Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction which will include t/t and m/m relationships, and probably some sex too. If it is illegal in your area to read this, or if you are not old enough to read this (you know who you are), stop here. Otherwise, please enjoy.
The Devil's Gambit, Chapter 2
"This Could Be Magic"
A very pensive Aiden stood at his door looking disturbed. He was in civilian clothes -- very nice jeans and a tight polo shirt under a leather jacket. His hair was still a little wet -- from a shower at the station house, no doubt.
"I ... got your address from your statement...." Tom didn't open the door wider, so the man shifted on his feet. "Can I come in," he asked, looking embarrassed.
Tom opened the door and waved the man in. "Can I get you something? I've got some leftover Chinese takeout? Wine, beer, something harder?"
Looking surprised, Aiden looked at him and said, "I am starving," with a little laugh. Tom took his coat and hung it by the door, unable to help but admire the hard lines of the man's body beneath his shirt. Aiden followed him into the kitchen and Tom microwaved the leftovers, which the man scarfed down, washing it down with a beer Tom sat in front of him. "You need to be more careful with your diet, eat better, when you're on duty...."
Aiden smiled at Tom and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, mom!" As they laughed, Tom couldn't help but soften towards the man. He HAD seen something impossible.
"How's the boy?"
"Fine.... Night shift is sitting in his room. They're running prints now, got some good ones, so hopefully this ends soon...."
"Good.... Is he awake?"
"No, doctors don't expect that any time soon.... So," Aiden began, becoming more sober suddenly, and Tom expected a question about the hospital, "you lost someone recently.... She must have been very special...."
Tom smiled, "Why do you say that?"
"Well, you're smart, funny, doing well for yourself...."
"Not to mention devilishly handsome with a rocking body," Tom added with a touch of humor.
Aiden blushed a little, or was it Tom's imagination. He thought the man was young enough and cool enough he could say what he wanted to say, "Jamie was the most special person I've ever met.... I really thought ... we'd be together forever.... When Jamie died ... it made me wish I'd died too...."
"Do you have any pictures of her around," the man asked.
Tom laughed and Aiden was confused, "There's a picture of me and Jamie in the living room, on the writing desk," he said, leading Aiden by his elbow. He picked the frame up and handed it to the man. He and Jamie standing in front of the house. Jamie's arm was around his shoulder and he was leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "My neighbor took this picture a week before...."
"So Jamie.... Sorry, I ... shouldn't have assumed...."
"Why wouldn't you, Aiden? There aren't so many of us, and I like to think I come across as masculine...."
Aiden laughed sympathetically, "You do.... You look ... very happy together...."
"The happiest ten months of my life.... Some of the only truly happy months of my life...." He was surprised when Aiden put a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "It doesn't make you uncomfortable, super-cop?"
"No.... It's so rare to find someone, so much harder for ... so I really am sorry...."
After a pause, Thomas said, "But listen, I thought I'd never see you again after this evening...."
"Yeah, me too.... But the way you looked when you left, I felt bad.... And a little curious, too...."
Tom motioned for Aiden to sit, and then sat at the other end of the couch. "What you saw today was a piece of ancient magic, last recorded six hundred years ago, but reportedly passed down to Moses on Mount Sinai...."
"Come on!"
Tom smiled, "Well, who knows where it came from, but I found it in a medieval book of Jewish mysticism and I may be the first person to use it in six hundred years...."
"What kind of person just browses and memorizes medieval magic?"
Tom looked embarrassed. "It started when I was a child.... I told you I was lonely and had a lot of time on my hands.... I got obsessed with magic and at first, it was just, you know, hypothetical.... But I found I could do things.... If I worked a simple luck spell over and over, within a couple of days, something good would usually turn up.... That spurred me on, trying to harness power more instantly. But I also learned an ethical code: avoid selfish gain, do good and avoid doing evil.... When I went to college, I studied philosophy, and I spent a year abroad in Paris. My God! The old bookshops contained so much forgotten knowledge, so much older, so much more powerful.... I also started studying with a group of ... mystics, let's call them for lack of a better word.... I got friendly with a larger community, rabbis, priests, independent sorts who shared info, books.... So when I came home, I wrote my dissertation in graduate school in philosophy, but the rest of my life was absorbed with studying ... this...."
Aiden slid down, closer. "It's just hard to understand.... And to see.... Well, there was light shining from beneath your hand, and your voice was reverberating like we were in a cave, and then there was that, that voice.... It's real, and that's heavy...."
Tom put a hand on the man's shoulder, near his neck. "It is real...."
"That voice...."
