Puppy Love - 14. Chapter 14

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?” Michael yelled into the phone as he paced around his hotel room. He’d been planning for days what the best way to get to Blaine was and now he had to wait even longer, because the idiotic feds had gotten involved.

“I just found out myself, there’s going to be three agents,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.

“Where are they going to be stationed at?”

“There will be one at the Riley and Turner residence, one at the Branson residence, and one at the veterinary clinic.”

“Any of them female?” Michael asked.

“The one at the clinic, Agent Renee Jeffries. Four years as a federal agent, near perfect tract record.”

“What about the other guys? Anything useful on them?”

“The first one is Agent Derek Roberts, again, a nearly spotless record. Had some tough breaks early on in his career, but nothing for the past ten years. The other one is Agent Allen Bryant, six years as a federal officer, up until a couple years ago he specialized in drug stings. They’ve got some good agents on this on; it’s not going to be easy to get to the guys.”

“Easy or not, we’re going to do it. We’ve dealt with worse than this before. Listen, get me all the information you can on these agents. I want to know what their home lives are like, I need to know if they have any children, hell, I even want to know what they eat for breakfast. Get me everything.”

“Can do boss, anything else while I’m at it?”

“Yeah, why don’t you get a hold of a couple of the guys, doesn’t matter which ones and have them ready to move at a moment’s notice. Get them as close as you can, no one will recognize them and I need to have them close.”

“What about you? If they catch you, you’re finished.”

“That’s why they’re not going to catch me. There just a couple of stupid feds, now get on it. I want that information within three days.”

“You got it,” the other voice said before hanging up.

Michael hung up the phone before walking into the bathroom and starting the shower. It was time to change the look again. With the feds involved, he just knew that his cover was blown again. It wasn’t the first time he had changed his name over the years and it was getting easier and easier to take on a whole new persona. He’d have to go out and get a few things to change his looks a bit and then he’d have to figure out who he was going to be.

That was always the fun part; he would go out to the club and find some unsuspecting guy, take care of him and then have all the guys records changed so that they matched him. Humming softly, Michael stripped out of his clothes and climbed into the shower, the hot water spraying on his back. He’d lay low for a while and work on gathering information while he waited for the feds to get bored. When feds got bored they got messy and that’s when he’d make his move.

***

Looking through the peephole, Blaine recognized the two men standing on the porch, they were the two guys’ pictures in the files that were once again on the coffee table. Steeling himself, Blaine opened the door, greeting them with a smile.

“Blaine, man, how you doing,” Derek Roberts said, reaching over and clapping Blaine on the shoulder as though he had known him for years.

“Doing good man, good of you to come visit,” Blaine said, quickly falling into his part.

“C’mon man, aren’t ya going to invite us in?” Allen Bryant asked, giving Blaine the same treatment.

“Of course, mi casa es su casa,” Blaine said, trying his best to keep the sarcastic note out of his voice before stepping back from the front door and motioning the two men inside. As soon as the door closed all pretense was dropped as the men followed Blaine over to the couch.

“Our own special agents,” Mark said, climbing to his feet and holding out his hand. “I’m Mark Branson and this,” he said, motioning to where Levi sat on the couch, “is Levi Turner. You’ve already met mister sunshine.”

“Not formally,” Agent Roberts said, “I’m Derek Roberts and this is Allen Bryant. Look guys, we know that you can’t be totally happy with this, but it is necessary. This is the first sighting of Mr. Robinson in over a year and we have to do whatever is necessary to bring him in.”

“We know, and that is the only reason you are here,” Blaine said before turning and walking out of the room. It still pissed him off whenever he thought about the danger that he’d unintentionally put Levi in.

“Excuse me gentlemen,” Levi said softly, levering himself up off the couch and following behind Blaine. He knew that Blaine was still beating himself up for everything that had happened since they had met. Walking down the hallway, Levi’s heart grew heavy. He didn’t know what to do to make the pain inside Blaine go away, but he knew that he had to do his best. Walking into their bedroom, Levi sighed softly when he found Blaine seated on the bed, his head in his hands. “Babe, are you okay?” He inquired softly.

