Witness

Part 5

Jim Stockwell stepped off the plane at Pittsburgh International Airport. He was meeting Ethan Gold, one of Craig Taylor's "problem solvers." Ethan had taken care of the bitch at the gallery a few months ago. When he heard the indictment was limited to Jennifer and Molly, Jim began to get suspicious. The FBI agent who worked the original case was living in Pittsburgh, so Jim decided to start there.

Ethan was waiting in the abandoned building they had agreed to meet at near the wharf. Jim nervously looked around. He wanted to make sure no one was following him. "There's nobody here man."

"It doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"Whatever."

"So, what have you found?"

"Lots. Mr. Taylor should have done his research."

"I don't have time for your attitude Ethan. What are you talking about?"

Ethan grinned manically at Stockwell. "That bitch from the gallery."

Jim was getting impatient, "What about her?"

"In a round about way she is a member of Ben Bruckner's family. You know who Ben Bruckner is, don't you?"

"One of the FBI agents who worked the death of Craig's family."

"Give the man a cigar. Bruckner figured there was no way to tie Taylor to that bitch's death, so he decided to resurrect the past."

"Can we stop with the riddles please."

"As you suspected, Craig's son survived his gun shot wounds. He was tucked away in Witness Protection. Bruckner decided to bring him out of hiding and re-open the case."

"Well, it sounds like you have a job to do."

"That may not be so simple."

"Why?"

"Well, in addition to Bruckner, other members of Peterson's family include a Police Captain and a homicide detective with a nasty temper. The son is under the protection of Pittsburgh's finest right now. From what I've been able to tell, he hasn't even been out."

Jim knew they didn't have much time. The only chance they had was to get rid of the state's key witness. "Well, you had better figure something out. I want to get these charges dismissed."

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Brian was sitting at his desk, lost in thought. Ever since Ben had told them about Craig Taylor getting arrested, he knew his time with Justin was running short. The blonde had become such a huge part of his life that he didn't know what he was going to do when the blonde had to go back into Witness Protection. Brian began distancing himself from Justin. They still shared the same bed, but Brian had put up all his old walls. He knew that Justin could feel the distance, but the blonde never said anything.

His partner, Cynthia, walked into his office. Cynthia Monroe had been his partner since Renee's death six years earlier. They hadn't developed the closeness that Brian had shared with Renee. Brian wasn't going to go through that again, but they had a strong respect and professional affection for each other.

"Hey Brian, this was delivered for you." Cynthia dropped a manila envelope onto his desk.

Brian eyed it curiously. It was addressed to him, but no return address was listed. "Thanks Cyn."

Brian opened the envelope and found several pictures of Gus inside. Several were taken at school, a few were taken when he was with Brian, and several when he was with Deb. A handwritten note was attached, Give up the blonde.

"Fuck!!!"

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Justin was at the loft sketching. He was waiting for Brian and Gus to get home. He had put a roast in the oven for dinner and decided to pass the time by drawing. Since the night Ben had told them about his father's arrest, Justin had been dealing with his fears by drawing. He had filled several sketch books with drawings of his mother, sister, pictures from the night they died and new memories of Brian and Gus. He had felt Brian pulling away. They still shared the same bed, but Brian had stopped making love with him. Now Brian just fucked him, with no emotions and no feeling. When they were finished, Brian would roll away and sleep with his back turned.

Justin remembered a conversation he had with Brian. The detective had told him he didn't believe in love or relationships. At first Justin accepted this and felt Brian's feelings would change, but now he wasn't so sure. Justin had fallen in love with Brian and he had hoped Brian was falling in love with him. The last few weeks were proving him wrong. Justin had thought about taking Ben up on his offer to stay at a federal safe house, but he wanted to talk to Brian first.

The loft door slid open and Brian came storming through. Justin looked up and saw that Brian was alone, with an unreadable expression on his face. "Hey, where's Gus?"

Brian looked at him with cold eyes. "He's staying with Deb and Carl for the night."

"Oh! Well I started dinner, it should be ready shortly."

Brian stopped on the stairs leading up to the bedroom. "I'm not hungry, I'm going out."

