Tony lay on his stomach, his torso draped over Fin’s body as he idly played with the fine hairs on his partner’s chest; he smiled lazily as he watched Fin jerk slightly when he lightly trailed his fingers down his sternum, knowing that his lover was ticklish there.

He suddenly found his hand trapped between two larger, long-fingered ones and a voice growling, “Stop that, you fucker; you know that drives me crazy.” 

Tony grinned impishly up into his partner’s face as Fin peered down at him.   “Did I tell you how much I like this bed?  For an RV, it’s very comfortable.”

“I think I figured that out already,” Fin told him as he slowly caressed Tony’s palm.  They had managed to become quite at ease with their temporary home-away-from-home for the past hour, and they had discovered that their bed had wound up being very suitable for their ‘needs.’  “I’m glad you approve.” 

Tony smiled as his eyes slowly admired the lean, flat belly as he began a slow, leisurely gaze downward toward Fin’s cock.  “Oh, I approve, all right.” 

Fin twisted his mouth into a knowing grin.  “That’s what I love about you, Counselor,” he told his partner.  “You know what you want and you go after it.” 

Tony slowly inched up onto Fin’s body until they were face to face before he huskily whispered, “You’d better believe it, Senator.”  He leaned down to kiss the dusky-colored lips he knew so well for several seconds before he broke off their kiss and sighed, placing his head on Fin’s chest as his partner tenderly stroked the top of his blond head.  He wrapped his hand around Fin’s torso as he murmured against the warm skin, “Fin?” 

“Yeah, Baby?”

“That town meeting today made me nervous; nervous for you.  I think Justin felt the same way about Brian, too; about both of you.” 

Fin slid his hand around Tony’s back as his partner lay on top of him.  “Yeah, it was a little intense, I guess.”

Tony lifted his head to stare into his partner’s eyes.  “Intense?  Fin, those people were raving lunatics!  They made some of the murderers I’ve prosecuted look like upstanding citizens.”

Fin brushed some rebellious hair away from Tony’s eyes as he replied, “Tony, we can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend people like that don’t exist.  I won’t live that way, and I know you won’t, either.”

Tony propped his upper body up by his elbows as he replied, “I know.  But it has to be weighed against your safety.”

Fin gazed into the concerned blue eyes.  “This is all kind of ironic, isn’t it?” he observed dryly.  “All this time you’ve been pushing me to be honest with myself and with everyone else, to not be apologetic for who or what I am.  Well, I’ve finally done that – and in a big way, I might add – and now you want me to pull back into obscurity and stop?” 

“No,” Tony protested as he huffed out a soft breath of frustration.  “I admire you for standing up to all those assholes.  In fact, I was never more fucking proud of you than I was today when you confronted them and gave them as good as you got.”  He smiled as he added huskily, “You know how sexy I think you are when you get all passionate about your ideals.”  He slowly stroked Fin’s chest as he added more somberly, “I guess I was just naïve in a way, Fin; I had no idea how hateful they could be, and now it worries me.  Despite some advances, this is still a scary world we live in.” 

Fin cupped Tony’s cheek as he smiled and said, “I know it is, Tony.  And Brian and I will be extra careful, I promise.  But we can’t back down now; we’re just getting my name out into the spotlight.”  He stroked his partner’s face with his fingers as he added, “You know what this means to me.”

Tony smiled lazily.  “What… having a gorgeous man at your beck and call to fuck whenever you please?  That’s completely understandable.” 

Fin rolled his eyes and laughed softly.  “You sure don’t have a problem with humility, do you?”  Tony grinned at him as he clarified, “You know what I’m talking about.  I really think I can make a difference as governor; much more than as a district senator.  This has been my dream for a long time, Tony.”

Tony gazed up into his partner’s eyes tenderly, hearing the passion in his voice anew.  “I know, Fin.  I just hope it doesn’t turn into a nightmare instead.” 

Same Time

“So… How do you like my campaign pitch, Mr. Taylor?”

Justin smiled from his place at Brian’s side; they were lying on their side facing each other in the middle of their bed after a vigorous round of fucking, sucking, licking and kissing, their favorite pastime.  “You were very persuasive,” Justin confirmed, playing idly with Brian’s fingers intertwined with his.  “You have my vote, but you may need to practice your technique several times during the course of this road trip; I wouldn’t want you to lose your touch with your adoring public.”

Brian appeared indignant as he growled, “Lose my touch?  I’ll show you touch!”  He reached over to pull Justin’s head toward him as he promptly smashed his lips against his to kiss him deeply for several seconds before their mouths broke apart with a resounding popping sound.  “Is that touched enough for you, little boy?”

Justin grinned.  “It’s a good start,” he admitted impishly as Brian smiled over at him in amusement.  “But you’d better keep reminding me as we go along just in case.”  His face sobered just then, an expression not lost on his husband.

“What?  Are you upset that I didn’t tack on the “Kinney” part to your name again, Sunshine?” he asked, tongue in cheek. Actually, he was surprised Justin hadn’t picked up on that; he was constantly correcting him every time he forgot.  Secretly it pleased him inordinately to think that Justin was proud enough of his married name to insist that he use it whenever possible.  He liked it a lot, in fact. 

