Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Will you stop fidgeting!” Terri exclaimed as she adjusted Lex’s tie again.

He tried. Really, he did. But he was excited. It was his wedding day. He’d never really thought he’d ever get married, but he was. He’d also never really thought he’d be marrying a guy, but now that he had Griff, he couldn’t imagine having anyone else.

“There,” Terri said, giving his tie one last tug into place. She turned him to look at himself in the mirror.

On the mission where they had rescued Sam, Lex had jokingly asked Griff which one of them would wear white. Griff’s response had been hilarious and completely inappropriate for an Agency communications line, but once they had agreed on a date, his partner had, with many blushes and downward glances, asked if Lex would wear white at the wedding.

Since Lex could deny Griff nothing, here he was, on his wedding day, in a white tux. Griff had requested all white—no accent colors--, and Terri had helped Lex pick out a nice one. The material had a bit of a shimmer to it, and Lex turned slightly to admire the tail on the coat. Stiles had helped Griff pick out his, and Lex was eager to see it—both Terri and Stiles had gone traditional on them and hadn’t allowed either of them to see the other’s outfits.

Lex hoped Griff’s was long. He rather admired his future husband in long jackets and had made sure to buy him several. The shorter jackets Griff had bought right after they had moved in together mysteriously vanished one day. Lex had pleaded innocence but was pretty sure Griff hadn’t believed him.

“You look so handsome,” Terri said as she examined the final result. Lex thought she looked pretty in her royal blue dress. It wasn’t a fancy outfit, but it suited her, being cut tight through the waist and flowing out past her hips. He was pretty sure Stiles was a fan.

“Does Stiles have the rings?” Lex asked.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve asked me that this morning,” Terri chided him with a wink. “It’s fine. Everything is set up and in place. Nothing will go wrong today.”

Lex wanted to believe her. He did. But as much as he loved Griff and was glad to have him, plenty had gone wrong since they’d met. Like losing Pete, one of their other “twins.” His buffer had been killed, and he’d suicided instead of facing the living hell of lifelong insanity.

Terri ran a hand down his arm. “Focus on today. Not what happened in the past.”

“How’d you know?”

She reached up and touched the furrow between his brow. “Because that didn’t used to be so deep. Only since Pete.”

It had been three months, and Lex wasn’t sure he’d ever get over what had happened. And the horror of what he’d seen.

“Those are definitely not wedding day thoughts,” Terri said. “Bill is here. And Dean. And Sam will perform the ceremony.” She winked at him. “I’m looking forward to seeing that. He doesn’t really come across as a pastor.”

Lex grinned back at her. Sam had been a two-bit con man before becoming pastor of a church under rather…odd circumstances. The life seemed to suit him, but he hadn’t lost his unique approach to life. After he and Bill had gotten together, Sam had moved to Jericho, and was, by all accounts, courting not one but three different women. And they all were, according to Bill, okay with the possibility of being a foursome.

When Bill had told them that during the rehearsal dinner, Stiles had looked as if he had wanted to make some comment, but a sharp look from Terri had shut him up before he’d managed to even open his mouth.

They were in the “on” phase of their on again/off again relationship, and Lex and Griff both thought it might stick this time. Griff had confided that Stiles had been asking about rings when they went tux shopping.

“I’m glad he convinced his friend, Jamal, to come along,” Lex said. “He’s a riot.”

Jamal had told so many stories about Sam at the dinner, and they’d all had good natured fun at Sam’s expense. 

Stiles poked his head in just then. He was wearing a blue tux that matched Terri’s dress. If Lex hadn’t been completely besotted with Griff, he’d definitely admire him. The agent wore a tux very well.

Neither Lex nor Griff had been quite sure how weddings between two men were supposed to go. Did they have best men and maids of honor and all that? Lex had looked some stuff up, but they’d finally decided they knew who needed to be involved and that “titles” didn’t matter. So, Terri was Lex’s…whatever of honor while Stiles was Griff’s best man. (Lex had made it quite clear that bottom or not, white tux or not, he was not the “wife” in the relationship. Griff had laughed, kissed him and said, “Whatever you want, honey.” Uncharacteristically, Lex had lacked a comeback to that one. Did that make him whipped? Probably.)

“Are you ready?” Stiles asked. “Everyone’s in place.”

Terri gave him one more long look over. “I think so.”

“He looks fine to me,” Stiles said.

“That’s because you’re male and uncultured,” Terri shot back.

“What does that make me?” Lex asked. “Pretty sure I’m at least male.”

“And definitely uncultured,” Stiles said. “Comic books and…”

“Don’t you even finish that sentence,” Lex exclaimed. Stiles was never going to let him live that down, was he?

“As I was going to say,” Terri said, tapping her foot. Lex noticed, however, that her eyes were sparkling. “Yes, you are definitely male, Lex. As we have all noticed on certain days when you fail to wear underwear.”

Oh, she was in fine form today.

Stiles barked out a laugh at that one. Lex felt his face go completely red. He only did it because Griff loved it so much when he did.

“But you had the good taste to ask me for advice on what to wear and how to wear it. So, completely uncultured, no.”

Lex rolled his eyes at the two of them. “If you’re quite done humiliating me, can we get on with getting me married?”

Stiles clapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah. I suppose.”

Terri shot him a look but put a hand in the small of his back to guide him out of the side room where they had been getting ready. “Griff’s in position?”

“Last I noticed,” Stiles said. “Although Quinn was giving him the evil eye. But I think he can stand it.”

Lex tilted his head. “Why’s Quinn giving him the evil eye?”

Stiles grinned. “Because there was a pool on how long it would take you guys to get married. Quinn was off by just one day.”

Lex laughed. “So, if he can get Griff to back out for one day, he’ll win?”

“I think that was the idea.”

“So, who won?” Lex asked.

Stiles pointed to Terri, who beamed at both of them.

“You guessed it down to the day ?” Lex asked.

“I am just that good,” she responded.

Lex shook his head, but then he remembered what was about to happen. He was about to get married. To Griff.

Terri handed him off to Joshua, who was waiting at the entrance to the chapel. She and Stiles hurried off.

Joshua put out an arm. “Well, son.”

This was the part that had taken some convincing. Soon after Griff and Lex had announced the date, Joshua had taken Lex aside and mentioned, entirely too casually, that Lex needed someone to give him away. Lex had huffed out something about still not the wife here and intended to blow it off, figuring it was a joke.

Then he’d caught the look in Joshua’s eyes and realized the older man wasn’t joking.

“Uh, Joshua. I guess I never. I mean, with both of us not having parents anymore.”

Joshua had nodded and said, “I completely understand. It was an awkward request. I shouldn’t have asked.”

At that point Lex had felt like a complete shit. His boss was never this serious. For him to be serious like this meant he’d wanted it really badly.

And he’d given in. Because Joshua had been basically a father to him. And had stopped Griff from committing suicide after Lex had been shot. He owed him for that if for nothing else. When Joshua had simply thanked him instead of making a joke out of it, Lex had realized he’d judged it right. This was important to his boss.

However, during rehearsal, he’d been blushing so bright he’d been almost certain his face could have been used as a spotlight. Terri had assured him he hadn’t been quite that red.

This was the real thing, though, and Lex took a deep breath before taking Joshua’s arm.

“You look quite handsome, Lex,” Joshua said. “Griff is lucky to have you.”

Lex didn’t trust his voice right then, and all he did was nod.

“Ready?”

Probably not. But he didn’t say it. Just nodded again.

Joshua stepped forward, and Lex found himself following automatically. They entered the chapel.

Neither of them had wanted organ music. They’d agreed on a church because, even though neither of them were religious, Griff had been raised Catholic, and he had just enough residual religious feeling to want the tradition. Lex hadn’t cared. He’d have been just as happy going to the Justice of the Peace, but he’d caught the expression on his fiancé’s face when he’d said that and had coughed and said he’d been joking.

Griff had known better, of course. It wasn’t really possible to lie to the psychic he was now connected to. But his partner had let him get away with it, and they had found a non-denominational church that was agreeable to them bringing in their own pastor.

For music, however, Lex had asked for Phantom of the Opera . Griff had laughed and pointed out it was still organ music. Lex had agreed but said he preferred it to the Wedding March.

So, he and Joshua walked down the aisle to “Overture” from Phantom.

As soon as they entered the chapel, Lex’s eyes darted to the front, wanting to see his future husband. His steps faltered for a second as soon as he saw Griff.

He suspected Terri’s hand in the tuxedo, even if Stiles had insisted he and Griff had done the shopping by themselves. Griff was wearing a dark navy-blue tux, close to black. The coat had tails, longer than Lex’s, and they hugged his hips in a way that had Lex licking his lips. Under the jacket was a double-breasted waistcoat. He was holding a top hat, turning it in his hands, although the restless movement stopped as soon as he saw Lex. A shimmering white shirt and purple tie completed the outfit.

“Looks good, doesn’t he?” Joshua whispered to him.

Lex wasn’t able to respond. He was too busy reminding a certain part of his anatomy that the honeymoon wasn’t until later. He really, really didn’t want a boner at the altar. Sure, he’d be facing away from everyone, but Sam would know and would certainly say something later.

He felt certain Griff already knew, however. He never could hide anything from him. On the other hand, he could see his almost-husband’s expression, and he stood up a little straighter when he realized Griff was as impressed by his own tuxedo.

Joshua walked him to the altar, timing their arrival for the end of “Overture.” He took Lex’s arm and handed it to Griff, who accepted it with a wide-eyed smile.

“Take good care of him,” Joshua said, quietly enough that only the wedding party could hear.

“I will,” Griff said. Lex could hear the promise in his voice.

The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. They had decided on simple vows, and Lex must have said his part, but he could never recall the details. Griff’s amber eyes, highlighted by the blue of his suit, were too distracting, and he couldn’t look away from them. He managed to drag his attention back when he heard Sam say, “Do you, Lex, take Griff Krenshaw to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold in sickness and in health?”

Lex licked his lips and just managed to say, “I do.”

“And do you, Griff, take Lex to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold in sickness and in health?”

Griff’s “I do” was clear and firm.

“Rings?”

Stiles handed them over, and Lex and Griff each put them on each other. Lex thrilled at the feel of Griff’s strong hands gently pushing the ring on his finger.

“Then I now pronounce you husband and husband.” Sam’s expression and tone were both solemn, but Lex managed to look away from Griff long enough to catch the twinkle in his eyes.

 “You may now kiss your husband, Griff.”

Griff reached out, took Lex’s hands in his and pulled him in close. Their lips touched, and it was like they had never kissed before. The rest of the chapel faded from his awareness for the several seconds they kissed.

Until Lex heard a scream. Immediately, he whirled. Griff turned with him, and they were shoulder to shoulder, ready for whatever they faced.

Except, how could they really be ready for the sight of yet another “twin,” halfway down the aisle, clutching a leather satchel, collapsing to the floor in a heap of ragged clothes.

***

Griff whirled as soon as he heard the scream. He wished for his pistol, but, of course, that would have been entirely inappropriate at a wedding. He felt Lex’s shoulder against his, and he was grateful to have his partner—now husband—at his side.

He completed his turn just in time to see the man hit the ground. However, he’d seen just enough to recognize him as another “twin.”

Dean moved faster than anyone else, sliding out of his pew and dropping to the ground beside the man.

Bill was almost as fast, kneeling to touch him. He looked up and caught Griff’s eye. “He’s one of us.”

Dean nodded his agreement, and Griff’s heart sank. Another vessel. And no idea who his buffer might be. His memory flashed back to Pete. Blood and brains on the wall.

He mentally shook himself and took several deep breaths. He’d been working on this with his therapist, damn it! There were things that needed to be done.

Through his connection with Lex, he felt his husband master his own shock. He was proud. They could do this together.

He assessed the situation. Most of the people in the chapel were fellow agents and could be relied on to react with calm. Joshua and Jackson appeared at his side.

“He’s one of you?” Joshua asked.

“Yes. He’s a vessel. Don’t know if he’s snapped or not.”

“Want me to call an ambulance?”

Griff shook his head. “Think we can get him to the Agency med bay?”

“Maybe,” Jackson said. “If you’ll give us a reason why.”

“Every time a vessel has showed up, cabal members have been right behind him.”

“Good point,” Joshua said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll make arrangements.” He pointed to Lee, their onsite doctor, who was also kneeling beside the collapsed man. “He’s already seeing to him. That will make it easier.”

“Thanks, Joshua.” He turned to Jackson. “Can you get everyone out of here?”

Jackson gave him a nod and moved off to encourage people to leave the chapel.

Stiles touched his shoulder. “I’ll head outside to make sure there’s no bad guys.”

Griff nodded, and Stiles rushed off.

“Nice job,” Lex said, his voice pitched just for Griff’s ears.

“What?”

“Taking charge and telling Joshua and Jackson what to do. I’m proud of you, husband.”

Even in the middle of everything that had just happened, Griff couldn’t help the little thrill that went through him at hearing that word from the lips of his new husband.

Griff scanned the rest of the room. People were moving out at the urging of Jackson. Terri was helping him. Dean was staying in contact with the new twin. Bill was going through the satchel and his pockets, presumably looking for identification.

He felt complete focus from Lex and glanced at him. He was doing something with his phone. “What are you doing?”

“I shut down cell traffic in a mile radius for the next fifteen minutes.”

Griff nodded, thinking it was a good precaution. But, wait a minute. “I know how long it takes you to do that. What else are you doing?”

“Rescheduling our honeymoon. Pretty obvious that’s going to be delayed.”

Trust his partner to think of that. A pang of sorrow went through him. He’d really been looking forward to the trip to the mountains.

“We’ll get there,” Lex said. “I’ve got plans for you and that cabin.”

Griff had to drag his attention back to the situation at hand. He’d had his own plans for Lex and a cabin with no neighbors. Lex had announced that he’d bought out an entire row of cabins to ensure their complete privacy.

“Guys,” Bill said, holding up a wallet. “Looks like his name is Roger.”

Griff’s legs nearly gave out under him. He felt the equal shock from Lex. A hand steadied him, and he realized he’d forgotten about Sam still being at the altar with them.

“What’s wrong with Roger?” the pastor asked.

When they’d rescued Sam, they’d found a database with all the vessel/buffer pairs. Lex had researched the ones he could, but there had been a few he’d been unable to locate. Roger had been one of them. However, he’d found Roger’s buffer.

“It’s not what’s wrong with Roger,” Lex said, his tone thread. “His buffer is James. And James is dead.”

Bill’s head came up at those words, and his face went pale. Sam gave Griff’s shoulder a last squeeze before hurrying to join his bonded vessel. He put a supporting arm around the deputy’s waist.

Griff reached out blindly and pulled Lex close to him. He had to take several more deep breaths as the remembered sight of Pete threatened to overwhelm him again.

“We’ll figure something out, Griff.” Lex’s voice seemed to come from a great distance.

“What’s wrong?” Joshua’s voice sounded from in front of him.

Griff heard himself respond, without his conscious control. “That’s Roger. His buffer is dead.”

Joshua reached out and put a hand on each of Griff and Lex’s shoulders. “You’ll come up with something. I have faith in both of you.”

Griff wished he were as certain.

Lee spoke. “I want to get him to the clinic to look him over more thoroughly, but I don’t see any sign of major injury. I think he’s just exhausted.”

Joshua acknowledged him with a small wave. “I convinced Gage to allow us to bring him there.”

“We do have the limo,” Lex said. “Not what we were planning to use it for, but it’ll get him there in comfort and style.”

Griff took strength from Lex, whose voice was strong and certain. His emotions were steady. Griff could even feel encouragement from Bill, whose psychic abilities were increasing at a startling rate.

He took one more deep breath. They could do this. They would do this.

Griff wasn’t going to lose another twin.

Chapter Text

Lex wondered if there would be a day when they weren’t convening in the Agency med bay. They’d planned strategy here when he’d been shot, and here they were again. However, they didn’t have much choice. Dean needed to stay with Roger, and he wanted to be a part of the planning.

Lex noticed a difference in how Dean hovered by Roger versus how he had stayed with Bill. He seemed to be clinging more than holding his hand. He’d wondered before if Dean missed connection to a vessel. Oh, he was certain Dean didn’t miss Karl. But being near a vessel was…nice. Not just Griff. Lex also liked being in proximity to Bill. He’d noticed that Sam and Bill stayed close together, even though their range had increased enough to allow Bill to patrol, as long as he didn’t get too far from the church Sam was working at. But when not working? They were almost always in physical contact with each other. Lex wondered how Sam’s future girlfriends would feel about that.

Bill took a step closer to him. “They’re okay with it. One of them might even be interested in having something with both of us.”

Lex side-eyed him. “Are you reading me?”

Bill shrugged. “I need to practice. You and Dean are easy.”

Bill’s psychic abilities were developing at a rapid rate, as fast as Griff’s, or maybe even a bit faster. They were both beyond anything Dean could teach them, and they had been Face Timing, coming up with more exercises.

Lex resolved to keep his thoughts under better control.

“I’m not looking at anything deep, I promise.”

Lex barely heard him because a thought had occurred to him. Was there a way to link Dean and Roger? If it could be done, it might solve several problems. Lex filed the question away for later. Maybe if he let his subconscious chew on it for a while?

Joshua and Jackson hadn’t arrived yet, but all six of the twins were present. As were Stiles and Terri. Stiles had already told them that he hadn’t found any sign of cabal members or anyone else dangerous near the church.

Lee spoke up from where he was still examining Roger. “I think he’s just exhausted and malnourished. It looks as if he’s been living rough for a while. Probably for several weeks.” He pointed to his feet, which looked raw. “He walked through the bottom of his boots several days ago.”

Lex kept looking at Roger, who, even accounting for his recent rough life, was clearly the oldest of them. Lex estimated he was pushing fifty. He was also the first twin they’d seen who had a full beard. Pete had a beard, but it had been a bit scraggly. His hair was longer than any of theirs too and curled at his neck.

“He had no money on him,” Bill was saying. “Well, other than some change.”

“His clothes look well made,” Dean said. “Not like something you’d get from a Salvation Army.” He picked up Roger’s shirt from where Lee had piled his clothes as he’d removed them to examine the man. “This looks like it was tailored.”

“So probably not homeless,” Griff said.

“Probably not,” Dean agreed.

Joshua and Jackson appeared just then, Joshua carrying the workout clothes Griff had left in his gym locker.

“How’d you get those?” Griff asked. “You didn’t break the lock, did you?”

Joshua handed the clothes to Dean, who matter-of-factly started redressing Roger.

“There’s a master code that opens all the locks,” Jackson said.

Lex felt heat rise in his cheeks. Surely, Joshua wouldn’t really…

“As Lex has occasion to know about,” Joshua said with a wink.

Lex groaned. “Come on. It was just the one time. Aren’t you ever going to let it go?”

Griff was regarding him, humor in his amber eyes. “What did you do, Lex?”

Jackson was hiding a grin behind one of his ever-present files.

Lex motioned to his boss. “He wants to tell the story. Let him.” He made a point of going back to messing with his phone. He wasn’t actually doing anything with it, but it gave him an excuse to not meet anyone’s eyes.

“Lex may have left magazines of a salacious nature in his locker one day,” Joshua said, his eyes twinkling. “Which would have gone unnoticed if there hadn’t been a bomb threat which necessitated that all the lockers be searched.”

“I wasn’t there that day,” Lex said, finally deciding he might as well be a part of this conversation. “But I heard about it in great detail the following morning.”

“I tried to tell you, Lex,” Stiles added.

Lex rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I know. Don’t keep my porn and socks in the same place.”

He was supposed to be on his honeymoon right now. Not being humiliated by his boss and coworkers.

Griff’s mild tone carried over the hilarity. “Oh, he doesn’t need the socks anymore.”

The room went suddenly silent as everyone tried to wrap their head around Griff having actually said that.

Lex was proud of his husband and grateful for even the back handed save.

“Anyway,” Jackson said. “What, if anything, do we know about the latest of you?”

Joshua started to say something, but Lex shot him a look, suspecting he was about to make some crack about how they were back to “Lextuplets.” From the way he closed his mouth and adopted an abashed expression, Lex knew he’d been correct.

He caught a definite sense of relief from Griff. The joke had been kind of funny the first time, but Joshua had overdone it.

“That he’s been living rough for a while but probably hasn’t been homeless for very long,” Bill summarized quickly.

“And his…buffer…is dead?” Jackson asked.

“Yes,” Lex said.

They’d all agreed that “vessel” and “buffer” were terrible terms, but none of them had come up with anything different. Griff had pointed out that since the cabal had considered them as something less than human, they hadn’t had any reason to come up with anything better.

“And we’re certain he’s dead?” Jackson pressed.

Lex nodded. “I checked it out thoroughly. He died in some sort of boating accident. There was an investigation. He was survived by a wife and child and apparently there was some talk of a wrongful death suit but it fizzled out.”

What he didn’t mention was that he had used some of his money to set up James’ little girl with an anonymous trust fund to pay for her education. If she was careful, it might go even a bit farther than that.

Jackson frowned. “Then what can you do?”

Everyone in the room knew about the required connection between a vessel and a buffer.

“That’s what we’re going to figure out,” Griff said, his tone firm.

“Plus, we need to find out what brought him here,” Bill added.

“That too.”

“What do you need from us?” Joshua asked.

“Not sure yet,” Griff answered. “Bill and Sam, can you stay for a bit longer? It’s probably helpful to have Sam on hand. And, Bill, you’ll certainly be helpful in investigating.”

Bill and Sam glanced at each other. “I think maybe for a few days at least,” Bill said. “I’ve got leave coming, and I’ve only used a few days so far on this trip.”

Sam was nodding. “Pretty sure I can swing it too. Maybe as long as a week?”

“We’ll make it work.”

Lex tapped furiously on his phone for a minute. “Okay. Got us a three-room suite nearby.”

“Sam and I are comfortable enough where we are,” Bill protested. Lex had gotten them a nice room just a few blocks from the church.

“I think we should all be together for now,” Lex said. “Easiest for Roger and, just in case there are people coming after him, we can back each other up.”

“Or provide a big fat target with us all in the same place,” Bill said, grumbling a bit.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Joshua said.

Bill gave him a sharp look, but Joshua wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “Better have gotten us a room with two beds.”

Lex took it as agreement. “Of course. For you two and for Dean and Roger too.” He checked the time. “Two hours to check in.”

“Can Roger be moved?” Griff asked.

“Give him a few hours,” Lee said. “I’d like to give him some fluids and wrap his feet. Antibiotics are in order too.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Dean said. “Lex, you’ve got the key to my apartment. If you’ll pack me an overnight bag?”

“Sure thing,” Lex said. All the DC-based twins had traded keys. Although, since Griff still lived in Lex’s apartment, he hadn’t had a key to trade.

“Pack something for Roger too?” Dean asked.

Lex laughed. “We can get something for him from literally any of our closets.”

“Aha!” Joshua said. “So, there is truth to the rumor that you have so many clothes that you need your own closet, separate from Griff’s.”

Lex spluttered. “Wait, that’s a rumor?”

Stiles stopped laughing long enough to say, “No. But when has that ever stopped Joshua?”

Everyone had a good laugh, which was needed, considering what still needed to be done.

Lex, Griff, Bill and Sam left to pack bags and move to the hotel. Joshua, Jackson, Terri and Stiles went back to whatever they had planned for after the wedding.

Leaving Dean alone with Roger.

***

Dean sat with Roger, holding his hand. Technically, he only needed to be in the same room with him, but touch did work faster. Plus, he wanted it.

He’d not been entirely truthful when he’d told his other twins that breaking the bond with Karl had left him all right. He wasn’t in physical pain, true. But losing the vessel had left a hole in him that never quite healed.

He was glad Karl was dead. The man had been evil and deserved it. But Dean still craved the connection with the vessel. Separating them in his own mind was how he had dealt with it. He could hate Karl but still…in a fashion…love the vessel. Or at least love the wholeness being with it had brought him.

Proximity to Griff and Bill gave him a pale shadow of what he’d had. He craved even that, but it was unsatisfying. However, it was better than having nothing, and he reached out to Lex and Griff as often as he thought he could get away with. Fortunately, they never seemed to mind getting together, and one of them had apparently figured out that Dean enjoyed physical contact with Griff because he usually made a point of sitting next to Dean, usually with a hand on him somewhere.

But now there was Roger. Dean held on to Roger as if to a lifeline. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t enough. It was like the circuit between them was trying to close but it just wouldn’t go all the way. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back tears.

Because it was something, damn it. And it was his. At least until Roger went crazy and they had to institutionalize him. Or worse.

He knew there was no way he could ever be Roger’s buffer. But he wanted to be. And deep down, he had a tiny bit of hope. If anyone could figure it out, it would be Lex and Griff. They had already done so much for their fellow twins. Was there a chance they could figure it out? Did he dare to hope they could figure it out?

Roger stirred then, breaking him from his thoughts. His eyes moved under his lids. His hand squeezed Dean’s.

“Where am I?” His voice was rough and faint.

“You’re safe. You’re in a clinic,” Dean responded.

Roger opened his eyes and turned to Dean. His eyes widened, a reaction he’d been expecting. “Who are you? And why do you look like me?”

“I’m Dean Ellis. As to why I look like you, it’s a long story, and you need to meet some other people to get the full explanation. But I’m a friend, and we want to help you.”

“Why?”

Dean let go with one of his hands to motion at himself. “You have to ask?”

Roger barked out a harsh laugh. “Guess not.” His eyes moved around the room. “Have I been here long?”

“Just a couple of hours. The doctor was waiting for you to wake up so he could release you.”

Roger struggled to sit up, and Dean helped him, propping pillows at his back for support.

“Why were you at the church?” Dean asked, not able to restrain his curiosity any longer.

“What church?” Roger asked as he settled back against the pillows. His hand moved and grabbed on to Dean’s. “And why do I not want to let go of you?” His tone was full of confusion.

Dean decided he’d have to give him some of the explanation. “You’ve been sick. I know it doesn’t make sense, but being near me is making you better.”

Roger nodded, apparently accepting that for the moment. Which Dean found odd.

“I don’t know about a church but Emerson told me I needed to come here, so I did.”

Now it was Deans turn to be confused. “Who’s Emerson?”

“She helped me get rid of the demons, for the lack of a better term.”

Demons? Dean hadn’t been certain if Roger had snapped, but talking about demons made it likely. “Where was this?” If they had a location, Lex could probably check if anything weird had happened there.

“Tupelo.”

“Mind if I send a quick text?”

Roger shrugged. “Whatever you want.” He looked around the clinic again. “Not like I’ve got much to say about it either way. You’re helping me.”

Lee bustled in just then, and Dean let him do whatever he needed to in order to release Roger. He sent a text to Lex.

Roger said he got rid of demons in Tupelo. Want to check if anything weird happened? Or if there’s anyone name Roger in Tupelo who looks like us?

The response came back almost immediately.

On it.

Dean was confident if there was anything to find, Lex would find it.

“He’s good to go,” Lee was saying. Roger was sitting on the side of the bed. He was listing to one side, and his face was pale under his beard. “I’ve got a supply of antibiotics for him. Make sure he takes all of them.” He went to rummage in a drawer, finally pulling out a couple of heavy socks. “These will get him to the hotel. I don’t want him wearing shoes for a few days.” He rummaged again and came out with a tube of ointment. “Use this on his feet morning and evening until they don’t look raw anymore. And the itching stops.” He faced Roger. “And they will itch. A lot.”

Roger nodded but the motion was listless.

One of the nurses came in with a wheelchair, and Dean helped Roger transfer from the bed to the chair.

“Make sure he eats. And gets plenty of fluids. Bring him back if he starts spiking a fever or gets any odd symptoms.”

“I will. Thank you,” Dean said.

The nurse pushed the chair to a back entrance where an ambulance could pull in. Dean wasn’t quite sure how he was going to get them to the hotel, but as they arrived at the door, Joshua walked up. “Dean. Want a ride? I was heading home anyway, and I can drop you off on my way.”

Dean thanked him, and Joshua pulled his car around. He had the access level to do that, apparently. Which made things easier.

As Joshua ushered them into his car, a nice but not fancy mid-line Crossover, Roger asked, “Who are you?” His tone was abrupt but not quite rude. He climbed into the back seat, and Dean followed him, keeping a hand on his arm.

“I’m Joshua. You’ve been at the CIA headquarters. In case Dean hasn’t told you, there are others who look like you, and I’m the boss of one of them. Well, two sometimes.”

Roger glanced at Dean as if to ask is this on the up and up?

Dean nodded back at him.

“Okay. Uh. Thanks for helping me. Even though I’m not quite sure why you all are.”

“It’s confusing, I’m sure,” Joshua said. “But you’re in good hands.”

Roger just looked out the window as Joshua drove off. Dean kept a hand on him. Unlike with Bill several months earlier, he thought he could feel his presence helping. With Bill, he’d known he was helping because he could see Bill’s behavior change. But he hadn’t felt anything beyond the frustrating almost-but-not-quite closing of the circuit. He wondered what it meant that he was feeling more this time.

Those thoughts occupied him on the rest of the trip to the hotel.

***

As soon as they entered the suite, Lex headed for the small table in the common area and started setting up his laptop. Griff took the rest of their bags into the room with the king bed and came back to sit next to him. They had changed out of their tuxes at the apartment, and Lex missed it on Griff. It seemed as if he’d only seen it for a few minutes before Roger had collapsed in the aisle.

“Well, here we are in a hotel room that’s almost honeymoon quality.”

Lex snorted at his partner…no, husband’s…ironic observation. Oh shit! He had a husband now! Even in the middle of everything, that thought filled him with warmth.

Bill and Sam took their bags into their room. Almost immediately, Lex could hear their low voices. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone sounded like bickering.

“They sound more married than we do,” Griff said, laying his head on Lex’s shoulder.

“I’ve gotten the sense that they rub each other the wrong way. Especially Sam to Bill.”

“Good thing we rub each other the right way.”

Lex smiled. His husband was in a good mood if he was making sex jokes. He really wished they were in the cabin he’d reserved. However, they weren’t and he had work to do.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking for cameras near the church. I want to find out where Roger came from. See if I can backtrack him at all.”

“Makes sense.”

“Not really,” Lex said. “But it’s all I can think of right now.” He was displeased that this was the best “lead” he had. At least it distracted him from thinking about the fact that he had no idea what to do for Roger. Their latest twin was going to go hopelessly insane in a matter of weeks, and they had nothing.

Bill came out of his room, shaking his head.

“Trouble?” Griff asked.

Lex listened while he scrolled through video feeds.

“Not really. Uh. Sam and I get along well enough most of the time. But sometimes…”

“Sometimes I drive him nuts, and I just can’t help myself,” Sam said as he entered the room. He was smiling. But then, as far as Lex could tell, once he’d gotten over the whole being kidnapped thing, Sam smiled almost all the time.

Bill pointed over his shoulder. “What he said.” Then he pointed at the laptop. “Got anything helpful?”

Lex shook his head. “I’ve got some video footage of him approaching the church and a little bit of him before that. But that’s not really helpful.”

His phone beeped, signaling an incoming text. Glancing at it, he smiled. “Okay. Now there’s a lead.”

“What do you have?” Griff asked.

Bill and Sam had each sat down—on opposite sides of the room, Lex noticed—and they both sat up in their chairs at the question.

“It’s from Dean,” he said as he texted back. “Apparently, Roger is from Tupelo, Mississippi. And was…hunting demons?”

“Demons don’t exist,” Sam said. “Or is there something else you guys haven’t told me about?”

Griff chuckled. “As far as we know, just Nazis.”

Sam nodded. “Okay. Good stuff.”

“You’re the one who ‘saw God,’” Bill said, his tone grumpy.

“Hey!” Sam protested. “I’d just been electrocuted! Not my fault I had some freaky dream while I was passed out.”

“That’s not how you put it when you told it to Sarah last week,” Bill said.

Sam shrugged. “She’s religious. I thought it might impress her.”

Lex grinned as he started browsing recent news reports from Tupelo. It took him a few minutes, but he finally found a small story buried on the Tupelo Daily Journal website. “Okay, I think this might be what Dean wanted me to find.” He scanned it, aware of three sets of amber eyes fixed on him. Good thing he was used to that sort of scrutiny at work. “Guy caught an Uber. Made the driver, a woman, drive all over town ‘trying to stop a demon, for the lack of a better term, incursion.’ And, spoiler, she is fine.”

“That’s good,” Bill said. “Was he charged with anything? Or jailed?”

Lex read further. “Doesn’t look like it. She didn’t press charges, and they just let him go. Honestly, it looks like this article was written as an afterthought.”

“So not much of a lead, then?” Sam asked.

“Not really. Other than knowing where he came from.” Lex started typing queries into another database. “I might be able to figure out who he is.” He’d snapped a picture of Roger while he was in the clinic. Facial recognition didn’t work as well without eyes, but since he knew exactly what Roger’s eyes looked like, he was able to make a digital swap. Griff’s eyes (because he liked them best) for Roger’s closed eyes.

“Hey!” Griff exclaimed. “You’re using mine?”

“Why not. I like them, obviously.”

He sat back and rubbed his chin, examining the results of his Photoshopping. He wasn’t as good as Terri, and he didn’t have access to the programs she used, but this was a simple swap. He leaned forward to tweak the picture again.

“What’d he do?” Sam asked.

“Do you ever stop asking questions?” Bill asked.

“You just asked one.”

“Guys,” Griff said. “Enough. We’re trying to figure out what to do for Roger. A truce, maybe?”

Lex sat back again. That was better.

“And what he’s doing is apparently swapping my eyes for Roger’s closed eyes in a picture I did not see you take while we were there.”

Lex shrugged. Still not quite right. “I knew I’d need it.” He fiddled with it again. There.

“For facial recognition?” Bill asked.

“Yeah. Doesn’t work as well without eyes.”

“But mine?” Griff asked, his tone plaintive.

