Mac’s apartment was nicely furnished, comfortable and lived in, if overly neat. They’d stopped at a 24-hour place to get him glasses, then waited around for an hour while they were made up. The few conversations that they’d had at the time, when his new Master wasn’t staring thoughtfully into space, told Danny that the other man was just as sharp as he looked.
Danny took in his new surroundings quickly, glancing all over to get a sense of the place. They walked directly into the living room. A good sized kitchen stood off to the right. A narrow hall led forward, on which were two doors to the left, and one on the right; bedrooms and bathroom, he assumed. There was a small balcony over to the left side of the living room where a dusty bike rested.
“I don’t get a lot of time to go riding,” Mac said from behind.
Danny turned a bit and smiled briefly. “I bet.”
“C’mon. I’ll show you your room.”
Following him down the hall, Danny was led to the second door on the left and into a smallish room with a twin bed.
“It’s not much, but it’s yours,” Mac told him. “If the door’s closed, I’ll stay out. What you do in here is your business, assuming it’s not illegal. I’ll see if there’s a spare laptop at work that you can use for online classes and get you hooked up in here so you don’t have to do everything in the living room.”
Danny hated to admit it, but… “I don’t know how to use a computer. Never touched one, not since I was a kid and they’re a lot different now.”
Mac frowned and said, “That’s no problem. I’ll show you how to work it. I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time. You hungry?”
“A little, yeah.”
“What do you want?”
Danny shrugged, not willing to start with the whole decision thing just yet. Not until he knew more about the man he was living with, anyhow. The man who owned him. “Whatever you get’s fine by me.”
Mac shook his head and said, “Look, Danny, I’m not going to bite your head off because you have a craving for Chinese and I’m in the mood for Italian. All the places around here deliver. Having two different restaurants deliver isn’t a big deal, so what do you want?”
Mac looked at him for a long moment, then nodded abruptly and headed back down the hall. Danny could tell from the body language that he’d said the wrong thing, the other man’s posture stiff and unyielding, but didn’t know how to fix it. After a few seconds, he sighed and followed Mac back to the living room. The cop was already on the phone, ordering Chinese food from the sound of it, so Danny stood uncertainly in the living room while he waited.
When Mac turned towards him, the neutral expression softened a little and he said, “You’re going to have to bear with me, Danny. I haven’t lived with anyone for a long time now. I’m not used to sharing space.”
“Yeah, okay. No problem,” Danny assured him hastily.
“Why don’t you get comfortable. There’s a pad of paper on the coffee table, so make a list of the things you need, clothes and such, and we’ll head out tomorrow before work.”
Danny nodded and walked over to the sofa, picking up the pad and pen and doing what he was told, but keeping the list at a minimum. He had the feeling that Mac was only as well off as he was because he was frugal, not because of any kind of inheritance. Besides which, he didn’t really need a lot.
Mac joined him on the sofa, grabbing the remote to turn on the television. “You like baseball?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of doing that for a living before, ah, you know,” Danny finished uncomfortably.
“Yeah? You were that good?”
“That’s what the coach said.”
A brief smile crossed Mac’s face and he said, “Nice. I think I can find a game on, let’s see.”
Danny didn’t really relax, even as the night wore on and the food was delivered and eaten. They caught a Red Sox vs. Yankees game, but Danny couldn’t really get into it, not sure just how much Mac followed the game. The other man was quiet for the most part, slouched comfortably against the cushions. He didn’t show anything of what he was thinking, didn’t really react to any of the game, so Danny had to figure that Mac was thinking about him. In what context, though, he had no clue.
Stella and Aiden had told him all about Mac’s wife dying in the Towers and how the man hadn’t seen anyone since then. That Mac had become a workaholic to avoid going on with his life. They’d also warned him that Mac could be pretty cold, not showing his emotions or even his thoughts, at any given time. It was Stella’s hope that, since Mac had shown an interest in Danny during the case, that the slave could somehow get passed the self-imposed barriers the cop had built and make him happy.
From what he could see now, Danny knew just how tall an order that was.
* * * *
Lying in bed that night, practically feeling Danny’s presence in the room next door even through the wall, Mac couldn’t stop cursing himself out for just how badly the night had gone. It was all his fault, of course. Danny had done what he’d been trained to do; he’d tried to go along with whatever Mac wanted, and to serve Mac throughout the night. Every time he’d gotten up to get a drink or something from another room, Danny had scrambled to his feet and asked what he’d needed. And every time, Mac would order him to sit back down and relax.
Not that it worked. Danny was as tight as a drum, and twice as ready to snap, by the time the night was over.
Rubbing at tired eyes, Mac knew that he had to find a different way of dealing with the slave. If he didn’t, Danny would just be more confused and miserable than ever, uncertain of himself and his place in Mac’s life. The problem was, of course, that Danny had been a slave since he was too young to know better. His personality had been formed, but the drive to strike out on his own, to make even simple decisions like what he wanted to eat, had clearly been beaten out of him. From what he personally knew of Sonny Sassone, Mac thought it unlikely that Danny had been allowed to decide when to even take a piss.
So what to do? Mac wondered in silent frustration.
There was enough of a spark to Danny that Mac knew it wasn’t too late to retrain him. The younger man could learn how to be independent and take care of himself. He made a mental note to check into what sort of resources the Slave Welfare people had for that kind of thing. In the meantime, he would simply have to tell Danny what to do, if only to give the kid a sense of security and certainty.
Decision made, Mac turned onto his back and relaxed into the pillow, drifting slowly into sleep.
* * * *
Waking completely and suddenly, Marine senses on alert, Mac froze in place as he tried to ascertain what had brought him out of such a deep sleep. Relying on his ears, he listened to the silence of the room, the thick windows mostly blocking out the sirens and traffic from outside. A few seconds later, he made out the soft breathing that was out of place and frowned, opening his eyes. Looking around, Mac didn’t see Danny’s silhouette anywhere and he slowly rolled onto his side to look on the floor.
There was something absolutely heartbreaking about the sight of the tall, lanky man curled up into a ball on the floor.
Mac sighed and asked quietly, “Danny? You awake?”
The slave’s very stillness answered his question.
“Come on up here and get comfortable.”
It was a few seconds before Danny moved at all, maybe waiting for a negative reaction to his presumption, and then he moved very quickly, as if afraid Mac would change his mind. Only a few seconds later, Danny was under the covers and wrapped around Mac from the side, face pressed against his chest.
Bemused, Mac didn’t move for a good minute, not sure what to do with the armful he had. He finally lowered his arm around Danny’s shoulder, resting his hand on the thick hair. He hadn’t been so physically intimate with anyone since Claire’s death and it didn’t feel natural to him any more.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Danny apologized softly. “I just couldn’t sleep on my own.”
Mac smiled in the darkness, glad for its cover, and replied, “It’s okay, Danny. Get some sleep now, all right?”
Danny yawned and nodded, burrowing an impossible bit closer and tighter.
It’s a lot like sleeping with a python, Mac mused fancifully, the grin broadening a bit.
Still, it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable and he had to admit that the extra weight on him was nice. It was something that he hadn’t even realized was missing, until right then. Mac didn’t even notice when he fell asleep a few minutes later, still petting the soft, thick hair under his hand.
* * * *
Waking slowly from an erotic dream, comfortable and warm and relaxed, Mac sighed deeply as he stretched. The sense memory of the dream lingered, someone’s mouth sucking gently at his dick, applying light pressure with an agile tongue. Not enough to make him come, but enough to arouse him in a languid way. A soft, contented, humming noise broke through his own hazy pleasure and Mac abruptly realized that it wasn’t a dream.
He bolted upright and dislodged Danny entirely by pushing at his shoulders with a sharp, “Danny! Get off!”
