Homecoming by InSilva
Disclaimer: don't own. Just borrowing.
Summary: Danny gets out of prison and goes to find Rusty. Warning for fic of a Danny/Rusty slash nature. Oneshot.
A/N: otherhawk tells me there can never be enough Danny/Rusty on site.
He saw him before he saw him. Slouched at the bar, shoulders tense, glass of whisky undoubtedly pressed up to his temple. His body language shouted unhappiness. Just the way that he would be in the middle of a job, in the planning stage, when things weren't going well and there seemed like there was no way through.
Those times, in search of a solution, Rusty'd run the problem into the ground and himself with it. He'd had to step in, more than once, to take Rusty's mind off things. Fingers digging into knotted shoulders, releasing strain, taking charge, providing chocolate and stress relief in equal measures.
Judging by the way Rusty was looking, he'd come back just in time. He breezed past the back of Rusty, resisting the urge to simply grab him and bundle him out of there. Once upon a time, that might have been exactly the plan but right now… Right now, he needed to do some talking first.
Entry into the backroom presented no particular problem, Miss Moneypenny. Charm and a smile and a finger and thumb order for a large whisky. He sauntered over to the chair where he knew Rusty'd been sitting and got busy intriguing the group of teenagers.
Rusty's return. He'd played this moment over and over in the past four years and he wondered if any of the scenarios would be close. He lifted his eyes, full of knowing and dark promise and he saw blue hurt and anger and then the slightest of almost-nods. And did that mean he was forgiven?
He picked up his cards and found out.
The banter was quickfire and footsure. Running rings round these kids with their mineral waters and their absolute lack of life-knowledge. Cocooned by wealth and fame and not a clue. It wasn't worth getting riled about but it was worth taking their money. He stared down at his hand and heard Rusty talk up the betting. Like taking candy from…well, from these babies.
Timing was everything as always.
"I'm not sure what the four nines does but I think the ace is pretty high."
Smiling, he looked across the table at Rusty and the rest of the room faded away. As a con went, it was paltry but just the feeling of working with Rusty again made it all worthwhile.
The party had broken up. Topher and Josh were hanging back to sink a few. The others had places to go and people to see. Danny only had eyes for Rusty, waiting for…waiting for…
Let's go.
Waiting for that. Danny got to his feet and headed out into the bar with the loud, loud music and the bump and grind display cabinets. He knew without looking that Rusty was behind him and he walked with a relaxed security that he hadn't felt in an age.
All of which meant that when he felt Rusty's hand tight on his elbow, steering him firmly to one side, resolutely changing his course, Danny went with it without argument, stepping into the restroom with maybe a little surprise but no objection.
There were a couple of guys at the urinals, a couple more dealing in a corner. Rusty didn't let go and it was only as he was pushed into the end cubicle and Rusty locked the door behind them that Danny glimpsed what Rusty had in mind.
His back against the wall with the chipped paintwork, Danny grabbed Rusty's hands as they wrestled with his belt buckle.
"Time and a place, Rus," he muttered.
Rusty glared at him.
"When was the last time you were blown?" he hissed.
The last time… Tess gone and a drunken evening of desperate, angry, silent sex. He stared, speechless, at Rusty who nodded.
"That's what I thought. So shut the fuck up."
He surrendered, dropping Rusty's wrists and placing his palms flat against the wall, pressing them against the grafitti and the God knew what, letting Rusty take down his pants and his underwear, his buttocks clenching against the cold surface.
And then Rusty was on his knees in front of him, clutching the backs of his thighs and Rusty's mouth was wrapped round him, working his flesh hungrily, urgently, Rusty's tongue running up and down him with purpose.
He couldn't last. Four years of celibacy and half-hearted hand-jobs and he couldn't last. Danny flung his head back, eyes tightly closed, the orgasm bursting from him with unseemly haste.
He kept his eyes closed for a brief moment longer than was necessary. When he opened them again, Rusty was on his feet, running a finger around the corner of his mouth, his eyes alight with satisfaction and looking all together too pleased with himself.
Danny pulled up his clothes and fastened his belt.
"You'll need to get those pants dry-cleaned," he pointed out.
Even that didn't do anything to change the look on Rusty's face.
"I'll see you outside," Rusty told him.
"We're leaving separately?"
"Hate to damage your reputation."
Outside the club and he found Rusty, brushing himself down and fixing his tie with that same smug expression. Trouble was, four years apart and a welcome back that showed how much he'd been missed and Danny couldn't help smiling back.
