LaFiamma? A Marine?
By Etch
Part Two
The next day, LaFiamma dropped the manila folder on his desk, pushed his chair back and stood up. "Where we going for lunch today, Lundy? Please, not Chicken's. After what went down last night, my stomach just can't take grease today."
"Captain...! LaFiamma!" A strong, sharp, bass voice barked from behind him. Lundy watched all the color drain from his partner's face.
Joe's chin, head jerked upward, shock spread across his face, wide-eyed he sent a plead to his partner across his desk, though he knew from this point on the man behind him was going to be in control of everything that went down in this room.
Putting his toe behind his heel Joe did a sharp military turn and came face to face with his former commanding officer. "SIR!" Joe answered sharply, staring in disbelief at his Colonel, who he noticed now had the rank of Brigadier General. He came to attention, then went into military parade rest. He did not salute the man.
Levon stood up as his partner turned. It took every fiber in his body to keep the thoughts in his head from spilling out. [My god, that man is black! He's black!. How could Joe touch... let alone k-kiss him!]
Around the room, those who knew LaFiamma could tell from the way he answered 'Sir', that this man was not necessarily a friend. Joey heard gasped whispers as he turned, "LaFiamma? A Marine? A Captain?!" Within minutes those whispers spread with the speed of a fire in the Everglades throughout the whole building. Slowly curious officers began to migrate up to the Major Crimes Division hallway, straining to hear the conversation inside.
"You're looking good, LaFiamma. Not all your Rangers are as fit as you are." General Smith, declared, the harshness of his voice toned down a bit, taking in every nod, every whisper going on around them. "What...? These rednecks don't know that you're a Marine!?"
"No, Sir! They do *now,* SIR." Joe answered tightly, his jaw tense, eyes straight-ahead, not wanting to look at the officers around him. "I'm just a street kid from Chicago to them, Sir."
"A street kid from Chicago?" The bald black man replied laughing. "God, I wish I had had a hundred Chicago street kids... if they were all as good as you were." The older man chortled, his gray-green eyes staring holes into the blue eyes he loved.
"Why don't they know, Captain!?" The black man challenged sternly, his eyes traveling from Joe's face to his chest and up again.
"YOU ... SI-IR... said that if you can't explain what you did..., best they not know you were in!" The Chicagoan shot back, he was not going to back down this time, even if it meant Lundy would be planning his funeral.
"I did say that, didn't I?" The Brigadier replied, his voice gentler, his eyes not wavering from the intensely angry eyes flashing back at him. [Son, don't you know I love you?]
"Yes, Sir... on more than one occasion, SIR," Joe shot back. [What the hell is his game?]
"They don't know you were .... a paratrooper... covert ope....?"
"Sir!" Joey cut in curtly, "what is the purpose of your visit here?" The Detective asked, anxious to get to whatever was coming. [Hell, I hoped this milk chocolate man would be old and ugly by now. Damned if I can't feel that shiny, black, bald head of his rubbing up against my balls.]
As if reading his Captain's thoughts General Smith retorted, "Damned if you aren't even more handsome than you were the day you stepped onto that bus in Chicago heading for OCS." A smile crept across the Old Man's face as he watched Joe's face change. (note: OCS - Officer's Candidate School)
"Sir?" LaFiamma choked, his jaw dropping open. [What the hell IS his game? Mad one minute. Loving the next. Lundy, help me. Before I fuck his chocolate butt right here in front of everyone.]
"You were a damn good officer, LaFiamma. You got your men through some real hellholes. You want to tell me, why you didn't re-enlist? That's why you went back to Chicago on leave, is it not? " Smith questioned, he had wondered for years if he had done something to make the man want to leave the Corps.
"No sir!" Joe answered empathetically, "Re-enlisting was never part of my plans." [Shii-iit! We get any more blue uniforms out in the hall, there won't be any left on the street.]
General Smith raised a uniformed arm, gesturing to those around the room, "Being here... part of your plan?"
"No, Sir! Being in Texas was not part of my plan!" Joe returned, coldly, his jaw tight again, teeth clenched. [Neither was sucking your cock off for the rest of my military career.]
Smiling, Joe's former lover decided it was time to let the young man know just why he was here. "I have a mission for you Captain, and you are the only one who can do it."
"Sir, I'm not in the Reserves. I cannot be...." Joe started, gesturing with his hands to the surroundings. "I refuse, Sir!" Joe replied sharply, surprising even himself with the sharpness of his tone as he brought himself to attention. "After the options you gave me in Chicago, Sir... I believe I'll take the bullet in the head in this time."
