*************************************************

Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont looked up as the sound of loud, angry voices penetrated into her office. She recognized the voices immediately... Lundy and LaFiamma. With a sigh she leaned forward and rested her forehead on the folder she had been reading, muttering softly, "Not again... already. It hasn't been a week...."

She waited a minute. [Maybe it'll blow over.]

The voices grew louder and there was a crash as if someone had knocked something heavy over.

[And maybe not.] She raised her head and stood, shoving her chair back with an angry push. She stalked around the desk and stormed out of the office.

Lundy and LaFiamma were in the middle of the bullpen, glaring at each other, both pulling against the officers holding them.

Nate Holiday, Carol O'Brian and Esteban Guiterrez had Lundy's arms, holding him back.

Joe Bill McCandless, Sutton and Lipscomb were hanging on LaFiamma and he was still making forward progress towards Lundy dragging the entire lot with him. His voice was filled with fury as he snarled, "I've had it with you, Lundy. You throw that up at me one more time and I'm gonna pound you inta the ground!"

"What *is* going on here!?" Beaumont stalked up to the group, her eyes flashing.

Lundy shrugged loose from Carol, Nate, and Esteban. "Nothin'," he snapped.

"It doesn't sound like nothing to me," She turned on LaFiamma. "Joe?"

He settled back, stopped moving forward and the three men still clinging to him eased up on their grips. He shrugged loose from them and gave Lundy a long dark look.

Lundy stared back at him.

After a beat Joe took a deep breath and ducked his head, looking at the floor, "Nothing, lieutenant," he said flatly, but he wouldn't look at her.

She didn't believe either of them. Taking a deep breath of her own, she said, "Fine. If it's nothing, then I won't be hearing any more about it... will I?" Her voice was hard.

Neither man said anything. "Will I?" She demanded again.

"No, lieutenant." Joe said softly.

"Levon?" She glared at her old partner, noting the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth where Joe had busted his lip before the others had gotten between them.

He stared at LaFiamma for a long moment, his mouth a hard flat line. Then in a clipped voice he said, "Ya won't hear no more."

"Good." She looked around at the other officers, "Show's over. Get back to work."

Her face was grim as she returned to her office. The two men were the best detectives that she had but even after nearly two and a half years as partners, they continued to have problems working together. This was far from the first time that one of their quarrels had erupted into violence.

She sat down at the desk and rubbed her temples, thinking back. Joe and Levon had had their first fight, a knockdown, drag-out brawl, at Mickey Gilley's bar the first night Joe was in Houston. Their second was in the police parking-garage, after Joe wrecked Levon's Jeep in what had to be the stupidest accident she'd ever heard of.

There had been several incidents since then, major enough to get her attention... major enough have the deputy chief suggest that it might be best to separate them. But when she'd told them she was reassigning them... they had had a fit, so she had let them stay partners and somehow, in spite of all the yelling and the fighting, they had managed to solved some of the most difficult cases the MCU had had to deal with.

[They've never really hurt each other. A black eye... a bloody nose... a busted lip, nothing more serious....]

She rubbed her temples again. Hopefully it would blow over like all the other times.

The two men spent the rest of the day at their desks, working on case files, doing paperwork, barely speaking to each other. At the end of the shift they got up, glared at each other and walked out of the bullpen, side by side.

Joanne watched them go and sighed, shaking her head. [Still mad but walking shoulder to shoulder, anyhow.] She would give a lot to understand their relationship.

*************************************************

They walked in silence until they reached their vehicles.

Several of the other detectives, who were on their way home too, watched them as they separated, Lundy moving to his Jimmy, LaFiamma to his car.

As Lundy opened his door he looked over at LaFiamma, "Ya still comin' out?"

LaFiamma shrugged, "I said I'd help fix the damn fence." He looked at his watch. "Five okay?"

Lundy nodded. "Gotta stop and get the posts."

Then they were in their separate vehicles and gone.

Nate and Carol shook their heads as they watched them pull out. Nate smiled at Carol, "You want to stop at Chicken's for some supper?"

She smiled back, "Sure."

Carol liked Nate. She knew she shouldn't think about dating her partner but lately he'd seemed to want to be 'more than friends' and frankly she wouldn't mind being 'more than friends' with him.

*************************************************

It was just after midnight when Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont received a call from dispatch informing her that 911 had received a call from one of her officer's home address. Lundy was on his way to the emergency room at the Medical Center. They had no information concerning his condition or what had happened.

Fear gripped her as she dressed as quickly as possible and drove to the hospital.

Hurrying in through the emergency room entrance, she flashed her badge at the emergency room clerk, "I'm Lieutenant Beaumont. I understand that you have one of my people here. Sergeant Levon Lundy."

"Yes, Ma'am." The Clerk pointed towards one of the treatment rooms. "Room four. The doctor's with him now."

She moved to the open door of the treatment room, dreading what she might see.

The doctor was leaning over Levon, shaking his head as he spoke softly to the nurse. Looking up he saw her, "Are you the next of kin?"

"I'm his supervisor, Lieutenant Beaumont. There's no family in Houston."

The doctor nodded and jerked his head for her to step inside. "I'm Doctor Ryland. Sergeant Lundy has been severely beaten. He was unconscious when brought in and has not regained consciousness. He has numerous contusions, his jaw is badly bruised and his nose is broken. He has two broken ribs and several more bruised. His left forearm is broken. He has a concussion and we suspect a sub-dermal hematoma. We need permission to operate."

She took a deep breath, and nodded, "You have it."

He turned back to the nurses, "Prep him for surgery. I'll notify the surgeon that we have permission."

She stepped back outside to the desk as they began the preparations. Walking over to the desk she asked the clerk, "Are the medics that brought him in still here?"

"Yes, Ma'am. They went to the cafeteria to get some coffee."

She nodded and headed for the cafeteria, thinking with a sigh that she knew her way around every hospital in Houston all too well.

The two paramedics were sitting at a table in the almost empty dining room. There was nothing available at this time of night except coffee, drinks and snacks in the vending machines.

She introduced herself and sat down. Getting right to the point she said, "Was Sergeant Lundy conscious when you arrived?"

"He was drifting in and out. He took a hell of a beatin'." The taller of the two men, who had introduced himself as Ben Conley said.

"Yeah," his younger, shorter partner, Andy McMillan agreed.

"Did he say anything at all that might give us a clue who did this? A name? Anything?"

They exchanged looks then Ben said, "He was pretty much out of it. He did say the name 'Joe' but whether it was the name of the guy that beat him... I really couldn't tell."

"He said, 'No'... a couple of times... once he said, 'No... Joe'. But as out of it as he was..."

"I understand." She swallowed hard as she stood up. It might not mean anything... but Joe and Levon had had a fight just hours before... and Joe had threatened Levon.

She didn't want to leave until she knew how Levon was but she had a job to do too. She thought about it a long moment then went back to the emergency room desk. She told the clerk that she had to leave but that she could be reached through HPD dispatch and gave her the emergency contact number.

Back in her car she called dispatch and told them to contact her immediately, if the hospital called. Then she told them to send a crime scene team to Lundy's.

Hanging up the radio handset, she headed for Joe's apartment.

She pounded on the door for several minutes before she heard Joe grumbling as he came to open it.

She heard the chain come off and the locks click open.

As he yanked the door open he was saying, "Dammit, Lundy... wha---" he broke off as he saw her. "Lieutenant? What're you doing here?"

She regarded him a long minute, before she spoke, "You were expecting Lundy?"

He shrugged as he turned to walk a few steps back into the apartment, "Well... uh... yeah, at this time a night... it's usually him. I don't get many visitors at this time of night..." he trailed off, giving her a 'so, what do you want' look.

She stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind her and turning on the overhead light.

Joe winced at the light and blinked a couple of times.

"Let me see your hands." She ordered.

"What?"

"Let me see your hands."

He glared at her but obediently held out his hands, palms up.

She took them and looked at the palms then turned them over to look at the backs. She rubbed her thumb across a skinned knuckle. "How'd you do this?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh, "I busted Lundy's lip... in the bullpen... this afternoon--" he broke off, looking at the clock on the wall, "excuse me, yesterday afternoon... remember?"

"I remember. I also remember that you threatened him..."

Joe stared at her, as it dawned on him that something had happened, probably to Lundy. "Lieutenant, I think you'd better tell me what this is about."

"Lundy is in the hospital... in emergency surgery. He was badly beaten... very badly... somebody... how did you put it? 'Pounded him into the ground'."

"And you think that someone was me?" His voice was angry and hurt, "Well, it wasn't!" He took a deep breath, "Am I under arrest? Do I need a lawyer? Huh?" He stepped towards her, anger flaring in his eyes.

She stepped back.

He stopped, standing stone still. His face went blank, unreadable, then he turned and went up the spiral staircase to his bedroom.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Getting dressed. If I'm not under arrest, I'm going to the hospital."

"That might not be a good idea, Joe."

He stopped at the head of the stairs, turning back to look at her. "My partner is in the hospital. I'm gonna be there."

"Joe, I don't think you are the one that beat him... but there will be an investigation and you did threaten him. Everyone in the bullpen heard you... and the only words that Lundy said, after the paramedics got to him, was your name and the word 'no'. There are going to be people who will believe that you did it."

"I don't care what anybody thinks. I didn't do it and I'm going to the hospital." He turned away. The subject was clearly closed as far as he was concerned.

*************************************************

Lundy was still in surgery when they arrived. McCandless and Guiterrez were already there. Obviously word had filtered through the grapevine about Lundy's injury.

McCandless glared at LaFiamma. "What's he doing here?" He addressed the question to Beaumont. Apparently he had it figured that LaFiamma had carried through on his threat from the bullpen.

Joe stepped forward challengingly, "My partner's here. I'm here."

"Yeah, well, I figure maybe you're the one that put him here!" Joe Bill snarled.

"Enough!" Beaumont snapped, stepping between them. "At this time, we don't know who did this. There will be an investigation but until we know more, no accusations will be made. Joe has as much right to be here as anyone. When Levon wakes up, he'll tell us who attacked him." She tried to sound more certain than she was. It was possible that Levon would not wake up.

"If he wakes up..." McCandless muttered, darkly.

"He'll wake up...." Joe said firmly, "and when he does, he'll tell you that I didn't do this!" He turned away and stalked over to the window to stare out it at the darkness.

Beaumont dropped into a chair and prepared to wait.

Over the next few hours other officers dropped in, some staying, other's not. Gradually it became obvious that there were two groups forming. Beaumont watched it with misgivings.

McCandless was joined by Sutton and Lipscomb. All of them were casting dark looks at Joe.

Guiterrez had moved somewhat away from them but had not joined Joe on his side of the waiting area.

Carol and Nate had stopped in briefly, speaking quietly to Joe but not staying with him.

Joanne hoped that Levon would be all right and that would he wake up soon... the last thing that she needed now was to have her department split in half over this.

It was several hours later that the doctor arrived to speak to them.

"Lieutenant Beaumont?" he asked quietly.

She rose, "I'm Beaumont."

"Sergeant Lundy is still in critical condition. We had to drill a burr hole to relieve the pressure on his brain. We set the arm. Fortunately none of the broken ribs punctured a lung. He's in recovery but it'll be some time before he's awake."

"When can I see him?" She asked.

"We'll keep him out at least twenty four hours. I'd rather no visitors until then."

She nodded, then said, "I'm assigning a guard to be outside his room, until we catch whoever did this."