Justin shook his head. “No… It’s not that.” He smiled over at Brian tenderly to add, “Although you did forget again; you’re not trying to get an annulment already, are you?”  He reached over and idly stroked Brian’s upper arm, marveling at the warmth and lean muscle there as he bit his lip in thought.

Brian gazed into his eyes as he answered sincerely, “Not on your life, Sunshine.”  He noticed Justin blush at the intensity in his statement, but he could also tell his husband was struggling between wanting to say something else and hesitating.  “What?” he asked softly.  “I know that look.”  Apparently, the day’s events were still weighing greatly on his husband’s mind. 

Justin sighed, realizing it was always fruitless to try and withhold anything from Brian.  “You know I’m not one to back down from a fight…” He began tentatively. 

Brian snorted as he caught the roaming hand of his husband and intertwined their fingers together on his chest.  “That’s an understatement.” 

Justin smiled at him crookedly before he grew somber again.  “Well… About today…”  He noticed Brian peering at him curiously, waiting for him to continue as he took a deep, tense-filled breath and let it out.  “Those people outside, and in the gym…”

“Justin…”  He had a feeling what his spouse was about to say; normally glibness was not one of his problems and if he was struggling to say something, he also knew it no doubt meant he wasn’t going to like what he had to say.  His husband’s ability to cut to the chase, though, was one of the things he loved about him.

“No, let me finish,” Justin insisted, sensing a protest about to occur.  “Brian, those people were horrible today; so hateful, so bigoted.”  He looked down at their clasped hands as he swallowed hard at the recollection.  “It’s not that I didn’t know they existed – God knows I’m certainly aware of it.  But I guess I was beginning to hope that maybe things were starting to change now, that people were becoming more tolerant of us.”  He huffed out a soft, angry breath and shook his head as Brian remained silent, knowing he had to get his concerns addressed.  Justin raised his eyes to meet his husband’s as he growled, “I can’t believe this is even an issue in a political campaign!  What does your father’s sexuality have to do with his ability to run a state government?” 

“Absolutely nothing,” Brian agreed quietly as his eyes bored into the blue ones.  “Not a fucking thing.  But some people insist on making it an issue anyway.”  He reached over with his free hand to place it on Justin’s cheek, locking his gaze in place as he stated, “What are you trying to say, Sunshine?  That we should just cower to these assholes?”

“No!” Justin exclaimed forcefully.  “Of course not!  But…”  He bit his lip and lowered his gaze, almost in embarrassment. 

“But what?” Brian prodded gently as he grasped Justin’s chin and forced him to look at him again.

Justin sighed.  “But that doesn’t mean I’m still not worried.”  His eyes glistened at the thought as he added more softly, “There was so much venom there.  It was almost like you could reach out and feel it.  If anything ever happened to Fin…Or worse, to you….”  He shuddered visibly as he swallowed hard; when he had first talked to Brian about taking the job of campaign manager, he had never thought about this being an issue.  He was so convinced that Brian would be the perfect man to lead his father’s campaign, and he had secretly thought that it would also be a way for them to bond more and become closer.  He had never really thought about what else might occur as a result.  After what had transpired earlier today, however, he realized that he had probably been deluding himself into thinking that the amount of bigotry they would encounter would be minimal. 

Brian’s face softened at the distress in Justin’s eyes.  He despised anything that made him upset; even after all that his husband had been through, and after Justin had stood up time and time against the horrible injustices he had encountered in his relatively young life, Justin still became alarmed when it came to anything he conceived as possibly being capable of hurting the man he loved.  He felt humbled by that, even now.  He smiled softly down into the worried face to say, “I promise; nothing is going to happen to either of us.  They’re just words, that’s all.  And Fin more than stood up to them today; that should score him points, not detract from him.  Trust me; these homophobic pricks are going to shoot themselves in the foot.  It’s going to backfire on them.  They’ll eventually get tired of hearing themselves talk and slink away with their tails between their legs.  They’re only going to hurt themselves by showing everyone else what total idiots they are.”

“But it just takes one person…”

“Shh,” Brian said as he gently pushed Justin down onto his back and gazed down into his eyes.  “Enough of that now.  We have security precautions in place.  They’re just spouting out the same old ‘go home, fag’ message you always hear when they’re worked up.  It’s nothing to worry about, okay?” 

Justin tamped down his concern for Brian’s sake and concentrated, instead, on the touch of Brian’s hand clasped in his and the gentle, reassuring tone of his voice.  Inhaling deeply and letting it out, he finally nodded.  “Okay,” he whispered, still not quite convinced but willing to trust that Brian knew what he was doing. 

Brian smiled tenderly as he said, “Now why don’t we concentrate on more pleasant matters?”  He slowly leaned in to kiss the soft, full lips, sucking gently on the lower one as Justin sighed in response.  Their previous eager impatience earlier to fuck dissolved into something much gentler as Brian slowly kissed him, trying through his kisses and his slow, light touches to reassure his husband that he was right.  As Brian made love to him anew, though, Justin’s worries remained hidden deep in his mind – and in his heart. 

