"Tell me again why we can't just go in pretending to be buyers?" For the last fifteen minutes Van had been sitting there with Deaq listening to Billie outline their latest case. Actually, he had been sitting there, but as for listening? Apparently not.

"Have you even heard a thing I've said?" Billie was not impressed. "You know these presentations," she motioned to the large monitor behind her. "They don't create themselves." She had spent some time getting the presentation ready for two reasons. First, Billie liked to present a slick and together image. Second, she had little faith in the length of her guys' attention spans for anything that wasn't good looking and fast paced. Giving them a traditional file folder of information would have been easier, but a computer presentation with graphics, colors and video clips always got them more interested... or so she had thought, until now.

"Sorry boss," Van said. "My mind just wandered." Van couldn't tell her what he had been thinking about. Not unless he wanted to end up with either his partner or Billie killing him. Kinky daydreams about Deaq were just not meant for sharing. As long as they stayed inside his head there would be no problem, at least not for anyone else. It wasn't like they had become more frequent and were starting to affect his work or anything. Yeah right.

"Wander it back here. We have work to do." Billie let the matter drop. There was something in Van's reply that let her know he wasn't joking around. He had answered without looking up and his tone had been flat. She considered asking him if there was anything wrong, but decided instead to give Deaq a look.

Deaq nodded his head ever so slightly in response, knowing that Billie wanted him to talk to Van later and see what his problem was. This had been going on for a week or so and, despite his attempts to get Van to open up to him, Deaq had gained no insight into what had been troubling his partner. It seemed like the more he pressed the more Van withdrew into himself. Deaq was starting to get concerned that a new case right now might make things worse.

Billie hit a button on the computer, and bringing up a picture on the screen. It was the outside of a salon. It was a reasonably nice place and in most cities would be considered quite exclusive. In L.A. however, it was considered mid-range in expense and style. The sign read: Kenny's Salon and Spa.

"This is Kenny's. It's a hair salon but we believe it's also a front for a drug dealer known only as 'Stell.' We have no idea who this Stell is but we have miles of wire taps, thanks to DEA, indicating he's using this place to move the stuff."

"How'd you get DEA's help?" asked Deaq.

"We didn't. Remember that case with the stolen laptops about a month ago? When I was logging them into evidence I found recordings stored on the hard drive of one of the computers. Seems Walter was making his own copies of the taps."

"Taping the taps? Damn! No wonder he knew they were coming," Deaq remarked. The case had not ended smoothly, mainly because DEA wasn't interested in cooperating with them.

"These recordings indicate that Stell himself is at Kenny's when the shipments arrive."

"So why can't we just go in as buyers?" Van asked. Full circle.

"Because, Van, we need someone on the inside. Actually two someones," she said looking at both of them.

"Okay, I can only get so many haircuts you know. And Deaq..." Van didn't bother finishing the sentence since it was obvious that Deaq didn't need a hair cut as he kept it short, only about half an inch long.

"That's why you two are going to work there."

"Billie," Deaq began thinking she was pulling their legs. "What the hell you think we know about working in a salon?" he said holding his fingers up in an air quote on the word salon. "This is SO far out of our area."

Van scrunched down in his chair realizing there was a good chance Billie had more in his file than he had figured. 'Oh crap,' he thought.

"Van Strummer happens to be one of the best up and coming stylists on the west coast," Billie said.

"Billie, Van can play at being almost anything but he don't know the first thing about doin' hair. Look," Deaq pointed to Van's long bedhead-meets-windblown-surfer-dude style.

Billie and Deaq looked at Van who just scrunched farther down in his seat. They were both shocked that he wasn't defending himself and his hair. They both knew Van spent considerable time and effort everyday to achieve that style. Deaq realized that Van also wasn't agreeing with him about not knowing how to play a stylist.

"Van? There something you want to share with us?" he asked fearing the answer.

Van just kept staring at the desktop. After a few seconds he jumped up and began pacing around the small enclosed office. He pointed at Billie, "You already know, don't you? Damn it! What isn't in that frickin' file? Yes, Deaq, I do know how to do hair. And I'll have you know this," he pointed at his hair, "takes a lot of skill to do. Unlike some people I don't just get up and leave without doing anything to it."

"Easy partner. I didn't mean anything by it, but just 'cause you do that thing with your own hair don't mean you can go cutting and doin' other people's."

Van came to a stop, threw his head back and looked at the high ceiling above. "Billie, go ahead. Fill him in." He returned to his seat and plopped down, slouching.

********************

That night, back at his hotel, Van was still feeling embarrassed. He never wanted Deaq to know that he had worked in a salon in his early teens. It had been his Mom's idea. She had dragged him along when she was getting her hair done and Van had really hit it off with the guys who worked there. She had always known that Van was probably gay, or at least bisexual. She had encouraged him to talk with and work with the guys at the salon because she trusted them and figured they could help Van understand himself. His father had been in jail at the time. He certainly wouldn't have let Van hang around with a bunch of gay hair dressers but Van's Mom figured it wouldn't do any harm and might actually be good for him. She had been mostly right.

Van looked in the minibar figuring maybe a drink would help settle his nerves. Tomorrow he was going to have to show Deaq a side of himself he had hoped was buried forever.

****************

Deaq pulled up to the front of Van's place and waited in the car. He had called en route and Van had told him not to bother coming up because he would be ready by the time Deaq got there. Deaq watched the procession of guests going from the lobby through the doors. One in particular caught his eye. Young guy, slim but muscular build, tight black leather pants and a skin tight spandex tee shirt in gray and white that had a print that looked like marble. He had long hair that must have been naturally curly and he was fresh shaven. He walked with a bounce in his step that made him appear quite young and full of barely restrained energy. As the young man approached the car Deaq choked on his coffee and wound up spitting it on the dash of the expensive car. He'd been checking out his own partner!

'That is so not cool, man,' Deaq thought to himself as he scrambled to wipe up the mess before Van got in. 'You don't go checking out your partner no matter how gay he dresses. You know he likes the ladies. He's just got that weird fashion sense. Hell, you'd probably dress like that too if you lived in L.A. your whole life.' As Van climbed into the car Deaq thought, 'No. You still wouldn't look like that. But knock it off, the guy's off limits. Besides, if he knew you liked doing it with guys he's probably be disgusted, no matter how open minded you think he is.'

Van gave Deaq his best cheesy smile. "So, do I look the part?"

Deaq just shook his head and kept looking at Van. It wasn't like he hadn't seen his partner dressed like that before. This was just more of a full package deal. Deaq recognized the pants and shirt but there was something about them together, especially that shirt without a jacket. It made Van's chest and abs look like they were chiseled out of marble. And this was definitely the first time he'd seen Van without any facial hair. Oh he'd seen it all lengths, long enough that Deaq could almost call it a beard, but this was different. He had never realized how delicate Van's features were. Without the goatee he looked almost feminine and much younger. Looking the way he did now Deaq wouldn't be surprised if Van were asked for ID if they went to a club. Not that he should be thinking about taking Van to a club. 'Common man, keep it together,' he told himself. 'Damn, I thought I was over feeling like this.'

"We supposed to meet the owners at 9. Timmy and Frank. Billie said they'd be waiting for us this morning."

"Wait, did you say Timmy and Frank?" 'No way' Van thought. 'It's got to be a coincidence.'

"Yeah. That's what she said. Why, you know 'em?"

"Naw. I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Van said, wondering if that's what it was.

******************

"Is that my little ray of sunshine?" the voice boomed over the music and sounds of hair driers. Deaq watched as a tall, thin man in his early forties ran through the salon at surprising speed and grabbed Van by the shoulders for a better look.

"It is you, isn't it, Sunshine?"

Van, bright red and very much aware of all the customers and staff watching the exchange answered him, "Yeah, it's me Frankie."

Frankie grabbed Van in a bear hug, lifted him right off the ground and spun him around once before setting him down again.

"It's so good to see you. It's been years. What are you doing here? How have you been, Sunshine?" he asked the questions in rapid succession never letting Van get a word in edgewise.

"I changed my name years back. Not Ray anymore. It's Van Strummer now."

"Oh! Your boss called. I'm so pleased you didn't give up the trade. We thought after that whole thing, what with your Dad and all..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Van really didn't want to talk about that, especially around Deaq. He steered the conversation away. "Is Timmy here?"

"TIMMY!" Frankie shouted. Deaq watched in amusement as a few patrons covered their ears.

'This guy has a set of pipes on him,' Deaq thought.

Another guy popped out of the back area. He looked a little younger than Frankie and was dressed more conservatively. On seeing Van he quickly made his way to the front of the store.
"Little Ray," he said as he shook Van's hand. "You're all grown up now. It's good to see you." While his greeting was a lot less dramatic than Frankie's had been it was just as sincere.

"You too Timmy. And it's Van now."

"Whatever you want, Sunshine," Frankie said, obviously not about to give up on the nickname.

"So, then you're this mysterious Van Strummer, supposedly the best new stylist L.A. has seen in years. Your boss spoke highly of you, but we were wondering since we'd never heard of Van Strummer," Timmy said.

"That's me." Van turned to smile at Deaq and realized he hadn't even introduced him yet. "This is Deaq."

"Billie told us about him too. She said you'd bring your partner along and insist he be with you. She said you two are inseparable," said Timmy said.

"Uh, yeah, see were not that kind of partners..." Van started. He didn't want Deaq freaking out.

"Of course, Sunshine. Whatever you say," Frankie said obviously humoring Van. He didn't buy for a second that these two weren't a couple. He saw their body language when they came into the store and they way they stood closely together.

Deaq put his arm around Van's waist and pulled him close. "It's okay, I don't mind if your friends know," Deaq said smiling. He figured they had better just go with it, that way his presence would be less suspicious. "I'm just new to being out, you know ... in public."

Timmy took Deaq's arm and told him, "Don't you worry. Frankie and I pride ourselves on a good working environment. Everyone here is very supportive. Now, how would you like to learn to be the new wash boy?"

Deaq threw Van a look that said everything from "kill me now" to "if you're really my partner you'd get me out of here." Van just flashed him a 1000 watt smile and said, "Don't be scared, you'll do fine." He watched Timmy lead Deaq away. Deaq looked like he was being led to the gallows but Timmy was already animatedly filling him in on the finer points of scalp massage. It brought back memories for Van.

*************

Three hours later Van was on his third customer and really enjoying himself. Frankie was right. He hadn't lost the touch. He was clipping and snipping quickly and was turning out great results.

'Hmm,' he thought. 'If Billie ever fires me maybe I can get a job doing this.'

Van checked out Deaq in the mirror in front of him. The poor guy just wasn't getting the hang of it. He had already managed to soak two customers' shirts and blast one old lady with cold water down her neck. Hearing her shrill scream and then seeing the look of shock on Deaq's face had been priceless. (Author's note: Imagine Bill Belamy's reaction - how funny would that be?) Van could swear Deaq's eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of his head. He stifled a laugh at the memory.

As he blow-dried the now short hair of the customer he had been working on he watched Deaq awkwardly shampooing another older lady's hair. The way Deaq was leaning to reach the sprayer gave Van a nice view of his ass. Deaq had long since ditched his long sleeved shirt and was now wearing a dark blue sleeveless t-shirt. Van watched Deaq's powerful biceps as he lathered the shampoo.

"Putting those fabulous arms of his to good use aren't we?" Frankie said conspiratorially to Van, nodding to Deaq's reflection in the mirror. Van hadn't even noticed the man walk up beside him. Frankie patted him on the lower back and made his way to the front desk. Not that it was really an option in this outfit, but Van again thanked God he hadn't brought his gun. Between Frankie, and the customers it seemed like everyone was patting him or feeling him up. The most disturbing moment had been when a lady old enough to be his grandmother had grabbed his leather clad ass and called him "sweetie." He shivered at the thought.

He didn't mind when Frankie touched him, after all it was just the man's way and Van knew he meant nothing by it. He could tolerate the customers grabbing him too. Heck, dressed like this he was probably asking for it. But all day he had been waiting for someone to touch Deaq. In a place like this it was just a matter of time and just the thought of it made Van start grinding his teeth. It made him wish he could just carry his gun in plain sight and be done with it. Being unarmed always made him feel sort of helpless. At least Deaq was carrying, his clothes being baggy enough to easily conceal a gun. He watched Deaq bend slightly more and noticed two bulges at his sides, small enough that nobody else would probably know. So he was carrying two guns. Not unusual, but it made Van feel a little safer. So help him if anyone grabbed Deaq or felt him up he'd grab one of those guns and...

'Whoa,' Van though. 'Jeez, over protective much? Where did all that come from? Deaq's a big boy - he can take care of himself.' As he thought this he saw Deaq grab the sprayer and turn it the wrong way. Before he could call out a warning Deaq turned it on, effectively spraying himself stomach to crotch with water.

The customer in his chair started laughing and it was all Van could do not to whack him upside the head with the hair dryer in his hand. The man put a hand on Van's upper thigh and said, "That's good - it's all dry now. Maybe you should go help him out. Looks like he could use a dryer." He pointed towards where Deaq was toweling himself off. Van took off the cape off the man and reminded himself that it was still murder even if the guy was tempting him to do it.

***************

"This is the worst case I've ever worked," Deaq declared. "You remember that time we had to go after those gun smugglers and had to pose as fertilize buyers? NATURAL fertilizer! Well this is worse."

Deaq downed another shot of tequila and chased it with his beer.

"Okay, you can give me the keys right about now," Van said, his hand open on the table. He watched Deaq wrestle them from his pocket with a little more effort than was necessary. He wasn't smashed but it was definitely better if Van drove tonight.

The two had gone to a bar after the salon closed. Deaq had insisted on the grimy sports bar they were in rather than the upscale lounge just down the street. They had walked into the lounge first, a pleasant and airy place with light instrumental music playing softly in the background, and Deaq had spun a 180 on his heel and walked right out. Van had followed and when he began to ask what the problem was Deaq had just said, "Nah uh. Not after today."

Van had figured Deaq must have thought the place too gay and was probably disgusted with the thought of spending any more time in a place that might contain anyone who wasn't totally hetero. For a moment Van had almost thought maybe he should leave Deaq alone - just get him to drop him off. He wondered how Deaq could even stand him.

Deaq had turned and said, "Common you holdin' us up. I need a beer." Van had followed like an obedient puppy dog. He was disgusted with himself for not the first time in the past few weeks. He was going to have to find someway to stop himself from lusting after Deaq without ruining their partnership. Any hope he had of Deaq maybe, just maybe, sharing his feelings disappeared by the end of the day. Some how his insistence on visiting the roughneck bar had seemed like the final confirmation Van needed.

'Well, it had been very unlikely. But that doesn't make it any easier to accept,' he thought, zipping the borrowed jacket up a little higher. There was no way he'd have gone in this nasty place if Deaq hadn't mentioned the jacket in the trunk of the car. Sure, he and Deaq had gone into some pretty scary situations before, but he wasn't suicidal and entering Rough Bill's Sports Bar dressed the way he was at the Salon would have been a sure way to end up with trouble. After all, neither of them carried badges and Van wasn't even armed.

"This is even worse than that time..."

Van decided to cut him off. "I'm enjoying it. You'll have a better time tomorrow I promise. You were doing a lot better towards the end."

"Yeah right! That last dude ended up with a mouth full of water. I don't know what the problem is. I mean, I've done a lot harder things before. I don't see why this should be so bad."

"Maybe you're just trying too hard, you know? Give it another day and you'll be cleaning heads like a pro."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Deaq said. The last thing he wanted was to be really good at all this. Van could play hairdresser all he wanted but it was all too weird for Deaq. It just seemed so girly to him. Just like that lounge had. It was like living with his sisters all over again. Deaq gave an involuntary shiver.

Van noticed the look of disgust on Deaq's face and retraced his words. 'Cleaning heads like a pro - that's what I'm afraid of. Oh shit! He's thinking... Oh shit!'

