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“Fucking ASSHOLES”, the door shuddered behind him as Michael stormed into the apartment, Geoff following shortly after with an expression much like someone who has a mild headache.
“What’s the matter boi?” Gavin said, barely looking up from his bowl of cereal. Michael’s enraged entrances weren’t exactly a rare occurrence.
“Those dickheads showed up AGAIN and ruined the trade before it even started. When we got there, two of Vasquez’s lot were dead and the others had scarpered”
That name certainly caught Gavin’s attention. Relations with Vasquez’s gang were shaky at best, the exchange of money and favours was probably the only thing preventing them from full scale warfare. With these guys repeatedly tipping the delicate balance, everything could easily come crashing down around them.
“It’s not all bad though” Geoff slumped into a chair opposite him and rubbed at his eyes, “Vasquez called and he knows it wasn’t us, and we finally got to see a glimpse of the fuckers who keep messing with our shit”
“Which means that you,” Geoff clicked his fingers and pointed at Gavin, “can get to work on finding these guys, like I pay you to do”
Gavin ignored the last comment and asked Michael for descriptions, the latter man still seething, his hands white-knuckled and gripping the back of a chair so hard it looked like it might break.
It was actually only two men. One was short and well-built with trimmed, darkish facial hair. The other was tall and skinny with almost shoulder-length hair, a scruffy beard and glasses. Gavin almost laughed at the comical juxtaposition, but for now physical description wasn’t particularly useful. He would have to focus on what they already knew about them.
“Well since they’ve only ever troubled us when Vasquez is involved, it’s got to be to do with him right? If there’s only two of them they’re unlikely to go after a notorious gang for kicks and a bit of cash”
Geoff nodded thoughtfully, “Whatever their little vendetta is, there could be consequences for us if we don’t put a stop to it now. We’ve a meeting planned with Vasquez’s guys on Thursday, and since our ‘friends’ seem to know all about these plans, they’re likely to be there. The rest of us carry on as normal while you find these guys and give them a warning. There shouldn’t be any need to shed blood over this.”
Michael seemed a little put out by Geoff’s decision but Gavin agreed. He left the other two to explain to the rest of the crew what had gone wrong and went to scope out the area where they were meant to meet Vasquez’s men on Thursday. If he wanted to talk to these troublemakers he needed to deduce where they would be and plan a little surprise.
----------
Thursday came and Gavin was pretty confident with his plan. If these two wanted to interfere with the meeting in any way then they would need somewhere to observe the building, either to see when their targets were in place or for one person to hide out and give instructions to the man on the ground. The latter seemed more likely given the previous actions of the pair.
There was only one place suitable enough for this, the third floor of a building to the west of the one where the meeting was to be held.
Sure enough, an hour before the Fake AH crew were due to meet Vasquez’s men, two men fitting Michael’s descriptions entered the predicted building. Gavin was waiting on the roof of an adjacent building, only jumping the gap when he was sure that they had already checked the upper floors. The shorter man was now walking out of the building, and the other was no doubt stationed on the third floor. Perfect.
As he made his way down the staircase as silently as possible, he could hear one of the men talking in a low voice and froze. Had the short man returned? Had he been seen on the roof? But before he could curse his carelessness, he heard a voice respond, crackly and distorted by static. He was only talking through the radio. Good, just the one man in the room as planned.
Gavin continued to the bottom step and waited there. The layout of the room meant that he was still hidden and he wanted to listen more so he could learn as much as possible before introducing himself.
“Ok Jeremy, if everything’s clear down there, come back up and we’ll set up the sniper”
Shit. So much for waiting and listening. It sounded like the other man would be coming back soon; Gavin would have to act fast.
A lot happened in the next 3 seconds.
Gavin stepped into the room, pointed his gun in the direction of the voice and clicked the safety off.
At the same time the other man stood up from where he was crouching, turned around and reached towards the gun in his pocket.
Gavin raised his eyebrows and the man wisely decided against it.