Four A.M.

Justin heard the soft footfalls before his visitor quietly spoke up.  “Fancy meeting YOU here; enjoying a really late snack or a very early breakfast?” 

Justin turned around in one of the RV’s kitchen chairs to smile at his friend.  “Little bit of both, maybe.”  He nodded toward the coffee maker.  “There’s some extra coffee, but it’s leaded.  Might keep you from going back to sleep.”

Tony smiled as he walked over and helped himself to a mugful.  “Don’t worry; I don’t think I’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon.”  He took his mug and walked over to scoot a chair out to join Justin at the table, observing a couple of drawings lying face up on the wooden surface along with a few charcoal pencils.  He studied the sketches, immediately recognizing them as depictions of what had happened earlier at the town hall meetings.  He would remember that one snooty, holier-than-thou woman in particular for a long time.  “Incredible likeness,” he observed as he took a sip from his mug and looked over into his friend’s eyes.  “Is that why you’re out here instead of asleep?”

Justin sighed as he nodded.  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.  What about you?” 

“Fin and I had a long discussion about it earlier; he doesn’t seem all that concerned about it.”

Justin snorted softly.  “Sounds very familiar; Brian and I talked about it, too, and he pretty much said the same thing.  He said they were just a bunch of idiot blowhards who would get tired of it all and eventually just go away.  He said it would wind up backfiring on them when the press reports how well Fin stood up for himself today.”  He studied the two drawings he had made; one showing the well-dressed, haughty woman standing in the bleachers, her eyes flashing with indignity as she questioned Fin, and the other one portraying some of the outside crowd at the first town hall meeting holding up their signs spouting all sorts of vitriolic nonsense; the look of hatred on their faces was a memory he would not easily forget and even now it made a chill run down his spine.  “I wish I could believe that, Tony.” 

Tony bit his lip in concern as he picked up the sketch depicting the crowd and studied the amazing likeness of what they had experienced earlier; he shook his head as he reread some of the horrid messages that had been written.  “Yeah, me too,” he admitted.  He sighed.  “Justin, I know how much this means to Fin; he’s dreamed of this for so long.  But at what price?”  He had been willing to break all ties with Fin earlier when his partner tried to hedge on disclosing his sexuality to the public or even acknowledging his gay son; but now that he had, Tony was almost wishing he had never done it.  “This is so fucked up,” he grumbled.  “I was the one who pushed him to come out, and now I almost wish I had just kept my big mouth shut.  If I HAD, no one would have been the wiser and none of this would be happening.” 

“You know you don’t mean that, Tony,” Justin chided him as he reached over and briefly grabbed his friend’s wrist to get his attention.  “Even if Fin hadn’t disclosed it, it would have leaked out somehow eventually, especially once he was thrust into the public eye.  It was better to confront it head on, just like he did.  And I know you wouldn’t have stayed in the relationship if Fin had insisted on keeping it quiet.” 

Tony put his mug down and rubbed the back of his head in frustration.  “I know that – logically. But I’m worried about his safety.  Damn it; why do people have to be so narrow-minded?” 

Justin’s mouth turned up into a crooked smile.  “I guess because they can,” he said simply.  “Listen, we both know that neither Fin nor Brian will change their mind; they’re too competitive and headstrong to back out now, so like it or not I think we’re in this for the long haul.  I think the best we can do is keep a close eye on them and hope to God nothing happens to either of them in the process.” 

Tony sighed as he nodded.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.  I don’t know about you, but I will be relieved when this RV tour of the state is over with and Fin and I are back home in Harrisburg.  It’s going to be a LONG two weeks.”

Justin nodded.  “Yeah.”  He took a deep breath to relieve his stress before he scooted back from the table and walked over to the compact refrigerator.  “Well, I suggest a stress-reliever in the meantime.”  He opened the door and reached in to retrieve an aluminum pie plate and held it up for Tony’s inspection.  “Left-over tiramisu from dinner.” 

Tony chuckled.  “Now you’re talking; best stress reliever after sex – bring it on.” 

Justin grinned as he walked over and placed the dessert down on the table along with two forks he had pulled out of the utensil drawer.  For the next few minutes, they enjoyed a companionable silence as they savored Justin’s dessert from the Italian restaurant, but both men knew their worries were far from over. 

6:30 A.M.

Brian opened one eye as he reached over for Justin and came up with air instead.  When had he gotten out of bed?  Normally HE was the first one to awaken so he in turn could rouse his sleepy husband with the proper ‘wake-up call’ – taking care of his morning woody.  It appeared that today, however, they were going to have to forget their normal ritual.

Rising from bed, he walked over to the closet to pull out his clothes for the day; as he opened the bedroom door, he heard soft voices coming from the front of the RV, recognizing them as his husband and Cassinelli.  Unconcerned that he was still unclothed – after all, it was his normal attire while at home – he walked the few steps over to the bathroom and , noticing Justin and Tony staring at him from the kitchen, he took a moment to wink at them.  “Morning, boys,” he drawled before he opened the door and disappeared behind it.  A few seconds later, the sound of running water could be heard as Brian proceeded to take his shower.

