Fandom:	Houston Knights
Series:	Other Authors
Rating:	NC17
Pairing:	Joe/Levon
Archive:	Starwinder's
Title:	Lucia's Walking Papers
Author:	Etch
Standard Disclaimer: Houston Knights belongs to Jay Bernstein and Michael Butler and Columbia Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. This is fan fiction, written out of love for the shows. I am making no money off this. I have no money so please don't sue me. Any original characters who may appear in these stories are the property of the author.

LUCIA'S WALKING PAPERS
By Etch

Joey unlocked the door of the house he'd bought to share with Lucia and stepped inside. Hummer flicked on light switches he found on the wall. A chandelier on the cathedral ceiling illuminated the L-shaped living room, dining room. The white stone fireplace reflected light onto the built-in glassed-in bookcases. The large screen TV was the center attention of a chocolate brown, leather circular sectional sofa.

"Guess I won't hear the pitter-patter of little feet running through here, will I? Or worry about my kids falling down the stairs and breakin' a tooth." Joey said quietly, staring into the empty room.

"Sir, we know it has to be a shock to find this out about Lu. We know you love kids and... if we could, we'd have kids for you," Hummer replied with a grin.

"Thanks, Hummer. I don't know what's going down tomorrow - tonight or what kind of a mood I'll be in when I get home... if I'm not talking... just back away and give me some space. Come on, I'll show you your rooms. It's already been a long night," Joey replied, heading for the stairs that lead to the second floor bedrooms.

At the top of the stairs was a large landing that spread out like a hand. The first bedroom on the right would be Hummer's. Then there was a large bathroom with both a shower and a Jacuzzi tub. Beyond the bathroom double doors opened into the huge master bedroom with walk in closets, tub and shower and a small sitting room. At the far end of the landing was another bedroom that Joe had tapped to be Shadow's bedroom.

"Jake, this first room, at the top of the stairs is for you. As soon as I saw it I knew it was yours." Joey pushed open the door and let Hummer go in first, switching the light on as Jake strolled into the room.

"MAY-JOR! It's... It's a bed shaped like a race car... it's what I always wanted... since I was a kid!" Jake danced around the room, peeking into the closet, peering out the window, looking in the window box. "There's sheets in here -- pillows and stuff. Even hangers in the closet."

"Well... better get those sheets out and make the bed if you want to sleep tonight. You have a long day tomorrow," Joey replied grinning, nodding to Shadow to leave.

Shadow stood in the hall and waited for LaFiamma wondering if his request to have the bedroom downstairs would come true. What he really needed was a tree house but the bedroom under the stairs would do.

Sam Jones leaned against the wall when Hummer's door closed. He knew that meant LaFiamma wanted privacy. He could walk around the house but if he weren't here when the Major came out he'd be in trouble.

"Oh, Major..." Hummer bubbled as LaFiamma wrapped his arms around him.

"Easy, Jake..." Joey purred kissing him lightly on the chin, the mouth, "make your bed and put your room together. I'll be back in a bit and tuck you in."

"How much of you will you tuck in?" Hummer asked gleefully, the look on Joey's face told him that LaFiamma understood perfectly well what he wanted tucked in.

"We'll, see, Hummer, okay." Joey said as he opened the door and walked into the hall where his second Marine was waiting.

"Well, Hercules Jones... you ready for your room too? I'm afraid I can't let you have the room under the stairs. If we ever find a cook or a housekeeper that is where he or she will be living. However... there is another bedroom up here that should fit you to a tee."

Shadow followed his lover, his friend, his commanding officer down the hall and into a room that was void of any furniture and had half of a wall jutting out of one corner.

"Major, this place doesn't even have a closet?" Sam moaned looking around the barren room.

"Well, not an ordinary closet... no," Joey said walking to the angled wall on the opposite wall. "But you can always put a shelf with those Amish chair hooks along the wall to hang things on. As I remember you travel as light as possible...." He grinned pointing to something beyond Shadow's sight.

"And just what is around this corner? Some kind of weird kiddies bed that..."

"When I first looked at this house with Lundy I figured it was the perfect place for Handsome's Harem to live. Thought Lu and I would actually get a smaller house. Instead I'll just stay here, the master bedroom has a huge king-size platform bed... and I'll just have my lovers with me. When I saw this room, and that bed built into this alcove I figured it was as close to a tree house as you would ever get. AND since Warsaw is moving down here, I'm sure you could talk him into painting you a real dandy one. Birds... monkeys on the outside here. What do you think?" Joey said anticipation that his lover was satisfied with his choice.

"You bought this house for us?" Sam asked his breath taken away by what was being presented to him.

"Shadow, I care for you deeply. Hummer, R.G., Hawk, too. I want you all in a safe place. I don't ever want any of us to be in the situation we got into in the Amazon. Cutting out a man's stomach to keep us all from being on a headhunter's breakfast table, is not the way to start the day. That nightmare still haunts me. I want Smith's house to work. Want you and Hummer and R.G. to take Tish apart tomorrow, today, and make it work."

Before Joey knew what was happening Shadow had him on the floor, his pants were being unzipped and his cock was pulled out. LaFiamma didn't protest, he allowed the pleasure his lover wanted to give and eagerly accepted the gift.

When it was over, Sam leaned against the wall and stared at the limp figure on the floor in front of him. "Major! I'm... I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. Shouldn't have taken you that way. But nobody's ever done anything like this for me before. That's ... that's the only way I know to show my appreciation ..." Shadow stammered wondering if his C.O. was even alive.

"Am I - complaining?" Joey rasped, trying hard to catch his breath from the intensity of the blow job he'd just been given.

"Sam...you remember what happened to the Chicago package? It was on the bed in the loft before you all moved the stuff here. I haven't seen it since," Joey asked accepting a hand up.

"We stuck it in the bedside table... but I ain't seen that table in the house yet."

"Probably because that table stayed with the apartment. You'd better hop over there first thing tomorrow morning ... in Charlies ... and see if they have it. Pray they didn't open it!"

"Come on, sir, I'll help you to bed, then check on Hummer and do a security check to make sure everything is locked up," Sam Jones remarked slipping his arm around LaFiamma's waist and assisting him to the door.

Joey was just nestled into bed and having a sweet dream about Levon when Shadow knocked on the bedroom door and tiptoed in.

"What is it, Shad?" Joey asked groggily, letting the sheet twist around him as he turned in the bed.

"I found the Chicago package downstairs in the kitchen. An.... And there's someone else in the house too. There are lights in the lower level. We never went down there." Sam explained anxiously.

"Did you check on Hummer?" LaFiamma questioned, untangling himself from the sheets, and glancing around the room for his guns.

"Jake's asleep. Sacked out like a baby ... his arms wrapped around a pillow that looks like a steering wheel."

"Still carry that pistol in your duffel bag," Joey asked getting up from the bed and walking into the closet to get some pants on. "What the hell happened to my holster and guns?" The Italian growled softly coming out of the closet in Marine dress pants.

"You took them off in the van on the way back to the complex from Reisner. They must still be there. I'll get...."

"No... I have something that will work just as well and be just as effective," LaFiamma answered with a smile returning to the closet to get his Marine sword.

"Let's go see who this party crasher is." LaFiamma replied as the two walked barefoot, silently into the hall, down the stairs, through the kitchen to the top of the six steps that lead to the basement level of the multi-level house.

Joey walked noiselessly, it reminded him of when he would sneak up behind his brothers when they were studying for exams and scare the hell out of them. And that was just what he planned to do here. At the bottom of the stairs, Shadow touched Joe's elbow and nodded to their right. A young man in his early twenties sat curled up in a big overstuffed chair reading a book.

In two steps, LaFiamma was there. Major LaFiamma swiftly lifted the sword and flicked the book out of the boy's hands and put the weapon to the man's chin.

"ARRRGGH!" The young man with hair to his shoulders shouted trying to pull away but finding no place to go.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Joey demanded sharply his eyes narrowing into the face of the man he had cornered.

"I live here. Well, I used to live. My dad owns the place. My name is Lance Baker." Lance blurted out his eyes wide at the sight of two armed soldiers.

"I know all of Doc Baker's boys ... you aren't one of them!" LaFiamma responded not moving the sword. "Baker and his wife sold the house and all the locks were changed! How'd you get in?"

"They... sss-sold it? After all this time? Wh...when?"

"It's been sold and I own it! I repeat, who are you and how did you get in?" Joey demanded, drawing a bit of blood on the boy's chin.

"Hey, man watch it! That thing is sharp!" Lance Baker gasped looking at the drops of blood on his hand. "Can't you put that thing down? I ... I got a key to the side door of the apartment. That's how I always get in."

"Shadow?" Joey said evenly.

"I got him, Sir. He won't be going anywhere." Sam replied, his pistol lay against his arm pointing directly at Lance Baker's chest.

Joey lowered the sword, dropping it to his side. "Now tell me the truth. Who are you?"

"I TOLD YOU! My name is Lance Baker... it is!" Lance shouted. "My dad's ashamed of me... cause he found out I was gay! My mom gave me a key to the side door so when I came home she could meet me here and we could talk. My brothers have tried to talk to the great Doctor Tom Baker but it hasn't done any good! Ever since he came unannounced to school in California and found out that my roommate named Terry wasn't a girl, he's been ballistic. He... he told me I could forget about coming home because as far as he was concerned I was dead." Lance half shouted, half cried into LaFiamma's face.

"What were you doing in California?" Joey asked motioning Sam to put away his weapon.

"Culinary school ... I wanted to be a chef, but I guess that's out of the question. I applied to a couple places I know in Houston, but when they called my dad to ask about me ---- he told them he didn't have a son name Lance." Lance replied sorrowfully.

"Well Lance, it just so happens that we're looking for a cook, and if that cook is a chef that is all the better. You'll have to get a haircut though, and allow my detective partner to get you finger printed ... and have a drug test. --- Sam might as well give Levon a call. If I have to be up so should he."

"SERGEANT LEVON LUNDY! He knows me! He does!" Lance yelped almost lunging at LaFiamma.

The lunge terrified Shadow who immediately stepped between the two. Sam grabbed Lance by the shirt and shoved him back into the chair. There was no way he wanted what happened with General Smith to happen again.

"It's okay, Sam, make the call," LaFiamma replied touching Shadow on the shoulder.

"Major, I can't leave you alone! Not after what happened with General Smith. You're to be protected 24 hours a day," Sam Jones replied through tight lips.

"Go ahead Shad, I got the guy covered," Hummer said in a low voice behind them.

LaFiamma glanced over his shoulder to see his other housemate standing at the bottom of the steps, in boxer shorts, holding an AK-47.

"Geezzz...Hummer. Where the hell did you get that gun?" Joey quizzed smiling at the sight of his six foot, three inch, two hundred-pound protector.

