Well, you talked me into it. :-) There will be one more chapter after this. That's the good news. The bad news is that this one contains another cliffhanger. That's the price you pay for getting another chapter, lol! I hope you enjoy it!

"This is over." Tom pulled the drawer open slowly and reached inside. When his hand did not find what it was looking for, Tom shifted his gaze from Eckert to the drawer. It was empty.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Eckert laughed hysterically as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Tom's gun.

Tom's heart sank and he froze at the sight of Eckert waving the gun around. What more could he do now? Doug was gone. Eckert had Tom's only weapon and the others were in the bedroom on the dresser.

Eckert wore a sad, mocking look on his face. "Awww…did I ruin your little plan? Were you gonna come out of this the hero?" He advanced on Tom as he spoke. "Sorry, buddy…" He reached out and grabbed Tom's arm, then pulled him toward him roughly. "That ain't the way this is gonna turn out." He pushed Tom away and held the gun out in front of him, aiming it at Tom's head. "Get on your knees."

Tom slowly shook his head and started to back away.

But Eckert was on him in a flash. "Get on your knees, motherfucker," he hissed, trying to keep his voice down. He grabbed Tom by the back of the neck and then kicked him in the back of the legs. At that point, Tom had no control or choice, and Eckert quickly forced him to the floor. He then crossed the room and laid the gun on the bar. When he came back to Tom, he stood in front of him, looking down on him, and said, "Look at me." When Tom did not comply, Eckert grabbed a fistful of the young man's hair and pulled his head back. He leaned over and whispered close to Tom's face, "It's over now, buddy. Let's just get on with this and get it finished."

Over. That word sounded so sweet to Tom. Yes…please…let it be over. He no longer cared how it ended, as long as it ended.

Eckert unbuttoned his pants and slid the zipper down. "C'mon, Tommy, open up. Open wide!" He laughed. "Hey, if we have time maybe I'll return the favor. Would you like that? Huh?" To his surprise, Tom nodded slightly. "Yeah?" Eckert asked.

"Yeah…yeah…I mean…I might as well get a little something out of it, right?" Tom looked up at Eckert with wide brown eyes. "Do me first? Please?"

Eckert looked at him suspiciously. Was the kid finally losing it? Or just accepting it? He didn't know, but the sight of him on his knees, looking up at him and pleading…begging…with those eyes…it was too much for him. He eyed Tom with a hungry lust, wanting to devour him right then and there…eat him up…fuck him over and over for hours. He nodded his head. "Okay…okay…yeah…let's do that." He zipped his pants back up.

Tom sighed with some relief. "Right here, okay? On the floor."

Eckert grinned. "On the floor…down and dirty, eh, Tommy?" He licked his lips. "Beg me."

"What?"

"Beg me to do it." Eckert was fondling himself as he spoke.

Tom cleared his throat and swallowed hard. "Please?" he asked as he looked up at the man.

"Please what? What do you want?"

Jesus. "Please…you…I want you…"

Eckert crouched down so that he was at eye level with Tom. "Want me to what?" He reached out and stroked Tom's cheek.

Tom was trembling now. "To…to…I want you to…do me first. In your mouth…take me in your mouth…on the floor." He gagged a little and prayed that Eckert did not notice.

But the man was too far gone now, lost in his urges. "Get down," he directed Tom and then pushed him as the younger man moved too slowly for his satisfaction.

Tom lay face up and stretched out on the floor next to the sofa. He watched as Eckert kneeled over him, his hands on the floor on either side of Tom's body. The larger man leaned over and nuzzled Tom's neck before inching his way on his hands and knees down the length of Tom's body. Tom continued to stare straight up at the ceiling. C'mon…please…be there…be there.

Eckert stopped moving once he was positioned with his knees straddling Tom's legs and his head above the young man's crotch. "Oh…Tommy…you're going to have to do better than that." He pushed Tom's t-shirt up and leaned over and licked Tom's stomach just above the waistband of his boxer shorts, dragging his tongue slowly back and forth. "I can take care of that," he whispered, his voice full of lust as he ran his hands up and down Tom's bare torso. "I can fix you right up." His hands slid down and his fingers hooked the top of Tom's shorts. "You're gonna like this."

With Eckert fully preoccupied, Tom took his chance and turned to look under the sofa. An involuntary choking sob escaped him, and Eckert hushed him without looking up. But finally…this sound was one of relief rather than despair as Tom's eyes fell upon what he was hoping to see. He reached under the couch and chose a smaller, but hopefully effective, hand weight from the group that was hiding there. He gripped it tightly as he looked again to make sure that Eckert was still paying attention to other things. He was, his face close to Tom's body, concentrating on his efforts, ready to pull the shorts down.