Justin couldn’t help grinning as Tony’s face turned red and his mouth hung open over Brian’s unabashed show of nudity.  It was just a brief glimpse – and the second one, actually, that Tony had seen, since he had received a small eyeful once before when he and Fin had gone to visit Brian at his loft – but it still caught him off-guard.  Fin liked to parade around in the nude, too, but only at home and only in front of him; unlike his son, Fin would not be so nonchalant about it in front of others.

“Is he always that casual in front of strangers?” he couldn’t help asking curiously as he turned his gaze back to his friend.

Justin smiled.  “Well, first of all, you and Fin are not exactly strangers.   You’re more like family.  But even if you WERE strangers, the answer, believe it or not, would be yes.  Although it’s a little harder for him to be such an exhibitionist when he’s at Britin; it’s harder to ‘perform’ when there’s no audience to appreciate it properly.”

Tony laughed.  “Come on, he can’t be that bad!”

Justin grinned.  “He’s mellowed a little bit over the years; sometimes he’ll actually put on his silk robe before he answers the door, especially if it’s time for the Girl Scout cookie drive,” he joked.  “Funny, though – I told someone a long time ago that he would never mellow like a burgundy.  Turns out I might have been wrong about that, but I wouldn’t want him to fizzle out completely, or he wouldn’t be the Brian I love and know all too well.” 

Tony shook his head in amazement.  “You’re awfully unconcerned about it.” 

Justin shrugged.  “It’s just the way he is.  He’s always been open about his sexuality.  But I don’t worry about it, because while he still enjoys being in the showroom I’m the only that takes him for a test drive now.”  He smiled almost proudly; if only Brian knew he was comparing him to a sports car. 

As if he were reading his mind, Tony laughed as he said, “Better not let HIM hear you say that, even though I’m sure you’ve got him firmly hooked.” 

Justin smiled.  “He’d better be; I took those marriage vows very seriously.”  Silently, he had no doubts about Brian’s love for him and the man was still as gorgeous as always.  He didn’t mind his sexy husband showing off a little as long as he remained firmly by his side. 

Tony’s face turned wistful as he replied softly, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Justin; that man loves you like crazy.  You’re very lucky.”

“I know,” he replied with a smile.  Justin’s heart warmed at Tony’s comment; he already knew how Brian felt – he showed it to him every day – but it never hurt to have it validated by someone else.  He frowned, however, as he noticed a shift of emotions cross Tony’s face. He hesitated a moment, recalling an earlier conversation they had had on the morning of his wedding, before saying quietly, “Tony? 

“Yeah?”

“This is what you want, too, isn’t it?”

Tony smirked.  “You mean to have Fin parade around like a strutting peacock?  Been there, done that, my friend.  When we’re alone at home – and the shades are drawn, mind you – the man hates wearing clothes.  It’s a shame we don’t live in a nudist colony, because we could save a lot of money on designer duds.”    

“No… Not that,” Justin persisted, knowing the man was trying to be obtuse on purpose.  “I mean marriage; that is what you’re ultimately hoping for with you and Fin.”  He eyed his friend intently; he had seen a flicker of emotion pass over Tony’s face at the mention of his marriage vows and he knew how much the man loved Brian’s father.  He noticed the tender looks that passed between them, the same sorts of looks he and Brian exchanged when they were alone; the same sort of looks that made his heart do flip-flops even now.  The main difference, though, was that Brian had made an official commitment to their love while Fin had not.

Tony sighed.  “We’ve discussed this before, Justin,” he replied a little curtly.  “Why rehash old news?  You know that’s what I would like, but it’s not that easy now, is it?”

Justin curved one brow upward, a little surprised by the sharpness in Tony’s voice.  “No, it’s not,” he answered honestly.  “It took Brian a long time to decide he wanted to get married; if you had asked him that when we first met, he would have looked at you like you had grown a second head.  As even he admitted at one time, he would have been the last candidate to consider marriage.”

Tony pondered that statement thoughtfully; that almost fit Fin to a T.  “So what changed?”  He asked; he glanced back as Brian emerged from the shower, hair damp and now fully clothed as he walked back into the bedroom to finish with his grooming. 

Justin smiled as Brian exchanged glances at him and smirked with his lips curled under before returning to their bedroom, noticing at least he was dressed now.  He turned back to Tony to say, “That’s a good question.  I think at first he proposed to me because he thought that was what I wanted; that, plus I think the bombing scared the shit out of him and he realized that everything and everyone he knew could literally be gone in a heartbeat.”  Justin paused for a moment in recollection before adding, “His best friend was almost killed that night.”

“My God…”

Justin nodded.  “Yeah… Fin’s not the only one who’s been subjected to hatred and bigotry.  Someone had it in spades that night.”  For a few seconds, Justin allowed himself to think back to that awful time.  It had been horrendous, waiting around for news about Michael and realizing that his own mother could have possibly been injured as well as some of his other friends.  So many others he didn’t know had been killed, and for what reason?  Only because someone didn’t agree with the way they lived and had no tolerance for it. 

“They never caught who did it?” 

