"That wasn't really so bad, now, was it?" Dorian asked. He'd insisted that they have the television delivered, and they'd had a bit of a quick squabble about it, but he'd made Klaus happy by letting him tote the box with the vcr in it -- a terribly heavy thing that the other man SHOULDN'T be lifting, but telling Iron Klaus 'should' or 'shouldn't' was about as useful as expecting the Great Wall of China to up and move itself to the middle of Russia.

Not going to happen.

Klaus also had insisted on paying for it -- under pretense of saving Dorian the trouble of explaining it to James. "Let me hook this up, and then we will be all set..."

Tourmaline eyes rolled slightly as if to imply, 'why me?', and then Eroica grinned. "I'll move the old television back to its dusty hole, then, darling," he declared cheerfully, "and see what's in the kitchen!"

"I sent the servants away again, so we'll have to fend for ourselves in that arena." Not that he minded -- he was accustomed to it, from living in his spartan little apartment in Bonn. Having people waiting on him all the time was a bit nerve-wracking...

"Marvelous." Oh, that was nearly purred, the Briton couldn't help himself! The mere thought of being alone with his major was... DELICIOUSLY tempting! Ah, but he would try so hard to be good! "Sandwiches, then, and we'll make popcorn for the movie when we're done."

"I think your new goal in life is to try to feed me to death," Klaus murmured, putting the television on the library table, VCR beside it, and trying his damnedest to not look like it was hurting him to do.

"Eating regular meals won't kill you, Klaus!" Dorian called back as he headed down the hall. "Even the occasional piece of cake won't! Really!"

"Yes, it will!" he snapped back, just... well, to be testy, he supposed, kneeling down on the floor to connect the wires together.

"Whatever you say, darling!" came the faint yell followed by the sound of a door opening.

It was amusing to Klaus to finally realize that this was a kinder version of their usual banter. They sounded like an old married couple now, bickering and gently sniping back and forth. With that in mind, everything before seemed like a heated lover's spat.

He wondered how on earth he hadn't noticed that before!

It had been passionate, wild, and infuriating, and -- he had to admit to himself as he attempted to connect the appropriate wires -- it had also been utterly and deliciously decadent in the strangest sort of way... foreplay.

He wondered how many *other* people *had* noticed!!

Mischa, at least, Z and A, who were always nervous when Dorian and Klaus were on a mission together, or even in the same country. All of those three thought that Klaus was still resisting the thief, though, so for Dorian's safety, the game would have to continue while on missions.

That thought caused him to pause fully in what he was doing, an expression flitting over his face that resembled rather remarkably that of a rabbit captured by headlights, or would have been called such if anyone had seen it. *The game would have to continue while on missions*. So, did that mean that he...

"Supper is served," Dorian announced cheerfully, coming back into the room with a tray containing sandwiches made of mustard, mayonnaise and thick slices of roast beef as well as the ever-present teapot. "Are you all right?" he asked, noticing that Klaus was a bit pale. "Perhaps you should sit down? I can hook it up, darling."

"A game..." Klaus muttered to himself, frowning and pale for a moment as he pushed the connectors in place and then picked up the two plugs to shove them into an extension cord. "I'm fine."

"Wonderful. Then sit down, and we'll eat, or we can turn on the movie and let it run through the previews first. Which do you want to watch to begin? I'm so glad we managed to get them in English. My German's miserable, darling."

"I noticed," Klaus agreed in a half-arrogant tone, all stunned half-smirk for the moment as he sat down beside Dorian. Fuck, a game...? Why didn't his own subconscious tell him these things?! "We'll turn on a movie. The one with more guns first."

At that, Dorian paused, laughed. "I'm not sure which one has more guns. Would you rather have the one with the maniacal cybernetic warrior chasing down the woman to kill her, or the one with all of the politics and big explosions? They're both American, heaven help us, but they do make the LOVELIEST explosive films..."

"The warrior," he decided, liking the sound of that a little better. Both sounded good, but politics were something to be seen only when tired...

Wordlessly, Dorian moved to pick up the two cases and to slip in the appropriate movie, bringing back the remote control, careful to slip the wire down so that it wouldn't interrupt what they were watching. He sat next to Klaus and poured tea for both of them. "Here," he said, since the previews were only just playing. "And eat."

"You're insistent today," the other man noted as he picked up the sandwich made for him, and shifted a tiny bit closer to Dorian, still in awe at the slow speed that he reached revelations.

"Hmmm," Dorian agreed, taking a bite of his own sandwich and happily curling himself near the Major before speaking again. "I think it's because I'm a bit happy today. Stupidly happy, but happy nonetheless. It's been a very pleasant day today, Klaus."

"In contrast to yesterday, being shot repeatedly in the head would make a pleasant day," Klaus snorted. He didn't shift away from Dorian's comfortable warmth -- only his pride and ethics were telling him to do that, and considering what they'd shoved down over the years within him, they could fuck off.

Another of those sounds of agreement came as they ate companionably, the previews going off and the movie beginning -- and it wasn't a bad beginning, either, since the homicidally inclined human-robot-thing was naked, and so was his counterpart. Dorian fought back the urge to cheer and just grinned instead, saying, "Well, that's one way to start off."

"If this movie stays like this, Dorian..." The threat was left off, but the growl in his voice nearly shouted it for the world to hear.

"Darling, I honestly didn't know. It isn't as if *I've* seen this Terminator thing before!" Dorian protested. "I'm sure they get clothes somehow...." Oh, and one of them was in the midst of stealing some right at that moment! "Nudity and thievery. How nice!"

"Your hobbies." Klaus set aside his half-eaten sandwich, and picked up the cup of tea, scowling at how much sugar and cream Dorian had put in it. He was badly missing his NescafÈ, and the next time the thief made anything, he'd have to sneak into the kitchen and make sure they both ended up with that to drink.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Dorian replied reasonably, continuing to munch on his own.

"Not in your eyes. You've never been caught." Well, he had, but never *really* caught in a definite way. It was something for which Klaus was currently grateful.

The demure answer was so utterly deceiving when combined with the attitude behind it! "I *am* the best, darling," Dorian purred.

"As you let everyone clearly know," Klaus murmured, returning his attention to the movie because the sound of music was now playing in the background and the scene had changed.

"If I didn't, NATO wouldn't need me half as often," Dorian joked.

"You make situations worse for yourself, you know, because the Soviets now anticipate that you will be the one to break in..."

Dorian shrugged slightly. "They don't count me as worth much. Your leashed pet, probably, and trying to get into your bed. They laugh at me and make wagers on when you will shoot me, I suspect."

"It won't happen." Klaus was firm on that, glancing up to the set again, needing to catch only flickers of the movie. "When... when we are on mission, you and I will have to act as we did before. For your own safety -- as long as the other side thinks of you as unimportant to me, you will be safer."

"I promise," Dorian replied quietly. "Nothing will change when we're on a mission."

"Nothing I say... that will be hurtful... will be meant," Klaus told him after some uneasy hesitation.

"I understand."

The Major looked over to Dorian, checking warily. "Do you?"

"You don't want me to be threatened when I'm not with you," Dorian said solemnly. "You don't want them to know because that would make me more of a target than you, correct?"

Relief to know that Dorian did understand spurred Klaus into kissing his cheek very light, perhaps the first time he'd ever initiated such a motion. "Yes. It's for your safety."

That earned a smile and the turn of Dorian's head, lips so close to Klaus's, movie utterly ignored as Arnold Schwarzenneger rampaged on the television. "Yes," he whispered, blue eyes trained on the verdant gleam of his beloved's. "I understand."

It was fitting that the kiss was back-grounded by the noise of blazing gunfire. Fitting for Klaus, who'd found that admitting to himself, and to Dorian, that he truly cared for him a great deal was proving more painful than bullet wounds, and willed with a pleasure that was just as biting. "Liebling."

The little gasp that word startled from Dorian seemed almost painful and then the golden-haired man was kissing him again, deeply, sweetly, wantonly, little words babbling out between them. "Love you," they were, "love you forever," and, "for always," and, "Oh, my darling."

Finally, though he was responding almost violently, Klaus stopped the Briton from doing further by putting gentle hands on the earl's face, one on either side. "Not... so fast."

"Yes," Dorian whispered, though it hurt to hold back. "All right. Oh, Klaus." The entirety of his emotions were welling up, spilling over, an immense happiness mingled with an incredible adoration that made him shake. "Oh, my beloved most darling Klaus."

He couldn't equal the number of words as he shifted to slip an arm around the thief, keeping him close against his side, or the sheer amount of emotion the thief could give, but his eyes were intense with it, face mirroring his gaze, body motions all expressing those same words. "Let's... try to watch this."

'Watch this', indeed, for it was all Dorian could do not to turn and kiss Klaus again, the sheer euphoria of being held so close and warm enough to make him delirious with joy. He had truly never thought he'd get so close -- after not quite nine years of pursuit, who would have ever thought that it would happen? Still, he had loved Klaus, loved him fiercely and with every part of him, and he hadn't given up, and that had been rewarded. Sighing deeply, Dorian dropped his head onto the other man's shoulder and closed his eyes, bent on enjoying the contact much more than the movie, which by that point had some hysterical woman running about afraid of being killed by the man with the bad accent.

"I've always disliked Austrians," Klaus sighed, watching the gunfire. "Does my English sound so bad?"

"Your English is exquisite, my love," Dorian assured, nearly purring. "Just hearing you yell is enough for me to go into utter raptures."

Klaus smiled a little, snorted something in German about Austrians being trumped up Germanic white trash, and shifted a little closer to Dorian, watching the movie with an absent eye. Some of those bullet trajectories were just silly.

"Klaus?" Oh, that sleepy voice was delicious to his ears!

"Ja?"

The husky invitation that came next sent shivers down his spine. "Kiss me again?"

"Ja..." That was drawled slowly, almost casually; only Klaus never sounded casual unless there was something wrong. He turned his head slowly, taking Dorian's soft lips in his own.

Ah, God, it was just as good as the first time, and Dorian let him lead the way entirely, only whimpering softly in the back of his throat when they parted. /To hell with the movie. 'S not like I have the faintest notion of what's going on, anyway.../

Pulling back, Klaus sighed quietly. "I was getting sick of that angry game we played."

"Mmmm," Dorian said softly. "Sometimes, I believed it. Sometimes, I knew it couldn't be true. And sometimes, I despaired that you would ever believe me when I said that I loved you."

"It... is a hard thing to believe, even now," klaus admitted softly.

"That I love you?" came the quiet question.

"Ja."

That blond head tilted up to look at him solemnly. "If someone called you and told you that I was in trouble, that I needed you, what would you do?"

"I would ask for details on what had happened, and do what was needed to get you to safety," Klaus answered without hesitance.

"And I would do the same for you. Calling your friend when your father dies and having them come over immediately, this is friendship -- very good friendship. Marching into certain death to help someone else, Klaus, *that* is love," Dorian decided. "Insane, but neither one of us has ever laid great claim to sanity."

"I would not even think twice of doing that for you, Dorian." A thought which was startling for him, again -- more things he'd never realized. Even when swearing hatred, he'd risked himself how many times for Dorian?

"I know, darling," Dorian answered, face lightly pressed to Klaus's shoulder again. "I know. I'd walk into hell if I thought I could get you back from the devil."

"If something happened to you on a mission, Dorian... ach, I cannot say it." Klaus turned his head to press his face into those golden curls.

"Nothing will ever happen," he was informed firmly. "Nothing, you understand? Because you will be with me." Mostly. It wasn't like he was going to give up his life of crime... yet somehow it wasn't the stealing that worried Klaus. That was something Dorian brought down upon his own head; the danger of murder by Soviets or some other agency or person bent on revenge was Klaus's fault. "It will be all right," Dorian reassured.

"You and I... will manage." A whisper of voice from the other man, and he finally shifted to look at the movie again, watching with eyes only.

"Yes," came reassurance once more. "Klaus? I think I've missed the vast majority of this movie. I'm glad it wasn't the other one. It has a plot."

"Do you want to try to watch the other one...? We can talk more in the morning. Else my mind will get muzzy." Klaus offered.

"Why not let's just go to bed?" came the counter-offer.

"To...?" To do what? Sleep? Talk? Something else entirely...?

"To sleep, or to do whatever you want to do. I'm yours," the thief declared extravagantly, his smile definitely an offer.

"We'll watch this tomorrow, then." That they even knew there was a tomorrow was a miracle, since Klaus even vaguely accepting that offer seemed to declare the end of the world! "Sleep, I think."

"All right," Dorian agreed, not really fooled for a moment. Sleep, perhaps, but more kisses first, and that was quite enough to make him happy for the moment. "I'll run get a shower."

"I'll change, then." Klaus rose, a bit reluctantly, to turn off everything, glad that things... were solving themselves, in a way.

"Be right back, darling," Dorian declared, leaving to fetch toiletries and pajamas.

That left Klaus with a moment to himself... one that he didn't put to use at all, just ejected the movie, and laid the two tapes atop the VCR before he left the library to go to the parlor. Dorian, when not putting on the facade of faggishness, was the most interesting, entertaining, delightful person he'd ever met in his life. When Dorian was Dorian, he was a joy, and certainly... yes, a love.

By the time Dorian was back, Klaus was in his pajamas and in bed, which was just as well. Dorian's own sleep-wear consisted of satin boxers and a sleeveless top of the same material, dark blue, and he smelled once again of roses, a devastating scent. It had always been so -- only now, Klaus let himself react to it, let himself admit that it wasn't anger that stirred his breathing when Dorian was around him. "Turn off the light..."

The overhead light was turned out and Dorian moved forward in the darkness as if he belonged there, sliding beneath the sheets and close to Klaus's incredible warmth. "Hi."

"This is so strange, Dorian." To be laying abed with anyone, let alone with another man, Dorian of all people!

"Is it too bad?" Dorian asked hesitantly. A slight shift, and Klaus accidentally brushed a knee against Dorian's; he stiffened for a moment, then let himself press against the thief's lean, inviting body. "I take it it's not," Dorian whispered, turning towards him slightly, lips parted. He couldn't see Klaus in the dark, but he could feel him. Perhaps in some ways that would help -- to feel and not see any of the fleeting reactions on Klaus's face.

"It will be hard to sleep." That was noted with a tight sort of amusement.

"Because we're touching?" Dorian asked, reaching out lightly to find his face and press his fingers to it tenderly.

"Ja." But he didn't mind. God, no, he didn't mind at all... "I'm not used to such things."

"No," Dorian agreed. "Would you like to kiss me again, Major?" The way he said it went straight to Klaus's groin, into his bones, into his very organs! His brain was becoming mush....

"Ja." Shifting, Klaus found Dorian's mouth and took it again, taking a rough, searing and seeking kiss. There was no question of acquiescence, no consideration even that Dorian might want to resist or control it; only the willing and eager return, his tongue sliding out lightly to dance over Klaus's upper lip as he whimpered with the sheer pleasure of that onslaught and the need that it brought with it.

"No one ever made me want this," Klaus whispered as he broke for a moment, short and lovely feeling of just touching, before he took another kiss. Each one was as good as, if not better than, the first...

The feel of Dorian's breath was hot, pleasantly damp across his cheek when he murmured back, "I want to make you crave it forever..."

"I think if anyone could, it would be you." Truthful words, as Klaus shifted, trying to settle down comfortably in the awkwardness of touching another as he was touching Dorian.

"You know that you can do anything that you like to me, Klaus," Dorian whispered, unable to stop himself from making the offer. "Kiss me. Touch me. Have me kiss and touch you back, if you want..."

"I don't know what I'm doing," Klaus whispered back, trying not tell Dorian that he wasn't really ready yet, and that the second choice might be better for Dorian's safety...

"I'll show you," Dorian breathed, "if you want. But you have to say that you want it, and you need to be sure..." And oh, God, as much as he wanted to make love to Klaus in every way imaginable all night long, he knew that the other man couldn't possibly be ready for that!

"I want.. you to show me what I can handle," Klaus said after a moment of no thought at all -- only heady anticipation.

"All right, darling," came the low murmur, arms wrapping around him. "I'll do just that."

Lips brushed his once again, and then his face, delicate and light, all over it, settling finally upon an ear where Dorian nibbled, his hands busy stroking up and down Klaus's sides. It felt so good to touch his darling Klaus, and he shivered slightly with the wonder of it, not yet pressing the force of his erection against the other man's strong thigh. Instead, he kept his own pressed closely together as fingers began to lightly work at the German's pajama top.

"Ahh, Dorian!" Soft tightly restrained noises left his chest, letting Dorian slide up his shirt. It was pure pleasure... pleasure long promised and long denied them both, even touches so innocent seeming as the nibbling breath against his ear, much less the ones now spreading across his chest. Nimble fingers found their way to nipples that were perking from Dorian's touch, from the *promise* of that bliss, and the low moan that sounded in his ear before Dorian abandoned it for the delicious taste of his throat and throbbing pulse was exquisite. Teeth nibbled their way down his jugular, the press of Dorian's tongue felt across a collarbone and against the hollow of his throat and then one of those finger-abused upthrusts of flush had been taken into his mouth, teeth and tongue and lips paying homage to it as the touches of the thief's fingerpads continued working at the other.

Shuddery bursts of heat raced down Klaus's spine, the urge to shift and squirm so hard to deny. It would have been terribly undignified, though, and if he did, he feared that all control over his rebelling body would be lost to the soaring glory of sensations he'd never felt before. Dorian never paused, however; only continued with his ministrations, leaving a wet trail between the first nipple and the second that avoided the gauze bandage there as he shifted his focus of attack. Somehow, miraculously, his hands were all over Klaus, feathering over thighs, rubbing lightly at the stiff erection that had been pressed to his own belly since the first breathed word, whispered kiss, and *GOD* it felt good even through the cotton cloth, hard and hot and thick and throbbing and he wanted Klaus desperately, then, but he didn't stop what he was doing, only began to kiss lower slowly, abandoning his chest and moving to his belly.

"That tickles," Klaus panted in warning. Dorian could feel tight muscle, covered with warm skin, shiver, clenching for a moment in reaction to the soft huff of laughter Klaus gave. "Ohhh, Dorian, do..." More of everything, the hand on his crotch, the wonderful mouth that was kind enough to skirt his dressing and any scars, staying on the track of the most sensitive skin.

"I want to please you," Dorian moaned, and it was a breathy, delicious sound that wafted over his navel, teasing at the small hairs there even as his pajama pants were opened, tugged at, pushed down and out of the way.

A quiet gasp as cooler air from the room hit his groin in a soft rush, and he hitched his hips up for a moment, unknowingly aiding Dorian in slipping down his pajamas. "You're.. pleasing..."

"Good," came the almost-purred words, and then there was no need for them, indeed, no possibility of them as those soft lips captured the tip of Klaus's cock, sliding firmly over the head even as fingers lightly tugged the foreskin further down.

Klaus was a very clean man, which was quite a delightful change from some of the other lovers Dorian had kept up with years before. Nearly utterly clean, except for a little fluid around the tip that was fresh from the effects of Dorian's arousing touches. He'd had blow-jobs before, but never one so slow and careful, given out of pleasure, love, and a want to please, rather than cash incentive. Even as he groaned, hands coming up helplessly to touch golden curls, Dorian was pressing downward, taking the shaft into his mouth in exquisitely pressured strokes, fingers lightly cupping the heady weight of his balls to squeeze them tenderly as each stroke took more of Klaus into his mouth until finally, he was up to his nose in dark glossy curls and an almost ripple came as his exquisite blond lover *swallowed* around him.

