Chris checked his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time since the flight began, only to realize that he had another forty minutes to go. Sighing, he leaned back into his seat and grimaced, not being able to get comfortable in the small space the airline had allocated to him.
A scowl crossed the blond’s face, for it seemed that every time he flew the space between the seats got smaller, as did the seats themselves. What the heck, did the airlines think that everyone is 5’7 and weighs 150 pounds?
In his bid to get some comfort Chris shifted around, causing his knee to bump against the seat ahead of him. The snoring man in it gave a loud snort and shifted in his sleep, his head turning towards the window. Blissful silence descended for the first time in hours and the unfortunate woman seated next to the man gave Chris a grateful smile before going back to her magazine.
“We are about a half hour outside of JFK and it’s a beautiful day in New York. The temperature is 75 degrees with a nice breeze. Flight attendants, please prepare for landing.”
At the pilot’s announcement, the scowl left Chris Larabee’s face, as excitement started to build in him. This would be the first time he had seen Josiah in about four months, but it seemed longer for he found himself missing Josiah more and more each day. Even the frequent phone calls and e-mails hadn’t helped being separated from his lover.
Chris leaned back in his seat, looking out at the beautiful clear sky and remembered how everything had suddenly changed.
It had all started as they came back from a lunch celebrating another successful bust and Josiah received a phone call. The rest of the team was joking around with each other, burning off a little energy before getting back to work. Chris remembered looking over to Josiah to share a smile with the older man at the other’s antics, only to see a devastated look on his friend’s face. The others must have sensed something was wrong as well, for they had gathered quietly around their oldest member.
The pain in those soft blue eyes had him stepping closer to remove the phone from Josiah’s lax fingers. Keeping a steady eye on his friend Chris started to speak to the stranger, finding out that Josiah’s uncle had been brutally murdered and that his cousin needed him to come to New York to help arrange the funeral.
The rest of the men had picked up enough from his side of the conversation, stepping closer to Josiah, lending their support. Both JD and Ezra were contacting the airlines looking for the earliest flight out of Denver to New York, while Nathan and Buck offered comforting words and touches to the silently crying man, while Vin quickly shutdown Josiah’s computer. He remembered going back to his office and shutting down his own computer while contacting Travis’ secretary to let him know what was happening. He then shut off his lights and closed his office door, struggling to get his coat on. As he made his way back to Josiah’s desk he saw that Buck was helping the profiler with his coat. As he made contact with Buck’s eyes Chris gave a quick nod at the other man’s silent command to look after Josiah.
Moving slowly as not to jar him too much, Chris reached out and gently grasped Josiah’s bicep. Keeping his voice and tone soft he told the grieving man, “Come on Josiah. Let get you home so you can pack.”
Not receiving an answer, Chris gently steered Josiah out of the office and down to his truck. Opening the door, he helped the large man into the cab and efficiently hooked the seat belt around Josiah. The blond then quickly moved to the driver’s side and got in. He snapped his own belt into place as he started the engine. Reaching over he quickly turned on the heat to take the damp cold out of the cab as he put the truck into gear. Heading towards the exit Chris placed his sunglasses on, knowing that even on a rainy spring day in Denver he would need them.
Putting his left hand signal on, Chris quickly looked both ways before turning and heading up the street. The drive to Josiah’s place, the packing and then the drive to the airport were made in silence, but as the larger man was about to go through the gates he turned to Chris. Large strong arms embraced him in a tight hug as Josiah whispered a quiet thank you in his ear.
Chris’s remembrance of that hug was interrupted by the quiet voice of the stewardess, “Sir, could you put your seat up straight, we are about to land.”
Quickly he straightened his seat, as he continued to recall the changes leading to the team losing their first member and first time that Josiah and he made love.
It was Friday and the rest of the men had left to go to Inez’s about a half hour before, leaving him to finish up some reports before joining them for a beer and dinner. It had been two weeks since Josiah had left for his Uncle’s funeral, with the profiler requesting his vacation time to help his straighten out his uncle’s estate. But as the days passed Chris started to miss the older man more and more, and he was getting an uneasy feeling that Josiah might not be coming back, that if he did it wouldn’t be for long. So when he heard the soft knock on his open door he knew that what he feared would come to pass.