"Four nines?" he asked as they walked towards Rusty's car.
"Not six in the deck."
They went to a diner with coffees, small talk and the outline of the heist. Like a post-coital cigarette. Unwinding felt good. Danny felt fresher and sharper than he had in years.
"We need to see the plans," Rusty said.
"Architect's in town."
Business first.
After business. Heading back to Rusty's apartment and there was a subtle change in the atmosphere between them, a charge building. Neither of them needed to say a word because they both knew the script.
The door closed behind him and Rusty span on his heel and pushed Danny back against it, his mouth covering Danny's fiercely, his tongue roaming Danny's mouth, demanding, intense.
Panting, Danny broke the kiss and stared at Rusty, all hot blue haze.
"Easy." Danny ran his thumb gently around Rusty's lips.
In answer, Rusty opened his mouth and softly, slowly - rhythmically - sucked Danny's thumb.
Fuck…
Rusty let him go.
Let's.
Danny pulled Rusty's jacket off and dropped it on the floor. Rusty raised an eyebrow.
Danny shrugged. "You might as well get the whole suit cleaned."
Rusty moved further into the living area, kicking aside pizza boxes and soda cans. Danny stepped over plates and candy wrappers.
"How long you been living here? Two days?"
Rusty grinned and held out his arms. "It's small but it's home."
Danny's lips twitched then the smile died. "Lose the clothes."
Socks followed boxers followed pants followed shirt followed tie into a heap.
"You gonna join me? Can't help feeling you're overdressed for the occasion."
Danny's gaze ran down over Rusty's torso. A few new scars. A few new stories to tell and he'd make sure Rusty told them. He needed to hear everything. Speaking of which…
The tattoo had grown. He reached out and ran his fingers lightly over the fresh ink, dark against the golden skin and felt the shiver run through Rusty.
"You get your heart broken any more times and you'll run out of arm," he said lightly.
"Then I'll start on the other one. There's still plenty of room."
"Who was she?"
"Italian job."
"She leave any scars where I can't see?"
Rusty's eyes flickered. "One or two."
Pain. And Danny wanted to hit and hurt the nameless she who'd inflicted it. Rusty did that almost-nod again. Knowledge. Acceptance. Danny's gaze dropped and he frowned. Another new tattoo, this one on Rusty's right hipbone. A small figure of eight on its side. Danny's thumb brushed over it wonderingly. This was new but older. In fact it looked… He raised his eyes to Rusty's.
"Might have been a lot angry with you," Rusty said quietly.
He offered up all the sorry he could. And then he dropped to his knees, his mouth over the tattoo, his tongue tracing the pattern, his hands, hard on the back of Rusty's ass, pulling him towards him, overbalancing him.
Rusty hit the rug hard and Danny winced an apology.
"Graceful as always," Rusty shook his head.
Danny looked at him, resting on his elbows, legs splayed and he reached out and casually stroked an inner thigh.
"When was the last time you were blown?"
"That's my line."
"True. When was the last time you were fingered?" He saw the answer rising to Rusty's lips and added quickly, "And I don't mean DIY."
Rusty stayed silent.
"That's what I thought."
He ran a finger over puckered flesh and heard the stifled hiss from Rusty. Glancing slightly up and centre, Danny smiled and repeated his action.
"Get the fuck on with it, Danny," Rusty growled.
Right. Just one problem… He scanned the vicinity. Half-drunk bottles of beer, broken cookies…
"Here."
Rusty handed him a plate with cracker crumbs and… Danny dug his fingers into the yellow and looked questioningly at Rusty.
"Margarine."
"Hmm. Retro."
"Get on with it, Marlon."
One finger, gently rimming. Two fingers, pushing further, slicking the way, opening Rusty up. His thumb was on the outside, massaging muscle. Soft moans from Rusty. Danny felt the heat rising within him. Rusty started thrusting against his fingers and he laid his other hand on Rusty's stomach, stilling him.
"Danny…" Low and warning.
Danny pulled his fingers free and Rusty sat half upright in complaint.
"Wearing too many clothes, remember?"
He stripped quickly, holding Rusty's half-lidded gaze of sulk and impatience as he did so.
"Better?" he asked.
"Better," Rusty sad shortly.
Danny made to carry on where he'd left off and Rusty grabbed his wrist.
"Enough foreplay."