She turned back, to the others, noting the dark looks they continued to give LaFiamma. "There's nothing we can do here, people." She said, firmly. "I need you on the job. Go home... catch a few hours sleep and be at work on time."

She turned to face Joe. "That goes for you too, Joe."

He nodded but turned back to stare out the window, making no move to leave.

"Joe," she said quietly, "You rode with me. I'm leaving. Now."

There was no response.

Guiterrez stood up, "Lieutenant," he smiled at her, "I will see that LaFiamma gets home..." he gave a pointed look at the other detectives and added, "safely."

Joe turned to look at him then at the other men. He nodded slightly, a grim smile on his face.

She turned to the others, "Let's go. Now." It was an order. She waited until the three detectives started down the hallway then followed them. She stayed with them all the way to the parking lot and watched as they got into their vehicles and left. She could only hope that they wouldn't go to Joe's and wait for him... or circle back to the hospital to ambush him.

She couldn't help thinking that it was a sad day when she had to worry about one of her detectives being attacked by another of her detectives.

*************************************************

Guiterrez stepped closer to LaFiamma, "We have to go, amigo. You will only get an hour or so of sleep as is."

LaFiamma turned to look at him, grief and pain in his eyes, "I don't think I can sleep, Esteban. You go on."

"No. I will not leave you here alone. I do not think it is wise. I will take you to my place. You can rest there and I will drive you to work."

Joe hesitated then nodded. "Okay." He followed Esteban out, walking head down, shoulders slumped, hands in pockets.

He climbed into the battered pickup and sat slouched against the door, dejected.

When they reached Esteban's small apartment, he climbed out and followed the ex-Matamoras cop in.

If anything, the apartment was smaller than Joe's but just as neat.

Esteban went into the tiny kitchen to make coffee.

Joe followed and sat heavily in one of the two chairs at the small table, not speaking.

When the coffee was ready, Esteban poured two cups and handed LaFiamma one as he sat down in the chair opposite.

Joe muttered, "Thanks."

"You are welcome, my friend."

Joe looked up at the words, searching Esteban's face, for what he wasn't sure.

"You are my friend, LaFiamma... as is Lundy. I think we need to talk." He hesitated. "I know you did not do this thing. I know why you could not."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked warily.

"I know about you and Lundy... about your personal relationship."

Joe started to stand, shaking his head, "No... no... I don't know wha---"

"LaFiamma," Esteban rose placing a hand on Joe's shoulder, easing him back into his seat, "do not try to deny what I saw with my own eyes, what I heard with my own ears."

"Oh, God!" Joe face had gone pale.

"Do not worry, Amigo. I have not told anyone... I do not have the right. You have... how do you say? A very good poker face? But I know that you are hurting... to love someone... to be accused of injuring them... and to not be able to be with them.... I can not imagine how much this must hurt you."

Joe's hands were shaking and he gripped the coffee cup tighter in an effort to stop them. Tears welled in his eyes, threatening to fall. He blinked them back. "How did you know? We've been so careful... did I do something... say something? Lundy'll kill me if I gave us away... he... he doesn't want anybody to know...."

"No. It was not anything you did or said... in public. I... I stayed at Lundy's remember? Before I got this place. I..." he stopped and took a deep breath before plunging on. "One day after I began working at HPD, before I moved out from Lundy's, I had to work and he was off. He had said that he was going to work on his fence and I thought it would be nice to surprise him and bring him lunch when I went to eat. When I arrived, your car was there, but neither of you were any where in sight. I went up on the porch and opened the door. He had told me to treat the place like it was my own. I was about to call out to Lundy when I heard--" He broke off taking another deep breath.

"We were in bed." Joe's voice was flat, dead.

"Si. There is no mistaking the sounds of passion that came form his bedroom. At first I am confused... I think perhaps Lundy has a woman in there, then he cries out your name and I hear your voice moaning his name in response. Then there is silence. I decide that this is not a good time for me to be there and I leave as quietly as I can. I put the truck in neutral, giving it a push to get it moving. I let it coast down the drive until I am far enough from the house that if you hear it crank you can not be sure that the sound came from the driveway and not the road."

He looked at Joe, his face and voice sincere as he assures him, "I have never spoken of this to anyone, before now."

Joe looked up at him, "You said that you know I love him... all that told you was that we had sex..."

"Si... but knowing that opened my eyes to see how you look at him when you think no one is watching... how in everything except where it concerns your work, you yield to him. He decides where you eat. He decides what you listen to on the radio... Off the job you always let him have his way. For him it may just be sex... but not for you, my friend. You love him."

"Yeah," Joe's voice was hoarse with unshed tears, "I love him." The tears broke loose, sliding silently down his face.

Esteban rose and moved to stand beside LaFiamma, reaching out to smooth the dark hair back from the other man's face. "You should rest. This is will only get more difficult for you... until Lundy awakens and can tell everyone that it was not you that beat him. Come. You can sleep on my bed. I do not need the rest as badly as you do."

He helped Joe to his feet and guided him to the double bed in the small bedroom of the apartment. "Give me your guns. I will hang them here." He gestured at the chair near the bed.

Joe nodded and shrugged out of the shoulder harness. He slipped off his shoes and lay back on the bed.

Esteban pulled the colorful afghan up from the foot of the bed to cover him and reached down to smooth the dark hair back from his face. "Sleep. I will call Beaumont and tell her that you are not up to coming in now and that I am going to stay with you."

Esteban went into the living room of the small apartment and picking up the phone there dialed Reisner.

He asked for Beaumont and moments later she was on the line.

As soon as she heard who it was she demanded to know why he hadn't come in to work.

"Lieutenant, I am very sorry but I brought LaFiamma to my place. I did not think it wise to take him to his apartment just now. He was most upset. I only just now managed to get him to lie down and go to sleep. I do not think that it is good to leave him alone... I thought that perhaps you would give him... and myself the day off?" His voice trailed off in to a hopeful question.

She thought about it for a long moment. Internal Affairs would want to question Joe. It was well known that he'd quarreled with Lundy in the bullpen just hours before the assault... and speculation was running wild about his involvement in the attack. There were plenty of people who would be glad to tell IA all about his and Lundy's volatile relationship. Joe needed to have himself together when he faced the interrogation.

"Very well, Esteban... but you see to it that he's here first thing in the morning." She told him and hung up the phone.

Looking up she saw Grayson coming into the bullpen. "Damn."

She rose from her desk and went out to see him. "Lieutenant Grayson, perhaps I could see you in my office." It wasn't really a request and he knew it. She turned back and held the door open for him, closing it behind him when he came in.

She gestured to the chair, "Have a seat." She sat down behind the desk and leaned forward clasping her hands. "I can guess what you are here about."

"IA is looking into the assault on Sergeant Lundy. Several people have mentioned an altercation that he had with Sergeant LaFiamma yesterday afternoon... not all that long before he was attacked."

"There was an incident... but that isn't all that unusual with Joe and Levon. They have a volatile relationship... but neither of them has ever hurt the other seriously."

"At least not until now..."

"I picked Joe up at his apartment shortly after Levon was taken to the hospital. He had been asleep. When he answered the door he assumed it was Lundy knocking, saying quote, 'Dammit, Lundy, what...' unquote, before he saw me and broke off. I checked his hands. He had one skinned knuckle, which he reminded me he had gotten when he struck Lundy during their previous altercation. He was dressed only in a pair of pajama bottoms, no shirt. He had no bruises or contusions that would indicate that he had been in a fight. I saw Lundy's hands at the hospital. His knuckles were skinned. I'd say he got in a couple of good punches before he went down."

Grayson nodded, he'd taken out his notebook and made some notes while she talked. "So, it's your opinion that in spite of the fight in the bullpen yesterday, LaFiamma was not involved in the assault?"

"Yes." She hesitated a moment before going on. "It's difficult to explain the relationship between them. They can fight one minute and be very protective of each other the next. I just can't see either of them seriously hurting the other."

"It's been suggested that Lundy might have made a pass at LaFiamma..."

"Where on earth did you hear that?!"

"Where I heard it is not important. The question is; is it possible that Lundy would be interested in LaFiamma that way? If so, then that could be a motive for the assault. How do you think LaFiamma would react to such an advance from Lundy?"

"Joe's never shown any sign of being homophobic. We've had cases involving gay men and Joe has always treated them just like any one else."

"But they weren't hitting on him."

Beaumont chuckled, "Actually some of them did. There was one in particular... Lundy thought it was a howl... the guy went so far as to send Joe flowers. Really persued him. Joe just firmly but politely told the guy repeatedly that he was not interested until the guy finally gave up."

"You haven't answered the primary question. Might Lundy be interested in LaFiamma in that way?"

Joanne Beaumont sighed. She was very protective of her people but she knew that he would only find the information he was seeking elsewhere and if she lied about it, then he would assume she might lie about other things as well. Taking a deep breath she said, "It's not common knowledge but Levon is... bisexual. He has had relationships with men in the past."

"Men? Plural?"

She tightened her lips but then nodded, "Yes, plural."

"I'll need to question LaFiamma. He's not here... is he?"

"No. He asked for the day off."

"I see."

"Do you? He was very upset about his partner's injury and by some people's assumption that he was involved."

"It does look as if he's hiding out though..."

"Joe has had problems with several of the other detectives in the past. They want to blame him for this. There were some harsh words at the hospital. I was concerned... for Joe. I thought it might be best if he were to not come in today. Let things cool down a bit... Perhaps by tomorrow Levon will be conscious and this will all be unnecessary."

"Perhaps." Grayson flipped his notebook closed. "I'll be checking with the hospital. Getting a complete listing of Lundy's injuries. Taking the EMT's statements. I'll also be checking out the crime scene. If Lundy is not conscious by morning I *will* interview LaFiamma. Make sure he's here." He rose and went out into the bullpen.

He interviewed several of the officers who had been present during the previous day's altercation between Lundy and LaFiamma.

Shortly after he left the MCU, Annie tapped on Joanne's door and when it was opened rolled her chair in then nodded to Joanne to close the door back. She held out a folder to her lieutenant. "I thought you might find this interesting."

"The Crime Scene report... from Lundy's?" Beaumont flipped through the pages. After a minute she shook her head. "I'm not sure what you're seeing here, Annie."

The red-haired forensics expert took her glasses off letting them hang by the chain around her neck. "It's not so much what's *there*, Joanne as what's *where*."

Beaumont still looked puzzled.

"Joe keeps clothes at Levon's presumably so that he can change there if need be. Both he and Levon have been known to stay over at the other's place from time to time. So, you'd expect Joe to have some clothes at Levon's... but the whole back bedroom closet is full of Joe's clothes, as is the dresser in that room. However there is no sign of anyone using the guest bathroom. Then there is the fact that there are two toothbrushes and two razors in the master bathroom. One of each of those is electric...."

"... And we both know that Levon wouldn't touch an electric razor or an electric toothbrush...." Joanne finished.

"But Joe would."

"What else?"

"Fingerprints. Again you'd expect them to be there... but not where they are. Joe's prints *are* in the back bedroom around the closet and the dresser with his clothes... *but* there's not nearly enough on the bed or the nightstand for him to be sleeping there. On the other hand... his prints are all over *Levon's* bedroom. On the headboard of the bed... on the night stand... on the tube of lube and the, um... large economy size package of condoms that was in the nightstand...."