"But hey," Deaq started, changing the subject. "I'm happy you havin' a good time. Your friends - they're nice. 'Specially Timmy. That guy's got more patience than both my parents combined. He teach you a lot?" Deaq suspected that Van learned hair cutting from the guys. Maybe more.

"Yeah, Frankie too. Listen, it's late. You wanna get going?" Van wanted to avoid this conversation as long as possible. Hopefully until after the case when it would be forgotten.

"Sure. I've had enough anyway." Deaq noticed the way Van changed topics quickly. He was avoiding talking about something. At least he'd been happy today. Maybe Van just needed a break from their regular work. Maybe that's what his funk had been about.

'Maybe what he needs is a break from you,' Deaq thought. 'What if he's starting to notice the way you look at him? What are you going to do then? I gotta figure a way to stop this.'

As they left the bar Van noticed Deaq shaking his head to himself. 'Look, he's probably thinking about what an idiot you are - you disgust him. I gotta figure out some way to stop this - to just stop thinking about him in that way,' thought Van.

Van dropped Deaq off at his place then went home. It had been a very quiet ride, both men locked in their thoughts.

************

Van rolled up to Deaq's driveway just a couple of minutes late. He had fussed over his outfit that morning. He'd considered wearing something more conservative, conservative for him anyway, but had decided instead to dress the part. If he was supposed to be an up and coming hair stylist in L.A. then a baggy old shirt and worn Levis weren't going to cut it. Besides, he had already shown up yesterday looking ... what was the politically correct word? Flamboyant?

'No. Deaq probably thinks I looked like a flaming queer. What's he going to think of me today?' he thought, looking down at himself. Today he'd chosen tight, light colored, designer jeans with strategically placed rectangular holes in them, and a white, linen shirt that was rather see through. It had three quarter length sleeves (Van's favorite, though difficult to find in men's clothing) and rawhide lacing from about mid chest to the neck, which he left hanging lose and open showing off plenty of skin. He'd shaved again too and still felt naked without his usual goatee. He left his hair natural, it curled on it's own making it look much shorter than normal. He usually used a lot of stuff to make it stay straight and messy looking. Van found himself thinking about how long it had taken him to figure out the perfect combination of products and techniques to make it appear straight. He knew there was an analogy of some kind there he could make about his life but just as he was about to figure it out Deaq opened the car door and got in.

"Mornin,'" Deaq said grinning at his tardy partner. He even sounded happy. Deaq had decided he was going to stop whining like a brat and make the best of this case. After all it couldn't be all bad if it was making Van happy. He hadn't given up on finding out what had been troubling his partner all week but he was willing to let it go, at least until after work tonight.

'Damn! I'm calling it "work" like it was a real job or something,' he thought.

Van started the car and pulled into traffic. "You're in a good mood."

"Yeah, I'm gonna' have a good day. You said it yourself - I'll do better today."

"You're not going to hold me to that are you? Cause it's not like I offered some money back guarantee, here," Van said joking around.

"I got a plan's all," Deaq said having no intention of telling Van the idea he had last night right after he'd been dropped off.

"Does that plan include those pants? Those ARE Dockers right? The ones that 'repel any liquid?'" he said saying the last part in a fake announcer's voice.

"Caught me red handed, man," Deaq answered. 'Let him think he has everything figured out if he wants to, but I still got a surprise up my sleeve.

"Thought you could get that by me didn't ya? Huh?"

*********************

Soon after arriving at the Salon, Deaq had started talking to Timmy about something. Van had wanted to eavesdrop but figured it was time to get to the real reason he was here.

"Hey, Frankie? What product lines are you selling here anyway?" he asked. Van knew that once he got Frankie talking it should be easy to slip in extra questions. He was convinced that there was no way either Frankie or Timmy could be part of the drug trafficking that was supposedly going on there ... at least not knowingly. Nevertheless, Van had to make sure.

Sure enough Frankie gave him a long list of different products they offered. Van was surprised at how many he didn't recognize. He asked Frankie about the best one's for straightening hair. He figured he'd kill two birds with one stone. First he'd find out more about the independent products they sold since this was how Billie, Deaq and he had decided the drugs were probably being brought in and sold in disguise. Second, Van figured maybe Frankie would have something really good he could use on his own hair to achieve his normal style.

"Sunshine, don't tell me you want to try to straighten out that lovely hair of yours. It'll never look right. You'd probably have to put loads of product in and even then it would just end up looking all messy."

"That sounds like my Van," Deaq said having walked up and caught the tail end of their conversation. "Always piling stuff in his hair only to end up with bed-head."

Frankie grabbed Van's hand and lightly slapped the top of it. "Shame on you! Why would you do that to your beautiful hair?"

"I don't really like it like this," Van said. It was true and he really hoped he could avoid explaining his reasons.

Timmy came to his defense. "Frankie, if he wants to do it you can't stop him. Van, it does suit you but if you don't want it like this I'm sure we can find something to change it. I understand if you don't want it that way again ... anymore."

Deaq recognized something in Timmy's tone that clued him in that this was a deeper issue than just hairstyle. The way Timmy was looking at Van was sympathetic. Something else was going on that Deaq didn't know about and it bugged him.

"Frankie, baby, go show Van the storeroom. Makie's construction putty? You think?" Timmy asked Frankie, referring to a specific product.

"Whatever Sunshine wants he'll get - even if it won't look good," Frankie said smiling, wrapping an arm around Van's shoulders and leading him to the back.

Timmy watched Deaq, who in turn watched Van disappear into the hallway.

"He'll be okay out of your sight for a few minutes, you know," said Timmy. "Van can take care of himself better than you think and Frankie would never let any harm come to him. Not ever again."

"What don't I know here?" Deaq asked outright.

"Deaq, sweety, if Van hasn't told you then ... well, it's not my place."

"What CAN you tell me?" Deaq didn't want to interrogate Timmy. Actually, he really did want to but making the man suspicious about them would be a bad thing. Deaq wasn't totally sure the two weren't in on the drug trafficking, despite Van's assurances to the contrary.

"I can tell you that what you're thinking, about Van's hairstyle being about a bigger issue, is right. What? You think I can't figure what you're worrying about? Frankie and I have been together for over 20 years and believe me I've had plenty of experience figuring out what's not being said. Sure, he talks a lot now but when he's pissed off you won't get a word out of him about the problem. Does that sound familiar?"

Deaq blinked in surprise. This guy was good.

"Yeah, Van ... he was in a mood all week. He seems happier here and I'm happy for him and all, but I can't help wondering what the problem was ... or is. I don't know."

"Well, I can give you this advice: don't push too hard. Let him tell you when he's ready. If you give him the chance he'll spill and feel a lot better for it. You know, Deaq, you can't protect him from every problem."

"Who said I was?" Deaq found himself responding more defensively than he intended.

"I see the way you two watch each other. It's not just puppy love looks, though I can tell you love him. You watch each other like you expect someone's going to jump out of the shadows and snatch the other away."

"So, what, you saying I'm over protective or something?"

"No, I'm just saying that you can't protect him from everything. Not every threat comes from outside."

"It's me, right? You think I'm his problem?" Deaq felt his earlier fears resurface.

"Okay, I've lost you haven't I? Deaq, listen. I don't know what's been bothering Van any more than you do ... probably less even. I'm just saying that maybe he can't get away from what's bothering him. Maybe what he needs is time to deal and then get it off his chest." Timmy sighed then decided to change to end the conversation, "It's too early in the day for all this. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"No, man. I should apologize. You don't need me jumpin' down your throat when all you doin' is tryin' to help."

"Come on, let's see if you're as good as you claim. You should have told me yesterday you had experience doing them - I wouldn't have made you spend all day getting covered in water and shampoo. Nice pants, though. Water repellent is a good choice if you're planning on getting splashed all day."

Deaq laughed and said, "Thanks, but hopefully I've spent my last day as a hair washer."

"Somehow we'll make due without you," Timmy said in mock seriousness.

************

Van followed Frankie into the storeroom. It was down a flight of stairs in the basement. Upon entering the small, windowless room he felt his heart rate speed up a bit. The shelves, the hair products, even the door looked so similar. He swallowed nervously, pushing down unpleasant memories.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rag on you about your hair. I just feel so mad that he still has such influence on you after all this time."

Van knew that Frankie was referring to his father, Ray Ray. If he only realized that right now it wasn't his father's mistakes as a parent that Van was remembering. Van turned to face Frankie, stuffing down anxiety at being in the storage room. If all his undercover work had taught him nothing else, it was the importance of being able to act like things were fine when they really weren't.

"It's okay. Actually, we're on better terms now, my Dad and I."

Frankie grabbed him up in a hug and while Van wouldn't have initiated it he really felt better for it. Of course he'd have felt a lot better, and more relaxed, if those arms encircling him were Deaq's. Frankie let Van go after a moment and began grabbing a variety of products from various shelves.

Setting down the arsenal on a little table in the corner Frankie said, "Here's what we've got for straightening. Most of these are new, but you probably had a lot of them at the last salon you worked at. Take some time and check things out, it won't get busy for awhile yet."

With that Frankie left Van alone in the room. Van planned on staying and checking things out, but what he really wanted to check out wasn't new stuff for his hair. Van looked at all the different bottles and containers trying to figure out which was most likely to contain drugs in disguise.

He wanted to run out of the storage room as fast as he could. It was bringing up very bad memories, but he had to do this - both for his job and for himself. Van decided he wasn't going to leave the room until he was totally under control or he found some evidence of drugs - whichever came first.

*******

After about 20 minutes Van left the room. He hadn't found any clear evidence at all though he'd opened about a hundred different containers. He had found several possible products that were out of stock. He'd have to ask Frankie what day those ones were delivered. Billie's information had said that the drugs were picked up by the buyers on the last Thursday of each month, so that meant they were probably delivered to the salon the day before. If the delivery date matched on any of the suspected products then they could trace the product to its distributor. The salon carried a lot of small market stuff, but considering it was nearly the end of the month and he'd checked all the products in stock Van was pretty sure he'd narrowed down the possibilities.

While his search was at least somewhat successful, his battle with his own nerves was a lot less triumphant. Van was nearly shaking by the time he left the room. He had to hold onto the banister to keep from accidentally tripping in his haste. No matter how much he ignored his memories and concentrated on his search he couldn't seem to calm down. As he shut the door at the top of the stairs Van felt a huge wave of relief. He sagged against the closed door then remembered what he was supposed to be doing in there in the first place. Reluctantly he went back down and scooped up a few containers of different hair products that Frankie had set out for him. Just as he pushed the door shut again Frankie came down the hall.

"Van, why didn't you tell me Deaq was so good with his hands?" asked Frankie.

For a split second Van wanted to drop the containers on the ground and drop Frankie with a few punches to the face. Then he remembered who he was listening to and realized that Frankie wasn't implying anything, although Van wasn't really sure just what he meant.

"What are you getting at?"

"Come here," Frankie said, pulling Van by the arm into the front room.

In the last few years Van had seen some pretty wild things but nothing could prepare him for the shock of seeing Deaq seated at a manicurist's table skillfully applying bright pink nail polish to a customer's nails. It just seemed totally absurd to see those hands doing that.

"Sunshine, he's fantastic. Fast too. You should have told us he had such steady, skilled hands." Frankie elbowed Van lightly in the ribs in a goofy, conspiratorial way.

Van, still not believing what he was seeing responded, "I had no idea."

Deaq looked up from his work and gave Van a wink. His partner was standing there slack jawed like he'd seen him sitting there painting the President's toe nails. Deaq tried to imagine how this must look to Van.

***********

Later that day Van took a seat beside Deaq who was working on painting an intricate design on a customers nails.

"I don't get it, dude. Yesterday you couldn't get anything right-"

"Hey," Deaq interrupted. It was true but he didn't really need to hear it out loud.

"Sorry, but this," Van motioned to what Deaq was doing. "How do you know all this? I thought you weren't the type."

"Oh I'm not. But my sisters were. They were always coming round, wanting me to help do their right hand nails, that sort of thing. I couldn't say no to them, mainly because they'd bug me 'till I gave in. Did it so many times I got to be really good at it."

"And you didn't feel you had to keep this a secret," Van was shocked that Deaq was doing this, in public no less.

Deaq set the lady's hand down on the table and leaned close to Van. Van could feel Deaq's breath on his ear as he heard, "Playing the part, dawg."

Van felt goosebumps raise over his skin ... and not it a bad way. Having Deaq so close, the intimacy of the act of whispering in his ear, was driving him wild.

"VAN!" a voice boomed. Van jerked away and jumped to his feet. Frankie came over, "Sorry to interrupt, Sunshine, but I need you now."

Frankie led him just out of ear shot of Deaq's customer.

"That's Mrs. Cullan," Frankie nodded towards an older lady with a sour expression on her face. "She's a very difficult customer but she tips very well. She insisted that YOU do her hair."

"Why me? She doesn't even know me."

"How should I know? She just saw you and insisted. Now go. Be nice, okay?"

With a final pat on the butt Frankie sent Van on his way. He was only too glad that the old bitch had spotted Van and insisted on him. She was like a lioness on the hunt, seeking out fresh, young meat for the kill. He hoped Van could handle her.

************

If yesterday had been Van's day then today definitely belonged to Deaq. He certainly had found his groove. As for Van, things had gone smoother before.

"Don't worry, I can style it around that bald part, uh, parts. It won't show at all. I'm really, really sorry about that." As Van scrambled to fix the mess he had caused.

Van had become distracted by a guy who came in while he was working on Mrs. Cullan's hair. The man was definitely sleazy. He had over-grown, greasy hair, a cheap suit that didn't fit well and a shirt underneath that had far too much print. Combine the look with his shifty eyes and he was easily pegged as the criminal type. He looked really out of place in the bright, tidy salon. Van caught Deaq's eye in the mirror and jerked his head toward where the guy was standing near the door. Deaq gave a quick nod and moved to keep watch on the guy while he cleaned up the table he'd been working at.

"Watch what you're doing young man!" Mrs. Cullan had snapped at him. Van held his tongue and kept cutting, but he kept glancing back towards where the shifty guy was now talking to Frankie. The guy looked angry but Van was too far away to hear. He hoped that Deaq was better able to hear what was going on. Van looked back down at what he was doing and noticed several spots where he had cut far too much hair and left the old bat with bald patches.

'Oh shit! I can't believe I just did that!' he thought.

Mrs. Cullan must have caught something in Van's expression in the mirror because right then she had demanded to see what the back of her hair looked like.

"What kind of an idiot are you?" she demanded.

"Just hold still I have an idea," Van said and began a little damage control.

**********

"Van you're amazing. She's never left here happy. How did you do it?" asked Timmy.

Van had completely changed Mrs. Cullan's hairstyle and the new, very short hair was not only more flattering, but it also effectively hid where Van had screwed up earlier. The old lady had been thrilled with the new look and had told Van she wanted him to always be the one to do her hair. She had left with a smile on her face (a first) and had given Van a whopping $200 tip.

"Well I am the best you know," Van joked.

"I don't doubt it," Timmy said seriously. "Van, you know Frankie and I are really impressed with you. We both wondered about what had happened to you. It makes us really proud that you kept it up, even after what happened with your Dad. If you ever want to talk about it, or even what happened with Josh you know I'm always here, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks. But I'm just trying to forget."

"Fair enough. But you can't hold it in forever you know." Switching topics he began, "We were thinking about a coffee run. Are you interested?"

"Tell you what," Van, pulling Mrs. Cullan's enormous tip out if his pocket, said. "I'll buy. I could use some air anyway."

"You still do that, huh?"

"What?"

"Want to go for a drive when something's on your mind."

"Timmy, my man, you should have your own 900 number. Master psychic Timmy predicts all," he joked, then grabbed a piece of paper and a pen to take orders.