Looking up Chris saw Josiah leaning in the doorway, dressed causally in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt and smiled at seeing the man he missed. But by the look in the larger man’s eyes Chris knew he was right.
Josiah was leaving.
Hoping he was wrong, Chris got up and headed towards the larger man. “Josiah, you’re back! You should have let us know, we would have picked you up.”
Josiah met him half way. “I know you would have, but there were some things I had to do myself.” Once the older man was close enough he reached out and pulled Chris into a firm hug.
As the seconds went by and the strong arms didn’t withdraw, Chris leaned into the large body holding him, his own arms wrapped around the profiler’s waist. He rested his head against the side of the profiler’s neck, trying to memorize what it felt like being enfolded in Josiah’s strong arms as he breathed in the smell of the man holding him so lovingly.
Josiah sighed as he stepped back, slowly releasing him before reaching for his back pocket to retrieve a folded sheet of paper. Seeing that letter Chris felt his heart sink. He knew that it was Josiah’s resignation and that he was leaving them to return to New York. Chris also knew that Josiah was not doing this lightly, for the big man looked on the team as family and the only reason he was doing this was that he felt he must.
With regret Chris took the folder letter from Josiah and walked towards the window to look out at the darkening sky. He watched the lights coming on in the buildings around him and was glad that he hadn’t turned his on as yet. He didn’t want Josiah to see the pain nor the tears he was trying to hide. Chris knew that any hope that he’d had that maybe, somehow, someway he and Josiah could explore the growing attraction they had for one another was dashed forever. There was no way that they could explore their feelings if they were too far way from one another. With him in Denver and Josiah in New York and with the cases the team got, it would be almost impossible to have a relationship.
He heard the door close and leaned his forehead against the window thinking that Josiah had left, when he felt the other man’s arms wrap around his waist before being pushed flushed against the window. A groan of desire ghosted over his ear as the large body blanketed his from behind.
“Do you know how beautiful you look standing here?” purred Josiah, making Chris shiver. “Do you know how many times I wanted to make love to you like this?” Soft lips kissed the back of his neck, as one of Josiah’s hands snaked down his body to gently cup his growing erection. The profiler started to slowly rock his own hard cock against him, leaving Chris with no doubts as to the depth of the larger man’s desire.
Chris turned his head so his cheek was pressed against the glass; the hand clutching the resignation was against the glass helping him keep his balance. His own desire for the man behind him made Chris whisper, “Please.” He closed his eyes with a groan as Josiah started to nibble and nuzzle his neck and ear.
The next thing Chris knew, a large callused hand was wrapped possessively around his leaking shaft. Slowly that hand pulled, stroking up and down his hard length as Josiah’s other hand pushed his jeans and underwear down his thighs leaving him exposed to anyone who was watching. He opened his eyes at the thought of someone watching, only to see the night sky slowly filling with stars. It almost seemed as if they were making love in the sky instead of his office.
He closed his eyes and groaned as Josiah’s talented hands stroked and caressed him. No one would see them, if they did all they would see was a dark shape against the glass. Just the idea that he was fully exposed to anyone and everyone as his lover slowly stroked him was turning him on far more that he expected. He knew that he wasn’t an exhibitionist but what Josiah was doing was beyond anything he ever experienced and he let go trusting the larger man to catch him.
He was turned around and found himself looking up into Josiah’s face, seeing the hunger burning in the pale blue eyes. Slowly the larger man raised Chris’s arms over his head, holding them firmly against the cool glass by his wrists. Under the intense blue gaze his legs were spread, letting the profiler insert one muscular thigh tight against his erection; lifting him slightly off the floor so he rested on the soft cotton of Josiah’s denim clad thigh.
Chris was lost in those hungry pools as Josiah leaned closer, stopping just shy of kissing him. “So beautiful, I’ve dreamed of you like this.” the profiler huskily whispered. “This is not the end Chris, but only the beginning.” Then Josiah kissed him. No, devoured him, as if he was the very air that the other man needed to live. Chris found himself surrendering to the loving attack, letting Josiah through the last of his defenses.