“I will be,” Blaine whispered, looking towards Levi but refusing to meet his eyes.

“What is going on in that head of yours,” Levi whispered, walking over to the bed and settling himself next to Blaine. Wrapping one arm around Blaine, Levi leaned his head on his lovers shoulder, not saying a word; just offering his silent support.

“Everything, and nothing,” Blaine whispered. “I just have such a hard time seeing how this could happen. I mean, god damn it Levi, we have to have the FBI with us just to keep us safe. I just don’t know how to handle it right now. The guilt alone is weighing on me, but then, so is the overwhelming fear.”

“Babe, all of that is to be expected, but I’ve told you before, you have nothing to feel guilty about. I knew after the first time that I met Christian that he was going to be a problem, but I shrugged it off. Sure, I never expected anything of this caliber, but life doesn’t throw anything at us that we can’t handle.”

“Are you sure about that?” Blaine asked, tilting his head so that it rested against Levi’s.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You’ll see for yourself once this is all over, but please Blaine, quit feeling so damn guilty over something that you couldn’t have prevented.”

“I can only promise to try,” Blaine whispered, wrapping an arm lightly around Levi as he turned towards him.

“Don’t just try Blaine, do it,” Levi said, smiling up at his lover.

“Getting a little bit saucy are we?” Blaine said laughingly before capturing Levi’s lips with his own. Just the feeling of Levi’s lips against his own was enough to erase some of the doubts that clouded his mind. Just as Blaine started to deepen the kiss into much more, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

“Blaine? Levi?”

Pulling away, Levi ran his hand through his hair before answering, “Yeah Mark?”

“Is everything okay?’

“Is it?” Levi whispered to Blaine. At Blaine’s nod, Levi hollered back to Mark, “Yeah Mark, everything is okay, just give us a minute and we’ll be out, ok?”

“Yeah, sure,” Mark answered back. “A minute my ass,” Mark said barely loud enough to be heard through the door, causing both men to burst out in a fit of laughter.

“I don’t think we’re that bad,” Blaine said through his laughter.

Levi couldn’t even answer as he fell backwards on the bed, clutching his belly as he laughed hard enough to almost bring tears to his eyes. Normally he would have had a smart assed remark to throw back at Mark, but at the moment he was just grateful to have something to ease the tension.

“Guess we should get out there, I don’t think I want to know what Mark’s going to say if he has to come looking for us again,” Blaine said softly as he got his laughter under control.

“Yeah, we should, and babe, I think you owe Derek and Allen an apology,” Levi said softly, hating to bring it up.

”I know, I kind of lost my cool out there and it’s not their fault. Don’t worry babe,” Blaine said as he stood up and held a hand out to Levi. As soon as he felt the warmth of Levi’s hand slide into his, Blaine maneuvered his own hand so that their fingers were twined together and pulled softly to bring Levi up off of the bed. Taking a deep breath he led the way out of the bedroom and back down the hall. Blaine stopped for a minute outside the living room to compose himself and then he walked in and smiled sheepishly at the two men seated next to Mark on the couch.

“Mr. Roberts, Mr. Bryant, I believe I owe the two of you an apology,” Blaine managed to get out. He was surprised when Derek Roberts just waved the apology off.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s hard to say what I would do if I were in your situation right now. And what’s with this Mr. Roberts and Mr. Bryant crap, we’re old college buddies Blaine,” Derek said, his mouth widening into a grin. “Call us Derek and Allen, I have the feeling that we’re going to all end up real close.”

“You know, there’s someone missing,” Mark said before climbing to his feet and disappearing from the room. Blaine didn’t have the faintest idea what Mark was up to and wasn’t sure that he wanted to know. Mark hadn’t been gone a minute when he came back in, Ruff following at his heels and heading straight for Blaine.

“You’re such a damn softie,” Blaine muttered before bending down and picking up the pup that was pawing at his leg.