Danny instantly stopped and scrambled away, looking at him with a fearful expression. “I’m sorry, Sir, I’m sorry! Did I do it wrong? Did you not enjoy it? I should’ve waited ‘til you were awake, shouldn’t I? Oh God, I shouldn’t have disturbed…”
“Danny, stop!” Mac interrupted, cursing silently at the flinch his hard tone produced. He took a breath and said, “It’s okay, Danny, I promise. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The slave didn’t look at all convinced.
Sighing, aroused and irritated, Mac continued, “You don’t have to have sex with me, Danny, not for any reason. You sure as hell don’t need to give me a wake-up call in the form of a blowjob.”
“But…you’re my Master,” Danny replied, confused.
Which told him exactly how Sassone had had the slave wake him up every morning. Pulling his sweatpants back into place and ignoring the erection it hid as best he could, Mac said, “I know, but that’s only temporary, remember? Okay look. Let’s start over. Should’ve set the rules last night, but I didn’t think… We live together. You can sleep with me if that makes you comfortable, I certainly didn’t mind it. I’ll be taking care of all your needs, make sure you get an education and can take care of yourself. There’s no timetable, so if this takes six months, or a year, or longer, that’s okay. You don’t need to have sex with me, or serve me, or in any way be my slave unless we’re in public. Are we clear?”
Looking utterly miserable, though for reasons Mac couldn’t immediately discern, Danny nodded and whispered, “Yes, Sir.”
“Why don’t you go take a shower and get ready for the day?” Mac suggested as gently as he could.
Danny nodded again and climbed off the bed, walking quickly out of the room.
Mac groaned out loud and flopped back onto the pillows with a heartfelt, “I’m going to kill her.”
* * * *
The morning was spent getting ready in silence. Danny didn’t know what to say and Mac didn’t seem inclined to talk. He didn’t know if the other man was pissed at what he’d done, had decided to ignore it altogether, or just didn’t talk a lot in the mornings normally.
Probably pissed, Danny thought, sneaking a glance at his Master across
the table. Doesn’t seem
the type to ignore things.
Breakfast turned out to be coffee and toast. Really good coffee that had Danny hankering for more, though he limited himself to the one cup so as not to appear greedy. He sipped it slowly, making it last, and then wound up gulping down the last couple of cool mouthfuls when Mac got up from the table to leave.
They headed for a clothing store first. Danny stood motionless while he was fitted for a few real suits and tried on the shoes and sneakers without complaint, even though he hated clothes. It was something Sonny had trained him to, being nude at all kinds of times and in front of anyone but Mrs. Sassone, or Sony’s nieces and aunts. From there, dressed in comfortable slacks, a warm sweater, socks and boots, they went to the lab. Mac showed him where everything was; restroom, break room, lab, forensics, trace, and administration. Then he brought Danny to his office and sat him down at the desk. There was a quick lesson on how to use the computer and get onto the internet.
“No porn sites while I’m gone,” Mac warned.
Danny was all set to protest that of course he wouldn’t, when he caught the subtle twinkle in the pale eyes gazing back at him. He smiled a little and answered, “I’ll be sure and clean up the history like you just taught me so you won’t know the difference anyhow.”
Mac actually chuckled at that. “Good, good. I have to get to work, so I’ll see you in a couple of hours for lunch. I don’t have a real pass for you, so here’s a note if you need to use the restroom or want to grab something from the break room. Oh, and here’s some money. There’s a change machine in the break room, too.”
Taking the paper and twenty dollar bill from the other man, Danny nodded and said, “Thanks. I’ll be right here.”
“You can stretch your legs if you want,” Mac assured him. “Just stay close to the office. And that list has all the extensions, plus all our cell phones if you need to get hold of us. Stella can usually track me down, or Flack, but you haven’t really met him yet. He was there the day we were at Sassone’s house to question him.”
“Tall guy, dark hair, and an attitude,” Danny remembered, then flushed at the disrespectful description.
Mac just laughed again and nodded, clapping Danny on the back. “That’s him. He’s a good guy. If you can’t get hold of me or Stella, call Flack in an emergency.”
Nodding, Danny promised, “I will.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a couple of hours then.”
Once Mac was gone, the office seemed both bigger and more intimidating. Danny didn’t move for a couple of minutes, just looking around and waiting for something to go wrong while Mac wasn’t there. Eventually, he got up from the computer and walked over to the wall where a bunch of photos were hung. It was easy enough to spot Mac in them, even the much younger Marine version of him, and Danny smiled with pride as he took in the awards and commendations that also adorned the walls.
Stella’s voice floated back to him… “Mac’s like one of those old-fashioned warriors. He refuses to show emotion, good, bad, or ugly, and couldn’t tell a lie if his life depended on it. He’ll never leave a man behind and will stand up to any kind of corruption that he finds, even if he has to get bloody about it. I was always surprised he never made Gunny, but I guess he opted into the PD before that could happen.”
The man in the photos smiled easier and wider, but it was the same intensity staring out from the eyes.
“He’s a good man but a stubborn asshole sometimes, too,” Aiden’s words echoed through his mind. “Wouldn’t know how to let someone take care of him if they smacked him upside the back of the head. Or bent over the nearest surface and spread their legs, depending.”
Danny sighed wistfully as he remembered the taste and feel of his Master from that morning. The strong, sleepy, masculine scent had been a heady thing, as had the slender length of flesh that had risen under his careful ministrations. It had felt so good to hear the soft sighs and mumbled, indecipherable words as Mac had pushed into his mouth while still asleep.
Shivering in his own arousal, Danny pushed aside the thoughts and resolutely turned back to the desk. Mac didn’t seem the least bit interested in him for that, not awake anyhow, so it was best not to think about it. He spent the next hour or so going through education websites, seeing what kind of GED programs were local, versus online. When he couldn’t ignore his bladder any more, Danny picked up the hand-written permission slip and hesitantly looked out of the office. No one paid him the least bit of attention, so he walked quickly to the men’s room to take care of business.
That done, he hurried back to the office and closed the door with relief thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. As soon as he sat back down behind the desk, the phone rang, making him jump. Biting his lip, Danny hesitated, then picked it up with, “Detective Mac Taylor’s office. Can I help you?”
“It’s me, Danny. How’re you doing?” Mac asked from the other end.
Surprised and warmed by the gesture of checking-up on him, Danny smiled and answered, “Keepin’ out of trouble. You?”
“Working a triple homicide that’s messier than usual,” Mac answered with a sigh. “I’m not going to make it back for lunch, so I called Aiden to have her bring you out for some food. You’ll be fine as long as you keep the permission slip on you.”
Disappointed, Danny said, “No problem. And um, good luck with that.”
“Thanks, Danny. I’ll see you later,” Mac replied, hanging up.
Danny hung up as well and settled back into the chair. There was more stuff he could do online, after all. Or… Looking thoughtfully around the neat office, Danny wondered if maybe there was something more constructive he could do with his time.
* * * *
Stella did her best not to grin when Mac arrived on the scene, but failed miserably. He looked more relaxed than she’d seen in a long time and that could only be because of Danny. He certainly hadn’t put more fiber in his diet overnight.
“Don’t you even start,” he warned, holding up a finger. “I’m not speaking to you unless it’s work related for at least a month.”
Chuckling, Stella pointed out, “That’ll be pretty hard to do, given you’re coming over for dinner tomorrow night, barring work.”
“Don’t remind me,” Mac muttered, looking over the crime scene. “What do we have?”
Stella got the hint and rattled off, “Owner of the subshop is Mark Perretti, that’s him behind the counter. Single gunshot to the head, execution style. His girlfriend, Maria Welsh, was shot twice; once in the back and once in the side. She bled out in minutes. Jack Carrigan, a patron from what we’ve been able to figure out, was shot in the gut three times. We’ve got two sets of prints going through the blood pools, which I’ve already marked, and no money or wallets are missing.”
