"What’s going on?" Brian asked, his gut tightening.

"Justin came in voluntarily and his story checked out so we won’t be pressing any charges," Horvath answered.

"Excuse me?" Brian snapped. "A minute ago you were accusing him of blackmail!"

Justin cowered slightly at the tension radiating from his lover. He wanted to soothe him, but he knew he was partially to blame and Brian wouldn’t forgive him anytime soon…if ever.

The detective coolly stared back at Brian. "That was part of checking his story. He said you didn’t know anything about what he’d done, but I needed to be sure."

"Brian, just let Justin tell you what happened," Melanie advised calmly.

Brian’s eyes narrowed. "You knew about this?"

The woman nodded. "When Justin called to tell me you were being brought in for questioning, he said he needed to come in and make a statement as well."

Brian turned his attention back to his lover. "What the fuck for?"

"When Stockwell came back last night, he said—I guess he wanted to try and bribe you, but I…" Justin twisted his hands and looked at the floor. "He said he’d give me a hundred thousand dollars to get you to stop pushing the Kemp murder investigation. He knew you’re in hock up to your eyeballs from the commercials." Justin glanced at Brian briefly, willing him to understand. "And I agreed."

"Fuck, Justin," Brian hissed.

"I didn’t want the money!" The younger man insisted. "I just wanted to catch him trying to bribe us."

"Why didn’t you tell me this last night?" Brian asked.

Justin ignored him. He needed to get through the rest of the story before he lost his nerve and ran from the room. "I knew there were cameras in the entrances so I was just going to go down and take the bag, then turn it in, but he wanted to meet somewhere else."

"Jesus," Brian snorted.

Justin grimaced. "I knew that meant it was probably a trap, so I insisted I could sneak out on the fire escape if we just met in the alley. I hoped the camera in the back would pick us up, I knew the super had its angle increased because of the vandalism in the parking lot, but it only got me. Hiding the bag afterwards."

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Brian asked, confusion furrowing his brow.

"I didn’t want you to know," Justin mumbled back, hanging his head again.

"Obviously," Brian drawled sarcastically. He took a step closer and held Justin’s chin in his hand so the younger man had to look at him. "Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me."

Justin’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears before he closed them and drew a shaky breath. "I was afraid…I thought you’d want to keep it."

Brian looked as if he’d been punched in the gut before he schooled his face into a cold mask. He let his hand drop and turned to Horvath. "Am I done here?"

"Brian, please…" Justin cried, grabbing his arm, but Brian shook him off. Justin heeded the warning not to touch him, but he stepped in the man’s path and blocked the door. "I was wrong, I just… All day all I could think about was NOT turning the money in. And I wanted to tell you, but the police came before I got the nerve. If I said anything then, it would only have given them more reason to suspect you! But when I remembered the tapes could clear you, I knew I had no choice. I had to tell them everything because I was on the tape too."

Brian stared at him for a moment, then silently stepped around him and left the room.

Justin’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he watched the man walk away.

Melanie put her arm around him and gave him a tight squeeze. "You did the right thing."

The young man nodded, turning his head away as he wiped his eyes.

"Come on, I’ll give you a ride home."

***

"Are you sure you don’t want me to wait?" Melanie asked Justin as he got out at the loft. "I don’t mind. Let me give you a ride back to your place."

"No, I don’t have a lot of stuff, and I’d like the walk to clear my head."

"What if--"

Justin shook his head. "Don’t worry. He won’t come home anytime soon."

***

Twenty minutes later Brian let himself into the loft.

Justin froze on the stairs to the bedroom.

"Where is it?" Brian asked.

Justin’s heart skipped a beat. "How did you know?"

Brian arched an eyebrow. "In hock up to my eyeballs?"

Justin heaved a sigh of relief. "And you told him you only cared about being in cock up to your eyeballs."

Brian still couldn’t believe it. He’d been so angry at the police station he’d almost missed the big neon sign! The little shit heard Stockwell try to bribe him. And he’d heard Brian tell him to go fuck himself. Then Stockwell offered to double the money…

"I knew you wouldn’t tell the police that he tried to bribe you, because it would’ve given you a stronger motive, so I lied about how much…" Justin trailed off, frowning. "I’m sorry I had to tell Horvath and Mel I thought you would’ve kept it. They have no idea what kind of man you really are, Brian. Better than me. I know you think I’m just a thief now, but I don’t care." He lifted his chin defiantly. "It’s your money and I would do it again to give it back to you. I wish I could’ve kept it all to repay you for my wasted tuition too."

Brian wearily rubbed his eyes. "Just tell me what really happened."

"Everything else I said was the truth," Justin swore. "When Stockwell came back to try and convince you again, I just had to do it. I wanted him to pay for what he did to you…us…all of us. But I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t ask you to risk anything else. If it was a trap, or if the police didn’t believe me--"

Brian moved to the step just below Justin and wrapped his arms around his waist. Justin leaned into him and melted against the older man’s chest, struggling to keep his emotions under control as Brian tightened his hold and kissed his temple.

"I know why you did it," Brian admitted uneasily. That much he could say out loud, but he couldn’t tell his lover what it meant to him.

The younger man lifted his head to meet his lover’s gaze. "Are you mad I kept half of the money?"

Brian didn’t know how to answer that. He wasn’t mad the kid had managed to fuck Stockwell over one last time, but he was angry Justin had put himself in serious jeopardy for him. He couldn’t deal with that. If anything had happened to him…

"Brian?" Justin pressed nervously. "I know it’s not like you can go out and buy your stuff back, but it’s nice to know you can buy more condoms," he tried to joke. "Or if you don’t want it, you can make an anonymous contribution to a homeless shelter or something, or have a bonfire if your heat’s turned off…"

But Brian continued to just stare at him. He stared deep into the younger man’s eyes until Justin started to squirm.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked uncomfortably. He hoped they were playing ‘mind control’ again, but he suspected Brian wasn’t fooling around.

"I’m using my powers of mind control…"

Or maybe he was.

"Rage is retired…JT lives only to serve him…" Brian droned. "Rage is retired…"

Justin pushed him away, huffing, "Brian, stop it."

The older man scowled. "Why can’t you just be a brainwashable twink anymore?"

Justin gaped at him. "Because you didn’t really like me then. But that’s not the point. Rage can’t--"

Brian took Justin’s head in his hands and kissed him hard to shut him up. When he pulled back, he held the younger man’s gaze again. "Yes, that is the point." He touched his forehead to Justin’s, searching his memory for one of the very few times he’d tried to voice what he felt— "I want you safe. I want you around for a long time."

Justin could only nod around the lump that suddenly formed in his throat. Then he felt Brian moving forward and he backed into the bedroom as his lover guided him toward the bed.

Brian was starting to pull Justin’s shirt over his head when he looked over his lover’s shoulder. He paused and rolled his eyes. "That’s a bit cliché, don’t you think?"

Justin shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. "Green’s the new orange."

"Twat," Brian growled, pushing Justin back onto the mattress and rolling them over the pile of bills spread across the duvet.