Justin was pulled out of his reverie by Tony’s question as he shook his head.  “No.  Whoever did it was really good about covering his tracks.”  He sighed, forcing himself to change the subject as he added, “What I’m trying to say here, Tony, is that I never thought Brian would really want to be married, but he surprised me.  It wasn’t a sudden change and I can’t really tell you when it happened exactly or maybe even why.”

Tony shook his head, a little resentful that Justin had what he longed to have.  “So what’s your point, Justin?  You and Brian get to live happily ever after.  Good for you.” 

Justin refused to take the bait, realizing that Tony wasn’t upset with him but just venting his frustration.  He smiled sympathetically at the older man and reached over to squeeze Tony’s wrist as he said softly, not necessarily wanting either Brian or Fin to overhear, “What I’m trying to say, Tony, is that I see a lot of similarities between Fin now and Brian back then.  Don’t give up on what you want.  Believe me, if Brian can change his mind, so could he.  I’m not the only one who has a man that loves him deeply; I can tell Fin feels the same way about you.”

Tony sighed.  “I know that.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll ever be marriage material.  After all, he didn’t even come out until recently, and that was only because I pressured him into doing it.”

“That might have been what instigated it,” Justin replied.  “But if he hadn’t loved you as much as he did, he wouldn’t have let that push him into doing it.  And I think now that’s it out in the open, he’s got to be relieved that it is.  He handled all the hatemongers he encountered very well today, I think.” 

“Yes, he did,” Brian said as he walked up to them, having overheard the last comment.  He placed his hands on Justin’s shoulders and gave him a kiss on the cheek from behind.  “I missed you when I woke up this morning,” he whispered.  “I wasn’t done trying out our bed.”

Justin blushed a little at the husky tone of his husband’s voice as he turned his head to accept another kiss on the lips.  “I’ll make it up to you later,” he whispered back as they broke apart. 

Brian smiled.  “I’ll hold you to that.”  He stood up and looked over at Tony.   “Where’s Fin?”

Tony shrugged.  “I assume he’s still in bed; I’ve been out here with Justin for a few hours now.”

Brian looked down at the remnants of what appeared to be Justin’s dessert from last night and smirked.  “Well, I can see what the two of you were collaborating over together,” he told them with a smile; his smile dimmed a little as he observed what Justin had drawn, but it didn’t surprise him.  That had always been his husband’s cathartic method of dealing with issues that worried him.  He walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a mug.  “If Fin doesn’t get up soon, I’ll need to wake him up.  We have another strategy meeting in an hour with his staff before we head out for the next round of town hall meetings.” 

“He’s awake,” the three men heard as Fin came walking up to them; unlike Brian, however, he was dressed far less provocatively, wearing loose-fitting pajama bottoms that rode low on his narrow hips.  He walked over to stand next to his partner and leaned down to give him a kiss.  As he pulled back, he whispered, “I missed you this morning.  Where did you go?” 

Justin and Tony looked at each other and tittered. 

“What’s so funny?”  Fin asked, perplexed, as he walked over to pour the remainder of the coffee into a mug and joined the three men at the kitchen table. 

“Just ignore them,” Brian stated.  “The two giggly schoolgirls are no doubt just finding some of our father-son similarities amusing.”  

Justin grinned at Tony before he explained to Fin, “That was pretty much the same thing Brian just said to me.”

“See…Told you,” Brian said as Fin nodded and sat down next to Tony with a smile.  His eyes, though, couldn’t help wandering toward the two drawings that Justin had done that were lying on the table.  Despite the unpleasant subject matter, he continued to be impressed by his son-in-law’s artistic talent.  Justin truly had a gift for making his scenes come to life and they never failed to amaze him.

“I wonder how much of my fan club will show up today?” he said sardonically as he took a sip of his coffee.  “Maybe I should have packed a red suit in so the tomatoes they throw at me will blend in.”

“Don’t even kid about that, Fin,” Tony warned him, still unsettled about what they might be facing again today.  “It’s not funny.” 

Fin reached over with his left hand and squeezed Tony’s shoulder reassuringly.  “It’ll be fine, Tony.  We are NOT backing down from those homophobes.”  He dropped his hand to look across the table at his son.  “Have you checked the wire services this morning?” 

“I was just about to do that,” Brian told him as he stood up, coffee mug in hand.  “Come and sit down on the couch and I’ll go get my laptop.” 

As Fin nodded and walked over to sit down on one of the couches, Tony told Justin, “I’m going to go check my emails from work.”  Justin nodded as he was left alone among the four men.  Staring down at the sketches he had made, he reached down to pick up the sketchbook he had propped against one leg of the table and placed it on top.  Flipping it open, he soon was lost in his memories of what they had encountered so far.  This time, though, he chose to concentrate on the positive side of their adventure and sketch his father-in-law during the midst of his impassioned speech in Reading.  In no time, he was drawn into his own world as father and son mapped out campaign strategy nearby.

Emmaus Motor Lodge – Same Time

Adam Stewart impatiently drummed his fingers against the glass surface of his nondescript wooden hotel desk as he waited for his laptop to boot up; he was scheduled to meet with O’Connor, Kinney and the rest of the staff within the hour, so he was pressed for time as it was.  Thankfully he had arisen early enough that he was already showered and dressed as he sat at the hotel suite’s desk, gazing at his reflection in the mirror mounted on the wall directly in front of him.

