Fic for lilacs_roses (Part 1)
Recipient: lilacs_roses
Author: TBA
Disclaimer: Author doesn't own the show or the characters and isn't making any profit.
Title: The Company We Keep (Part1)
Pairing: Ian/Don
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Graphic consensual sex, violence, language, intravenous drug usage, disturbing imagery
Summary: Just as Don and Ian get a handle on their relationship, something happens that could tear them apart for good.
Author Note: I borrowed a character… or at least the idea (and name), if you recognize it, then it likely isn’t mine.
Don watched as David manhandled their perp into a pair of handcuffs none to gently. The smile on his face was two parts triumph and one part predatory glee. Today was the kind of day Don lived for. They had won.
Edgerton had rolled into town a week before, trailing a man that had kidnapped two young girls after viciously murdering the parents. Don’s team had been more than willing to lend a hand to capture the man, especially when it became clear that he intended to sell the two girls to whichever pervert would pay the highest once he hit LA.
Fortunately, it looked like the kidnapper either didn’t have the time or interest in touching the girls himself and they seemed to be doing okay physically at least, if not mentally. The older of the two was sitting quietly on the back of an ambulance getting checked over while Megan stood by. She was distracting the girl from the medic’s prodding with small questions. The younger of the two girls however, seemed to have found a protector and was clinging furiously to his neck and resisting any attempts of the medics to pry her loose.
Don’s smile turned to full blown laughter as he watched Ian fidget, clearly uncomfortable with both the tight grip the small girl had on him and the attention he was receiving from the crowd of FBI and medical personnel. Don could even spot Charlie and Colby surreptitiously taking pictures with their phones.
Don watched intently. It wasn’t often he got to see something like this. Agent Edgerton had the reputation for being serious, intense, and sometimes downright scary. Don was one of the few people that could claim to know Ian better than that. They had started casually seeing each other several months before.
Well, no, Don mentally reminded himself, they had started to casually sleep together several months before, but even as a lover Ian was seldom gentle. Though there were times Don had thought they might have something more, he figured his status was somewhere between fuck buddy and stress relief for Ian, and he was okay with that. Mostly. However, Don had to admit that it was pretty endearing to see that the sniper had a more human side after all.
Don let the scene before him play out for another minute or two until the medic made a quick movement. It seemed to starling the little girl and she let loose a particularly shrill scream nearly directly into Ian’s ear. The look of venom the medic received in response promised blood, regardless of whether or not there was a child between them.
“Alright, alright! We still have a scene to process here, people. If you’ve got a job to do, get to it!” Don called out, stepping forward and sending several FBI employees scurrying on their way. Don could see the girl relaxing slowly as the crowd started to thin. Ian bent his head just a fraction and whispered in the little girl’s ear, too faint for Don to hear. Her head came up a little and she allowed him to unwind her arms from his neck and pass her over to the waiting medic.
Don stepped forward again just in time to hear Ian threaten, “Make her scream again, and I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
The medic retreated warily, backing up slowly so the girl was between them. Ian glared at the man the whole time.
Don chuckled. “Getting attached there, Edgerton?”
Ian glanced up, face startled for a moment before his cool mask slipped back into place. He scoffed. “Not likely.”
“Oh. So I didn’t just hear you threaten that medic.”
Ian shrugged indifferently. “What? That screaming almost blew my eardrum.”
“Suuure.” Don teased. “And the fact that she was clinging to you like you were saving her from the big bad wolf has nothing to do with it…. Somebody’s going soft.”
“Oh you think so, Eppes?” Ian asked mildly, a wicked glint appearing in his eyes. He glanced around before roughly pushing Don up against the backside of one of the FBI SUVs, out of sight of the people milling around. “How about tonight, I show you exactly how soft I’m not?”
The low tone of Ian’s voice and the firm grip hit Don like a shot of pure arousal. It had been far too long since Ian had last been in town. He wanted. Badly. By the smirk now etched on Ian’s face the other man knew it too. Bastard.
Don opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, they were both distracted by Charlie’s voice, far too close for comfort. Ian stepped back swiftly, putting distance between their bodies.
“Don? Are you almost finished here? I need to stop by CalSci before we go home…” Charlie said, rounding the corner. He stopped short at seeing Ian as well. “Ian! I didn’t know you were still here! David said you were probably all packed up since the case is finished. You’re welcome to come by the house for dinner, too.” He turned towards Don. “Dad’s not taking no for an answer from you. He’s worried that you haven’t been by.” Sensing Don’s protest, he plowed on. “Come on. You can’t live on just take-out. He’s making rib-eye.”
Don looked between Ian and Charlie, not sure how to decide between both of his appetites. In the end, Ian took the decision out of his hands.
“Thanks for the offer, Professor, but you’re probably right. I should be getting back on the road.” Ian replied, turning on his heel and walking away.
Don gaped for a moment, before leveling a ‘stay here’ look at Charlie and hurrying to catch up to Ian. He caught the other man on the arm and tugged until they were facing each other. Ian’s expression was unreadable. Don hesitated for a second and Ian’s eyebrow arched in question.
“Come on, don’t be like that.” Don cajoled. His eyes darted back towards Charlie, who was watching in interest and dropped his hand from Ian’s arm. “It’s just dinner, man.”
“Rib-eye isn’t exactly what I had in mind for dinner.” Ian replied, pointedly looking Don up and down. Don refused to blush under the intense stare, heavily conscious of his brother presence. After a moment, Ian sighed, exhaustion creeping into his tone. “Go be with your family, Eppes.”
Don studied the other man for a long moment. Ian looked a little wrecked. Don had only been on this case for a couple of days, but Edgerton had been hunting through three states and had probably gotten little to no sleep since then. He fished his apartment keys out of his pocket. “Look. You’re exhausted. It’s not like you’ve been called on a new case tonight or anything. Also? You’re probably going to pass out the minute you hit a horizontal surface anyway.” Don pushed his keys into Ian’s hand, not willing to take no for an answer. “Go get some sleep at my place. I’ll take Charlie home, give my Dad proof of life, and be there in a few hours.”
Ian looked ready to protested, but Don kept talking. “Come on, a little sleep, maybe some food and you’ll feel like a new man.” He smirked. “Besides, I want you at full strength when you pound me into the mattress.”
“You sure about that, Eppes?” Ian questioned, obviously relenting.
Don chuckled, turning to walk back towards his waiting brother, deliberately slowing his stride to show off his ass as he called over his shoulder, “Oh I can take it.”
