See Prologue for disclaimers and copyrights

******

Chapter Four: "Hold her in your memory and start to make the shadows disappear."

By the time they reached Rico's place, it had gone three am. Sonny stared silently out of the window as Rico drove them home. At the house, Sonny opened the patio doors and went out down onto the beach. Rico busied himself for a while, letting Sonny have time by himself. As long as he wasn't going to drown himself, Rico knew his partner just needed to be alone for a while.

He left it about fifteen minutes before kicking off his shoes and going out onto the sand. Sonny was kneeling by the edge of the water, staring out at the black ocean. Rico moved to stand next to him. "How're y'doin'?" Sonny nodded. "I owe you my life. Again."
Still, Sonny said nothing, yet his expression when he turned to face his partner was one of pain. There was so much he needed to say.
"Talk to me, Sonny." Crockett looked up, but although he opened his mouth to speak, no words came out. "Come on, you can't hold out me. I was there, I saw you in hell." Sonny swallowed hard. "I know you didn't want to kill him. I know you wish there'd been another option. But there wasn't. It was him or me, and he wanted to die." Sonny nodded. "You couldn't watch him kill me, but it was the same before. I'd have killed him if it had been me."
Sonny finally turned to his partner, tears glistening in his eyes. "Would you have waited so long?"

Rico lowered himself to the sand, looking out across the water, following Sonny's line of sight into oblivion. "Tell me you didn't hate me at that moment. Tell me that inside you weren't screaming, yelling silently for me to pull the trigger. Did you think maybe I wouldn't, or couldn't, that you'd die there because you partner, your... " he choked slightly on his quiet tears, "...your lover didn't have the balls to shoot a guy begging to die?" Rico thought about that. In truth, that hadn't been what was going through his mind. Next to him, Sonny dropped his head into his hands. "He made me kill him. Another death on my hands."
"Hey, Sonny. You had no choice, man. Think about it. If you hadn't have pulled the trigger, he'd had shot me. What would you have done?"
"Killed him," Sonny said straight out.
Rico nodded. "Isn't it better that I'm still breathing?"
Sonny rubbed his eyes. Breathing in raggedly. "I couldn't let him kill you...."
"I know. I never doubted you for a moment, I swear, Sonny. When he was there, holding that gun to my head, I could see you, see the state you were getting yourself into... all I could think of was how much I hated Clifford, how much I wished he'd handed me the Magnum."
Crockett turned his head slowly. How much more had Rico put into that sentence?

Sonny looked away. "I remembered.... As I was sitting there, holding that gun, him stroking my hand.... I remembered a flash, an image.... I remembered shooting Hagavich." He closed his eyes. "I could see... him crouching on the boardwalk above me, like I was sitting in a boat. He was aiming a weapon at me, saying something about my name. And I shot him. I can't get anything more. I keep... thinkin' about it, trying to get more. But I can't, it's like a dark blanket and all I can do it scratch holes in it."
Rico reached up, squeezing his partner's shoulder. "You don't want to remember it all, do you, Sonny?"
"I... I just want some of it back. It's a gap, three months! That's so long, Rico. Everyone talks about it, I just killed a cop because of it, and I can't remember it."
Rico thought for a time. He sighed. "There's a file, Sonny. It contains statements, reports, it might help summarise what you're missing."
Sonny's eyes widened. "Why didn't I know about it?"
"It was collated and buried while you were out of it."

Sonny shook his head, covering his face with his hands. "Anything else I should know?"
Rico nodded, kneeling up. "Just that... I love you. That none of it matters. That I'll always be here for you."
Sonny leaned sideways, into Rico's reassuring form. "Could you ask... Castillo to bring the file over?"
Rico nodded, kissing Sonny's hair in a simple gesture of affection. "You ready to go inside?"
Sonny smiled to himself. He felt, at that moment, like he was being cared for. And for that moment, he wanted it. He shook his head. Rico said nothing, merely made himself comfortable.

"I thought we'd exorcised it all," Sonny told his partner eventually. "That time on the boat, before we came back to work."
Rico nodded. "Problem is with life, there's always someone around to remind you of the past you just keep trying to bury."
"You should have been a philosopher, Rico."
That got a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. I could see myself sitting in a large garden all day, spouting nonsense and being famous for it. Kinda like being a lawyer only less stressful."
Sonny actually laughed. "You'd have to change your name, all philosophers, they had long names. Greek usually, I think."
"That's easy." He ran his own name over his tongue. "How about... Ricardos Tubbiscous."
Sonny laughed out loud. "Yeah. And the suits would have to go. One robe, that's all you'd be allowed." Rico started laughing too, picturing himself sitting cross-legged in a robe in a garden somewhere abroad. Somewhere a little cooler. "Of course, you'd have to take a vow of abstinence."
Rico tilted his head. "Why?"
"All famous philosophers were celibate."
Rico slapped his partner gently on the arm. "You're making that up."
Sonny grabbed his hand, holding on to it. "So I don't think I could let you do it."
Rico moved closer, not trying too hard to retrieve his hand. "Why?"
Sonny pulled on his hand, dropping Rico easily against him. "Because that would be a waste of too much good lovin'."
Rico stopped even his meagre struggle, and met Sonny's mouth in an open, sexy kiss. He moved, hooking his free arm around his partner's shoulders, feeling Sonny embrace him, it seemed from everywhere.

When they parted, Sonny looked at him with the most intense sea-green gaze. "I won't let anyone take you from me, Rico. No one."
Rico swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "I know."
This time their kiss was more gentle, more prolonged. They tasted and explored, just needing the closeness right now. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, Sonny wondered how many other shadows there were, waiting to push his past back in his face, waiting to threaten the shaky balance of this other reality he seemed to have uncovered. But most of his conscious thought was dedicated to proving that the man in his arms was truly real.

Inside the darkened house, the answering machine picked up the second phone call of the night. "Rico, Jay. I've had a delivery you might be interested in. Call when you're free, okay? Tell your friend, no panic. No early morning calls. I'll hear from you."
The message, designed to mean many things depending on who was listening, was recorded onto the tape, following the one that had been left earlier, the one spoken in a panicked Cuban accent. "Rico, man, I gotta talk to you. 'S urgent, man. Please contact me."

*

Sonny and Rico rose together. They listened to the messages, identifying Jay being cautious but obviously not in any hurry, and Izzy being dramatic. Sonny went for a swim while Rico contacted Castillo, asking him to bring the Lauderdale file round. The Lieutenant wasn't sure, but Rico told him the gist of the previous night's conversation, and finally he agreed.

On a hunch, Rico called the number Izzy had phoned from. It was a pay phone on South beach, some nervous tourist had answered it in a perfect Scottish accent. He phoned Trudy and asked her to find the number of the apartment Izzy had last listed as his address, Fyire's place in South Beach.
"Sure, Rico, I'm running it through now." There was a pause. "Are you and Sonny okay?"
"We're fine, don't worry. Should be back to work tomorrow."
"If you're sure. If there's anything you need...."
"Thanks, Trudy." Rico was touched by the concern. He and Trudy had hit it off from the start. He wondered what might have been... just once....
"Here's that number for you, Rico."

He called that too. There was no answer. He thought about it for a time, then let it go. It would wait. He and Sonny were off, at least for today. He made some coffee and poured two glasses of fresh juice, settling out on the patio. In the distance, he could see Sonny cutting through the water with the strength and grace of a professional.

Last night - earlier this morning - they'd gone upstairs and made love, long and slow, just touching each other until they'd come together in a crazed explosion. Sonny didn't need anything more last night, he wasn't strong enough to deal with the push into something else. The night at Marty's, the night Sonny had used his finger... thoughts of that night alone could send Rico over the edge.

Rico had poured everything into their love-making that morning; his hatred for Clifford, his anger at the dead man for putting he and his partner through yet more heartache, his fear that someday something would happen that would push one of them out too far, and this rescue remedy they seemed to have worked out, wouldn't be enough to bring them back.

He caught himself. Was that what they were doing? Exiling the rest of the world night after night, exorcising the pressures of their jobs in each others' bodies? Were they making love? Or were they simply fucking? Was it both? Was that okay? He refocused on the fine body of his partner as Sonny walked up the beach toward him, water dripping from his skin, clad only in tight black speedos that contrasted perfectly against his tan. Whatever they were doing, the mere sight of his partner, naked or otherwise, could turn Rico on to the point of needing a cold shower.

Sonny took the towel from where he'd left it over the back of a chair, and rubbed his hair dry. He picked up the glass of juice and tipped it back. Lastly, he surprised Rico by planting a long, wonderful kiss on his mouth. "Mornin', lover."
Rico watched him disappear indoors, heading for the shower. He licked his lips. Who was he kidding? They were making love, because that was the only thing that could put Sonny in a mood as good as that one. He wished he hadn't asked Castillo to bring that file over.

*

Marty stepped into Rico's kitchen, smiling despite himself. The usually immaculate vice detective wore a pair of loose navy slacks and a long white cotton shirt, open and un-tucked. He looked relaxed. Marty felt some of the worry leave him. Rico's mood could be relied upon to mirror Sonny's; if one was okay, it was a good indication that the other was too.

Rico offered his boss a drink, but Castillo declined. "I won't stay long. Is Sonny all right?"
"I think. Come on through."
Castillo handed him a thick file, marked 'Confidential' in about five different inks. "Are you sure about this?"
Rico hesitated, then he nodded, dropping it onto the coffee table as he lead the way through the house.

