********

Chapter 53 - PC Sunshine Arrives.

“Coffee, Deb. Now. Leave the fucking pot.” Brian demanded, slouching onto the first stool at the counter and letting his aching, injured head drop onto his arms.

His PC entourage filed in behind him, acting much more decorous and much quieter. Justin led them over to an empty booth, shooing Rex and Luke into the bench on one side and then sliding into the opposite bench himself. The three PCs were all moving slowly that morning as well, they were just less demonstrative about it than Brian.

“Sunshine!” Debbie screamed, ignoring Brian and his plea for coffee entirely in favor of zipping around the counter and bounding over to the young blond.

Brian managed to stop her, but just barely, by snagging the tie on the back of her vest as she tootled past. “No hugging, Deb. He's got three cracked ribs. A bear hug from you would probably kill the kid,” he warned.

“Oh, Sunshine! You poor thing. Are you in a lot of pain?” Debbie cooed, coming over to the bench at a slower pace and appeasing herself with a kiss to her favorite’s cheek rather than a full hug. “You look like shit, Honey. Those bruises. You should put some ice on those, Sunshine. Brian, why don't you have him home with some ice on those bruises?”

“You're the one who forced me to bring him here for breakfast, Deb. If I had my way, we’d all be home in bed still. With ice for Sunshine and his crew and coffee for me. Which, by the way, I thought you served in this establishment, although I still don’t see any in front of me.” Brian held up his cup in both hands as if making an offering of it to the coffee gods, and looked at Debbie with his most pathetic, pleading pout.

“Is this one of those times when I can tell him to go fuck off?” Luke asked in a brave stage whisper directed at his compatriots. “Cause he acting like a total fool right now.”

“I may have to rethink Standing Order Number Four,” Brian snarked, with a playful wink directed to his blond boy.

“I like this one, Brian. He can stay,” Debbie declared, with a approving smile aimed at Luke. “I'm Debbie, by the way. Are you two boys friends of our Sunshine?”

“Deb, meet Rex and Luke. Rex is the cute, quiet one, who doesn't call me names,” Brian teased.

“Rex and Luke? Oh my word! Come here you two!” Debbie bellowed joyfully, wrapping one arm around Luke’s neck and pulling his face into her bounteous bosom while also leaning over him to get her other arm part way around Rex. “You two boys are fucking heroes! Thank you so much for staying with our Sunshine and helping him to call me. If it weren't for you two we might never have been able to find him. Thank you. Thank you!”

While Deb was repeating her thank you's, Luke was making muted ‘mhrm’ ‘unhmrm’ noises from behind her boobs.

“Um, Deb, smothering Luke with your breasts really isn't the best way to thank him,” Brian warned, chuckling at Luke’s plight.  

“Oops. Sorry, Sweetie,” Deb apologized as she excavated the man’s head out of her cleavage and patted his cheek to make sure he was okay. “Guess I get a little carried away sometimes. I’m just so happy to have Justin back and you boys deserve a lot of thanks for that. So, let’s celebrate, huh? Breakfast is on me today, guys. What’ll you have?”

Luke, who was still recovering from the close encounter with Deb’s bosom, looked understandably overwhelmed by this new demand. Rex tried to look smaller than he was, hoping he’d be forgotten. Justin was silently laughing at them both from across the table. And poor Brian, who had been forgotten over at the counter, just wanted to run away from them all. Well, he wanted his coffee first, and THEN he would run away from the PC Posse.

“Guys, this is Standing Order Number One time,” he reminded them.

Justin decided to help out by going first. He smiled up at Deb with his best Sunshine grin, held his menu up and pointed to the Harvest Breakfast Special.

“Excellent choice for a hungry boy, Sunshine,” Debbie commented, always happy to see a healthy appetite in her Diner. “How about you two?”

“I haven't had a waffle since I was about ten,” Luke spoke up next. “Do you think I could maybe try one of them, Miss Debbie, Ma’am?”

