I wake up and can't help but smile, finding myself wrapped up in Brian's strong arms. I still can't believe that, just yesterday, Brian confessed his love for me. After our tryst in the parking lot, we'd returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening and part of the night fucking. I'm deliciously sore. I nuzzle Brian's neck and kiss his lips gently. He breathes, "Sunshine" and holds me a little tighter. He is sleeping so peacefully that I can't bring myself to wake him up. I crawl out of the bed carefully, trying not to disturb him. I throw on some clothes, thinking that I'll go get some coffee. Brian is usually a little cranky and confused before coffee. Only when I step out of the room do I realize that it's not morning yet. What the hell? I am unaccustomed to waking up in the middle of the night. I turn to go back into the room but stop when I hear yelling. I walk up to the staircase and peer down. I see a short bald man in an ugly brown suit arguing with a tall, lanky, sandy-blond-haired teenager. The kid looks about 15, and, from his dirty hair and torn clothing, I guess that he's a runaway, probably a hustler.

Ugly brown suit man yells, "I don't care how you feel or what you think! Just do what I tell you faggot!"

I flinch at that.

The boy laughs. "That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?"

Ugly brown suit man backhands the kid so hard he hits the ground.

I gasp and, then, bite my lip, hoping they didn't hear me.

The kid mutters, "Fucking bastard" as he rubs his face and stands up.

The boy folds his arms on his chest and glares at the man. He hisses, "I can't. I won't. He's a nice man. He treats me so well. How can I repay kindness with betrayal?"

Ugly brown suit man steps closer to the boy and leers, "If you don't, maybe I'll lock you in the basement and invite some friends over. Trust me, we won't be kind when we take turns pounding your ass."

I shiver, and I see the boy pale. He responds quietly, all his determination gone, replaced with fear and resignation, "Fine."

He looks away and continues, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

I see tears in the boys eyes, and my chest constricts.

The man laughs. "Nothing too difficult. Just convince him to fuck you here. We'll do the rest. All our hourly-rate rooms are wired for picture and sound."

He shoves the kid and hands him some cash. He explains with a sneer, "For your trouble."

The boy looks torn. He obviously doesn't want to take it, but he'd be a fool not to. He must come to the same conclusion because he closes his eyes and grabs the money and, then, storms out.

Ugly brown suit man rubs his hands together and laughs. Then, he growls, "Judge Corbett, you're ass is finally mine."

I wait until the man goes into the office and, then, go back into the room and wake Brian up. I pull him off the bed and toss him clothes. "We have to go!" I whisper urgently.

Brian asks, "What's wrong? Why are you whispering?"

I shoot him a pleading look. Brian stops asking questions and dresses. Then, we make our way to a 24-hour diner.

I sit beside Brian, and he puts his arm around me. Once I've related the story, I ask nervously, "What should we do? Warn the judge?"

Brian looks thoughtful. He responds slowly, "I'm not so sure that's a good idea. If we do, won't they gang rape the kid?"

I rub my forehead and close my eyes for a moment. Then, I suggest hopefully, "We could get the judge to help us find the kid and, then, hide him."

Brian sighs and replies, "Sunshine, we don't even know whom we're dealing with…but, from what you told me, it might be the mob. How the hell are we supposed to protect some kid from the mob, especially in Chicago? Now, if we were in the Pitts, we'd have more resources…you know people we could trust, places to hide him…"

I open my eyes wide. I have the perfect idea. I ask, "What about Mary? I mean, even if she couldn't hide him herself, maybe she'd know someone else who could."

Brian's eyes lose focus as he ponders this option. Slowly, he says, "I guess it couldn't hurt to ask. I wanted to speak to her anyway. She probably knows where Dennis and Stephen are. If not, she should have more information than I've been able to gather on my own."

I ask, "Do you think this situation is connected to Stephen and Dennis's disappearance and the hotel being bought out from under them?"

Brian sighs. "Probably."

