Gus was crying as he clutched the picture of his mother.  He missed her and didn’t know why she had to go away.  He just wanted her back next to him.  Justin came to the living room and found Gus crying instead of playing with his toys like he had left him.

“Gussy?”  Justin asked.  “Are you okay, baby?”

Justin kneeled in front of the boy and took the picture from Gus’s hand.

“I want mommy.”  Gus said and his lower lip quivered.

“I know you do, baby.”  Justin told him.

“What’s going on?”  Brian asked coming down the stairs.

Justin stood up and then picked Gus up.  He handed Gus back the picture of Lindsay.

“He misses Lindsay.”  Justin told Brian.

Brian took a deep breath and took his son.

“I’m going to tuck him in.”  Brian said.

Justin nodded and went to lock the doors and turn the lights off.  Brian carried Gus to his room.  He put the boy down and kissed him on the forehead.  He sat on the bed with his son and watched Gus crying.  He wanted to do something, say something, but he didn’t know what.

“Gussy.”  Brian said.  “It’s okay.”

“I want mommy.”  Gus said pouting.  “I want mommy.”

“I’m so sorry.”  Brian told him trying to clean Gus’s tears.

Brian picked his little boy back in his arms and held him until Gus calmed down.

“Justy looks like me mommy.”  Gus said.

Brian new that Gus meant because both Lindsay and Justin had blond hair and blue eyes.

“Daddy kiss, kiss, Justy.”  Gus pointed out.  “Is Justy me new mommy?”  Gus asked.

“No.  No one is going to be your new mommy.  I know she’s not here anymore Gus, but she’s always going to be your mommy.”  Brian said holding the picture with Gus.

“What is Justy?”  Gus asked confused.  

Brian took a deep breath.  

“Justin is…I love Justin.  And he loves us and we take care of him and he takes care of us.”  Brian said.

“Like mommy.”

Brian took a deep breath.

“No.  Not like mommy.”  Brian told him.

“Mommy is in heaven.”  Gus said sadly.  “I want mommy.”

“I know you do, baby.”  Brian said.

Gus looked at the picture and then back at Brian.

“What is Justy?”  Gus asked again.

Brian frowned and understood that Gus was scared that Justin was taking the place of his mother.  He felt relieved that Gus’s problem was that and not the fact that Justin was a man.  Then he realized that his son was only four years old and wasn’t aware that kissing another man was frowned upon by some people.  Gus’s problem was wanting to know why suddenly his mother was gone and Justin seemed to be the one occupying the space.

“Justin is…he is dada.”  Brian said.

“This is mommy.”  Gus said smiling as he pointed at Lindsay’s picture.  “I love mommy.”

“I know.  I do too.”  Brian assured his son.  “That is your mommy and no one is going to take her place.  She is going to be watching you and making sure that you are safe.”

“Mommy is an angel?”  Gus asked.

Brian nodded and Gus smiled.

“Okay.”  Gus said putting the picture under his pillow.  

Brian kissed his son and stayed with the boy talking some more about Lindsay.  Gus asked if he could visit Lindsay in heaven and, when Brian told him no, he started crying again.  Brian managed to calm him down and after a little while Gus felt asleep.  He got up and walked to his room.

“Hey.”  Justin said when Brian entered the room.  “How is he doing?”  

“He is worried that you are taking Lindsay’s place.”  Brian said sitting in the bed.

Justin crawled over to Brian.

“I can schedule an appointment with Dr. Powell for tomorrow.  She could see Gus if you want.”  Justin said.

“No.  It’s okay. He can wait until his regular appointment.  He is making progress.  I think this is normal.”  Brian said.

Justin nodded.

“Come on.”  Justin said pulling Brian into the bed.  “Let’s go to sleep.  You are so tired and tense.”

Brian let Justin pull him into his arms.  He smiled at the blond and felt the arms of a friend embracing him.  He put his head on Justin’s shoulder and cried for him and for his son.  He wanted to make Gus happy and give him his mother back, he just couldn’t.