***
Hours later, after a decent meal and a good deal of parental hovering, Don was back at his apartment. Fortunately Ian had left the door unlocked, as Don gave him his only set of keys.
Don entered his bedroom quietly, unsurprised to find Ian sprawled out on his bed. It looked as though the man had showered then fell asleep nearly instantaneously, naked and on top of the sheets.
Don smirked. It was the first time he’d every really seen Ian sleeping. There had been a lot of causal sex between them, but Ian wasn’t exactly the stay and cuddle after type. Somehow Don imagined the sniper would have more of a hair trigger, springing awake the instant Don entered the room. Instead, Don managed to approach the bed and sink down next to Ian without him even stirring. He wondered just how far he could push before Ian woke up.
Don reached out and traced a line down Ian’s breastbone, watching his face as he did so. Ian looked more relaxed in sleep than Don had ever seen him. When he received no response, he detoured with his fingers, drawing lazy patterns across his stomach then reached up to play with his nipples, eliciting a breathy sigh from his sleeping companion.
Don replaced his hands with his mouth, kissing and nibbling his way down Ian’s chest and stomach, pausing briefly before scooting further down the bed and experimentally swiping his tongue across the head of Ian’s cock.
He received a full body twitch for his efforts and ducked his head to leisurely suckle on Ian’s hardening flesh. He knew the instant that Ian was fully awake by the sleep-graveled groan that echoed around the room. Two calloused hand slowly threaded their way through his short hair, but surprisingly Ian didn’t try to force his movements, just massaged at Don’s scalp with his fingertips in a way that made Don want to purr like an overindulged housecat.
Don continued in earnest, licking and sucking along Ian’s cock, gratified by the soft noises of encouragement he received and the way Ian’s muscles were tensing beneath his fingers.
Then the fingers massaging at the back of his head tightened and Don relaxed his throat in anticipation of Ian thrusting hard into his waiting mouth. He was then surprised when instead Ian pulled him back up the mattress and rolled on top of him, pinning him beneath his lean body.
Don couldn’t help the small noise that escaped his throat as Ian’s tongue forced its way into his mouth and tangled with his own. With his head tilted up and Ian’s solid weight pressing him into the mattress, he was completely at Ian’s mercy. The hunter seemed intend on devouring him completely. All Don could do was clutch at his back and cede control to his demanding kiss.
“Hmmm. Now that’s a nice wake up call,” Ian murmured as he ducked his head to kiss along Don’s jaw line, allowing him a moment to catch his breath.
“Could have been better,” Don returned, shifting so that his jean clad thigh rubbed along Ian’s now insistent erection. The noise he received in response was somewhere between a growl and a groan.
Ian shifted to press Don more firmly into the mattress, trapping both legs and leveling a glare at Don’s smirking, unrepentant face. He traced his thumb against Don’s lip as he responded, hooking it inside his mouth. “As much as I enjoy your gorgeous mouth Eppes, I don’t plan on coming until you’re naked and begging for it underneath me.”
Don could feel heat spread towards both his groin and his face at those words, desire warring with a tinge of embarrassment. He liked that he could let go with Ian. He didn’t have to be the one in control all the time. Ian took good care of him. His macho side just had trouble accepting the fact that Ian could play him like a violin, cutting past all his defenses and turning him into a helpless, writhing, needy creature. That he was coming to rely on this man, whose presence in his life was erratic at best, was troubling.
In the end though, Don decided to take what he could get. He bit down on Ian’s thumb in response, causing the other man to chuckle as he withdrew it.
“I do not beg.” Don stated emphatically.
Ian’s response was cocky as he rolled to the side and began pulling at Don’s shirt. “We’ll just see about that, Eppes.”
Don huffed in response, not willing to argue the point. He shoved Ian’s hands away, sitting up so he could pull off his shirt himself. Ian’s busy hands wasted no time getting to Don’s belt buckle. By the time Don had thrown his t-shirt off the side of the bed, Ian had his jeans unzipped and was trying to tug them down with little success.
“Could these be any tighter?” Ian grumbled.
“You like them,” Don accused and shifted, lifting his hips so Ian could finish stripping him. “You think I can’t tell when you’re staring at my ass?”
Jeans discarded, Ian pounced again, trying to wrestle Don back down to the mattress. “Oh, I’m going to do more than stare at it.”
Don caught Ian by the shoulders in an attempt to resist, trying to push Ian down onto his back instead. They grappled for a few minutes; the only noises to be heard were the shifting of the sheets beneath them and their own heavy breathing.
Slowly, their fight for control changed though, desire becoming more important than victory. Instead of pushing Ian away, Don found himself trying to drag the man closer, fusing their mouths together. For his part, Ian came willingly, abandoning his plan in favor of the pleasure of Don’s mouth. When they finally broke the kiss, both were panting for air.
Don belatedly realized Ian had still managed to end up almost on top of him, stretched out on his side with his leg and arm thrown over. Don opened his mouth to comment, but Ian broke the silence first, lips skimming the edge of his ear as he whispered. “God. I want you so bad I can’t stand it. Roll over for me. Please, Babe.”
Don eyes widened in response; surprised by both the request and the endearment. Both were contrary to the sniper’s typically demanding nature. Above him, Ian had gone completely still, as if only just realizing what he’d said.
Don could feel Ian’s eyes on him. Rather than turn his head to face Ian, he rolled in the opposite direction so that he was flat on his stomach, wordlessly complying with Ian’s request. His mind was spinning in all directions.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Don felt the mattress shift and was certain Ian was getting up to leave. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a moment later he felt a steady hand trail from the fine hairs at the back of his neck all the way down his spine to part his cheeks. A second hand joined, fingers slick with lubricant to tease at his opening.
Don released a sigh as the first digit slid in, Ian’s movements steady and unhurried. One finger was then replaced by two and Ian began to stroke against Don’s prostate, causing him to writhe against the mattress.
Ian pressed a kiss to Don’s shoulder to soothe him and added a third finger. The stretch burned, but it wasn’t long before Don was pushing back against him insistently.
Ian made no move to quicken his pace though, until Don released a high pitched whine, unable to even put words to his overwhelming need. He wanted to sob in relief when Ian finally withdrew his fingers and positioned himself between Don’s spread legs, pulling up on his hips and thrusting inside in one smooth push.
