it’s so hard to share huckleberry icecream
whitpope. huckleabbot. ftm!dennis
lena (animal kingdom) and her uncle andrew ‘pope’ cody (animal kingdom) have relocated to pittsburgh. doctor jack abbot (the pitt) gets dennis ‘huckleberry” whitacker (the pitt) to help treat an injured pope. jack and pope are estranged brothers. jack tells dennis not to get involved. dennis tries to be good, he does! it’s not dennis’s fault that pope is a younger, hotter, felon version of jack; who is also interested in dennis.
cucking, light non-con, mentions of stalking, mentions of gore, acab. there IS smut in this. near the end and in part 2.
dennis isn’t sure who the bleeding man is who looks so much like dr jack abbot, but dennis is there and abbot is there and there’s a little girl clinging to the bleeding man’s leg.
“this is dr whitacker,” jack says, “he’s gonna help me do this.”
the man had a dislocated shoulder, a gash on his head, and a two bullet holes: one in his leg and one in his shoulder.
“no questions,” the man said, glancing once at the little girl clinging to him. “thank you.”
dennis had a theory. “what’s your name, sweetie?” dennis asked, kneeling in front of the little girl. dennis tried to coax her out. “here,” he pulled out his wallet out of his jeans—since he was off work and not in his scrubs—and pulled stickers and cash from said wallet. he offered them to her. “we’re gonna have to treat your dad and we need you gone for a few minutes, okay? there’s an ice cream shop down the road. are you old enough to know dad’s favorite ice cream?”
she nodded, looked up at her dad.
the man who looked so much like abbot smiled reassuringly. “s’okay, lena. you go. i’ll be all better when you get back.” he pushed at her back gently.
jack was already hooking up a transfusion tube to his own leg. the man definitely needed the blood.
dennis managed to coax the little girl out the door, handing her another bill and telling her to get something special for herself.
the man watched her go, more worried about her and than anything going on with himself.
“okay,” jack said, “we really need to know what happened.”
“no.”
dennis stepped in again, cutting the shirt off the man. “sorry, sir. we don’t need details about who or what or why. but we do need to know things like age, blood type, history of diseases or complications from surgery, what weapons were used, how long you’ve been injured, etc.” dennis wanted to get the full rundown. and why wasn’t this man going to a real hospital? was he related to jack?
there was a sigh. and then the man was letting them lead him to the cleared kitchen table, answering their questions. he allowed them to reset his arm, which drew a whimper and a half shed tear only. then he allowed them to put him down on the makeshift operating table, allowed them to strip him and inject numbing agents around the gun shot wounds.
he and jack were quick with the bullet wounds. thankfully they had been .22 cal and hadn’t done much damage. a graze through the right trap that was easy to sterilize and suture and a more complicated bullet in the thigh. it had gone in and out, cleanly. the man arched off the bed, teeth clenched as jack sterilized it.
“fuck,” he was whimpering, knuckles impossibly sharp through his skin as he clutched the edges of the table.
“you’re doing great, andy,” jack said, working quickly.
the gash in his head was simple. and andy? andy was able to sit up for the little girl’s return. he looked very shaken but managed a smile. she burst into tears when she saw him. still she dutifully brought the ice cream over. rocky road and cookies and cream. the little girl looked up at him from over her untouched strawberry and mint chip and said, “they didn’t have huckleberry icecream like you said they do in wyoming.”
dennis had just snipped off the thread of the last stitch in the man’s head. “huckleberry? you’re from wyoming?”
“no,” the man said drowsily, “just visited. i like huckleberry. gonna show lena one day. visit yellowstone.”
jack smiled, exhausted. he had long since disconnected his blood bag. “huckleberry, huh? you know that’s dennis’s nickname at work?”
pope eyed dennis, holding his ice cream defeatedly.
dennis smiled as caringly and as normally as he could. “let me put this in the freezer for you.” andy let him take the ice cream from him, their fingers brushing. the man had a warmth in his touch when he wasn’t under the knife. dennis fought his blush.
it was the little girl who broke the silence. “why do you and pope look the same?”
jack inhaled slowly, exhaled.
andy, pope? spoke with tenderness, “jack cody is my older brother. your uncle, too.”
dennis heard jack ask, “whose kid?”
dennis had mentally clocked out. jack cody?