He looked surprisingly calm in Gavin’s opinion. In fact, he looked surprising in many ways. His lanky, unassuming figure was rare for this ‘line of work’ (although Gavin supposed he could hardly talk), especially considering the trouble these two had been causing. He looked slightly dishevelled, although not in a way that suggested homelessness or fighting, rather just lack of sleep. His clothes were annoyingly oversized and he was wearing a hoody with sleeves almost long enough to cover his hands, giving the impression of an awkward teenager rather than an experienced criminal. His hair was indeed shoulder length and he was wearing glasses as Michael had said.
What Michael had failed to mention, was that this guy was actually pretty cute.
“Hello? Matt? Matt answer me, are you ok?” the other man’s voice came hissing from the radio in Matt’s hand, who winced as his name was said out loud.
He swallowed but when he spoke his voice still cracked dryly, “Yeah, I’m fine, you might want to stay over there for a bit though”
Gavin smirked, “No no, don’t worry this won’t take long. The gun was only to get your attention”
Jeremy must have heard Gavin’s words over the radio as well as his panicked voice shot out into the room, “GUN?! Matt what’s going on? Who is tha-” Matt cut the radio off and threw it on top of the bag behind him.
The slightly accelerated rise and fall of Matt’s chest betrayed his nerves but nevertheless he straightened up and maintained eye contact. Some might have been fooled by this show of confidence. Not Gavin.
“Well you have my attention now Gavin Free, what do you want?”
Gavin didn’t let Matt see his surprise at the fact that he knew his name. After all, that was what Gavin was good at. Reading people, not letting them read him.
He lowered his gun “Well, Matt, I’ve come to give you a warning”. Now Gavin certainly wasn’t as intimidating as some of the others in the crew, but with the extra emphasis on Matt’s name and the small step closer, he could almost watch his resolve waning. “Vasquez and his men aren’t known for their charming temperament, and we would rather you didn’t poke that particular bear”
In a clear attempt at defiance Matt said “Or what?” but the slight crack in his voice confirmed his alarm and Gavin revelled in it.
Gavin brought a hand up to his chin and furrowed his brow in an exaggerated pretence of thought. “Hmm... well since you seem to know a bit about me and Vasquez and his gang... you’re probably pretty familiar with the work of the Fakes huh?” he stepped even closer so that the two were now within arm’s reach, lowered his voice, and gave a saccharine smile, “I’ll leave it to your imagination”
A few moments of silence stretched out between them, “It’s pretty simple Matthew; don’t fuck things up with Vasquez”
There was a dense silence before Matt agreed and then Gavin gave two gentle pats where Matt’s chest met his shoulder. The second rested for a few moments, enough to make Matt’s breath catch in his throat, with Gavin’s thumb resting at the base of his neck, in the dip of his collarbone.
Gavin could briefly feel his pulse, far more active than his own.
As Gavin left via the roof, his cool touch on Matt’s neck felt like a brand. And Matt couldn’t help but wonder why his legs felt weak in a way that they hadn’t when there was a gun pointed at his head.
His feet were planted in the exact same spot when Jeremy rushed up the stairs, gun pointed accusingly into the echoing empty room.
Once he was satisfied that the attacker was gone he threw his arms around Matt, almost knocking the unstable man over. Then, as suddenly as he had embraced him, he pushed Matt away.
“You scared me half to death you ASSHOLE. When the radio cut off I thought that guy had...” he trailed off, fists clenching in an effort to find the words, but this energy only seemed to culminate in a hefty kick to the wall.
In two swift strides he was inches away from Matt, pointing at his chest accusingly, “I thought that they had come back for you”
“That was Free from the Fake AH crew” Matt finally managed to mutter, slowly regaining his senses.
Jeremy gave a whistle and shook his head as if he’d been slapped, “Well shit, what did he want?”
Matt shrugged and began packing up their equipment, “Told me not to fuck things up with Vasquez”
“And you said?”