Sonny was lying out on a recliner on the patio. Shades on, glass close by one hand, book hanging from the other. He sat up when he saw Marty. "Sorry, Lieutenant, didn't hear you."
Marty took a seat at the patio table, near to his detective. "How are you?"
"Just about cured, Lieutenant." Castillo looked at him in a way hat suggested he wasn't that gullible. Crockett's own expression grew serious. "Honestly. I kept Rico up most of this morning, talking it through. I had no choice, I couldn't let Clifford shoot my partner."
There was a long pause. "All right. Come back tomorrow if you're okay." He stressed the last three words. "Only if."
"What about IAD?" The Internal Affairs Department of Dade county had always been a worry of Rico's where Sonny's sanity was concerned. Strohe especially had been after Sonny's butt and badge since Rico had known his partner, and according to legend, a long time before that.
"IAD and homicide have closed their investigations. This one's over."

The phone rang, and sighing, Rico went inside to answer it. Marty looked over Sonny suspiciously. "I'm sorry it went down that way."
"I know." Sonny shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Marty. I'm fine. I wasn't last night, but I am now."
Finally it looked like Castillo was going to believe him. "No one can take too much for too long. Take it easy. I know you won't, but I'll advise you to talk to DeLelo anyway, and I don't mean over a ball game." Sonny grinned. It had been the only way the two had found to actually talk. Professional dedication, DeLelo called it when reporting back. Sonny knew he just liked the Dolphins.
"I'm fine." Sonny sat up. "Look, could you do me a favour?" Marty frowned, smiled and nodded. "We got a call from Izzy, a message left on the machine here. He sounded kinda freaked. Could you just ask Stan to check it out when he's got a minute?"
"I'll have them go over. South Beach?"
"Yeah. The address is in the file. Thanks."

Rico stepped back out on to the patio, his expression not obviously darker, but his mood was tempered. Sonny inwardly sighed, what now? But he said nothing to Castillo, and just showed their boss out.

When Rico came back out, Sonny was sitting up at the table, sipping his drink. "Who was on the phone?"
"Izzy.... He sounded really... excited about something. I'm gonna go meet him." Sonny started to get up. "No, man. Stay here."
"You're kiddin'? Right, Rico?"
"You're supposed to be resting." But Rico knew there was no way he could talk his partner out of this.

*

Rico pulled the Caddy up on the pavement, some yards from the bench where Izzy was sitting with his back to them, gazing out at the ocean. He was beating his hand against the back of the bench in some silent rhythm. He kept looking from side to side down the empty beach. He was more nervous than Rico had ever seen him.
"Something doesn't feel right, Partner," Sonny told Rico quietly.
"I'll go with that."
Sonny looked around, checking out the buildings on the opposite side of the road. Nothing but Izzy seemed untoward. "I don't like it."

They approached Izzy cautiously, partly because he was suspicious about the entire set-up, partly because he imagined that any sudden movement would terrify the Cuban. "Izz?"
Izzy spun on the bench, looking up at Rico through wild eyes. "Tubbs! Crockett! Si'down."
It was more an order than a request, but they didn't push it. Rico sat down beside Izzy, leaning forward, looking out over the sand. Crockett sat on the end of the bench, still scanning the surrounding buildings from behind his sunglasses. "What's up, Izz?"
"Oh, man...." The Cuban snitch glanced about, more nervous now than ever. "Somethin' weird's goin' down, man."
"Why don't you tell me about it, nice and slow."
Izzy licked his lips, glanced about one more time, and nodded. "It's the vengeance game, man, an' I don' wan' anytin' to do wi' it." He glanced over, past Rico to Sonny.
Rico ignored it. "Izz. Start. To. Make. Sense. Why are we here?"
Izzy ducked his head slightly. He leaned forward, getting Sonny's attention. "Okay. Fyire's si'ter arri'ed in town yes'erday. She'a strange woman, drunk. She kep' on about a Sonny Burnett who's burned her, killed her family and taken e'erything."
Rico glanced at his partner, even without seeing his eyes he could feel Sonny's shock. "What's her name, Izz?"
"Celeste. Celeste Carrera."

*

"Someone is yanking Sonny's chain, Lieutenant." Despite the fact that Rico was talking to Marty, neither of them had taken their eyes from the blond detective sitting with his head in his hands on the couch. "It's too much of a coincidence, Clifford and now Celeste?"
On the desk, a single piece of fax paper confirmed that Celeste Carrera had indeed been born Celeste Harley, Fyire Harley's sister. "We must be missing a link." Castillo finally glanced away, at the dark man sitting on his desk. "Someone who didn't get killed in the crossfire."
"Or didn't catch a bullet of the hundreds I fired." Crockett sounded lower than Rico had known him in a very long time. It fired his anger. All the hurt and the pain, and the healing they'd done. And now someone was dredging up the past and blaming Sonny for actions he had been deemed legally not responsible for.
Castillo let out a long breath. "I'll get Trudy and Gina to do some digging. You've got the Lauderdale file. Sonny, read through it, see if any of it jogs your memory." He looked from one to the other. "Go home. Stay together in case whoever is doing this gets bored of playing."
Rico nodded, standing and going to his partner, putting a guiding hand on his shoulder. Sonny looked up and then he too got to his feet. The concern in Rico's eyes touched him. Tubbs always seemed to find enough strength for both of them whenever Sonny's fragile world was threatened.

*

Rico placed the mug down in front of his partner, of to the coffee table. Sonny was sitting on the floor, leaning on the glass surface, the Lauderdale report out in front of him. Pictures and statements were spread over the table top and he was reading one with horror in his expression.

Rico put his own mug down and moved to kneel behind his partner. "Any memories surfacing?"
Sonny nodded, leaning back against Rico. Tubbs shifted on his knees until he was close up against Sonny's back, his hands on Sonny's shoulders. The statement on the top of the still unread pile was one of Rico's own, a write-up of the night at the light-house.
"What have you remembered?"
"This." He underlined some words of the statement with his index finger and started to read. "'The look in his eyes was like he was remembering. He said, 'Yeah, sure, I remember you, you're Tubbs. You're a cop.' He was going to shoot me, so I hit him with the briefcase and started up the spiral stairs behind him. I heard him shooting, up the stairs at me.'" Rico closed his eyes for a moment, the scene playing vividly in his mind's eyes as it did in reoccurring nightmares. "I didn't shoot at you."
Rico opened his eyes. Sonny's statement had been quiet, very matter-of-fact. "I heard you, Sonny." But his partner was shaking his head.

Rico moved, sitting down next to his partner, watching his face as Sonny too moved to sit facing him. "I remember being in that lighthouse, facing you. I kept... flashing back to before. I could hear your voice in my head, telling me that you loved me, joking with me, I could see you in my mind, sitting in the car, hugging me at OCB. And yet you were standing in front of me, a stranger, a dealer. I can..." he closed his eyes, "...smell the musty air of the brick building, I can feel the damp. There's no context, I can't remember getting there or leaving. But I know that suddenly I knew you were a cop. I didn't know what was happening to me. You ran, and I aimed to fire. But... I could still see you in my mind, talking to me, smiling at me. I fired... at the wall. Three shots. I was angry, at myself for not remembering, at you for messing with my head. But I didn't fire at you. Not that time."

Rico nodded. "Thanks." He looked over at the reports. "Anything else?"
Sonny shook his head. "I remember Celeste, vaguely. I did.... I...."
"You had an affair with her."
"Yes. She was with me, after the car bomb. I remember when I came round, I asked her if Tubbs was looking for me. She asked who Tubbs was, and I couldn't tell her, it was just a name that had come to mind."

The phone rang again, and Rico reluctantly got to his feet to find the receiver. "Rico."
"Rico. Jay."
"Hi, Jay." Rico glanced at Sonny who smiled. "Sorry, I did mean to return your call."
"No, that's okay. I just thought you'd be interested. Fyire's having a reception at the 'Life Slice' tomorrow. You and Sonny are welcome to join us."
Rico thought about it. After what Izzy had told him, he thought it might be a good, if somewhat dangerous idea. "We'd love to. What time?"

Sonny spent the rest of the afternoon reading through the report. The painful accusations and charges that had been made against him and dropped, still upset him, despite there being hardly any new information in the file. The statements were worse. Especially Rico's. His seemed to be... dead. Written with just the facts, like he was trying to pretend that none of it had happened. Like it wasn't happening. God, what must it have been like for Rico?

Sonny stepped out on to the patio. His partner was down by the ocean, sitting cross-legged on the sand just out of reach of the tide. He was completely still. Sonny watched him for some time. He thought back to their early days together, the losses they'd shared to bring them close. From the start Rico was behind him where it counted. He remembered Rico backing him over off-the-rails FBI agent Artie Rollins. Lou hadn't trusted the guy, and neither had Rico, but when it had come to crunch time, Rico had gone with Sonny's instincts over his own. And they'd both almost been killed.

Eventually, Sonny left the patio and headed for the kitchen, hoping to find something he had a chance of cooking without burning the place down.

*

The open patio doors let the warm ocean breeze into the room. The only light was from the candles standing in the corners, a half-empty bottle of wine rested on the table, the subtle aroma of sandalwood incense hung sensuously in the air. Sonny and Rico lay on the thick carpet, Rico on his back, Sonny's toes playing in his hair while Sonny himself lay on his side, arms wrapped around Rico's ankles.

