezra's statement had its intended effect as Vin gazed back at the Southerner with a look that bespoke the suspicion that now ran through his mind.

"Don't know what you mean with all them fancy words, Ez," Vin replied, knowing exactly what had been implied. "I just don't like to be inside that much. Hope we can get out and do some legwork this week."

It was bad enough that Larabee was making him crazy, alternating between icy stares, scathing comments and the occasional strange glazed looks that really were about to send him packing, without Ezra noticing and making lightly veiled comments. Maybe it would be a good time to put in for some time off; he had almost three weeks of vacation time accrued.

Speculation on both sides was suddenly ended when the subject himself entered and reminded them that it was indeed time to get their lazy butts working

Luckily for Vin, many of the leads that they found this week required follow-up visits to various snitches and some time spent actually checking out several locations connected with the subjects of the investigation. He was more than happy to volunteer for much of the outside work, and since several of the informants knew and trusted him, it seemed very normal for him to be the one to cover that end of the work. By the end of the week, after spending very little time in the offices, things were beginning to at least feel a little more normal. On Friday, when the weekly foray to Inez's was mentioned, it was fairly easy to go along knowing that he wouldn't actually stay long.

His conversation with Henry last week had made him realize that putting his life on hold for something, or rather someone, that just wasn't gonna happen was not onl;y a bad idea, it was making him crazy. His days, or rather nights of pining away were over. This weekend he would take care of his needs.

Knowing that Tanner would likely show up at the Diamond on both Friday and Saturday night, as he had for several weeks now, according to Frank, Ezra was hoping to put his plan into motion on Saturday. His biggest problem with that was the fact that Larabee would, no doubt, be at his ranch on Saturday, which would increase the amount of time it would take to actually get him to the bar. Not a problem if Vin got there and stayed for a while, but, after last week, Ezra now feared that it was possible that by the time Chris arrived, Vin would already have left with someone else.

He had spoken to Frank about this possibility and found out that the club had a number of "private" rooms back under the balcony that many couples used for assignations. Frank had offered to make sure that Vin was aware of the availability of these in hopes that if he did connect with someone else, he might opt for the use of one of them, thus remaining on the premises. Ezra decided that it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

This Friday was about the same as the last, except that Ezra was paying even closer attention to the undercurrents and, as he watched he was even more sure that he was correct in his assumptions. He decided that he would find a way to make the two men face up to their mutual attraction. He was particularly pleased when he noticed the look of disappointment cross Chris' face as he watched Tanner slip out once more, and knew that if he hadn't specifically been watching for the reaction he never would have noticed.

Saturday - 9:00 PM:

While the Diamond did tend to get fairly busy on a Saturday night, it wasn't one of the newer "hot" gay clubs that tended to be packed to the rafters and filled with extremely loud music - even on busy nights it could be considered "low-key". Ezra had joined Frank, Ernie and the chosen bait, a fair ringer for Chris named Ted. He had spent most of the afternoon preparing Ted for his role. Being an expert at undercover work, he knew how to address all aspects of the mans "cover". The physical part was fairly easy - tight black jeans, black fitted shirt, boots and a pair of tinted green contact lenses. He'd borrowed a couple of non-classified tapes of one of their recent cases so the "pretender" could get a feel for how to move and use his looks rather than depend on vocalization, and using a sample tape had practiced using Chris's quieter tone when he did need to speak. The result, while not anywhere near an exact match, did have an eerie quality to it. Now they just needed the principal players.

As soon as Tanner entered, Ezra hit the speed dial on his cell phone and explained to Chris that he had an informant who claimed to know the exact information that they needed on their current case. However, he would not tell anyone but the man in charge and he had heard from another snitch that that man was Chris Larabee. Further, Ezra claimed, the informant was frightened of the men he was exposing and had already bought plane tickets for later tonight. Chris had to come meet the man now at a bar called the Diamond or they would lose the chance. It wasn't hard for Ezra to convince Larabee to meet the man; this was the break they needed. He just hoped that Chris never figured out that this whole night was a ruse or he really might be out of a job.

Ted was informed that the subject of this charade was on his way and took up his position, awaiting Ezras signal to proceed.

As Chris entered the bar almost an hour later Ezra quickly motioned for the blond to join him at a table on the balcony.

"Is he here?"

"No, he called a short while ago to see if you were here yet. He said he'd call back soon."

As he looked around the room, Larabee noticed the type of bar they were sitting in. "Uh, Ezra...you do know..."