"Oh, my God!" Joanne Beaumont gasped. "Joe...? And Levon? Sleeping together?"

"They *don't* seem a likely couple... but... the distribution of the prints is pretty clear. There was a used condom in the trash can... I'm having it run through DNA testing now. If it's Joe's, that will cinch it. If it's Levon's well...."

"There's still the fingerprints for them to explain away." Beaumont turned and sat down heavily in the chair behind her desk. "My two best detectives... if it comes out that they've been sleeping together, it'll cause a scandal. At the very least I'll have to separate them... at worst... I could lose them both...."

"Not to mention that this could seem to give Joe a motive beyond the fight. It could be construed that they took the quarrel home with them. Domestic violence isn't limited to male-female relationships."

"I can't believe... I won't believe that Joe did this! Annie, surely you don't think...?"

"No. Joey could never do something like this. Get in a fight, yes. But to beat someone... anyone... the way that Levon was beaten... never. Not Joey." She paused then added, "We did get two sets of prints that haven't been identified yet. Both male. Depending on who they belong to that could help Joey."

"All right. I need to see Joe. Find out what actually happened last night. He's at Gutierrez's. I'm going over there. You're in charge here till I get back."

*************************************************

Joanne Beaumont decided to stop and get lunch on the way to Esteban Gutierrez's apartment. It would give her time to organize her thoughts and get used to the idea that Joe and Levon could be... almost certainly were... lovers... or at least sex partners.

That was at least part of the question, wasn't it? Were they lovers or just casual sex partners? She knew that always before it had been casual with Levon. He'd been with men both before he'd married Caroline and after her death but he'd loved his wife and as far as Joanne knew, had never cheated on Caroline while they were married.

It was afternoon when she parked in front of the apartment building and went up to knock on Esteban's door. Joe should have had several hours of sleep and be up to answering some questions.

Esteban opened the door. "Lieutenant? I was not expecting you."

"I need to talk to Joe. He is still here?"

"Si... but he's still asleep..."

"Wake him up. It's important."

"Lieutenant?"

They both turned to see Joe standing in the doorway of Esteban's bedroom, barefooted and rumpled. He rubbed at his face.

"What's wrong? Is Levon worse?"

"No... no... Levon's doing okay. I called the hospital before I left the station. He's still not conscious but he's stable."

"Then what...?"

"I got the crime scene report from Annie. I need to ask you a couple of questions."

Joe looked at her warily, then said, "O...kay."

"Maybe we could sit down..." she gestured to the battered couch and chair that took up about half of the living room.

Joe nodded and walked over and sat down.

Esteban stood nervously nearby, "Perhaps, you'd like some coffee, lieutenant?"

She shook her head, "No, thank you."

"Joe?"

"Yeah... thanks, Esteban. I could use some."

As Esteban went to fix the coffee, Beaumont began, "Let me get right to the point, Joe. First, I don't think that you did this... but you are going to have to answer some questions and those questions could be... embarrassing... to you and to the department."

"To the department? Lieutenant--"

"Joe. Listen to me. I need you to tell me exactly what happened last night if I'm going to be able to help you... and Levon."

"What are you talking about?"

"Joe. Your fingerprints are all over Lundy's house. Not just where they could be expected to be but in places they shouldn't be..."

"Lieutenant--" He began to protest again.

She held up her hand. "Joe, your prints were on a box of condoms in the nightstand beside Lundy's bed. IA is going to want to know what they are doing there."

Joe shook his head, "Uh... I just... uh..."

"Your handprints were on the headboard of his bed, Joe. Like this." She held out her hands palms down about shoulder width apart and closed like they were gripping something.

He fell back against the back of the couch and dropped his head back staring at the ceiling, reaching up to rub his face again.

"There was a used condom in the trash can. If it's yours, I need to know now.... Before IA gets its teeth into this."

"It's not mine."

"You're certain?"

"Positive. Levon... Levon is.... It's Levon's. If he hasn't washed the sheets... there might be semen stains on them. Those would be mine." He didn't look at her as he said it.

It took her a moment to realize what he meant. Lundy used a condom and Joe didn't because Lundy was the one on top... inside Joe... while Joe came from being jacked off.

"I see." She said softly. "How long has this been going on?"

He sat up with a sigh. "Lundy's gonna kill me. He doesn't want anybody to know. We've worked really hard to keep our personal relationship separate from our work."

"How long?"

"Almost a year."

She sat back startled, "A year! When... what happened? How'd this start?"

"Remember when I quit? After the Fischer girl was raped and murdered?"

"Yes."

"Well, I came back but I was still thinking about leaving... about doing something else besides being a cop.... Lundy and I started spending more time together than we had before... talking... about the job... about being lonely. About wishing we had somebody to be there when we woke up. Then there was the mess with Taylor and Lundy broke up with Jamie. She felt like she was competing with Caroline's ghost and couldn't handle it.... Me and Lundy started sleeping together... at first that was all it was... sleeping together, just having someone to hold on to in the long, dark nights... and not wake up alone... then one night we... we... made love."

"Made love?"

"Yeah, lieutenant! Made love." He jumped up from the couch and began to pace. "It wasn't just sex. It's never been just sex with us. I love him and I believe he loves me too. Sure we argue, even fight, sometimes but only at work... I don't know why but we just don't fight at home."

"All right. Tell me what happened last night. Start when you left the station?"

"Okay. We went down to the garage." He stopped to take a cup of coffee from Esteban who had returned to the living room.

Esteban sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Joe and listened while he sipped his coffee.

Joe waited until he was settled to go on, "Lundy went to the Jimmy. I went to my car. Before we left he asked if I was still coming out to help him fix his fence. There were some posts that needed replacing. I said yes."

"Did any one hear this?"

"Carol and Nate were in the garage. They heard the exchange. We left. I went by the store and got stuff to fix supper. Then went on out to Lundy's. He wasn't there yet, so I let myself in. I put the food in the kitchen and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. I heard him drive up and looked at the clock it was five-fifteen. He'd said five but I guess it took a bit longer than he planned. We unloaded the posts and started fixing the fence." He ducked his head and kind of half smiled, "I got a little too hot and took off my shirt and... uh..." he blushed suddenly, "Uh... Levon got... distracted...."

"Distracted?"

"We... uh... went in the house for a while..."

"And did what?"

He looked up at her with an 'do you seriously expect me to believe you don't know what' expression on his face.

"Oh..." she blushed slightly "Um... so that's where the condom came from?"

"Yeah. We... yeah."

"And then...?"

"We got back up. I tossed a couple of potatoes in the oven to bake then went out back and fired up the grill and let it get heated up while Lundy took a shower. When he came out he was dressed. He put the steaks on to cook while I went and took my shower and changed into some clean clothes. By the time I was finished the steak was about done. I threw a couple of skewers of shrimp on the grill and let them cook while I threw together a salad for us. By that time it was getting dark. We ate supper. Cleaned up. Played a couple of games of chess and I said good night and went home."

"Is this the way it usually is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you usually go home or do you usually stay at Lundy's?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On a lot of things... whether he asks me to stay for one."

"Did he... ask you to stay?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Joe shrugged. "I don't really know. Maybe he was still a little mad about the fight in the bullpen. Maybe he just wanted to be alone. I didn't ask. We don't spend every night together. We try to maintain an appearance of normality. I occasionally go out with a woman... so does he... just for appearance sake."

He paused then said, "He did ask if I had plans for the weekend... The long holiday weekend that's coming up at the end of next week... and when I said not yet, he said for me not to make any, that he already had plans for my weekend." He ducked his head again, smiling that shy smile, "That usually means that he's planning on us going some place real secluded and... uh... boffing like bunnies all weekend."

For just a moment she stared at him open-mouthed as the image of her former partner and *his* *current* partner 'boffing like bunnies' suddenly floated in front of her eyes. She gave a shake of her head to clear the image and noticed that Joe was blushing again, his eyes scanning the room as if looking for a place to hide.

"So... you made plans for your next weekend off and you went home?"

"Not exactly... he didn't say *exactly* what he had planned... just for me not to make any plans."

"Okay... but what you're saying is that you parted on good terms?"

"Yeah."

"What about the quarrel from the bullpen?"

He shrugged, "I had dropped it. Levon didn't say anymore about it... and since he had made plans for our weekend... I figured he had dropped it, too."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah." He looked at her a long moment then asked, "Haven't you noticed? We almost never keep up a quarrel overnight anymore. Not since we... uh..."

" ... not since you started sleeping together."

He nodded and blushed again.

She tapped her fingers on the chair arm. "Okay. Grayson has already been by the MCU talking with the people who were there when you and Lundy had the fight yesterday. He is going to want to question you tomorrow unless Levon wakes up before then and clears you. I think you know enough to avoid telling him anything about yours and Levon's personal relationship."

He nodded again, "Yeah, lieutenant, I know not to tell *him* about me and Lundy."

She rose and, after saying her goodbyes, left.

*************************************************

Joe Bill McCandless and his partner Dave Sutton, were out of the office having questioned a witness in one of their cases. On the way back to the office, McCandless turned off onto the access road to Lundy's house.

"Where we going?" Dave asked.

"Lundy's place is right down this road. I wanna look around a bit."

"Think the crime scene team mighta missed something?"

"May be. Annie's real good but she's a mite sweet on LaFiamma... most all the women folks are."

Sutton nodded. Most of the men in the MCU had noticed that Joe LaFiamma had no trouble at all charming the women at Reisner. Most any woman in the place would bend over backwards to help him out... and Annie Hartung was no exception. In fact she had took to Joe right from the start.

Joe Bill parked under the big shade tree in front of the house, next to Lundy's Jimmy, which still sat there. They got out and made their way up on the front porch, ducking under the crime scene tape that surrounded the porch.

Joe Bill opened the door and stepped inside. Both had been there before. They went through the house together, noting anything that had changed since the last time that they had been in the house.

Sutton nodded to the picture wall.

Joe Bill looked where he was looking and nodded, "Uh-huh." There were several new pictures there. All included Joe. They had apparently been taken the previous Thanksgiving, when Levon had taken Joe home to Lombard with him. One showed Joe and Levon with Mother Minnie between them, their arms around her shoulders and her arms around both of their waists. Another was of Joe alone, sitting on the porch rail of what was presumably Mother Minnie's house, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt and holding a coffee cup. Still a third was of Joe and Levon sitting on the steps of the house, Levon a step above and behind Joe, who sat between Levon's knees, leaning back against him. His head was turned looking up at Levon who was looking down at him with a half smile on his lips. It was an unposed, candid shot. It practically screamed intimacy.

Joe Bill stared at it for a long moment then grunted again, "Uh-huh."

Sutton roamed on beyond the living room and down the hall to the bedrooms. After a moment Joe Bill followed him.

Neither had ever had any reason to go into Levon's room but they'd both on occasion used the master bathroom, when the guest bath was already occupied and necessity demanded it. Both noted the electric razor and toothbrush.

Joe Bill was starting to get an uneasy feeling. There was something going on here that he wasn't sure what was... but it wasn't what he'd been expecting.

Sutton opened the guest bedroom closet and stood staring at the clothes that filled it. "LaFiamma keeps a mite more'n a change of clothes here, don't he?" He asked quietly.

"Uh-huh." Joe Bill stared at the clothes, then added, "Seems to me he was *doing* a mite more'n than just *changing clothes* here." He turned suddenly and went back into Lundy's bedroom.

Sutton followed, "What'cha thinkin'?"