Twin moans rose up as Ian slid home, sheathed completely in Don’s tight heat. Ian stayed like that for what felt like ages to Don. His only marker for time was the feel of Ian breathing against him, nose buried in his hair. He was further surprised when a gun calloused hand covered one of his own and squeezed tightly before Ian withdrew a little and thrust back in.
The fast pace he set seemed out of place give the other intimate gestures, but Don rolled with it, scrabbling to get one or both of his knees beneath himself for leverage. It wasn’t long before Ian had Don teetering on the edge of release, sliding against his prostate on nearly every thrust and sending shocks of pleasure throughout his system.
Don had a moment of realization that Ian’s typical filthy commentary and muffled curses had been missing thus far. Only harsh breathing and his own moans reached his ears, but the thought was ripped from his skull when Ian’s hand found his neglected cock, stroking roughly several times, before his teeth abruptly sank into the back of Don’s neck.
Don let loose a howl, overwhelmed by all the competing sensations. At the next hard thrust of Ian’s cock inside him, he came violently in Ian’s grip, entire body shuddering with effort. He slumped against the mattress. Ian followed him down, continuing to thrust into him at a frenzied pace before tumbling over the edge as well, groaning loudly in Don’s ear.
Warm, satiated, and totally exhausted, Don fell asleep before Ian even managed to roll off of him.
****
Don woke to the feeling of eyes on him. He squinted against the harsh morning light and turned, groaning when he realized he was stuck to the sheets he was lying on. A soft chuckle reached his ears.
“That’s what you get for falling asleep on me.”
“Ian?” Don questioned blearily, shaking his head to clear his drowsy confusion. Ian was sitting in the chair next to his bed, wearing his wrinkled jeans from the previous day and a clean t-shirt he must have nicked from Don’s closet. “What are you doing here?”
Don immediately regretted the question when he caught the flash of hurt in Ian’s eyes before he could cover it. He attempted to backtrack, but knew the damage was done. “I’m sorry. Damn. I didn’t mean that. I just…”
Ian smirked self-deprecatingly and ran a hand through his hair. “No. No, I get it. I’ve been sitting here for God knows how long, staring at you and trying to figure it out for myself.”
Don sat up and tried to blink away his confusion, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When he looked at Ian again he still had no idea what to say. “I don’t understand…”
“I meant it, Don.” Ian said sounding frustrated. “What I said last night. I want you so bad I can’t stand it…. I’m here because I didn’t want to go.”
Oh.
Don took a long second to process that. That actually didn’t sound like such a bad thing to him at all. A slow smile crossed his face, one that Ian didn’t notice, still talking and looking anywhere but at Don’s face.
“I keep coming up with excuses to be here. Taking cases on the hunch they’ll get me to LA. And it’s not just sex. Well, the sex helps, but mostly I just want to be around you and I’m sick of trying to convince myself that the sex is all I’m here for.”
Don was stunned. He masked his surprise with a teasing tone, but he couldn’t help the pleased smile that crossed his face. “What are you saying, Ian? Going soft on me after all?”
Ian rolled his eyes, but his grin matched Don’s. “No. What I’m saying is that I want to take you out on a date. Maybe have dinner or catch a baseball game before we come back here and I fuck your brains out. Then I want stay here after. I want more.” He shrugged. “Hell, maybe everything.”
“Yeah?” Don questioned, voice going soft. “What about what I want?”
Ian’s eyes locked on his. “What do you want?”
Don stared right back, his stomach doing an odd little flip at the intense look on Ian’s face. As far as declarations went, Ian’s was pretty unique. In between the cursing and mention of sporting events, he knew that this relationship would be unlike any he’d been in previously. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though. And as far as what he wanted, well, he’d wanted more from Ian for longer than he wanted to admit, even to himself.
Instead of answering immediately, Don moved to the edge of the bed and stood in front of Ian’s chair. He tilted Ian’s head up and kissed him, trying to put actions to words he couldn’t quite bring himself to say yet, the way Ian had the previous night. When he pulled back, Ian was smiling at him - not smirking or grinning - really smiling. Don thought he should do it more.
“What I want,” Don said finally. “Is to take a shower.”
“Can I join you?” Ian asked hopefully.
“No.” Don smirked as he headed towards the bathroom. “But you can make me breakfast.”
Don could hear Ian’s chuckled reply of “You’re on, Eppes” as he shut the door behind him. He shook his head at his own reflection in the mirror, genuinely surprised by the almost stupid smile crossing his face. Ian had certainly surprised him, but it hadn’t been a bad one. He felt good. That pleasant feeling lasted him all the way through his shower and he even caught himself humming as he dressed and headed out of his bedroom.
That smile dropped from his face as soon as he realized that he was completely alone in the apartment.
“Ian?” Don called out, confusion rapidly turning to irritation. Ian was the one who said he wanted more not him. If anyone, Don felt that he should get to be the one to panic and bolt.
“What the hell?” Don mumbled to himself, yanking a chair away from the kitchen table and collapsing into it. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt more than a little hurt.
Then he caught sight of what was sitting on his counter, namely all of the meager ingredients that could feasibly be used to cook something and a short note scrawled on the back of an old envelope. Don snorted as he read it. It looked like Ian had taken his request for breakfast seriously.
Eppes, your kitchen is a disaster. That Chinese food in your fridge looks like biohazard. No wonder you mooch at your brother’s. I’ll make you dinner tonight, if you make it worth my while. For now you’ll have to settle for coffee and donuts. -I
Upon further inspection, Don realized both Ian’s side arm and cell phone were still in the apartment as well, further proof that he planned on returning swiftly, so Don settled in to wait.
When fifteen minutes went by and there was still no sign, Don began to get annoyed.
When an hour went by, he started to get concerned. A half hour after that, Don left the apartment to do some investigating.
When he returned later, it was with his team in official capacity, so that they could take his statement.
****
Ian shook his head and smiled as he watched Don disappear into the bathroom. He was mildly tempted to follow Don despite his protest. However he knew that pinning the other man against the shower stall and fucking him senseless probably wasn’t the best way to convince Don that he was interested in moving beyond just a physical relationship.
Still, the thought of taking Don while he was soapy and wet was appealing to the point that Ian had to make a strategic retreat to the kitchen before the temptation proved too great. He made a mental note though to revisit the subject of shower sex as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
For now though, Ian figured he could busy himself with making breakfast. Or he could have, if Eppes had anything in his kitchen other than beer and old condiments. He was mildly disgusted by the state of Don’s refrigerator. Clearly the man had no idea how to cook.