One chance. Tom slowly brought his hand out from under the couch and raised the weapon high before bringing it down fast and hard. The weight connected with the back of Eckert's head with a sickening thud. Stunned, the ex-con momentarily dropped onto Tom's body, but he quickly looked up again with surprised eyes. Tom swung again, this time hitting his assailant on the side of the head, knocking him partway off of Tom. Eckert's eyes were no longer surprised. They were angry, and he tried to regain his balance and composure, but Tom knocked him off of him and quickly scrambled to his knees next to the immobilized man.

As blood ran down the side of his face, Eckert spat out, "You little fucker!" just before another blow dropped him all the way to the floor.

The weight was now sticky with blood and hair, and Tom tossed it to the side as he straddled the now semi-conscious man. "I'm a fucker? I'm a fucker?!" He brought his fist down hard against Eckert's face, relishing in the crunching sound he heard as the man's nose broke.

Eckert's bloodied head rose up slightly and he slurred, "Yeah…you…fucker…," before he was silenced again by Tom's fist.

How many times he hit the man, Tom wasn't sure. He lost count as he struck out over and over again in a blind fury. He finally stopped and crawled off of Eckert, gasping with exhaustion, nearly blinded by the tears that filled his eyes. He shakily got to his feet and looked down at Eckert who lay unmoving but moaning, eyes barely open. Tom picked up the weight and raised it over his head briefly before throwing it across the room. Eckert rolled slightly and tried to push himself up, but Tom shouted at him, "Stop it!" and drew his foot back, kicking the man in the side. "Stop moving, motherfucker!" he cried out between sobs of rage as he kicked him several more times before backing away, leaving the man unmoving again.

Tom backed up…he would never turn his back on Eckert…ever. He backed up until he was close to the kitchen and picked up his gun that Eckert had left there on the bar. He checked to ensure that the gun was still loaded, and upon seeing that it was made his way with it back to the living room.

Doug was still fuming as he neared the chapel, talking out loud to himself in the car. "Son of a bitch hung up on me! Seriously. What the fuck? I mean, I go out on a limb for him…I help convince Fuller that he's ready to go back into the field…then I help cover his ass when he goes all Charles Bronson on that kid out there…and he calls off?! Makes me late too so my ass is in trouble?" He pulled into the parking lot, still dark in the early morning, turned off the engine, and looked around. It looked like everyone else was already there. Shit. I'm gonna kill you, Hanson. "Sick my ass. He was fine last night." Doug remembered dropping Tom off the night before. Their conversation had been a bit of a downer. "I don't know though. This is tougher than I thought." Recalling Tom's words and how low he had seemed about how the day had gone, Doug sighed. He picked up his cell phone and started to dial, then changed his mind, started the car, and drove out of the lot.

The lights were on in Tom's apartment as Doug drove up and parked. What's going on with you, Tommy? Why don't you talk to me? He went into the building and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. As he walked down the hall, the door to the apartment next to Tom's opened, and a lady wearing a bathrobe and a head full of curlers stuck her nose out.

"You the cops?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"I called the cops." She stepped out into the hallway, trying to pull her robe farther around her ample figure. "You them?"

"Uh…sort of," said Doug. "What'd you call them for?"

The woman tilted her head in the direction of Tom's door. "They been fightin' in there all night. I hollered at 'em to knock it off once, but they're still at it. So I called the cops."

Doug's heart was pounding as he looked from the woman to Tom's door. "Call them again," he said in a low voice as he pushed past her.

"What? Ain't you…"

"Get inside and lock your door. And call them again." As the woman went back inside her apartment, Doug crept closer to Tom's door and listened. He could hear muffled shouting but could not make out the voice. His hand reached above the door for the key that was no longer there. Damn it, Hanson. The voices inside the apartment grew louder…angrier. Doug quietly and slowly turned the doorknob just to check, but it was locked as he was sure it would be. He drew his weapon and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. He stepped back from the door and then smashed into it full force with his shoulder. The door gave way to his weight with a crash and he was inside the apartment.

Of all the things Doug expected to see inside, the scene in front of his was not one of them. Lee Eckert sat on the floor of the living room, legs stretched out and his back against the couch. The hair on one side of his head was matted with blood. Blood also coated his face and dotted the white undershirt he wore. From the look of the smile on his face, however, none of this seemed to bother the man.

Tom stood at a safe distance from the ex-con, both arms extended, pointing a gun at Eckert, portions of an electrical cord tied around each wrist, the ends dangling in the air. Aw shit. Tom's face bore its share of injury as well, his lip swollen and bloodied, bruises on his cheeks. He did not even look up when his partner burst into the room. But Eckert did.

"Awww…if it ain't your loverboy, come to rescue you. I always knew he was jealous of us."

"I told you to shut up!" Tom's arms were trembling from the exertion of holding his gun out.

"Hey…hey, Tom," Doug tried to get his partner's attention. "It's okay, man…I got him. Put the gun down, okay?"

"No! No…I…I got him…I got him." Tom did not take his eyes off of Eckert.