Joanne Beaumont, who had come out of her office and was standing with Levon, Carol and Estaban, gasped at Joe's words. There was no way one of her best officers was going to be shot.
"SHOT! What the hell are you talking about!? You were presented with a package in Chicago, Captain! You had your choice to come, or to stay. You chose to come!" the General spit back angrily, his eyes bulging, his nose flared wide open, he rose up on his toes for a second like a hawk hovering over his prey before returning to his stance opposite his Captain, his lover.
"I received no package, SIR! Two Marines walked into my Chicago precinct. Told me I had to be at a gate, on a flight, at 0900... if I was not there, I would be picked up at the precinct, put into shackles, taken to the Federal Building and shot!! At the time, Sir...," Joey growled, his eyes not wavering from the face opposite him, "I took the first option... however, today, Sir..., I may take the second." The words were spat out in hot, angry tones, into the baby-faced countenance of his former Colonel. [Shit, he pinches his fingers together like that one more time, my cock's going to spring into action begging to be tweaked.]
The color of Joe's blue eyes intensified and bore into his ex-lover's face. "I will *not* go through what happened on that flight to Quanto again - Sir! Nor any of the things that happened after I got there. I refuse to be a party to that... Sir!" Joey voice was firm, tight, only Levon heard the slight quiver it had towards the end. His partner was standing his ground, whatever came, came.
"GERALD!!" the Old Man bellowed, abruptly turning to look at the man behind him, horrified that Joseph had no idea why he had been called out of Chicago that week. "What happened to the package we put together for Captain LaFiamma!?"
Catching a glimpse of Gerald for the first time, Joe was surprised to see the company clerk was still with their Colonel. [Damned if he doesn't still have that mop of curly red hair, and freckles. He must have stood on his tiptoes to get in on the height requirement.]
"Chi... Chicago was in the middle of a big recruitment push. Said... they couldn't send a courier to pick up the package, but said they would get a message to LaFiamma." Gerald stammered, giving Joe an unconscious nod.
"Yeah!" the Colonel growled, his nostrils flaring again, "They sure gave him a message, didn't they? A wrong message! I want to know what happened to the package."
"I believe it was shredded, Sir," Joe replied quietly. "They told me I could pick up another set of orders on the plane, and they would shred the package addressed to me when it arrived."
Joe watched the lines of anger begin to set on his Colonel's face, never had he seen his Colonel so angry. General Smith raised his hands and brought them together in a clap so loud it echoed down the hall. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN'S CORPS TODAY!"
Joey fell back a step not knowing what to expect next, and backed right into Lundy, whom he didn't even know was behind him. Levon's light touch on his back told him volumes.
"That package contained a letter signed by the President to you! A promotion to Major, because of your success in Beirut... and a hell of a lot of personal things put together by your squad that cannot be replaced," the black man snarled.
"Sir," Joe offered softly, nodding his head forward, "could we talk elsewhere?"
"No, we can't talk elsewhere! You know better than to ask me that! If I had wanted to talk elsewhere I would have said so when I walked in here!" Smith stopped his barrage of words and took a few seconds for his anger to cool.
"I'm not recalling you, son," the man's voice was gentle now. "Not like I did in Chicago. I apologize for that. I had no idea you didn't know what was coming down for that week. I understand now... why you were so pissed off."
LaFiamma blinked, gawking at the man. His Colonel never ever apologized to anyone, anywhere, and if he did, it certainly wasn't to an underling.
"I'm... dying, Joseph. Cancer... and a bunch of other things I can't pronounce. I need you to do something... and you are the only one who can do it. They will ignore Gerald if he calls. They would hang up on me, if I call. But you... they will swim the oceans, walk through fire...they'll come if you ask them to... they will come for you. " The voice tender, the words were a plea.
[He's dying? He can't die! He can't! Not till I tell him how much I hate his guts... love him. How much he meant to... means to me. Oh, Levon, how will I ever explain to you what this man means to me.]
"Gerald, got that folder?" Smith asked over his shoulder, everyone watched intently as Gerald opened up a briefcase and took out a manila folder marked, "TOP SECRET ... CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS."
Joe felt like he was in a cocoon. People, cops, were around him, in the offices, standing in the hallway, yet he felt like he was alone, hanging off a chopper skid and losing his grip fast. He could hear Lieutenant Beaumont saying something about the folder, yet it seemed miles again. His whole being was geared to his Colonel touching him, caressing him. His loyalties should be with Levon. But under the General's uniform, he knew there was a tight muscled body like his own. Is it allowed? Could he have two lovers? It was Levon's touch of his elbow that burst his claustrophobic state. He choked as he breathed in Levon's aftershave.