"I'm impressed," Rico finally admitted. "I honestly didn't believe you could cook anything that didn't involve matches and flames."
"You haven't seen the state of your kitchen yet."
Rico captured Sonny's foot and started to massage the sole. Slowly, he brought it to his mouth, wrapping his lips around the big toe and sucking.

Sonny moaned, pulling his foot away, laughing. He watched the amber glow of the candles playing across Rico's dark chest. His partner had physically over the years, he'd calmed, become less impetuous. Sonny had always thought of Rico as darkly sexy, a real charmer. Beautiful, trustworthy ladies flocked to him, but he had lost women close to him and that had put him off. Recently, after Val had turned his proposal down, he'd been celibate. Until his partner had jumped him on the boat.

Rico found himself slowly becoming mesmerised by the candlelight playing in Sonny's hair. His fire, his sexuality burning brightly in his jade eyes. "Is this too much for you, Sonny?"
Sonny shook his head, smiling gently. "I like this, like that I can relax with you, be this... physical with you." He almost blushed, and lay back down. "I'd never have thought you and I would share this. Not to say... it hadn't crossed my mind."
Rico watched the dancing flames in his line of sight. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Sonny didn't answer. What was there to say? "Crossed your mind too, didn't it? Lots of times."
"Certainly. I know. Why didn't I say something."

Silence enveloped them once more. It was wonderfully peaceful, just the two of them and the ocean. A stray thought popped into Sonny's head as he lay there. 'I'm with the most beautiful man in Miami, in New York. Anywhere. The women - the dark-haired luscious ladies and the blonde beauties - fell for Burnett. Except Caroline. And Catie. And Theresa. The rest, Danielle, Callie, Margaret, Christine... Celeste, they'd all fallen for his bastard of an alter-ego.' Caroline got out in time, he thought, before she could get hurt any more, before Billy could get hurt. That scared him more than anything. Now he was so glad they'd gone to Atlanta. Theresa had betrayed him. Or maybe she hadn't, but it felt like she had. And Catie.... That part of him still ached for her. Too raw to touch.

But Rico... Rico wouldn't ever betray him. Rico wouldn't yell at him for coming home late or going out early. Rico knew the pain of losing a snitch. He knew the stresses of the job. Knew the loneliness of stake-outs, the adrenaline rush created by a car chase or a shoot-out, adrenaline that had to be worked out somehow. Nights in clubs, picking up women and screwing their brains out in an attempt to work through it all. Sometimes they just drove, separately or together, meeting up at the shack bar on the marina with no arrangement save for tradition.

He sat up, and Rico's fine eyes followed him. Leaning on one hand, palm flat in the carpet, Sonny just watched his partner. Rico remained quiet, relaxed under his lover's gaze. "Nothing phases you, does it?" Sonny asked softly.
"That's one of the things you love about me." There was no conceit or ego in his voice. Just warmth.
Sonny nodded. "One." He trailed his hand over Rico's chest, his gaze as intense as it had ever been. "This is serious, isn't it? Between us?"
Rico sat up now. "It's as serious as we want or need it to be, Sonny."
Sonny surprised himself by the depth of his emotions. Everything had cranked up today. Someone was after his sanity as well as his life; Rico's presence was soothing, reassuring. It was something to cling to, to stop himself from drowning. He didn't say a word, yet Rico read it in his face, in his eyes. "I'm here, Sonny," he said quietly. "I'm here for you."

Each and every time they kissed felt like the first. Sonny approached him cautiously, touching his lips to the other's. It was Rico who slipped his fingers into his partner's hair, pulling that full mouth down onto his own. Sonny responded with equal passion, winding his arms around Rico, holding him tight against his body. When they came up for air, Sonny's expression was still as intense. "What's up, Partner?"
"I... I want you to show me."
"What, Sonny?"
"Show me. Love me. Please." Rico knew what that meant, knew suddenly what his lover was asking for.
"Are you sure, Sonny?"
Crockett chuckled. "No. But... I want it all with you. I want to give you all of me." He shook his head, embarrassed. "Does that sound too sloppy?"
"No, man...." Rico was almost speechless. "I don't know what to say. I love you, Sonny. What you've already given me is more than enough. We don't have to take this any further."
"Then I may never know what I'm missing." Sonny placed his hand against Rico's neck, stroking his ear lobe, running his thumb over the sensitive skin of his throat. "Don't you want me, Rico?"
Rico sighed. "I will always want you." He ran his fingers into Sonny's hair, drawing his partner into another long kiss. They rose to their feet together, Rico walking backwards, prolonging the contact of their lips as he lead Crockett to the spiral staircase. He stepped back, onto the first step, licking his tongue over Sonny's lips while his hands moved down each button on his partner's shirt, undoing them as he went. Sonny's hands reached for him, sliding up under his sweater, touching his stomach, his chest, playing with the peppercorn hairs there.

Rico pushed Sonny's shirt off his shoulders, letting it drop to the steps. His fingers dipped into his lover's trousers, using them to guide him up the stairs. "I need you, Sonny."
Crockett nodded, licking his lips. "I need you too, Partner."
They reached the top of the stairs, Rico's bedroom, and Sonny lifted Rico's sweater over his head. Skin contacted with skin as Sonny pressed against his lover, nibbling down his neck, across his shoulders. Rico was working Sonny's trousers down over his hips, reaching to unfasten his own just as Sonny beat him to it.
"I want to be naked with you," Rico stepped out of his pants and briefs. He lead Sonny to the bed, pulling him down onto the dark silk sheets. As the light body contacted the dark, Rico entwined his legs with his partner's. Sonny groaned into the kiss, rubbing his cock against Rico's leg. "Hey, easy, Sunshine, take it easy."

Rolling them, Rico pinned Sonny's body to the bed under his weight, kissing his mouth, his throat, down over his shoulders to his chest. Teasing, he licked over a diamond-hard nipple before taking it between his teeth. Sonny arched into the bite, almost begging for more. Rico grinned, sinking his teeth in a little harder before releasing the nipple to the gentle hold of his lips. Sonny moaned, fingers clawing Rico's back. Tubbs did it again, biting hard, then suckling gently. Sonny cried out, lifting himself off the bed, winding his fingers into his lover's hair, ready to beg.

Rico worked his way down his lover's body, nipping with his teeth. Sonny's sounds were driving him wild. Never before had he wanted to please a partner as he wanted to please this man. He traced his mouth's path over his lover's skin with his fingertips, drawing light patterns, teasing the sensitised flesh. Sonny quivered under him, his straining cock nudging Rico's body as he moved over him. "Rico... please...."
"Ssh... let me do this." When he reached Sonny's groin, he kissed the tender skin at the fold of his thighs. Straddling his partner's legs, Rico sat back and ran his hands over Sonny's sculptured chest. "So beautiful...."
Sonny reached out for Rico, but the other man captured his hands and pressed them back to the bed. Entwining their fingers he leaned down to cover Sonny's mouth with his own. Crockett raised himself up, pushing off the bed in an attempt to feel his lover's body along the length of his own. Rico submitted, lowering himself down, rubbing his cock against the other hard erection. Sonny cried out at the contact, thrusting closer, the friction firing the desire within them both.

Rico launched a fresh attack on Sonny's mouth, trying to climb down his throat as Sonny's own tongue outlined the ridges of his lover's palette. As Crockett's hands started to work their magic on Tubbs' body, Rico fought to keep control of the situation. Sonny's fingers played havoc with his partner's senses; Rico loved that they could do this for one another.

Finally, mastering his full self-control, Rico pulled back, the movement crushing their cocks between their bellies. Sonny moaned, long and hard. "Tell me, Sonny." He growled, "Tell me what you want from me."
Sonny gasped, struggling to bring his surroundings back into focus. "I don't know...."
"Yes, you do." Rico lowered and his head and suckled each of his partner's nipples in turn, loving Sonny's reaction. "Tell me."
"I... I don't know how much I can take." Tubbs looked into Crockett's eyes and read the truth emblazoned there.
His tone eased. "It's all right, Sonny. I won't hurt you. We'll just start nice and slow...." Once again he worked his way over the marvellous body before him, kissing and nipping his own patterns on Sonny's skin, marking him lightly. "Tonight you belong to me, Sonny."
Sonny moaned, helpless under his partner's ministrations. "Always yours, Rico. Always." And then he was engulfed.

Rico slide his lips down over Crockett's weeping cock, lathering the head with his tongue. Sonny bucked up, into his mouth and throat. Rico held back the gagging, using his throat muscles to caress the invader. Sonny cried out hard. His fingers clutched Rico's head, trying to pull him off and push him down at the same time. His nerve endings felt as they were each being caressed with fire. "Rico.... Rico...."
Tubbs slipped his hands down, around over Crockett's hips until he cupped the taut globes of Sonny's ass in his palms. He squeezed lightly, drawing long moans from his partner.

After a long time he lifted away from Sonny's turgid cock; so hard it had to be painful but there was more Rico wanted from tonight, and he knew his lover wanted it too. "Turn over, Sonny."
Crockett opened his eyes wide, suddenly scared. "I... don't know if I can, Rico."
"You can turn over. I promise, I won't hurt you." Sonny's eyes travelled down his partner's body, coming to rest on the massive cock straining to reach his lover. Rico almost laughed. "I'm not gonna force anything, Sonny." He smacked a white hip softly.

