72 Hours, Day 3

"You hit him?…YOU HIT HIM?" Justin's blue eyes widened.

"You're damned right I hit him." Tony said.

"But Tony I told you the bruises were an accident. I was tying to get away, and Brian grabbed my arm…"

"He shouldn't have grabbed your arm! You're fucking amazing, Justin. It doesn't matter what Brian does to you, you always forgive him. You're always on his side." Tony poured himself a double bourbon, and downed it with one gulp.

"That's not true." Justin attempted to defend himself.

"I'll be damned if it isn't. That bastard took you home when you were just a kid. He fucked you all night long, then threw you out of his bed the next morning, and you forgave him…"

"Brian did not kick me out of his bed…." Justin disagreed.

"You let him drag you to fuck parties, bathhouses, and backrooms all around town, and you forgave him." Tony continued.

"No one dragged me…" Justin again tried to defend himself.

"And let's not forget that Brian was laid out drunk on his sofa while Kevin RAPED you! You even forgave him of that, and now this. Brian had no right to manhandle you. He should have let you go when you wanted to go! They have no right to hold you down when you're trying to get away. Son-of-a-bitch, Brian knew exactly what he was doing. They always know what they're doing."

For the past few moments Tony hadn't noticed that Justin was no longer attempting to break into the one sided conversation. The intuitive young man's keen ears, had picked up on something during Tony's tirade. Justin watched as Tony poured himself another double, then rounded the bar, over to the sliding glass doors of his penthouse balcony. Dear God, this didn't have anything to do with Brian at all.

Justin walked over to where Tony was standing, and gently took his arm lover's arm. "Is that what your foster parents did to you, Tony?" he asked cautiously. "Did you try to get away, and they wouldn't let you go? Did they hold you down, and hurt you?"

Tony downed his second drink, and looked out of the sliding glass doors at the lunchtime crowd below. "I have a few things I need to do here, princess. Why don't you go, and look for Brian," he said.

Justin watched helplessly as a well of tears formed in Tony's brown eyes, then began to trail down his face. The desperate young man clung to his lover's side. "It wasn't your fault, Tony. You were just a kid." Justin attempted to comfort him.

Tony continued to watch the people moving about below. "Please leave now, princess," he uttered. "Please."

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Justin reluctantly left Tony's side, uncertain that his stoic lion would be able to find within himself whatever it was that he needed to once again get past a long buried demon that had resurfaced. This was horrible. If ever there was a time that the royal trio needed to band together it was now. Justin concluded that it was his fault that Tony and Brian were at odds against each other at a time when Tony needed Brian most. With that in mind the young man left The Plaza , and headed for Kinnetics.

"We're not second class citizens. Vote for your right to marry the person of your choice. November second, vote no to Proposition 14!" A small group of activist were on their soapboxes, and handing out pamphlets to the evening commuters. Justin walked past them, and through the front doors of Kinnetics to find Cynthia closing up shop for the day. Brian wasn't there. He had left the office soon after his 2 pm appointment, leaving no word of where he could be reached.

Justin's next stop was Woody's, a common gathering place where Brian often stopped to unwind after an especially busy day. The early evening happy-hour patrons turned to check out the royal trio's hot little blonde flying solo through the front door. Justin ignored their ogling eyes, and went straight to the bartender. No, Brian hadn't been there either, which regretfully left only one other place for Justin to search. The baths.

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Brian was still stunned when Tony left his office, so much so that he actually found himself questioning if the incident had really happened. Was it just his imagination, or had he just been "bitch-slapped" by Anthony Massey? The taste of blood inside Brian's mouth told him that the latter was true, which brought to mind another question. How the hell did Tony get away with it? There were only two men in the world who had gotten away with that, Brian's father, Jack Kinney, and Brian's gym teacher, Kevin McLauren. Both of them had the advantage of slapping a much younger, vulnerable Brian. So what had caused Brian's sudden paralysis that morning? Why didn't he rise up, and kick Tony's ass?

Perhaps it was the rage in Tony's eyes that told Brian to stay down. Indeed there are times when discretion is the better part of valor. A furious Anthony Massey defending his princess against someone that he believes to have hurt him is one of those times. Brian recalled the vicious, split second blow that Tony delivered across his face. Yes, it was all coming back to him now. Tony had mentioned something about manhandling Justin. What the hell was that deranged old queen talking about? Brian didn't recall ever manhandling Justin. To hell with them both. Lying bastards. Brian didn't need either of them anyway. He was much happier before he became the third wheel in Justin's little love triangle. At least that's what Brian told himself.

Justin secured the towel around his waist, and made his way through the steamy corridors heavy with the stench of mildew, bleach, urine, and ass. A barrage of groping hands welcomed him, all hoping to land a few minutes of the twink's time. Justin politely brushed the strange hands away, just like Brian had taught him. Proper bathhouse etiquette forbade any overt displays of rejections, no matter how repulsive the hopeful trick was.

"Well if it isn't the princess himself. What can I do for you, your majesty? What brings you to these lower depths?"

Justin squinted through the mist, and followed Brian's voice. He found him leaning against a tiled wall in the center of the body filled room. Justin looked down at the man on his knees, servicing Brian's cock. "I came to bring you home, Brian," he said.

