The Detective and the Prosecutor
Part 3
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Brian shook his head. He couldn't believe what Michael had just said. "What did you say?"
"What Brian? I was saving you from a twink who was all prepared to start stalking you. I mean how ridiculous is it, you taking someone out on a date? How ridiculous is that?"
Brian tried to hold his temper in check, but he was rapidly losing the battle. His words came out as cold as steel, "For your information, Mikey, I did have a date with Justin. But he called and cancelled. Now I know why."
Brian got up to leave, but Michael grabbed his arm, "Brian what are you talking about? There are certainly hotter guys for you to fuck."
Brian shook Michael's arm away, he needed to get away, "For your information, Mikey, Justin is twice the man that you are. He has endured more than you ever have in your pathetic life, and has emerged an amazing man. That is more than you will ever be. Now get your hand off me, I don't want to even look at you."
Michael was dumbstruck as he watched Brian storm out of Babylon. A line had been drawn.
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Justin, Ted and Emmett sat in a booth at the Liberty Diner. Debbie had fussed over them, but then left them alone. Justin had calmed down considerably, but he was still a little shaken.
"Here sweetie, drink some water." Emmett pushed a water glass towards Justin.
Justin took the glass gratefully. He took a long drink, at looked up at his companions. He didn't know either of these men very well, but he took comfort in their company. "Thanks Emmett … Ted."
"You're welcome princess, now tell us what happened," Justin flinched at that comment, "if you want to."
Justin felt he owed an explanation to these two men who had been so nice to him. "I'm sorry, it's just that large crowds tend to make me nervous." Justin knew his explanation sounded weak, but he wasn't ready to completely pour his heart out. He looked up at Ted and Emmett and could see they didn't buy his explanation. To their credit, they said nothing.
"You see when I was seventeen, I was attacked by a classmate after my senior prom. He hated me because I was gay, and decided to teach me a lesson."
"Oh my god, that is horrible." Ted spoke sincerely.
"Well it was pretty awful. It took me a long time to recover. Physically my wounds healed, but the internal scars didn't fade as fast."
Emmett spoke next, and took Justin's hand, "It's ok, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."
Justin was thankful for the other man's support, "No, it's ok. It actually helps when I talk about it. I just don't have many people to talk to. Since the attack, I've found it hard to make friends. I don't trust people very easily. You see the guy who attacked me, Chris, had once been a friend of mine."
"If he did that to you, he was never a friend."
"I know, but it still makes you nervous."
Emmett knew that Justin wasn't telling the whole truth. He decided to press his luck, and see if the other man would open up. "I think there was more than that going on tonight."
Justin paused a moment, and began speaking, "You're right Emmett there was. It was that guy in the club, Brian."
"Brian Kinney," Ted's attention was immediately drawn back to the conversation. He always thought Brian was hot, and lived vicariously through the stories told about him on Liberty Avenue.
"Teddy," Emmett slapped his boyfriend on the arm, "let Justin tell his story."
Justin smiled at his two companions. "Brian is the lead detective on a case that I am prosecuting. He came to my office a couple of weeks to go over his evidence. I was intrigued by him, but I thought he was very arrogant. It would be the understatement of the year to say we didn't get started on the best foot."
Emmett and Ted laughed at that statement, they had known Brian long enough.
"Then we ended up having dinner together at Melanie and Lindsey's, and I saw him in a different light. He was more relaxed, and I actually found myself liking him."
Emmett interrupted, "How do you know Melanie and Lindsey?" As far as he knew, Justin had only lived in Pittsburgh a short while.
"Melanie was a guest professor when I was in my first year of law school. She and I became friends right away. Actually, when the job in the prosecutor's office became available, she vouched for me when it became apparent that I was one of the candidates for the job."
"Well sweetie, you are certainly full of surprises." Justin blushed at that comment, he wasn't used to being so comfortable with people he had just met.
"Anyways, after our dinner, Brian came to my office, and we went out to lunch. We had a great time talking, and he asked me out. You remember Emmett, I was shopping for our date when we met."
Ted took this time to speak up, "You went on a date with Brian Kinney?" He was even more impressed.
"No we didn't. After I went shopping at Torso, I ended up at the comic book store owned by that guy Michael. I ended up telling him about my date, and he started telling me about Brian. How he just fucks guys and leaves them. That certainly wasn't what I was looking for, so I decided to cancel."