"Our last mission, sir. Nobody collected it ... so I just kept it. It's illegal, isn't it?" Hummer offered with a grin. "Who's the kid?"

"Says he's one of Doctor Baker's sons. Bring him up into the living room while I call Lundy. Shadow check out the apartment," Joey said, turning he headed for the stairs and the kitchen.

"There's a phone right here," Lance injected pointing to old-fashioned English phone on a table near the chair he'd been sitting on. "You can call Levon from there."

LaFiamma changed direction, went to the phone and dialed his partner's number, listening to the man growl into the phone about the time. "Yeah, I know it's four in the morning, Lundy, but if we have to be awake we figured you should be too. Got a trespasser in the house who says you can identify him. Says his name is Lance Baker. I've met the Baker sons, this guy is not one of them. Uh, huh. Yeah....hold on."

Holding the phone to his bare chest, LaFiamma asked Hummer to take Lance's pants down. Even though the boy vehemently protested Hummer won in the end.

"Okay, cowboy. He's naked from the waist down, now what? A scar, huh? Where?" Still holding the phone to his heart, not realizing that Levon was lying in bed hearing his heart beat, Joey squatted in front of Lance. Moving one of Baker's balls to the side, LaFiamma traced his finger down a scar that went halfway down the inside of Lance's leg.

"Okay, he's got scar number one. Where's the other one?" Joey asked, his eyes not missing the surge of the man's cock as his finger trailed inside the thigh.

"Turn around!" Joey watched a grin burst across Hummer's face as LaFiamma pinched and prodded one of Lance's butt cheeks to expose a scar Levon was describing to him.

"Okay, Levon, he's got those two scars.... Anything else? Mmmm .... Really? Hang on. Take your shirt off kid." Joey said dropping the receiver into the chair.

"COME ON! YOU ALREADY HALF UNDRESSED ME!"

"Levon's giving us proof of who you are ... would you rather go to jail for trespassing?" Joey shot back sternly into Lance's face as Shadow came up behind the man and deftly took his shirt off.

Following Levon's instructions, Joey found the inch long scar on Lance's chest. When LaFiamma asked Baker how he got the scars, Lance was reluctant to tell him until Joey reaffirmed the fact that Levon had told and that their stories had better match. When it was over, Levon had identified Lance without having to come to the house. Joey wished his partner well and hung up the phone.

"Shadow, what'd you find back there," Joey asked while Lance put his clothes back on.

"He's got books, some real kinky xxx-rated videos ... looks like he's a cross dresser from the clothes in the closet. Got beer in the refrig, bagels, some eggs and not much else." Sam Jones reported, giving his Major a salute.

"Did you run out on your lover? He going to come looking for you?" Joey asked sizing up the man. They could use a cook, but would this guy be an employee in a house that used to be his.

"No sir, he dumped me just before my final exam. Said he needed younger material for his routine. I came home from school one day and all his stuff was gone. All he did was leave a message on my answer machine." Lance explained remorse in his voice.

"You were an exhibitionist?" Sam asked.

"I...I wasn't before I met him. When he showed me how much I come make... I paid for my tuition and made a good living. Then someone from school saw me. Told me I'd better stop if I wanted to continue going to that school."

"Your lover didn't like it?" Joey asked quietly remembering a cousin who got hooked into that world and died in it.

"No he didn't. I guess I should have seen it coming. He got real grouchy, then moved out a couple weeks later." Lance remarked, jumping as the phone rang next to him.

Sam answered the phone, and quietly said, "Major, its Levon."

"Yeah, cowboy, what's up?" Joey replied into the phone, listening intently his face getting serious as his partner told him some more information about Lance Baker. //Several arrests in Frisco for prostitution. Exposing himself, offering himself to anyone free of charge at a theatre opening, is not someone I want here.//

"Thanks, Lundy, hang loose tonight, will you? I don't know what kind of a mood I'm going to be in when I get back," Joey remarked to his partner as they said their good-byes.

The change of LaFiamma's face and the reaction it got from the two soldiers was not lost on Lance. "Something wrong?" He asked, wondering if Levon had called back with more information on him.

"If he's a chef, sir ... it looks like Major Callahan won't have to hire one. We got one right here." Hummer replied slinging the AK-47 over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we got him...but we're not keeping him," Joey replied tightly, his eyebrows narrowing. "He has a police record in California and in Houston. He is not someone who would work well with us. Your father disowned you for more reasons than being gay, didn't he? You want to tell these MARINES what it is ... or shall I?" Joe watched color drain from Lance Baker's face. The cocky man wasn't so bold when Joey said they were Marines.

Looking at Shadow and Hummer, Joey began to relate what Levon had just told him over the phone. "Remember last year when that Marine recruiter in San Diego got caught by his wife with a man. This - is - the - man!" Joey said pushing a fist into Baker's chest.

"The Corps was just on the verge of giving the recruiter a dishonorable discharge plus he was pleading with his wife not to divorce him, when Lance's lover Terry, who hosted a local TV talk show, devoted one show to how far will a dare go. Terry didn't give Lance's name, but the Corps found out who it was. Then they found out who Lance's father was ... one of their top medical people. They told Doctor Baker he had better get his son in line, or take early retirement."

"I didn't know," Lance cried falling back into the chair. "I didn't know he'd get called onto the carpet... I didn't"

"If you were a Marine brat, you knew!" Shadow growled into Baker's face. "You knew in your heart that if any member of the Baker family screwed up, your dad would be held responsible! You're an asshole Baker! You're not fit for horse fodder!"

"The Doc went to see his son about the fiasco," Joey continued, his eyes boring a hole through Lance's skull, "and Lance laughed in his face ... asked his dad if he needed his rocks taken off. Said he liked having men fuck his ass, and that his dad had better get used to it. That if someone dared him again, he'd do it again just to see how far it would go."

Lance sunk back into the chair; he didn't like the looks the two Marines were giving him. Damn, he wished his mother had told him the house had been sold.

"Hummer, take Lance into the jail cell we've made in the bunkhouse. Shadow, go through that apartment again and pack up everything you think is his. We're keeping him on ice until I get back tonight."

Joey waited until they all left before picking up the phone and calling the complex. When R.G. answered, Joey asked to speak to Hawk. "You're on report, Feldman! We had an intruder in the house tonight! Someone who got in with a KEY! Yes, a key! We all could have been killed, or the place could have been torched because of your negligence! I want you over here now! I want you walking around this house twenty-five times, and each time you find the door that you forgot to change the lock on I want it re-keyed! After you've re-keyed it twenty-five times, go into the kitchen of that apartment, sit on a straight-backed chair with your cock hanging out of your pants and your hands behind your head. You will be that way, Feldman, until I tell you to move ... do you understand me!" LaFiamma shouted into the phone anger seething through him. Dropping the ornate phone onto its cradle, Joey turned on his heel and headed upstairs through the living room to the bedroom area. The slamming of the master bedroom doors shook the house as Hummer entered the kitchen and Shadow emerged from the lower level.

"Think he's mad," Hummer remarked going to the refrigerator for some orange juice.

"Oh, yeah, I think you could say that. Pour me a glass too. And from what I just heard him tell Hawk for missing the lock on that side door ... I hope Hawk survives." Shadow replied reaching for the glass of juice his friend had poured for him.

"This thing with Lucia's got to be eating away at him. It's going to affect all of us. We're all going to take the brunt of his anger. We'd better clue Levon in too," Hummerstein remarked, downing his juice.

"He said we're all equals in the house, didn't he?" Shadow said sipping the last of his juice before going to the phone to call Levon and inform him of what had just gone down.

"That's what he said...but right now I don't think he believes it." Hummer remarked sadly. "And even when he said it, I knew we never could be. We can't man! He's our C.O. and always will be."

"No answer at Levon's. Answer machine came on. Hope he's on his way over. It's past 0530, reckon that run isn't going to happen," Sam replied at a loss as to what to do.

][][][][][][]]

"Hawk!" Levon hollered out his window as he slowed the Jimmy. "Hop in, I'll give you a ride."

Jogging along the shoulder, Feldman waved Lundy off.

"Come on! I'll let you off at the beginning of the driveway, you can run in from there." Lundy called this time driving across the traffic lane to cut off the Marine's path.

It was a standoff but the cowboy won. As Feldman settled into the passenger seat where LaFiamma usually sat he told Levon of his worry. "I'm really worried about him. I served with him for two years. I've never seen him this mad."

"It's the thing with Lucia. It's got to be eating away at him," Levon answered, "he really was looking forward to having some kids, kids that would carry on his legacy, his name. She's taken all that away. As much as he loves each one of us ... his upbringing tells him he has to have kids to carry on his family name or it dies with him."

"I'm not sure I can survive the punishment he's giving me for how that kid got in the house." Harold Feldman continued as if Levon hadn't said a word.

"Punishment?" Levon asked as he pulled into the long driveway and stopped.

Hawk explained what Joe had told him to do when he got there.

"I'll talk to him," Lundy began.

"NO! Levon please! Don't say a word! Don't even mention that I told you please. Please don't! I deserve punishment. That guy could have torched the place. They could have all -- been killed!" Hawk gasped the agony in the words hurt Levon's soul.

"The LaFiamma I know clams up and doesn't say a word when he gets mad," Levon said as Feldman got out of the Jimmy. "It took me a whole week once to find out what he was mad about."

Hawk watched Lundy drive up the winding driveway that led to LaFiamma's house. He stood and looked at his watch giving Levon five minutes before jogging in. When he arrived in the backyard Hummer, Shadow and Levon warmly greeted him.

"Hawk...Hummer and I have decided to stand up to LaFiamma about what's he's asked of you. You can't agree to it, man, you just can't." Shadow remarked letting Levon in on the conversation the two Marines had had. "He said we were equals on this property..."

"We aren't equals...Sam," Hawk replied catching sight of LaFiamma watching them from his bedroom window. "We've never been his equal. He's an officer. We're enlisted personnel. As much as we want to be, we can't be equal to him. Could we have made some of those decisions he had to make on missions? Not me! Sizing up situations, he made them in a flash. What he's seen in Chicago growing up with his family is more than we'll see in a lifetime."

Joey watched the group with interest. Why, oh, why had he said what he did to Feldman? Did he actually get a charge out of punishing the man? Joe turned and looked at the king-size bed he was going to share with Lucia. Why did every women he fell in love with leave him, or turn up dead? Throwing up his hands, Joey let out an unearthly scream and threw himself onto the bed. His body curled into a fetal position visibly shaking as he sobbed.

The four outside froze. It took but a second for Levon to realize who it was and he was on a dead run for the kitchen door before the others moved.

Hawk held the other Marines back. "Watch the outside and the prisoner."

"Are you kidding?" Hummer yelped "we're responsible for him!"

"Yeah you are ... but that doesn't mean you have to be with him 24 hours a day! Now back off! This has to do with me!" Hawk growled heading for the door.

