Shadow Men – 26 – Rafe and Steele

"We have to stop meeting like this," Rafe said early the next morning as the lovers lay in each other's arms. He intended it as a joke but realized that underneath it he meant what he'd said.

Steele chuckled. "Why? It does add a certain spice to things."

"Yeah, well, it's about time we got home where we don't have to sleep with one eye open all the time," Rafe replied testily. He was tired of running, of hiding. He wanted at least a few days when they could act like everyone else. Days they could spend together just being a loving couple. Not only in bed, but more importantly as two people who cared deeply about each other and could act on their feelings every minute of the day without having to look over their shoulders to see who might be after them now.

"And that's not going to happen until we deal with our little problem, grumpy," Steele replied softly, understanding as he always did what Rafe was really saying.

Rafe took in a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, I feel the same way." Steele gave and got back a gentle kiss before he sat up. "So we should get dressed and then decide where we go from here."

"If we go out during the day, and you know we'll to have to, we'd better do something about our looks, again," Rafe pointed out.

"Unfortunately we left everything behind."

"Then let's see what the lady of the house has in her bathroom, and bedroom, that might help." Without waiting for a reply Rafe disappeared up the stairs. He reappeared at the top of them moments later. "We hit the mother lode so get up here."

Steele followed him up to the second floor. It didn't take but a second to see what Rafe meant. The bathroom cabinet door stood open to reveal several packages of hair coloring in various shades from blonde to auburn.

"Apparently she either hit a big sale or she changes colors often," Rafe said with a chuckle. "So choose your poison."

"I can use any of them but you're going to be the usual problem, so…buzz cut?"

Rafe sighed deeply but nodded in reply.

An hour later Steele's normally dirty-blond hair was reddish-brown while Rafe looked like a new army recruit, albeit a slight older one given his age.

"Now all we need is a change of clothes, which it just so happens we can borrow from the man of the house."

Steele arched an eyebrow. "He's got stuff that'll fit us?"

Rafe led the way into the master bedroom and pointed to a picture on the dresser before he opened the closet door. One look at the tall, burly man standing next to a petite woman who had to be Angelo's aunt and Steele agreed that they could probably find clothes to fit.

"Suit or casual for you?" Rafe asked.

"I'll try a few things on and then decide." He started with a suit jacket and found it was too tight across the shoulders to be comfortable. The slacks that went with it, on the other hand, were too large around the waist although the length was right. "Now's when we need our padding," he grumbled.

"Naw, just a couple of safety-pins," Rafe replied, holding up two he'd found in a box on the dresser.

"Oh, that'll look cute."

"I'm not talking about for the slacks. Here, try these." He tossed Steele a pair of loud, plaid shorts. "Pin the waist in then wear one of the casual shirts un-tucked. In this heat you'll look like everyone else wandering around."

"What about you?" Steele asked as he got dressed.

"If you're going to be casual I'll have to be too." Rafe held a pair of conservative dark blue shorts in his hand, which he quickly pulled on. They hung too low on his hips so he hunted down a belt, which as luck would have it had enough holes in it that he could tighten it to work. With a light blue plaid shirt topping off the ensemble he deemed himself ready to go.

Steele looked at Rafe then checked himself out in the mirror. "Why do I have to be the geeky one in plaid?"

Rafe smirked. "Because… Now all you need is some glasses to complete the look."

Steele glanced around the room and sighed in mock relief at not seeing any lying around, even though he was used to going that far to change his appearance. "Guess I'm shit out of luck on that one."

They took a minute to make certain they hadn't left any overt clues to the fact that they'd been in the bedroom. Next was the bathroom, where they emptied the wastebasket that held remains of their hair transformations into a plastic bag. Then they headed back downstairs.

"Here, geek," Rafe said, tossing the backpack to Steele, "your turn to lug it around."

Steele caught it and checked the room to remove any evidence of their being there while Rafe folded the bed back into the sofa. "Now all we have to do is get out of here without anyone noticing," Steele said when they were finished.

"The old 'We didn't just come out the door, we're knocking on it' routine should work if necessary."

They went to the side door and after a quick check to make certain no one was standing in the neighbor's yard they stepped outside. Rafe locked it and returned the key to its spot above the door. Then, casually, they strolled through the backyard to the alley where they tossed the plastic trash bag into one of the Dumpsters.

"Breakfast?" Rafe asked.

"Definitely," Steele agreed.