Thanks to all of the people who reviewed the last chapter, here is the next update.
Jesse bowed his head in embarrassment as Mark gave him a piercing look; he felt Steve sit down next to him and jumped a little when the detective placed a comforting hand on his leg. He looked up and into Steve's face and saw a steely determination there.
"Dad, me and Jess, we're together, as of today. Nothing you can say can change that, so don't even try." Jesse watched apprehensively as Mark raised his eyebrows then surveyed his son. Finally the doctor spoke.
"Well, as long as you make each other happy then that's fine by me. But I was actually asking why Jesse is so upset, Amanda's going to be fine." Steve glanced at Jesse, a question in his eyes and the intern nodded.
"You can tell him Steve." The detective smiled reassuringly at Jesse, then turned back to his father.
"Dad, someone's trying to hurt Jesse. That's why Amanda was attacked, we erm, we went back to the beach and he was there, that's why Jesse was shaken up."
"Amanda's attacker was there?"
"Yes."
"And he's after Jesse?"
"Yes."
"Wow." Mark sat heavily down onto the free armchair and looked at the two men sitting opposite him on the sofa. Before he could say anything else Chris came bursting into the room. Jesse stood up, and bit his lip as his brother looked at him.
Chris took one look at Jesse and knew instantly that his brother had been telling the truth, on his way over to the hospital he had begun to have his doubts, had begun to think that Jesse had been exaggerating. But he knew his brother, and he knew the look on his face, it was the same look that he had worn when he had awoke from nightmares as a child, the one he had worn when he had been picked on by bullies. The one that Chris had never wanted to see again.
Chris walked over towards Jesse, pulling him towards him. Jesse clung onto his older brother and began to sob. Mark stood up and discreetly relocked the door to give them some privacy, then he sat down by his son and laid a hand on his arm, knowing how much it was hurting Steve to see Jesse so upset.
It took ten minutes for Jesse to stop sobbing, he pulled away from Chris, looking slightly ashamed, managing a small smile when his older brother ruffled his hair.
"Jess, I'm so sorry, I should have realised, I should have stopped him from hurting you." A look of alarm appeared on Jesse's face.
"No, Chris, this isn't your fault, you couldn't have known, I-I'm sorry too, he's your Dad and…"
"As far as I'm concerned he is no longer my father, you however are my little brother and he's hurt you," Chris turned towards Steve, "I can help you catch him." Steve nodded, immediately understanding Chris' need to help get Jesse justice.
"We'll sort something out."
The next few hours were the slowest of Jesse's life, they moved into Mark's office to avoid people interrupting but Steve was constantly on the phone trying to organise some way of capturing Bryan, and Mark was in and out, trying to split his time between his family and his patients. Chris spent the whole time pacing up and down; Jesse had tried to make him sit down, but had quickly realised that he had to let his older brother work some of the anger and aggression out. If Chris was going to help catch Bryan then he would have to be calm.
Jesse himself had been trying to comprehend all that had happened to him in the past few hours. Not only had he and Steve admitted how they felt about each other and decided to make a go of it, but he had told his brother the truth about Bryan, had found out that Amanda was going to be alright, and to top it all off Steve had told Mark about their new relationship. He had been grateful to Mark for being so good about it, he was sure that his own Mum would react very differently to the man he had come to think of as family.
Steve bid farewell to whoever he was talking to and hung up the phone, Jesse looked at him questioningly, wanting to be kept in the loop and Steve gestured for Jesse to follow him. Mark and Chris both noticed the two men leaving the room and Mark smiled slightly, while Chris watched them go, puzzled.
The two men ended up in a storage cupboard, Steve locked the door from the inside then turned back to Jesse. He didn't speak, but he pulled the younger man towards him so that Jesse was leaning on him. Steve rested his chin on the top of Jesse's head and waited while Jesse stopped fidgeting nervously, only then did he speak.
"There's been a sighting of Bryan, out near your place. My captain's given me the go ahead to use Chris. I'm going to ask him to call Bryan, tell him that he wants to help him get you. He'll arrange to meet him somewhere, and we'll pick him up."
"What if he wants Chris to bring me to him?"
"Then we'll pull out, and continue the search." Jesse pulled away, anger and determination in his eyes.
"No, if he wants that then I'll go, I'll get him to admit to what he's done. It might help me get closure anyway."
"But Jess…"
"Steve, you and I both know that the chances of finding him without me or Chris are practically non-existent. Promise me that you'll let me help if need be." Jesse looked into Steve's eyes and the detective sighed, it was against his better judgement, but he knew that what Jesse was saying was true.
"I promise." Jesse smiled and cuddled back into Steve, he didn't see the startled look in Steve's eyes. The one that appeared when he realised that he would never be able to resist the puppy dog look that had been in Jesse's eyes.