“Of course you can, Honey. Blueberry or strawberry?” Deb asked, but when that seemed too big a choice for the PC to make, she just took the man’s menu. “How about you try the strawberry this time and go for the blueberry next visit?” Luke nodded his approval.

Rex still didn’t seem able to make a decision. He kept looking at the menu and then up at Deb and then down at the menu. Finally Debbie took pity on the boy.

“Rex, Baby, you want me to make a suggestion or two?”

“Um . . . Yeah, I guess. It’s just that there’s so much,” Rex confessed.

“Well, you look like you could use a little feeding up, so how about some protein? You like eggs, Honey?” Rex smiled. “Good. Then why don’t I have the cook make you up a nice big omelet with ham and cheese and maybe some bacon on the side?”

“Shit, Deb! Are you trying to clog all his arteries in one meal?” Brian complained on Rex’s behalf. “Skip the bacon and bring him some fruit. And, please, I’m begging here from the depths of my soul, please bring me some coffee. Before my head explodes. Please?”

“Coming right up, Kiddo,” Debbie promised, laughing at her surrogate son as she hustled off to put in everyone’s order.

Deb had only just left their table when Kiki sauntered up in her four inch pumps and vintage 1950’s Diner Waitress regalia, waving the morning edition of the Pittsburgh Post over her head, and saying, “Lookie what I got!”

Brian groaned. He had a pretty good idea what they’d see in that morning’s paper. He’d already had three phone calls from reporters asking for interviews about the unfolding story centered around the prior night’s events. As per usual, the news media was bent on making a huge fucking circus out of it. He knew his name was going to come up in connection with the story somehow or other. He wasn't going to be able to hide from it forever. So he just shrugged, turned back to the coffee Debbie had finally poured for him and resigned himself to being made the celebrity of the moment.

However, he wasn’t quite prepared for the sensationalized version of the story that he saw splashed across the tabloid the moment Kiki plopped the rag down on top of the table.

“You, Mr. Kinney, made the front page,” Kiki burbled, reading the headline aloud. “‘Handler Killed After Local Man Uncovers Illegal PC Torture Center’ - Nice picture, by the way - Sounds like this Sapperstein guy was a seriously bad dude. According to this, that training center was in violation of just about every single PCRA code you can name. They're saying the PCs were being tortured and abused and that three of them even needed to be hospitalized after you rescued them. It’s a good thing you got your boy out of there in time, Kinney. And if you ask me, you deserve a fucking medal for killing this guy. Scum like that doesn’t deserve to live.”

“Shit, Brian! You fucking killed the guy? When the fuck were you going to tell us about THAT,” Debbie squeaked.

“I was hoping, never,” Brian replied laconically, trying to ignore the hoopla and concentrate on his coffee. “It was an accident, anyway. Self defense,” Brian explained with intentional vagueness. “And I can’t talk about it until I get the okay from my attorney and give my statement to the police, so don’t bother asking for details.” He hoped that would get them all off his back for at least a little while.

“Wow! They're crediting you for saving almost thirty PCs, Brian,” Kiki exclaimed as she read further into the article. “It says here, that Sapperstein guy was guilty of multiple PC Cruelty violations and they're going to be expanding the investigation to include all the PC Owners who regularly employed his services. A couple of them have already been arrested along with the guys you didn’t kill at the training center. Shit, this is huge, Brian. You're a hero!” The waitress’ acclamation was immediately taken up by Debbie and the rest of the group of Diner patrons who had been listening in, all of them wowing over Brian’s imagined deeds of bravery.

Brian pointedly ignored all of them. The oohing and ahing continued for far longer than he would have liked, but it was eventually cut off by the welcome arrival of their food. Everything quieted down after that. Once they were all supplied with breakfast fixings - Debbie having brought them about twice what they actually ordered in her zeal to get the skinny PCs fed - and Brian had taken his coffee with him over to join the group, they all set in to eat, and the discussion of the big news faded away.