"Wha?" Joey gasped, turning his head to look at the cowboy who was quietly asking him if he was all right.
"You all right, son?" the Colonel quizzed frowning. "One of these days you're going to pass out doing that."
"So long as someone is around to pick me up, Sir," Joey retorted, relaxing a bit now that he knew he wasn't going to have to 'perform' for the man. At least not today.
"You asked about this folder, ma'am," General Smith said, nodding to Beaumont, "it was put together by the Pentagon at my request. I do not, at the present time, nor does Gerald have the security clearance to read what is inside. However, LaFiamma does. He speaks eight languages, and has a number of skills the Marines would like to call on more often than they do. His security clearance is intact, and will stay activated until such time as the Marine Corps chooses to reduce it.'
A grin spread across the black face showing prefect snow-white teeth. Joe didn't like that mischievous look he saw coming into the Old Man's eyes. "This man was the best S.T.U.D. I ever had. One hell of a good man!" The Old Man groused looking into the startled blue eyes in front of him.
Laughter broke out in the hall. "You got that right, General! LaFiamma is one hell of a stud. The women love him."
Joe's face turned to stone, his teeth tight together. His blue eyes began to change to a hazel blue-green as his anger grew filling every pore. If he thought he could have gotten away with it, he would have punched the man out.
The black man, taller by a couple of inches, about forty pounds heavier stepped forward, and laid his hands on Joe's shoulder. Levon watched his partner's whole body go rigid.
The laughter died down when the General began speaking.
"S ... Steadfast. When you were on a mission, Joseph, nothing, but nothing distracted you. Not even that woman in Italy who did a striptease trying to entrap you."
[Yeah, I found her later and fucked her brains out. She said I was the best Italian man she'd known.]
"T ... Tenacious. You are the only Marine in my command that ever told me where to go, to get off and got away with it."
[Yeah, black man, get your fucking cock out of my mouth!]
"U ... Undaunting. I can count on one hand, son, the things I've seen you back away from. "
[Being whipped was definitely one of them.]
"D ... Driven. You drove yourself, and your men beyond their limitations. When they discovered they could do it, you drove them harder."
[ Pushed them to go without food for three days. Fixed them up with ladies when we got home.]
"I want your S.T.U.D.S, Captain. Those Rangers you took to Beirut and South America. I want them here... in Houston ...by Friday."
"LaFiamma had missions in Beirut? South America?" Whispered Carol "Legs" O'Brien to Sergeant Estaban Gutierrez.
It was a statement Joe knew he couldn't protest, yet he tried. "Colonel!.. that's only four days away." Joe blurted out, interrupting his commander.
Ignoring his Captain the black general continued, "This folder, contains the last known addresses and numbers of each and every one of them. Some are still in the Corps, some are not. One of them has taken your game beyond its goal... to death."
"Death?!" Joey choked on the word, his head tilting forward to within inches of a perfect sharp pointed nose in front of him.
"I want this man's game stopped, Joseph. You are the only one - who can stop him." The Old Man lifted his hands off Joe's shoulders and stepped back.
"Wh... why now?" Joey questioned, not understanding. [Who the hell would take that game to the death?]
"General Swietoniowski is in town and so is Judge Susan Riley."
"Betty Sue's mother...the JAG? She should be a grandmother by now."
"If she had a daughter to give her some."
"Betty Sue died!? Paddock? Was it Paddock?" Joey gasped, breaking his stance, doing a complete turn like a ballerina, raising his hand above his head, he ranted some very ugly Italian words which he was glad no one could understand.
Lundy and others in the squad room watched a complete change come over the Chicagoan. LaFiamma went from a detective upset at being confronted to an irate Marine knowing an injustice had been done, and he was the one who could rectify it.
"Why is General Swietoniowski in town? Please, don't tell me Paddock took on David..." Joey watched his Colonel nod yes. "Shit! SHIT! SHIT!" LaFiamma shouted, at the top of his lungs, his anger so intense those around him stepped back. "You want me on temporary active duty, General? Get the paperwork together. I want that bastard. I will personally castrate him myself!"
"All the information you need is in here, Joseph. Including what's to be done if I die before you get it together. Also some 'need to know' information about me. Your... dress blues... your Alphas... still fit...?" His voice trailed off, remembering how sharp his Captain looked in dress blues. He wanted more that anything to hold Joseph Anthony LaFiamma in his arms, tell him he was sorry for pulling him out of Chicago, and of so many other things.
"Don't know about the blues, I'll have to get them out and see," Joe replied, dropping the 'Sir.' Joe looked deep into the Old Man's eyes, and saw remorse, not sex, but real love... and... death. He watched as Smith turned and walked with Gerald through the crowd in the hall to the elevators.