"Look at me, Tom…look. I've got my gun on him. He's not going anywhere…okay? You give me your gun, okay?"

Tom shook his head vehemently. "No! I got him! I got him!" He shrugged a shoulder to wipe the tears from his face.

"The cops are on the way, Tommy. They'll be here any minute. We'll get him out of here, okay?" Doug still could not draw Tom's attention away from Eckert.

Tom shook his head again. "They'll let him go…just like last time!"

"No, they won't, Tommy. I'm here. The neighbor heard. The cops are coming. They'll see. We're all witnesses. They won't let him go."

"Yes, they will! They won't believe me! Jesus, Doug…Jesus fucking Christ! He said…the bastard said he'd go after my mom when he left here!" Tom stopped shouting then and said quietly. "I can't let him leave."

From his position on the floor, Eckert laughed and then spit blood onto the floor next to him. "That's right, buddy…you'd better not let me leave…not alive, anyway. I'd go right over there and…"

"You shut your fuckin' mouth!" Tom straightened his arms, holding the gun out farther.

"…'cause you know I know where she lives. Been there plenty of times already. This time I'll go in though…maybe at night, like now, while she's sleeping…"

Tom shook his head, repeating under his breath, "Shut up shut up shut up."

"Tommy, don't listen to him. He's just screwing with you." Doug's attention was suddenly diverted by the arrival of two uniformed officers with guns drawn. He backed up slightly until he was just outside the doorway and quickly explained what was going on. All three men re-entered the apartment, and the two officers circled around behind Eckert.

"Cavalry's here!" Eckert shouted with glee.

Ignoring the man, Doug spoke to Tom again. "Come on, man…look…we got him…he's not going anywhere."

"Yeah…not yet," Eckert piped up. "Not until I get out again and come back to see you. 'Cause…God…you're the best fuck I've ever had."

This time it was Doug who told the man to keep quiet, but Eckert continued.

"Did you guys know? Aw man….he's got the tightest, sweetest ass! You liked it, didn't you, Tommy? Everybody knows you liked it because you came all over the place, screaming like crazy." He laughed. "Let me go with them. I won't be gone long and then I can fuck your tight ass as many times as I want."

"You shut up!" Tom shouted. He could see the officers in his peripheral vision, but he never took his eyes off of Eckert. Everything was becoming blurry, however, as his tears overflowed again.

Doug slowly edged closer to Tom and spoke quietly to him. "Tom…listen to me. He's just trying to get to you. He doesn't even care if you kill him, because you'd go to jail for the rest of your life. It's the only thing he can do now…the last way he can get to you…his final way of getting revenge. He'd win, Tom. He'd get everything he ever wanted. He'd totally ruin your life and make you live with it!"

Tom did not look at Doug, but his arms relaxed a bit and his hands holding the gun began to shake.

Doug moved closer and lowered his own weapon. "Come on, man. You just put your gun down and these guys will move in and get him…okay?" He saw Tom waver, his eyes shifting to Doug and back to Eckert. "It'll all be over then…okay?" He nodded to the two officers who were nearest to Eckert. As they closed in on the ex-con Tom slowly lowered his gun, but he did not stop looking at Eckert nor did Eckert take his eyes off of Tom, even as the officers approached and told him to stand. As one of them reached down and took Eckert by the arm and began to pull him to his feet, Tom sank into the chair behind him.

Suddenly, everything begins to move in slow motion for Tom…he hears Doug next to him saying it's over…feels his hand on his shoulder. He sees Eckert standing up, the officers preparing to cuff him. He sees Eckert's plaid shirt on the floor near the bedroom door, except…it's supposed to be on the dresser with the gun and the knife. Realization sets in too late, and his eyes travel back to Eckert whose lips are moving as well as his one free hand. He sees Eckert's hand slip into his front pocket and hears him say, "Now it's over, buddy" as he pulls the gun out of his pocket. As is police protocol, he cries out, "Gun!" but Eckert's gun is already firing point blank into the abdomen of the officer who is trying to cuff him. And then the gun is being aimed at Tom as Eckert twists away from the other officer. Tom raises his gun and aims at Eckert, but he's not quick enough and he feels the burning pain in his body just as he fires his weapon.

He doesn't see if Eckert is hit or not. All he sees now is a blur of figures and motion in front of him. He hears Doug's voice again…closer now than ever before…feels him take the gun away. He looks down and sees the red stain forming on his clothes…moving…no…not moving…spreading…getting larger. Doug's hands are on him now and he hears shouting, but he can't make out the words. It doesn't matter. He doesn't care anymore. He let's go. It's over now.

One more chapter coming soon to wrap everything up! As I said before, the cliffhanger is what you get for forcing another chapter out of me, lol! I really hope you liked this one and that I haven't disappointed you. Please let me know what you think. Remember...encouragement helps me to write faster. ;-)