Brian was only about halfway through the bacon he’d stolen from Rex when the bell over the front door tinkled and the rest of the gang filed in. Michael, David, Ted and Emmett took their places in the next booth over and started forthwith on questioning the Hero Kinney and his three PC wards. There was much rejoicing and exclaiming over Justin’s return. Everyone seemed instantly enamored with the two new PCs and they, in turn, seemed to be slowly warming up to the boisterous gang. Emmett seemed especially taken with Luke and kept shamelessly flirting with the poor man, to Brian's extreme amusement. But it was all good.

“Hey, Bri, you got a minute,” Ted asked, sidling up to his old friend once the bulk of the hubbub over Justin’s successful rescue had died down.

Something in the man’s tone alerted Brian that this conversation needed to be private, so he excused himself to the PC Posse - who were all still eating their way through the bonanza of Debbie's breakfast - and told them he was heading outside for a smoke. Ted followed close on Brian’s heels despite the fact that he himself didn’t smoke at all.

“Good to see you and Justin home, safe and sound. Although, your haircut seems to have taken a hit,” Ted teased as soon as they were out the door.

“Don't fucking remind me.” Brian reached up and tried futilely to smooth down the shaved patch of hair around his stitches. “But I suppose it could be worse. I’m just glad I got there when I did. I was almost too fucking late.”

“Good thing ‘almost’ doesn't count in these situations,” Ted mused.

Ted seemed to hesitate after that, seemingly unsure how to begin on the subject he’d meant to discuss. Brian busied himself with lighting a cigarette to give his friend a minute. When Ted still hadn’t said anything after Brian’s second puff, he decided to give him a push.

“I’m assuming you didn’t bring me out here to watch me smoke and console me about my hair. What’s up, Theodore?”

“Remember that file you gave me and said not to open unless something really bad happened to you?” Brian nodded, wondering where this could be heading. “Well, after you ran off half-cocked last night, and then we couldn’t get ahold of you for hours, I figured that constituted something really bad. So I opened the file.” Ted paused, waiting to see how angry Brian was going to get.

When his revelation didn’t seem to raise any major concerns, Ted must have figured it was safe to continue. “I read through everything you've put together and I was totally shocked. I know you hinted about some nasty shit in Justin's past, but I didn't expect THAT. I’m still not sure I believe it all. Seriously, how could Justin’s father do that to him? . . . And, at first, I was really sceptical about all the people you were trying to implicate. I mean, these are important people; politicians, business owners, well known authors. Shit, I even voted for Stockwell. Twice. It just didn't seem possible. But, after reading through everything, I had to admit it was at least plausible . . . So, I started to do some research of my own.”

That tidbit got Brian’s full attention. So did the fact that Ted was holding out a small USB flash drive. Brian accepted that offering with a questioning look.

“You did NOT hear any of this from me. And you sure as hell did not get that,” he pointed to the flash drive, “from me, either. Because if you had, it would mean that I’d knowingly violated the confidentiality clause of my employment contract and I’d be fired.”

Brian immediately slipped the incriminating device into his pocket so it would be out of sight.

“Anyway, it turns out that Werkshafter's handles the accounting for both Senator Stockwell and a major Political Action Committee that focuses on lobbying efforts on behalf of the PC Industry,” Ted disclosed. “And if anyone were to, say, subpoena those accounting records - preferably before the powers that be realize that they’re under investigation and start erasing some of the more dubious accounting data on that drive - they'd find some pretty interesting names on the donor lists for both the Senator’s reelection campaign and the PAC. They’d also find out about all the checks written to the Senator for speaking fees, travel costs, expense reimbursements and pretty much everything else you can imagine, all paid out of that PAC fund.”

Brian’s eyes were now the size of saucers.

“I myself even questioned why a PAC is paying the annual nursing home fees for an Alzheimer’s patient that seems to have purchased a PC about a year and half ago. And, strangely enough, there was a huge deposit into that patient’s account in the exact same amount as what was subsequently offered for said PC the following week.”