Emmett and Ted were silent for a moment. "Damn Michael." This came from Emmett.
"What do you mean?"
Emmett glanced over at Ted, and decided to continue, "You see Michael has been Brian's best friend since they were fourteen. I suspect he has always had feelings for Brian that went beyond the role of best friend. Brian used to be the kind of guy that Michael described, and he certainly does still have one-night stands. But when he was in his twenties, he was the 'King of Liberty Avenue.' But he's changed a lot, especially since Gus was born."
Justin was trying to take in this information, had he made a huge mistake?
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Brian decided to head home after his "chat" with Mikey. He couldn't remember ever being so mad at his best friend. He felt so betrayed. He knew that Michael had never really grown up, but to deliberately sabotage something for his best friend was unbelievable. He would be stupid to try and delude himself that Michael was just looking out for him. Michael had never dated much, for that matter neither had Brian, so it was reasonable that Michael would have assumed the date had been a farce. What Brian couldn't believe was that Michael would have been so cruel to Justin. Justin was a very nice man, and he was very easy to be friends with, so why had Michael gone on the attack? Brian pinched the bridge of his nose, he was going to have to have another talk with Michael. He picked up the phone and dialed.
The voice on the other end of the line was hesitant, "Hello?"
"Mikey,"
"Hey Brian!"
"We need to talk."
"Umm ok, should I come over?"
"No, let's meet at the park. Say twenty minutes?"
"Ok Brian, I'll see you there."
Brian hung up without saying anything.
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The sunlight streamed through his room. Justin shut his eyes to block out the light. He had been awake until 4, and had barely gotten any rest. He was so confused. His conversation with Ted and Emmett had helped him a little bit, but he worried his rejection of Brian might be irreversible.
It had been so long since he had to deal with any of this shit. After being bashed, he had put all his energy into his education and his professional future. He'd never forget sitting in that courtroom when Chris was sentenced. He was still in a wheelchair and the scars were still visible, yet the judge negated all of that when he sentenced Chris to probation. Justin felt that everything that had happened to him meant nothing. He was nothing.
Justin looked down at his wrists, the scars had faded, but he could still feel them. A week after the sentencing, Justin tried to kill himself. Even before the trial, he had been sliding into a depression, but the sentence pushed him over the edge. He didn't want to live anymore. He took a kitchen knife and slit his wrists.
His mother found him on the bathroom floor. She raced him to the hospital, and the doctors were able to save his life. In a way, after his suicide attempt, Justin felt reborn. He had a new driving force in his life. Chris had gotten away scot free, and Justin determined that if he had anything to do with it, it would never happen again. Justice and the law became his passion. He devoted all his time to his studies and graduating from law school with honors.
He was recruited into the New York City prosecutor's office right after his graduation. He had made a name for himself in legal circles during his time in law school. He volunteered at Legal Aid, interned at various law offices and all of his papers and legal briefs were based around hate crimes. Many firms wanted to acquire him, but Justin knew that his heart lay in prosecution. In his eyes, the prosecution had failed his case, and although he couldn't change his outcome, he knew he had to try and make a difference.
He succeeded. During his time with the New York prosecutor's office, the guilty verdicts against defendants accused of hate crimes increased over 25 percent. Although Justin was never the lead prosecutor, his contributions to the cases were invaluable. Justin knew he could continue in New York City, but something told him it was time to move on. He began to put out "feelers" in other towns that might be looking for a prosecuting attorney, and thanks to Mel, he got the best offer from the city of Pittsburgh.
So here he was, the job of his dreams, and dealing with feelings he had pushed away thirteen years ago.
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Brian found Michael waiting for him on a park bench. They had come here so many times in the past. To talk, hang out or just escape from life. Michael looked up at Brian nervously, "Hey Bri."
"Mikey."
"Umm, what's up?"
"I just want to know why."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do, why did you say those things to Justin?"
"Jesus Brian, why are you getting so worked up about a piece of ass? I've known you for over twenty years, and not once have you ever gone on a date. I'm sorry if my ESP powers are a little out of date."
"Ok Mikey, you have a point, but I don't understand why you would have to be cruel."
"Cruel? Some twink starts talking about having a date with you, and I'm supposed to assume it's true. The 'King of Liberty Avenue' taking some kid on a date? Please Brian, I think I know you too well for that."
