Adam scooped up the paperwork and the case codes and left the room. Jake said nothing else to him except a simple "good luck" but Adam was sure he would need a lot more than good luck to deal with Lee Myers.
Apparently his nemesis was waiting the next floor up along with the FBI liaison that was shadowing Jake. In fact, Jake had offered to come up with Adam but he just waved the offer away. If he couldn't handle two FBI agents then he wasn't much of a Sanctuary operative. He pushed through the door to the stairs and climbed the one flight a lot slower than he would normally. At the top of that flight he stopped. The view from this height was magnificent; the city was bathed in post-rain sunlight which sparked off of the glass of tall buildings nearby and created a multitude of prisms. Adam stared blankly out through the window. Somewhere on this floor was the one person who had managed to get under his skin; who had managed to wring from him emotions Adam hadn't even know he had. The same man who listened to lies and believed them and didn't even give Adam the benefit of the doubt, or any trust at all. Hate rose inside Adam. Shit. He thought he had gotten past feeling disappointed by Lee.
Nik caught him as he moved out onto the analyst's floor. Adam's heart twisted at the look on his friend's face.
They had worked together some when both were in the FBI and it had been Adam who hadn't let Nik give up when he was injured. Likewise, as soon as news hit the streets that Adam had been accused of evidence theft, Nik had been there for him. Nik had suggested his name to Jake as a Sanctuary operative and in Adam's mind that meant a lot. Nik hadn't believed any of the accusations that had been thrown at Adam. Still, when enough shit is thrown at you then some of it is likely to stick whoever your friends were. He had lost a lot of good people in his life when his time as an FBI agent came to an end.
"Adam? I'm sorry." Nik sounded worried. It wasn't a good look for the normally uber confident friend he knew.
"It's okay, I said I would do it."
"I know you did," Nik said immediately. "Jeez, I mean, I don't actually know what you decided but I guess I knew you would." Nik ran a hand over his short blond hair and frowned. "I don't know what the fuck the Feds are playing at."
"You and me both," Adam replied. All he knew was that he felt as if he was being blackmailed and it was hard to keep his temper in check.
"Thank you," Nik held up a hand when Adam opened his mouth to interrupt, "I mean it. I know this is nothing less than blackmail and for keeping Morgan with us. Thank you."
They shook hands and Nik pulled him close for a moment. It was enough for Adam to draw on Nik's energy and to keep going when all he wanted to do was hit something.
He didn't wait to compose himself. He could be professional and just get on with the damn job. Pushing open the door to the small conference room he startled both people inside. It was petty but hell, petty worked for him today.
Ignoring the tall dark-haired guy at the window as not important his gaze zeroed in on the man now standing by the table in the middle. Lee's face held an expression of intense focus and he took a step toward Adam. For a brief second Adam felt the incomparable urge to go to the man he had called friend and lover and kiss him. Of course that lasted for a very split second. It was soon pushed aside by anger. Adam swallowed the desire to get Lee to go that sat on the tip of his tongue. He was a professional and he had a job to do.
"Myers," Adam said formally.
The liaison shadow came closer from the window to stand next to Lee. He extended his hand.
"Sean Hanson," the shadow said carefully, “FBI liaison to Sanctuary."
Adam shook his hand but he didn't take his eyes off of Lee. There were no wasted words. This Sean Hanson guy didn't introduce Lee to Adam and he certainly didn't enquire if they knew each other. Adam's file was clear for any agent to see, as well as his assignment history with Lee. No one knew about their other off-the-records relationship. Not unless Lee had decided that fell under a need to know banner and this liaison was on the list of those who needed to know.
The silence was nearing awkward but Adam was damned if he was going to start the ball rolling. He was still struggling with his temper and it didn't matter how calm he appeared on the outside, he was far from it on the inside.
"It's good to see you, Adam," Lee finally offered in his carefully modulated tones. His preppy background showed in every inch of him from his tailored dark gray suit to the shine on his three hundred dollar shoes, and from the crisp white shirt to the burgundy tie knotted just so. The way he looked was what had attracted Adam to him in the first place. Call him shallow but Lee was stereotypical upper class and Adam always enjoyed the role of being the bit of rough on the side.
