Kevin shuffled through the door, heard it click shut behind him and the chain rattle as Javier slid the lock in place. "Dude, this day totally sucked."

Javier padded up behind him. "I don't know bro. It could have been worse."

Kevin tossed his badge on the coffee table, winced as abused muscles in his back protested. "Really?" He reached up to rub his right shoulder; only to slowly lower the arm as pain flared white hot across his ribs. "How do you figure?"

A smirk playing around his lips, Javier stepped close and unclipped Kevin's holster. "You could have died." He set the gun on the coffee table after checking the safety. The smirk bloomed into a toothy grin as Javier straightened. "I can't think of anything more embarrassing than being run down by an ice cream truck."

"A crack dealer's work shop inside an ice cream truck," Kevin corrected.

"Which we didn't know until after you almost became road kill."

Kevin tried to glare, only the shake his head, lifting his hands in surrender. He immediately regretted the move when something in his back protested with extreme prejudice, making him wince. "Ow."

Javier's eyes narrowed. "How much pain are you in?"

"It didn't hurt this much before." Avoiding his partner's gaze he walked carefully to the kitchen, using his body to disguise how his hand pressed against his ribs.

"You'd better hope so," Javier said as he followed. "If I find out you sat through three hours of paperwork with a busted rib after telling the EMTs to shove off, you'll get a chance to reach second base with the pavement."

"My ribs are fine." Kevin opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. Setting it on the counter for Javier, he moved to the medicine drawer. The rattle of the pain pills was a siren song promising a blissful lack of pain in his near future.

Tossing back two pills Kevin caught the look on Javier's face out of the corner of his eye. "I'm fine, dude. It was worth it."

Javier studied his face before nodding. Not necessarily understanding, but the acknowledgement that Kevin was determined to deal with it. Javier popped the top off the beer and took a long pull. "Hopefully this will teach you not to play in traffic."

Kevin leaned against the counter, hoping Javier wouldn't notice the way he had to brace his hand on the edge, or that the fiery ache in his side wasn't showing on his face. "And miss out on the chance for a fifty-fifty bar? Not a chance."

Neither of them mentioned the little girl who would have ended up in the morgue if Kevin had been one second slower. He'd caught a glimpse of her as they'd been walking back from their lunch break; saw the flash of white ribbon as she stumbled into the street. Felt his gaze drawn farther beyond to the ice cream truck barreling forward at a speed that made every instinct start shrieking.

Javier snorted and pushed away from the counter, headed for the living room. "Clearly something besides your ribs and shoulder got a little bruised. Everyone knows you're supposed to buy Chaco Tacos off an ice cream truck."

Kevin followed him, grateful his partner didn't see his wince when he pushed away from the counter. This was going to suck big time. "Your Hispanic is showing. Ice cream does not belong in a taco. Ever."

Kevin hesitated as he saw Javier fall back onto the couch, one arm curving along the back cushions with his legs kicked out. With every breath sending a spike of pain through his side, just the thought of trying to settle in on the soft cushions made a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. He would have a better chance getting comfortable on the bed, but he couldn't go in there without tipping Javier off that maybe his injuries were a little more serious than he'd let on.

One look at Javier's face made it clear the jig was up. The closed off expression was the same one he'd seen when Javier knew one of their suspects was holding out on them, and he was waiting for the perfect moment to start squeezing. Javier took another pull of beer, long fingers steadying the bottle on his thigh.

"So, bruised or cracked?"

Kevin considered the flat line of his partner's mouth before rolling his eyes. "Bruised. Cracked feels a hell of a lot worse."

"And you're not at the hospital because…?" Javier trailed off, his face pleasant as he allowed Kevin to share his logic. Or dig his own grave.

Kevin would have shifted his weight if it wouldn't have made everything hurt even more. He hated that look.

"They would have shoved some pain killers down my throat and told me to take it easy. Since that's what I'm going to do, I'm basically taking the short cut." He considered the couch once more, trying to ignore the pain that twisted through his side and shoulder.

"I suppose it's a good thing I came over then." Javier heaved up off the couch, setting his beer aside.

Kevin eyed him. "Why is that?"

"Cuz once you lay down you're not going to be getting up anytime soon." Which was an excellent point, but Kevin wasn't going to admit that.

He stepped back when Javier reached for him. "Dude, seriously? Touching the injured guy is not on the program right now."

"It is when I plan on helping the injured guy sit on his own damn couch," Javier explained patiently. "Unless you plan to flop down like you usually do."

Now was the perfect time to brush Javier's help aside and sit down on his own in a brash display of his man-like self-sufficiency. Except his ribs vetoed that option with an angry throb that made his breath catch in his throat.

So instead he nodded. "Thanks, man."

Between the two of them they managed to get him stretched out on the couch, with Kevin gasping for breath and Javier sporting his own bruises in the shape of Kevin's fingers along his upper arms. After a few minutes with his eyes clenched tight his breathing returned to normal, and the stabbing pain in his ribs lightened to mildly gut-twisting.

When he was sure he could talk without moaning, Kevin opened his eyes to see Javier watching him with a strange expression.

The look in Javier's eyes made his breath catch in his throat, and this time it had nothing to do with pain. This wasn't the first time he'd caught his partner looking at him like he was a complicated puzzle and one of the pieces had just fallen into place. It made Kevin feel trapped in his own skin, palms itching as he struggled to find an answer for the question he saw behind dark eyes.