Joe heard his name murmured among the cops in the hall, and looked up to see Estaban and Joe-Bill in an animated conversation with them. [Great! Everything said here would be out to every car on the road in minutes. Oh, well, about time they knew I was more than just a street kid.] Joe looked momentarily at the cowboy, then pushed his way through the cops. As he glanced toward the elevator he realized he didn't have to hurry, Gerry was holding the elevator, and would be outside the door until he was done.
"You don't have to be here, son," the Old Man said, as Joe stepped into the elevator, waited for the door to close, and then pushed STOP. Smith realized now, how many times he had insisted his Captain be in his bed when Joe obviously had other plans.
"You want me to leave?" Joe asked somewhat surprised.
"You know I don't." The older man replied softly, "I've loved you for so long, Joseph. Worried so about you. I even take the Houston paper so I can keep track of you. You and your partner have quite a success record. "
"I liked lying in your bed, Smitty," Joey answered, knowing now that he was speaking the truth, that in spite of his relationship with his partner, he was also in love with this man and always would be.
"But there were times... your demands... it was what you wanted... what you said you needed. And I liked my duty at Quanto. I... felt if I refused... I'd end up on some remote tour for the rest of my hitch. I would love to... make love to you, Sir. Totally free of any commitments."
Joey hang his head to the floor, silently getting the courage to tell his colonel the rest. A touch on his hand, brought the head up. Swallowing he continued, "The reason I... did not re-enlist... was because... because..." the words faltered, died in his throat.
The words came to Smith like a neon sign flashing at midnight. "You didn't want to be a cock sucker, a whore... for me or anyone else." [Those were the words you shouted at me. Those were the words that tore my heart apart.]
"Yes, sir," Joe answered in a barely audible whisper.
"Ohhh, Joseph! Can you ever forgive me?!" General Smith lamented, pulling his former Captain, his lover into his arms. "Please, forgive me. Just forgive me."
They stood together crying for several minutes, then Joe tilted the man's chin as he did the first day they met. The kiss was gentle and sweet. It brought back a rush of memories, but no nightmares.
"I want you again," Joey rasped, "this time in love. We're too much alike. A black trying to make good in the Corps, and a Mafia kid wanting to be a cop. Lundy will never understand... but I need to have you again, Smitty. I do."
"You old bastard, you're not suppose to die yet," Joe said tenderly, stepping away, his hand lingering on the man's cheek.
Joe pushed the button, the door opened and Gerald stepped in. Curious cops peered in to see what was going on.
"We're at the Airport Marriott, Presidential Suite, sixth floor. I want a report tonight as to the progress of your calling. Paddock's gone too far this time. Killing one, and maiming another."
Joe turned and came face to face with Lundy who was standing sideways behind him holding open the elevator door. As an afterthought, Joe turned back to the Colonel, his lover, and saluted him, and said, "The game will stop, Sir."
The black returned the salute as the elevator doors closed.
The detective... the Marine... the displaced Chicagoan stood staring at the closed elevator for a long time. He had a million things going through his mind and he had to get them organized, but first he needed to get some time off.
"You all right, LaFiamma?" His partner finally asked, worry in his voice.
Turning to face his blond lover, a smile spreading across his face, Joe lightly touched the cowboy's arm, "Yeah, partner, I'm okay."
Walking back into the bullpen, LaFiamma saw Beaumont and the Division Captain talking in her office, ambling to the door, he gently knocked and was ushered in. They listened while he asked for ten days off and Joe was totally surprised that it was granted on the spot. Not only granted, but he was told he could use whatever phones or computers the department had to contact anyone in his file.
When he was asked to sit, he said he preferred to stand. When he was told he'd been standing for over an hour, he sat. What happened in the next thirty minutes totally blew him away. He walked out of Joanne's office in a daze.
[The Captain's retiring because of stomach ulcers. The Major Crimes Division is being restructured. Joanne is being promoted but will still be in charge. They are putting lieutenants out on the street ... and I'm the first one. I AM THE FIRST ONE! ME! What did Captain Mullin's say - because *I* was a Marine, he knew I could handle the job.]
He actually found himself glad this fiasco with the Old Man was happening. It would keep his mind occupied from spilling his promotion to his partner. He wasn't sure how his partner would react, him being the second of Lundy's partners promoted to lieutenant. Joe knew just from the nod of those around him that his status here had changed. He would never again be called a street kid from Chicago. Spotting Lundy, he asked if he wanted to go to lunch.