“Not like any of us are that different. If it bothers you, pretend they’re Sam’s.”

“Hey!” came the predictable response from Sam.

Now he had it the way he wanted. He uploaded the photo to the facial recognition system. “Bill, did you get a last name?”

“Nope. He didn’t have a license. But ‘Roger’ was embossed on his wallet, so I made the assumption.”

Lex remembered the file where he’d found the various twins. Why did so many of them lack last names? Which reminded him of something, and he smiled.

“What?” Sam asked. “Did you find something?”

Lex coughed. “Uh no. That’s not it.”

Griff rubbed his back. “But something made you very happy.”

Lex sighed. “All right. Since you’re obviously not going to leave me alone about it. I was remembering that I now have a last name.”

Griff gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “Yep. Lex Krenshaw.”

Lex, of course, being Lex, had inserted the new last name in the all the appropriate databases several weeks ago, not wanting to go through the hassle of doing it the “right” way. Joshua had caught him doing it and had given him hell for it before shrugging and saying “Not like anything I can say will change you, future Mr. Krenshaw.” Lex had known then that his boss hadn’t been that angry.

“That’s right,” Sam said, eyeing Bill, who was apparently going along with the “truce” and didn’t say anything. “Why didn’t you have a last name before? Or did you have one but just didn’t like it?”

“Lex is an acronym,” Griff said. “But he’ll never tell you what it stands for, so don’t bother.”

“Do you know?” Bill asked, with a don’t you even dare glance at Sam.

“Course I do. I’m his husband,” Griff answered with a small smile. “But I’m not telling either.”

The two of them had taken a few days off after saving Sam and Bill and had rented a cabin in a park several hours south—the same park where Lex had reserved them for the honeymoon because it was nice, reasonably close and didn’t require flying—and they’d hung out and done nothing. Well, nothing work-related. They’d done a lot of something else. Griff had asked about the name, and Lex had decided to tell him. He didn’t want secrets between them. However, Griff was the only person alive who knew his birth name. 

“Must be really, really bad,” Sam said.

“It is,” Lex said, in a tone that threatened dire consequences if the conversation didn’t go in a different direction immediately.

He dropped “Roger” in the search field and hoped the program would find something. Then he went back to the video feeds and started scrolling again, not expecting to find anything but wanting to be thorough.

He was vaguely aware of Griff, Bill and Sam continuing to chat and joke. He liked it. He’d been an only child, and his parents had died just before he turned nine. So, he had no family. Griff’s family, of course, was dead. But all the twins were turning into a family of sorts, and he liked it. Now if only they could do something for Roger.

He scrolled to another video and froze.

Why had she been watching the church during their wedding?

Chapter Text

Griff had been enjoying the banter with Sam and Bill while Lex scrolled video feeds. He had the vague idea that he’d help Lex look in a minute, but, as Lex had been, he was enjoying the sense of family.

Then he felt his partner go still. Terror followed by rage surged down their connection, and Griff put up a hand to stop the conversation.

Bill and Sam fell silent.

“Lex? What did you find?” Griff slid from where he had been sitting on the table to where he could see the laptop. Lex had frozen the video and was zooming in on a woman standing outside the church. He didn’t recognize her, but his partner obviously did. “Who is that?”

“Olivia.”

Rage surged through Griff. He knew the name. He’d considered finding her before and making his feelings for her quite clear. But at heart, he was a law enforcement officer, and it went against his grain to do that.

“Who’s Olivia?” Bill asked.

“Woman who framed me for rape as a way to try to get information from me to give to a foreign service officer.”

“What?” Sam exclaimed.

“It happened just a couple of months before I met Griff.” Lex’s voice was flat, and Griff put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“But what’s she doing outside the church today?” he asked.

“That’s what I intend to find out,” Lex answered, his tone grim.

Griff gripped his shoulder harder. “You take a break. I’ll look her up.”

“Griff!”

“No. I can run a background search just as easily as you can.” He gave Lex a little nudge. “You don’t need to be looking at the picture any longer.”

Lex gave an annoyed huff, but he got up, walked around the suite for a bit, and, as Griff had expected he would, sat by Bill.

Griff had noted they all tended to sit near their opposites, even the ones they weren’t linked to. If Lex was out of the room, Griff preferred to be near Sam or Dean. They just felt better. Lex, Dean and Sam all preferred to sit near himself or Bill. He supposed Roger would end up attracting them as well.

The deputy put an arm around Lex as soon as he sat down. Griff had also noticed they were all more physical with each other than a typical group of five guys. He liked that. And was always amused when Sam and Bill were on the outs and wouldn’t sit near each other.

He dragged himself from his musings and back to the video feed. He scrolled back and forth. Mostly she was just standing there, but then he saw something and paused it. “Sam. Come here a second?”

Lex sat up, but Bill pulled him closer, resting his back against the deputy’s side. “You stay put.”

Lex started to say something but then closed his mouth and settled against Bill.

Sam walked over and stood behind Griff. “What do you want me to look at?”

Griff pointed at the screen. The video quality was pretty bad, but he trusted Lex when he said it was her. “Does that look like she’s holding a phone?”

Sam leaned over and squinted at the screen. “I think so?”

“Who would she be calling, I wonder?”

“Good question.”

Lex sat up again, and Griff sighed. “Yes, Lex. That’s your area. Go ahead and see what you can find while I do a background search on her. Unless you did that back then?” He stood up to go get his own laptop from their room while Lex took his back and started typing.

“No, I didn’t. It…well…I hadn’t actually thought about doing a background check on a girlfriend.” Lex sounded embarrassed by the admission.

Bill chuckled. “I did it on all the girls Sam’s trying to date.”

Sam stood up. “You didn’t!”

“Of course, I did.”

“But isn’t that some sort of civil rights violation or something? And you got on me for being a small-time con man!”

Griff grinned as he walked to their room. He felt a lightening in Lex’s mood. Bill’s timing had been perfect.

“Since I need you to, you know, not go crazy, I figured I needed to be thorough,” Bill said, sounding smug.

Sam sputtered for several seconds before finally coming back with, “Well, what did you find?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. They’re all fine.”

“And exactly what does that mean?”

Griff came back into the main room, laptop bag in hand. Lex was smiling as he typed, and Griff gave Bill a surreptitious thumbs up. He got a nod and a wink in return.

“It means they’re fine,” Bill said. “Telling you would be an even worse violation. You wouldn’t want me to do that, would you?”

Sam huffed at his twin and went to pull up a chair to sit beside Griff, who was just booting up his laptop.

“You can sit there, but you’d better not look over my shoulder,” Griff said. “That would be a violation too.”

“But?”

“I’ve got legal reason to look this up,” Griff explained. “We’ve got something weird going on, and she might be a suspect.”

Bill snorted. “Pretty weak.”

Griff nodded. “Yeah, but we’re going with it anyway. So, I can look but, as a civilian, you can’t look at what I’m looking at.” 

“Get over here, Sam,” Bill said. “I’ll behave.”

Sam sighed, got up and flopped down on the couch next to Bill.

Griff peeked at his husband, who had a small smile playing about his lips. Good. Then he opened up a program and started a background check on Olivia, after checking with Lex for her last name—Aspen. A few minutes later, he grunted and sat back. “Okay, that’s odd.”

Lex’s head shot up. “What is?”

“Why did she take three trips to Australia three years ago?”

“That bitch !”

Griff almost rocked back from the force of Lex’s rage.

“What?” Bill asked, half coming off the couch and reaching for the pistol he didn’t have at his waist. Griff sympathized. He wanted to do the same.

“That absolute, fucking bitch! It was a setup from the start!”

Griff put a careful hand on his partner. “Okay, Lex. We’ll all help with this, but we have to know what you think it means.”

“Oh, I don’t think what it means. I know what it means.” Lex took a deep breath, and Griff could feel him working at getting his rage under control. He’d not realized his partner had such fury within him. He was usually so gentle and easy going.

“Okay,” he finally said. “So, when Olivia framed me, we all thought she’d been encouraged by Natalie Buell, who was with the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. She wanted to get information from me, and I’d been told not to give it to her. Which I didn’t like because we were supposed to be helping her country, but I didn’t want to get fired either.”

Griff squeezed his shoulder. Lex was starting to talk faster.

“Right. So I thought Natalie and Olivia working together was like an accident. Like Natalie saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. But if Olivia made all those trips to Australia? Maybe she and Natalie had cooked something up in advance?”

Griff nodded. “There is a certain sense to that.”

Lex stretched his fingers. “I’m going to go through Olivia’s finances with a fine-tooth comb.”

“Send me some of it. I can look it over too.”

“Sure thing.”

“What can we do?” Bill asked.

There was a knock at the door. Everyone turned to look at it. Griff reached out with his senses, which he still hated doing unless it was with Lex, but it was handy. He thought he felt Bill doing the same thing.

He relaxed as soon as he felt who it was.

“Dean and Roger,” Bill said.

Lex glanced at Griff, who nodded, amused that Lex didn’t trust Bill’s abilities yet.

Sam got up to answer the door and let the other two men in.

Griff sighed. While the Olivia thing was important, so was figuring out what to do to help Roger.

***

Roger entered the hotel room, Dean’s hand warm and comforting in the small of his back. He needed the support because as soon as he stepped through the door, he was the focus of four sets of eyes, all of which looked exactly like his.

Dean urged him the rest of the way in, and he took in the four men. Two were sitting at the suite table, surrounded by laptops and other tech gear. One of them looked to be the youngest in the room. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a band Roger didn’t recognize. Like all the other men, and unlike himself, he was clean shaven. The man beside him appeared to be a few years older, with longer hair, going a bit shaggy, and without sideburns. Sitting on the couch were the other two, also casually dressed and a bit older than the youngest one. Roger was pretty sure he was the oldest of all them, although maybe not too much younger than Dean.

“Roger, that’s Lex, Griff, Sam and Bill,” Dean was saying. He filed away the names, hoping he’d remember them.

His feet hurt, and he really wanted to sit down. Bill got up and motioned him over the couch, next to…Sam?

“Sit down, man. We know you walked your feet raw,” Bill said, his voice kind.

Roger limped to the couch and sat. Dean kept a hand on his back and Sam threw a casual arm over his shoulder. He would have stiffened—he didn’t usually like much physical contact—but it felt oddly good to be between them.

“So, who are you all and why do you all look so much alike?” He glanced at each of them in turn. “I mean, you’re all different ages so you’re not twins…or whatever the term is for six of us.”

Lex and Griff exchanged wry looks. A private joke?

“Sextuplets is the real term,” Lex said. “But be prepared when you meet Joshua for him to refer to us as Lextuplets.”

Roger raised an eyebrow at that. “I already met him, and he didn’t say anything about that. And what does that even mean?” 

Lex sighed and launched into the explanation, with an air of having done this too many times before.

Roger could barely believe what he was hearing. Nazis? Soul transference? Vessels? Buffers? He’d go crazy if he didn’t have a buffer? And Dean wasn’t it? What did that mean for him? And had he already gone crazy? Did that explain what he’d been experiencing?

His memory was fuzzy. He remembered some of what he’d been doing for the past weeks? Months? Hunting demons, for the lack of a better term? Really? Did that even make sense?

Roger realized Griff was talking to him. Dean was rubbing his back. “What? I’m sorry?”

“How did you get here? It looks like you’ve been on the move for a long time. And you were in Tupelo about a month ago.”

Roger tried to sort through everything he could remember. “Uh. None of this is going to make sense, I guess? It all seems crazy as I think about it.”

“That’s fine,” Dean said, his voice soothing. “Just tell us like you remember. We can sort it all out later.”

“Yeah. Okay. So, I’ve been hunting demons, for the lack of a better term, for…years? But that can’t be right, can it? Demons don’t exist? Do they?”

“As far as we know, no,” Lex said. “Although, to be fair, we didn’t know that we existed until recently either.” He waved a hand to encompass everyone in the room.”

“Why Tupelo?” Dean asked.

“Because that’s where I could…stop them?” Roger shook his head. “This all sounds totally insane. But I know it felt completely real and sane before I met you.”

Lex moved over to sit on the floor near him, leaning against his legs. That felt…right.

“I think you may have snapped a long time ago,” Dean said.

“Snapped?”

“That’s what we’ve started to call it when a vessel begins to exhibit signs of insanity,” Griff said. “I think Joshua’s actually the one who coined it, but we all use it now.”

“Being with me, or in this case, the three of us—me, Lex and Sam—is stabilizing you. Which is why you’re aware of things that seemed perfectly logical earlier sounding weird now.”

Roger turned that around in his head for a minute. It seemed to make sense. As much as any of this made sense. “But if I don’t get my real buffer, I’ll go back to being crazy?”

“Yes,” Dean’s voice was sad. Sam stretched his arm to touch him too.

“And you said mine is dead.” He shook his head. He was starting to like these people. Sam, Dean and Lex were soothing. He felt an affinity with Bill and Griff. He didn’t want to lose that. Digging back through his memories, even the ones that felt like they might be real, he knew he’d been lonely his entire life. To maybe have a…family? And to lose it because he was destined to go insane? 

“Yes,” Lex said.

Roger considered. Did he want to know? Finally, he decided he did. “What was his name? What was he like?”

“James Sudeau,” Lex answered. “He was killed in a boating accident.”

“Family?”

“A wife and a little girl.” Lex looked down at the floor, and his face went red. “Uh. I may have set up a trust fund for her education. Just so you all know.”

Bill laughed. “Sam and I figured you’d done something like that. We just hoped you didn’t use black ops funds or whatever to fund it.”

“No. I have my own money,” Lex said.

“Good. We’re glad you did,” Sam said.

“So, there’s no hope for me?” Roger asked, knowing the answer but hoping for something different.

“Maybe not,” Griff said.

Everyone’s head shot around to look at him.

“What?” Lex asked.

Since it was painfully obvious he and Griff were together, Roger assumed this was the first Griff had talked about it.

“I noticed something on the plane, Dean, when you were…well…helping me through the panic attack.”

Dean tilted his head in question/confusion. “Okay?”

“I felt…” Griff shook his head. “I don’t even know how to describe it. I felt your…presence? Like your psychic presence? It had…I don’t know…a quality to it that I’ve been puzzling over ever since.”

“What kind of quality?” Dean asked.

Bill was the one who answered. “Like it’s loose? Untethered?”

Everyone turned to look at Bill.

“What? I am psychic too. I felt it. And it’s different from you, Sam, and even you, Lex.”

Griff was nodding. “Yeah. It feels just enough different from Sam that I’d been wondering.”

“Wondering what?” Lex asked.

“Wondering if it’s not different because his vessel is dead. Wondering if it could be connected to someone else?”

“Someone else as in…Roger?” Bill asked, sitting up straighter in his chair.

“Yes. I’ve been trying to work out how ever since we…lost Pete.”

Roger asked, “Who’s Pete?” at the same time Lex asked, “So that’s what you’ve been doing in the middle of the night!”

“Wait, what?” Griff asked. “You noticed?”

“Yeah. It’s like you’re strumming the link, sort of like a guitar string or something.”

Griff blinked, obviously not having expected that.

“Who’s Pete?” Roger asked.

“Pete was a vessel we met several months ago,” Dean explained. “His buffer was dead. He chose to commit suicide.”

Roger went cold inside. Dean and Sam both encircled him with their arms. Lex hugged his legs.

“But that’s not going to happen to you,” Griff said, his tone firm. “I’ll be damned if I lose another one of you.”

Roger felt something. An emotion from outside himself? What an odd feeling.

He noticed both Bill and Griff were staring at Dean. Was the emotion coming from him? Did he have psychic powers too, like Bill and Griff? He supposed he must.

“You want to be rebonded, Dean?” Griff was asking.

Was that what he was feeling?

Dean was suddenly the focus of all the eyes in the room. Roger felt for him, knowing what that was like.

“Well,” Dean started. He looked down and started picking at a rough spot on his trousers. “I wasn’t entirely truthful with you when I said I was fine, now that Karl was dead.”

Roger felt unease from…two sources? How did anyone sort this stuff out?

“What do you mean,” Lex asked.

“Don’t get me wrong. I wanted Karl dead. Would have killed him myself if I could have. He was awful and evil. But…I liked the connection to the vessel. It was comforting. And warm. It got me through the hard times. I guess I sort of separated the two. Karl and the vessel. I hated one and…” His voice grew very soft and quiet. “I almost…loved the other one. I miss that. It’s like a hole that never quite fills in.”

Everyone was quiet. Roger wasn’t certain what to think. Dean sounded so lost and lonely. He wasn’t sure he really understood it. That Karl person had sounded awful. Loving even a part of that just seemed crazy.

Not that he was one to talk.

Griff held Bill’s eyes. The deputy nodded. Roger wasn’t sure what had been decided.

“Right,” Griff said. “We’ll figure it out. Bill? You’ll work with me?”

“Yeah. Of course I will.”

“You two work with Dean on…whatever it is you’re going to do,” Lex said. “I’ll figure out the Olivia thing. Sam, want to stay with Roger?”

“I can do that.” Sam stood up and put out a hand. Roger took it. “Come on. We’ve got a change of clothes for you.” He laughed. “We all wear the same size, which makes it easy. Plus there’s a shower, if you’d like.”

Roger realized he was wearing a different outfit than he remembered putting on…whenever he’d last gotten dressed. He also became aware that he smelled pretty bad. Everyone had been polite to not have mentioned it. “Sure. Thanks.”

Sam guided Roger into the next room and closed the door.

He heard low conversation start up. Yes, they were probably talking about him. But even though he barely knew them, he already trusted them to have his back.

It was strange but nice. He didn’t remember having that before.

Chapter Text

“So, how is he?” Griff asked Dean as soon as Roger and Sam had gone into the other room.

Dean shook his head. “Not good. I think he snapped a while ago. Maybe even as long as a month.”

Griff winced in sympathy. Not as long as it had been for him, but much longer than it had been for Bill and long enough that Roger had been suffering, whether he realized it or not.

“I don’t think we have too long to do something for him, either,” Dean continued.

“Why not?” Lex asked. “It had been longer than that for Griff, and he’s fine now.”

By some definition of fine. He still had anxiety attacks and the occasional panic attack. He’d also never quite gotten rid of suicidal thoughts. Some days, as much as Lex told him otherwise, he still felt as if his new husband would be better off without him.

Although now that Dean had told them about the emptiness he felt, maybe not.

“You and I are going to talk about that later,” Lex whispered in his ear before moving off to sit at his computer and hunt down more information about Olivia.

Yeah, they probably did need to talk. Griff thought he was in need of Lex telling him (again) how much he wanted to stay. Shit! This was his wedding day. Of all the stupid days to have doubts.

“The difference, Lex,” Dean was saying. Griff dragged his attention back to the conversation. “Is that Griff had you, his real buffer. You could heal him fully. Or almost fully.”

Dean knew about the lingering effects of going so long without being buffered. 

“But Roger seems farther along, and we don’t have his James. Sam, Lex and I can only do so much. He needs someone who is…well…right for him. And soon. I don’t think we can do anything for him beyond a week or so.”

“That seems awfully short,” Bill said.

“It’s a different length of time for everyone,” Dean said. “We saw one who went completely crazy and unrecoverable in a couple of weeks. Griff, obviously, was able to go longer. I think Roger is somewhere in between.”

“Right, then,” Griff said. “We need to figure this out quickly.”

“What are you sensing?” Bill asked. “Because I’m trying to reach out to Dean, and, yes, I feel that he’s different from Sam or Lex, but I can’t tell if that’s because there’s something to work with or because he’s just not linked to anyone right now.”

Griff closed his eyes to better concentrate on what he’d sensed before, on the plane. He’d not taken a close look since, thinking it was too much an invasion of privacy. “Okay if I reach out, Dean, and try to get a handle on this?”

“Do what you need to.”

Okay. He tried to visualize it like Lex said he did with his hacks. One step at a time. If Dean were a hack and he were Lex, he’d reach just so…and get nothing. So, stop trying so hard. Maybe if he opened himself up to just letting what impressions came to him? His therapist had been trying to get him and Lex to meditate, but they were both abysmally bad at it. However, he knew the theory.

“Sorry, Bill. I haven’t done this before. It’s taking a while.”

“What are you trying? Maybe I can do it too.”

Griff opened his eyes. It wasn’t a bad idea. “Ever meditated?”

Bill snorted. “Not hardly.”

“Well, can you close your eyes and…uh…concentrate on your psychic sense and see what you feel?

Bill gave a shrug, closed his eyes and said, “I can try. Give me some idea of what I’m feeling for?”

Griff struggled to find the words. Finally, an analogy came to him. “You know after a windstorm blows down an electrical pole, and there’s a wire waving and sparking?”

“Sure.”

“It was kind of like that. Like there was something loose that needed to be reattached. So, first I want to find it, and then I want to see if it can be attached to something.”

“Like Roger.”

Griff nodded, looking at Dean. “Exactly. Assuming we can find the loose bit in Dean, then we need to find…the attachment point in Roger. Hopefully there is one.”

Dean’s expression was half hopeful, half despairing. “We’ll figure it out,” Griff said to him. “Like I said, I’m not losing another one.”

Griff closed his eyes, and he heard Bill sigh and settle in deeper on the couch, presumably to concentrate as well.

He reached and tried. Reached and tried. Reached and tried. And he failed every time. He knew there was something there. He’d felt it before, but now he couldn’t even sense it.

Finally, he opened his eyes. Dean’s expression had lost the hint of hope. Bill was just opening his and shaking his head. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for.”

Griff nodded. “Now I’m afraid the only reason I could even feel it on the plane is because I was panicking so bad that…I guess Dean’s…uh…buffering was stronger? Does that even make sense?”

“It does, sort of,” Dean said.

“But I’d rather not need to have a panic attack to make this work.”

“Sounds counterproductive,” Lex said, obviously trying to lighten the mood a little.

Griff gave a tiny smile, appreciating his husband’s efforts. “And even if I could sense it again, I don’t know how to show you.”

“Yeah. Too bad. Because that would be easier.”

Griff could hear the frustration in his fellow vessel’s voice.

Bill continued. “If there were only some way we could…I don’t know? Work together?”

Something twanged in Griff’s memory. Something he’d read a long time ago? As a kid. He dredged a name out of the dim recesses of memory. “Bradley?”

“Huh?” Bill asked.

Griff tried to remember. “Marion Zimmer Bradley? That name ring a bell?”

“Sure,” Lex said, glancing up from his computer. “ Mists of Avalon. Darkover series. She’s fantasy writer from way back. Why?”

Darkover. That sounded right. “Didn’t she write about people with psychic powers working together in one of her books?”

“Lots of them, actually.”

Griff heard Lex’s sudden intake of breath. “You’re thinking you could do something similar?”

“Maybe?” Griff thought for a minute. Finally, he said, “Okay, Bill. I want to try something.”

“All right?”

Griff concentrated for a moment, trying to visualize his power as a sort of hand. He’d never been the best at visualizations, which drove his therapist crazy, but he did his best. When he thought he basically had it, he said, “Bill, can you visualize your power as a sort of a hand and then reach out to try to grab mine?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Griff gritted his teeth, trying to maintain the image. “Just do it, all right?”

“Okay. Let me try.”

Lex was there on the edge of his awareness, silent strength and support. He needed it. Holding on to the visualization of his power as a hand was taking every bit of concentration he had. He’d have it, and then it would almost slip away from him. Grabbing on to it was like holding on to a water balloon covered in grease. But he held.

It felt like hours before Bill said, “Done. I think. Now what?”

Griff got the words out through his clenched jaw. “Try to grab on to me?”

“What exactly am I looking for?”

Griff squeezed his eyes shut tighter. Lex was steady, providing him with an anchor. He was never sure exactly what he did, but he sort of threw his power in the general direction of Bill.

Bill caught it. And promptly lost it.

“Shit!”

“Trying again. Should have warned you.” Griff did it, whatever it was. This time Bill caught it and held on.

“Got it. Now what?”

Now Griff was struggling against something else. He felt his abilities more than double. He knew there was some sort of term for that, but he couldn’t spare any attention for it. He tried to remember what he’d felt from Dean on the plane. Would working with Bill make it easier or harder to find it?

“Wait!” Bill exclaimed. “I think I feel what you mean.”

Griff felt Bill reach for something. The first time he grabbed, he lost it. He tried again and this time, he held on. Griff tried to help firm up their grip, and it seemed to work.

“What now?” Bill asked.

“Fuck if I know. I’ve never done this before.”

“This was your idea!” Bill said, his voice showing strain.

Griff tried to…move…whatever it was. Having absolutely no idea what to do, he tried to aim it in the general direction of Roger. It started to move, but before they’d done more than nudge it a tiny bit, they both lost their grip.

Griff collapsed to the floor, unable to sit up even with the help of the couch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bill slide sideways until he was lying with his head basically in Dean’s lap.

“Shit!” Lex was next to him immediately, knocking his chair across the room with the force of his movement. “What did you do?”

Griff drifted for a moment before realizing his head was in Lex’s lap. “Think I strained something.” His voice was slurred with exhaustion.

“Thing goes more two way for you two than me and Sam,” Bill said, his voice equally slurred.

“Give it time,” Griff just managed to say.

“We can worry about that later,” Lex was saying as the door to Roger and Dean’s room flew open. Sam charged through, dragging Roger by one hand. The older man was less than half-dressed, wearing just a pair of jeans that were only partially zipped.

From his position on the floor, Griff could see that Roger wasn’t wearing underwear. Had Sam basically thrown a pair of jeans at him?

Sam slid to a stop beside Bill and pulled him into a hug with one arm. With the other, he shoved Roger at Dean, who caught him when he stumbled.

“What the fuck did you do to Bill?” Sam said, his voice barely below a yell.

“Guess it goes both ways for you too,” Griff said.

“Guess so,” Bill agreed.

“What?” Sam’s voice wasn’t much lower than before.

Griff was barely paying attention. An idea had caught in his punch-drunk mind, and he giggled.

“What?” Lex asked.

“Roger, go put on underwear. Seriously, none of us should ever go commando.” Suddenly it seemed the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“Oh. God. Griff. You’re going to go there now?” However, Griff heard the barely suppressed laughter in Lex’s voice.

A huff that almost sounded like a muffled laugh came from above and behind him, in the rough direction of where Dean was sitting. With enormous effort, Griff managed to turn and look over his shoulder.

He blinked.

Dean was…smiling. It wasn’t a big smile. But it was a smile.

“Seriously? That’s what did it?” Griff asked.

“Did what?” Sam said, his tone a cross between annoyed and amused.

“Wanted to get Dean to smile for months now. Thought the wedding would do it. But no. Then, commando joke?”

Dean’s smile broadened slightly. “It is true. None of us should.”

Lex shook his head and pulled Griff to his feet, supporting him when he swayed and almost fell back down to the floor. “Nap time for you. When you start telling jokes like that, you’re either drunk or tired.”

“Don’t get drunk,” Griff protested as Lex guided him to their room.

“Same difference when you get tired enough.”

Lex helped Griff to the bed. His husband was right. He was exhausted and needed to sleep.

He lay down. Lex took off his shoes and pulled the blankets over him before giving him a kiss. “Love you, husband.”

Griff wanted to say something back, but he fell asleep before he could think of the words.

***

Lex went back to the main room, trying not to crack a smile. It was true. Griff never did get drunk, but sometimes he acted like it when he was tired.

Sam was just coming out of his and Bill’s room. “Yours crash as soon as he hit the bed?”

“Yeah. Yours?”

“Of course.” Sam’s voice was fond. Lex was glad. They’d had a rocky start, and they still hassled each other, but they seemed to be getting along well.

They exchanged smiles. Two buffers taking care of their vessels.

“What happened?” Roger asked.

“If I got it right, Griff and Bill figured out how to join their abilities and maybe found something in Dean that maybe would help them link the two of you up.” Lex shrugged. “But whatever they did wiped them out so much they basically passed out.”

“Not a good long-term strategy,” Sam said.

“Nope, but, knowing Griff, he’s not going to quit until he figures it out.” Lex was simultaneously proud of and worried about his husband. He hoped they could figure this out, but maybe without killing him and Bill?

“I think they did hit on something,” Dean added. “Right before they collapsed, I thought I felt something. Like they grabbed something inside me?”

“Really?” Roger asked, sounding hopeful.

“I think so.”

Lex turned to Roger. “Dude, go get dressed.” Then he glanced at Sam. “Seriously? You couldn’t have let the guy get the rest of his clothes on? Or left him to finish dressing? He’d have been fine in the other room.”

Sam’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Uh. Yeah. Sorry. I got hit by…whatever that was from Bill, and I guess I freaked out a bit.”

“I’d say!” Lex motioned to Roger. “Clothes. Now.”

Roger nodded and went into the other room.

“And don’t forget the boxers! I don’t want my husband getting ideas again.” Lex shook his head, almost giggling as he remembered Griff’s punch-drunk observation. When in public, his partner was usually proper, only opening up in private.

Sam grinned at him. Even Dean half-smiled at the memory.

Lex sat back down at his computer to continue the hunt for Olivia and whatever she might be up to. He’d had enough time to hack into her bank accounts before Griff and Bill had started doing whatever it was they’d been doing. Now he started going through them line by line, scanning for anything that looked odd. He did wish he had Griff to help him out. He was good at finding suspicious transactions.

Roger came back out, dressed in jeans and one of the old Henleys Lex had donated. It was something he never wore anymore, but it was a good look on Roger.

“What’s next?” Roger asked.

Lex was scowling at his laptop. Too damn many financial transactions to go through.

“Any way we can help?” Dean asked.

“Help with what?” Roger added.

Lex sighed and gave the quick explanation of Olivia, their history and what Griff had found before he’d gotten distracted by imitating a Mentalist. “So, it looks like it might not have been random last year. And now I want to find out why she was lurking outside our wedding.”

“You’ve got her financials?” Dean asked.

“Yes. I need to go through at least three years worth. Which is a lot of transactions.”

Dean gave him a wry head tilt. “You remember that I hack too, right?”

Lex sighed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Right. I was thinking that I needed Griff, but yes, you could look too.”

Sam raised his hand tentatively. “I did the parish books. I might be able to help.”

Dean looked at Roger. “Want to take some of them?”

Roger looked down at the floor. “Uh. I don’t know that I’ve even looked at a bank account.”

Three sets of amber eyes transfixed him. “Dude? What did you do when you weren’t…uh…hunting demons?”

“For the lack of a better term,” Roger added.

Lex’s thoughts stuttered to a stop. What was up with that phrase anyway? He mentally shook his head. Not like any of them had any right to judge. “Okay. But what did you do?”

“I’m not sure.” Roger sounded uncertain and upset.

Dean placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Why not? What’s wrong?”

Roger shook his head. “It’s so hard to remember. It’s like I remember two different lives, and they don’t match up. Hunting demons, for the lack of a better term, is so much clearer. I know it’s all a delusion, but it overlays everything else and makes it tough to sort out what’s real from what wasn’t.”

Dean rubbed his back. Lex got up from his computer and sat on the other side of Roger. Sam came over, sitting on the floor. Lex had no idea how to do what they did, but obviously they were all in agreement to try.

Roger straightened a bit. “I think I was rich? Or my family was? I don’t remember working. Pretty sure I went to school. And…uh…” He closed his eyes. “Volunteered for stuff.” He shook his head. “But I can’t remember what.”

“What’s your last name?” Lex asked.

“What?”

“Your last name. You didn’t have an ID on you. All we knew was your first name. I started running facial recognition but then got distracted by Olivia.”

“Oh. Ostrand. Roger Ostrand.”

“Got it.” Lex stood up, and Sam took his place on the couch.

“Go ahead, Roger,” Dean urged. “Whatever you can remember. It’ll help settle you.”

Lex listened with half an ear while Roger haltingly picked through memories. The rest of the hacker’s attention was on his search for information about Roger. There weren’t many “Roger Ostrands”, and fortunately, one of them had a picture. “Huh. You’re from New York City.” He read further. “And yes, your family is loaded. Uh. You went to school at Harvard. Studied Philosophy.” He didn’t comment that it was pretty much the stereotypical degree for an idle rich guy. Or a future attorney, but Roger didn’t seem like attorney material.

Roger was frowning. “Yes. I think I remember some of that. It’s all distant, but I recall some things from college.”

Lex switched to another database. “No employment history that I can find. So yep, what you’re remembering matches what I’m finding.”

“That seems so…unremarkable,” Roger said, sounding sad. “Lex, you’re a hacker for the CIA. Griff used to be FBI. Bill’s a deputy. Sam…I actually don’t know what you do.”

Sam laughed. “I’m a pastor in Jericho. But I used to be more of a two-bit con man, so I’m not sure that’s any better than what you are.”

“Oh.” Roger didn’t sound as if that had changed his mind. “Dean?”

“I do some consulting.”

Lex smiled. Dean’s knowledge of rocket fuel was unparalleled. Plus, he had a lot of interests in related fields. Joshua had done his magic trick and had gotten Dean introduced to some people who had hired him. He’d done well enough for them that now he was sought after in certain circles.

Plus, he did some hacking on the side for Lex, jobs that he didn’t have the time for. Joshua made sure Dean got paid for his time but wasn’t hassled by anyone at the Agency, most of whom though the work was being done by Lex. 

“See. All of you are doing interesting things, and I’m just…drifting?” Roger said.

“You’re one of us now,” Lex said. “We look after our own. We’ll figure something out.”

“Yes,” Dean said. “After we sort out the Olivia thing. So, can we help you, Lex?”

“I’d be happy to let you.” He sent two years of records to his small printer and handed out the oldest year to Sam, the next year to Dean and kept the most recent year for himself.

They all started reviewing their files. Lex could hear Dean quietly explaining what they were looking at to Roger, who was asking questions but seemed to be picking it up quickly.