"Dorian, I can't..." Skilled lover would have been an understatement -- this was skill and knowledge combined with on target touches to Klaus's sensitive spots. They were nearly everywhere, when he was as relaxed with someone as he was with Dorian then. "I can't... Gott, Dorian, please!" And oh, it didn't stop, but only got better as the other man shifted, bringing his mouth up off of him and plunging it down again, touching him so intimately, so wonderfully...!

His breathing was so far up in his chest that each gasping breath felt like it was being taken and let out from some place outside of his body, but Klaus didn't want to do such a disgusting thing to Dorian, didn't want to choke him with that thick release he knew was close in coming. It was something that whores barely deserved, and certainly not Dorian! There was no fighting it, though, not with the way that Eroica was urging it on, working it from him, and then it was there, no matter that he didn't want to spill in Dorian's mouth, there and coming from him in thick gouts unlike anything he'd ever known, the entirety of his body seized with the utter pleasure of it as he cried out hoarsely, fingers wrapping tightly in those curls as a last resort to keep from coming down the tight hot throat swallowing him.

Aching ragged breaths filled the air, Klaus's body tense and arched so that his weight was up on his shoulders. He wasn't sure through the haze if he'd succeeded in saving Dorian from that indignity, but he couldn't make his finger untwine from those tempting strands of gold hair that he held.

"Oh, darling." The sound of it was husky, filled with desire, still, and with an infinite amount of adoration as Dorian's hands came up to rub lightly at the ones in his hair, drawing them loose as he slid up Klaus's body and kissed him, full on the lips. Klaus tasted it then -- foreign, a tang of slick salt and musk that he'd only experienced by accident before. Now, he was tasting his own, as he kissed Dorian thoroughly, savoring the slick slip of tongue into the thief's mouth as if trying to get more, so strange, and he'd already broken so many social taboos that it was too late to turn back, wasn't it?

"That was wonderful," Dorian whispered against his lips, giving him another nipping kiss that was just as drugging before reaching down to shift Klaus's pajamas back into position. "Mmm, darling, you taste..." He sighed, kissing Klaus again. "So good."

"That was too much. You didn't have to..." Klaus protested in a shiver of breath, as he wrapped his arms around Dorian's body, holding him close. "I don't.. think that I can, but..." /I'm willing to try./

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he was told tenderly, gathered up against Dorian's chest as the other man slid slightly to the side, erection brushing against Klaus's hip slightly. "Not unless you decide you might like it, but even if you never do, that's all right, too."

"Let me try."

The agreement that came was easy enough, hands caressing over him still. "All right. But if you feel the need to stop..."

"I will." Klaus moved slowly to be atop Dorian, urging his partner over onto his back to make it easier -- Klaus remembered what Dorian had done, and began an easy mimicry of touch by first taking off Dorian's shirt, rolling it up and letting one hand skim over smooth chest to simply enjoy the feel of it beneath his hand.

"Oh, my darling," Dorian sighed, arching up slightly. He was harder than a rock, and the mere touch of Klaus's hands on him after so long drove him to distraction. Between his celibacy of nearly nine years and the fact that he'd masturbated once in the past month (and gotten caught at it, besides), he was going to have difficulty holding on for very long, so perhaps that was for the best because Klaus very likely wouldn't know what to do yet if he tried to pleasure Dorian for any length of time. Yes, faster was better in this case, for Klaus's sanity...

"Soft as rose-petals," he mused quietly, bending over Dorian's flawless chest to take one rosy nipple in his lips.

Fingers threaded lightly through black silken strands, Dorian giving little sounds of encouragement and pleasure as teeth very gently rolled a nipple between them, and he couldn't help himself as his hips rocked, his entire body squirming with pleasure. "Ahh!"

No taste, really, but the pleasure of it came from Dorian's spine-tingling reaction. He moved quickly to the other nipple, while letting his hands thread down to Dorian's shorts, pushing that flimsy cloth down.

"Oh, God, Klaus, oh, yes," came the whimper as tentative fingers closed around him and Dorian desperately rocked to meet them, biting down hard on his lip as every nerve in his body seemed to become attuned to those two places -- the nipple at which Klaus was suckling and the incredibly hot feeling of his lover touching his cock, the caress of that work and gun-callused hand over his soft skin, the silk over the steel hard shaft, utterly maddening. It was something Dorian had thought would never happen, never expected to happen from Klaus of all people. The head lifted from his nipple, and still stroking tentatively, Klaus slid down to take one risky taste.

"Aaahhhhhh!!!!" It was a strangled noise, barely gotten out, and Dorian bit down hard on his lip to try and retain some semblance of control. "Klaus... oh, *GOD*, that feels so... feels so... oh, GOD, *YES*!"

It was just the barest of touches, a dart of tongue against swollen tip, as he pulled down at the foreskin with his thumb to reveal more red-flushed skin. Not a bad taste, really -- strong, but it wasn't horrid. Better than Russian food... Eyes closing, Klaus took another lick, before he lowered his mouth down over the head of Dorian's cock to suck carefully, teeth only half pulled back in.

Dorian gave a hiss, not sure he had the heart to stop him. The spark of pain, though, mixed with the unbelievable pleasure, gave him the will to say huskily, "Darling, you might not want to do that, you might not want to, to, to swallow, and oh, *GOD*, I'm not going to be able to stop if you do, I'm not, oh, God, oh, God, oh, *KLAUS*, I love you madly, oh, I can't, can't, it's so intense, I..." He was babbling, he knew it, but it felt so *incredible*, and he just knew he couldn't take much more, even after so little!

Soft little pulses of suction didn't falter, or Klaus's exploration of the head, tongue swiping against the tiny hole at the tip, squirming between foreskin and cockhead, sucking all the while, trying to work more into his mouth -- and completely unsure of how much would be too much for him to take. So, for the moment it was very little, and no thought at all in his mind as to what he was doing. Just giving his lover pleasure, and incredible pleasure it was, for he was concentrating on the most fantastically sensitive place Dorian could imagine! The beautiful thief was almost sobbing with pleasure, and his hands roamed Klaus everywhere he could reach, beyond coherence now and close, so close, even though he was trying desperately not to explode in that mouth! Ah, it was hopeless, though, because a pause and a lick followed by the exquisite feeling of one of those hands on him was, in the end, combined with another of those soft suckles, and he yelled out just before he came, the closest he could come to a warning in his state.

Klaus hadn't been expecting it, that sudden hard spurt into his mouth of the still mostly unfamiliar fluid. He drew back after the first one, choking slightly from when he'd tried to breath just as it had come. It made him open his eyes, though, and despite the coughing choke, he looked at Dorian's body and face, so tightly bound in its pleasure, the blond man... oh, a beauty he didn't deserve.

"Oh, God, darling," Dorian whispered a moment or two later. "I've died and gone to heaven. It's the only answer. Come and kiss me..."

"A... a moment," he excused, still coughing. Finally he used the sheets there were loose at the end of the bed to wipe the edges of his mouth, then shifted off the bed to get tissues to clean up the spill-over.

When he came back, Dorian apologized sleepily. "I'm sorry, darling. I should've warned you sooner, only I thought I could hold it at least another little while..."

"I should have expected," Klaus murmured, having gotten a drink of water from the bathroom while he got tissues. Now he used them to wipe tenderly, and they were tossed aside into the trash can in the room, before he crawled into bed again. "It wasn't so bad."

Quietly, Dorian curled against his side, pajamas in place once again. "I love you so much," he whispered a bit shakily. "I've loved you for forever. I will love you always, my Klaus."

"Yes..." Now he was feeling tired, down from the adrenaline of before. It let him get comfortable with Dorian pressed so close against him. "In the morning, we will..." A yawn covered the rest of what he'd been saying.

"In the morning," Dorian promised, kissing him sweetly on the lips. "In the morning."

In the morning... so many mornings lay before them, spread out in a wonderful bliss.

~~~~~

The last bag was on the front step, the little black Porsche only steps away, and Dorian looked moderately miserable. "I hate to go home, darling, but what can one do?" He shrugged. "I know, I know. It's best. Can I come back again sometime? I'm truly dying to dust off that bed and painting upstairs."

"I think next time I can organize leave, you *will* be back here," Klaus murmured, tossing his own bag -- clothes, guns, a few books -- into the back of his Benz.

"Well," came the reply with a bit of forced cheer, "I'll see you, darling." And oh, how he wanted to see him, every morning, every day for the rest of their lives!

Klaus couldn't muster up a smile. Instead, he said solemnly, "Dorian... we will find a way, and time, to be together again."

"I know," his lover replied solemnly. The week between the night they'd made love to each other and this morning seemed as if it had been no more than a handful of hours, barely enough, and it had been interrupted by the obnoxious and aggravating presence of the woman that Klaus's father had sent to attempt to marry him off for the sake of the family name. "At the very least, you know where to find me," he said, beginning to pull himself up into his usual cheer. "You've got all of the usual numbers and I know that Bonham will keep an ear out!"

"There's a mission coming down the line within a week," Klaus warned carefully. Both the mission and the way they would have to act around each other... "Perhaps I can get a few days leave after that is done."

"Just let me know," Dorian replied with a wink and a small. "And I'll be there, just like always. No one will know."

"No one but you and I, Dorian, and I think that is enough." he stepped closer, knowing that they had privacy in the enclosed garage. "A kiss, before you leave..."

"You mad, mad man," Dorian whispered, arms wrapping around his neck, mouth offered for the kiss. That gesture, at least, was one with which Klaus was now familiar -- and responded to perfectly, with equal fervor each and every time. No kiss was a thing abused or ignored; each one was a slow, pleased exploration.

When they broke apart, it was reluctant at best, utterly grudging at worst, and definitely not what either of them would have liked. "I'll see you in a week or so, darling. Just let me know the details, if you need me, and I'll be right there."

"I know." Because it was love to run head-long into death or worse, for your loved one... "Thank you, Dorian. For these past weeks... have been the best in my life."

"I'll make the rest of them even better," Dorian promised. "We will fight, and we will make up, and we will love madly, and it will be the most wonderful thing ever to exist between two people."

"Your romanticism is silly, Dorian... Lord Gloria. But appreciated." Another kiss, just a peck now, and Klaus pulled back at last. "I won't deny you."

"Goodbye, darling," Dorian said sadly, reaching for his luggage. "See you soon."

"Yes, you will." Never one for drawn out goodbyes, this one had already gone on for two goodbyes too long. Klaus slid into his Benz, rubbing his palms over the steering wheel before he adjusted the seat slightly for his minor height difference from Dorian's. Then he had the garage door open, and pulled out, with the Porsche following after him.

For most of the way to Bonn, Dorian was right behind him, just as fast, and just as capable of handling that little light car that was such a foppish thing to be driving. The roads twisted and turned, but they kept to them, and Klaus only lost sight of him when he made the turn to the airport just north of the city, a fact that made him sigh. From there, he navigated the roads alone, almost desperately hoping for someone to start tailing him so that he could lose them. It didn't happen, though, and he parked in the office's parking lot, mounting the stairs to his office for the first time in weeks. As he stepped into the office, all activity seemed to come to a stop at the mere sight of him, sound buzzing through the office momentarily before quieting off, most of his Alphabet curious to see him, not to mention the rest of the building! Just to be sure that Iron Klaus was still Iron Klaus, after all, despite the rumors of illness still circling around.

"What are all of you doing? Get back to work!" he snapped, striding through the neat rows of desks, taking his jacket off and tossing it onto the coat-rack outside of his office door, which he slammed behind him once he was inside.

Damn, but it felt good to do that!

He sat down in his chair and looked at the paperwork scattered everywhere. Five weeks had certainly been plenty of time for the wretched stuff to accumulate! Sighing, Klaus reached to pick up one of the files on top, but a knock came on the door just then instead. "Come in." A bark of ordered words, and he looked up to the door to see who was coming in.

It was Z, the young German man smiling at him as he came into the office, leaving the door partially open behind him. "Welcome back, sir. We've missed you," he said calmly.

He'd missed them, too -- though, mostly Z and A, perhaps a little of B... but it wasn't going to be said. "Close the door behind you, Z, and tell me what I have missed." A flat gesture to the paperwork, conveying how likely it was that Klaus would ignore it all.

"Pretty basically, we've spent five weeks catching up on just that, sir," Z told him once the door was closed. "Paperwork. Once the last mission was taken care of, they didn't hand down another. Most of the stuff on your desk is just for review."

"That's it?" Review meant he could use them to line his trash can, for all the use they were. "Pathetic. And new missions...?"

"One today, sir, that's why they wanted you back this week," Z told him, nodding firmly. In a way, he resembled Dorian -- or perhaps not, perhaps it was just the blond hair and blue eyes. Yes, that was it, the loveliness of Dorian with a somber attitude. Perhaps that was why he liked Z. "Still, they only want you in for half days, and I'm not sure what it is yet. The Chief wouldn't say."

"He never does. Has he told you when he will?" Klaus asked evenly, getting up from his desk to sweep a pile of paperwork into the trash-can.

"This morning, sometime," Z said. "He told us we should be ready to call Eroica."

"Wonderful. What makes him want to spite me so?" Klaus snorted, moving to the filing cabinet to actually put a few pieces of the shitty paperwork away. "Has there been any trouble while I was gone?"

Z was already shaking his head, though. "Nothing for our department, sir. It's almost like the entire espionage community went on vacation."

"And the Alphabets...?" It happened sometimes, that the Russians were quiet. Small blessing, if boring, when they were.

"Lost without you, sir, but A and I kept them mostly in line."

"Good." Back in the routine of his office, the urge to smoke returned -- tenfold, which was terrible for him. His fingers twitched restlessly for a moment, and he looked at Z. "Dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Z said, standing and heading for the door, pausing only once before opening. "If I might say so, it wasn't the same without you, sir."

"Probably quieter. Dismissed." It was kind, the acknowledgment of those words, a little startling for Z, but the dismissal, a second time, more insistent, was familiar.

With a nod, Z turned and left his office, striding back out and giving a small thumbs-up to A as he passed by the other man's desk.

Things were back to normal, then.

~~~~~~~

The call from the Chief had come only moments after Z had left his office, and Klaus had gone up fairly promptly to hear the details, which were about what he would have expected when he'd heard the name 'Eroica' from Z's lips, anyway.

Simple-seeming mission that would probably turn into a fiasco, compete with being centered around a safe rigged with explosives that the thief had to break into.

It was hard to hide concern and feign hatred and disgust.

"NO! Absolutely NOT! I WON'T work with that... that..."

"Pervert?" the Chief filled in almost cheerfully. His supply of Maalox was just as full as his recently received supply of chocolates and he'd had five weeks without Major Eberbach to drive him mad. He could afford to be a little cheerful.

"YES! That fucking pervert!" Klaus roared, finally catching the trail of his usual rant and running with it -- using every curse and insult that he could think of quickly. It was exhaustive, that rant, and when he was finished, he hoped to God that no one would ever question why the thief recovered with him at Schloss Eberbach.

Hell, no one could possibly have the sheer *balls* after that one.

"Tough luck," the Chief told him simply, looking across the way. "He's the best contractor for the job and you're the one responsible for him. End of story."

"How did I end up responsible for that queer?" He hissed, anger seething out from his eyes at the chief.

"He's good at his job, and I like him, and you, Major, need to loosen up."

"Loosen *up*?!" He stood now from the chair, knowing that if he backed down now, it would look suspicious. "I do not need to loosen up!"

"Have a good mission, Major!" the Chief replied, ignoring him.

On his way out the door, Klaus slammed the door so hard that finally, after years of trying to do so, he shattered the pane of glass that bore the chief's name.

Yes, today was another good day!

~~~~~

Paris was a hellish bustle of humanity. It inevitably was, of course, but Klaus was never any happier to see it again.

As he and A waited in the hotel bedroom for the contracted thief to arrive, Klaus prayed there would be at least one good shooting. These kinds of missions, with so little between them and the objective, tended to be so dull...

/But I'll be on my toes pretending that I still hate Dorian./ Funny, to think that he had to pretend, or that he was ever pretending. It had seemed real... yet this emotion of wanting the thief in his arms again, of missing him after a scant seven days, was more real than anything that had ever come before. "Have you looked at the floor plan?" he asked A in an irritable tone of voice as he unholstered his gun and began to clean it. Eroica was late, and he had to feign irritation to cover concern.

"Yes, sir," A replied solemnly as a knock came on the door, prompting him to get up and answer it.

The blond thief breezed into the room almost as if he were floating, expression utterly and completely joyful. "*DARLING*, it's been too terribly long! And here you are, waiting for me, and oh, there's a *bed*! Just what we need. A, do be a treasure, won't you, and don't let him kill me? He looks furious. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that last part..."

"Shut up. Sit down. You're late and we've wasted enough time waiting for you," Klaus snarled. Oh, how he wanted to laugh. He wanted to just break down laughing...

"My, my," Dorian said tragically. "Darling, really, it's only fifteen minutes, and it's not like I was out doing anything you'd disapprove of. Well, no, I *did* steal a few diamonds on the way, but they were really so nice, and I could hardly resist..." Not that he actually HAD, he'd had to deal with James. He really was fond of his stingy little accountant, but...!

"Don't *tell* me these things!" Klaus snapped. There, that was nearly genuine -- he hated to be reminded of what Dorian's true profession was, whether the man was joking, or not. "Pay attention, you damned queer -- look over these floor plans, and then the schematics for the safe."

"I've already seen them, darling," Dorian said, flashing him a smile as he pulled out the set Bonham had gotten him. "But we'll compare to be sure, hm? It's not a very old model, but neither is it one of the newer ones. Shouldn't be a problem, aside from the bomb, and at least if it goes off, it shouldn't take out more than the office. Not EVERYONE at that party will be a Soviet, and I'd rather innocents not die if I get clumsy fingers."

"I'd rather you didn't get clumsy fingers," Klaus growled. "I will be there when you break the safe." Another risk, one he didn't want to think of... "If you are so well prepared, then get out. Be at the meeting point at 1900 hours, and we will infiltrate."

"Yes, darling," Dorian caroled, desperately wishing to kiss him, but flitting off with the instructions -- AND his watch. "See you soon!" He blew the other man a kiss, and was gone.

It seemed to be no-nonsense, that Dorian would keep contact between them at a minimum for Klaus's ease...

It seemed that way right up to the moment Klaus checked his wrist to note the time, and how long it was 'til 1900 hours, and realized his watch was gone. "EROICA!!!!" A cringed, closing both of his eyes before peeking out again.

Only the sound of laughter came from far down the hall.

"God dammit!" A snarl, and Klaus kicked the table, nearly knocking it over. "Give me your watch, A."

"Yes, sir," A sighed, stripping the thing off and handing it to him. Well... at least the Major was back, and life with the Major and Eroica was never dull! ^_^

"That fucking queer will get the lights smashed out of him the moment this mission is over," Klaus was muttering to himself. No, in reality he'd get chewed out and then he'd be seeing stars of a completely different sort, and oh, God, how Dorian would love that!

"Er... yes, sir," A agreed. "Ah, about the back-up... perhaps if we went over that one more time?"

"Yes -- I don't want you Alphabets fouling up and getting caught," Klaus told him without patience.

"Yes, sir, Major Eberbach!" They went to work, and A couldn't help but smile to himself. It really *was* good to have him back.