Josiah guided his hands down to the button of his jeans, encouraging Chris to open them and explore what the material contained. He quickly opened the other man’s pants only to hesitate for a second. Chris was surprised to realize that his hands were shaking as he reached inside to retrieve Josiah’s hard shaft from its tight confinement. He wrapped his hand around the large, pulsating flesh, causing the profiler to groan and pull him closer to deepen the consuming kiss. His hands started to explore the flesh in his grasp, caressing it as he realized how big Josiah was and briefly wondered if he could take him. Soon all he could think of was the pleasure that his lover was giving him.
Chris heard himself whimper as Josiah firmly cupped his ass, lifting him upwards with a grunt. Instinctively he wrapped his legs around Josiah’s waist and his arm’s around the other man’s neck. He was held easily in place by the window at his back, which supported the majority of his weight, and the strong hands currently kneading his ass.
He yanked his mouth from his lover’s so he could get his breath. Their groans and harsh breathing filled the silence as their hard leaking erections …
Larabee was pulled out his pleasant remembrances by the landing of the plane, leaving him hard and aching for his lover.
Josiah nervously waited at the baggage claim for his lover, finally noticing two men who were suspiciously lounging around as if they were waiting for someone. He made eye contact with the two men making sure that they knew they had been made. They both turned red and moved as far from him as possible.
Damn it! Couldn’t Manning keep his nose out of his business!
Damn that man!
He then turned to watch the terminal door, a scowl darkening his face, making people step around him as he quietly fumed.
The man had no business running the division, especially with him calling Abe, Liz and his cousin freaks and threatening to fire John, the only true friend they had, if he didn’t follow Manning’s orders. That was no way to treat people and he feared that Manning wanted to see all three of them dead. Dead so that he could go on to what he considered more important work than what they were doing.
The fool didn’t want to believe how important all four of the young people were in the protection of the world against the supernatural darkness that threatened it constantly. Instead it was almost like he wanted to do everything in his power to see that the bureau was closed. The only one standing between what Manning wanted was him and he wasn’t about to move.
This was the second time the man tried to intimidate him by having him followed. It didn’t work the first time and it wouldn’t work this time. He just had to have another long talk with the bastard or – maybe let his lover deal with Manning. Josiah could just imagine what would happen during that confrontation and couldn’t wait for Manning to meet a true leader.
He turned to pin the two agents with his eyes as a nasty grin broke over his face, causing the two men to shiver.
One of the agents turned away for Dr. Sanchez’s resemblance to HB was just too scary, especially when grinning the way he was. All he needed was one of the cigars HB loved to smoke. They knew it was a bad idea to trail the psychologist, especially after the last time, but Dr. Manning had ordered them point blank to follow him. If they didn’t he was going to assign them to the worst duty he could think of.
Both men remembered how morale had hit an all time low when Dr. Bruttenholm was murdered and it had only gotten marginally better since Dr. Sanchez assumed his uncle’s role. The thing was Dr. Manning did everything he could to counteract any good the psychologist did. Still, Sanchez slowly won everyone over, especially after the last confrontation between the two doctors. It was rumored that Sanchez had gotten permission to recruit a new head for the division, which had Manning in a panic at the thought of being replaced. Hence the orders to follow Dr. Sanchez.
Josiah softened his gaze for it wasn’t the two agents fault that they were ordered to follow him. The fault lay on Manning, for he had no business being in charge. If he got his way he wouldn’t be much longer. But it all would depend on Chris.
If Chris and his cousin liked each other.
If Chris wanted the job.
If Chris wanted to have a more permanent relationship with him.
Just thinking of his lover made him remember the wonderful week they’d had together. The long quiet dinners, snuggling up on the couch to watch TV and the hot passionate love they’d made. It surprised him to realize how much Chris enjoyed being touched, letting him have the majority of control while making love but when the blond took over … mind blowing.