Oddly, Lex didn’t see anything suspicious in his set. He sat back and considered. Could they be wrong? But why else would she have flown to Australia? He’d dated her long enough to know she didn’t have that kind of money. Nor did her family. Her job wouldn’t have sent her, would they? She was just a minor clerk in a huge law office.

He did some checking on the law firm. No, they had no clients in Australia and very few in that part of the world. Certainly not enough to justify taking a clerk. Besides, if they had taken her, it wouldn’t have been on her personal credit card.

“I may have something,” Dean said.

“Same here,” Sam added.

Lex’s head shot up. “What? Because I got nothing over here.”

“I’ve got monthly payments of $1200 all year,” Dean said. “And a bonus payment of $20K in August of last year.”

Lex tamped down his rage. One, it wouldn’t do any good. Two, it would probably awaken Griff, and he needed to sleep. “That was the month she and Natalie framed me. Sounds like a payment for that.”

“But the frame didn’t work,” Dean pointed out.

“What was the date?” Lex asked.

“August 13.”

Lex nodded. “Yeah, about a week before. So, she’s a bitch but smart enough to ask for it in advance.”

“Huh,” Dean said. “That makes sense then.”

“What about you, Sam?” Lex asked.

“Similar but smaller amounts. Only $800 a month for the prior year.”

“Maybe paid a retainer for that year and they increased it the year they wanted her to frame you?”

Lex assumed that comment had come from Dean or Sam, but then he blinked when he realized it had been…Roger? This everyone sounding alike had its drawbacks.

Everyone looked at Roger.

“What?” he asked. “I was idle. Not stupid.”

“Okay, fair,” Lex said. “And that’s a good thought. Makes a lot of sense.”

Roger again. “Then when they she failed with the frame, they took her off retainer, which is why you didn’t find anything, Lex?”

“Also makes sense.”

“Which begs the question,” Sam said. “Why is she back now?”

“That’s what I need to find out,” Lex said, typing on his laptop again. The next step was to check her phone records and see if she had any unusual calls in the last couple of months.

He quickly determined that she hadn’t changed her number, which made it easier. A few minutes, and he was in her records. He scrolled down the list. Phone number searches were harder now that everyone had cell phones and kept their number when they moved. Like that 919 number, a Durham, NC exchange? It didn’t mean the person was from North Carolina. Of course, he looked for international calls, but there weren’t any.

So, time for process of elimination. First there were a bunch of calls to and from New Jersey. He thought he remembered she had a sister there. Looking up that number confirmed it was the sister. There were also a lot of calls to a 703 (Northern Virginia) exchange, which proved to be a pizza delivery place. While it was remotely possible it wasn’t a real pizza delivery place, he thought it unlikely. On the other hand, Roger was supposed to eat, and Lex was getting hungry. Bonus, the hotel was in their delivery range.

“Anyone up for pizza?”

Roger said “Yes” faster than anyone.

“Cool,” Lex read out the number. “Call them and order something.” Dean copied down the phone number along with Lex’s credit card number.

He let Dean coordinate toppings while he moved on to the next set of numbers.

It took until the pizza was delivered, but he sorted through most of the numbers, with some help from Dean, once he learned what Lex had been doing. Sam and Roger flipped through the channels on the in-suite TV and argued good-naturedly over what to watch. They finally settled on Speed 2 which Lex had seen before and was able to tune out.

He and Dean narrowed the list down to three numbers, all of them cell phones, and, they suspected, burner phones.

“What now?” Dean asked, just as a knock came at the door.

“Assuming that’s the pizza guy, we eat pizza while I contemplate the next move.”

Lex walked to the door, keeping to one side. It was unlikely the knock was anything other than their dinner, but, after seeing Olivia and still knowing too little about Roger, he wasn’t taking chances. Peering through the peephole, he saw a guy in a paper hat, carrying four pizza boxes.

He opened the door, paid the man and brought the pizza in.

Roger, Dean and Sam descended on it.

“Hey, save some for me, Bill and Griff!”

Dean pushed aside a box.

“Such generosity,” Lex grumbled as he went to their room to wake up Griff. They’d figure out the phone numbers after they ate.

Chapter Text

Griff felt a hand on his back, and almost startled awake but then realized it was Lex.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Pizza’s here,” came the gentle voice in his ear. “And if you don’t get out there soon, Dean’s going to have given it all to Roger.”

Griff let himself lie there for a moment, eyes closed, comfortable on his stomach, letting Lex’s words wash over him.

“He’s getting all protective pretty much right away. When you and Bill figure out how to link them, Roger’s got it made.”

His sleepy haze vanished, dispelled by remembering how difficult and exhausting what he’d tried to do with Bill was. He rolled over. Lex was sitting on the bed beside him, one hand on his back, which he shifted to Griff’s chest as he rolled.

“When may be overly optimistic.”

Lex leaned down to give him a lingering kiss. “You’ll figure it out. I have confidence in you.”

Griff could feel that calm assurance down their connection, and he took strength from it.

“Which reminds me,” Lex added. “I just married you, and you’re still worried I don’t want you?”

Griff had known this was coming. “I know. My stupid brain lies to me.”

Lex gave him another kiss. “Yeah, it does. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Griff let himself enjoy the kiss until Lex pulled back with, “But for now, pizza?”

Griff yawned and stretched, noting Lex’s eyes following the movement. His new husband had an appreciative smile.

“If there’s no pizza left, you’ll have to take me out to dinner. Someplace nice. We did just get married, and I haven’t gotten any of my marital rights met yet.”

Lex lay down on top of him, kissing him thoroughly. That was nice, and Griff enjoyed making out for a few minutes.

“However,” Lex said, pulling back again.

Griff frowned, and Lex laughed. “None of that. As much as I would love to stay here and let you make sweet…” His expression grew contemplative “Or rough love to me. I’m not particular. Anyway, if we stay in here too much longer, we are going to be in for a lot of locker room teasing.”

Griff sighed and started to sit up. Lex moved to allow him. “I guess you’re right. But, damn. I wish we were at the cabin right now.”

Lex gave him one more kiss. “Oh yes, husband. That’s exactly where I want to be. Under you.”

Griff gave him a quick smile. “Or bottoming on top?”

Lex laughed. “I’ve created a monster. Okay, yes, that would be good too.”

They got up and walked into the main area, arms around each other. As they opened the door, Sam glanced up from the piece of pizza he was stuffing in his mouth. He shot them a grin and a raised eyebrow in question.

“Hell, no. We’d have been a lot longer if that had been the case,” Lex said with a grin.

Bill nearly choked on his pizza. Dean shook his head, an almost smile playing about his lips. Roger just looked vaguely confused.

“If you didn’t save any for us, I’m kicking you all out,” Lex said, making a beeline for the closed pizza box nearly falling off the edge of the table.

“That one’s yours,” Sam said. “Anchovies and pineapple.”

Griff opened the box to reveal something with a lot of meat on it but not a single anchovy. “Hey! I like anchovies.”

Lex pulled a face. “He does too. It’s disgusting.”

Everyone had a laugh while Lex and Griff grabbed their pizza and sat down on the floor by the low table, positioning themselves to lean against Bill and Sam’s legs. Lex hooked one arm behind Bill’s and leaned against him. 

Griff noticed that Bill still looked tired. His posture was slumped, and his eyes didn’t seem to open quite all the way. He understood. That was basically how he was feeling. It appeared they were going to need to practice quite a bit to figure out how to combine their abilities and help Roger, assuming they could make it work.

But until then, he wondered if Lex had discovered anything about Olivia and asked.

“Yeah,” Lex said, quickly swallowing a mouthful of food, using his tongue to “rescue” a string of cheese trying to escape. “Dean, Sam and Roger helped me look at her financials. Looks like she was being paid to frame me last year.”

Griff’s hand moved to Lex’s shoulder without him even thinking about it.

“Just before the pizza came, I was looking at her phone records to try and figure out who she’s working for now. Because I can’t believe she was outside the chapel by random chance.”

Griff took a bite of his pizza and nodded. “I agree. The timing was suspicious.”

“But what if it wasn’t you?” Bill asked.

“What do you mean?” Griff asked.

“What if it was Roger?”

Griff rocked back against Sam’s legs. He hadn’t thought about that. From the expression on Lex’s face, it hadn’t occurred to him either.

“I mean, think about it,” Bill continued. “Yes, you guys got married. But Olivia hasn’t bothered either of you since you got together, right?”

“Right,” Griff said, still trying to fit the new possibility to the existing information.

“Then Roger showed up. That was new.”

“He’s right, Griff,” Lex said. From his tone, he was obviously unhappy about it. “I mean, I assumed she was there for me or maybe you. But what if she wasn’t?”

“But why would she be interested in me?” Roger’s face was a mask of confusion.

“That’s an excellent question,” Lex said.

Dean suddenly had a contemplative look on his face, and Griff caught an echo of his emotion.

“Dean?”

Dean held up a hand, obviously needing a moment to work something through. Griff ate another slice of pizza. The nap followed by food was starting to make him feel human again.

Finally, Dean said, “I just remembered something I overheard a while ago. Karl didn’t let me sit in on many meetings with the rest of the cabal members, but he wasn’t always diligent about not taking phone calls in my presence. I know that they had you two under surveillance, Griff and Lex. It wouldn’t surprise me if Olivia had been one of those observers. And they had others under observation as well. But they sometimes talked about one ‘they could not get to.’ I remember overhearing that the one they were concerned about was ‘rich and always in the company of others.’ Maybe that was you, Roger?”

Griff finished his pizza and glanced at Lex, who was nodding. “That could be,” the hacker said.

“And then they were able to follow you, Roger, once you left New York to go to Tupelo to do…whatever you were doing.”

Griff was amused that Dean had avoided mentioning “demons.”

“So maybe you’ve been followed by a series of watchers as you traveled here?” Bill asked.

“But why wouldn’t they just pick him up?” Sam asked. “Why go to all this trouble?”

“Because they didn’t know what to do with him?” Dean was still speaking slowly, as if he were still trying to work it out. “Assuming they knew his buffer was dead, they would know he wasn’t suitable for transfer.”

“So why would they want him enough to follow him?” Bill asked. “And who was monitoring him? You all took down the cell here and in the Midwest.”

“There could be a cell on the West Coast,” Griff pointed out.

Griff felt a surge of disgust from Dean. From the way Bill and even Roger straightened, he assumed they had felt it also. “Dean? What?”

Dean was shaking, in rage, Griff thought. He realized he’d never seen the gentle man angry before.

“I think I know what they want.” His tone was flat.

Roger put an arm around Dean, a reversal of the interaction between them so far today. “What, Dean? What do they want?” His tone was as soft and gentle as Dean’s had been flat and cold.

Bill stood up and walked over to bookend the other side of Dean. Griff shifted to hook an arm behind Sam’s legs. 

“They can’t use you for transference. But there is still one thing they could use you for.”

Griff got it. From the reaction he felt from Lex, so did his partner.

Lex confirmed it when he said “Breeding. They want to use him to start the next generation.”

The room went silent as all six of them contemplated that. Bill tightened his grip on Dean.

“I think so,” was all Dean said.

“But that still begs the question of who?” Bill insisted. “Oh, don’t all of you look at me like that. Yes, I’m horrified too. But horror doesn’t get us to answers. If we want to protect Roger, we still need to know who is, presumably, paying Olivia to follow him. And that all assumes we’re right about what is happening.”

“He’s right,” Griff said with a grimace. The three slices of pizza he’d eaten sat heavily in his stomach.

Lex shrugged. “So, we follow Olivia. Find out who she’s talking to. Monitor her phone calls.”

Bill straightened on hearing that last. “Not sure you have probable cause for that last one.”

Griff shook his head. “Don’t even try, Bill.”

“But…”

“Seriously, don’t even try.”

“And I can get authorization anyway,” Lex put in.

“Because your boss loves you and will let you get away with just about anything!” Bill protested.

“That,” Griff agreed. “And the fact that he’s been itching to do something to Olivia for over a year now. Give it up, Bill.”

Sam stood up to hand Bill another piece of pizza. The deputy “humphed” but took it and ate it.

Roger looked at each of them in turn. “Isn’t what you’re talking about illegal?”

Bill waved a see he agrees with me hand at Roger.

“Yes,” Dean said. “And I know all the arguments that the ends don’t justify the means, but, assuming, we are right, we need to use everything at our disposal to figure this out. Because they won’t hesitate to use every dirty trick at their disposal.”

As they argued the point, Lex was pulling out his phone, and Griff knew he was calling Joshua.

Everything went silent as Lex filled his boss in on what they suspected. The hacker nodded his way though Joshua’s side of the conversation and ended the call with “Of course we will. And thank you. I’ll let you know if we need Stiles to help with surveillance.”

 He disconnected the call with an air of triumph. “He’ll get the okay from Gage, but he’s pretty sure we’ll get the green light for it.”

Bill was shaking his head. “I don’t like it.”

“But will you help us?” Griff asked.

Bill shrugged. “Of course. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean I don’t see the reason for it. If they’re trying to get Roger for some sort of breeding project, it means none of us are really safe. I see the need to take down all of these people. I’d prefer not to need to keep looking over my shoulder all my life.”

“Thank you. So, we need to come up with a schedule, I guess?” Griff said. “Lex, you know where Olivia lives and works, I assume.”

“Of course.”

Griff checked the time. Nearly midnight. It had been a long day. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but Lex and I got up at the asscrack of dawn this morning for a wedding.” It suddenly hit him how much had happened since then. And how, damn it, he still wasn’t going to get his honeymoon for who knew how long.

“Yeah, sorry about that, partner,” Lex said, laying his head on Griff’s shoulder.

Griff leaned over to plant a small kiss on the top of his head. “Ah, well. It could have been worse. We could have noticed her lurking outside the church, and I’d probably be in jail right now.”

Lex lifted his head to grin at him.

“Why jail?” Roger asked.

“Because my husband would have, at best, punched her to next week. At worst, found a gun and shot her lying ass.” His tone made it clear which one he preferred.

Griff smiled back at him. “Pretty much, yes. Anyway, how about we all get some sleep and decide who’s going to follow her in the morning?”

“Plus, you and I need to try that working together thing again,” Bill said.

“That too.”

They quickly cleaned up the remains of pizza, said goodnight to each other and went to their respective rooms.

“Hey, newlyweds,” Sam called over his shoulder as he and Bill started for their room. “Keep it down in there.”

Without even turning around, Griff flipped him off and followed his new husband into their room. Just because they were delaying the honeymoon didn’t mean he couldn’t make love to Lex for the first time as husband and husband.

***

Lex led Griff into the bedroom. He was suddenly shy. Not that he and Griff hadn’t had a very active sex life, and a piece of paper and a ceremony didn’t really change anything. But somehow it was as if it had changed everything.

Griff tugged his hand, turning him around. There was just enough light coming in from the outside to make out his expression. Wonder. Awe. Love. Griff’s hands settled, warm and comforting, on his hips.

“Hey,” Griff said, the word barely above a whisper.

“Hey,” Lex said back, knowing there were bigger, better words, but he couldn’t think of what they were at that moment.

Griff leaned in to kiss him, and Lex melted into it. This never got old. Griff was the best kisser he’d ever been with. Olivia had been crazy in bed, but she’d never been the best at kissing.

Griff pulled back and rested his forehead on Lex’s. “None of that. Don’t think about her.”

“Sorry. With everything today.”

“Yeah, I know.” Griff pulled back to look at him, and his hand moved, causing the ring to glint in the reflected light from the window. Lex was suddenly aware of the cool metal encircling his finger.

Griff smiled at him. “You know what?”

“What?”

“When I saw you in that tux today? I almost had an embarrassing moment at the altar.”

Lex smiled back. “Yeah. Same here when I saw you in yours. That was…something else.”

Griff’s gaze dropped to the floor.

“What?”

“When I saw you in that tux, all I could think about was taking it off of you tonight. And now I can’t.”

Lex’s smile grew wider. “Well…”

Griff’s eyes shot back up to fix his. “What?”

Lex reached out, just able to touch his suitcase. He started unzipping it. “You know when we went to pack our bags and you went into the bathroom for a minute?”

“Yes?” Hope was heavy in his voice.

Lex finished unzipping the suitcase, revealing shimmering white.

“You packed it?”

“Yeah. I kinda hoped, maybe, you’d want to take it off of me.”

Griff nudged him closer to the suitcase. “Yes. I want.”

Lex hated to let go of Griff, but if he was going to put on the tux, he had to. “Give me a minute.”

“For this, I’ll wait.”

Lex picked up the various pieces of the tux and went into the bathroom, where he put them on. It had been easier with Terri’s help, but he figured it was coming off soon enough and if it wasn’t perfect, he doubted Griff would object too much. He struggled a bit with the bow tie, and it was crooked, but he finally decided it was good enough.

He stepped out of the bedroom. Griff was sitting on the bed, and his head came up as soon as Lex opened the door. He forgot about worrying about whether his tie was straight or not. The love and awe in Griff’s eyes overshadowed everything.

Griff stood up and came over to him, reaching out with shaking fingers to lightly stroke down the front of the tux. “Wow. It’s even better than I remembered.”

“We’ve got barely any light. How can you even see it?”

“Oh, I can see it. Trust me.”

Griff pulled him in for a hug, and Lex noticed his husband was very much in the mood. He would definitely need to remember to bring this on the honeymoon when they finally got to it.

“I love you, Lex.”

Lex hugged him back and lay his head on Griff’s shoulder. “I love you, Griff.”

Griff pulled back and began to undo the bow tie. “I almost hate to take this off of you.”

“Well, if you really want to try with it on me…” Lex said with a small laugh.

Griff’s expression made it clear he was considering it, but he finally shook his head. “No. Tonight I want you naked on this bed.”

Lex gave a little shiver, and he hardened. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Griff slid his hand across the jacket, down to and over the tails. “Okay. I see now why you got rid of all my short jackets.”

Lex chuckled. “Yeah. Long ones are much better.”

Griff slid the jacket off, laying it reverentially on the bed. Then he started unbuttoning the waistcoat. Lex closed his eyes and just felt strong fingers moving over him. He wanted to be naked right now but he also wanted this to last forever.

“So gorgeous,” Griff breathed against his neck as he nibbled at Lex’s collarbone.

Waistcoat and shirt were laid aside, and Lex stood there, chest bare. Griff paused in his undressing to kiss his way down one side and up the other. Lex shivered, and his knees started to go weak. “Might need to sit down in a minute, Griff.”

Chuckling, Griff started unfastening the trousers. “Let me get these off first.” He slid them down off Lex’s hips. “Ah. Didn’t follow my advice to Roger.”

“You know you love it.” Then he gasped as Griff’s lips ghosted over him. “Fuck. That’s good.”

“Fucking was what I had in mind, yes.”

Lex hadn’t bothered with socks or shoes, so as soon as Griff removed the trousers, Lex was naked, cock hard and erect against his stomach. “I want you in me, Griff.”

Griff stood up, his pupils dilated. “Yeah. I want that too. Did you pack the lube?”

“Of course. Give me a minute.” Lex turned to walk into the bathroom. He could feel Griff’s gaze, hot and heavy on his back.

***

Griff watched Lex go, transfixed. It wasn’t like he’d never undressed Lex or seen him naked before, but something about this time was different. His new husband had never seemed so handsome or desirable before.

Lex came back with a bottle, which he tossed to Griff. He caught it reflexively. Lex also had a towel, which he laid on the bed. “Don’t want to sleep in a wet spot tonight.”

“Good idea.” Griff put the bottle down on the bedside table.

“You are still dressed.”

Griff turned. “It won’t be as much fun as undressing you, but…” He spread his arms. “Have at it.”

“I will. And you better remember to pack your tux for the honeymoon. I wanted to undress you as much as you wanted to undress me.”

Griff suddenly felt bad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think of it.”

Lex leaned in to kiss him. “It’s fine. The anticipation will make it even better.”

Griff was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Lex slowly drew the hem of the shirt out of his jeans and rucked it up slowly, kissing his way up Griff’s chest as he lifted the shirt. A skilled tongue circled around each nipple, and Griff shuddered at the sensation.

“I guess I’d better be careful. Don’t want you to come too soon.”

“Nope.” Griff managed to get out the one word. He definitely wanted to be inside his husband, but that felt awfully good too.

Lex removed the t-shirt and tossed it aside, treating it with less reverence than Griff had taken with the tux, which still lay, shining with a pearlescent glow, on the end of the king bed. Lex paused the undressing to kiss him, which Griff eagerly returned.

Lex then dropped to his knees and unzipped Griff’s jeans. “Aw. You did follow your suggestion to Roger.” His fingers worked Griff out of his boxers, and he groaned at his lover’s clever fingers.

“Was saving it for you. Didn’t want any of them to get too jealous.”

Lex laughed, his breath making Griff shiver. He took him in his mouth, and Griff groaned at the sensation.

Lex pulled off. “Now I get noise from you? When we have to be quiet?”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” Lex resumed his work, and Griff finally had to sit down, hoping the bed was there to catch him. Lex just hummed around him and continued.

As the sensation and pleasure crested in him, Griff said, “Again. Better be careful if you still want me in you.”

Lex made an almost unhappy sound but pulled off, kissing his way up Griff, while avoiding the truly sensitive areas on his path. “All right.”

Griff pulled him in for a quick hug. “We’ve got plenty of time for that. You’re mine now. Remember?”

“Definitely.”

Lex crawled on the bed. “You want to prep or watch?”

Griff had to actually consider that for a moment. He loved watching Lex prep himself, but he thought tonight he wanted to be the one to make his husband squirm in all the right ways.

“Lie down,” he said, reaching for the lube on the bedside table.

“As you wish,” Lex said, lying on his front, legs spread to give Griff easy access.

Griff lay down on the bed, slicking up his finger. He’d gotten considerably better at this since his awkward first time. Lex was so responsive and always made the most delightful sounds. Griff wished he could let go like that, but he just couldn’t. Fortunately, Lex didn’t seem to hold it against him.

He inserted one finger so very slowly. At the same time, he licked around individual vertebrae on Lex’s back. Lex whimpered. “God, you’re going to torture me, aren’t you?”

“That was the plan, yes.”

“Oh, man. But what a way to go.”

Griff smiled and circled another vertebra. He wanted to try something, and truthfully, he was getting up the courage. Finally, he told himself to just man up and do it. He twisted something inside his mind, not sure how else to describe it, even to himself.

It must have worked because Lex arched under him. “Fuck, Griff. What was that? ”

Griff was distracted from answering by the odd twin sensations he was experiencing. A part of himself was feeling his finger inside Lex. Another was feeling his finger in himself. He reached and stroked Lex’s prostate. Ah, yes. That was very good.

He finally found words. “You like?”

“Yeah, I like,” Lex’s words had a hitch to them as he ground into the bed under him. “But not gonna last long.”

Griff concentrated for a moment and managed to dial back the intensity a bit.

“No! Didn’t say stop.”

He adjusted it again, managing to slide in a second finger at the same time.

“Yeah. Like that.”

Griff wasn’t sure if Lex was referring to the twinned sensations or the finger, but he supposed it didn’t matter.

It didn’t take long to get Lex ready after that, though. Being able to feel it from both sides made it easier to figure what needed to be done. By the time he had three fingers in, Lex had grabbed a pillow and was using it to muffle the little whimpering noises he was making.

“This year, Griff?”

Griff smiled, caressed Lex one more time, pulling a hastily muffled moan from him before removing his fingers and lubing up his cock. It would probably be a bad idea to make Lex yell, under the circumstances.

He entered slowly, using his connection to Lex to guide his movements. He wondered why he’d been so shy to try this before. Lex was pressing back against him. “Harder, damn it. I don’t break.”

Griff increased his pace, finding a good rhythm. Lex met him thrust for thrust. Griff reached around and gripped Lex’s cock, stroking it in time with their movements.

Right then he figured out something he could do with his ability, and he followed his instincts to do it.

Time seemed to slow for him, and he supposed for Lex too. It was like they could keep on like this forever. He never wanted to leave Lex, and he could feel that Lex wanted the same thing.

He heard a hitching near sob from Lex and dialed things back a bit. Right. It was possible to overdo this.

“Sorry. It was just…”

Griff kissed his back. “It’s fine. It’s new to me too.”

He wasn’t sure how long they kept it up, feeling his own pleasure mingled with the echoes of Lex’s. However, he was only mortal, and eventually, he felt his balls draw up close to his body. Lex spasmed around him, and Griff let go, spilling himself into his husband. The doubled sensation was so good and almost too much at the same time.

He collapsed on Lex’s back, feeling his lover’s harsh breaths moving him up and down.

“Griff?”

“Yeah. You liked it?”

“Fuck yeah. Can we do that again sometime?”

Griff was more tired than he usually would be, even after a round of really great sex, which this had definitely been. “Yeah. I think so. Not every time, though.” A headache threatened. “I think I strained something again.”

Lex shifted to ball up the towel and toss it on the floor. He pulled Griff to his chest. “Gotta stop doing that. Don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Griff sighed and settled on Lex’s chest, inhaling his scent. “Yeah. But that was worth it.”

“I’ll say.”

“Love you, Lex.” He just had to say it again.

“Love you too, Griff. Thanks for asking me to marry you.”

Griff gave a tired little chuckle. “You were the one who asked and made it stick.”

Lex kissed the top of his head. “True. But you asked first.”

“Okay. We’ll go with that.”

After a few minutes, they maneuvered to get under the blankets, Lex spooning him.

“Fuck,” Lex said, just as Griff was starting to drift off.

“Wha?”

“Hang on.”

Lex got up and Griff made a sleepy sound of protest. He wanted Lex’s warmth at his back.

Lex came back and settled against him. Griff felt something soft against his chest, and he smiled. “Right.”

“Can’t have a proper wedding night without him.”

“Sure,” Griff said, as he gripped both Lex’s hand and the soft bunny.

Now that they were married, he supposed he should admit to the name he’d given it.

Before he could do any more with that thought, he was asleep.

Chapter Text

Lex awoke the next morning, still curled against Griff, their legs entwined. He smiled, remembering last night. It hadn’t been what he’d expected their wedding night to be like, but it had been very good. He still wasn’t sure what Griff had done, but, assuming they could do it without hurting Griff, he wanted to try it again. Feeling both his pleasure and Griff’s had been amazing.

Griff shifted against him, pressing his ass against Lex. He felt himself harden. Yeah, that would be a good way to start their first full day of married life. He extricated himself from the tangle of Griff’s legs and ducked under the blankets.

“And good morning to you, Lex,” he heard as he took Griff in his mouth and worked him to full hardness. He knew he was good at this, and he took his time, making sure Griff was well satisfied.

Griff returned the favor, and afterwards, they lay together, Lex with his head on Griff’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

“That was a nice way to wake up.”

Lex smiled. “Thought you’d like it.”

He felt Griff fumble around for something. A moment later, there was a bunny pressed against his back.

“I can’t believe you haven’t named him yet.”

Griff’s hand, which had been stroking through his hair, stilled.

Lex went up on one elbow. “So, you have named him. When were you going to get around to telling me?”

Griff’s face went completely red, redder than Lex could ever remember seeing. “Uh…”

Lex laughed. “Right. Never. I see how it is.”

Griff shook his head frantically. “No. I was going to tell you. I mean, now that we’re married and all. You won’t divorce me over it will you?”

Lex blinked at him. “After everything we’ve been through? Not to mention the fact that we’re…you know…bonded, linked or whatever? You think a bunny would do it? The bunny I bought for you?”

The red didn’t leave Griff’s face, but he took a deep breath, swallowed and said, “Rex.”

Warmth flooded Lex’s entire body. “You named him something that rhymes with my name?”

“Yes?”

Lex surged forward to hug him, hard. “You idiot. How long ago did you name him?”

“Months ago.”

Lex frowned. “Wait. Before Sam and Bill?” He was careful how he referred to it. He really thought of it as before Pete, but he didn’t want to kill the mood.

“Yeah.”

“So when I asked if you’d named him, you lied to me?” He let his voice sound mock-angry. “Is this what we’re basing our relationship on?”

He hoped Griff would take it as teasing—sometimes he took things too seriously--, but this time his husband grinned at him. “This coming from the CIA agent? You lie professionally.”

“Says the man who is now an agent too?” He tackled Griff to the bed and tickled his ribs. Griff laughed and rolled him over—the older man was still stronger—and tickled him back.

Lex laughed and managed to wriggle out from under him. He tried to figure out if he was up for another round, but, sadly, he wasn’t a teenager anymore. Griff could make him forget that some days, but apparently today refractory period was a thing.

Griff followed him and pulled him in for a hug. They collapsed on the bed for several minutes, until Lex sighed. “As much as I’m enjoying this, we do have things to do. We need to do something about Olivia, and you and Bill need to practice, or whatever, to help Roger.”

Griff pulled him close for a long minute before letting go with a reluctant, “You’re right.”

They got out of bed and showered together. Griff kissed him under the warm spray, and Lex tried again to convince his body, but nope. Not going to happen.

Griff kissed the back of his neck, holding him close. “Plenty to time for that later. We’ve got all of our life ahead of us.”

Lex smiled and turned the ring on Griff’s finger. “Yeah, we do.”

They dried each other off and dressed, both in nondescript clothes that would blend in on a city street.

Even though they had taken their time, it was still early, and when they emerged into the common area, only Dean was awake. He was doing something on his computer and glanced up as they came out, arms around each other. “A good wedding night?” Something almost like humor lurked in the depth of his golden eyes.

“Oh shit,” Griff said. “Were we that loud?”

Dean shook his head. “No. I don’t know what you did exactly, but I got some bleed back from it.” An almost smile played around his lips. “It was a bit distracting.”

While Lex was usually okay with risqué jokes and the like, this went beyond that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

Griff’s apology tumbled over his.

Dean waved them off. “I was able to block it out. Although…” His eyes glittered. “I did need to…uh…”

Lex felt blood rise in his face. “Yeah. We get the picture. We’ll be more careful. So sorry.”

“Do you suppose the others?” Griff’s eyes cut over to Bill and Sam’s room.

Dean shook his head. “I doubt it. I’ve spent more time with you than they have. That does create an affinity.”

Lex certainly hoped so. Dean was one thing. But if Sam had felt the bleed back? Oh, he’d never let them live that down!

In an attempt to change the subject, he asked, “Hungry? I can order room service for all of us.”

“I am,” Dean said. “And I’m sure Roger is too.”

“He’s not up yet?” Griff asked.

Dean shook his head. “No. He had a rough night. I want to let him sleep.”

Lex considered asking for more information when Sam and Bill staggered from their room. Bill was reasonably pulled together, but Sam’s hair was going in every direction, and his eyes were only half open.

Griff nudged him and raised an eyebrow. Lex followed his gaze and swallowed a giggle. Sam was wearing jeans, but they weren’t zipped. He wished Roger were present to get a sort of revenge for yesterday.

“Dude,” Bill said. “Zip yourself up. Chipper and Cheery over there are about to make a smart comment.”

Sam groaned, reached down to zip himself up and then continued his ragged path to the coffee maker. “How are they so damn awake?”

Bill coughed and hid a sudden grin.

“Oh right,” Sam tried to rip the plastic off a disposable mug. “Newlyweds. Morning sex is better than coffee.”

“How would you know?” Bill asked. “It’s not like you’re getting any right now.”

Sam flipped off his twin and poured coffee. “Kim’s coming around to the idea.”

“I’m going to fight you for her.”

Griff and Lex rolled their eyes at each other and left them to their bickering. “What are you up to, Dean?” Lex asked, noticing that their remaining twin hadn’t looked up from his computer during the exchange.

“I think I’ve traced the burner phones.”

“Really?” Lex hurried over to look, screeching to a halt as he realized Dean might not like someone looking over his shoulder.

Dean waved him on the rest of the way. “I don’t mind. Take a look and tell me what you think?”

Lex watched as Dean walked him through what he’d done. It made sense to him. “So that second number isn’t a burner at all.”

“No. I think it’s a friend or maybe a family member. It’s definitely a pay as you go phone, but it’s been active too long to be a burner.”

“But the other two. Looks like we got lucky with them.”

“Yes, I believe they are both used by the same person because they have both been in proximity to this phone.” Dean pointed at a number on the screen.

“And you know who that number belongs to?" Lex asked.

“It wasn’t easy. I had to do some digging in a database I shouldn’t have been in.”

Lex snorted. “You shouldn’t have been doing any of this.”

He realized Bill and Sam were both standing nearby. Their expressions were solemn. All joking had been set aside.

“True, but this was particularly problematic.”

“Why?” Bill asked.

“Because this number belongs to someone who has diplomatic immunity.” Dean’s voice was flat.

Lex hissed in a breath. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. It belongs to the Deputy Head of Mission for the Australian Embassy.”

Lex sat down hard on the couch, too stunned to even be concerned about what would have happened if the furniture hadn’t been there. Sure, it had been looking like Olivia and Natalie hadn’t met by accident. There had been those three trips to Australia. But to get confirmation that she was still working with a foreign national? Shit. Were those two women ever going to be out of his life?

Griff sat beside him. Bill flopped down on his other side, and both of them put arms around him. Sam went to sit beside Dean. “It’s not like we weren’t pretty sure that’s who she was working for,” Griff said, running a hand soothingly down his arm.

“I know,” Lex said. “But if we’re right, and she’s not after me this time, then what is the interest in Roger?”

“Guess we have to follow Olivia, see who she talks to and find out,” Griff said reasonably.

“Yeah.”

A knock sounded at the door. Bill stood up to put Sam behind him. Griff hastily covered Dean. Lex, however, started giggling, a bit hysterically. “Uh, guys. I did order room service.”

Griff huffed out a breath and relaxed. He nodded at Bill who went to check the door. A moment later, he opened it, and a staff member rolled a large cart inside. Lex signed the bill and left a healthy tip.

“Guess we’re all a little on edge,” Bill said after the man had left.

“Yeah,” Griff said as he picked up one of the plate covers. “Waffles! Good pick, Lex.”