***

Brian opened his eyes feeling a warm mouth around his morning erection.  He got on his elbows and arched a brow as he watched Justin very busy at work.

“Fuck.”  Brian moaned when Justin swallowed him whole.

Justin looked up and smiled around Brian’s cock or at least tried to.

“Don’t stop.”  Brian told him.

Justin didn’t and found himself swallowing Brian’s cum.  He pulled away and looked at Brian who was trying to catch his breath.

“Do you like that, baby?”  Justin asked as he bent forward to kiss his man.  “There is more…to…cum.”

Brian smiled and licked his lips.  Justin reached for a condom and then turned Brian around. 

“Justin.”  Brian moaned as he felt Justin’s tongue penetrating him.

Justin loved to rim Brian.  He loved to do anything as long as it involved Brian.  He pulled away and put the condom on.  He put the tip of his cock at Brian’s entrance and pushed inside slowly.

“God.”  Brian moaned as Justin entered him without lube.

“You love when I fuck you like this.”  Justin grunted as he pulled away almost completely and then pushed back in hard.

“Fuck yes.”  Brian grunted out.

“Mmm, like my big cock inside you, baby?”

Brian grasped the sheets and pushed back into Justin.  He loved when Justin rough fuck him.

“You like it hard and fast.”  Justin gasped out.

Brian bit his lower lip as Justin’s cock brushed against his sweet spot.  He wanted to cum so badly already.

“Tell me how much you like it.”  Justin grunted as he thrust inside Brian.

“I fucking love it.”  Brian moaned.  “So much….so much…I love you.”

Justin smiled and started to move faster.  He grabbed Brian’s hard, leaking cock and started stroking him.

“Oh god, Justin.”  Brian yelled.

With his other hand, Justin grabbed Brian by the hair and started pulling.  Brian closed his eyes and fell himself falling.
Justin licked Brian’s neck and then bit him hard.

“Fuck, Jus!”  Brian hissed and spilled his cum on Justin’s hand.

“Oh, baby boy!”  Justin said in a husky voice as he came deep inside Brian.

Brian was breathing hard, his walls still clutching to Justin’s cock.  Justin smiled and brought his hand to his mouth licking Brian’s cum off his fingers.  

“Mmm, the breakfast of champions.”  Justin teased.

Brian laughed with Justin.  He belonged to Justin completely and vise versa.

***

Justin pulled the yellow tape up and went under it.  He looked back and saw that Chris was following him.

“What do we got here?”  Justin asked standing next to Rick.

“Another strangling.”  Rick said.  “Same M.O.”

Justin nodded and walked towards the body.  He lifted the sheets covering it and frowned.  It was always the same.  Kids.  They all looked like kids.  Lost kids.

“Fuck.”  Chris hissed standing behind Justin.

Justin looked at Chris and then back at the body.  He covered it and looked at Chris.

“You said you had something.”  Justin told him.

Chris nodded.

“A few cases have been closed and I want to know why.”  Chris said.  “They all have the same M.O.”

Justin nodded, not sure what Chris was talking about.

“Stockwell has been the one closing the cases.  We should go see him.”  Chris said.  “At twelve.”

Justin looked at Chris with a smirk.

“There won’t be anyone there.”  Justin told him.

“Exactly.”  Chris said.

“Why Chris, I never thought you had a dark side to you.  I thought you did everything by the book.”  Justin said smiling.

“You don’t know me anymore, Taylor.”  Chris told him as they walked to the car.

Justin nodded and was happy that he was getting to know the new Chris.

***

Justin looked out of Stockwell’s secretary office and then closed the door and sat down.

“There is no one still.”  Justin told him.

Chris nodded as he looked at the files.

“Why didn’t they give us this information?  The case is still open.”  Chris said.

Justin shrugged.

“I think someone said that these killings didn’t have anything to do with the case.”

“Bullshit.”  Chris said.