Mac looked over at her in surprise. “Not a robbery?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” she confirmed.
Thoughtful, Mac’s gaze slid around the room again, slower this time as he took in the details. When he was done, he nodded at her and said, “Let’s get to work.”
It was a long morning spent kneeling and crouching on the floor, picking up evidence, or anything that looked like it might be evidence, bagging and tagging what they found. Mac stopped about an hour in to call Danny and Aiden, making sure the new slave got something to eat. Stella would get a report from her later, when they’d gone home for the night.
If they got to go home for the night. The case turned from apparent robbery to execution, though the why of it still wasn’t known. By the time they headed back to the lab with all the evidence intact, it was mid-afternoon and Stella’s stomach was growling impatiently. She placated it with a couple of energy bars and a coke from the vending machine, then hurried over to the lab, joining Aiden and Mac to process everything. Partway through, Flack showed up with some information about loan sharking and an underground gambling ring.
“So it looks like Mr. Carrigan wasn’t the innocent bystander we thought he was,” Flack continued.
Stella leaned against Aiden as she asked, “But why not shoot him in the head like a regular execution? Why the gut shot?”
“It’s a hell of a lot slower and more painful, that’s why,” Mac answered flatly. “Someone was sending a message. We just need to figure out what that message is. Stella, can you make sure Danny gets something to eat for supper while I head out to see Carrigan’s wife with Flack?”
“Yeah sure, of course,” she agreed. “I could do with something to eat, too.”
When Mac and Flack headed out of the lab, Stella turned to Aiden and demanded, “All right, spill. What did Danny tell you about last night?”
Aiden grinned briefly and said, “Wasn’t much to tell. Lots of miscommunication and jumpiness, from what I could tell, though Danny did wind up in Mac’s bed. Mac took exception to being sucked off this morning, though, which left Danny kinda put out, poor kid.”
Stella snorted and gestured wildly with her hands. “Well that figures. Mac finally has someone who wants to do him, and refuses. I swear the man is going to drive me to drink.”
* * * *
By the time they wrapped up the case, Mac was ready to just crawl right into bed and pass out. They’d been going for three days straight, catching cat naps here and there, and eating on the fly. Two more executions had taken place only twelve hours after the first three, and the resulting drive to find the killer had kept them all at the office and working hard for far too long. He hadn’t seen much of Danny in that time, but had to admit that somehow, the slave knew exactly when to show up with food or coffee, as well as the odd shoulder massage that helped more than Mac wanted to admit.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Mac announced, dropping his bag on the floor by the sofa. “I might come out sometime tomorrow.”
Danny smiled and replied, “I won’t send the dogs in after you, then.”
“Good plan,” Mac agreed, unable not to smile in return. The humor that had been surfacing here and there had turned out to be a delight; dry and witty, sometimes even off-color and sly.
Mac stripped on the way and tossed the shirts into the hamper in the bathroom. It wasn’t long before the water was hot the way he liked it and he stepped under the firm spray with a groan of pleasure. For a long time, he just stood there, letting the water wash away the stink and depravity of the job, trying to get the images of the newest victims out of his head. The last one had been a kid, only nineteen years old. What really killed Mac, was knowing that while they’d gotten the soldier pulling the trigger, the general was still out there somewhere, ready to send someone else to kill more people.
Towards the end of the shower, a delicious, spicy smell drifted into the bathroom, causing his stomach to growl hungrily. Stepping out a few seconds later, he dried off and pulled on his bathrobe, padding silently into the kitchen where Danny stood at the stove, stirring something in a pot that Mac didn’t even know he’d had. “Smells good.”
Danny jumped and turned to him with a brief smile. “It ain’t much. You had some tomatoes about to turn and sauce, well, from a jar anyhow, not real sauce, so I figured that I’d start supper. Just some pasta and garlic bread. Kinda surprised you had real garlic in the fridge.”
“I think Stella brought it over a couple of weeks ago,” Mac admitted. “She goes through cycles of trying to feed me ‘real food.’ I just suffer through it.”
“Well, you know, have a seat. It’s pretty much done,” Danny told him awkwardly.
It was then that Mac realized the slave was waiting apprehensively for a contradiction; that Mac was going to serve himself or maybe even wait on Danny. Remembering his resolution of just the other day, Mac said, “I’m going to get some clothes on, then I’ll be right back. Why don’t you set up?”
Danny nodded, looking relieved, and turned back to the stove.
While he was in the bedroom, Mac grabbed his laptop and brought it into the living room for later that night. He still had that research to do about the slave welfare people and resources for Danny, and knew there wouldn’t be any time at work to do it. Fully dressed once more, though in sweats and t-shirt, Mac returned to the kitchen to find a set table with delicious looking pasta and bread waiting for him. There was also a glass of red wine, though Mac had no idea where the bottle could’ve come from.
Sitting, he smiled at Danny and said, “Looks good, Danny, thanks.”
Danny smiled a little self-consciously. “You’re welcome, Sir.”
“Why don’t you call me ‘Mac’ in private?” Mac requested.
“Sure, okay,” Danny agreed. “Um, you need anything else?”
Mac picked up his fork and smiled again. “No, this looks perfect.”
Relieved, Danny did the same.
* * * *
At least I knew in advance, this time, that he was going to come in here, Mac thought in some amusement as Danny settled down against him with a sigh.
“Are things always like that case?” Danny asked curiously through a yawn.
Mac nodded. “Pretty much. Crime scenes need to be worked as quickly and thoroughly as possible, to maintain the evidence and bring the perpetrator to justice. The longer something goes unsolved, the more likely it will stay that way. In a murder case, it’s even more important to be efficient and thorough.”
Danny paused, then asked, “You think I could help out somehow? I mean, I felt pretty useless just hanging around your office all day.”
Surprised, Mac replied, “Well, first you would need to get your GED and then either complete a training program or go to college, but sure. If you think Criminalistics is something you’d be interested in, we’d love to have you. You’re a quick thinker and learner, from what I’ve seen so far.”
Danny fell silent and for a while, Mac thought he’d fallen asleep altogether. But then the slave asked quietly, “Are you really going to free me, Mac?”
Mac’s arm tightened around Danny’s shoulder at the question and he answered, “Yes, Danny. I’m really going to free you.”
“What if I don’t want to be free?”
The words were so soft that Mac almost missed them. He thought them over for a few minutes before saying, “I think that right now, you’re confused about things. I also think that you’re a little scared of being on your own, which is only to be expected. Now’s not the time for you to be making decisions like that, Danny. Wait until you’ve had some counseling and gotten some education under your belt, okay? When you’ve got some distance from Sassone and how he treated you.”
“Yeah, okay,” Danny agreed, less than enthusiastic.
Mac smiled in the darkness and absently kissed the top of Danny’s head. “Get some sleep, Danny. Big day tomorrow.”
“Night, Mac.”
“Good night, Danny.”
And even though it was good advice, Mac couldn’t help but stay awake, thinking about the day to come. Even though he’d only had Danny with him for less than a week, it felt strange to know the young man would be somewhere else without him for the whole day. After dinner, Mac had gotten in touch with a woman at the Slave Welfare department and explained the situation. She’d told him of a ‘Life’ class that was already in session, but had only been so for two days and could definitely take Danny.
So in the morning, Mac would drop Danny at the Slave Welfare department on his way to work, complete with an official pass this time. He wouldn’t see him again until five that night, when Mac went to pick him up. Danny hadn’t been all that happy about it, but Mac couldn’t tell if it was just because he wasn’t used to being on his own, or if it was due to the suddenness of it all. Just three weeks ago, Danny had belonged to a possessive, manipulative bastard who’d dictated his every move. Mac had to remind himself that all of what had happened in the last few weeks was a very big change for Danny.
