This story is dedicated to Wyndewalker, who said I could do it, and to Erika who MADE me do it. Thanks, ladies.

author's notes: I would like to thank the entire EBoS list, and especially Lumina~, MAC and PBS for getting me kickstarted on this fic. Your comments really helped. And if it weren't for the debauched/delicious inspiration of slashers everywhere, this would have never seen the light of day. Specifically, I... ah... borrowed the sponge thing from Aries (in the X-Files fandom). How could I pass up a wonderful idea like that?

The warehouse floor was silent. The perps were down, guns were holstered and the mixed group of ATF agents and uniforms from the PD were just about to begin mopping up. But no one was moving, rivetted by the drama unfolding in their midst.

In one of the glass-panelled offices, Team 7 was gathered. Every single agent in the warehouse had been waiting for the confrontation since Larabee's first "Goddamnit, Ezra!" resounded over the headsets. The mikes had been disconnected after that, but Team 7's formidable leader was vocal in his displeasure.

The combined taskforce has scrambled to the meet after word from Team 7 had the bust moving a full 24 hours ahead of schedule. Apparently, their pointman undercover agent Standish had called it in from a restaurant while having dinner with the gunrunner. Scuttlebutt said Phillips had managed the shipment early in good faith and wanted to surprise his dear friend Edward Sands with the early delivery. Being informed of the 'delightful occurence,' Standish had gone with Phillips to inspect the shipment, leaving the task force to scramble into position.

Despite a few hairy moments in the beginning, everything had gone like clockwork.

"--such a stupid stunt!"

The glass-walled office Team 7 had comandeered was hardly soundproofed and the various agents watched in no little awe as the most feared ATF agent tore strips off his errant undercover agent. A few were placing bets on when fists would fly. They were disappointed.

Larabee came storming out of the office with his 2IC right behind him. "Vin, take care of Ezra. I'm too angry to handle this right. The rest of us'll cover things here and meet up at the office for debrief tomorrow morning." As if noticing their rapt audience for the first time, Larabee's glare worsened. There was a flurry of activity as agents returned to their duties.

Vin put a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. "You take care of things here, Chris. Me and Ez'll have a nice long talk at the condo. I can handle him."

"You sure you okay with this, Vin?"

"Trust me, cowboy. Ezra's gonna be sorry about agreeing to the meet without backup. Real sorry."

The bleak look in his eyes told Chris a lot about what his friend was going through. He felt better immediately. If Vin couldn't get through to that stubborn Southerner, no one could.

Nathan finished his cursory examination of a reluctant Ezra and pronounced him fit to go home "As long as you don't move too fast for a few days."

Then he was bundled protesting into the passenger seat of the Jag with Vin behind the wheel. They were halfway across the city before a word was spoken between the two.

"Thank you, Mr Tanner, for getting me away from Mr Larabee's wrath." Ezra put his hand tentatively on Vin's hand on the gearshift.

The deep sigh worried him for a bit, but then Vin's hand twisted under his, twining their fingers together before raising it to his lips for a soft kiss.

"It's just us here, baby. We left Mr Tanner back at the warehouse."

Ezra flashed him a dimpled grin. "Indeed, Vin. I did not wish to presume."

"Ya never 'wish to presume,' Ez," Vin sighed. He pressed another kiss across the knuckle, placed the hand on his thigh and downshifted for the red light.

Knowing his lover needed to feel his presence, Ezra left his hand where it was. It was oddly soothing to know that Vin wanted to have him near enough to touch, especially after the tension of the past few hours.

"Everything turned out rather well, actually," Ezra expounded as they pulled into the garage. "Your timing was excellent, as always, and we've certainly locked down Phillips' entire operation."

"Ez, yer babblin'," Vin said shortly, cutting the engine and opening the door. "You stay put." He walked around the car to help his lover out of the passenger seat. "I already heard all your reasons for the way ya acted tonight, and none of it's helping. Now come on. I wanna wash the stink of today off."

Ezra swallowed his questions and followed his partner through the condo and into the bathroom. It was unlike Vin to be so short--closemouthed, yes, but never so hostile as he was tonight. It had been a bust practically by the numbers! They had time and place in advance, knew the location of every goon, had the entire shipment confiscated, enough evidence to destroy the organization and he'd only broken one of Mr Larabee's unreasonable dictums about back-up once. He'd done everything by the book, and even if he was alone at the dinner with Phillips, he was wired and backup was on the way. Why were they being so unreasonable about a job well done?