“Well. I guess it could be worse,” Ian muttered to himself as he closed the refrigerator door. “At least he’s not bad in bed…”
He scrawled out a note for Don and left the apartment. There was a pretty amazing bakery down the street, if Ian remembered correctly. Actually, Don lived in close proximity to several places with pretty good food. Ian wondered why he hadn’t put that together sooner.
Ian walked down the street, grinning to himself. He felt happy. This thing with Don, whatever it was, was good. The possibility of more was on the horizon, and he welcomed it for once.
The bakery smelled like fresh baked bread and espresso when Ian entered. Ian surprised the teenager working the counter by leaving a twenty-dollar tip for the coffee and donuts he bought.
Walking out of the bakery, he failed to notice a suspicious looking man in a long black coat falling into step behind him. When he walked past an alleyway on the way back to Don’s apartment, the man wasted no time in pushing him into the alley.
Ian stumbled, dropping the hot coffee and donuts on the ground. He spun around in annoyance, “Hey! Watch where you’re-” His words were cut off however, when the man pulled a lead pipe out from under his jacket and aimed a blow at Ian’s head.
Ian managed to duck, but not quite enough. The glancing blow was enough to send stars dancing in front of his eyes and unfortunately that was all the advantage his attacker needed.
Ian tried to dodge and fight back, hand automatically going for a gun that he’d regrettably left back in Don’s apartment. He landed a couple of good hits, but the other man had surprise on his side and a weapon. The next time the pipe made contact with Ian’s body, it was at full force.
The third hit had him spiraling rapidly into unconsciousness.
*****
The last thing Colby wanted on his first day off in two weeks was for his phone to ring at eight thirty in the morning and have his boss be on the other end. It tended to happened though. With an unsurprising frequency, given the job. So this morning, Colby was able to quickly shrug off the lingering fatigue and was halfway dressed before what Don was saying to him really registered.
Don wasn’t calling him into the office.
He was asking Colby to come by his apartment and help with something personal. He insisted it wasn’t an official investigation. Yet. He was evasive on the phone, only insisting that he’d explain once Colby got there. And he sounded rattled.
Despite his irritation at losing his day off, Colby was intrigued. Don wasn’t exactly Mr. Full Disclosure when it came to his personal life. Colby had no idea what he expected, though he ran various scenarios in his head on the twenty-minute drive over. By the time he reached Don’s apartment, he was half expecting to find a dead hooker, but what he found instead was just as surprising in it’s own right.
David opened the apartment door instead of Don and ushered him quickly inside, shrugging and telling him that he’d only just gotten there. Megan was at the kitchen table sitting across from Don, who looked just as rattled as he’d sounded on the phone, only there was something else, a hint of anger or frustration maybe, clear on his face.
“Okay… What’s going on?” Colby questioned.
Don looked up for a second, before looking away again.
Colby’s brows rose. Where was his confident boss? He turned to Megan next.
“Ian’s missing,” Megan said.
“Edgerton?” Colby questioned. “I thought he skipped town after we closed the case last night…”
“No. He didn’t. He stayed here last night. Now he’s missing.” Don stated.
“Okay…” Colby blinked in confusion. “Couldn’t he have just left?”
Don glared at Colby for a second before throwing an exasperated look at Megan. Clearly Colby hadn’t been the first to ask this question. He pushed up from the table, pacing back and forth before replying in a clipped tone. “No.”
“Don. We want to help. We do.” Megan broke in. “We just want to make sure this wasn’t a misunderstanding of some kind.”
“A misunderstanding? His gun is still here, Megan. He wouldn’t have left that. Or forgotten it.” Don replied. He hesitated before continuing, reluctantly handing over a strap of paper. “And he left a note.”
Megan’s eyebrows rose as she read it. Her eyes met Don’s and after his nod she passed it to David. Colby read over his shoulder. He understood Megan’s reaction. When Don said Ian stayed over, he meant it. And not in a friendly, drink beers and crash on the couch way.
David broke the tense silence. “You… uh… and Ian?”
“Yes,” Don replied firmly.
“Okay.” David replied evenly. “How long ago did he leave? Where would he have gone to pick up coffee?”
Colby watched with wide eyes as his partner deftly shifted the conversation to Ian’s likely whereabouts, questioning Don like he was any other witness. Megan was watching as well, a faint smile touching her lips for a brief moment when she glanced at David, before hurriedly jotting down the information as Don relayed it.
“The girl at the bakery said he was in around 6:30,” Don said. “I found spilled coffee in the alleyway between there and here, but there was nothing else there. Ian would have put up a fight.”
“Could Ian have maybe gotten another case?” Colby questioned. “Like an emergency or something?”
Don flashed him a look. One that said he thought Colby was being especially dense. “I checked in with the office as soon as I got back here. There is no case.”
Colby flushed slightly. “No. Well, I mean I figured you’d do that. It’s just… It’s not exactly a secret in military circles that Ian still gets called in for wet work on occasion. The DOD doesn’t always phrase their employment offers as requests... If it’s something classified, they wouldn’t tell you.”
“How can we check on that?” Don questioned.
Colby shrugged. “I can ask around with some of my old Army contacts. Ian wouldn’t by chance have told you the name of his handler, would he?”
Don shook his head. “No. But I guess that’s probably the best place to start.”
“Well, That and the obvious,” David chimed in. “We need to start going through Edgerton’s case files and see who might be holding a grudge.”
Megan winced at that. “Something tells me that’s going to be a pretty big list.”
****
Ian’s head was pounding furiously when he regained consciousness. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the least of his concern, as he became fully cognizant of his surroundings. He was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room with only a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. He had no idea how long he’d been there. There were no windows to give him a hint at the time of day.
There was nothing.
Except the sounds of screaming coming from somewhere outside of the room.
Ian tried to break free from the chair or at least turn it around to face the door that he assumed must have been behind him, but his struggling proved fruitless. He could only wait and listen.
Eventually the screaming stopped.
He heard a door creak open. Then nothing.
Ian heard the sound of breathing behind him, more than one person, but he was bound so tight, he couldn’t turn and face them.
“What do you want?” he finally snapped.
A dark chuckle answered him. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
Ian felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand at that proclamation. He knew something was about to happen, but had no idea what, nor had any means of defending himself.
Then, rapidly twin needles pierced both of his arms. He struggled futilely against the ropes binding his arms. He was unable to stifle a cry of protest as thumbs depressed the plungers of the syringes and something like cold fire spread through his veins.
He was distantly aware of the door shutting.