Finally, Crockett turned onto his front, his bare ass tantalising in the cool moonlight. Rico couldn't resist. He bent his head, kissing and nibbling the firm flesh. Sonny squirmed under the contact, prompting Rico to hold onto his hips. Tracing the line of his partner's spine, Rico kissed his way up until he was lying on Sonny's back, his lips buried in the ridge between the white neck and shoulder. His hands moved down Sonny's arms until they covered his hands, entwining their fingers. Sonny's grip was iron-tight, he was losing it.

Again, Rico moved down the irresistible body lain open to him. He knelt between Sonny's legs, forcing them open with his own. His hands parted the wonderful ass, head lowering, tongue dipping between the cheeks. Sonny tried to crawl away the instant Rico touched him, but his partner merely held him, tonguing his anus gently under he relaxed.

Fireworks went off behind Sonny's eyeballs. His partner was licking him somewhere no one had ever touched him before. It was the most intimate kiss. And Rico deepened it, pushing inside his lover's body. The give of his tongue made it easy, and Sonny's body opened up just a little, just enough to let Rico taste him. With one hand, Tubbs pushed Crockett's left leg up, bending it at the knee, giving himself better access to his bottom and his cock. Stroking that hand over his thigh, Rico took a firm hold of that cock, slightly softened now, and started to massage it sensuously.

Crockett cried Rico's name, his hands grasping for his partner, desperate. Rico couldn't hold out any longer. He rolled them both so they were facing one another, and pulled Sonny's leg over his. Their cocks plunged together as they began to rub up against each other. Sonny's mouth worked its way over his lover's face to his lips, kissing Rico as deeply as he could. Rico responded with equal passion, one hand winding into Sonny's hair while the other made its way down over the lavish body to Sonny's ass, probing between the cheeks for the damp spot he had left.

The desperation in Sonny's manner somehow cut through the haze of desire to touch Rico's soul. No one had ever wanted him - needed him - as completely as his partner did. He stroked his fingertips over the tight entrance to Sonny's body, but he didn't push. He just let Sonny get used to being touched there.

They were close now. The sweat running over their bodies - as near to one another as they could get without being joined - just turned them both on more, pushing them further. Rico felt Sonny's cock swell suddenly against his own, and that one sensation triggered his own orgasm at the moment Sonny came forcefully. Their semen mingled between their bodies, their cries mingled in the cool night air.

Rico rolled on to his back, his breath coming in short gasps. Sonny crawled against him, wrapping himself over Tubbs' body like a blanket. "I love ya, Rico. You have to know that. I need you to know that."
Rico wound his arms around his lover's body, holding onto him. "I know. And I love you too. God, Sonny. No one's ever done this for me, ever made me feel like this." Rico kissed Sonny's damp hair. "Did I hurt you?"
"No.... It was... different. Intense. Knowing it's you, kissing me there...."
Rico smiled. "I wanted to... to kiss you where no one has done before."
"We're both virgins here, aren't we?"
Rico squeezed him tighter. "I like that."

*

The exhibition at the 'Life Slice' was at noon. They convened at OCB in the morning. Not for the first time, Gina watched Sonny and Rico saunter in together. She frowned. Something was different with them, had been since they'd come back off the cruise. But she couldn't put her finger on what.

Castillo had all the files out on the conference room table when they got there. Sonny and Rico pulled up seats with the others. Stan and Sammy brought in the coffee. As they started talking about the case, Sonny looked up. The rest followed suit. Officer Strohe was standing in the doorway. Castillo glared at him, but Strohe ignored him. Stepping into the room, he dropped a selection of colour photos onto the table, on top of the Carrera files they had open.

The shots were from the previous night, at the 'St. Vitus Dance'. Clifford's bloody body lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. There were close ups and long shots. Strohe was grinning.
"This matter has been dealt with," Castillo said calmly.
"Not by me."
"By IAD. Read the report." He waited. Strohe remained in the door. "Go away."

Still grinning, Strohe shrugged and left. Martin was suspicious, but let it go for now. He saw Crockett reach for the photos, and leaned in to scoop them up before his senior detective could rack up any more guilt points. "Forget him." It was an order.

Rico watched his partner closely. They'd been by the boat this morning and Sonny had changed into loose white linen jacket and pants with a black T-shirt. Sometimes Sonny could be so complex. Years ago, Sonny had taken Rico to a gas station and laid his heart open over his friends Freed and Orgell. Rico had known long before that how deeply his partner felt and cared. But that incident had driven home the depth, and over the years he had seen so many instances of his partner's heart-felt ideals coming to the fore.

He remembered Sonny's desperate regrets regarding Evan. Maybe that's what was allowing this to happen between them. He'd made a mistake with Evan, a mistake he wasn't going to make again.

"...Ricardo?"
Tubbs blinked, refocusing on their Lieutenant. Sonny was watching him, a strange expression on his face. "I'm sorry. What?"
Rico thought he might have seen a brief smile curl Martin's lips. "Are you happy with your story for Fyire?"
"Yes. Just a little worried that somewhere along the line of all these connections our covers have been blown. Or at least Sonny's has been."
Crockett responded instantly. "Hey, I'm fine." Tubbs sighed inwardly. How close did they have to get before Sonny would actually listen to him?
"Tubbs is right." Castillo held his hand up to stem the flood of Sonny's protests. "But if we take you out now, it would look suspicious. Whoever is doing this knew about Hagavich, we don't know if they knew Burnett was a cop. Just be aware that there might be a problem."

They filed out slowly, Sonny not moving from his seat, his expression holding Rico in place. When they were alone, Sonny stopped playing with the pen in his fingers and turned his head to pin his partner with a hard stare. Rico breathed out, ready for the tirade that didn't come. Crockett was just watching him, waiting.
"I'm sorry," he murmured finally. "I... I know! But I had a point."
Sonny smiled then, almost to himself. "Where were you, when Castillo asked you about the cover story?"
Rico glanced at his partner, and then away, standing up. "Miles away." Without waiting for a reply, he left the room hurriedly. Sonny watched him go, slightly taken aback.

*

Rico knew that he couldn't keep this up for long. He didn't even know what he was hurting over. But this morning he had woken with his lover beside him, and suddenly all he had wanted was to gather Crockett in his arms and swear that there would never be anyone else. That overwhelming feeling of possessiveness and need had stayed with him, affecting his karma.

He knew that in reality he and Sonny weren't ever going to manage monogamy; with each other or with anyone else. The job wouldn't allow it. The feelings they had for one another wouldn't allow it. But still, at the moment he felt trapped by his own desire.

Sonny dropped down at his desk, still watching his partner carefully. Rico had been quiet this morning, and after the intensity of last night, Sonny had really needed some closeness. But sooner or later he knew Tubbs would talk to him, that's the way it always was.

By the time they set off for South Beach, Sonny had driven himself crazy. Rico hadn't looked up from his paperwork all morning and Crockett's imagination was running wild. What had happened? Was this too much for his partner? Or wasn't it enough? He wound himself up all morning, thinking about the night before in detail, going over what Rico had said. Sonny had promised more than he was giving, hadn't he? He felt physically sick by the time he stood and grabbed his jacket.

Rico looked up. He had worked the morning away, hoping that would calm him down, drag him back into reality so that he could actually talk to his friend and make sense. He gave Sonny a quick smile, noticing how anxious Crockett was suddenly. He frowned, and followed his partner out of the office.

Sonny unlocked the Ferrari and slipped into the driver's seat. But although he put the key into the ignition, he didn't start the engine. Instead, he fiddled with his fingers, looking anywhere but at his partner. Finally, swallowing hard, he found his voice. "If you're going to end this, Rico, just do it. Okay?"

Tubbs' eyes widened. "What? You think.... Oh, Sonny...." He leaned across, aware of where they were and who could come out of the building at any time. He covered his partner's hand on the steering wheel with his own. "I'm sorry. I've been off all mornin', I know. It's not you, and it's not us. It's me. I don't want to end it." He sighed, he wasn't putting this very well and his words were just scaring Sonny all the more. "Let's get a coffee, Jay and Elliott will wait."

Sonny didn't say a word. He keyed the engine and backed the car out carefully.

Lupe's Bar was one of the favourite haunts of the OCB vice squad. Rico bought the drinks, and took the seat next to his silent partner. Collecting himself, he had had the journey here to work out what he was going to say.
"Sonny, you and I... in the past, we've thrown our souls into relationships. You with Margaret, and Christine, and Theresa. Me with... Angelina, and Laura.... When we fall, we tend to fall all the way. I thought... with you... it would be different." He looked up. "I... I just keep feelin' so damn close to you. It really scares me, Sonny."
Crockett's unfathomable gaze cleared slowly. He smiled. "This is me, Partner. Firstly, you don't have to keep all this inside and take it out on the paperwork." Rico chuckled, and Sonny patted his arm. "Second, I don't know where this is goin'. It's new territory for both of us. We just have to take it as it comes. If it's any comfort, I haven't the urge to go out chasing the women just now."
Rico nodded. It did help. "Promise me something?"
"Anythin'."
"You'll tell me, if that particular urge comes back."
Sonny grinned. "I swear, Partner. You'll be the first to know about any of my urges."