Brian closed the doors to the bedroom. Justin could see Brian undressing through the frosted glass. He got up and went to the oven and turned it off. Brian emerged a few moments later dressed like a predator. He was wearing all black. Justin watched him gather his wallet and keys. Brian had reached the door of the loft and finally turned to look at Justin. "Would you sleep in the other room tonight? I won't be back until late."

Justin tried to stop the tears welling in his eyes. "Umm … sure."

Brian looked at him and nodded. Then he was gone.

Justin watched the loft door slam close. Once Brian was gone, the tears began to fall. He knew what Brian's plans were. Justin was pretty naïve about many aspects of the gay scene, but he could tell that Brian was going in search of a trick. All of his thoughts of happily ever after evaporated in an instant.

"Fuck it!" Justin grabbed his own keys for the loft. He needed to get out and clear his head. He took the elevator down and headed outside. Justin never noticed the man that emerged from the shadows and followed him.

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Brian surveyed the scene at Babylon. As soon as he arrived, he scored some E from Anita and headed for the bar. He quickly downed a few shots of Beam and looked for a trick that would take his mind off of what was happening at home.

Brian had seen the tears in Justin's eyes. He knew the blonde was confused and upset by his abrupt departure. Justin wasn't stupid. Brian knew the blonde was well aware of the emotional distance that he had put between them. Justin was too shy to say anything or perhaps he was waiting until Gus wasn't with them to talk about things. Whatever the reason, it was a conversation Brian didn't want to have.

This was why he never did relationships, why no one ever got close. Something about the soft spoken blonde had made Brian dismiss all his previous rules. Until Craig Taylor's arrest, even Brian could pretend their relationship was real. But it wasn't, Justin would leave and now Gus had been threatened. Brian couldn't pretend anymore. He locked eyes with a potential trick. He cocked his head towards the backroom and knew the trick would follow.

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Justin had been walking for a few blocks. The fresh air had helped to clear his mind. He knew he shouldn't be out without Brian or Ben, but for the moment he didn't care. Reality had come crashing down. He had no future with Brian. His future was going to consist of being relocated to a new life once the trial was over and he would never see Brian again.

Even though he knew he should be angry with Brian about his earlier departure, Justin couldn't bring himself to be mad. Brian wasn't stupid, he had to know their time was coming to an end and was dealing with it in his own way. Just like Justin would have to deal with it in his own way.

Justin stopped in a park and sat down on a bench. He never noticed the other man come upon him.

"Well Blondie, it's about time you were out without your watch dogs."

That was the last thing Justin remembered.

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Brian staggered home around midnight. He was drunk and high and horny. He had tried to pick up several tricks at Babylon, but when he got them into the backroom his dick went soft. The tricks weren't Justin and even in his inebriated state, Brian didn't want anyone other than the blonde.

He hoped Justin would still be awake when he got home, but he doubted he would be able to get it up thanks to the booze and drugs. Brian looked around the living room and found no traces of Justin. The other man must have gone to sleep in the guest room like Brian had asked him to.

Brian knew that he was too fucked up to do anything anyway. He decided to wait until morning to talk to Justin. They needed to figure some way out of the mess they were in.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee awoke Brian. He smiled to himself. Maybe Justin wasn't too mad at him. He hauled himself out of bed, ignoring the dizziness that plagued him.

"Hey baby, the coffee smells great."

"Guess again asshole."

Brian saw Ben sitting at the bar glaring at him. Brian scanned the loft, looking for Justin and didn't find him anywhere. "Where's Justin?"

Brian made his way to the bar as Ben slid a cup of coffee to him. "He's not here."

"What the fuck do you mean he's not here?"

Ben ignored Brian's question, "What did you do last night Brian? How fucked up were you, how many guys did you fuck?"

Brian sobered up at the sound of Ben's anger, "My extra-curricular activities are none of your business."

Ben got right in Brian's face, "When my witness ends up in the hospital because you had go out and get your rocks off it becomes my business."

"He's in the hospital? What the fuck happened?"

"Couple of street cops found him being beaten. When they approached the perp ran off. He still had my card in his wallet so they called me. He's still unconscious."

"Fuck! Let's go!"

Ben forced Brian to sit back down. "Oh, no you don't. You are not going anywhere near him. I knew there was going to be trouble when you fucked him. I also knew he should have stayed in federal protection, but no, I had to listen to you. I trusted you to take care of him!"