"Well, as you can see, I'm a little busy now." Brian chuckled. "Would you like to join me? Ooooh, not so fast." Brian guided the trick's head.

"Tony needs you." Justin said.

"Bullshit. Tony doesn't need me. Tony already has who he needs. You. He never wanted me in the first place. It's always been about you. I'm just a backroom whore remember, or in this case, a bathhouse whore. Yeah, that's it, faster." Brian guided the trick's head again.

"Fucking bathsheba." Justin hissed.

The offended trick released his prize, and turned to find out where the insult came from. "He's not talking about you. He's talking about me." Brian assured him, and guided his cock back inside the stranger's mouth.

You're damn right I'm talking about you." Justin began. "You know you don't hold a monopoly on bad childhoods, Brian. You may have had Kevin, and Jack Kinney, but how many Kevins , and Jack Kinneys did Tony have? You're not the only one who needs healing, Brian. I'm going back to The Plaza to see about Tony. When you're done here I expect to see you there."

Brian watched as Justin turned, and disappeared into the sea of naked men. "Damnit! Get the fuck off me!" He pushed the trick's head away.

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It was almost seven o'clock when Tony answered the call that would change his life forever. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your dinner, boss, but you told me to call you as soon as anything was confirmed. Congratulations, Thaddeus Daniels is your father." Tony's lawyer, Kenneth Davenport delivered the news. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here." Tony said.

"Are you alright?" Kenneth asked.

"I'm fine." Tony lied. "You know what to do next, right?"

"I'm already on it." Kenneth assured him.

"Thanks Ken." Tony said.

Tony hung up the phone, and stepped out onto the balcony of penthouse four. He watched as the last of the ambitious, junior executives finally left their offices for the day. With most of the nine-to-fivers at home now, downtown Pittsburgh was starting to give way to couples venturing out for a midweek treat at The Plaza's Gazebo Restaurant. Tonight was jazz night, Anthony Massey's favorite genre of music, and just what Tony needed to drown out what had turned out to be one of his most difficult days.

"Good evening, Mr. Massey. Will you be dining alone?" The maitre d' greeted him.

"No. I don't need a table. I'm just going to have a seat at the bar. Bring me a double bourbon, and keep them coming." Tony said.

"I don't know why, but I'm feeling so sad.

I long to try something I've never had.

Never had no kissin,

Oh what I've been missin.

Lover man oh where can you be……." The sultry songstress crooned.

Tony sipped his bourbon, and closed his eyes, allowing the lyrics to take him back to that steamy night in Atlanta, and his first night with Brian……………………………

"What do you like, Precious?" Tony asked with his voice barely above a whisper.

"First I want you to worship my cock, then I want you on all fours so I can fuck your brains out." Brian laid out his agenda.

Tony smiled to himself. My, my, what a cocky little red rooster this one was. It was easy to see where Justin got his assertiveness from. The older man rose from his seat, and walked over to where Brian stood, still naked in the middle of the room. "Come to daddy." Tony wrapped his left arm around Brian's waist, and pulled him in for a kiss………………………………...........

Tony opened his eyes, and signaled the bartender for another drink. What the hell was he thinking? How could he have hit Brian, his most fragile baby? Tony could still remember the tears streaming down Brian's face just before the his infamous showdown with Kevin………….…………

Tony cautiously walked over to Brian, and knelt down close to him. Justin's former lover gently stroked his fingers through the broken man's hair, then down along the side of Brian's face. "Precious, is that what that son-of-a-bitch did to you?" Tony asked the rhetorical question. "It wasn't your fault Brian, you were only fourteen; you were just a baby." Tony said………………

Tony chuckled to himself. How ironic it was that Justin had said almost those exact words to him earlier that day. Strength, and wisdom out of the mouths of babes. Yes, his princess had come a long way from the weeping little boy in his bed………

Tony carefully opened the door to Justin's room, and peeked inside.

"I'm not asleep." Justin said from underneath the covers.

Tony walked over, and took a seat on the edge of the bed nearest the teen. He then reached over, and gently stroked his fingers through the golden hair that peeked out from under the ivory sheets. "Good morning, princess," he said.

Justin immediately reached for him, and Tony cradled him in his arms. "I'm sorry." Justin began to cry. "I didn't want to bother you, but I didn't know where else to go. I couldn't let anyone see me like this."

Tony kissed the blonde head, and hugged his princess tighter. "You came to the right place." he said………………………………................

What a brave young man, correction what brave young MEN Tony had. If Brian, and Justin could find the strength to face their demons, what kind of "daddy" would Tony be if he ran away from his?

"Hit me one more time." Tony signaled for another double.

This time the bartender poured a glass of cola over ice, and placed it down on the napkin in front of his boss. "This is from the two gentlemen at the end of the bar, Mr. Massey," he said.

Tony turned to find Brian, and Justin watching him from afar. The two men then walked over to where he was seated. Justin immediately took his place by Tony's side, while Brian stood behind him, and wrapped his arms around his "daddy".

"Hi." Justin smiled.

"Hi, princess." Tony said.

"How're you doing, old man?" Brian leaned over, and whispered near Tony's ear.

"I'm fine now." Tony smiled.

NEXT WEEK: Thaddeus C. Daniels

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