Lundy walked in silence to the elevator but started questioning his lover as soon as the door closed. "This where you fucked him?" the cowboy suddenly growled, needing to know if his lover was still faithful to him.
"Lundy, I did not fuck him! What is wrong with you?" Joe asked, sadly shaking his head, turning to check the number and how close they were to the lobby.
"I want to know what you did behind the closed door for so long, and why that Gerald had to stand guard so you weren't disturbed!" the blond detective demanded, his brown eyes green with jealousy.
"You want to know what I did in here with the man that helped shape my life? This morning you said nothing would come between us... changed your mind already, have you!?" LaFiamma growled angrily.
"I kissed the man! I kissed him long and good. He was my lover. I was his!" Joe spat the words out sharp and blunt straight into the blond's face. Just as they reached the Lobby, Joe pushed the STOP button, grabbed his partner's shoulders and shoved the blond against the wall and kissed him, his tongue probing deep into the throat.
The blond bucked against him gasping. Using his knee, LaFiamma rode it up and down along the raise in Levon's jeans, until the smell of semen filled the elevator. Releasing the mouth he had attacked, Joe growled, "I only kissed him. You..., I brought to climax. You are mine, cowboy! Mine!" Joe growled into the cowboy's ear. "And don't you forget it."
LaFiamma stepped back and watched his partner slide down the wall to the floor. Turning he pushed the button to open the door, as the doors opened, he pushed number six and seven. Not allowing anyone waiting to get into the car.
"Hey, wait a minute, LaFiamma... Lundy's on the .... What'd you do to him?" Several officers in blue asked.
"He made a pass at me," Joe shot back over his shoulder as he walked into the police garage.
"Hey, Ruben, got a car for me?" He was surprised when he was offered two of the slickest cars around.
"How come you're giving me these?" He asked dumbfounded, he was always offered junk-a-wrecks before.
"Heroes deserved better cars," the mechanic said with a grin.
"Yeah, well, this hero wants to remain in the background. I'll take that one," the newly discovered Marine said, pointing to a tan Acclaim.
"Hell, LaFiamma, it's past that. What went on upstairs is half way around the world by now."
"God, I hope not," Joe gasped, as he caught the keys that were tossed to him. [There are some people I don't want to hear from.]
All the way to his apartment, LaFiamma was very aware of the folder next to him on the seat. In a matter of minutes his world was turned upside down. Yet not completely. He was getting a promotion because of it, and cops that were usually putting money into a pot for a ticket back to Chicago were actually speaking to him. [And wait until they see this Marine kick butt.] The thought brought a smile a yard wide to his face.
[][][][][]
Going through his storage closet, Joey pulled out a large plastic suit bag. Carefully unzipping it, he opened it up and stared at his dress blues "Alphas" and "Charlies" inside. Reaching inside, he cautiously lifted the uniforms out, being careful not to tangle the sword and mourning band with it. Then he walked into the laundry room off the kitchen. Laying his white gloves, white hat, and shoes on the washer, he hung the blues so they could air out. Returning to the plastic bag, he yanked out his combat fatigues, lace boots, and olive-drab officer's uniform. "Damn! Never thought I'd be wearing these again in my life time."
[][][][][]
Lundy was just getting his legs under him when the elevator came to an abrupt halt, knocking him off his feet, back to the floor. He staggered back to his feet just as the doors opened. Scully, and a couple of the computer girls rushed in to help him. Levon brushed them away, shouted at them, told them to mind their own business.
Scully asked the women to take another elevator and they heartily agreed. "What happened to your lip, Levon? It's all swollen."
"Nothin'!" Levon moaned, his tongue licking the bite, tasting his lover's mouth on his lip. Levon realized he'd made a rash error in judgment with his partner. Vaguely remembering what Joe said when he got off the elevator, the cowboy replied, "I made a pass at LaFiamma."
"YOU... You made a pass at LaFiamma!? Are you nuts, Levon? Damn, you're lucky you're alive... you know what kind of missions your partner did in the Marines?" Scully said excitedly, planning to use what happened today to boost relations with the Department and the City.
"All I could think about was him in one of those blue uniforms. Those ones with the sword. Damn, he's the best looking man I've ever seen," Levon moaned, allowing Scully to help him to his feet.
"Levon, are you saying what I think you're saying?" The pumpish, public relations man asked. "Lundy, it's not healthy to be in love with a man in this day and age."
[][][][][]
Joey opened the Top Secret folder and began to page through the papers. He was surprised to find that the nine he would call upon lived within a two-hour flight from Houston. What took his breath away was the white envelope marked, 'The Last Will and Testament of George Washington Smith, Brigadier General.' Joe stared, and decided he'd better have a beer before he opened it.