A slow smile spread across Matt’s face, “that we wouldn’t”
----------
Gavin had a suspicion that Matt would go back on his word, and when he drove past a burning warehouse that had previously belonged to Vasquez; he didn’t have to consider who the culprits might be.
And when Geoff happened to mention that a couple of them should make a show at Vasquez’s masquerade party as a sign of good will, Gavin volunteered without thinking about it. Matt was sure to be there and Gavin was eager to see him, him and Jeremy of course. To keep an eye on them.
Although Geoff didn’t state it explicitly, Gavin knew that was his reasoning for sending him and Ryan along. They both knew that Matt and Jeremy were going to be there, and they weren’t going for the free booze. Gavin hadn’t really planned what he was going to say but he guessed he would try and warn them again.
Depending on what Matt and Jeremy had planned it could be too late.
----------
Gavin enjoyed any excuse to dress up and today was no different. Ryan had scoffed at his purple velvet suit and gold masquerade mask but he didn’t care, he knew he looked good.
And it wasn’t Ryan he was trying to impress anyway.
The black patterns on the mask drew the gaze and once Gavin had loosened his tie a little to undo his top button, he was pretty damn pleased with himself.
The venue for the masquerade really was like an old ballroom, the high ceilings and intricate architecture seemed to speak of a time long past. With the band playing sultry jazz, the only obvious sign of modernity was the revealing outfits of the women attending.
As he walked towards the bar in the far corner with the larger figure of Ryan following behind and his hands in his pockets, Gavin could feel the attention of the room drawn to him.
Just the way he liked it.
While Ryan ordered drinks, Gavin turned his back to the bar and leaned back, resting his elbows on the surface and surveying the room.
He found what, or who he was looking for standing against a wall, quite obviously keeping an eye on the stairs, and looking very different from the last time that he saw him.
Matt was dressed in a simple black suit that strangely set him apart from the extravagant attire of the other party goers; it appeared to be brand new and actually fit properly unlike his other clothes.
Gavin was impressed, the guy sure did clean up well.
He waited for the novelty of his appearance to wear off and began to make his way through the crowd, the majority of who were already dancing. As he drew nearer he could see that Matt’s mask was a dark grey with black branch-like patterns and his hair was tied back in a low ponytail.
And damn if that last detail didn’t spark some kind of interest in Gavin.
Matt was already looking a little tense before he came over, but this seemed to amplify once he caught sight of Gavin and his grin. He stared for a moment before blinking rapidly and looking back over towards the stairs, clearly trying to pretend that he hadn’t seen him.
“Why hello Matthew, may I have this dance?” Gavin’s voice was smooth, exaggeratedly so and his eyes glinted underneath his mask.
“Not a chance Free, get lost” Matt hissed without turning to look at him. He seemed more nervous than annoyed and Gavin knew that this was his chance to have some fun.
“Aw come on Matt, don’t do me like that” he chanted in a quiet sing song, “Look around dude, you’re standing here alone while everyone else is dancing and it’s kind of suspicious” he trailed off into a stage whisper, leaning in before snapping back upright again and smirking, “I’m doing you a favour”
Matt glanced sideways at Gavin and his lack of complaint was all Gavin needed. Moving his hands slowly, as if he were approaching a wild cat, he took Matt’s hands and pulled him closer. He put Matt’s hands on his shoulders and then let his hands settle gently on Matt’s waist.
“There now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?” Matt’s only response was to glare witheringly but the creeping blush on his cheeks betrayed his embarrassment as the two swayed and stepped slowly with the leisurely music. He was probably a little taller than Gavin but the heeled shoes that the latter was wearing gave him the height advantage.
Oh yes, thought Gavin. This was going to be fun.
“So from what I gather it’s just the two of you, huh?” No answer from Matt, “You guys must have something pretty personal going on with Vasquez to stick your necks out like this. Literally, you’ve even tied your hair back”
Their eyes met properly for the first time and Gavin was a little taken back by the intensity that he saw there. He was right about it being personal.