*********

"Hey, Frankie, What was with that crazy-ass guy earlier?"

Deaq had heard that shifty guy's interaction with Frankie. When he got a signal from Van, he made his way toward the front, dumping some garbage as an excuse to get closer. The man had been demanding something called Sophismata.

"Oh, him. Horrible man, totally unreasonable. He wants his Sophismata even though he knows it won't be in until the end of the month. If I've told him once, I've had to tell him every month for the last 2 years that it gets delivered when it gets delivered. Really, Deaq you have no idea! I mean, I can't imagine what he does with it all. You did see his hair right? If he's using that junk then either he's using way too much or it's even worse than I thought."

"What is this stuff?" Deaq asked.

"A special hair gel made by one of the independent producers. I don't know how familiar you are with salon lines but most of what we sell here is privately produced products."

"Okay."

"That means they don't make much of it and delivery is whenever these people decide they want it to be. I can't even order these things in, or at least I can't expect to actually get it."

"Right. So that's why you told that guy to order his own."

"That's it exactly. I've offered him the number for the company many times but each time he refuses and says he doesn't want to know the company. He always wants to buy it through here, which is stupid because he's just paying more for it. I mean the stuff is really poor quality anyway."

Deaq knew Frankie's answer to his next question would be important. He hoped the answer would once and for all let him know that Frankie and Timmy didn't know they were trafficking drugs. "Then why do you sell it?"

"I sell it because they buy it. That's business honey. That man you saw, oh he's probably a little crazy but he's willing to pay a lot of money for me to order it for him."

That was not the convincing answer Deaq was hoping for but he was becoming increasingly convinced that Frankie really thought they were just selling hair gel and not something a whole lot more dangerous.

"Is he the only one who buys it?"

"No. There are two other men and one lady who come in for it too. Always the same ones, though. It's not an advertised product so I guess nobody else really knows about it. Which is a good thing, believe me. It's really awful stuff. When the company owner brought me a sample two years ago I told him I wasn't interested in selling it. But I knew the guy and while he's the last person in the world I wanted to do a favor for he always had a knack for selling stuff so I said I'd try to sell it here. Damndest thing. I never recommended it to anybody but as soon as I got the first batch in there were people requesting it. Same four ever since. Listen to me, rattling on about this. I'm probably boring you to death here."

"No, it's very interesting Frankie," said Deaq. It was indeed very interesting and sounded like a possible way for the drugs that were supposedly moving through this place to do so without raising the owner's suspicions.

"That's sweet of you to say, even if it's not true. Sometimes I get talking and get carried away. I'll tell you what, go on, take advantage of my gabby mood. Why don't you ask me something about Van, there must be things you're dying to know about him when he was younger."

Frankie couldn't have been more right. There were tons of things Deaq wanted to ask about Van, not the least of which was if there was any chance that he swung both ways. It would be a hell of a lot easier to have Frankie crush his hopes than make a mistake by saying the wrong thing to Van. The problem of course was that as far as Frankie and Timmy knew Van and Deaq were a couple so he couldn't exactly ask Frankie outright what the deal was with Van's sexuality.

"Maybe I should just pick something for you, honey," Frankie's voice interrupted his thoughts. Deaq realized that he had probably left Frankie waiting too long. Before he had the chance to formulate a question Frankie began talking again.

"I don't want to tell you anything that Van would be uncomfortable with you knowing but Timmy mentioned that you were wondering what that whole thing earlier about his hair was about. When Van was 15, actually it was just a couple of days after his birthday, his Dad brought him in here and flipped out. He'd just been released from jail again and was so pissed with Van and everyone else. He came in the Salon we used to work at and told Timmy and I that Van was never coming in a 'faggot hangout' like that again. He accused us of 'fucking up' his kid. He insinuated that we'd been molesting Van, sexually. He said the cops didn't help people like him but if he ever found us around Van he'd kill us himself."

"Jesus," Deaq said absorbing it all.

"You should have seen the look on Sunshine's face. Of course it wasn't just his Dad that had upset him. It was also what happened before that. That just should never happen to a kid, you know? We should have stopped it. Saw it coming but..."

"What? What are you sayin' here? Somebody hurt Van?"

"You'd have to ask him about that. I can't go telling that stuff - it's personal to him. I'll just say this: if you can get him to talk about it, you be damn careful how you react. I don't want to see him hurt again."

"You think I'd hurt Van?"

"No. That's why I told you this, because I don't think you would, at least not on purpose anyway. I very much doubt he's even told anybody else what happened since he told me and Timmy the day before his Dad came in here."

"So, what? He fusses with his hair a lot just to piss off his Dad. Just like he became a co-" Deaq corrected himself, "Stylist to piss off his Dad.

"Yeah, maybe. But the thing is his Dad, when he came in, kept calling Van a "curly hair faggot." Said he was gonna straighten him out starting with his 'long, bitch hair.' You know he took Van to a barber shop and had the guy shave his hair into a buzz cut. Can you see now why we were surprised he was still in this line of work?"

"Yeah," Deaq said. He was about to try to get more on what had happened to Van before his Dad cut him off from Timmy and Frankie when Van came in the door, loaded down with trays of coffee and bags of food.

Before Van came into earshot Deaq turned to Frankie. "Thanks, man. It helps that I know. I'm gonna help him anyway I can."

*************

After work Van and Deaq ended up in the same crappy bar as the night before. Deaq was actually going to suggest the more upscale lounge that Van had wanted to go to the previous night but Van had driven and had stopped at the sports bar. Deaq had hoped that the atmosphere of the quieter lounge would help him to get Van talking. The noisy dive they ended up it was less than a perfect spot to try to have a deep conversation. Deaq had decided, after talking to Frankie earlier, that he was going to try to get Van to open up about what had happened to him when he worked at a salon as a kid. He figured this had to be what was bothering Van earlier in the week, and probably still was preying on his mind. He didn't know what had happened that started the problem but, thanks to Frankie, he did know how it ended. Considering Van's father caused a scene and cut Van off from his friends Deaq figured this had to still bother him. That was not to mention the mysterious event that precipitated the end. Deaq was determined to get to the bottom of this.

They were drinking beers and doing tequila shots again. Van was already far enough ahead that Deaq knew that he would be driving tonight. He watched Van throw back another shot then fumble when he set the glass down. When he reached for his beer Van nearly knocked it over but Deaq grabbed the half empty bottle just before it spilled and handed it to him.

"Oooops!" Van said, smiling much too broadly, like it was a particularly funny joke. Deaq looked at the small pile of shot glasses in front of Van. He hadn't even realized how much his partner had had to drink. He'd been too lost in his own thoughts.

"You tryin' to set a record or somethin'?" he asked.

"Nope. Just havin' a lil fun here," Van said, and finished the sentence by throwing back another shot after raising it as if in a toast.

Van was starting to feel really hot so he pulled off the jacket he'd borrowed from Deaq's trunk again. He really didn't care right now if the other people in the bar saw him, dressed the way he was.

"So I was talking to Frankie earlier," Deaq started.

Van felt his heart jump into his mouth.
'Shit! What did that blabber say about me?' he thought.

"Yeah, he said that weird dude that came in-"

Van interrupted, "The one in the bad suit?"

"That's the one," Deaq confirmed. "Said he was demanding a hair gel called Sophismata. That mean anything to you?"

Van took a couple of seconds to react, his brain working a lot slower thanks to the tequila and beer. He held one finger in the air as a sign to wait a second then reached into the pockets of his jeans. Deaq was amazed that Van could manage to fit anything in them, the jeans were really tight and left little to the imagination. They fit like a glove. Not that Deaq was complaining.

Having found what he was looking for Van pulled the slip of paper out and plopped it on the table with a smack.

"Go on. Check it out," he said triumphantly.

Deaq lifted the now beer soaked paper. 'Great service this place has. Think it would kill them to wipe the table once in awhile?' He looked at the slip and began to read aloud, "Large double espresso, medium nonfat latte, cranberry muffin. I don't get it."

"Flip it over."

Deaq checked out the opposite side. It had a short list of a half a dozen hair products listed. Deaq noticed that one was underlined: Sophismata.

"Those are all the products that weren't in the stock room. 5 of 'em are private label and Sophismata is due to be shipped in the day af'er tomorro'."

Van finished by grabbing a swig of his beer and Deaq wondered if he should maybe tell Van to slow down.

"So, you thinkin' this stuff is the most likely?"

"Yep. But I figure we should prolly get Billie to check out all of these jus' in case."

Deaq took the list and after shaking it off a bit tucked in away in his shirt pocket. He didn't trust Van not to lose it.

"What? You don't trust me with it or somethin'?"

Deaq didn't want to argue with Van so he answered, "You already know this stuff but I don't. Write yourself another list."

"'k," Van said deciding to let it go, even if he did think it showed that Deaq didn't trust him. "Hey, you were really great t'day. Didn't know you could do nails."

"Van, I've got talents you know nothing about," Deaq said. He was serious but said it like he was teasing. Van's drunk mind took the tone as flirting.

"Really? When you gonna show me these talents?" he said in a suggestive tone.

Deaq nearly choked on his beer. He wondered, was Van flirting with him? Before he had a chance to react Van got off his seat, not entirely gracefully and said, "s'cuse me but this can't wait."

Deaq watched him make his way to the bathroom, weaving slightly. He decided to keep tabs on who went in while Van was in there. Dressed like that in a place like this was just asking for trouble.

A minute or so later Van returned to the table. He was annoyed with his bladder for it's ill timed demand but figured he hadn't been long so maybe if he was lucky Deaq would still be in the flirting mood, if that's what it really was. Van decided to shove down his doubts and play with Deaq a little. After all, if things got weird he could blame it on the drinks, which wouldn't exactly be a lie. Van hadn't been aware of how intoxicated he was until he had stood up from his seat to hit the washroom. He just hoped that Deaq hadn't noticed him weaving on his walk. It had been severe enough that he'd noticed it himself which meant it was probably really noticeable to anyone watching.

"Sooooo, about these talents of yours..."

"Van, are you still upset that your Dad cut you off from working at that salon when you were a kid?"

'Where the fuck did that come from?' thought Van. Given all the drinks he had consumed Van didn't even think twice before he angrily blurted out, "Where the fuck did that come from?"

This was not the reaction Deaq had hoped for. He'd figured that Van was plenty relaxed - and good and drunk so he'd be more receptive to the question. He had hoped the direct question would give Van a chance to discuss what had been bothering him, without his partner having to raise the obviously sensitive issue himself. Van's reaction made Deaq realize he had made a mistake.

"Well, uh, Frankie was saying a bit about how-"

"Sonofabitch. I outta go over there right now and show him-"

"Van!" Deaq said trying to stop him before him he wound himself into orbit. He had plenty of experience dealing with Van's moods and knew it was best to head it off at the pass. "It's not like he was tryin' to do it to bug you. He didn't tell me everything-"

"You know what Deaq? Just fuck off!"

Deaq continued, ignoring Van's interruption, "He was just sayin' that things didn't end so well 'cause of your Dad. And ... look you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean ANYTHING."

"No I can't. That's just it. You don't get it. Any of it." Van's voice was getting more than a little too loud. "I CAN'T talk to you about it. What am I supposed to do, huh? What do I do when the cause and the cure to my problem are one in the same? You don't know - you can't. Just stay the fuck away from me!" With that Van pushed his chair back hard enough to nearly tip it over when he got up. He began stomping across the bar towards the exit.

"Little drama queen faggots. Don't they know to stay in their own bar?" Van heard a patron seated at the bar say. He then heard another couple of men agreeing with the first guy.

Slowing his pace Van was trying to decide if it was worth showing the guy a lesson. If he did, he would risk getting the crap kicked out of him. While the alcohol may have given him courage (a sober Van would have called it stupidity) it wasn't likely to help him win any bar fights.

Van went right up behind the guy who had made the comment and tapped him on the shoulder. The guy turned around on his bar stool to face Van. He had several prominent scars on his face, one of which looked suspiciously similar to the shape of a beer bottle bottom. He outweighed Van by a good 70 pounds and that appeared to be mostly muscle.

"Drama queen faggots, huh?" Van said, repeating the guys own question back to him. "You know most guys would have said sissies or fruits or just fags but you seem to have the terminology down pat."

"What're you sayin'?" said the big guy. He thought Van was implying something but wondered if he had a death wish. Nobody in their right mind would insult Big Rodney. He'd been in more bar fights than most of the other patrons of the bar combined.

"I'm sayin' that you know the right terms so well, drama queen, maybe YOU'RE in the wrong bar. There's a nice lounge down the street. Why don't we go down there - I'll buy you a drink."

Somewhere in the small part of his mind that wasn't totally drunk Van knew this wasn't a really good idea. This thought was quickly followed by the alarming thought that he wasn't armed so if things went sour, like he seemed to be trying get them to, he could find himself in some real trouble. Van watched as the man he had just insulted stepped off his bar stool and rose to his full height, towering over Van.

'Way to go, genius,' Van though. 'You're unarmed, too drunk to be any good in a fight and you just told Deaq to leave you alone. He's not going to bail you out after that. He'll just watch your sorry ass get beaten 'cause God knows you deserve it for being so stupid.'

"It's time for us to go now." Van jumped when he heard Deaq's voice coming from right behind him. "I think you've done enough damage tonight, Van. You wouldn't want to bruise this nice man's knuckles by hitting your face on them would you?"

That got a couple of chuckles from the guys sitting at the bar and Big Rodney decided to let it go. This guy just wasn't worth the effort tonight. It had been a long day and he was tired, but if he ever saw the little prancing twit in here again he wouldn't hesitate to take him down just to hear him scream. Also, the black guy with him looked like he might just be able to put up a good fight. Big Rodney sat down and resumed his beer drinking, turning his back to the man who had disturbed him.

Deaq grabbed Van at the elbow and began hauling him to the exit as quickly as he could, hopefully before Van said something else stupid or the huge, angry man at the bar changed him mind. Suddenly a guy Deaq recognized as the bartender blocked their path.

"I don't want to see either of you in here ever again," he said in a tone that left no room for argument. "We don't need your kind in here."

"Oh yeah? What kind would that be?" slurred Van.

"Troublemakers. Trying to start a fight in here. Big Rodney there," he pointed with his thumb back towards the bar. "He won't start a fight but he sure don't back down either. If I see either of you two jack asses again I'll call the police!" with that the bartender left them.

"Oh yeah!" Van started, turning to follow the bartender. Deaq grabbed his unruly partner by the back of the neck and put enough pressure on him to hurt but not enough to do any damage. Well, not permanent damage anyway.

"Oww!" Van yelped, trying to squirm away. Despite the painful grip he found himself in Van still managed to holler out as Deaq dragged him out the doors, "You gonna call the cops? Try Lieutenant Chambers. She'd kick your ass. She'd kick all your asses!"

Once they were on the street Deaq finally lost his temper. He pulled Van's left arm behind his back and twisted it up while at the same time knocking him to his knees with a push. He easily wrestled Van to the ground and held him there just like he would any out of control, drunken idiot he'd had to deal with on the job before.

Pushing a knee into Van's back Deaq shouted, "You crazy? Tryin' to get yourself killed? What the hell were you thinking?" Van wasn't struggling and considering the position he also probably wasn't going to be able to get enough air to answer. When he realized that he had nearly all his weight pinning Van down Deaq let up just a little.

He waited as Van took a few heaving breaths. Then he heard Van's voice, muffled somewhat since his face was smooshed against the pavement. "I fucked up, okay? I get it, alright? Common, Dre - let me up man."

Hearing Van's strained words, not to mention the use of his brother's (Van's previous partner's) name, Deaq stood up, letting Van go. He watched as Van rolled over onto his back.

Van glared up at him for a second then changed his expression when he noticed the hand Deaq was offering to help him up. He took it and was thankful that Deaq hauled him up because he wasn't sure he could manage to get his sorry, drunken ass off the sidewalk of his own accord. Now standing Van started to feel really dizzy and closed his eyes against the vertigo and nausea.

