The events surrounding Josh's death had seriously put Noah's nerves on edge. So much so that when he saw Luke lying on the ground, blonde hair stained in blood; his panic immediately made him think the worst case scenario.

But, despite how things seemed to Noah, Luke was not motionless. He was actually in the process of sitting up. Whoever had attacked him had only recently left the scene.

"LUKE!" Noah screamed, rushing forward and falling on his knees to examine him.

"Noah? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" an indignant Noah replied, checking the cut down Luke's left cheek before lifting the hem of his husband's shirt to examine the dark bruises already appearing on his abdomen. "Would you fucking look at yourself?"

But Luke wasn't paying any attention to the frightened Noah. His entire body was heaving with dark fury; his face red with it. Ignoring Noah's attempts to check his health, Luke was urgently patting down his pockets.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "They stole my phone! Give me yours!"

"What?"

"Your phone, Noah. I need to make a call."

"Like hell you do!" Noah yelled at him. "What we need to do is get the fuck out of here! I can't believe you would do this when I explicitly asked you not to!"

Luke looked at him then with an expression of intense seriousness Noah had never seen before.

"GIVE-ME-YOUR-PHONE!" There was such a deep level of ferocity in Luke's tone that Noah temporarily froze; unable to make head or tale out of Luke's strange behaviour. "NOW, Noah!"

Noah leaned back from him in shock.

Luke wavered at the look on Noah's face and breathed heavily a few times though his nose, forcing himself to soften some.

"I'm sorry." he eventually said through his teeth. "It's really important… Please."

Scowling at Luke, an angry Noah pulled out his cell phone and slammed the device down into Luke's hand.

Wearily watching Noah, Luke flipped it open, checked Noah's contacts until he found the name he needed, and pressing dial.

"No, sorry Grandmother, it's not Noah… it's me, I'm just using Noah's phone."

Lucinda sprouted the usual phone call pleasantries until an impatient Luke cut her off, "Listen, I'm sorry to interrupt but I need an urgent favour."

Luke waited as Lucinda asked him what the favour might be. Noah was curious himself.

"Do you think you could get me a visitation pass for Statesville Prison? For tomorrow? I urgently need to see Damian."

A stunned Noah heard the exclamations and expletives coming through the phone. Luke held the device from his ear and waited for her to finish.

"Yes… look… Grandmother… I totally understand what you are saying. And if there was any other way then, believe me, I'd do it. But I need to speak with him myself. So can you pull some strings?"

Again he waited as Lucinda answered him.

"Yes, as soon as you can. Thank you Grandmother. I'll be on a plane to Oakdale tonight."

...

He intended to keep his promise to Noah.

His plan was to interview Benoit Dubois in the hopes that he would provide enough information on the specific heroin that had taken Josh's life.

However he arrived at the Dubois home to find it empty. A SOLD sign was erected outside.

Questioning the neighbours revealed that Benoit and his father had moved back to Paris permanently the day of Josh's death. Only a few hours after they confronted Benoit outside their house…

So that really only left Luke with one final option.

Against his better judgment, and risking Noah's wrath, he called Jarvis and asked for permission to visit the Santa Clarita area in search of the famous Dean.

Luke was sure it was likely that Dean was the dealer of the very drug that took Josh's life. Especially since most of the kids he had interviewed from Josh's school seemed to get their supplies from him.

With a guilty heart, Luke broke through the invisible protection barrier set by Noah, and went in search of Dean.

...

Luke's right knee bobbed nervously up and down as he waited in the visitation room.

God, but he hated these places!

He tried to still his leg, but the motion appeared to be subconscious; and it would start again just as soon as it had stopped.

He knew what his actions were doing to Noah. Luke had seen the look on his husband's face as he packed a small overnight back and left the house.

It had been difficult to get any sleep alone in bed at the farm. But then he guessed home would have been no better. It would have meant enduring the agonising silent treatment Noah had decided to lay on him.