“baz’s.”
“baz?”
andy said, “been a long time, bro.”
eventually he and jack made to leave, with jack promising to come back to the apartment to check on andy regularly.
dennis talked to the little girl, lena, about what her job would be. he wrote down his phone number for her in her sparkly notebook. “call me if he looks pale or runs a fever. if jack can’t be reached at night it’s because he’s at work. so if something is happening at night you’ll have to call me.”
“okay,” she murmured.
dennis had the impression she was normally more confident. he tried to pitch his voice differently. “hey, milk it, kid. make your uncle get ice cream with you every day.”
she laughed. “he already let’s me have whatever i want, since we left california.”
she didn’t seem spoiled, must have been recent. dennis tried to grin. “so he’s a good uncle?”
“he’s the best,” but the way she said it, it was so sad. she hugged herself, skinny arms reminding dennis of himself at her age.
“i’m sure he is. he looks at you like he loves you to the moon.” dennis nudged her. “just make sure he doesn’t get into any more scrapes, okay? he’s tough, but he’s in no shape to throw a punch. you’ll have to do all the fighting for at least a month.“
she looked at him, bewildered.
“oh, come on,” dennis teased. “look at you! you look just like your uncle, same intense eyes. you probably don’t even need to fight-” dennis made an i’m-watching-you gesture- “just level those cool eyes on your enemies and they’ll run, tail tucked.”
she smiled. “yeah. that usually works for him.”
she was still sad, but she also looked a bit more relaxed.
“you in school?” he asked.
she nodded.
dennis bit his lip. “you’re uncle can’t drive you to school. he has a concussion.”
she frowned. “the bus?”
“can you get in the bus list?”
“for school? yeah. but, not for monday. i can ask them on monday.”
“okay, i’ll come by and drop you off for school tomorrow. i have the day off. when does your school start?”
8am. but she wanted to be there early to read at their library.
dennis saw andy’s proud face as lena talked about all the books she was reading. he and jack were watching the two of them. dennis wasn’t sure how long they’d been watching, but both looked affectionate.
dennis refocused on lena. “it’s a twenty minute drive to school? i’ll be here at 7. does that work? you want me to bring breakfast?”
jack piped up before andy or lena could say anything. “yeah. i’ll pay for it. andrew really should be resting. come on, brother,” jack said, helping andy stand. “let’s get you to bed.”
lena looked softly after her uncles. then she perked up and turned to dennis. she was grinning a toothy grin. “can i get mcdonald’s for breakfast?”
dennis frowned. “i think your uncle needs something healthier than mcdonald’s.” she pouted and he laughed. “alright. after school we can stop for a treat if you’re good at school.”
“i have a test tomorrow,” she said excitedly. “i’m gonna ace it. then you’ll have to get me a happy meal with a toy.”
dennis grinned. “but only if you ace it!”
***
he and jack sat exhausted in jack’s truck.
“thanks,” jack said. “thank you. please don’t tell anyone.”
“i won’t.”
“i’m serious,” jack pleaded, turning in his seat. “i can’t have people poking into this.”
dennis softened. “dr. abbot. i can keep a secret.” he squeezed abbot’s hand for a moment. “you called me because you trust me. keep trusting me.”
jack let out air and sat back. “yeah. well. you were off shift.”
“so was trinity.”
“her mouth runs.”
dennis smiled. “my point.”
***
dennis picked up real breakfast burritos from a mexican food truck and was at the cody apartment by 6:35am.
pope was in the kitchen, sweating on his crutches. lena was standing quietly nearby, clearly thinking she would have to dart forward and catch him.
they both turned when they heard him enter.
“wasn’t locked,” he explained.
“what?” the bandaged man’s eyes looked at dennis and the door with a deep, intense emotion that dennis could not quite name. the rest of his face barely emoted.
dennis hefted the bags and set them on the kitchen table. “let’s eat before we head to school.”
lena brought glasses of water for everyone and coffee for the adults as andy crutched over.
dennis got lena to chatter all about school. andy was quiet. dennis wondered if it was the pain meds, maybe there too much pain. he decided to ask after he got back from dropping lena off. dennis told the gaunt man he would be back for a check up. “that okay with you, sir?”