“Should we get Roger up?” Lex asked.

Dean got up and stretched. “I’ll get him.”

Bill shot Lex an inquiring look.

“Apparently he had a bad night,” Lex said in response.

“Oh.” Bill and Sam both nodded, well accustomed to those. According to Bill, he was doing reasonably well, but he still had nightmares about attacking Jimmy. Only in the dreams, he did more than just punch him a couple of times.

Dean led Roger out while everyone was eating. Bill was telling Sam he’d get diabetes using that much syrup, and Lex kept trying to feed Griff waffles, but he ended up with syrup down his shirt.

Roger’s eyes were barely open, but he dug in eagerly enough. Lex eyed him. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and, now that Lex wasn’t distracted by Griff collapsing, he realized the older man’s ribs were showing.

“So how do we organize this?” Griff was asking. Lex thought he sounded exasperated. 

“What’s wrong?”

Griff started to wave his fork but apparently thought better of it and put it down. “This being tied together thing has its downsides.”

Lex started to say something, but Griff waved him to silence. “I’m not saying I mind it on a day to day basis, but when it comes to now, where we have two things that need doing, it’s inconvenient.”

“How so?” Lex knew he sounded a tiny bit hurt, but he couldn’t help it. This was his first full day of being married.

Griff reached over and hugged him. “We need to follow Olivia and Bill and I need to work on whatever it is that we’re going to call what we’re trying to do. If we could all split up, Lex, you could follow Olivia while Bill and I stay here and work.”

“Or you all take one car. Bill and Griff do their thing in the back. Sam and Lex watch Olivia from the front.”

Once again, everyone seemed surprised that it was Roger who made the suggestion. Although Lex had to stifle a giggle at the inadvertent innuendo he’d made about Bill and Griff doing their thing. At least he hoped it had been inadvertent.

Griff’s hug turned into an awkward pat. “That’s a really good idea, Roger. I guess I’d been too caught up to see the obvious.”

Roger gave a quick nod and then busied himself with his food.

Dean slid over to his computer. “Looks like she’s at work now.”

Bill shot him a glare, and Sam handed him another waffle. Bill frowned at it but poured a small amount of syrup and ate it. Lex and Sam exchanged quick grins.

“Okay, then.” Griff was also smiling at Bill’s ostentatiously small amount of syrup. “Then we finish breakfast and get going?”

“What should I do?” Roger asked.

Dean motioned him over. “You stay with me. I’m going to start teaching you how to hack.”

Lex wasn’t certain that was the best idea, but it would keep them busy. He got up to collect what he’d need for surveillance while Griff went to change his syrup-covered shirt.

***

Sam drove so Bill and Griff could hang in the back seat to practice. Lex, of course, had to have his laptop and phone to do “hacker things” as Griff put it. Sam wasn’t quite sure what “hacker things” were, but he supposed if he hung out with Lex and Dean long enough, he’d figure it out.

He wondered idly if Bill would be willing to move. Not that Sam wanted to live in a big city, but he was enjoying being around all the twins, and he had mixed feelings about going back to Jericho. The six of them were an odd family, but they were starting to feel more like family than anything he’d had, even with Jamal and Frankie. He’d left them in Rocky Road anyway, so other than Bill and the girls he was trying to date, he didn’t really have anything tying him to Jericho.

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to guard his thoughts. Bill was getting good at picking up on what he was thinking, and he wanted to keep this to himself for the moment. If he was going to get Bill to go for it, he’d have to figure out the right approach. His twin loved his small town and would be difficult to budge.

Sam put aside those thoughts for the moment and concentrated on driving. He missed his car—Bill had refused to consider taking enough time off to drive to D.C. from Kansas—and this rental SUV thing had plenty of room but no soul. Also, what was up with the traffic in this city?

“I’d say you get used to it, but I’d be lying,” Griff commented from the back seat.

“Dude. It’s bad enough when Bill does that. But you too?”

“You were projecting pretty loud,” Bill said.

Lex still had his nose stuck in his laptop.

“Hey, Lex. Want to back me up here?”

Lex didn’t even raise his head or pause his typing, “Just wait until Roger figures stuff out. Then there’ll be three of them doing it to us.”

“Not helping!”

“Sorry. It’s the truth. Shit.” Lex reached for his phone and called someone.

In the rear-view mirror, Sam saw both Griff and Bill sit up straighter.

“Dean,” Lex said into the phone. “Olivia’s calling someone.” He rattled off a number. “Can you try to trace it?” A pause. “Yeah. Thanks. Call me when you have something?”

“What was that?” Griff asked.

“I know her routines,” Lex explained. “She wouldn’t usually be calling someone on her cell at this time of the morning. They have some sort of manager’s meeting, and she has to take notes. So it’s odd, and right now, odd with her raises my hackles.”

Sam found a parking place near the building where Olivia worked. It was tight, but he managed to wrangle the SUV into the spot.

Griff handed over a credit card. “You’re lucky to have found this.”

Sam took the card with a puzzled look. “What’s this for?”

Griff pointed at a nearby pay station. “Parking fee. This is for us. We’ll cover it.”

Sam nodded. “Kinda for all of us, but okay.” He got out and paid for two hours, which was the maximum it allowed. “Do we get in trouble if we need to keep feeding it?” 

“No.” Lex still sounded distracted. His phone beeped, and he glanced at it. “Huh. False alarm. Looks like she was calling her doctor.”

Sam knew nothing about this woman, but after listening to the little bit Lex and Griff had said, he realized he’d built up this image of her as a monster. Well, maybe a witch. But certainly not someone who would do something as mundane as make a doctor’s appointment.

“So, we wait?”

“We wait,” Griff said. “Bill? Want to try this thing again?”

“Sure. Let’s try not to pass out again, though.”

Griff laughed. “Yeah. We’ll work on that.”

Sam sighed. Lex hacking. Griff and Bill doing whatever. What did that leave for him? “I suppose I’m keeping watch? Or something?”

“I’m tracking her phone,” Lex said. “But keeping an eye out for her would be good.”

Huffing out an irritated breath, Sam asked, “Maybe a picture? The only thing I’ve seen was a fuzzy blob you assured us was her.”

Lex reached for his phone and flipped through his pictures, seemingly without looking. He handed it over, and Sam quickly memorized her features. He had a good memory for faces, which came in handy as a pastor.

“Hey, wait,” came Griff’s protest from the back. “You still have a picture of her?”

“I never get around to deleting pictures on my phone.” Lex said it as if it should have been obvious.

Sam turned to grin at Bill who nodded back.

Bill lightly touched Griff’s leg. “More work. Less jealousy over old girlfriends. I think Lex has made it pretty plain he’s with you.”

Griff frowned but closed his eyes.

Sam handed the phone back to Lex and stared out the window, idly tapping his fingers on the wheel and being amused when he realized he was tapping the Wedding March. He’d enjoyed the ceremony yesterday, at least until it was interrupted by Roger collapsing. Lex and Griff were obviously well suited for each other.

Although, he wasn’t so sure about whatever Griff was doing with Bill. Yesterday, when he’d felt Bill nearly pass out, he’d freaked out. He hadn’t exactly wanted this connection thing, but now that he had it, he liked it. And he liked Bill. They’d worked things out between them and mostly hassled each other now because it was fun. Bill was like a brother to him, and he’d grown protective. Kind of like Lex and Griff had, but without the sex.

He watched. And got bored. He tried to “listen” to whatever Bill and Griff were doing, but he had a much harder time reading Bill than the reverse. Lex had said he finally sort of got the hang of listening in on Griff but that it was still hit or miss. About all Sam got from Bill was frustration. At least neither of them had passed out yet.

It was almost a relief when Lex straightened. “She’s on the move. In the elevator.”

Sam checked the time. 10:54. Early for lunch.

“Did she use her phone?” Griff sounded a bit tired but alert.

“No. I’m thinking if she’s meeting someone it was pre-arranged or done via text.”

Sam and Bill got out of the rental. Griff moved into the driver’s seat. Lex had given them all earpieces and throat mics, and Sam was feeling very secret agenty.

“It’s not all fun and games,” Bill warned. “Stay alert. We need to make sure she doesn’t notice us.”

“I do know that. It’s not like I’ve never followed anyone before.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” Bill paused, and Sam sensed unease from him. “I hate cities,” Bill finally added.

Sam knew that, which was why he figured the odds of convincing Bill to move were small.

“She’s coming out now,” came Lex’s voice in his ear. “Green jacket. Black skirt. Big brown handbag.”

Sam spotted her easily. She was moving quickly and purposefully, her high heels making a clicking sound Sam could just make out over traffic noises. Bill pulled the brim of his hat down and started after her. Sam pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures before following, several paces behind Bill. Their plan was to leapfrog every couple of blocks, keeping Olivia in sight but hopefully not being spotted. Lex was tracking both their phones in addition to Olivia’s. When they had gone more than five or six blocks from where Lex and Griff had parked, their twins would move the car to keep close by.

But they didn’t need to move. Olivia ducked into a Starbucks just a few blocks from her office. Bill had fallen back to let Sam get ahead of him, and Sam didn’t hesitate. He pulled down the brim of his baseball hat and followed her into the coffee shop.

“Sam! What are you doing?” Bill’s voice hissed in his ear.

“Seeing who she’s meeting with,” he subvocalized back. Lex had gotten them the good toys.

“You’ll get caught,” Bill shot back.

“Sam!” This time it was Griff chiming in.

“I know what I’m doing, guys.” He ignored the triple clamor in his ear—Lex had finally joined in too—and went to the counter to order a drip coffee. The barista handed him his drink, and he walked over to add cream and sugar, keeping his attention on Olivia.

She was sitting at a small table by the window, idly stirring her drink and staring out the window. She didn’t look much like someone about to have a clandestine meeting, and Sam was starting to wonder if they’d gotten it wrong when a man took the seat opposite her.

Sam’s doubts vanished. He was tall with a chiseled jaw and a too-perfect cleft—plastic surgery? His suit was tailored and expensive. What clinched it for Sam was his neat blond hair. Sam couldn’t see his eyes from this angle, but his imagination filled in their arresting blue color.

In other words, the most stereotypical Aryan male he’d ever seen.

The table next to them was free, and Sam took a chance, sliding into the chair, angled so his face was facing away from Olivia. He took out his phone, pretending to scroll Instagram while he listened.

“How could you have lost him? He had walked through the soles of his boots! He could barely walk,” the man was saying, his voice low but intense with anger. He had a slight accent but Sam couldn’t quite place it.

“I didn’t expect him to go into the church,” Olivia shot back, her voice as low but filled with more fear than anger. “How did he even know to go there?”

“Have you paid no attention to what we have told you? He’s a vessel in need of a buffer. There were three of them in the church. That would have drawn in any vessel in his condition.”

Really? They hadn’t known that. Might they be able to use that in the future?

“I forgot that,” Olivia said, sounding contrite.

“We’ll have to draw him away from the others,” the man said.

“Do we know where they are?”

“Not yet. But the hacker will have used his credit card to book a hotel room. His apartment is too small for all of them.”

A chill went through Sam, and he quickly texted Lex. Conceal the electronic trail to the hotel. They are looking for us.

Seconds later, he received On it in return. Good. Lex would know what to do.

“Why do we need to draw him away from the others?” Olivia asked. “Why not just take them all? Breed all six of them?”

The chill was replaced by a vague nausea. They were right about why the cabal wanted Roger. Or did they want all of them? Sam couldn’t help the image that rose in his mind. All six of them, locked up somewhere, being harvested? Could they even do that? He supposed they must be able to, willing or unwilling.

“No. Just Roger. The hacker and his vessel have cost us too much in resources. We’ve been ordered to leave them alone, along with the other three. But apparently there is something special about Roger. He might be the answer to stabilizing the vessel line. He must be recovered at all costs.”

So, the rest of them were safe, but they had extra motivation to get Roger. He’d only just met the man, but he felt almost as protective of him as he did of Bill. They’d never get Roger while he was alive to prevent it.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I’ll contact you when we know where they are. You will scout the hotel so we can plan our approach. They won’t be able to hole up forever. When they come out, we’ll draw Roger away from them and take him.”

“All right.”

The man stood up to leave. Sam sent a hasty text to Bill. He’s coming out. Get his picture if you can.

Olivia gulped down the rest of her drink in one long swallow and stood up to follow her handler, or so Sam supposed him to be. He waited until had walked outside before getting up, tossing his cup in the trash and following her, maintaining a safe distance between them.

As soon as he was outside, he scanned quickly for Bill. He found his twin standing in front of a parking pay station, as if he were adding money. Bill glanced up and hefted his phone with a nod. Sam nodded back. He’d managed to get a picture.

Bill took over the surveillance on Olivia, while Sam stayed back several hundred feet. Not surprisingly, she went straight back to her office. Bill followed her to the large glass door, while Sam broke off for the SUV and climbed into the back. Bill was probably going to kill him, but he knew it had been worth it.

Chapter Text

Griff had expected this round of surveillance to be straightforward. Then Sam had decided to follow Olivia into the Starbucks. Both he and Lex had tensed at the decision and had waited intently for what would happen.

They had barely relaxed when Sam opened the door and scooted over to sit behind Lex.

“You know Bill’s gonna kill you, right?” Lex commented, as continued to do something on his laptop.

“Probably,” Sam agreed. “But I got some good information. As soon as he gets here and chews me out, I’ll share.”

Griff chuckled. “Here he comes. Brace yourself.”

Bill got in the back. “What the fuck were you thinking back there?”

Griff glanced over at Lex, who was hiding a small grin.

“I saw a chance, and I took it. We needed to hear what they were saying, and I got good stuff.”

“It wasn’t worth it! They could have recognized you. How do you know they didn’t, and they just fed you fake information, huh?”

“I knew what I was doing, Bill! I may not be a super deputy like you or a super agent like those two but I’m not useless or helpless either.”

“But it was too risky. We can’t afford to risk any of us right now.”

Griff glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the stubborn look on Sam’s face. “If we just play it safe, they’ll have all the advantages.”

Bill was shaking his head, brows pulled down, mouth pursed, clearly looking to marshall more arguments in favor of Sam staying safe. Griff got it. He felt the same way anytime Lex went on a mission. However, he knew they needed a few minutes to wind down, and he quickly texted Lex, keeping his hands below the sight lines of the men in the back seat.

Still sounding more married than we do!

Lex typed rapidly, and Griff’s phone vibrated in his hand.

You’re not wrong. Hope their girlfriends are ready for that!

Griff stifled a laugh but did give a quick nod.

“All right, you two,” Bill said. “Stop texting notes back and forth. Shouldn’t we be getting back to the hotel?”

Griff was always amused by how bossy Bill could get, but he started the car and pulled out into Arlington traffic, trying to find the right one way street to turn around and get back to Roger and Dean.

“So, what did you learn by risking life and limb, Sam?”

Griff heard the underlying sarcasm in his husband’s tone and hoped it wouldn’t set Bill off again.

Sam filled them in on what he’d learned. Griff shuddered at the confirmation that they wanted Roger for breeding. And that he might be important for stabilizing the line. They would be extra determined to get him.

“But they are leaving the rest of us alone?” Lex asked. “Really?”

“That’s what they said.”

“I think that’s what they want us to think,” Bill insisted. “They made you, like I said.”

Griff’s eyes darted to the rear-view mirror just in time to see Sam shaking his head. “I really don’t think so. I have tailed people before, and I know when I’ve been made. Lex, did you manage to scrub the reservation trail?”

“Sure did,” Lex answered. “Also, I reserved us a room in Old Town with an obvious trail.”

“Why?” Bill asked.

“To distract them. And I think we’ll be able to use it.”

Griff side-eyed Lex. “You’re not thinking about what I think you’re thinking about, are you?”

“Probably. And don’t tell me you weren’t thinking it too.”

Of course he was. But that didn’t mean he liked it,

“Thinking about what?” Sam asked.

“Luring them in with a decoy,” Lex said.

“What!” Sam almost shouted it. “No way. You’re not going to use Roger as bait.”

“Of course not!” Griff said. “I was thinking about me.”

“No,” Bill said. “Me.”

“Again, no!” Sam exclaimed. “Bill, you’re not putting yourself at risk like that! A minute ago you were all ‘let’s not put any of us at risk,’ and now you want to do this? Why do we need to lure them in anyway? Arrest Olivia and get her to turn on the rest.”

“Can’t,” Lex said. “Technically she hasn’t done anything illegal.”

“What? Then why did we track down that money trail?”

Griff was so distracted by Sam’s indignation that he almost ran a red light. Lex placed a calming hand on his thigh.

“We tracked it down,” Lex explained, “to try to figure out what she was up to.”

“But surely the money is illegal.”

Lex shook his head and motioned to his computer. “That’s what I’ve been looking for most of this time. The money is all U. S. based, so we can’t get her for accepting illegal funds from a foreign national.”

“But it’s from an illegal domestic source, right?”

Griff could hear Sam’s determination that this work out neatly. But he’d felt his partner’s emotions while he was working. He was quite sure Lex had been thorough.

“Not that I can tell. It’s probably been laundered, but they did it well. Could I track it down? Maybe. But it’s looking like it would be damn hard to prove.”

“Taxes?” Griff asked.

Lex snorted. “Sure. We can definitely get her for tax evasion, but I know her. She won’t roll over for that. She’d just pay the penalties and move on. Besides, the amounts aren’t that big. We’re not talking Capone level stuff here. It’s barely into six digits.”

Griff nodded. It was what he had expected. A sea of red lights appeared in front of him, and he sighed. Typical lunch traffic.

“So, we lure them into a kidnapping attempt,” Bill said reasonably. “That gives us something to work with.”

“Exactly,” Griff said as he contemplated trying to change lanes. Was the left lane moving faster? “Terri can make me up to look like Roger.” Nope. The left was just as bad. Maybe worse.

“I’m the better choice,” Bill pointed out. “Sam and I still have a longer range than you two.”

“He’s got a point,” Lex said, packing up his laptop.

Griff didn’t like it, but he saw the sense. “Fine. Bill then.”

“Wait!” Sam clearly wasn’t ready to let this go.

“Enough, Sam,” Bill said, his tone firm. “It makes the most sense. We can’t put Roger in danger, and I am the logical choice.”

No one in the car liked it, even if it did make the most sense.

***

Which of course meant that Roger protested.

“No! Absolutely not. I won’t let anyone masquerade as me and put themselves in danger.”

Lex had barely been able to put his computer bag down before Dean had asked for an update. Griff had filled him and Roger in on the surveillance. Sam had marched to his and Bill’s room and closed the door in Bill’s face when he’d tried to follow.

Now Roger was protesting. Lex wondered what had happened. Yesterday they had all been working well together. Now their little family was fracturing. He felt a headache looming.

“Enough,” Griff said. He didn’t raise his voice, but the intensity came through anyway. “Roger. You’re one of us now. We fight for our own.”

“But…”

“No. This goes beyond you.”

Lex stood by his husband, one hand on the small of his back, making clear his support. Bill walked back from the closed door and sat down by Dean.

Griff continued. “These people have already damaged our lives and the lives of all the children who were swapped for us. This goes beyond you, Roger.” He raised his voice to carry through the closed door. “Or you, Sam. We’ll do everything we can to minimize the risk to all of us, but these people must be stopped.”

“You’re sure this isn’t just about that woman framing your husband and you wanting revenge?” Roger asked, his tone heated.

Lex opened his mouth to defend his husband, but Griff touched his shoulder and shook his head. “I’d be lying, Roger, if I said that wasn’t part of it. But, apologies, Lex, it’s only a small part.”

“No apology needed. I could ruin Olivia’s online life if I needed to, but, yeah, this goes beyond that. We’re family. If we don’t stop them, we look over our shoulders the rest of our lives. I don’t want to live like that.”

Roger wasn’t ready to let it go. “But they said they’d leave you all alone. They want me so bad? Let them have me.” He motioned to himself. “I’m not worth much. Not like the rest of you.”

Almost before Roger had finished speaking, Dean grabbed his arm. “No! They aren’t having you.”

Sam opened the door to his room and came back out. “No. I’m not going along with that either.” His gaze dropped to the floor, and he shifted his weight from one leg to another. “I don’t like sending Bill in as bait, but…” He took a deep breath and continued. “Griff and Lex are right. None of us are safe while they’re out there. You didn’t hear how he talked about us. It was like we weren’t human to him. Or to her.”

Lex winced at that last, but he couldn’t deny what Olivia had already done to him and was obviously willing to do in the future.

However, it looked as if their family was pulling back together.

Roger shook his head but finally sighed. “All right. I don’t like it. But all right.”

“Other than making me up to look like Roger, what’s the plan?” Bill asked. Sam walked over to the couch and squeezed in beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

Lex motioned Griff to sit. “I’ve programmed an alert on the second hotel. If anyone traces that transaction, I’ll be notified. That’ll let us know they’ve found it and are getting ready to make a move.”

Griff sat on the large reading chair, and Lex didn’t hesitate, sprawling over his lap. “I think we want it to look like we’re rejecting Roger and telling him to leave. Then they will think they can get him without involving the rest of us.”

“So, you want to manufacture a fight where they’d be likely to see it,” Bill said, leaning forward. “I leave the hotel, looking vulnerable, and lure them in?”

Griff nodded. “Obviously, we have you wired and with a tracking device in case the worst happens. But more likely, Sam and I will tail you.”

“Stiles too,” Lex put in. “We need someone who isn’t tied to one of us.”

“Good point,” Griff agreed. “Stiles is a good choice. If we can catch them in an attempted kidnapping, we’ve got something we can use.”

“Lex, did Bill get a good enough picture of the guy Olivia was meeting with to do a search?” Sam asked.

“I think so. I sent it to Terri.” Lex checked the time on his Apple Watch. “Hopefully, she’ll have something soon.”

“I got a picture of them sitting together,” Bill said. “It’s not great, but it’s enough to prove the connection.”

“That’s good,” Griff said. “We should assume Olivia won’t be in on the kidnapping attempt, so having a way to tie her to the others is vital. I’m hoping she really will be the one to case the hotel. That will give us another tie.”

“Don’t suppose the guy had an Australian accent, Sam?” Dean asked. “Just to make everything neat and wrapped up with a bow.”

“Of course not.” Sam frowned and closed his eyes. “He did have an accent, but I’m not sure what kind. It might have been Australian, but it could also have been British. They sound the same to me.”

Lex and Griff exchanged amused looks.

“What? I’m a Midwestern boy!” Sam protested. “I can tell Iowa from South Dakota from Minnesota.”

“I can tell all those too,” Griff said. “Plus, British from Australian.”

Everyone had a brief laugh, and even Roger joined in, though he still looked unsettled by the plan.

Lex’s phone rang. “Hang on. It’s Terri.” He took the call and listened to her for a minute. “Okay. That’s good. We’re figuring out a plan to deal with them. Can you ask Joshua if we can borrow you and Stiles for a few days? Great. Thanks!”

He disconnected the call and noticed everyone was watching him.

“Terri got a hit on the face?” Griff asked.

“Yes. Steve Williams. He is an Australian national, but he’s been in the States for almost fifteen years.” Lex grinned at Sam. “Which explains why the accent wasn’t very strong.”

Sam rolled his eyes but smiled back.

“He’s apparently good friends with the Deputy Head of Mission, which would explain why a burner phone would be in proximity to hers. I think we can assume the phones were his.”

“What’s he do when he’s not hobnobbing with her?” Dean asked.

“Businessman, apparently deals in oil and coal.”

Sam snorted. “So, an asshole who wants to breed Roger and be responsible for global warming. Yep. Let’s get him.”

Lex was looking over what Terri had sent him. “Seems smart enough. Has stayed out of trouble while he’s been here. No radical associations back home. A few student protests that edged into white supremacy but nothing of real substance.”

“But it might have explained how the cabal recruited him,” Dean pointed out. “That tended to be how they found their foot soldiers. Sometimes they would even organize events from behind the scenes and see who showed up.”

“Other than at the Embassy, any known associates we should know about?” Griff asked.

Lex scanned the rest of the data. “Probably, but I would need some time to sift through this.”

“I can help,” Dean said.

“Sure. Sam? You too? Let Bill and Griff keep doing their thing?”

Sam nodded as Griff handed over his laptop.

“Want me to help you again, Dean?” Roger asked.

“No,” Griff said. “Come with me and Bill into the other room. I want to see if we can figure out where we stick Dean to you.”

Lex couldn’t help laughing.

“What?” Griff’s eyebrows were pulled down and he sounded confused.

Sam and Bill were smiling. Even Dean’s expression was lighter. Roger grinned, and Lex realized it was the first time he’d seen that expression on the older man.

“Play back what you just said and figure it out,” Lex said between laughs.

He watched Griff close his eyes for a moment and then frown. “Oh. Yeah. That was bad, wasn’t it?” He shrugged. “But honestly, I’m not sure what else to call it. Bill and I found something loose in Dean, and we think we need to fasten it to Roger.”

“Let’s go with fasten instead of stick, please,” Dean said. “Leave me and Roger with a bit of dignity.”

Bill stood up and started for his room “Not sure why we’d start that now. Come on, Griff, Roger. Our room’s as good as any to work on this.”

Lex watched Griff and Roger follow Bill before he went back to his computer to start splitting up the information for the other two to help research.

***

Bill and Roger took Bill’s bed, and Griff sat on Sam’s. Apparently, housekeeping had come while they had been tailing Olivia because both beds were made. Or rather Bill’s had been remade. Griff had noticed he had made his bed before they left. Sam, however, had left his a mess and was apparently a restless sleeper. His blankets had been more on the floor than the bed.

“What are we doing, exactly?” Roger asked.

“Griff and I almost had the hang of joining up our ability while we waited for Olivia to leave her office.”

“He exaggerates,” Griff said, moving a pillow behind his back. “I thought I had it once, but only for a second.”

“We didn’t nearly pass out this time.”

“Okay. Fair. Still, hardly where we need to be if we’re going to help you, Roger.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“See if you can sense anything from us while we try,” Griff answered. “If we can manage to keep joined for more than a second then we’ll see if we can figure out where…”

“To stick Dean?” Roger asked with a small smile.

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” Griff sighed but smiled back.

“Definitely not,” Bill said. “That was classically bad.”

“Just give me some idea of what I’m…uh…looking for will you?” Roger said. “I don’t know that I’ve noticed much of this psychic stuff you guys seems to have. I mean, maybe once or twice? But I can’t be sure that was it.”

“You have it,” Griff said. “You wouldn’t be a vessel if you didn’t. We don’t know a lot about how all this shit works, but we do know that bit.”

“Okay. What do I do?”

“Close your eyes,” Bill said, settling back on the bed and doing just that. “It’s easier if your eyes aren’t distracting you. Then sort of…reach out with your…I don’t even know how to put it.”

Griff watched Roger skootch up the bed and lean against the pillows. He closed his eyes, but Griff could see he was tensed up.

“Lay on your stomach for a bit, Roger.” Griff walked over to the other bed. Bill opened his eyes, seemed to concentrate for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. Good idea.”

It was harder for them to read each other than the buffer horde, but Griff knew Bill was getting good at it.

Roger opened his eyes. “What idea?”

“Gonna give you a backrub. Help you relax. This doesn’t work well when you’re tense.”

“He’s right,” Bill said. “If you’re tense, it’s like grabbing at nothing.”

Roger shrugged and repositioned himself on the bed.

“Going to straddle your hips,” Griff said. “Don’t read anything weird into it. It’s just the best position for this.”

Roger nodded. Griff got comfortable and began working his shoulder muscles. This always reminded him of his brother. The memory still hurt but channeling it into something useful usually helped.

The gentle hand Bill placed on his back helped even more.

It took a while, but he finally got Roger’s back muscles loose and pliable. If he concentrated, he could feel his twin’s thoughts smoothing, becoming less jagged and agitated. Finally, he stopped and said, “All right. Let’s try this.”

“Want to try holding hands?” Bill suggested. “Something’s telling me it might help.”

“Sure.” Griff had been about to go back to the other bed but sat back down. Roger sat up between them. They joined hands in a rough circle.

“Close your eyes, and relax,” Bill said. “I find it works best to focus on a spot just above my stomach.”

Griff’s spot was a little higher, just under his breastbone, but he figured Roger needed to start somewhere, and he’d find the right spot eventually. He concentrated, found his spot and reached out. He bumped into Bill, who apparently was reaching out too. Still not sure what they were doing or how, he linked with Bill. Each time it got a little easier. Instead of trying to hold onto a greased water balloon, it was more like a peeled hard-boiled egg.

Once he had as firm a grip as he could, he tried to turn his attention to finding Roger. A part of him insisted his twin was right over there. Just use his eyes. But his eyes weren’t going to solve this problem. A sensation as if someone was pointing over his shoulder crept into his awareness. Was that Bill? Had he found what they were looking for? Griff looked in the direction indicated, and he saw it. It was frustrating because he knew he wasn’t really using his eyes, but it was the only way his brain could process what was happening.

“Uh? I don’t think this is working.”

Griff heard Roger’s voice with his ears and also, somehow, with his brain. It was too loud, and he almost lost his grip on Bill. However, Bill gripped harder, and they stayed joined.

“Don’t talk, Roger,” Bill said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hearing the twin voices of Bill was easier. Griff thought the deputy could have spoken at a normal volume, and it would have been fine. Maybe because they were joined?

Bill nudged him again, and this time he knew it was Bill pointing him toward whatever they had sensed. It was sort of like what he’d noticed from Dean. Sort of like a loose…thread? No. As soon as that word occurred to him, it changed into…the ball of a trailer hitch? He almost giggled, knowing that image must have come from Bill and the trailer he used for his fishing boat.

But having a common image helped. Griff reached out, knowing he and Bill were straining for it together. They almost touched it, but it slid just out of reach. They reached again, and… grabbed it. They had it.

Feedback arced back along the connection. Griff felt every muscle in his body spasm. Pain overwhelmed him, and he passed out.

Chapter Text

Lex was getting frustrated. The three of them had tracked down almost every known associate of Williams. None of them seemed suspicious. Sam couldn’t do the deeper background search Dean and Lex could, but he was doing the high-level stuff from Google, LinkedIn and the like. Dean and Lex were going deeper, but they weren’t finding anything.

“They all seem fine,” Dean said, sounding as frustrated as Lex felt.

“I know. I’ve tracked invoices and payments, and everything checks out.” Lex pushed back his chair and massaged his temples with his fingers. He hoped Griff and the others would finish whatever they were doing soon. He needed another one of his husband’s amazing face massages.

Checking, he noticed the three were still working. He had no idea what they were doing exactly, but Griff felt focused. And maybe triumphant? Had they succeeded?

Pain shot through him. Griff!

Sam gave a muffled half-yelp. Had he felt it too?

All three of them were moving almost at the same time. Dean actually got to the door of the bedroom first, and they barged in.

Bill, Roger and Griff were all lying on one of the two beds in an unconscious heap.

“What happened?” Sam yelled as he slid to a stop beside Bill and shook him.

Lex grabbed onto Griff and pulled his limp body into a tight hug. Dean was doing the same with Roger.

“He’s breathing,” Sam said.

“So is Roger.”

Lex felt his husband’s chest rising and falling against him, the steady thump of his heart reassuring. “Griff too.”

“Did you feel that?” Sam asked, as he lifted Bill and moved him to the other bed before sitting down beside him, holding his hand.

“The pain?” Lex asked, maneuvering to lift Griff.

“Yeah.”

“I did. Dean?”

Dean was lifting Roger, struggling a bit with his weight. “No. I just reacted to Sam’s yell.”

Lex’s desire not to let go of Griff warred with practicality. However, he knew his husband wasn’t injured. Just unconscious. Probably they had just overstrained themselves again. He gave Griff’s hair a quick stroke and lay him back down on the bed. “Here. Let me help you with Roger.”

Sam glanced up with a definite are you crazy? look on his face.

“Roger’s heavy,” Lex said. “Dean’s not as strong as you are.”

Dean started to protest, but Lex waved him off. Between the two of them, they got Roger into the room he shared with Dean and settled on one of the beds. “I’m pretty sure they’re all okay,” Lex said as Dean pulled down the covers and they slid Roger under them. “I think they just overdid it again.”

Dean nodded. “I think you’re right. What did you feel?”

“Pain. A lot of it.”

Dean waved him out of the room. “Go. Get Griff. When they wake up, we’ll figure out what happened.”

Lex didn’t delay and hurried back to Sam and Bill’s room. Sam had gotten Bill under blankets too. “He started shivering.”

Lex picked up Griff, whose skin felt cool to the touch. “We’ll reconvene when they wake up.”

Sam didn’t even respond, all his attention on his twin.

Lex carried Griff to their room, undressed him and got him into bed. Then he climbed in beside him, rolling him on his side and holding him from behind. Griff was shivering, and Lex held him tightly. He knew Griff was deeply unconscious, but he couldn’t help talking to him. “Hey, you. Scared the crap out of me. You really need to stop doing that.”

Griff’s shivering abated, and Lex hoped that meant he was warming up. He thought he was doing the right things for shock. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he let go of Griff just long enough to find Rex, who had fallen off the bed in the night. Lex resettled himself with Rex pressed to Griff’s chest. “There. Rex and I got you.”

He was still amused that Griff had named the rabbit to rhyme with his name.

He worried about all three of the vessels. Bill and Griff were working so hard to figure out a way to link Roger and Dean. “I’m so damn proud of you learning how to use your psychic thing. I know how much you hate it. But you’re working it anyway. Just…stay safe, okay. I love you so much, and I don’t want to lose you.”

Griff shifted against him. “Not goin’ anywhere.”

Relief went through him. “Hey, you’re awake. How do you feel?” He got up on one elbow and kissed the back of Griff’s neck.

“Awful. Head hurts. Feel like someone beat me all over.”

“I think you all may have had seizures.”