"Okay, man, we don't want to fight you. Go on, we'll take the perimeter," Shadow said nodding.

Levon took the stairs two at a time and burst through the closed doors of the master bedroom. The cowboy was shocked to see his partner sobbing uncontrollably on the bed.

"LaFiamma? Joe?" Lundy said, quietly walking to the bed, then moving onto it to take hold of the Italian's shoulders.

Joey nestled into the warmth of the cowboy's arms. "I can't do it anymore, Levon, I can't!" Joey sobbed. "This Marine stuff ... being boss ... it's getting to me. It's been too long since I was in...I love him, man.... I can't take giving him the punishment he wants ... it's eating me up inside ... what Hawk needs -- but I don't want him to leave. What am I goin' do, Levon? Everyone I love ... leaves me."

Lundy glanced up to see Hawk standing on the opposite side of the bed, his face streaked with tears. "I don't think he plans to leave you, Joe," Levon continued, his fingers rubbing his partner's shoulders. "But I think you need to tell him how you feel. He needs to know there are other ways of saying 'I love you' besides confinement or a whip."

"I ... I didn't know what I wanted was hurting you, sir." Feldman replied dropping down on the bed in front of LaFiamma touching his face. "I love you so much, Major. I'd gladly die for you. I'd never do anything to hurt you ... I wouldn't. Its ... its just that ... that's the only way I know. I learned that love didn't come unless you suffered first, that you couldn't just enjoy it. That's all I know."

Joey looked up as Hawk touched him.

"If Lu really loved you, she would be here right now. She's not worth the pain you're feeling," Hawk said softly, his whole body rebelling against Joe's attempt to pull his shirt out of his pants.

"I just want to make love to you Hawk. Whatever your abuser told you about enjoying sex ... he was wrong, dead wrong. It's a beautiful thing. Levon can attest to that." Joey said not letting go of Lundy's hand.

"Levon ... stay, please. Don't give me that look. I need help here," Joey pleaded wiping the wetness off his cheeks. "You need to help me ... help him to understand what pure pleasure there is in loving. Please cowboy, don't you leave me too."

"I told you LaFiamma, I ain't leaving you. I belong to you remember," Levon replied, than continued with a harsh growl, " Hell why didn't you tell me you marked my ass with the biggest damn hickey in the world? Thought I sat on a bee at Reisner and had Estaban look at my butt ... gees you could have told me!"

A smile crossed LaFiamma face. "I like to surprise people," the Italian croaked.

"Well ... I'm surprising you right now ... I love you. I don't mind that you have other lovers ... but I ain't staying in the room when you take one all the way. I told you, I did a threesome once, I ended up on the losing end." Levon groused pulling away from LaFiamma's hold.

"Yeah, but you ain't had a threesome with me. And I made that hard-on you got growing in your pants, and as Hawk here says...they need to go to who makes them. And who makes them is me. So both of you get undressed." LaFiamma said grabbing them and pulling them down to the bed.

[][][][][[][][]

"So, was it good?" Joey asked as he rolled off the bed to the floor then jumped to his feet, pulling his partner with him.

"Oh yeah! And I got a feeling that was the first real orgasm Hawk ever had, it came out of his toes and went through every pore." Levon responded with a smile as his partner handed him his pants.

"Couldn't have done it without you Levon. Holding him ... telling him it was okay to enjoy the touch, the kiss. I doubt he'll be the same. We might have to do it again..."

"Thought you'd say that ... let's just try it one on one next time ... maybe just you, maybe just me," Levon replied not sure Joe would like the statement about him and Hawk.

""Yeah ... you and him would be good. Your soothing voice is what helped to get rid of the demons he was carrying ... words someone put into his head ... they festered for too long," LaFiamma said pulling his partner in for a hug. "I'm starved, how about you?"

"Starved!" Levon answered bending to throw the blanket over Harold "Hawk" Feldman asleep on LaFiamma's bed with the biggest smile Lundy had ever seen on anyone.

"Who's cooking the eggs ... you or me?" Joe said heading for the door as he slipped his tee shirt over his head.

"I'll do the bacon ... you do eggs. How long you think we should let him sleep?" Levon asked following his partner down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"For as long as he wants," LaFiamma replied with a chuckle. "I don't think Hawk's ever slept as soundly as he is right now."

[][][][]

Markus LaFiamma growled and threw the phone down. He'd been on his cell phone for an hour calling his cousin Joey and still the line was busy. "What the hell can he talk about for an hour?" Markus yelled to chauffeur who told the diplomat that they were approaching LaFiamma's house and would be there shortly.

[][][][

A constant burping noise was driving Hawk crazy. He thrashed around in Joey's bed batting at the pillows and the mattress. He reached out to one side and then the other to see if Joe or Levon were still there. Finding no one he sat up and looked around. "What the hell is that noise?" He growled gruffly reaching down the side of the bed toward the sound. Grabbing what he thought it was, Hawk bolted upright twisting on his knees to attack the green coil that rubbed against his arm. He was ready to give it a hatchet chop when he realized it was the telephone that had been on the bedside table. Feldman burst out laughing ... a crackle that carried downstairs and brought grins to the two Houston detectives eating breakfast.

"This is great! Macho Marine attacked by telephone!" Hawk chuckled looking around the room for his clothes. He found everything except his shoes and socks. He looked under the covers ... everywhere but they were nowhere to be found.

The duo detectives were just finishing breakfast when Hummer and Shadow walked in to inform LaFiamma that a long white limo was driving up the driveway.

"Limo?" Joey quizzed rinsing off his dishes. Before Joe could say another word Markus LaFiamma burst into the kitchen, flinging the door open, he marched straight for LaFiamma.

Hummer was on him first, then Shadow. One Marine grabbed his arms and eagle-spread him against the wall while the other patted him down for weapons.

"Damn! Hope I never make an advance on you LaFiamma," Lundy said with a grin, "those guys mean business when they said they're here to protect you."

A huge grin spread across LaFiamma's face but he made no move or a sound to stop the pat down.

Markus turned, straightened his jacket and began lambasting his cousin, "What the hell is this? I walk into my cousin's house and get patted down! Is that any way to treat FAMILY? I've been calling you for over an hour! All I'm getting is a busy signal! What would you do if someone really wanted to get to you?"

"Busy signal?" Joey quizzed walking to greet the man he hadn't seen in years.

"Nobody's been on the phone. Sure you're calling the right number?"

Hummer, Shadow and Levon watched suspiciously as Markus and Joey hugged each other, kissed, and then did a thumb to thumb twist into a handshake. "Hey bro, how are things in D.C? You still in the escort service?" Joey asked his Italian counterpart from Washington.

Into this little family gathering burst Hawk seeking things he couldn't find. "Joey! What happened to my socks? My shoes? I can't find them anywhere." Hawk demanded rushing into the kitchen.

Joe and Levon glanced at each other, smiles twisting at the corner of their mouths. "I'll get 'em," Levon offered heading for the kitchen door.

"Outside? What the hell they doing out there?" Hawk questioned, confused as to why Levon would go outside the house for his shoes.

"Don't you remember?" Joe asked looking at the Marine he and his partner had laid.

"Levon go get them." Joey said nodding to his partner to retrieve Hawk's shoes wherever they landed when Hawk threw them out the window.

"You remember anything?" Joey asked concern in his voice that Hawk's orgasm was so deep memory of the enjoyment that led to it had been wiped away.

"Oh yeah, I remember.... I remember some of it. It ... it came out of my toes. I ... I never came like that before. Never without ... you know." Hawk said gesturing to LaFiamma in a way that only Joey understood.

"Look, Joey ... we can't stand around here waiting for one of your soul mates to talk about how good you gave it to him. Lucia's moved her party up from nine o'clock to seven o'clock," Markus blasted frustrated that Joey wasn't alone.

"Why move it? What's the rush?" LaFiamma quizzed watching Hawk as he tried to remember why his shoes were outside.

"My informant said she's told people she wants to surprise her husband who is due home from the hospital today."

"That lyin' bitch!" Shadow growled. "When do we leave, Major?"

"You an' Hummer ain't going. Hawk's going." Joey answered raising his hands as they began to protest.

"You two were at the wedding. She knows about Shadow's expertise and would announce it loud and clear to anyone present. As far as she knows Hawk went back to San Diego. No arguing boys, I ain't in the mood." LaFiamma remarked sharply.

"Yeah, come on, I'll get your dress blues...Admiral English gave them to me special," Markus cut in.

"Dress blues? Why the hell would I wear dress blues? This isn't a formal gathering. A lady's going to get her butt kicked royally," LaFiamma stated firmly, his jaw tight. "...and we only wear one thing when we kick butt!"

"Oh, May-jor!" Shadow moaned, "dressed in black and in paint she wouldn't recognize us, would she?"

Levon watched the grin spread across Hawk's face. The Texan had eased himself back into the kitchen and stood listening to the banter between LaFiamma and this man who Levon figured was probably a cousin. This must be how it is when the LaFiamma family gets together, Levon thought. No wonder Joe gets a charge out of bugging him all day, he grew up doing it.

Levon tossed Hawk's shoes to him. The look on Feldman's face told the Texan that Hawk was happy that he'd be going instead of the others.

"We'll be painted, but only partial, 'cause we'll be wiping it off as we disembark from the chopper. Any one, who knows my reputation, knows I would be coming in off a field operation. Let's just hope we don't get any onlookers falling in behind just to see what's going down. You do have your chopper on the horn, don't you, Markie," Joey continued, biting his tongue to keep from laughing as he used his brother's childhood name. "San Antonio is a three hour drive from here, not counting construction and accidents. That's six hours round trip. After I bring her down I DON'T want to sit in a car for three hours ... I want back here as fast as I can get here."

"Okay, okay, Joey...I'll have my driver contact the chopper!" Markus LaFiamma answered looking at his youngest brother and the grinning Marine with no shoes. "But if you keep callin' me Markie...."

Shadow stepped away from the kitchen island into Markus' face and said, "Or you'll do what?"

"You're just damn lucky your name was Joe, and all you got called was Joey!" Markus yelped waving his fist at Joe before heading for the kitchen door.

"Lundy," Joey said quickly, "Would you take Hawk back to the complex and load up his stuff and bring it back here. His bike ... everything. Can you fit it in?"

"Well...since he's moving to the bedroom under the stairs here, reckon I'm the only one left here who can do it. If I run out of room, I'll just tie Hawk across my hood." Lundy answered with a grin, glancing at his partner who had an equal grin.

"Me - here? Under the stairs? I thought that's for the cook ... I don't cook." Hawk mumbled confused by the words Joe and Levon were saying.

"You don't -- remember anything, do you?" Joey quizzed, again looking into the man's confused face. "You don't remember agreeing to move into the house? To be the eyes and ears I wanted on the first floor -- you asked if it could be you and I said yes."