The glimmer of silvery blond hair caught his eyes and Josiah straightened up, heart pounding in anticipation and a little fear as Chris came through the checkpoint. The fear evaporated as the heated green-blue eyes locked with his, his lover moving swiftly towards him. People automatically moved out of the way of the commanding blond, even the two bureau men straightened up as the dominating presence washed over them.
Chris and Josiah exchanged a fierce but short hug, not ones to allow outsiders to view what was to them a very private matter. The larger man quickly steered his lover out of the airport and towards his Ford Explorer parked not too far from the entrance.
Larabee quickly noticed two men following them as they came out of the airport. Reaching inside his jacket he clicked the safety off his gun, not sure if they were part of an ambush.
Josiah saw the movement and spared a quick look at the other man, quietly signaling that everything was fine.
Chris relaxed slightly but didn’t put the safety back on as he looked back at the two, trying to gauge who they were and why were they following Josiah. Everything about the two strangers screamed Fed. “Why is the FBI following you?”
“They are not FBI but part of a government bureau I’m working for. The leader of our division thinks he can intimidate me into allowing him to get away with anything he wants.“
Chris’s eyes narrowed at how Josiah sneered the word leader, angry green flames of fire starting to burn at being told that this man was trying to intimidate his lover. That would not be allowed.
He would put the man in his place.
No one ever threatens anything of his.
Chris Larabee was very confused when they pulled up to a sewage treatment plant outside of the city. Something was going on, but he knew that Josiah would tell him what it was when he could.
He sat quietly, scanning the area but also watching his lover from the corner of his eyes as he entered a code into a panel. The gates opened, allowing them to drive through followed by the blue Lincoln containing the two government agents.
As they droved towards the plant, Chris noticed that there was a lot of extra security for something as mundane as a sewerage plant. His nerves were on edge, but trusting Josiah implicitly, he started to note where the extra cameras were and the positions of the men that were trying unsuccessfully to hide in the bush surrounding the place. Making up escape plans just In case he had to get them out of there.
Josiah pulled up to the front doors of the plant and parked the vehicle. “Well, we’re here.” He got out of the truck and retrieved Chris’s carry on baggage, before moving up the stairs followed by the blonde.
As they crossed the marble floor towards the desk, Chris shot his love a look, letting Josiah know he had some explaining to do as they stopped about ten feet from the desk. The guard politely greeted them. “Good evening Dr. Sanchez. Mr. Larabee. Please keep you hands close to your body.”
The floor then lurched downward as it was slowly lowered. Temporarily losing his balance, Chris grabbed Josiah’s arm to steady himself. He quickly regained his balance taking in the active atmosphere that surrounded them as they reached the bottom.
The blonde followed closely behind Josiah, taking in everything that they passed until they turned down a deserted corridor and stopped in front of a plain door. Josiah placed his hand on a panel, where upon the door slid quietly open.
Chris stepped into the room only to be yanked back against the wall, his mouth taken in a hard demanding kiss. He felt himself starting to respond to his lover’s passionate kiss but there were too many questions that need answering. He gently but forcefully pushed the other man away and with a serious expression looked up at Josiah. “Nope. First tell me what’s going on.”
Seeing the resolve, Josiah reached to gently caress the side of Chris’s face before leaning in to give him a short and loving kiss. “Ok, but first you have to meet my cousin.”
Chris was puzzled as to what Josiah’s cousin had to do with any of this, but willing to do it for his lover, “All right, let’s go meet him.”
So a few minutes later after following his lover down a number of corridors that all looked the same, until he found himself standing nervously outside a huge door. This was the first family member of Josiah’s that he had gotten to meet and he wanted to make a good first impression. Chris couldn’t help but be reminded of the time he met Sarah’s father and the disaster that turned out to be, but he was older now and hopefully wiser.
The first thing he noticed was the cats … there must have been a dozen or more around the room. All them were very obviously well care for and loved. Seeing one brave little black cat cautiously making it’s way towards him had him squatting down and holding out his hand so the little fellow could make up it’s mind to like him or not. Once the little guy rubbed against his hand he gently pick the kitten up so he could look in beautiful green eyes that reminded him strangely of Ezra. “Well you are certainly a brave little guy, what’s your name?”