Noah hadn't said a single word to him since they left the alley and Luke was on a plane to Oakdale within just a few hours of that. Consequently Luke hadn't had the opportunity to explain himself.

Luke had his reasons for doing what he did.

"Boy, do I have my reasons!"

First thing that morning he'd used Emma's phone to try contacting Noah, but Noah wasn't fooled and he didn't pick up.

"Fine," Luke thought. "I broke a promise and you're gonna to punish me for it. I get that!"

But he longed to hear Noah's voice, angry or otherwise. Luke just… needed him.

So now he sat waiting to see Damian. The one person he had vowed never to look upon again.

He shook with nerves.

His last encounter with his father had been an emotional one. Damian, flustered and fearful, had dumped him suddenly with the control of a global shipping business and then split. No explanation! Nothing!

At the time, Luke had believed that Damian was a changed man. He truly believed that his father was done with the dirty mind games he always used to control people.

So it just about killed Luke to find out that Damian had married his mother, knowing full well there was a chance Holden was still alive. Not to mention the string of lies Damian had told to cover his tracks; including faking his own death.

Damian had betrayed his trust for the last time and Luke had resolved to strip the man out of his life once and for all.

Except he couldn't… not totally… not while he was CEO of Grimaldi Shipping, desperately trying to rid the company of it's many double dealings and dirty employees.

Not to mention almost getting himself and Noah killed in the process.

Noah.

At the thought of his husband, Luke felt that anxious knot in the pit of his stomach tighten. He hated it when things were rocky between them.

With difficulty, he returned his thoughts to the issue at hand.

Selling Grimaldi Shipping had been the best decision Luke could ever have made. For a while, their lives had been totally Grimaldi free.

Until now…

He slightly jumped as the door to the visitation room opened and he felt a wave of nausea hit him at the sight of his father standing there. If he hadn't been sitting he would have taken a step back.

Damian's face always lit up at the sight of his son, but today it positively glowed with delight.

"Luciano!" he exclaimed with happiness and surprise. "It is so good to see you my son. I thought that…"

"You thought right." Luke gripped the sides of the table before him in his attempt to hide the shudders he could feel travelling throughout his body.

He steeled himself and held his father's gaze. He narrowed his eyes in warning, as the guard unlocked the cuffs from one of Damian's wrists and secured it to a loop in the iron table.

Damian waited until the guard had taken up his position by the door.

"Then you did not come here to visit with me?" he asked, a look of disappointment replacing the delight.

"No." Luke replied with contempt. "If I had any choice I wouldn't be here at all."

"I'd be with Noah, begging his forgiveness." The thought sent a sudden and sharp pain of want shooting up his body. He would give anything to have Noah by his side at that moment.

Damian's gaze fell on Luke's wedding ring and he nodded toward it. "I never had the opportunity to congratulate you and Noah on your marriage. I sent you a gift."

"I send it back."

"You must be very happy…"

"I'm not here to talk about my life." Luke cut him off. "You are no longer a part of that. Sit!"

Damian watched Luke with interest for just a moment and then, with a terse nod, took a seat opposite him.

"What has happened to your face?" he asked, noticing for the first time the large and nasty scratch down Luke's left cheek.

"I'm surprised you don't already know." Luke replied, his voice dripping with accusation.

An unusually confused Damian frowned at him. "What are you saying?"

...

He tried to shake off the sense of danger as he approached the group of young boy's loitering around the entrance to an off-street ally.

He shaded his eyes against the bright afternoon sunlight. He was breathing heavily and his face felt hot.

He heard footsteps and whirled about to find a further three youths following him from behind, enclosing him within a circle of gang members.

An African American boy emerged from within the group and stood before Luke.

Luke took a deep breath and swallowed his sense of apprehension; choking down his fear.

"For Josh." He thought.

"I'm looking for Dean." Luke said coolly.

The young man, who couldn't have been more than in his teens, didn't give away any kind of emotion. His eyes were dark with venom.

Luke could barely keep himself from taking an involuntary step backward.