~~~~~

Perhaps A hadn't noticed the minor difference of the Major's actions, but Z had -- and Z, too, knew of Dorian's stay with the Major. It made him politely curious, and though Z wasn't a gossip monger, he did enjoy knowing what was going on in the office. When the opportunity presented itself to catch Dorian alone, sitting at a table in the Hotel's private Cafe, he couldn't resist sliding into the table to sit across from him, with a cup of coffee as his excuse for being there.

"Lord Gloria... good to see that you're well again."

"Z! You angel. I hope things have been well with you, darling, especially during those *ghastly* weeks you were without the Major," Dorian said cheerfully, lifting his own cup to his lips and swallowing. "I can only imagine how lovely it must be NOT to hear him yelling at you or for you or even because of you!"

"It was... different. And how did you fare in the face of all that?" Z asked politely, taking a small sip.

"I'm here," Dorian declared, "walking, talking, and even a few other things, too, so I survived. It was actually not so bad," he confided, unable to help himself. "He slept a lot." Which was also true, even though it wasn't the *entire* truth!

"I can't imagine the horror of the Major trying to rest," Z commented with a tiny smile. "Eager to get back to work...?"

"Would *you* return to work less than two months after a surgeon cracked your chest open? No," Eroica said. "And neither would I. The Major, however, is unlike any other man on earth, and a masochist to boot, so here we all are, back at work again, and I, for one, am quite delighted to do just that." He didn't even stop to breathe! "After all, wouldn't want anyone thinking that perhaps we'd lost our touch, now would we, Z?"

"I don't think the Major will ever lose his touch," Z commented. "How did you stand him for so long...?"

"Why, I love him!" Dorian said cheerfully, and that was nothing new -- he'd been saying it for almost ten years, after all. "Naturally I would put up with him, for all the good it does me." Ah, but he was good-natured about it, as always!

"You must be masochistic, Lord Gloria," Z mused. "The Major... well, his vacation did him some good. His spirits have been better than I've seen them in a long time."

Dorian placed an elbow on the table, hand supporting his chin as he leaned over with a sly smirk. "Of course I'm a masochist, darling, or I wouldn't still be *chasing*, now would I? Though I'm glad he seems to feel better, he was certainly cranky enough before. Being ill sometimes changes people, you know, and even for the better."

"Do you think... he'll take up smoking again?"

"If he does," Eroica said slowly, "why, we'll just have to be sure to sabotage his every attempt to do so. I don't think he will, though. In five weeks, he's only picked them up again once, and he didn't have a lighter, so he tossed them away. It had been a tremendously bad day, so..."

Z caught the trail end of that and ran with it, "So, you and he have... reconciled? Truce?"

"Do you honestly believe he'd put up with me if I hadn't forced myself on him?" That seemed a little wistful, and the other man sat back. "Well, darling, when it's a choice between me and servants, it's not much of a choice, you know. Temporary truce. Besides..." Dorian dangled Klaus's watch with a merry gleam in his eyes. "You know how he feels about these things."

"Oh! You should give that back right away, Lord Gloria!" Z protested. "He'll strangle you, good mood or not!" There went his suspicion, right out the window...

Dorian just laughed. "I'll give it back to him tonight! I'd just as soon not face a black eye while carrying on this evening, darling, don't you know?"

"Just when things seemed to be going smoothly," the poor agent groaned. "Things keep up like this, and he will take up smoking again!"

"Better this than the Mona Lisa," came the protest. "Besides. It was just to irk him a bit. He needed a bit of *bite* to him this evening, don't you agree? Here. I'll even let you keep it," Dorian soothed, "and YOU can give it back to him, because I'M not going up there!"

"That would make things so much easier," Z sighed unhappily, reaching a hand out to take it. Ohhh, he was going to get yelled at...

"It will be all right," Dorian told him with a wink. "You're one of his favorites. At least your eye won't be black when he's done with you!"

"I might wish it was," Z moaned as he pocketed Klaus's treasured watch. "You haven't bugged it, have you?"

Oh, GOD, those cerulean eyes were wide with innocence! "Would *I* do a thing like that?"

"Yes -- to his belt, once," Z pointed out, still frowning. "I don't want to end up in Alaska..."

"I didn't bug it, just for you. I wouldn't want you to end up in Alaska, either," Dorian said, reaching to pat his cheek. "You're such a nice boy!"

Z only paled slightly, though, letting out a sigh as Dorian touched his face. "I'm still amazed you didn't get beat up when you were with him in the castle."

"That makes two of us," came the cheerful agreement. "But here I am, and isn't that nice? Now, do be a good boy and take it up, won't you?"

"Yes..." He sighed unhappily again, and got up from the table, leaving his cup half finished and there, watch firmly in his pocket. It didn't take much trouble to find the Major again, still in his room, Probably checking over his guns. He knocked once, and the Major told him to come in.

"What do you want, Z?"

"Ahhh." Z swallowed. Might as well get it over with, and with any luck, he wouldn't be sent on to Alaska! "I saw Eroica downstairs and, um, appropriated your wristwatch, sir."

"Good." That was all that he was going to get? Just 'good', and Klaus holding out his hand for it?!

Sweating slightly, Z handed it over, glancing at A quizzically as if to say, /Is he ill?/

A only glanced over with wide eyes, shrugging tightly so as not to be caught.

"Tell Eroica to stop wasting time in the cafe and to get ready," Klaus growled, putting it back in place, and tossing A his watch back.

"Yes, sir!" Z said, scurrying for the door. Well, he certainly wasn't going to stay any longer than he had to with the Major in such a strange mood, that was for sure! He *did* feel a little sorry for A, though...

"Tell me your gut feeling on this mission, A," Klaus requested, putting the ammunition back into his magnum.

"I think it'll come out in the end, Major. It's not too difficult, aside from the bomb, and Eroica is very good at what he does, sir," A said thoughtfully.

"What makes you trust the thief like that?"

The answer was slow, serious. "He's never failed us before, sir, and, urm, well, he wouldn't fail YOU, sir."

"Why are you sure he would not fail me?" Hard, flat questioning that made A worry.

A swallowed hard, thinking of his words carefully. "Ah, well, he's been pursuing you for almost ten years, Major, and he hasn't failed you yet, has he? It seems like a logical conclusion..."

"Why is it logical -- tell me." A was now sure he was going to get pounded -- flat, into a wall!

/Alaska, here I come./ "He loves you, Major," A said flatly. "We all know it, and we all know he'd die if you asked him to."

"That sort of thing is dangerous," Klaus murmured, sitting back a little, perhaps too calmly, in his chair. So, it was obvious to everyone then.

"Yes, sir," A agreed, "but I don't think you have to worry about it. Everyone knows how you feel about his pursuit, and the Russians think it's amusing to watch him run after you, so..."

"Do you think the Russians do not take him seriously? I hate having a civilian at risk for such idiocy." He wanted to smoke just then, lean back and relax for a few minutes, but it wasn't going to happen.

"Sir, rumor has it that the Bear laughs every time his name is mentioned and asks whether he's... er, managed to 'lay' you yet," A replied, swallowing.

No anger. No reaction. "In your opinion, A, if he were to ever hear a yes, would he hurt that damned thief?"

"In my opinion, sir, he'd laugh like hell and tell everyone he knew," A answered. "If he thought you were serious about it, though..." His voice trailed off into silence.

"If he ever thought that, then Eroica would be an easy target to get to me," Klaus finished for A.

"Yes, Major."

"If something were to happen to me, do you believe he would still pursue Eroica?"

"No, sir," A said softly, the light of understanding filling his eyes. "Not so long as Eroica didn't do anything to involve himself in the political situation."

/He never would./ "Good." Stiffly said, but wholly felt by the Major, as he looked at his subordinate with a less heavy glare than usual. Almost a tired searching for understanding.

"If anything were to happen, Major, we would make sure that things would be right for Eroica," A offered solemnly. He wouldn't cheapen the conversation by suggesting that nothing would happen -- after all, anything could and would happen in their line of work, and suggesting that it would not would be purely idiotic.

"Do you think he's in a position of risk?"

"Sir, as you know, Eroica would involve himself whether you liked it or not. It's his nature."

"I have... done things that unwittingly lend him more towards involvement," Klaus said after a short silence. Now, now A would understand.

"Yes, sir," A said gently. "I understand. We'll make sure no harm comes to him in any event."

"Thank you." A phrase that seldom passed Klaus's lips, as he rose to his feet to look out the room's window with a hard, surveying gaze. They weren't being watched -- not a soul had noticed them yet. "Go get ready now, A. I need time to prepare."

A nodded, glad to see his superior doing what was necessary. "Yes, Major. And Major? It... I understand."

"I don't." He was already moving towards the closet, though, to find his tuxedo -- the mission was beginning.

By the time he arrived downstairs to meet with the others, Eroica had arrived, as well. The blond thief was also dressed in a tuxedo, blond hair pulled back into a braid tipped by black velvet ribbon, and there was an extravagant deep red shawl tossed over one shoulder, the material woven with rich silks to include brilliant blue and green birds that almost seemed capable of flying right off of the thing. "Darling!!! There you are!!!" he said cheerfully, reaching up to fluff a curl that had escaped its temporary prison back out of his face.

"Shut up! Follow me; unit, split." Three sharp orders -- the first and second to Dorian, the third to them as a whole. "I will drive, Eroica."

"If you insist, Major," Eroica replied, rolling his eyes slightly as if the Major was a vague but very attractive irritant. A didn't believe it for a minute!

"No stunts, or I'll throw you out the door..."

It was the last thing the Alphabets heard before Klaus had stormed out of hearing range with the thief in tow.

The car was not what Klaus would have liked -- for one thing, it was Italian, and for another, it was a lovely deep blue, and Dorian's innocent expression said a lot about THAT. "Sorry, darling, but a Benz would completely give you away, you know!"

"As if this doesn't give you away," Klaus growled, sliding into the driver's seat after he looked it over for bugs. "We will wait an hour -- then I will go up. I'll wait in the hallway, looking at the paintings. Five minutes after I leave, you leave -- and then we will get into that safe."

"Yes," Dorian agreed, already seated, door shut behind him. "Do I get a kiss, or do I have to wait for later?" he teased, winking. What the hell, it couldn't hurt to ask, could it? The windows were tinted, and it was dark, so maybe he COULD have one, sometime.

"After the mission." He didn't want his mind in that mode, the mode where all he could think of was Dorian, touching him, kissing, laying beneath him on the bed, a boneless pile of lean beauty... Klaus soon found himself thinking of every unarousing thing possible -- his Chief. His Chief naked. His Chief naked with G... There, solved.

"Hmmm," Dorian agreed quietly, letting his own mind run rampant. Perhaps tonight, they'd get farther than before. Still, there were other things to think about, so between notions of Klaus's nakedness, he contemplated the type of safe and the difficulty he might have in opening it. /No problem./

"After the mission, I will request a three-day pass," Klaus said, pulling the car smoothly out of the parking lot.

Oh, if he could have seen the smile on Eroica's face then! "Good," he nearly purred, voice rough with delight. "We'll need it."

"Don't tell me what you're thinking," Klaus warned, rolling up to the stop-light.

"I wouldn't dream of it," came the airy reply, obviously delighted. "I see Z gave you back your watch."

"He hasn't noticed a change. A knows, though," Klaus informed him, taking off the instant the light turned.

Dorian turned to look at him. "Z noticed, but I led him off with the watch, darling. He turned nearly white, thinking he would be going off to Alaska if you caught him with me!" He grinned. "He wanted to know if I'd bugged it, you know."

"I wouldn't doubt it if you told me you have," Klaus snorted, letting up on the gas a little. "A assures me that if something happens to me, you will be kept safe."

"If something happens to you..." Dorian trailed off into silence momentarily. "I wouldn't want to be kept safe. If something happens, I hope that it happens to me, too."

"Don't be a romantic idiot," Klaus sighed.

"Yes, Klaus," was the reply, though it wasn't meant. Eroica's life had revolved around art and Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach forever, and if one or the other was taken away, then what use was anything else?

"You know very well that you would have your team if something were to happen to me."

"I know, darling," Dorian replied, "but I'm not sure anything would be worth pursuing without you."

"You would manage, Dorian." The conversation, half already played out in his own mind, was easy to hold as they drove, not a turn missed or light ran. "Even dead, your safety is my first concern."

The response that came from Eroica was deadly quiet. "I understand. Klaus, perhaps this isn't the best time for this conversation. I'm afraid I'm going to have to be very calm to open that thing, and this conversation..." He paused, took a deep breath. "I can't think of being without you, ever, until later, all right?"

"We will be fine this mission, Dorian. It is already planned out flawlessly." He moved a hand from the gearshift for a moment to touch the thief's knee, a light ghosting of fingers over clothed skin.

Another of those deep breaths and then a sigh. "Hmm, it shouldn't be a problem. I've got all of the plans memorized, and Bonham managed to get me at least part of the code with surveillance, so we had ought to be just fine."

"He did?" Klaus looked a little surprised. "Your men plan well!"

That gained a faint chuckle. "Darling, I told you I'm the best thief in the world. Honestly, there's a reason why!"

"And I thought it was your natural skill..." A gentle tease, as they finally found themselves on flat road, headed away from the city -- towards the place the party was being held.

"Oh, well, that has a great deal to do with it, of course," he was informed almost arrogantly. "I mean, Jamesie is a thief, too, and he's MISERABLE at it, sometimes, darling."

"The little money-bug is a thief?" Klaus asked with a wicked, laughing glint in his eyes.

"Darling, who d'you think stole that hundred marks your Chief whined about for years?" Dorian laughed. "He scrounged up all but the last hundred from the case you tossed out of the plane with us and went to steal it from you! Luckily, your Chief came in and was a much easier target! Poor Jamesie, he really couldn't bear the thought of that lost hundred..."

"Good for him," Klaus smiled. He *hated* his chief, a fact that wasn't little known in the least. He all but shouted it regularly. "What else has he stolen?"

"He pinches pennies 'til they SQUEAL, darling. You name it, he's thieved it, so long as it's cheap!" Dorian laughed. "I DO try to keep him from stealing from you, but he detests you, darling."

"I know he lifted my wallet once." Klaus had nearly shaken the little thing senseless to get it back. "He can detest me all he wants, as long as I don't have to see him."

Dorian smiled and laid his head back against the headrest. "Sorry, darling, but I'm afraid we're a mixed package. As irritating as he CAN be, he's very efficient, and besides, who else would have him?"

"No one but you. But he'll never set foot inside of Schloss Eberbach, understand?"

"Yes, darling!" And oh, that sounded cheerful, but Dorian *was* happy -- after all, he was with Klaus, and he was going to steal something. What could be better? ^_^

Klaus darted him a wary glance as they rolled into the drive, and had to get out after parking it. He refused to let a valet do it for them, claiming the car to be too good to be touched by servants, a fact that gained a wildly giddy laugh from Eroica -- oh, and it was definitely Eroica! Dorian, when in private, was actually a marvelous companion, not partial to flaunting himself even half as much as he did in public, but once they were open and with other people...

Well.

By the time they'd reached the front door, the valets were in love with him, and he was *flaming*, practically dripping homosexuality as he went. That was Eroica, though, and that was the part he needed to play -- silly, stupid, foppish Englishman and, God help Klaus, he was *very* *very* good at it.

It made it very hard for Klaus to reconcile the two parts -- Eroica and Dorian -- so he gave up trying, and noted to himself again that to get Dorian, he had to put up with Eroica, when on missions, at least.

They entered with falsified invitations, side by side, but Klaus refused to go in arm in arm.

"No fun," Eroica whispered, brilliant eyes gleaming as they paused in the doorway for all to see them. Oh, how he loved it, and the room was full of jewels even though none of the artwork was worth looking at! His fingers nearly twitched with joy at the thought!

"We're not here for that," Klaus whispered stiffly as they descended the steps, looking for eyes to catch and people to seem to mingle with until the hour passed.

"Ta, darling," Eroica bid, and then he was gone through the crowd, though it wasn't hard to keep him in sight with that lovely red shawl shining so brightly and catching so very much attention!

That left Klaus alone and looking lost for a moment, before he decided the punch-bowl was as good a place to start as any and headed in that direction. Quite a few people had decided that it would be a good place for conversation, as well, no few of them women, and women with an eye out for a good-looking man, which Klaus obviously was.

He was pouring a glass of wine for himself -- French of course, but it was decent -- when he felt a light hand touch on his lower arm. /Here goes another fifty four minutes.../

"Hello, darling," and oh, God, he knew that purr, knew just who was pressed slightly against him, caught the sound of that smile before Eroica reached past and plucked up a glass of punch, turning away to indulgently smile at a woman who looked as if she was going to faint with sheer joy because he was doing so!

Damn him! Klaus wasn't there to be distracted, and he wasn't there to have Dorian around him at all times. Come in with him, yes, but if one disappeared, and then the other, with both of them close to each other all evening... Far too suspicious!

Dorian was gone, though, already back in the crowd, and perhaps he wouldn't return again, if Klaus was lucky. He downed the wine quickly, expression slightly grim. That helped to keep the women glancing at him from coming forward to speak -- a figurative breastwork, that scowl, practically bristling!

/Fifty-two.../ He poured another glass, trying to look casual for the mission's sake. It wouldn't do to ruin the mission by letting his glare give him away.

The time flew by for Dorian, who danced quite a lot and actually managed to steal a bracelet or three, which rather made him happy. It was mostly to keep in practice -- the first bracelet was placed on the wrist of the second woman when he took *her* bracelet, and the second was placed on the third woman and then he danced with the first again and gave her the bracelet of the third. It was naughty fun, but it was fun nonetheless -- the most he could have, considering that he was dancing with (ugh) women and not Klaus, which would have been MUCH more enjoyable! Still, when he glanced at his wrist and realized that it was time for him to follow Klaus, he was grateful for it, for he was rather getting sick of entertaining himself.

Easily enough, he pried himself from a lady's arms and headed for the veranda, taking a deep breath of cool air and stepping into the garden, glancing around before abandoning the red shawl carefully beneath a bush. He regretted that and sincerely hoped he'd have time to get it back -- he loved the thing, it was beautiful -- but if he didn't, well, that was that. From there, it was easy enough to walk up onto another veranda, pick the lock on the French doors, and slip inside, heading quickly in the direction he needed to go to meet Klaus.

Klaus was waiting patiently in the hallway, gun drawn discreetly, shrinking back until he realized the flash of motion was blond hair. "This hallway," Klaus hissed, gesturing to it with his head before the other man came with him.

From there, it was silence, even the gleam of white shirts not interrupting the darkness as they moved down the hall to the fourth room on the right. The door was locked, but it was only a matter of seconds before nimble fingers did away with that, the tumblers well-oiled and clicking almost silently over as he opened it and gestured Klaus inside. The door was shut behind them and locked again as they moved into the room, eyes already accustomed to the dark, Eroica searching for the safe.

Natural skill, more than anything, made Eroica who he was.

Klaus had a paranoia that kept him well honed, though, one that let him find the safe first, gesturing the other man over to it -- then he stepped back, an eye towards the door to guard the thief as he toiled.

He could hear him working, almost silent, and the tension rose in the room as Eroica went through his paces, aware that if he was off by so much as a single motion, the entire room could be demolished, and when the safe popped open, he gave an almost explosive release of breath, quiet, but obviously relieved as he swung open the door...

To find a tiny red light blinking steadily at him and the gleam of a video-camera's lens.