“And he accuses me of being a softy,” Mark said laughing.

“Shut up Mark,” Blaine growled before turning his attention back to the two agents. “This is Ruff, he’s kind of… our guard dog?” Blaine asked Levi.

“Yup, that he is. Him and those two other hooligans that are out in the backyard.”

“Okay guys, I hate to be the spoil sport here, but we should really get down to business,” Allen said, motioning for everyone to take a seat. “There will be plenty of time to get to know each other after we have the basics settled.”

“Unfortunately, he’s right guys,” Derek said, taking a seat next to his partner.

“So what do we do now?” Levi asked as he watched Blaine sit down.

“Well, first off, especially until we get everything settled, you guys are not to go out alone. Mr. Robinson is out there somewhere and until we find him, you guys have to stick close. Levi, you have the agent at the office, and when you’re at work I’ll stick with Blaine. There’s no reason for either of you to miss any more work, I’ll go around with Blaine. Levi, the agent that is at your office is in an apartment just south of here, we made sure to set it up that way so that she could follow you home without it being suspicious. You guys will have to try and work the same hours though so that when one is home, you both are home.”

“I think that can be arranged, but won’t it look suspicious if you’re along with me on the job?” Blaine asked, quickly warming up to the guys.

“No, not necessarily. We’re friends from out of town and you couldn’t get any more time off work, it’s as simple as that. We’ve already been in touch with everyone who needs to know what we’re about, so there are no worries there.”

“What about me?” Mark spoke up.

“You’re a bartender, right?” Allen asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be tagging along with you when you go in for your shifts. Plus, when we’re at the bar, you will have to stay where I can see you. I will be keeping an eye on the whole bar and if Mr. Robinson decides to show up I’ll notice it. One thing that I have to make sure you understand though is that you have to be extremely careful when you’re at work. Don’t go anywhere that there is a backdoor. It would be too easy for Mr. Robinson to slip in and grab you.”

“Okay, that shouldn’t be too hard. Do I need to let my boss in on what’s going on?”

“As Derek said, we’ve already been in touch with those that need to know what’s going on. I have spoken to your boss and everything is square as far as that goes.”

“Not to undermine you guys, but are you sure me going to work is such a hot idea?” Blaine asked. “I mean, I don’t work in a building, there are a lot of places someone could hide.”

“We understand that and there will be precautions taken; however, the bureau believes that the best way to go about this is to act like you normally would. Go through your normal routine as though nothing is wrong, but make sure that you are constantly aware of what is going on around you. My best advice to you guys would be to play it cool, just be careful that you don’t get stupid. You’re all in some pretty real danger, and the only way you’re going to get through this is to keep your wits about you and stick with us.”

“We understand that we are invading your privacy,” Derek started, “But it is our job. No sneaking off, we can’t keep you safe if we don’t know where you are,” he finished.

“Anything else?” Levi questioned.

“No, I think that’s about all we need to cover for right now. I think it would be best if both Allen and I became acquainted with our surroundings, so with that said, Mark, why don’t you and Allen head over to your place. We basically need to know every nook and cranny in the two houses; anywhere that he could get in through we need to know about. Remember guys, first names, act like we’ve known each other for years. Allen,” Derek said as Mark and Allen got up and headed slowly towards the door. “Don’t forget to check in and make sure you check that house for any bugs before you call here.”

“C’mon Derek, I know my job, but yeah, I’ll check in with you shortly.”

“Don’t forget that Renee is supposed to check in with you daily. You’re the link for the three of us Allen, she should be checking in with you in a couple hours.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as she does,” Allen responded before opening the door and walking out, his eyes wary as he watched for any dangers.

“We’ll see you guys later,” Mark said before giving both Blaine and Levi a hug and following Allen out.

“Now,” Derek said, turning towards the other two men, “Why don’t you show me around this place.”