"Of course Mr. Larabee, but this was the only place our informant felt safe. Apparently our quarry is highly homophobic, so this is probably the safest place to avoid a chance of notice."

Larabee simply shook his head and ordered a beer from the underdressed waiter. As he sipped the drink he scanned the room in a long standing habit. It was always better to know the layout and who may or may not be around. Then, as his attention reached the lower level bar area, his back suddenly stiffened.

Ezra, noticed the reaction and decided to jump right in. "Have you spotted something amiss, Mr. Larabee?" he asked, affecting an air of complete innocence.

Chris was unable to tear his eyes away from the bar, where Vin Tanner stood - toe to toe with a man...a tall man, dressed on black.. "What the hell is going on here Ezra?" he growled at the Southerner, still unable to take his eyes off of the Texan standing so close to that man. His heart was racing, his pants were suddenly becoming tighter, and he realized that he was totally, screamingly, incoherently jealous of that...that imposter standing too damn close to the man he wanted. Chris knew now without a doubt that he wanted Vin more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life. And, because he'd been too damn stubborn to admit that he wanted a man, he was about to lose Vin to some stranger who didn't know him, didn't care about him and didn't fucking love him. As Tanner headed back towards the hallway under the balcony with the shill following, Larabee bolted down the stairs. There was no way in hell Vin was gonna leave with that man. Chris reached the bottom of the stairs as the other two men headed down the hall towards one of several numbered doors. Most were closed, but one of the rooms was open and, as Chris watched, Vin entered. The decoy, having been prewarned by Ezra, was moving slowly, expecting the hand that now fell on his shoulder. Although he had been prepared to be stopped, he was not ready for the ferocity of the man as he shoved him back out of the hallway and warned him never to go near or touch the man he had been about to join.

Vin entered the small, dimly lit room - his resolve slipping just a bit - but another part of his brain screamed at him to quit being an indecisive jerk and just do it. He leaned against the wall waiting....

He didn't have to wait long; he heard the footstep behind him as the door closed and a small click as the lock was engaged. Damn he hated small locked rooms. He gritted he teeth and made his decision.

Leaning against the wall he spread his legs a bit further and unbuttoned his jeans. Reaching into his pocket with two fingers he slipped out the small packet, handing it back over his shoulder without looking. "Here," Vin said as he gave the condom to the taller man. Then he leaned his head against the wall as moisture welled up in his eyes. As much as he didn't want to do this he needed to.

Chris entered the room, shut and locked the door and took a deep breath as he looked up the see Vin leaning against the wall, loosening his jeans then passing a condom back over his shoulder with a single word. He wanted this man and took the offered packet. Moving up behind his friend, he grabbed the slighter, man pushing him up tightly against the wall at the same time that he thrust one leg between the already splayed ones and yanked the jeans down over the tempting cheeks. He growled low in his throat as he pushed the legs even further apart and rubbed against the beautiful ass. Chris was still sheathed in his own extremely overtight jeans and was reaching to unfasten them when he became aware of just how rigid his partner was. Chris could feel a tremor running through the lean body. Was it excitement or fear? If the latter, then why the hell was Vin doing this? For that matter why was HE doing this? Not that he didn't want Vin, that had become painfully obvious, but this wasn't HOW he wanted it. He wanted to be at home - face to face. He wanted to make love to his friend, not have a quick fuck in some strange closet in the back of a bar. Shit.

He stopped completely, but held the other man tightly, knowing his next move was going to cause trouble.

Up on the balcony...

As the bait, Ted, approached the table where Ezra sat with Frank, Ernie and a couple of other regulars who had been watching the show, Ted said, "Man, Ezra, you weren't half kidding when you said that this guy was a hard ass. For a minute there I thought he was gonna punch my lights out!"

"I do apologize Ted. I had hoped he would be jealous enough to intervene, but I do believe that I underestimated just how strongly he feels about Vin." He paused. "I trust that you are indeed unharmed."

"Yeah I'm okay and I guess it will have been worth it if it helps two people find true love."

"Oh, indeed I do hope that this works out, for them, and for the sanity of all of us who work with them. It has been extremely painful watching them fighting their true feelings."

"A toast!" Frank raised his glass, To our friend Yenta Standish."

"Don't remind me. If anyone, especially those two, find out that this was a set up I truly am a deceased personage."

Moments later there was a thump and a crash followed by the sound of splintering wood.

"This does not bode well my friends."

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