It really is a wonder he’s taken to it so well, Mac mused, fingers stroking through Danny’s hair. Most slaves who were owned for as long as he was, and as young as he was, would probably be freaking out at this point.
Which brought up a good point. What if Danny was freaking out but not showing it because he thought it might disappoint Mac? Barely audible, Mac murmured, “Danny? You still awake?”
“Mmyeah?” was mumbled against his chest.
“You could never disappoint me,” Mac whispered. “No matter what you decide. Okay?”
“Gotchasure.”
Mac smiled, pretty certain that the slave was too far gone to remember what he’d just said in the light of day.
* * * *
Danny nervously pushed his glasses up even though there was no need to do so, they were about as far up as they could go without becoming welded to his face. The class was located in an old city building downtown, the whole Slave Welfare department was, and he could see just how unpopular the whole idea of a Slave Welfare department was from the condition of the building. It looked like what little budget they got, was used on things that had nothing to do with maintenance.
“You want me to come in?” Mac asked, frowning at the building.
Even though he really did, Danny shook his head, offering a brief smile. “I got it, thanks. Gotta start someplace, right?”
“It’s not a big deal for me to come in, Danny.”
Danny bit his lip, but shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I’m good.”
“Okay. But you call me if you need me for something,” Mac ordered, softening the tone with a smile.
Reassured, Danny nodded and said, “Thanks, Mac. I appreciate that.”
“You got my cell?”
“And Stella’s, and Aiden’s, and Flack’s,” Danny promised, a grin surfacing. Who knew that Mac could be such a worrywart?
As if realizing how he was coming across, Mac grimaced and said, “I get the point. Go on, then. I’ll see you at five, no matter what case comes up.”
“Thanks,” Danny replied, grateful.
He hopped out of the SUV and walked slowly up the cracked cement walkway. When he got to the door and turned around, Mac was still sitting at the curb, ignoring the honking around him from the traffic. Warmed by the gesture, Danny smiled fully and then headed inside.
The halls were pretty busy with people going about their business. It reminded Danny a little of high school, the one year of it he’d had. It seemed like there were all ages and races present, wherever he looked, but they all had smiles and were talking and laughing together in small groups or hurrying on their way singly.
“Hey there, are you Danny Messer?”
Danny jumped a little at the question, turning to the woman who’d spoken. She was in her mid-thirties, tall and slender, blond and green-eyed, and a large scar raking down the left cheek of what would otherwise be a pretty face. “Um, yeah. Well, just Danny.”
“Nope! Not here,” she corrected, smiling. “Here, you’ve got a last name and an identity, even if you’re not sure of who that is, just yet. I’m Shari Hennassey and I’ll be your buddy for the duration of the class.”
Bemused, Danny repeated, “Buddy?”
She nodded, taking his arm in a
familiar way to lead him down the hall. “I’ll give you my home and cell number
so that if you need to talk to someone who’s been where you are, you can. Any
time, day or night, I’m there for you. Everyone gets a buddy when they sign up
for this class. Or, you can call me a
More than a little uncomfortable at her boldness, not used to being touched by a woman, Danny carefully extricated himself and said, “No offense or anything, but, I don’t really need a buddy or mentor or whatever. I’m just here to get some learning done.”
“No offense taken,”
Ten minutes and too many names later, Danny took his seat in the middle of the class. He was surprised at the sheer volume of ‘students’ in the class. It wasn’t a lecture hall, so the classroom was filled to capacity, about forty-five or fifty people, leaving it literally standing room only. The loud chatter quieted down only moments after an old man entered the room. He leaned heavily on a cane, his posture stooped and his step pronounced. There wasn’t a single hair on the smallish head and his clothes appeared to be circa 1975.
Danny hid a grin at the man’s appearance, watching as he shuffled to the desk in front and set an ancient looking, leather carrying case on it. The man walked to the front of the desk and sat on it with some degree of difficulty. Since no one offered to help, Danny figured it was part of the man’s routine. It wasn’t until the man’s eyes landed on him, sharp and black and piercing, that the amusement left in a hurry.
This is a man with all his mental faculties and then some, Danny instantly decided.
The gaze moved on from him, scanning the rest of the room in a matter of seconds, and then a surprisingly strong voice commented, “I see some new faces in the crowd. I want you all to stand up. Tell us your names, and what you hope to accomplish here.”
The tone wasn’t to be disobeyed and Danny stood automatically, as did three women. Danny looked at them, not sure who should begin, then back at the man at the desk. As he opened his mouth to speak, though, an infirmed, shaking hand was lifted to stop him.
“That was a trick question of sorts,” the man informed them. “A trick order, if you will. You’ve all recently been freed, or are even still slaves, and the conditioning is still deeply rooted.”
Danny flushed, hating having been made a fool of and took refuge in staring at the floor.
“My name is Professor Jake Gelnich and I am pleased to have you in my class,” the man continued. “You’ll find this an informal situation, so please feel free to stop counting floor tiles at any time. You can speak out of turn. Use the restroom whenever you like. Leave altogether, if that is your wish. I would, however, very much like to know your names before you sit back down.”
Glancing over at the professor, Danny found the dark gaze expectant and waiting on his answer. Still feeling the heat in his face, Danny answered shortly, “My name’s Danny,” and sat down.
It wasn’t until the other three women had introduced themselves and also sat that Danny realized the old man had been expecting a last name as well and the flush intensified. Fortunately, the professor turned his attention to the class at large when the last woman sat, and Danny could slink down in his seat.
“As the four of you have come late, I’ll let you know that you really haven’t missed much. The first class was spent in some ‘getting acquainted’ exercises that the psychologists enjoy so much these days, and the second went over the basics of keeping a bank account. Given that I’ve had mine for thirty years and still can’t balance the infernal thing, I wouldn’t worry about having missed the session.”
There was a general chuckle at that, but Danny was still too off-balance to laugh.
“Today is going to be a bit different. Today, all of you are going to write a list of things that you want. Not things you need, or things that are practical, or things that can help you in any way. I want you to shoot for the moon. Make a list of things that are utterly frivolous and useless, but that you want anyhow. When you’re all done, we’re going to go around the class and you’ll tell us why you want them and I think you’ll be surprised by the theme that emerges. You’ve got twenty minutes to write it up, so begin.”
Danny pulled his pen from the inside jacket pocket and flipped over the notebook he’d taken from Mac’s briefcase that morning. It was a small, cop’s notebook, one of those memo things where they always jotted down important notes on a case. He stared at the blank paper for a few minutes, thinking about it.
What would he get, if he could get anything in the world?
* * * *
“Mr. Messer, if you could wait up for a moment?” Professor Gelnich requested as the class dispersed for the day.
Danny hissed silently in frustration, anxious to get outside where Mac would be waiting for him, but stopped and turned around.
Smiling briefly at him, the professor said, “I’d like to speak with you about your performance in today’s session.”
Surprised, Danny replied, “What about it? I participated.”
“You did,” Gelnich
agreed, starting to slowly walk down the hall. “I just don’t believe that you
participated truthfully. There were only three exercises today, all designed to
get your minds out of the slave box in which they’ve been imprisoned, and to
get you to interact with those who have been, and are still, going through what
you are. I don’t think you said two words to anyone the entire day unless asked
a direct question, even when
Danny bit his lip, looking down at the floor, then admitted painfully, “I don’t know if I do want to be here. Mac’s the one pushing for it. He didn’t buy me, one of his friends bought me for him. And…the guy who had me before…he didn’t really, you know, encourage free thought.”
“That’s the first thing I’ve heard you say today, that makes me not want to kick your butt,” the professor informed him, smiling.
