WIP
"Above and Beyond"
Copyright 2008 Penn O'Hara
T
Usual disclaimers apply.
A Bobby/Logan piece. InfinityStar and I have entered into another challenge to write out of our comfort zones. It's a bit of a cheat for me, because I love to write both of them equally, and together…well, that's the icing on the cake. I get to go first this time.
The conditions are to write a scene with our boys, Bobby and Logan, only and both is to receive equal "air-time". For Infinitystar, though, Bobby has to do Logan a favour and Logan has to be the one in control, while Bobby is the "fish out of water". For me, vice versa. Because I love continuity, this follows directly on from "Conversations", Chapter 12.
LOCI Timeline: During Season Seven, post-ep "Contract".
MY LOCI Timeline: Post "Conversations".
oOo
The slam of the apartment door galvanized Logan into action.
Carolyn had been tetchy lately, but she'd never run out on him before.
He killed the heat on the stovetop burner and sprinted for the bedroom and his jeans there. Sliding off the silk pyjamas he'd donned just for Carolyn, he struggled with his jeans and, finally doing up the top stud, forwent a shirt to hurry after her. Grabbing his coat on the way, he hoped he'd catch her at the bottom of the stairs.
Half-way down the stairwell, his cell phone rang from the coat's inner pocket, but Logan ignored it, bursting out of the building onto the pavement to look frantically for some sign of Carolyn.
She was nowhere to be seen, but his cell was insistent.
"Shit!"
Fumbling for the phone, he checked the caller ID, then jabbed at it to complete the connection.
"Goren, now's not a good time—"
"Logan…I…need a favor. Fast. Get in a taxi and… head downtown. I'll explain on the way. Can you get into the street fast?"
With the thrum of cars passing by him in both directions, Logan looked up the road to see a yellow cab cruising toward him and wondered if Goren was psychic.
Without conscious thought, he raised a hand to flag down the taxi.
oOo
Pushing open the door into the establishment dubiously named "For Play", Logan was already regretting answering Goren's call. Despite getting into the taxi that he flagged down, Logan fought the other detective's request all the way. Finally, it was only Goren's promise that he would get Eames to talk to Carolyn that swayed Logan.
Looking around the nearly full bar, Logan wasn't surprised to see the clientele was solely male, a fact Goren had warned him about while explaining the nature of the 'favor'. Acutely aware he hadn't bothered going back to the apartment for a shirt, Logan pulled his coat closer, doing up the top button under his neck.
He spied Goren hunched over a drink at the bar and made his way toward the big man, noting a youth at his left already sizing up Bobby with keen interest.
"Shit!" he said, under his breath, still amazed he had agreed to this.
As he approached, Goren turned toward him, his sixth sense at work again. Extending his left arm, Bobby pulled Logan into his side, effectively cutting off the youth's line of vision and quelling any further speculation from him.
Logan froze at the embrace, then remembered his role. Jerking his head toward Goren, he allowed the other man to take the initiative, clamping his jaw as Bobby nuzzled his neck.
"Hey, man," he gritted, "don't overdo it."
Goren tossed his head at the couple on his right. Two businessmen with loosened ties and coats tossed over their high-backed barstools had abandoned their drinks and were energetically kissing each other, oblivious of their surroundings.
"I wasn't," Goren said. "You can't…overplay it in a gay bar. Now…loosen up."
"That's easy for you to say."
Keeping an arm draped over Logan's shoulder, Goren moved in, his lips a breath away from Logan's ear. "You've done… undercover before."
Awkward with the attention, Logan felt his mouth tightening as he tried to keep his voice level and low. "I've never been anything more than a 'man in the street'," he said, shifting on the stool. "This is not my usual. I've been shot at by a guy, but I've never been…pawed."
"We gotta…look convincing."
Goren turned heavy-laden eyes toward him and Logan swallowed hard. Bobby was just that. Convincing. Too fucking convincing for Logan's comfort.
"I wish you'd got someone else. I was off-duty. This isn't my case. I'm supposed to be lookin' for Barek." Logan pulled out all the excuses he could think of for getting out of going through with Goren's plan.