Hawk shook his head, "so much was going on.... I...I was enjoying you...an' Levon's voice was telling me to relax that it was okay to enjoy it. That ... that I didn't have to be punished to enjoy it.... and then it just starting coming, and coming and coming. I thought I was gonna die. All the words I'd been told about sex being bad ... about having it only after I'd been punished for enjoying it... All I know Major is that if Callahan transfers me out of here, I'll resign first. What you did for me.... What Levon did you me... I don't want to lose that.... Ever."

"Well, Hawkman, according to what General Callahan said you aren't being transferred anywhere for the rest of your hitch. Now put your shoes on and go get your gear and bring it back here."

"Yes sir, Major!" Harold Feldman yelped coming to sharp attention and saluting. Then looking sorrowfully at Lundy, Hawk asked, "where's my socks, all I got is shoes?"

"Must be under the limo. Let's look when we go out," Lundy replied with a grin. He and Joey exchanged glances. It had been good, the three of them together.

The departure of Hawk and Levon left the kitchen in silence. The two Marines weren't sure about leaving their C.O. alone with Markus, a real Mafia-looking person, who had come back into the house as Hawk and Levon left.

"Major, we have to make a decision about Lance Baker? What are we going to do with him?" Hummer asked breaking the silence.

"You got Lance Baker? Doctor Baker's kid?" Markus yelped glee in his voice and on his face.

"Yeah, we found him in the house. He got in by some door we didn't know about. He's got a real history ... I don't want him around here." Joey answered sarcastically.

"I want him!" Markus LaFiamma replied tightly. "I tried to get him in California but he got away. A lot of people want him dead for what he did to his father! Me ... I want what he's good at ... and I've got Far East clientele that will pay big money to see it. Where is he?"

"How come you're here and not Peter?" Joey asked not making a move or acknowledging his cousin's request.

"Our cousin, the priest, called me last night and said the family was voting on how to deal with Lucia. Told me to get here and get her out before Teresa arrived with Roberto to transport her back to Chicago."

"Oh, shit - ROBERTO!" Joey exclaimed, shocked that the family would try to put Lu into one of Roberto LaFiamma's private sex clubs.

"Hey Joey, this lady ain't only insulted you! She's insulted the whole damn family ... all three hundred and eighty-four of us!" Markus yelped gesturing to his brother. "She was going to provide children! Peter said Aunt Teresa was thrilled when Lucia told her you would finally get the children you always wanted. Lucia lied, Joey. You know what happens when you lie to the MATRIARCH! Nobody does that to Aunt Teresa and gets away with it, you know that!"

"Boy don't I know that!" Joey replied breaking into rapid fast Italian that brought a belly laugh out of Markus. "I remember that some college kid slapped her in anger and no one's heard from him since. .... But Mark... Roberto? " Joey replied shaking his head at the turn of events, " ... it'd be better if she was fitted with cement shoes for a trip down the Chicago River,"

"You got the annulment papers with you?" Joey asked, watching Markus reach into his jacket pocket, waving the Marines back. Joey knew the others present didn't trust this man, and he knew there were times he didn't trust this brother of his, but basically Markus ran a clean operation that was sanctioned by Uncle Sam.

After looking over the papers Joey handed them back then turned to Shadow and said, "Shadow take Markus out to see Baker. And bro.... I want that bastard off this property before I get back here tonight!"

"Hummer? My guns still in the van? Find 'em will you, I'm going up to get dressed."

Hummer didn't' move he just stared at LaFiamma. Joey looked at him, waiting until everyone left to ask what the problem was. "Hummer?"

"You ... you called him cousin ... now you called him bro, and bro is short for brother. Who is he?"

"He's my brother, Hummer. I have five...had five brothers. Markus is the oldest. I'm the youngest. He was already in high school when I came along. I didn't even know he was my brother until I was about seven. All I knew he was another cousin coming to the house for Sunday dinner. He's my brother, Jake. He was in the Foreign Service for a while stationed in Europe. Now he is the administrator of a string of brothels that dignitaries from other countries come to, to enjoy their sexual whims... how about my guns, huh?"

[][][][][][][][]

The crew at Smith's complex was surprised to see the red Jimmy drive up the driveway and park close to the barn. They were even more flabbergasted to learn that Hawk was going to be moving to LaFiamma's house. R.G. wasn't at all pleased to know that his friend wasn't going to be sharing the apartment that housed the control room. Jingles and Trap were okay but just didn't have the relaxed friendly manner that Hawk did. Little did R.G. know that he too would soon be gracing the premises of LaFiamma's house, though Joe had confided in no one that the apartment where Lance Baker had been found was soon going to become R.G.'s apartment. R.G. was a civilian on Marine run property and LaFiamma knew that in the long run R.G. would need a place of his own and he was going to make sure that he, Joe, was the one that provided it.

[][][][][][][]

Upstairs in his bedroom, Joe laid out on his big king-size bed his black tee shirt, pants, vest, boots. He stared at the Chicago package that lay on the dresser. Reading that would have to wait until he got back tonight. Maybe reading it would calm his nerves. He knew Hawk could feel the anger that was building inside him. He knew Hawk was the only one who could hold him in tonight should he want to break Lucia's cute little neck right off. Maybe his sex kitten would fit into Roberto's, at least she'd be alive and have three square meals a day. Better than dumping her into the Chicago River, he wondered what argument Aunt Teresa used to keep Lu alive.

Joey started for the shower then paused halfway and walked back to the telephone. Dialing the complex's number, he was informed that Hawk was already on his way back with everything including his motorcycle wedged sideways into the back of Lundy's Jimmy. Joey asked to speak to R.G.

"Hey, R.G. how's my civilian doing in Marine land?" Joey asked jokingly. LaFiamma smiled at R.G.'s comeback and was silent for a moment before saying, "Shut up, R.G. and listen! I'm leasing that property to the Corps. Yes, you ARE in charge of the Control Room and everything that goes down! You WILL train anyone who comes,"" Joey affirmed strongly. "But since you're not in the Corps any more I thought... I want you to move into this apartment that is ...yes the one by the bird feeders...." Joey smiled, this ex-Marine that was built like a boxer had the heart of Mickey Mouse.

Joey was speechless when R.G. asked if he could stay where he was. That he was already making it his home and since Joey did own the property shouldn't a civilian be around to make sure the property wasn't destroyed. LaFiamma couldn't argue with that. In fact it was something Joe hadn't even thought of. "You win, Reginald Gregory. I'll have Gerald draw up some papers that state you are responsible for the place. I love you too."

[][][][][][][]

Arriving back at Joey's place Hawk bounced into the kitchen and asked for help to unload, finding no one but hearing the shower he figured at least one was probably upstairs with Joe. Turning, Hawk reached for the door and was surprised when it opened and Hummer, Shadow and Markus entered the kitchen carrying his stuff. Looking at Shadow, Hawk said grinning, "Figured you'd be up there in the shower with him."

"You and Joey do it in the shower?" Markus LaFiamma asked giving the Marine an odd look.

"Oh, Shadow does his best work..." Lundy jovially started but a look from the Marines quickly killed the rest of the words.

Tossing Hawk's duffel to him, Levon asked, "What you got in this thing - rocks?"

"Well, if I'm going with him, I guess I'd better shower too, and get ready. Can one of you dudes find my night gear in the duffel bag while I shower?" Feldman asked to no one in particular.

As Hawk walked into his new bunking area, Levon wandered up to Joe's bedroom and plunked down into an over-stuffed chair. Hummer helped Markus load up Lance Baker's things into the trunk of the limo while Shadow laid out Hawk's gear then went to guard Baker until he was ready to be moved.

Coming out of the shower, Joe was surprised to see his partner in the room.

"Going to be tough tonight," Levon remarked quietly, hitting his stomach that was reminding him that it was lunch time. "Going to take all the nerve you've ever mustered to face her down, you know that."

"Yeah, I know that," Joey answered quietly standing naked next to the bed.

"Levon?" Joey groused shaking his head from side to side, "tell me why I've asked these men to live with me. Am I nuts? Do I miss my family that much? It should be just you and me -- you and me in some quiet mountain shack," Joey said reaching down to the bed for his underwear.

"You can't ask them to leave now, LaFiamma! They'd sooner you shot them dead then ask them to leave. They love you, man. Even if you never touch them again, never go to bed with them again -- they'd stay. That's how much they care for you. They're like me -- just want to be in range of that smile of yours. Just having your eyes on us -- stripping us clean -- anything else is frosting on the cake." Levon said pushing his hat to the back of his head.

"Frosting on the cake, huh?" Joey mused pulling his long sleeved black tee shirt over his head, followed by his sleeveless black tee shirt.

"Yer puttin' them here, 'cuz it makes you feel at home -- with people around -- brothers around. Interacting with them these last few weeks -- I'm finally beginning to understand why you miss your family. Like I said before, never had much family -- now I don't think I could get through a day without one of the dudes downstairs saying 'Hey Levon how you doing?'"

Joey smiled. His biggest fear was losing his partner as a lover and now that partner lover was telling him he liked the company of Joe's other lovers. Liked them as friends and as it was turning out, liked some of them as lovers too.

"Wonder what it would be like," LaFiamma began as he stepped into his heavy black cords, "if we all got naked and had one big orgy. Somewhere that no one would come barging in. Lay in the food and drinks, and just have sex!"

"Wouldn't work," Levon remarked, "you're too possessive of your lovers, Joe. When you want one. You want all of him." Levon watched his partner dress. When there was a knock at the door it was Levon who moved to it, and took Joe's holster and guns from Hummer who glanced in Joe's directions as he nodded to Levon.

"Thought these were never out of your hands," Lundy replied with a chuckle, walking up next to his partner.

Joe took the guns, laid them on the bed, and then pulled his partner to him, kissing him passionately. The kiss was so intense, Levon had to hit Joe's shoulder so the man would release him.

"You could'a warned me!" Levon groused gasping for air. "Now let's do it again, only this time let me take a breath first."

"Sorry -- I was in need of one," Joey replied putting on his best pout.

"Do you do this with your Marines too?" Levon asked shaking his head as he stepped back.

"Do what?" the Italian answered innocently.

"Pout! Put on a sorrowful face when you want something and they won't give it to you."

"Don't know. Guess you'll have to ask them. You see a black web belt around here anywhere? Thought I tossed it on the bed too."

"I know something I'd like to toss on the bed," Levon said with a grin.

"Have you seen this place we're going to be working in? What's it like?" LaFiamma asked changing the subject.

"What's it like?" Levon answered with a shrug. "It's got a door -- windows -- some offices. Looks like an abandoned store that nobody wanted and for taxes they gave it to the cops to use. It's being turned into a general bull pen like Major Crimes with a couple of three offices and a holding pen." Levon said walking back to his chair.