Danny flashed a wry grin at the old man and told him, “Better you, than Mac, Professor, no offense.”
“Ah yes, the infamous Detective Taylor,” Gelnich replied, smiling even more. “You do know that we know one another, correct?”
Blinking in surprise, Danny shook his head. Pointing his cane at a nearby chair, Gelnich walked towards it and Danny followed, sensing there was going to be some kind of story coming about Mac and that, he didn’t want to miss.
Once settled on the chair, leather case on the floor, the professor leaned on his cane while looking up at Danny and said, “I’m not surprised he didn’t say anything. I doubt that he even remembers me. He was barely a man, at the time, on his first stint as a Marine. I was teaching a few courses at a base, about two years after I’d been freed at the death of my last master. I remember this vividly. Someone there found out that I’d been a slave for a long time before that, and started harassing me. I’d get flyers and pamphlets on my car windshield, my tires would lose their air, someone took my sparkplugs once. Then Corporal Taylor found out what was going on, and took it on himself to find out who the culprit was.”
“Which he did,” Danny stated, more than asked.
Gelnich smiled. “Indeed, indeed. Quite the young bulldog, even then. Very strong personality. Of course, he was the classic Marine, except for the bad habit of thinking for himself. Not a terribly good quality for a man in the ranks of any military, but even less so for a jarhead. In any case, he not only found out who it was, but went straight to JAG to have the perpetrator drummed out of the Corp. And back then it was practically unheard of for a freeman or citizen to take it upon himself to defend a slave, or even an ex-slave. So, what do you think the moral of this particular story is?”
Danny thought about it for a moment, then grinned. “Don’t piss him off?”
A rusty chuckle escaped Gelnich who replied, “Well that too, yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of the contradiction of the man.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that here’s a man who has served his country and the Empire, in one fashion or another, for going on twenty years. He’s got the charisma and authority of a true Master, the expectation that he will be obeyed, and yet can’t stand the thought of someone belonging to another, or being treated badly because of it. It is quite the contradiction and I’m honestly intrigued to see which trait will win out, in your case,” the professor finished.
Danny frowned, looking at the floor as he thought the words over.
“Come now, Mr. Messer. You can assist me to my car and then do your brooding elsewhere.”
Shaking his head, Danny observed, “You’re a real piece of work, you know that, Professor?”
The old man smirked as he slowly got to his feet. “Why thank you, my boy.”
* * * *
Mac waited impatiently for Danny to exit the building, glancing at his watch every few seconds. Just as he was about to get out of the SUV and go hunting for the wayward slave, he saw Danny come out in the company of an old, stooped-over man. Mac snorted and thought, Of course he’d stay behind to help.
Leaning back in the seat, he waited with more patience than before, reassured that nothing bad had happened to the younger man. It was a good ten minutes until Danny jogged back around the corner and up to the vehicle, hopping into the seat with a hasty, “Sorry about that, Mac, that was my professor and he needed some help…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mac interrupted, with a grin. “You want an apple for tomorrow?”
Danny actually made a face at him and replied, “Very funny.”
Chuckling, Mac turned the engine on and pulled smoothly into traffic. “So how did it go? Did you have a good day?”
“It was all right, I guess. Professor Gelnich’s a smart old guy, sharp as a tack, I’ll tell you that for nothin,’” Danny answered, shaking his head.
Mac frowned, the name prompting a vague memory from his Corp days. “Gelnich? I know that name. Probably no relation though.”
“Actually, if you’re thinking about the guy who was being harassed for being an ex-slave teaching in the Corp, then it’s the same guy,” Danny confirmed.
Astonished, Mac said, “The man was sixty at the time, I can’t believe he’s still alive.”
“And kicking, believe you me,” Danny replied, dry. “Are we going home, or back to the lab?”
Mac smiled and answered, “We’re going to get something to eat, is what we’re going to do. How’s Japanese sound?”
Danny blinked at him. “Really foreign and slimy.”
“That’s pretty closed-minded of you, Danny,” Mac reproved.
“But don’t they do all that raw fish stuff? I’ve got a thing about the smell of fish.”
Mac snorted and said, “Italian it is.”
“Well, but if you want Japanese…”
“It’s fine, Danny. I’ll expand your comfort zone one continent at a time.”
Danny huffed in amusement and muttered, “Great. Lookin’ forward to it.”
It didn’t take long to get to Antonia’s and Mac hid a smile at the way Danny gaped at the restaurant, then practically glued himself to Mac’s side as they entered. “It’s just a restaurant, Danny.”
“Are you kidding me?” Danny exclaimed softly. “This place is famous! Um, you sure you can afford it?”
Mac arched an eyebrow at him.
“Forget I asked.”
“Good plan.”
They headed inside where the
hostess, a lovely, young woman with traditional Italian features and hair
waited. Mac hid his amusement at Danny’s surprise and
“Detective
Danny’s eyebrows went up at that, but he didn’t say anything, which caused Mac to hide another smile. The table was ready in less than a minute and then they were walking through the quiet, discreetly lit interior to a table in the back. Mac had only ever come in here with Claire, or by himself, so he was sure that Danny’s presence would cause a stir. Maybe even prompt Carlo himself to come out of the kitchen and take a look.
Once seated, Mac said, “Whatever’s
on special is good,
“As you wish, Detective. Some wine with dinner?” she suggested.
Mac nodded and agreed, “Sounds good. Danny? You need a few minutes to look the menu over?”
Danny bit his lip then said, “I’ll just have what you’re having. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
As soon as she was gone, Danny leaned forward and pointed out, “They think I’m a Concubine or something special to you, you know.”
Mac shrugged. “Who cares?”
Shaking his head, Danny admitted, “I just don’t get you, Mac.”
“How’s that?”
“You’re against slavery, but have no public stance on it from what I can tell. No one at the lab even thought twice about you owning me. You live like a monk, but you come here often enough that they know you by name? You’re, you’re all about contradictions, so far as I can tell and that’s damn confusing,” Danny finished, scrubbing fingers through his hair to leave it even wilder than before.
He flushed a little and answered, “Um, thanks, ma’am.”
She glanced at Mac and winked, as if in approval, before leaving them alone again.
Chuckling, Mac observed, “You’ve made a conquest.”
Danny snorted. “Great. Notify the papers.”
“Danny,” Mac warned.
Sighing, Danny waved an apologetic hand. “Sorry. I’m a little stressed right now.”
“And just to clear up some of the stress, I’ll answer some questions for you,” Mac promised, leaning on the table. “I’m not against slavery, per se. It has a place in the world, I just don’t think it needs to be as pervasive as it is, and that it needs far greater sanctions placed upon it. I make almost a hundred thousand a year and spend very little of it, thanks to a city vehicle and owning that apartment building, which Claire and I bought in our fourth year of marriage at a substantial discount. Claire and I came here a lot because she was friends with the owner’s daughter, Antonia, after whom the restaurant was named. Is that better?”
Danny offered a wan smile. “A little, yeah. Thanks.”
With a shrug, Mac told him, “If you have any questions about anything, all you have to do is ask, Danny. The worst that will happen is I’ll tell you that it’s none of your business. So. Any other questions?”
“Why do you want to free me?”
Talk about going right for the jugular, Mac thought in dark amusement. Feeling that Danny deserved at least some of the truth, Mac said slowly, “When Claire died, I honestly didn’t see myself getting involved with anyone else. She was…my world. I still wear her ring, even though most husbands don’t go for that kind of thing, even less if they’ve been widowed. But Claire was special. I still love her, really, and don’t see that changing any time soon. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you, Danny, but I don’t see anything happening between us in a…significant way. I want you to be able to take care of yourself, to not be dependent on me or anyone else because I can see that you’re special too.