Deaq could see that Van was having problems and nearly instantly forgot his previous anger as he backed the unsteady man against the building wall.

"You okay?" Deaq didn't think he'd hurt Van with the hold but he had been a little rough.

"No. 'M dizzy. Can you take me home now?" Van asked, in a tiny, weak voice. He sounded almost sober. The now gone adrenaline had sobered him up a bit.

Deaq pulled Van away from the wall he was leaned against. He put his arm around Van's torso and guided him to the car. After getting him settled, Deaq went to the driver's side and got in. Van looked like he was about to pass out. A few minutes into the drive Deaq heard Van chuckling softly, obviously still somewhat drunk.

"What's so funny?"

"She could take them, you know?"

"What? You so far gone I should just ignore you now?"

"Billie. She really could kick all their asses."

Deaq laughed softly. "Yeah, I bet she could."

*************

The next morning Van woke up sore and stiff. He felt like he'd been on the losing end of a fight last night. When he rolled over putting pressure on his left arm he remembered he hadn't been in a fight. That was thanks to Deaq. He'd kept Van from getting himself beaten in a bar fight. However, the sore arm was also courtesy of his partner. The only other time he'd been on the receiving end of a hold like that was a few years ago when he'd been too cocky about his technique. Andre had pinned him down, exactly the same way taking his time in pointing out all the finer points of holding a perp down while Van had been uncomfortable to say the least.

"Get yo' sorry, hung over, lazy, skinny, white ass out of bed. It's already quarter after eight," Van heard Deaq's voice as it reverberated in his head. By the volume one would think Deaq was pissed but Van heard amusement clearly in the tone.

They were supposed to be in to "work" for nine but Deaq had phoned ahead and left a message on the machine telling Frankie and Timmy that they were probably going to be late as Van had a slight case of "food poisoning." Deaq decided not to embarrass Van by telling the truth. He figured that excuse was as good as any, especially if Van got sick when they were at work. He had been rather impressed that Van hadn't puked the night before. Unfortunately that was the only thing that Van had done that night that impressed him. Once he was sure that Van was alright and could function Deaq was planning on giving him a lecture he wouldn't soon forget.

Van slowly rolled out of bed. He noticed he was still wearing his jeans from yesterday but he'd lost his shirt at some point. As he brushed past Deaq, Van realized that he didn't really remember coming home. Suddenly he was very pleased that he still had yesterday's pants on. Sure, he'd have crease marks on his butt but it was good to know that Deaq hadn't undressed him. The circumstances of the previous night were not the kind he envisioned when he fantasized about Deaq undressing him.

He could hear Deaq on the other side of the now closed bathroom door. "Hurry up. We runnin' low on time."

"If we're in such a hurry why don't you pick out an outfit for me," he called back. He knew Deaq probably wouldn't do it but the thought of him looking for what he wanted Van to wear, especially when there was an excuse to pick something sexy, was too tempting to resist. Van figured on the off chance that Deaq actually did it they would also cut down on time considerably. He jumped into the shower hoping the steam would help ease his pounding head.

Deaq was tempted to shout something back about not being Van's servant. Then he heard the shower come on. Deaq had used that shower once before, when they stopped in at Van's place in the middle of a case. He knew you couldn't really hear over it, the thing was pretty loud. On the plus side Deaq remembered it was the best shower head he'd ever felt. It was like a massage. 'One of the advantages of living full time in a hotel,' he thought.

If fabulous showerheads were the plus to living in a hotel then the minus had to be closet space. All the closets were small and Van's considerable wardrobe was spread out among the three mini- closets and many drawers. It wasn't that all the clothes didn't fit into the provided spaces. All his clothes were contained, it was just that there were articles of clothing located throughout the suite.

Deaq wasn't even sure where to start searching, but he knew this was too good an opportunity to pass up. It was an excuse to get Van dressed however he wanted him. Also, searching through the large number of shirts Deaq was bound to find something he could borrow. His own shirt was severely wrinkled from sleeping on the sofa all night.

Last night, after getting Van settled, which basically consisted of getting at least his shirt and shoes off and making sure he passed out in a safe position, Deaq had grabbed a spare pillow and headed for the couch. It wasn't that he was particularly tempted, or figured he'd find himself bothering Van. In fact, he had found himself less tempted last night than he'd felt in months. Seeing Van drunk and passed out made him feel more like he was taking care of a friend or family member, not like he was helping someone he wanted to have sex with.

'That was blunt. Not even lying to yourself any more are you? It's not just a little crush thing, is it? You really do want to have sex with him. Maybe even have him as a boyfriend.' Deaq shushed his inner voice and went hunting for an outfit for Van, and a shirt for himself.

**********

Fifteen minutes later, Van emerged from the bathroom. Deaq had just found a shirt to borrow that wasn't too far from his own clothing tastes when he heard the door open and there was Van, dripping wet, wearing only a towel wrapped low around his hips. He was silhouetted by the steam that billowed out of the room with him. Deaq watched as Van shook out his wet hair like a dog, sending water droplets splashing on the walls and down on his chest. Then Van noticed Deaq watching him.

'Okay, now I'd love to know what he's thinking about right now because if I didn't know better - which I do - I'd be thinking Deaq was getting off on watching me,' Van thought. Noticing Deaq had some clothes in his hands Van asked, "You find me something to wear?"

'Damn! That was close. For a second there I could have sworn he realized I was checking him out. Got to get better control. It's not like I didn't know he was going to be coming out of there. Damn, that boy looks good in just a towel,' thought Deaq. "Here go. It looked like a combo you'd choose but I don't know. You have a pretty unique sense of style."

Deaq tossed the clothes to Van, who caught them and ducked into the bedroom area. Deaq couldn't help but watch the retreating figure, ass nicely outlined by the bath towel. Realizing that this was just about his limit for self control and knowing that if he stayed around Van any longer he would end up deciding not to give him as harsh a lecture as he had planned, Deaq called out, "I'm goin' down to the lobby to grab us some coffee to go. You want anything to eat?"

Van leaned out the door jam, his chest still bare and glistening with moisture from the shower. "No. Thanks, man, but if I eat right now I'd probably just puke it all up the second we got in the car. I've got a headache like you wouldn't believe. Do me a favor? Get some aspirin from the front desk. Just tell them it's for me."

"That's healthy on an empty stomach. But, whatever. Yeah, fine. And I know why you got that headache. We gonna talk all about that when I get back."

Deaq left before Van could say a word. He'd let Van worry about it for a few minutes. He knew it was always the worst to be left hanging like that, knowing you were in for a lecture and being made to wait. Deaq had been on the receiving end of more lectures than he could count by both his brother Andre and their father. Deaq was familiar with all the techniques for making someone squirm. He also knew he wasn't the only one who been the recipient of Hayes family lectures. Deaq knew Van had been chewed out several times by Andre when they'd been partners. They'd been sharing their favorite stories about the late Andre one night and Van had mentioned getting several lectures from him. They'd laughed when they realized that both had been told, in no uncertain terms, that all garbage was to be removed from Andre's car immediately upon exit. It had been one of his rules and apparently both Van and Deaq had broken it enough times to get the same formal speech/bitching out about it.

Yeah, Deaq had some things to talk to Van about concerning his behavior the night before. He'd woken up about an hour before he got Van up and had spent that time figuring out what to say to his partner.

*********

Van heard Deaq return and quickly finished his hair. He'd gotten ready in record time. Record time for him anyway. He'd shaved, dressed and done his hair in the ten minutes Deaq had been gone. Sure, he hadn't had to pick out what to wear, he hadn't had much more than stubble to deal with and he'd just thrown a little bit of gel in his hair to keep it from being totally out of control, but still, ten minutes was damn good time for him. He'd also spent that time concentrating on not thinking about what Deaq was going to say to him concerning the previous night. The way his head was pounding he couldn't deal with it until absolutely necessary. Hopefully, Deaq would settle for an apology up front and skip the lecture.

Van knew he always had his secret weapon to use if necessary: pathetic puppy dog eyes. While he'd almost never used them on Deaq Van knew from experience that aiming that "wounded puppy expression" had a very high success rate in getting people to stop chewing him out. It was especially effective with those who cared about him. Sure, Van figured Deaq didn't love him, couldn't love him, but he must care as a friend and partner, otherwise he wouldn't bother lecturing in the first place. The only problem was that if Deaq was pissed enough he'd be able to resist the puppy eyes and Van's plan might even backfire and make Deaq more angry. Van knew he'd be playing the odds if he tried, but figured it worth the risk.

Deaq entered the room, armed with coffee, muffins and painkillers, to find Van coming out of the bathroom. Surprisingly he was dressed and ready to go. Even more surprising, thought Deaq, was how good Van looked in the clothes he'd picked out. He was wearing tight black leather pants with red and yellow flames running up the sides from just above the ankle to upper thigh. This matched nicely with a shiny, red button up shirt that fit tightly across Van's upper chest yet loosely over his abs. It reached mid hip area and had a strait bottom. Across the upper chest was a black thin, black pattern that looked to be across between barbed wire and Chinese characters. Van was again fresh shaven and his hair was still somewhat wet but was already curling to frame his face perfectly. To top it off he was wearing something Deaq liked even more: a shy, almost guilty expression.

'Oh he knows he's gonna get it. Good. Better not even think about tryin' to give me one of his pathetic 'poor me' looks,' thought Deaq. "Got breakfast," he said setting the coffees on an end table and opening the paper bag. Inside was a couple of muffins for him and a packet of pain killers for Van. "Here go," he said tossing the pills to Van.

"Thanks," Van said sincerely. He tore it open and dry swallowed the pills.

"You gonna make yourself sick doin' that. Have one of these muffins," Deaq said. 'Damn, when did I become his Mom?'

"Naw, man. I can't eat like this or you'll be shampooing the car inside. Believe me." Knowing that Deaq wouldn't let it go unless distracted Van switched gears. "Hey this was a great choice. I never thought to wear these together. Looks good, huh?"

"Yeah you look great, uh, I mean it looks great ... fine. Let's go we're late," Deaq said. 'That was smooth.' He quickly changed his shirt for the sweater he'd found earlier. It was a good fit and just baggy enough to not show that he was armed. Also, it was plain enough to not show it belonged to Van's eclectic collection.

**********

Several minutes later Deaq was driving them to the salon. Van had been chattering about a number of inane things and Deaq knew he was stalling.

"About last night," he began.

"Yeah, listen Deaq, I want to apolo-"

"Nah, uh. You gonna park that mouth and listen," Deaq interrupted. He planned on getting this off his chest all at once and he wasn't about to let Van just say he was sorry and get off easily. "I don't know WHAT you were thinking last night. I've seen you drunk at least a half a dozen times and a couple of those you were totally smashed. But last night was somethin' else." He paused but Van was smart enough not to interrupt. "You always been one of those people that I don't have to worry 'bout when you get wasted. Sure, you sometimes get a little annoying but you fun and never an angry drunk."

The truth was, he had always found Van to absolutely adorable when he'd had a little too much to drink. It always seemed to take the nervous energy down a notch. A well-liquored Van was a relaxed Van and that in and of itself was unusual. There was also the benefit that when Van was relaxed he smiled more freely, and sincerely, and had a tendency to remove clothing too. Sure Van had never stripped for him or anything but Deaq had noticed that after one too many drinks Van would usually lose all but one layer of clothing. But all that was what normally happened and the previous night had been anything but normal.

"First you flip out and start screaming at me, YOUR PARTNER, in the middle of a bar. Then you tried to pick a fight with a guy who could wipe the floor with you even if you were at your best. Even after I come save your ass you still didn't have the good sense to shut up. Does that about sum it up?"

Van just nodded, staring at the dashboard. He felt like he was a little kid getting yelled at for setting the dining room rug on fire.

"Now," Deaq continued. "I don't know WHY that happened except to figure that you just had a little too much to drink and lost all common sense. That's no big deal. Tell you the truth, I'm not really mad about it. Everyone screws up once in a while. What bothers me is that you said you couldn't discuss your problems with me. Van, you don't have a lot of friends. I know you connected to plenty of people here in L.A. but how many of them can you actually talk to? How many people you know who'd listen to you and help with your problems. I'm thinkin' that's a pretty short list. You don't want to talk to me: fine. But you gonna talk to somebody. Billie, Frankie, Timmy, a shrink, whoever, but I am not gonna start another case with you 'till you got things squared away in your head. You hearin' me?"

"What're you gonna do, check up on me? Go around asking everyone what I said like you asked Frankie?" Van had listened to the first part of the lecture and agreed with Deaq right up until the part where Deaq insisted he talk to someone. He couldn't understand how Deaq figured he was entitled to tell him what to do about his personal problems.

"No, hold up. Frankie wasn't tryin' to start trouble for us. If he knew what a withdrawn, son of a bitch you were earlier this week he'd probably be all over your ass AND mine pestering to find out what the problem is. I'm not gonna do that, Van. In fact, I'm not gonna do a thing. I told you last night but just in case that part is a little hazy I'm gonna tell you again: I'm here to listen to you. You can tell me anything. Even if you don't believe it that's the truth and the sooner you figure it out the better. So you go, you talk to whoever you want but you do it 'cause I'll know if you still stewing over your problem. Do think you can hide being upset from me 'cause I can tell when something's on your mind. We clear?"

Van nodded. He was still absorbing the speech and its meaning.

"And by the way, giving me that pathetic, wounded look is just not very convincing when those eyes of yours are as blood shot red as your shirt. You look like a man who had a little too much fun last night. Either that or a guy who had a bit of food poisoning. That's what I told the guys by the way."

"Thanks for not telling them the truth. I'd feel a little embarrassed if they knew. And I really am sorry about last night."

"We cool. But take care of your shit. I'm here for you, but I won't bug again."

The rest of the ride continued in silence.

**********

"Oh my God, Sunshine? What happened? You look awful. Come sit down."

Van plopped into an unused chair and opened his mouth to answer. He should have known he'd never get a word in with Frankie going off like this. Van had thought he looked just fine earlier, maybe a little tired and eyes a little red but he certainly didn't think he looked awful. He glanced up at his reflection in the large mirror and saw what Frankie had. He really did look awful. It wasn't just the tired, red eyes staring back at him that were so bad. It was the look of fear and defeat he recognized in them. Deaq had forgiven him for acting like an idiot last night but had implied that Van was driving a wedge between them. He had told Van to take care of his problem like it was something he could just talk about and it would be dealt with. Now it seemed impossible for Van to even think about discussing his deep feelings with anybody but Deaq but he certainly couldn't talk to the object of his problems about it. He was as stuck as ever and Deaq had now as much as set down a time limit for him to figure everything out in. If he couldn't get his head straight he feared that Deaq would leave him for a new partner. 'Surely that's what he meant when he said he wouldn't start a new case until I had things squared away in my head,' he thought.

"Hey!" Van jumped at the noise. Frankie was waving a hand in front of his eyes trying to get his attention. "Sweety, I don't know what happened to you last night but somehow I doubt it has anything to do with food poisoning. Do you guys want to take the day off and go figure it all out? Would that make it better?"

The last thing Van wanted to do right now was spend more time talking to Deaq about things, at least right then. "Naw, it's okay. I'm fine, really. I just had a bit of food poisoning, really. Everything's okay."

Van got up from the chair and his stomach decided it had heard one too many of his lies. Either that or Deaq was right and it really had been a bad idea to take the painkillers on an empty, hung over stomach. Either way Van's gut had made up its mind forcing him to make a mad dash for the washroom puking up almost nothing but heaving and coughing hard.

Frankie watched in surprise as Van ran to the washroom with a look of panic on his face. On hearing the terrible sounds Timmy came over to stand next to Frankie and remarked, "I thought Deaq was just covering for him with that line about food poisoning. Now I'm not so sure. Yuck."