“Holy shit, Ted!” Brian whispered, looking around to make sure nobody else was in earshot. “This is the key we needed to tie it all together. You're a fucking genius!” Ted raised one eyebrow and gloated in his best ‘Brian Fucking Kinney’ imitation but then ruined it by laughing. “What names are on there?”

“All the ones you're looking for and maybe a few that might surprise you. When this gets out, it’s going to be huge. I can promise you, Stockwell won’t be the only politician going down.”

“Thank you, Ted. This is exactly what I needed to get Justin’s contract voided. I have to get this to Horvath and my attorney right away.” Brian was already texting Tricia Trapper with the news and arranging a time to deliver the drive to her office. “Fuck, I hope this works, Ted.”

“It should. Just ask Woodward and Bernstein - all you have to do is ‘follow the money’ and the story falls right into place on its own.” Ted clapped Brian on the back and left him to his calls and texting.

Brian quickly arranged to meet with Trapper after lunch. The lawyer told him to go ahead and give Horvath a heads up beforehand. She suggested having the cops get those subpoenas out right away and not to wait for the data, since the story was already going viral and she suspected it wouldn’t be long before Stockwell and his co-conspirators were scrambling to cover their asses. Brian agreed and immediately called Horvath. The cop sounded harried and said he couldn’t talk for long, but thanked Brian profusely for the additional information. He promised his office would get on it immediately.

Brian terminated the call and was just in the process of stubbing out his cigarette, when his phone rang yet again. A glance at the screen told him it was Mel. Brian accepted the call, mentally preparing himself for what he expected would be an intense discussion.

“I know it’s short notice, but can you take Gus for the day?” Mel asked before even returning Brian’s greeting.

“I suppose. You sure that Lindsey won’t throw a hissy fit over that idea, though? Justin’s back and I don't intend to listen to any more of her crap about how she won’t let me near my kid as long as I’m with a PC. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to spend more time with Gus, but I’m warning you now, it’s going to happen on MY terms.”

“I hear you, Brian. And, for what it’s worth, I actually support you on that issue,” Mel sounded sincere, which was reassuring. “But I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Lindsey for awhile . . . In fact, that’s why we need you to watch Gus - we’re heading down to the police station with Lindz’ attorney so she can surrender herself into police custody.”

“Shit!”

Brian could hear Mel sigh deeply before she continued. “Yeah. It’s not going to be good, I’m afraid. Since Justin’s still technically a minor, even if he is a PC, the Prosecutor could push to have the case tried as an Aggravated Kidnapping. We’re going to try and negotiate with the DA, but it’s pretty much a certainty that there will be SOME jail time involved. So, you can see why we’ll be a little busy for the rest of the day.” Brian was speechless. Granted, he was still furious with Lindsey, but he hadn’t yet contemplated the reality of Lindsey in jail. “Besides - Dad - your court documents say you want more time with your son, so here’s your chance.”

“I'll take it,” he readily agreed.

Mel didn’t want to wait till Brian could get to their house, so she arranged to meet him at the Diner on their way to the station. She promised they’d be there in ten minutes or so. Brian told her he'd be ready and then hung up.

He had no idea how he was going to take care of a kid all day while meeting with his attorney, minding a trio of injured PCs and somehow finding the time needed to start the work on all the ad campaigns he was supposed to be working on for his new clients. He’d have to figure it out somehow, though. And he HAD wanted to spend more time with Gus, right? At least he wasn’t going to jail like Gus’ mother . . . Well, at least he didn’t think he was going to jail . . . Damn, he better also find time somewhere in there to meet with whatever criminal attorney Cynthia could rustle up for him. Brian shook his head and wondered again when his life had become so fucking complicated.

Oh yeah - it was the day he found himself a beautiful Twinkie PC that he couldn’t say no to.