*

Castillo looked up at the grinning figure in his doorway. He frowned. "What do you want, Strohe?"
"I want to tell you what I wanted to tell you earlier. What you wouldn't let me tell you."
The smug tone of his voice aroused the Lieutenant's suspicions. The IAD officer had left rather easily this morning. "Tell me now."
"All right." He took a deep breath, obviously in no hurry. "Henk Clifford had been investigating Rudi Toscara when he... committed suicide."
"He arranged the hit on Toscara to take out Crockett."
"Yes. Maybe. It doesn't matter. He had an alternative angle on the case, a Fyire Harley. She was supposed to put him next to another player."
"Who?"
"A new guy in the field. From Europe. One... Osrick Carrera. Half-brother of Miguel Carrera. Osrick would one day have inherited the empire. Had your detective not... destroyed it from the inside out."

Castillo was already on the phone. But Crockett's car-phone was engaged. Calmly, he dialed the mobile number.

*

Sonny parked the car next to the curb. The gallery seemed quiet for an exhibition day, but maybe they were too early. They climbed out of the Ferrari and Sonny conscientiously locked it. They were too far away when the phone rang.

Four miles away, Jaygon swore quietly to himself and grabbed his car keys.

"The mobile phone your are trying to reach is either out of the area or has been turned off. Please leave a message."
Castillo dropped the receiver and hurried out of his office, barely noticing Strohe as he moved aside. "I want everyone over to 'The Life Slice' gallery, now. Call in backup. No heroics. Crockett and Tubbs may be in danger."

*

Rico watched Sonny as they neared the gallery. There was something wrong here, and Crockett's senses knew it. Moving together without a word, they both drew their weapons, each taking up a defensive stance either side of the entrance. Sonny peered inside the glass of the door, looking around the empty interior, and them down at the handle. There did not seem to be any rigging attached. Carefully and slowly, Crockett opened the door.

They were always ready to dive out of the line of fire, or to throw themselves away from the force of an explosion. Nothing happened.

Each covering the other, in a routine that was habit to both of them, the two detectives moved into the gallery. The lights were off, giving the walls a cool, grey appearance. Paintings, that looked so alive under the glare of halogen bulbs, hung silently. It was eerie.

Reaching the back of the main hall, a corridor ran left and right from a single archway. Crockett indicated that he would go left. Rico nodded.

Sonny moved crab-like into the corridor, back against the wall, until he reached the first doorway. Stepping quickly around the closed door, he prepared to open it from the safe side. "You're so sexy when you're in action, you know that Crockett?"

Sonny tensed at the brutal stabbing of the mouth of a gun at his back. He raised his hands slowly. The smooth, foreign male behind him instructed him to drop his gun, and he did so, hoping Rico was hearing this and would choose to remain out of sight until they knew what they were dealing with. His captor had other ideas.

"I know you're alone. If you say a word, I will kill you and your partner. If you do as I say, I won't even involve him. Do you understand?" Sonny nodded. "Good. Turn around. Slowly."

Sonny did as he was told. The man with the Magnum was shorter than him. He was dressed in an expensive yet understated dark grey suit, with a blood-red shirt. His eyes were a piercing dark, almost black. His accent was European, although Sonny wouldn't have liked to guess a precise location. It was exotic, quiet yet commanding.

"Now we're going to walk back out of the gallery, the way you both came in. Quietly, calmly. There's a black Ferrari outside. Get in the passenger seat. Do you understand me?"
Sonny nodded, his heart pounding. "Good. Now start walking."

They passed out of the corridor as Sonny heard his partner calling him from inside one of the rooms. Mentally he willed Rico to stay where he was, just for a little longer. They crossed through the gallery and out of the front door without seeing another person. The black car was where the guy had said it would be, directly in front of the entrance. Sonny opened the door and slipped inside. Behind him, the door was closed quietly. He looked at the woman in the driver's seat and recognized Celeste Carrera. She smiled at him, lips curling in an expression of blood-lust.

Sonny heard a second car engine start behind them, and Celeste tooled the Ferrari away from the curb.

Rico freed the struggling Fyire from her bonds, and sat back on his heels. "What's going on?"
"Your partner," she gasped as she pulled in air. Rico didn't need to hear anymore. Sonny hadn't answered his calls when he'd found the gallery's owner bound and gagged in her office. He went out into the hall, shouting for his partner. There was no answer. Hurriedly, he checked all the rooms. They were alone. Sonny was gone.

Peace remained for half a second, and then the backup arrived.

Four local police cars, Castillo, Gina and Trudy, Stan and Sammy totalled six cars that pulled up in front of the gallery. A dozen cops in all watched Rico run out of the entrance and practically skid to a stop beside Gina's car. "They took him."
"Who?"
"I don't know!" Rico's eyes settled on the white Testarossa just up the road. "I don't know."
"Clifford was using Fyire to get to a bigger player, Osrick Carrera. The second son." Rico's eyes widened.
"Oh, God. We have to find him. Crockett single-handedly took the Carrera's to pieces. They'll do the same to him."
Castillo stepped out of the car, watching his detectives spread out over the scene with no small amount of pride. "Who set you up to come here?"
"...Jay." Rico was shaking his head. "But he wouldn't have set us up. He... he's a friend, Lieutenant."
Castillo's steady gaze seemed to gauge Tubbs' meaning for a moment, and then simply accept it. "Someone might have used them, knowingly or unknowingly. Go and see him, try to get a name."

Fyire wouldn't talk to them. She was angry at her sister for using her, but refused to say in what way. They arrested the gallery owner. Stan and Sammy accompanied her to Metro Dade to see if they could get any more from her once she'd calmed down.

As Rico pulled Sonny's car up into the driveway of Jaygon and Elliott's South Beach mansion, Jay came out onto the top step. "I've been trying to phone you." Rico had to hold himself in check as the other man relayed the information as quickly as he could. "Fyire phoned us this morning, told us the exhibition had been cancelled. She was the one who asked us to invite you two. I said I'd call you and let you know, but she insisted that I didn't. I thought it was odd, so I tried to get hold of you but I kept missing you."
"We think Osrick Carrera may be behind this. They grabbed Sonny."
"Oh, no...." Rico watched Jaygon's face as he thought. Every minute that passed was wasting time. "There's a place in the Glades that its reputed the Carrera's used to use... for executions. You can't get to it by car. I assume one of you has a speedboat?"

*

Sonny's heart beat wildly in his chest. He could hear it, pounding against his rib cage in fear. He imagined it's echo drowning out the quiet words of the man standing over him as he knelt on the cold stone floor. He couldn't listen to the list of charges being read to him by his self-proclaimed executioner. He had not been blind-folded on the journey here, he was not blind-folded now. They believed that he would not live to lead anyone else to this place. He was beginning to believe it too.

His wrists were bound together behind him. A silken cord of black cut into his flesh whenever he tried to free himself.

He had been gagged. A long, red silk scarf had been tied in the middle, creating a knot of fine material that had been placed between his lips, crossed at the back of his head, and wound around his neck. It had been tied into a slipknot at the front and the ends left dangling, to create a leash effect. They had done that in the boat on the way from the main land. They had used it to lead him then, from the boat, up the pier and into this strange hall. As they had led him, the scarf had pulled tighter around his throat. The tied knot pressed into his jugular, making him feel that he was short of air when he was not. It was an unpleasant sensation that had served to heighten his growing fear.

The hall he was now kneeling in was bare. The floor was white stone, three of the walls made up of grey, featureless slabs. The wall opposite him was glass; floor-to ceiling windows, each about four feet across. They may have looked grand once, but now they were covered in grime, surrounded by the plant life that was taking over outside, sneaking inside through the cracks in the stone work.

Celeste had lead him in here, behind Osrick. She had forced him to his knees by placing a small, sharp knife to his throat. When he had refused to kneel, she had cut him. He could feel the blood still sticky along the shallow wound. While it had not caused any permanent damage, it had frightened him, convinced him to do as she said. Now she was standing behind him, holding the ends of the scarf. Whenever he moved, she pulled the slip knot tighter.

Osrick finished reading, and threw the papers up into the air. The sheets separated above them and came down again, scattering over the floor around them. He crouched down before his prisoner. "Do you understand the charges against you?"
Sonny shook his head, and tried to speak. He had to get this crazy man to listen, to understand.

Anger flashed in the other man's eyes and he lifted his fist, ready to back-hand this insubordinate detective who had killed his father and brother and torn apart his inheritance. Instead, he caught himself, and smiled a thin, calculated smile. He looked up at Celeste. "Give me the knife."

Sonny looked up too, his jade stare full of barely restrained terror. No one would find him. No one could know where he was. He thought of Rico, the image painful because of the reality that he would never see his partner again. Rico must be going crazy. He hoped that they would leave his body somewhere it would be found. Then Rico could bury him. If not, he knew his partner would never give up his search for him.

Behind him, Celeste placed the black handle of the sharp knife into Osrick's palm. Sonny wanted to ask her why. He had gone back for her. He had saved her from the backlash of the destruction of her husband's empire. Osrick wasn't even her son. But there was cold hatred in her eyes whenever she looked at Crockett. She had not spoken a word to him. Had he taken everything from her too? Made her believe in Burnett and then taken him from her. As he had made Rico believe in Crockett, and then taken him away. His heart ached for Rico.