After that, for hours until he lapsed into unconsciousness, all he knew was pain.
Author: TBA
Disclaimer: Author doesn't own the show or the characters and isn't making any profit.
Title: The Company We Keep (Part1)
Pairing: Ian/Don
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Graphic consensual sex, violence, language, intravenous drug usage, disturbing imagery
Summary: Just as Don and Ian get a handle on their relationship, something happens that could tear them apart for good.
Author Note: I borrowed a character… or at least the idea (and name), if you recognize it, then it likely isn’t mine.
Don watched as David manhandled their perp into a pair of handcuffs none to gently. The smile on his face was two parts triumph and one part predatory glee. Today was the kind of day Don lived for. They had won.
Edgerton had rolled into town a week before, trailing a man that had kidnapped two young girls after viciously murdering the parents. Don’s team had been more than willing to lend a hand to capture the man, especially when it became clear that he intended to sell the two girls to whichever pervert would pay the highest once he hit LA.
Fortunately, it looked like the kidnapper either didn’t have the time or interest in touching the girls himself and they seemed to be doing okay physically at least, if not mentally. The older of the two was sitting quietly on the back of an ambulance getting checked over while Megan stood by. She was distracting the girl from the medic’s prodding with small questions. The younger of the two girls however, seemed to have found a protector and was clinging furiously to his neck and resisting any attempts of the medics to pry her loose.
Don’s smile turned to full blown laughter as he watched Ian fidget, clearly uncomfortable with both the tight grip the small girl had on him and the attention he was receiving from the crowd of FBI and medical personnel. Don could even spot Charlie and Colby surreptitiously taking pictures with their phones.
Don watched intently. It wasn’t often he got to see something like this. Agent Edgerton had the reputation for being serious, intense, and sometimes downright scary. Don was one of the few people that could claim to know Ian better than that. They had started casually seeing each other several months before.
Well, no, Don mentally reminded himself, they had started to casually sleep together several months before, but even as a lover Ian was seldom gentle. Though there were times Don had thought they might have something more, he figured his status was somewhere between fuck buddy and stress relief for Ian, and he was okay with that. Mostly. However, Don had to admit that it was pretty endearing to see that the sniper had a more human side after all.
Don let the scene before him play out for another minute or two until the medic made a quick movement. It seemed to starling the little girl and she let loose a particularly shrill scream nearly directly into Ian’s ear. The look of venom the medic received in response promised blood, regardless of whether or not there was a child between them.
“Alright, alright! We still have a scene to process here, people. If you’ve got a job to do, get to it!” Don called out, stepping forward and sending several FBI employees scurrying on their way. Don could see the girl relaxing slowly as the crowd started to thin. Ian bent his head just a fraction and whispered in the little girl’s ear, too faint for Don to hear. Her head came up a little and she allowed him to unwind her arms from his neck and pass her over to the waiting medic.
Don stepped forward again just in time to hear Ian threaten, “Make her scream again, and I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
The medic retreated warily, backing up slowly so the girl was between them. Ian glared at the man the whole time.
Don chuckled. “Getting attached there, Edgerton?”
Ian glanced up, face startled for a moment before his cool mask slipped back into place. He scoffed. “Not likely.”
“Oh. So I didn’t just hear you threaten that medic.”
Ian shrugged indifferently. “What? That screaming almost blew my eardrum.”
“Suuure.” Don teased. “And the fact that she was clinging to you like you were saving her from the big bad wolf has nothing to do with it…. Somebody’s going soft.”
“Oh you think so, Eppes?” Ian asked mildly, a wicked glint appearing in his eyes. He glanced around before roughly pushing Don up against the backside of one of the FBI SUVs, out of sight of the people milling around. “How about tonight, I show you exactly how soft I’m not?”
The low tone of Ian’s voice and the firm grip hit Don like a shot of pure arousal. It had been far too long since Ian had last been in town. He wanted. Badly. By the smirk now etched on Ian’s face the other man knew it too. Bastard.
Don opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, they were both distracted by Charlie’s voice, far too close for comfort. Ian stepped back swiftly, putting distance between their bodies.
“Don? Are you almost finished here? I need to stop by CalSci before we go home…” Charlie said, rounding the corner. He stopped short at seeing Ian as well. “Ian! I didn’t know you were still here! David said you were probably all packed up since the case is finished. You’re welcome to come by the house for dinner, too.” He turned towards Don. “Dad’s not taking no for an answer from you. He’s worried that you haven’t been by.” Sensing Don’s protest, he plowed on. “Come on. You can’t live on just take-out. He’s making rib-eye.”
Don looked between Ian and Charlie, not sure how to decide between both of his appetites. In the end, Ian took the decision out of his hands.
“Thanks for the offer, Professor, but you’re probably right. I should be getting back on the road.” Ian replied, turning on his heel and walking away.
Don gaped for a moment, before leveling a ‘stay here’ look at Charlie and hurrying to catch up to Ian. He caught the other man on the arm and tugged until they were facing each other. Ian’s expression was unreadable. Don hesitated for a second and Ian’s eyebrow arched in question.
“Come on, don’t be like that.” Don cajoled. His eyes darted back towards Charlie, who was watching in interest and dropped his hand from Ian’s arm. “It’s just dinner, man.”
“Rib-eye isn’t exactly what I had in mind for dinner.” Ian replied, pointedly looking Don up and down. Don refused to blush under the intense stare, heavily conscious of his brother presence. After a moment, Ian sighed, exhaustion creeping into his tone. “Go be with your family, Eppes.”
Don studied the other man for a long moment. Ian looked a little wrecked. Don had only been on this case for a couple of days, but Edgerton had been hunting through three states and had probably gotten little to no sleep since then. He fished his apartment keys out of his pocket. “Look. You’re exhausted. It’s not like you’ve been called on a new case tonight or anything. Also? You’re probably going to pass out the minute you hit a horizontal surface anyway.” Don pushed his keys into Ian’s hand, not willing to take no for an answer. “Go get some sleep at my place. I’ll take Charlie home, give my Dad proof of life, and be there in a few hours.”
Ian looked ready to protested, but Don kept talking. “Come on, a little sleep, maybe some food and you’ll feel like a new man.” He smirked. “Besides, I want you at full strength when you pound me into the mattress.”
“You sure about that, Eppes?” Ian questioned, obviously relenting.
Don chuckled, turning to walk back towards his waiting brother, deliberately slowing his stride to show off his ass as he called over his shoulder, “Oh I can take it.”