********

Sunshine had never felt so amazingly happy. Never in his entire life. He was back with Brian. Home. He’d believed that Brian would come get him and take him back from the Handler and he had been proven right. Now everything was going to be fine. And Sunshine was feeling ecstatic about pretty much everything in his life.

As they were sitting there together at the Diner, Sunshine couldn’t believe how brave and strong he felt. It was like he was a whole different person almost. He didn’t feel scared at all. Well, not much. He had confidently taken charge of his new friends, Rex and Luke, helping them through their fears, which seemed to embolden him even more. Hell, he had ordered his own breakfast from Debbie and everything. Maybe he finally was becoming that brave little fucker Brian had praised so often. He really felt like he might be.

When Brian got up from the booth, saying he needed to go have a smoke and giving Sunshine’s thigh a secret squeeze under the table before giving his cheek a not-so-secret kiss, the boy hadn’t felt even a twinge of worry. He felt so confident and safe this morning. So what if he couldn’t actually see Brian? The Diner and Brian’s friends were all familiar enough that he wasn’t worried.

He just stayed in his seat and continued eating, keeping an eye on the two new PCs and making sure they weren't getting overwhelmed again. And when he felt full, he confidently pushed aside his plate, even though there really was a lot of food left there. But he reassured himself that it would be okay - that Brian would be proud of him for following Standing Order Number One - even though it felt a bit wrong to leave all that food.

To distract himself from the sight of the wasted breakfast, Sunshine pulled his sketch pad out and started drawing. He was so happy to have his sketch pad back. He was excited to get started on another picture of Brian - he wanted to draw him the way he had looked that morning when they’d first woken up in each other’s arms. Brian was so damned beautiful first thing in the morning with his hair all messed up and his eyes still sleepy. Sunshine flexed his hand to get it ready the way the PT had shown him, and was a little annoyed that it was still hurting so much after all the shit that had happened at the Handler’s, but . . . Well, he wasn’t going to think about that. He just wanted to draw and enjoy this perfect morning, so he ignored the soreness in his hand the same way he’d ignored the newspaper talking about a dead Handler.

While Sunshine was engaged with his art, he listened in with amusement to the ongoing banter between Luke and Emmett. He’d always liked this friend of Brian’s. Emmett was funny, open and easy to be around. He also seemed immediately drawn to Luke. Sunshine couldn’t tell if Luke actually felt the same attraction or if he was just being a polite little PC, but either way, it all seemed harmless.

“I don’t know, Miss Em. I only ever sang in church with my mama when I was a bitty thing. I don’t think I could still sing these days,” Luke tried again to put off his admirer’s importuning.

“With a voice like that? Now, don’t tell me you can’t sing like a canary. Mmmm. That deep baritone voice of yours . . . I bet you’d put Barry White to shame, Honey,” Em continued, apparently still trying to convince Luke to join him Monday night for karaoke at Woody’s. “And, you know, we could glitz it up and do something really fabulous. My friend, Godiva, has this amazing gold lame dress that would look just divine on you, Sugar. You totally have the skinny hips to pull it off, you know.”

“Em, I don’t think Brian’s going to be happy with you turning Luke into the next drag queen karaoke sensation on Liberty Avenue,” Michael commented, trying to rein in his friend.

“Oh, pish! Brian won’t care. If Luke wants to sing with me, he should be allowed to sing. The costumes are completely optional,” Em asserted. “But, you really would look marvelous in that dress, Honey. And it would be so much fun, don’t you think? Just us two Southerners up there on stage together, hamming it up and showing these boring old Northern boys how it’s done. We’d have a blast.” Then, turning towards the boy, Emmett pleaded, “Sunshine, you’ll back us up, won’t you? I’m sure if Sunshine asks for you, Luke, Brian won’t say a word against it. That man is so wrapped around this boy’s little finger, it’s crazy.”

“Emmett! Don’t say shit like that. If it gets back to Brian, he’ll throw a shit fit,” Michael warned again, frowning when his roommate just blew off his advice again and went back to chatting up the big, handsome, black PC.