Osrick once again smiled at the man knelt before him. He stood up, wrapping his fingers around the handle of the knife and raising his fist. With only a little of his strength, he brought the butt of the handle down against the side of Sonny's head, just next to his right eye. A shout of agony was muffled by the gag. The blond head snapped around to the left, pulling the scarf tighter around the throat. Sonny fought to breathe, struggled against the white-hot pain that sliced through his skull. When he tried to open his eyes, he found that all he could see out of his right one was a red blur. After a minute or so, he couldn't open it at all. It didn't matter. Already he could feel the darkness pulling at him.

Osrick gripped the knife in both hands. He was turned a little way from his victim. He was angry with himself for losing his patience. The execution of those who had betrayed the Carrera family was an ancient ritual. His father had forgotten the legacies of his grandfathers. His father had brought shame upon the family. Miguel was always too weak. With them gone, Osrick planned to give the family back their pride. Somewhere along the line, he had lost his sanity.

The execution of Sonny Burnett would finally lay that era to rest. He would control the Carrera family from now on. His enemies would know what happened to those who crossed Osrick Carrera. No one would challenge him or his empire again. He looked around, down at the man who knelt where so many had knelt in the past.
"You have to die." The words chilled Sonny's nerves. Again he tried to speak around the gag in his mouth.

Turning the blade in his fingers, Osrick brought his arm down in an arc across the front of his prisoner's body. The sharp point sliced through the cotton of his shirt and the flesh beneath. Sonny's scream came out as a howling noise from deep in his throat. His body tried to fall forward; his position stretching the cut skin. But the scarf tightened around his throat, choking him and he forced himself to sit back on his ankles, as excruciating as that was.

Osrick seemed pleased by Sonny's reaction. "Open your eyes." Crockett pried open his left one, his right too swollen now. "Good. I want you to witness your own death. Like you witnessed Henk Clifford's." Realisation must have shone in his expression, Sonny thought, because Osrick smiled genuinely all of a sudden. "You know, don't you. I set him up, pointed him in your direction, fueled his hatred for you as I fucked him. He knew what he had to do. I couldn't let him kill you. I wanted to do that. And Celeste here of course. But I wanted him to destroy a little of you."

Suddenly Crockett was glad Clifford was dead. At least he had not gotten the chance to tell this lunatic about he and Rico, otherwise he was sure Carrera would have made his partner suffer too. And Sonny wouldn't have been able to stand that. His own pain, his own death, was bearable if he knew Rico was safe.

Once again Osrick sliced at him with the knife, going in the opposite direction, drawing a gruesome criss-cross on Sonny's body in blood. Sonny bit back his scream this time, not wanting to give Osrick the pleasure of hearing the agony as well as inflicting it. But it didn't seem to matter to him now. He crouched down, gazing for a moment into the pain-filled green eye that watched him in terror. He held the point of the blade just under Sonny's chin and looked up, at the woman standing behind. "Pull his head back." She did as he asked, and Sonny felt a steadying hand against his shoulder. Steadying Osrick, not him.

A moment later, the blade of the knife sliced a quick, shallow cut from Sonny's chin, down the line of his throat, over his chest and stomach, into his groin to his crotch. The point nipped the sensitive flesh at the base of his cock. The last thing it touched on it's journey down. His scream then, was a mere squeal. The scarf was choking the air from his lungs, and the cuts were bleeding. In the centre of his rib cage, where the three wounds met, he was starting to bleed profusely.

Osrick watched as Crockett's white shirt slowly turned the same colour as his own. He smiled. Standing, he finally walked around and took Celeste's place behind his dying captive. He knelt down, taking the ends of the scarf in his left hand while he held the knife in his right. Leaning in, he kissed the back of Sonny's sweat-covered neck, and plunged the blade into his right shoulder, pulling on the scarf as he did. Sonny arched, his vision blurring, the eternal darkness calling. In his mind, he told Rico once more time that he loved him. And he allowed himself to die.

Rico's shot was perfect. The bullet sliced through Osrick's brain as surely as the knife had gone through his victim's flesh. For a terrible moment, he turned, and grinned at the black man standing a few feet from him. And then he fell to the side. He was dead before he hit the floor.

"Sonny...."
Rico crouched down by his partner. Thinking fast, he took the knife from Sonny's shoulder and cut through the silk at his throat. At the same time, he pressed two fingers to the base of the damp neck and found a pulse, shallow and fast. Wadding up the scarf he pressed it to the wound in the shoulder and moved to turn Sonny onto his side. The pool of blood beneath him was growing at a frightening rate. Rico tore off his shirt and folded it in four, holding that to the accumulated wound in the centre of Sonny's body. Kneeling there, holding the two wads of material to his partner's bleeding injuries, he looked up, and saw Celeste standing over them. Just watching. Smiling.

"Don't move!" Stan's voice shocked both of them. Celeste didn't move. She continued to stare down at Sonny even as Sammy cuffed her and dragged her away from the scene. Paramedics moved in, pushing Rico gently but firmly out of the way. He staggered back, cold all of a sudden. He started to tremble.

"It's over, Rico." Castillo's calm, low voice cut through his shock and broke him. As his boss's arms went around him and pulled him close, he put his hand to his face and started to cry.

Martin held his sobbing detective in his embrace, steadying his own breathing as he watched the medics tend to Crockett. "Will he be all right?" His question, although quiet, seemed to be audible to them all. One of the guys looked up from Sonny's side and nodded. They had already set up saline and dextrose IV lines to keep Sonny stable. Temporary sterile dressings were applied to his wounds until they could get him to hospital and stitch him up. With any luck, the scarring - after time - would be minimal.

After a quarter of an hour, Sonny was finally, carefully moved. An air ambulance flew him to Miami's Mercy hospital, with Stan at his side. Martin promised Rico that he would take him straight there, but he was still bordering on hysterical, and that wouldn't be helpful in the ambulance or any use to Sonny if he came round. Rico didn't fight the decision, he didn't have the energy. He just leaned against his Lieutenant and watched the proceedings. When Sonny was taken away, he couldn't seem to take his eyes from the blood staining the white stone floor.

*

What he expected to see when he opened was eyes was a white light. Or nothing. What he didn't expect was Martin Castillo's smiling face watching him steadily. "Hey, welcome back." Sonny managed a smile. When he tried to speak, the simple movement of his mouth caused his throat to pull taut. There was no pain, but the sensation was bad enough not to want a repeat experience. "You've got some stitches in your neck, that's why it feels strange. You won't be feeling any pain because of the medication they've got you on. You're going to be fine."
Sonny swallowed, then something occurred to him. "Ri...Rico...." The rough sound escaped his lips before his body protested at even that movement.
Castillo had his hand now, and was holding it. "Rico's fine. He was upset when we found you. They've sedated him for a short while. He's only just down the hall. He'll come and see when he wakes." Martin smiled. "We won't be able to stop him." Still the concern played over Sonny's bruised face. "I promise you, Sonny. He's fine. He shot and killed Osrick Carrera. There was no fight."

Sonny settled back, finally accepting the truth from his Lieutenant. He closed his eyes and sleep reclaimed him quickly. Martin stayed where he was until about an hour later, when Rico pushed the door open and stepped quietly into the room.
"How are you feeling?"
Rico looked embarrassed. "Fine. I'm sorry... about...." He took his eyes from his partner's peaceful presence for a moment.
"Don't. It's a natural reaction."
"Not for a cop."
"For a loved one." Rico nodded slightly, and approached the bed. Gently he stroked Sonny's fingers with his own. "He woke. He asked if you were all right and went back to sleep." Rico smiled. Typical Crockett. Almost gets himself killed and then wakes up worrying about his partner.
"He is going to be all right?"
"Yes. He'll be off for a couple of weeks. The stitches...." Rico nodded, he could guess.

*

The next time Sonny woke, it was his partner's smiling face that greeted him. He managed a weak smile in reply, and a squeeze of Rico's hand holding his own. Sonny's throat had taken a couple of stitches, and was badly bruised from the scarf around his neck. The cuts in his skin had been dressed, and at the centre of the gruesome criss-cross pattern he had twenty stitches. He also had stitches in his shoulder.

Still, the doctors had said he was lucky. His blood loss had been quite substantial but Rico's quick acting at the scene had undoubtedly saved his life.

Osrick was dead. Celeste was in jail and would stay there. Rico hoped that it was really over, that they could finally bury Burnett and his legacy.

Sometime the following morning, Mike DeLelo poked his head around the door and said 'hi'. Rico knew there would be more from him, but was relieved not to have to deal with it quite yet. Bri came on duty at lunch-time. His expression when he checked on Sonny was one of exasperation and worry. But all anyone could do now was to help Sonny heal - physically and mentally.

*

Gina walked happily through the hospital, collection of cards in one hand, a bunch of white roses in the other. She wanted to spend some time with Sonny, acutely aware of how worried she'd been about him, and how close to the surface her feelings still were for him. Maybe Catie had been gone long enough for something to start between them....

Approaching the private room, she looked in through the glass panels. Sonny was awake, lying on his back. Rico was sitting in a chair next to the bed, leaning forward. Sonny was holding Rico's hand, playing with his partner's fingers as they talked quietly. She frowned softly.

Gently knocking on the door, she heard Sonny tell her to come in. Closing it behind her, she noticed that he had released Rico's hand, and the New Yorker was leaning his crossed arms on the bed, smiling at her. Sonny was smiling too. She dumped the cards on the edge of the bed. "Now you're looking better than last time I saw you." She leaned down to kiss his forehead and he hummed in appreciation.