***
Hours later, after a decent meal and a good deal of parental hovering, Don was back at his apartment. Fortunately Ian had left the door unlocked, as Don gave him his only set of keys.
Don entered his bedroom quietly, unsurprised to find Ian sprawled out on his bed. It looked as though the man had showered then fell asleep nearly instantaneously, naked and on top of the sheets.
Don smirked. It was the first time he’d every really seen Ian sleeping. There had been a lot of causal sex between them, but Ian wasn’t exactly the stay and cuddle after type. Somehow Don imagined the sniper would have more of a hair trigger, springing awake the instant Don entered the room. Instead, Don managed to approach the bed and sink down next to Ian without him even stirring. He wondered just how far he could push before Ian woke up.
Don reached out and traced a line down Ian’s breastbone, watching his face as he did so. Ian looked more relaxed in sleep than Don had ever seen him. When he received no response, he detoured with his fingers, drawing lazy patterns across his stomach then reached up to play with his nipples, eliciting a breathy sigh from his sleeping companion.
Don replaced his hands with his mouth, kissing and nibbling his way down Ian’s chest and stomach, pausing briefly before scooting further down the bed and experimentally swiping his tongue across the head of Ian’s cock.
He received a full body twitch for his efforts and ducked his head to leisurely suckle on Ian’s hardening flesh. He knew the instant that Ian was fully awake by the sleep-graveled groan that echoed around the room. Two calloused hand slowly threaded their way through his short hair, but surprisingly Ian didn’t try to force his movements, just massaged at Don’s scalp with his fingertips in a way that made Don want to purr like an overindulged housecat.
Don continued in earnest, licking and sucking along Ian’s cock, gratified by the soft noises of encouragement he received and the way Ian’s muscles were tensing beneath his fingers.
Then the fingers massaging at the back of his head tightened and Don relaxed his throat in anticipation of Ian thrusting hard into his waiting mouth. He was then surprised when instead Ian pulled him back up the mattress and rolled on top of him, pinning him beneath his lean body.
Don couldn’t help the small noise that escaped his throat as Ian’s tongue forced its way into his mouth and tangled with his own. With his head tilted up and Ian’s solid weight pressing him into the mattress, he was completely at Ian’s mercy. The hunter seemed intend on devouring him completely. All Don could do was clutch at his back and cede control to his demanding kiss.
“Hmmm. Now that’s a nice wake up call,” Ian murmured as he ducked his head to kiss along Don’s jaw line, allowing him a moment to catch his breath.
“Could have been better,” Don returned, shifting so that his jean clad thigh rubbed along Ian’s now insistent erection. The noise he received in response was somewhere between a growl and a groan.
Ian shifted to press Don more firmly into the mattress, trapping both legs and leveling a glare at Don’s smirking, unrepentant face. He traced his thumb against Don’s lip as he responded, hooking it inside his mouth. “As much as I enjoy your gorgeous mouth Eppes, I don’t plan on coming until you’re naked and begging for it underneath me.”
Don could feel heat spread towards both his groin and his face at those words, desire warring with a tinge of embarrassment. He liked that he could let go with Ian. He didn’t have to be the one in control all the time. Ian took good care of him. His macho side just had trouble accepting the fact that Ian could play him like a violin, cutting past all his defenses and turning him into a helpless, writhing, needy creature. That he was coming to rely on this man, whose presence in his life was erratic at best, was troubling.
In the end though, Don decided to take what he could get. He bit down on Ian’s thumb in response, causing the other man to chuckle as he withdrew it.
“I do not beg.” Don stated emphatically.
Ian’s response was cocky as he rolled to the side and began pulling at Don’s shirt. “We’ll just see about that, Eppes.”
Don huffed in response, not willing to argue the point. He shoved Ian’s hands away, sitting up so he could pull off his shirt himself. Ian’s busy hands wasted no time getting to Don’s belt buckle. By the time Don had thrown his t-shirt off the side of the bed, Ian had his jeans unzipped and was trying to tug them down with little success.
“Could these be any tighter?” Ian grumbled.
“You like them,” Don accused and shifted, lifting his hips so Ian could finish stripping him. “You think I can’t tell when you’re staring at my ass?”
Jeans discarded, Ian pounced again, trying to wrestle Don back down to the mattress. “Oh, I’m going to do more than stare at it.”
Don caught Ian by the shoulders in an attempt to resist, trying to push Ian down onto his back instead. They grappled for a few minutes; the only noises to be heard were the shifting of the sheets beneath them and their own heavy breathing.
Slowly, their fight for control changed though, desire becoming more important than victory. Instead of pushing Ian away, Don found himself trying to drag the man closer, fusing their mouths together. For his part, Ian came willingly, abandoning his plan in favor of the pleasure of Don’s mouth. When they finally broke the kiss, both were panting for air.
Don belatedly realized Ian had still managed to end up almost on top of him, stretched out on his side with his leg and arm thrown over. Don opened his mouth to comment, but Ian broke the silence first, lips skimming the edge of his ear as he whispered. “God. I want you so bad I can’t stand it. Roll over for me. Please, Babe.”
Don eyes widened in response; surprised by both the request and the endearment. Both were contrary to the sniper’s typically demanding nature. Above him, Ian had gone completely still, as if only just realizing what he’d said.
Don could feel Ian’s eyes on him. Rather than turn his head to face Ian, he rolled in the opposite direction so that he was flat on his stomach, wordlessly complying with Ian’s request. His mind was spinning in all directions.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Don felt the mattress shift and was certain Ian was getting up to leave. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a moment later he felt a steady hand trail from the fine hairs at the back of his neck all the way down his spine to part his cheeks. A second hand joined, fingers slick with lubricant to tease at his opening.
Don released a sigh as the first digit slid in, Ian’s movements steady and unhurried. One finger was then replaced by two and Ian began to stroke against Don’s prostate, causing him to writhe against the mattress.
Ian pressed a kiss to Don’s shoulder to soothe him and added a third finger. The stretch burned, but it wasn’t long before Don was pushing back against him insistently.
Ian made no move to quicken his pace though, until Don released a high pitched whine, unable to even put words to his overwhelming need. He wanted to sob in relief when Ian finally withdrew his fingers and positioned himself between Don’s spread legs, pulling up on his hips and thrusting inside in one smooth push.
Twin moans rose up as Ian slid home, sheathed completely in Don’s tight heat. Ian stayed like that for what felt like ages to Don. His only marker for time was the feel of Ian breathing against him, nose buried in his hair. He was further surprised when a gun calloused hand covered one of his own and squeezed tightly before Ian withdrew a little and thrust back in.