“You know, even that first day I saw you, I knew you were different. You hadn’t let Sassone beat you down, emotionally or mentally, even though I know he had to’ve tried over the years. I want you to be happy, Danny, and I really think that you’ll be happiest with your own life, living it how you want to live. I can’t give you back the years that bastard took from you, but I can give you a future,” Mac finished.
Danny looked away from him, taking a roll from the basket to tear slowly to pieces in lieu of actually saying something. He finally took a sip of water, cleared his throat, and without looking at Mac, said roughly, “Thanks, Mac. No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
Knowing how true that had to be, given that Danny’s own father had sold him off, Mac just answered, “You’re welcome.”
Danny finally looked at Mac, the deep blue of his eyes shining as he agreed, “It sure does, ma’am.”
* * * *
The next few weeks passed in a bit of a haze for Danny, running between nightmare and fantasy.
He spent the days slowly striking out on his own with the people from his class, feeling them out, talking with Gelnich about pretty much everything under the sun. It was hard to keep his distance from the old man, as much as he wanted to, because Gelnich didn’t take any crap from anyone, least of all Danny. If he thought Danny was holding back on something, he called him on it and pushed until there was some kind of resolution.
Aside from all the emotional crap he went through just listening to other people’s stories, some way worse than his, there was the turbulence from his own past that made itself felt in various ways. Gelnich insisted that he go see a shrink, no matter how much he didn’t want to go. As he so succinctly put it... “If you don’t, one day you’re going to take an uzi and mow down whomever pissed you off that morning by accidentally spilling your coffee.” So Danny asked for Mac to set something up for him with a specialist that Gelnich knew.
The nights, though, more than made up for the shit he had to deal with during the day. At night, he got Mac all to himself, if there wasn’t a case pending. They would get something to eat and bring it home, or Danny would cook, and spend the night talking, or watching television and saying nothing. And while Mac didn’t seem the least bit phased by all the time alone, Danny knew he was heading for a fall. Knew it, and couldn’t stop himself. There was just too much about Mac that called to him on an instinctive level. The man’s honor, his strength and will, the sheer personality of the bastard, as cold and heartless as he could be sometimes, it was all part of a very desirable package.
Once the life class was done, a
little over a month later, spring had come very definitely to
Danny went into the lab with Mac every day, once class was done. He would park himself at the desk and read everything he could get his hands on just about every subject possible. The next GED session didn’t start until summer school, which was another month away, but Danny wanted to be as prepared as possible. The last thing he wanted to do was let Mac down by not applying himself. Though when he thought that way, there was the oddest sense memory of someone stroking his hair and whispering that he could never disappoint. It was both soothing and disconcerting.
He and Aiden got to be good friends and Danny would frequently go down to the lab on a break from studying and watch her work from the sidelines. She would give a running commentary on whatever it was she did and a few days after that started, both Stella and Mac thanked him for being there. They’d said it made Aiden sharper and more on task to have to explain exactly what she was doing, and why. So the studying took a back seat until the start of the GED session and Danny started spending his days just observing.
The more he observed, the more Danny wanted to know. It was like he couldn’t get enough information fast enough. He couldn’t get actively involved, which was frustrating, but he also didn’t want to be the reason a case was compromised and so stayed quite firmly on the sidelines. Then Mac asked if he wanted to brush up on his anatomy by checking out Dr. Hawkes in the morgue. Danny wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, but realized that if he was going to do this as a career, dead bodies were going to be a big part of the job.
And it wasn’t like he’d never seen dead bodies before, anyhow.
So Danny split his days between Aiden and Hawkes, who quickly demanded that he lose the ‘doctor’ part of his name. Then there were days that Flack would show up and start lecturing him on police procedure. He questioned Dabby about what kind of guns he’d used before, the assumption being that he had used them. It a fairly valid assumption, considering what life he’d come from, but Danny quickly disabused Flack of the notion with a short, “Sonny didn’t want no one around him that could give him any grief, loaded or otherwise.”
The cop had simply nodded and asked if he wanted to learn how to shoot. A little astonished, Danny had glanced at Mac, who’d merely shrugged, not giving a hint about how he felt, one way or the other. Unnecessarily pushing his glasses up, Danny had finally just nodded.
One thing he hated above everything else, was his weekly appointment with Dr. Stephen Finnegan. The man was ruthless about digging up shit that Danny never wanted to think about again in his entire life. They would talk and talk, argue and be silent, ignore and cry, all depending on just how much ‘progress’ Finnegan wanted to make that week. Each session was two hours long, after which Danny felt like the life had been sucked out of him.
Also after which, Mac would pick him up and they would have a quiet lunch somewhere, no matter what time it was, in the park. It was towards the end of June, right when the heat started to get uncomfortably muggy, that Danny found himself sitting on a park bench with Mac without the least bit of an idea of what to say. The silence wasn’t comfortable like it normally was, though, at least not to him. He kept his eyes on the kids shouting to each other, tossing Frisbees and footballs back and forth. And then the words were out before he could censor them...
“I don’t want to go back to see Dr. Finnegan.”
Mac glanced at him, but Danny refused to look back. “Why not?”
“Because I’m done,” Danny answered firmly. “Sonny was a fuckin’ bastard who raped me on a regular basis, kept me uneducated, took away my life, and generally made it a living hell from the first day my asshole of a father sold me to him. Talking about it isn’t going to make me any less pissed off about it. And I swear to God that if Finnegan gives me one more fuckin’ platitude, I’m gonna knock his fuckin’ block off.”
Mac coughed slightly, probably in amusement, but only answered, “Okay.”
That got Danny’s attention and he gave the other man an incredulous look, demanding, “Okay? That’s it? You’re not going to try and convince me otherwise?”
Shifting so that they were mostly facing one another, Mac replied, “I’ve been waiting for you to tell me you didn’t want to go back. Truthfully? I thought it would take less time. Looks like Stella wins the pot again. I swear the woman has some kind of sixth sense.”
“You son of a bitch,” Danny groused, without any real heat. “All this time I coulda not been listening to that pompous windbag and you let me just go there?”
Mac finally grinned. “I did tell you that I wanted you to make your own decisions.”
Danny’s eyes rolled and he slouched back on the uncomfortable bench, leaning slightly on Mac. “So what’s on for today?”
“I’ve got to meet with someone about this Dove Commission thing,” Mac answered, sighing faintly. “The shit’s about to hit the fan, I’ll tell you that for nothing.”
Frowning, Danny asked, “What do you mean? You haven’t mentioned this thing before.”
“It’s a deep investigation into the NYPD. Corruption, dirty cops, the whole nine yards. A lot of heads are going to roll when this thing comes out, and I mean that literally.”
“Yeah. The mayor’s on that whole ‘clean up the city first,’ thing, isn’t he?” Danny commiserated.
“Something like that,” Mac agreed. He nudged Danny and continued, “Come on. Let’s get back to work. I’ve got some things to tie up before the Commission Report is released and the irritatingly official Internal Affairs Inspector Bill Markoni winds up deep in my...paperwork.”
Danny chuckled, knowing that wasn’t what Mac was going to say, but a couple of young girls walked by, preempting the mild language. As he and Mac walked, Danny observed, “At least you don’t have anything to worry about with the lab.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the case with a lot of departments and precincts,” Mac replied, guiding him easterly along the path. “There’s going to be hell to pay and I need to batten down the hatches before things start up.”
“Like your hatches ain’t already battened. Your hatches are so battened, they’re practically sealed shut with the space shuttle vacuum lock.”
Mac grinned at him and slipped an arm around his waist as they continued to walk. Danny sighed in contentment. It was the first truly peaceful moment he’d known in...ever, really. Leaning his head on Mac’s shoulder, Danny drifted into what really was a comfortable silence.