"[Why don't both of you smile for it,]" a voice purred at them in French from the window, popping it open at just that moment.

A set up, then.

Well, there wasn't much of a way to get around that one, Eroica decided, standing slowly, hands up where they could be seen even as he gauged the room for any other way out; unfortunately, the door to the hallway opened then, too, and they were trapped. /Figures. I'm out of luck tonight./ Possibly forever, for that matter.

"[Put down your weapon, Iron Klaus,]" the Frenchman ordered further. "[And put your hands on the back of your head. You, too, English.]"

What was there to do but obey for the moment, waiting the right time to make his move, to get them out of this set-up? Klaus did drop his gun, and then laced his fingers behind his head.

"How very remarkable," Eroica drawled slowly, refusing to speak French and taking a step away from the safe. "Well, I suppose I'd ought to be glad that there wasn't a bomb inside, hm?"

"[You will be going downstairs for a trip, the both of you. We have orders to not let you leave the premises; I think the caskets will keep you from ever leaving it... Come towards the window, now. This will look wonderful in the newspapers tomorrow.]"

"Really?" Dorian was thinking on his feet, rather. "And if you're going to put it in the papers, won't it be wondered where we got off to, if you're planning on planting the two of us six feet under, so to speak?"

"[Two men leaping from a window can be interpreted however they wish to do so,]" the Frenchman sneered, gun still trained on them as they stepped out onto the narrow balcony that he was already on.

This, Eroica decided, was *definitely* not good. "Hm, true. How very unfortunate. But tell me, you're obviously French, so what are you doing mixed up in all of this?"

"[None of your business, sweet thief,]" the Frenchman promised, even as Klaus stepped through, completely aware of the man behind, armed with a gun... certain death from a three story fall onto stone, or possibly from a bullet...

Stalling wasn't much good, but Eroica continued. "Well, it really wouldn't do any harm to tell me, now would it? After all, you're about to pitch us both over the side of the balcony, hm??"

"[I am not some two-bit movie villain,]" he was informed as the small dark man pushed him. Eroica pitched forward towards the railing, grasping it and grounding himself on the balcony floor as he tangled his feet in with the Frenchman's, taking him down with him as he did so.

/Better to be shot than tossed over,/ he decided grimly, hoping Klaus would take care of the other man.

It was the perfect distraction, and they would both agree on that later. As the one on the balcony tumbled with Dorian to the floor, Klaus elbowed the man with the gun -- snagging his weapon, dropping it quickly to keep beneath the heel of his shoe, and then he sent the agent sailing over the railing by taking the heavy weight onto his shoulder.

Stabbing pain was back to accompany that motion, one he knew his body hadn't been ready to perform. It had been necessary for both of them to survive though, or so he told himself as he stooped to get the gun, training the muzzle it on the Frenchman,. "Jump," he snarled, fingers curled with familiar over the trigger.

The man's eyes were huge and dark in his face with startlement as Eroica stood, shoulders back, and looked at him impassively. "It might be nice if you tell us where the tape is before you do that," he noted dryly. "But if you don't, we'll just have to find out some other way." God, things weren't good right now! Klaus should never have had to pick up that man, he wasn't recovered enough from surgery!

"It was on his friend's body. Z will recover it," Klaus snarled. Hopefully, the adrenaline flooding his system would keep him afloat long enough to get out of there before the pain set in too deeply. "*Jump*, or I'll shoot you and toss you over."

"[Fucking Nazi,]" the other man snarled, and seemed surprised when Eroica lashed out, backhanding the little man so hard that he hit the railing.

"Here," Dorian said coldly, "let me help you." With that, he knelt down, gathered the little man's feet and pushed him backward over the rail.

He was falling in such a way that Klaus could tell he'd live -- unlike his friend. Too little momentum, and towards the bushes. So a single shot fired out, quick, sharp and efficient, and Klaus drew back towards the window, obviously hurting. "The others have seen this -- we need to get out. They'll get the tape."

Sharply, Dorian turned, heading back into the study. "Come with me," he said softly, shaking his head. "We'll go back into the ballroom through the garden and out the front door. Try to look a bit drunk, and don't mind if I'm all over you, it'll be to hold you up. You look like you're on your last leg." And oh, he was angry with himself for Klaus's pain! If only he'd paid more attention... but there had been no way to know what was going on. It was a useless anger, he knew.

"I am." He dropped the gun of the man he'd flung, stumbling a little once he was inside the room again. "I'll drive to the meeting point so as not to gain suspicion, and then you will drive after that."

"Straight to a hospital," Dorian answered grimly.

"In time," Klaus bit out. The mission first, then... then that. He waited until Dorian was safely inside the room, and then he bolted closed the window. "Close the safe..."

The door was shut, the dial flung, and Dorian rose, hurrying towards the hall, pausing only to regain Klaus's Magnum and slip it into the holster. "As soon as we're at the meeting point. The Alphabets can follow us, Major." God, he was going to be insistent! What if one of the wires holding Klaus's ribcage together had popped? What if something was torn open!? What if...

"I'm going to be a heavy drunk," Klaus warned in a tight breath of air, eyes closing tightly as he slid an arm over Dorian's shoulder, wincing at having to make a movement like that.

"It's all right, darling," Dorian whispered. "Lean on me as much as you need."

It took some time to get back down the steps and out into the garden from the dark room Dorian had entered before, but once they were back in the ballroom, it was easy enough to pass off his friend as drunk, to pass off his own flushed cheeks as embarrassment or interrupted passion. Making their way to the car was also easy, since the valets remembered them and Dorian was incredibly cheerful as they left until they were finally alone beside the car. "I still think you should let me drive!" he said worriedly.

Klaus was quietly taking in pained breaths as he opened the driver side door, unsure if he'd split something, or just stretched out muscles too far... "No. It would look suspicious..." Then again, if he were playing at drunk...! Yes, he could do that. A fumble, made to look drunken, and the keys fell to the pebbles in the driveway. "Yes. Drive."

With relief, Dorian scooped up the keys and grabbed onto Klaus's arm gently, ushering him around to the other door and helping him into the car before moving back to the driver's side. He tried to keep calm as he slipped in, slammed the door, and waited fifteen seconds before he started the car and pulled out sedately. "Can you stand to put your seatbelt on?"

"Nein." Pressure against his chest felt like a sharp, jabbing thing, and he didn't want to press against it in case it was something best left untouched. "[It hurts too much.]"

"Then I'll be slow and careful," Dorian said bleakly, "and I'm only stopping at the meeting point long enough to tell them we're taking you to hospital."

"Ja." A quiet agreement, and Klaus sat there, leaning back a little into the seat -- when Dorian hit the bump that took them from driveway to road, the gasp he gave was searing.

/I'm going to kill them for putting him back on duty again so soon,/ Dorian decided as he sped up. /And then I'm going to kill him for being an idiot, if he doesn't die first!/

If Klaus could have heard Dorian's thoughts, he would have managed at least a little chuckle, or wanted to do so. As things were, he could feel only that sharp stabbing of pain. "This rates... at least... a three day pass..."

Dorian muttered, "I think we'll be going back to the Schloss after this one, darling," and kept driving, hitting every light dead-on and taking turns as gently as possible.

"Ja..." Green eyes were closed tight by the time they pulled into the lot where the van was -- the other car was already returning, driven by Z, two discreet bags in the back that held bodies.

Dorian only paused long enough to roll down the window. "We're heading straight to the hospital," he said sternly. "I'm afraid the major's broken something open in his chest."

"Sir?" Z asked with some concern, to only get a nod from Klaus. "Go to the civilian hospital, then. It's half an hour off. We need to clean this mess up..."

"See you there," Dorian replied, peeling out of the little lot in which they'd stopped and heading back for the road.

"I think..." Klaus gave a thick-sounding cough, eyes closing again, "That I'm bleeding."

"Just a few moments longer, darling," came the softly voiced promise. "Just a few, my love..."

"I'll be all right." It hurt terribly, though, to feel that strangeness of leaking from the inside, or so it seemed!

"You're GOING to take time off," Dorian said firmly. "And I'm taking you somewhere warm where it's just you, me and the sea. You understand? Two whole months, darling. *TWO*."

"I'll... unnnnh, go mad with boredom..." No, he wouldn't. If Dorian could talk him into it, he'd love every moment, and they both knew it.

"We'll see, Klaus," he said softly, speeding along the freeway now. "We'll see."

"I..." He let out a hiss of air, and stopped trying to talk for the moment. At least they were still alive, in better shape than last time!

"Just relax, darling. Maybe we should let the seat back," Dorian fretted, speeding up even more.

"No, I... No more pressure.. there, hard enough..."

"Of course." The worry that Klaus had probably popped one of the wires holding his ribcage closed was nearly enough to drive Dorian mad, and the drive just wouldn't go fast enough! It seemed to take forever before they were pulling up to the emergency room doors and the car was stopped so he could yell for help only to realize that he needed to yell in French.

They came out anyway, giving him a barrage of questions as to what was wrong, quick words that he answered to the best of his ability as he checked Klaus in and was promptly shuffled into a molded plastic chair that simply wasn't meant for a tall, lanky frame like his, especially when nervous and in the state he was rapidly developing. It seemed as if they'd just spirited Klaus off, with no word of what they were doing or how he was!

He was still sitting there when agents began trickling in, A and Z first. His head was buried in his hands, golden curls stolen from the tight braid he'd had for the mission, and he was bent over, elbows on his knees as he remained there, fretting.

"Lord Gloria?" Z asked softly, sitting down beside the Earl. "What happened?"

"They haven't told me anything yet," Dorian answered miserably, pale and worried. "Nothing. We've been here an hour already..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," A said, sitting down at Dorian's other side.

Eroica was shaking his head, though, even as others came in and sat down. "I think he must have broken one of the wires holding his ribcage together. Dammit!" he declared, almost angrily. "He didn't need to be working like this again! He shouldn't have gone back!!"

"Could any of us have stopped him?" Z asked with a frown.

"Can you stop a speeding semi from running over a little dachshund?" Dorian asked wryly.

A nodded. "True."

"Then getting angry won't make things better," Z told him smoothly.

"*I* should have stopped it," he whispered, mostly to himself. "I should have..."

"You realize that the Major would be the semi, not the dachshund," A said after a moment of hesitation and a hand on the Earl's shoulder. "He'll be fine. After this the Chief will force him to stay off duty until he is well."

With a deep sigh, Dorian sat back, dropping his golden head against the wall. "I know, but I still feel guilty," he said solemnly, looking up at the ceiling. "Everyone knows he doesn't give a damn about taking care of himself, and surely... well. You're right, but..."

"You should calm down. You weren't hurt, were you...?" A questioned carefully.

"Just roughed up a bit, and not much at that." A glance around the room revealed no one but agents. "No documents. Completely a set-up."

"They were on the body of the bigger man," Z smiled.

"And the videotape, too?" Dorian asked.

"Yes." Utterly pleased was how Z sounded just then, grinning broadly the way Klaus did when a mission had gone off with only a few hitches.

If Dorian didn't completely understand the feeling, he'd have declared them all a sick, sick lot and abandoned them then and there. "I didn't know what to fill out for insurance or anything, so I just signed my name to the dotted line..."

"And it took?" Z looked confused, while A reached past Dorian to jab him.

Dorian shrugged. "S'long as someone's willing to pay, hospitals don't care much. Jamesie will be offended, of course, but that's his nature. He'll get over it." It didn't seem like much of a big thing to him at all. Why shouldn't he agree to pay?

"When was the last time you actually *saw* your accountant?" A asked curiously.

"Er...." Dorian hedged. He'd gone home last week, but Bonham had sent James off to London to pinch pennies somewhere else so Dorian could have a quiet week... "Two months ago?"

"Imagine the scene when he sees you again," A sighed in a shudder.

Smiling weakly, Dorian shook his head. "Huh-uh. I'll just tell Bonham... er... God, Jamesie's going to kill me in my sleep!"

Z shook his head. "No, Lord Gloria, he won't. Your life insurance is minimal."

A terrible fact, that! The edges of A's lips twitched up for a moment. "That's a comfort. If I were you, I'd warn him of the coming bill."

"Oh, he'll just find a way to take it out of NATO," Dorian said almost cheerfully. "You know Jamesie...."

"Don't tell the major he's going to do that," Z bemoaned. "His health is baaad as it is..."

"It'll be our little secret," Dorian agreed. "Aren't they EVER going to come out and tell us something!?"

"Probably not," Z sighed, biting his lips for a moment in worry.

Dorian simply wasn't MEANT for worrying. He stood and marched towards the front desk, expression firm. "Excuse me, miss," he said in firm English. "I want to know what's going on with Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach."

"Eberbach?" Her pronunciation had a particularly FRENCH lilt to it. "Let me see..." Which sent her scuttling off into the hallway, leaving Dorian to wait in frustration. He turned, smiled at A and Z and the rest of the Alphabets, and proceeded to peer after her, waiting impatiently. When she returned, it was shaking her head. "They have him in surgery, re-doing something or other.."

"A wire?" Dorian asked worriedly. "In his chest? Have they opened it again?"

"I think so, yes," the woman smiled. "Would you please sit down?"

"Oh, God..." Dorian whispered, unaware of how pale he'd become. "Oh, God..." Knowing what was wrong was much worse than suspecting it!!

"Lord Gloria?" Z's voice, so composed and from behind him, and there was a guiding hand at his elbow to keep him calm.

"I knew he'd done it," Dorian explained, mouth firmly pressed together into a line. "I knew it. Dammit!"

"Knew what, Lord Gloria?" Z asked, as he walked Dorian back to his chair. "What happened?"

"He tossed the big one over his shoulder!" Dorian said miserably. "He's popped one of the wires holding his ribcage together open!"

"Is that bad?" A asked with wide eyes, leaning towards Dorian.

"It's certainly not good!" Z said worriedly.

Dorian shook his head slowly. "When they open you up that way, they have to wire your ribcage back together. They tell you not to lift anything more than five pounds, they.... they don't want you to go back to work for two months, and..." His voice trailed off into silence.

"The Major breaks rules often," Z sighed, sitting back in his chair. "He'll be off duty again. And unhappy about it."

"Well, he *isn't* going back to Germany to brood this time and he *isn't* going back to work before he should even if I have to kidnap him and keep him from it!" Dorian whispered furiously. "None of us like this any more than he does!"

"What will you do?" A asked Dorian seriously, "And will you need our help?"

Another shake of that glorious head followed. "I'm going to rent a villa somewhere and not tell him just where we are, I think," he decided. "Do you think we can pull it off?"

"If you blindfold him on the trip there," A sighed. "He has a good sense of direction."

"Or maybe make sure he's sedated," Z offered.

"Darling, he fights off meds like that as if they're nothing," Dorian pointed out.

"We'll find a way, Lord Gloria," A murmured in a quiet assurance. "Why don't you go back to the hotel?"

"No," Dorian refused. "Not when he's here. Not when it's like this..."

"You've had a long evening, Lord Gloria -- you need to rest, and not here. We can call you, or send B over to fetch you when the Major is out..."

"Would the Major even want to see Lord Gloria...?" B wondered aloud, perking up at the mention of his name. "No offense, Lord Gloria, but he hates you."

Aquamarine eyes were overly bright, glistening, and B was ashamed when Dorian momentarily rubbed at them, unable to keep himself from it. "No," he said hoarsely. "You're all right, only...." Only they weren't right, damn them, but they had to *pretend*!!

Had to pretend that, while being Klaus's lover, Dorian didn't have every right to be there and to wait and see him, to make sure that he *would* be all right! "I'll take you to the hotel myself, Lord Gloria," A offered. He understood the dilemma, and the twists of it.

"Thank you, but it's not necessary," Eroica said softly, shaking his head. More of those curls had escaped from that braid, almost as if they *would* not be restrained. "I have the car, I can go myself. Stay, please..."

"Are you calm enough to drive yourself?" A pressed -- it fit with Eroica's facade -- that he was weak, shaky and unable to manage himself when shocked or distressed, but it was also true concern from A.

"Calm enough?" Oh, it was strange to hear Eroica laugh like that! "Hm. No, but it doesn't matter. I got here, I'll get there..."

