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[Jun. 5th, 2008|02:07 pm] |
Title: Back Against The Wall
Pairing: James Hart/Matt Sanders
Ancillary Pairings: Brandan Schieppati/Alex Varkatzas, Brian Haner/Zackary Baker, Jimmy Sullivan/Johnny Seward
Rating: NC-17
Summary: James Hart is the most successful criminal lawyer in the greater Los Angeles area. He’s worked damn hard to get there and he won’t let anyone take it away from him. Matt Sanders is, in a word, a delinquent, two years James’ junior. They had gone to the same high school, and didn’t get along, to say the least, and had the tendency to fight with each other. What will happen when Matt gets in trouble and requests the best lawyer in L.A.?
Disclaimer: All stories with relevance to real people are NOT coincidental, and are called fanfiction. I mean no ill will or harm toward the people involved in such stories and only end up using them as stencils for my creative outbursts. I mean no disrespect, and it's all in fun.
Dedication: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) avengedbeckfold; kisskisskiss3 this chapter especially since she requested more Alex/Brandan. <3
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Seven o’clock. That fact was the only thing on Alex’s mind as he instructed his patrons on how much they should have lifted or how to not strain their backs while working out. He could only think of that whispered promise before Brandan slipped from his own bed and dressed in that uniform that alighted his desires all over again.
He had spaced off watching one man lift meticulously, and only came back to reality when he saw a flesh-colored blur across his vision. He shook himself out of his reverie and glanced over to an impatient-looking woman with her hands on her hips, and he gave a small, sheepish smile.
“What can I do for you?” he asked in his ever-accommodating voice, and she huffed before pointing over to one the treadmills, where it was smoking and sparking. He sighed. “Shit.”
It just had to be his best one, didn’t it??
He made his way over to the treadmill and knelt down next to it, seeing that it had been thoroughly worn through. He fingered the damage and dubbed it unfit to be used. He’d have to throw it away.
He groaned and rubbed his face with rough palms, nodding before standing up and instructing that the woman take one of the other treadmills, listening to her complain about that one being the only one that felt right. He sighed a bit and smiled sympathetically, though inside he was absolutely ready to scream.
He finally convinced her to take another treadmill, thankfully. He went back to the weightlifters, focusing on them as he instructed.
It was monotonous, listening to people complain about how they were fat, but they’d never actually take the steps to fix that little ‘personality’ flaw when to him it was merely physical. He loved his job, but he hated the people sometimes.
Thank God for seven o’clock or else this would have been a very bad start to his day.
***
Brandan’s day wasn’t going much better. It was nine o’clock in the morning and two inmates had already punched him in the face. That was about when his boss sent him out on the beat, and he was grateful for it.
He was sent to watch a neighborhood that had a reported high level of crime, especially involving teenagers, and so he put his keen eyes to work. A long-sleeved blue uniform shirt covered his inked arms as he crossed them over his chest, leaning back in the car seat. The force couldn’t do anything about his knuckle tattoos, but they could mandate his uniform apparel.
His knuckles read ‘love’ and ‘lost’ which kind of represented his job. It was all about protecting the ones people love and dealing with the loss of the same. It was a dangerous job, but someone had to do it.
His dark eyes sparkled under the sun as he watched the traffic of children and older adults milling around the neighborhood. He’d selected an unmarked cop car for the day, so as to not give himself away.
He sighed and tilted his head back, shutting his eyes a bit. His body absolutely ached but he relished the feeling with a smile, because he knew exactly why and how it had come to ache like that.
He saw a few kids skittering across the way, but there was absolutely nothing suspicious going on. Then again, it was broad daylight and these teenagers normally took to the streets at night, and for good reason. So, needless to say, he was bored. He had even taken to drawing stick-figures on his ticket pad, humming softly to himself.
Despite his ennui and the throbbing in his cheek, he was pretty much content, and waiting for seven o’clock, unknowing that his lover was doing the same.
***
Seven o’clock came up slowly for both men, but when one saw the other, time seemed to speed up. Brandan grinned slightly, and Alex returned it. The two had agreed to meet, on a five-minute phone call, in front of Miceli’s Italian restaurant.
The both of them spent most of the five minutes playfully arguing over which restaurant would be best. Brandan won, saying that Miceli’s had a nice and healthy vegetarian menu. Alex liked that Brandan already knew his weak spots.
“Hey you,” Alex greeted with a wider grin that lit up his eyes. He was dressed casually enough in simple black jeans and a black dress shirt with three buttons undone, his hair spiked, meticulously pushed up from his scalp.
“Hey yourself,” Brandan returned both the greeting and the grin. He was dressed much the same, only his shirt had only one button undone and his jeans were denim.
Alex led the way into the restaurant, taking in the décor with a small smile. Brandan reached out and clasped his hand with the other’s making both smile away from the other. They quickly got a table and settled down with a menu.
“It smells amazing in here,” Alex mused with a small smile to Brandan, who just nodded a bit.
“Yeah, I’ve been coming here since I moved to LA,” he explained, and Alex nodded a bit, fingering the edge of the menu, like he wanted to say something. “What’s up?”
“Next time I want to take you out to a Greek place that’s really amazing,” Alex supplied, and Brandan nodded. “Yeah, I’m Greek. My last name’s Varkatzas, and my real first name’s Ektor.”
Brandan laughed and shook his head, not even opening the menu to scan it; he already knew what he wanted. “I’m Italian, obviously, considering my last name’s Schieppati,” he explained.