"That's the problem Mikey, I think you don't know me anymore at all."
Brian turned and walked away, leaving his best friend speechless.
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Justin was restless, he needed to get out. He'd been trapped with his irrational thoughts. He decided he needed to see his mother. He was on the road by 10 and passing through the Holland Tunnel around 5. He'd called his mom on the way so she would be expecting him. He was walking into her offices on 59th Street at 6:00.
"Mom!"
Jennifer Taylor looked up from her desk, "Justin!"
She got up and swept him up into a huge hug. Justin hadn't realized how much he missed his mom until that moment. He hadn't seen her since he moved to Pittsburgh last months.
"I am so happy to see you, but I must admit I'm a little surprised that you drove down here on a Sunday, just for kicks."
"Ok mom, you know me too well. Do you still have some work to do, or can we get out of here?"
"I'm all through, you have me all to yourself."
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Brian didn't feel any better after his talk with Michael, if nothing else he felt worse. He was angry with Michael, but he was angrier with himself. He should have known Michael would always see him as the big slut of Liberty Avenue. If Brian had nothing but one night stands, Michael would always have a place in his life that no one else had. Now with the appearance of one blonde, everything Michael had faith in had been shattered. Brian knew they could work past it, but Michael's comments this afternoon had him wondering if he really wanted to.
Brian needed to talk to someone. He knew Deb wasn't working tonight, so he decided to head over to her house. He figured he could talk to her about his feelings for Justin without bringing up the Michael factor.
As was customary, Brian just walked into the Novotny house. Hell it had been more of a home to him than his own had been when he was growing up. Debbie and her brother Vic were just sitting down to dinner.
"Well Detective, to what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" Vic delighted in teasing Brian, since he'd known him when he was just a skinny Mick kid.
"The battery on my cordless was out and I couldn't order dinner, so I figured I'd drop in."
Debbie just smirked at Brian, "Well grab a seat kiddo, we're having puntanesca."
"Sounds great!"
The three dinner companions ate in silence. Vic knew Brian well enough to sense that he needed to talk to Deb. "Well guys, I have a date with a hot movie upstairs, so I will leave you."
Brian was grateful for Vic's perception. He loved Vic dearly, but he needed Deb tonight.
After Vic had gone upstairs, Deb turned to Brian, "So kiddo, what's up?"
"What makes you think anything's up?"
"Please Brian, you're like my own son, don't insult me."
"Sorry Deb," she was the only one who could turn Brian into a sheepish kid.
"Let me guess, this is about Sunshine?"
"Who?"
"The hot blonde you had lunch with in the diner. Smile that can light up a room … Sunshine."
"What makes you think it's about him?"
"Let's see, I've known you for over twenty years and in all that time, you have never brought someone into the diner, business lunch or not. I may look like a wacky freak, but I'm pretty smart."
Brian smiled, that much was true.
"So, am I right?"
"Yeah Deb, you are."
"You like him don't you?"
Brian paused before answering, "Yeah Deb, I do, but it's complicated."
"Why, you like him, he likes you, where's the problem?"
"What makes you think he likes me?"
"Last time I checked my eyes were working just fine. Besides, I was working last night when he came in with Ted and Emmett."
This Brian was not aware of, "he came in with Ted and Emmett?"
"Yeah, last night. But this isn't my story, it's yours."
Brian hated it when Deb was like this. "Well we met, I asked him out, he said yes and then backed out. There you go."
Debbie gave him her "give me a break look."
"Well he was enlightened to my past 'Liberty Avenue glory days.' I think it freaked him out, and he decided to bail. I don't know for sure because I haven't spoken to him since he cancelled on me."
"Let me see how my psychic powers are working, did he get an earful from my son?"
Brian looked at her incredulously.
"I told you I was working last night, and I caught some snippets of the conversation. Michael's my son, and I love him, but I also know all his good sense and reason flies out the window when it comes to you."
"Why would you say that?"
Debbie paused, unsure about whether to continue. "Because you've led him on since you were fourteen."
This made Brian angry, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Brian, you've managed to sabotage every relationship Michael has tried to have. Remember David?"
"I'm a bad friend because I didn't think Michael should run off with some arrogant 'back doctor'?"