Five inches shorter than him, and thirty pounds lighter, Lee was the complete opposite to his own six-three wide frame. Lee was blond, Adam brunet, Lee's eyes sparked silver-blue, his own were brown. Nothing could mark them as different as much as their physical appearances. That didn't even begin to scratch the surface of what lay beneath the window dressing. Adam was volatile, impulsive, Lee thought and considered and weighed up pros and cons. This was infuriating, tedious, and at the same time so damn alluring.
Long eyelashes framed those eerily clear silver-blue eyes and his hair was shorter than Adam remembered. Shorter than when they had met in the vault during the Beckett retrieval. Fuck. Two minutes and he was just about to open his mouth and comment on an ex-lovers hair. For fuck's sake!
"How is your operative? The one who was shot?" Lee placed a hand on his own chest as he asked.
"He's fine." There. Short answer to a stupidly lame question.
"And you made it away with Beckett." Lee frowned briefly as he said this. It was quick but Adam caught it before it disappeared. Evidently it still rankled with Lee that Sanctuary had won that particular face-off over who took the witness.
"Yes."
Lee narrowed his gaze at the short answer. "I'll need more than that."
"Beckett is in our care. The FBI has had their time to debrief."
Lee crossed his arms over his chest. "You do realize this is a cross-agency operation now. The FBI and Sanctuary need to work together on this."
"If you say so," Adam replied offhand.
"I'll leave you two to hash things out," Sean interrupted. "If you would excuse me." Sean inclined his head and left the room with no other words. Lee and Adam faced off like two combatants in an arena.
As soon as the door shut Lee was on him with what he really wanted to say. He took a step closer until they were nearly toe to toe. "I don't give a shit about being polite. You're reporting to me in this case, Brooke."
"Like hell I am," Adam snapped vehemently.
Lee, damn him, simply raised an eyebrow in a mocking gesture. "This is a Federal case against organized crime. You may have Beckett but this isn't kids playing, this is FBI jurisdiction—"
"Always the big picture with you." Adam poked a finger into Lee's chest. "Never the cogs—"
"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Lee grabbed his finger and pushed it away. His gaze narrowed.
"Beckett would have been what to you?" Adam clenched his fists at his side. "Just a means to an end? Someone you could put in crosshairs to get to the senator and Alastair?"
"Where the hell is that coming from—"
"I'm working with you because I have to Lee. With you. Not for you. Not for the FBI. This may well be interagency, but remember Sanctuary isn't part of your freaking alphabet soup."
"You need us. Sanctuary doesn't know shit about how to handle a case like this," Lee retorted. He took another step closer. They were nearly nose to nose and emotions were high.
"Like the Feds have any idea what a case looks like," Adam said heatedly. "They're as corrupt as the people they claim to investigate."
"Just because they threw you out—"
"I freaking resigned."
"Same difference." Lee dismissed Adam's words with anger in his tone. Then he appeared to consciously pull himself together. "Look, Adam." Lee touched a hand to Adam's arm. "Can we not start all this shit again? This is stupid."
"Don't touch me." Adam took a step back and Lee pulled his hand away like he had been burned.
"Look, I'm willing to let the past lie. I don't know why you did it. If it was for money, or you were forced too—"
"What?" Adam couldn't believe Lee was bringing this up.
"I'm sure you thought you were doing the right thing." Lee's voice was firm but it verged on earnest and forgiving. "I'm willing to forget and forgive for the sake of the case."
"You're going to do what?" Adam heard the warning in his own voice and a flicker of apprehension passed over Lee's face. He drew himself to his full height.
"Adam. We need to move past this if we want to have any chance of dealing with the case."
Despite his chest being tight and red flooding his mind Adam started calmly enough. "Move past this? How the hell do we move past this? My partner, nearly from day one as a Fed, the man who had my back, the one who I respected and trusted, jeez, the man I thought I was in love with, saw some shit piece of evidence. All of a sudden I am a criminal? You never even asked for my side."
"There aren't sides to be seen," Lee said patiently. "You did what you did. The end." Lee's silver-blue eyes held no real expression. Suddenly he was stony faced and completely in control. The ice man to Adam's heat.
"I. Didn't. Do. What they said—"
"I saw the photos."