The rush of water echoing in the bathroom deafened him for a moment as Vin started to fill the giant bathtub with hot water. He suppressed the urge to fidget, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Was Vin mad? Should he back off, let him cool down?

"Vin, what do I--"

"Get outta that suit, Ez. We're gonna get clean and comfy and talk."

Ezra shed his clothes and slid into the rapidly filling tub with a sigh. When Vin snarled like that he really meant it. He sloshed forward to close the taps, then lay back in the embracing warmth.

"Are you joining me in the bath, love?" he asked as Vin busied himself lighting his favorite scented candles and dimming the lights.

"You just relax there for a sec, I forgot something in the bedroom. I'll be right back."

The hot water was soothing his aching muscles. He'd wrenched his back ducking bullets in the warehouse and he hoped that he could ask for a massage after their talk. He closed his eyes, luxuriating in the delicious heat.

"Move up a bit, baby," Vin asked.

He didn't bother opening his eyes but shifted forward to let his lover in behind him. With a happy wiggle, he settled in against Vin and handed over the soapy washcloth. There was a tiny clink as something was dropped on the tile beside the tub, but he paid it no heed as Vin began to wash him.

He concentrated on bathing his lover. He could feel tension seeping out of Ezra's body as he soaped and tenderly washed every inch of his body. Vin pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

"Don't ever do that again," he growled into Ezra's ear. "That was stupid and dangerous."

"But Vin," Ezra protested, leaning back against his lover, "it was too close! Phillips wanted to have a celebratory dinner for tomorrow's shipment. I certainly could not refuse. And when he announced he'd managed the delivery early, I didn't have any reason to delay him."

"But nothing!" Vin snapped. "You had the time to leave a message. You had the time to wait for your bodyguard to join you. Hell, your bodyguard should have been at the restaurant!" He buried his face against the side of Ezra's neck, hugging him with desperate strength. "Was stupid to go under without backup, with the bust scheduled for tomorrow no less! Did you even think about what we would think, how we'd feel?"

The tiny headshake 'no' nearly broke his heart. He began a gentle hand massage, pressing firmly at all the tension spots on his lover's palms. "You're part of a team now, Ez. It's like you don't trust us."

"I do! I do trust you all!" Ezra cried brokenly. He squirmed around in his arms until they were face to face, pressed up against each other in the tub. "It's how I knew I would be safe--my backup was coming and all I had to do was play for time. You came and we got him."

"Wrong, babe." Vin softened his statement with a kiss. "You trust us for the simple stuff. Us scrambling to make your meeting point before you'd been there too long? No problem. That's our job, lover. We'd never leave you to face a perp alone." He drew a deep breath and framed Ezra's face with his hands, forcing him to look into his eyes. "What hurts the team, hurts me is that you never thought about what could happen to you. You don't care about yourself, and that scares the hell outta me."

"But... the risks were minimal and the odds in our favor!" Ezra said earnestly. "Phillips had gone to the restaurant with no bodyguard--how could I insult my host by insisting that I bring my own? I was in no real danger, Vin." He leaned in for a deep kiss. "And I made sure to leave a message so you'd know where I was. Believe me, I would never have gone to the restaurant alone if I felt my cover was in any great danger."

Vin sighed and pulled him closer. "Ez, what would it take ya to understand that ANY danger ain't acceptable to me?"

"Calculated risk is what this job is all about, love," Ezra pointed out calmly. "I know you worry about me, but you can't wrap me up and stick me in a bunker somewhere to keep me safe."

"Know that, Ez. Know that sometimes my watchin' over ya sticks in your craw, but I know when ta stand back and let ya do your job. It hurts ta let you out there, but I know it would kill you to back off and let some slime walk 'cause you weren't there to finesse the deal."

He took a deep breath and put a finger to his lover's lips to stifle his protest. "My lover's the best undercover agent in the damn country, and I know he needs to do his job. But my lover seems to forget that I need to do my job too, and my job's to keep him safe." He brushed his thumb over the Southerner's lips. "I'm not askin' you to quit, or take a desk job, or stop the undercover work. I'm just askin' that you remember what you're worth to me and promise me, promise me, that you will never walk into a meet with the bad guys without backup."

Without waiting for a reply, he gathered up Ezra for a kiss, first nibbling at the lush lower lip before teasing his mouth open and sweeping his tongue in to taste his lover. Not breaking the kiss, Vin maneuvered him up against the side of the bathtub, locking him in place with his body before releasing his mouth. He trailed kisses down his jaw and neck, pausing a long moment to suck a love-bite high on Ezra's neck where only a turtleneck could hide it.