He tensed up slightly when a deep voice behind him said, “Smokey.”
Tucking the kitten in his arms, Chris stood before turning to face the person behind him. First thing he noticed was the large naked chest.
A large RED naked chest.
Slowly he tilted his head up to look at the large man-creature that towered over him. He met the blue gaze seeing the man, the soul that existed behind the physical appearance of a demon. As he looked he couldn’t help but notice… before he knew it he opened his mouth and said, “Well I can see the family resemblance.”
It must have been the right thing to say because Hellboy gave a big booming laugh as he slapped Chris on the back, making the other man stagger. “I like him Cuz, he will fit in just fine.” The laughter slowly faded to a chuckle as Hellboy continued to grin at the kitten that had made itself at home in Chris’s arms. “Besides I trust Smokey’s good taste. He likes you, that means something; he only likes a very few select people.”
Josiah decided to introduce the two most important people in life to each other. “Chris Larabee met my cousin Hellboy, or HB as he likes to be called.”
As Chris shook hands with Josiah’s cousin he somehow got the impression that Hellboy wasn’t any older than JD, but there was something about HB that Chris liked. They spent a good half hour talking before HB reached over to his fridge and retrieve a six-pack with his tail and let it hang in front of Chris, reminding him that he wasn’t human.
Chris knew that it was sort of a test Hellboy was giving him and calmly reached for the six-pack tearing one off and hand it to Josiah. He then tore off another, throwing it to HB before finally taking one for himself.
HB watched as the blond and his cousin each took a sip of beer before asking, “So coz, this is the guy that has you all hot and bothered?” He laughed as Chris spit his beer out through his nose while Josiah started to cough when he swallowed his the wrong way. Both Chris and Josiah turned bright red as the older man turned a disapproving look onto his unrepentant cousin. Who just relaxed back into his chair giving Josiah a “What did I do?” look.
Josiah gave HB a stern look before sighing, as it did no good. “You know he is HB.”
Hellboy leaned forward to look at the two men. “Good! I think you two are good for each other. “ He turned towards Chris and gave him a long level stare. “You take good care of my cousin or we will be having a long talk.”
Chris met HB’s stare and nodded his head to acknowledge the spoken threat. He turned to look at his lover who was looking at him with love and knew that this was going to work. That this was right for both of them.
HB leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar, chewing on the end as he gave Josiah a nod. Josiah moved to so he could face his lover, his beer loosely held in one hand as he told Chris everything that had happened from the time that his uncle had found his cousin, right up to what was presently going on. Leaving nothing out - including his own runins with Dr. Manning, the three young people that he looked upon as his children and finally the reason why he wanted Chris to come to New York. Josiah laid out the offer from the Bureau for Paranormal Research, including all the provisions that the profiler knew that Chris would want.
Chris sat and listened to Josiah, the more that was revealed about what went on here the more he was drawn to the idea. He had been growing dissatisfied with the ATF and law enforcement itself. It seemed as soon as they put the bad guys away they were back on the street doing the same thing they were doing when they were arrested.
Not only was he growing frustrated by this revolving door justice, but also that every time he tried to promote Ezra or get the man out of undercover work he was greeted with a brick wall a mile thick. No one wanted the southerner because of those damn rumors! If he couldn’t get the southerner out of undercover he would be identifying Ezra at the morgue when someone recognized him from another bust.
Then there was that damn nightmare where he had to kill Ezra because the man had snapped and gone over the edge. Chris always woke up after the southerner died in his arms hearing Ezra thank him with his last breath. That part was the worst. Maybe with this new position he could fix that situation too. “Would I be able to pick the people who work under me?” He asked Josiah.
“Yes.” The older man told him. Then he grinned. “I think Ezra would fit in very well here, don’t you?”
Hellboy started to grin mischievously. “And since you and Josiah would be co-leaders of our division, politics wouldn’t interfere in your relationship.”
Chris couldn’t very well pass that appealing fact up. Plus, he would be sharing the responsibility of this division and would not have to shoulder the heavy responsibility all on his own. Josiah would be there for him and vise versa. They could take their time to enjoy being with each other, waking in each other’s arms in the morning or take comfort from one another when something went wrong.