Danny crooked a smile. "As you wish."
Inside Rusty, his arms under the crook of Rusty's knees, slick and hot and hard and fast, blood pulsing; Rusty, silent, riding the moment with him, locked in the moment with him.
When he came, it was with a cry of four years apart, four years separation from the other half of himself. Pulling free, he blinked down through starred eyes, at Rusty, busy working his own flesh.
"S'my job," Danny protested weakly, lacing his fingers through Rusty's.
"You know me," Rusty panted. "Always im…patient."
Come slicked over their hands.
"That scratch an itch?" Danny asked.
"For now," Rusty nodded.
Danny stood up and pulled him to his feet.
"Shower. Bed."
"There's a big mirror in my bedroom," Rusty said thoughtfully as they headed to the bathroom.
Danny raised an eyebrow as he reached up and started the shower, warm water jetting down on their heads.
"What?" Rusty asked innocently. "You don't think I'm gonna let you fuck me into the mattress and not be able to see your face when you come, do you?"
Danny pressed his lips up against Rusty's throat as the water ran.
"You been thinking about that a lot, haven't you?" he murmured.
Rusty's eyes were slits. "A lot and a long time."
Danny cupped his face. "I was always coming back to you, Rus. I will always come back to you."
Rusty stroked the wet hair away from Danny's forehead.
"Just make sure you never go away again."
His hand trailed across Rusty's shoulders as he followed Rusty through to his bedroom. Rusty pulled stray clothes off the duvet and threw it back, ushering Danny in. Danny sat on the edge of the bed and looked round the room.
"I have a woman who comes in to clean," Rusty said, climbing in alongside.
"You should sack her," Danny suggested pleasantly, lying down on his left side.
Rusty grinned and then the grin faded as he lay down facing him, pulling the duvet up over their bodies.
"So tell me."
Danny exhaled slowly.
"Minutes become hours become days, weeks, months, years. Same old, same old, same old. Some faces change but life grinds on and you keep your head down. You walk the corridors and you pace the yard and you eat the slop. You see injustices and some you can address and some you have to let go even though it kills you inside."
His mouth tightened.
"And then you lie on your bunk at night, staring up at the mattress above you sagging with your cellmate's weight and you wonder if there were other ways and you wonder if you're still the man you thought you were. You lie there, wide awake and dreaming. Running wild and free in a field of memories and imaginings. You lie and wonder if you've still got it and if you'll ever have a chance to find out."
He broke off, lost in remembrance. Rusty's hand covered his and squeezed.
You've still got it.
Danny smiled. "You?"
Rusty gave a half-shrug. "Ran round the States for a bit. Detroit, Seattle, Tallahatchie County."
"You go bungee jumping with Billie Joe?"
"He couldn't come out to play." Rusty looked down at their hands. "Then I skipped over to Europe. Couple of jobs with Basher. Hit France and called Frank over to join me in Monte Carlo."
Danny broke the hand hold and feathered the tattoo with his fingers.
And?
"Rome. Went for a job and stayed for a girl."
"Was she worth it?"
The pain of the offering up self and soul, the precious and personal in the hands of another.
Rusty crooked a smile.
"Thought so at the time."
"Still think so now?"
"Well, she ain't here for me to have a view."
Danny grabbed his hand again and pulled him to him, wrapping his arms round him, holding him tightly. Rusty allowed the embrace for a long moment then twisted round in Danny's arms. Danny spooned up close, his mouth pressed against Rusty's neck, revelling in the close and the intimate.
They stayed that way till morning.
Danny stretched, turning on to his back and Rusty rolled with the movement, head on Danny's chest.
"What time is it?" Rusty asked without opening his eyes.
"Early."
"Mmph."
Danny's fingers idly stroked blond hair. Rusty's fingers were more deliberate.
"You woke up horny," Danny commented lightly but without protest.
By way of answer, Rusty's lips pressed into Danny's chest and headed south.
"Rus…" Drawn from deep inside him.
Rusty reappeared from under the duvet.
"You stopped?" Surprise and a flavour of disappointment.
"You want me to talk with my mouth full?"
"I…where are you going?"
Rusty slipped out of bed and hefted the long mirror off the wall, laying it carefully along the wooden foot of the bed. He lay down on his stomach facing it and Danny stretched out alongside him, looking at their reflections.
"See?" Rusty murmured and Danny nodded. He saw.
Afterwards and they lay side by side once more, sweat coating their bodies.
