Justin was sitting on his desk talking to Rick, his partner, when all of the sudden someone sent the water cooler flying across the room. Justin looked up to see Brian standing there looking very angry. “What’s with him?” Rick asked. “I have no fucking clue.” Justin told him and watched Cynthia trying to calm Brian down. Justin got up and walked up to them. “What’s going on?” Justin asked. Brian grabbed his coat and left ignoring Justin’s question. “He got a call from Baltimore.” Cynthia said. Justin nodded knowing that Lindsey and Melanie were living there now. “Apparently, they had an accident.” “Oh my god,” Justin whispered. “Is it serious?” “I don’t know, Taylor.” Cynthia said. “Cap, can I ask for a few days off?” Justin asked. “I need you here, Taylor.” “Two days max. I just want to make sure that they are all okay.” Justin told her. She frowned but nodded. “Fine, take the whole week off but starting Monday, you are going to be here.” Cynthia demanded. Justin nodded and went back to his desk. “I have to go.” “What’s going on?” Rick asked. “I’ll call you.” Justin told him before he left. By the time Justin got home Brian was already packed. Justin went to his room and grabbed a few of his clothes and threw them in a bag. Justin took off his gun and locked it away. He took his badge with him just in case. “Where do you think you are going?” Brian asked when Justin came down. “With you.” “No.” “Yes.” Justin told him. “You need a friend at your side.” “They…they…she’s dead.” Justin opened his mouth in shock not sure what to do or say. Slowly, he walked over to Brian and hugged him. “She’s dead, Justin. She’s fucking gone.” Brian said shaking. Justin didn’t say anything to Brian. He was pretty sure that there wasn’t anything he could tell Brian that would help. “I have to go.” Brian told him. “You don’t have to go, Justin.” “I want to go.” Brian frowned and nodded. *** Justin walked behind Brian to the hospital. They found Melanie sitting in the hard plastic chairs with a couple of scratches on her face and a broken arm. She looked up at them with blood shot eyes but didn’t dare say anything. “What the fuck happened?” “Brian.” Justin murmured. Brian glared at Justin and Justin felt an inch tall. “Tell me what happen, Mel.” Brian demanded. Melanie started crying. “We…we were driving to Gus’s school and it was kind of slippery. I told her to take it easy but she said that we were already late.” Melanie said. “What happen then?” Brian asked. “I never saw it coming. One minute I’m looking directly at the road and the next we are going in circles.” Melanie sobbed. “I could hear Lindsey screaming but then everything went black.” Justin put his hand on her back and encouraged her to finish the story. Brian glared at him but Justin didn’t care. “When I woke up the doctor told me that I was going to be okay. The police came and took my statement and then…one of them told me what had happened.” Melanie said. “It’s okay,” Justin whispered. “A truck hit Lindsey’s side and…they said she wasn’t going to make it.” “Who has Gus?” Justin asked her. “My mother has him.” Melanie said. “Is he going to take Gus away from me?” “Mel, it’s his kid. What do you want him to do?” Justin asked. “I just…god I can’t believe this is really happening.” Melanie sobbed. Justin hugged her and let her cried. Brian got up and walked away. He couldn’t believe that Justin could be so good to her. The woman hadn’t been able to take care of Lindsey. He was furious at her and at himself. Lindsey was dead because they weren’t able to protect her. Brian reached the nurse’s station and asked for Lindsey’s room. The nurse looked at him with pity and told him what had happened. He nodded and asked her to take him to see his wife. When Brian reached the room and saw the body laying there Brian though he was going to die. Lindsey was really dead. *** Justin knocked on the door and Brian looked up. “I have been looking for you.” Justin murmured. Brian let go of Lindsey’s hand. He had been trying to talk to her. Say something before he walked away from her forever but nothing came to mind. Brian just sat there holding her hand and staring at the white sheets that were covering her. “What do you want to do?” Justin asked. Brian looked at Justin and got up. “I want to pick Gus up.” Brian told him. Justin nodded. When they came to the hall Melanie was still sitting there looking into space. Brian grabbed her roughly and demanded to know where his son was. “I’ll take you there.” Melanie yelled pulling