The empty beer bottle sat on his kitchen counter and still he stared at the envelope. "What the hell, got to open it some time, might as well be now."
It was a simple will really, compared to some samples he'd seen back in law school. "Damn!" Joey exclaimed, "he's leaving me his entire estate. There's got to be a caught. Knowing him, there has got to be a catch."
Paging through the document, LaFiamma discovered there was indeed a big catch. "FUCK YOU!" He yelled. "Be an instructor at Quanto, two weeks out of every year! For what, some measly bucks that he stashed away over the .... Ohmygod.... four million dollars!" Joey staggered backwards, hit the wall telephone and slid to the floor.
"God, Smitty. You love me this much?" Tears rolled down Captain LaFiamma's face, his eyes closing thinking about the bad times, and some damn good times this man and he had together. Suddenly, it came to him. He couldn't be pulled into the reserves or put on active duty because he would be an instructor teaching troops. Springing to his feet in one leap, Joey laughed, "You old fossil! You said you'd take care of me... and hell if you haven't!"
"Guess I'd better get started calling, or that old fossil will have cause to strip my hide tonight. Let's start with Warsaw, he lives the farthest," Joe sighed, taking the list of names, reaching for the phone behind him.
Two o'clock in the afternoon, in a Minneapolis suburb, the phone rang. A pleasant, but frustrated woman answered the phone, and Joe asked if he could speak to Jonathan. "Well, ma'am, tell him Captain LaFiamma is on the phone, and to get his butt to it on the double!" Seconds later, Joe was laughing and speaking Polish, and explaining his call. "Guess you'll just have to tell your wife you had a change of heart, and you'd be glad to go to Houston with her to visit her parents. You need to be here by Friday, Pollock. Alphas & Charlies both.. "
"Me? I just got promoted to lieutenant for the Houston Police Department." Joey answered, giving his sergeant his home number and Smith's private hotel number. "Warsaw... when you get in... call Smith and let Gerald know where you are. Yeah, believe it or not, Carrot Top is still with him."
Hanging up the phone, LaFiamma remembered his first meeting with Jon, had figured he was French, certainly not Polish. Married with three kids, man.
And so the calls continued...to Georgia for - Cardinal... the bird man... the whistler ...the point man.. the one who could out eat us all, and Periwinkle... we never did figure out what he was using on his uniforms to keep them from wrinkling.
To New Orleans to spring Renegade out of jail. When was that biker going to learn to keep his big mouth shut. An added call to NOPD and the Military Police. [Good thing I am a lieutenant now, they wouldn't have taken those words from a sergeant.]
Hawk... in San Diego, two hours before going on leave. He didn't want to go to Hawaii anyway. [Sure, right. Best set of eyes I've ever worked with, would love to get him here.]
Mum ... in Austin, visiting his sister. Called his C.O. to explain why he was going to be late, he wasn't going AWOL, anything but!
Staring at the paper work, Joey was mulling over whom to call next. He jumped as the phone behind him began to ring. "LaFiamma. Yea, Gerald... what's wrong? He okay?" Joey quizzed concern in his voice. The Italian listened as Gerry explained that the General wanted Joe there by seven for a meeting with him and Major General Swietnowoski. That the package sent to him in Chicago had been found and was being sent by special courier.
Thinking of Lundy as he hung up the phone, Joe began worrying about what he did in the elevator, and began to make some phone calls to track his partner down.
[Not at Reisner, Dispatch can't raise him, no answer at the ranch. Damn, partner where are you? Got no time for games.] Walking into the living room, Joey looked out the window and saw the red Jimmy parked on the street, but Lundy wasn't in it.
[You're a big boy, Levon, I can't worry about you right now. Got other priorities. If Paddock goes berserk while in Houston, I want the military authority to send him away for good.]
Thinking about it as he walked back to the kitchen, Joe knew as a cop he couldn't take the man on, but as his superior... he could clean up the sidewalk with the man's butt.
LaFiamma looked one way and then the other as first the phone rang and then there was a knock on the door. Quickly peeking through the security hole in the door, Joe yanked the door open for his partner, then jogged to the phone.
"LaFiamma. Hey ... Hummer, how you doing?" Joe asked joyfully, this Gunnery Sergeant was one of his favorite people. "How'd you know I was calling? Hawk? Long as he doesn't contact Paddock. I want to talk to that man myself."
Grumbling under his breath, Levon walked in, shutting the door behind him. Starting for one of the barstools, the cowboy watched his partner quickly close up the folder on the counter and slide it toward himself. "I ain't gonna look," the Texan mumbled.