Griff struggled to turn over, wincing and squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. “Ugh. Too light in here.”

The curtains were pulled, and it was quite dim, but Lex knew that particular headache from the times he’d gotten blackout drunk. He helped Griff finish his turn and settled him on his chest, stroking his hair, softly so as not to jostle him.

“Bill and Roger okay?”

“We think so. Sam freaked a bit, and I had to help get Roger into his and Dean’s room, but they are both in bed, just like you.”

Griff relaxed at the reassurance. “Good.” His hand moved weakly to one side. Lex smiled, knowing what he was reaching for. He got Rex and handed him to Griff, who gripped him tight against his chest. Apparently admitting the bunny had a name had gotten him over some of his embarrassment about wanting it.

“Did you get anywhere before you knocked your idiot ass out?” Lex knew he was sounding bitter but, considering the scare he’d gotten, he kind of felt justified.

Griff’s hand rose, stroked the nearest thing he could reach—Lex’s stomach—before flopping back down. “I think so.”

Lex waited him out, knowing he was exhausted and having trouble finding words.

“Think I saw where to link them. Now if I could just figure out how. ”

“Not just you. Bill and maybe Roger too. You don’t have to do this one by yourself.”

He felt Griff’s muscles tighten, but he shook his head. “No, husband…” Lex used the word deliberately. “You have help. This isn’t your fight alone.”

“But…”

“No buts. You aren’t responsible for this, and don’t you dare take it on yourself. We’re fixing the mess those people made. And they made a lot of us. So, you don’t have to do it alone.”

Griff relaxed against him. “You’re right.”

“Damn straight I am.”

A sigh huffed against his chest. “I love you.”

Lex tightened his grip. “And I love you. Which is why I’m working so hard at not letting you overdo it and kill yourself.”

“All right. You win. I’ll live.”

Lex barked out a short laugh at that. “Not as funny as you’re thinking it is.”

“No. But I do mean it.”

Lex stretched to kiss his forehead. “See that you do.”

It seemed as if there were a million things left to do, but Lex stubbornly wanted this piece of time with Griff, just the two of them, alone. Well, three if you counted Rex, and, by now, Lex did. He lay there, listening to his husband breathe, feeling the steady beat of his heart against his ribs.

His phone played the opening bars of “Another One Bites the Dust,” and Lex groaned.

Griff jerked a little, and Lex realized he’d drifted off. “What does that mean?”

“They traced the second hotel transaction.”

Griff groaned. “Which means we need to move.”

“Yeah.”

Griff started to get up, but Lex slipped out from under him and lay a hand on his chest, not letting him move. “Wait a bit. Let me get Stiles and Terri over here. We need them to make this work anyway.”

“But they’ll be heading for the hotel. We need to beat them.”

Lex shook his head. “No. Remember. They were going to have Olivia check it out. We’ll know when she moves, and…” He checked the time on his phone and smiled. “It’s the big afternoon meeting where they plan the cases they’re going to focus on the next day. There’s no good way she can get out of that, and she’ll be tied up for at least the next hour. Maybe two. I’m pretty sure we can get across town to the hotel faster than she can.”

“But…”

“What did I say a little bit ago about buts?” He smiled at Griff. “You sleep for a while longer. Dean and I can handle things for now. We’ll get you when Terri and Stiles arrive.”

Actually, if he could get away with it, he’d let Griff sleep until after Bill was made up, but he was pretty sure Sam wouldn’t let him. He’d try, though.

Griff’s body relaxed, and Lex knew he’d already drifted back to sleep.

Good, he’d need it with what was coming.

He kissed Griff and then left the room, pulling the door partially closed behind him, wanting to be able to hear if Griff needed anything.

Dean was already coming out of his room, looking tired and worried. “I heard the alarm. Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Yeah.” Lex had his phone out and was already dialing Joshua. “We need Terri and Stiles. The cabal found the second hotel.”

“They’re already on their way over.” His boss’ voice was warm and reassuring in his ear. “Do you need anything else?”

“I assume we have authorization for the mission.”

He heard Joshua’s chuckle. “Probably. Not that you’ve told me what it is.”

Lex filled him in quickly on what they had all discussed. Joshua didn’t say anything for several seconds after he’d finished. “You know all the ways that could go wrong, right?”

Lex chuckled. “Wrong or right? Pick one?”

“You know what I meant.” Joshua’s voice was unusually serious.

“Yeah, we do. And if you have a better idea, we’re certainly open to it. This is the best we have been able to come up with so far.”

“You’re on the ground. You know I don’t second guess you.”

Lex snorted. “What do you mean? You always second guess us.”

Dean was almost smiling at that. Lex counted it as a win. Oh dang! Now he was trying to get Dean to smile too. He really was married, wasn’t he?

“Terri and Stiles should be there soon. Consider that permission. We still have the tap on the woman’s phone, and we’ll let you know if she has any interesting conversations.”

“Thanks, Joshua.”

“You take care of yourself.”

“Always.”

Joshua got in the last snort before hanging up. He usually did.

“Do you need me to monitor the location of her phone?” Dean asked.

“If you can. It should be a little while before she can leave, though. I’m pretty sure we have time to wait for Terri and Stiles while still giving the guys a bit of time to sleep off whatever they did to themselves. How’s Roger?”

Dean shook his head and looked sad again. “I think he’s mostly fine. He’s sleeping now. But I’m worried about him.”

“We all are,” Lex said, the words coming automatically. But then he really looked at Dean’s expression, and a few things came into focus for him. He stepped forward and engulfed Dean in a huge hug. “Dean. Are you falling for Roger?”

Dean clung to him for a moment before pulling back to say, “No. Of course not. I’m not into guys.”

However, Lex was paying attention, and he’d been trained in reading facial expressions for lies. Dean wasn’t exactly lying, but he wasn’t exactly telling the truth either.

Lex motioned him to the couch and followed, keeping hold of Dean’s hand. As they sat, he asked, “Are you really not into guys or did someone, like your dad, tell you that you weren’t?”

Lex remembered the plane flight to Jericho where Dean had told them about his dad and how he’d treated his son. Knowing now that Dean hadn’t been his biological son made the story all the more poignant.

Dean looked away, his expression troubled. “Uh. I…”

“It’s okay. You can talk to me. You know I won’t judge you.” He motioned to his bedroom. “I mean, I just married Griff.”

“But did you know you were into guys when you met him?”

Lex shrugged. “I’d experimented around a bit in college, but I had mostly dated girls since then.” He thought back. “However, after the disaster of my last girlfriend, I had been thinking it might be time for a change.”

Dean leaned into Lex, who held him tightly. He didn’t need to be able to read him to know how much this conversation was affecting him. It was probably a good thing he wasn’t connected to Roger yet. The other man would be running into the room right now, demanding to know what was wrong.

“I only dated women,” Dean finally said. “But when I was a teen, maybe fourteen or fifteen, I found a Playgirl magazine somewhere in the office. I don’t even remember where. I looked through it, and I liked it. I liked it better than the other magazines I’d found. The ones with girls.” He stopped, shoulders shaking.

“Your dad found you with it?”

“Yes. Of course. It’s not like it’s a new story.”

“But it’s your story.” Lex slid a comforting hand down his back. “And you never looked at another guy again, I’m betting.”

“Of course not.”

“But your dad’s gone. You can do what you want now.”

“Only if Roger wants it too.” Dean sounded tired and somehow old. It broke Lex’s heart a bit to hear it.

"I have a feeling that's not going to be a problem. Not if Griff and Bill manage to pull off what they're intending."

“Really? I mean, Bill and Sam? They aren’t together.”

Lex smiled, even though Dean was facing away from him and couldn’t see it. “They are stubborn. We’re all way closer than a group of guys ought to be. I think the connection will work with you two if you want it to and if Roger isn’t opposed.”

Dean shrugged. “I wish I had your confidence.”

Lex gently pulled Dean’s head to settle on his shoulder. “I gave this some thought a while ago. While, yeah, I did fool around in college, and I wasn’t opposed to the idea, I was mostly attracted to women. Griff had never been with a guy and was pretty clear he wasn’t looking to change that. But when we…linked or bonded or whatever we’re calling it…I think it adjusts things to make sure we stay together. Romantic attraction is the easiest.”

“But you have to stay together,” Dean protested, even though he didn’t move his head off Lex’s shoulder. “It’s how it works. You experience pain. Griff goes insane.”

“Well, yeah. But I think that’s only a part of it. Negative motivation is never as powerful as positive.”

“You make it sound like this connection is sentient or something.”

Lex shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not like I understand it. But I sort of feel like it’s working on us. Changing us somehow. Doesn’t mean it’s doing it consciously, but I’m almost aware of it sometimes.”

Dean lifted his head. “That’s creepy.”

“Kind of, yeah. I mean. Evil Nazis.” He smiled a little. “And I doubt anything we’re doing now was part of the plan. Griff, Bill and Roger were supposed to be wiped out.”

“Which argues against your impression. Not much point in having a romantic relationship if the other person is wiped out.”

A small shudder passed through Dean, and Lex knew he was thinking about Karl. He hugged him tighter.  “I know, but they only modified what was already there, right? The original twins were already psychic, right? At least one of them.”

“That’s what they told me. Not sure there was a biological imperative for two twins to be romantically attached, though.”

Lex was frustrated. He knew he was on the right track somehow, but he couldn’t make it come out in a way that made sense.

Dean sighed. “Maybe you’re right about how this works. I hope you’re right, but I can’t help but doubt it. Good things like that don’t happen to me.”

Lex shook his head. “Don’t say that. We happened to you. You deserve good things. Give it time.”

Dean started to pull away. “We still have to save Roger first.”

“Oh, we’re going to do that.” Lex knew his anxiety had crept into his voice when Dean turned to hug him.

“They’ll be fine,” Dean assured him. “Yes, they are pushing their limits, but I have faith in them.”

Lex hoped so. He knew how driven Griff was to make this work.

They stayed there for a moment, each consumed by their own thoughts until they heard a knock at the door.

“It’s me,” came Stiles voice through the door.

Lex got up and checked through the peephole anyway. Terri and Stiles stood on the other side of the door, which he opened to let them in.

Stiles glanced around the room. “First, nice digs. Second, why are there only two of you here?”

Lex motioned them to the second couch. “They were trying to figure out something to do for Roger, and they overdid it.”

“They’re okay?” Terri asked as she put down her bag on the coffee table.

“By some definition of okay,” Sam said, walking into the room. His expression was set, his lips in a thin line.

“He still out?” Lex asked.

“Yes. And I’d rather it stayed that way. I know what the plan is, but he’s not up to it right now.”

“Then make me up to look like Roger.”

Lex turned to see Griff leaning in the doorway to their room. He was wearing jeans but nothing else. Swaying, he barely caught himself on the jamb. Lex rushed over to put an arm under him for support. “What are you doing up?”

“I heard Stiles, which means we’re getting ready for the next stage. If Bill’s still out, then I’ll be Roger.”

“No. It still makes sense for me.” Now Bill was leaning in the doorway to his room. Sam hurried over to offer him support.

Stiles shook his head at all of them. “Right. So, who here isn’t about to pass out?”

“I’m fine,” Bill insisted, waving Sam off and making his own way to a chair. He moved slowly, but Lex noticed he seemed more stable on his feet than Griff was. He hated that he was grateful for that.

“I just want to know who I’m going to make up,” Terri said. “And I need either a picture of Roger or the actual Roger.”

Lex’s eyes moved automatically to the door of Roger and Dean’s room and was vaguely surprised when the older man didn’t show up too. Three for three would have made a certain amount of sense.

Lex helped Griff to the couch beside Dean and scrolled through his phone until he found the picture he’d taken of Roger back at the clinic. He sent it to Terri, who looked at it and nodded. “That should work.”

“What’s the plan?” Stiles asked while Terri opened her case and started to apply makeup to Bill. Sam moved to stand by his chair, body language rigid and angry. Lex thought he was going to have to take him aside to talk him into this.

“Dean and Roger stay here,” Griff said. “It’s the safest place for Roger. Dean can monitor Olivia’s phone. The rest of us go to the second hotel and set up there. When Dean tells us Olivia’s in place, Bill, Lex and I pretend to have a fight where she can see it. With a bit of luck, she’ll believe we’re thinking about kicking Roger to the curb. Then she’ll signal her contact, and they will set up a kidnapping.”

Stiles was nodding through the explanation. “Sounds good. We catch them in the act and then we’ve got proof of something. Do we need someone from the FBI on hand? We can probably get Avery on board with this.”

Lex started to agree, but before he could say anything, Sam spoke up. “Look at him.” He pointed to Bill, who was slumped in the chair, exhaustion evident in every muscle. “He’s not up for this.”

“Sam’s right. I don’t like it.”

Lex glanced up. Roger had finally made an appearance, leaning in the doorway of his room, just as the last two had done. Dean sighed and got up to help him to the couch.

“I’m the one they want. I’m going to go insane anyway. What does it matter whether I do that here with you all or there with them? They can have my fucking sperm for all the good it’ll do them.”

Griff struggled to his feet. Lex started to get up to support him, but his husband waved him off and managed to stay standing, although he swayed once, looking as if he wasn’t entirely sure where “up” was. “No, Roger. We’re not letting them have you.”

“It’s my choice, not yours,” Roger shot back, still standing, even though Dean was gently pulling him to sit.

“Actually, this whole acting like you is my choice,” came Bill’s even drawl. Terri had made him up about half to look like Roger, with the beard but not yet the hair. A beard was not a good look on Bill, Lex thought.

Everyone looked at Bill. Sam started to speak, but Bill waved him off. “No, Sam. This is my choice. Those fuckers messed with all of us, and I hate that they did. Sure, I’m glad I met you all, and Sam, I’m happy you’re around. But it still sucks. They’re responsible for us being freaks, and I’m not about to let them make more of us. I’m not going to be responsible for more Petes and Robbies.”

The room went silent for a long moment at the mention of the two lost twins.

However, Roger wasn’t ready to let it go. “But…”

“No,” Griff said. “Bill’s right. We’re not letting them have you to make more of them. I mean, they probably do have more of us around somewhere, and we’ll find them if we can, but they are not getting you. Especially since they think you’re the answer to stabilizing their damned vessel line.”

Roger started to say something else, but Dean placed a gentle hand on his arm, and the older man finally sat on the couch, shaking his head, but not saying anything.

“So, back to the plan?” Stiles asked.

“Yes,” Griff said. “As soon as Terri finishes with Bill, we’ll head to the other hotel and get set up there.”

Sam started to say something, but he stopped at a gesture from Bill. “This is my decision, Sam. Let me do this.”

Sam shook his head and flopped down on the floor at Bill’s side, one hand on his leg. Bill nodded and gave him a small smile.

Lex relaxed. Once again, they’d weathered a potential division. But how many more times would their alliance be tested?

Griff sat down, more a collapse than a sit, but Lex didn’t say anything, not wanting to give either Sam or Roger a reason to continue protesting.

Terri finished making up Bill, who fidgeted once or twice but mostly stayed still. Sam watched the entire process with the expression of someone who expected to find poison in the makeup. Finally, she stepped back. “All right. I think that does it.”

Lex had closed his eyes, leaning against Griff, but he opened them. “Wow. He looks just like Roger.” Lex stood up and examined Bill from each side. “It’s perfect. You even look tired and worn out,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye.

“That’s because I am tired and worn out, thanks to your husband and his ideas.” However, he was smiling and there was no heat in his words.

Sam, however, started to say something, but Bill reached out and covered his mouth. “Enough. I was teasing, and you’re going to stay quiet.”

Sam humphed but said nothing.

Stiles glanced up from the magazine he’d picked up while Terri worked. “So, we can go now?”

“Let me quickly throw our stuff in the suitcase,” Lex said, heading for their room.

“You could have done that while we waited,” Stiles protested.

Lex flipped him off. Griff started to get up, but Lex pushed him back down as he walked by. “I got it. Only take a minute.”

Sam was moving to his room, presumably to do the same.

In less than ten minutes, Lex was back, suitcase following behind him. He frowned at Griff, who was packing up their two laptops. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?”

“I don’t remember ‘obey’ being one of the vows.”

Sam carried his and Bill’s suitcases into the room. “Told you should have added that one, Lex.”

“Guess I should have listened to you.” But he was happy. If Sam was teasing him, he’d forgiven them, at least for the moment.

Roger frowned at them all while they gathered up the small things that always seemed to accumulate in a hotel room. Dean’s arm remained around him, and the older man stayed quiet. Lex could feel his eyes on him, however, as he picked up his mouse and stuffed it in his computer bag.

“Everyone ready?” Stiles asked.

There was a chorus of “yes’s,” and Bill stood up, holding on to the arm of the chair for a moment before starting for the door.

Lex took the computer bag from Griff, along with their roller bag.

“Not an invalid,” Griff protested.

“Tell me that when I’m completely convinced you know where up is,” Lex shot back. Griff followed him, his steps still unsteady, even though he was clearly trying to conceal it.

Lex shook his head, determined to make sure he rested before things got more exciting.

Chapter Text

Lex understood where Griff was coming from. Neither of them could afford to show too much weakness. Sam’s protectiveness of Bill was threatening to derail the plan, and, as much as he understood where the pastor was coming from, they were agreed on not letting Olivia or the cabal get their hands on Roger.

The ride to the second hotel was quiet. Sam drove the SUV Lex had rented while Stiles drove the van he and Terri had brought. Their plan was to use the back entrance to the hotel, which would make them invisible to anyone watching the main entrances. Lex had chosen this particular hotel for that reason. They had used it a couple of months ago when the Agency had slipped a Middle Eastern dignitary into town for a secret summit. There had been a credible assassination threat against him, and they had managed to get him in and out of the city without anyone being the wiser.

A few blocks from the hotel, they found street parking, and Terri got out of the van to check for anyone watching the entrances.

Lex’s phone rang. Dean. “Hey, has she started moving yet?”

“Not yet. Her phone is still stationary. I found a camera that gives a decent look at the front of the building, and Roger is watching that.”

Lex laughed. “Giving him the boring job, aren’t you?”

“He needs to start somewhere.”

In the distance, Roger’s voice said, “I heard that!”

“You were intended to.”

Lex just laughed harder.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked from the back. “Share the joke.”

Lex gave an in a minute wave. “Sounds good. So, you’ll know if she comes out the front.”

“Yes, and maybe even if she doesn’t.”

“Oh?”

“I may have hacked into building security and found her keycard. She needs to use it to call the elevator to her floor. I checked the logs, and she used it this morning when she left for the meeting with her handler.”

Lex grinned. “So, even if she’s paranoid enough to leave her phone behind, maybe she’s not paranoid enough to avoid using her card on the elevator. Good thinking, Dean.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know as soon as she starts moving.”

“Or Roger falls asleep from boredom.”

“Or that.” Lex thought he heard an almost smile in Dean’s voice with that last.

He disconnected the call.

“Roger falling asleep from boredom?” Griff asked, smiling.

“Dean has found a camera with a decent angle of the front of Olivia’s office building. He has Roger watching it while he’s monitoring her building key card.”

“So, he’ll know if she leaves even if she doesn’t take her phone?” Bill asked.

“Yes,” Lex said. “It’s a good precaution, but I know her. She’ll never leave her phone behind.”

Griff nodded. “That’s what happens when you get amateurs to spy for you,” he said with satisfaction in his voice.

“Right?”

Lex turned just in time to see Bill punch Sam’s shoulder.

“Ow!” Sam protested.

“That’s what you get for scaring ten years off my life with your stunt at Starbucks.”

Lex smiled, glad that Bill was feeling good enough to banter with Sam. Griff looked tired in the passenger seat, but his eyes were open, and he seemed amused.

Motion caught Lex’s eye, and he looked up to see Terri returning to the van. His phone rang. Stiles this time. “Terri says no watchers.”

“All right. Then let’s drive to the back and get everyone inside.”

“Let us go first and check in. That way you lot can avoid the lobby.”

“Good idea.”

Lex waited until he got a confirmation text from Stiles to start the car and drive to the back of the hotel, where they got Bill inside as quickly as possible.

Once they entered the room, everyone stood quietly while Lex quickly checked for bugs. He pronounced it “clear” after several minutes. “I wasn’t too worried. There are enough two-bedroom suites here that I didn’t think anyone could have known which one we’d be in.”

“Unless the cabal has someone here,” Bill pointed out.

“Probably too paranoid, but better to be safe than sorry,” Lex agreed. He pushed Griff in the direction of one of the bedrooms.

“Hey! Still not an invalid.”

“And you still look tired and about to fall down,” Lex insisted, taking him by the hand and leading him into the room. He noted Sam was doing the same with Bill.

“If I lie down, it’ll mess up the disguise.” Clearly Bill was no happier about being told to nap than Griff was.

“And I’ll just fix it when you wake up.” Terri sounded amused by the entire thing. Lex was glad to have her and Stiles along on the operation.

Griff grumbled when Lex motioned him toward the bed, but he lay down. “We need you sharp for the next bit,” Lex said, stroking his hair and pulling the blanket up.

“I know. I will be. Wake me when she starts moving, though?”

“Of course.” Lex leaned down to give him a quick kiss and left the room, half-closing the door behind him. Sam was just coming out of the other room.

“Tucked him in?”

“Of course.” Lex opened his computer bag. “With a kiss. Did you give yours a kiss too?”

He grinned at Sam, who frowned and made an eww no! face. “That’s for you guys. Not us.”

Lex laughed and took out his laptop.

“What do you need us to do?” Stiles asked.

Lex considered. “I’m not sure there’s much until we need to follow Bill. I’m going to hack into the security cameras in the lobby. Just in case.”

Stiles gave a little grunt and turned to Terri. “I should have brought a book.”

“I tried to tell you,” Terri said as she sat down on the main room’s couch and pulled out a Kindle. “Want me to read to you?”

Stiles glared at her. “I think I’ll go down to the lobby and buy a magazine.”

“As long as it’s not Playboy. ”

“Why not?” He asked. “I only read it for the articles.”

Sam snorted from the chair he’d flopped into. He had turned on the television and was flipping through channels.

Stiles left, and Lex booted up his computer. It didn’t take him long to hack into the cameras since he had left a back door the last time they’d used this hotel. It was another reason he’d picked it—the back door plus the cameras were well-placed to cover the entire lobby.

Unfortunately, watching security cameras was one of the most boring things in the world, and he quickly programmed a bot to look for anyone who bore even a superficial resemblance to Olivia. As he programmed, Stiles came into view, holding a magazine. The agent winked in the direction of the camera and surreptitiously pointed to the title of the magazine he was holding. Lex couldn’t suppress a sudden bark of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Sam asked. He’d finally settled on some cop procedural show—huh? Nathan Fillion?—and was glancing over his shoulder in Lex’s direction.

“Stiles was letting me know he figured I was watching the cameras by also letting me know Terri isn’t going to be happy with the magazine he bought.”

Terri’s head shot up. “He didn’t?”

Lex nodded. “Yep. He did. Looks like he bought something else. Sports Illustrated maybe.”

She shook her head. “I despair of ever doing anything about his tastes.”

Lex shrugged. “He’s a guy. It’s what we do.”

“Truth,” Sam added.

Terri mumbled something under her breath and went back to her book. Lex finished programming the bot right as Stiles came back into the room.

“Don’t even try to hide it,” Terri said, without even looking up. “Lex already told us.”

“So you were watching the cameras,” Stiles said, sounding completely calm and collected. “I thought so.”

“Of course, I was,” Lex said. “We don’t want her getting the drop on us.”

“If the first you know about her is from the hotel cameras, we’re in trouble,” Stiles said as he walked to the couch and sat down beside Terri, opening up his magazine as he sat. Lex peeked over his laptop screen, noting it was the Sports Illustrated. He wondered if he could get Stiles to let him borrow the other one. It had been a while. Just because he was married to Griff didn’t mean he minded looking at women every so often.

He opened up a secure messaging program he knew Dean had installed on his computer and checked in with the other two. No, Olivia hadn’t moved. Nor had Roger died of boredom yet. Although apparently it was only a matter of time for the latter.

Only a matter of time for the first one too, Lex sent back. It’s almost quitting time for her. Stay sharp.

We will, Dean assured him.

Which left Lex with little to do. They had tracked down all of Olivia’s financial transactions, the cell numbers she had called and basically every lead they had.

Shrugging, he pulled up a computer game. He wasn’t really in the mood, but reading wasn’t going to distract him enough.

He’d just barely set up his characters when his messaging program beeped.

She’s moving. Google Maps says it’ll take her 40 minutes, give or take.

Lex thanked Dean and said, “Heads up. She’s on the move.”

Sam sighed. “This means I have to wake up Bill, doesn’t it?”

“Yep. I’m no happier about waking up Griff, but we need to get in position.”

Sam heaved himself out of his chair with a long-suffering expression. Lex gave a wry grin and stood up. Terri was opening her case, preparing to refresh Bill’s disguise. Stiles continued to read his magazine.

Terri reaches over to lightly smack him.

“What? There’s nothing for me to do for the next few minutes, and I wanted to finish this article.”

Lex left them to it and went to wake up Griff. 

***

Griff felt something soft rubbing under his chin, and he slowly woke up to see Lex standing over him, gently moving Rex’s ear back and forth. Griff realized he was clutching the bunny tightly enough to crumple the soft fabric. His thoughts were moving slowly, and he realized he must have been sleeping deeply.

“You awake?”

Griff yawned and stretched. “Maybe?”

Lex sat down on the bed and tugged at Rex. “You’re holding him so tightly you’ll cut off his air.”

Griff managed a snort. “He’s a stuffed toy.”

“Yeah, but I like him.” He smiled at Griff. “You okay? I wondered if you were having a nightmare.”

Griff tried to think back, but all he could remember was an oppressive feeling. “Maybe? I’m not sure. I don’t really remember the dream.” His thoughts finally caught up. “Olivia’s on the move?”

“Yeah.” He handed Rex back. “Dean says forty minutes or so.”

Griff stretched again and rubbed his eyes.

“You’re cute when you do that.”

Griff smiled. “If you think I’m cute, then prove it by kissing me.”

Lex obliged immediately. However, the moment couldn’t last, and Griff finally sat up. “Okay. I’m awake. Do I have time for a super quick shower?”

“I think so.” He gently pushed Griff in the direction of the bathroom. “I’ll keep in contact with Dean for progress reports.”

Griff stood up, not able to suppress another yawn. He stripped out of his clothes and dropped them in an untidy heap as he walked to the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom. Lex gave an appreciative hum behind him, and, once again, Griff wished they were on their honeymoon instead of working a case.

On the other hand, he really liked Roger, so there was that.

He showered quickly, keeping the water as cold as he could stand, trying to get his brain functioning at its usual speed. He needed to be sharp. This part of the plan was simple, but he knew if it worked, things would move quickly. Letting them attempt to take Bill made sense, but it was risky.

He dried off and got dressed, finger combing his hair. He definitely needed to get it cut—it was curling wildly on the back of his neck.

Walking into the main room, he saw Terri packing up her disguise kit. Bill was looking at himself in a hand mirror, turning his head back and forth. Griff blinked. Terri was good. If he hadn’t known it was Bill, he would have sworn Roger had arrived while he napped.

“You do good work, Terri,” he said.

She smiled at him. “Thanks. You all looking so much alike does make it easier.”

“Still, you got the hair and beard just right.”

“I’d been wondering if I’d like myself with a beard,” Bill commented as he handed back the mirror.

“What did you decide?” Sam asked.

“Definitely not.”

Sam laughed.

Lex looked up from his computer. “Dean says she’s about ten minutes away. Time to get into position.”

Griff nodded, and Bill stood up. 

“Sam? Do me a favor?” Lex asked.

“Sure. What do you need?”

Lex motioned him to the laptop. “Keep an eye on us here.” He reached into his bag and pulled out an earpiece which he handed to Sam. “Let me know if she’s watching and what her expression tells you.”

“Hey!” Stiles protested. “I’m going to be watching from the lobby. Don’t you trust me to have your back?”

“Sure, I do, but Sam will have a different angle by watching here. He might see something you can’t.”

“It’s a good idea,” Griff said.

Stiles made a disgruntled sound, but Terri touched his arm, and he settled.

“Everyone ready?” Griff asked. “Know what you’re doing?”

A mixture of assents and nods answered him. Lex was looking at his phone. “Five minutes. We need to move now.”

Sam sat at the computer. Bill, Griff, Lex and Stiles all left the room. Stiles moved to the staircase, intending to come at the lobby from a different direction. The rest of them took the elevator down. The car was empty, and they took the opportunity for last-minute planning.

“Look tired and worn out, Bill,” Griff instructed. “You want to appear vulnerable.”

Bill nodded. “Not that hard. I could still use another nap.”

“You were the ones who decided to knock yourselves out just before this operation.” Lex’s tone was teasing but Griff still caught the edge of worry in it.

“Pretty sure we didn’t decide to knock ourselves out,” Griff said. “That part was unplanned.”

“Still, some caution in the future would be appreciated.”

“Duly noted.”

The car came to a stop. “Show time,” Griff said as the doors opened.

Lex tapped his ear. “Dean says she’s parking. Maybe two minutes.”

Griff nodded and guided Bill to the seating area near the hotel café. They had decided on the location for two reasons. One, it was easy for Olivia to see them. Two, the cameras covered it completely.

Bill sat down, the motion heavy and tired-looking. He schooled his features into careful weariness.

“Don’t overdo it,” Griff cautioned.

Bill nodded and lightened his expression a bit. He lifted up a foot and gingerly rubbed it.

“She’s coming in now,” Lex said.

They had deliberately placed themselves so Bill was the only one facing the entrance to the motel. Griff hated to have his back to a threat, but Olivia would assume either he or Lex would recognize her. Roger however, would have no reason to know she was anyone but a potential guest. It allowed Bill to keep an eye on her without tipping her off.

“Stiles has eyes on her,” Lex added.

Bill gave a subtle nod, and Griff started speaking, pitching his voice so it would just carry to where Olivia was presumably walking in. “Roger, I’m sorry, man, but we just can’t.” He made certain to punctuate his words with gestures intended to be seen but hopefully not looking too fake.

“Griff’s right,” Lex added on cue. “We’ve got about as many of us as we can handle. You’re in pretty bad shape. Not much we can do for you since your buffer’s dead.”

Bill did an excellent job looking dejected. “But I’m one of you. You can’t just kick me out like this.”

Griff shook his head, shooting a look at Lex, who nodded back at him. Good, she was listening. “We’ll give you a place this evening, all right? But tomorrow night? That’s got to be it.”

“Tomorrow night?” Bill shot back. “That’s basically nothing.”

“It’s what we can manage,” Lex said, expression grim. However, he gave them both a thumbs up with his right hand, carefully hidden by his body.

Bill gave a huge sigh, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “All right. Tomorrow evening then. Thanks for nothing, but I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

Griff stood up, carefully not looking in the direction of where he thought Olivia was. He wanted to take a look at her, to get the measure of the woman who had hurt his Lex so badly, but he couldn’t afford the luxury. “Come on, Roger. Let’s head back up to the suite.” Lex stood with him and pulled Bill to his feet. Bill allowed himself to be moved, but he hung his head and wouldn’t look at either of them, making his body language as plain as possible. None of this was okay with him.

As they walked back to the elevator, Lex whispered, “Sam says she looks like she heard most of it. Her expression brightened at the mention of tomorrow night.”

Griff didn’t nod back, not wanting to give anything away, but glad to hear it appeared as if their ruse was working. In the elevator, he deliberately pressed the button for the wrong floor. As the doors closed, Bill caught his eye and nodded fractionally.

They got off two floors down from where their suite was and took the stairs the rest of the way.

“Stiles says he got the same impression Sam did. He’s staying well back because she knows what he looks like too, but he said she made a point of watching the elevator display.”

“So she thinks we’re on four instead of six?” Bill pushed open the door to their floor, but Griff stopped him, peering through the doorway. The hall was clear.

“Hopefully,” Lex said.

They hurried to their suite, and Griff breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind them. His legs suddenly felt wobbly, and he made his careful way to the nearest chair, where he collapsed.

Lex followed him, expression concerned.

Bill half walked, half stumbled to the couch, and Sam got up from the computer to join him.

“Looks like it worked from here,” Sam said as he put an arm around Bill.

“Stiles said the same,” Terri confirmed. “He’s on his way back up now.”

Lex’s phone rang, and he answered. Dean, he mouthed. Griff nodded and waited.

“Any idea who she’s calling?” Lex was asking.

Griff’s head came up, weariness forgotten. With a bit of luck, she was calling her handler to arrange the kidnapping of “Roger.”

Lex nodded and put his phone on the table. “Let me put you on speaker.”

Dean’s voice came from the phone, tinny with distance. “She called one of the burner phones.”

Griff motioned to Terri. “Call Joshua? Make sure someone’s listening?”

She nodded and got out her phone. A minute later she was speaking quietly and nodding.

“Terri’s on the phone with Joshua,” Lex was telling Dean. “Hopefully they are recording the call.”

Terri glanced up and nodded.

Stiles opened the door and came in just then. He met everyone’s gaze, eyebrow raised.

Griff mouthed, “Olivia’s on a call.” Stiles nodded and stood by the door, obviously ready to move if needed.

Terri finally hung up. “Joshua’s sending the audio right now. He says she and her handler discussed the plans for Roger.”

Griff couldn’t help tensing at her words. He knew the cabal saw Roger as little more than a thing to be used, but all of them were people, damn it.

Lex was telling Dean to stand by and that he’d play the audio loud enough for him to hear it too. Griff moved to stand behind Lex, a hand on the hacker’s shoulder. He figured listening to Olivia would bring back memories.

Lex downloaded the audio file and started it playing.

What do you have for me? Griff assumed that was the handler, a male voice, with, yes, a light Australian accent. Even though he knew where Williams was from, he realized he’d still been unconsciously expecting a German accent from him.