I shiver, slide my arms around Brian's waist, and snuggle deeper into his chest. He holds me tighter.

He says softly, "Don't worry, Sunshine. Everything will work out okay. We'll find them, and I'll keep you safe…"

I finally start to relax. I'm so busy nuzzling that I completely miss the last word, uttered so low it's below a whisper.

"…somehow."

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

Justin and I have been trying to locate Judge Corbett. Unfortunately, several male judges by the name of Corbett live in Chicago.

I throw myself on a park bench near a payphone. In an effort to help the little hustler Justin saw earlier that day, we had gone to Lincoln Park with a phone book. A little low tech for me, but we don't know for whom 'ugly brown suit man,' as Justin calls him, works, so I don't want to involve anyone in the Pitts, and I think it's best to avoid cell phones. They can be tapped into and traced pretty easily. On top of that, we can't be sure that our room isn't 'wired for picture and sound,' so we couldn't stay there.

I sigh at the list of five judges we've managed to assemble and ask, "What the fuck do we do now? We can't exactly call each one and ask, 'Do you like teenage boy ass?'"

Justin, who is presently lying on the grass, wrinkles his nose very cutely. He agrees, "True."

Suddenly, he sits straight up. I can almost see the glowing light bulb over the little twat's head.

He points to his chest. He cries, "Me!"

I deadpan, "You're fucking brilliant," smirking as I shoot him a disdainful look. "You're fucking lucky you have a gorgeous ass and lips made for sucking cock."

Justin glares at me and mutters, "Asshole," but, then, he smiles and asks, "What am I?"

I roll my eyes. "Now you're having an existential crisis? This is hardly the time, Sunshine."

Justin sighs deeply. "Sometimes you can be so dense, Brian. I. Am. A. Teenage. Boy."

When what he is proposing dawns on me, he rolls his eyes. I smile, my eyes no doubt lighting up and doing a little dance as they do whenever the little fucker impresses me. "Aha. So you wiggle your luscious ass in front of each one…"

He lies back down and finishes my sentence with a Sunshine-y smile, "And then you use that finely honed gaydar to sniff out the right judge."

I stand up, walk over to him, and lower myself on top of him. I breathe, "Twat" as I brush a few strands of silky blond hair off his forehead.

"You know I hate it when couples finish each other's sentences."

Justin's eyes nearly bug out of his head. He repeats, "Couples?"

I brush my lips lightly over his and reply softly, "Now who's being dense? When I said that 'I love and want only you,' what did you think I meant?"

Justin looks at me intensely and whispers, "I love and want only you, too, Brian."

Then, his face flushes, his eyes darken, and he licks his lips.

I laugh and say, "Oh…Sunshine wants some…If I don't put out, will you kick my ass to the curb?"

Justin giggles, but, then, he's all business again. He grabs my ass and starts grinding our cocks together. I groan and capture his plump lips in a passionate kiss. We might need to visit the restroom before heading out. I can't have him spreading it around that I don't please 'my man.'

********

Brian is indulging me in my newest obsession. Wait, I should back up. We've been spending the day in bed, so Brian can 'rest,' but he hasn't exactly been resting. I did try to convince him that he shouldn't be moving around so much, but, when he snapped, "Your parents and/or their associates could show up at any moment and take you from me…I don't fucking want to rest," I immediately stopped. I contented myself with getting him to pose for me once in a while, which required him to lie still.

I tried not to think about it, but the truth is, at some point, I would just disappear from his life. The thought had me so desolate that I felt like crying every time it crossed my mind. So we've been fucking and sucking the thought away. I must say, even though we were both sad for a while, that made our lovin more urgent, even desperate. Fucking HOT!

Ever since last night's 'mirror fuck,' I've become quite the voyeur. When Brian fell asleep while I was sketching him, I ran downstairs and quickly located Dennis. I didn't know how long Brian would nap, and I wanted to be there when he awoke. He'd been a little extra possessive today, not that I can blame him with the depressing thought that began our day. I asked the auburn-haired man, "Do you have any extra mirrors sitting in a closet somewhere?" He laughed and raised an eyebrow, but he managed to find three freestanding mirrors.