Tom closed his eyes. "I wish you'd never heard that...."
"What," Aiden demanded.
"Evil personified...."
"A demon?"
"If you prefer.... Again, I'm sorry you had to hear that...."
Aiden nodded grimly. After a moment, he stood. "Well, thanks for the food.... I'm sorry for reacting so ... poorly today.... I was just shocked.... Anyway, I wanted to let you know...."
Tom walked the man to his door and shook his hand, again lingering far too long. When Aiden was gone, Tom leaned against the door. Damn the young cop was sexy! Immediately, he was filled with a feeling of guilt, as if it was too soon to be thinking such things. Billy was a fantasy, but Aiden, that was serious....
For the next several days, Tom went about his routine, which was straight to school and straight home, with the exception that he stopped by the hospital twice a day to check on the boy and, truth be told, to see Aiden. He felt sure that when the case was closed, when the criminal was caught, he'd never see the young man again. Still, he couldn't help but want to see him every day.
One evening, Tom was sitting by the boy's bed. He reached down to wipe the hair from his face, as Aiden entered the room. He cleared his throat so he didn't startle Tom. Tom drew his hand back but Aiden just shook his head. "It's okay, doc.... I just wanted to let you know I'm off." He turned to go, but then stopped and looked over his left shoulder. "Hey, doc, I don't suppose you wanna grab a bite?"
"I suppose I have to eat...."
"Way to make a guy feel special! You want a ride?"
"I've got my car...."
"I'll follow you to your place and we can ride together!" Tom smiled and nodded, patting the boy on the arm as he got up to leave.
After a big dinner at a steakhouse, Aiden brought Tom home and accepted an invite inside. As they settled onto the couches, the young cop looked at the ceiling for a moment and coughed to clear his throat. "Look doc, I've got a confession to make.... I'm gay too...."
Tom laughed. "To be honest, I kinda thought you might be...."
"Was it my limp wrist," Aiden asked with a grin.
"No! Wishful thinking, but also something about your smile made me think you might be taking more than a passing interest...."
"You like a man in uniform, eh?"
"Or out of uniform.... Wait, I didn't mean it quite that dirty...." They both cracked up laughing.
Aiden put a hand gently on Tom's, closing his eyes at the feeling. "I'm sorry about how it happened, and how I reacted, but I'm glad I got to meet you.... It was worth it...."
There was a little spark, but Tom drew his hand back, smiling but hesitant. "Aiden, you.... You're a beautiful man and you seem so sweet...."
"But ... you're not ready...."
Tom smiled but felt sick to his stomach. "I thought I was.... I wanted to be.... I even wanted it to be you, honestly.... But somehow I just ... "
Aiden scooted closer still and shakily put a hand on Tom's chest, just above his heart. "You were in love, I get that.... But do you think he'd want you to hide in this house alone.... He loved you.... Nothing you'll ever have will replace that or take it away, but there aren't limits to love, no maximum to give or to receive...."
Tom nodded, and the feeling in his stomach settled. He put his hand on Aiden's and said, "Can I call you? I need to think but.... I...."
"Alright," Aiden said, smiling, as he dragged his hand across Tom's chest to grab his wallet. "By the way.... You are devilishly handsome with a rockin' body...." As Tom laughed at hearing his words thrown back at him, Aiden pulled out his card and wrote a home phone, cell phone, and email on the back. "Call me ... any time.... I should let you get to sleep. I've got to be back at the hospital in the morning...." Tom followed Aiden to the door.
"I'll see you there.... I'll drop by on the way to my class...."
"Great," Aiden said, and not knowing what to do, he gave Tom a quick hug. "See you tomorrow...." Tom surprised him by returning the hug and giving him a light kiss on the cheek. Aiden was unable to stop his hand from rising to his cheek with a blush, bringing out a smile in Tom as the man waved and walked away.
What the fuck is wrong with you, Tom, he asked himself. A nice, sexy young guy just poured himself out to you and you let him leave with a 'Can I call you' and a kiss on the cheek? "Oh, Jamie," he sighed out loud, choking back a sob. He walked to his bedroom and laid down, hugging Jamie's pillow to him. It was faint, but he could still get just a hint of his scent. "Jamie, Jamie, I don't know if I can do it...." As he had so many nights before, he cried himself to sleep.
Morning found him cold and alone, and he got out of bed and went about his morning ritual almost mechanically. Work out, shower, dress. Look over notes for class. Eat breakfast. This morning he went through the steps both faster and earlier, so he could go by the hospital.