Heart pounding, Kevin let his head fall back, words darting through his thoughts and none of them enough to grasp the scope of what he needed to say. He swallowed, his throat dry. That look sitting heavy on his chest, he did what he always did, and deflected until he could find the answer. "So what comes with the Nurse Javier package? Hopefully not a nurse's outfit since that's a fantasy I want to keep intact."

Javier laughed and settled on the floor, his back braced against the couch. The tension between them snapped and fell to pieces, and Kevin wasn't sure how he felt about that. "I figured I would drink your beer and eat your food. To keep it from going bad and all."

Kevin grinned, and a careful investigation of the cushions beneath him revealed the remote. "You sound like a shit nurse."

"Well I got a shit patient so there's only so much I can do."

Kevin huffed. "Guess that rules out the sponge baths and cheery bedside manner."

He bit his tongue as his choice of words registered, knowing how they sounded. He closed his eyes against the burn that flared across his cheeks. He blamed the pain for his daring, especially since he had no fucking clue what he was doing. It was stupid since all he had to go on was the way Javier looked at him from time to time, as if he were waiting, only Kevin wasn't sure what he was waiting for.

As if a switch had been flipped the odd tension from before was back, and as strong as ever. It crackled in the air between them, making Kevin's skin tingle and his mouth run dry. He heard Javier shift around and felt the weight of his gaze. Nerves fluttering in his stomach, Kevin opened his eyes, unsure what he would find staring back at him.

Javier's face was carefully bland, but his eyes were anything but, and the heat that blazed in their depths made Kevin's stomach clench. "Sponge baths aren't really my thing anyway. I'm more of a full body massage kind of guy."

Kevin swallowed, barely, and he fought the impulse to grab the couch cushions for dear life. "Huh, never knew." His words were faint, almost unheard over the way his pulse was pounding in his ears as he took a risk. "Too bad my ribs are busted or I would take you up on that, nurse's outfit or not."

Javier smiled, a slow smile that Kevin had never seen directed at him. It filled the space between bone and muscle with heat, making him warm and heavy. "I guess I'll have to save that for another time then."

Kevin felt like he was falling, or maybe the ground was spiraling up to meet him? It was funny how his ribs didn't seem to hurt anymore now that Javier's gaze had dropped to his lips. "Yeah, sounds like it." Light headed, Kevin wet his lips, felt the world drop away when Javier's eyes narrowed.

Tension sang between them, a wire that pulled tighter as Javier slowly leaned in. Kevin held still, barely daring to breathe. They'd danced around this for so long, the pressure mounting, both able to ignore it as long as they never gave it a name. Kevin knew whatever lay between them wasn't going to fade this time, that the sparks of desire flicking beneath his skin were just the beginning.

Javier was beside him now, his face cast in shadow as he leaned over. The cushion dipped as he braced one hand next to Kevin's arm, the other against the back of the couch. The air grew heavy between them, made Kevin aware of how warm he was.

The first touch was feather light, Javier's breath warm as it slid past his lips. Their lips brushed back and forth, made Kevin's lips tingle. It was gentle and soft, and left Kevin aching for more. He curled a hand around Javier's bicep, squeezed the muscle he found in a silent prompting for more. Javier huffed a silent laugh against his lips, and kissed him for real.

Where the first kiss was a brief foray, this one was a fast and dirty raid with Kevlar and automatic weapons. Javier's tongue slid past Kevin's lips and set up shop, flicked at the roof of his mouth and teased the soft tissue behind his teeth. Partners in every other way, it was easy to take the next step, almost inevitable. Lips and tongues dueled, Kevin goading Javier further now that the line had been crossed, blurring out of existence with the first touch of lips.

Kevin tried to arch up only to pull back with a hiss when pain shot along his side, let his head fall back as he tried to catch his breath. He kept his grip on Javier's arm when the other man tried to pull away, half afraid that the dream would shatter if he let go. "I'm fine."

"No you're not." Javier sighed and let his head hang forward. He looked up again before Kevin had a chance to miss the sight of his flushed face and kiss swollen lips. "My timing sucks."

"It doesn't hurt that bad." Kevin bit back an oath when he tried to tug Javier back down, only for his shoulder to start throbbing. He twitched, and the move set off his ribs, and the ache began to pound in time with his pulse.

Javier pressed him back down, careful to keep from putting too much pressure. "Sorry bro, but we're going to have to finish this another time."

Kevin wanted to argue, had even opened his mouth to give it his best shot, only to stop when he saw the look in Javier's eyes. Regret and frustration, backed by warm affection. Taking comfort from the knowledge that Javier wanted to keep going just as much as he did, Kevin settled back against the couch. "Fine. But the moment I can sit up on my own we're going to pick up where we left off."

Javier settled back against the couch with a choked off laugh, rubbing at his face with both hands. "Bro, the moment your ribs have healed up we're going to do a lot more than kiss."

Kevin chose not to comment, more concerned with taking even breaths in the hope his erection would fade. Bruised ribs weren't exactly conducive to jerking off. Of course he could always try to go to the bathroom and take care of it then, but by the time he got off the couch the pain would probably have taken care of that little problem, so best just to wait it out.

Of course his bruised ribs weren't going to stop him from tackling Javier to the floor if he so much as twitched towards the bathroom. Misery loved company after all.

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