Justin nodded and waited.  

“Anything?”  Justin asked after a while.

Chris didn’t answer.

“Chris.”

“What?”  Chris asked turning to look at Justin.

“Did you find anything in the files?”  Justin asked.

“Well, look at these names.”  Chris said moving his chair a little so Justin could see the computer screen.

“Right.  What about them?”  Justin asked.

“Two of them are ex cops, three are people who had been contributing to the police department and one is a cop.”  Chris said.  “The only name that is not connected directly to the department is Mrs. Novotny’s.”

Justin frowned.

“They were the ones that found the body.”  Justin said.

Chris nodded.

“And only in Debbie’s case did they found more evidence.  The other cases…well, it looks like something had been moved.”  

Justin took a deep breath.

“So this means…it might be a cop.”  Justin said.  “But how is he doing to have people helping him?  They have to be.”

Chris nodded.

“We should go.  Lunch break will be over soon.”  Justin said.  “We shouldn’t be here.”

Chris nodded and got out of the system and then turned off the computer.  They left the office making sure that there wasn’t anyone there.  They were moving slowly down the hall when they heard the voices of two women talking.  They turned around and took the stairs.

“What now?”  Justin asked going down.  “Who do we give this information to?  It could be anyone.”

Chris nodded.

“The captain seems to be pretty honest.  We’ll get it to her and see what happens from there.”  Chris told him.

Justin agreed with him.  They left the building, got into their car and drove away.

“So, how if life with Brian?”  Chris asked suddenly.

Justin smiled.

“It’s great.”  Justin told him.  “Everything I dreamed and more.”

Chris nodded.

“Why you ask?”  Justin asked.

“Curiosity.”  Chris told him.  “Fuck.”  

Chris gripped the steering wheel tight and tried to take control of the swerving car.  Justin looked back to see a black pickup trying to hit them again.  The pickup truck accelerated and hit them on the right side forcing them to drive on the wrong side of the road.

“Accelerate.”  Justin hissed taking out his gun.

“Don’t you dare shoot my car!”  Chris told him.

Justin opened the window.

“Shoot them.”  Chris hissed.

Justin did and the bullets ricocheted.  He cursed and tried shooting at the tires, but the truck was moving closer.  He got his arms inside just in time before the truck slammed into them.

“What the fuck was that?”  Chris asked.

“Bullet proof.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”  Chris hissed as he tried to get away from the truck.

“There is a car coming.”  Justin yelled.

Chris frowned and got off of the road, managing to hit a tree.  The last thing Justin remembered was the pick-up truck driving away.

***

Brian went through the doors, worried as hell.  Gus followed him, clutching the bear that Justin had given him.  He was sucking on his thumb and almost running to be able to stay close to his father.  They walked for a while until they found Justin and Chris sitting on a couple of chairs.  Both of them had scratches and Justin had his head back with a handkerchief on his nose.

“Are you okay?”  Brian asked.

Justin opened his eyes and nodded.

“Justy.”  Gus said running up to sit on Justin’s lap.

“Oh, Sonny Boy.  You are going to have to go with daddy because dada is hurt.”  Justin told him.

“Okay.”  Gus said sadly.

Justin held on to Gus before the boy could move away.

“Give me a kiss, maybe you will make it better.”

Gus smiled and kissed his dada on the cheek.

“Better?”  Gus asked.

“Oh yeah.”  Justin said smiling.

Gus smiled and stayed sitting on Justin’s lap.  Chris smiled seeing the whole exchange.

“You didn’t have to come here.”  Justin said.  “I told you I was okay.”

Brian nodded and sat next to Justin.

“I was worried.”  Brian told him.

Justin smiled and kissed Brian.

“I’m okay.”  Justin told him.  “I’m not going to let those fuckers get to me.”

“Dada said a bad word.”  Gus said.

Brian smirked and nodded.

“Chris.”  Miller said when he got there.  “You okay, man?”

Chris nodded and got up.