"You didn't like the fact that someone may be taking him away, and for the first time someone may be taking you away from him. Now, I'm not going to split hairs about it, that's for the two of you to work out. But if you like this guy, you go for it, and fuck what Michael might think."
God Brian loved Debbie.
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Justin and Jennifer entered her elegant apartment on Central Park East. Justin loved his mother's apartment. It was an elegant showplace, yet still very homey. Justin was very proud of his mother. For the first sixteen years of his life, she had been a homemaker. Everything changed when he came out. His father wouldn't have anything to do with a gay son, and his parents quickly divorced. Jennifer was forced to start over. She had a love of homes and quickly realized that real estate would be a good career for her. Her connections in upper New York society quickly made her the broker of choice for Manhattan's elite, and her business was booming in no time.
"Do you want to go out to eat honey?"
"Actually mom, could we eat here, I really need to talk to you."
"Sure, let's see what's in the fridge."
In no time, the two had put together a decent meal, and were sharing it in the living room.
"So … talk."
"Gee mom, no beating around the bush with you."
"Not when my first born drives almost 400 miles to come and talk to me."
"Well, I've met someone."
Jennifer was thrilled, "Really?"
"Yes mom, his name's Brian and he's a detective with the Pittsburgh Police Department."
"Ooh a detective." Jennifer was suitably impressed.
"He's the lead detective on the case I'm prosecuting."
"Don't tell me you're mixing business with pleasure?"
"Hardly. Well maybe a little." Justin blushed with that admission.
"So, tell me about him."
"Actually I don't know that much about him. He's gorgeous, that for sure, and he seems like a really great guy. But then I heard some gossip about him, and I freaked."
"What kind of gossip?"
"Just that he gets around. I really don't want to be involved with anyone like that. But I talked with some other people that know him, and it appears that the stories were from a past long ago. Still, I don't know what to do."
"Well it sounds like you need to talk to him, separate the fact from fiction, see what's there. If you want to."
"That's the problem mom, I do want to, but I'm scared."
"I know honey, believe me I know."
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Brian felt much better after his talk with Debbie. He figured she had a point about Michael, but he didn't really want to think about that right now. He decided to focus his energy of the blonde that had slowly taken over his thoughts. He lit of a cigarette and inhaled deeply. He decided to go for broke and call Justin.
"Shit," he muttered as he got the voicemail. He hung up without leaving a message. This was why he didn't date. He felt like a fucking lovesick teenager, and it sucked! The phone rang in his hand.
"Hello?"
"Brian?"
"Yes mother, who else would answer my phone?"
"Well one of your little overnight guests might be so presumptuous as to answer the phone."
Boy did Joan Kinney think she was clever with her digs about Brian's lifestyle. "I never pick up ones smart enough to answer a phone. So what do I owe the honor of this phone call?"
"I wanted to see if you would come over for dinner tonight. Clair is bringing the boys and I thought we could have a real family dinner."
"Well mom, that would require the presence of a 'real family' now wouldn't it?"
"Brian don't be rude."
"Thanks for the invite mom, but I'll have to pass, it's 'Leather Daddy Night' at Babylon, and I don't want to miss it."
"Fine."
The phone hung up in his ear. Brian laughed, he loved to ruffle his mother's feathers. It wasn't "Leather Daddy Night" but he just loved provoking a reaction out of Joan Kinney. She hated the fact that he was gay, told him she prayed for his sinner's soul every night, yet she still had to put on "appearances."
"Appearances," what a joke. He wondered what kind of appearances she put on when she sent Brian to school with bruises on his face from his father's beatings. Her "friends" must have thought he was the klutziest kid on the block. He knew his mother would never admit the truth, that she had married an alcoholic abuser. Hmm, maybe he would put in an appearance at the family dinner tonight. He chuckled at the thought.
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Justin and his mother had a wonderful couple of days. They had breakfast at the Plaza Hotel and wandered Central Park before Justin had to leave. They talked more than they had in a long time. As he drove back to Pittsburgh late Monday night, he still hadn't worked out a solution to the Brian problem.
"Fuck," he screamed to no one in particular. He had totally forgotten that he had a meeting with Brian on Tuesday. That was going to be fun. Hopefully, they were both professional enough to just work on the case. Secretly though, Justin hoped they weren't professional enough, a part of him really wanted to hash this out with Brian.