After a few moments, he turned his attention to the computer screen as he heard the familiar, soft chime signaling he was connected, noticing Turner already waiting to talk to him.  He recognized the setting as Turner’s office in Wilkes-Barre; he and Turner had met there right after he had secured his job with O’Connor, but after that he was told they would strictly be communicating on a remote basis to avoid any possibility of their duplicity being discovered.

“About time!” Turner growled; Adam noticed Stockwell sitting next to Turner in his office, along with two men he didn’t recognize, one younger man was a dark blond and slender, while the other one was older with salt-and-pepper hair.  The three visitors were sitting next to Turner’s desk on his dark leather couch in such a way that they could see his face on the computer screen, which merely added to his nervousness.

“It’s only five after,” Stewart pointed out.  “I have to be make sure no one else is around, you know.”

Turner huffed out a breath in aggravation.  “I’m paying you enough fucking money!  The least you can do is be there when I ask you to.”

“Okay, okay,” Adam grumbled.  “I’m here now and we’re wasting time.  I have to meet with O’Connor and Kinney in an hour for the next staff meeting. What did you want to meet for?”

Turner exchanged glances with the three men sitting on his couch.  “Have you accessed any of the newspaper websites this morning?”

Adam frowned.  “Not yet…Why?”

“Why?  Shit, Stewart!  After yesterday you weren’t curious what they had to say about O’Connor’s first day on the campaign trail?  Well, I’ll TELL you what they had to say!  They think the man’s a fucking genius!”  He glanced over at a printout he had made of what the Reading Reporter’s website had written.  “You want me to quote Kleemeyer’s editorial in the Reading paper this morning?”  He began to read verbatim part of the comments written a few hours earlier by one of the state’s most highly-renowned commentators regarding O’Connor’s campaign activities; Robert Kleemeyer was well-known throughout the state as a thorough, no-holds-barred commentator, having written thousands of campaign editorials over the years that were syndicated to several newspapers in Pennsylvania.  His opinion was highly respected by most of the constituency.

“Despite encountering a vehement, angry mob of protestors at his first town meeting, O’Connor proved to be well-spoken on the issues of most importance to the crowd in attendance, displaying an impressive, thorough knowledge of key points on the State’s economy, unemployment, and energy initiatives.  By the time he had glibly and intelligently responded to the questions presented to him, he had the previously-raucous crowd practically eating out of the palm of his hand.  It would appear that his newly-appointed campaign manager, Brian Kinney, is using his expertise as an advertising CEO to great advantage.   Turner better take notice; this man means business.” 

Stewart swallowed hard at the harshness in Turner’s voice.  “It’s just one editorial…” he began.

“Just one editorial?”  Turner peered over at Stockwell, whose face was tightly drawn into a scowl.  “Just one editorial?  That’s like saying the Mona Lisa is just one painting!”  This is Kleemeyer, Stewart, not some wannabe copy boy!  Surely even YOU have heard of him!”

“Yes, of course I’ve heard of him,” Adam snapped.  “But it’s still just one opinion and it’s only after the first day.  So he scored a few brownie points and got lucky.  We’ve still got a lot of time left.” 

Turner shook his head in disgust; why did he entrust this pipsqueak upstart with such an important job?  “Well, I can’t take that chance, Stewart.  We’ve going to have to up the ante.”

Adam narrowed his brow in puzzlement.  “What do you mean?”

“It means that you are to keep doing what you’re doing – although I’m beginning to question the wisdom of you coordinating it – and I’ll do what I need to do on my end to help ensure this fag doesn’t get elected to office,” Turner stated, his voice dripping with contempt.  Adam wasn’t sure if his derision was directed to him, to O’Connor, or to both of them, though, as he glared back at the other man in resentment.  He actually didn’t care one iota for Turner, but his desire to prevent O’Connor from being elected was stronger than his contempt for the other man, so for now he would have to follow Turner’s directives. 

“Okay,” he said curtly.  “I’ll make sure the protestors continue to show up.  There’re several church groups and family marriage organizations that have promised to attend each meeting.  But what exactly are you going to do on your end?”

Turner scowled.  “You let ME worry about that, Stewart!  Just keep up your end of the agreement or your little incentive checks will disappear.  Got it?”

Adam started into the computer screen at the other man, his blood boiling at the man’s haughty tone of voice.  “Yeah…I got it,” he said in a clipped tone.  He sighed as Turner promptly disconnected his end of the conversation without so much as a goodbye.  “Damn asshole,” he muttered to the now blank screen.  “You’re no better than that queer is.”  Still, he realized if he didn’t want to disappoint his father he knew which side of the fence he had to stand on, so for no other reason than that he would continue to create whatever dissension he could in O’Connor’s campaign.  Logging off his laptop, he quickly began to gather up his suitcase and other belongings as he prepared to leave the hotel room and check out.