Easing himself back into the chair Levon asked, "What do you think is going to happen tonight?"

"Happen? You mean with Lucia? If Markus and I are lucky we can get in and out with Lu before the rest of the family gets there. If not -- we lose."

"Your family? How would they win?" The cowboy questioned confused that the Marines don't always win. "I thought the Marines always win."

"We try Levon, but we don't always win." Joey said with a smirk giving his partner a wide grin before continuing. "If the family is voting -- that means two things," Joey said returning to the closet to find his webbed belt. "One -- some members want her dead. Probably chopped up into little pieces that they can feed to the sharks down in the Gulf. Other members think killing is too easy. So they vote her in as a slave in some way. Or three."

Levon stared at his partner wondering why he didn't finish. "Or three...what? What is three?"

"I got a cousin who has private sex clubs. One in Chicago, one in New York, and one in Amsterdam. Very classy clients -- like Markus' clients. Markus runs a brothel in Washington D.C. A lot of foreign dignitaries have weird sexual hang-ups they like to enjoy when they are away from home. Markus caters to that. If we can get her out, Lu will be going back to D.C. with him. If Chicago wins -- God won't even be able to help her."

"If Chicago wins," Levon said thoughtfully, "maybe that will be God's revenge."

"And what will be God's revenge to us?" Joey shot back. " Man laying with man - how many times is that spoken against in the Bible?"

"You know I wrestle with that every day, LaFiamma," Levon growled bolting from his comfortable chair. "But God also hates fat guys who gorge themselves full of food until they can't walk -- adulterers, thieves, robbers, lairs. We're all at risk, man. We just got to do, what we got to do, and hope The Man upstairs understands why we're doing it."

A sharp knock at the door brought their conversation to a halt. Slipping into his holsters and adjusting his guns, Joe walked to the door and opened it.

"Damn, if you ain't one sexy dude, little brother!" Markus remarked his eyes growing wide as Joe stepped out of the room.

"That's why we love him," Levon replied quietly, "He's one hell'va sexy dude."

"Hawk ready?" Joey quizzed as Levon, Markus and Joe jogged down the stairs along the edge of the living room and into the kitchen.

"Wait a minute! He called you little brother. This guy is your brother?" Lundy asked surprised at the revelation.

"Hummer will explain, Levon. Don't have time right now." LaFiamma remarked looking to Hummer.

"What do you say Big Brother? Let's hit the road and meet that chopper."

[][][][][][][][][]

As soon as those in the kitchen heard the Limo gun its engine, Lundy and Shadow were on Hummer like bees to honey. "That guy's his brother? No way! Come on Hummer what did Joe tell you."

As Levon and Shadow came into his face Jake "Hummer" Hummerstein started backing up, until suddenly he fell backwards onto part of the sectional sofa.

"Okay, okay! How can I say anything if you're in my face? Back off, will ya?"

Jake pulled himself to a sitting position and watched the other two drape themselves over other furniture. "Markus is his oldest brother. The Major said Markus was in high school when Joe was born. He didn't even know Markus was his brother until he was about seven years old. He thought it was just another cousin coming for Sunday dinner. Joe started out by saying, 'I have' then corrected himself and said 'I had five brothers.' Markus was in the Foreign Service and now runs some high class government brothels for foreign dignitaries who come to the US to enjoy their sexual whims."

Anticipating the questions he saw coming, Jake added, "I don't know anything about any of the other brothers."

"Yeah, but I know who does or who can find out," Shadow exclaimed jumping to his feet. "Gerald! Gerald knows or can find out. It' something General Smith would do - research the man before capturing him."

"Well don't just sit there," Levon barked, "call the man!"

[][][][][][][][

Hawk sat quietly in the limo listening to Markus and Joe talk. It was obvious that Markus had no clue that Hawk understood every word. It wasn't until they were in sight of the chopper that Markus made a remark about Hawk's sexual prowess. The remark brought a deep red blush to Hawk's face.

Markus blinked awareness - wide-eyed at the blush, then turned to his brother. "You could have told me he knows Italian!'

"Didn't I say that?" Joey said in all innocennce. "Thought you knew all my Marines knew languages."

"Joseph Anthony! You haven't changed at all! You are still one sneaky little bastard!"

"Hey, you have to be in my family. Otherwise how you going to know anything? These chopper pilots - they yours, or military? Don't want Lu being warned that we're coming, you know."

"They are military. Hand picked by Father Julian and Admiral England. Don't worry they've got a story already laid out for why they have to land at an airport they're not scheduled for."

[][][][][[][][

"WE...LLL?" Levon Lundy growled as Hummer hung up the receiver and turned around.

"Well?" asked Shadow.

"A Well is a deep hole in the ground," Hummer replied not at all sure LaFiamma would like what he'd just been told, to be told to this group.

"I got ways I can find out!" Lundy said curtly heading for the door. "I ain't gonna love him any less."

"But you might love him differently if you knew he killed one of his brothers -- wouldn't you?" Hummer replied quietly, stopping the cowboy in his tracks. "Not all the nightmares LaFiamma has Levon, are from being in the Corps."

"How?" Levon asked turning a questioning face to Hummerstein who was a good head taller than the Texan.

"Biggest narcotic raid Chicago had that year - or I guess biggest to that date. Joe was on the squad that set up the meet. He was present when the buy went down. He froze when the main man - one of his own brothers stepped out of the darkness to congratulate his little brother on being a big-time cop. Gerald said the newspapers downplayed that fact that brother killed brother. It was more - young detective promoted for helping to mastermind biggest narc bust in cop history. And Gerald said it went hard for Joe both on the force and with his family. Half the cops were on payoffs - it's a wonder his brother wasn't tipped off. The honest cops on the force respected him more, but the dirty ones harped on him for shooting family."

"What ABOUT his family? What did they do?" Shadow asked.

"They told Joey he couldn't attend the funeral..." Hummer began.

"Which hurt him even more," Levon cut in.

"After the funeral - the family had a meeting."

"Oh shit," Lundy groused, "Joe's told me about those meeting. At least we know they didn't kill him."

"Well, Gerald said according to what Smith found out, the meeting was cut short when Joe's Aunt Teresa stood up and asked two questions."

"What two questions?"

"She asked the family - One -- What does Joey do for a living? Then two - what did Alberto do for a living? Then she said if Albert had to die isn't it better that he died at the hand of someone who loved him, rather than some two-bit cop on the take who would turn around and kill his mother if the price was right."

Hummer looked around at the group and figured that if he was this far in he might as well go the rest of the way. "Gerald read from a detailed report. Evidently Smith paid someone in the family handsomely to get this information. After Teresa said her piece, someone asked where Joey was. And as they talked about him, his family realized that no one had seen him since the shooting. The last time he was seen was getting into the coroner's wagon with his brother's body. In between phone calls of trying to track him down, the cemetery called to say they wanted to close but a member of the family was there and had been there all day. They wanted to know what to do."

Hummer stopped and watched his friends brush their hands past their eyes.

"Uncle Mikey went to the cemetery. Knowing the Major - he knew who it was soon as the car door closed. And knowing his family like he did, he braced himself for a hit. He knew he was odd man out."

"Oh god, I know what kind of torture he goes through when he's hurt," Levon said gulping back a lump in his throat. "To have killed his own brother - then wait for his favorite uncle to put a bullet in his head must have been the longest moment of his life."

"Only Markus knows what happened from that point on. Gerald said Markus was one man that couldn't be bribed, and we all know Smith had a lot to offer to a man in the Foreign Service of his country. Might be why his career was cut short, who knows. Anyway -- Markus parked behind Mikey's car and started to walk up to where Joey was kneeling in the snow. Uncle Mikey waved him back. The wave kept Joe's remaining brothers in their cars who for the first time saw how much Joe was suffering because of what happened. I guess Markus continued walking but stopped a distance behind the two. The report stops when Uncle Mikey touches Joe's shoulder, then kneels down next to him."

"I can tell you want LaFiamma said to his uncle," Shadow remarked quietly. "Something I heard him say during one of his worst nightmares. He said, 'Just shoot me. Do it here. Let me die with him, at least give me that. That's what the vote was, right? Kill the rebel, the odd man out. Just do it Uncle Mikey. Do it!'"

"And Uncle Mikey probably went to his knees to try to convince Joey that the vote was cancelled, they forgave him or something." Lundy offered. "Oh man, LaFiamma has suffered more than any man should and his life isn't even half over."

"So Markus is his brother, and one of his brothers is dead. What about the others?"

"Gerald only gave me the name of one other brother - Roberto."

"ROBERTO?" Lundy yelped jumping to his feet. "Joe said that's who the family is going to give Lucia to - to be a..a.."

"A prostitute, Levon. And she already is that. The law has never touched any of Roberto's establishments. Maybe they are linked with Markus'. One of Joe's other brothers is a lawyer... criminal justice, defense. The other one - no one knows about. Smith couldn't find out anything about him. Who he is or what he does. It's a mystery that plagued Smith for years Gerald said."

Hummer watched a smile work across Levon's face. "You know something you're not telling us Levon?"

"LaFiamma has given up a lot of days off to volunteer at Taylor Orphanage. He seeks out the kids who don't talk, are deaf, or slow. We stopped some deaf kids from being rousted one day, and he signed with them. He said he dated a deaf girl in college, but I think it was more than that. Maybe this brother is one of those. Maybe Joey is the only one who took the time to learn sign language. The more I learn about LaFiamma the more I am amazed at how innocent he seems to be."

"Oh let us tell you how innocent he can be?" Shadow yelped bounding out of his chair. "He had me, Hawk, and Jingles almost being dog meat for someone before we caught onto what he was doing. Damn we all thought we were going to be fried alive in the Amazon while he pouted and pretended that he was our captive and we were planning to eat him for breakfast. He's about as innocent as a cow in labor saying who did this to me."

[][][][][][][][][]

Hawk stared into Joey's face, watching the lopsided smile start then fade. He could feel Markus' eyes on him. He wanted to reach up and make sure his shirt was buttoned though he knew it was. Then the Major's eyes started to move down his body, down to his boots and up and again.

"Pull it out," Joey demanded quietly.

"Sir?" Harold "Hawk" Feldman gasped embarrassed by the demand wondering how his lover knew he was hard.

"You heard me Hawk. You've been staring at me for an hour, and I know what happens when you do that. Unzip and take it out."

"Yeah, open up. I might want a taste too," Markus replied with a grin.

Fear crossed Feldman's face. Even when LaFiamma was really pissed off at him, he was never shared.

"Sorry big brother, this one isn't for sharing." Joey said reaching across to push Hawk's hands out of the way and unzip the man's pants himself.

Hawk watched Markus' mouth open and close as his engorged cock was released.

"You can't possibly eat all of that?" Markus remarked as Joey went to his knees in front of his lover.

"He's not for sharing, brother! He knows I'd open that door and throw him out if he willingly allows himself to be taken by someone other than me."