Deaq dropped the bottles he had been taking out and followed closely on Van's heels. He waited outside for a few moments but when the coughing and retching continued he decided it was better to follow Van in and make sure he was okay.

"Van," he said while opening the door slowly. "I'm comin' in."

Not surprisingly Van was crouched in front of the toilet still coughing. Deaq went over and crouched down beside him and started rubbing his back. When Van seemed finished he helped him to his feet and they left the washroom. There was a small room in the back that was used as an office and Deaq led Van in there, shutting the door behind them. Van flopped down into the desk chair. If he'd looked bad earlier he really looked like crap now. His eyes were more than just blood shot, there were almost more red than white. He was pale and shaking and Deaq wasn't totally sure that Van was done puking. He was trying to figure out what to say when there was a knock at the door.

"Just stay there okay?" he said to Van who didn't answer but instead he just kept staring at the floor. When Deaq opened the door Frankie was on the other side with a worried expression on his face.

"Is he okay?" he asked Deaq.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do," he confessed. He certainly couldn't tell Frankie the whole story but he wished the guy could just tell him what he should do for Van.

"Give him a hug. Everything else will fall into place after that. And for God's sake Deaqon, if he's still that sick take him to a hospital."

"Thanks," Deaq said, closing the door. He returned to where Van was still seated. It wasn't the most graceful move he'd ever made and certainly not the most ideal position but Deaq managed to pull Van into an embrace and held him there. Deaq figured Van would let him know if he wanted to be let go but for the moment it felt right to him. Just when he could feel Van beginning to relax into his arms there was another knock at the door. Though he was loathe to answer it Deaq let go of Van and opened the door again. This time it was Timmy.

"Deaq, if Van's upset, if he's not just sick, then maybe you should take him for a drive down the coast. He used to like that when he was all wound up about something before. Give it a try and come back later this afternoon if he's feeling better, okay?"

"Thanks, man. We'll head out in a couple of minutes, when I'm sure he's not gonna throw up again. And thank Frankie for me too."

"Of course. You take good care of our little Ray. And you remember what I said before about not pushing too hard to get him to share his feelings. You let him tell you when he's ready. You'll do fine." Timmy left and Deaq walked back over to Van. He was looking a lot better now, still in rough shape but not like he was about to blow chunks any time soon.

Suddenly Deaq realized where they were. This little room that was used as an office had all the records and purchase orders in it. Since both Frankie and Timmy had come already to check on them Deaq figured they had a few minutes of guaranteed privacy. It was time to do a little real work.

"Van, I know you hurtin' okay? But just swallow it for a minute, a'ight? Look, we in the office."

Van looked around, only now realizing where they were and what that meant they had access to.

"Where you think they'd keep the files on the companies they get stuff from?" Deaq didn't know if Van was any more likely to know than he was but he wanted to keep him involved. He didn't want Van slipping inside himself or into one of his fake personas. Right now he needed Officer Ray functional not Mr. Strummer being presented while Van submerged his feelings. Deaq wanted nothing more than to get Van out of there. He had a feeling that Van was ready to talk but this opportunity to search the records was too important to pass up.

"Third drawer on the left," Van said pointing to a filing cabinet in the corner.

"Wow. How'd you know that?"

"It's written on the tag," Van deadpanned. He then mustered a small grin. It was weak but it did reassure Deaq that Van wasn't about to have some kind of nervous break down or anything.

"Smart ass," he said as he opened the drawer marked 'Indep. Producers.' Inside were files on all the companies who had products for sale at the salon. Deaq quickly realized that Van had only given him the product names in the list last night, not the makers. That was something of a moot point anyway Deaq realized when he remembered the list was in his shirt pocket back at Van's hotel. "Do you know the company names for the suspected stuff?"

"Uh, no. I wasn't familiar with any of products so I didn't know which companies made them."

"Can you sneak back into the store room and check?"

"No. Not without them seeing me, and you know they'll be all over us if we go out there. Move over and let me see."

Van looked quickly over the file names and one caught his attention. He pulled out the file for a company called Proditor.

"That one of them?" asked Deaq.

"I think so."

Van flipped open the file and under the listing page for products offered was only one name, Sophismata.

"Hah!" Deaq said aloud, impressed that Van was able to block out all the other stuff going on and find exactly what they needed.

He knew he shouldn't be surprised. Van was resourceful and very good at hiding his emotions from others when he tried, but Deaq also knew that didn't apply to him. Van couldn't hide the fact that he was just about bursting at the seams to talk about something but he was holding it in well.

As Deaq copied out the company's address info he asked, "Can you figure out any of the others without looking through all of them?"

"I don't think so," he said glancing over the unfamiliar names. "We better get out of here now. They'll come looking soon."

"At least we got the most likely one right?"

Deaq watched as Van closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Man do I feel like crap."

"Come on, I got just thing he to make you feel better."

"Really?" Van asked not believing for a second that Deaq had anything that would make him feel better right now, except maybe a bullet between the eyes.

"Trust me," Deaq said. He knew he could help Van and had the feeling that Van would finally be open to it now.
**************
A few minutes later they were on the freeway headed towards the coast. They had made it out of the salon with a minimum of fuss. Both Frankie and Timmy gave very low-key goodbyes and let them leave without stopping them to talk. Deaq was driving and he had decided to just keep quiet and let Van say whatever he needed but Van had yet to say a word. Once they had turned and were headed along side the water Van finally broke the silence.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Van said, looking out over the ocean. It was a bright, sunny day and the water was sparkling as the mid morning sun began to hit it. "Look, I'll tell you everything but you have to promise not to interrupt." 'Or throw me out of the moving car,' he added in his head.

Van continued, "Earlier, when you were chewing me out I stayed quiet and listened to what you had to say so you've got to promise me you'll do the same, okay?"

"I won't say a thing," Deaq replied. He had no intentions of stopping Van from getting things off his chest when it looked like he had finally managed to get his partner talking.

With a deep sigh Van began his story. He knew there would be no turning back. Once he started, everything between them would be changed and Deaq would probably never be able to look at him the same way ever again. Van just hoped Deaq wouldn't be so disgusted with him that he'd refuse to continuing working as partners.

As he spoke he watched the small waves roll up the shore in an endless pattern. There was something about the water that always made him feel better. Maybe it was because it reminded him of the better times from his past.

"I haven't told anybody about this in about 13 years. I just wanted to forget it. I met Frankie and Timmy when I was 14. My Mom took me with her when she was getting her hair done. I didn't want to go but she insisted, said she wanted to introduce me to some people. They were amazing, you know? They were like the first adults I'd ever met who actually knew how I felt about stuff. We really hit it off and I started hanging around the salon after school and on the weekends and stuff. After a couple of weeks the owner offered me a job. He said if I was going to be there that much, always bugging his workers, I might as well get paid for it. He was a really nice old guy and I'm sure Frankie and Timmy didn't exactly have to twist his arm to get me a job there.

"Anyway, I worked there as a hair washer for a while then they taught me everything. Within about 4 months I had more regular customers than a lot of the people on staff. There was this one guy who used to come in every week, said he had an important job in business and that he needed to look perfect all the time to impress his clients. So, every week he'd come in and I'd give him a trim. I saw the way he looked at me, always watching in the mirror, more concerned with me than his hair. And he'd flirt with me. I'd flirt back. It was a hair salon, that's what you did to make some customers feel comfortable, you know? Some people need compliments, others gossip, but no matter what you've got to keep talking to them. That's what Frankie used to always say, just keep talking. So I did and this guy, his thing was flirting with me. I didn't mind, I mean heck, I was flattered. I was young and still skinny and gawky, or I thought I was anyway. I liked the attention, especially from a guy who seemed so important and rich. Timmy warned me to tone it down a bit. He said the guy was becoming too interested in me. He said he was too old for me and, more importantly, he gave him the creeps. Timmy's a really good judge of character and I should have listened to him and given the guy just his hair cut without all the flirting, but I was young and stupid. One day he came in and told me he was having a party at his house in Beverley Hills and asked me to come. I told him I wouldn't really fit in with a bunch business people but he said it was going to be casual. He said they'd like me just fine."

Van paused for a moment, remembering that night of years ago. He continued, "He said he'd pick me up at the salon when it closed at 8. I never actually said yes but I guess he figured I was going anyway. Deaq, you gotta understand this guy, Josh, that was his name, he was really charming and convincing. He was one of those people you just can't say no to. He could talk you into anything.

"So I was waiting around for him to pick me up that night and Frankie asked me what I was doing. I wasn't supposed to stay at the salon past 7 on school nights. I told him where I was going that night. I guess I figured he'd be impressed with me. He really wasn't. He hollered for Timmy to come over and made me tell him too. Then they both lit into me about how dangerous it was and how there was no way I could go. Well I was 14 and didn't like being told what to do, especially from the two people who never treated me like a screwed up kid. They were the last ones I wanted to have telling me what I could and couldn't do. So I told them both to screw off. Right then Josh pulled up and I just got into the car with him. I left them there still shouting at me not to go. I was all proud of myself for making my own decision and Josh was already telling me how excited his friends were to meet me.

"So we got to his place and it wasn't very nice. It was a really rundown house on the south side but I didn't want to insult him so I didn't say anything. I thought maybe it was his friend's place and we were just making a stop before we got to his house.

"When we went in there was a bunch of guys, about 8 or 9 of them. They were all leering at me and I started to get really nervous. When I went to go back out the door Josh grabbed me and he said I couldn't leave - not until I put on a little show for them. He told me I had to whack off for them to watch then I could leave. He said I was lucky that's all I had to do."

Van's voice was beginning to sound a bit strained as he continued. He knew if he stopped now he'd never be able to finish telling it. "I did it with all them watching," Van said, disgust clearly in his voice. Even after all these years Van was ashamed of what he had done that night.

Deaq listened without saying a word. He was suddenly very thankful that Van was telling him this while he was driving so he had an excuse not to look the upset man in the eyes. Somehow that made things easier.

"I know I shouldn't have done it, but there were so many of them and Josh was blocking the doorway and I figured if I didn't do it something worse might happen to me. When it was over they made me stay for a while but finally Josh said he'd drive me home. He told me to wait by the door and he went back and said something to the guys that I couldn't hear but they all started laughing. So he was driving me home and now instead of being all nice and complimenting and flirting like he used to be he was calling me all kind of names. He told me I was a whore and that if I told anybody about what happened he'd find me and he'd do stuff to me. You can probably imagine what he said to me. He drove me to the bus station, you know the old one over on the south side. There were a bunch of prostitutes out front working. When he stopped the car I tried to get out but he kept the door locked. He took out his wallet and grabbed a 20 dollar bill and stuffed it in my shirt pocket. Then he told me to get the fuck out there with the others where I belonged. When he unlocked the door and I got out as fast as I could. I walked home that night and I remember it was so dark and if anyone had tried to mess with me on the street I probably wouldn't have fought back at all.

"The next day was Saturday and my Mom woke me up to go to work. I said I wasn't going and when she asked if I was sick I said no, I just didn't want to go. She made me get up and go anyway. I thought she was a real bitch at the time for forcing me to go after the night I'd had but I know now that the reason she made me go was 'cause she didn't know how to help me. She knew I wouldn't tell her what had happened and why I was so upset so she took me to Frankie and Timmy so they could help me.

"When I got there they didn't say a word about it, about the night before. I figured they'd be all over me, bugging to find out, you know? But they just kept acting like everything was normal. I was a wreck and all I wanted to do was go lock myself away from everyone. I tried not to let on that I had a problem but I guess it was pretty obvious. So when the store closed up for the night Timmy asked me if I wanted to go with them for a drive. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't even tell him if I wanted to or not. I was just totally lost. So the three of us, we took a ride up the coast, just like now, and I told them what happened. I knew they were the only people in the world who wouldn't totally hate me for what I let happen. They told me it wasn't my fault - what happened. It was nice to hear they still cared about me, but I know it was my fault. Anyway, after I told them they never said they'd told me it would happen. They never rubbed my nose in the fact that I should have listened but didn't. They were so different from my Dad."

Van paused, taking a deep breath. He was starting to get a sore throat from talking so much after getting sick earlier. "So after that I was starting to feel better. It meant a lot to me that Timmy and Frankie weren't so disgusted with what I'd done that they didn't want anything more to do with me. I couldn't tell anyone else. None of my other friends, especially the ones my age, would understand. They'd all hate me and I figured it was best that nobody else knew. I thought maybe I could just pretend like it had never happened.

"Well, Monday came around and Josh didn't show up for his weekly hair cut. I was nervous all day but he never showed. I was leaving for the night, through the back door, when I got grabbed from behind and thrown into the storeroom. The salon I used to work at was converted from an old restaurant and the storeroom used to be one of those walk-in fridges so the walls were really thick. When I started yelling for help Josh told me nobody would hear me. He grabbed me and threw me against the wall and I hit my head. I remember falling to the floor and he was standing over me. He said I did so well the other night that he wanted to see what else I could do. He kept telling me I was such a good little whore he just knew I'd, uh, I'd be a great fuck. S-so he pulled down his pants and he g-grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to my knees. He was pulling my head towards him when the door opened. Timmy and Frankie came in and Timmy grabbed Josh. He hit him a few times but he got away. Frankie came over and pulled me into his arms and I just started crying.

"I don't really remember what happened after that, I guess I must have been in shock or something but when I woke up the next morning I was at home in my bed. My Mom told me that Frankie and Timmy had dropped me off but they didn't tell her what happened. I knew she wanted me to tell her but I just couldn't. Then she told me that my Dad had made parole. It was a surprise 'cause he was supposed to be in for another 8 months, but I guess he managed to convince them he was going straight. When he came home I tried to act like I was happy to see him and that everything was fine. I was happy he was home but was still freaked about what had happened with Josh. I don't know how he knew but he did. I guess he's seen that look on other guy's faces before, in the joint. I didn't tell him what happened but I guess he read between the lines. He told me to get in the car and made me tell him where it happened. So we went to the salon and he told Frankie and Timmy I wasn't to see them again. He accused them of molesting me. Everything was so screwed up that I couldn't even defend them. Even after he went back to prison I never went back there. I didn't see Frankie and Timmy again until the other day. Uh, so there it is. I'll understand if you don't want to work with me anymore. I probably should have warned you, who I was, what I was like. If you don't want to be partners anymore I'll-I'll understand."

Deaq pulled the car off the road and into a small parking lot on the beach. He got out and walked around to Van' side and opened the door for him.

'Oh, what have I done? He won't even speak to me,' thought Van as he stepped out of the car. He swallowed nervously and shifted on his feet as he stood facing Deaq. He looked into the face of his partner and found it totally unreadable. Then he saw Deaq moved toward him and felt himself pulled into an embrace.

They remained that way for a time. Neither man had any idea how long they stayed like that but when they finally separated it seemed like things had changed. A shift in the clouds, a change in the people walking down the street, or maybe it was just a change in perception. Maybe they were just seeing this differently. Seeing each other differently. Deaq wrapped his arm around Van's waist and they started walking down the beach. As much as he always insisted he hated the beach it seemed different now, somehow more appealing.

"So does this mean you aren't totally disgusted with me? With what I did?" Van asked.

"No. Van, you didn't do anything wrong. What happened, that wasn't your fault. You been thinking you caused it but it wasn't you. Do you hear me? It was his fault. Josh's fault, not yours."

"Thanks but I know what happened. I should have done something. I should have stopped. I keep thinkin' Josh was right all those years ago. Maybe I am a whore. I put on a show, people watch, they buy into it, into my lies and then I get paid and walk away."