Joe Bill stalked over to the dresser and started pulling out drawers, then slamming them shut again. After a minute he stopped and yanked something out of one. Holding it out to Sutton he asked, "Ya ever knowed Levon ta wear running shorts? Silk running shorts?"

Sutton took the proffered shorts. He stared at them a long moment. They were the same deep turquoise blue that was a favorite color of... "LaFiamma?" He asked in a confused voice, "... but this is... Levon's... room...."

"Uh-huh!" Joe Bill grabbed the shorts back and tossed them back into the drawer, slamming it shut. He turned and headed for the kitchen.

Sutton followed, confusion still written clearly on his face.

Joe Bill yanked open the refrigerator, "Uh-huh!" he crowed triumphantly.

"What?" Sutton demanded.

"Look what's in here!" His partner demanded.

Sutton looked into the refrigerator. There was a jug of milk, orange juice, a six-pack of longnecks with two missing, a six-pack of spring water again with two missing, a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of Cranapple Juice, all on the top shelf. The second shelf held a carton of eggs, a pack of bacon, a pack of Sizzlean, a casserole dish with some kind of pasta concoction that included broccoli and cheese, half of which had been eaten and a plate with three biscuits which looked to be home made. The bottom shelf held half of a homemade apple pie.

Joe Bill reached out and pulled open the vegetable bin. Fresh carrots, radishes and cucumbers filled it. He pushed it closed and opened the meat drawer. A package of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts lay in there slowly defrosting.

He pushed it closed and turned to Sutton, "Dave, sometimes you act as dumb as you look. Since when have you ever knowed Levon to have anything in this fridge besides eggs, bacon and beer?" He demanded, " ... And who do we know that actually drinks Cranapple juice for cryin' out loud?!"

"LaFiamma?" Sutton asked in a confused voice. "He's staying here?"

"Oh, yeah. He's stayin' here all right." Joe Bill swung the refrigerator door shut. "He's staying in Levon's bed!"

"What?"

"They're sleeping together, you dumb ox!" Joe Bill stalked back towards the living room. "Look at that picture!" He pointed to the picture of Joe and Levon on the steps at Mother Minnie's house. "If that was a picture of Levon and a woman, you wouldn't have no trouble figuring out what's goin on would ya?"

Sutton followed behind him with his mouth hanging open as Joe Bill continued on down to the Levon's bedroom again yanking open the drawer with Joe's running shorts in it, "These are LaFiamma's sure as shootin'!"

He stalked on into the bathroom and grabbed up the cordless electric razor, "An electric razor! In Levon's bathroom! Ain't no way it's his. An electric toothbrush! You think Lundy'd use an electric toothbrush?" He shook it at Sutton. "Not in this century!"

He gestured towards the back bedroom, "And all them clothes... ain't no way that boy needs all them clothes out here... not 'less he's spendin' a heap o'time out here! Like most ever night!"

Sutton finally shut his mouth, "I can see LaFiamma being a fairy. He always seemed a little light in his loafers ta me but... Levon?"

"Man, you worked with him in Homicide before he came to Major Crime and you're tellin' me ya don't know that Levon swings both ways?!" Joe Bill's voice was incredulous. "Maybe ya are as dumb as LaFiamma thinks you are."

Sutton's face took on that belligerent look that LaFiamma found it so easy to provoke. "I ain't dumb! And I shore ain't as dumb as *he* thinks I am!" He paused a second then asked. "Ya reckon this was some sorta lover's quarrel? Domestic violence kinda thing?"

"Don't know." Joe Bill hesitated then added, "Ain't so sure that LaFiamma did it, now." He walked back to the living room and stood staring at the picture of Joe and Levon sitting on the steps.

There was something about the picture that struck him... if he could just figure out what it was.... He reached up and took it down off the wall and held it, looking at it. LaFiamma was looking up at Lundy. [...at him or to him?] Who ever had taken the picture had caught them in a completely unguarded moment. The smile on Levon's face was warm and gentle. [Affectionate? Loving?] LaFiamma was half turned, his right arm resting on Levon's right thigh and his left hand resting on Levon's knee. His head was tilted back. It looked like he was looking up at Lundy but....

He stepped over to Lundy's rolltop desk and plucked the magnifying glass out of the pencil cup. He ran it over the picture concentrating on Joe's face. The eyes were closed... the lips half parted. [Like... like he was expecting to be kissed!]

Sutton's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Somebody's coming."

Joe Bill looked up, then walked to the door and peered out. "Shit! Grayson!"

"Ya wanna tell'm about Lundy and LaFia--"

"Hell no! We ain't telling IA nothin' that could hurt Levon! If Grayson finds out about them sleepin' together he'd ruin Lundy not just LaFiamma!" He hurried back to the desk, dropped the magnifying glass into the pencil cup then opened a drawer and shoved the picture in, face down and closed the drawer back.

They were on their way out the door when Grayson walked up on the porch, ducked under the crime scene tape and confronted them. "Just what are you two doing here?" he demanded.

"Uh... We was just going over the crime scene. Lundy's one'a ours." McCandless stammered.

"Yeah, well IA is handling this... at least until LaFiamma is cleared of any involvement." Grayson glared at the two of them. "I'll thank you to stay out of my crime scene!"

He reached for the doorknob.

The crunch of wheels on the driveway drew his attention. They all three turned to see who the new arrival was.

Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont sighed when she saw McCandless and Sutton standing on the porch with Grayson. [It isn't bad enough that they think Joe could have done this to Levon now they're hanging out with Grayson!]

She got out of the car and stalked up on the porch, "What's going on here?" She snapped.

Grayson turned and regarded her with cool gray eyes. "I came to check out the crime scene and found your officers here." He replied coldly.

She fastened her eyes on McCandless and Sutton. "And you two were here because...?"

"Uh... we just wanted to look around lieutenant. We know Lundy. Been out here plenty before and we thought we might notice something that the lab boys mighta missed. Maybe something that's missing.... ya know...." Joe Bill kinda trailed off.

"And did you?"

"No ma'am."

"Too bad. How about you leave now."

"Yes, ma'am." Joe Bill led Sutton down the steps to their unit.

As the two crossed the porch, Grayson stepped inside with Beaumont right behind him.

"What are you doing here, Beaumont?" Grayson asked.

She shrugged, "One of my officers is in the hospital. Another is being accused of putting him there. I don't believe that LaFiamma did it. I just want to make sure that he doesn't get railroaded."

Grayson fixed her with a hard look. "I do my job, lieutenant. Nothing more. I don't plant evidence or skew it to make it fit what I want to believe happened. I know that a lot of officers regard Internal Affairs officers as the enemy but we are not. I'm only looking for the truth."

"Then you won't mind if we look for it together. Will you?" She asked quietly.

He shrugged and moved over to stand at the picture wall. "Do you know who these people are?" He asked.

_____________________________________________________________

After Beaumont left, Joe got dressed and asked Esteban to take him to the hospital.

"LaFiamma, I do not know if that is a good idea."

"Esteban, I don't *care,* if it's a good idea. I'm going. You can take me or I can call a cab... but I'm going... now." He opened the door and stood waiting.

The Hispanic detective sighed then nodded. He grabbed his keys and stepped through the door.

Joe followed him out and closed the door behind them, rattling the handle to make sure it was locked.

*************************************************

Joe and Esteban circled around the nurse's desk and walked down the corridor to the room Lundy had been taken to after surgery, acting as if they had every right to be there.

The uniformed guard that Beaumont had posted on the door recognized both Joe and Esteban. He nodded politely as they approached him.

"How is he?" Joe asked.

"Doc left a bit ago. He's still out." He surveyed them a minute then added. "Don't think the doc wants him having any visitors..."

Joe looked at him a long moment then said softly, "He's my partner. I... I need to know that he's...."

The cop looked at him, "I heard that you two had a fight yesterday..." he let it trail off.

Joe shook his head. "Yeah. We had a fight but.... I. Did. Not. Do. This." He looked at the officer and spoke earnestly, "There's fighting with somebody and there's beating somebody half to death. Lundy and I fight all the time but... this... this isn't fighting. Whoever did this, likes to hurt people. It's that plain and simple. When we find this guy he's gonna have a history of this sort of thing... a history of assault. Me'n Lundy... we.... We yell, maybe we take a swing or two then it's over. Whoever did this is... is a fucking animal! Lundy was down and out and he just kept on..." His voice broke, "kept on..." He trailed off and looked at the officer with pleading eyes. "Please.... I really need to... to just see him...."

The officer looked at him a long minute. After a second he turned to Esteban and said, as if he hadn't even seen Joe, "Guiterrez, I really need to take a quick piss. Could you watch the door for just a minute?"

Esteban grinned at him and nodded.

The guard walked off down the corridor without looking back.

Joe pushed the door open and stepped into the small room.

Lundy lay in the hospital bed, the head raised just a bit. An IV pole stood beside the bed with a couple of bottles attached to it, slowly dripping into the IV line that was in Lundy's right forearm. The left forearm was in a cast. He was attached to a couple of other beeping whirring machines. Joe recognized them vaguely and knew that they weren't anything major, just to monitor his heart rate and respiration.

He cringed as he noted the shaved spot on Lundy's head where they had drilled the burr hole to relieve the pressure of the hematoma. He hated that they had had to do that. Lundy would shrug it off as just something that was necessary but Joe loved his partner's hair. Loved to touch and stroke it, run his fingers through it, feeling it curl around them like something alive.

He noted that both eyes were blackened and the nose had obviously been broken... again. A huge bruise covered one side of Lundy's jaw. He was glad that he couldn't see much more of the damage. He didn't know if he could stand it.

He reached out and touched the soft curls that remained. He decided that it didn't matter that they had shaved some of Levon's hair off. All that mattered was that Lundy would be all right. He saw a chair near the bed and pulled it closer. Sitting in it he reached over and gently twined his fingers in the fingers of Lundy's right hand.

Covering it with his other hand he leaned close and said softly, "Hey, cowboy. I... I ain't supposed to be here but you know by now that there ain't no way to keep me away from you. I love you... ya know. I know we don't say that... but I want you to know... I always have. Didn't want to make you think I was being pushy. I was waiting for you to say it.... I wish I knew what happened after I left last night. When I find this son of a bitch, I'm gonna kill him." Tears welled up in his eyes, "Oh, Levon, you gotta be all right. Ya gotta be." He lay his head down on the bed next to their joined hands and wept softly. [I can't live without you. I can't.]

The uniformed guard had come back to the door. "Thanks, Guiterrez." He said softly then raised a brow towards the room.

Esteban nodded and as the guard again turned away, he pushed the door open and called softly, "Joe. Time to go."

LaFiamma raised his head from where it lay and looked up at him, then silently he shook his head.

"Joe!" Esteban hissed urgently.

"N-No. I can't leave him." There was a slight tremble in the voice and in the dim light from the corridor, Esteban could see the wetness on his face.

After a minute he nodded and stepped back into the corridor. He reached out to lay a hand on the uniform officer's arm. "He won't leave. When they find him, just say you had to step down to the bathroom and I was watching the door and he must have gotten in then. I'll deal with it."

The officer nodded.

Guiterrez left.

Joe remained sitting silently at his lover's side.

Fortunately the first nurse that came into the room knew both of the men and knew that they were partners. She smiled at Joe when he looked up at her with a guilty expression. "Staying, huh?" she asked softly.