His first class wasn't until 10, and the hospital was on campus, but he walked into the hospital at 8:15. The boy had been moved and apparently wasn't a John Doe anymore, so Tom couldn't find him until he found the doctor from the day before, who directed him to the semi-private room where he found Aiden asking the boy some simple questions. When Tom walked in, the boy looked at him with a weak smile. "You...."
"You!" Tom replied, making the boy laugh a little.
"It hurts to laugh," the boy complained. "I'm Peter Dawson...."
"Professor Thomas Corman, or Tom to my friends," Tom said, putting a hand on the boy's thin arm.
"I know...." That surprised both of the men in the room. He chuckled a little again. "I started college this semester.... I saw one of your public lectures. It was good...."
"So you're not in college anymore?"
"Trying to take my job, doc?"
"Sorry! But?"
"No, my parents stopped paying the bills, kicked me out on my ass.... I tried to get a job, but it's hard, you know.... I've basically been on the street for a month...."
"Why did your parents do that," Aiden asked.
The boy blushed and looked away, and said, sullenly, "You wouldn't understand...."
Tom put a hand on the boy's cheek and turned him to face them. Brushing hair from the boy's face like a mother, he said, "I think you'll be surprised, Peter...."
"I got here, and I started feeling free, so I ... I came out to my family when I was home for the first time.... My dad hit me so hard I hit my head on the floor, and my mother wouldn't speak to me.... They told me they never wanted to see me again, I was never to see my brothers again," he said as he completely broke down in tears.
"I'm so sorry," Tom said, kneeling down so they were at face level. "Peter, listen to me.... What your parents did is unforgiveable. You're right, I don't understand that.... My father told me that he loved me when I told him I was gay...."
"You," the boy asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, me.... My friends know, but I'm pretty private.... I'm not ashamed or anything, but I'd just rather live a quiet life, you know...."
"I'll never be able to.... What am I going to do?"
"Listen, you get better, and we'll talk.... I think I can help you work things out and get you off the streets and back in school.... But you just let me worry about that.... Just trust me?"
The boy thought a moment and nodded. "Listen, here's my cell phone number," Tom said, handing the boy a paper. "I've got a couple of classes and some work I need to do, but I'll be back this afternoon around three. Call me if you need anything or can think of something that you'd like...."
"Thanks, Tom," the boy said, and Aiden walked the young professor into the hall.
When they were alone, Aiden shook his head. "You're going to take this kid in...."
Tom shrugged. "I'm going to do what it takes to help him...."
"You're amazing," Aiden said, giving him a dazzling smile, complete with dimples. "Listen, I didn't mean to pressure you last night...."
"It's okay," Tom said, putting his hand on the man's forearm. "Can you just give me a little time?"
Aiden nodded. "I won't say it's easy, though...." Then he winked and went back inside to finish his interview with Peter.
Tom went to his office and answered his emails, one of which was an offer from Cambridge to publish his first book, on medieval political thought. That was a real boost, and he replied with his thanks before forwarding the email to his department chair. Then it was off to class. He taught two introduction to philosophy classes in a row, then after an hour of lunch, he taught his medieval philosophy lecture. Back in his office, he sorted through mail and checked his messages.
"Dr. Corman! Congratulations," his department chairman, Walt Moore, called as he burst into the office. The door was open, so no harm.
"Thank you, sir.... I was very excited to hear back...."
"This is just wonderful, just wonderful.... Why don't we have a little celebration? A dinner at the house.... Martha would love to see you, she misses you...." The man leaned his cane on the desk and settled into a chair. "I know things have been difficult, but Jamie wouldn't have...." The man choked a little, as the name caught in his throat. Jamie Moore was his third child....
"Walt...." Tom said with a trembling voice. "I ... it's so hard.... I.... Alright...."
"Really," the man asked. "You can't back out, if I tell Martha...."
"It's alright, I'll come.... Invite some fun people, though...."
"Guaranteed...."
The man started to get up, but Tom started, "Walt? I ... need some advice and, well, I don't know who else to ask.... You and Martha are the closest thing I have to ... anyone...."
"Shoot," the man said, looking a little unsure.
"I ... it's been nine months and I'm finding it really hard to move on and.... Well, I don't know...."
"There's someone," Walt asked, "someone you'd like to get to know better.... But you're worried you'll be betraying Jamie," the man asked, piecing it together.
"How do you do that, Walt?"
"A lot of sons, my boy.... You know, Jamie saw the sun rise and set in your eyes, Tom, and I'll always be thankful that he got to know, in his short life, what you had together.... But if you think there's a chance, even a chance, that this man can make you happy, it would tear Jamie up to think you'd pass that up because of his memory...."