So now, Brian and are adding to our repertoire of 'mirror fucks.' I place one mirror on each side of the bed and one at the end. Then, I climb on the bed and get on all fours. I watch Brian in the right mirror as he rims me, swirling his deliciously hot, wet tongue around my entrance and then pushing it inside me. All this I could have imagined, but what I could never have been privy to before is the look on his face as he does so. I see lust and love in his eyes, but, unexpectedly, also wonder, and, every time I moan or pant, his eyes light up. This observation has me licking my lips and closing my eyes tight as I swallow hard, trying to slow the wave of pleasure washing over me. Soon, I can't take it anymore, and I half-moan, half-growl, "Brian, Brian, fuck me, fuck me NOW!"

He quickly obliges. Soon, he is pushing his huge cock inside me. He gets a rhythm going, aiming for my prostate. I ask him to slow down. Watching his cock slowly slide in and out of me is so incredibly hot. Even better, Brian is desperately trying to delay his orgasm, but it's a struggle. His face is flushed and sweaty, and he keeps biting his lip. He's so fucking beautiful. Seeing him bite his lip so hard he draws blood sets me on fire. I start pushing back and cry out, "Fuck! Fuck me hard. Please."

I see him relax finally, and he pounds my ass like there's no tomorrow. Wave upon wave of pleasure is passing through me, and it takes everything in me to keep my eyes open. I have to watch him cum. I grab my cock and stroke it a few times, hard and fast. Suddenly, my eyes widen, and I moan loudly as streams of cum shoot out of me. When my ass clamps down onto Brian's cock, his eyes shoot open, he throws his head back, and he thrusts inside me once more, as far and as hard as he can, arching his back, his mouth half open, crying out, "Fuck! Fuck! Oh Taylor, Taylor. I love you. I love you." That last declaration is half muffled, as he collapses on top of me. I laugh as I look down at my cock, which is already stirring again, and breathe, "I love you, too, Brian."

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

As it turns out, three of the five Judges Corbett, although they live in Chicago, are circuit court judges for surrounding areas, Lake, DuPage, and Will counties. So we only needed to 'test' the remaining two. They were both in the criminal division. But first, we needed to get access to them, which required sweet talking someone at the clerk's office. As we learned, the court clerk oversaw all divisions; however, a deputy clerk and an assistant deputy clerk worked in the criminal division. Brian and I had been at the office for an hour, just watching, though we appeared to be searching public records on computers provided for that purpose. The deputy and assistant deputy were both women, a short voluptuous, bubbly blonde with curly hair and a tall skinny red head. The red head didn't seem friendly at all, but the blonde seemed a little too friendly. She was crushing on Brian, and hard. She kept sneaking glances at him and smiled brightly every time she caught his eye. Worse, or better, yet, depending on how you looked at it, at every opportunity, she was bending or leaning over, so Brian could check out her 'wares.' After a while, I wanted to strangle her. I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd started humping his leg.

After an hour of pretending to be engrossed in public records and suppressing the urge to commit murder, the red head finally leaves the front part of the office, so Brian makes 'his move.' As much as I don't want to see this, I can't leave her alone with him. We walk up to the desk, and Brian smiles seductively.

Bubbly smiles brightly when she sees him and literally runs over to us. I roll my eyes and sigh. Brian chuckles.

Bubbly says, "Hi! Can I help you?"

Brian drawls, "I sure hope so. My little brother (I cringe) was supposed to interview a Judge Corbett from this division for his campus newspaper, but he managed to mislay the judge's contact information and the place they planned to meet for lunch; you know how freshmen are, so disorganized."

Bubbly giggles. "Yeah. My little brother's dorm room is a disaster area."