"Oh god, Vin--you--that's--"

"You're mine Ezra, and don't forget it!" Vin growled before savagely kissing him again. "Your life is mine and I won't have you risking it for some fucking job."

Ezra made mewling sounds of pleasure, but couldn't manage to string words together. Vin pulled loose the hands tangled in his hair and put them on the edge of the bathtub. "Don't move. I want your hands right there until I say you can move 'em."

His knuckles tight with strain, Ezra nodded agreement. When Vin gently bit his left nipple, he sobbed, the tiny pain feeding the pleasure. Vin's hand rose to treat his right nipple to similar torture, even as he cupped his other hand around his lover's balls, fondling them gently.

Unprompted, Ezra raised his leg, resting it against the bath rails, opening up for more sensation, more pleasure, just more. "Vin, please! Touch me!" he cried.

"Good idea, Ez," Vin smiled, pulling away from his swollen nipple, "but not yet. Now hush. I'm busy with something here." He continued teasing his lover's nipples with teeth and tongue, but abandoned his balls to rub his finger over the tiny opening of Ezra's body. Relaxed by the warmth and buoyed by the water, his finger pushed into the tight sheath with no trouble. The hitch in the Southerner's breathing was a good sign, but the moan when he slipped out again was better.

"There's something missing here," Vin announced to his lover. Ezra blinked open hugely dilated eyes, staring at his mouth hungrily. "I need you to pay attention to what I'm saying here, Ez." He busied himself with something on the floor beside the tub and came up with a pair of clamps. "Since I can't give these--" he scraped a fingernail across the hardened tip of the Southerner's nipple, prompting a gasping sob, "--the attention they deserve, I'm gonna use the clamps and move on to--" He pressed forward with his knee against Ezra's hard cock to underline his meaning, "--bigger things."

"Vin, no--not the...please, it's too much..."

Ezra's voice trailed off to a moan as first one, then the second clamp was screwed onto his sensitized nipples. He arched helplessly into his lover's leg, trying to get more friction on his burning erection without success. Vin kissed him deeply once more and pulled away. "I told you not to move, Ezra. Now, just one more thing and we can talk."

Taking the soft sea sponge, Vin began rubbing light circles up and down the exposed inner thighs of his lover. Resting the upthrust leg against his shoulder for more leverage, he slowly stroked the sponge against Ezra's hardened length while he resumed playing with his balls. The Southerner couldn't stop moaning, and overcome, arched once more into his lover's touch.

"Nuh-uh, Ez. Stop moving or you're gonna be in for it."

With a sob and a final aborted thrust, Ezra stilled beneath him. Vin studied his lover, idly rubbing the pinched nipples. He wasn't close enough to the edge yet.

"That's good, baby. Now relax a little for me, please?"

If anything, Ezra's cock became harder when he pressed a finger against the tight ring of muscle that guarded his lover's opening. Slowly, Vin eased into him, ignoring the whimpers as he continued to stroke his erection with the sponge.

"More!" the Southerner demanded.

Two fingers now; he made sure to brush past the prostate every time he twisted inside. Ezra was moaning now, grinding down onto his fingers and up into the sponge, water splashing over the edge of the tub in little waves.

"Another!" Ezra sobbed. "More, please...."

He had to stop several times to prevent himself from coming at the sight of his beautiful lover stretched open before him, nipples an angry red, kiss-swollen lips and steely erection and hands closing convulsively on the edge of the bathtub, desperately holding on.

Finally, he slipped a third finger in. Ezra had moved beyond whimpers into an open-mouthed panting for air. When Vin dropped the sponge to rub a thumb against the exposed head of his cock, the Southerner screamed, every muscle straining with the need to come.

"Okay Ez, I think I got your attention now."

Ezra whimpered, "...let me come, please let me come..."

"Not yet, baby. We haven't finished talking yet."

"Vin, please..."

"Just that there's a problem, lover. I can talk till I'm blue in the face and it won't matter much. You don't believe words. Can't say as I blame you, since you can make 'em mean pretty much anything you want. If I tell you 'I love you,' you parrot them back like some sorta formula." Tenderly, Vin pressed a kiss to his forehead. "If I say 'You're my life,' it doesn't mean anything to you beyond pretty words."

