Sinking 07/10 - Oz: Beecher/Murphy
Sinking
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@livejournal.com
Beecher didn't fuck up his parole buying drugs for Bonnie. Yay, everything is awesome! Only... he's maybe not handling his parole as well as other people think he is. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy's been pining after Tim McManus for too damned long. Even so, the two of them hooking up for a blow job is about the worst idea possible.
Beecher/Murphy, with sidelines in Beecher/Keller and McManus/Murphy
Rated R for considerable amounts of fucking.
Wordcount this chapter: 2801
Total wordcount: 29 000-ish
Oz and all its characters are the property of Tom Fontana and HBO. I make no profit, and intend as little infringement as I possibly can. I apologise to Tom, for the gremlins who keep changing 'Tom' to 'Tony', even though I keep fixing it. Also appreciation to vanillalime, who says things that sometimes I steal.
Sinking 7/10
by Dr Squidlove
In chapter 6, Sean couldn't help savouring the aftermath of letting Toby fuck him. In his defence, he knows he's both crazy and an asshole. He stopped by Sister Pete but, realising he couldn't and wouldn't tell her anything, left again - this time with a firm resolve to stop fucking Toby. Toby showed up, high again, and Sean fucked him, and nobody pretended they didn't want it. Afterwards, Toby told Sean he wanted Sean to make Chris see him. Toby didn't say Chris killed other people who put their hands on Toby's goods, and he didn't say he could kill Sean, but if Sean inferred such things, well, so it goes. Toby was much more clear and direct in reminding Sean that he was a sad, lonely bastard who had never and would never be loved like Chris loved Toby.
But even knowing that he was walking even deeper into convict-invested swamp, Sean couldn't help being a nice guy. And so he agreed to go see Chris for Toby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sean had spent a good chunk of the morning on Tim's computer, poring over Em City records, trying to figure out who Chris Keller had murdered. He'd never seen the list of Oswald's deaths racked up like this before, a clinical and incredibly long list of names, men Sean had supervised, men he'd completely forgotten. It was sobering. Plenty of this happened under Sean's watch.
It left him feeling queasy, but it didn't answer any questions. Toby and Keller had been circling and clashing and fucking for years, and Toby hadn't given any clues when it had happened. It could have been any of these unsolved murders. It could have been one of these ones written off as an accident, or it could have been something pinned on someone else by some cavalier investigation.
He had to tell Tim, and that was going to mean telling Tim how he got the information. Sean let out a breath, and rubbed a hand through his hair. If Sean confessed how he got the information, Tim'd forget all about the murders. Men got killed in Oz all the time, but Sean fucking up, that was something special.
"Sean, you measuring this place up for a takeover?"
Sean's heart banged against his ribs and raced like crazy. He exited out of the files fast. "Yeah, I was, uh... actually, I'm thinking of killing Pancamo, taking over the tits business here in Em City."
Tim laughed. "There's one thing I'd never worry about. You're the most trustworthy guy in this place."
Sean couldn't look him in the eye. "You know me, Tim. I leave the big plans to you, stick to keeping all the dinks in line."
"You need something?"
"Nah, just checkin' a file." He stood up. He had to get out of here before his imagination started playing a best of last night in front of Tim. "Listen, you mind if I disappear for twenty minutes? There's something I want to look into."
"Of course not. Hey, you okay, Sean?"
"Fine." Tim, remember Tobias Beecher? He was in my apartment last night. I had my tongue up his ass. How's that for trustworthy?
Tim came around and leaned against the desk, way too close, and some hysterical inner voice said Tim would smell the sex on him. "You seem a little... I don't know. I haven't seen much of you lately."
"I'm fine." He's the dirtiest, hottest fuck I've had in a long time. Do you even know how to fuck like that, Tim? Ass in the air, begging for more? "How 'bout we go out for a drink sometime soon? Maybe tomorrow or something?"
"That'd be great." Tim smiled, and Sean wondered what would happen if he pushed Tim back across the desk right now and went for his pants. Would Tim freak out, or would he take a page from Toby's book and up the ante? Give Sean what he'd wanted all these years?
Of course he wouldn't, you asshole. He's straight. He's always been straight. Always gonna be.
Sean beat it out of there, down the stairs and out of Em City. He was off his rocker. He was half-hard. He paused when he got through the gates, took a step to the right and almost smacked straight into Vern Schillinger and his mail cart.