Olivia: They’re kicking him out tomorrow evening. Even they can’t stand his crazy. A short laugh. I can’t believe they’re turning on one of their own. Lex was all high and mighty. Not so much now.

Lex’s shoulder tensed under Griff’s hand, but he remained silent. Griff could feel his single-minded focus, mixed with anger, through their link. Griff did his best to send back reassurance, but he was never sure it worked when he did that.

Williams: You’re sure about what you saw?

Olivia: Definitely. The target looked exhausted and completely demoralized. The hacker and his lover were all smug. You could just see it in their body language.

Williams: And you’re sure you weren’t seen?

Olivia: Positive. The target wouldn’t be able to recognize me, and the other two had their backs to me.

“Sounds like we pulled it off,” Bill said.

Lex waved him to silence.

Williams: Excellent. You’ve done well. Tomorrow night, then. I’ll make the arrangements.

Olivia: Do you want me to be there?

Williams: No. We can’t take the chance they might see you. If I’d known they were going to be in the lobby like that, I would have told you to stand down. But it sounds as if it worked to our advantage this time. Let’s not push our luck.

Olivia: All right. Payment as usual?

Williams: Of course.

They each signed off then, and the recording ended.

Lex rewound it. “Did you get all that, Dean?”

“Yes. Most of it at least.”

“I’ll send it to you.”

“He’s going to kill her,” Stiles said, his tone matter of fact.

Griff nodded. “I agree.”

“Want us to bring her in?” Stiles asked. “Protective custody?”

Griff considered. Lex started playing the recording again, and Griff listened. After a second hearing, he shook his head. “We’ll hope they’ll wait until after the abduction. This recording is enough to link them, along with the photo Bill took, but he was careful about what he said. He talked about ‘making the arrangements.’ We’re sure what that means, based on context, but until they make their move, we can’t make the case that we know what they are planning.”

“What about the conversation I overheard?” Sam was still beside Bill, a hand on his shoulder.

“Did they actually talk about abducting Roger? Did they use those words, or were they vague like on the phone call?”

Sam’s eyes went distant for a second before he shook his head. “No. The implication was definitely there, but I don’t think they used abduction or any words that meant that.” He frowned. “Damn. I thought I had more.”

“You had enough,” Bill said. “With the photo and your recollection of the conversation, it gives us more ammunition to make a case.” Bill swatted Sam on the arm. “Still say it was too risky, but we might not have been able to set this up without it, so there’s that.”

Sam smiled and looked smug. Bill frowned at him but shook his head, and Griff knew he wasn’t really upset anymore. If anything, he looked a bit proud of his twin.

“Do you suppose Williams will keep his burner phone on him?” Griff asked. “Can you track it if he does?”

“I’m tracking it,” Dean said. Lex hadn’t disconnected the call yet.

“Where is he?” Stiles asked.

“At his home. He’s been staying close to there all day.”

“Suppose he’ll be in on the operation tomorrow night?” Stiles had finally taken a seat on the couch next to Terri.

“I’m thinking he will be,” Griff replied. “At least nearby. I doubt he’ll actually get his hands dirty. But he strikes me as the type of middle management who will want to be certain of his report. If he can’t send Olivia, he’ll be there himself.”

“That’s good, so we can use the location of his phone to give us some warning,” Griff said.

“We can’t count on it, though,” Stiles pointed out.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow night?” Terri asked.

Griff had been running through that in his head. “From the phone conversation, it sounds as if they’ll let us drive the when. Ideally, we’d be certain where they are. Stiles, I think you’d asked if we wanted the FBI in on this?”

The big agent nodded. “Quinn can contact Avery and get her to assemble a team. We’ve got enough for that.”

“Plus, it’s Quinn,” Lex put in. “He can get pretty much anyone to do anything.”

Griff nodded his agreement to that. “All right, the FBI agents and get in position to cover the front of the hotel. Stiles and I will cover the flanks because I’m thinking Williams will be nearby but not with the people doing the actual kidnapping. Bill will leave, moving slowly enough to be a tempting target. They’ll move in on him, and we’ll stop them.”

It was a simple plan but, in his experience, those usually worked the best.

Stiles was obviously running it through in his head, and he finally nodded. “I think that will work.”

“What about me?” Sam asked. “And Lex?”

“I’ll be watching the cameras from the lobby.” Lex said. “I can use those to coordinate all of you.”

Griff knew he wouldn’t like it, but, “Sam, I know you won’t want to, but I think you should stay here.”

“No.” The word was delivered quietly but with firm finality.

“Yes.” Bill delivered the word with much the same tone. “I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

“I can take care of myself.” Sam stood up to deliver his protest.

Griff stayed quiet, knowing they needed to resolve this between the two of them.

“I know you can. You proved that at the Starbucks. But everyone else on this operation has training. You don’t. I can trust Griff, Stiles, and even Lex to fall back on that training if things go wrong. I can’t trust you the same way.”

Sam loomed over Bill, who sat up straight, his body language calm but determined. “What do you mean you can’t trust me?”

“I trust you, Sam. What I don’t trust is your training because you don’t have any.” Bill swallowed and took a deep breath. “If you want, once we get back to Jericho, I’ll start training you. Since it looks like these cabal members aren’t going to stop coming. But for now, please. Stay where I don’t have to worry about you.”

Sam opened his mouth, but then closed it and sat back down on the couch. He very obviously did not touch Bill, but he nodded and said nothing else.

Griff let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “All right then. We have a plan. There’s not much to do until tomorrow. How about we get some rest? Stiles, can you get the FBI over here tomorrow morning to do our tactical briefing?”

Stiles nodded. “I’ll call Quinn on the drive home. He should be able to get everything set up by then. I’ve seen him get people out of bed before.”

Griff checked the time. Late but not that late. “Hopefully that won’t be needed.” He yawned. “I’m heading for bed. See everyone in the morning.”

Lex closed up his laptop and followed him. Griff felt the knowing looks at his back but ignored them. What he and Lex did with their second married evening was their business and no one else’s.

Chapter Text

Lex had sent the basic outline of the plan to Dean before saying he and Griff were heading to bed.

Now Dean was wide awake, listening to Roger’s slow breathing from the next bed. He couldn’t stop replaying his conversation with Lex. Are you really not into guys or did someone, like your dad, tell you that you weren’t?

Lex might be young, but he saw deeply, which was interesting since he wasn’t the psychic one. Dean had so thoroughly subsumed his interest in men that he’d managed to convince himself it had been a passing phase of no importance. Then Roger had come along. He could feel a part of him reaching out to the other man, and he longed to have that circuit completed. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed the feeling of completeness until he’d met Roger. After Karl, he’d convinced himself he’d never feel it again. He’d resigned himself to getting a pale echo of it when they needed to save stray vessels, but never having it fully. Then he met a vessel who was as adrift as he was, and everything within him yearned to have it again.

He rolled over and suppressed the sigh that tried to escape from him, not wanting to awaken Roger. Dean was worried about him. Outwardly, Roger seemed fine, but Dean knew appearances were deceptive. Even though the connection was incomplete, he was more in sync with Roger than he had been with Bill. Roger had a few days, no more.

He didn’t want to press Bill and Griff. They were messing with danger, knowing as little as they did about how their abilities worked. Killing themselves or burning themselves out wouldn’t help Roger either, but Dean couldn’t lose the sense of time running out.

“Dean?”

Dean rolled over, startled that he hadn’t realized Roger was awake. “Yes?”

There was a pause.

“Would you mind coming over here?” Roger’s tone was mix of shame and determination. “I don’t feel so good. I think I need you touching me.”

Dean was out of his bed in a moment, sitting beside Roger and reaching for his hand. “What’s wrong? What are you feeling?”

Roger’s hand felt cool in his. As always when he touched the man, he felt the circuit between them start to close but never quite getting there. It was frustrating.

“I’m not going to make it, are I?”

Dean suppressed his sudden panic, fearing Roger would be able to sense it. “What makes you say that?”

“I’m forgetting what’s real. Demons, for the lack of a better term, seem more real to me than you all.” Roger’s voice shook, and Dean shifted to hold all of him instead of just his hand.

“Is that better?”

Roger took a deep breath. “A little bit?”

“You are slipping. I can feel it, but I have faith in Griff and Bill. They lost Pete. Neither of them are going to let that happen again.”

“But they don’t know what to do.”

“You were with them the last time. They made progress, didn’t they?”

“Yes.” He sounded lost. “But you saw what happened. It knocked us all out. I don’t see how they can figure it out in time. Plus, the whole thing with Olivia is important too.”

Dean’s instincts were screaming at him to do something! He thought he could feel Roger’s sanity slipping away from him, second by second. Now he was afraid Roger didn’t even have days. Maybe only hours. He was at war with himself. The things with Olivia and the cabal was important. If they weren’t stopped, none of them would be safe. But if Roger went irretrievably insane, then what was the point?

He tried very hard to ignore how much he wanted Roger for himself.

Finally, he said, “Damn it. I’m going to call them.” He let go of Roger just long enough to reach his phone. It was only a few seconds, but the man’s shaking increased in even that short a time.

“What are you doing?” Roger asked, his words slurred.

“Calling Griff.”

“No! They need their rest.”

Dean hugged Roger hard. “Not half as badly as I need you.”

Roger went rigid in his arms. “Dean? What?”

Dean shook his head. “Never mind that for now. Let me call Griff. He’d want to know what was happening.”

Roger made no more protests, and Dean made the call. While he wanted Griff, he knew Lex never muted his phone, so he called him instead. The phone rang a long time, and Dean started to worry that Lex had muted it. Were they having sex? Shit! They probably were. They’d been married just a couple of days.

“Dean?” came Lex’s sleepy voice. Sleepy. Not…something else. “Is something wrong?”

Dean could hear Griff’s voice in the background. “Dean? Is he all right?”

“Lex, you need to get Griff and Bill over here. Right away. It’s Roger. He…he doesn’t have much time, I’m thinking.”

“Shit.” Lex sounded completely awake now. “We’re on our way. Do what you can for him until we get there.”

“I will. And…thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lex’s voice was full of understanding, and Dean knew the hacker was aware of all the reasons he was worried about Roger.

He disconnected the call, not wanting to delay them any further.

“Dean? What was that about you…needing me?”

Dean gathered his thoughts as best he could and indulged himself for a few seconds by leaning against Roger’s shoulder.

“Dean?”

“I know, Roger. Give me a second.”

“All right.”

Hands crept around and held him back. Dean took strength from the contact.

Finally, he felt ready to talk. “All right. I’m sorry. I never intended to let that out to you.”

“Let what out?” Roger sounded honestly confused. Did he really not understand what Dean had implied? Or was he just being somehow polite?

“When I said I needed you. I…uh…well…oh hell, I don’t know how else to say it. I think I’ve been falling in love with you pretty much since I first saw you.” There. He’d said it. Hopefully Roger wouldn’t walk away until they’d had a chance to do something for him.

In his panic, he honestly forgot for a moment that, if Roger were connected to him, neither of them would be able to walk away again.

He let go of Roger’s shoulders but kept a leg in contact with him, knowing instinctively that keeping him stable long enough for Griff and Bill to get here would require constant physical contact. However, he wanted to give the man as much space as he could.

“Uh. Dean. I…don’t know…”

Dean’s heart sank. “I’m sorry, Roger. I didn’t mean to make it awkward, but it looks like I did.”

Roger shook his head. “No.” He closed his eyes. “Fuck. Uh. Put your arm around me again. It helps clear my thoughts.”

Dean did so, getting more confused by the second. Had he screwed things up or not?

Roger took another deep breath. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I hope Griff hurries because… Look, if I try to leave, stop me, okay.”

“I will. You’re wanting to go stop…”

“The demons, for the lack of a better term, yeah. I can feel them trying to come through. Which I still know isn’t real, but it’s getting harder by the minute to remember that.”

“They aren’t real, Roger.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes again. “Anyway, about you. I’m not upset that you…think what you said you think. It’s just. Well…I don’t really like sex. I like you fine. I think I could even more than like you, if you know what I mean. But sex? Yeah. No.”

Dean shifted to lay his head on Roger’s shoulder. “Look. I know the timing sucks.”

“Yeah. It does. But…for what it’s worth. I kind of picked up on your…uh interest. Just didn’t know what to do about it.”

Dean felt his face heat up. It honestly hadn’t occurred to him that Roger would have been able to sense that, although it should have. He was as psychic as the other two, even though he hadn’t been using his abilities consciously. “I’m sorry.”

Roger’s hand moved along his back. “Don’t be sorry.” He lay his head on top of Dean’s. “I like what Lex and Griff seem to have. I think I’d like something like that. But I know the whole sex thing could be awkward.”

“Is it just sex or are kisses out too?” Dean knew about asexuality, but he didn’t know much about it or how it worked.

“Kisses are okay, I guess,” Roger said, sounding confused again.

“Good.” Dean shifted to kiss the top of Roger’s head. “Look, since the timing sucks so hard on this, why don’t we table this conversation until later?”

Roger nodded, raised his head and tentatively kissed Dean’s cheek. “Sure. Yeah. That works. I mean, if they can’t make something work, it’ll be a moot point anyway.”

Dean held on to him as if a tighter grip would keep him all right. “They’ll make it work.” He had to believe it. This was his chance. A part of him wished they had known this was a possibility before Pete had killed himself. But from what he’d heard about Pete, he suspected Roger was a better match for him. He hated thinking that, but there it was. He refused to feel too guilty about it.

“I didn’t follow all that, but don’t feel guilty. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.” A pause. “Just promise me one thing, Dean?”

Dean pulled back so he could see Roger’s amber eyes, which were clouded and troubled. “If I can.”

“If this doesn’t work…I don’t want to be a danger to anyone. But I don’t want to be locked up and drugged either. So…you’ll…take care of what needs to be done?”

Dean knew what he was asking, and he hated it, but what could he say? “I’ll take care of it, Roger. Rest easy on that.”

Roger sighed, gave Dean a little half smile and lay his head back on his shoulder. “Thank you. I know what I asked for and it’s not easy. But…”

Dean lay his head on Roger’s. “Yeah. It’s not, but I get it. Don’t worry about it. And first, let’s let Griff and Bill see what they can do.”

“All right.”

There wasn’t much more to be said, and they sat together on the bed, Dean listening to the erratic beat of Roger’s heart, waiting for their other twins to arrive and hopefully fix this.

Dean hadn’t believed in God for a long time, but he found himself praying now.

***

Griff had been dreaming when the phone rang. It took him a moment to realize the sound wasn’t part of the dream, and he struggled to wake up.

Lex was talking to…Dean?

“Dean? Is he all right?”

Lex waved at him to be silent.

Griff sat up and leaned over the side of the bed, looking for his jeans.

“Shit.” Lex said. “We’re on our way. Do what you can for him until we get there.”

Griff’s head shot up, jeans temporarily forgotten.

Lex disconnected the call. “That was Dean. He says Roger doesn’t have much time. We need to get you and Bill over there as soon as possible.”

Griff grabbed again for his jeans and slid them on as quickly as possible. “Let me go wake up Bill and Sam. Take a quick look on the cameras to see if anyone’s watching?”

Lex nodded. “I’ll do that. We’ll head out the back way regardless.”

Griff padded through the living area to the door to Bill and Sam’s room. He knocked on the door and waited.

He heard movement, and a moment later the door opened a crack. Bill peered through, looking sleepy. He was dressed in boxers and nothing else.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dean just called. Roger’s running out of time. You and I need to get over there and figure something out. Quickly.”

Bill’s gaze sharpened, and he nodded. “All right. We’ll be there in a minute.” He turned. “Sam, wake up. We need to go.”

Griff walked away but not before he heard Sam’s sleepy protest, which quickly turned into what sounded like a scramble to get dressed. By the time he got back to his room, Lex was dressed and holding a shirt to him. Griff took it. “Anything on the cameras?”

“Nope. I think we’re clear. But I’m going to go get the car and meet you all at the back entrance.”

Griff did a quick calculation and determined where Lex had parked the car was within their safe distance. He hated that he had to think about it, but now was not the time to push things.

“I already did the calculations.” Lex came over, gave him a quick kiss and was off.

Griff smiled. Of course he had.

Bill and Sam were in the living area. Bill was dressed, but Sam was still buttoning his shirt and yawning. “Do we know how bad off he is?” Bill asked.

Griff shook his head and motioned them to the door. “Lex didn’t say, but I got the impression we don’t have much time. Lex is getting the car. Let’s go.”

Sam finished his last button and started to walk to the door. Bill huffed and stopped him. “You’re all crooked.”

Sam batted aside his hand. “I’ll fix it in the car. Really doubt Roger and Dean would care anyway.”

Bill nodded, and the three of them left the suite. Griff made certain the door fastened securely behind him. Lex would kill them all if anything happened to his computers.

They hurried down the stairs to the back entrance, where Lex was idling the car. Bill and Griff climbed into the back seat so they could plan. Sam yawned again and climbed in beside Lex.

“Your shirt is all crooked,” Lex commented as he put the SUV in gear and started driving.

“Everyone’s a critic,” Sam said as he started refastening his shirt.

Bill tapped Griff’s leg. “I think I know what to do.”

Griff gave him his full attention. “Yes?”

“Join up with me?”

Griff was aware of Lex listening while he drove. He closed his eyes, concentrated, focused his attention and reached for Bill. It came a little easier each time. Bill reached back. They fumbled a bit but finally connected.

“I’ve been puzzling this out,” Bill said. “Before we all passed out last time, I thought I found a raw edge on Roger, and…well…I may have been reaching out to Dean when I had a spare minute or two, and I’m pretty sure he has a damaged spot too. I think Dean’s needs more work.”

Suddenly, Griff had an image of a frayed wire in his mind, and he knew it was Dean. “I see it.”

“Oh, good. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to show it to you.”

Griff heard Sam’s whispered, “Are they…I don’t know…psychically sending images to each other?”

Lex’s response was equally whispered. “I don’t know, but it sounds like it.”

“Can that be used for porn?”

“No, and stop interrupting us,” Bill said, his tone both distracted and annoyed. “We’re trying to work here.”

“All right.”

Griff turned his attention back to the image Bill had sent him. He was having a hard time maintaining his concentration, but he thought he could see where they could…smooth it out? He strained to manipulate it with his mind, turning it for a better angle. Then he visualized the raw edges straightening and softening. “Like that?”

“Yes, exactly like that, although…” Bill added a little bend to the wire. “That’s where we join him up with Roger.”

“Can you send me what Roger looks like?”

“This makes no sense from my end,” Sam said.

“Quiet. Can’t you feel how hard they’re concentrating?” Lex whispered back.

Griff felt his partner’s silent support and he drew on that warmth and strength.

“Try to send support to Bill,” Lex said. “It seems like it’s helping Griff.”

“I’m not sure how to do that.”

“Sort of think good thoughts and send them Bill’s way? That’s what I’m doing with Griff.”

Griff spared a tiny bit of his attention to send something resembling a thank you back to Lex. Then he turned back to the image Bill was sending him. It was another wire image, but this one was less ragged. That wasn’t precisely correct, but it was the closest he could come to something his mind could conceptualize.

“So, we fix that one like this.” As Bill spoke. Griff watched the end of the wire straighten out and sort of fill in. Then it bent in a way that looked as if it would join to the wire image Bill had sent for Dean. “Does that make sense?”

“It does. Assuming we can do that. I’m not sure how.”

“I actually think I know how to do it, but I’m not strong enough to do it alone.”

“Then I’ll lend you my strength, and you do the fixing?”

“I think that will work. Assuming I’m not barking up the wrong damn tree.”

Griff shook his head, letting his concentration and the images slip. “No, I don’t think you are. It looks right to me, not that I can say why I think that.”

Bill sighed and slumped in his seat. “Yeah. I agree.”

“You okay, Bill?” Sam’s voice was worried.

Lex remained a solid presence through their bond. Once again, Griff was grateful for his partner.

“Just a little tired. I hadn’t been asleep very long when Dean called. I’m going to nap for a bit.”

Griff glanced out the window and noticed they were almost to the hotel, but he didn’t say anything to Bill. If his twin wanted to close his eyes and doze for a couple of minutes, he certainly could. In fact… Griff closed his eyes too and let the motion of the car through the quiet streets calm his nerves.

So much was riding on this. Could they do it? And were they in time?

Those thoughts were still chasing themselves around his head as they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. Lex found them a spot and turned off the car. “We ready?”

Bill stirred beside Griff. “Not really, but it doesn’t sound like we have much choice. Let’s get up there and see what we can do.”

They all climbed out of the car. Bill walked beside Sam, a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks. I did feel that.” His voice was low, but Griff could just hear him. “Keep that up while I’m working?”

“Sure thing. Sorry I had to wait for Lex to tell me.”

“It’s fine.”

Lex slid an arm around Griff’s waist. “You can do it. I have faith in you.”

Griff leaned his head against Lex’s as they walked. “Thanks. We’re going to do our best.”

“Which is all you can do.” His voice was steady, but Griff could still sense his nervousness. He appreciated the effort to remain calm, however.

When Griff opened the door to the suite, he couldn’t see Roger and Dean. Panic shot through him until he heard Dean’s quiet “In here” from their room.

Dean and Roger were on one of the beds, Roger shivering against Dean, who had both arms around him with an attitude that if he hung on tightly enough, Roger would be okay.

Bill looked over Griff’s shoulder into the room. “Let’s get the two of them in your room, Griff. The bed is big enough for the six of us. I think we’ll need everyone. You and me to do the work. The other three to stabilize Roger as best they can.”

“Thank you,” Dean said, his tone soft with both worry and gratitude.

Sam bustled in, focused and determined and yet also gentle. “Come on, Dean. Let me help you with Roger.” Between the two of them, they got the older man moving, Lex following with a hand on his back. Griff noticed the shivering abate a tiny bit with all three of them in contact with him.

They all trooped into the room with the king bed. Bill directed Roger, Dean, Lex and Sam to sit in the middle of the bed, surrounding Roger, who huddled in on himself, arms around his knees, head down, body shaking. Dean held onto as much of him as he could, while Lex and Sam positioned themselves on either side of them.

“Griff, you sit near Lex. I think you should be touching him too.”

Griff did as instructed, with a hand on his partner’s thigh. He allowed the contact to settle and ground him. Bill sat next to Sam, a hand on his lower back.

“All right, Griff, focus and reach out to me.”

Griff did so, happy to have someone else in charge for this. When he’d come up with the idea, he’d assumed he’d have to do it himself, or, at best, lead Bill in the effort. He’d never dreamed Bill would take up the charge, and he was glad to have the other man working with him on this.

Griff reached out, and they joined virtual “hands.” Bill’s psychic presence was strong and capable.

Lex’s presence pulsed nearby, a warm solid foundation to support him.

“Let’s start with Roger,” Bill commanded.

Griff turned his “attention” to Roger, looking for the spot they needed to heal and prepare to be joined to Dean. Bill found it first and gripped it with one of his “hands.” Griff fed him strength, still not sure how he was doing it, but he felt the slow drip travel between them, like saline through an IV tube, one fat droplet at a time, forming rounder and rounder, before dropping to make room for the next one.

Bill smoothed the rough spot on Roger’s soul, laying down…something—Griff never was sure what Bill used, but it seemed to work—over the jagged edges, rounding and softening them.

“Does that look right to you, Griff?”

“Yes.” Honestly, he had no idea, but Bill sounded confident, and that was good enough for Griff.

Lex remained silent but lending what strength he could. Griff found himself able to draw on his partner, drawing from him and feeding it to Bill.

Bill manipulated the loose “wire,” bending it to a ninety-degree angle.

“There. That’s got it.” He let go and prepared to work on Dean.

The “wire” promptly popped back straight, and jagged edges inched their way clear of whatever Bill had used to cover them.

“Shit!”

Griff had his eyes closed, but he felt the bed move with the force of Roger’s shaking.

“I can feel him slipping,” Dean said, fear making his voice tremble. “We’re losing him.”

“No, we’re not. Hold him steady,” Lex said, his tone firm and commanding.

“Got him,” Sam responded.

Griff left them to it. He had nothing to spare. Still holding to Bill, he reached out with his other “hand” and grabbed the loose “wire” from Roger. He forced it back to the shape Bill had formed it into, smoothing the jagged edges.

“That’s good,” Bill said. “Can you hold onto that while I work on Dean?”

“Yes.” That bit of Roger’s soul was slippery, and it wanted to slide out of his grip, but he hung on, drawing a little more on Lex with a silent apology. His partner had his own job, but Griff needed everything he could spare.

“Do what you need to.” Lex’s voice was soft in his ear. “I’ve got enough for both of you.”

Griff hoped he was right.

He held on tight to Roger while feeding what he could to Bill, who had reached for the damaged spot in Dean. This one was obviously harder. Where Roger had responded immediately, it felt like several minutes before Bill’s efforts made a difference in Dean.

Strength seeped from him, the trickle increasing to a steady flow. Griff clenched his teeth against the sensation. It wasn’t quite pain, but it was uncomfortable. He reminded himself that he’d withstood much worse in the hospital, after Lex had been shot.

Remembering that was a mistake. Eric loomed in his mind’s eye, garish shirt and wet blood forming a horrific tableau. He raised his gun, dead mouth and black eyes making a grinning mask of despair.

“No!”

Lex’s hand moved across his back. “It’s not real, Griff. Trust me. It’s not real. I’m real.”

His partner’s voice penetrated the hallucination and grounded him in the present. Eric faded from view. Even through the horror, he’d not let go of the loose piece of Roger’s soul. He took pride in that and used that pride to hold fast.

“Almost got it, I think.” Bill’s voice was strained. Griff tried to send him more strength, hoping neither of them would pass out before this was finished.

Roger cried out, as if in pain, and Griff was aware of Lex shifting to hold the older man tighter. “We got you, man,” came Sam’s voice from the other side of the bed.

Griff could almost hear a clock ticking in his head. Each tick sounded with loud finality. Silently, he urged Bill to move faster.

Finally, however, the damaged spot in Dean smoothed over, jagged edges retreating. Bill formed a bend like he had with Roger. “Okay. Now to join them. Griff, give me everything you can.”

Griff gritted his teeth again. Like he hadn’t been giving everything before? But he dug deep, drawing recklessly on his link with Lex, who remained solid and steady beside him.

Bill took Roger from Griff and carefully moved the bit of Dean’s soul next to it. He turned them so the two bent areas matched up. Then he pushed them together. They joined and fused? No. The two ends popped apart.

Damn.

Roger cried out again, and this time the cry was echoed by Dean.

“Easy, we got you,” Lex said. “Hang on just a little longer.”

Bill took a deep breath. Griff dug harder, found a tiny reserve from somewhere and sent it to Bill, who took it, maneuvered the two ends together and joined them again. This time they stayed together. Griff held his breath. They fused, joining into a seamless whole.

Roger screamed and passed out.

Dean made a sound that was half pain, half relief and oddly, half pleasure? Or was that too many halves? Griff opened his eyes in time to see Dean lean over Roger, touching his face with a gentle, shaking hand.

“Dean? Roger?” That was Lex.

Griff leaned heavily against his partner, his connection to Bill ending so suddenly it made him dizzy. Probably shouldn’t do that again. Blackness threatened at the corner of his vision, but he fought to stay conscious. Was Roger all right?

“He’s fine.” That was Dean. “It was just too much for him.” His voice was almost a sob, but it sounded more like relief than worry, and Griff closed his eyes again. Apparently, everyone was okay for the moment? Then he forced his eyes to open. Bill? Everything was blurry, and he worked to focus his vision. Bill was leaning against Sam, who was holding him and talking quietly to his twin. He looked as exhausted as Griff felt, but he was breathing and looked at least semi-conscious. Okay, everyone was alive. Good.

“I don’t know about you two, but I don’t think Bill’s up for moving back to the other hotel,” Sam said.

“Griff definitely isn’t.” Lex was gently stroking his back, and it felt good. “We can stay here.” He shifted, and Griff cracked open an eye to see his partner pulling out his phone. “I’ll text Stiles and let them know we’ll probably be late for the briefing. He can start without us.”

“We can be there,” Griff said stubbornly.

“No, we can’t.” Lex’s tone allowed for no argument. “You’re sleeping until you wake up. And from the looks of it, even that won’t be enough.”

Griff made a weak sound of protest, but he knew Lex was right, and he closed his eyes again.

“Would you all mind very much staying here?” Dean asked, his tone plaintive, as if he assumed they would say no. “I think Roger will do better if we’re all together.”

“Yeah, of course,” Sam said, not even hesitating.

“Text sent,” Lex said before gently shifting Griff. He opened an eye again and realized he was being positioned against Lex’s back while Lex cuddled up to Roger’s back. Dean was holding Roger tightly, as if he’d never let him go. Considering that was probably what Roger needed right now, it was just as well.

Bill moved slowly against Dean’s back, throwing an arm around him. Sam sat, face screwed in consternation. “My arm’s not long enough.”

Bill half opened an eye. “What?”

“Well, I want to be touching both you and Roger. But Dean’s in the way.”

“I’m not ‘in the way.’” Dean protested. “Roger’s mine.”

“Right. Yeah. But I still think I should be touching him.”

Lex gave a soft snort. Griff smiled and closed his eyes. He was too tired. Sam was going to have to figure this one out on his own.

Griff felt the bed shift.

“Hey, come back here,” Bill said.

“Be back in a minute.” Griff heard Sam walk out of the room and come back a few seconds later. “Got a blanket.” Then Griff felt him settle down at their…feet?

“That can’t be comfortable,” Bill said, sounding amused as well as tired.

“It’s the only way I can make this work.”

Griff reached out with a foot under the covers until he was touching Sam. Even with cloth between them, it felt good, and he left his foot where it was.

“No one kick me, okay?”

There was a soft chorus of “okays” from everyone except Roger. Griff felt Sam moving around, presumably to get in contact with Bill and Roger.

Then he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Lex awoke to warmth on either side of him. That was unusual enough that it penetrated his sleepy haze. He was facing Griff, his husband’s chest rising and falling against him. He struggled to remember. Oh right. They’d saved Roger last night. Which meant the warmth at his back must be their oldest twin. From the steady sound of his breathing, he was still deeply asleep.

Warm lips kissed his forehead. “Hey.” Griff’s low whisper sounded tired but satisfied. “We did it.”

“We did,” Lex whispered back. He wanted to kiss his husband properly, but the four other men in the bed inhibited him a bit. Finally, he decided they could just be quiet. He shifted for a better angle and captured Griff’s lips with his own, feeling his husband’s silent laugh against his chest. He didn’t push it for long, though, not wanting to disturb anyone.

“Love you,” Griff breathed against his hair.

“Love you too,” Lex breathed back.

Someone shifted, and Lex rolled over, careful not to disturb Roger, who was pressed so close to Dean’s chest that Lex wondered how he could breathe.

Dean’s amber eyes regarded him over Roger’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Lex smiled. “You’re welcome. He’s okay?”

Dean nodded. “I think so. He’s still out of it, though.”

“I imagine. He’s been without you for a long time. He’ll need to heal.”

Lex hadn’t thought it possible, but Dean managed to clutch him a little tighter. Roger’s head nuzzled into his twin’s chest, and Lex felt his heart clench, in a good way. It looked as if they were going to be a good match.

“It wasn’t me he was without. It was James.”

Lex reached over Roger to brush Dean’s hair back out of his eyes. “No. He’s yours now. He was without you.”

Dean’s eyes darted to the side, and his expression looked both pleased and embarrassed.

“This ownership thing is a bit much,” came Bill’s tired voice from beyond Dean.

Sam stirred at their feet. “Suck it, Bill. You’re mine. Don’t argue with it.”

Griff laughed. “I’m Lex’s. Not denying it. Got the ring to prove it and everything.”

Bill made a “humphing” sound, followed by, “How’s Roger?”

“He’s better now,” Dean replied.

“Good,” Bill said.

“Can you all be quiet?” Sam asked. “I’m still tired. I want to sleep some more.” Lex felt him moving around. “And you kick, Lex.”

“He does,” Griff confirmed, his tone bright. “Sorry. Was too tired to warn you.”

“I do not!” Lex protested.

“You do, actually,” Griff said. “I just haven’t said anything about it. You never hurt. They’re small kicks.”

“Says you,” Sam said, sitting up. “I think I have bruises on my ribs.”

“That wasn’t Lex, you idiot,” Bill said. “Lex would have kicked your thigh. If it’s your ribs, that was probably Roger. Maybe Dean. And you’re the one who decided to sleep at all our feet. So stop complaining.”

Lex rolled over to grin at Griff, who smiled back. “We are getting up,” Griff said. “We need to get back to the other hotel for the briefing. You can nap after that, Sam.”

Sam flopped back dramatically on the bed. “There’s only one shower. I’ll shower last and sleep until you’re all done.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “You two be all right here, Dean?”

Lex climbed out of bed, deciding he’d claim the shower first. He grabbed Griff’s hand to bring him along.

“I think we will,” Dean answered. “I suspect Roger will sleep most of the day. I can bring my laptop to the bed and stay with him.”

Sam opened his eyes as Griff and Lex got off the bed. “Hey! No sexing in the shower. The rest of us have to use it too, you know.”

Lex flipped him off as they walked by. “We’ll wash all the evidence down the drain. You’ll never even know.”

“Eww! Now I know.”

“You’re the one who made the comment.” Lex heard Bill chiding his twin as they closed the bathroom door behind them. “You could have left well enough alone, you know.”

Griff was laughing as he stripped off t-shirt and boxers. “He’s irrepressible.”

Lex nodded as he admired his husband. “Yep. But Bill seems to keep him mostly contained.”

“Mostly.” Griff stepped into the shower and held out his hand. “I assume you were planning to join me.”

“Sure. Save water and all that.”

“Not if we’re ‘washing all the evidence down the drain.’” Griff shot back with a grin.