“He’s an incompetent, fucking idiot!” Turner roared as he closed the top of his laptop forcefully and peered over at his visitors.  “There has to be someone better than Stewart to infiltrate the other side and help us take O’Connor out once and for all!”

“Let Stewart continue his little game and let him continue to feel important,” Stockwell counseled him.  “The protestors will still have somewhat of an effect, although maybe not as much as we had hoped.  That’s why we’re going to have a backup plan.” 

Turner let out an angry breath, still greatly perturbed over what he perceived to be Stewart’s insufficiency.  “I still think he’s an incompetent asshole,” he told the other men as he rubbed his face in frustration.  “If he slips up and manages to help get that queer elected somehow…”

“He won’t be,” Stockwell told him confidently.  “We’re just getting started.  Maybe O’Connor might be able to deceive enough voters to actually get them to vote for him despite his immorality.  But he made a big mistake when he chose his fag son for his campaign manager.  That’s going to wind up being his ultimate undoing.”

Turner frowned; Stockwell had called last night and told him they needed to meet right away.  He had actually told the man to come after his Skype call with Stewart would be over, but the three had shown up just as he was about to start, so he had somewhat reluctantly allowed them to stay while he and Stewart had spoken.  He didn’t quite trust Stockwell, but at least he knew there was no love lost between the former police chief and Kinney.  But these other two men were totally unfamiliar to him, and he hadn’t had a chance yet to find out what they were doing here.  “What the fuck are you talking about, Stockwell?” he asked.  “And who ARE these people?”

Stockwell smiled.  “These…Are the people who are going to help bring O’Connor to his knees.”  He turned to the younger man to advise Turner, “This is Kip Thomas; he’s a former employee of Kinney’s who had a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him.” 

Turner’s brows rose at that statement; interesting – very interesting. “He did?”

Thomas smiled at him.  He was going to enjoy playing this little farce with Kinney.  He had waited a long time for this chance.  “Yeah…Fucker told me if I wanted to keep my job I would have to submit to whatever he told me to do to get ahead.  He kept pushing for more and more, though, until I got sick and tired of it and finally left.  I tried to sue the bastard, but he had some high-priced attorney that would have cost me an arm and a leg to fight against him, so I finally had to quit.  But now’s my chance to make the asshole pay for what he did.  He can’t be allowed to force people into doing something as blackmail in hopes of getting a promotion.”

Thomas had been infuriated by Brian’s refusal to go to bat for him to get a promotion with Ryder’s agency.  The anger, too, that he still felt over being blackmailed by Kinney’s twink-turned-husband into dropping his lawsuit still gnawed at him, even now; once he had left Ryder’s agency, he had never been able to find another employer who would take him seriously.  He had finally been relegated to working for a second-rate advertising firm while Kinney managed to open up his own agency later, much to his fury.  Now, at last he had a chance to wreak a little revenge on the fucker’s life – and his father’s.  That – plus a large monetary incentive from Turner’s campaign – was too good to pass up.  He could bullshit better than anyone else, and now was his opportunity to prove that.  For the right amount of money, he would say anything. 

“Shit,” Turner muttered in disgust at Thomas’ statement; he didn’t like having to rely on a fag to bring another one down, but he knew when he had first been in touch with Stockwell that sometimes you had to force down your revulsion and make a deal with the lesser of two devils to get what you wanted.  And he wanted this job – badly.

He peered intently over at the other man then for a closer look as suddenly a feeling of déjà vu washed over him.  “You…You look familiar somehow,” he murmured.  The man was a few years older than when he thought he had first seen him, but still – there was something that made him think he should know him. “Have we met before?” he finally asked.

The older man smirked at him.  “Yes, as a matter of fact we have.  Your company used to run deliveries for me throughout the state.  Tire deliveries.” 

Turner stared at the other man who was about the same age as he was until he finally shook his head in resignation.  “Sorry…Your name escapes me.”  He looked over at Stockwell for assistance.

Stockwell rolled his eyes in barely-controlled civility.  “Marvin Telson?  Telson Tire Company?”

Turner’s face morphed into an expression of remembrance.  “Yeah…I remember you now!  My company used to pick up pallets of your tires and take them to all the big tire chains.”  He smiled apologetically.  “I’m sorry – I think I only met you once; I normally communicated with your comptroller over shipments.  But I want to thank you for all the business that you…”

“Can it, Turner,” Stockwell growled.  “We don’t have time for you to kiss his ass!  We’ve got more important things to take care of here.”

Turner glared at Stockwell before he turned his attention back to Telson and took a deep breath to calm himself.  “I don’t get it,” he admitted as he looked at him.  “What are YOU doing here?  What do you have to do with this?”  He could understand why the other man might be important – if Kinney really HAD pressured him into some sort of sexual tryst at the workplace, that would reflect poorly indeed on his father’s campaign.  But what did this tire executive have to do with anything?

“Just shut up and listen, Turner,” Stockwell growled, so tired of the man’s blubbering.  “Telson contacted your office and told them he had some dirt on O’Connor’s campaign manager that he wanted to share with the opposition.  As instructed, they forwarded his call to me and we met yesterday in Pittsburgh.”  He turned to the older man to say, “Tell him what you told me, Telson.”