He nodded, the fear that she would throw him out clear in his eyes, which were still wet from his tears.

She smiled gently, and reached out to caress his hair. "I'll tell the other nurses that you're here and not to bother you."

"Thanks, Lori." He said softly.

"Well, I can't promise that the doctor won't throw you out when he makes rounds... but you're safe till then."

He smiled his gratitude again and lay his head back on the edge of Lundy's bed.

She started to tell him that he could lay down in the bed on the other side of the room but after taking another look at him, decided that he wouldn't do it anyhow.

She stepped out into the hall and gave the guard an appraising look, "I suppose you had to go to the men's room." She said with quiet amusement.

He had the decency to blush.

She chuckled and walked off.

A man standing near the elevators scowled. He'd been prowling the step-down unit for a couple of hours. He'd seen the two men stop and talk to the uniformed guard, seen the guard leave and one of the men go into the room. The guard had come back and one of the men had left but one was still in there. In his mind there was only one reason for the man to remain. He had to be Lundy's lover. He growled in frustration. He couldn't get past the guard. He'd just have to bide his time. Catch the man alone somewhere. With him out of the way, Lundy wouldn't be so reluctant to renew their old relationship.

______________________________________________________________

Joanne Beaumont had just finished telling Grayson who each of the people in the pictures on Lundy's wall were when they heard steps on the porch.

McCandless' voice called out, "Lieutenant! Annie wants you on the radio. Now!"

Both Beaumont and Grayson hurried out to the car. Beaumont grabbed up her mic. "Beaumont. Go ahead Reisner."

"Joanne it's Annie. We got a match back from the FBI on those unknown prints. They belong to one Randall Garrison. He just got out of prison in New York. He was in for assault with intent."

"Garrison.... Garrison...." Grayson muttered then reached for the mic. "This is Grayson. Wasn't Garrison the football player that was indicted for beating his roommate to a pulp?"

"Yeah."

Grayson turned to Beaumont. "He was on the football team at Texas A&M with Lundy. Offensive linebacker. Six-five, two-forty. Went on to play pro-ball with the LA Rams. Got traded to New York. Lost his place on the team for drug use.... Made the headlines a couple of times for beating up on his girlfriends. Disappeared for a while then about six years ago he made headlines for beating up his roommate. Damn near killed him. The guy swore that Garrison tried to rape him. They made a deal though. He pleaded guilty to simple assault and took three to five. The attempted rape charge was dropped."

Beaumont took her mic back. "Annie put out an APB on Garrison... and get me the details from New York." She signed off and turned to McCandless and Sutton, "Joe-Bill. You and Dave start checking airline passenger lists. Get pictures of him and start canvassing the bus stations, train stations, car rental places, hotels, motels.... He had to get to Houston somehow. He has to be staying somewhere. Maybe you can pick up his trail."

As McCandless and Sutton jumped in their car and took off, Grayson turned to Beaumont. "You think Garrison's good for this."

"His are the only prints in that house that shouldn't be there. What's a convicted felon from New York doing in Lundy's house? I damn sure want to ask him that." She got in her car and drove off. Looking in the rear view mirror she was glad to see Grayson getting into his car.

He hadn't gone back into the house. Maybe he wouldn't figure out about Joe and Levon. Maybe, if they were very lucky, it would never come up.

______________________________________________________________

Esteban arrived at Reisner to find the MCU buzzing with the news that the fingerprints found in Lundy's house had been identified as a known felon's. He grabbed a handful of Garrison's mug shots from the printer and headed out to help with canvassing the hotels and motels but before he started doing that, he dropped back by the hospital. He wanted to make sure that the guard on Lundy's door had a picture of Garrison, just in case the man decided to make another try at Lundy.

He passed some out to the hospital security detail too then dropped one off at the nurse's station closest to Lundy's room. Every pair of eyes would help.

He looked in on Lundy and saw that Joe was still sitting beside the bed, his head resting on the edge of it, his hands till holding Lundy's. He didn't stir when Esteban opened the door and the Hispanic cop quietly closed it back and let him sleep.

He stepped back out and turned to the uniformed guard on the door. It was a different one from earlier. He handed the man one of the mug shot photos. "We're looking for this man in regard to the assault on Sergeant Lundy. I thought you should have a copy. We do not know if he is armed but he is to be considered dangerous. If he shows up here, call for backup immediately before approaching him. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. I saw what he did to Lundy. You can bet I don't want to tackle him alone."

"Lieutenant Beaumont has asked that a couple of us from the MCU be here around the clock. There will be at least two of us in the waiting room..." He gestured down the hall where there was a small waiting area, "from now on. If you need help just yell. O'Brian and Holiday are there now."

The officer nodded. "Thanks."

Esteban patted his arm, "I have given this picture to hospital security and left one at the nurse's station. Everyone will be watching for him."

He took his leave of the guard and headed out to start making the rounds of the hotels and motels. [This man has just gotten out of prison. He won't have a lot of money. I will start with the cheap motels near the airport. McCandless said that he and Sutton would be working the area around the train station.]

*************************************************

Joe LaFiamma was awakened by a tap on his shoulder. He sat up and looked around groggily. His neck and shoulders were stiff from sitting leaned over with his head on Levon's bed. He rotated his head to loosen up the muscles and looked up at the nurse standing beside him.

"Sergeant LaFiamma?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm Mary. Lori told me you were staying with your partner. They fixed him a supper tray but he won't be awake until morning. The meal comes with the room and you should eat something."

"Thank you." He smiled at her and stood up, stretching long arms over his head then bending back, popping his spine.

She had set the tray on the bed table and lowered it so that he could reach it easily sitting in the chair. She smiled at him gently. "I could bring you a pillow," she offered.

Lori had told her not to even think she could get him to lie down on the other bed. The general opinion among the nurses, who had been there a while longer than Mary had, was that both of these guys were closely related to a mule. There was a betting pool on how long it's be after Lundy woke up before he tried to get out of bed. Lori had bet on less than half an hour and seemed confident that she would win.

LaFiamma looked at her a long moment before smiling and saying, "Thanks. I'd appreciate it."

She left and he sat down to eat. When she brought the pillow back he thanked her again.

An hour later when she went in to check Lundy's vitals and change the IV bottle, LaFiamma was once again asleep.

He'd pulled the tray-table as close to the bed as possible and let it down to a comfortable height, laid the pillow on it and bending forward had rested his head and left arm on the table. The right hand still covered Lundy's on the bed.

She smiled at him. He was a beautiful man. A lock of the thick dark hair hung down over his forehead. His face was relaxed and the worry lines she'd noticed earlier where gone. He looked like a little boy. She moved quietly and worked around him as she went about her duties.

*************************************************

Esteban had stayed on the job until after midnight, checking every hotel and motel within ten exits of the airport in all directions. He decided to check in with who ever was at the hospital then catch some sleep. He wanted to be there in the morning, when the doctor had indicated he expected Lundy to be awake.

Holiday and O'Brian were still there. They told him that McCandless and Sutton would be in at four to relieve them. Beaumont had stopped by but Lundy was still unconscious and she hadn't gone in, just spoke to the doctor who had reiterated that he didn't expect Lundy to awaken before morning. No one had seen any sign of Garrison at the hospital.

He headed on home. It was after one by the time he got there. He wanted to be back at the hospital when the doctor made morning rounds, normally between six and seven. He set the clock for four-thirty and turned in. Three hours wasn't much sleep but he'd get by on it. He could sleep when Garrison was in jail.

*************************************************

Joe LaFiamma raised his head when he heard the door of Lundy's room open even though it wasn't loud.

Lori smiled at him. "Hi, Joe. Doctor Ryland is making rounds. He should be down here shortly."

He stood up and stretched. "Thanks, Lori... and thanks for getting him to let me stay yesterday."

"I just pointed out that Lundy always seems to do better when you're here." She grinned at him, "... and that it would probably take more security than we have to get you out of here. I think he decided that it wasn't worth starting World War Three."

Joe chuckled at the remark and said, "I better duck in the bathroom a minute before my bladder decides to burst and flood the ward. I wanna be out here when the Doc comes in."

Lundy, lying on the bed, heard the voices without really understanding the words. He was floating in a soft woozy state. He tried to place the voices but couldn't. One was a woman's... sounded like a nurse. The other was a man's... a deep rumble, familiar and somehow comforting to hear but he couldn't put a name or face to it. He frowned. He heard someone coming closer while someone else moved away.

Someone was adjusting his pillow, fiddling with his IV. A nurse. It had to be a nurse. Slowly he forced his eyes open a crack.

A slender blonde woman in a nurse's uniform smiled at him, "About time you woke up, Levon."

He stared at her blankly. She'd used his first name, as if he should know her but he didn't recognize the face at all.

He heard the toilet flush in small bathroom contained in the room, heard the door open.

A tall dark-haired man stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He turned and looked at Lundy, He was a strikingly handsome man with beautiful blue eyes. He smiled, his face and eyes lighting up as he saw that Lundy's eyes were open.

Stepping towards the bed, he spoke, "Hey, Cowboy. How ya feeling?"

The voice was the deep rumble that Levon hadn't been able to place before. The tone was warm and there was a sense of intimacy in it, but Levon didn't recognize the face.

As the man reached out as if he were going to take Lundy's hand, Lundy drew his hand away a bit and asked in a croaking voice, "Who are you?" He turned his head to look at the nurse, "Where's mah wife? Where's Caroline?"

She turned startled eyes to the other man, drawing Lundy's eyes back to him. The man looked stunned. He was staring at Lundy in disbelief, his face white with shock. He had frozen where he stood. As Lundy watched he took a shaky breath then arranged his face in an unreadable mask.

Turning away from the bed he said, "I think you'd better get the doctor. Now, Lori." He moved away from the bed, heading for the door, still moving as if in shock.

Lundy wanted to call out to him. He felt terrible about not knowing the man but didn't know why he felt so badly or what he could say or do about it. Before he could decide what to do the man was gone.

He turned his eyes to Lori, "Who?" he asked bewilderment in his eyes.

She hesitated then said, "Your partner. Don't worry about it. It's not unusual for a patient to be confused when they first wake up from a head trauma. It'll all come back to you." [I hope! Poor Joey!]

She tried to smile reassuringly at him as she pushed the buzzer and told the nurse on the desk to page Doctor Ryland to Room 820. Now.

*************************************************

Randall Garrison had waited until morning to return to his vigil down the hall from Lundy's room. He had just gotten off the elevator and was moving in a group of people down the hall towards Lundy's room when he saw the door open and the man that had stayed in Lundy's room the day before step out. The man spoke to the guard then moved away, coming towards the elevators.

Garrison, stepped back into a side corridor and watched until the man passed the hallway and stopped near the elevator that Garrison had just gotten off of. After a minute there was a ding and the elevator doors opened.

The man stood aside as several people emerged then stepped inside the elevator. There was no one else waiting at that elevator. Garrison hurried over and caught the door just as it was almost closed. He pushed it back and stepped in. The door went all the way back to the edge then started to close again.

Across the corridor an elevator door pinged open and Garrison saw the Hispanic cop from the day before among the people that stepped out. For just a second he looked straight at the two men in the elevator. Shock crossed his face and he shoved his way through the crowd and moved towards them shouting something.

The dark haired cop in the elevator raised his head and started to move towards the control panel reaching for the 'open door' button.

Garrison snarled and drove a shoulder into his chest knocking him back into the back wall of the elevator as the doors closed and they started to descend.