Schillinger's dead fish eyes narrowed at whatever he found in Sean's face. Instead of the usual small-minded bully standing on the molehill of heap of backwards bullshit, Sean saw Toby's tormentor, the predator that terrorised Toby into lying still while a swastika was etched into his ass with matches and god-knew-what.
Sean had the power to wreak revenge, if he wanted it. He could fuck Schillinger up seven ways to Sunday. If he wanted to be that kind of guard. Schillinger raised an eyebrow. Sean stepped aside with a nod. He took some calming breaths as Schillinger trundled by, and then changed direction and headed for Sister Pete's office. She was just seeing out some kid when Sean arrived, and she beckoned him in. He couldn't shove Toby into her office - and he couldn't give Schillinger a beat-down - but he had to do something for him.
It had only occurred to him last night as he was halfway off to sleep, that Toby saying something to Keller wasn't the worst thing that could happen. He'd sat straight up in bed, sick to his guts as he realised the real nightmare scenario was Toby backsliding all the way into Oz. If he fucked up, or if his PO got wind of the drugs, he'd be done. And then he'd be here.
Having Toby back in Em City under Sean's supervision, with their new history and all their secrets... Other prisoners sniffing out any hint of familiarity, Toby knowing he had a lever on Sean... Sean with a track record of letting his dick make terrible, very bad decisions... Sean hadn't slept for a good few hours after that.
He'd driven to work today with a whole new determination to get Toby back on the rails.
As soon as the door closed, he asked, "What do you tell addicts, Sister?"
Pete peered over the top of her glasses. "What do I tell them?"
"What d'you tell them to do, when they've got temptation sitting right in front of 'em?"
Drugs was what Sean meant. Not fucking. If Pete knew how tenderly Toby was walking when he left Sean's place the other night, well. He was pretty sure he could imagine the look of disappointment he'd get.
She sat back, regarding him."Well, that depends."
"On?"
"Does he have a friend he can trust?"
"I don't know." No one Toby could confide in. No one he had confided in, anyway. "No one he trusts."
"What about goals? Are there things he wants?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Tell your friend to think about what he wants out of life. Remember it's a choice."
Yeah, like Toby didn't know that already. Sean realised Sister Pete was looking at him thoughtfully. "I ain't talkin' about me, Sister."
"All right."
"Really. There's this... friend. He's kinda in a tailspin. I'm worried about him."
She came around and leaned back on the desk, finally seeming to take him at his word. "So he does have a friend. A good friend, by the sounds of it."
"Nah, I can't... We ain't exactly best pals." If Pete had the faintest idea what kind of friendship they had going on, she'd be dishing out very different advice.
"Maybe you're the best pal he has right now."
Sean didn't want to be the best pal Toby had.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Keller was sitting in the corner, head on his folded arms on his knees. He turned his head far enough to see his visitor and blinked in the light, but he didn't move to get up. "Time's up already?"
"No. Just came for a visit."
"Well then." Keller swept out his arm. "Come in. Take a chair. Help yourself to the beer."
Sean had always seen Keller as cold. Hard to predict. You always had a pretty good idea of the sort of shit that the likes of Pancamo or Poet were up to, but Keller was a schemer like O'Reily. An iceberg. Now he seemed a hell of a lot more dangerous, but Sean was standing here imagining him fucking Toby. Laughing at Toby stealing a bra. Murdering Toby's lovers.
Sean looked back to be sure Johnson had left them alone. "I brought you a message."
"You an errand boy now, Murphy?" The bored indifference didn't impress Sean. "Who's got your leash?"
Sean could puncture it in an instant, if he had a death wish. He wished that thought didn't settle so heavily in his pants. "Beecher."
"Seriously?" Now Keller didn't bother to hide his surprise or his affection. "Didn't think paying hacks was his style." He bounced onto his feet, not bothered by his nakedness, and now his face was hard, body tensed for a fight. Sean hoped Johnson hadn't gone too far away. "But I'm afraid I ain't taking messages from Beecher these days."
Sean kept his eyes high. He'd gotten over dealing with naked guys long ago, but he'd never shared a lover with the rest of the dinks in here. Sean wondered if his own heavy, aging body seemed pathetic in comparison to Keller's sculpted lines, or if Toby didn't give a damn about the package as long as he got his rocks off. Sean was pretty good at getting Toby's rocks off.