"You're not a whore! You said it yourself - lies. You did what you had to ... to survive. You didn't want to do that, in front of those people back then but you did 'cause you had to. And yeah, you do it now too, you lie and convince 'cause you gotta. But the difference is that you doin' it now for a different reason. You not doin' things to survive now, you doin' it to help people. I know you don't like playin' at some of the things we do and neither do I, but we do it to get the job done. You know what the difference is now?" Deaq paused then continued, "The difference is YOU in control now. You calling the shots and nobody, no Josh, ever gonna make you do anything you don't want to. You never gonna be in that position again." Enunciating his words very clearly and speaking slowly Deaq finished, "Van, you are in control now."

"I know. You're right. I know I'm not the same person I used to be." Van fingered one of his ever-present necklaces nervously. "It's just ... I don't know. Working at the salon like we've been just kinda brings it all back. All that stuff I'd tried to forget."

"All this," Deaq began. "This what was botherin' you for the last week?"

"Not exactly."

"Well come on, dawg. Don't stop. You on a roll now," Deaq said. He was serious but kept his tone light. "Hey, I don't hold anything you said against you."

"But this is different."

"Spill."

"Okay but once this is said I can't take it back. After you hear this you might not like me too much." Van stopped walking and moved in front of Deaq to look him in the eyes. "Are you sure you want me to say this?"

"There's nothing you could say that I won't listen to, Van. You can tell me anything," Deaq reassured Van again.

"What made me so cranky all week, the thing I couldn't tell you about, it was ... It was you. Deaq, I love you, man. I tried not to. I thought we could just be partners, that it would be enough but I can't stop thinking about it, about you. I know you can't feel the same, don't love me back, not in that way anyway. But Deaq, I swear I'll stop, I'll figure it out. You don't have to get a new partner, I can stop I know I can. I-I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You're telling me that you love me and you're sorry. Van did it ever occur to you that those feelings might not be one sided?"

"What're you sayin'?" Van could swear that Deaq was telling him that he too had feelings for his partner.

"I'm sayin' that I've fallen for you. Van, when I met you I pretty much hated you. I blamed you for Andre getting killed. But as time went by I got to know you, who you really are. I saw this guy who would put everything on the line for his partner. A man who would do whatever was necessary to protect those around him. I watched you suffer and I was there when you were happy but I never thought I could share that with you."

"You're serious? 'Cause Deaq, I don't think I could take it right now if you were just messing with me."

"I'm not messin' with you. I wanted to tell you before but I didn't think you'd feel more for me than just friendship. I didn't think you felt that way about me, about guys."

"Uh, hello!" Van said smiling. They began walking again. "You have noticed how I dress, the comments Billie makes about me, the previous job in a SALON. I thought you figured me for a flaming queer."

"You left out the part where you sleep with just about any pretty female mark that comes along."

"Hey! I don't have sex with all of them, just a few, only the one's I really like, the one's I feel a connection with. I'm young and I like to have sex, so sue me."

"Yeah but what I'm sayin' is they were all of the fairer sex." He stopped for a moment. "They were, right?"

"Yeah, all of them. There was only one man I really wanted and I just couldn't tell him. I thought he was straight."

"Well maybe you should have just asked this man," Deaq replied knowing they were talking about him.

"I never thought there was a chance. Even if there was I figured I wasn't the one you'd pick."

"Can't think of anyone I'd rather," Deaq said. Throwing caution to the wind he pulled Van into a deep kiss. Van pulled back in surprise but then wrapped his arms around Deaq and plunged in. Passersby saw two people who appeared to be very much in love: two
stunning men surrounded by white sand and sparkling water, the scene lit by the bright rays of the late morning sun.

After a few long moments Van pulled away abruptly. Deaq felt his heart leap into his mouth as Van broke away from him.

"Deaq, I...."

Then Deaq saw a reaction to his kiss he'd never witnessed before. Van turned away, leaned over, hands braced on his knees and puked. Deaq had no idea what was happening. He could see it but his mind failed to make sense of what was happening. One minute he'd been kissing Van, something he'd wanted to do for a long time but had long since given up hope of ever doing. It had been even better than he'd imagined. Then suddenly Van had started throwing up. Had he changed his mind? Finally Deaq managed to say something.

"Okay ... that's not the reaction I was hopin' for. Van, you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's not ... that was great, I mean really great. It's just that my stomach is still bothering me. I didn't mean to make you think ... jeez I'm sorry man. I'm such an ass."

"So then you're not gonna to do that every time I kiss you?"

"You mean you'd kiss me again. Even after that?" Van was shocked. He figured he'd blown it when he tossed his cookies after their first kiss.

"You'd have to do a lot more than that to stop me," Deaq said, smiling. "Come on lets get goin'. We better get you some water before you end up dehydrated. Think you can eat something?"

Van was happy Deaq had changed the topic. He was feeling really embarrassed. "I don't know that I can hold it down, but I guess."

They walked in silence for a while. When they reached the car Van wanted to drive and Deaq tossed him the keys. After driving for a few minutes Van blurted out, "Shit! Do you know what just happened?" It had taken a little while to all sink in.

"I think so. You still sorry?"

"For puking or being in love with you?"

"The second one."

"No. I'm not sorry. I do love ya."

"Then I do know what happened. This is real weird. Like a week ago we were undercover as high-end drug running pimps. Now we playin' at being salon workers. We not just getting caught up in roles or somethin' are we?"

Van took his eyes from the road to give him a look. Deaq saw so much emotion there it almost scared him: fear, confusion but most of all hope and something that looked suspiciously like love. To top it all off he saw that spark of life that made Van who he was. It had been hard to see during the last week, like the fire inside Van had diminished when he'd been having trouble holding his feelings inside. Deaq could see it now and it was brighter than ever. The sparkle in Van's eyes had returned and it shone brighter than the
sun's reflection dancing on the oceans waves. He knew the answer to his question without Van having to say a word.

***********************

"And another thing, I really don't like you not bein' armed," Deaq said.

"Protective are we?" Van joked back, grinning.

They were just pulling up to the salon. During the ride back they had fallen into a light flirting, joking mood. Somehow that made the situation easier to deal with. Both men were still trying to wrap their minds around how dramatically the dynamic between them had changed over the past couple of hours. By keeping the tone light and flirtatious they didn't deny what had changed, but didn't have to deal with it head on either.

"It's not safe is all."

"Deaq, we're working in a hair salon. How dangerous can it be?"

"Don't say stuff like that. You gonna jinx us."

"What, you're superstitious now? You want me to drive you over to Aquarius for a tarot card reading before we go back to work?" Van was nearly laughing as he said it.

Deaq had turned rather serious. "All I'm sayin' is you shouldn't be running around without your piece."

"Look, I've got nowhere to hide it okay?" Van knew in the outfit he was wearing a gun would probably be visible but even if it wasn't it would only be matter of time before someone felt it as they touched him. "Besides, I've got you to protect me." Van pulled into
a parking space behind the salon.

As they got out of the car and headed around to the front door Deaq added, "That all I am? Just someone to watch your back?"

"You can watch a lot more than that if you want." Van flashed him a suggestive smile as they entered the building. The look between them didn't go unnoticed.

"You look much better, Sunshine. Did you two love birds work things out?" asked Frankie.

Van and Deaq shared a look before Van answered, "Yeah, things are great. Better than they've been in a long time."

"Happy to hear it. Now, we're a bit behind schedule," Frankie said motioning to the people seated in the waiting area. "You two ready to get started?"

Van couldn't hide his amusement at the double meaning he heard in Frankie's words. Of course they weren't intended that way but it felt like Frankie was commenting on Van and Deaq's new relationship. Or maybe he was just hearing it that way because it was on his mind.

"Let's get started," Van said to Frankie, but he looked at Deaq as he said it.

*********

Several hours and many haircuts and nail jobs later all the customers were finished. Van was about to go talk to Deaq when Frankie called him to the front.

"Van this beautiful lady would like a trim and she insisted on you. She only wants the best and that would be you," Frankie said. Van looked over to the customer about to ask her to follow him when he jumped in surprise with recognition.

Five minutes before Billie had walked into the salon unnoticed by her guys. Van and Deaq were supposed to check in that morning and they hadn't. She tried their cells and got no answer as they had both left their phones at Van's place. Van had left his on purpose figuring he had nowhere to keep it given the outfit. Deaq had forgotten his having been more concerned with chewing out Van over the previous nights indiscretions.

Billie had been pissed that she couldn't get ahold of them and decided to drop by. She figured she could get an update on the case and make fun of them at the same time. She could work off some of her anger at them for being irresponsible and take care of business all in one trip.

What she saw upon entering Kenny's Salon and Spa was one of the strangest things she witnessed in years. It was a pretty standard place, three chairs for doing hair, a couple small tables for manicures, lots of mirrors and everything in pastel shades. That was the
normal part. It was the employees, HER employees that were the real shocker.

Van was busy trimming a man's hair with a skill and precision that surprised her. He looked like he'd done it a million times. More surprising was his outfit. Billie had seen Van show up in some pretty strange clothing before and she could swear that there was no way some of his stuff was men's clothing. Heck, he owned some shirts and pants that Billie would classify as too feminine to wear herself. But this outfit was not girly, just really flamboyant. Black leather pants with red flames shooting up the side and a tight red shirt that was probably a lot tighter than it needed to be across the chest. There was no way he was carrying his weapon, there was nowhere he could have hid it in that skintight outfit. That pissed her off and Billie made a mental note to discuss that with him later. Perhaps most surprising of all was the fact that Van had actually shaved. He had no goatee at all
and she was shocked how much younger and more delicate it made him look. Combined with his hair, that for once didn't look like a greasy mop to her, he looked a good five years younger, maybe more.

It wasn't like she'd never seen him change his look and behavior for a case before. It was his ability as a chameleon that had prompted her to recruit him in the first place. It was just that this change was somehow more complete. She watched him walking around
to see the customer's head from several angles, checking lengths. Billie could swear he was wiggling his ass way more than was necessary.

If seeing Van had been a surprise then when Billie noticed Deaq she nearly had a heart attack. She saw her big, sometimes down right intimidating looking detective applying white tips over bright pink nail polish on customer's nails. More over he was doing it
well. There was something so strange about seeing his large, powerful hands working with delicate strokes on the tiny canvases. Yep, this was beyond strange.

When the man at the front desk had asked her what he could do for her Billie recognized his voice as one of the men she had initially talked to on the phone when setting up the jobs for Van and Deaq. Billie forced her voice up an octave just in case he still remembered how she had sounded on the phone before.

"Yes, I need a trim," Billie had said to Frankie, sounding downright bubbly. "I want him to do it." She pointed to Van who was just finishing up with his customer.

"Alrighty. Good choice, he's the best. His name is Van. Just take a seat dear and I'll call when he's finished, okay?"

"Great," Billie squeaked out.

Billie now watched Van's look of surprise. He recovered quickly, "Come with me, beautiful."

He led her to the chair and she took a seat. "Found a job you like better?" she asked him.

"No," he said wetting her hair with a squirt bottle.

"Well that's too bad because I was seriously considering firing you two hot dogs for not checking in."

"Rough morning. What, were you worried?" he said, as if kidding.

"I have to protect my investment. You guys couldn't take five minutes to check in, use a phone?"

"Long story, not now," Van shushed her as Frankie had just sat a customer of his own in the chair next to them. So, what would you like? Trim and keep the even bottom or do you want some long layers? Or would you rather I just surprise you."

"I don't think I trust any of your surprises."

"I have a squirt bottle full of water here and if you don't want it sprayed in your face you'll have to be more trusting than that." Van couldn't resist, it was too tempting not to bug Billie now that she was at his mercy.

"Van!" Frankie barked. "You be nice." He'd been over hearing them and couldn't figure what was going through Van's head to say things like that to a customer.

"Alright," Billie said. "Surprise me."

**********

After about fifteen minutes Van was finished. He'd changed Billie's long, straight hair to two layers. The short layer hit Billie just below the jaw and curled inwards. The second layer was about two inches longer and flipped out at the ends. It was a cute look that suited her face and Billie had to admit that Van had an eye for style.

"I'm impressed Van," Billie said. He had managed to give her a really nice haircut but with Frankie right next to them it had been impossible to discuss the case.

"Thank you very much, ma'am." Van flashed her a smile, "Now if you'll follow me I'll show you what products you can use to keep it looking so nice."

Billie followed Van a little ways away. Still speaking in a way that wouldn't raise the suspicion should anyone over hear, "Here's a list of some products you might like. I'd highly recommend this one." Van jotted the short list and underlined Sophismata. "You know ma'am your cuticles are looking a little ragged. Maybe you'd like to have the resident manicurist take a look?"

*********

"Alright so spill. What's happened?" Billie asked Deaq.

Carefully filing one of her nails he said, "Van gave you the list right? We figure it's that one called Sophismata. The company name is Proditor. Here's the address." Deaq gave her the paper. Unlike when she spoke with Van, Billie was able to talk to Deaq out of earshot of everyone else. The manacurist's table was around corner, which blocked its view form the entrance. It also kept the sound contained well.

"Good. I'll go check it out after this. If it's clear, I'll start looking into the other possibilities. But actually I was wondering what happened with Van. He seems better or is it just him faking it for appearances?"

"No, he is better. We talked and things are different, better."

"I noticed," Billie said, her tone a bit odd.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Deaq asked suspiciously.

"I saw you two giving each other looks in the mirror."

"We partners, of course we do that."

"I'm seeing something more. Is it just that you two are so happy to be back in the groove?"

"What you sayin' here?"

"I'm saying that Van isn't the only one who seems really happy."

Deaq sighed. He didn't know what to tell her. "Pick a color," he said setting a tray of little nail polish bottles in front of her.

**********

"Having Billie come in: was that weird or is it just me?" Van asked Deaq, as he plopped down into a chair beside him. Billie had left a while ago but they had both been too busy to sit down and talk since her departure.

"Van, this whole case has been weird. I'm just lookin' at stuff now like it's on a continuum of weird."

"Continuum? Listen to you, those fumes getting to ya?" Van asked motioning to the assortment of polishes and removers on the table.

"Nah, well except for those pink elephants that keep flying around. They're kinda annoying," Deaq dead-panned.

They just sat in silence for a moment.

"Does she know? About us I mean," Van asked.

"Probably."

They sat there again in silence.

"Deaq?"

"Yeah?"

"How do WE rate on your little continuum?"

Deaq shifted to face Van. When he looked into those puppy dog eyes he answered, "We off that scale." He smiled at Van putting his left hand into Van's right. Deaq sat back and they stayed there, watching themselves in the big mirror on the opposite wall.

***************

Late that afternoon, when Van was between customers Timmy asked him if he wanted to go on a coffee run. Van couldn't help but look over at Deaq before answering. For some reason he didn't want to be separated from Deaq right now. He felt as if were he to leave he'd return and all that had happened between them that day would be forgotten. Of course he knew that was stupid but he just couldn't seem to talk himself out of the idea.

"Van, I know it's hard for you to believe but Deaq will still continue to exist out of your sight," Timmy said in one of his rare moments of sarcasm. "If you don't want to go that's fine, I'll do it. Or I'll see if Frankie's in the mood for some fresh air."

"No, it's cool, I'll do it," Van replied quickly. Deaq was busy and wouldn't be finished before he got back and Van couldn't help but think maybe he should get away for a few minutes to think things over on his own.

'Before you go and screw everything up,' Van thought. 'You know you'll blow it don't you? It's what you want so you're bound to mess it up.'

He quickly took orders from everyone. Before he left Van even took the risk of giving Deaq a chaste, closed mouth kiss on the lips right on front of everybody. Deaq looked a little embarrassed but he still grinned at Van as he left, going around the corner. Van then started down the hallway leading to the backdoor.

Suddenly Van felt someone grab him from behind and push him through the door to the basement storage room. It happened so fast Van didn't have time to react and with a final shove from his assailant he found himself falling down the flight of stairs to the hard cement floor below. He was stunned when he finally came to a stop, having bounced his head off two stairs on his journey down. Van tried to assess his injuries but for a moment he wasn't even sure what had happened. When he tried to roll over onto his back he got a sharp pain in his chest and side. Van yelped as the pain caught him by surprise. But there were bigger surprises in store for him.