"You can't be serious, Joey. Just a lick? He looks delicious man. I'm starving for that kind of a suck."

"He would, sir. Open the door and push me out. I've seen him strip a man naked and tie him upside down in a tree...in the middle of a compound...for everyone to see...with a sign painted on him that says this man is unfaithful don't touch. Believe me, Sir, if LaFiamma says he's going to do it - he will." Hawk reiterated, drawing in a deep breath as his cock was sucked into Joey's mouth.

A slow moan erupted from Hawk's throat. Over the loudspeaker one of the pilots asked if everything was okay back there.

"Come on, Joey," Markus whispered kneeling next to his little brother. "You take his mouth with one of your delicious kisses, let me have that....please."

Joey had shared some of his other lovers, but never Hawk. At the same time he knew the feeling behind the urgency in his brother's voice. He let the cock slip from his mouth and moved up to sit next to his man. Hawk's eyes shot open when an unfamiliar tongue began to lick him. When fingers opened his pants wider and pulled his balls out of his pants. He barely had time to blink before Joe began kissing him. Hawk jerked as Markus worked his balls pinching them, prodding them, and making them hard. Before he knew what was happening they were squashed on the floor between the two benches and he was coming hot and fast into the mouth of Joe's brother. Then LaFiamma held his gasping lover in his arms while his brother carefully replaced Hawk's genitals inside his pants, zipped up the zipper and moved back to his seat.

Once Markus was seated, Joe's only words were "He had a need that had to be satisfied."

Joe pushed the hair out of Hawk's eyes, wiped the sweat from his face. He wasn't sure from the expression on Hawk's face what the man's reaction was going to be.

Joe was blown away by Hawk's question. "Can you and Levon do it that way some time?"

LaFiamma stared into his exhausted man's face. At least he knew that Hawk remembered some of the loving the threesome did. "I'll talk to Levon about it. But not before you suck yourself in front of Markus....when we get back tonight."

"Joe - no man can do that! Give the guy a break."

"Hey, Big Brother - he's done it on more than one occasion. He can do it!"

Markus gave a disbelieving look to Feldman who responded with, "I can do it." Then Hawk looked at his lover with pleading eyes and said, "Not in the chair, sir. Please not it the chair. You know I can do it on the..."

"The chair is where the best of you comes out Hawk, you know that."

"Oh, shit," Hawk muttered as the trio were told they were about to land.

"On your toes, everyone," Joey said loudly, "the party is about to start."

The three disembarked the chopper and were met by a squad of Military Police. The Captain in charge informed the two LaFiamma's that several police were already stationed in and around the hospital Annex and that a transport wagon was on standby to take any who was to be arrested.

Major LaFiamma straightened his holsters, looked the man in the eye and said, "any man that is engaged in activity unbecoming an officer will be arrested. You better have a damn big wagon, Captain."

"Begging your pardon, Major, I don't think the hospital patients will like you walking in with..."

Joey touched his face. "Hawk!"

"Sir!" Came the answer as Hawk fished into one of his zipped pants pockets for the treated cloths that took their black makeup off.

"Where's the hospital from here, Captain?" Joey listened to the instructions, looked at his watch and calculated how long it would take to walk there. He refused the ride that was offered him, saying that he would walk.

Before the Captain could respond, Joey said, "I flew into Houston, and now I've been in a cramped chopper for almost two hours, I'll walk. This man's a government agent, take him...my man and I will met you there."

"Joey!" Markus yelped. Throwing up his hands he gave a distressed looked to the equally confused Captain. "I hate it when he's like this."

[][][][][][][][]

"Major?" Hawk finally said when they were beyond the flight line and entering the main area of the base.

"I have to walk it out Hawk. Or I'll kill her when I see her. I just have to walk. Keep anyone we know at a distance. And if you see a fat little man on a golf cart wave him down." Joey said breaking in a jog.

// A fat little man on a golf cart?// Then Hawk saw him - the fat little man on the golf cart. He didn't have to wave him down he was driving straight for LaFiamma who sidestepped just before the cart hit him.

"You missed again, old man," Joey laughed as he reached out to shake the man's hand then pull him in for a hug. "How about a ride to the hospital? Think you can beat the Captain of your guards?"

"Hell, yes...heard you might be coming. Lot of people know the history you and Lucia had. Her party probably has already started but I know that wouldn't keep you from going in, will it?"

"Never has, has it?"

"This guy one of your goons?" The man asked motioning Hawk into the rear seat.

"Goons - hell, no, this is one of my lovers!" Joey replied jokingly as he swung his frame onto the seat next to the fat man.

"You one of his lovers?" The man questioned as the cart started to roll.

"SIR?" Hawk squawked.

"LaFiamma, you are such a lair!" The man said with a chuckle. "Now if he was a woman...then I'd know you were telling the truth. But a man - you ain't the type."

"Herm, let us off before we get there...want the Captain of the guard's men to think we jogged the whole way. You doing okay? Family okay?"

"Family is doing fine, Joe. Got some pictures here - you got time?" Joey nodded yes, and watched his old friend who had been injured in basic training years ago take out a wad of pictures. He recognized himself in two of the boys, as he should because he was the biological father. Hermano and Joyce had had one boy already when he was hurt but they wanted more. So twice on visits to San Antonio Joey had volunteered semen to be implanted into Joyce so they could have more sons. Joe stared at the boys. Boys he could never acknowledge.

As if reading LaFiamma's thoughts, Hermano said, "We told Joseph and Anthony this year who their biological father was. They figured out long ago that I wasn't rugged enough or handsome enough to be their real dad. Don't be surprised if they knock on your door one day. "

Joe stepped out of the cart and saw the look on Hawk's face at the revelation that had just been revealed. Before LaFiamma could say anything, Hermano continued, "Joey - you're the best friend I've ever had. Most everyone took off after the accident that paralyzed me - but not you. Not you, Joey! God, you gave me so much. Not only your love, but beautiful sons too."

Hawk was surprised when Joey softly began speaking Italian to the man. He was even more surprised to learn that this man was one of Joe's brothers.

"I live in a big house, Herm, with lots of room... a guest house that can be added onto -- if your family ever has to leave here, don't hesitate to call me. I mean it, bro. "

"Might just take you up on that offer, little brother. Since Joyce isn't sure she wants to re-enlist, and we're both banished from Chicago, I might just come to Houston and we can start our own LaFiamma dynasty."

"You have to know this," Joey began glancing at his watch, "and you have to tell Joyce this too - this man IS my lover - one of my lovers! I have five. Four are Marines, one's a cop...my detective partner. "

Joe's brother was silent for several seconds before looking at Hawk and asking, "Does he satisfy you - or- use you to satisfy himself?"

Hawk swallowed and looked to his C.O. for help, all Joe offered him was a slight smile. "His satisfaction...is satisfying me. Sir."

"And does he do the same for the others?"

"Major?" Hawk squawked. This was not the kind of interrogation he was use to or wanted to endure.

Joe merely gave him a nod.

"A couple are satisfied just to be in his presence. Going to bed with him is just an added bonus. Sam - Sam has an expertise that can't be denied. He satisfies himself and the Major at the same time. And he's the only one who CAN satisfy the Major with what he does."

"Sam the cocksucker...I've heard of him. Heard he's good. And he's in your house, how'd you manage that?" Joey's brother asked shaking his head.

A smile crossed Hermano's face. "You always were the strong one Joseph. You were the youngest, yet you were the strongest. You gave more love than the rest of the family put together. Nobody in the family's probably told you that if Alberto was taken down, they prayed it would be you. Someone who loved him, not some cheap cop on the take. You've been carrying the burden of his death for too long Joseph. He was a crook. He was making millions off the drugs he was selling. He threatened you with a gun and you fired. It was self-defense. The family knows that. The Chicago cops know that. The only one who doesn't know that is Joey LaFiamma."

LaFiamma stood frozen where he stood. Hawk saw the look that came over his face when his brother mentioned Alberto. Hawk remembered nightmares Joe had when they were on patrol. Something that had triggered a memory. Shadow would hold Joe and would merely say 'it's from before the Marines.' It must be this, Hawk thought, seeing his own brother go down at his hand.

"Major!" Hawk said sharply, "we need to go. We need to go now!"

"Huh?" Joey mumbled, looking at his man. "Yes sir, Hawkman!" LaFiamma answered sharply, as he left his nightmare where it should have been left long ago.

"And Hair-mon-no! You ARE going to let me know when you're coming. Guest house has two bedrooms. Even got a mother-in-law apartment, and I've got the money to add bedrooms to the house if that's what you want."

"I'll talk to Joyce and let you know. I don't want to jeopardize your relationship with Aunt Teresa. You've always been her fair-haired boy.... Take care, little brother - you are definitely as close to Superman as a man ever was."

"Don't worry about Aunt Teresa. I have something she desperately wants and in order to get it -- she is going to have to release you from bondage."

"Joey- don't take her on! Listen..." Hermano began sharp concern etched in his voice.

Joey held up his hand. "Hey, Big Brother, if she wanted me killed she would have done it years ago. She kept the family from digging a trench for me when Alberto went down. And if the family had checked with the Coroner's Office they would have known that my gun didn't fire the fatal shot. But crooked cops told her I was the one and no one questioned it. She kept me alive when the hottest feuds were going in Chicago. Believe me, what I have now - she will agree to let you go. You may not be able to go back to Chicago - but hey, it would be great to have a brother around again."

Joey took Hermano's hands in his, and they just stared into each other's eyes. Then Joe let go, and nodding to Hawk they broke into a jog. Just as they reached the bottom of the hill and the main entrance to the hospital, they saw the military police car come up on their left.

"Bet they're going to wonder how we got here so fast," Hawk chuckled gleefully.

"And we ain't going to tell them - are we, lover?"

"No sir, we ain't going to tell them."

[][][][][][][][]

A group of armed police and black-suited Godfather lookalikes walked in the small Annex of the main base hospital.

Joey stepped to the front of the group and asked a wide-eyed young woman where he could find Lucia.

"Oh sir, you're too late, she's already started." Came the reply.

Joey leaned forward putting one hand on the counter. "Unless you never want to see your family again - you will tell me where she is."

"Sir, I can tell you, but she won't let you in. It's a private party."

Joey pulled his left hand out of his pocket, held it up, and pointed to the gold band on his third finger. A ring he had put on as they walked into the Annex. "She damn-well better see me," Joe said angrily pointing the ring on his finger, "or I'll know the reason why."

"Yer...her..ha.ha.ha.husband?"

"Book her!" Joey yelped, suddenly remembering where there was a room big enough to have that kind of a party. "I know where it is, let's go."

Two by two, among stares of staff and patients alike, Joey walked down the main corridor took a right then a left then a right and stopped. He asked the Captain of the Guard to check two rooms. In both were found men in various degrees of dress. Most were standing in their underwear talking about what they were missing out on. Each one was astonished to find they were being arrested and taken away as they were.