The fast pace he set seemed out of place give the other intimate gestures, but Don rolled with it, scrabbling to get one or both of his knees beneath himself for leverage. It wasn’t long before Ian had Don teetering on the edge of release, sliding against his prostate on nearly every thrust and sending shocks of pleasure throughout his system.
Don had a moment of realization that Ian’s typical filthy commentary and muffled curses had been missing thus far. Only harsh breathing and his own moans reached his ears, but the thought was ripped from his skull when Ian’s hand found his neglected cock, stroking roughly several times, before his teeth abruptly sank into the back of Don’s neck.
Don let loose a howl, overwhelmed by all the competing sensations. At the next hard thrust of Ian’s cock inside him, he came violently in Ian’s grip, entire body shuddering with effort. He slumped against the mattress. Ian followed him down, continuing to thrust into him at a frenzied pace before tumbling over the edge as well, groaning loudly in Don’s ear.
Warm, satiated, and totally exhausted, Don fell asleep before Ian even managed to roll off of him.
****
Don woke to the feeling of eyes on him. He squinted against the harsh morning light and turned, groaning when he realized he was stuck to the sheets he was lying on. A soft chuckle reached his ears.
“That’s what you get for falling asleep on me.”
“Ian?” Don questioned blearily, shaking his head to clear his drowsy confusion. Ian was sitting in the chair next to his bed, wearing his wrinkled jeans from the previous day and a clean t-shirt he must have nicked from Don’s closet. “What are you doing here?”
Don immediately regretted the question when he caught the flash of hurt in Ian’s eyes before he could cover it. He attempted to backtrack, but knew the damage was done. “I’m sorry. Damn. I didn’t mean that. I just…”
Ian smirked self-deprecatingly and ran a hand through his hair. “No. No, I get it. I’ve been sitting here for God knows how long, staring at you and trying to figure it out for myself.”
Don sat up and tried to blink away his confusion, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When he looked at Ian again he still had no idea what to say. “I don’t understand…”
“I meant it, Don.” Ian said sounding frustrated. “What I said last night. I want you so bad I can’t stand it…. I’m here because I didn’t want to go.”
Oh.
Don took a long second to process that. That actually didn’t sound like such a bad thing to him at all. A slow smile crossed his face, one that Ian didn’t notice, still talking and looking anywhere but at Don’s face.
“I keep coming up with excuses to be here. Taking cases on the hunch they’ll get me to LA. And it’s not just sex. Well, the sex helps, but mostly I just want to be around you and I’m sick of trying to convince myself that the sex is all I’m here for.”
Don was stunned. He masked his surprise with a teasing tone, but he couldn’t help the pleased smile that crossed his face. “What are you saying, Ian? Going soft on me after all?”
Ian rolled his eyes, but his grin matched Don’s. “No. What I’m saying is that I want to take you out on a date. Maybe have dinner or catch a baseball game before we come back here and I fuck your brains out. Then I want stay here after. I want more.” He shrugged. “Hell, maybe everything.”
“Yeah?” Don questioned, voice going soft. “What about what I want?”
Ian’s eyes locked on his. “What do you want?”
Don stared right back, his stomach doing an odd little flip at the intense look on Ian’s face. As far as declarations went, Ian’s was pretty unique. In between the cursing and mention of sporting events, he knew that this relationship would be unlike any he’d been in previously. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though. And as far as what he wanted, well, he’d wanted more from Ian for longer than he wanted to admit, even to himself.
Instead of answering immediately, Don moved to the edge of the bed and stood in front of Ian’s chair. He tilted Ian’s head up and kissed him, trying to put actions to words he couldn’t quite bring himself to say yet, the way Ian had the previous night. When he pulled back, Ian was smiling at him - not smirking or grinning - really smiling. Don thought he should do it more.
“What I want,” Don said finally. “Is to take a shower.”
“Can I join you?” Ian asked hopefully.
“No.” Don smirked as he headed towards the bathroom. “But you can make me breakfast.”
Don could hear Ian’s chuckled reply of “You’re on, Eppes” as he shut the door behind him. He shook his head at his own reflection in the mirror, genuinely surprised by the almost stupid smile crossing his face. Ian had certainly surprised him, but it hadn’t been a bad one. He felt good. That pleasant feeling lasted him all the way through his shower and he even caught himself humming as he dressed and headed out of his bedroom.
That smile dropped from his face as soon as he realized that he was completely alone in the apartment.
“Ian?” Don called out, confusion rapidly turning to irritation. Ian was the one who said he wanted more not him. If anyone, Don felt that he should get to be the one to panic and bolt.
“What the hell?” Don mumbled to himself, yanking a chair away from the kitchen table and collapsing into it. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt more than a little hurt.
Then he caught sight of what was sitting on his counter, namely all of the meager ingredients that could feasibly be used to cook something and a short note scrawled on the back of an old envelope. Don snorted as he read it. It looked like Ian had taken his request for breakfast seriously.
Eppes, your kitchen is a disaster. That Chinese food in your fridge looks like biohazard. No wonder you mooch at your brother’s. I’ll make you dinner tonight, if you make it worth my while. For now you’ll have to settle for coffee and donuts. -I
Upon further inspection, Don realized both Ian’s side arm and cell phone were still in the apartment as well, further proof that he planned on returning swiftly, so Don settled in to wait.
When fifteen minutes went by and there was still no sign, Don began to get annoyed.
When an hour went by, he started to get concerned. A half hour after that, Don left the apartment to do some investigating.
When he returned later, it was with his team in official capacity, so that they could take his statement.
****
Ian shook his head and smiled as he watched Don disappear into the bathroom. He was mildly tempted to follow Don despite his protest. However he knew that pinning the other man against the shower stall and fucking him senseless probably wasn’t the best way to convince Don that he was interested in moving beyond just a physical relationship.
Still, the thought of taking Don while he was soapy and wet was appealing to the point that Ian had to make a strategic retreat to the kitchen before the temptation proved too great. He made a mental note though to revisit the subject of shower sex as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
For now though, Ian figured he could busy himself with making breakfast. Or he could have, if Eppes had anything in his kitchen other than beer and old condiments. He was mildly disgusted by the state of Don’s refrigerator. Clearly the man had no idea how to cook.