Esteban turned and ran up the hall to the waiting area. Bursting into it he yelled at McCandless and Sutton, "Garrison's here! On the elevator with Joe!"

The two men charged out of the waiting area as Esteban turned and made for the stairs.

A nurse snapped at them about making too much noise.

Joe Bill yelled back. "Call security. We got a fugitive in the hospital!"

They made the stairs, Esteban in the lead, taking them two and three at a time. Joe Bill was right behind him with Sutton bringing up the rear. The overweight detective was already panting as he tried to keep up.

They skipped the floor directly beneath the one that they had left and charged out the door to check the elevator on the one below. The elevator had already passed that floor. Esteban returned to the stair well just as Sutton reached that landing. He yelled to Joe Bill who had gone on down to the next level, "Check that floor! I'll check the next one!"

Sutton lumbered on down behind them, letting the two faster moving detectives run out and check the elevator at each floor, just trying to be there when they finally caught it.

Six floors down, Esteban saw the indicator that the elevator had stopped on the floor above and turned to charge back up the stairs, yelling to Sutton who was still a level above where the elevator had stopped, "Sutton! This floor!"

Esteban yanked open the stairwell door and ran to join Joe Bill in front of the elevator, drawing his gun, just as the doors slid open.

As the doors opened, Garrison fell backwards out of them. His head and shoulder's effectively blocking the doors from closing.

"Oh, God!"

"Madre Dios!"

The two cops quickly holstered their guns as they realized they wouldn't need them and moved to help their colleague.

Joe was on his hands and knees near the back of the elevator, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, coughing. One hand clutched at his chest, blood bubbling through it to puddle on the floor.

Garrison was unconscious, pinned to the elevator floor by a knife driven through his right wrist and into the floor of the elevator.

Esteban and Joe Bill stepped over the unconscious attacker, not caring when or if he got attended to. They knelt beside Joe.

His face was white, except for the bright red blood dripping from his mouth and nose. "Joe! Can you hear me, amigo?" Esteban asked.

He lifted, pain filled eyes to Esteban's and nodded.

Joe Bill shook his head, "Looks like the guy got him in the lung. We gotta get him to the emergency room. Now!" He jumped up and ran out into the hall. Spotting a gurney against a wall he grabbed it and wheeled it over close to the elevator.

Sutton finally joined them and between the three of them the detectives got Joe up and on the gurney. They commandeered a passing orderly and demanded that he get them to the emergency room the fastest way possible.

He wheeled the gurney over to an elevator that had a security card lock on it. He swiped his card and when the doors opened, he helped Joe Bill and Esteban wheel the gurney in.

Joe Bill turned back and yelled at Sutton, "Take care of things here!" Then they were gone.

There were only three buttons on this elevator's control panel. One labeled Emergency Room, another labeled Emergency Surgery and one labeled Recovery Room.

The orderly grinned at them, "Usually visitors don't get to ride this one. It's an express elevator for emergency patients and hospital personnel only. I figure he's an emergency."

*************************************************

Back at the other elevator, Sutton leaned on the wall and tried to catch his breath. [Maybe Joe Bill's right. I do need to lose some weight.]

A couple of hospital security guards had arrived and a medic from the emergency room was checking Garrison over.

When he finished checking Garrison he reached over and tried to pull the knife out of the floor. After a couple of tries he looked up at Sutton, "How in hell did this get in here anyhow?"

Sutton shook his head. "La- LaFamma. Ask him when he gets outta surgery." [Boy must have been real pissed! That floor is metal!] He shuddered at the realization of what it must have taken to drive the knife into the floor of the elevator. [Don't think I want him that pissed at me... even if he is a fairy. Maybe I better watch my mouth. He might not like being called a fairy.]

One of the security guards took a try at pulling it out then said, "There's a hack saw in the maintenance room." He looked up at the other one, "Go get it. We'll cut the handle off then you can pull the wrist off it and get him tended to." He addressed the last to the medic.

*************************************************

In the emergency room waiting area, Esteban had just hung up the phone from calling Beaumont.

She was on her way down. She was pleased that Garrison had been captured and worried about Joe.

Esteban looked over at McCandless. "I'm going up and check on Lundy. You will let me know if you hear anymore on Joe."

Joe Bill nodded and pulled his hat back down over his face. Lord! How he hated hospitals and it seemed like he just couldn't get out of this one.

He was still sitting there when Beaumont came in half an hour later. He sat up and tipped his hat back when she spoke to him.

"'Ello, lieutenant." He mumbled and rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. None of them had to tell the truth. He and Sutton had called it a night about ten, heading home to get a few hours sleep before relieving Carol and Nate at the hospital.

"Has there been any word on Joe?"

"Still in surgery. Knife just scratched the lung... but he lost a lot of blood from pulling it out and using it to nail Garrison. Wouldn't'a bled so much ifffn it'd been left in the wound."

"Levon?"

"Guiterrez went up to check a few minutes ago."

"Garrison?"

"They just brought him down to the emergency room. He's got a dent in his forehead looks like the heel of Joe's boot... and a hole in his wrist where Joe nailed him to the floor of the elevator with a knife."

She blinked, "He did what!? How?"

"Damned if I know! You're gonna have to ask Joe that."

She shook her head then said, "When they get Garrison patched up, Grayson will want to question him."

"Where's Sutton?"

"Keeping an eye on Garrison while they work on him."

"The crime scene?"

"You mean the elevator? Sutton had hospital security lock it out and rope it off. It's up on the third floor."

She nodded, "Okay. I'm going up and check on Levon, I'll be back to check on Joe in a bit."

She detoured by the third floor and found the guard assigned to Levon's door standing guard on the elevator instead. She demanded to know why.

"Sergeant Guiterrez relieved me upstairs. He said that the man had been caught and that they needed me to guard this crime scene. My relief is due any minute anyhow and he said he'd stay up there, until we could get more people here."

She nodded. "Okay. As long as there's someone up there."

When she emerged on the eighth floor it was to find that they had been looking for her.

Dr. Ryland wanted to talk to her immediately. He got straight to the point as soon as she joined him outside Lundy's room.

"Lieutenant Beaumont, Sergeant Lundy appears to be a bit confused. This is not unusual following a head injury. However, he seems to be missing quite a chunk of time. I'm told that his wife has been dead for several years but he keeps asking for her... and he did not recognize his partner when he awoke and saw Sergeant LaFiamma."

"Oh, lord!" She took a deep breath, "Yes, Caroline has been gone for almost four years now. He and Joe have been partners for two and a half."

"I got the impression from Sergeant LaFiamma that they were quite close..."

"Yes, very close."

"How long have you known, Sergeant Lundy, lieutenant?"

"Since the academy. He was my first partner."

"Then he should recognize you?"

"I would hope so."

"How do you think he would take being told that his wife has been dead for some time now?"

"Badly. He took her death very hard."

"Would it be better coming from you?"

"Perhaps. He would know that I would never lie to him about something like that."

"His insistence on knowing why she isn't here is agitating him. I don't want to have to sedate him. Therefore I think that he has to be told. I would appreciate if you could tell him and explain the circumstances surrounding his current hospitalization to him. I will of course be present."

She nodded. "I'll do it."

A few minutes later she stepped into the room where Levon lay. She smiled at him, "Hi, partner."

"Jo! Long time no see..." he trailed off as her expression changed, "...or is it?"

"No, Levon. It hasn't been long. What is the last thing you remember?"

He looked at her a long minute, then finally said, "I was fightin' with somebody. Don't remember much more'n that."

"Do you remember where you were?"

He squinted up at her, thinking back. "My place... I think..." he frowned. [I remember the picture wall...] His eyes widened. The man who'd been in the room when he woke up... there'd been pictures of him on the wall. [Who?]

Beaumont watched the play of expressions across his face, "What Levon? What do you remember?"

"There was a man here when I woke up... I remember a picture of him... at my place... I can't.... quite..." he looked up in frustration.

She looked at the nurse, "Who was here when he woke up?"

"Just me and Joey."

"LaFiamma?" Beaumont questioned.

Lori nodded. "He came yesterday afternoon. Stayed all night. Dr. Ryland decided that it would be too much trouble to try and throw him out."

"LaFamma?" Lundy queried.

"La Fi-am-ma." Joanne corrected. "Joe LaFiamma, your partner. He's gonna be pissed that you're back to saying it LaFamma after all this time."

"How long, Joanne?" Levon asked quietly.

"Almost two and a half years."

"Caroline... she's gone." It wasn't a question. "Left me or... or..."

Joanne Beaumont felt her heart breaking for the man on the bed, "I'm so sorry Levon. She's dead. It's been almost four years now. You took it really hard..."

Lundy closed his eyes. It ought to hurt more than this. He'd loved her... he truly had. [Had. Past tense. Over with.] There was somebody else that he was worried about now....

"LaFamm..." he stopped and went back, making sure he got the other syllable in the word, "LaFiamma... he was right upset that I didn't know him... I felt like I ought to know him... wanted to... I just couldn't put a name to him." He hesitated. Then asked, "We good friends?"

"You're very close." Beaumont said.

He listened intently. There was something about the way she said it. An emphasis on the 'very'. "Maybe you better tell me; exactly how close is 'very close'?"

She looked over at the doctor. "Could I have a couple of minutes alone with Sergeant Lundy?"

He felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach and saw a flash of the stricken look on LaFiamma's face when he'd realized that Levon didn't know him. The smile, the soft light in his eyes when he'd first looked at Lundy... the warmth in that deep voice, 'Hey, Cowboy'. It echoed in his mind, sending a trill of excitement down his spine. He felt his cock start to rise. He swallowed hard. He knew before she said it what she was going to tell him. That beautiful boy was his... his lover.

She waited as the doctor and the nurse stepped out of the room to wait in the corridor then she said softly, "You and Joe are lovers. After you were attacked I sent a crime scene team out to the house. There was some evidence of it there and when I confronted Joe... he confessed. I guess you need to know it all. You two have always had a volatile relationship. Joe's quick tempered and you can be too. You had a fight in the bullpen yesterday. When you were beaten like this... there were some who thought that Joe might have done it..."

"Garrison..." he looked up at her with dismay on his face, "I remember who I was fighting with. Randall Garrison. Hadn't seen him in years... but he was at my place and he jumped me... bits and pieces is all that I remember."

"At least you remember that much. We found Garrison's fingerprints at your place." She paused.

"Where's Joe now?" He suddenly wanted very much to see the man he'd been sleeping with. Maybe he'd remember more if he could just talk to him... hear that wonderful warm voice again...

She looked away and sighed.

"Joanne... where's he?"

"Garrison jumped him in the elevator on his way down to the cafeteria."

"How bad?" He was struggling to sit up, trying to get off the bed.

"Levon! Lie down! Now!"

"I need to see..."

"No! You can't! So, just lie back down before the doctor has to strap you down. I swear. You're as bad as Joe..."

"Where *is* he?"

"He's in emergency surgery. Garrison stabbed him."

"Stabbed him!" [Oh, God! Joey!] He fell back on the bed as he was suddenly overwhelmed by memories.

[Joey. Sweet, loving Joey. Fingers trailing fire across his skin. That talented tongue... tormenting his nipples, dipping into his navel. Joey's laughter, bright and clear ringing through the house. Strong, gentle hands... finding all his hot spots. Love-lit eyes looking up at him as buried himself in the warm, tight depths of Joe's body. Joe's ankles on his shoulders, Joe's head thrown back, neck taut, the beautiful face a mask of ecstasy... eyes closed, mouth open, moaning his name, their hands twined together as Levon pounded into the sweet heat of Joe's body and Joe came, his untouched cock spurting semen across his belly.]