As Levi started giving Derek a tour of the house, Blaine carried Ruff out to the back yard. It had been a while since the pup had been out and he really didn’t enjoy the thought of having to clean up a mess. Blaine chuckled when Ruff ran instantly over to the two larger dogs. He hadn’t been out there but five minutes when he heard the door open behind him. Turning, he smiled a greeting as Levi and Derek walked out to join him in the back yard.

“What kind of dogs are those Levi?” Derek asked, taking a seat in one of the lawn chairs.

“Well, Ace, the bigger of the two definitely has some Lab in him, and Maverick, the smaller one has some Border collie. Other than that I’m not really sure, they’re both kind of mutts.”

“Looks like the pup has some German shepherd in him,” Derek commented.

”Yeah, that’s kind of the same thing we figured. He has a lot of the markings of a Shepherd. Blaine found him wandering out by the lake shortly after we met.”

“And his name would be?”

“Ruff,” Blaine answered.

“I don’t think I’m even going to ask how you came up with that one,” Derek said laughing.

“That pup is his baby,” Levi said, ignoring the daggered looks that he got from Blaine. “He will probably never admit it, but he’s been worried about that pup since the minute he found it. He’s just a big ole softy.”

“Am not,” Blaine muttered and then scowled as Levi and Derek started laughing.

“Don’t scowl babe,” Levi said, walking over to him and kissing him gently. When he pulled back he met the amused gaze of Derek. “What you smiling at?”

“Nothing really, you guys are just so comfortable with each other. How long have you known each other?”

“About a month, a little over a month, something like that,” Levi answered.

“You’re not sure?” Derek asked, laughing.

“If we really thought about it we could tell ya, but dates don’t matter,” Blaine said, surprising him-self.

“Okay, though I have to tell ya, my girlfriend could tell you the exact date and time that I asked her out,” Derek said laughing. “Wish someone would tell her that dates don’t matter.”

“To each his own… or her own as the case may be,” Levi answered, wrapping an arm around Blaine and leaning into him.

“We’re happy, and that’s all that we really care about at the moment,” Blaine said.

“That and the maniac that is bent on destroying the two of you,” Derek said without thinking. At the shocked look on both men’s faces, he quickly apologized, “Sorry guys, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’re not telling us anything that we haven’t already figured out for ourselves,” Blaine said, trying to ignore the fear that shot through him at the mere mention of the man he had known as Christian.

“Whether you already knew or not doesn’t matter, I didn’t mean to be so callous,” Derek said, unwilling to just let what he had said go.

“Apology accepted,” Levi said quickly, knowing that neither one would back down easily.

“So, what are the plans for the day?” Derek asked, looking between the two men.

“Well, there’s not a whole lot of point in going into work today since the day is almost over, so I don’t know. Though we do need to figure out what we’re having for dinner,” Levi answered.

“How about we just order in a pizza,” Blaine replied.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Derek said in agreement.

“Pizza it is,” Levi said as he walked towards the house for the phone. Within minutes he was back outside, the phone in one hand and a page of coupons in the other. “Any ideas what we want?”

“I like anything, as long as it doesn’t have anchovies, peppers, or onions on it,” Derek said.

“How about an all meat pizza?” Blaine volunteered.

”Extra sauce and extra cheese,” Levi added.

“And olives,” Derek pitched in.

“Okay, sounds like we have an idea of what we want now. Any breadsticks or wings?”

“Nah, the pizza is good for me, so unless you guys want something else.”

“Let’s just do the pizza tonight babe,” Blaine answered, not all that hungry but knowing that he needed to get something in his stomach.

“Okay then, one pizza coming up,” Levi said, dialing the number as he walked back into the house, coupons in hands. It didn’t take long before he walked back outside to find Blaine and Derek deep in conversation. “What you guys talking about?” Levi asked as he walked up behind Blaine and placed one hand on his shoulder before taking his own seat.

“Nothing much, just filling Derek in a bit more on everything that has happened.”

“Seems like there’s a lot more that has happened than what I had been told,” Derek answered, leaning back in his chair with his hands crossed lightly over his chest.