"All right, Lord Gloria..." A looked supremely doubting, but wasn't going to press the issue -- not with all of the other agents showing only the smallest bit of concern for the man who their Major swore up and down to hate. So A remained silent as Lord Gloria left, trying not to feel too guilty for it.

~~~~~

"Darling, I've brought you breakfast!" Dorian declared, slipping into the small room. He'd managed to find a villa in northern Italy that was remarkably secluded, very comfortable, and much too far away from any of the local villages to do Klaus a damned bit of good should he feel inclined to steal away and find out where they were. "Eggs scrambled with cheese, bacon, toast and apple jelly, which you *must* use!"

The German man had remained in hospital for nearly a week, and it had been the hardest seven days Eroica could have imagined. Most of the Alphabets had contrived to keep him out, and he'd finally been obliged to break into the hospital -- HIM! Eroica!! -- as a last resort to see his lover, who had been irascible, cranky, and in pain. During that time, he'd managed to find the villa, make all of the necessary arrangements, and even soothe Jamesie, who hadn't been in the best of moods about the matter at all. It made him wince just to THINK about it!!

And the trouble they'd had after getting the Major released -- trying to make this look casual and as if he and Dorian were doing this yet somehow he still hated the man....

That had been hellish, culminating in a public argument between the two of them that made the entire thing look like a grudging kidnaping that was certainly making his agents worry. It *had* been a sort of kidnaping, because Klaus truly had no idea of where they were aside from blissfully alone in a well stocked household. The thief had driven them up there in the middle of night while Klaus had been sleeping heavily. No drugs needed, just a remarkable exploitation of a lingering exhaustion.

"Where did you learn to cook, Dorian?" Klaus asked, sitting up a little in the bed. The sheets fell down around his waist as he did so, leaving him comfortable and warm.

"I'm magic, darling," Dorian told him breezily. "Part of the fae, you know. Oberon and all of that. It's just a natural talent." He grinned then, leaning over to kiss Klaus's nose before settling the tray easily across those knees. "Hmmm, actually, even a master thief occasionally has to fend for himself, my love."

The habit, old and long-used, to comment on Dorian being a fairy -- comment in a possibly, no, likely cruel way... was shoved down, as Klaus tentatively pulled Dorian onto the bed to at least sit with him. "Everyone can cook -- but you do it well. I wouldn't have thought it among your natural talents."

"Hmmm," Dorian murmured, leaning down to press his lips to Klaus's, so tender as to be unbelievable. "I am a man of many," he said, also kissing Klaus's throat. "A remarkable man of many," he decided, winking slightly as he sat back up. "Now I'll go fetch my plate and your coffee, darling. Be right back, hm?"

A nod, and Klaus looked down at the overabundant plate for a moment -- Dorian was truly trying hard to make him better, wasn't he? As if good treatment and taking care of himself would somehow solve every problem... Perhaps in a lot of ways it would. This surgery, the second one, had left more pain than the first. It made him appreciate NATO surgical work; his throat was still aching from the tube that had been shoved in, again, for a few days.

Only moments later, Dorian was back, coffee and a second tray in hand, and he seated himself on the side of the bed. "Just the way you like it," he informed Klaus, shuddering slightly before reaching out to touch black strands of hair, a few of them silver, but not so many as to be noticeable... much. "I've given you gray hairs, darling. At least the ones you've given me aren't obvious..."

Taking the cup of NescafÇ from Dorian, Klaus gave the man a quizzical look. "We're simply getting older, Dorian; and even with that, we're still not very old. Mid-thirties isn't old. The Russians have given me more grey hairs than anyone."

"Hmm, no," Dorian agreed, "we're not very old. Still." He winked. "I'm sure if I have any gray hairs, they've come from you lately!" The smile he offered was rueful. "I thought I was going to simply break down when the Alphabets made me leave the hospital and wouldn't let me back in. I hate this game of ours, darling, and I hate the necessity of it, even if I understand it..."

"But you understand that it's needed?" The coffee was a little too hot, but he liked the way it seared down his throat, much as his cigarettes used to do. "I'm not allowed back on duty until I can pass a physical again, so you shouldn't worry for a while longer about having to play that charade."

"I understand," Dorian reiterated, sighing. "Mmmm, but I have you to myself for a while, then, if we're waiting for you to pass a physical. They should've made it a stipulation the first time!"

"They... did," Klaus decided to tell Dorian at last, "but I didn't bother. The mission was too important..."

That brought a certain stillness to the blond, a pause as he began to reach for a piece of bacon, a raised eyebrow. "I think I should have known that," he said slowly, sighing. "I ignored it, though. I shouldn't have..."

"So this... setback is completely my fault," Klaus went on as if Dorian hadn't spoken at all.

"Well... in any case, darling, let's just say it's a setback and not go into whose fault it may or may not be, hm? Eat your breakfast," Dorian bossed, poking him slightly with his fork.

Klaus glared at that fork for a moment, before spearing a piece of toast deftly. "I'm bored already; I hate vacations."

"Just wait," was the reply, golden head shaking. "You've only been out of hospital for a week. Two more, Klaus, and I'll have made sure that you never want to go home again."

"I don't doubt that if anyone could, it would be you, Dorian," Klaus agreed in a soft voice, looking fondly at the other man through shuttered eyes.

THAT gained him a most delicious, if bacon-flavored, kiss. "Now, eat your breakfast," Dorian prompted again. "I'll make it worth your while..."

"You'll only make it worth my while if I eat?" Klaus asked, testingly.

"I'll make it worth your while either way," Dorian said with a smile, "but I'd like it if you'd eat your breakfast. I'm eating *mine*..."

"Tell me how you'll make it worth my while," Klaus asked in amusement as he started to eat, if slowly.

Dorian shook his head. "Mmmm, it's a secret," he teased. "You'll like it, though, I think..."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, chewing on a piece of bacon. "You think?"

"I know," Dorian corrected with a wink.

"That's better." Klaus enjoyed the banter that sometimes happened, the complete lack, when so isolated, of anything to say, worries or concerns to voice. It was soothing to simply be with Dorian, to have the other man there as a buffer against the unhappier aspects of his own personality, and Dorian seemed to sense that, giving him what he needed to make things right for him.

"Mmmmmmm," came the hum from his companion. "I didn't do too badly. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day," he said, nodding.

"Probably because it gives you an excuse to lounge around longer," Klaus said, a tiny bit pointedly as he worked to finish off most the plate. "But you really are a good cook, Dorian."

"I'm good at *everything* I do, darling." That flash of ego was another sign of the other side of Dorian, but it was accompanied with a spectacularly secretive expression. "As you'll discover shortly."

"I should be worried," Klaus sighed, drinking the rest of his coffee quickly. "But like an idiot, I trust your plans and plots."

A light touch was felt against his nose before Dorian stole a piece of *Klaus's* bacon. "Mmmhmmmmm, and you should trust me when I say that you will enjoy what I have in store for you."

"Keep that up, and I will not be responsible for coffee in your hair." A barely warning tone to the man, and Klaus leaned back more against the headboard, unable to stop the smile that was curling his lips.

This was happiness.

"Oh, gracious, me, then I would just have to take a bath and forgo your surprise. No such luck," Dorian declared, kissing his lips sweetly. "None."

It was strange how Klaus's instincts of preservation worked so well, mission or no -- coffee and tray were slipped to the side with fascinating speed, and he tugged Dorian closer, into his lap now, to make the kiss deeper. If he could have, he'd keep the thief there in his arms forever.

"Feeling frisky, darling?" came the husky question a moment later, Dorian's own tray still firmly held straight despite his own shift in position. "A man in your condition..."

"It takes more effort to not kiss you than it does to kiss you," Klaus confided, before he took another kiss from the thief. Lips that were just as soft as they looked, and fit so heatedly and perfectly against his own...

Moments later, he looked at Dorian, the other man's eyes closed as he declared solemnly, "Mmmmmmmm.... I knew you had to be a romantic, at least a little bit, darling."

"I'm not... just with you," Klaus half-agreed, utterly grudging about it. There was something about the thief that made his head cloud over in the best ways.

"Mmmmhmmm..." Dorian managed, kissing him again. They both tasted like bacon, eggs and apple jelly, a delicious combination, and it was almost irresistible. "Want your surprise now?" he purred.

"Ja." Not that he was anticipating whatever Dorian had planned, of course he wasn't. It was certainly going to probably be worth waiting for... as long as it wasn't stolen.

Agreement came in short order. "All right, darling, let's get you out of bed, hm? And head for the bathroom." Oh, how those eyes lit up, humor and enjoyment in them for Klaus to see, so bright, and so very, very full of life!

The bathroom? /Well, whatever pleases him./ Klaus didn't move until Dorian, tray and all, was out of his lap; then he stood up, careful of his chest as he did so.

"March!" came the cheerful command, the remains of breakfast left to grow cold. "Or, at least, head in that direction," Dorian decided a little less tyrannically.

"Jawol." The wicked, dangerous smile was on his lips now, and he did just that -- marched right into the bathroom.

The bathroom was one of those places about which women dreamed of bathing and men dreaded when considering the pipework. The 'bath' was more like a small pool, resembling the one Dorian had been in the time that he'd stolen the Pope, and it was possible to set it to maintain a temperature. Seeing the steam rising slightly off of the water, and realizing that he had not heard any water running as they ate, Klaus decided that Dorian must have done it before he made breakfast.

"Strip..." Oh, the sound of that voice, husky with want, was a terrible, terrible temptation!

Klaus still did that with an almost military efficiency, stunted a great deal by the tightness of his chest. Being cut open again made him wary of stretching those muscles again, for fear of loosening new sutures.

"Now..." This was just behind him, spoken in a way that made him shiver when accompanied by the sound of Dorian's clothes hitting the floor. "Let me help you into the tub, darling..."

Klaus felt the slender hand settle on his hip, guiding him down into the heated tub that was really just a small pool, the water coming up to his mid-belly but not high enough to dampen his bandages. "This is a surprise."

"I thought it might be," Dorian agreed, slipping into the tub with him and promptly straddling his thighs, seating himself against Klaus's knees as he reached for the bath gel. "I also thought... maybe..."

It was a new position for him to have with Dorian, though he was certainly sure he didn't mind it. There was something altogether pleasant about having Dorian's body so close against him own. "Maybe?"

"Maybe..." Dorian said, almost hedging. "Maybe we could do something new to you, and that perhaps in the bath, you wouldn't strain anything..." A hand moved forward under the water, lightly wrapping around what proved to be a rapidly growing erection.

A startled noise of pleasure, and Klaus bit his bottom lip for a moment, eyes closing. Every time Dorian touched him in that way, it was wonderful and unexpected. "Try what, Dorian...?"

"You... here... inside of me," Dorian said in a little rush of words, as if saying it fast would gain acquiescence more easily. "Deep, and *good*..."

For a moment, Klaus's face was completely unreadable -- was he going to kill Dorian for that, or simply flip him over and fuck him, or... or just deny him?

"You really want that?" The thought... he couldn't see what the pleasure of it was, but Dorian certainly knew better than he did about if it gave pleasure or not.

"Oh, yes," was the fervent answer. "God, we do it in my dreams, and in my fantasies and... and all kinds of other good things with it. I want to pleasure you every way imaginable, my dearest love, my darling, yes!"

"Shhh..." There was no harm in trying it, even if it was the unspeakable perversion, banned numerous times in the Bible... as if Klaus cared anymore. If anything, the possibility of dying had made him want to live and enjoy life more, which made him want Dorian in any way and for as long as possible. "Yes."

A tension seeped out of Dorian completely with those words, one that hadn't really even been visible until it was gone, and Klaus realized suddenly that he had been terrified of what the answer might be even as his golden Briton filled a palm with the bath gel and began soothing it over him with slight splashes of water as accompaniment, his mouth stealing Klaus's as he moved forward to seat himself on those thighs. "Oh, love, thank you, yes, yes..."

"Lieber," Klaus breathed softly, meaning it completely, as he kissed Dorian back, one arm keeping them both steady in the little pool, the other stroking down Dorian's back to steady him, too. "You could have asked sooner..."

"I was afraid you would say no," his lover confessed as his hands continued to smooth a soapy path over Klaus's body, "and then you were hurt again, and I don't want to strain you, so..." It had been forever since the last time, and they'd never gotten past oral sex, though that was oh-so-good in and of itself... especially since Klaus had been so willing to try it, to give back pleasure that Dorian had given him. And just as always, the idea of what Dorian was suggesting was working a magical persuasion on Klaus, vivid mind creating images that didn't exist... yet. As Dorian carefully cleaned around the new wound on Klaus's chest -- another scar that wasn't deserved -- the blond could feel Klaus's breathing pick up minutely, and could feel his throbbing erection so close to Dorian's own. "Kiss me," he breathed, leaning forward to ask for Klaus's mouth, his hands sliding under the water to carefully use the gel to slick Klaus's cock, hoping it would stay a little while. He'd chosen it very specifically for its lack of components likely to burn, and he was entirely pleased with himself over it.

"Gott, Dorian," Klaus managed to gasp out softly, rocking his hips slowly up against Dorian's hands. The Briton knew how to play the major's body as well as he could play with any lock in the world. "Achhh, ja..." Catching Dorian's lips in his own served a duel purpose -- satisfying Dorian, and silencing Klaus.

It was so easy to open up for Klaus, to let his slick tongue steal inside, snatch Dorian's breath away and leave him moaning into those lips as his hand moved to touch his own erection. There was no question of whether it would be good or not -- he *knew* it would be good, one way or another -- only the steady rise of heat in him, and the lack of need for foreplay. He was already so excited, so unbearably and completely electrified by the sheer eroticism of touching the other man that he knew he needed nothing more than that. "Oh, God, yes..."

"Slowly, once..." Klaus trailed off, the hand on the small of Dorian's back trying to press the blond closer. "Now...?"

The answer that came was gravelly, affirmative, almost trembling with want as Dorian moved obediently forward, one hand holding Klaus in place as the other reached back, a finger momentarily sliding inside of himself to help reach his goal, and then he gave a low moan, aim perfect as he stretched to accommodate the other man, face buried now in Klaus's throat as he sank down 'til he could feel every inch of Klaus in him, little shudders rippling through him with rapid and precise shockwaves of pleasure. "Oh, God," he groaned, mouth parted, shifting so that his head could fall back slightly. "Oh, *GOD*!"

"Gott!" It sapped so much control from the man to not move; to not do more than stroke his wet hand up into Dorian's dry curls of gold and cradle the back of his head, other arm coming to rest on Dorian's hip. It seemed that together, they would shiver to bits -- from trying to not move, or adjusting to the pleasure of it. Dorian's clench was almost unbearably tight around his cock, leaving Klaus to marvel with what coherent thought he could find that it was a miracle he was inside of his lover at all!

Little whimpers were spilling loose from Dorian, the entirety of his body pressed against the other man now, erection throbbing between them with a vengeance, his arms tight around Klaus's shoulder. "Oh..." he whispered, clamping down tightly. "So long... oh, God, I've waited so long for you..."

"This..." Felt like heaven, to be buried so deep within Dorian's body, making the other man react like that! He just held on for the moment, riding out the urge to thrust wildly, until he could let go of Dorian's hip, hand headed towards the blond's cock.

The first touch of calloused fingertips on sensitive erection prompted a wild moan, Dorian's back arching, hips shifting so that he raised himself up and then pushed back down again, giving a desperate little cry. "Oh, *GOD*!" he gasped. "You feel so good! Klaus, I can't bear it, it's too much, it's too good, oh, God...!"

It was hard to manage both breathing and concentration at the same time -- trying to add speaking to the mix only made it wilder yet to keep in control. "Can we... slow... oh, Dorian..."

A whimper spilled over in a profusion of ecstatic passion. "Can... try, oh, *GOD*!"

"Don't want... it to end," Klaus breathed in his lover's ear, shifting his hips minutely as his hand gave a steady, slow stroke. It drew a veritable wail from Dorian, the sound of that gorgeously rich voice breaking with passion unbearably exciting, especially when accompanied by the barely restrained wriggle of hip and thigh, the tight hold Dorian kept not only on himself with sheer willpower, but also physically on Klaus.

"Nnnnnnnn!!!" Dorian whimpered, shaking his head, breathing in a shallow little pant. "Nnnothing, ever, ever, ever, *ever* so perfect..."

"Yes..." The German finally shifted again, falling into a slow, aching pattern of thrust and smooth stroke, trying to keep himself from giving in to the urge to gasp in breath. It would only hurt his chest, take from the pleasure... and far better to hear Dorian make those wonderful noises.

"Ohhh.." God, he was going crazy! "Please, Klaus, please, tell me I can move like I want," he begged in a whisper, nibbling at the other man's ear. If he could just move like he wanted....

"Ja..." Because it was hard to know how long he could hold out like that! "Yes.... move, Dorian..."

The moment permission was given, Dorian was up, shifting, the flexion of muscle feeling good against both of them as he began to move, rising and thrusting back down to feel Klaus fill him up again, pulling himself up 'til he could feel the head of that thick shaft almost out of him before falling back down on it, breathless sounds of utter bliss spilling back off of the tiles as he truly let go, crying out with the sheer wonder of what he felt, of what it was to have Klaus inside of him, *taking* him, making them into a single, hard, thrusting being, the thought of it utterly and completely unbearably wonderful... "OOOOHHHH!!!!!"

It was doing better than just making up for years of waiting and trying!

"Dorian... Dorian...." The Earl heard his voice become a ragged pant of breath, could feel Klaus's hips pound up to meet his, rough fingers tugging steadily at his cock -- all building for the moment where Klaus could manage no longer and spilled inside of his lover with a tight gasp of air.

With a keening wail, Dorian came, spilling into the water and on Klaus's belly, eyes clenching shut as he came down on Klaus again, clamping down tightly on the shaft still deep in him with all the pressure of a vise, every inch of him nearly rippling as he gasped, shuddered with the force of it. "AHHH!!!"

Klaus had almost been expecting to lose consciousness, it hit him like such a blow, but instead he found himself drifting lazily, Dorian a pleasant weight atop him, his softening cock still inside of that tight clasp. "Oh.... Dor... rian..." Hard to breath, to catch his breath again, and Dorian could feel that as he rested atop him. "That... thank.... thank you."

"My darling," Dorian whispered. "Oh, my darling, my love, my only love, for the rest of my life.... my Klaus..."

"Yes... love you," Klaus agreed breathlessly, hands moving to just hold Dorian again, head falling back over the rim of the tub. It was so good to feel like he was one with Dorian!

Kisses traced his throat, his jawline, caressed his lips and cheek, moved to his ear, to the shell of it, careful attention paid to the soft skin behind it, words a patter of soft sound, adoration, love, devotion, and Dorian was so tender with him, touching him, loving him... "Oh, my Klaus..."

Something he'd wanted to feel for years and years now -- more than just blind respect or fear, this... Dorian was love itself for him, with eyes only for him, and a devotion that verged on frightening.

"Dorian...can you... ah, move off.... my chest?"

"Am I hurting you?" came the fretful question, Dorian sitting up. He was sex-tousled, flushed and beautiful, and his eyes were worried, lips reddened from Klaus's kisses. "I'm so sorry, darling!"

"'m fine," Klaus gasped, now able to take in full breaths, the water slicked chest heaving in air for a moment as if he'd been strangling before Klaus finally managed to calm it, shoving down an urge to cough. Then, with his wits regathered, he had a chance to truly look at Dorian, to see the beautiful animal that their coupling had released.

"I love you so incredibly much," Dorian whispered, beginning to tremble. "I never thought..." He had never thought he would have this, even momentarily, and never had he considered the possibility that Klaus might feel something for him in return! It was almost too much, and he bit his lower lip, shivering again. "Oh, Klaus!"

"Shhh." Klaus moved again, shifting Dorian so that the blond was close beside him. Easier to hold, and it didn't cause discomfort... "It's your fault, you know."

"My fault?" Dorian asked, looking at him and leaning forward to kiss him again, slowly, watching his face. "How?"

"Persistent and stubborn," Klaus told him, between slow, lazy kisses. "Infuriatingly caring."

"Always right on top of you?" came the teasing reply.

"As often as you've pissed me off during missions, you proved that you were just as good as any of my agents." Except for Z, but Z had been molded in his own image, so... "That you were utterly brilliant when you had things to be done."

Another kiss gained his mouth, teasing. "Hmmmm, I had to be reliable or you wouldn't have put up with me. You'd have shot me in Italy that time if I wasn't useful enough..."

"I wouldn't have killed you," Klaus murmured. Shot... maybe. Maybe he would have, in Italy. "But we're in Italy now, aren't we? And I haven't shot you."

"Ohhh, no, you haven't," Dorian sighed, hand caressing down his side tenderly. "You've granted me a lovely little death, though..."

"Before we leave this place, we will have to do this again." Many times, if at all possible! "At least once with me where you were. I want to know what I'm doing to you."

The mere *NOTION* was enough to make Dorian hard again! "I'll make it very, *very* good for you," he whispered, a breath that caressed Klaus's ear. "So good you'll know exactly what you do to me..."

"You're the only person, Dorian, who has ever made me want this much," Klaus told him, turning his head to take a kiss again. "Only you. Ever."

"*For*ever," he told Klaus dreamily. "You know, perhaps we should get out before we become prunes, darling... I can feel my toes shriveling up even as we speak."

"Then you'll have to help me up," Klaus murmured, letting Dorian free to get up before him.

"Here..." Moments later, they were both out, drying off, and Klaus was re-bandaging his chest, careful with it, taping the huge pad of gauze in place with a critical eye. "You know," Dorian said solemnly, "I love you awfully much, Klaus."

"You've made it very clear over the years," Klaus reminded him, pressing down the end of a piece of tape, shifting a little to make sure it didn't shift, too. "I haven't made it clear enough. I care for you."

For a moment, it seemed almost as if Dorian had gone quite still, but Klaus decided it must have been his imagination as the other man leaned up and kissed him one more time, smiling. "I know, darling," he whispered, willing to settle for those words until perhaps Klaus could use others. "I know."

Klaus shifted near to kiss him again, sliding an arm around Dorian's waist. "I'm tired, Dorian. We should sit somewhere, or... anywhere but the bedroom. I'm sick of those walls."

"There's a divan downstairs..." Dorian offered. "It's wide enough that we can both lay down..."

"We going to bother with clothes?"

The answer that came was frank. "Well, I don't see why we should, do you?"

"No." So they went downstairs that way, stopping only long enough for Klaus to take his medication. Downstairs where the divan was, there was a small tv, and they'd probably try to watch another movie, though they both knew that would fade into quiet conversation and snuggling. For now, however, it was easy enough to pull a cotton throw off of the back of it and to curl up beneath it, legs tangled, Klaus's spine pressed to the back of the wide divan, Dorian on the outside, slightly damp curls falling off the edge as he yawned.

"Hmmm, darling, you've exhausted me," he teased, hand stroking up Klaus's side gently.

"You deserve it, for tiring me out," Klaus snorted in a gentle, pleased tone, arms sliding around Dorian carefully. "You're like a cat."

That blond head nestled against an arm, aquamarine eyes closing. "How's that?" the almost-sleepy question came, curiosity buzzing in the words.

"You like to look good, sleep a lot and take what you want." Klaus was of course more of... no, not a dog type of person, though one could easily make that leap. There was no animal quiet to fit Klaus so well as a cat suited Dorian, though.

"Nothing wrong with all of that," Dorian purred, shifting to kiss the firm muscle of Klaus's upper arm. Mmmm, he was in shape -- it was necessary to be the best cat-burglar in the world! -- but Klaus was...

Delicious.

"Although it's a fairly accurate description," he agreed a moment later.

That muscle shifted to curl Dorian just a little closer. "And you demand complete attention by virtue of simply being."

"Only yours, darling," Dorian whispered, face buried against Klaus's shoulder. "Really, everyone else is just sort of incidental."

"You're a hard man to ignore. And I'm just glad you didn't cheat yourself by staying with a whiny little snot like Caesar." He'd *detested* that whiny little thing thoroughly...

A quiet laugh answered *THAT*. "Oh, darling, YOU never had *anything* to fear by that. From the moment I saw you, I was lost. That was all it took. Caesar was never even really an option."

"Good. If he was, I'd have to find him and beat him, just because," Klaus murmured with a wicked smirk curling his mouth. "Now.... tired?"

"Drowsy," Dorian agreed, yawning slightly. "Mmm, you've worn me out..." And oh, that was said so very wickedly!

"Maybe I can wear you out again this evening." His suggestion held more than a hint of promise, while the two of them shifted and settled together. "This is always good."

"You can wear me out whenever you like," Dorian said, interest sparking. "Mmmhmmm!"

Lips brushed his cheek, then over his mouth. "Sleep well."

"Next to you?" Dorian murmured. "There's never any worry about *that*..."