“We’re both exotic then,” Alex returned with a grin and a wink that Brandan just laughed at, playfully of course. Their ‘bad days’ had melted away in each other’s company, and Alex, at least, liked that.
“So, how was your day?” Brandan broached the subject after five minutes of silence. Alex snorted in derisive laughter and looked up.
“My most expensive treadmill broke and a bunch of pretentious girls said they wouldn’t work on any one but that one, so I just was kinda running around like a chicken with my head cut off,” Alex explained, rolling his eyes before they settled on a steadily darkening bruise. “Looks like your day wasn’t much better…”
“Yeah…” Brandan trailed off, touching his bruise lightly. “It was nine and two inmates had already decked me, so the sheriff sent me out to work the streets.”
Alex snickered and bit his lip before ducking his head down.
“What?” Brandan asked, cocking his head to the side, and Alex just busted out laughing, his head falling onto the menu.
“Work the streets, huh?” he forced out through heavy breaths, and Brandan dissolved into laughter too, his arm wrapping around his stomach as he doubled over.
“That’s not what I meant!” Brandan protested, and Alex’s laughter just redoubled. He gave a momentary look that said ‘sure it isn’t’ before he settled his breathing.
“So, anything… interesting on the streets?” Alex asked with a somewhat wicked grin that brought the laugh lines to light around his lips, leaning forward on the table. Brandan chuckled a bit.
“No, since you weren’t on them, there was really nothing,” he explained in a somewhat dramatic voice that made Alex chuckle and roll his eyes at his lover as he closed his menu, knowing what he wanted.
The waitress came over to the laughing men, and she was pleasant. “What can I get for you, gentlemen?” she asked. She had a somewhat heavy Italian accent, but it was light enough for both men to understand her.
“I’m gonna have the Chicken Cannelloni,” Brandan said without missing a beat, and Alex smiled a bit, shoving the menu toward the waitress.
“And I’ll have the Egg Plant Cacciatore,” he supplied. The waitress smiled and nodded, sweeping up their menus and walking briskly back to the kitchen. “Wow, they’re really efficient here.”
“Yeah, they are. It’s one really good thing about this place; one of many, of course,” Brandan replied with a chuckle, licking over his bottom lip and it compulsively made Alex do the same.
“I can definitely appreciate good service,” Alex mused, and it was Brandan’s turn to crack up, his head hitting the stained wood table. The blonde man looked curious, quirking an eyebrow up in question.
“Good service, huh?” Brandan choked out, and Alex’s palm met his forehead as he laughed too. The two of them just couldn’t escape the innuendos.
“Yes, good service!” Alex exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing onto Brandan’s hand just as absently as he had made up his mind about the food. The two smiled at each other, but made no other acknowledgments that what they’d just done was anything out of the ordinary.
The two made idle conversation, mostly about family, as they waited for their food to arrive. Brandan found out that Alex was born in Greece and was moved to the States when he was five, and that he missed the oceans of Greece, not that the ones in California were bad at all.
Alex learned that Brandan went on yearly trips to Italy and loved the artistic value of the place, especially the architecture. He said he’d take Alex to Greece one of these times, because they were close enough together to pull it off.
Alex’s eyes lit up, and that look said more to Brandan than any ‘thank you’ ever could.
As their subject turned from their home countries to their immediate family, their food arrived. Brandan grinned a bit and nodded to the waitress.
“Thank you,” Alex said with a slight nod, glancing down to his food and groaning slightly as his stomach protested; it wanted the food inside, not sitting pretty on a plate. “It smells divine.”
“Tastes even better,” Brandan replied with a wink and a grin, and Alex chuckled before picking up his fork and digging into the food. Soft groans of contentment were echoing through their small booth.
The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they ate, eye contact never too sparing. The two finished quickly, and Brandan picked up the dessert menu. Alex eyed it carefully, debating whether he wanted to splurge tonight or not.
“You know you want it,” Brandan taunted, waving the menu in front of Alex’s face. He growled playfully and grabbed it. “Ha, I knew it.”
“Shut up, no one else needs to know,” Alex replied succinctly, and Brandan grinned, miming the action of zipping his mouth shut before smirking a bit. “Mmm, Italian ice.”
“That shit is the best,” Brandan replied emphatically, bouncing a little in his seat, and Alex laughed a bit, shaking his head. “What kind are you getting? There’s cherry, piña colada, coconut and lemon.”
“Mmm…” Alex paused, considering for a moment, gnawing on the corner of his lip, brushing his index finger over the edge of the menu. “Cherry.”
Brandan smiled a bit. “I get coconut,” he explained, and Alex fought not to laugh again. The dark-haired man kicked him in the shin under the table playfully. “And before you say anything, shut up. I know it’s bad, but I like it.”
“Obviously,” Alex said quickly, biting his lip to keep from laughing, but it didn’t work. His head hit the table as he just started laughing again. Brandan gave a long-suffering sigh and shook his head, chuckling a little. Truthfully, he liked hearing Alex laugh, even if it was at his own expense.
The waitress came back, inquiring about dessert, and Brandan ordered for the both of them. Alex bit his lip for a whole new reason and turned his head to hide the slight flush that his cheeks had overtaken.
The two sat in comfortable silence once more until the Italian ices came, and then more silence reigned as they devoured the sweet treats. Their eyes never really left each other as they did so.
After, the two split the bill, at Alex’s command, and then left the place. Their fingers linked together as they walked out of the restaurant, and both Alex and Brandan were positively glowing.
Their ‘bad day’ was truly forgotten now. |
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