* * * *
Markoni was waiting for them by the time they got to the office, which didn’t really surprise Mac. The man was nothing if not anal retentive and a control freak. They’d only met a few times before the Dove Commission had been assembled, but several times since and Mac was both impressed and appalled by the man. Markoni’s devotion to his duty in IAB was unassailable, but on a personal level, the man was cold and ruthless. Although really, maybe you have to be both to work in IAB, Mac thought as he ushered Danny into the office.
Holding out his hand, Mac greeted, “Good to see you again, Bill. How are you?”
Bill took his hand in a firm shake and answered, “I’m good, thanks Mac. You?”
“Doing great,” Mac replied, then turned to Danny. “Why don’t you go down and see if you can harass Aiden a little?”
Danny smiled briefly and murmured, “Yes, Sir,” before striding easily from the office.
“I’d heard you’d gone and gotten yourself a slave, but I didn’t believe it.”
Mac glanced back at Markoni and answered, “I didn’t, actually, Stella bought him for me.”
“But you haven’t freed him,” Markoni observed, mildly curious. “Must be some kind of slave.”
The speculative look in the other man’s gaze rose his hackles a little, but Mac only replied, “It’s a long process to get him into the right mind set to be able to take care of himself once he’s free. I don’t want him to just wind up back where he started.”
Markoni offered a brief, cool smile. “Of course not.”
Gesturing to the chair in front of his desk, Mac suggested, “Shall we get to work?”
* * * *
Danny knew that look all too well. He’d seen it in the eyes of literally hundreds of people over the years, many of whom he’d had to service just as soon as they’d made their wants known to Sonny. Not all of them had been men, but a good portion had been. The look had signaled a desire to fuck Danny raw, to make him scream or beg for mercy when there wouldn’t be any.
This time, the look had come from one of Mac’s colleagues, which put Danny in a serious bind. He didn’t know whether to bring it up to Mac, or ignore it. He wanted to tell Aiden, but knew that she would blab to Stella who’d be personally affronted and demand that he tell Mac, or maybe even tell him herself. Danny, however, didn’t think that would be a good thing. Mac was nothing if not honorable, and he’d probably want to Challenge this guy for even looking at Danny that way.
I mean, it’s possible he wouldn’t. It is just looking, Danny mused
on his way to the lab. Not like the guy
groped me or anything.
Even though Danny had seen in the brief second their eyes had met, that it was definitely on the list of things the guy’d wanted to do to him.
“Hey, Danny.”
Danny jumped at Flack’s greeting, took a breath and turned to face the cop. “Hey, Flack. What’s going on?”
The cop frowned at him and answered, “Not much for once. You okay? Have a fight with Mac or something?”
“Nah, nothing like that,” Danny assured him. “Just a little jumpy today.”
“So I see,” Flack agreed.
Danny changed the subject with, “So this Dove Commission thing. What’s it about?”
As hoped for, Flack scowled and started walking as he explained, “Governor crackdown on dirty cops. And you know, I’m all for justice and the American way, but cops gotta deal with things other people don’t.”
“So there should be two sets of rules? Don’t let Mac hear you say that,” Danny warned.
Flack made an impatient gesture. “I’m not saying that. I just mean that some...consideration should be given to cops who’ve been on the job a long time and lost their way a little, you know?”
Danny nodded, but repeated, “You still shouldn’t let Mac hear you say something like that.”
“Trust me, I know.”
They’d reached the lab by then and Flack continued on his way while Danny went inside.
* * * *
It was a few days after that, that Mac got his first taste of what life without
Danny would be like. Professor Gelnich was going on a
lecture up in
“Make sure you call me every night,” Mac ordered sternly. “I don’t want to be thinking everything’s fine and you’re really in a holding cell for escaped slaves somewhere in Southie about to be hamstrung.”
“I’ll call every night,” Danny agreed, smiling at him.
Mac sighed and offered a brief
smile. “All right, I can see you practically vibrating with excitement. You ever been to
“Never been nowhere.”
Which was
something Mac definitely wanted to change. Maybe a visit to
Danny’s smile got bigger then he leaned over for a too-quick kiss to Mac’s lips that stunned the hell out of him. The slave was out of the vehicle before Mac could say anything, though, and it took all he had not to call the younger man back for an explanation. It was the first time since Danny’s misguided attempt to give him a blowjob that he’d touched Mac with anything outside the ‘normal’ touching of two guys.
He watched for a few minutes as Professor Gelnich supervised the group of three ex-slaves and one current, Danny, into loading the car. It wasn’t until Danny paused to wave at him before ducking into the station wagon, that Mac sighed and turned on the engine.
* * * *
“You’re like a bear with something stuck in its paw,” Stella observed from the relative safety of the doorway. “When’s Danny getting back?”
Mac grimaced and answered, “Seventeen hours and thirty-two minutes before I pick him up at Gelnich’s.”
“But who’s counting?” Stella observed humorously.
Mac snorted. “I am, that’s who. Come in already, would you? And shut the door while you’re at it.”
Stella arched an eyebrow at him, but did as she was asked, then sat on the edge of the desk. “What’s up?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, looking more tired than Stella could remember him being in a long time, Mac answered, “I’ve painted myself into a corner and don’t know how to get out.”
Lips pursed, Stella guessed, “You don’t want to free Danny.”
“How do you do that?” Mac demanded, shaking his head.
“It’s a gift.”
“I always knew you belonged
chained up in a
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Right.” Mac sighed. “So what do I do? I can’t take it back now. He’s so set on being free, Stella. I mean, you’ve seen him. He practically lives for getting out with his friends and getting his education. If I tell him I’ve changed my mind, it’ll kill him.”
Choosing her words carefully, Stella replied, “Everyone wears a mask, Mac, but slaves have theirs perfected. We only see what they want us to see. It’s a defense mechanism and sure as hell a legitimate one, given how ninety-eight percent of them are treated. The only reason Aiden doesn’t, is because I’ve been her only owner. She’s never been mistreated by the system or anyone in it and really, she likes being my favored one more than she liked being on her own, which is the only reason I didn’t free her after buying her.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that you don’t know how Danny really feels about being freed. He’s showing you exactly what he thinks you want to see,” Stella explained. “Talk to him about it. Tell him how you really feel about him. Be as excruciatingly honest as I know you can be, and see where the chips fall. If he does want to really be free, then you’ll free him. But, if as I suspect, he doesn’t want to be free or to leave you, then freeing him will only be a disservice to the both of you.”
Frowning, Mac leaned back in his chair and asked, “You really think he doesn’t want to be free?”
“Not if it means being separated from you,” Stella replied firmly.
“Why do you think that?”
Stella smiled and answered, “Mac, I’ve watched both of you pretty carefully since he came into our lives. He lights up every time you come into the room and practically hangs on your every word. God knows why.”
Mac snorted. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Stella replied, grinning. “So stop worrying so much about it and do something about it.”
A knock at the door interrupted them and Stella looked back to see Bill Markoni waiting there. Her eyes rolled as she looked back at Mac and he flashed her a brief grin of understanding before waving her away.
“We’ll see you for supper tomorrow night?” Mac asked as she headed for the door.
Stella nodded. “
Opening the door, she forced a smile at the IAB Inspector and let him in before stepping out and closing the door behind her. One thing that she didn’t envy Mac about his job, was the people he had to deal with. As much as she would love to hold that kind of position, simply because women seldom did, there was no way that Stella could be so politic as to ignore someone drooling over Aiden the way Markoni did over Danny. She knew that if the slave said one thing about it to Mac, the cop would Challenge Markoni in a heartbeat.
Given Markoni’s record with a sword, Stella was glad that Danny was keeping his mouth shut.