Joey looked at Hawk and Markus, "You guys ready? Let's go!'

The man on the door came to attention as Joey approached. He swallowed hard as Markus and a couple of MP's came into view.

"Open up!" Joe demanded.

"Sir...you're too late. She's already started."

"Do you have a family, Marine?"

"Yes, sir."

"Wife - kids?"

"Wife, no kids yet."

"Well, son, you're about to be arrested, and I doubt you'll see that wife for a very long time. Take him!" Joey barked, with a slight nod to Hawk, and a swift kick of Hawk's boot the double doors flew open.

Three long strides and Major Joseph Anthony LaFiamma was into the middle of the room staring daggers into Lucia astonished face. Joe didn't look or even acknowledge the man whose cock was up her ass, nor the man who was getting ready to penetrate through the front.

"This the way you're spending our honeymoon, eh, babe?" Joey said tightly, his teeth clenching tighter and tighter.

"Honeymoon?" Coughed Rodney Littlefield, the naked man who faced Lucia. "Joey....? You're the Marine she married?"

"Thanks for the invite, Rod. I never would have known my wife was unfaithful if I hadn't gotten it in writing," Joey growled stepping closer, his left hand reaching out. With one quick punch, Joe hit the man behind Lu in the shoulder and sent him sprawling backwards onto the carpeted floor.

"Tell me babe..., if you've had your motor taken out -- how can you be pregnant with that baby of mine? Which one of these docs here were going to write up an excuse for a miscarriage? How many miscarriages were you going to have?"

"Look, Joe..., if I'd known you were the...." Rod started.

'SILENCE!" LaFiamma shouted with such force that Hawk and Markus backed up a step and looked at each other, each hoping the other could give some explanation.

A half smile started to cross LaFiamma's face. Nodding to his former lover and wife, Joey remarked quietly, "You know - the invitation to this party of yours processed the fastest annulment in the history of the Catholic Church. It didn't even have to go through a committee. It was passed from Father Mullen to a Cardinal who signed it."

Joey raised his left hand, and dramatically pulled off the gold band on his left finger. "Markus! The paper!" Joey said curtly, extending his right hand out. The room was spellbound as Joe unfolded the document, read it, rolled it up and slipped it through the gold band.

"So, my love," Joey replied, bending forward a bit to slip the document and ring down inside her black lace teddy, "looks like you're free again."

Straightening, LaFiamma's eyes slowly scanned the room. "Some of you I know, some of you I don't. I have to say I'm really appalled that Marine and Air Force officers would stoop this low. If any of you have a wife, or kids -- I hope Lucia was worth it - because you aren't going to be seeing them for a very long time."

"Hey wait a minute, LaFiamma?" Rod barked. "You can't arrest us for having a little fun?"

"I believe, Captain," a voice behind Joe replied, "the Major means this is truly behavior unbecoming an officer."

Hawk didn't have to turn he knew the voice instantly. Markus did a half turn and watched Admiral English walk into the room followed by Teresa LaFiamma and his brother Roberto.

Stepping up behind Joey, Markus growled softly, "Damn Joey, you stalled. Why? Why?"

"Because I want something far more valuable. And Teresa is the only one with the key."

Joe stood silently looking at his lost lover. Lucia's eyes were wide, her head twisting one way and then the other as MP's filled the room arresting Rodney and the other men standing in the outer circle.

Admiral English came up to Joe, touched his shoulder, and said, 'It's over, son, you can relax."

"Afraid its not quite over yet, Admiral. My family and I have something to finish here," Joe answered breaking his stance, turning to look at the Admiral put Joe directly into Hawk's face.

Leaning towards Hawk's ear, Joe said in a barely audible whisper. "When everyone is out, close the door, stand on the inside. I want a witness here."

"Yes sir!" Feldman answered sharply, coming to attention and saluting, then with a sharp heel-top turn he walked to the door he'd kicked in a few minutes before.

"Admiral, I have to ask your indulgence here - and leave these three," Joey said gesturing to Teresa, Roberto and Markus, "with me and Lucia."

Admiral English looked at LaFiamma for several seconds than at Teresa who gave him a slight nod. "Okay, Joe. When your Marine opens the door, we'll come in and pick up the pieces."

The door was barely closed before Markus attacked his little brother. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING! WE COULD HAVE BEEN HERE AND GONE! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS HAND HER THE PAPER, HAVE ME TAKE HER AND WE...."

"Because Markus, I want a prize far more valuable than this whore." Joe answered quietly.

"WHORE? Who you calling a whore?" Lucia blasted angrily suddenly aware her life might be on the line here.

Joey's reaction was faster than he even expected it to be. He spun on his heel and slapped her hard across the side of her face. "YOU DON'T EXIST WOMAN! YOU WERE DISCHARGED TWO WEEKS AGO! YOU LEFT FOR PARTS UNKNOWN - IT SAYS SO ON YOUR SIGN OUT SHEET. WHERE YOU'RE GOIN' THOUGH, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PRACTICE YOUR TRADE EVERY DAY...WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT A HUSBAND WALKING IN. YOU MIGHT EVEN GET SOME OLD CLIENTS ONCE THEY FIND OUT WHERE YOU ARE. COURSE THIS TIME THEY WILL HAVE TO PAY UP FRONT AND HAVE AN AIDS TEST!!"

The outburst brought Hawk off the door, a movement that alerted Teresa and Roberto that there was someone other than family present.

"Back off Feldman, I'm not going to break her neck yet." Joey replied with a wave, a gesture that put Hawk back on guard duty at the door.

"I believe your Marine needs to leave the room also, Joey," Aunt Teresa said evenly.

"No ma'am. He stays," LaFiamma answered looking at his aunt for the first time. "He is present for two reasons. One, to keep me from killing this whore. Two, as an outside witness for what is about to go down here. Harold "Hawk" Feldman is one of my most trusted Marines. He is vowed to silence, as is every Marine that does a mission with me. Even if his life depended on it, he could not say a word about what has happened since we landed. He knows the rules. I can officially take him out and shoot him -- if he says anything about anything we have done, said or seen, since we landed. He stays."

// Shot? He can shoot me for talking about this? Shit, Major, why didn't you tell that before we started. The guys are going to be all over me wanting to know what went down here. //

"Joseph, there is nothing to discuss. Markus lost. Roberto has won. She goes to New York," Teresa LaFiamma remarked coldly, walking to where Lucia still stood.

"You, my dear, are a disappointment," Teresa said, taking the annulment papers out of the warm nest Joey had placed them in. "Mrs. English and I were planning your wedding celebration when word came about your hysterectomy. I'm not so sure I should have voted against you being killed and fed piece by piece to the sharks."

Hawk watched the horrified look come over Lucia's face as Teresa touched her. Feldman had never seen his C.O. act with such vengeance toward a woman before. It was the complete opposite of tender touch and voice he'd always seen before.

"Nobody has this woman yet," Joey started.

"Joey...she's not worth it... leave it.." Markus cut it.

"What I want has nothing to do with HER! Yet is does because she is the only bargaining chip I have. My love for her died the minute I saw that medical paper that said she wasn't carrying my child or ever would be able to. For all I care, you can dump her out of the plane into the Atlantic Ocean on her flight to Amsterdam.'

Joey turned and signed to his Marine, "Have your weapon ready, should you need to defend yourself or me."

"No, what I want is restitution - reinstatement. I have asked Hermano and his family to come to Houston to live, and I don't want any problems from Chicago or anywhere else."

"Joey!" Roberto exclaimed, "you're asking too much."

"TOO MUCH!" Joey shrieked. "I took the fall for Alberto's death and my bullet didn't even kill him!"

Joey heard the sharp intake of breath that his Aunt took with that statement. "I wasn't carrying my police special that day. I had a totally different weapon on me. My bullet hit him in the left shoulder and put him down. The last thing I wanted to do was kill him! It was the dirty cops that Victorio was paying off that moved in and killed him. All the family had to do was call the Coroner's office or check with a few honest cops to find out where my slug went. But no - the word of dirty cops was more trusted than the word of honest little Joey LaFiamma. That's the day I knew I should have stayed in the Marine Corps, even though the situation in the Corps wasn't good, it was better than not having your family believe you."

"I've started a new life in Texas and so has Hermano. His wife is terrific and he has three sons. Three really great boys...I know they're terrific... because I fathered two of them."

"What?" Aunt Teresa gasped, looking with renewed interest at her favorite nephew.

"Joyce was already pregnant when Harm had the accident that paralyzed him. On one of my stopovers here, they asked if I would donate sperm for another son, and I did. In fact I did it on another stopover too. I'm not part of the Chicago family and haven't been for a long time, though I know you're my family like it or not. I have a feeling if all the facts were known about Harmano....." LaFiamma stopped in mid-sentence, his brothers were startled at what he was saying and even more surprised at the look that came over his face.

Joe said something in Italian that made Hawk laugh. Roberto turned to look at the Marine and Markus replied, "Believe me, I found out the hard way that that guy understands and speaks Italian."

"Aunt Teresa, I love you. No matter what goes down nothing will change the fact that I love you. You were a second mother to me when my own mother died. You and Uncle Mikey have always done what you thought was best," Joe said with a smile. "But now, Texas is my territory, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to take your baggage and leave."

"She will make money, Joseph. Where do you want it sent?" Joe's Aunt Teresa replied quietly.

"Taylor Orphanage - you know the address."

"You can tell Hermano he's free to go anywhere."

"No, ma'am," Joey replied looking his Aunt directly in the eye, "you - will tell him."

"Yes - I will," she replied, pulling her surprised nephew in for a hug. "Sometimes Joey - it takes the courage of the youngest to stand up and make the old ones see the light."

[][][][][][][][][]

Joey skipped the revolving door and headed for the small side door. Stepping out into the fresh air he took a deep breath. The night air felt good, especially since he figured he wouldn't be breathing at all by now.

"Major?" Hawk asked, bringing Joe back to the world. "Can you really shoot me if I tell anyone about this?"

"Absolutely. Didn't you know that?" Joe answered reaching up to playfully slap Hawk on the cheek.

"No! I don't think any of us know that. I mean, we know we can't talk about it. But we don't know that we can be killed for talking about it."

"Well, Hawk, let's see if we can catch a ride back to that chopper," Joey said walking out to where a line of MP cars were parked.

Behind them came a young Military Police officer, "Major LaFiamma! Major wait!"

Joe stopped and listened to what the young man had to say, totally disbelieving the statement about Aunt Teresa wishing to see "man who wants to move to Houston" personally.

"She can't say his name, but she wants to see him? Looks like she gets the last laugh after all. Damn!"

Joe's eyes were on Hawk when Lucia was ushered through the hospital doors to a waiting limousine, wearing a black velvet cape over her next-to-nothing lace.