"But you are my life! I do love you," Ezra moaned.

"I know you mean it, but not because you said it. Every morning we wake up together, I hear 'I love you.' Every time you walk into my arms, I hear it. Words can lie, Ez, but not your body. When we're like this," Vin twisted his wrist, earning a gasped curse and an enticing wiggle, "I know that everything you say is the plain truth. Just like I know that you believe I love you because I go home with you every day, because I'm still with you every night, six months after I tackled you inta bed."

Leaning over slightly, Vin sank his teeth into the fleshy part of the shoulder, worrying at it a bit to make sure the bruise would last. "Ya still with me, Ez?"

"Yes," he whimpered helplessly, "please Vin..."

"Yer not allowed to come yet." Vin cautioned, then released his lover's cock and flicked one of the nipple clamps before loosening it. "What was I saying?"

"Body...can't...lie..." Ezra gasped out, riding the fiery pleasure as one clamp was released and his nipple soothed with a warm tongue.

Vin drew back to admire the puffy tip and moved to release the other, drawing it into his mouth to taste it. "What else?"

"Believe...I...love...YOU!" he shrieked, every muscle trembling, his cock twitching against his lover's hip.

Again, Vin held off the explosion. "You ain't gonna come yet, baby. Not until I say so." He set about creating another love bite at the hollow of his throat.

"What do you want?" Ezra moaned, fighting clear of the haze of desire that burned in his body.

"Your word." Vin began scissoring his fingers, opening his lover further.

Each finger swept relentlessly against his prostate. The pleasure seared through Ezra, dragging a whimper from his heart. "Anything, Vin. Anything...yours..."

"You saying that you're mine?"

One slow pull drew his fingers out of the Southerner and the stretched hole spasmed. "...lord, yessss..."

"You know I love you."

"I...love...you," he sobbed in reply, "...please..."

"You're the most important person in my life." Vin shifted to slowly push his cock into the welcoming heat of his lover. He had to fight not to come, pausing every inch to hold himself in check. Ezra wailed and wrapped his leg around him, trying to pull him in deeper.

"Yes."

Unerringly, the sharpshooter rubbed lightly across the tiny nub inside his lover, following the resultant thrust of Ezra's hips with a steady stroking of his cock. "You're gonna safeguard your life as if you were watching out for me."

"Always..."

When he was balls-deep into his lover, he stopped. Very slowly he began to pull out, then rammed back into the Southerner, ribbons of electricity jolting the pleasure higher.

"You're gonna keep yourself safe," he gasped, bucking again. "You ain't goin' anywhere without backup again!"

"Yes!" Ezra shrieked. "God, yes! I love you, Vin, let me come!"

"Say...the...words..." Vin moaned, underlining each word with a thrust of his hips.

"I will always bring backup!" he moaned, then cried out in relief as the uneven strokes to his cock smoothed out, became a perfect counterpoint to the wonderful thrusts of his lover.

"Thank you, Ez. I love you so--" his words cut out as fireworks exploded behind Vin's eyes. In his arms, Ezra shuddered once and came.

"Ez, you alright?" he asked as soon as bleary green eyes fluttered open.

A glorious smile was his answer. "Ah have nevah been bettah, my love."

That Southern drawl always got more pronounced just after Ezra came. It did delicious things to Vin's nerve endings, and he indulged himself with stealing a kiss.

"Ah could have sworn Ah was just in the bathtub," Ezra muttered, studying the trail of towels on the floor and the cocoon of blankets that surrounded them.

"Didn't think you'd 'preciate drowning so I got us into bed," Vin laughed, tucking the comforter in more securely. "You were walkin', but not much else."

"The rest of me was in Heaven," Ezra pointed out, delighting in the blush that stole over his lover. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, baby. Ain't you forgetting something?"

The Southerner sighed and recited dutifully, "I will always bring backup when meeting the 'bad guys,' as you so quaintly put it."

"Thanks Ez."

They stayed quiet for a while, spooned together in their bed. "What happens tomorrow?" Ezra finally asked.

"Tomorrow, we're going to the office. You're gonna apologize ta the guys for the restaurant."

A sleepy sigh. "I can do that."

"I'm gonna recommend that you get two days suspension for disobeying ATF procedures."

"What?" Ezra choked out. "But--"

"Hush. I'm also gonna recommend the Team gets two days mandatory leave. We've got overtime to spare."

"I...see."

"Reckon ya do at that. We've got a couple of other things ta discuss."

The End?