**********

Meanwhile, upstairs Deaq was applying base coat to a set of nails and trying to wrap his mind around Vans kissing him. Sure, it hadn't been inappropriate or anything but it still felt weird to be doing that in front of an audience. Of course the real reason he felt like they'd had an audience was because both Frankie and Timmy had been watching all his and Van's interactions with particular interest. Deaq tried to remind himself that they were probably happy for them.

'I can live with them being nosy,' thought Deaq. 'So long as they don't start asking questions about our sex life or something. Wait! Van and I don't have a sex life - Yet. Wow, we gonna have a sex life. We gonna ... wow. That is if I don't go fucking things up like I always do in relationships. Forget that - we gonna have sex, yeah!' Deaq smiled and continued his work.

*************

On the other side of the city, Billie pulled up to the address Deaq had given her. She'd figured since it was almost the end of the month and the shipment was due in soon she might as well check out the address she had before looking up the other leads that Van had given her.

'This looks pretty likely' she thought as she pulled up in front of a run down house. It certainly wasn't a place where she expected hair products would be produced. After double checking the address she got out of the SUV and, after checking for her gun and badge out of habit, she walked up to the front door. There was no answer after she rang the doorbell for several minutes and she could see through the dusty, cracked windows that no lights were on. Heading around back she saw a cat staring out at her through one of the basement windows. It's mewing could just barely be heard as it called out in frustration at being stuck in the house.

"Well that sounds like a child calling for help," Billie said aloud, justifying her next action. With a quick kick of her high-heeled black leather boot she kicked open the back door from its rotten jam. Billie pulled her gun out holding it low, aimed at the ground.

"L.A.P.D. come out with your hands where I can see them!" she shouted. Although she was almost positive there was nobody inside she gave the warning just in case. Seemingly out of nowhere an orange and white flash shot by her as the cat was released to its much desired freedom.

"Put your paws where I can see them then," Billie muttered to herself as she entered the house.

***********

"I knew it was you my little slut. All grown up I see," the man said as he descended the stairs to where Van was sprawled on the floor.

Van coughed and shook his head a bit. 'I must have really hit hard. I could swear I'm hearing Josh again. Well I'd rather deal with hallucinations and even a bit of brain damage than see that guy again.' Van blinked hard several times. He wasn't sure if it seemed so dark because the lights were out or if they were on and he just couldn't see straight.

"I saw you there, kissing that nigger. Still showing off in public huh, my little whore," the man said, circling around Van. "I watched you, I was in the hallway and nobody noticed me and do you know why?"

He grabbed Van the throat and pushed him onto his back. He straddled Van putting his weight on Van's chest. "Because they were all soooo busy watching your little show. Still like putting on a show don't you, little tramp."

Van was starting to panic. This was no hallucination and, as he felt himself struggling to breathe around the heavy man's weight, Van knew without a doubt that this was Josh. He'd aged terribly and put on a lot of weight. He had also gained a number of scars on his face over the years. Van tried to suck in as much air as he could to yell for help when he felt a cold hand cover his mouth, pushing his head down hard against the floor.

"No, no. You're not gonna say a word. And they won't find you by accident all the way down here. Nobody's gonna come looking for you. It's just you and me and this time I'm going to get my money's worth."

**********

Billie swept the main floor quickly and found nothing living except for the maggots in the sink of dirty dishes. She made her way to the basement, gun still drawn. Reaching for the light switch she found on the wall at the foot of the stairs, Billie held her breath and listened for sounds of movement. When she flipped the overhead light on it was instantly confirmed that this was no ordinary house. The basement, which appeared to have been enlarged to about twice the perimeter of the house above, was fully outfitted as a drug processing lab. It was actually significantly better equipment than many small illegal drug manufacturers used. Billie quickly spotted a few empty containers with the name Sophismata on them. She also noticed that there weren't any full containers and that what looked like shelves and crates for storing the containers were empty. She whipped out her cell to call the boys at the salon.

*********

Van was still struggling to breathe when abruptly he felt the human weight lift off his chest. He curled onto his side and let out a few hacking coughs that send bolts of pain through his chest. After a few moments, when he could breath almost normally, his tormenter came into his line of vision again.

"I'll tell you, little slut, I wasn't going to drop this off until tomorrow but think, if I had I might not have seen you. What fun would that have been?"

"Josh," Van managed to get out between shuddering breaths.

"Oh no, little slut, I changed my name a long time ago. Come to think of it right after I was done with you. Remember my little party? The one you enjoyed so much and begged me let you show off at? One of my friends wasn't too happy with you. Seems he thought you were a little too young to be there. Fucker called the cops on me. Did you know I spent three years in jail? That son of a bitch went to the cops and he told them all about our parties. He'd have kept his mouth shut if it wasn't for you. Dirty slut!"

He kicked Van in the side causing him to cough violently again. Van was sure he tasted blood in his mouth but he didn't think he had bit his tongue. Not knowing where the blood taste was coming from worried him. Trying to focus on something other than the pain he was in and the psycho who was talking to him Van looked around. There weren't any weapons on the ground that he could see but something did catch his eye. There were a bunch of boxes piled just to the right of the foot of the stairs. Printed on the sides was the name Proditor.

"Noticing my little creation are we?"

Van cleared his throat again. Figuring out what Josh had become he said, "Stell."

"That's right. How did you know little slut? Hmm? Who told you?" Josh was getting angry sounding. He hadn't sounded exactly in control to begin with but now he sounded like he was really starting to lose it.

"No-nobody," Van answered. Josh was now standing towering over Van near his legs. Van figured this was his best chance to try to take the guy out. He kicked out catching Josh on his right leg, at the side of the knee. Josh went down to his knees but recovered quickly, scrambling over Van and grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the floor solidly. Van felt himself start to black out.

*********

"Deaq!" Frankie called out, his loud voice easily heard over the sound of hair dryers. "Phone for you. Someone named Billie, said she has a question that can't wait."

"Okay!" he hollered back. "Will you excuse me a minute?" he asked the customer.

Frankie came over. "Do you want to take it in the office?"

"Yeah, that'd be good," Deaq said. He didn't want to be talking loudly on the front desk phone over the sound of the hair dryers, especially given what he'd probably be talking to Billie about.

Deaq made his way to the office and picked up the desk phone. "Billie? What's goin' on?"

"Deaq. I went to the address for the Proditor company. I'm not sure exactly what they were manufacturing here but it wasn't hair gel."

"So what you gonna do? Bust in there with S.W.A.T.?"

"No, whoever was here is gone now, and Deaq, they took the stuff they made with them."

"So we got no suspect and no evidence, that what you sayin'?"

"What I'm saying is that the shipment must already be in transit somewhere. It's due at the salon tomorrow so it's probably in a truck or something. I want you and Van to meet me back at the Candy Store right now so we can figure how we're going to handle tomorrow."

"A'ight but Van's not here right now."

"Where the hell is he?"

"Coffee run."

"Alone?"

"Billie, he can handle himself you know. He's not going to disappear just cause he's out of our sight, you know?" Deaq said, unknowingly repeating the very words Timmy had said to Van earlier about him.

*********

Van could hear someone talking but it seemed to be coming from very far away. He felt someone grab him by the hair and shake his head a bit. While it hurt like hell it did wake him up.

"All grown up and fighting back, huh little whore? And see where it got you. Now I'm pissed off!" said Josh. "I know what you need."

Josh released his hold on Van and stalked across the room. Van tried to sit up and was partially successful as he hiked himself up on his elbows. The movement made him dizzy but at least he could keep an eye on Josh. He really didn't like the way Josh had said he knew what Van needed.

"What you need is a little bit of this," Josh said as he opened one of the boxes he'd brought. He pushed aside the top row of containers. They contained only real hair gel he'd put in. Underneath were the containers with the good stuff in them.

Van looked frantically around for something, anything he could use against Josh. He saw something shiny on one of the lower shelves. It looked like a pair of long bladed scissors. Just as he was getting ready to crawl over and grab them Van saw Josh turn around and begin speaking again.

"You know what my name is now but I bet you have no idea what's in here," he said as he brought one of the bottles over to Van.

Realizing that he wasn't going to get to the scissors and that he wasn't going to be able to fight off Josh given his condition Van screamed at the top of his lungs, "DEAQ! HELP! HELP! DE-"

He was abruptly cut off by Josh backhanding him across the face. Van fell back to the floor jarring his body painfully.

"You always were too talkative. Too damn fidgety too. This will fix that. Then we can have some real fun," Josh said as he again straddled Van's chest. He slammed Van's head into the floor and while he was stunned forced his mouth open and poured some of the clear liquid down his throat. Van coughed and sputtered but it was too late, he'd already swallowed the stuff. Josh stood up and moved to circle around Van as he spoke.

"Like that do you?" he said as Van continued to cough, obviously in pain.

"What-What was that?" Van asked.

"GHB, liquid X. I'm sure you must have had it before at some point. A little whore like you must be taking drugs all the time, right? Gonna show me what you've learned little whore. Bet you know all kinds of tricks now, don't you?"

Van was steadily feeling more and more strange. He felt like it was getting more difficult to move. It was like blinking took almost too much effort. Breathing seemed like a hassle too, especially since it hurt so much. He started wondering if he could just stop for a bit.

*********

"I realize that, Deaq. I'm not saying Van can't take care of himself I just don't like him walking around unarmed," Billie said to Deaq over the phone.

"Yeah, it bothers me too. But there really isn't likely to be a bunch of violent criminals between here and Starbucks."

"This is L.A. You really believe that?" Billie asked.

"Thanks, now I'm gonna be worried 'till he gets back."

"Which would be when? We have work to do."

"Should be getting back soon," Deaq said. He looked around the office trying to find a clock. It seemed like Van had been gone a while now but it probably hadn't been all that long. In his visual search Deaq noticed a small security monitor he'd missed on his first visit to the office. It was half hidden behind a few boxes. He wondered why they even left it on if it wasn't being watched. "Huh."

"What," Billie asked. She was starting to get irritated with Deaq. He didn't seem to be very helpful.

"Nothing. Just found a security monitor in here."

"Great so you're watching T.V. while I'm waiting," Billie said working herself into a good snark.

"Look I can't make Van get back here any fas-"

"Deaq?" Billie asked. "What is it?" He had stopped mid-word and Billie was immediately alarmed. "DEAQ!?!"

All she heard was the "thunk" of the receiver dropping then silence.

Running out of the office Deaq grabbed Timmy by the shirt and pushed him against the wall.

"Where is that camera?" he yelled right into Timmy's startled face.

"Wh-What?" Timmy asked baffled.

"The security camera. Where is it?" He asked Timmy just barely keeping himself from hitting the man to try and speed things up.

"The basement. In the storage room. Why? What's going on?"

Letting Timmy go Deaq started toward back to the rear of the store.

"Oh, God. Not again," he heard Frankie say.

"What?" asked Deaq. He didn't want to stop but what Frankie said made him freeze in his tracks.

"It's Josh, isn't it. Jesus I should never have..."

"Damn it!" Deaq said now running.

Timmy grabbed Deaq by the shoulder trying to stop him. Deaq pulled away.

"Deaq wait. You want a little distraction for him?" Timmy asked, having an idea.

"Fine, whatever," Deaq said. He wasn't about to wait another second. He had seen Van on the floor with a man crouched over him. He had something in his hands held against Van's neck. Light reflected off it, like a knife or something similar.

Deaq ran up to the door about to push it open and save his partner.

"Uh, Deaq?" he heard Frankie behind him say. "That's the broom closet. The door to the basement is the next one."

Deaq quickly moved to the next door. As he pushed it open quickly Frankie yelled at his loudest, "HEY!!!"

Josh's head snapped up, startled by the loud noise. Frankie took that as the signal and grabbed a can of hair spray off the counter. He flicked the lighter in his hands and held it up using the hair spray to create and effective flamethrower. He aimed the fire at the sensor tripping it, turning on the emergency sprinklers.

In the basement Josh was again distracted. This time it was the shocking spray of water that startled him causing him to loosen is grip on the scissors he had been holding against Van's throat.

Van reached up with strength he thought was long gone and grabbed the scissors out of Josh's slack hand. Jack turned his focus back to Van reaching a hand around his throat, ignoring the two men running down the stairs. He didn't care who came. It was time to make Van pay.

Josh heard the gun shot just a moment before he felt it rip through his chest. He was frozen there for a moment then he heard Van growl out, "I was never your whore!"

Josh couldn't stop himself from falling forward, effectively impaling himself on the scissors in Van's hands. Van felt the body fall on top of him, pushing the last of his breath out. He wanted to call out for Deaq but couldn't get enough air to do it. Then he felt the weight pulled off him and saw Deaq's face above him filled with concern and fear.

"Van! VAN! You okay?" Deaq said, panic easily heard in his voice.

Van wanted to reassure Deaq but soon his tunnel vision closed enough that he couldn't make out Deaq's face anymore and a second later he was completely unconscious.

********

"Okay, I want to make sure we've got this straight," Billie said.

She, Deaq, Timmy and Frankie were gathered in a hospital waiting room. They had the place to themselves and Billie was working on getting the case results together while she had everyone present. Everyone, that was, except for Van. He was still in surgery and this was the best way Billie could think of to keep her mind off worrying about him. Deaq was still looking like he might either break down and start crying or go on a rampage through the hospital looking for Van. Billie had been half considering asking him for his guns but decided he was probably more stable than that. Besides she was standing closest to the door so if he looked like he was about to bolt she could stop him. Probably.

Frankie had been crying, feeling very much responsible for what had happened. As it turned our Frankie had agreed with Josh, who had changed his name to Stell, to sell the product Sophismata. Frankie had thought he was selling low quality hair gel, he had no idea he was actually trafficking drugs through the salon. Timmy had been unaware of the deal with Josh as Frankie took care of product ordering. Timmy had noticed the repeat customers coming in for the stuff but had never figured it meant anything. After all they did have a number of odd clients.

Upon first arriving at the emergency room Timmy and Frankie had argued about the deal Frankie had made with Josh. Timmy was outraged that Frankie would even consider having any contact with the bastard who had hurt Van. Frankie had explained that Josh had been very persuasive and that he did regret his decision. Timmy was still mad about it but he knew they had bigger concerns and decided to see what Van's reaction to Frankie's decision was before he figured what to say about it to Frankie.

"Billie," Deaq started, speaking softly. He sounded exhausted but continued, "Can't we go over it later?"

"Okay, alright. Why don't you sit down for a while?"

Deaq did sit down. If he kept pacing he was afraid he might go charging out of the room. Waiting for word on how Van was doing was killing him. The second his butt hit the seat a nurse walked into the room. All four jumped to their feet, waiting for her to speak.

**********

Deaq was seated in a chair bedside Van's bed. He held Van's two necklaces in his hands, fiddling with them nervously. The nurse had given them to him for safe keeping when they had first arrived. Somewhere in the back of his head Deaq acknowledged that they probably also gave them to him because they figured he would feel better holding onto something of Van's while he waited. Now he sat, holding the smooth metal chains, watching Van sleep.

Van had six broken ribs and a lot of bruises from his fall down the stairs and the hits Josh had given him. He also had a concussion which was not really a surprise given all the bumps and swelling he had. The doctor had said he was lucky not to have more severe brain trauma. The drugs he had ingested we're mostly out of his system. It was indeed GHB that had been forced into him but had not entirely been absorbed. Once in the hospital they had managed to keep much of it from being absorbed into his system. The real problem had been as a result of one of his broken ribs. It had punctured his right lung, which had required surgery to fix. Van was now had bandages covering his entire chest.