“call me pope, or andrew. please.”
“uh, sure.”
lena piped up, bouncing out of her chair. “okay! i’m ready.” she steadied her giddiness before hugging her uncle. she buried her face in his neck and he in turn looked on the brink of tears, rubbing her back with the arm with the injured shoulder. dennis wondered if it was the pain or something else.
***
dennis returned to the cody household with groceries. he had used pope’s truck to run errands and drop lena off. it was nice to not use the bus.
pope was sitting on the couch, staring at nothing, his hands on his knees.
“hey,” dennis called softly from the entryway. “hope you like chili. jack asked me to cook you something hearty. and i brought stuff for sandwiches for tonight.”
slowly, pope turned his head to look at dennis. dennis set down the groceries on the kitchen counter and moved to the living room, studying the man. he was pale and a little sweaty. gaunt. had he had any liquids? pope was a little weird but this strange state might just be the pain.
“may i lift your shirtf?” dennis asked. “i’d like to check your shoulder, and then your leg.”
pope nodded, once, staring at dennis’s head the whole time. dennis checked everything, making pope stand and pulling pope’s sweatpants down to inspect the bullet wound on his thigh. dennis frowned. it looked fine. he tried hard not to catch print. he did not look. he remembered the dislocated shoulder and pulled the sweatpants up and bayed pope to sit. “pope, where’s your sling?”
“took it off.”
“why?”
“couldn’t move my arm.”
“that’s the idea.”
pope’s eyes shot to his. scary eyes. had pope been looking at his mouth?
dennis didn’t back down. “look. you want to be able to move your arm well? you have to not move it for awhile.” he let his words sink in, then asked where the sling was a second time.
“bathroom.”
“did you… shower on your own?”
the man looked straight ahead, through dennis’s waist. “scrub bath.”
“was your sling off for that?” there must have been some tenderness in dennis’s voice because pope looked up.
pope’s eyes were large and earnest. “i don’t like being dirty. for long.”
dennis inhaled slowly. “i- i’m not sure you would accept this but, i would help you shower. if you can’t get clean enough with only one arm.”
pope looked down, contemplating. “maybe.”
“think about it. and don’t worry, i understand wanting to be fucking clean.” and dennis did. he had been fucking homeless. he showered every day at trinity’s. sometimes twice. it was amazing.
“how come?”
dennis had moved to the bathroom, came back with the sling. he gently helped pope put it on, setting the man’s muscular elbow into the crook of the sling. dennis wanted to laugh. muscular elbow. muscular fucking elbows.
“how come you understand wanting to be clean?” pope had reiterated the question.
it was dennis’s turn to look away. but he wasn’t ashamed. he looked pope in the eye. “this country sucks. i wanted to be a doctor so bad. i wanted to make a difference. i’ve never had money, though. still don’t. med school was so expensive.” he sighed. “i was, uh, homeless. for awhile. near the end of it.”
pope frowned. “homeless? what about your family? you must have family, you’re good with lena.”
dennis shrugged. “not much to say. evangelical. don’t believe in medicine.” he didn’t mention the other reasons they had disowned him. “i’ll go start on the chili. but, how’s your pain? you taking the meds as scheduled.”
“no.”
it was dennis’s turn to frown. “you don’t need to suffer.”
pope’s jaw tightened. he looked stoic. he looked a little pale. “don’t like meds.”
“okay, as a person i would say if you can bare the pain then it’s fine, but as your doctor, i’m encouraging you to take them. you’ll probably recover better with at least a little pain management. your body can relax and put more energy into healing. besides, you’re dehydrated. the pain make it hard to drink and eat?”
pope looked up at him, big beautiful eyes. big scary eyes under that scary brown ridge. he looked hurt.
dennis softened, dropped to one knee and put a hand on pope’s knee. “if i bring you a tylenol or an advil will you take it? we have stronger stuff for you if you’ll take it. have- have you slept at all?”
pope inhaled slowly, furrowing his brow. “i’ll heal faster?”
dennis nodded. “even a little pain management will help.” he touched pope’s corded neck with the barest fingertip. “see how tense you are?” he hadn’t really meant to touch pope’s neck and he retracted his hand. “i’ll go get some stuff and you can choose which meds you want.”
pope, on dennis’s insistence, ended up taking a tramadol and drinking a whole bottle of water. the man finally slept as dennis made chili. he suspected the man had not slept.
pope woke hours later, groggy, calling out for lena.