Tears filled his eyes, but he choked them back. "Thank you, Walt...."
The man stood to go, but turned and put a hand on Tom's shoulder, "You're a young man with everything going for you.... Don't let life pass you by...."
Tom nodded, and when Walt was gone, he put his head in his arm and cried onto his desk. Only a knock at his door brought him back. "Just a minute," he called, and straightened himself, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose. Opening the door, he found Sarah Graham who clearly looked startled by his appearance. "Can I help you, Sarah?"
"I can come back later," she said, hesitantly, but he threw open the door and waved her in magnanimously.
"Take a seat, Sarah...."
"It's a bad time," she said, hesitantly.
"Nonsense. Take a seat.... No time like the present...."
"You're alright?" The young grad student -- well, not much younger than him -- asked with concern.
"No.... But I'll make it...." So they had their scheduled meeting about the woman's thesis, but he was watching the clock. A few minutes early, he announced, "Sarah, I need to head out.... I promised I'd be at the hospital at three for a friend...."
"I'm sorry...."
"It's okay, he's going to be fine...." So she gathered her things and left him to pack his own bag. On his way out, he stuck his head in Walt's door. "Just let me know when!"
"Will do! I'm thinking Friday, but I'll talk to Martha tonight.... Oh, and Tom, why don't you bring your friend? I'd like to meet this fellow...." Tom blushed but nodded.
Back at the hospital, he arrived with a bag of books and a few secreted snacks. He entered Peter's room smiling to find the boy alone. "How are you, Peter?"
"Sore, but the doctors say I'm fine...."
"When are you getting out?"
"They want me to stay over the weekend, so Monday if nothing changes.... Where am I going to go?"
"Well, I'd like to talk to you about that.... But where's Aiden ... I mean, Officer O'Connel?"
"Oh, they removed the protection.... They caught the guy.... Some creep gang member trying to, what's the term, 'make his bones'? Apparently, assaulting a 'queer' is an initiation rite for this group, so he figured to make major points by killing him one...."
"How did he figure you out?"
"Hell if I know ... unless he's been on the lookout.... He might have seen.... I'm not proud of it but it's been cold.... I let a guy take me home the other night to get off the street...."
"I'm sorry...."
"No, he was cool about it, and nice to me...."
"But it could have ended very differently.... I'm sorry you got put in that position.... So, when you get out of here, how would you like to come to my house?" The boy looked him over and arched his eyebrows. "Peter," he scolded, "it's not like that...."
The boy's eyes fell and he meekly apologized. "Sorry, Tom...."
"I guess you've had to do some things to stay alive.... Did they test you?"
"Yeah, syphilis, but they've already treated. I need to be tested again in a few weeks and a few months to get cleared for HIV...." The boy tried to sound clinical, but the fear shined through.
"So, what I want to offer you is a room, free of charge. You'll help me out around the house, get a job.... Follow the house rules. I'll help you get back into school in the spring and you can stay with me throughout, if you like...."
"I can't afford...."
"I'm pulling some strings.... We'll work something out.... But I just need you to be clear -- I don't want anything in return, other than what help you offer around the house."
"I'm sorry, Tom, I should never have.... I was partly joking ... but you are cute...."
"Thanks, Peter, but there can't.... Nothing can ever happen...."
"Swear.... You're just my fairy god-brother...."
Tom laughed; the boy was funny. "Good.... Now, I brought you some books to help you pass the time," he said, pulling out a mystery and a horror novel. "I didn't know what you like, but I had these at the office. And I brought you some snacks. The food in these places...."
"Sucks! Thanks, doc!"
"You spent too much time with Aiden today...."
"Don't you mean Officer Cutiepie ... I mean O'Connel?" Tom's face flushed as the young man laughed. "I knew it! You're totally into him!"
Tom shrugged. "You've seen him in that uniform...." They laughed and talked, getting to know each other some, but as the sun started to set, Tom stood. "I've got to go, you need your rest...."
"Do you have to?"
"I should, I've got some grading to do...."
"Come back tomorrow?" The boy sounded desperate, and Tom smiled, sitting down.
"I'll come by in the morning and again in the evening, I promise.... Why don't we see what's on?" He stayed for another hour and watched television and talked to Peter. Finally, he did leave with a promise to return. Twenty minutes later, he was locking the door behind him at home.
More to come soon. Thanks to Darryl the Radio Rancher for proofreading this chapter. If you enjoyed this story, you might consider my other on-going stories at Nifty, Fantasy/SciFi, Things that Go Bump and A Light in the Darkness.
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