“Well, it's true, isn’t it? It’s not like Brian’s fooling anyone. He’s crazy in love with our Sunshine and everyone with eyes can see it. Which I, for one, applaud. It’s about time our Brian let his heart in on his fucking.” Emmett declared, earning chuckles from pretty much everyone, before returning to his Karaoke Campaign.

Sunshine continued to draw for a few more minutes, still smiling over the comment about Brian being in love. Well, he couldn’t talk for Brian, but HE certainly felt that way. Now, where was the man anyway? Hadn’t he been outside more than long enough to smoke a cigarette? Sunshine was already missing him. It had been way too long since that last kiss. He hoped Brian would hurry back. And bring his sweet, soft lips.

Looking around the Diner, there still wasn’t any sign of Brian’s return. Unfortunately, Justin was starting to be uncomfortably aware that he’d drank too much orange juice and tea with his large breakfast and he was in serious need of a trip to the john. He would have preferred if Brian had come back before now, but it didn’t matter. He could do this on his own, right? He really, truly, felt brave enough to do almost anything this morning. A solo trip to the bathroom was certainly not beyond him.

However, when Sunshine looked beyond the familiar group of friends occupying the two connecting booths and noted all the unfamiliar people, he decided he really didn’t need to be THAT brave. Tapping Rex’s hand, he hitched his thumb over his shoulder pointing towards the back. Rex, who’d been sitting there silently just watching everyone and everything with his huge brown eyes, turned to Justin with confusion.

“Standing Order Number Two,” Sunshine said in his quiet, unassuming, shy voice - which was still pretty brave, he thought, since he was only just now able to make himself speak in public at all.

“Sure,” Rex readily agreed, shoving Luke aside so he could climb out of the booth, and then joining the other boy who was squirming while he waited next to the table.

They made it to the bathroom and were standing in front of the urinals together, Rex making some humorous comment about seeing Luke in a dress, when the bathroom door opened again. Sunshine hadn’t even bothered to look up - that’s how comfortable and self-assured he was feeling. He probably should have though, because a few seconds later he was surprised by a larger body coming up behind him and an arm wrapping around his chest. The boy froze.

“Hey there, Sweetheart!” David crooned into the boy’s ear, nipping at the earlobe to punctuate his sentence. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you back safe and sound. I was really worried you had disappeared before we got to have our little get together. That would have been a real shame. But, now that you're back, I’ll make sure to talk to Brian about arranging something.”

While he was talking, David had used the leverage of his arm to pull Justin’s body back tightly against his own. His free hand, which had started with a caress to the boy’s cheek, was slowly wandering downward, feeling it’s way over the boy’s chest and stomach. The boy quickly shook off and tucked himself away, zipping up his pants hurriedly before that hand could make contact. That was all he managed though before the other arm was wrapping around him as well and restraining him even more tightly.

“Excuse me, Sir,” Rex spoke up from beside Justin, his voice a little wobbly because he really wasn’t used to confronting anyone. “I don’t think . . . I mean, do you . . . Do you have his Master’s permission . . .”

“Of course I do. Brian and I are friends. We already discussed an arrangement for me to try out Justin a time or two,” David chuckled and the boy could feel the man’s hips starting to rut against his lower back. “I don’t think I want to wait for that, though. You're just too tasty, aren't you, boy? I think I’d better have a quick snack right now.”

David started to walk the two of them backwards, angling toward the line of stalls stretching across the rear wall of the bathroom, the boy stumbling as he was towed along against his will. He tried to unhook the man’s hands from around his waist and chest, but David had a strong grip. The boy wasn’t able to dislodge him and when he tried to just stop walking, David simply picked him up and spun them both around.

“Sir, I don’t think you should . . .” Rex made one more effort to intervene, which was quite gutsy of him considering his training. If the boy hadn’t been too busy freaking out over what was happening, he would have been incredibly proud of his friend.

“Leave. Now!” David ordered, glaring at the interfering Rex.