“Yeah well, if I had known the truth about him before I got together with him,” Blaine said, not finishing his sentence.

“There’s no way you could have known,” Derek said. “Robinson has been evading us for a while, he’s a master at hiding his true self, up until he’s had enough it is. I’m not trying to be a downer here, but Blaine, you were lucky that you were even able to get out.”

“That’s something that I don’t get, why didn’t he just kill me? If he is who you say he is, why go to the lengths of kicking me out?”

“We’re not sure on that, it doesn’t fit with his profile. We’re looking into it, but we may never have the answer to that, but we have an edge on him. We know that he’s here as well as the name he is going under, but he doesn’t know about us.”

“How can we be so sure that he doesn’t know that the FBI is involved?”

“We’re taking a lot of precautions to keep our involvement under wraps. If he does start to check into our backgrounds he’ll find that we did go to school together and that we were in a lot of the same clubs.”

“You mean there are falsified records that say that we went to school together and were in a lot of the same clubs,” Blaine said, chuckling softly.

“Yeah well, falsified or not, they’re there and that’s what matters. We’re just going to have to sit back and wait now. There’s not a whole lot more that we can do until he makes some kind of move. We just have to make sure that we know our surroundings and keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place.”

“You think he’ll make a move anytime soon?” Levi asked.

“We don’t know. For your guys’ sake, I hope it’s sooner rather than later, but either way, you guys will have a shadow. Something that we didn’t mention was that Agent Jeffries, or Renee as you should get used to calling her, will also be following you to work,” Derek said, directing his comment to Levi. “It would look too weird for me and Blaine to follow you to work and then turn around and go in the opposite direction for him to get to work. So the plan is, before you leave in the morning, we’ll call Renee and she’ll leave her place. When she gets close, she’ll call us back and then Levi will leave and she’ll fall in behind him.”

“Won’t that look odd?” Levi asked.

“No, it won’t, because she works for you, she just lives a bit further, so it would be natural for you guys to show up at the clinic around the same time. I’ll be riding with Blaine to work. Everyone who needs to know what is going on has already been informed and knows that they are not to refer to us as agents.”

“What about Mark?”

“Allen will go over all of this with him, so we don’t need to worry about that. We will be having lots of dinners together though so that everyone can be filled in on what is going on,” Derek said just as the phone rang.

“I got it,” Blaine said, getting up from the table and going inside. He was back out in seconds with the phone in his hand. Without a word he handed the phone to Derek before taking his seat again.

“Hello?” Derek said before getting up from the table. “Allen, what’s the report? You guys made it back ok? Good, has Renee checked in with you yet? And she knows what the drill is for tomorrow morning? Good, alright Allen, I’ll talk with you guys tomorrow. Let me know if anything happens. Okay, Bye.”

“Everything okay?” Blaine asked as Derek hung up the phone.

“Yep, they’re at the house now, nothing happened.”

“Good, though I hate the fact that all of this is necessary.”

“Babe, we’ve already been through all of this,” Levi said, taking one of Blaine’s hands in his own.

“I know we have, I’m just tense,” Blaine answered. “One of us should go inside, we’re never going to hear the doorbell out here,” he said as he climbed out of his chair and headed inside, Ruff following at his heels.

“Sorry Derek, this is all hitting him pretty hard.”

“It’s understandable, but with us here, Robinson won’t be able to try anything, and if he does, we’ll grab him.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It’s actually quite complicated, but this is my job, as well as Allen’s and Renee’s. We’re ready for him, as ready as we could ever be.”

“Glad to hear it, why don’t we head inside though, don’t want Blaine to have too much time to mope.”

“Yeah, moping in large quantities can be a bad thing,” Derek said as he turned and headed back into the house, Levi following quickly behind. They found Blaine sitting on the couch, Ruff curled up in his lap.