Brian nods and smiles. "Exactly. Is there any way that you could help? Maybe find out where the judge is lunching today? I know Jussy would recognize him by face (As if co-opting my sister's nickname for me weren't enough of a crime, the bastard actually ruffles my hair). This is his first feature article. If he screws it up, he's back to fact checking for other reporters."

I try to look nervous, and, I must do a decent job, because Bubbly looks at me compassionately. I imagine how I would kill her if given the chance.

Bubbly scrunches up her face and replies, "Well, I'm not supposed to give out information like that…"

Brian leans closer to Bubbly, whispers in her ear, and kisses her cheek. I can't hear what he says, but she turns three shades of pink, giggles like a schoolgirl, and rushes off.

I tilt my head and say sweetly, "This blond bimbo's exhibitionism continually threatens to bring up my breakfast, and her giggles have given me an excruciating headache, and yet if I were to kill her, I would be the one to go to jail…"

Brian chuckles and squeezes my ass.

I move away and shoot him a horrified look. "Brian! We're brothers! That's incest!"

He mutters, "Twat" just as Bubbly returns.

She looks around nervously. In a stage whisper, she says, "Here (She hands him a piece of paper). There are actually two of them, but I managed to find out where both are having lunch."

I notice that her number is also included.

Brian takes the piece of paper and gives her another seductive smile. He purrs, "Thank you (looking down at the paper), Suzanne. You just saved my brother's ass."

She blushes and smiles. As we are walking out, she cries, "Oh I forgot to ask your name!" but then, not discouraged in the slightest, "Call me!"

Not too bright, is she?

As we walk to the rental car, I say, stroking my cheek and imitating her high-pitched voice, "What a hunk! (sigh) I'm never going to wash this cheek again!"

Brian smiles and bumps my shoulder.

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

We decide to start with Judge Hubie Corbett. I think Hubie is a ridiculously stupid name, even though it stems from an Old German word meaning 'shining intellect,' or so says the resident genius. Hubie is dining at the Bistrot Margot, a French restaurant that's not too far from Boystown, just south of Lincoln Park. I'm tempted to use the valet parking, since parking is such a bitch in Chicago, but Justin points out that we might need to make a quick exit, so we park seven blocks away (in the nearest parking spot) and walk.

When we arrive, a server approaches. I wave him away with a curt "We're waiting for someone" and scan the room looking for a man who could be a judge. The restaurant is cozy and dark, even though it's daytime. There are few windows and those there are have curtains. The tables are small with black cotton tablecloths and small candles sitting in the center. Suddenly, my eyes light upon a middle-aged man poring over papers. I nudge Justin gently. I think we have our man. We wait for an opening. When the man heads toward the bathroom, which is near the front of the restaurant, Justin makes his move. Sketchpad in hand, Justin walks toward the man and bumps into him. Then, he drops down, looking embarrassed when some of his loose drawings fall out onto the floor. He attempts to pick them up quickly. The man joins him on the floor, helping him to collect the drawings, but stops to examine one, which just so happens to be of Justin and I fucking in couple different positions. Justin manages to blush a deep pink as he says, very softly, "I think that's mine."

The man looks up, appearing a little surprised, and smiles in embarrassment. He replies, "Of course. Here you are."

Justin casts his gaze downward as he takes it and, then, peeks at the man from under his long blond eyelashes and purrs, "Thank you."

The man gazes at him with undisguised lust. Well, he's most definitely a fag. No need for my exceptionally fine-tuned gaydar. He might as well have made an announcement. But that's Justin. No fag, closeted or out and proud, can resist his charms. They gape and stare as though hypnotized.

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

Dennis, Stephen, Taylor, and I arrive at Mary's restaurant for dinner. Apparently the restaurant is closed on Sundays because only Mary and the five hustlers we glimpsed the night before are there.

When Mary sees us, she runs over and gives us all hugs. When she gets to me, I take a step back, hoping she'll take the hint, but, then, Taylor shoots me a sad look, so I end up stepping forward again and allowing her to hug me. For good measure, I even throw an arm around her. Maybe that will score me points with Taylor. I think it does because he beams at me after.