"You a cop." the boy said. It wasn't a question. The voice wasn't loud. In fact it barely lifted above the sound of the busy street behind them, but Luke had no difficulty in hearing him; so tense was the atmosphere.

"I'm not a cop and I'm not here to cause any trouble. I just need to have a word with Dean."

Pairs of eyes rested distrustfully on him.

"What do you want with 'im?" The boy's tone was distinctly unfriendly.

Luke took another deep breath, "I have some questions about a boy who may, at one time, have bought some stuff from Dean."

"What boy?"

"Josh."

One of the other kids gave a loud snort; but the boy addressing Luke didn't move.

"Let's say we knows this Josh… whatcha want to know?"

Luke felt a stab of pain and closed his eyes tight for a minute.

"Josh was… a friend of mine. He's… he died."

Something changed in the eyes of the boy standing before him. Luke didn't know what it was, but it made Luke half raise his hands and steady his stance in preparation to protect himself.

"He's definitely a cop, Nick!" said another boy from the gang, moving closer.

Luke glanced over at this other boy and became even more alarmed to see this kid's big, bony knuckles clenched in readiness.

The situation was not going well.

"I am not a cop." Luke reiterated.

"A reporter then?" yet another boy asked. "That's even worse!"

Something in Luke's expression at those words gave him away and before he could blink he was being pushed and pulled deeper within the privacy of the alley.

"Look… I just have a few questions about how Josh died."

Nick hit him then, just under his ribs.

Taken completely by surprise, Luke doubled and staggered back, gasping from the blow; feeling the force of it all the way through to his spine.

It made the anger within him boil...

"Hold back!" Nick told his friends, "This one's mine!"

"Stop!" Luke demanded, trying to get enough breath to talk. "Stop right now!"

Nick hit him again, this time on the side of his face. It was a glancing blow, but a ring on the boy's finger scraped the skin and left Luke's cheek throbbing.

Luke pulled back, apprehension turning to fury. The little shit!

Nick swung at him again, but missed as Luke ducked and bolted to one side. Luke took a giant step backward; the blood drumming in his ears. He crouched, hands up and ready to fight.

He saw the kid's right punch, ducked and countered, felt his fist brush the cotton of the boy's shirt as it past Nick's side and then Nick's left, the punch Luke didn't see, took him in the eye.

Flashing stars and streaks of light exploded through the side of his head, and his eyes began to water as he launched himself at Nick, roaring.

He was fighting for his life now, he realised. And that meant he was fighting for Noah and the kids.

He hit the boy; he actually felt his fist hit flesh that time, but it was pointless. As soon as Nick was disabled the rest of the crew launched themselves at Luke, holding him prisoner by his arms and taking turns to punch or kick him in the gut.

"WHAT THE FUCK is going on!" a new voice joined the frenzy of the others and the kicking instantly stopped.

Luke hung, gasping for breath and knees scrapping the ground between two gang members. They continued to hold him up by his arms. His head weighed a ton and he was unable to look up.

"He's here about that Josh kid, Dean!" Luke heard Nick explain. "You know… that one that OD'd?"

"I told you lot before! You can't do this on our turf! You'll get us lifted!" Dean yelled. Then Luke heard him sigh as he accepted the situation was already out of control. "Cop?"

"Nope… we think he's a reporter!"

"Let me see 'im!"

A hand grabbed Luke's hair and jerked his head up so that Dean could see his face. Green eyes glittered only inches away, and Luke felt the boy's breath blow hot on his face as he was closely examined.

"Holy SHIT! You stupid fucks!" Dean exclaimed suddenly. "Let 'im go!"

"What?"

"You heard me! I said LET-HIM-GO!"

The hands under his upper arms released their grip and Luke fell hard to the floor.

"Jesus! You people got no fucking sense! This is Damian Grimaldi's kid!"

"No way!" another boy exclaimed.

"You sure?" a suddenly fearful Nick asked.

"Split! All of ya! Split and don't gather for two days!"