Deaq watched as Van lay there motionless. He had a strange fear that Van was going to be unable to breath around all the bandages encircling him even though he had been reassured they were there to help and keep the pain to a minimum. Considering all his injuries Deaq figured it was better that Van not be awake and aware right now. It didn't make it any easier for him though. He wanted to see his partner fidgeting around, smiling and insisting he was okay. This stillness and silence was more than unnerving. It was downright scary.

Moving the necklaces through his fingers like some kind of rosary he began to speak softly to Van even though he was still asleep. "I'm sorry I didn't stop this from happening to you. I shouldn't have let you go unarmed, without me. I shoulda' watched your back better. I didn't know..." Deaq paused, watching his motionless partner. It was becoming harder for him to look at Van as the fear and guilt increased. Instead he focused on the necklaces in his hands. "When I was a kid, like 8, maybe 9 years old I had this dog. My family had this dog. Anyway, one day it got hit by a car so my Dad and I had to take it to the vet. They took him in the back and tried to fix him. Gave me his collar to hang on to while we waited. Now I just feel like..."

In a gravelly voice, barely above a whisper Van responded, "You're comparing me to a dog? Gee, thanks."

Deaq jumped in his seat. "Van! You awake!" he said relieved beyond words.

"Kinda. Everybody alright?" Van said, the words coming out slowly.

Deaq reached over and took Van's hand in his own. "You gonna be fine. We all okay, better now that you're back."

"Yeah, I dunno how long I'm gonna be awake here, man." Van was already starting to feel his eyes threatening to close.

Deaq looked into Van's half lidded eyes. His pupils were so large that there was barely any color visible. 'Poor guy's probably all strung out on top of being hurt,' Deaq thought. "It's okay. Go back to sleep."

After a few seconds Van's eyes closed and Deaq was sure he'd fallen asleep when Van kind of jerked a bit. This was followed by a pain filled gasp.

"You okay Van?" he asked, scared something was going wrong.

"Yeah," Van said, now whispering. "Hey, what happened this morning, on the beach, that really did happen right?" He couldn't bare the thought that he'd just imagined the whole thing.

"No-" Deaq started. Before he could finish his sentence Van cut in.

"Oh, uh, never mind. Sorry, must be all the drugs. Nothing." 'Oh, shit! Either I've really messed up my head or he just wants to pretend it never happened,' Van thought.

"Van, that happened. But it wasn't this morning, it was yesterday."

"Bastard," Van said with a trace of a grin on his tired face. "Don't scare me like that."

"My bad. I'll make it up to you later."

"Really?" Van asked. Though he wanted to finish the conversation his mind began to wander. "That was nice on the beach. You look great in the sun, surrounded by sand. Would'a been more romantic at night though..."

"I'll take you there at sunset when you get out. I bet you look gorgeous in the moonlight," Deaq said. Van had fallen back asleep and Deaq was almost thankful because as much as he wanted to honor that promise he really could do without Van reminding him about the almost poetic line. He sat back in the chair and waited.

************

Two days later Van was feeling better. He was actually in more pain, but being able to move around a little and stay awake made him feel a lot better over all. Of course having Deaq at his side had more than a little to do with it too. When he'd woken yesterday morning he'd been hurting pretty badly and Deaq had become upset at not being able to help. Van had told him to stay with him, that it made him feel better. It had been the truth, but just before he'd passed out again Van had hoped it was enough for Deaq. He imagined it must be harder to be in Deaq's place, waiting and worrying, than in his.

Van moved a bit, trying to get more comfortable. It wasn't like he was really uncomfortable, he just wasn't used to staying in one place for too long. Being stuck in bed was starting to annoy him. Unfortunately the small movement jarred was ribs causing him to grunt softly in pain. 'Damn, I hope he didn't hear that,' thought Van as he watched Deaq for signs of movement. Deaq had fallen asleep in his chair a few hours earlier and Van didn't want to wake the obviously exhausted man.

"You a'ight?" Deaq said in a sleepy voice before even opening his eyes.

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep," Van said immediately. He wondered if it was true. He had no doubts that he would recover physically just fine. He'd been hurt worse before and as bad as he felt now he knew it could have been a lot worse. Van had no idea what Josh would have done to him if he'd had the chance. He didn't want to think about it so instead he thought about Deaq running in and saving him just in the nick of time. When Josh had grabbed the sharp scissors and held them to his throat Van had thought he might not survive. He'd been in that moment of trying to accept his fate when he heard a yell, which could only have come from Frankie. No normal person could reach those volumes without the aid of a megaphone.

He hadn't seen Deaq, but when he heard the gunshot and saw the blood running down Josh's shirt he knew who had stopped his tormentor. Van didn't know if Josh had been killed and was surprised to realize that he didn't really care. Being able to tell Josh that he wasn't his whore and then watch the look on his face had been enough. Van knew he didn't cause what happened then anymore than he'd caused Josh to hurt him all those years ago. He never wanted to put on a show at the party and he didn't want Josh to attack him. It didn't matter now what Josh had called him, Van knew none of it was his fault. It may have taken over a decade but he'd figured out who was to blame for what happened and it wasn't him. Deaq had told him it wasn't his fault when they were on the beach. He hadn't believed him then. But when he thought Josh was going to kill him Van had finally understood.

"It wasn't my fault," he said aloud, not even realizing it.

"What wasn't your fault?"

Van jumped a bit, something he was really going to have to stop doing until he was more healed. He hadn't been aware that Deaq was now awake.

"All of it. I get it now. It wasn't my fault when I was a kid and it wasn't my fault this time either. I just couldn't figure that out. Even when you told me I didn't believe you. But when I thought he was going to kill me I knew it."

"You okay with it now?"

"Yeah I am. I finally am."

Deaq could hear finality in Van's words. He believed that Van really was okay with the whole issue now, that he'd found the closure he needed. Realizing that he was still holding Van's necklaces Deaq thought it was time to give them back. "Hey, I've been holding on to these for you. Want them back?"

Van almost laughed at the irony. He settled on grinning in his amusement knowing that wouldn't be painful.

"What?" Deaq asked on seeing Van's expression. "You still thinking about the dog collar thing?"

Van had no clue what Deaq was talking about. It seemed vaguely familiar but he wasn't sure why. "No, I was just thinking about how this was a perfect time to put them back on."

"Why's that?" Deaq asked knowing Van would probably have some interesting answer.

"That one, the one with the medallion, did you notice the inscription?"

"Yeah, it's Latin right?"

"Yup. Know what it says?"

"Sorry, I never took Latin in school."

"Neither did I but I know what it says." For memory Van recited the inscription on the tiny medallion to Deaq, "Non sum qualis enam. It means I am not what I used to be. I started wearing it just after that whole thing with Josh and me leaving the salon. It thought maybe if it was there, hanging around my neck it would be true, that I wouldn't be what Josh made me. I mean what he said I was. But now, now it's true. I'm not who I was, not anymore. And I owe that to you."

"Me?" Deaq said in surprise. "No, man you did it yourself."

"No, you helped me figure it out. You shot him and when I saw his eyes, when he got hit I knew it. I could see you on the beach telling me that I wasn't a whore and I really believed it. I believed it," Van finished with resolve.

Deaq wanted nothing more than to grab Van up in his arms and hold him there forever.

Seeing the conflict on Deaq's face Van nervously asked, "What?"

"I want to hold you so bad but I don't want to hurt you," Deaq said looking down at the massive amount of bandages covering Van's chest.

"Hey Deaq," Van said coming up with a way to make this work. "My lips aren't hurt."

Deaq took the hint and without hesitation he leaned over and kissed Van deeply. Of course as life would have it that happened about three seconds before the door opened.

"Oh, sorry! Would you guys rather we come back later?" asked a flustered Timmy.

"No, it's okay come on in," Van answered as Deaq moved back to his place in the chair by the bed.

Coming into the room Timmy started, "Van, look at you. You look a whole lot better than the last time I saw you. How you feeling?"

"Better thanks. I'll be alright. So, where's Frankie?" Van found it strange that the two wouldn't visit him together.

"He's in the hall. He said he didn't think you'd want to see him right now."

"Why wouldn't I want to see Frankie?" Van was lost and he didn't like the serious look that was now on Deaq's face.

"Van, Frankie made a deal with Josh to sell his stuff," Timmy answered quietly.

"Oh," Van said. He thought for a moment then continued, "Did he know it was drugs?"

"No."

"Well then tell that chicken to come on in, I want to see him," Van said trying to sound like he wasn't upset by the news.

Timmy went into the hall to get Frankie. Deaq decided to just stay quiet and watch this play out.

"Sunshine?" came Frankie's hesitant voice as he entered the room. "Hi honey. How you feeling?"

"It's okay Frankie. I don't blame you. I know that's what you're thinking. I know I would be anyway."

"But I did it. I should have never even spoken to him and I did. I can't believe for two years I was helping put dangerous drugs on the street. And I can't believe I helped that son of a bitch that hurt you. I'm sorry, Van, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I know what Josh is like. I know how he can talk you into anything. It's okay, I don't blame you," Van said, reassuring Frankie. He meant it too.

"Well in that case..." Frankie said as he ducked out of the room. He returned a moment later with a huge bouquet of flowers in just about every color imaginable and a few that probably didn't exist in nature. "This is for you. Spruce the place up a bit, you know? It is a little dull."

Looking at Deaq as he spoke Van said, "I hadn't really noticed." He turned his attention back to Frankie. "Thanks, they're really nice."

"Probably not the choice of most police officers though are they?" asked Timmy.

"Been talking to Billie, huh?"

"More than that. Yesterday evening when the four customers came looking for their stuff they were arrested by undercover officers. We helped," said Timmy looking pleased and putting his arm around Frankie's waist.

Deaq decided to fill in the rest, "Turns out three of 'em had warrants out and the fourth was on parole."

"That's great!" Van said. He thought for a moment before asking, "So, uh, are you guys disappointed in me. You know, for not really being a stylist?"

"Van," Timmy began, speaking for both of them. "We've never been prouder."

"Really? Even though I'm not doing what you guy's taught me?"

"Van, do you know why you were such a good stylist? Why the customers always liked what you did?"

"No."

"It has nothing to do with your skills with a pair of scissors. You could always figure out what people wanted, but you also knew what they needed. You mixed those two, always listening to what they said and talking them into what would be best. You never just did what you knew would work. You talked them into it, and you still considered what they wanted. It was your ability with people that made you the best, not your technique. Frankie and I, we had a chance to talk with your boss. What you do now, you use those skills, your way with people, to help. You do something very important, Van, and I know we're not your parents but we've never been prouder of you."

Frankie was crying and could only nod in agreement.

Sensing that he'd said what was needed Timmy stepped forward and took Van's hand. "Good luck, little Ray. If you ever need anything you know where to find us." Looking over to Deaq he added, "You too, Deaq."

Timmy stepped back and Frankie took his place. For one fleeting second Van was afraid that Frankie was going to hug him but instead he took Van's hand as Timmy had. "Sunshine, Van, you be good." Turning to Deaq Frankie said, "You take care of him." He leaned forward and kissed Van on the forehead and added softly, "Fix your hair, sweety. It's a mess." He moved back towards the door, standing with Timmy.

"Remember, if you two ever need anything you know where to find us," Timmy repeated. With that they left.

Deaq stayed quiet, waiting for Van to break the silence. A couple minutes later when it appeared Van wasn't going to say anything Deaq spoke. "I know they not your parents but it must feel good to hear that - them accepting you, what you've done."

"Yeah, it does. They're like the supportive uncles I never had." Thinking it over for a moment Van said, "Well maybe aunt and uncle."

Deaq noticed the necklaces still in his hands. He got up and leaned over Van to put them back on for him. Feeling the heavy seriousness still hanging in the room Deaq decided to try and lighten it up a bit. "Damn. Frankie's right your hair is a mess."

"And how would you know?"

"I'll have you know I just spent the better part of the week working in a salon. Picked up a few things while I was there."

"Wait, I thought I was the only thing you picked up there," Van said, feigning shock.

"You the best thing I picked up. But your hair, it really is all bed head."

"Almost back to normal looking?" Van said. He knew he probably looked like absolute crap right then.

Deaq leaned back as if trying to get a better look. He took in Van staring back at him. Bed head- messy hair, stubble, necklaces, yup, Van was looking more normal. But what had changed, other than the addition of bandages around his chest, was the look of happiness and hope in his eyes.

"Naw," he joked. "Now that I look at it that hair is much too neat to be your normal do."

"Hey, I like it like that!" said Van indignantly. "You gonna miss the look I had going this week?"

"I like how you look all the time. But maybe you should change. You don't need to do things like change your hair for anyone, anymore. Not for your Dad."

"I don't. It's me now. That's how I like it. It's my-"

"Sense of style?"

"Yeah. That's it exactly."

"A'ight, but if somebody offers you a comb I don't want to hear you complainin'." Van flashed Deaq a smile and got one in return just as big. Deaq slowly leaned over Van and continued the kiss that had been interrupted.

***************

Epilogue:

Later that day Van was dozing and Deaq wasn't far behind. The stress of the past few days had caught up with them both. Van was also still on a fair amount of painkillers and although he'd been able to cut back enough to not feel too wacky he still felt sleepy off and on.

A soft knock on the door woke Deaq up. The door opened and Billie peeked her head around to see if she was interrupting anything. Deaq found it amusing to see Billie being so hesitant. Considering her usual no nonsense, all business, going at everything gangbusters attitude it was strange to watch her poking her head in carefully rather than charging in.

"Hey," Billie called out quietly. "Do you want me to come back later?"

Deaq just waved her into the room. He noticed Billie's momentary look of confusion on seeing the outrageously colored giant bunch of flowers on the table.

"I take it Frankie and Timmy have been here already," she said sounding amused.

"Hard to tell, isn't it. Was it the flowers that gave it away or the lingering smell of hair spray?" said Deaq, smiling.

"You noticed that too?" Billie asked, returning the smile.

"I was afraid I was going to start smelling like that if we stayed in that salon much longer," Deaq said, still joking. "Could be worse. I could end up smelling like him. Coconuts. I used to wonder where it came from but I figured it out. That stuff he puts in his hair, it smells like coconuts. First thing in the morning you'd think he took a bath in a pina colada."

They laughed as quietly as they could but it was too late.

"I thought you liked that smell. Should have told me, I coulda' switched you know," Van said, blinking his eyes and trying to wake up enough to convince Billie he wasn't dying.

"Yeah, it's great for a car air freshener," Billie said sarcastically.

"Well that works out nicely since I usually spend a lot of time in cars. What is it with you two always ragging on my hair? It's sensitive you know - doesn't like to be made fun of."

Not sure if Van was joking Billie said, "Okay, now you're telling me we're offending your hair. I don't know Van, maybe you're in the wrong line of work. I hear there's a salon not too far from here that was a couple of newly open positions."

"No, I think I've had more than enough of that. Give me the guns, the drugs and the bad guys any day."

"Amen, brother," Deaq agreed.

"So Billie, what's our case?" Van asked.

"Yeah, we goin' in as hitmen? Or pimps? Maybe buyers for swanky rides?" Deaq asked, dreaming up possibilities.

"Anything where we don't have to spend all day dealing with customers and I don't have people grabbing my ass the whole time."

"Well..." Billie trailed.

Now Deaq was getting worried. "What? What is it?"

"There's this strip club I've been wanting to get you guys undercover at for awhile now."

"Strip club! You hear that!" Van said excitedly. "Better get us lots of dollar bills cause we're gonna need to keep cover by tipping the dancers. A lot."

"What I had in mind wasn't for you to pose as customers exactly," Billie said, waiting for their reaction.

"No," Van responded, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Aw hell no," Deaq followed.

When they noticed the look on her face that told them without a doubt that she wasn't kidding, they shouted simultaneously, "BILLIE!"

End

~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

Fandom: Fastlane
Pairings: Van/Deaq
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Van and Deaq go undercover in an unlikely place.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to McG and FOX. No money made, no harm done.
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