Shadow Men – 70 – Anders and Grant

"I opt we take our things and find a decent motel," Grant said as he  took a look around the apartment.

"Not a good idea yet," Anders replied tersely. "I hate to point this out but the Senator's still out there somewhere. He may or may not know yet that we handed the information over to our friend but either way it's unlikely he's stopped looking for us."

"Damn it!"

"Yeah, I know. With any luck she'll move swiftly to get an indictment against him. Then, hopefully, he'll have more important things to think about than us." Anders started to leave the room, saying over his shoulder, "Until then we still stay under the radar."

"Got it." Grant looked at the sofa, figured that's where he'd be sleeping at least for the night, and called out, "I don't suppose you have extra sheets and a blanket hiding here somewhere."

Anders stopped. "What for?" Grant pointed at the sofa. "Why would you want to sleep there when I have a perfectly good bed?"

"Because..?"

"That's not an answer, Grant." Anders smirked a bit when he echoed Grant's words of a few hours ago.

"It works for me."

"Damn it, don't be an idiot. After I take the pills the doc gave me I'll be out like a light. So get your ass moving. If you're shy I think there's a couple of pair of sweats in the dresser. You can sleep in one of them."

After a moment's hesitation, Grant nodded. "I'm not shy by the way," he muttered as he followed Anders into the bedroom.

"Me neither." Anders began to strip, albeit slowly and with care not to move his shoulder any more than necessary.

Grant watched him for a moment, admiring both his body and to his surprise his attitude. Then, with a shrug of acceptance he eased off his shirt and sat down on the edge of the large bed to take off his shoes and socks.

"Be back in a couple, I need to clean up a bit," Anders announced.

"Remember, you can't get the bandages wet."

Anders snapped out, "Trust me, Grant, I've been through this a time or five, I know the routine."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm tired and in pain but that's no excuse to bite your head off."

"I'll survive."

"Counting on that," Anders said softly as he closed the door behind him.

Grant cocked an eyebrow at that as he settled back on the bed to wait for Anders to finish.

* * * *

"No nightmares tonight."

"What?" Grant tried to figure out why Anders would be telling him not to have nightmares. Then he tried to figure out why there was something lying across his waist that felt… He rolled over to stare into Anders' amused, if sleepy, eyes.

"As far as I can tell, although I was pretty knocked out by the drugs, you didn't have any nightmares."

"How long have we been sleeping?"

"It's mid-afternoon, so for quite a while."

"No wonder I have to piss." Which he did, but it was also an excuse to move before he did something he probably shouldn't, like kiss the knowing grin off of Anders' lips. As he moved away and sat up, he heard a sigh. Ignore it. And ignore that too, he told himself when Anders ran a fingertip lightly down his back. Getting up quickly he headed to the bathroom.

After emptying his bladder he considered his options as he stared at himself in the mirror. He could stay in here; maybe take a shower until Anders got tired of waiting for him to come back. He could splash water on his face, then go back and get dressed. Or he could do what he really wanted to but knew he shouldn't; climb back into bed and let what happened happen.

The decision was taken out of his hands when he heard Anders swearing a steady stream of curse words. Without thinking he slammed the door open, not certain what was going on but fearing the worst. It was, in a way. Anders was doubled over, his face dead white. Grant was beside him in a second, asking what was wrong.

"Moved too fast," Anders told him, his voice tight with pain.

Grant carefully helped him get comfortable again then got him his pills and a glass of water.

When he'd downed the pills, Anders grumbled, "There go my plans for the next half- hour."

"Only half an hour?" Grant lifted one eyebrow in amusement.

"Didn't want to wear you out first time around."

"Umm hmm, sure. Maybe when we're both back to normal we can test that theory."

Anders actually looked surprised. "You serious?"

"Maybe, probably, I guess." Grant trailed a finger along the line of Anders' jaw, smiling when Anders turned his head and tried to nip it. "Behave."

"Don't seem to have much choice right now."

"I know." Impulsively Grant leaned over to kiss him. It was a gentle kiss but held a promise that there might be more in the days to come. Anders returned the kiss, and the promise, before the drugs kicked in and his eyes closed.