Luke heard the sound of retreating footsteps and lay on the floor with the strangest feeling like he'd just swallowed a large bolder!

Damian!

When he was sure the coast was clear he coughed a few times and made the move to get up.

The pain in his body was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

He had to call Lucinda!

Then he heard a beautiful but distressed voice call his name, "LUKE!"

...

Luke left Damian seated in that room in a flurry of suppressed feelings that threatened to burst from within.

He would not give Damian the satisfaction of seeing how his presence affected him. He said what he needed to say and left as quickly as possible; overwhelmed by the same rage that had driven him across states to see the man in the first place.

It was eating him up from the insides out.

And more rage was piled onto to it now that he realised just how easily his father could still get to him.

The moment he was out the door and stumbling along the long corridor to the prison security hall he could feel the teardrops already stinging the cut on his cheek.

"Hold yourself together!" he desperately told himself. "You will not breakdown in the middle of a prison! You will not!"

He was on the verge of doing just that, dizzy and overly emotional, when he rounded the corner to be suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by Noah's piercing blue gaze.

Luke heart beat faster and his breath shuddered as he struggled to understand how it was possible Noah could be there. His eyes widened. He was seeing things!

But then Noah spoke.

"I am so angry with you, right now." He said, voice cracked, "But there was no way I could let you do this by yourself."

Three large sobs instantly escaped Luke's burning throat; so relieved he was to have Noah there.

Noah sighed. "Come here."

Luke fell quivering and grateful into Noah's warm arms; tears wetting through the man's shirt as he allowed the anger to dissipate into the true source of it all – a deep, all consuming and agonising pain.

...

"Two words." Luke said, once he had Damian's full attention. "Santa Clarita."

Damian's eyebrows rose but otherwise he displayed no sign of understanding.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"Well it should." Luke accused him, "Since it's the place out of which you're running your fucking heroin supply!"

Damian's head jerked. "What has happened?"

Luke snorted. "And you don't even bother to deny it?"

"Luciano, if somebody has threatened you because of me then they shall be dealt with. After the last time I have made myself very clear on that point!"

Luke shook his head in repulsion. "If you were planning on protecting me from getting hurt then you're a little late!"

Damian frowned, looking down at his finger as it tapped the iron table in consideration.

"That boy you were caring for…" he waved his hand about as he tried to remember the name. "Josh? This has something to do this his death."

"I shouldn't be surprised that you already know." Luke told him. "Just how many spies DO you have positioned in my life, Damian?"

"Luciano… I am only looking out for your best interests. I am only concerned for your wellbeing."

"Oh really? You didn't seem so concerned a year ago when you left me to mop up all your lies!"

"Luciana that was…"

"Save it! I already told you! I'm not here to go over the past or to discuss my personal life with you! The only reason I am here is because Josh is dead. And as far, as I'm concerned, that's on your head!"

"You cannot blame me for that!"

"So you're not running heroin out of Santa Clarita then?"

Damian's silence was all Luke needed to hear.

"How are you doing it?" Luke asked. "How are you smuggling it in?"

"The ships." Damian simply answered, as though it were obvious.

Luke jerked with surprise, feeling air leave his lungs. "What ships?"

"Grimaldi Shipping ships, what else?

Luke felt another knot forming in his gut.

"But I sold G.S."

Damian smiled.

"Son? Forgive me, but you didn't honestly believe I would let you sell a company that generations of Grimaldi's worked tirelessly to build? Especially to some outside competitor?"

Luke clenched his jaw in an effort to hold back tears. "Are you saying I sold G.S. to you?"

"Through a subsidiary." Damian nodded. "Yes. It saddens me that you chose to rid yourself of your birthright. But yes, for all intents and purposes, Grimaldi Shipping is back under my control."

Luke couldn't even formulate words to fit his repugnance of Damian.

"So is that it, Luciano? You came here to find out about the drugs?"

"No." Luke said. "I'm here to ask you to stop. If you ever loved me…"

"Of course I love you. You are my son."