He probably gave a damn about that good-size cock. Judging by that night Toby gave a running commentary about the guys in the bar, Toby was a regular size queen, but Sean wasn't lacking there, either. Maybe he and Keller should make this dick-measuring contest literal. "I could just beat you down, and whisper it in your ear." He could tell Keller that he'd fucked his boyfriend, that he'd seen what an animal Toby could be in the sack, remind him that he was never going to get his dick in there again and then he could lock him in here, leave him raging.
And Sean could watch his own back for the rest of his career.
Keller took another step forward, letting loose that soft, dangerous smirk. "You think you can take me?"
"Yeah, I think I..." Keller wasn't just some jealous lover. He was a serial killer. A murderer. "Look, just, shut the hell up. You're starving to hear from him, so how 'bout we just skip all the posturing bullshit. Beecher needs you."
"No, he don't."
"I'm guessing his Ma told you he's fucking up his life?" There was a flicker of something there: surprise or anger maybe, Sean couldn't tell. Sean had been trying to guess whether Ma Beecher had got herself a clue that Toby was spiralling, or if she'd told Keller to fuck off because her baby was doing just fine without him. "She tell you he doesn't have a shiny law office job, or a schoolteacher girlfriend? She tell you he's drinking again?"
Keller blew out a puff of air, looked up at the ceiling. At least one of those things was a surprise, but Sean couldn't tell which. Maybe Toby's Ma knew more than Toby realised. Keller focused on Sean again, paying attention now. "So did Toby send you, or did she?"
Sean was well off Toby's script, but Toby had only demanded Sean get Keller to talk to him, so Sean was going to play it his own way. "His Ma told you to send him away, didn't she? She told you Beecher'd be better off without a piece of shit like you in his life."
Keller's jaw hardened, nothing more.
"Hard to argue with that, isn't it, Keller? If you stop pulling him back here every week, maybe he can put this place behind him. Maybe he can somehow get his act together. Make a life for himself, for his kids." Sean waited, hoping for a reaction, a little fire at least, but Keller wasn't playing so he tunnelled on. "Hard to argue, but see, here's the thing. His Ma's lookin' at him, she still sees her little angel boy who studied his ass off through law school, made the family proud. You and me, we don't know that guy. Didn't even see the last tatters of that kid coming through the gates before Schillinger got his claws in, did we? She thinks she's seen the worst of him because she saw him get himself shut in here, but I'll bet she doesn't have a shadow of an idea what a self-destructive fuck-up her boy can be."
Sean pointed. "But you do. You've seen all sorts of dark corners of Toby's psyche - hell, ya carved a few of 'em. You know a hell of a lot more than me, and I'm telling you, I wouldn't never leave someone I cared about in the wilds like that."
Keller folded his arms, casual as he pleased, but Sean saw the tension in him, knew there was a real chance the wrong word would have Keller across the room in a second.
"She knows this much: it's awful lonely for you without him. You want him back in here."
Keller surged forward, eyes burning. "She didn't tell you I-" A frozen moment, Keller barely two foot away. Sean forced his hands still, one quick inch from his night stick, keeping his cool as his heart hammered in his chest. Keller's jaw clamped shut. Toby's ma didn't tell Sean that Keller did what? "Toby's free. He's making a life and I'm in here. What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
It was a fair question. Sean almost felt sorry for him. He wasn't ever gonna get his dick in Toby again. Not unless Toby found his way back in here, and Sean was gonna do his best to make sure that didn't happen. "He loves you."
"You're telling me he's been lying to me since the day he walked out of here. He's a fucking liar, and I don't need him."
"And you're a model of honesty, right?" Sean nodded. "He's been lying to protect you. Now you're lying to protect him. You really are a coupla mugs. You love him a lot, don't ya, Keller? You think he won't do better for having one more person in his corner?"
"Get the fuck out of here." Keller sneered the words with a wave of his hand, half-turning his back. But it was a bare eight-by-eight cell, and there was nowhere to go.
Sean had the power here, so he went for broke. "I'll tell you something else, and this ain't from Beecher. And I'll bet his Ma didn't know it, either. Beecher's using. Heroin, straight to his veins."
There it was, Keller's mouth falling wide, the reaction Sean had been looking for this whole time.
"You think his Ma knows how to fix that?"
"It's bullshit."
Sean rapped on the door, grateful when he heard footsteps on the other side, and then he tapped two fingers inside his left elbow. "You see him, you can see for yourself."