Matt quirked an eyebrow, “are you really asking me this? You want to have the conversation here and now?” He looked vaguely around the room at Vasquez’s guests.
“Well, I could take you out to dinner if you prefer?”
Gavin delighted at the involuntary widening of Matt’s eyes and his small, sharp intake of breath sounded like victory. Matt seemed determined not to give Gavin the satisfaction of a reaction, unaware that he already had.
The silence that followed gave Gavin ample opportunity to study his subject, but there was one feature that he couldn’t move on from, specifically his neck.
Now although that in itself was something to admire, there was something far more important about it and Gavin was kicking himself for not noticing it earlier.
It was a scar, spanning a couple of inches from a point below his left ear and reaching towards the centre of his neck. Its colour had cooled to an almost silvery white over time but the skin was significantly raised and puckered.
It was not recent, but it had been deep.
Given its placement, it was a wonder that this man was standing in front of him.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Gavin murmured softly, almost subconsciously.
And of course, Matt didn’t even need to follow Gavin’s eye line to know what he was talking about. He kept an eye on the stairs and sighed in a way that expressed neither exasperation nor resignation.
“Our mutual friends. Jeremy and I were stepping on their toes and they wanted us out of the city. They came in one night when Jeremy was out and I was...” he swallowed before continuing, teeth slightly gritted, “asleep in my chair at my desk. Next thing I know, I have a knife at my throat and there’s nothing I could do. They didn’t want information. They didn’t want money”
Matt’s gaze dropped to the floor, “They wanted to send a message”
“Unluckily for them, Jeremy came home early and they had to cut it short” he chuckled darkly, “Apparently they decided that slitting his friend’s throat was best way to send the message. Whatever happened to pinning a note to the door with a knife, eh?” He raised an eyebrow at Gavin and his lips twitched into a brief smile, “Or holding someone at gunpoint”
Gavin barked out a small laugh before he could stop himself and smiled wryly at the man in front of him, “Well, clearly my method wasn’t particularly effective either. Seeing as I’ve had to trap you here again” he expected the lowering of his voice and the emphasis of his words to come across as at least slightly intimidating, but Matt was now returning his smile.
“You’re not here to stop us”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me. I know about the problems your lot have had with Vasquez, I doubt Ramsey would be too upset if he disappeared”
Gavin’s huff of disbelief was automatic and genuine, “Ah yes, the Magnificent Matthew, magician extraordinaire, intends to practice his vanishing act on Vasquez”
Matt looked away in irritation, his fingers fidgeting a little on Gavin’s shoulders, “Laugh it up Free. In about six minutes our work will be done here.”
Gavin’s hands tightened on Matt’s waist and the two stilled abruptly. His expression left no doubt in Gavin’s mind about what ‘work’ they had come here to do. Still, he had a few questions about the how.
“Body guards?”
“One dead. Two knocked out in the cellar.”
“And Jeremy?”
“He’s ‘borrowed’ a uniform and has gone to talk to our friend”
In all honesty, Gavin was shocked into silence. He became acutely aware that their sudden stillness and hushed tones might attract attention so he smoothed his expression and coaxed Matt into moving again before continuing conversation.
“So Jeremy has all the fun while you keep watch downstairs?”
Matt rolled his eyes with an air of frustration but seemed to take a small satisfaction in delivering this next point, “Who do you think found out about this party, got us in here and dealt with the guards? I’ve had my fun”
This man was a true enigma. There was no denying the air of vulnerability and weakness about him, but his confident determination was surprisingly authentic. Gavin was excellent at reading people and Matt was no exception, but there was something that he couldn’t quite grasp about this guy.
It felt like reading a book in a language you only half knew. The words were all there, the clues unhidden on the page, but the meaning was just out of reach.
And oh how Gavin wanted to solve this particular puzzle.