LaFiamma eyed his partner as he walked from the door to the barstool. The man's hard-on couldn't be missed unless you were blind. Joe knew his partner, his lover was going to take a back seat here, he just hoped Lundy understood. [Hell, I've taken plenty of back seats when Jamie calls because Eric wants to see him.]
Finishing his call to Hummer, he hung up the phone and walked to his partner. "You want to take care of this," Joey asked huskily, his left hand lightly brushing blond curls out of the cowboy's collar, his right fingers cupping his lover's erection.
"You got time? Or ain't I in your schedule?" Levon growled, grabbing onto the back of the stool as Joe's fingers continued a downward track to his balls. "Ahhhh. Jus... just take me... Joe...fuck me... hard... I want you so bad... so bad."
"You want upstairs, or the floor," Joe whispered into his lover's ear, his Italian tongue tracing the blond's jaw line.
"KKK... kitchen floor," Levon stammered, passion for his lover sweeping away his other mistakes of the day.
[][][][][]
Lying naked on the cold tile floor, Lundy couldn't help to ask, he had to know, "Joe.. the... the... general... is a black man."
"So."
"Were you really his lover? I mean... you kissed him? Put... put your cock inside him?" The words staggered out, he didn't want to ask, but his upbringing forced him to. Sleeping with... just was something you didn't do.
"What are you telling me, Levon?" Joe answered, grasping his cock and pulling it out of the Texan's ass. "You telling me that you're a racist? Huh? You can make it with those Mexicans, Asians from the Pink Cowboys, but not with a black."
"LaFiamma, please," the blond moaned, his ass hot for his lover's cock. "I didn't mean I would love you any less because you did it with him...." Levon didn't know what he meant. "I... learnt as a early age, that... it wasn't right to sleep with those kind of people."
"I want you... only you... please," the cowboy moaned sorrowfully, "please put the sword back in, ple-ease."
Joey obliged, turning the man onto his stomach, the Italian lifted himself over the snow white untanned skin, guiding his cock with one hand to the spincter opening, he thrust in hard and fast. He knew his partner liked it fast, but today Joey did it slooow, agonizingly slow. Until his partner begged, cried for it to be faster. And Captain LaFiamma did as he was told, fucking fast and fierce, skin slapping against skin, until at last the push for release came.
The cowboy withered under him, moaning in pleasure, mumbling words of love.
"I love you too, Levon, but what's going down here... with the Marines.. I have to back away from you for a bit... have a job to do, and I'm the only one who can do it," LaFiamma said pulling back, standing, reaching for paper towel to whip his genitals off.
"But... this mission is just for stopping that ---" Levon started, turning over on his back, the rest of the words caught in his throat as he stared up at the incredible handsome, muscled body of Captain Joseph LaFiamma. [God Joey, does that man love you as much as I do?]
"No, Levon. This mission is to stop a killer that has taken my game too far. This mission is to stop a Marine who uses his ten-inch cock for the pleasure of causing pain to someone else. This mission is stopping Paddock from killing someone else. This guy is as tall as Chicken and a hundred pounds lighter. He's a handsome, light skinned black. He can sweet talk the likes of you into going to bed with him and before you know it ... you're tied face down on a bed, or strung up like a fly in a spider's web. You can yell, and beg, and scream for mercy, all it does is turn him on more," Joey paused, looking at his lover, naïve in so many ways, knowledgeable in others.
"If he touches you, Levon..., ... I'll kill him." It was a statement Levon knew to be true. Knew he would do the same if things were reversed.
Joey jumped as the phone jangled behind him. "LaFiamma. What do you mean Paddock's in town? He was next on my list to call. Yeah... I bet he got the word. Mikey, right? Especially when he found out who was being asked. No, thanks, Gerry, I'll be there before seven. The only one left to call is Wolf. What? He checked in already... that's how he got his name. Carrot Top, one more thing... that site you have up, could you put a coded message out for me. Hang on," Joey said, turning to the folder, quickly leafing through the pages. "Here we are... put this out - Code Red, dash, capital p as in Paul, capital d as in David period. Houston period. Handsome. Then give the coded phone number for your place. Tell the Generals I want to know exactly what they're planning. Right, you take care too."
Levon watched a grin cross his lover's face. [Wolf, Paddock, Mikey??]
Joey hung up the phone and looked around for his clothes. "Damn," he said forgetting for a moment that Levon was present, "bet I have to wear my Charlies."
"Charlies?" Levon asked, grabbing the edge of the kitchen counter for support as he pulled himself to a standing position.
"Charlies? Oh, that refers to a Marine uniform, partner." Joe replied, stepping into his boxer shorts, then pulling on his white muscle shirt over his head.