She stopped abruptly, placing her hand on the top of the car to keep herself from being forced in.

"Just a minute here! We own a house together! What makes you think I'm going to sign my half over to you." Lu screamed at Joey.

Joey turned from the feast his eyes were enjoying and looked at her. "House? What house?" He asked innocently.

"I signed papers! You took the keys!"

"Did you read the papers you signed?"

"Of course!"

"What did they say?"

"Say?"

"Yes, say? If you read them before you signed them you must remember what they said. Gerald asked you if you agreed to what was written."

She stared at him. She didn't remember what they said. In fact she hadn't even read them. They had walked through the house and Joe was making notes and checking off things on a sheet of paper. Then they sat at a table and she was asked to sign two papers that the realtor witnessed and Joe was handed a set of keys.

"You didn't read them, did you? You should have Babe... you should have. I bought and paid for the house the day I looked at it. The day we met at the house was to check over the conditions of the sale that I asked to have repaired before I would accept the keys to the place. The papers you signed ---," Joey stopped, paused and looked at her trying to figure out if she ever had loved him, "the papers you signed were pre-nuptial agreements, stating you would not lay claim to anything I owned should we ever separate. You should'a read 'em, babe."

Roberto slapped her on the buttocks and told her to get in the car.

"Bobbie," Joey called, halting his brother from following her into the car. "She's most seductive with long hair cascading down over her shoulders, her breasts ... with next to nothing on the bottom. That's how I fell for her. And Bobbie - I don't want to know what happens to her. As far as I'm concerned - she's dead."

[][][][][][][]

Lucia adjusted herself in the back seat next to Joey's brother. Her air of confidence was beginning to come back but it would soon be flattened.

"So, I'm going to Amsterdam. Always loved that city. Some of the best brothels in the world are there," Lu said with an air of elegance.

"Eventually," Roberto replied quietly, turning in his seat to look at her. "I hope you are a good as I've heard you are."

"I'm better!" she answered turning to meet his glare.

"We will see -- if you survive two months of servicing the LaFiamma men in Chicago, and maybe even some of the women ... then you will be moved to New York where Markus' clients are already booking time with you. Then you will be in Amsterdam for the rest of your natural life. So, I hope you are as good as I've been told you are."

"LaFiamma men?" Lu squeaked, "what do you mean service LaFiamma men?"

"Joey ever tell you how many LaFiamma men there are? Probably not," Roberto said putting a hand between her legs. "Hmm, you're a wet little sex kitten aren't you. Just talking about it has made you hot."

Try as she might, Roberto's hand only made her sexual juices run heavier.

Roberto pulled his fingers out and licked Lu's juices off them. Reaching for the phone in front of him he pick up the receiver, dialed three numbers and said a few short words in Italian. Words Lucia did not understand.

"Our plane is being refueled, and you will meet the first of the LaFiamma men onboard. They flew down with Teresa and I. We will not be waiting for Teresa, Admiral English will see that she gets back to Chicago. So in about thirty minutes, we will see how good the girl that dishonored Joey LaFiamma and tried to con his family really is."

Lucia swallowed hard and stared as Roberto unzipped his pants and pulled out the biggest hard-on she'd ever seen.

"Eat it!"

"I don't eat cocks! Fucking me is the only way you will get relief with me."

Roberto grabbed a fistful of hair and brought her face to within inches of his nose. "It ain't your rules anymore more whore! You will suck when asked to suck. If they want ass you will give them ass! If not -- we cut off your fingers first, then your toes, then start feeding pieces of you to the sharks. That's our way babe!"

Tears started rolling down Lucia's cheeks. She couldn't stop them. "I don't know how... I've never done it... no one's ever wanted me for that."

Roberto shoved her backwards and stared. "You're serious, aren't you?" Roberto asked in disbelief. "Joey didn't ever ask you to..."

"Joey had Sam... No one could out do Sam, he was the best cocksucker in the Marine Corps. Even when Joey and I were together, if Joey wanted his cock sucked off he would hunt up Sam and Sam would be more than happy to do it. I've never ever even had one in my mouth." Lu responded fearing that her life now would be relatively short.

Roberto reached for the telephone, dialed the plane's number and got into a rapid-fire discussion. Lu picked up some of the words but Roberto was talking too fast for her to understand all of them.

"Well the board isn't happy. But on your flight to Chicago you are going to have some cocksucking lessons. Lessons you'd better learn well if you want to survive. And we're going to start with this one." Bobbie said pointing to the penis that lay in his lap.

[][][][][][]

"Aunt Teresa, you sure you want to do this," Joey asked as the car stopped in front of Joyce and Hermano base housing unit.

"Joseph, have you ever seen the sons you fathered?"

"No."

"Then I think this is a first for all of us, don't you. Something that should have been done long ago. "

Inside the house Joseph Hermano LaFiamma was sitting by the front window working on homework when he heard a car door slam. Looking up he stared at the man dressed in black with guns under each arm, but mostly stared as the man pushed an unruly piece of hair out of his eyes, just as he did the same thing.

"DAD! DAD! He's here! He's here!" J.H. shouted sprinting off his perch and heading for the kitchen. "He's here - the man, your brother who you said is our father. He's here with a big Italian woman whose wearing a hat."

Hermano and Joyce, and their other two sons Roman and Tony looked at each other and barely had time for a comment when the doorbell was ringing. Then Herm heard Joey's voice call from the living room, "HARM! JOYCE! Anybody home? You need better security, bro?"

Hawk watched the family emerge from the kitchen. He knew they were as scared as Joe was at the confrontation that was about to take place, and they didn't even know about Aunt Teresa yet.

It was Joyce who broke the ranks first coming across the living room to be picked up and hugged by Joe. "Herm tell you about my offer?" Joey asked setting her feet back down on the floor.

"Offer?"

"To move to Houston. We're in real need of nurses there."

"Oh Joey... I wish we could. You know why we're here. Its bad enough his family ostracized him for some ridiculous thing - then when he fell and was paralyzed - no one even showed remorse. In fact we got funeral flowers from some. SHE's even stopped my parents from coming!"

"Hawk." Joe said quietly, stepping back as Hawk moved to open the screen door to allow Teresa Angela Maria LaFiamma in.

"Oh god, Joey what have you done!" Hermano exclaimed, as his boys backed up behind their father's wheelchair.

"Joseph has done something that we all should have done long ago. He stood up for himself and the people he loves regardless of the consequences. I am sure I have made many mistakes in my life. Tonight Joey pointed out two that were made that had dire consequences. Joseph asked me to call you - but since I was on the base I asked him to bring me here. Do not blame him for my presence here, he tried to talk me out of it but as you know when my mind is set nothing moves it."

Joey watched Aunt Teresa's face softened. She had not seen his brother is twenty years or more, what she saw before her was not the strapping young man she remembered. What she saw was a balding man in his late forties sitting in a motorized chair, behind him stood three teenage boys, two of which looked exactly like Joey the day his mother died.

The boys watched Joey, a man who looked as if he had just stepped out of a war zone, move swiftly to his Aunt's side. "Aunt Teresa, you all right? I told you this wasn't a good idea."

"On the contrary this is probably the only good idea I've had in recent years. I know forgiveness is a hard thing to ask for. But I hope that some day you will find that you can forgive an old lady who thought she was following the right tradition when she did what she did. I will ask the council on my return to Chicago to lift any travel bands they have on you and your family. I wasn't aware her parents had been barred from seeing you. I will see that that is lifted also."

Teresa took the chair Joyce offered her. "What shook me - is your middle son behind you." Teresa said reaching for her purse. The room was quiet as the LaFiamma matriarch went through several things in her large leather bag before finding what she wanted. When she did, she handed it to Joey. "This was taken the day of your mother's funeral."

"Ss--shit!" Joey muttered as he looked at the picture, then up at the boy, then back at the picture. He walked to his brother and handed him the photo just as Admiral English appeared at the door with a cell phone call for LaFiamma.

Joey moved through the front door to the porch as he talked, snapping his fingers and ordering Hawk to get Hummer on their phone. Teresa watched all three boys move to the front window as Joey began to have an active conversation with the person who called first.

The teenagers leaned close to the window finally breaking down to open it slightly so they could hear more of the conversation.

"R.G. slow down. How many unfriendlies are there? No they probably came when their colonel never reported back in...something we didn't anticipate. When did they cut off your power? Is the power to the Smith house still on? Hold on, Hawk is getting Hummer on the phone. Do you have the laser field up in the barn? Illuminate it so they know what they're up against. Put all the keypads on zero. What about the control room? Shouldn't that automatically go into auxiliary power? Okay, pull up the perimeter screens, check them closely, they should tell you how many are there and how they're getting in. You guys are going to have to take care of this... It will take Hawk and I two hours to get back." Joey stopped talking only long enough to ask Admiral English how to put his call into a conference call.

"Okay, I'm hooking you up with Hummer. You're barely a squad but you're going to have to work this out. What about the prisoner, where is he? Okay R.G., turn on the lights in Smith's house, bolt all the doors except the one by the pool. Swing that open. Get as many as you can into the house and neutralize the rest. Have Gerald call Quanto and if anyone is in the air that could help. This place has to be clean and operational in two weeks. After that I'm back on duty as a cop and you and Gerald are in charge. So do it!"

Joe spun on his heel and handed the phone back to the Admiral telling him he needed a ride to the flight line and that chopper that delivered them better be fueled and ready. The Admiral said he had some Rangers who were getting bored that might be able to help. Joe gave him a thumbs up.

Joey stepped back inside the house but before he could say a word the two boys chirped up in unison, "Are you our dad?"

The question took Joe's breath away, yet his answer came quickly. "No, this is your Dad," Joey said pointing to his brother. "I fathered you, but he is your Dad."

Looking at the rest of the group, LaFiamma said, "I have to return to Houston ASAP. Here's the number I want you to call when you've made your decision to come. We can redo the Guesthouse or you can live elsewhere. But I won't take no for an answer this time, Harm."

"How about we come in a week or two and look the place over," Joyce said with a smile. "Can't be any worse than here."

"Well, I'll tell you right now -- it will be overrun with Marines and cops most of the time, but that's who's family now. Gotta go." Joe started back for the door and stopped. "Didn't you say they were going to sports camp in Galveston? Call that number and tell me when."

Herm's son Tony replied, "We leave in the morning?"

"You're Anthony, Right? Uhhuh... and you're Joseph." Joey looked at him then to Aunt Teresa and back to the boy. "Damn, I didn't know I was that good looking when I was a kid!" On that note as the room broke out into laughter Joe and his Marine departed.

Joyce ran to the porch and called, "They aren't allowed visitors, Joey!"

LaFiamma turned, pointed a finger at her and said, "Joyce, there isn't any place the Marines can't go!"

THE END