~~~~~

Nearly two weeks later, Dorian stood alone in the kitchen, glaring into the refrigerator. It was still beautifully well-stocked -- someone came in once a week with groceries and did a little light cleaning -- but he was getting sick of cooking! /That's it,/ he decided, straightening up. /We're going somewhere!/

Wandering into the living room where Klaus was planted reading the paper, Dorian frowned. A pen had been shoved into his hair to keep it out of the way, and he looked a tad frustrated. "Darling... let's go out to eat for supper, hm? I'm starving, and I really don't want to cook..."

"Go where?" Newspaper was almost cast aside, and Klaus looked ready to bolt to his feet at the mere suggestion.

"I don't know," Dorian shrugged. "There's got to be a restaurant *somewhere* in the village that's about ten miles from here!"

"You're driving?" Klaus was already standing now. "Let me get my gun."

With a laugh, the British man pulled the pen out of his hair to let the curls tumble down. "All right. I'll run out and pull the car 'round, hm?"

"Sounds good for me. I'll meet you out front, ready, then!"

For a moment, Dorian watched as Klaus walked away. He was feeling much better of late, and for that, Dorian was incredibly grateful. It was inevitable that he would, given enough time to rest, and they had another four weeks at the villa. That would be quite a good start, he decided as he headed out back to the garage where an expensive little bottle green car was tucked away. He slid behind the wheel, sighing. /Mmm, Klaus.../ Maybe he'd feel well enough soon that they could....

He was smiling when he pulled up to the front steps and he winked at Klaus as he got in. "All settled, darling?"

"Quite; one day, I'll make you drive a sensible car." Klaus slid his seatbelt on, giving a little stretch as he looked over to the blond man. Dorian kept him on his toes at all times, and he was glad for it.

A wink later Dorian hooked on his own, laughing. "Hmm, well, this IS at least more sensible than usual! It's not red, after all, darling. See? A concession, just for you!"

"Well, thank you, then," Klaus sighed, settling back against the seat with a little smile on his mouth. "Now, are you going to tell me you've no idea where we're going?"

"I know *exactly* where we're going," he was informed. "I got us here, didn't I? There's a little village, and I'm sure there's a restaurant, darling."

"At least you had the sense to take us to a mostly safe country. The chances of meeting Mischa here..." Were slim to nothing, and that made him calm about the entire thing. "If we see someone we know, though..."

"Yes, darling." The sounds of that were slightly subdued, but only slightly! Dorian wasn't very good at pretending not to love Klaus, and so he shrugged and smiled. "I'm the lucky one. I can just go on being me, at least!"

"I truly hate having to pretend," Klaus sighed. Whenever they were out in public, they were almost expected -- required in a way -- to have at least one unhappy and large argument. "It's too easy."

"Poor darling... Maybe one day..." Dorian's voice trailed off into silence.

"If we ever can, yes," Klaus agreed quietly, moving a hand to rest it on Dorian's knee.

The reply to that was hopeful. "I doubt we'll see anyone we know, though, darling! I mean, the world is a very large place, what are the odds?"

"What are the odds that you manage to go after pieces of artwork, again and again, that are central to a mission?" Klaus asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That, my love, is luck," the other man declared. "Not odds. Well, and perhaps a bit of plotting, too."

"I knew it!" Klaus seemed to light up with that admittance. "The Alphabets always thought I was paranoid about you following me on purpose!"

Dorian thrust errant curls behind an ear, smiling. "I think it's more instinct, darling. I just always seem to know right where you're going to be!" he declared.

"And now you don't even have to bother stalking me down -- are we driving today, or are we going to sit here?"

Slowly, gorgeous eyes narrowed, a smile creeping over those lips that Klaus so liked to part with his own. "As soon as you kiss me, darling."

"Gladly." Klaus's words were a soft breath near his mouth as he leaned close as he could with the seatbelt on and caught Dorian's mouth in a slow, searing kiss. That would satisfy him for the time that they wouldn't be able to do it in public.

Dorian fairly hummed as he pulled back, putting the car into drive. "God, nobody can kiss like you can," he said dreamily.

"If anyone can, don't tell me," Klaus mused, settling back again as the car started to wind its way down the road.

Laughter sounded in the car. "Darling, I was only twenty-two when I met you, and I've been celibate for the longest time since -- honestly! Even if someone *could*, which I doubt, I certainly wouldn't remember!"

"I still can't imagine why you waited so long for me," Klaus mused, taking in the scenery and half memorizing it as they went.

"Mmmm, I told you. You're more than worth waiting for, darling. Sexy, incredibly good kisser, sweet, tender, stubborn, maddening, devilish and yet almost angelic, my dearest love..."

The half stern-looking German man was blushing furiously by then, trying to hide it. "You're trying to kill me with compliments."

"Just telling the truth," Dorian informed him. "You DID say, after all, that you couldn't imagine why I waited, so I told you!"

"I agree with stubborn, and maddening; I think the other things are more fitting for you." /Sexy?!!/ He wasn't sexy... he was a military man, smug, often self-assured and arrogant, certainly, but... sexy?

Blue eyes glanced at him, filled with some emotion that almost seemed to sing. "Hmmm. Well, we'll see about that," he said simply. "I rather think I'm exactly right about *all* of them."

"You're wrong, but I won't bother arguing with you," Klaus sighed, leaning an arm against the window.

"Wise, darling," Dorian replied, voice light. "Now, then, what do you imagine you'd like for supper, hm?"

"Anything that we don't have to cook. Something good." Klaus was always vague about what he wanted to eat -- he had a few favorites of course, good meat and Mosel wine, but other than that, nothing in particular. Field rations lent him towards a cast-iron stomach.

Rolling his eyes, Dorian coasted to a stop and took a left. "Well, darling, if that's the case, I'm sure wherever we stop won't disappoint you," he teased as they saw a little sign indicating that the village was only another five miles away.

"As long as there's relative solitude, I don't care," Klaus agreed.

They drove on for a while in silence, pulling into the village finally and seeing that, indeed, there were a couple of small restaurants available. Deftly, Dorian pulled the car in front of the one that looked to be the more likely of the two and parked. "Here we are, darling. Let's see what they've got, hm?"

"A quiet table in a corner," Klaus murmured. Part paranoia, and part simply wanting to be able to talk to Dorian about anything at all and not worry.

"All right," Dorian agreed, climbing out of the car. "Sounds good to me, darling!"

Klaus unbuckled, and rose smoothly, though the movement took effort. His chest was more tender this time around than it had been before, though the stabbing pain was gone. They walked together towards the door, and Klaus let Dorian get them a table. It didn't take long, orders quickly placed, and everything smelled delicious.

"Maybe it'll be pretty good," Dorian encouraged, putting an elbow on the table and his head in his hand to smile across the way at his lover, sighing slightly. "Oh, God, I'm happy."

"And why would that be, oh master thief...?" Klaus asked quietly, a smile touching the edges of his mouth as he put the napkin into his lap.

"I'm here, with you, and we're..." A slow smile came across his face, eyes sparking with absolute glee. "Well."

"Well?" Klaus always loved to press a point, and this was no different, as the waiter came by with a glass of something that was being passed off as lemoned water. Not liquor yet, not with the medications he was on.

"Distinctly... wickedly... and *completely*... likely to fuck like lemmings when I get you home," Dorian said with a wild little smirk. "And because I love you, but you knew that already."

"Aren't lemmings those animals that jump off cliffs?" Klaus joked in his own limping way, moving his hands to catch Dorian's after a very quick glance around. "You bring new depths to the word 'fuck', Dorian. I can't see how it's vulgar when it comes from your mouth."

"Hmmm, sounds like I..."

"Hello."

Klaus gaze shot up at that word, and he flinched back from holding his lover's hands -- to find Agent Z standing there beside their table. "What are you doing here?!" he half hissed and half shouted.

Z's blinking was almost audible. "I'm on vacation, Major. Hello, Lord Gloria. I see you're... well."

"Erm... yes," Dorian replied, not quite sure what to say or do until Klaus made a more definitive move than throwing his hands away.

"Get out of here now," Klaus spoke in a sharp tone, trying to keep it quiet so as to not get *as* many stares at they could end up getting. "This..." /Fuck./ Yes, it was that, too, wasn't it? But the story he'd had so well prepared had completely fled him when it was needed!

"It's all right, sir," Z said quietly as he saw Dorian wince. "I was pretty sure it was so. So is A. We can keep a secret, though..."

"Z..." Klaus's expression looked torn between a sheer *fit* and just giving up entirely. "We weren't here. I still don't even know where here is."

"Of course, sir," Z said sadly. "I'm sorry if I've interrupted anything..."

"No," Dorian told him. "It's all right."

Well, he'd certainly interrupted Klaus's nerves. "Just sit down, Z. Before we get kicked out of this fucking place."

"I didn't mean to upset you," Z said, seating himself, "only you seemed so open and happy and I thought, maybe..."

Klaus took another long sip of tart water, the cool liquid sliding down his throat calming him by degrees. "What did you think, Z?"

The blond man coughed slightly, shrugging broad shoulders. "Well, I suppose I was hoping you and Eroica had come to an understanding, sir," he replied, glancing over at the rather remarkably silent Earl of Gloria.

Klaus noticed the silence, too, and beneath the table put one broad hand on Dorian's knee, glad of the intimate little table. "I think we have." /But it's not really your business./

Z gave a little sigh. "Good. I'm glad. Actually, ah, that's sort of why I'm here. A wanted me to check and be sure that you were both all right and find out if there was anything that you needed..."

"Nothing right off-hand," Dorian offered. "We're pretty much fully stocked, I think you could say!" After all, asking for more lube would just be crass! Funny.... but crass! And Klaus was still in too good a mood to try for crass...

"And that's all?" He was always suspicious that NATO would butt into what very little time he did take for himself, even if it was just to heal...

"Yes, sir," Z said. "We, er... didn't tell home office."

"Tell home office you were coming here, or...?" His hand stayed on Dorian's knee, and gave a gentle squeeze.

"That I was coming. The other is none of their business," he said solemnly, enjoying the flash of a grin that got him.

"Darling, EVERYTHING is their business, or so they'd tell you, hmmm, Major?" the tall blond teased.

It got him a snort, but Klaus's mood was obviously lifting. "Gut. How are things at the office?"

"An utter madhouse," Z replied. "But nothing worse than usual. After all... it's ALWAYS an utter madhouse..."

"No missions? They haven't tried to put a temp in my office, have they?"

"Well...."

/LIE!/ Dorian thought, already seeing where this would go. /Or at least don't say YES!!!/

"Yes. Major Khushrenada's been taking care of things..."

"Major *Khushrenada*?" Klaus growled. Replaced. He hated even the thought that the chief would put anyone in the office in his stead.... because it might tempt them to replace him there permanently. "And this Major Khushrenada is...?"

"Ohhhh, *I* know him!" Dorian declared, placing the name after a moment's thought. "He's a terribly *dashing* sort of fellow, all honor! Met him at a garden convention one year. Has a yen for red roses!"

Klaus's attention snapped tighter at that mention, and he looked to both of them in a sort of simmering anger. "You've met him?" he asked Dorian flatly. Oh, wonderful!

Cerulean gaze widened angelically. "Darling, it was a garden convention. He's some sort of count from Luxembourg, and he's dreadfully odd. Bifurcated eyebrows, of all things. Had this blond and a little Chinese fellow following him around as if he was God and glaring at one another over the tea roses." Dorian shrugged. "Though I've heard it said that he's QUITE confident and very capable...."

"Yes," Z said calmly, shaking his head. "He seems to know just what he's doing..." He didn't bother mentioning that 'the blond' and 'the little Chinese fellow' had practically moved into their office...

"He had better not get too comfortable at my desk," Klaus growled, "since I'll be returning to work soon."

"Yes, sir!" Z agreed. "Everyone misses you..."

"I bet they do," the major grumbled into his water-drink, keeping under his breath, "about as much as a bomb." He knew he pissed them off regularly, and that they probably enjoyed far more this insane-sounding oddity of a major... but it was his position, had been so for over nine years now, and they were his men to terrorize!

Z was nodding firmly, though. "The new Major is scarier than you, sir. We've been having leg-crossing sessions." His expression was pained. "So far, G's the only one who can manage it, and the little Chinese guy keeps cursing at everybody."

At that, Dorian LAUGHED, unable to help himself! "Oh, *THIS* has to be a riot..."

"Leg-crossing sessions? To what purpose?!" It sounded... frivolous and idiotic! "There's papers to be filed, things to keep track of....!" He had to get back there *soon*, before the office went to hell!

"Er... he wants us to do things more elegantly, sir?" Z offered, beginning to sweat... JUST a bit.

"What a fucking idiot!" Well, Klaus seemed pleased in his own way that his replacement sounded incompetent. "I hope he knows he's just a temp."

"Oh, yes, sir!" Z said, nodding firmly. "He definitely knows!"

"I'll personally toss him out the front door when I return to duty," Klaus said with some satisfaction. He took another sip from the glass, and then sat back a little as the waiter brought the food over, plates set before he and Dorian. "Leg crossing lessons... fucking loon."

"Well, he really is a nice man, though," Dorian offered. "At least he's not abusing the Alphabets..."

"Not putting them to good, useful work is abusing them!"

Z coughed. "Er, well, sir, at least he doesn't impose TOO much beyond the leg crossing lessons..."

"What else. Tell me. I expect full documentation already in progress for this lunacy," Klaus told him firmly, picking up a knife to attack the steak newly placed before him.

"That's about it, sir," Z replied cheerfully as Dorian's supper was placed before him and his own, ordered just before they'd arrived, came as well. "Things are going smoothly, for the most part."

He was half happy to hear that, but wasn't going to admit to it. "Fine." What he'd hoped would be a private dinner was... well, obviously no longer so. Still, Dorian's foot was rubbing against his ankle and the other man was obviously happy enough, and Z was giving him news of the office. Not bad, for a vacation! It was a bit of both worlds... and when they returned home, he and Dorian would indulge in things that would probably make Z's hair curl like B's!

"Hmmm, so," Dorian said lightly, "when will you be going back to Bonn?"

"Two days. I have a room in an inn here in the village. It's really a quiet and nice place," Z smiled, looking to the major. "You're recovering well...?"

"Very well," Klaus granted, chewing on a piece of well-cooked meat.

"He's spent a lot of time in bed," Dorian agreed smoothly, resisting the urge to smirk.

Z caught the intention and blushed. "That's good..."

Oh, Dorian was going to be lucky if Klaus didn't kill him!

"I'll be able to pass a physical when I go in barely over a week, and then I won't be so limited any more," Klaus told them both.

"We aren't going in a week," Dorian said slowly. "We're not supposed to go for four more, and I really think you should keep resting...."

He could keep pressing the issue, but at this point, Klaus knew he'd never win. Dorian was so damnably persistent... "Fine. I just hate being away from duty for so long."

"Sir, you don't need to worry -- we're managing well," Z chipped in.

"See?" Dorian said, taking a bite of potato. "Everything will be just fine!"

"Three weeks, then," Klaus sighed, still not wanting to take a full four more!

"Four."

"We'll see." That effectively ended THAT conversation, and Klaus returned to trying to eat his dinner.

With a dramatic sigh, Dorian shook his head and smiled at Z. "Well? You see, he's not doing half so badly at all!"

There was a reason why he was the favorite, and it was because he could diffuse the possibility of anger from the man so firmly. "I suppose."

"At any rate," came the smiled response, "we'll be here for a while before going back. I'm sure nothing too monstrous to be handled will come up, and the presence of Major Khushrenada, while irksome in means of leg-crossing lessons, will undoubtedly not be *too* bad."

"If I need to find you, you'll still be here, though?" Z asked, taking a sip of soup.

"Yes. Here until I return to Bonn." Klaus was firm, too, that he would be returning -- unwilling to face any slight chance that he wouldn't. There was no reason to think about such a thing. "Have a good evening, Z. And thank you."

"Of course, sir," Z responded, recognizing dismissal when he heard it and rising to return to his own table, supper in hand.

"Darling, he could've finished eating with us," Dorian said lightly. "It wouldn't have been so horrible, would it have?"

"I'm trying to not think of work," Klaus told Dorian firmly, "And trying to relax. With Z, I cannot help but think only of work."

That gained him a smile and a distinctly pleasure-promising gleam came into those gorgeous eyes as Dorian leaned forward. "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" he murmured, lips turning up in what was a very distinct little smirk.

"This is the only time I can remember taking leave and not spending the entire time trying to return to work." Not that he hadn't planned on going back early, but still... this was a very enjoyable vacation! He ate a little more, finishing the plate, and he picked up the bitter water. "Very good."

"I'm so glad, darling," Dorian told him tenderly. "Truly. Completely..."

"Are you done?" Klaus asked after a moment of finding himself so fully caught in the thief's eyes.

"Mmmmhmmm," Dorian replied, though a good half of his plate remained unfinished. "For now."

Klaus looked unconvinced, but didn't say anything in direct reply to it. "Then let's go." Because he wanted to have the thief back to the villa, for the sole purpose of making him scream with pleasure. The sheer alacrity with which Dorian rose said much about his own thoughts, money tossed on the table before they headed out the door with a wave for Z to find the car.

The trip back to the small villa was quiet with the rising tension brought on by passion, and Dorian was nearly purring by the time they got there. "Well, darling," he announced finally, parking the car 'round back, "we're home!"