Keller stared at him, speechless for quiet, long seconds. "What's Toby got on you?"
The door swung open.
"Never you mind. But if you see Beecher, you can ask him."
Sean closed his eyes as the door clanged shut behind him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sean's knuckles hadn't hit the door a second time when it was thrown open, Toby's face bare and eager.
"Keller's out of the Hole first thing tomorrow."
"He'll see me?"
"I dunno. I think he might, I think I got through, but I ain't the expert on Keller."
"Thank you." Toby reached, and Sean stepped back.
"I can't stay. I'm meeting up with Tim - with McManus."
The corners of Toby's eyes lifted. "Sister Pete been counselling you on avoiding temptation?"
For a heart-stopping moment, Sean thought Toby was warning him about Tim. But no - Toby's hand was drifting over his own stomach, half-tease, half-offer. That's why Toby thought Sean was running, and he was half-right.
"You should listen to her," Toby purred. "First rule of managing addiction is keep out of the way of temptation."
Quick as lightning Sean found himself pressed up against the wall, Toby's hard body fitted to his, cocks pressed. His gut tingled with the contact and with the cold realisation that Toby had dulled his reflexes. Maybe 'addiction' wasn't so far off.
Toby's breath was hot and wet in his ear. "But there's nothing wrong with starting tomorrow."
A strong hand was squeezing Sean's ass, grinding their cocks, and yes, Sean wanted one more taste. You didn't find fucks like Toby trawling through the bar. There was no one else on the horizon who would fuck Sean inside out, or bring the thrilling terror of destruction.
"I think it'd be best for both of us if we-"
"Sure it would." Toby was rubbing his jaw along Sean's, and then lips found Sean's neck and Sean's knees weakened. Of course he wanted to, but he'd had the good sense to make sure he couldn't. It was time to climb off the roller coaster.
"I talked to Chris. He's gonna see you. You and me, we're done." Sean put his hands on Toby's shoulders and pushed him back, stared hard in his eyes. "I talked to Chris for you. Now it's your turn to put yourself back together. Your kids, your mother - they're all waiting for you to ask for their help. You gotta remember what you want out of life. Remember you got choices."
"Whatever you say, Sean." Toby stepped away, and the door was closed in Sean's face.
-----
end part 7
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@livejournal.com
Beecher didn't fuck up his parole buying drugs for Bonnie. Yay, everything is awesome! Only... he's maybe not handling his parole as well as other people think he is. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy's been pining after Tim McManus for too damned long. Even so, the two of them hooking up for a blow job is about the worst idea possible.
Beecher/Murphy, with sidelines in Beecher/Keller and McManus/Murphy
Rated R for considerable amounts of fucking.
Wordcount this chapter: 2801
Total wordcount: 29 000-ish
Oz and all its characters are the property of Tom Fontana and HBO. I make no profit, and intend as little infringement as I possibly can. I apologise to Tom, for the gremlins who keep changing 'Tom' to 'Tony', even though I keep fixing it. Also appreciation to vanillalime, who says things that sometimes I steal.
Sinking 7/10
by Dr Squidlove
In chapter 6, Sean couldn't help savouring the aftermath of letting Toby fuck him. In his defence, he knows he's both crazy and an asshole. He stopped by Sister Pete but, realising he couldn't and wouldn't tell her anything, left again - this time with a firm resolve to stop fucking Toby. Toby showed up, high again, and Sean fucked him, and nobody pretended they didn't want it. Afterwards, Toby told Sean he wanted Sean to make Chris see him. Toby didn't say Chris killed other people who put their hands on Toby's goods, and he didn't say he could kill Sean, but if Sean inferred such things, well, so it goes. Toby was much more clear and direct in reminding Sean that he was a sad, lonely bastard who had never and would never be loved like Chris loved Toby.
But even knowing that he was walking even deeper into convict-invested swamp, Sean couldn't help being a nice guy. And so he agreed to go see Chris for Toby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sean had spent a good chunk of the morning on Tim's computer, poring over Em City records, trying to figure out who Chris Keller had murdered. He'd never seen the list of Oswald's deaths racked up like this before, a clinical and incredibly long list of names, men Sean had supervised, men he'd completely forgotten. It was sobering. Plenty of this happened under Sean's watch.
It left him feeling queasy, but it didn't answer any questions. Toby and Keller had been circling and clashing and fucking for years, and Toby hadn't given any clues when it had happened. It could have been any of these unsolved murders. It could have been one of these ones written off as an accident, or it could have been something pinned on someone else by some cavalier investigation.