The dark-haired man nodded.  “Several years ago, I contracted with an advertising agency in Pittsburgh to have a new campaign created to market my tires to a new demographic audience.  My business had been steadily going downhill and I felt I needed a fresh approach.  A business acquaintance of mine recommended that I try the Ryder Agency and I wound up there.  Kinney happened to be the ad executive that pitched the marketing campaign to me.  He also wound up propositioning me later when we met at a club for drinks to hammer out the details.”

Telson knew that was an outright lie; HE had been the one to pursue Kinney until the man had actually agreed to meet him at his hotel room for a one-night tryst to satisfy his curiosity in exchange for his business.  He had set eyes on the sexy brunet from the moment he had laid eyes on him in Ryder’s conference room and knew he had to have him.  They had just gotten down to business in his room later, however, when his wife had called to tell him their daughter had had the bad luck to break her arm; despite his wanting to remain at the hotel to suck Kinney’s impressive cock and engage in some all-night fucking with the handsome, younger man, to his dismay Kinney had insisted instead on ending their rendezvous and having him go home instead, even though there was nothing he could have done that couldn’t have waited.

Kinney, though, hadn’t seen it that way. He had practically run out the door the moment he had had the opportunity, sacrificing his only chance to obtain his lucrative business and incurring his wrath over being embarrassed and rejected.  The anger and humiliation he had felt at being thwarted had festered over the years, increasing as he watched Kinney’s company grow into the biggest agency in the state, to the point that when he saw who was heading up Fintan O’Connor’s gubernatorial campaign and had discovered Kinney was the man’s son, his urge for retribution culminated in his contacting Turner’s office.  No one rejected Marvin Telson and didn’t live to regret it.  He had finally seen the perfect opportunity to pay Kinney back after all these years and he had promptly reached out and grabbed it.  Here was his chance to maintain that Kinney had tried to come on to him, a happily-married man, in exchange for his business. 

He wasn’t afraid of what his ex-wife might do should she find out about him coming forward with his story about how Kinney had tried to force himself on him; part of their divorce decree had stated unequivocally that neither she nor he could comment on each other’s private lives or their divorce agreement would be null and void.  Besides, she was now living in California and didn’t stay too up-to-date on what happened in his life anymore.  She knew about his homosexuality and was disgusted by it; the only time they ever had contact with each other was when she sought an increase in her alimony money.  If she knew what was good for her pocketbook, then, even if she DID find out about his allegations, she would keep her big, fat mouth firmly shut.

Turner’s mouth gaped open as he stared at the two men.  “Incredible.  He forced himself on you – BOTH of you?”

Stockwell smiled.  “Well, that’s going to be our story. If we can’t manage to smear O’Connor himself, then we can focus on the next-best thing; his queer son.”

Turner eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the two other men.  “What exactly does that mean, Stockwell?  That’s going to be our story.  Are you telling me that’s not what actually happened?”

“What difference does it make, Turner?  The point is they’re prepared to state unequivocally that that is what happened in front of the media.  By then, it won’t matter if it happened exactly that way or not.  His campaign will be damaged beyond repair and you will come out ahead.”

Turner let out a tense breath; what had he gotten himself into?  “I don’t know, Stockwell…This sounds very risky…”

“Do you want the fucking governor’s job or not, Turner?” Stockwell snarled.  “Because this is politics, Turner; there’s no place for a pussy boy here.  Either man up now or I’m out, along with all my support and know-how.  What’s it going to be?”  Secretly, Stockwell fervently wished that there was a third possibility for a gubernatorial candidate; he couldn’t stomach O’Connor winning and yet Turner needed to grow a spine.  What a choice!  He eyed the other man unflinchingly until he saw the moment of grudging acceptance appear on the other man’s face and knew he had won.

“Yeah…Yeah, Stockwell, I want it, damn you!” Turner growled, finally showing a little backbone for a change.  “Okay…We’ll play it your way.  What do you want me to do?”

“You’re going to have your campaign manager schedule a press conference tomorrow morning so Thomas and Telson can tell their stories.  They will make a statement regarding what happened, but NOT take questions.  That will be more than sufficient to serve our purpose, at least for now.”  He smiled in pleasure.  “Let Kinney try and squirm his way out of these allegations.” 

Turner nodded reluctantly, still not comfortable with the slimy nature of Stockwell’s assistance.  He had a strong suspicion that there was a lot more to Thomas’ and Telson’s stories than met the eye, but what choice did he have?  He had to strike back and hit O’Connor’s campaign where it was vulnerable, and everyone on his team insisted that the best way to do that was to appeal to the conservatives in the state who found O’Connor and his son’s lifestyles repugnant and immoral.  The best way to reinforce that feeling, then, was to demonstrate just how depraved they were, and these two men in his office appeared to be their best hope of doing that. 

The latest polls showed him trailing by at least ten percentage points throughout the state; if he didn’t do something drastic and soon, he may never be able to make up the difference.  He sighed in resignation, wanting the job so badly he could almost taste it.  It was now or never.  “All right,” he said, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake trusting this man.  “I’ll do it.”