Betrayal
Chapter Six
Ezra Standish was sitting on the couch in the condo that he was using for his
undercover persona, Brian Sanders. It had been made to look like a real lived-in
house, with furniture, pictures, the works. He leaned his head back against the
couch, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. He missed his lover, Chris,
so much. As well as his other team members. When he and Chris had acknowledged
their mutual attraction to one another, they hadn't been sure that it could work
out. Not only did they work together, but Chris was his boss.
And, the ATF frowned on inter-office romances. As far as homosexual romances
went, there was a silent understanding within all ATF agencies, don't ask, don't
tell. He smiled as he thought about when he and Chris had first gotten together.
They had run into each other at a bar, an hour away from Denver, that Ezra would
frequent every couple of months when he had the time. It was a bar that gays,
bisexuals, and straight people went to, to dance and have fun.
Ezra still couldn't believe that Chris had been there. He just hadn't seemed
like the type. Both of their faces showed shock when they had bumped into each
other at the bar. They had walked outside, to get away from the noise, so they
could talk. Chris confessed that it had been his first time at the bar and he
was hoping that it would be his last, as a single guy.
They confessed that they were attracted to each other and both of them wanted to
see where the relationship could go. Then, they had gone back into the bar and
had danced for a couple of hours, before heading back to Chris' house. They had
talked, in between making out, for a couple of hours. They had talked about
anything and everything. After that, they were a monogamous couple, very much in
love.
A month later, they had told the other guys about their relationship. A few
months after that, Ezra had moved into Chris' house at the ranch. Vin, JD, and
Buck had been immediately supportive, although Ezra had detected sadness in
Vin's eyes. He was never able to find out why. Josiah had been supportive, but
made sure that Chris was warned that he'd better not hurt Ezra. And, Nathan had
been anything but supportive.
Nathan tolerated his and Chris's relationship, but he made it pretty clear that
he thought Ezra was just going to end up using Chris, then breaking his heart.
Ezra sighed as he thought about his tedious friendship with Nathan. 'It is not
really even a friendship,' Ezra thought. He liked Nathan, even respected his
medical knowledge and his concern for everyone. But, Nathan was also a hypocrite
in Ezra's opinion.
He didn't like people being prejudiced toward him because of his color, but he
would discriminate against Ezra because of his ways. Because Ezra liked to bet
and play poker. Because he was an undercover agent, he was able to mask anything
he might be feeling. And, he had to mask his feelings a lot when Nathan would
make some comment about him. It hurt more than he cared to show. Ezra shrugged
and thought, 'But, at least I have Chris and the other guys are like brothers.'
He would just be glad when the case was over, so he could go home and catch up
on lost time with Chris. He smirked as he thought about all the fun they were
going to have. He was dragged out of his thoughts by the doorbell ringing.
Looking at his watch, he saw that it was ten at night. 'Wonder who that is?' he
thought. As he walked to the front door he had a bad feeling, that only
intensified the closer to the door he got.