Then, Mary starts introducing the hustlers. She points to a tall thin blond with gray eyes and pale, pale white skin, so pale it looks slightly blue, and tells us his name is Gabe. He nods but doesn't say anything. His eyes quickly lose focus, as though we barely register on his radar.

Next, she introduces Dan, who has black shiny hair and blue eyes that are darker and cloudier than Taylor's. He is about Taylor's height. He mutters hello and, then, retreats a bit so that he's standing behind the other boys, watching us with eagle-eyed vigilance.

Before Mary can introduce him, a boy with bronze skin, brown hair, and amber eyes steps forward. So far he's the only one who seems genuinely happy to meet us. He tells us that his name is Rafael and smiles warmly. Taylor's eyes widen when he mentions his name, no doubt wondering if Rafael's namesake is the artist. Rafael gestures to a tall boy with brown hair and hazel eyes, stating that his name is Sam. Sam approaches confidently, tells us he's happy to meet us, and shakes each of our hands, his grip firm, but not painfully so, and his movements slow and sure. I make a point of introducing Taylor as my boyfriend. He's probably just a friendly person responding to Taylor's own warmth, but the way he looks at Taylor, and the way he held onto his hand longer, makes me uncomfortable. It doesn't help that he and I look similar. Course, I'm a little taller than he is, and he is thicker in the chest, but that doesn't make me feel better in the slightest.

The last of the five saunters up and introduces himself as Nevan. I recognize the name as being Irish, and he looks the part, a tall, lanky red head with emerald-green eyes. He is as confident as Sam, but more aggressive. When he speaks to Taylor, I take the opportunity to study him closely. He is charming, with magnetic eyes, lilting voice, and graceful movements, making Taylor smile, blush, and laugh and, then, laughing softly with him, but there is cunning there, too, as though every move he makes is part of the point-counterpoint of a game, a game he means to win, or so the intensity of his gaze would suggest. When he turns to me, I smile and tilt my head, by all accounts friendly and unsuspicious, but when he tenses slightly, I know he can see the hard glint in my eye.

Taylor isn't even looking directly at me, but, somehow, he perceives the tension I feel. He pulls me away from the group and nudges my nose softly before kissing me gently on the lips. I want to plant a passionate kiss on him to mark him as mine, but I don't want to seem brutish. I've already acted like a fool when it comes to Stephen, not that I can help it. Something about him rubs me the wrong way, and I could tell immediately that he wanted Taylor, with a burning desire. Taylor surprises me by sending his lips crashing onto mine, kissing me deeply, as if to tell everyone there that he is mine. God, I fucking love that. In fact, he kisses me so deeply that Mary, Sam, Dennis, and Stephen start hooting. When we pull apart, Taylor blushes, but I smile proudly.

We all move to sit down, Rafael nudging Gabe on his way to get his attention. While the rest of the introductions were being made, he had pulled a small worn book out of his jacket pocket and started reading. When Rafael nudges him, he looks up, dazed, but, then, thrusts his book back in his pocket and follows us.

Mary serves lasagna. Taylor is adorable, as always when it comes to food, so obviously enjoying it, concentrating on little else at first.

Dan starts the conversation, asking, "So how did you two meet Dennis and Stephen?"

That gets Taylor's attention. He answers, "We're staying at the hotel. We met Stephen when we were checking in and ended up making plans for the four of us to go out that night."

Dan then asks pointedly, "So did you fuck them?"

Mary hits the boy in the head, just like Debbie does with Mikey, but he retorts defensively, "What? Did you see the way Stephen looks at the blond? It's like he'd much rather be eating him for dinner than your lasagna."

Taylor blushes crimson, and Dennis clears his throat uncomfortably, but I interject a little menacingly, a fake smile on my face, "I'm sure he would, but it's never going to happen."

Stephen laughs and says, "I'm surprised you haven't hired a skywriter."