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Brian trudged into his office Monday morning. He was exhausted. The weekend had been an emotional roller coaster, capped off by dinner at his mothers. He really shouldn't have gone, god he was a glutton for punishment. Family dinners at the Kinney's were always awkward and silent. Joan and Clair were close, but when you add Brian to the mix, the tension level in the room increased exponentially.
Joan tried to hold court as she usually did and Clair would make occasional snide remarks to Brian. After 3 hours he's had enough and made his escape. He thought about hitting Woody's or Babylon, but decided against it. He decided to make it an early night, and prepare himself for the week ahead.
Sitting at his desk, nursing his black coffee, Brian decided to look over his schedule for the week. Seeing his appointment with Justin on Tuesday almost caused him to choke on the hot coffee.
"Cynthia, get in here!" he barked through the speaker phone.
"What is it Brian?"
"Why do I have an appointment with the prosecutor's office that I didn't know about?"
"Oh, Mr. Taylor called after you'd left on Friday. He said he had a few more things that he needed to go over with you on the Brower case. You never had a problem with me scheduling an appointment for you before, I didn't think it would be a problem now."
"You're right, I didn't mean to snap."
"Brian, is something wrong?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"You haven't been yourself the last few weeks. Slim pickings at Babylon?" Cynthia smirked.
Brian rolled his eyes at her, "I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Whatever partner." She closed the door on her way out.
Brian decided to call Justin at his office. Maybe they could go over whatever it was on the phone, he really didn't feel like seeing the young blonde. Ok, that was a lie, he wanted to see him, but didn't think a business meeting would be the right setting.
"Justin Taylor's office, Daphne speaking."
"This is Detective Kinney, may I speak with Mr. Taylor please?"
"I'm sorry detective, Mr. Taylor isn't in the office today. May I leave a message?"
"I'm just calling to confirm a meeting for tomorrow."
"One moment please," Brian was put on hold while Daphne checked the schedule, "I have you down for 1:30 tomorrow."
"That's what I have on my schedule. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Is there anything else?"
"No, goodbye." Brian hung up the phone. It seemed strange that Justin wasn't in the office. George had never been out of the office during the week, unless it was an emergency. Brian wondered if Justin had some kind of emergency. He figured it was time to find out a little bit more about Justin Taylor.
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Justin got home around ten pm Monday night. The drive from New York had tired him out, but he decided to get in a couple of hours work to make up for not going into office today. He'd been reviewing files for about 2 hours when his phone rang.
"Hello,"
"Hey bro, how's it going?"
"Molly? What are you doing calling me in the middle of the night?"
"Middle of the night? It's 7am here in Italy. Besides I talked to mom, she told me when you left, so I figured you'd be up."
The Taylor family grapevine was incredible, it could stretch around the world in record time. "Let me guess, she told you about my romantic prospects?"
"Of course she did fool!" Molly laughed, the grapevine fascinated her as much as Justin. "Mom is better than the internet for transmitting information."
"That's true, so let me guess, she wants you to give me your 2 cents worth?"
"Of course she does. But I'm not going to. You know I'm not like mom, my life's mission is not to fix up my family like hers is."
"I know Mol. I just really have no idea what I want to do."
"Do you like this guy?"
"Yeah, I really do. He's the first person I've had feelings about since Steve."
The line was silent for a moment. Steve had been Justin's first boyfriend in high school, and he didn't survive the attack at the prom. "Then he must be really special."
"I think he could be Mol, I think he could be."
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Brian was a nervous wreck on Tuesday. He couldn't believe he was so on edge about a stupid meeting. Who was he kidding, he was on edge because it was Justin. He couldn't concentrate on anything that morning. He tried to go over some pending case files, but was having no luck. He looked up at the clock, it was noon. He decided to grab some lunch before his meeting with Justin. Picking up his briefcase, he told Cynthia he would be back later, and left the office.
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Justin was in a similar state on Tuesday. However, unlike Brian, when he got like this, he would lose himself in work. It was after noon when Daphne buzzed him to ask about ordering lunch. He decided to order a sandwich, although his stomach was in knots, he knew he needed to eat.
Justin was finishing his sandwich when the intercom buzzed.
"Mr. Taylor, Detective Kinney is here to see you."
"Please send him in." Justin struggled to stand, his leg was bothering him a little bit. Brian walked into his office.
"Counselor."
"Good afternoon Detective."