Bobby's right hand came up and undid the top button Logan had nervously fixed earlier. His fingers then slid down to the next button, popping that one too.
"I told you I would contact Eames," Goren said, his gaze fixed on Logan's heaving chest. "Barek's with her. Upset, but getting over it."
Logan eyed Goren's hand as it hovered over a third button. "Whatever 'it' is. Came out of the blue. I don't know what got into her." The third button was out and Logan swallowed again as his coat spread to reveal his naked chest. "Do you have to do that?" he protested.
"You gotta look the part."
Logan breathed easier as Goren straightened and went back to his drink. The barman was standing waiting for Logan's order, and Mike's gaze skittered over the tight pants and leather vest the man barely wore.
"Scotch," he gruffed. "A double."
The barman's brow raised, his youthful face knowing and amused as he poured the drink.
Logan sneered, then snatched at the offered glass and took a large gulp.
Turning to Goren, Logan eyed the other man's relaxed profile, envying his ability to play it comfortable in a place where they clearly didn't belong. "I'm no good at this. Why me?"
Goren gave a half-smile that capped how much he was in his element. Logan reckoned Bobby should have been an actor, instead of a policeman. He was a chameleon, morphing into any place, any role, with ease.
"I told you…on the phone," Goren said patiently. "You're his type. You wanna catch a big fish…you use the right bait."
"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Logan took another gulp of his drink and looked around again.
It was getting late, the alcohol was being consumed in abundance, and the clientele were getting distinctly more amorous. Logan caught a guy checking our his bare chest, then raise his glass to him when he saw Logan had noticed. Mike's fingers itched to do up the buttons again.
"The perp's here. We gotta start a fight now," Goren's mouth was on Logan's ear, soft and moist, and it took all of Mike's willpower not to pull away. "He preys upon the jilted ones. Picks up the pieces. Gets 'em when they're low…and vulnerable. Then attacks when he's got them…alone."
"I'm not gettin' low an' vulnerable with any of these guys—"
Logan's words were cut off in his throat as Goren grabbed his neck and pulled his head around to plant a kiss on his mouth. Gurgling in his throat, Mike inhaled deeply with shock, pushing Goren away without thinking, an instinctive gut reaction he couldn't control.
Recovering quickly, Goren slid off his stool and loomed above him, snarling. "What's wrong, Mike? Don't want me anymore? I saw ya checkin' out that younger guy. They warned me about you! Ya change ya guys like jock-straps!"
Logan froze where he sat, mesmerized by the fury in Goren's face. Unsure what to do or say next, he needn't have worried.
Bobby was running the show.
"I've had it up to here!" Goren screamed, a flattened hand slicing under his own chin. "You and your strayin'. I ain't keepin' ya any more! Ya can move out your things and live in the street for all I care."
Bobby slapped some bills onto the counter and surged toward the men's room, parting the patrons like an icebreaker in the Arctic.
Logan gulped, his head down, glad Goren hadn't left the bar and abandoned him altogether.
"You been a naughty boy then, have you?"
A silken voice beside Logan made him cringe, before turning his head to see a thin but big-boned man with blond spiked hair slide onto the stool next to him. His pale eyes were soft with empathy.
"I know how it feels," the man said. "Rejection. But I do something about it." He slid a slender finger up Logan's wrist, and Mike bit down on the knee-jerk reaction to snatch his hand away.
"You can too," the other man said.
oOo
Goren watched the pair at the bar from the cover of the lattice work masking the men's room entrance. He wasn't surprised Logan had been snapped up so quickly. The detective was exactly this guy's type and, realizing how hard it was for his colleague to sit and take it, Goren was impressed with the way Mike was rallying to the role. Bobby owed him. Big time.
"Take it easy, Logan," Goren murmured, his muscles bunched for action. "I got your back."
oOo
Okay, InfinityStar…over to you. No pressure. When you're ready.
And for those of you wondering why Carolyn is over-reacting? You haven't read "Resistance" yet, have you? :grin:
Speaking of which, must be time for another chapter of "Resistance". Ah, vacation time is a wonderful thing.