“I’ll see you, Taylor.”  Chris said.

“Guess you are my ride now.”  Justin said smiling.

Brian nodded and picked Gus up.  He slipped his arm around Justin’s waist and pulled his blond close.  He had been scared to death that something had happened to Justin.

***

“Look at this.”  Chris said as he walked next to Justin.

Justin still felt like shit.  He just had come into work and Chris was already there and working like nothing had happened.

“What kind of drugs are you taking?”  Justin asked.  “I need them.”

Chris smirked and shook his head.

“I am made out of rock.”  Chris said smirking.

“Whatever.”  Justin said.  “What is this?”  

“A fresh one.”  Chris said before he moved to sit on his desk.

Justin put his things on his desk and opened the file.  It was another dead body.  Justin shook his head and sat down to read.  

“What happen to your partner?”  Miller asked as he sat down.

Justin looked up and frowned.

“What do you mean?”  Justin asked.

“He pulled away from the case.”  Miller said.

“What are you talking about, Jeremy?”  Chris asked.

“He just said he couldn’t deal with it.”  Miller said shrugging.  “It was odd.  I mean he’s been in homicide for how many years?”

Chris shook his head at Jeremy to stop talking and watched Justin.  Justin shrugged and kept reading the file, or at least trying to.  He wondered what the hell was going on.  He was going to have to talk to Rick and find out why he had pulled away from the case.

***

Justin knocked on the door and waited.

“Justin.  How are you doing?”  Elizabeth asked.

“I’m okay.  How are you doing?”  Justin asked as he walked inside.

“Good.  Come on, Rick is in the back.”  Elizabeth told him.

Justin nodded and followed her.  He went out onto the patio and she walked away.  Justin sat down next to his partner and took the beer that Rick gave him.

“What’s going on?”  Justin asked.

“Nothing.  I just couldn’t take it anymore.”  Rick said.

“That’s bullshit, Rick.  You live for this kind of stuff.”

Rick shrugged.

“I’m getting old, Justin.”  Rick told him.

Justin laughed acidly.

“I will still be working as your partner.  Just not on this case.”  Rick said.
	
Justin licked his lips and took a sip of his beer.  They stayed quiet for a while and then Justin got up and put his beer on the table.

“What the hell is going on, Rick?”  Justin asked.

“Justin…”

“Don’t.”  Justin said.  “I thought we were a team.  You said we trusted each other.  And here you are keeping things from me.”

Rick took a deep breath.

“I was threatened.”

Justin opened his eyes wide.

“Fuck.”  Justin hissed. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”  Rick said.  “I was…scared, I guess.”

Justin licked his lips and nodded.

“Who the hell were you after?”  Justin asked.

“A guy named Cody McGuire” Rick said.  “Miller and I found out that he knew all of them.  We tried to find him, but we couldn’t.”  

Justin nodded.

“He’s working for someone else.  That’s what we found out and after that, I received the call.”  Rick said.

“Why didn’t you say something?  We could have done something about it.”  Justin told him.

Rick took a deep breath and shrugged.

“I have Elizabeth and the kids to think about Justin.”  Rick told him.

“I know, I know.”  Justin said sitting down again.  “God, the guys think…”

“What?”  Rick asked.

“We think it’s someone from inside.”  Justin said.

Rick licked his lips and nodded.

“Well, Chris and I found something.”  Justin said.  “But we can’t use it.”  

Rick nodded and knew exactly why.  Justin had a way of doing things that always got him in trouble.

“That’s why we got run over.”  Justin said.

“They are after you too.”  Rick said.  “You have to be careful if you are going to stay on the case.”

“Do you know anything else?”  Justin asked, watching his partner’s expression.

Rick shook his head.

“I would tell you, Justin.”  Rick assured him.

Justin nodded and hid away his feelings.  He was hurt.  He had known Rick long enough to know that his partner was lying to him.  He just hoped that Rick came to his senses soon enough and would tell him what he was hiding.