Rico rose and pulled another chair to the other side of Sonny's bed. She thanked him and watched from the corner of her eye as he returned to his own seat, and to leaning on the bed. It was almost a possessive gesture. Or maybe just protective. He had almost lost his partner.

Gina placed the roses in an empty vase on the bed side table and sat down. "The cards are from people at the department. The roses are from me."
She looked at her friend. "How are you feeling?"
Sonny seemed all right, a little quiet but after what he'd been through that was expected. He just had to work through it all. She knew he would ask for her help if he needed it. "Better." His voice was still strained slightly. The bruising around his neck and in his throat made talking painful when the medication wasn't at its full strength. Bri had promised him that it would ease in a few days. "Thanks for the flowers. They're beautiful."

Gina watched him for a time. His eyes were clear and he was smiling at her like he understood what she was feeling. For a moment she allowed herself to believe....
"I have some news. IAD Officer Strohe has been suspended with pay, awaiting an investigation into his conduct concerning Clifford and the information he kept from us."
Sonny chuckled, despite the pull on his throat injuries. Rico felt that this was some vindication of the way they'd been treated in the past.

Rico and Gina chatted for a short while longer, with Sonny putting in comments now and again. She excused herself finally and left them.

Convinced she was missing something that was right in front of her eyes, Gina headed out to Dade marina, and the 'St. Vitus Dance'.

Rico watched Sonny close his eyes, and once more took his partner's hand. "She knows, Sonny," he murmured softly.
Sonny moved his head. "Not yet, but she suspects." He opened his eyes, looking straight at Rico.
The dark man shifted uneasily. "You bothered?"
"No. She and I were over a long time ago." He smiled, squeezing Rico's hand lightly. "Maybe I'll just work my way around the office."
Rico's eyes widened and he grinned. "In your wildest."
Sonny's smile touched his eyes. "You think Stan would have me?"
Rico laughed. "Of course. Who could say no to you?"

Again, the jade eyes closed. The strength of the medication made Sonny drowsy, but better that than have him suffering the pain of his wounds. Jaygon and Elliott had been in to see him yesterday, and he had slept through the whole visit. Jaygon was just glad to see him alive; glad that Rico had gotten there in time. He had apologized over and over again about his part in setting Sonny up. Rico didn't blame them, and he knew Sonny wouldn't either.

*

Elvis roared to himself as Gina stepped aboard. As far as Sonny was concerned, the young alligator was the best guard dog he could want. Friends were the only ones brave enough to board the vessel with him lying there.

She unlocked the hatch with the key Crockett had given her years ago and had never taken back. The galley was fairly tidy. Sonny tried to keep the cupboards stocked, and always had a fridge full of small bottles of Bud. She moved slowly inside. The cabin floor had been scrubbed clean after Clifford's suicide, but Sonny's usual standard of cleanliness was obvious. Clothes were strewn about the floor, a silk shirt and pair of dark pants. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

The place stank of the cleaning materials the lab team had used to clean away the remains of Henk Clifford. But the sheets still smelled of Sonny. Gina smiled, picking up one of the pillows and breathing it in. Her nose wrinkled. She took a deeper breath. Gina was more than familiar with Sonny's shampoo and aftershave - when he used it. His hair had always smelled of apples to her. The scent on the pillow was different yet still familiar. She smelled it again, and finally placed it. Rico.

***

It was early afternoon when Rico pushed open his own backdoor and dropped the paperwork onto the kitchen table. Sonny had been out of the hospital for a week, after two weeks in. He would be back to work on Monday, staying behind his desk for another week before being allowed back out onto the streets.

Sonny, dressed in loose white linen, was asleep on the leather couch, the patio doors open to the warm ocean air. He'd been staying at Rico's place since his discharge from the hospital, it was more comfortable than the boat for recuperation. His colleagues had been around bringing fruit and books and news from the office. He'd been glad to see them all. Now he was just exhausted.

Rico watched him sleep for a while, then went upstairs to shower. He let the water pound down on him, washing away the stresses of the week. Strohe had been reprimanded for what Castillo had described as his role in Crockett's abduction. The paperwork had seemed never-ending to close the Clifford case.

The water level changed, from hard, fast drops to a soothing rain. Rico opened his eyes a moment before his mouth was covered by his lover's. He moaned into Sonny's mouth, deepening the kiss for a time before pulling back. His partner's arms were around him, his firm, naked body pressed close to him. "Sonny...."
"Humm?" Crockett's lips kissed a path down Rico's neck, licking the droplets of water from his skin. Rico's hands traced the line of his partner's back, stroking lightly. The scarring on his body was fading already, leaving only a star pattern at the base of his ribcage that was a constant reminder to them both.

"You should be resting," Rico murmured, trying to mean it.
"I've rested."
They'd made love over the last couple of nights, neither questioning their relationship any more. Rico had just been relieved to have Sonny alive and in his bed. How long it would last, and who else would become involved, were questions for the future.

Still the final step in their sexual adventure together had still to be taken.

Rico could feel Sonny's excitement now, his stiffening, thickening erection rubbing against his own, lubricated by the water running over them both. Sonny's hands were everywhere, touching his skin, tracing patterns on his hips. Rico stepped back slightly, lowering his head to suckle first Sonny's left nipple, and then his right. Sonny groaned, tangling his fingers in his lover's hair, looking down to watch his partner tonguing the hardened buds.

Rico reached down between them and took Sonny's cock into his hand, wrapping his long fingers around the pulsing shaft. Sonny let out a long, throaty cry of pleasure, swallowing against it as Rico's grip tightened and he was squeezed firmly. Slowly, the dark man worked his way back up his lover's body to nip the side of his neck and tongue his ear. The bruising had all but gone, and Sonny's sensitive throat was his again to explore.

Crockett moaned, gasping when Rico's tongue flicked into his ear. Soft lips touched his cheek, and then he heard, "Make love to me, Sonny."

Sonny closed his eyes, the request clear to him. "Rico...."
"Please. I gotta have you. I can't wait any longer." Rico's voice was rough, but determined. And Sonny wanted it as much as his partner.
"What if I hurt you?"
"You won't.... Please...."

Rico turned, rubbing his whole body against Sonny's, arching his back and moving his ass over the hard cock that he knew was aching for him. He dropped his dead back to Sonny's shoulder, blindly searching out his lover's mouth. The deep kiss was all the communication they needed, and when they separated, Rico reached down to grab the bath oil from the cabinet, handing it back to Sonny. The blond took it, eyes still questioning. "Do it. I want to feel you inside me."

"Rico...." The growl coursed over their nerves. Sonny kissed his lover's neck, opening the bottle and dripping the fragrant oil over Rico's shoulder and down his back, finally letting it run between his firm buttocks. Using his fingers, rubbing up and down, Sonny hoped he was lubricating enough. He sealed the bottle and dropped it to the floor. Finding his courage, he pushed his fingers into the crack of Rico's ass. His thumb came to rest against the puckered opening. Rico moaned his plea again, pushing back to encourage his lover.

Nipping the dark shoulder with his lips, Sonny pushed his thumb into Rico's body, feeling the shudder running down the spine. The hot body encased him, tight even around his thumb. He could imagine that tightness squeezing his cock. A feral need took him, moving his thumb around, opening the entrance, stroking just inside the channel. Rico pressed back and down, starting to beg for more.

"Rico...."
"Come on, Sonny.... Push inside me, do it. I gotta have it, man."
Sonny swallowed hard, taking his own cock in his fingers and positioning it against the tightly closed muscle. "Rico...." They moved together, Sonny pushing forward and Rico pressing back.

Rico froze as Sonny's heavy glans forced its way inside him. He clamped down, his internal muscles holding Sonny tight inside. Sonny moaned, long and low, rubbing his lover's back. The sensation was almost too much, bordering on pain as Rico bordered on pleasure. "I'm inside you," Sonny murmured in awe.
"I want more, Sonny," Rico told him, his voice strangled.
Sonny almost laughed, his hands on Rico's shoulders. He could not take his eyes from his lover's ass where they were joined. Slowly, he watched himself slide in further, the pressure around him almost unbelievable.

Rico drew in a harsh breath, grasping at the wall, reaching back to dig his fingers into the flesh of Sonny's buttock. The lights behind his eyes began to fade and the pain slowly became the most exquisite pleasure. Sonny stayed still, half in, half out of his lover's body, waiting for Rico to adjust, amazed beyond words at what they were doing.

"God, Rico.... I love you...." His partner's hand squeezed his butt and pulled him forward. Sonny thrust forward and buried his cock to the hilt in Rico's body. Sonny's balls were being squeezed between his partner's buttocks, but it was nothing to the glorious sensations in his cock. Rico was tight, hot and slick, and he was clenching the muscles in his ass, grasping at his lover.

Rico yelled suddenly, releasing the tension and relaxing his body. He again bent his head back, and immediately he was surrounded by Sonny. Sonny's tongue pushed deeply between Rico's lips, his arms wrapped around the dark waist and chest, fingers tweaking a hard nipple. Rico groaned into Sonny's mouth. They stayed like that for a long time, the warm water still flowing over them. At their mouths, they penetrated one other, tasting one another.