“Dude. How many times do you plan on making me come?” Lex asked, with a saucy wink.

“Who said anything about making you come? I was planning on you taking care of me.”

“Oh ho. That’s how it is? Our third day of wedlock, and you get all bossy and demanding?” 

“You’re the one who refused to put ‘obey’ in the vows.”

Lex closed the door and turned on the water, aiming the cold spray at Griff who yelped and smacked him on the ass. Which Lex enjoyed too much, and his cock immediately sprang erect, cold water and all.

Griff adjusted the water to a more comfortable temperature before turning and gathering Lex in his arms, gripping his ass and pressing them together. “That’s right. You like a good smack on the ass sometimes, don’t you? I’d forgotten about that.”

Lex couldn’t help squirming a bit against his husband, because, yes, he rather did enjoy it but wasn’t quite comfortable admitting that sometimes he really wanted Griff to turn him over his lap for a firm spanking.

Griff’s deep laugh rocked them both. “Oh, that’s what you want, is it? Well, maybe not here. But perhaps when we finally make it to our honeymoon.”

Damn being married to a psychic. He hadn’t intended Griff to catch that thought.

Griff kissed his shoulder. “I have a bunny. You like being spanked. All things considered, not even that weird.”

Lex was grateful for the lack of judgement and kissed Griff before sliding down to his knees. Fortunately, the shower was large enough to make this possible without contortions.

Eventually, they got each other clean and dried off. Both regarded their dirty clothes with some distaste. “I guess we can change when we get back to the other hotel,” Griff said, picking up his boxers.

“Wish I’d thought to bring a change of clothes with us.”

“We were in rather a hurry. I think we can be forgiven.”

They finally emerged from the bathroom to a wry grin from Bill. “You took long enough.”

“We wanted to let Sam sleep,” Lex said as he went in search of his jeans.

“Don’t put any of this on me!” Sam had an arm casually thrown over Roger, who was still asleep.

Dean still held Roger tightly, but he raised his head enough to say, “Bill mentioned none of you brought clean clothes. I’ve got plenty in my suitcase. I tend to over-pack.”

Lex pounced on Dean’s suitcase and pulled out two pairs of clean boxers and a couple of polo shirts. Griff took a set with a fervent “Thank you!” to Dean.

Sam and Bill showered, separately, and the room service Lex had ordered after he’d gotten dressed arrived as soon as Sam was finished. Lex had already fielded several texts from Stiles, assuring the agent that Dean and Roger are fine and we’ll be there as soon as we eat something, followed by I’m sure you can handle Avery on your own. You’re a big boy.

The response to that was quite acerbic, and Lex didn’t dignify it with another response. However, he did motion everyone to eat quickly. “Stiles is getting impatient.”

Griff took a plate of food into Dean, who was giving every impression of putting down roots. As soon as the four were finished, Lex poked his head back into the bedroom, where Roger and Dean looked small and alone in the middle of the king-sized bed. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

Dean nodded back at him. “Just bring me my laptop, will you?”

Lex did so.

“Thank you. We’ll be fine. Keep me posted on the coms, so I can follow along?”

“Of course. Not that much of anything will happen until this evening.” Lex noted that Dean’s eyes were sunken and dark. “Sneak in a nap too. You look almost as worn as Roger.”

“I will.”

All four left the room for the trip back to the hotel where hopefully the situation with Olivia and more cabal members would be resolved. Lex suspected it wouldn’t go as smoothly as the plan called for.

***

Griff knew Avery often coordinated with the CIA on missions, but so far the ones he’d been involved with hadn’t included her. He’d been mildly dreading meeting her, but it couldn’t be avoided here.

The four of them entered the suite where Terri, Stiles, Avery and two other agents were standing around, apparently debating something. Tactics, perhaps.

They all turned to face the newcomers, and Avery’s eyes widened when she saw Griff. “That’s why Lex looked so familiar!”

Lex gave Griff a curious glance. Griff nodded at Avery. “Agent Pohl. It’s good to see you again.”

Avery was looking at each of the “twins” in turn. Sam shifted under the attention, while Bill stood it stoically. The other two agents had been involved in taking down the original cabal and so were familiar with seeing lookalikes together.

Avery held her hand out to Griff, who took it. “Agent Krenshaw. It’s been several years.”

“Yes, it has.”

Lex’s hand unobtrusively found its way to the small of his back.

“Good to have you on the team, then. Agent Stiles was filling us in on the mission parameters.”

Griff’s shoulders relaxed. At least for the moment, she wasn’t going to make an issue of his disgrace, which relieved him.

Lex’s presence, usually so soothing, turned sharp and protective, and Griff smiled to himself. Apparently, his husband was picking up on his uncertain feelings about having Avery on the team.

Griff and Lex moved into the room to join the rest of the agents. Sam held back while Bill walked over to Terri who shook her head. “I’ll make you up again this afternoon, closer to when we need you to look like Roger.”

“Good, that beard itches.”

“Sorry. Not much I can do about that.”

Stiles cleared his throat. “So, what we’d discussed was having two teams of agents outside the hotel, covering the likely routes the kidnappers would use. Griff and I will be inside the hotel, where we can cover the flanks, but positioned where they won’t be able to see us.”

“I can use a bit of makeup on Griff, if you’d like,” Terri volunteered. “Make him look less like Roger.”

“Good idea,” Stiles said. “That will allow us to be closer.”

They traded frequencies for coms and other fine details of the plan until all were satisfied they were as prepared as they could be, considering the fluid circumstances.

“We’ll be back here at sixteen hundred hours for final preparations,” Avery said.

Griff nodded. “That will work very well.” And would allow him and Bill to take naps, which he was starting to feel the need for.

The two agents left.

Avery stayed. “Griff, I didn’t want things to be awkward between us.”

“I take it you two know each other?” Lex asked. His mental presence was still protective.

Sam and Bill turned to look out the window, as did Terri and Stiles. Griff appreciated the tiny bit of privacy for this conversation. “We worked together several years ago on a couple of cases.”

“And you were an excellent agent,” Avery said. “Still are, I understand. Stiles and Jackson both speak highly of you.” She looked away for a moment before continuing. “I admit I hadn’t made the connection until I saw you today. Oh, I recognized the name, but I assumed it must be someone else.”

Griff barked out a harsh laugh. “Yeah. Because my name is so common.”

Red rose in her cheeks. “I know. I should have known better. Especially since I’ve known Lex here for nearly a year. I’m disappointed in myself for not making the connection before now.”

This was honestly something Griff had been dreading for some time now—meeting someone he’d once worked with at the FBI. He could only guess what rumors had flown, especially after Godfrey.

“Look, Griff, like I said, I don’t want this to be awkward.”

Little late for that now, he thought.

“For what it’s worth, there was a lot of scuttlebutt that went around after you were…let go.”

Of course, there had been. He’d worked there. He knew what they were like.

“And most of the people I respected were willing to reserve judgement, knowing we only had a part of the story and probably the wrong part. Carlson was an idiot. We all knew that.”

Wait?

Lex’s hand was warm and comforting on his back.

“Most of us thought you got handed a shit sandwich, sent into a place like Godfrey without any backup and then not pulled out when it all went to Hell.”

Griff’s chest, which had tightened when he saw Avery, loosened at her words.

“Yeah, pretty much. Uh. Thank you.”

She held out her hand. He hesitated only a moment before taking it. “Glad to have a chance to work with you again. Joshua and Jackson are way better bosses than Carlson and Nelson ever were.”

Lex’s prickly protectiveness relaxed into pride.

“I’m glad to work with you again too.”

Avery took her hand back, cleared her throat and said, “So I’ve been given a high-level briefing on all this…uh. Nazi stuff?”

Griff’s laugh was more natural this time. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”

“I understand there are six of you, but there’s only four of you here now? Where are the other two?”

“Roger and Dean are at another hotel,” Griff explained. “Roger’s the one Bill’s going to be imitating. We wanted Roger as far away from this as possible, and he and Dean can’t be separated.”

Avery's eyes darted back and forth between Lex and Griff.

“We can’t be separated either,” Lex said. “It’s why I’ve been playing a tech support role instead of going into the field.”

“Right. Okay.”

Griff felt a brief moment of pity for her. What exactly did you say to that?

“Do we need to send agents to watch…Roger and Dean?” Avery asked.

Griff had been wondering how to ask that, without questioning Lex’s ability to hide their trail.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Lex said, making the question moot. “I’m confident I hid our reservation trail, and we’ve been alert for tails when traveling back and forth, but I can’t be certain they haven’t figured it out. Ideally we wouldn’t have made that trip last night.”

Avery nodded. “I’ll see about getting a couple of agents over there.”

“Is Caitlyn still at the D.C. field office?” Griff asked.

Avery raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “Yes.”

“And her partner in both senses?”

“Yes, Anna’s still there too. And they are still together. Why?” As soon as she finished asking, her eyes widened. “Are Roger and Dean…you know…like you.” She waved vaguely between Lex and Griff.

“I’m not sure if they are or aren’t,” Griff said. Actually, he was quite sure it was headed in that direction, but he didn’t think it was Avery’s business. “That’s not why I’m asking. We almost…lost Roger last night. Bill and I had to…” How to explain this to the uninitiated?

“Griff and Bill had to join Roger and Dean the same way he and I are,” Lex put in. “And how Bill and Sam are. It’s a very new thing to them. Roger’s still in a fragile state.”

“Exactly,” Griff continued. “And Dean’s going to be extra protective and resentful of anyone there who isn’t one of us. But as I recall, Caitlyn and Anna were pretty chill.”

“You mean not a bunch of macho egos like too many of our agents?” Avery asked, but there was a smile in her voice.

“Pretty much,” Griff said, with a wink to match her tone.

“It makes sense. I’ll see if they are available.”

“If they’re not, call Quinn,” Lex suggested. “They’ll be available then.”

“Good point,” Avery agreed.

“And can you send me their pictures, so I can let Dean know to expect them?” Lex raised his phone.

“Don’t tell me you can’t get them straight from our database,” Avery said, challenge in her voice.

“Of course I can,” Lex said, with a wink of his own. “But the first rule of hacking is don’t hack if you can get what you need another way.”

Avery gave a little snort but pulled out her phone and swiped through pictures for a minute. “There. Caitlyn’s on the left. Anna’s on the right.”

“Thanks.” Lex fiddled with his phone, presumably sending everything to Dean.

“I think that’s it, then? Until later this afternoon?” Avery asked,

“I think so.” Griff held out his hand again. “Thanks. It really is good to be working with you again.”

She took it and held it a few seconds longer than strictly necessary. “You’re welcome. Yes, it is.” She let go of his hand and smiled. “See you later then.”

She left. Bill and Sam turned around with questioning expressions.

“She’s cool, guys,” Griff said.

They both nodded. Stiles glanced between the two pairs. “You all stick together, don’t you?”

“Damn straight,” Sam said.

Stiles nodded. “Good. Glad to hear it. Terri and I are going too. We’ll be back later with your gear, Griff.”

“And mine,” Lex said.

“You’re going to be staying here doing overwatch on the monitors,” Griff said with a frown.

“I can still gear up. Just in case.” His tone made it clear he wasn’t going to budge on this one. Griff decided it wasn’t worth fighting.

“All right. Probably a good precaution.”

“What about me?” Bill asked. “Do you guys have a vest that I can put under my clothes? I’ve got Roger’s jacket with me. It’s bulky enough to cover a vest, I think.”

“We can arrange that,” Stiles said.

He and Terri left. Lex nudged Griff in the direction of one of the two bedrooms. “Nap.”

Sam was likewise motioning Bill in the direction of other one.

“Ever feel, Griff, like we’ve got a pair of sheep dogs instead of twins?”

Griff gave Bill a rueful smile. “Sometimes, yeah.”

“Because you guys are clearly not able to take care of yourselves without us,” Sam said, putting a hand on Bill’s back and practically shoving him toward the bedroom.

“Says the man who followed an evil Nazi bastard into Starbucks.” Bill complained but started moving where Sam wanted him.

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Nope.”

Lex nudged Griff again.

“I’m going.”

He was tired, and it was probably going to be a long evening.

Chapter Text

Dean sat on the bed with his laptop. Roger slept beside him. Every so often, Dean reached out to touch him. Each time, the circuit closed all the way, and it felt so good. Dean had convinced himself that what he remembered from Karl was exaggerated, but now he knew it wasn’t. He felt whole for the first time since Karl had died. Only this time, there was no guilt or revulsion.

However, there was apprehension. Would Roger remember the conversation they’d had? Dean regretted that awkward declaration of love. He’d not intended to say anything, but the words had popped out in his worry for Roger. It had never occurred to him the man might be ace. He’d spent the last hour looking up asexuality online, trying to figure out what it might mean for them. Apparently, it didn’t preclude a romantic relationship? Assuming Roger was okay with that? He supposed he wouldn’t know until he had a chance to have that conversation, although he was embarrassed to have it. Maybe Roger would have just forgotten, and Dean could pretend it had never happened. Having the connection was enough. He didn’t need more.

Even though he wanted more. But life had taught him he rarely ever got what he wanted. 

A knock sounded at the door. He’d gotten the message from Lex and assumed it was the agents he’d mentioned. A quick glance at Roger showed he was still soundly asleep, not even twitching at the knock. Dean grabbed his phone, where he’d stored the picture Lex had sent and walked to the door, peering carefully through the peephole.

“Yes?” he said, buying himself a moment to examine the women standing outside.

“Mr. Ellis? Agents Brown and Brown,” one of the women said. “We’re here from the FBI. Agent Pohl sent us.”

“A moment, please.”

“Certainly.” Both agents lifted their heads to make their faces more visible to him through the peep hole. He compared what he saw to the picture Lex had sent him. One woman had rich brown skin and long braids. The other was tanned with close-cropped blond hair. Both were wearing suits. Although what Lex had sent showed them in casual clothes, Dean was able to match them to the picture he had. He opened the door, still leaving the safety bolt fastened.

“May I see your IDs?”

They already had them in hand and gave them to him. He examined them carefully. Lex had taught him something about recognizing forgeries, and these passed the things he knew to look for. Figuring he’d been as cautious as he could, he gave back the badges, unfastened the bolt and motioned them in. “Sorry about that.”

They entered. Caitlyn smiled and shook her head, braids making a soft swish against her blouse. “Not a problem. You should be cautious. You did the right things.”

Dean held out his hand and shook with both agents. They had firm, confident grips. He liked that.

“You know why we’re here?” the other agent, Anna, asked.

“Yes. Lex told me to expect you.”

“Right, then,” Anna continued. “We don’t expect any trouble, but everyone wants to be cautious, considering the circumstances. There are supposed to be two of you?”

“Yes.” Dean motioned to the half-closed door to the bedroom where Roger was sleeping. “He’s in there, still asleep.” He wasn’t sure how much to say or how much they knew, and all he added was, “He had a rough night.”

Caitlyn nodded. “We’ve had a quick briefing and know a little bit of what you’re talking about. We’ll be as unobtrusive as possible. If you’d like to stay in there with him, we’ll just remain in this room?”

“That should work.” He was grateful that he’d still basically have time alone with Roger.

“May we peek in, just to confirm the suite is clear?” Anna asked.

“Of course.” He stood aside to give them room to give the entire suite a quick, but thorough sweep.

Once they were satisfied, Caitlyn said, “All right. Thank you. We’ll be here if you need anything.”

“A question?”

“Certainly.”

“You have the same last name?”

Anna smiled. “We get that a lot. Yes, we’re married.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t been aware that married agents were allowed to be partners.

“It’s unusual, yes,” Anna added. “But we were determined.”

Caitlyn smiled at her partner. “Not that we didn’t have to go through a lot of fights over it.”

“I’m sure,” Dean said. “But congratulations.” He was relieved. Somehow that made it seem easier, and he wondered who had suggested the team.

“Thank you,” Anna said. They both moved to sit down on opposite sides of the room, and Dean went back to join Roger, who was still sleeping. Dean left the door cracked and sat back down on the bed. He could continue monitoring Olivia’s phone while he waited for Roger to awaken.

He heard the TV turn on in the other room, CNN by the sound of it. It wasn’t loud, but it was probably enough to mask any low conversation from either room. Dean appreciated the courtesy.

He alternated between reading news—the President was still being an idiot, must be a day ending in “Y”—and watching the location of Olivia’s phone. It was still in her office.

About an hour after the agents arrived, Roger stirred. Dean set aside his laptop but hesitated, not certain what Roger wanted or was willing to tolerate. He’d seemed to appreciate contact earlier, but that was before the awkward conversation. Dean just didn’t know where he stood anymore with the man.

“Dean?” Roger’s voice was rough, and he coughed and cleared his throat.

“Roger. I’m here.”

Roger opened his eyes, which were still sunken and tired looking.

“How do you feel?”

Roger swallowed before saying, “Better? And awful?”

Dean longed to reach out and pull him into a hug. “Those two things don’t usually go together, you know.”

He lay quietly, and Dean waited. Finally, he said, “I don’t want to hunt demons anymore. I know they aren’t real. That they never were.”

Dean smiled. “That’s good. That means it worked. You can heal now.” So, the bond was working, but what did Roger want from him?

Roger closed his eyes briefly before reaching out a hand. “I want…I think I need to be touching you.”

Dean reached out and took his hand. The circuit closed, and Roger’s eyes widened. “Is it supposed to feel like that?”

“Yes, it is.” He wanted to be even closer, to be more in contact, but he continued to hesitate.

Roger made it easy by moving to lay his head on Dean’s thigh. Dean reached out and ran a hand through his hair. “Do you want me to hold you?” He hoped the answer would be yes.

“Will you? Is it okay?”

“It’s more than okay.” Dean lay down, and Roger moved to place his head on Dean’s chest. Dean hugged him close, feeling better than he had in months. This was what he had wanted and hadn’t been sure he could ever have again. Not that he had ever had this with Karl.

Roger jerked and pulled away, sitting up and moving to the end of the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Roger said, eyes wide, expression horrified.

“For what? I don’t understand.” Dean’s hands cramped suddenly with the need to be touching Roger.

“Karl. That must remind you of him. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to remind you of him.”

It took Dean a second but then he got it. He reached out his hands. Roger looked at them and shook his head. “No. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Roger, you’re not hurting me. On the contrary. It’s what I want and what you need right now. You’re going to be a while healing, and the more we’re in contact with each other, the faster you’ll heal.”

“But…”

“No, it’s fine. Really. Yes, it’s sort of like with Karl, but with a huge difference.” He paused, not sure how to explain it. “With Karl, there was the good, the satisfaction of being joined. But it was overlaid with…filth. Like reaching through sewage to get to the good water underneath.” He smiled at Roger. “There’s none of that with you. It’s all good.”

Roger tilted his head. “You’re sure?”

“Take my hand. You should be able to get a sense of what I’m feeling.”

Roger reached out and took Dean’s hand. He closed his eyes, face screwed up in concentration. Dean did something he’d never wanted or dared to do with Karl. He tried to send some of what he was feeling.

Roger’s eyes flew open. “I felt that!”

“What did you feel?”

“Warm. It felt warm and good. And…complete?”

Dean nodded. “Yes. That’s what I feel when we’re touching. That’s what I’ve been missing since…Karl died. Only, with you, there’s none of the bad.”

Roger scooted forward, and Dean engulfed him in a hug, pulling Roger’s head on his shoulder. The older man drew in a hitching breath. “Is it always like this?”

“The intensity varies. The longer we’ve been apart, the more intense it is when we come back together, but, basically, yes. It’s always good. It’s what we’re intended to have.”

“I never thought it would be like this. I thought it was necessary but…sort of unpleasant.”

“It is when the original vessel’s personality has been wiped. But not when you’re still there.”

“I see why Lex and Griff are together, I guess. But Sam and Bill aren’t? Is it not as good for them?”

Dean leaned his head against Roger’s. It was so satisfying to have this. “I don’t think that’s it. They just aren’t interested in each other the way Lex and Griff are. But look at how often they end up sitting together, touching. It’s good for them too. Just maybe not quite the same as for the other two.”

Roger sat quietly for a moment. Dean thought he was probably digesting what he’d learned. Finally, he said, “Last night. You said you needed me. That you were maybe falling in love with me.”

Dean’s heart raced. Roger had remembered. Where was this going? A part of him wanted to deny it had happened, but he was too honest. “Yes. But you said you didn’t like sex. That’s fine. We can have what Bill and Sam have. It’s not like I had anything different with Karl. This is so much better than that.”

“But you want something else. Something more?”

Again, Dean wanted to say he didn’t. That this was all he wanted. But he was joined to a psychic. A psychic who didn’t know what to do with his abilities, but he suspected could sense a lie. Especially from Dean. So, he said, “Yes. I want it. But I learned a long time ago that I usually don’t get what I want, so it’s fine.”

Roger lifted his head to regard Dean, his amber eyes thoughtful. “That’s not right. You deserve happiness as much as anyone else.”

Dean shook his head. “Not in my experience, I don’t.”

Roger put a gentle finger to Dean’s lips. “No, I don’t accept that.” He paused, gaze still thoughtful. “You’re okay with not having sex? Assuming there’s…love involved in some way?”

Dean wasn’t sure he was hearing correctly, but he answered. “I’ve had sex before. It’s nice. I liked it, sure, but I’ve been basically celibate for years now.” He’d had a couple of one-night stands, when he absolutely couldn’t stand being alone. But mostly, since Karl’s death, he’d satisfied his need for contact by hanging out with Lex and Griff. Griff had obviously figured out that Dean liked touching him because he usually sat beside Dean, always with a hand on him somewhere. The times they had gone to the movies together, they always put Dean in the middle. He’d said it was fine that they sit together, but they always insisted. He’d been grateful, but Roger was his, the one he was supposed to be with, and he wanted that. “I want this.” He indicated the two of them. “I want this more than sex. If…if there were any chance you could love me back, that would be more than enough.”

“Give me some time to sort everything out?” Roger asked, speaking slowly. “It’s a lot right now. It’s like everything has changed. Things I thought were real aren’t. Things that were real feel like they happened to other people. I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.”

That was more than Dean had expected, and he was grateful for it. “Of course. Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I guess you really can’t now, can you?”

“Not really. That’s also how this thing works.”

Roger lifted his head, expression puzzled. “And you’re okay with that? With the fact that you’re basically tied to me for as long as I live?”

Dean didn’t hesitate. “I am. I knew what this meant when I agreed to let Griff and Bill try to join us. Unlike any of the others, I knew exactly what I was getting into. And I’d rather have this, with limitations, than go on feeling so incomplete.”

Roger nodded. “All right. I don’t quite know what to think yet, but… I think I like it so far. It’s better than how I felt last night, when reality seemed to be sliding away from me and there was nothing I could do about it.”

Dean hugged him. “I’m glad. I’m here for you.”

“The others are getting ready for the kidnapping thing?”

“Yes. It should all go down in about six hours or so.”

“I still don’t like it.”

Dean lay his head on Roger’s shoulder, which was tense under his cheek. “I know. But I’m not giving you up. Not after I just got you.”

Roger sighed and his shoulder muscles relaxed. “All right. I like this. Now that I have it, I don’t want to give it up either. But I want them to be all right. I don’t want any of them to be hurt because of me.”

“They know what they’re doing,” Dean assured him.

“Can we listen in?”

“Yes. Lex left me the frequency, and I can receive on my laptop.”

Roger frowned and tilted his head in a listening position. “Who is in the other room?”

“Two agents, just as a precaution. No one expects anyone to know you and I are here.”

Roger yawned. “Okay. Then I’m going to nap for a bit. I guess I’m still tired from last night.”

Dean lifted his head and dared to give Roger a soft kiss on his cheek. “You’re healing. Sleep. I’ll make sure you’re awake in time.”

Roger slid down and settled on his pillow. Dean heard his breathing settle into the deep evenness of sleep within seconds. He smiled. That had gone well, better than he had expected. He felt hopeful that he and Roger would have something special.

***

When Griff woke up, late afternoon sun was streaming past the curtains. Lex was warm against his side, tapping away on his iPad.

“Hey,” Lex said.

“Hey yourself.” Griff stretched. “What time is it?”

“Just after four. Terri is making up Bill now. The rest of the team will be here in almost an hour.”

“Any sign of company on the cameras?” He hadn’t looked at Lex’s screen, but he knew his partner well.

“Not yet. But I figure they’ll show soon. They’ll want to be in position before we’re likely to have kicked Roger out.”

“Yes. I’d be setting up right about now if it were me, figuring we’d send him away after dinner, and that could be anywhere from an hour from now to threeish.”

“Right.”

The plan was to send Bill out around six-thirty or seven. Late enough that most of the dinner/rush hour crowd would be heading home and not yet late enough for the evening drinking/party crowd to be on the streets.

Griff sat up and glanced at the iPad screen. Lex had it split. One half showed a camera array. The other half had a comic book, Iron Man. The typical Lex multi-tasking made him smile. “I guess I need to get up.”

“You’ve got a few minutes if you want. Did the nap help?”

Griff took a mental inventory. He was feeling alert. The slight headache he’d woken up with that morning was gone. His muscles still ached faintly, especially around his midsection, but he thought the pain would respond to a couple of Lex’s Excedrin. “I think it did. I feel better than this morning.”

“Good. You and Bill were pretty exhausted after what you did.”

Now that Griff was thinking clearly again, he marveled at what he and Bill had accomplished with no training and barely any idea of what they were doing. “Yes. I’d like to keep working with him when we can. Maybe we can take a trip out to Jericho every so often. We know there are more of us out there. We have to assume some of the pairs are split up, like Roger and Dean.”

“And Pete.”

That was something Griff had shied away from thinking about. If he’d only known they were able to join a severed vessel and buffer. They might have been able to save Pete. But then they would have lost Roger.

“Don’t think like that.”

Lex was getting entirely too good at following his thoughts. Although, to be fair, he probably had been projecting pretty loudly right then. “I know. We didn’t know. Couldn’t have known. I felt…whatever…in Dean on the plane, but it wasn’t until much later that I figured out what it was and what it meant.”

“Exactly. Not your fault.”

“Still…”

Lex put down the iPad and pulled him close. “No still. You’re not all-knowing, husband. We know now. You and Bill will get better at it and teach Roger.”

“And we have to hope we find everyone in the right pair ups.”

Lex kissed his forehead and squeezed his arm. “We’ll figure it out. Everyone would have thought it wasn’t possible to join up those two. Maybe there’s other options for unpaired vessels.”

Griff couldn’t help thinking that would be an option for him. Maybe he wouldn’t always need Lex.

“No, damn it,” Lex said, more exasperation than heat in his voice. “I’m going to keep telling you that I love you and wouldn’t have this any other way until you finally believe it.”

“But wouldn’t it…”

“No, definitely not. I love what we have.”

“Even though you can’t…”

“Even with that.”

Was Lex ever going to let him finish a sentence?

“Nope. Not until you start saying sentences that make sense.” Another kiss on his forehead. “I wouldn’t give up you or anything that we have. Inconveniences and all.”

Griff was pretty sure their situation went beyond “inconvenience” but since he felt the same way for himself, he sighed and went with it. For the moment.

“Good. Although I know I’ll be telling you the same thing in less than a week.”

Probably. “You’ll get sick of it and me one day.”

“Never.” Lex’s voice held absolute conviction.

“But you let me finish the sentence.”

“I have to let you win once in a while. All the books on how to have a successful marriage make a point of saying that.”

Griff humphed and nuzzled Lex for a moment before sitting up. “Well, I suppose it’s time to go get ready. I want this whole thing over and done with.”

Lex picked up his iPad and glanced at the camera array. His body went tight with focus.

Griff pushed aside his slightly melancholy mood to focus on the mission. “See something?”

Lex handed over the tablet. “Look like our kind of people, there?”

Griff examined the camera Lex was indicating. Two men were standing next to a white panel van. Their attention was on the front entrance to the hotel. Both were blond, and he was certain if the camera quality were better, he’d see their eyes were blue. “They do have a certain sameness to them, don’t they?”

“They do. You agree it’s probably them?”

“Either that or there’s a convention of people with recessive genes about to start.”

Lex laughed at that. “Technically, I think blond hair isn’t a recessive. I think it’s more complicated than that.”

“But blue eyes are, and you know those two have blue eyes.”

“They might not.”

Griff snorted. “Right.”

Lex laughed. “Okay. Yeah. They probably do.”

Griff climbed out of bed. “But if they are starting to gather, then we need to get ready.”

Lex followed him into the main room, iPad still in hand. Terri looked up from where she was working on Bill. The beard was in place, and it looked like she was making the final adjustments on his face, deepening the lines to make him appear older. “Thought maybe you were going to sleep until next week.”

“Nah. Not quite that long. Bill, you’re looking very Roger-like.”

Bill pulled a face. Terri lightly tapped the side of his head. “Stay still. I can’t get the lines right if you’re making faces at Griff.”

“The beard still itches.”

“Then you’d better hope this thing works tonight so I don’t have to do this again.”

Bill grumbled but made an obvious effort to stay still.

Stiles, who was standing by the window, turned around and pointed to the pile of gear by the television. “Your stuff is there.” He pointed to the window. “I think I see a couple of guys who might be the ones we’re keeping watch for.”

Lex walked over to the window and looked down while Griff headed for the pile of gear. He was happy to see his vest and immediately started putting it on. Wearing the vest helped get him into the right frame of mind for tactical planning.

“Yeah, those are the two I saw on the cameras. I think they are starting to assemble.”

“It’s about the right time for it,” Bill agreed.

Sam emerged from the second bedroom. “So almost show time?”

“Getting there,” Griff said. “Lex, did you remember to pack my waist holster? The under the shoulder one doesn’t work with the vest.” He was comfortable with both holsters but generally carried the under the shoulder one.

“It’s in the side pocket of the roller bag. Get my pistol while you’re in there?”

Griff went back to their room and opened the pocket. His holster was there along with the light .32 Lex carried on missions. He’d been making his partner spend time at the range. He still had issues from the assassin he’d shot to save Griff, but he also needed to be comfortable with firearms if he was going to be in the field. Progress had been slow but steady, and Griff was proud of him.

He strapped on the holster, picked up Lex’s gun and holster and took them back to the living room, where Lex was fastening the last buckle on his vest. He handed over the gun and holster.

“Thanks,” Lex said as he strapped them on.

The FBI agents arrived a few minutes later, and they all gathered around for final preparations.

They went over the plan until everyone knew their role and was comfortable with where they’d be. Griff made sure to visualize his part to be certain he was in the right frame of mind.

Lex continued to watch the cameras while Stiles observed the front of the hotel from the window. Between them, they located four men along with the van. None of them was Williams, which they all agreed was unfortunate, but there was nothing to be done about it. They’d just round him up later, if they could.

Finally, between 6:30 and 7, Griff stood up. “We’re as ready as we’re going to be, and now is as good a time as any. Let’s get this thing going.”

Lex was at his laptop. “No one has moved in the last half hour. I haven’t seen anyone else. I think it’s just the four of them.”

“I agree,” Stiles said from the window.

As Bill stood up, Sam moved from the couch, where he’d been glued to his twin’s side, to sit beside Lex. He still wasn’t happy with basically no role on the team. He and Bill had argued about in an hour earlier, but the deputy had stood firm, and Sam had eventually backed down.

The agents left the room, followed by Stiles, Griff and Bill. The plan was for Bill to wait by the elevator for five minutes, giving everyone else time to get in place. As they started down the hallway, Bill tugged on Griff’s arm, slowing him. “Griff?”

Stiles glanced over his shoulder, and Griff waved him on. The big agent nodded and followed the rest of the FBI agents.

“What do you need, Bill?”

“Look. If…something…happens to me, well, you’ll look after Sam, right? I mean, I know he’ll be fine. He won’t be in…pain…if I die. But, well…”

Griff touched his shoulder. “You know we will. We look after our own.”

“I know. It’s just…”

Griff smiled at him. “You’ve come a long way from the guy who didn’t think you’d ever be able to like him.”

Bill’s gaze dropped to examine the floor. “Yeah. I mean, I guess he has grown on me. And I know he likes this whole thing, even though we’re not like you and Lex. Still, it’s…nice. I think it’s given him something he was looking for. And I don’t want him to lose it completely."

“First off, Bill, nothing’s going to happen to you. We’ve got you wired for tracking, and the plan is sound. But, in the highly unlikely event something does happen, Sam always has a place with us.”

Bill looked up. “And now that you know how to join up those of us who are severed, if you find…”

Griff shook his head. “No. Don’t think that way. But yes, we’ll look after Sam.”

Bill nodded. “Right. Thanks.” He squared his shoulder. “Let’s go do this.”

Griff motioned him on, and they walked on, Griff following the agents down the stairs, Bill waiting by the elevator. 

“Good luck,” Griff said as he moved past him, touching his twin on the shoulder one last time on his way by.

“You too.”

Griff hurried down the stairs. “I heard all that,” came Lex’s voice in his ear, obviously on a private frequency.

“Yeah.”

“Agree with all of it too.”

“Good.” Not that he’d had any doubt. “Did Sam hear?”

“Nope. He’s in the bathroom, and I cut the feed from your two mics for a minute.”

“Good. I think Bill forgot he was on the line.”

“Probably. He’s nervous. Can’t blame him. Even with backup, he is about to walk out and let himself get kidnapped by a bunch of bad guys.”

“He’s got guts.”

“Hell of a family we’ve got.”

Griff smiled. “Yeah. Okay. At the bottom of the stairwell now. Show time.”

“Love you.”

Griff had just enough time to say, “I love you,” back before he was in the lobby and moving to his position, where he had an unobstructed view of the elevator and the front entrance to the hotel. “In position,” he said, making sure he was on the team frequency.

There was a chorus of acknowledgements from the various team members, including, to Griff’s amusement, from Sam. “Go ahead, Bill,” Griff said.

“Coming down.”