He had to tell Tim, and that was going to mean telling Tim how he got the information. Sean let out a breath, and rubbed a hand through his hair. If Sean confessed how he got the information, Tim'd forget all about the murders. Men got killed in Oz all the time, but Sean fucking up, that was something special.
"Sean, you measuring this place up for a takeover?"
Sean's heart banged against his ribs and raced like crazy. He exited out of the files fast. "Yeah, I was, uh... actually, I'm thinking of killing Pancamo, taking over the tits business here in Em City."
Tim laughed. "There's one thing I'd never worry about. You're the most trustworthy guy in this place."
Sean couldn't look him in the eye. "You know me, Tim. I leave the big plans to you, stick to keeping all the dinks in line."
"You need something?"
"Nah, just checkin' a file." He stood up. He had to get out of here before his imagination started playing a best of last night in front of Tim. "Listen, you mind if I disappear for twenty minutes? There's something I want to look into."
"Of course not. Hey, you okay, Sean?"
"Fine." Tim, remember Tobias Beecher? He was in my apartment last night. I had my tongue up his ass. How's that for trustworthy?
Tim came around and leaned against the desk, way too close, and some hysterical inner voice said Tim would smell the sex on him. "You seem a little... I don't know. I haven't seen much of you lately."
"I'm fine." He's the dirtiest, hottest fuck I've had in a long time. Do you even know how to fuck like that, Tim? Ass in the air, begging for more? "How 'bout we go out for a drink sometime soon? Maybe tomorrow or something?"
"That'd be great." Tim smiled, and Sean wondered what would happen if he pushed Tim back across the desk right now and went for his pants. Would Tim freak out, or would he take a page from Toby's book and up the ante? Give Sean what he'd wanted all these years?
Of course he wouldn't, you asshole. He's straight. He's always been straight. Always gonna be.
Sean beat it out of there, down the stairs and out of Em City. He was off his rocker. He was half-hard. He paused when he got through the gates, took a step to the right and almost smacked straight into Vern Schillinger and his mail cart.
Schillinger's dead fish eyes narrowed at whatever he found in Sean's face. Instead of the usual small-minded bully standing on the molehill of heap of backwards bullshit, Sean saw Toby's tormentor, the predator that terrorised Toby into lying still while a swastika was etched into his ass with matches and god-knew-what.
Sean had the power to wreak revenge, if he wanted it. He could fuck Schillinger up seven ways to Sunday. If he wanted to be that kind of guard. Schillinger raised an eyebrow. Sean stepped aside with a nod. He took some calming breaths as Schillinger trundled by, and then changed direction and headed for Sister Pete's office. She was just seeing out some kid when Sean arrived, and she beckoned him in. He couldn't shove Toby into her office - and he couldn't give Schillinger a beat-down - but he had to do something for him.
It had only occurred to him last night as he was halfway off to sleep, that Toby saying something to Keller wasn't the worst thing that could happen. He'd sat straight up in bed, sick to his guts as he realised the real nightmare scenario was Toby backsliding all the way into Oz. If he fucked up, or if his PO got wind of the drugs, he'd be done. And then he'd be here.
Having Toby back in Em City under Sean's supervision, with their new history and all their secrets... Other prisoners sniffing out any hint of familiarity, Toby knowing he had a lever on Sean... Sean with a track record of letting his dick make terrible, very bad decisions... Sean hadn't slept for a good few hours after that.
He'd driven to work today with a whole new determination to get Toby back on the rails.
As soon as the door closed, he asked, "What do you tell addicts, Sister?"
Pete peered over the top of her glasses. "What do I tell them?"
"What d'you tell them to do, when they've got temptation sitting right in front of 'em?"
Drugs was what Sean meant. Not fucking. If Pete knew how tenderly Toby was walking when he left Sean's place the other night, well. He was pretty sure he could imagine the look of disappointment he'd get.
She sat back, regarding him."Well, that depends."
"On?"
"Does he have a friend he can trust?"
"I don't know." No one Toby could confide in. No one he had confided in, anyway. "No one he trusts."
"What about goals? Are there things he wants?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Tell your friend to think about what he wants out of life. Remember it's a choice."
Yeah, like Toby didn't know that already. Sean realised Sister Pete was looking at him thoughtfully. "I ain't talkin' about me, Sister."