Other memories flooded back, as sweet in their own way those of his and Joe's love making. [Joey, muscles rippling as he drove the post hole diggers into the ground then lifted them filled with dirt. Joey standing at the stove, orchestrating the preparation of another of his quick but absolutely delicious meals, laughing at Levon's lack of belief that he could put something that good on the table in under half an hour. Joey crowing like a kid when he won a chess game and pouting when he lost.]

"Oh, God! Joey!" This time he said it aloud as he turned stricken eyes on Beaumont, "He could die... he could die thinking I don't remember him!" he began to struggle up again.

Beaumont stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders. "There. Is. Nothing. You. Can. Do. Now! Lie down! I'll see to Joey and I'll make sure that you know how he is just as soon as he's out of surgery. Do I make myself clear?"

He subsided with a groan. "Yeah." Then he favored her with a faint smile, "Don't think I'd get far anyhow."

She smiled at him.

He looked at her, "Ya said that you found evidence at the house 'bout me'n Joe?

She nodded.

"Reckon IA'll wanna talk to us." He said blandly.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

He looked a question at her.

"Annie found it. Grayson never got to do much poking around. We got the ID back on the prints and started looking for Garrison and... well, he may not have figured it out. The way you two fight at work makes it kind of hard to believe..."

He smiled a bit, "Funny, we don't fight at home at all."

She shook her head. She would *never* understand the relationship between these two. She smiled at him. "I promise that as soon as there's word on Joe. I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Lieutenant."

She raised a brow.

"I just remembered. You're my boss now." He gave her a slight smile.

She shook her head again and went out, stopping to tell the doctor, "I think his memory is clearing, some. I'll check back later."

She returned to the emergency surgery waiting room.

Joe Bill stood up when he saw her come in and walked over to greet her with a grin. "Joe's in recovery. Doctor said that he'll be awake in a couple of hours. They took Garrison down to the prison ward. Grayson's there, trying to question him. Don't think he's having much luck. Garrison started ranting and raving soon as he woke up. Sounded nuts."

She almost said, 'Good,' before she thought about it, then realized that McCandless might wonder why she thought that Garrison being nuts was a good thing. So she settled for just nodding. "I'm glad Joe's out of surgery. I had to tell Levon what happened. He's worried." She sighed, "He tried to get up and come down here."

"Sounds like him," Joe Bill grinned. He'd known Levon a lot of years. He was a good man, a good cop and stubborn as a mule.

The lanky cop went back to his waiting and thinking. As he thought back over the last two and a half years since Joe LaFiamma had been transferred to Houston and partnered with Lundy, he realized that Joe had been good for Levon. Joe'd brought Levon out of the shell he'd retreated into when Caroline was killed. The cowboy didn't drink as much as he used to. He wasn't angry at the whole world anymore, either. He ate better, seemed more content and a whole lot happier than Joe Bill had seen him look in a good many years. Lundy and his wife had been having problems for a good while before she'd died.

As for LaFiamma... Lundy had been good for him too. The boy had been a loose cannon when he'd first came down to Houston. Hot headed, volatile, rude and obnoxious. He'd rubbed everybody the wrong way... except for the ladies. He could charm them from the start. Lately though he'd settled down considerably. The last year or so he and Lundy had become the MCU's number one detective team, taking the lead on the toughest cases and cracking them regularly.

Joe Bill couldn't help wondering, if the relationship he was now certain had formed between the two cops, had had anything to do with that calming down.

Sutton came into the waiting area, "You about ready to go?" He asked quietly.

Joe Bill stood up with a sigh, "Yeah. What happened with Garrison?"

"He's loony tunes. Been ranting and a raving that Levon's his and that he's gonna kill them both. Never mentioned LaFiamma by name, though. I think even Grayson's gonna give up on getting him to make sense soon. How's LaFiamma doing?"

"In recovery. Doc says he'll be okay. Took a heap of sewing, but his being in real good shape helped." McCandless let his eyes sweep up and down Sutton in a look that clearly said, 'Unlike some people.'.

Sutton grunted. "Yeah. I know. You're right. I do need to lose a few pounds... it's just... it ain't that easy for me." [You can eat ever thing in sight and not gain a pound. I can smell food and gain weight!]

"Never is." Joe Bill laid a hand on his partner's shoulder in a friendly gesture of understanding. "Let's get back to work. Looks like this case is about cleared up."

As they got in their vehicle, Sutton looked over at McCandless and asked, "You reckon that Grayson picked up on what you did about Lundy and LaFiamma?"

"I hope not. Those two boys are turning into the best thing that's ever happened to the MCU. They take a lotta the heat off the rest of us. I'd hate to lose them... and I got to tell you that I got me a feeling, if they ever have to choose, between the job and being together... they'll give up the job. 'Cause those two boys *belong* together." He put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

______________________________________________________________

Before heading back to Reisner herself, Beaumont suggested to Doctor Ryland that it might be simpler to put Joe in the room with Levon.

"That way you wouldn't have to constantly watch them to keep them from trying to get up and go find each other."

Lori who was standing nearby chuckled, "The last time they were both here at the same time, we had to resort to that tactic. Joey could barely walk and he was staggering down the hall with his IV pole rolling it along checking in every room looking for Lundy. When he finally found the room Lundy was supposed to be in, Lundy had commandeered a wheelchair and was out hunting him!"

Ryland shook his head and laughed, "In that case, I agree. We'll head them off at the pass and put them in together to start with." He walked off shaking his head, as the two women shared a grin.

*************************************************

Lundy looked up and started to protest when he saw the nurses starting to roll a new patient into the room with him. Then he recognized the still figure on the gurney. "Joey!"

He turned to look at Lori, questions in his eyes.

As the other nurses got Joe onto the other bed and settled, Lori came to lay a hand on Levon's arm. "Joanne and I arranged for you two to share the room. I thought you'd like that."

"Thank you," came the heartfelt reply. "You're the best Lori. Don't know how to thank you."

She patted his arm, "You and Joe are pretty special too, Levon." She grinned and leaned down to whisper, "Besides I figure you can keep the female barracudas around here off him. Poor baby had three phone numbers written on his hand when he got to the recovery room! ... And I know he didn't write them there!"

Lundy chuckled. He did sometimes get a little jealous of Joe. The man attracted women like honey attracts flies. But then he'd remind himself that he'd never seen Joe look at a woman... any woman the way Joe looked at him when they were home alone. [The love light in Joe's eyes only shines for me. I only hope that I ain't dimmed it by not remembering him right off when I woke up.]

Joe stirred slightly in the other bed. He was more or less awake. They hadn't brought him out of recovery until he was. He knew he was in a room and that there was someone else in the room too. He'd thought he'd heard Levon's voice but it didn't seem likely that he'd get lucky enough to be in the same room with his partner.

Levon noticed the movement in the other bed and fishing for the controls raised his bed's head up so he could sit up a bit. He smiled when he saw that Lori had put the beds as close together as she could, arranging the bed trays, IVs and such on opposite sides so that there was no obstructions to his seeing Joe and talking to him. If he stretched he might even be able to touch his lover.

"Joe?" He called softly, "You doing all right over there?"

Joe turned his head in the direction of the voice. That had definitely been Levon's voice and it sounded like he knew who Joe was.

"Levon?"

"I'm right here, boy." Came the soothing reply.

Joe forced his eyes open enough to see Lundy sitting up in the other bed, "How'd I get here?" Joe asked struggling to rise up.

"You just lie back, Joey. You been hurt. Lori saw to it that ya got put in with me when you came outta surgery."

"I don't remember being hurt." Joe sounded petulant.

"Well, ya was jumped by the same loco hombre that jumped me. You fared a mite better. He got a knife in you but you nailed him to the elevator floor... literally, so I hear tell."

"So... you remember..."

"Yeah, baby. I remember. Everything. The attack on me is a little hazy but the doc says that ain't unusual with a head injury. He blames my not remembering you when I first woke up on that too. Still, I feel real bad about it. Even then though, I felt like I oughta know you but I just couldn't put a name to you."

"It's okay. Long as you remember now." Joe said sleepily.

"You go on back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Joe made a sleepy sound then a moment later he was snoring softly.

*************************************************

Joe was still sleeping soundly an hour later when Grayson dropped by to ask Levon a few questions.

Grayson pushed the door open slowly and moved quietly into the room. "Lundy?" He spoke softly then as Levon turned his head to look at him he went on, "Do ya feel up to answering a few questions? It'd help to get this cleared away..."

Lundy nodded then glanced over at the other bed, "But keep it down. Joe's asleep. Don't wanna wake him."

Grayson nodded and moved to the side of Lundy's bed away from Joe's bed. "Just tell me in your own words what happened the other night."

Lundy regarded him warily, "Why's IA investigating this?"

"Anytime a police officer is attacked IA is involved in one way or another. Also you had an altercation with your partner earlier that afternoon. There was some speculation that he might have been involved in this attack. I was assigned to investigate."

"Joe didn't have *anything* to do with me being attacked!"

"I'm convinced that he didn't attack you... but considering that the man who *did* attack you also attacked him... I have to look for a connection."

"Garrison's a nut case. Man showed up at my place outta the blue after I hadn't seen him in near ten years and started ranting and raving about us get---" he stopped short suddenly.

"About you two getting back together?" Grayson asked quietly. "I've heard mention that you're bi-sexual."

Lundy let out a long sigh, "I fooled around a mite in college... 'fore me and Caroline got married. Garrison and I were on the football team together. We fooled around for a couple of months, just before I hurt my shoulder and had to give up football. He was... real possessive and I was more'n glad when he went off to play pro-ball for the Rams. I heard about him some after that... he got in some trouble in LA and then when he went to play in New York he did some prison time."

"So, what happened when he came to your place?"

He shook his head and looked down at his broken arm, "When he showed up at my place, he'd been drinking. I told him to leave. He forced his way in and grabbed my arm..."

"About what time was this?"

"I don't know exactly... maybe half an hour after Joe'd left. I was getting ready to go to bed."

"What time did LaFiamma leave?"

"Ten... maybe ten thirty... something like that. I didn't check the time."

"Did you have your gun on when you went to answer the door?"

"No. I had took it off earlier when me and Joe was working on the fence and hadn't had any reason to put it back on."

"Okay. Go on."

"Garrison was yelling a lot of nonsense about how I was his and he wasn't gonna let me go again... I told him that I hadn't ever been his and didn't have any intention of ever being his.... It gets kinda sketchy in here... I remember he hit me. I fought back but he was considerably bigger'n me and I got the worst of it. I was sort of conscious when he took off. Don't know why he left when he did... I kinda remember sirens... he mighta heard them and thought they were coming to my place. I don't know if I passed out or not. I remember crawling to the phone and calling 911. Don't remember exactly what I said. That's about it."

"Any idea what time it was when he left?"

"No."

"Okay. If you remember anything else, let me know." He paused, "You know that you'll have to make a formal statement..."

"Yeah." Lundy said glumly.

Grayson regarded him for a long moment. "Garrison is almost certainly going for an insanity plea... I couldn't get any sense out of him when I tried to question him. You might not have to testify, if he's ruled incompetent to stand trial."