Sonny swore hotly when the kiss ended. "Touch us," he whispered roughly. Rico's desire flared at the words and reached back and around, down to his own ass. He could feel Sonny inside him, it was all he could feel. But to stroke the thick cock, to follow it to the entrance of his body with his fingers... it seemed impossible. "Sonny.... Fuck me, please...."

Slowly, Crockett drew out. He took Rico's hand and stroked the dark fingers over his cock. He held the fingers there as he pushed back in. Rico yelled hard, pulling his hand back to steady himself against the wall. Sonny started a rhythm that was familiar to both of them. Drawing out and pushing in he could feel Rico around his cock. Sonny kissed Rico's shoulders and neck, reaching around to take hold of his lover's cock.

Rico was rock-hard, pulsing now in his partner's hand. Manipulating his lover to the same rhythm to which he was fucking him, Sonny moved them both towards orgasm. Losing it quickly, Rico stretched out up and down his lover's taut body, clenching his internal muscles harshly and suddenly. Sonny tensed up, growing thicker inside Rico's bowels before flooding his partner's body with warm semen. The sensation of his lover coming inside him pushed Rico over. He shouted Sonny's name, coming again and again into his hand.

Shaking violently, both men staggered out of the shower and collapsed onto the bed, soaking bed, totally sated. Sonny found Rico's mouth, kissing him desperately. "I love you," he murmured when they parted. Easily, Rico repeated the words back to him. "Are you okay?"

Tubbs nodded, unable to voice his feelings for a moment. Feeling Sonny inside of him, having his partner make love to him.... it was more than he'd ever imagined and all that he'd fantasised about. In his wildest thoughts he hadn't believe it would ever be so intense or so good.
"You feel so good inside me," he said finally. "So big, forcing me open, forcing me to yield to you. God, Sonny... I can't tell you how that turns me on. How incredible it is."
Crockett settled onto his back, Rico wrapped himself over him, his lips pressed into the wet, blond hair. "You could show me sometime."
"Whenever you're ready, Partner."

They lay there together for sometime, breathing in one another's fresh scents, drying after the prolonged shower. The evening was closing in and against Sonny's warming body, Tubbs' stomach started to grumble. He'd already skipped lunch when he and Stan had had to sit for three hours watching the entrance to a strip club waiting for a guy who never showed.

"I need food in the worst way," Rico mumbled into Sonny's hair. A slight movement of the blond head was his only reply. "Want to go out or order in?"
Sonny thought about it for a while. "Lets go out."
"Okay."

Neither moved. Finally, Sonny kicked out gently with his leg, pushing Rico away from him. "Go and book us somewhere," he murmured, a smile in his voice. Rico laughed.
"Why me?"
"Cause you always say I've got no style. I figured you'd know somewhere nice."
Rico grinned, knowing it was flattery and not caring. "Busy or quiet?"
"Quiet."
"Seafood?"
"Yeah." In a surge of effort, Sonny turned onto his stomach.
Rico wiggled his finger at him. "You be careful with yourself."
Sonny pulled a face as he reached over for the cordless phone on the bedside table. He handed it to Rico just as it started ringing. Both men jumped, and then laughed. Rico pressed his fingertips to Sonny's lips as he hit the 'online' button with his other thumb. Sonny parted his lips and licked his tongue out over the digits.

"Rico." His eyes rolled as his partner began to suck each finger tip in turn.
"Rico. Jay."
Relieved, Rico pulled pushed his fingers just inside Sonny's skilful mouth, smiling. "Jay, hi."
"...I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"
"No," Rico imagined the caller his hear his heart-beat increase. "No. Just Sonny being a bad boy."
There was a joyous laugh from the other end of the line. "I see. We're having an exhibition here, lunchtime tomorrow, just a few prints but it might be fun. To make up for the last time we invited you to an exhibition. If you're both free?"
Rico snagged the tip of Sonny's tongue between his fingers, and managed to hold it for only a moment before it slipped from his grasp. "That would be wonderful, Jay."
"Excellent. Noon then, at the house. And tell Sonny to be on his best behaviour."

Rico disconnected the call and tapped in a speed-dial number. Five minutes later he had booked them into a beautiful restaurant he knew, south of the city.

Noting the time Rico had booked for, and glancing at the clock beside the bed, Sonny planted a quick kiss on Rico's lips and moved up to his knees. Rico watched the firm, muscular body stretch before him. "You're gorgeous, Sonny." The blond coloured slightly, looking down self-consciously at the lessening scars Osrick's knife had left. He traced his finger up the vertical one, feeling grateful for the fact that all his bits were still attached. Again, he found himself thankful for Clifford's death. He couldn't shake the feeling that Rico would have been hurt had Carrera found out about them.

"Sonny." Rico's voice pulled him back to the present. "You okay, Partner?"
Sonny looked up at his beautiful lover. "Yeah." He reached out for Rico's hand, the darker man gave it willingly. Their linked hands bridged the small gap between them, and they stayed there for a while. "I'll find something to wear."

Sonny finally rose from the bed and crossed to the wardrobe. He'd moved some of his clothes over from the boat while he recovered. "Does this place have a dress code?"
Rico thought about the restaurant. He'd taken Laura to it once. It was out of the way, near the water, in an old shack that had been converted only a few years ago. They did the best sea food, the place was genuine, quiet and private. It was somewhere special to take someone special. "Comfortable," he told his partner eventually. "Sexy," he added after a heartbeat.
Sonny ginned. "I can do sexy."
"Oh, I know you can."

*

Crockett and Tubbs strolled along the wooden walkway beside the restaurant. The meal had been perfect. Sonny had his hands in the pockets of his white linen slacks. Neither of them really knew if they should be walking hand in hand. "I thought this would ruin, us, Rico." Sonny glanced up to see his partner smile.
"We wouldn't have let that happen."

They continued to walk, Sonny feeling a little self-conscious about what he'd done earlier. "I can't believe I jumped you in the shower."
Rico hummed happily. "I'm so glad you did."
Sonny shook his head, smiling gently. He looked sideways at his partner as they walked. He didn't think he would ever tire of seeing the black man there at his side. There was something comforting and safe about Rico's presence, yet at the same time, under different circumstances, it could be wildly erotic. So much time spent together over the years, their lives so closely linked that whatever else had been happening for either of them, the underlying, easy friendship had continued unaffected. Working, existing in perfect harmony, always moving together. The Crockett/Tubbs vice team was the best in the business. It was the reason they, and a lot of people, were still alive. Nothing was worth risking that for.

"Think the rest of the department's gonna take this is easily as we have?"
Rico smiled. "You call the last three weeks easy?"
"Hey, you and I have been through worse."
That was true. Rico glanced around, and not seeing anyone else near, he stopped and grasped Sonny's arm, turning him back against the railing, pinning him with his own body. Sonny smiled, humming into Rico's intimate kiss. When the dark man pulled away, his eyes were dancing with mischief. Yet his words were sincere.
"Sometimes, when I look into your eyes, I can see straight to your soul. I can see the pain you've gone through, the way it's eating away at you. And then it all goes, and you slide that mask of yours into place. I want to be between the mask and your eyes. I want to always be the one to see your soul bared open. Don't close down on me like you do the rest of the world."

Sonny saw the soft look in Rico's eyes and nodded once. "I'll try for you, Rico."
"Thanks, Partner."
Rico stepped back and Sonny fell into step once more beside him. It was eerie how they could have these deep moments between them, and then just slip back into the usual run of life. It was no different now than it had been.

Back at the boat that night they made love more desperately and gently than either ever had before, with anyone. Crockett could almost feel himself being swept away by the tide that Rico's love and desire was creating. Every relationship Sonny had ever had had ended in chaos or death or heartbreak. He wanted something to remain, something to be real while the craziness around him ebbed and flowed. He knew in his soul that Rico was real, that his partner would always be there for him.

They lay side by side, diagonally across the large bed. One of Crockett's legs dangled off the side of the bed, foot waving lazily in the cool air. The feel of Rico lying tip to toe with him was just fine and he was starting to fall asleep.

The footsteps on deck woke them both very suddenly. They sat up, eyes locking. "You expecting someone?"
Sonny gave him the 'as if' look. Moving silently, he dropped to the floor and pulled on the linen trousers he'd thrown off earlier. Taking the Bren from its holster he stepped out of the cabin and drew the folding door closed.

He heard the hatch open, remembering he hadn't locked it, he put his back to the stair case and waited. The moment the trespasser put their foot on the top step, Sonny whirled around and drew his gun. Gina stared down the barrel of his gun.

Sonny breathed a sigh of relief and stared at her. "Sorry. Wasn't expecting visitors."
"So I gathered." At least she was smiling. He remembered pulling the same trick on Catie late one night. Deep down he hoped one day he would be able to remember her and smile. She stepped down into the galley, noting the closed cabin door. "You... got company, Crockett?"
Sonny didn't blink. "Actually, yeah. And another woman walking in on me at four in the morning isn't gonna help my record."
Gina smiled at him. "You should be resting."
He looked chagrined. "Yeah, yeah."
She looked like she was going to ask more, but didn't. She just smiled. "In that case, I won't cramp your style." She kissed him quickly on the cheek, smelling the sex on him. "See you Monday."
"See ya."

Gina walked back to her car looking smug. She patted the fin of Rico's Caddie where it sat in the space next to Sonny's Ferrari. Casting one more glance back at the boat, she drove home.

*****

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