A few minutes later, the elevator opened, and Bill emerged, looking tired and haggard. He was limping, just enough to seem vulnerable but not overdoing it.

“Got eyes on you, Bill,” Griff said.

“I think they saw you.” Lex said. “One guy’s getting into the van. The other three are moving into position around the entrance. Looks like they are ready for any direction you might go.”

The plan was for Bill to turn right, in the direction of King Street and both the Metro and Amtrak stations, logical choices if he’d been told to leave by the group.

As soon as Bill left the hotel, one of the men walked up to him, holding a map, as if about to ask for directions.

“Be ready. It’s going down,” Stiles said.

Bill was shaking his head at the man. Griff edged closer to the entrance, ready for whatever might happen. The white van’s engine started.

The man talking to Bill suddenly grabbed his arm, hurrying him…away from the van?

“Shit! They’re not moving for the van,” Griff said, starting to run for the entrance.

Before Griff had moved more than a few feet, a dark sedan screeched to a halt beside Bill and the man who’d grabbed him. The trunk popped open, and, although Bill fought him, his captor was a large man, who easily overpowered the deputy and threw him into the trunk.

The other two men moved to intercept the approaching agents and managed to cause enough confusion that no one was able to stop the car containing Bill from accelerating away from the scene.

Moments later, the car turned a corner and was out of sight.

Griff barreled out of the hotel, running as fast as he could, heedless of anything except trying to catch them, knowing it was impossible but intent to try anyway. Stiles was on his heels, and they ran together, dodging confused pedestrians who managed to be in exactly the wrong place.

Griff dashed around the corner, nearly toppling a baby carriage. The woman yelled at him, but he ignored her. He could just see the car, approaching a light, which had turned red. This was his chance. He dug deep and found a reserve of speed. But it was too late. The car ignored the light and darted across the intersection, nearly crashing into an SUV that managed to dodge at the last minute.

Griff tried to find some more speed, hoping to catch them at the next intersection, but the stretch on his link to Lex pulled him up short. His vision tunneled, and he thought he could hear Eric starting to whisper in his ear.

Shit! He was at the limit of his range. Swearing, he took several steps back.

Stiles caught up to him. “We’ve got the tracking device on him.” The big agent glanced around, saw a parked car and, without hesitating, broke in and had the car hot-wired in moments. Griff knew he should be objecting, but all he could think about was Bill, getting farther and farther away.

“Stiles,” he called, wanting to warn the man.

“What?”

“Bill’s psychosis is a combination of paranoia and xenophobia. Also, he gets violent. So be careful. He’s probably out of his safe range from Sam and stressed.”

Stiles nodded. “Got it. Handle with care. Don’t worry. We’ll get him back.” He started the car and raced off.

Griff leaned over, propping his hands on his knees for a moment to catch his breath. He hadn’t run that hard in a while.

Then he remembered. If Bill was out of range, Sam was going to be in terrible pain in moments. With a sigh, he stood up and started sprinting back to their room. He’d let Avery and her people take care of the kidnappers. One of his family needed him.

Chapter Text

Lex watched everything on the cameras. At first, everything looked to be going according to plan. Then the dark sedan pulled up, and, almost before Lex could react, Bill was thrown into the trunk, and the car raced off.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!’ Lex yelled.

“What happened?” Sam asked, jumping up from the couch and hurrying to look over Lex’s shoulder.

“There was a second car. They threw Bill into the trunk.” Lex hastily pulled up the tracking feed. The green light from Bill’s tracking device blinked reassuringly, even as it raced along the colorful map display.

“Lex?” Stiles voice sounded in his ear.

“Yeah. I saw. I’ve got his position.”

“Good. I’ve hot-wired a car and am in pursuit. Guide me?”

This is why Lex loved working with Stiles. The big agent was always ready with a backup plan. “Of course. He’s turned right on King and…wait a minute. He just made a left on Harvard. And now a left on Cameron. I bet he’s heading for 395.” He watched the green dot move. “Wait. No. He’s turning right on Buchanan.”

“So, he’s heading for the highway via Braddock Road?”

“I think so.”

“All right. Let me know if he changes course.”

“Will do.”

Suddenly, he heard a loud “Fuck!” from Sam and turned to see his twin stagger backwards onto the couch, holding his arms around his body as if it were the only way he could keep himself together. Damn. Bill was definitely out of their safe range now.

He quickly unplugged the laptop and carried it to the couch, where he sat down beside Sam, who was shivering uncontrollably. “Here, Sam. Lie down. Put your head on my lap. I got you.” Sam lay down, and Lex put a hand on him.

“Lex? Oh, God. This is bad.”

“I know, Sam. I know. But Stiles is in pursuit. We’ll get Bill back. Just hang on.”

Sam’s body was shaking so hard he almost fell off the couch. Lex could sympathize, remembering the one time he’d been separated from Griff. The pain had been like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

“I’m on my way back, Lex.” Now it was Griff’s voice in his ear.

“Good. I need some help here.”

“Any change on the car?” Stiles asked.

Lex had managed to keep his attention on the green dot. “Nope. Still heading toward Braddock.”

“Okay. I’ve run several stop signs, but hopefully I’m gaining on them.”

One hand still on Sam, Lex quickly sent out a BOLO for the car. He’d managed a screen capture of the license plate—the angle had been just right—and he added that to the description of the car. “Avery.”

“We’re on it, Lex. We have cars in pursuit.”

“Thanks. It looks like he’s heading for 395 via Braddock Road.”

“Got it. Let us know if anything changes.”

“I will.”

He heard the click of the door lock, and his head shot up as he automatically moved to cover Sam, who was moaning softly, eyes closed, arms still wrapped around himself.

Griff entered the suite and immediately started stripping off his vest. “Give me a minute, and I’ll take Sam.”

“Thanks. I’m monitoring Bill’s tracker.”

“Good. Stiles is after him.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Griff shed his vest, sat down on the couch and pulled a shivering Sam close to him. “I got you, Sam. It’s going to be all right.”

Sam struggled a little. “Wait. Did you say they threw Bill in the trunk of the car?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh shit.”

Lex’s eyes cut from the screen to Sam. “What?”

“Bill and Jimmy got tied up and thrown into the trunk of their patrol car by some escaped prisoners a couple of years ago.” Sam’s voice was a harsh pant as he struggled to get his words out. “It was at least a day before anyone found them. Bill still has nightmares about it. I think he’s developed claustrophobia from it. If he’s out of range and in a trunk?”

“Stiles,” Lex said immediately.

“I’ve got a visual on him.”

“Yeah, that’s good. But there’s more. Bill was locked in the trunk of his patrol car a few years ago. Assume he’s going to panic.”

Stiles made a huffing sound over the coms. “Xenophobia, paranoia and a panic attack. You all can’t make this easy, can you?”

“All in a day’s work?” Lex shot back.

“Your day maybe. Not mine. But, okay, I’ll treat with extra caution.”

“Thanks, Stiles. We all appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah. You all say that and then…shit. Okay. Didn’t expect that.”

“What?” Lex practically yelled, fearing the worst. The green tracking dot had stopped two intersections away from the on-ramp to Interstate 395.

“Back in a minute.”

“What happened?” Sam gasped out between shivers. Griff was obviously having a hard time holding onto him.

“I don’t know. Stiles just said he’d be back in a minute.”

Lex was trying to be positive, but not much rattled the agent. What had happened? And what did it mean for Bill?

***

Bill struggled but the man holding him was too big and strong and threw him into the car, slamming closed the trunk with the same movement. Bill exploded into a panicked thrashing, arms and legs flying in every direction. He needed to be out of the trunk NOW! This was his nightmare come true.

He barely felt the car’s acceleration in his panic as he screamed and hit out in every direction. Nothing worked. The car shook from the force of his internal assault, but its pace didn’t slow. He thought he heard Griff yell his name, but it already sounded far away.

Soon, another sensation intruded on his panic, a painful stretching that seemed to come from his midsection and extend back in the direction of the hotel. Suddenly, he realized he was in the middle of D.C., surrounded by strangers. What did they want with him? What were they going to do to him? The weight of all the people surrounding him threatened to crush him. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. His struggles slowed as he gasped for breath. His heart raced. Everyone was out to get him.

Was Sam safe?

That thought brought him up short. Sam! If Lex and Griff were right, Sam was in terrible pain right now. Pain that wouldn’t cease until Bill was back within their safe range. Something in his brain twisted, and he was able to think, at least a little.

He forced himself to stop struggling, open his eyes and look around, as best he could. His eyes focused on something glowing a soft green nearby. What was it? His thoughts were moving but slowly. Finally, he had it. The emergency trunk release. Would they have thought to disconnect it? He ran his hand over the release tracing the cord. It felt intact. Maybe he could get himself out of here.

How could he do this? He concentrated on the rhythm of the car. Still moving too fast to consider jumping out of. How far had they gone? How long was it going to take him to get back to Sam? Then he remembered the tracker. He felt under his jacket. Still there. Okay, so there was a good chance someone was following him. If he waited for the right moment to get out of the trunk. Then hope he could get away before they followed him. With any luck, Stiles or someone from the FBI would be nearby, and they could drive him back to Sam.

His thoughts slowed, becoming clouded again by fear. If he got out of the car, who would be nearby? What would they do to him? No. He couldn’t think like that. His brain was lying to him. Other than the people who had kidnapped him, thinking he was Roger, there was no one in D.C. who intended him harm. He had to remember that.

The car slowed. Was this his chance? He grabbed the trunk release as if it were the only thing keeping him connected to reality. He felt the car roll to a stop. As soon as he thought it was moving slowly enough, he pulled the release and, in the same motion, rolled out of the trunk. He hit the ground hard enough to briefly knock the breath from him, but he forced his cramping lungs to inflate, damn it! He needed air to get away.

Bill continued his roll to his left, scrambling for the sidewalk. Car horns honked. Exhaust smell flooded his nose as he finally got some air into his lungs. He got to the sidewalk but stayed low, wanting to stay below the sight lines of the men who had abducted him. Wishing he had his gun, he crab-walked to the edge of the sidewalk and had a moment to examine where he was.

His brain was working overtime, overloading him with smells, sounds and sights. Shaking his head, he forced himself to sort through the onslaught on his senses. He was on what looked like a main artery, two lanes on either side of a median. A strip mall sprawled on the other side of the road. Next to the mall was an apartment or condo complex. Could he dash across the street and lose his abductors in the complex? Or should he run into one of the stores in the strip mall? Cars continued to honk, but, over their clamor, he heard a sound that caused his heart to stop for a moment. The unmistakable creak of a car door opening to his right. His head snapped in that direction. As he’d feared, his abductors were getting out of the car and starting in his direction.

“Freeze” yelled a deep voice to his left. His head snapped back in that direction. He was surrounded. Or no? A man stood, gun extended, eyes locked in the direction of his abductors. Who was he? He looked somewhat familiar, but Bill’s frantically sluggish thoughts couldn’t place him immediately.

“Bill, get behind me,” the man said.

He knew him! Why? Who was he? What did he intend for him?

“Bill, I know you’re scared. I know this is overwhelming, but I’m your way back to Sam.”

He knew Sam? Had he abducted his partner? What was going on? What should he do?

Footsteps sounded to his right, and he turned again to see his abductors walking toward him, apparently undeterred by the man with the gun.

“Bill! Get behind me.”

Right. He was in between the man and his abductors. He couldn’t shoot. His brain twisted again, and, for a split-second, he could think. He knew the man with the gun. Stiles? Was that his name?

His feet moved, taking him behind the man, who nodded and repeated his instruction to the approaching men. “Freeze, or I will shoot.”

The men continued to advance. Bill stood behind the man. Stiles. He was fairly certain now that was his name. But what was going on? Where was Sam? How was he going to get back to him? And why had the men abducted him? The stretch in his midsection hurt. Everything going on around him was overwhelming. He wanted to just collapse to the ground, hands over his head and hope everything would just STOP.

Two more cars screeched to a halt nearby, and Bill flinched backwards, feet almost starting to run. Men and women erupted from the cars, yelling “‘FBI’ and ‘Freeze!’” Bill froze, not able to process or do anything else. He noticed his abductors finally stopped moving, which was a relief.

Stiles spoke. “Bill. Come with me.”

Bill turned to look at him. The big man had put away his gun and had his hand outstretched. “I’ll take you to Sam.”

Sam. The name was a lifeline, but could he go with a stranger? No, not a stranger, his brain insisted. Someone he knew.

People bustled around him, taking his abductors into custody. One woman started to approach him, but Stiles waved her off. Bill was glad of that. He was having enough trouble dealing with Stiles. He couldn’t take anyone else right now.

“Bill?”

Stiles was holding something out to him. An earpiece and a throat microphone? His brain automatically identified them. “Why?”

“You can talk to Sam. You want to talk to Sam, right?”

He did. Didn’t he? But could he be certain it was Sam he was talking to? He’d recognize his voice, right?

Slowly, he reached out his hand to take the equipment. His hands knew what to do and slowly put the earpiece in and fastened the mic to his throat. “Sam?” he asked, once he had it all in place.

“Bill. Oh, thank God. You’re all right.” Sam’s voice was harsh and panting, sounding as if he were getting each word out past a closed-off throat.

“Sam?” he repeated, trying to think of what else to say.

“Bill,” came another voice through the earpiece. “This is Lex. You remember me, right?”

“I think so.” Lex? Didn’t he have something to do with computers? Why did he sound almost exactly like Sam? Memory flashed by, almost too quickly to grasp. Sam and three other men who looked almost, but not quite, alike.

“Go with Stiles.” Lex continued. “You can trust him. Let him bring you back here. Once you’re back with Sam, everything will make sense. I promise.”

Could he believe Lex? He wanted to be anywhere but here, surrounded by noise, lights and strangers. Finally, he decided. Stiles still stood, hand outstretched. Bill reached out and took it.

“Good,” Stiles said. “Come with me. My car is just over here.”

Bill followed him, not sure he was doing the right thing but not knowing what else to do just then.

“Bill?” That was Sam again.

“I’m going with Stiles,” Bill managed to say back.

“Good. You’ll be fine once you get here.” His voice still sounded ragged and pained.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, Bill. Just get back here as soon as you can.”

Stiles led him to a car, and Bill climbed into the passenger seat. The doors closed, and he almost panicked, but just then Lex spoke into his ear. “You can do it, Bill. You’ll be fine. I promise. Stiles will get you back here. Sam needs you. Hang in there for Sam.”

That worked. If Sam needed him, he could stay in the car.

Stiles managed to weave the car through the traffic pileup and made what was almost certainly an illegal U-Turn to start heading in the opposite direction. The man was dialing his phone with one hand. “Lex,” he heard him say. “We’re on our way back. Keep talking to him. It’s obviously helping.”

“Hey, Bill.” Lex’s voice was reassuring in his ear. “You’re on your way back. You’ll start feeling better soon. Just hang in there with us.”

Lex kept up a soothing flow of words. Bill didn’t really process most of them, but he let them wash over him, keeping him grounded in the present. He closed his eyes. It seemed easier if he couldn’t see everything around him.

The stretch still hurt, as if something was being pulled from him, but it seemed to ease a bit as they drove. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell Stiles was driving fast, weaving in and out of traffic. He thought he should say something, but if it was getting him back to Sam more quickly, he couldn’t find it within himself to argue.

Finally, the stretch eased even more, becoming little more than a vague muscle strain. His thoughts started to flow again. He remembered Stiles.  He remembered what he had been doing and why he’d been abducted. His fake beard itched. Opening, his eyes, he saw the hotel no more than a few blocks away, large and somehow comforting.

“Bill?” Sam’s voice. He sounded less pained.

“Sam? You okay?”

“You must be getting close. The pain is easing.”

“Yeah. A couple of blocks away. I think I’m back in our safe range.”

“I think so too.”

Now Bill’s hands cramped with the need to be touching Sam. It embarrassed him a bit. He’d never been much of a toucher, but he liked touching Sam. And the other twins. He guessed it was part of the weird thing that tied all of them together. Right now, he decided he didn’t care much. He just wanted to be next to Sam.

“Shit. I need to touch you so damn bad,” Sam said, sounding as embarrassed about it as Bill felt.

“Yeah. Me too.” It seemed less weird if Sam needed it too.

“Totally normal,” Lex said. “That’s what happened when Griff and I got apart back in Jericho.”

Bill remembered now. The two of them had stayed in constant contact while they had explained the whole twin thing.

Stiles double-parked the car in front of the hotel and got out. Bill opened his door and tried to climb out. His feet wouldn’t quite hold him, and Stiles steadied him. 

“Should you leave the car like that?” Bill managed to ask.

“Not my car. I just borrowed it to follow you,” Stiles said as he helped Bill through the hotel lobby and into the elevator.

Bill was pretty sure there was a problem with that, but his hands were cramping and all he could think about was getting to Sam. Stiles pushed the button, and Bill closed his eyes, willing the damn thing to move faster. Finally, the door opened on their floor, and Bill made his legs move, Stiles supporting him.

As they got to the suite door, it opened, and Lex was motioning them in. Bill stumbled into the room and saw Sam, half-getting up from the couch. Griff had a hand on him but was sliding over to make room for Bill who somehow managed to make his feet move in the right direction. Sam reached for him, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close. Griff stood up, Lex moving beside him, blocking Bill and Sam from Stiles’ view.

The agent must have gotten the hint because Bill distantly heard him say, “I’ll just go check in with Avery.”

The suite door closed, but Bill barely noticed. His hands stopped cramping. The circuit he always felt when he touched Sam closed, and it felt so damned good. Like birthday and Christmas and every holiday in between. Sam was sobbing into his shoulder, and Bill held him tightly. Lex sat down, arms around Bill while Griff moved to sit beside Sam. It was a tight fit on the couch, but none of them cared.

Sam shifted against him, and Bill let him move. He promptly regretted it because Sam hauled off and punched him in the jaw, hard.

“Ow! What was that for?” Bill rubbed his jaw, which was already started to swell. His partner had a hell of a right hook.

“For making me worry.”

Bill laughed and pulled Sam close again. His jaw hurt, but it was okay. For now, at least, this part of their family was whole.

Chapter Text

Dean had been listening in on the operation as it went down. He tensed when he heard that Bill had been taken. Roger was leaning against him, expression concerned.

“Will they be able to get him back?” he asked. “Sam will be in pain. What is happening to Bill? He doesn’t see demons, does he?”

“No. He gets paranoid and xenophobic.”

Just then he heard Sam mention Bill’s claustrophobia. “No. That’s bad.” He was worried for his twin.

Suddenly, Roger stiffened and sat up beside him, head tilted into a listening position.

“What?”

“Someone’s coming.” His voice sounded certain.

Dean had hacked into the hotel security cameras the previous day, and he hastily pulled up the feed from their floor. Two men stepped out of the elevator. They each had their hands on their hips where a gun would be resting in a holster. They moved slowly, placing their feet carefully. No one else was in the hallway.

“You’re right. Stay here.” Dean rolled off the bed and walked quickly to the other room. “Caitlyn? Anna? Two men are coming this way. They seem off to me.”

Neither agent asked questions. Caitlyn immediately drew her pistol and hurried to the door to peer through the peephole. Anna moved to cover her while motioning to Dean. “Go back to your room. Stay down. Get under the bed if there’s room. Don’t move until we tell you it’s clear.”

“I can see them,” Caitlyn said. “He’s right. I’m pretty sure they have guns.”

Dean went back to their room. Roger was still on the bed, but he was half-kneeling. “I was right?”

Dean nodded. “Yes. Get under the bed.” He dropped to the floor and wriggled underneath the king-sized bed—they hadn’t moved from Lex and Griff’s room—moving to the center. Roger followed him and pressed close to Dean, who squeezed his arm between Roger’s back and the underside of the bed. It was tight, but he felt better that way. He shifted slightly, instinctively trying to put himself between Roger and the door. Then he laughed softly because Roger was moving, obviously trying to do the same thing. “Let’s just stay where we are. Let the agents protect us,” he whispered.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Roger whispered back.

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you. But they are trained, and we aren’t.” He dared to lean over and kiss Roger’s cheek, hoping that was okay. It must have been because Roger leaned into it and then kissed him back.

Dean’s heart clenched in happiness at the gesture, and he hoped they would survive the next few minutes.

He heard the agents talking quietly in the next room. It sounded as if they were planning something. They stopped talking, and the gentle sound of someone trying the door handle seemed to echo in the suddenly silent room.

Dean heard a man’s faint voice at the door. “Room service. Complimentary champagne.”

Not a bad tactic. If they hadn’t been warned, it might even have worked. Dean would have at least looked through the peephole to investigate.

“Thank you but we’re not interested,” Caitlyn said, her voice pitched to carry clearly through the door.

“Management insists,” came the immediate response.

Dean tensed, holding Roger tighter, certain that whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon.

He was right. There was a loud crash, which he thought was someone kicking in the door. The crash was followed by “Freeze!” in stereo from Caitlyn and Anna. Then there was the echo of two gunshots. Dean couldn’t tell if they were coming from outside the suite, from the bad guys, or inside, from the agents. He hoped fervently that they had been from the agents.

“Clear!” came Caitlyn’s clear voice.

“Clear!” was echoed by Anna.

“Stay where you are for now,” Caitlyn added.

Dean heard movement in the other room, and he relaxed a bit, hoping the excitement was over. Which reminded him. “How did you know?” he asked Roger.

“That they were coming, you mean?”

“Yes.”

Roger gave a half-shrug, all he could under the circumstances. “I felt something menacing come onto the floor. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but I knew I had to say something.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Feet appeared, just in Dean’s field of vision. He thought they were Anna’s. “They’re down. You can come out now.” It was Anna.

Roger and Dean wiggled their way out from under the bed and stood up. “The police are on their way,” Anna was saying. “As soon as they get here, we’re going to move you.”

“There’s another hotel room, in Old Town,” Dean said.

“We’ll probably take you there.”

Dean started for the door, but she put out a hand to stop them. “You pack up your things while we cover up the bodies. They’re dead. You don’t want to see that.”

Dean stopped, Roger running into his back. “Yeah. Right. Thanks.”

Anna left the room, and Dean hastily packed up the few things he’d taken out of his suitcase. Roger handed him the laptop, and he tossed it on top. “Is it safe to call Lex and Griff? We still don’t know what happened to Bill.”

Caitlyn appeared in the doorway. “Avery called. Bill is fine. He’s already back at the other hotel. Are you packed? The police are just arriving.”

Dean gave one quick glance around the room. “Yeah. We’ve got everything.”

Anna and Caitlyn hurried them out of the room, past two lumps covered by a blanket from one of the other beds. Staying on either side of the men, the agents took them down the stairs and out a back door to the hotel. Anna stayed with them while Caitlyn ran to get their car. A few minutes later, Dean and Roger were in the back seat of a dark gray Honda Civic, Anna driving.

“Keep low,” Caitlyn said from the passenger seat.

Dean and Roger ducked down as low as they could. The ride was tense but uneventful. When they arrived at the other hotel, Stiles was there to escort them upstairs, after thanking the two agents. He led them to a suite and ushered them in. Griff and a woman were in the main room, talking. Terri waved at them from near the window.

Griff stopped his conversation to come over and give each of them a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He pointed to a half-closed door. “The others are in there. I’ll join you in a minute.”

Dean wanted to ask more questions. What about Williams and Olivia? But he took Roger’s hand and led him into the room, where Bill, Sam and Lex were on another king-sized bed. Dean was grateful. He wanted to be with everyone.

Sam was leaning against the headboard with Bill using him as a backrest. Bill opened his eyes as they came in. He looked tired but alert. Lex was sitting beside him, typing with one hand while he rested the other on Bill’s thigh. Lex looked up and smiled at them. “We heard about the gunman who came after you. Good thing Griff and Avery sent agents to guard you.”

Dean eyed the bed. Lex moved over and patted the space between him and Bill. Dean nodded and climbed on, Roger following. They mimicked the position of Sam and Bill, with Roger resting against Dean, who wrapped his arms around his newly bonded twin. Lex pressed close to Dean’s side, having just enough room.

“You’re okay, Bill?” Dean asked.

“Define okay?”

Sam lightly tapped his head. “Be polite.”

“It’s been a long day,” Bill said. “But I’m basically okay, I guess. Not in a hurry to get shoved in the trunk of a car again, though.”

“I bet,” Roger said. “Uh, thank you, though. Both for being kidnapped in my stead and for what you and Griff did for me and Roger.”

Bill closed his eyes. “You’re welcome. It’s not exactly what I became a deputy for, but it’s still helping people, so I guess it is in a day’s work.”

Griff entered just then, closing the door behind him. He motioned for Lex to move his laptop, and he settled against his own partner. “All the kidnappers have been rounded up. Olivia and Williams are in custody too. Apparently, the FBI and CIA are fighting over them, especially Olivia.” He grinned. “Quinn’s gotten in the middle of it.”

“Which means we’ll get Olivia, at least,” Lex commented as he ran his fingers through Griff’s hair.

“Probably.”

“Who is Quinn?” Roger asked.

“The guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,” Lex answered.

“I thought that was Joshua,” Griff said.

“Nope,” Lex replied. “I’ve decided Joshua knows where most of them are buried, but Quinn knows them all and has a file on most of them, which he won’t hesitate to use for blackmail.”

“He doesn’t sound like someone I want to meet,” Roger said, closing his eyes and settling more comfortably against Dean.

“He’s not.” Lex tilted his head in Roger’s direction and gave Dean a smile. Dean smiled back, uncertain but pleased that things seemed to be working out with Roger.

“I’m beat, guys,” Bill said. “Can we plan what to do with the bad guys in the morning?”

“Anyone want some food first?” Lex asked. “I think I forgot to get dinner.”

More pizza was ordered. Sam made Bill eat at least two pieces even though his twin insisted he wasn’t hungry and wanted to sleep. Roger almost fell asleep over his, but Dean made sure he ate a little bit too. Roger was still much too thin.

When the pizza was gone, everyone settled down to sleep, all in the same bed again, without even discussing it.

***

This time Lex woke up sandwiched between Griff and Bill. He’d started beside Roger, but Bill had a bad night, waking up several times from nightmares, and they’d all adjusted to put Lex beside him, which seemed to help. Lex lay there for a moment, listening to everyone breathe. He thought he was the only one awake so far. Cracking open an eye, he noted early morning sunlight starting to peek through the slight opening between the curtains.

He’d received a text before bed. From Quinn. As far as he could remember, it was the first text he’d ever received from him. Agency has Olivia. It should be possible to have her alone in an interrogation room, with the cameras turned off, if you’d prefer.

Because that wasn’t ominous. Although Lex did appreciate the thought, he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted. Did he want to see Olivia again? Ask for an explanation? Would she even give him one? He thought it likely she wouldn’t. A very small part of him wanted to hurt her, but he knew he wouldn’t. It just wasn’t his thing.

“You’re thinking too hard.” Griff spoke softly in his ear. “And I think you’re thinking about her. ”

Lex rolled over to look at his husband, whose eyes were still half-closed, hair going in every direction. Maybe he did need to get it cut again. “I am. Quinn texted me last night and said she’s at the Agency. In an interrogation room, if I wanted to talk to her.”

“Cameras on or off?”

Lex bopped Griff’s nose. “Not you too.”

Griff smiled and opened his eyes all the way. “Ah. Off then.”

“Sounds good,” Bill said, voice sleepy. “She owes me for the trunk thing.”

“And me for putting you in danger,” Sam added.

“And me for following Roger,” Dean said.

“That didn’t actually hurt me,” Roger pointed out.

Lex sat up to regard his family. He’d enjoyed having them all together, and it was going to hurt when Bill and Sam left to go back to Jericho. But hopefully that was still at least a day away. “I guess what do we want to do with her?” he asked. “I mean, sure, she hurt me first, but, by now, yeah, we all have a claim on her.”

“Seeing her torn limb from limb by angry gorillas does have a certain appeal,” Sam said musingly.

Griff snorted. “True, but it’s not very practical.”

“What? Aren’t there gorillas in the National Zoo?”

Lex had to think for a moment. It had been a long time since he’d been to the zoo. Maybe he and Griff should go some weekend. “I think there are, but I’m not sure they’re really angry enough.”

Sam shook his head. “Guess that’s out then.”

“Well, we know we’re not going to actually hurt her physically, as tempting as that sounds,” Griff said. “So what does that leave?”

“Hand me my laptop?” Lex asked.

Griff reached over to the bedside table where Lex had left it last night and picked it up to give it to his husband. Everyone waited while Lex worked for a few minutes. Finally, he said, “Okay, there. I think that works.”

“Ruined her credit rating?” Griff was smiling as he asked.

“Wouldn’t do any good if she’s going to jail, which she’d better,” Bill pointed out.

“Oh, she’s going to jail.” Lex folded up his laptop and put it to the side.

“Oh?” Bill’s voice edged on disapproving.

“I just made the financial links between her and Williams even more clear. Made it look like she was being paid directly by him. The trail hadn’t been quite that clear before now.”

Bill humphed and closed his eyes, settling his head on Sam’s shoulder. “Yeah, that works. I guess as long as she’s in jail, I’m okay with that. It’s what she deserves.”

Sam made a low sound of disapproval. “It just doesn’t seem like enough.”

“What more do you want?” Bill asked. “The rest of her life in jail is pretty bad.”

“I don’t know. I sort of want something else. Something petty.” Sam shrugged. “But I don’t know what that would be.”

Bill opened his eyes again. “Okay, Lex. Can you make sure her prison account is constantly at zero? No matter how much is actually deposited into it?”

Lex laughed. “Yeah. That’s easy. But, Bill, you’re law enforcement. You shouldn’t be proposing something like that.”

Bill shrugged. “Because of her, I got locked in the trunk of a car again. Mental cruelty. I’m scarred for life.”

Everyone laughed, not at Bill being scarred for life, but at the image of Olivia never being able to buy even a tiny luxury while in prison.

“Work for you, Lex?” Griff asked.

Lex nodded. “Yeah. As long as she can’t hurt any of us again, I think I can live with that.” A part of him wanted to do more to her, but he also knew that wasn’t a healthy way to think. His family was together, and everyone was safe. That was more important than petty revenge. “So, Bill, Sam. When do you need to get back to Jericho?”

“I think we can stay here another day or two,” Bill answered. “Assuming you want to, Sam.”

“Of course. We still need to do the touristy stuff.”

“What about your honeymoon?” Dean asked. “Don’t you want to get going on that?”

Griff shook his head. “It’s waited this long. We can hang out with you guys for a few days.”  He glanced at Lex. “I’d like that.”

Lex smiled. He and Griff could certainly play tour guide for a couple of days. Sure, he wanted the honeymoon too, but he also wanted to spend time with the guys. “Let’s do it.” He grinned at them. “Maybe start with the National Zoo? See if there really are gorillas?”

Everyone agreed.

***

The days passed too quickly. The six of them did lots of touristy stuff: Smithsonian, the Zoo and the monuments. They debated the White House tour, but Sam said he didn’t want to get that close to the current President, thank you very much, and they went to National Harbor instead.

However, the visit finally came to an end. Lex had gotten Bill and Sam first class tickets back to Denver, where their car was parked for the rest of the trip to Jericho. Their flight was leaving from Dulles, and everyone made the journey. It was obvious none of them really wanted their time together to end.

Griff gave Bill and Sam long hugs. He didn’t want to let them go. It had been so long since he’d had a family, and he was enjoying the belonging. However, he finally let them go and was pleased to see Lex, Roger and Dean held onto them for almost as long.

“We gotta go, guys,” Bill said, not that he had removed his arm from around Dean.

“Yeah, you do,” Lex agreed, sounding sad.

“You can come visit, you know,” Sam said, his arm still around Roger.

“And you’re always welcome back here,” Griff said.

Bill and Sam left for the security line, dragging their roller bags behind them, shoulders touching as they walked.

“They seem closer to you?” Dean asked.

“I think so,” Lex said. “I guess it sunk home what this all means. And how much they need each other.”

Griff put an arm around Lex and held him close. “So what do you two have planned?”

Bill and Sam rounded the corner of the security line and weren’t visible anymore. The four of them turned to walk back to the car.

“Roger and I are going to drive to New York. Pick up whatever he wants from his house and then come back here.”

“Dean’s going to teach me to help him with his consulting business.” Roger sounded excited at the prospect.

“That’s good.” Griff was glad they were planning to come back. He’d been afraid Roger might insist on staying in New York.

“Nah,” the older man said. “There’s not much there for me. My real family is here.”

Roger’s abilities were progressing rapidly. Griff thought it would be a good idea to train him, assuming Griff knew more than the bare bones of how any of it worked.

“We can work on stuff when we get back,” Roger added. “Figure out what we can and can’t do. You know. Just in case we need it sometime in the future.”

Griff nodded. “Good idea.”

They drove Dean and Roger to Dean’s apartment and said another round of good-byes.

“We’ll be back in a week or so,” Dean said. “Maybe we can all get together when you two get back from your honeymoon?”

Lex smiled at them all. “You’d better count on it.”

Dean’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I mean. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t still want to hang out with you now that I have Roger. I appreciate all the time you two spent with me.”

Roger reached out to pull Dean close. “We’re family now. Of course we’ll spend time together.”

Finally, it was just Griff and Lex in the car, which they drove back to their apartment. They weren’t going to return it until they got back from their trip. “I think Roger and Dean are going to be a good match,” Griff said as he wove his way through Arlington traffic.

“They will be. Looks like they’re going to be more like us than like Sam and Bill.”

Griff nodded. “I think so. They both need that, I think.”

“So, I got us a cabin starting day after tomorrow. Plenty of time to get packed up and ready to go.”

Griff eyed his husband. “Before we pack, I’ve got other things I want to do to and with you.”

Lex grinned back. “Good. Because I have plans as well.”

Griff was starting to see the up side to having Lex all to himself again. The family would get back together one day. Right now, he had a brand-new husband to shower attention on.

The End (for now)