Klaus had been trying, the entire drive, to not start things, not until it was safe to do so, not until it was comfortable to do so... and even though the inside of a car was uncomfortable, he couldn't help but lean over to Dorian and kiss him thoroughly.

That kiss was answered with a soft groan, filled with enjoyment, wonder, excitement. The sound of Dorian's voice that way, raw with passion, sent sparks flying through Klaus's blood. He could feel one of those hands rise, press lightly to a shoulder, the other coming to tangle in strands of black hair. "Inside, darling," was the husky answer when they broke apart. "Let's go inside."

It was a pity to part from Dorian, to have to let the other man move away from him, even if it was to get out of his car door and then lock it. That left Klaus there, impatient at the back door for a moment before he realized he had keys to open that door with, and slid open the lock seconds before Dorian came up behind him.

Arms slid around him warmly for a moment, hip pressed to his rear as Dorian leaned up and nibbled lightly at an ear lobe. "Mmmmm, darling... I do love you!"

"Inside, Dorian -- bed, I think," Klaus managed to say, trying to shift the thief so that he could touch back.

"Want me?" came the thick-sounding purr, right in his ear, as if Dorian's mind was so wrapped up in him already that his mouth wouldn't quite function properly. "Want to strip me naked and make me scream your name?" he whispered. "I will, you know..."

Klaus knew with an embarrassing sort of pleasure that Dorian would, and that knowledge brought a smile and a flush to his face. "Yes...." Now, to just get the Briton to move with him from the doorway!

"Sounds... *WONDERFUL*," he was informed on the breath of a sigh as the blond man's hand trailed down an arm and over it to rest low on his belly before pressing farther, wrapping around his erection despite his trousers. "Hmmm, I suppose we should go inside now," he teased.

/I'm glad there aren't neighbors,/ Klaus thought with a startle. "Yes. Inside, Dorian..." A slight twist, and he got one arm around the infuriatingly flexible man.

With a laugh, Dorian pushed the door farther open and lightly prodded Klaus into the darkness of the kitchen, flicking on a light before locking the door carefully behind them. "I don't know if I can wait to get to the bed," he teased, moving close behind the German man. "Mmmm, Klaus, let's hurry, hm?"

"I could hurry... if you would move your hand," Klaus murmured, giving Dorian's slender waist a little yank.

"I like it right... where... it is," Dorian whispered, leaning up to kiss him as he added pressure to the hand that was fondling Klaus through the khaki material. "Hmmm..."

Klaus did, too, but did he want to admit that aloud? No choice, because a breath of a moan escaped as he pulled Dorian close. The need to show his affections, his need of the other man was so overwhelming at times... And the conversation at dinner, that spark of enraged jealousy, hadn't helped the need. Soon Dorian found himself nearly crushed against Klaus's chest, caught up in a passionate kiss that he didn't fight in the least!

"Let's do it here, right here," Dorian whispered breathlessly. "On the floor, just fuck me now, darling, I'll die if I don't feel you soon!!" His fingers were rapidly working loose the button of Klaus's trousers and the zipper wasn't a moment's worry as it was flicked open, allowing him the opportunity to slide past white underwear and grasp that thick, hot erection in his fingers.

It felt to Klaus as if he would never accustom himself to those fiery and manipulative fingers that Dorian used on him. Floor... /It's carpeted./ A brief thought to remember, as he started to unbutton Dorian's shirt and pants. "You're mine, Dorian.."

"Yes!" came the husky agreement as the other man worked on getting Klaus naked, as well. "I belong to no man but you, ever. I'll always be yours, darling, forever, I swear it, please..."

Intricate pleading that only made Klaus want more to show his agreement. Showing was so much more effective for him than saying it, than swearing those things Dorian did with seeming ease. "Ja." He finally slid his hands beneath Dorian's pants, finding his lover without underwear again. Not that it was unusual, but it was pleasing as he lowered Dorian to the carpet.

"My darling Klaus," came the whispered words, so sweet to him, to his ears and to every part of him, hands stroking wildly now, though one always came back to his erection, rubbing, teasing, lightly prying. "Oh, I love you, I've always loved you, please, quickly, I *must* have you soon, I *must*!"

As if he hadn't had Klaus's strength within him the day before... but it was such a pleasure to be had after so long a wait!

There was no hesitation now, now that they were alone and it was a safe place for them to indulge. Klaus blanketed Dorian in a rush, bare skin sliding against skin. The German moved down quickly, too, tugging open Dorian's shirt to kiss against his chest. "Can you?"

"Yes!" came the cry, saliva-slick fingers moving to caress turgid flesh. "Yes, God, please!"

A moment wasted to let Dorian slick him as best he could, and then Klaus drew back from Dorian's fingers, to place himself at the entrance to the Briton's body. Pulsing there for a short, short moment, Klaus's control failed him and he gave too little warning before he surged into Dorian's tightness, almost painful for him. "Ah!"

The cry that came in response cracked in his ear, the blond thief's arms tightening around his shoulders almost impossibly even as the rest of Dorian's body tried to relax, little whimpers spilling loose from thick in his throat. "K....la...us!!!!!!" Oh, how he clenched around that throbbing erection, entire body shivering with a strange pained bliss that almost seemed to sing along his nerves!

It was frightening for Klaus how much of a need to posses there was within him, a need to claim and keep Dorian as his for years and years to come. Once he'd faced the horror of wanting and needing the thief so badly, Klaus found comfort in those needs, in Dorian's voice, body and mind, all of which spoke straight to his unchilled heart. He could barely wait for Dorian to adjust to his intrusion, already starting to take small, pleasure giving rocks within that clenching shudder.

"Please... yes...!!" They were panted breaths in his ear, the tight hold letting up as Dorian moaned, a sound that was enough to push him to utter heights of pleasure in and of itself. A steady upward shift of a hip gave him permission and the blond man gasped as he pulled out and pushed back into him again. "Oh, GOD!"

There was nothing in the world that could compare to the pleasure of Dorian; to knowing that those sounds of delight and joy were coming from Dorian because of him; to knowing that Dorian loved him and wanted him. "Yes..." A growled exclamation as he snapped his hips forwards again, surging back into wonderful heat, only to jerk nearly all the way out again, trying to find the angle that would hit inside of Dorian perfectly.

A sharp yell of pleasure told him when he found it, the entirety of Dorian's body arching up off of the floor, eyes shut tightly as he clung to Klaus. "Oh, God, *YES*!" he wailed, cock rubbing between their bellies, lower lip bitten tightly as one particularly deep thrust almost hurt. "MMMM!!!!"

It didn't stop Klaus, though -- it only encouraged him, body rocking forward into Dorian's like waves beating against a cliff. Relentless, bent on reaching the top... "Nearly, nearly..." And then it was there, for both of them, Dorian yelling and clamping down around him with an unbearable pressure that made it a necessity for him to come explosively, spilling deep into that tight vise even as the blond drew him close, sobbing out with the power of his orgasm.

The little ship Klaus had been in just smashed itself into the cliff, roughly. He didn't care that he was being dashed to bits by the pleasure that overcame him when he spilled into Dorian's clenching, coaxing body. He was wanted there, needed... "Gott!"

"I've died," Dorian decided dreamily some moments later. "It's the only possible explanation for the sheer bliss of being in your arms this way..."

"We just... on the floor... without..." Ah, he'd probably hurt Dorian! But he wouldn't say it. Instead, he just carefully pulled out, gathering Dorian into his arms. "'s good. 's always good and perfect, Dorian."

The little hiss the thief gave said much, but his kisses weren't any less sweet when they came. "Let's go to bed, darling," he whispered. "I want to make love with you all night..."

"You're hurt," he murmured, standing up and pulling Dorian up with him. If it hadn't been for his chest, Dorian was sure he would have been shouldered and lifted, carried the way there.

"It only hurt a little," Dorian told him, which was something of a fib. It had actually hurt quite a bit at first, but that was quickly abandoned in favor of utter pleasure. "I'll be fine, Klaus..."

The German man was still frowning as he led Dorian into the bedroom, and pulled back sheets to pull them both down into. "I didn't mean to."

"Kiss me, you mad, mad man," Dorian told him softly, raising his arms to wrap them around Klaus's neck. "Kiss me, and in a moment, I'll show you what it is that you do to me that drives me so very wild."

"Huhh...." Contemplation was pushed aside in favor of good, swift action -- Klaus did kiss Dorian, the blond already seated on their bed, canted slightly on a hip.

"Climb in, darling," came the whisper, accompanied by nibbling kisses. "Hmm..."

A knee first put on the bed, and then he shifted in entirely, moving Dorian in with him so that they could both lay down and touch, the kisses barely stopping at all, and soon they were tangled together and getting hard again, erections rising slowly to press close together.

"My darling," Dorian sighed, nuzzling at him. "Hmmm, nothing could be better than being here with you."

"'m glad you dragged me off here," Klaus told him, kissing at any skin he could reach, still ravenous for touch. "You do things to me... that I didn't think could be done..." Drove him utterly wild, instead of just utterly angry and raving mad.

The almost-purred response sent gooseflesh chasing up and down him. "Just wait," Dorian told him, a hand lightly caressing across the still slightly sticky flesh of Klaus's cock. "Just *wait*, Klaus."

"Just... wait? For what?" Klaus dared to ask, arching his body towards those fingers.

"For more, darling," his lover whispered. "For more."

"More what?" Anticipation and Klaus had never gotten along well -- waiting needlessly had never gotten along well with him and in that moment, he wanted to know!

As Dorian's mouth found his skin, tracing down his belly already, slim firm body sliding between his legs, it was almost more than he could bear! "More pleasure, darling," came the groan as hands slid beneath him, lightly kneading his buttocks. "For more of *everything*..."

"Oh, God..." *That*. The thing that would completely seal Klaus's sexuality if he gave in, yet... he'd been doing it to Dorian, and fair was fair... "Show me... why you enjoy that, Dorian. I want to know."

"I'll make it so good for you, darling," he was told simply, body raised slightly, lips pressed to his inner thighs, working their way upward. "Oh, God, yes..." Klaus shifted, moving a leg so it would fall over Dorian's shoulder when the man straightened up again. As it was, those teasing lips crept over his skin like a caterpillar would, so very rhythmically and slowly, leaving him nothing but good shivers as a tongue furled out slowly and sought between the firm flesh of his cheeks, probing lightly for the tiny hole there. "Mmmmm..."

"Ah! What're you doing!?!" A warning would have been good for Klaus, because he startled completely, half sitting up.

"I'm going to pleasure you, darling," Dorian told him huskily. "Lay back. It's all right.."

"Dorian that's..." Disgusting, but it had felt good in that brief moment of shock. "It's...!"

"Hush, darling," Dorian whispered, head going back down. "Hush. It will be all right..."

"Nein, ohhh, Gott...." It should have felt terrible, but it didn't -- the almost slither of Dorian's tongue against his nether entrance, and then the way it stabbed in a little, just enough to make his back stiffen with the strange shiver it send through him. Was that good, or bad to feel... feel the head of his cock weeping a little with each strange caress?

Little sounds came from his lover, as much a part of him and who he was as anything else. If Dorian wasn't making noise, it wasn't a good sign, and the sheer audible enjoyment only hiked the pleasure up higher, if that was possible. The tongue teasing at him was slowly replaced with a fingertip, one that pressed just inside of him, teasing and light. "Is that all right, darling?" came the distinctly husky question, eager to please.

"Ohhh, fuck, *fuck*..." Klaus's hard panted swearing, though, wasn't protesting -- it was nearly ecstatic, trying to both escape that strange, intimate feeling of being invaded, and get more just to see what it felt like.

"There, darling," Dorian whispered, sliding up, one hand reaching for the lube that had been stuffed under a pillow at some point. Klaus could feel that slender digit, magically nimble, working its way deeper inside of him. "Shhh, it's all right, tell me if I do something that you don't like, hmmm?" Those words were accompanied by light nibbles at the side of his neck, teasing and slow. "Hmmm..."

"'s strange," Klaus gritted out, trying to not moan at the strange feel of it. He hitched his hips up just a little towards Dorian's probing touch. "'s good. Oh, 's *good*..." So good it was starting to make sense why Dorian enjoyed it so much...

The lube was fumbled open and the finger was removed from him to smear it and the one next to it with the stuff before the first slid back in quickly, easily, almost shiveringly good and fast. "Hmmmm, darling," Dorian sighed, kissing him. "My dearest love...

"'re going... to be inside of me...?" Klaus asked, in a hazed drawl of voice. Dorian was already partly inside of him, wasn't he? Just a finger, and that felt so foreign... "'s okay?"

"It will be just fine," Dorian promised, kissing him sweetly as that finger lightly stroked over the vaguely spongy spot for which he'd been searching.

Against his lips the most delightful moan was smothered as Klaus registered and reacted to Dorian's manipulation of that spot. It was a completely new loss of control at Dorian's hands, the way just brushing that spot made his cock throb and beg for attention, strange pleasure shooting though him as he clutched Dorian close in desperation. "Dorian, Dorian..."

"Yes, my love," the blond man whispered, lips caressing tenderly over his face. "I know, love. I know..." The second finger slid into him then, slowly, just as slick as the first and prying tenderly to open him farther. "Oh, God, darling, I want you so much!"

"It... aches... everywhere." And not a bad ache, either, from the way Klaus was shifting against Dorian, hard cock rubbing slickly against Dorian's body as Klaus sought contact. It was granted, too, easily enough, even as Dorian began to thrust his fingers just a bit roughly, opening him, making way for the larger burden of his own erection in short moments to come; after all, he wasn't certain he could hold himself back for much longer, so badly did he want to be inside of his German lover! "More, Dorian," Klaus asked in a rough voice, hips moving eagerly now for what was to come. Would it hurt more than the strange ache of fingers?

"I can't wait any longer, darling," Dorian husked, the tube open again and his hand moving now to slick himself thoroughly. "I just can't wait. Kiss me," he demanded, slipping between the other man's thighs and lightly tugging at them to bring both raised and further apart.

Splayed open and as vulnerable as Klaus would ever get, Klaus wrapped both arms around Dorian's shoulder and neck, pulling him down for a rough kiss. "Now, Dorian, before I..." Back out, panic even a little, or come from the thought of what Dorian was going to do.

He felt a slick nudge, and Dorian kissed him again even as he whispered, "Push out for me, darling, like you would if you were going to try and keep me out of you, hmmm?"

That didn't make sense -- how would trying to keep Dorian out help him in? -- but Klaus pushed out as he felt the slick, blunt object press against his entrance. Dorian's cock, trying to get inside of him, just as he'd been inside of Dorian so many times now...

With that pressure, it was easier to press inside, the head of his cock pushing against the ring and winning inside of him, Dorian stopping right there with every bit of iron-clad will that he possessed. "Oh... ohhh, *GOD*!!" It was so incredibly tight that it almost had a strangle-hold on him and he shuddered, knowing that he couldn't move -- not yet! "Unh!!"

Which was good for Klaus, whose eyes had startled wide at the intrusion and its accompanying jolt of pain. He hadn't thought it would feel like there was so much inside of him! Worse, he couldn't even see how far inside of him Dorian was, just that the first jolt had been enough to make him cry out in startlement.

"Shhh, shhh," Dorian whispered, hands stroking over him lightly. "Oh, God, darling, you're exquisite. Relax for me, take a deep breath..." Ohh, kissing Klaus was delicious, being inside of him was even better, and Dorian knew that if he died in that moment, he'd die a happy man! "My darling, it's all right..."

Deep breath... no, deep breaths still hurt, and that wouldn't have been a wise idea. Still, he did suck in air, shuddering for a moment as the pain rose and then began to fade. "Hurts... 's strange... 're stuck?"

"Just holding still, darling," Dorian promised. "Tell me when it doesn't hurt as much and I'll move a bit more, all right??"

"Ja..." His face was tight for a few more moments, and it felt like it would *never* feel better, so Klaus just shifted a little, and felt more of that strange sensation that was more like pleasure. "'t hurts, still... but move..."

With a slow shift forward, Dorian penetrated him deeply, kissing him the entire while, stealing away the little whimpers and sobs and moans that Klaus gave. His hands stroked the other man's sides, teasing, light, and ultimately tender. "Mmmm, darling," he whispered, shivering. "You feel so good..."

"'s it get better?" Klaus asked unsteadily, shifting his head a little to take and get more kisses -- because where Dorian was joined with him was a source of steady discomfort, even if it was starting to improve slightly. But he'd done it at last, taken Dorian into him, and it was at least bearable, if nothing else.

"Much better, darling," Dorian promised, leaning down to bite gently at his throat before pulling out, shifting angles, and pushing back in again, very carefully.

A ragged moan, and Klaus arched his body up against Dorian's, clutching him close. Once the initial pain was shifting, Dorian was quickly realizing that even sex with Klaus on the bottom was something like mating with a dangerous animal, and it was utterly and completely delicious.

"Is that better, darling?" Dorian nearly groaned, thrusting again, finding the nub of pleasure that resided inside of him with the tip of his erection on that push inward.

The clench of heat around him and the fact that Klaus was finally lifting his hips up and towards him for more was answer enough. "Nnn, 's good," Klaus panted, shivering with each even faint rub against that spot.

"Yes," Dorian whispered in his ear, moving slowly, the sheer feel of Klaus's tight ring of muscle steadily clutching around him more than enough to make him almost abandon all sense of decorum and care. Still, he clung to it, clung to himself and to Klaus both to keep from losing it, and loved him slowly, tenderly. "My God..."

Words were too far from Klaus's grasp as he fell into a slow, aching rhythm with his lover -- a steady, rolling pull and thrust, his cock rubbing relentlessly against the thief's flat stomach. He wanted more, to race towards the precipice he was nearing quickly, but didn't want it to end yet! "Mmmnn."

Quickened thrust of hip and throbbing erection followed, Dorian shuddering as he pressed deep into Klaus and withdrew, doing his best to make it good, perfect. A hand slipped between them, taking his lover's stiff flesh in hand and stroking it quickly, in time with each motion, pushing Klaus even farther towards orgasm, his own more than eminent.

The hand on his cock was what threw him over the edge, soaring into a blissful feeling of being completely lost in pleasure. Dorian was all around him, it felt like -- above and in him, against him...

When Klaus came, it was exquisite. He became even tighter, though it had seemed impossible to Dorian, at best, leaving him gasping, groaning, and thrusting deep until he followed, shuddering with the impossible wonderfulness of it all, too much to bear, too much to think on or to do anything more than feel utterly to the depths of his bones. "UNH!"

The fog slowly rolled away, and Klaus was aware of two things -- being utterly unable to catch his breath, and holding Dorian very, very close, not wanting to let go. That was what it was like, then? Now it made sense why the thief had been so eager to have him inside of him, and why Dorian cherished the act so much. There was a frightening intimacy to it. "'m Dori'n."

"What, darling?" the blond man asked hazily, leaning up on his elbows, still panting slightly, the resistance of Klaus's arms keeping him close. "What did you say?"

He hated to know that if he answered Dorian he'd lose the man's presence against him, and within him. " 'nhaler... can't..." A thousand curse-words rose on his tongue, to accompany that short-breathed phrase, but they'd have to wait to be said.

"I'll be right back!" And then he was gone from Klaus's warm flesh, but only momentarily, and not very far. He was back in a flash, inhaler in hand and ready for use. "Here, darling. Breathe deeply, if you can..."