From the corner of his eye, Justin could see Rex still standing there, swallowing hard, looking from Justin to the door and back. Justin was shaking his head at Rex, pleading with his eyes not to be left alone. Rex made a little whimpering noise, unable to decide what he could or should do.

“I said, LEAVE. That’s an order, boy,” David insisted angrily.

After just a moment’s further hesitation, Rex bowed his head, turned on his heel and rapidly left the bathroom. The boy felt his heart sinking. He didn’t blame Rex, though - he didn’t think he could ignore a direct order like that either.

“That’s better. We don’t need company, do we, Sweetheart. Now, time for my treat,” David gloated, manhandling the smaller statured boy the remaining few feet towards the last of the toilet stalls. “I think I’ve waited long enough to get a stab at that sweet, tight, little ass. Fuck! I can’t wait to try you out.”

The boy managed to get one arm free at that point and hooked his hand around the metal divider so that David couldn’t get them all the way into the stall. He growled at the delay, pausing to pry loose the boy’s fingers before shoving him roughly the rest of the way inside.

“That’s it, Tiger. Fight me, if you want. I told you before I like feisty ones,” the odious man taunted, as he pulled the stall door closed behind them and locked it. “Now, where were we?”

David used one of his hands and the weight of his body to pin the boy to the side wall and reached around with his other hand to fumble at Justin’s fly.

“No!” The boy finally found his voice, pulling the invading fingers away.

“Oh, yes!” David countered, laughing at the meager resistance. “I can already tell. This is going to be so good. You’re driving me crazy, Tiger. You’re just so damn pretty, I can’t help myself.”

“NO!” The boy shouted again, more insistently this time.

Of course, David didn’t let up even a tiny bit. Instead, the man slammed the boy’s body even harder against the metal dividing wall, putting pressure on his injured ribs in the process and knocking the boy’s breath out. The young man slumped a little after that, the pain flooding through him so fast that he felt dizzy. Then his vision blurred and the image in front of him wavered a little. Instead of the grungy toilet at the Diner, the boy saw flashes of other times, other places: A room filled with torture equipment with a greasy man looming over him and laughing; a different bathroom somewhere with a young, tux-clad jock pushing him up against a blue tiled wall and scrabbling at the boy’s slacks; a tiny room where two evil men were holding his arms while a third, older man, was crawling up the bed towards him. All of the attackers, regardless of the scenario, telling him how ‘pretty’ he was and using that as their excuse. All of them telling him he would enjoy it. Telling him what he wanted. Telling him to be good and not fight them.

“No!” he said again, meaning it even though he barely had the breath to verbalize the word.

While the boy had been dazed, David had taken full advantage of the pause in the boy’s struggles, quickly getting his fly opened and the boy’s pants halfway off his hips. But that’s as far as he got before the boy found his renewed resolve and fought back even harder than before. Sunshine was not going to let this happen. Not this time. Not without putting up a serious fight.

“NO!” He screeched as loud as he could. “NO, NO, NO, NO!” He twisted and fought and yelled and refused to give in or cower. “NO!”

“What the fuck are you doing, David?” The unexpected voice from behind them startled his attacker enough that David lost his grip and Sunshine finally managed to wriggle free.

“Michael . . . This isn’t what you think. I was only . . .” David turned to face his boyfriend, holding his hands out in a placating gesture.

“Only what? Only forcing yourself on Justin against his will? Cause that’s what this looks like, David. So tell me, what exactly were you doing just now?” Michael demanded furiously, standing in the middle of the bathroom floor with his legs spread and his arms crossed as he glared at the older man contemptuously.

“He’s only a PC, Michael. It doesn’t mean anything. I just wanted to blow off a little steam, you know? Brian said I could try him out any time I wanted, so I figured, what the hell . .”