He suddenly realized that Josiah had been waiting for an answer for some time, his soft blue eyes reflecting his anxiety. “Where do I sign?”
Hellboy handed Chris a folder containing the contract. The blond quickly scanned the document and looked up at his co-leader with a smile, knowing that Josiah had a lot to do with making sure that they had full control of the department; that they could hire or fire anyone he or Josiah wanted. The six figure salary, five weeks of vacation, full plush pension and a furnished apartment on site, including an area where he could stable his horses, was just icing on the cake.
Chris signed the contract where Josiah pointed and watched as his lover faxed it to the council making it official. He was now one of the new heads for the Bureau of Paranormal Research. They had just received the confirmation and a note welcoming Chris aboard when the door suddenly opened letting in a young woman of about twenty with dark, shoulder length hair and the most beautiful sad eyes Chris had ever seen. “Red! Ohhh… “ Only to stop when she saw him.
Hellboy turned towards the young woman, “Liz, what’s the matter?”
She turned her eyes towards HB, “Manning is going to fire John.”
“What?! That good for nothing bastard!” Chris could only stare in shock as Josiah started to swear a blue streak as he marched out of the apartment. A grin appeared on his face as he scrambled to follow his lover, but he paused on seeing the confused looks on both young people’s faces. “Come on you two! I don’t want to miss this and you two shouldn’t either.”
Matching grins greeted his as the three of them hurried after Josiah who was still obviously swearing but had moved from English to other languages as he stalked down the corridors. People automatically moved out the way of the angry man to watch curiosity the small group that hurried in his wake.
Josiah breezed by the young man sitting at the reception desk, opening the doors and letting them bang into the walls as he marched into the office and cutting the yelling voice off as he snarled, “Manning!”
Chris moved quickly into the room to taking up a position so he could watch everything but also to protect Josiah’s back from those that might try to hurt him. Once he was situated he noticed a dark haired young man around twenty-five watching the shouting match between the two men with wide eyes.
Chris quickly put two and two together and realized this must be John Myers, the young agent that Josiah, his uncle and cousin had taken a liking too. He was about to get the kid out from between the two combats when Hellboy simply moved in and snatched the young man up. He watched with a grin as HB dumped the kid in a chair and stood protectively over him while Liz took up guard duty on the other side. HB or Liz had to keep pushing John back into the seat, preventing the young man from going anywhere.
His attention was brought back to the two angry men when Manning suddenly yelled, “faggot!” Chris’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the man admitting that he’d had the young man deliberately followed, invading Myers private life so that he could find something that he could use to get rid of the kid. Manning’ s spies caught Myers on camera kissing his date, another young man, and brought in the evidence. Manning was using the photos and his blustering to try to blackmail Myers into resigning.
Hearing enough Chris stepping between the two men and took his first true look at Manning and felt a sneer coming out. The little paper pusher had probably never been out in the field, nor had any type of command before this position. Addressing the younger man but never removing his eyes from the man before him, Chris asked, “Mr. Myers –“
Manning started to demanded, “Who the hell –“
Chris ignored him as he continued, “its obvious that when we came in that you were being sexually discriminated against by a former superior. Do you wish to press charges?” As he said former the good doctor’s eyes started to bug out as his face turned even redder.
“No … no I don’t.” Came the quiet reply.
Chris continued to pin the little prick in place with his eyes as he started to move forward, making the man lean back away from him. “You are no longer in charge here. I want you and your stuff gone from here by tomorrow. I am also recommending that you have no further contact with this division and if I have my way you will be drummed out of any job with the government. Now get the hell out of my office.”
He watched as the man turned and scrambled to the door before pausing and straightening his clothing. Manning turned to sweep the room with a disgusted look before locking eyes with Josiah. “We will just see about this, Dr. Sanchez. I will see to it that his division is closed and … “ he sneered at the three young people in the corner, “those freaks that you love are either destroyed or locked away from the rest of humanity.” With that he walked through the door.
The End