"All right."
"Really. There's this... friend. He's kinda in a tailspin. I'm worried about him."
She came around and leaned back on the desk, finally seeming to take him at his word. "So he does have a friend. A good friend, by the sounds of it."
"Nah, I can't... We ain't exactly best pals." If Pete had the faintest idea what kind of friendship they had going on, she'd be dishing out very different advice.
"Maybe you're the best pal he has right now."
Sean didn't want to be the best pal Toby had.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Keller was sitting in the corner, head on his folded arms on his knees. He turned his head far enough to see his visitor and blinked in the light, but he didn't move to get up. "Time's up already?"
"No. Just came for a visit."
"Well then." Keller swept out his arm. "Come in. Take a chair. Help yourself to the beer."
Sean had always seen Keller as cold. Hard to predict. You always had a pretty good idea of the sort of shit that the likes of Pancamo or Poet were up to, but Keller was a schemer like O'Reily. An iceberg. Now he seemed a hell of a lot more dangerous, but Sean was standing here imagining him fucking Toby. Laughing at Toby stealing a bra. Murdering Toby's lovers.
Sean looked back to be sure Johnson had left them alone. "I brought you a message."
"You an errand boy now, Murphy?" The bored indifference didn't impress Sean. "Who's got your leash?"
Sean could puncture it in an instant, if he had a death wish. He wished that thought didn't settle so heavily in his pants. "Beecher."
"Seriously?" Now Keller didn't bother to hide his surprise or his affection. "Didn't think paying hacks was his style." He bounced onto his feet, not bothered by his nakedness, and now his face was hard, body tensed for a fight. Sean hoped Johnson hadn't gone too far away. "But I'm afraid I ain't taking messages from Beecher these days."
Sean kept his eyes high. He'd gotten over dealing with naked guys long ago, but he'd never shared a lover with the rest of the dinks in here. Sean wondered if his own heavy, aging body seemed pathetic in comparison to Keller's sculpted lines, or if Toby didn't give a damn about the package as long as he got his rocks off. Sean was pretty good at getting Toby's rocks off.
He probably gave a damn about that good-size cock. Judging by that night Toby gave a running commentary about the guys in the bar, Toby was a regular size queen, but Sean wasn't lacking there, either. Maybe he and Keller should make this dick-measuring contest literal. "I could just beat you down, and whisper it in your ear." He could tell Keller that he'd fucked his boyfriend, that he'd seen what an animal Toby could be in the sack, remind him that he was never going to get his dick in there again and then he could lock him in here, leave him raging.
And Sean could watch his own back for the rest of his career.
Keller took another step forward, letting loose that soft, dangerous smirk. "You think you can take me?"
"Yeah, I think I..." Keller wasn't just some jealous lover. He was a serial killer. A murderer. "Look, just, shut the hell up. You're starving to hear from him, so how 'bout we just skip all the posturing bullshit. Beecher needs you."
"No, he don't."
"I'm guessing his Ma told you he's fucking up his life?" There was a flicker of something there: surprise or anger maybe, Sean couldn't tell. Sean had been trying to guess whether Ma Beecher had got herself a clue that Toby was spiralling, or if she'd told Keller to fuck off because her baby was doing just fine without him. "She tell you he doesn't have a shiny law office job, or a schoolteacher girlfriend? She tell you he's drinking again?"
Keller blew out a puff of air, looked up at the ceiling. At least one of those things was a surprise, but Sean couldn't tell which. Maybe Toby's Ma knew more than Toby realised. Keller focused on Sean again, paying attention now. "So did Toby send you, or did she?"
Sean was well off Toby's script, but Toby had only demanded Sean get Keller to talk to him, so Sean was going to play it his own way. "His Ma told you to send him away, didn't she? She told you Beecher'd be better off without a piece of shit like you in his life."
Keller's jaw hardened, nothing more.
"Hard to argue with that, isn't it, Keller? If you stop pulling him back here every week, maybe he can put this place behind him. Maybe he can somehow get his act together. Make a life for himself, for his kids." Sean waited, hoping for a reaction, a little fire at least, but Keller wasn't playing so he tunnelled on. "Hard to argue, but see, here's the thing. His Ma's lookin' at him, she still sees her little angel boy who studied his ass off through law school, made the family proud. You and me, we don't know that guy. Didn't even see the last tatters of that kid coming through the gates before Schillinger got his claws in, did we? She thinks she's seen the worst of him because she saw him get himself shut in here, but I'll bet she doesn't have a shadow of an idea what a self-destructive fuck-up her boy can be."