Klaus hated the stinging cool feeling it spread within his chest after the requisite two inhales, but also recognized the relief and ability to breathe it brought with it. He coughed a little as he gave it back to Dorian, arms already coming up to catch the Briton in his grasp. "Danke."

"Who knew I was such an excellent thief as to even steal away your breath, my Iron Major?" Dorian teased with more than a little concern, pressing his lips along Klaus's jawline.

"You've tired me out," Klaus told Dorian, which was quite an accomplishment even then, to run Klaus out of energy. "That was..." There was no word he could find, only a smile for it as he stroked a hand along Dorian's back, absently trying to find the edge of the sheets to pull them up over them. "Today's been a good day."

"And it will only get better, darling," Dorian promised, kissing him again. "Hmmm, we'll have forever together..."

Forever. Quite the thought to follow Klaus into lazy slumber, drifting off with Dorian held tight in his arms.

Yes, they had a lot of time to make up for.

~~~~~

Breakfast was almost ready in the form of scrambled eggs and toast when the knock came on the front door. "Now who could that be?" Dorian asked himself, shutting off the heat beneath the eggs and wiping off his hands before moving to answer it.

Klaus had gotten up slowly that morning, done a little exercise, jogged a few laps around the villa, and only casually glanced up as Dorian moved to get the door.

What Dorian hadn't expected, however, was for it to be Z standing at the door. "Good morning, Lord Gloria. Can I talk with you for a moment? And... the Major?"

"Of course, Z," Dorian said with surprise. "Do come in. I was making breakfast, so perhaps you'd care to join us?"

"Uhm, no, but thank you," Z said, sounding a bit on edge. "We need you at the office for a mission, Lord Gloria."

"*Now*?" came the question, a blond brow raising slowly. "It can't wait?"

"No. Major Khushrenada already put it off for too long," Z said, as Dorian let him enter the villa. "We need you immediately. But... not the Major."

White teeth nibbled firmly at Dorian's lower lip. "In that case, I suppose it'll have to be all right. So long as the Major isn't brought back yet... he isn't well," he told Z solemnly, "despite everything."

Z gave Dorian a questioning look for a moment, but nodded. "We have to go to America -- the capital. It's a long mission, but if--"

"What's going on?" Klaus demanded flatly, suddenly standing in the kitchen doorway in front of them, very aware of what was going on.

"Let's eat breakfast," Dorian said firmly. "We can talk about it over that, and then do whatever needs doing."

Z was firmly aware, however, that Klaus was impatient when he felt left out of the loop, and that the Major was very soon going to be far out of the loop. "Sir, Lord Gloria's presence is required on a mission. Immediately."

"Surely it can wait for breakfast!" Dorian said again. He *didn't* want to leave Klaus, mission or no mission, and he was dammit all going to at least have breakfast before he left!

"Probably not," Klaus snorted, a tone that Dorian could obviously tell was an unhappy one. "I'll help you pack." It was a strange, detached way that he told Dorian that, as if already shutting himself in again -- Dorian hadn't seen him like that since the first days after the mission that had begun everything.

/I don't *want* to go and leave you!/ Dorian wanted to shout, but he resisted, shoulders slumping slightly. "All right," he said calmly. "Have a seat, Z. I'll be back shortly."

Nodding, Z sat down at the kitchen table, as Klaus tromped down the hallway towards their bedroom. Well, soon to be his. With Dorian leaving, he might as well leave, too. Head back to the Schloss and finish recovering there until he could pass his physical. A mission -- a mission that didn't have him. No, Z hadn't come to get him for this urgent mission. He'd come to get Dorian. Would the thief be working with the other major on it? Doubtlessly. Why couldn't they have found another contact for the job? And why not include *him*?

That stung the worst, and Dorian could sense that pure unhappiness as Klaus pulled Dorian's suitcase out of the closet for him. "I'll be going to the Schloss within the next day or so."

"I don't want to leave without you," Dorian told him miserably, shaking his head. "I don't want to go."

"It's a mission," Klaus told him, handing the Earl his suitcase, moving carefully. "You'll be fine."

"But you won't be with me," came the sad response.

"Z will make sure you're all right," Klaus said stiffly, moving after a moment to get his own suitcase out, too. A horrible sense of being just worthless as an agent was latching onto him -- even Dorian was worth dragging out of a state of absence, but Klaus? Replaced by an idiot and kept out of information. "I'll drive your car up to the Schloss."

Unable to help himself, Dorian moved forward, wrapping his arms tightly about Klaus's shoulders. "I love you, darling. I don't want to go without you..."

"You'd damn well better come back, in one piece," Klaus said gruffly, words muffled against Dorian's hair as he clutched the other man close for a moment. "'ll be back on duty again as soon as possible..."

"NOT 'til you're well," Dorian bossed, sighing slightly. "I'll be so miserable without you. I'll be back as soon as I can..."

"Go to the Schloss when it's over," Klaus uttered, closing his eyes for a moment. Emotional attachment to anything hurt eventually... only, he didn't need the hurt for Dorian going to combine with so many other hurts at once.

"I'll be back quickly," Dorian said again, holding him a bit more tightly. "I love you, darling. I do. I'll be back as soon as I can..."

"I know." Klaus was glad of that tight press, and then mumbled in quiet English against Dorian's golden locks of hair, "Love you, too."

"I'm so glad, darling," Dorian whispered, kissing him tenderly. "I'm so glad..."

It had taken only a slight turn for Dorian, and a lifting of his head, to catch Klaus's lips in his, and once he had, Klaus was reluctant to stop. "You need to pack. And leave before I decide you aren't going."

"Yes, darling," Dorian said sadly, pulling away. "I'll be back before you know it..."

A stiff nod from Klaus, as the dark-haired man let out a tight breath, and then opened Dorian's suitcase for him. "I'm sure you will."

"All right," he sighed. "I suppose I have to get this over with." That decided, Dorian began to pack -- everything from the clothing he'd brought that Klaus would have dubbed 'normal' to the rest, which included his catsuit. This was done in silence, until finally, there was nothing left. "That's it," he said softly.

"I wish we'd had more time," Klaus sighed, rubbing his temple a little as he watched Dorian hoist up the case. Then again, such expectations were sheer idiocy. He was a spy, and Dorian worked with him. Solitude was not their lot in life.

"Soon, darling," Dorian promised him. "Soon."

Yes, soon.

Z and Dorian parted within short minutes from the villa, but only after Klaus had taken one last private moment to kiss Dorian. Then he packed his own belongings, took his medication, and laid down for a nap. If he left after the nap, he'd be at the Schloss the next day.

~~~~~~

"What a perfectly dreary place," Dorian muttered as they headed into the hotel in Washington DC. "Honestly, without the Major, I'd have expected something at least a LITTLE better, Z, darling..."

"We aim for being inconspicuous," Z sighed. "Major Khushrenada... We need Major Eberbach for this. An artillery ring... is something he could infiltrate!"

Dorian was already shaking his head, though. "He's still not well. You might as well go ahead and introduce me to your Major Khushrenada," he said with a sigh. "I hope he's at least half as good... I'm not ready to die yet."

"Not a third. No one could be," Z sighed, getting out of his chair without his usual perky crispness. "He's in a room down the hall..."

"And waiting for me, I don't doubt," Dorian replied.

"He's been eager to meet the man that the famed Iron Klaus worked with for so many years," Z said, wincing the very moment that he was speaking about Klaus in past tense.

Eroica sighed. "Let's get it over with, then, because I've got a miserable case of jetlag and I want to be in bed as quickly as possible, hm? Tell me he doesn't have THEM with him?"

Z gave Dorian a look over his shoulder that was almost a manic *grin*. "The chief made him leave them at home."

"Oh, thank goodness!" came the declaration. "The little cursing one is utterly *terrifying* when you're tense, darling, really, I pricked my fingers at that rose conference because of him!"

"I nearly shot my leg off," Z agreed in a sigh. "Worse than James."

"And very few people are worse than *James*," Dorian agreed. "Well, let's do it... what d'you need me for, anyway?"

"To break into the Pentagon," Z said with hesitance, looking over at Dorian nervously as he guided him down a hall, and keyed open the door to the Major's room.

"My, my," Dorian said softly just as he walked into the room.

So that was why they wanted no other thief for the job.

"Lord Gloria! Good to see you!" a familiar voice purred at him, as Major Khushrenada unfolded himself from a comfortable chair.

"Hello, Major," Dorian greeted, moving forward smoothly. "How lovely to see you again, and I see you've gained a different sort of entourage, hm?"

"It seems so -- did Major Eberbach *really* need so many men?" Khushrenada asked him curiously, standing up smoothly and offering a hand to shake. "Sit down, sit down."

"They're the best in the business, really," Dorian said, seating himself once he'd shaken hands appropriately. "They're very good, and I'm sure he really DOES need all of them.."

"I suppose," Khushrenada sniffed. "After this mission, I'm rotating out again. Word is, Eberbach's retiring...?"

That seemed to surprise the thief, his posture shifting slightly. "No, only recuperating," he said firmly. "If he were retiring, then so would I be. I usually only contract for Eberbach. This is a special case, however."

"Really?" Khushrenada perked up, then laughed softly, shifting to cross his legs. "Rumor has been that he's dying. Lung cancer and a sheer stroke of injury."

"They cut it all out," Dorian said, shaking his head. "That's what we were told, anyway..." Sudden worry filled him, and he KNEW he was in the wrong place. He should have been with Klaus, at Schloss Eberbach, or still in the villa, and not here!! "Shall we go into the details of the mission? I'd like to get this done as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry, chap, but this is a definitely long mission we have ahead of us -- we've got at least three weeks of surveillance to do, and you must be here for every moment of it."

With a sigh, Eroica gave in. "All right. Let's just go to work, then. I have other places I need to be much more desperately..."

~~~~~

Klaus desperately, terribly hated doctors. NATO doctors in particular, because he'd seen more of them than any other sort in his lifetime.

Only a week had passed, since he'd driven himself back to the Schloss -- against better judgement, but he made it -- and now he stood in his underwear in front of a complete stranger while the man inspected the incision on his chest.

"Hmmmm...this seems to be looking all right, considering. Bit of a ham-handed job, but those Frogs are like that." The doctor was a grizzled old fellow with all the bedside manner of a Doberman.

"When can I return to duty?" Klaus asked him flatly, not bothering ot put up a pretense.

"Well, that's what we're here to talk about, then, hm? All right. Might as well tell you, the doctors in France found some more cancerous tissue when they opened you up. They sent us some of the bloodwork, and the results aren't good, Major," the doctor said as gently as he could manage, which wasn't very much so.

"Why the *fuck* did no one tell me?!" Klaus snarled suddenly.

"You weren't well enough for what few treatments we've got. The treatment's as likely to kill you as the disease," the doctor admitted. "Now that you're well enough, we've got a few options. Chemotherapy, radiation. The chances are maybe forty percent."

"Of what? Dying, or living?"

"Living."

"With treatment? And without... I have none?"

"Yes." That was said softly, almost gently.

There was no dignity in dying of cancer. There was no dignity in the treatments, either, but what else was there for him to do? The doctor could hear Klaus draw in a shaking breath, looking at the ceiling. He wasn't going to die in the field. He was going to die a slow, painful, waste of a death in some hole of a hospital bed.

It was a nightmare sprung to life, yet he grasped tightly to his one hope. It sounded almost desperate when he asked the doctor, "And which treatment will return me to the field the fastest?"

Didn't he realize that it would take him at least another year to recover enough, if he survived at all? Or was this just a sheer show of stubbornness from one of NATO's most stalwart agents?

"I doubt that you will ever be able to do so," the doctor told him slowly. "Your health will not ever be the same again. Both treatments will be necessary if we're to have any hope of your ever being well again."

"When do we start it, then?" Klaus asked without missing a beat, as he finally met the doctor's eyes with a flat blank gaze. Human tank, just like he was rumored to be -- if anyone could recover and get back on the field, it was Klaus.

"We'll begin tomorrow. It's going to make you very sick...is there someone who can take care of you?" He needed to know that before he outlined all of the procedures...

Was there...? At the moment, no, but later... still, only a maybe. "There might be," Klaus answered vaguely, before pinning the Doctor with a hard gaze. "I have servants. Just tell me."

"Since the lobectomy, we've discovered that cancer still remains in your lungs, Major. Now, what that means is that we'll have to do chemotherapy and radiation..." /And pray,/ the doctor thought. "What this amounts to in simple terms is that chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body...."

~~~~~

"WHY can't I call my team? *WHY* can't I call and check on Klaus!?" Dorian demanded, almost snarling. "This bloody mission is going nowhere fast and I absolutely INSIST that I need to call them!"

"The American Government, Lord Gloria, has this entire city wired. Traced. Backwards and forwards. You breathe a stray *thought* across that phone, if they even can identify your voice, or who you're talking to, and this entire mission is shot to hell," Major Khushrenada explained calmly to him.

Dorian was beginning to truly HATE that fork-browed freak, but he knew the man was right. "God, this is awful. When can we do the job, again?"

"Three weeks, I think?" Khushrenada asked, looking over to Z. "Yes, that's when the window's there and all of the information will be in one place. Can't risk you having to hit more than one target in a building like that..."

With a groan, the blond fell back onto the rumpled bed of the room in which they often stayed crammed, planning and plotting. "You said three weeks two weeks ago!" he sighed. "This is surreal..." /I HAVE to get back to Klaus!/

"There was a delay," A uttered unhappily, getting up to pace again. "If any more happen..."

"If any more happen, I'll be bloody crazy by the time we get out of here," Dorian muttered.

"Or we'll abort the mission," Z said stiffly. It had never been done before, but with each delay the risk grew more... "The Major wouldn't be happy to hear that, but--"

"Excuse me, but *I* am your commanding officer for the duration of this mission," Khushrenada snapped at Z. "Major Eberbach will not be returning to duty."

"What makes you so bloody goddamned certain?" Eroica bit out, sitting up so that his turquoise glare could find the other man unerringly. "Why is it that you keep saying that, hm?? Do you know something the rest of us don't?"

"Because I keep in contact with Bonn for developments," he snapped. "Major Eberbach's getting treatment in hospital for lung cancer."

Immediately, he realized that there was a reason why the Chief had told him to not tell everyone that information. A cacophony of voices broke out, every agent in the room shouting and speaking at once, Z turning slightly as he looked at the thief on the bed, A moving quickly close by it.

Dorian's face was purely white, so very ashen that his eyes almost seemed to glow from them, pupils cascading down to pinpoints as he looked across the way, gaze remaining fixed even when Khushrenada moved. "No," he finally said low in his throat, faintly. "No. I have to go home. I have to go back to Germany. I can't... I can't..."

"Do you really think a dying man who detests you would want you at his side?" Khushrenada snorted. "The mission is important. You must remain until it's over."

The sight of Eroica sitting there, pale and trembling, unnerved A and Z more than a bit, but how could any of them say anything -- even when he paled further, golden lashes sweeping to cover tear-filled eyes that couldn't help but leak?

"I'm sorry." With that, Khushrenada left the room.

"Sorry doesn't cover it," A muttered, the room utterly silent as the thief dropped his head forward, trying to pull himself together, a hand coming up to cover a face utterly shamed.

"In this state, Eroica's not going to do anyone any good," B agreed.

"B..." Z warned the other agent, moving to sit beside Dorian. "Lord Gloria...? Are you all right?"

"He didn't seem so badly sick when we left, did he, Z?" Dorian whispered. "He wasn't. He didn't. I would have known, wouldn't I have? I should have... I didn't want to come here..."

"He seemed fine, Lord Gloria -- there was no way to know..." Z was trying, but even so, it still sounded strained.

That golden head didn't lift, though. "Three more weeks...."

Agents were abandoning the room like rats from a sinking ship when B drew in a deep breath. "Well, the papers are in three different rooms. It'd be hell to get them all out together..."

~~~~~

"'s it normal for my veins to turn that color?" Klaus asked blandly, arm held out for the nurse as she prepared an injection for him. They'd given him a regimen of two chemo treatments a week, and a radiation treatment once every week, until his body needed to rest from it all.

So far, symptoms hadn't been enough to make him miserable. Then again, most of them had been preempted amongst great protesting. His hair, for one, had been cut hellishly short -- shorter than A's hair. But Doctors had assured him that the stress of having such wonderful long hair fall out in chunks or constant strands would have been worse than just cutting it.

The fatigue was dragging him and just when it felt like his energy caught back up with him, he was in for another treatment. Nausea was something completely different -- he didn't feel like eating, and ate little in response. The hysterical old butler had taken to leaving little plates of food in places that Klaus spent a lot of time in, in hopes that he'd eat more.

Dorian... would probably do the same thing, whenever he came back from the mission.

"I'm afraid so," the nurse told him with that peculiar false cheer that health professionals often adopted. "Comes with the territory, you know. It'll all go away once we're done with the chemo." THAT would be when he was better, or when it was decided they could go no further.

"'m going to have more holes than a druggie," he growled as she swabbed the spot with betadine first. "How can you be so cheerful?"

"It's a way to get through the day," she told him. "Besides, hadn't you rather see someone smiling at you than scowling? All things considered, it's better to smile and be cheerful than be unhappy all of the time."

"I'd like for once for some doctor to tell me when something's going wrong," he said, looking up at her with dangerous eyes for a moment, before letting them drop. "Every fucking Doctor tells me I'm okay, and then I come in for a physical and 'm not..."

The nurse just looked at him, though, and smiled again. "Well, I'm a nurse, not a doctor, and you're taking chemo, so you obviously aren't okay, but maybe this will help you to be." She adjusted the IV, eyed the bag momentarily and nodded. "Would you like some juice?"

Before he felt sick to his stomach... "Yes." There were others who'd come in for the same sort of treatment, and they usually had a friend or a loved one to sit beside them and talk to while she did that. This agent had been coming in for four weeks now, though, twice a week, mostly without saying a word. He came alone and drove himself back to wherever home might have been. "Thanks."

"What kind? Today, we have apple, grape and orange juice and maybe even a little cranberry."

"Grape." He looked a little grateful for the offer of something to drink, as he settled back in the chair, trying to not watch the IV drip into his arm.

"I'll be right back," she promised, and then she left him alone to head back to the small station where the other nurses were working and fetch him his drink.

He wanted a lot more just then than a glass of grape juice; he wanted Dorian, he wanted to go back to work, he wanted to be fucking better... and he wanted a cigarette. He wanted to kick himself *hard*.

"Here you go. There's a pan here, if it makes you feel ill, all right?" the nurse said, handing him a glass of grape juice. She'd moved awfully quickly, but nurses in that particular area of the hospital often did -- if they could get a patient to eat or drink, they encouraged it, and made sure they got things to them while the patient still felt as though they might still *want* something!

Klaus held the glass in one hand, sipping slowly from the glass, eyes drifting constantly. He was restless, and the IV would take at least another hour for its slow drip to finish. After that, he'd go home and wander until he was tired again, sleep, and start all over again.

If only Dorian would call... if only he would come home... Even the Alphabet was completely out of touch, however, and it was impossible to learn anything, even with the people he still knew. The entire mission was locked up in silence, and the chance of hearing from any of them, and particularly from Dorian, was slim and none.

He hated being dependent or wanting anyone. It was weak, it was pathetic, and it left him with a void he wouldn't have even noticed having if Dorian hadn't wedged himself so deeply into his life.

He set the glass aside at last, nearly finished but not quite. Then he leaned back in the chair again to look at the ceiling and count tiles.