"If things had worked out…" Danny began and the tension in the air flew up to 11. He turned on his side, raised himself up on one elbow and ran a reassuring hand down Rusty's arm. "If… What would you have told her?"
Rusty's eyes stayed on the ceiling. "I'd have said she was the only girl for me. That I loved her more than any woman. That I could never be with another woman now that I'd met her."
Gently, Danny turned his face to his, blue eyes looking into dark.
"There'd still be us," Rusty said simply.
Danny ran his finger over the tattoo on Rusty's hipbone and nodded.
An age ago and a complicated job with Phil working munitions and Howard taking care of the tech. Holed up in a hotel room together and Rusty hadn't taken a break from the goddamn plans since forever.
Danny had sent Howard and Phil out for pizza and beers and he'd sat and watched blueprint after blueprint examined, tiny marks being patiently made, a route traced through the maze only to hit a dead end. Each time, Rusty had started again.
"Danny? We brought provisions."
Phil and Howard were stood with food and drink in the doorway.
"Thanks." Peripherally, Danny saw Rusty's left shoulder lift slightly. "You want to leave us some on the side. It's not a party night."
Phil understood immediately and he put down a six pack and a couple of pizza boxes and pulled a bemused Howard out of the room, closing the door behind them.
"You didn't have to do that."
"You need the peace and quiet."
"Aren't you going to tell me to rest?"
"Would you listen to me if I did?"
"No, but I like your eternal optimism."
"Go have a shower. Freshen up."
And miracle of miracles, Rusty looked away from the paperwork, ran a hand over his face and nodded.
Danny looked up from the slice of pizza to see Rusty walking out of the bathroom in a fluffy bathrobe, towelling his hair.
"Nice robe."
"We stay in the best places."
"Pizza."
"In a minute." Rusty sat down in front of the plans again. "I just want to…"
The minute became five and then ten and still, Rusty was staring at measurements and dimensions and Danny knew he was seeing doors and walls and airvents rising up off the paper.
He hated doing nothing.
He stood behind him and slipped his hands underneath the neck of the bathrobe, working Rusty's shoulders, digging into the flesh and feeling the strain under his fingertips.
"Danny…"
"You need this," Danny murmured.
Rusty pulled free and twisted round on the chair.
"You want to know what I need? I need an answer to this." His hand smacked down on the table. "I need to find the way through and I can't and it's driving me nuts! I go to bed at night and close my eyes and all I can see is fucking lines and schematics! So thanks for the massage but it's really not hitting the spot. And pizza and beer aren't going to work either. Unless you can come up with a surprisingly different kind of stress relief then just fuck off to bed and leave me to-"
Danny leant in and kissed him. Hard.
"What…what are you…Danny…?"
He kissed him again. Deep and long.
"Danny…?"
"You know your problem? You talk too-"
Then Rusty's mouth was on his and the plans were forgotten.
"What about Tess?"
The question jolted Danny out of reverie.
"What about her?" He threw the question back.
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing," he said honestly. "Figure she had a tough enough time handling us. Hell, she went off the deep end when she found out I was working again. I tell her about how things are…"
He gave a shrug that conveyed the unknown but expected tornado of Tessfury.
"What about Tess?" Rusty asked again and Danny didn't look at his eyes.
"She's history."
"Is she future?"
"You jealous?"
"No." And Danny could picture the twitch of the lips. "Just concerned."
Concerned because he'd well and truly fucked up over Tess in every way and the price had been eight years, out in four.
"I don't know," he said truthfully. "I don't know how I feel. I don't know how Tess feels. I don't know what else I want, Rusty."
"This what this job is about?" Rusty asked softly. "You buying time till you know the answer?"
"I'll have a better handle on things the other side," Danny agreed.
Yeah, because either there was still the chance of Tess or there wasn't. He saw Rusty nod and let it go for now at least. He changed the subject.
"You want to go out and get breakfast? Bring it back here?"
"No."
Danny blinked. Rusty climbed out of bed and started wriggling into clothes.
"There's a diner down the road," Rusty said, pulling a turtleneck over his head. "Serves pancakes and syrup." He made a small noise of pleasure. "Thought we could eat there."
"Rather than bring it back here?" Danny frowned. He suddenly had plans for the syrup.
Rusty pulled on his pants. "This time of day the men's room will be all clean and sparkling."
He grinned and Danny shook his head with a smile. They could definitely do something about that.