Sean pointed. "But you do. You've seen all sorts of dark corners of Toby's psyche - hell, ya carved a few of 'em. You know a hell of a lot more than me, and I'm telling you, I wouldn't never leave someone I cared about in the wilds like that."
Keller folded his arms, casual as he pleased, but Sean saw the tension in him, knew there was a real chance the wrong word would have Keller across the room in a second.
"She knows this much: it's awful lonely for you without him. You want him back in here."
Keller surged forward, eyes burning. "She didn't tell you I-" A frozen moment, Keller barely two foot away. Sean forced his hands still, one quick inch from his night stick, keeping his cool as his heart hammered in his chest. Keller's jaw clamped shut. Toby's ma didn't tell Sean that Keller did what? "Toby's free. He's making a life and I'm in here. What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
It was a fair question. Sean almost felt sorry for him. He wasn't ever gonna get his dick in Toby again. Not unless Toby found his way back in here, and Sean was gonna do his best to make sure that didn't happen. "He loves you."
"You're telling me he's been lying to me since the day he walked out of here. He's a fucking liar, and I don't need him."
"And you're a model of honesty, right?" Sean nodded. "He's been lying to protect you. Now you're lying to protect him. You really are a coupla mugs. You love him a lot, don't ya, Keller? You think he won't do better for having one more person in his corner?"
"Get the fuck out of here." Keller sneered the words with a wave of his hand, half-turning his back. But it was a bare eight-by-eight cell, and there was nowhere to go.
Sean had the power here, so he went for broke. "I'll tell you something else, and this ain't from Beecher. And I'll bet his Ma didn't know it, either. Beecher's using. Heroin, straight to his veins."
There it was, Keller's mouth falling wide, the reaction Sean had been looking for this whole time.
"You think his Ma knows how to fix that?"
"It's bullshit."
Sean rapped on the door, grateful when he heard footsteps on the other side, and then he tapped two fingers inside his left elbow. "You see him, you can see for yourself."
Keller stared at him, speechless for quiet, long seconds. "What's Toby got on you?"
The door swung open.
"Never you mind. But if you see Beecher, you can ask him."
Sean closed his eyes as the door clanged shut behind him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sean's knuckles hadn't hit the door a second time when it was thrown open, Toby's face bare and eager.
"Keller's out of the Hole first thing tomorrow."
"He'll see me?"
"I dunno. I think he might, I think I got through, but I ain't the expert on Keller."
"Thank you." Toby reached, and Sean stepped back.
"I can't stay. I'm meeting up with Tim - with McManus."
The corners of Toby's eyes lifted. "Sister Pete been counselling you on avoiding temptation?"
For a heart-stopping moment, Sean thought Toby was warning him about Tim. But no - Toby's hand was drifting over his own stomach, half-tease, half-offer. That's why Toby thought Sean was running, and he was half-right.
"You should listen to her," Toby purred. "First rule of managing addiction is keep out of the way of temptation."
Quick as lightning Sean found himself pressed up against the wall, Toby's hard body fitted to his, cocks pressed. His gut tingled with the contact and with the cold realisation that Toby had dulled his reflexes. Maybe 'addiction' wasn't so far off.
Toby's breath was hot and wet in his ear. "But there's nothing wrong with starting tomorrow."
A strong hand was squeezing Sean's ass, grinding their cocks, and yes, Sean wanted one more taste. You didn't find fucks like Toby trawling through the bar. There was no one else on the horizon who would fuck Sean inside out, or bring the thrilling terror of destruction.
"I think it'd be best for both of us if we-"
"Sure it would." Toby was rubbing his jaw along Sean's, and then lips found Sean's neck and Sean's knees weakened. Of course he wanted to, but he'd had the good sense to make sure he couldn't. It was time to climb off the roller coaster.
"I talked to Chris. He's gonna see you. You and me, we're done." Sean put his hands on Toby's shoulders and pushed him back, stared hard in his eyes. "I talked to Chris for you. Now it's your turn to put yourself back together. Your kids, your mother - they're all waiting for you to ask for their help. You gotta remember what you want out of life. Remember you got choices."
"Whatever you say, Sean." Toby stepped away, and the door was closed in Sean's face.
-----
end part 7