away from him. “Brian, calm down.” Brian looked at Justin and relaxed a little bit. The three of them got into the rental car. Melanie sat in the back seat and instructed Justin where to drive. When they got to the house there was a police car in front, with three other cars behind. Justin and Brian got out and Melanie followed them into the house. “What the hell is going on here?” Brian asked. There were two officers talking to a woman which was holding Gus. Mrs. Peterson was sitting in the couch with a woman that was talking to her. “Brian,” Mrs. Peterson said. “We are just trying to take Gus home.” “Daddy!” Gus shouted. “Daddy, daddy.” Brian took his son and started walking away. The woman in the couch got up quickly. “I’m Susan Parker, I’m with social services. Are you Brian Kinney?” Brian nodded. “We want to know what you are planning on doing with Gus.” Susan asked. “I’m taking him home with me.” Brian said to her. “You cannot take him.” Mrs. Peterson yelled. “He is my son.” Brian told her. “But…” “He can take him.” Susan said and waved at the cops so they would exit the house. “He is the father and he is in his rights.” Justin looked at her and then at Lindsey’s mom who was furious. He looked at Mel’s mom who looked sad. “Let’s go.” Justin said and opened the door for Brian who practically flew out. “Mel, did you guys have another car seat?” Melanie nodded. “It’s in my car.” She said as the tears started again. Melanie dug in her pants and pulled out a set of keys. She handed it to Justin before she went up the stairs into her room. Justin went outside where Brian was waiting. He changed the car seat to the rental car and then went back in to leave the keys. “Our plane leaves tomorrow.” Justin said to Brian who was sitting in the back seat with Gus. Brian nodded. “I booked us a hotel suite with two bedrooms,” Justin said. “Thank you.” Brian said. “We…we need to get Gus’s stuff.” “I can do that in the morning.” Justin told him. Brian nodded and went back to look at his son. The only thing he had left in the world and he was going to take care of him. *** Justin put the sleeping Gus down on the bed and walked out to the other room. He looked at Brian and his heart broke into a million pieces. He wanted to take the man in his arms and make all of his pain go away. “Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Justin asked. “No thanks,” “Brian,” “Shut up. Don’t say anything. I really don’t want to hear it.” Justin kept quiet. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now? She is dead. She is not coming back.” Brian whispered and started crying. Justin put his arm around Brian and tried to console him. “I don’t want to feel like this.” Brian whimpered. Justin pulled Brian close to him and kissed him hard. Brian pulled Justin closer and they started kissing each other painfully. Justin pushed Brian back in the bed. Justin got on top of Brian and started kissing Brian everywhere. “Justin,” Brian moaned. Justin looked up at Brian before he got rid of Brian’s bathrobe. He kissed Brian’s chest and stomach. He played with Brian’s navel and looked up at Brian to see if Brian wanted to stop. Justin kept going and wondered if he was doing the right thing. He could hear Brian crying but he didn’t stop. Brian wrapped his fingers in Justin’s hair and arched towards Justin. “Oh god,” Brian moaned and came in Justin’s mouth. Justin swallowed every single drop of Brian and then moved up to kiss Brian. Brian kissed him hard before he started crying. Justin hugged him and caressed Brian’s back to try and make him feel better. “We are going to be okay.” Justin told Brian. Brian didn’t move or say anything. He just held onto Justin until he fell asleep. Soon after that Justin followed him. *** Justin opened his eyes and looked at Brian who was sitting on the bed. He moved closer to Brian but Brian pulled away. Justin frowned and got up. He walked around the bed to see Brian face to face when Brian grabbed the sheets and covered his nakedness. Justin stood there in shock not sure of what was going on. Justin tried to say something but he couldn’t think of anything. He moved closer to Brian and tried to touch Brian’s face but Brian pulled away. Justin felt his heart breaking so he just turned around and walked away. Tears were threatening to come out but he wasn’t going to cry. Justin told himself over and over that it didn’t mean anything. That Brian just wanted to be alone and they were okay. If he cried it meant that he had just fucked things up.