Brian slumped back down in his seat. He looked up at Ben with tears in his eyes, "I need to see him."

Ben saw the tears in Brian's eyes and heard the anguish in his voice, "Ok, let's go."

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Justin was eating breakfast in his hospital room. He had been beaten up pretty bad, but the cops had interfered in time. He didn't remember anything after the man approached him in the park.

The door to his room opened and Brian walked in. "Hey."

Justin looked up at his lover, "Hey! You look like shit."

Brian smirked, "So do you Sunshine." Brian's expression changed as he walked over to Justin's bedside, "Justin, I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry for? I may not remember everything, but I know you're not the guy who worked me over."

"I shouldn't have left the way I did."

Justin looked at Brian's miserable expression, "Brian, you didn't do anything wrong. I was the stupid one. I shouldn't have gone out alone. It's not your job to babysit me. You have every right to go out if you want."

"No, I made a promise to look out for you when I offered to have you stay with me."

"Bri, have I done something wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

Justin took a deep breath, "You were so upset last night. I've felt you pulling away for weeks, but last night … when you asked me to sleep in the other room … did I do something wrong."

Brian heard Justin's voice catch with his last statement. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Yesterday … at work, someone had a package delivered. It was pictures of Gus. Pictures at school … pictures with Deb … pictures with me …"

"Oh my god! Then it's a good thing …" Justin's voice trailed off.

"What's a good thing?"

Justin looked Brian directly in the eye, "I'm going to have Ben set me up in a federal safe house."

"Justin no!"

"Brian, it's for the best. You've already had your life turned upside down because of me and now Gus has been threatened."

Brian heard Justin's words, "It sounds like you've already decided, even before I told you about Gus."

Justin looked down, avoiding Brian's gaze, "It's the best for me."

"What do you mean?"

Justin looked back up at Brian, tears shining in his eyes, "I'm in love with you Brian. Before you say anything, I know how you feel about that. I know you don't believe in love and you don't want a relationship. But I love you, and I know that you don't love me, so I need to leave. I can't keep things the way they are. I've felt the change in you. You no longer make love to me, you fuck me, and if I stay, it will be that much harder to leave …"

"Justin …"

"No Brian, you don't have to say anything. You've been honest with me from the start. I just need to leave before I fall in deeper."

"I don't want you to go."

"Brian …"

"I know what I told you, and that used to be true. I didn't believe in love, but I've started to. When Ben told us that your father had been arrested, I knew that our time was coming to a close, so I started to pull away. I needed to distance myself from you. Call it self preservation. I had to prepare for when you weren't there. Then I got those pictures of Gus, and I just freaked out. And you got hurt. I am so sorry."

Justin heard the anguish in Brian's voice, "What do you want? Don't tell me what you think I want to hear and don't give me what you think is the 'appropriate' answer. Tell me what you really feel."

Brian didn't hesitate, "I want you. I want you to be my partner, I want you to help me raise my son … I want you with me … always."

"Ok."

"How can you say that? Look at what we're facing."

Justin looked deep into Brian's eyes, "Do you trust me?"

Brian didn't hesitate, "Yes Justin, I do."

"We'll be ok."

Any other words were interrupted by Ben coming into the room. "Ok Justin. The doctors are ready to release you. We need to get your stuff from Brian's and get you settled at the safe house in Millvale."

"No Ben, I'm staying here. I'm staying with Brian."

"Justin, you need to be in federal custody, you'll be safer."

"No Ben, this happened because I was stupid. I was careless. Both you and Brian told me to not go out alone and I ignored you. That's why I was attacked. I will be fine with Brian."

Ben looked at the two men. Brian was perched on the edge of Justin's bed with his arm around Justin's shoulders. There was no way to ignore the love radiating between the two men. Ben ignored all of the warning signals going through his head. "Ok. There are a couple of issues that need to be addressed. Brian, since Gus has been threatened, we need to keep him safe." Brian nodded his agreement. "We can send him and Deb to a safe house. I know you don't want to …"

"No Ben … that's fine."

"Ok. Justin needs to go to New York to speak with the DA, we are moving forward."

The two lovers nodded their agreement.

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