“You okay babe?” Levi asked, taking a seat next to him as Derek made himself scarce by disappearing into the kitchen. Ruff jumped off Blaine’s lap and headed into the kitchen himself.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Blaine said, turning and pulling Levi back against his chest and wrapping his arms around him. “You really have to quit asking that though,” Blaine said with a chuckle. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I’m can’t help but worry about you Blaine. A lot of stuff has happened lately and it’s a lot for anyone to handle.”

“I know, but I have you to help me,” Blaine said, squeezing Levi lightly.

“Everything okay in here?” Derek asked as he stepped back into the room.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Blaine answered, pulling his legs up a bit so that Derek could sit on the far end of the couch.

“How long until the pizza gets here?” Derek asked as he sat down.

“They said it would be about forty-five minutes, so I’d say about another fifteen minutes.”

“Just enough time to go fix something to drink, anyone else want anything?”

“What do ya have?” Derek asked.

“I think there’s some ice tea in the fridge babe, or there’s soda,” Levi said, sitting forward so that Blaine could get up from the couch.

“Iced tea sounds good to me,” Derek said as he leaned back on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.

“Make that two,” Levi agreed.

“Three ice teas coming up,” Blaine said as he climbed to his feet and went in search of drinks. By the time he came back carrying the three glasses the pizza had arrived and was sitting on the coffee table. Setting the ice tea down, Blaine went back into the kitchen and came back carrying paper plates and some paper towels.

“Good thinking,” Derek said laughingly as he grabbed a plate and snagged a piece of pizza from the open box. He moved his iced tea closer to him before relaxing into the couch and taking a bite of the delicious meal.

It didn’t take long for the pizza to start disappearing and soon all three men sat back in contentment. They sat around for a while making small talk before Blaine got up and gathered up the paper plates and the pizza box to take it into the kitchen. Walking back into the living room, Blaine leaned over and kissed Levi lightly before announcing that he was heading to bed.

“Sleep would probably be a good idea right about now,” Levi said, climbing to his feet with Blaine’s help. “We’re all going to have a long day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we are, especially since we need to work on getting into the working morning routine with the other agents,” Derek replied.

“Sounds like a plan,” Levi said. “We’ll see ya in the morning Derek.”

“G’nite guys,” Derek answered back before getting up and heading down the hall and into the spare room.

***

“He seems like a pretty nice guy,” Blaine said as he lay in bed with Levi curled up next to him.

“Yeah, he does.”

“It still feels a little weird having someone else in the house with us, ya know? We don’t really know him so it’s just.. I don’t know.”

“I know what ya mean babe, but I’m sure we’ll get used to it. It will be a little odd for a bit, but we all seem to get along okay, so I don’t think it’s going to be too big of a problem.”

“I still hate that things have to be this way,” Blaine said, sighing softly.

“I know you do,” Levi said as he turned onto his stomach and rested his hands on Blaine’s chest. Lowering his head to rest on his hands he smiled up at Blaine. “It will all work out Blaine, and maybe we’ll make some more friends out of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re all bound to get pretty close with Derek living in the house with us. We may all end up becoming fairly good friends, and we can never have too many friends.”

“Yeah, at least he’s not a bigot.”

“No, he’s not, obviously it doesn’t bother him to see us together or he wouldn’t have taken this duty.”

“I don’t think they really get to pick which ‘duties’ they take,” Blaine said softly.

“Yeah, but I don’t think the bureau would put someone who was a bigot on this case, I could be wrong, but from what I understand, they really need to catch Michael. I don’t think they would chance messing the case up by putting someone on it who couldn’t handle being in a house with a gay couple.”

“I know you’re right, but it’s still hard to handle.”

“I know it is, but we’ll make it through. We’ve talked about this over and over again and it’s still the same, we’re in this together and nobody is going to pull us apart.”

“Love you babe,” Blaine whispered, lifting his upper body up enough to place a gentle kiss to Levi’s lips.

”Love you too babe,” Levi said when they pulled apart. “I have the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day though, so why don’t we get some sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right, g’nite babe.”

“Goodnight Blaine,” Levi said as he rolled onto his side and curled up against Blaine.

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