Disclaimer: Only the character's I created belong to me.

Author's notes: Hi, everyone and welcome to 'Sacrifices'. Thanks to everyone who reviewed Star Struck. This story follows on immediately after those events. Hope you all enjoy it. Please read and review.

Rating: R. WARNING!!! STEVE/JESSE SLASH!!! In this story, Steve and Jesse have an established relationship. There's nothing explicit but, if you don't like the thought of them as a loving couple, then this story is not for you.

SACRIFICES.

(PART ONE)

Fifteen years. It was a long time to be out of commission, locked away from the world. A long time to harbour a grudge and a long time to think about what he would do on his release. That day had finally come and it was time to put those plans into action.

Prison had done nothing to change Guy Patterson's outlook on life and it most certainly hadn't reformed him. He had spent his days inside, all 5473 of them, thinking about how he'd ended up where he was and what had gone wrong.

Patterson had gone through life with the attitude that, if he wanted something, he simply took it. It had worked well for a number of years, until he came up against a stubborn cop called Steve Sloan.

It had all been rather humiliating at the time, his crime spree being brought to a halt by a lowly beat cop. He had since learned that the following fifteen years had been kind to that cop and that Sloan was now a Lieutenant with homicide, but that did nothing to appease his anger.

Fifteen years had been a harsh sentence, for a little armed robbery. It wasn't like he had killed anybody. Well, all that was about to change. Guy Patterson was used to merely taking what he wanted and now he wanted revenge.

*****

Steve Sloan slowly opened his eyes. It was morning and he had to get up for work, but he was reluctant to move. The weight on his chest told him, without looking, that his partner had once again chosen to use him as a pillow.

Jesse had been working late the previous night and Steve had been sleeping by the time he'd got home. The young doctor had slipped into bed without disturbing him, so Steve had to try and return the favour now that it was time to get up.

Speaking of getting up... Steve looked down at the sleeping man, aware of how innocent and adorable he looked when he was so at peace. He could hardly believe that he was there, with his best friend, in his bed and his body was starting to respond to the feel of the man snuggled beside him.

Their relationship was still fairly new and, while the bruises from Jesse's bitter experience at the hands of Marcus Marriott had faded, there were still mental scars that would take a whole lot longer to heal.

So far, Steve and Jesse hadn't done anything more than kiss. The kisses were filled with passion and longing, but the young doctor, after so nearly being raped, was still too fragile to deal with anything more. It took all of Steve's self-control not to simply ravish him where he lay, but he had waited for years just to get this far and he would continue to wait until he was sure that Jesse was ready.

Steve carefully eased the sleeping form away from him, somehow managing to manoeuvre him back onto the bed without waking him. He had been as surprised as anyone when, after his recovery period under the ministrations of Mark Sloan was over, Jesse had been in no hurry to move back to his own apartment. The step of moving into Steve's bed had followed shortly afterwards.

Mark was no prude and didn't mind the arrangement one little bit. He was just happy to see the two of them finally together. And so, after a quick shower, Steve headed upstairs to join his father for breakfast.

"Is Jesse not joining us?" Mark asked, already busy cooking.

"I don't know what time he got in last night, but he's still dead to the world. Do you have to work him so hard?"

Mark exchanged a smile with his son. They both knew that Jesse was completely dedicated to his chosen career and not even embarking on a new relationship would cause him to shirk his duties.

"I've given him the weekend off," Mark answered. "And I know you're not working. Why don't the two of you go away somewhere?"

"You know, that's not a bad idea. The change of scene might do him good."

Both father and son knew that Jesse was still plagued by nightmares and that he was still a far cry from being back to his old self. Steve was genuinely grateful to his dad. A break would do them both the world of good.

*****

When Steve got to work that morning, one of his colleagues was waiting with the news that Guy Patterson's jail sentence was over and the man had been released. Steve easily remembered Patterson, his arrest had gone a long way towards forging his career. He also remembered the trial, which the armed robber had stayed silent throughout. There had been no threats, no raving about getting revenge. In fact he had barely even looked at the cop who'd arrested him.

And so, Steve wasn't overly concerned by the news of his release. He made a mental note to keep an eye out, to see if the man were tempted to go back to his old ways but, on the whole, he didn't see any problem with a man simply being released because his sentence was over. He wouldn't even bother mentioning it to his dad or Jesse. If he had known what Patterson was doing, even as those thoughts crossed his mind, he would have taken very different action indeed.

Before he had been sent to prison, Guy Patterson had often done business with a small-time fence called Billy Bennett and, on his release, it was Bennett whom he sought out first. Aside from fencing stolen goods, Bennett had a reputation of being a reliable source of information. He could find out anything, for the right price. As an added bonus, he was also friends with some thoroughly unsavoury characters, most of whom were always looking for work of the not so legal kind.

Two days after his release from prison, Patterson had hired one such character and had also learned everything that he needed to know about Lieutenant Steve Sloan. The only thing that had him even slightly worried was the cop's reputation. The man seemed to be invincible and Patterson hadn't been sure if he'd be able to get close enough to him to carry out his plan to kill him slowly and painfully.

Then his old friend, Bennett, had come up with the perfect solution.

"You want to get to Sloan?" the fence had said. "Then hit the boyfriend."

"You didn't say anything about a boyfriend?"

"And you didn't ask about his sex life. But it seems that Sloan has hooked up with one of the doctor's from Community General and it's a lot easier to get at a doctor than a cop."

"You got a name?"

"Of course I got a name and seeing as you've put so much business my way, I'll let you have this one for free. It's Doctor Travis. Jesse Travis."

*****

Jesse was immensely looking forward to his weekend off. Steve had told him of his plans to get away for a couple of days, just booking into a motel, somewhere quiet and away from the pressures of work.

It had sounded like heaven to the young doctor. It had been a truly exhausting week. And, though he kept this to himself, he was starting to feel that it was time for him and Steve to take their relationship to the next level.

He had to admit that a part of him was scared. It had been a long time since he'd been in a serious relationship with anyone and, of course, the spectre of Marcus Marriott still hung over him. While he no longer flinched away every time that Steve touched him, he wasn't at all sure how he would react if his prospective lover did start to get intimate.

Part of that fear was allayed by the fact that he had complete and utter faith in Steve. He knew that if things did start to go wrong, he wouldn't be under any pressure to do anything he didn't want to do. And he knew for sure that he would never scare the other man away. After days of self-doubt following their first shared kiss, Steve's constant reassurances had finally got through to the younger man. There really was no need to rush.

So Jesse was in an excellent mood when he left Community General on the Friday afternoon. Mark had even allowed him to leave a couple of hours early, in order to get home and pack. While most of his things were at the beach house, there were still a few bits that he needed to pick up from his apartment.

Jesse was so preoccupied by thoughts of what might happen in the coming two days, that he completely failed to notice that his Mustang was being followed by a dark grey van. He wasn't even aware of the two men who exited the van as he approached his apartment building. He certainly didn't have time to react before he was clubbed over the back of the head and dumped unceremoniously into the back of the van.

TO BE CONTINUED...