* * * *
Maybe it was the late hour. Maybe it was the smugness in Markoni’s face. Whatever the reason, when Danny’s name came up in conversation, as it did every time they met since Markoni had laid eyes on Danny, Mac stated coldly, “If I hear my slave’s name from your lips one more time, especially in that manner, you will not like the results.”
Markoni looked at him for a moment. “Are you threatening me, Taylor?”
Mac leaned forward, calmly folding his hands together on his desk, and replied simply, “I don’t threaten.”
For a few seconds, Markoni gazed back at him, then nodded abruptly and said, “There are other things to be discussed before the report is released tomorrow.”
“I think we’re done,” Mac countered, standing. “My lab is in excellent shape, as are all the cops who deal with us. I don’t want to see you around my people again unless you’ve got a specific item to address and they have representation with them. I also don’t want you anywhere near my slave, under any circumstance. If I find you within ten meters of him, I’ll issue a challenge.”
Markoni
sneered a little as he stood and replied, “Didn’t realize you were so insecure,
Once the man was gone, Mac took a deep breath and looked at the clock. It was almost eleven, which meant that Danny would be calling him shortly. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the phone rang and he smiled as he picked it up with, “Mac Taylor.”
“You know, you really gotta answer the phone better. People might think you’re some low-level flunky or somethin,” Danny teased from the other end.
Leaning back in the chair, relaxing, Mac replied, “Having a good day?”
“Great day!”
Danny exclaimed. “All we did we go sight-seeing, which was really cool. Went on
that weird thing called a Duck Tour, which is an amphibious car thing that can
go from the street right into the water. And you know what? People complain
about the
Mac grinned and listened as Danny chattered on about his day, making the occasional prompting noise for more when the slave took a breath or paused.
It was almost
“I’ve had better, I’ve had worse,” Mac answered. “I’ll be fine once you get back home.”
The words slipped out without him really meaning to, and Mac held his breath as he waited for the response.
“Yeah, I uh, I ain’t been sleeping too good without you,” Danny admitted softly. “I mean, everyone here’s great, but...I miss you.”
Mac had to swallow a couple of times at Danny’s words and he said gruffly, “I miss you too, Danny. And we’re going to have a talk when you get back, okay?”
“What about?”
The worry in Danny’s voice was easy to hear, and Mac was quick to assure him, “Nothing bad, I promise. I just wanted to...revisit that question you had in the beginning of all this.”
“What question?”
“What if you didn’t want to be free.”
There was a pause before Danny said, even more quietly, “I haven’t changed my mind about that...Master.”
It was like a punch to the gut and Mac hissed in surprise. “You never even gave a hint since then...never mind. We’ll get this all out when you’re back tomorrow. Three-thirty, right?”
“Last I checked, yeah.”
“Good. I’ll be waiting for you at Gelnich’s place.”
“Mac?”
“Yeah?”
“I really can’t wait to see you again.”
Mac swallowed against a suspiciously tight throat and closed his eyes before answering, “Same here, Danny.”
* * * *
On a pit-stop to get gas and junk food at the station’s store, Danny found himself cornered by Jake, something that he’d never enjoyed and probably never would. They were sitting in the car, both in the back seat, taking a few minutes to enjoy the quiet when the professor started talking.
“You know, it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve enjoyed yourself thoroughly on this trip,” the old man began with a smile.
Danny flashed him a grin and replied, “I really did, Professor, thanks for asking me along.”
Gelnich shrugged, rubbing absently at a too-thin thigh. “You were a pleasure to have, Danny. I mean that.”
“But...?”
“But I also noticed that you weren’t very comfortable around the others,” Gelnich continued. “You interacted fine with them, but you always shied away from any actual contact with them; physically, I mean. That’s the manner of someone who doesn’t want to accidentally go against orders not to be intimate with others in any fashion. Did Detective Taylor decide to rescind his offer to free you before you came with us?”
Danny hesitated, not sure how to explain what was going on when he wasn’t all that sure himself. He finally just said, “I don’t want to be free, Professor Gelnich. Not if it means leaving Mac. I never have, though I didn’t really know why in the beginning.”
Disappointment etched into the weathered features and Gelnich sighed. “Oh Danny. You can still have a meaningful relationship with someone who isn’t your Master. You can be free and join your lives without the entrapment of slavery. It might seem a comfort to you now, but in five or ten years...”
“I’ll still want to serve Mac with everything I’ve got,” Danny interrupted, shifting to face him better. “I know you think I’m not thinking clearly, but I am. And don’t try to pin this on Mac, because if I told him to free me right this minute, he would. He might not love me like he did his wife, but I know he cares about me and wants to keep me.”
Shaking his head, the professor countered, “Then have him free you. If he does, you can turn around and offer yourself as a voluntary slave to him. If he doesn’t, then you’ll know he can’t be trusted and is just like the rest of the slave owners out there, wanting to use and exploit you for his own selfish purposes.”
Danny drew back in surprise at the suggestion, automatically shaking his head. “I don’t need to test Mac like that!”
“Yes you do, my boy,” Gelnich stated firmly. “Because if you don’t, you’ll never know for sure just what you mean to him. You’ll never know for sure just how far you can trust him.”
Even as he pushed those ugly thoughts away, Danny couldn’t help but entertain them. The others returned just then, but he ignored the noisy chatter, slinking down further into his seat as the professor’s words slid maliciously around in his mind.
* * * *
Mac was leaning against the truck as he waited for the professor’s group to come back from their trip. Waiting for Danny to come back to him. Waiting to get on with his life, one that included Danny in so many more ways than he already was. He’d brought himself off twice the night before, lying in bed and thinking about how good Danny’s mouth had felt on him that one time. Imagining how it would feel to be able to kiss him endlessly, and to be buried deep in Danny’s body before bringing them both to orgasm. To show him pleasure instead of pain. Or to show him erotic pain, to which Mac was certain Danny had never been exposed.
Shaking off the thoughts as the station wagon finally pulled into the driveway, fifteen minutes later, Mac straightened up and couldn’t help but smile in anticipation. He walked over to where everyone was piling out of the car, talking and laughing, and nodded to the ones who waved at him. All of them grabbed their gear and headed inside the small house.
“Detective
Mac returned the smile somewhat stiffly, sensing that all was not right. “Fine, thanks. Good trip?”
Danny didn’t say a word as he gave the old man his cane, which worried Mac more than he wanted to admit.
“It went very well, yes, thank you. Would you care to come in for some coffee?”
Frowning, Mac shook his head and replied, “I think I’d rather just get Danny home. We have some things to talk about.”
But Danny shook his head as well, saying, “I need to talk to you about that here, Mac.”
Mac’s stomach dropped at Danny’s words and he said slowly, “Okay. Is something wrong?”
Biting his lip, Danny finally looked up into Mac’s eyes and replied, “Yeah. I um, I want you to free me.”
Completely sucker-punched, Mac just stared at him, unable to say anything.
“I think it’s for the best,” Danny hurried on. “I mean, you’ve done plenty for me and I’m real grateful, but I was thinking about it after we hung up last night and yeah. I’d really like to be free. To be able to decide things on my own for the first time in my life.”
Mac forcibly pulled himself together, grateful for the emotional steel the Marines had drilled into him when he was too young to think for himself. “Sure. Of course. I’ll have the papers drawn up today and courier them here tomorrow.”
The relief on Danny’s face was too much for him to bear, so Mac turned sharply on his heel and strode back to the car. He heard Danny call his name, call for him to stop, but ignored it and got into the vehicle, turning on the engine right away. When he glanced back briefly at the driveway, Danny was surrounded by his friends, who were probably congratulating him, and hidden from sight.
Cursing himself viciously for having thought that anything could work out between them, Mac peeled rubber pulling onto the road and didn’t look back again.