"Then you do this one thing for me!" Luke rose as the emotion elevated him, "You do one fucking good thing in your whole miserable existence and you stop importing that shit into this country. You stop feeding it to children!"

...

"They knew who I was, Noah."

As Luke finished filling him in, Noah softly, reverently, drew the flat of his hand back and forth the length of Luke's denim clad thigh, across his belly to rest over his breast.

Luke shivered, settling down further into Noah's lap as they lay together, gently rocking on the farm's porch swing.

"Are you still mad at me?" Luke asked.

"Yes."

"I had to do it. For Josh."

He felt Noah's sigh as it travelled up his body and though his lips.

"What would I have done, Luke? If you weren't a Grimaldi?" Noah asked him. "I wouldn't have found you yesterday in that alley. I wouldn't have found you at all. There would have been days, weeks, months even; of not knowing. Living without answers until you eventually turned up dead somewhere; most likely fished out of the river with a rock tied to your legs."

"I was so…"

"You don't think!" Noah interrupted him. "You don't think when you become driven like this. You don't consider what it would mean for us if we lost you. Especially like that."

The more he spoke the more Luke could feel the reverberations through his body.

"I know." He eventually conceded. "I'm sorry, Bubby."

Luke held him tighter, trying to reassure him; calm him out of the fear Luke sensed raging inside the other man. He turned in Noah's arms to place kisses on this cheek and ear, and wove his fingers through his thick black hair.

As he felt Noah's pent up pain, Luke's hands began to tremble and he shuddered into tears.

Noah's hand rose up over the back of his head, stroking and as he did, Luke pressed his face into Noah's neck.

"My family did this." Luke eventually managed to say. "My family killed Josh."

"Your family may have played a part in this, Luke." He heard Noah say. "Not you. This isn't your fault, okay?"

Luke nodded and then lifted his head to come face to face with the troubled blue eyes.

"I'm sorry. I keep doing this to you and…"

Noah started to shake his head.

"… it's not fair. You know the last thing I would ever want is to cause you any more pain. You know that right?"

As per usual Noah didn't speak. He bit his lower lip and nodded his understanding.

Luke wanted so much to comfort him back. So he did the only thing he could in that moment, he pressed their lips together and moved his tongue into Noah's mouth.

Noah held Luke's face between his hands, tracing the graze down Luke's cheek.

Luke let his hand find the bulge in Noah's jeans, allowing his fingers explore him.

When the pressure and heat became too much they left to go upstairs, locking the bedroom door, and falling into bed together.

Noah's hands found Luke's zip, pulled it down and slipped inside Luke's underwear.

The pleasure was immediate and consuming, inducing Luke to let his thighs fall open. Noah kissed him hard as his investigating fingers took Luke's breath away and made his belly quiver.

But Luke wanted this moment to be about Noah and not himself, so he rolled over, pressing Noah's back into the bedding and placing gentle kisses over his eyes, nose and mouth; all the while rubbing his thigh between Noah's legs.

Luke kissed him everywhere, his hand roving over Noah's body; bearing his weight down on him. His mouth found Noah's neck and shoulders and lingered over each of his nipples.

He listened intently to Noah's sighs and groans, reading him; trying to give him as much pleasure as possible.

He bent over Noah and replaced his stroking hand with his mouth, hearing him sigh into the sensation. The more Luke sucked at him, the hotter Noah's flesh became, until Noah couldn't hold out any longer and he shuddered into Luke's mouth.

Luke rose over his body once more, smoothing back Noah's hair, feeling up him once more before kneeling between his thighs and pushing with utmost tenderness inside.

Noah's head turned, his eyes opened and he arched up against him whispering something Luke couldn't quite make out.

Luke began to move slowly, feeling such emotion for him and whispering, "I love you, Noah."

Luke opened his eyes just in time to see a rending pain pass Noah's eyes as he wiped a tell-tale teardrop from his cheek.

They made love with a slow deliberateness, finding their release soully in the need to comfort each other.

...

This one took me a while to piece together... I hope you liked it...