“Well. I guess it could be worse,” Ian muttered to himself as he closed the refrigerator door. “At least he’s not bad in bed…”
He scrawled out a note for Don and left the apartment. There was a pretty amazing bakery down the street, if Ian remembered correctly. Actually, Don lived in close proximity to several places with pretty good food. Ian wondered why he hadn’t put that together sooner.
Ian walked down the street, grinning to himself. He felt happy. This thing with Don, whatever it was, was good. The possibility of more was on the horizon, and he welcomed it for once.
The bakery smelled like fresh baked bread and espresso when Ian entered. Ian surprised the teenager working the counter by leaving a twenty-dollar tip for the coffee and donuts he bought.
Walking out of the bakery, he failed to notice a suspicious looking man in a long black coat falling into step behind him. When he walked past an alleyway on the way back to Don’s apartment, the man wasted no time in pushing him into the alley.
Ian stumbled, dropping the hot coffee and donuts on the ground. He spun around in annoyance, “Hey! Watch where you’re-” His words were cut off however, when the man pulled a lead pipe out from under his jacket and aimed a blow at Ian’s head.
Ian managed to duck, but not quite enough. The glancing blow was enough to send stars dancing in front of his eyes and unfortunately that was all the advantage his attacker needed.
Ian tried to dodge and fight back, hand automatically going for a gun that he’d regrettably left back in Don’s apartment. He landed a couple of good hits, but the other man had surprise on his side and a weapon. The next time the pipe made contact with Ian’s body, it was at full force.
The third hit had him spiraling rapidly into unconsciousness.
*****
The last thing Colby wanted on his first day off in two weeks was for his phone to ring at eight thirty in the morning and have his boss be on the other end. It tended to happened though. With an unsurprising frequency, given the job. So this morning, Colby was able to quickly shrug off the lingering fatigue and was halfway dressed before what Don was saying to him really registered.
Don wasn’t calling him into the office.
He was asking Colby to come by his apartment and help with something personal. He insisted it wasn’t an official investigation. Yet. He was evasive on the phone, only insisting that he’d explain once Colby got there. And he sounded rattled.
Despite his irritation at losing his day off, Colby was intrigued. Don wasn’t exactly Mr. Full Disclosure when it came to his personal life. Colby had no idea what he expected, though he ran various scenarios in his head on the twenty-minute drive over. By the time he reached Don’s apartment, he was half expecting to find a dead hooker, but what he found instead was just as surprising in it’s own right.
David opened the apartment door instead of Don and ushered him quickly inside, shrugging and telling him that he’d only just gotten there. Megan was at the kitchen table sitting across from Don, who looked just as rattled as he’d sounded on the phone, only there was something else, a hint of anger or frustration maybe, clear on his face.
“Okay… What’s going on?” Colby questioned.
Don looked up for a second, before looking away again.
Colby’s brows rose. Where was his confident boss? He turned to Megan next.
“Ian’s missing,” Megan said.
“Edgerton?” Colby questioned. “I thought he skipped town after we closed the case last night…”
“No. He didn’t. He stayed here last night. Now he’s missing.” Don stated.
“Okay…” Colby blinked in confusion. “Couldn’t he have just left?”
Don glared at Colby for a second before throwing an exasperated look at Megan. Clearly Colby hadn’t been the first to ask this question. He pushed up from the table, pacing back and forth before replying in a clipped tone. “No.”
“Don. We want to help. We do.” Megan broke in. “We just want to make sure this wasn’t a misunderstanding of some kind.”
“A misunderstanding? His gun is still here, Megan. He wouldn’t have left that. Or forgotten it.” Don replied. He hesitated before continuing, reluctantly handing over a strap of paper. “And he left a note.”
Megan’s eyebrows rose as she read it. Her eyes met Don’s and after his nod she passed it to David. Colby read over his shoulder. He understood Megan’s reaction. When Don said Ian stayed over, he meant it. And not in a friendly, drink beers and crash on the couch way.
David broke the tense silence. “You… uh… and Ian?”
“Yes,” Don replied firmly.
“Okay.” David replied evenly. “How long ago did he leave? Where would he have gone to pick up coffee?”
Colby watched with wide eyes as his partner deftly shifted the conversation to Ian’s likely whereabouts, questioning Don like he was any other witness. Megan was watching as well, a faint smile touching her lips for a brief moment when she glanced at David, before hurriedly jotting down the information as Don relayed it.
“The girl at the bakery said he was in around 6:30,” Don said. “I found spilled coffee in the alleyway between there and here, but there was nothing else there. Ian would have put up a fight.”
“Could Ian have maybe gotten another case?” Colby questioned. “Like an emergency or something?”
Don flashed him a look. One that said he thought Colby was being especially dense. “I checked in with the office as soon as I got back here. There is no case.”
Colby flushed slightly. “No. Well, I mean I figured you’d do that. It’s just… It’s not exactly a secret in military circles that Ian still gets called in for wet work on occasion. The DOD doesn’t always phrase their employment offers as requests... If it’s something classified, they wouldn’t tell you.”
“How can we check on that?” Don questioned.
Colby shrugged. “I can ask around with some of my old Army contacts. Ian wouldn’t by chance have told you the name of his handler, would he?”
Don shook his head. “No. But I guess that’s probably the best place to start.”
“Well, That and the obvious,” David chimed in. “We need to start going through Edgerton’s case files and see who might be holding a grudge.”
Megan winced at that. “Something tells me that’s going to be a pretty big list.”
****
Ian’s head was pounding furiously when he regained consciousness. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the least of his concern, as he became fully cognizant of his surroundings. He was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room with only a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. He had no idea how long he’d been there. There were no windows to give him a hint at the time of day.
There was nothing.
Except the sounds of screaming coming from somewhere outside of the room.
Ian tried to break free from the chair or at least turn it around to face the door that he assumed must have been behind him, but his struggling proved fruitless. He could only wait and listen.
Eventually the screaming stopped.
He heard a door creak open. Then nothing.
Ian heard the sound of breathing behind him, more than one person, but he was bound so tight, he couldn’t turn and face them.
“What do you want?” he finally snapped.
A dark chuckle answered him. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
Ian felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand at that proclamation. He knew something was about to happen, but had no idea what, nor had any means of defending himself.
Then, rapidly twin needles pierced both of his arms. He struggled futilely against the ropes binding his arms. He was unable to stifle a cry of protest as thumbs depressed the plungers of the syringes and something like cold fire spread through his veins.
He was distantly aware of the door shutting.
After that, for hours until he lapsed into unconsciousness, all he knew was pain.