In this lull, Matt seemed to become more conscious of the situation he was in. The fading blush had now returned, he was avoiding eye contact with Gavin and his fingers curled hesitantly on his shoulders.
Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle at this sudden display of bashfulness, they had been dancing for a good while at this point and it seemed ridiculous that Matt should suddenly feel so shy about it now.
But he’d be damned if he wasn’t about to take advantage of Matt’s embarrassment.
He began to hum along to the music and pulled Matt impossibly closer, his hands shifting slightly lower in the process. This movement elicited a barely noticeable gasp from the man in front of him but it was all the encouragement he needed.
“Was it six minutes you said Matthew?”
Matt nodded dumbly and looked considerably flustered but he wasn’t pushing Gavin away.
“Well then, we haven’t got much of that left now. I’m going to miss having you all to myself” He leaned in close to Matt’s ear as he said this and relished the subtle shiver his words incited.
“I guess we’ll have to make the most of it” Gavin murmured, his thumbs now tracing soft circles on Matt’s hipbones.
Gavin’s lips ghosted across his neck causing Matt to freeze completely and make an almost imperceptible sound in the back of this throat.
But before either had a chance to react to this, Matt was pulled away by a hand on his arm and a voice in his ear whispering “time to go”
And just like that, Jeremy had pulled Matt out of the room while barely registering Gavin’s presence.
----------
Jeremy waited until they were safely in the car with Matt driving them away from the building before broaching the subject of the mysterious dance partner.
“Who the fuck was that guy?”, Matt was glad that Jeremy’s angle of approach in the ballroom had meant that the particulars of Gavin’s proximity had been obscured from his view, or else his line of questioning could have been far more incendiary.
“That was Gavin Free” As he said the words he cursed his heart for fluttering in such a ridiculous way and his smile for betraying this fact to Jeremy.
His friend almost punched through the passenger side window he was laughing so hard. He finally managed to speak, wiping tears from his eyes.
“Holy shit. You are SO fucked”
“Shut UP Jeremy”
----------
“Ryan we have outstayed our welcome” Gavin said, motioning towards the door with his head. Ryan took the hint and they began to leave.
Once out of earshot of the guests he cast a doubtful look at Gavin, “Vasquez is dead?”
“Yup” and Gavin couldn’t hide the pride in his voice when he thought of the man behind the deed.
“And I’m guessing it had something to do with titchy and that lanky guy you were fawning all over?”
“Shut up”
----------
Matt almost didn’t look surprised when he tentatively opened the door to his and Jeremy’s apartment later that night to see a smug looking Gavin Free.
“You’re a hard man to find Matthew”
“That’s kind of the point” Matt looked up and down the hallway warily then stepped out closing the door behind him folding his arms, “You’re lucky Jeremy isn’t here, he’s not sure what to make of you”
Gavin pretended to clutch at his heart in mock offense, “Why, is he jealous?”
Matt seemed genuinely confused by this, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head, his now loose hair falling about his face “What?”
Gavin allowed his expression to turn a little more serious, “I said, is he jealous? Did he see how close we were standing?”
Gavin took a step closer and Matt backed up against the door with a startled look on his face.
“Where my hands were?” Gavin asked, placing his hands on Matt’s hips.
He leaned a little closer and whispered, “Where my mouth was?”
Matt made a slightly strangled sound and Gavin just smirked back.
“Did he-” Gavin was cut off when Matt grabbed his tie and pulled him in, pressing his lips against his.
The kiss was quick and motionless but when they pulled away, they were both out of breath. After a few seconds in silent shock, Gavin beamed at Matt and Matt hid his face in his hands.
Taking his wrists gently, Gavin pried Matt’s hands from his face “Hey, you’re cute when you blush” he said fondly, his smile wider than ever.
“Shut up” Matt mumbled in reply, pulling Gavin in for a softer, slower kiss.
They reluctantly pulled apart with a simultaneous sigh and rested their foreheads together.
“So, can I take you out for that dinner?”
“I hate you”
“No you don’t”