"You saw photos? Fuck, Lee. Did you never think of believing me over them?" Voices were raised and heated. Any minute now someone was going to come back in the room and ask them what the fuck was going on.
"No." Plainly Lee didn't have to think about that. "I had those photos tested. I wanted to believe you so bad. Believe that you wouldn't betray the Bureau—"
"The Bureau? Don't you mean you—"
Lee ignored him and ploughed on. "You know what I found, Adam? Huh?"
Adam knew all too well what the results would be. Photos of him receiving a package from a lawyer in an on-going trial. And every single one would be legitimate.
Lee continued, "They hadn't been tampered with. Not a single one was photoshopped. I know what I saw."
"You didn't look hard enough—" Adam shouted. He hadn't expected anyone to look deeper than the surface. No one except Lee.
Lee didn't let him talk. "I'm willing to forget them. And fuck," Lee ran a hand over his hair in a gesture of frustration. "I thought I loved you too and you destroyed that—"
Adam couldn't stop himself. His regrets and his temper were high and clashing wildly in his head. All he could focus on was the man who stood in front of him who didn't believe in Adam. Who hadn't supported him or stopped to consider anything outside of those black and white photos. Lee talked about Adam destroying him? Hell, Adam had been just as shattered by Lee instantly believing his lover capable of deceit.
He shoved Lee. Every single cell in his body wanted to pummel him into the ground and work off some of the anger. Lee pushed back with a barely contained snarl. That was it. The final nail. With hard shoves and barely thought out curses, he forced Lee back and back until the man's thighs reached the table. Lee had him pegged as a man with nothing, but Adam could prove he still had something in the only way he could ever best his lover. Temper was turning into lust. He never could get enough of Lee and missed the lithe body beneath his. In seconds Adam had Lee twisted facedown on the wood with one hand grabbing both of his and holding him, and the other pulling at his belt.
Lee struggled briefly with colorful curses leaving his mouth and then, just as suddenly he wasn't fighting. If anything he was lifting his ass so Adam could pull off his pants and finally Adam had his hand around Lee's dick, his own hard as a rock and pushed insistently into the crease of Lee's ass. Adam was rutting and pulling and twisting Lee's dick as he forced the smaller guy to ride the table. Lee turned his head and Adam leaned down just that bit farther to kiss and bite and demand more by touch alone.
It was just as he remembered. The scent of Lee. The taste of him needy and wanting. The noises his lover made when he was being fucked. All that stopped Adam from having skin-to-skin contact were the layers of material; without them he could be inside. The thought of being buried deep in Lee was nearly enough to push him over the edge.
"Please," Lee moaned from beneath him. The word snapped through the desire to take and Adam instantly let go. He stumbled backward blindly until his back hit the wall and he slumped over with his hands on his knees and his breathing harsh and rapid. What the fuck had just happened? What the hell was he playing at? He hated the man, he didn't want to fuck him.
Lee lay across the table for a few seconds, probably gathering his thoughts and then he stood upright. All the while avoiding Adam's gaze he tucked his shirt in and pulled his pants closer before buttoning and tightening his belt. Straightening his tie and running a hand through his hair he quickly became Lee FBI, not the Lee who was debauched, calling for more, and who nearly got fucked over a table in the conference room. With an unlocked door. Adam groaned and dropped his head in defeat. An unlocked door for God's sake.
"Adam?" Lee sounded lost but when Adam finally looked at the man who was casually leaning back against the table he could swear there was pity on his face. Or something akin to it. Pity? Or maybe empathy? Adam couldn't tell and he needed neither. Very deliberately Lee reached down and arranged his crotch. The outline of his dick was still visible but Adam had lost his erection as soon as the terrible mistake they were making hit him upside the head. "It's still there for us," Lee added almost sadly.
"I never said we didn't fuck well. Looking back it was about the only thing we did have," Adam finally said. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his keys. "We're leaving and I'm driving."
Lee indicated piles of files. "Hang on. We haven't looked at these, or created a strategy. We don't even know where we're going—"
Adam wasn't willing to stay in this room a moment longer. And one guaranteed way to screw with Lee's head was to throw chaos into any suggested careful planning. "Bring the files. We'll decide in the car."