"Can't wait -- to see you in those blue pants with the red strip," Levon replied hungrily, retrieving his pants from the floor.
Stepping into his lover's face, pushing Levon's hands away from the jeans' zipper, Joe replied firmly while zipping up the man's pants. "*Don't* open the door for anyone tonight! I've got a key. If I'm done early enough with these two generals I'll come out, I'll call if I can. But, *don't,* Levon, under any circumstances open the door, please. I know this man too well... he will come after someone I love., and that someone is YOU. I don't want to bury you."
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Captain LaFiamma knocked on the Presidential Suite at the Airport Marriott, and the door immediately opened. "Ger, how are you? If you ever get tired of Smitty, I've got a job for you in Houston." Joey said, walking in, talking off his hat, he ran a hand through his hair. It had been a long time since he'd worn a hat, let alone been in a uniform.
"No, I'm not kidding," Joey continued, adding to an offhanded remark from First Sergeant Gerald R. Cavalier. "If that Will that was enclosed in that Top Secret folder is true... then, Carrot Top, I'm going to need someone like you to handle my affairs."
Gerald ushered LaFiamma into a small sitting room where two Marine generals sat talking in low tones. Upon his entrance, both men stood and greeted him, one more warmly than the other.
The conversation between the three men was animated and noisy. At last, LaFiamma shouted, using a name he only called his Colonel in private, "NO, SMITTY! I want this man! I agree with General Swietoniowski... if I'm a cop, I can't touch the man... if he takes a civilian, and I think I already know who it is, then I want to be able to wipe the sidewalk with his butt, and I can only do that as a Marine."
The black watched that LaFiamma smirk spread across his Captain's face. "I also agree, Sir, with the stipulations regarding your Will." Joey watched Smitty's eyes glow as the meaning of his statement sunk in.
"Oh, Joseph, thank you!" General Smith howled, grabbing the young Captain around his shoulders and hugging him.
"Now about this person you think Paddock's going after?"
"Sir, Paresley would like nothing better than to cause me pain. What I put on his record is probably the reason he has never been promoted past lieutenant. He knows he can't come after me... but he can go after Lundy." Joey replied, pain in his voice, sadness in his eyes, remembering what was left of a young sailor whose rectum, colon, Paddock had ruptured with his oversized cock.
"Your partner?! My god, Joseph!" General Smith gasped, shocked by the revelation.
"If he does, Smitty. I want him! I want him in his own tribunal right here in this room. Caribbean is a JAG now, and I know he can get here in less than an hour. He could be a second to Betty Sue's mother, and even though she is retired, she is still a judge. As a cop... all I could do would be to put him in jail, and in a year or two he might come to trial. If he touches Levon... I want him for that... for Betty Sue's murder... and for the destruction of General Swietoniowski's son. I want him branded, Sir... I want his ass marked for every pervert in Leavenworth!" Joey looked from one man to the other. Maybe he had demanded too much. It would be more like a kangaroo court except not. Because someone of his outfit was present at each human destruction, and now the 'prey's' family would take part in the final judgment.
Joe watched as Swietoniowski turned his back to him, and discusses the possibility with Smith. Standing behind General Swietoniowski but within view of Smitty, Joey got a wild thought. He opened his mouth just a bit, and slowly moved his tongue across the inside of his lower lip. Then opening his mouth a little wider, he brought his tongue out more licking his bottom lip first and then the top lip.
Smith's cock went boom...! Into a straight stand up position. If Swietoniowski noticed it he didn't say a word. He did, however, call Gerald into the room to get Joey sworn in for ten days active duty. Joe watched Gerry plug in a laptop computer, type in the orders, as well as LaFiamma's acceptance to the offer in General Smith's will. That done, General Swietoniowski said he would return to his room and start putting the court together. Gerald showed the man to the door, allowing the Captain to see just what his handiwork had done.
"I did not come here to have sex, Smitty," Joey said simply, glancing into the bedroom, noticing the bed was already turned down.
"I could only hope, Joseph. I have loved you for so long. My need... my need is only you," the General remarked sadly, placing a hand over his erection.
"Like I said in the elevator... if you want to make love... the kind of love you want done to you, the kind I want done to me, then," Joey stopped, his sharp blue eyes riveted on the black's face. Noticing that Smitty's hands were shaking, LaFiamma grasped them in his hands, and began to kiss them.
"You have to understand, that I love Lundy... and I am deeply committed to him. No matter what happens between us... I will never desert him. But he... would never understand our relationship... please don't ask me to chose." Joey reiterated, taking his chocolate-colored man by the hand and walking with him into the bedroom.
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End of Part Two