“I never fucking said ANYTHING of the sort. I wouldn’t let a greasy slimeball like you within ten feet of my boy,” Brian snarled, bursting through the doorway and catching the last part of David’s fumbling excuse. “Now get the fuck away from Justin right this fucking second or you’re going to end up in the same state as Sapperstein.” Brian walked past the sputtering would-be-attacker, shoving him violently to the side, and gathering up the trembling boy protectively in his arms. “Are you okay, Sunshine? I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. Rex came running out of the Diner screaming ‘Order Number Three’ at me and freaking out so bad it took me a minute to figure out what the hell he was trying to say. Did that fucker hurt you? If so, I’ll fucking kill him. Tell me you’re okay.”

“I'm . . . I’m fine, Brian,” Sunshine panted, burying his head in his lover’s chest and holding on tightly while he tried to catch his breath. “Why do they always tell me how fucking pretty I am right before they try to hurt me? Why, Brian?” he mumbled into the safety of Brian’s solid body, getting angrier and angrier as the memories and images that refused to go away continued to flitter through his mind, demanding his attention. “They all do - Sapp and Bellweather and even fucking Hobbs.” Justin sobbed, unable to stop the words that were now flooding out through the broken dam of his conquered fears. “I remembered about Hobbs, Brian. I remember he tried to attack me in the bathroom at the dance. I had told him I wasn’t interested but he followed me in there. Some other boys came in and saw him, otherwise I don’t think he would have stopped. But then he was angry that they saw what he was doing. I was . . . I was rubbing it in, saying that by Monday everyone in school would know he was gay. That’s why he came after me later with the bat when I was alone in the parking garage. Shit, Brian. Why do they all want to hurt me all the fucking time? I’m really sick of this fucking shit. I don’t think I want to be pretty any more. I just want to be with you.”

“Shit, Sunshine,” Brian lifted the tear-stained face up so he could kiss away at least part of the anguish and was glad to still see that spark of defiance behind the tears. His boy was so ridiculously strong. Brian didn’t think anything could break him. “I don't think you can help it - you’ll always be fucking beautiful, you silly twat. Besides, I don’t exactly mind the way you look, you know. So, please don’t go trying to stop being pretty. Okay?” Sunshine huffed a teary little half-laugh. And rubbed his face against Brian's shirt. “How about we just get you a jumbo sized canister of pepper spray and make sure you don’t go anywhere without it ever again? How’s that sound?”

“Good,” Sunshine nodded, trying to reassure Brian that he was truly okay by joking back. “Maybe a taser too? And martial arts lessons? ‘Cause these fuckers are pretty slow on the uptake. They don’t really get it when you say ‘no’ the first twenty times.”

“You got it, Sunshine. We’ll get you the biggest fucking taser they sell and make sure you get a black belt. But I don’t think you'll need it, because I’m never letting your pretty ass out of my direct line of sight again.” Brian started to lead the boy back out of the bathroom, but stopped to glare at David Cameron, who was still standing there looking unrepentant. “Mikey, I suggest you get this piece of trash out of my sight before I forget that I’m already dealing with one justified homicide charge this week and don’t really need the legal hassle of another. He might be your boyfriend, but I don't want to ever see his face again.”

“That makes two of us, Brian,” Michael asserted, facing David with a disgusted frown. “I think you better leave now, David. And don’t bother coming back. Once I tell Ma what you were trying in here, you won’t be able to get within a mile of Liberty Avenue without getting your ass kicked.”

“Michael, you don’t want to do this. Listen to me . . .” David wheedled.

“Don’t ‘Michael’ me. Get the fuck out of here. Now. Before I help Brian take you out permanently and to hell with the legal hassles.” Michael was pointing to the exit and glaring at his former boyfriend with such clear hatred and disgust that David must have known he was already lost. With a snort of fury and one last disdainful look in Sunshine’s direction, the man turned on the spot and barreled out of there. “I’m really fucking sorry about that, Justin. I can’t believe what an asshole I’ve been dating. You sure you're really okay?”

“Yeah. I’m going to be fine,” Sunshine replied.

And he actually believed that in his heart, too.