Everyone chuckles at that, well, except Taylor, Dennis, me, and Gabe. Gabe seems always to be a little absent, as though the mundane and the personal are beneath his attention. Of course, he could just be extraordinarily shy.

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

I walk over to the man and Justin and ask the man, "Is your name (I pause, shuddering) Hubie?"

"No, why?" he replies as he stands up.

I'm unnerved for a split second, but, then, my cool returns. I shake my head and say nonchalantly, "I'm sorry. You look like someone I know."

The man walks to the bathroom quickly, but not before throwing Justin a suggestive look. As if!

I tense up (and my jaw nearly hits the floor) when I see Justin checking the man out. Granted, he's not a troll, but still…As nonchalantly as I can manage, I say, turning my back to him, "If you want to fuck him, be my guest. Don't let me stand in your way."

Things like this used to bother me with Justin, but never inspired murderous rage, well, before now. Taylor and I were always monogamous, and Justin always wanted to be monogamous. Since I discovered that Taylor and Justin were the same person, well, once I had wrapped my brain around it, I assumed it would just be us from here on out. Maybe I was wrong.

Justin peeks around my shoulder and laughs. He turns me around and kisses me gently. Incredulously, he asks, "You don't really think I want to go fuck him in the bathroom, do you?"

I just shrug.

He wrinkles his nose and says, "I was just teasing...you know, payback for Roxanne or Suzanne, whatever Bubbly's name was."

I chuckle. "Bubbly?"

Justin nuzzles my neck and whispers, "Now, you I wouldn't mind fucking in the bathroom. But no one else."

That brings me back. The first time Taylor and I took ecstasy. Actually, it was the first time I had taken it, but Justin had taken it with the older version of me before then…This whole time travel thing is too much for my poor brain. I was so upset that Taylor had thought I might want someone else that I'd let him fuck me in the backroom of C-street. It's still one of my top 5 fucks. My voice husky with desire and something else, nostalgia maybe, I whisper back, "Once we find the judge, you can fuck me anywhere you want."

Justin moves so that he can look at my face, my eyes. He asks hesitantly, "So if I wanted to fly back to Pittsburgh for the night and fuck you in the backroom of Babylon, you'd be all for it?"

My face wearing a serious expression, I reply, "I'd let you fuck me anywhere you wanted." Then, I smile. "But if it were Babylon, we might need to move to a different city after. Too many people keep track of who I fuck, where, and how. Can't exactly work and live in a city where I'm a laughingstock. With my reputation, that's all every fag in Pittsburgh would be talking about…the rise and fall of Brian Kinney."

Justin's eyes lose focus as they widen.

I say, an edge to my voice, "I guess this is an adjustment for you, too. You're used to my older self being a cold control freak who can't love."

That brings Justin back. He replies, "I never thought that about you. I knew you could love, and I believed that you loved me. The control freak part I understand, at least, I think I do. Part of it is your childhood. But the rest…the rest is probably a mixture of things, all involving Taylor. You wanting Taylor to be special…you not wanting to be hurt the way Taylor hurt you when he left…the way I hurt you when I left…not wanting or being able to let anyone else in."

I clear my throat and whisper, "Something like that."

Then Justin smiles and exclaims, "Wait!"

I look up in surprise. "Wait, what?"

He explains, "The younger version of you called me Sunshine. Back then, you knew Debbie, but I didn't! Why did you do that?"

I shake my head. "I don't know." I really don't. "It just seemed to fit you perfectly. You brightened my life during a dark time, I mean, I couldn't remember the last time I was happy before we met, and your smile is pure sunshine..and, I don't know, I guess I wanted to give you a name only I called you."

Justin flashes me one of the aforementioned Sunshine smiles and offers, "But don't you see? That just proves that our meeting and being together then was fated…and that our being together now is fated!

I give him a soft smile.

Suddenly, a deep voice interrupts us, "You said you were looking for a man named Hubie?"

I look over at the source in surprise, nodding.

"My name's Hubie."