"I want the son of a bitch to stand trial! He tried to kill Joe!"

Grayson nodded. "The DA might prefer to try him for the attack on LaFiamma rather than the attack on you. It's attempted murder of a police officer either way and there are witnesses to his attack on your partner. Guiterrez saw him slam Joe into the back of the elevator as the doors were closing. He and McCandless were there when the elevator doors opened on the third floor and they saw that LaFiamma had been stabbed. They chased the elevator down and can testify that it didn't stop on any of the other floors and that LaFiamma and Garrison were alone on it. We have the knife as physical evidence. After we get everybody's statements we'll see how the DA wants to go." He spared a look at the Joe in the other bed. "I'll need to get his statement about what happened in the elevator."

"That'll have ta wait. He probably won't be awake good till morning."

Grayson nodded. "I'll stop by sometime tomorrow, then." He gave Lundy a grin, "You *boys* take care of yourselves, now. See ya later."

"Later." Lundy watched the IA officer go out and smiled slightly, remembering the vengeance that he and Joe had extracted from the man for his continuously calling them *boys,* during a week of suspension under his supervision. Curiously enough the week had resulted in them becoming fairly good friends.

*************************************************

Grayson had barely left when Esteban stuck his head around the door and gave Lundy a silent, 'Can I come in?' look.

The cowboy nodded and the Hispanic detective quickly but quietly stepped into the room with a grin on his face. He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand the other one was tucked behind his back. He set the flowers on Lundy's bed tray table and then tiptoed around to the bed where Joe lay sleeping and pulling the other object from behind his back gently tucked it in beside the sleeping detective.

Lundy grinned and said in an amused voice, "He's gonna kill you when he wakes up and finds that."

Esteban grinned back at him as he looked down at Joe, who looked like a little boy as he slept. An image now enhanced by the large, fluffy, gray teddy bear that Esteban had tucked in beside him. He turned twinkling eyes on Lundy, "Only if he finds out, that it was I who did this." Then sobering he added, "You will not tell him... will you?"

Lundy chuckled as he watched as his lover, who was a cuddler by nature, realized that there was now something laying against him to be cuddled and pulled it tighter to him letting out a soft sigh as he hugged the large stuffed bear. "No. I won't tell. Reckon I was sound asleep when that thing walked in and crawled up there with him."

Esteban chuckled as he stepped closer to Lundy's bed, "I am glad that you are better. He was quite upset... and it did not make it easier for him that there were those who thought he might have been the one to hurt you."

"I'm glad that ya'll got Garrison. Hate that he got a crack at Joe 'fore ya did though."

Esteban nodded. "I, too, am sorry for that." Then he grinned, "Do you know that they had to cut the handle off of Garrison's knife with a hacksaw to get him off the elevator floor? So far as I know the blade is still sticking there!"

"I heard something to that effect." Lundy shook his head slightly, then gave his sleeping partner a fond look. "I knew the boy was strong but... wow!"

"Si.... Wow!" Esteban agreed.

The two men glanced over at the man now happily snuggling up to his teddy bear and shared a grin.

As Esteban was preparing to take his leave, Carol came bouncing in with Nate following behind somewhat more sedately. She sat a vase of flowers on Lundy's table, next to the bouquet that Esteban had brought in. Then she tiptoed over to Joe's bed and reached for the teddy bear that Esteban had laid there as she pulled a large crocheted clown, heavily adorned with bells out of the sack she was carrying.

"Eh!!" Esteban protested.

She flashed him a pout but he still glared at her. She looked at Nate who shrugged. With a sigh she carefully tucked the clown in next to the bear.

Joe stirred in his sleep, as he did he clutched both the bear and the clown to him. The clown jingled merrily. Joe hesitated and everybody froze. Then he gave a soft 'hupmh' and settled back down.

Sighing with relief at not getting caught tucking the clown in Carol came back over to Levon's bed and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Cowboy! Good to see you awake."

"Good to be awake. How you been, girl?"

"Doing okay." She smiled at him a minute then said seriously, "I wanted you to know that Nate and I..." she looked up at her partner and smiled. It was not the kind of smile that you smile at a partner who is just a partner. Then she went on, "we never thought for a minute that Joe had anything to do with your being... uh..."

"Beat up?" Lundy asked wryly.

"Uh... yeah."

"Didn't think you would. Didn't know bout Nate." He glanced at the tall dark haired man.

Nate gave him a grin, "You know, it always struck me as kind of strange that two people who can't get along on duty, should spend so much off duty time together. Sort of thought that maybe you don't "not get along" as much as you pretend to."

Levon gave a long-suffering sigh then asked, "Do you think we fooled anybody?"

Joe Bill answered from where he had just stepped in the door. "Fooled me till I saw the electric razor in your bathroom... not to mention the marinara sauce in your fridge."

Levon looked at his old friend for a long moment, then asked quietly, "You got a problem with it?"

Joe Bill grinned, "Naw... don't think so. Ain't my cup of tea but to each his own... and you have seemed a mite happier these last few months. Almost content like."

Carol looked puzzled, "Wait a minute... why would Joe Bill have a problem with you and Joe being friends outside of work?"

Nate shook his head, "Carol... uh, honey... I think maybe Joe and Levon are a little more than friends...."

Carol looked at him a long moment then turned and looked at Levon then on to look at Joe. Suddenly her eyes widened, "Levon! You didn't! You... you sly old dog! Half the women at Reisner have been after him and you go and get him!" She gave him a soft smile, "You're a damn lucky man." Then her face hardened, as she added, "You better treat him right or I'll take a shotgun to you."

Lundy chuckled, "Yes ma'am." He looked over to make sure Joe was still asleep before saying, "Fact is I had a real special trip planned for the long weekend we got coming up. Was gonna take him up to a place I know just north of Denver. Beautiful resort on a mountain lake. He'd a'loved it... all the amenities, room service, whirlpool tubs, saunas, swimming pool and a balcony right out over the lake but now... looks like we might spend it in the hospital."

"This is just Saturday, Levon. Ya'll got six days to get outta here before the long weekend.... 'Sides, you're gonna have sick leave coming. Ain't neither one of you gonna be fit for duty for at least three ta four weeks." Joe Bill put in. He grinned, "Ya could make a real honeymoon of it."

Levon raised the left arm which was in a cast, "Yeah, Gonna be some kinda honeymoon... with me in a cast and him recovering from a stabbing."

Just then a nurse came into the room and frowned at the four officers gathered around Levon's bed. "It's *two* visitors per patient." She said firmly.

Levon grinned at her, and waved a hand at Esteban and Joe Bill standing on one side of his bed, "It's all right. These two are mine and..." He motioned at Carol and Nate on the other side of the bed, "Those two are his'n." He pointed to Joe. "But seeing as how he's asleep, they just sorta drifted this way."

She shook her head but went on with checking Joe's vitals. As she was exiting, Joanne came in pushing Annie's wheelchair with the red-haired forensics expert in ahead of her.

Joe Bill and Esteban grinned.

"Reckon we better get outta here, Cowboy. 'Fore that nurse comes back with a broom ta run us out." Joe Bill said.

Carol leaned in to place another peck on Levon's cheek, "Guess that goes for us too, Levon. See ya later."

Nate dropped a hand on Levon's arm and gave him a nod goodbye. Esteban did the same, then they were gone leaving him alone with the two women.

Annie handed Joanne the vase of flowers she'd been holding and Joanne placed them on the table with the others as Annie wheeled her chair over to Joe's bed and pulled a large sack out of a carry bag that hung from one side of her chair.

Levon looked over and grinned, "If that's more 'babies', he's got his arms full now."

Annie gave him a 'don't be ridiculous' look and pulled a multicolored, hand-crocheted afghan out of the bag. Pulling herself up out of the chair by the rail of Joe's bed, she carefully spread it across him before sitting back down and wheeling her chair back to Levon's bed.

Smiling she asked, "How are you doing, Levon?"

"Better. Still don't remember all of what happened after Garrison showed up at my place but the doc says that's normal. Remembered enough that Grayson seemed satisfied."

"I was about to ask if he'd been in yet." Joanne stated. "Did he mention anything about you and Joe...?"

"Not the way you mean."

"Good."

Lundy studied her for a long moment then said. "Reckon I need ta know, Joanne, what ya plan ta do about me'n'Joe."

"Nothing... unless I'm forced to. The two of you have done a good job of keeping it quiet, keeping your personal life separate from the job. As long as you continue to do that and I don't see that it's interfering with the way you do your job I won't do anything. Truthfully it seems to have helped your job performance. Joe said you have been together just about a year. In the last year you and Joe have had the highest case clearance ration and the highest conviction ratio in the entire Houston Police Department. It'd be hard to justify splitting up a team with your track record. I'd have to give a reason and I can't think of one other than your personal relationship. I'd hate to out you and Joe. We both know how dangerous that can be for police officers."

"Reckon we'd probably quit rather than be split up anyhow." Levon said quietly.

Joanne nodded. "I suspected as much." She reached out and laid a hand on Levon's arm. "We'll leave it lie for now. We'll deal with it when or if it becomes an issue."

Levon gave her a slight smile, "Thanks, Joanne."

She nodded again. "You two get some rest. We'll talk more later." She looked to Annie and cocked an eyebrow to ask if she was ready to go.

"See ya'll later, Levon. Take care of Joey." Annie smiled at him as she backed her wheelchair up and headed for the door.

*************************************************

Joe LaFiamma awoke slowly, the ache in his chest one of the first things to register along with the smell that told him he was in the hospital. He blinked, slowly, opening his eyes. He glanced to his left and saw the other bed and its occupant. Lundy's blonde curls were spread out in disarray across the pillow his face turned towards Joe even in sleep.

Joe smiled and started to lift his right hand only to realize that something soft and furry was lying on it. He turned his head to look and would have laughed out loud except he knew it would hurt too much. Lying close against him was a large fluffy gray teddy bear, tucked in beside it with one colorful arm wrapped around the bear was a hand crocheted clown, with dozens of bells on it. He'd have to kill somebody when he found out which of their mischievous colleagues had deposited the critters with him.

He noticed the weight of a heavier cover across his legs and looked down the length of his body to see the afghan. He had no doubt who had provided that. Annie had made no secret of the fact that she was crocheting him one. He'd even see her working on it during lunch and breaks. He'd remember to thank her when he saw her again.

He grinned. Aw hell, at least the appearance of the critters meant that there were some of their colleagues who didn't think he had beat Lundy up.

As if his thinking of Lundy had awakened him, the cowboy opened his eyes and smiled at Joe. "Hey there, Street Kid."

"Hey yourself, Cowboy."

"You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah. Might take some time."

"Don't take too long. We got a date. 'Member?"

"So, we're still on for the long weekend."

"Yep. Just got to convince the docs ta let us outta here."

"I'll leave that to your silver tongue."

"*My* silver tongue? We'll be in here till hell freezes!"

Joe chuckled, softly and shortly. It hurt too much to really laugh. He nudged the bear and clown. "Who do I have to kill?"

"Wouldn't know. Was asleep."

"Yeah. Right." But Joe was smiling as he drifted off to sleep. He was going to be all right and Lundy was going to be all right. They'd deal with everything else as it came. His last conscious thought was, I wonder where we're going for the weekend?

To Be Continued in: "A Quiet Weekend in the Mountains"

(Yeah, Right. Militia, ATF agents, C4, maybe even a Sentinel... or two.)<VBEG>