“s’okay,” dennis said, bowl of chili in hand. “here, eat this. made it just for you. lena’s at school for another hour. if you’re feeling up to it you could sit in the passenger seat while i drive to her.”
pope looked at him, intense and concerned. then he smelled the chili and looked ravenous.
dennis grinned. “can i help you sit up?”
pope jerked his head once. permission.
dennis helped him up and got a small folding table to put the chili on. he sensed pope would unsling his arm again to avoid getting food on himself.
pope stared at the food, then began to eat with his left hand. he awkwardly scarfed half of it down before coming to his senses. “thanks. this is really good.”
“yeah,” dennis smiled. “you’re welcome. learned it at home. nebraska.”
“cool.”
dennis got his own bowl of chili and curled up on his end of the couch with a textbook.
about thirty minutes later, after pope had stared blankly into space for awhile, pope asked about the textbook.
“oh, just want to be a good doctor. i know i’ll pass the exams but i’d like to have better scores in residency than my peers.”
“do you usually have better scores?”
dennis sighed. “yeah. they dipped though, while i was homeless.” he glanced up at pope. “um. don’t tell dr abbot about that, please? the homeless thing. people at work, don’t really know.”
“i won’t.” he stood slowly. “gonna piss. i’ll take you up on that shower later. thank you.”
“of course.”
dennis got pope more meds, helped him shower (and he did not look at pope’s body any more than was medically necessary or in any way that wasn’t medically appropriate), and by the time dennis needed to leave to get lena, pope was asleep on the couch again. l
***
the routine of getting lena and helping pope everyday persisted on and off for a week and a half. sometimes jack took over, sometimes dennis stayed around a little longer to entertain lena or cook. once he stayed just to observe pope, fast asleep on the couch. the gruff man seemed to prefer being in the same room with dennis when he slept, though when dennis asked jack about it he got a weird look in return.
jack pulled dennis aside one night after they had left. “i’ll drive you home.”
“thanks, jack.”
in jack’s truck dennis got a wary look. jack looked, concerned. and it was disconcerting to see pope’s face, aged and so different. so affected by a different strain of feeling in his attending.
“jack?”
“he looks at you.”
“pope?”
jack twisted the key to start the engine. it roared and then settled. “yeah. pope.”
“okay? he stares at everyone.”
“he can get obsessive. he’s got-“ jack sighed- “he’s on medications for schizophrenia. asked me to prescribe them when he first came to pittsburgh two months ago.”
“he’s medicated…”
“he’s dangerous, dennis. i want you to distance yourself.” jack was looking at him, intensely. “you listening?”
“i’m just… not sure i see what you see.”
jack sighed, pulling out and driving toward dennis’s place. “look. i appreciate the help. but getting tangled up with my brother is a bad idea.”
dennis blushed. “i keep everything as professional as i do at work.”
“professional like amy?”
dennis blinked. “that’s not- that’s not what you think.”
“you’re a sucker for a single parent with a sob story.”
dennis bristled. “sue me for having a heart.”
“dennis, i’m serious.” jack looked like he wanted to reach across the seat and squeeze his shoulder. “do not. get involved.”
after a moment dennis said, “okay.” he didn’t tell jack that lena had already called him twice to help in the middle of the night. he certainly didn’t tell jack that he thought his younger look-alike was smoking hot. he couldn’t tell jack that, since he had been crushing on jack lightly for almost a year.
***
dennis was off work. it was late. he needed to sleep. he had work tomorrow.
it had been a week since he had seen lena and pope. he missed the girl. he wanted badly to get to know pope better, even if it was just to spite jack. even if it was just to be friends. pope had biting social commentary. and he was a sober head.
dennis couldn’t sleep. he tried to read. he was reading a textbook when his phone rang. pope’s landline. the one lena had called him on. it was late.
“lena?”
“pope.”
it was pope.
“hey, pope. can i help you with something?”
“i wanted to thank you.”
“oh, you don’t have to. i’m happy to help.”
silence. “i have something ordered for you. do you want me to have it delivered to my place or yours?”
dennis’s heart thumped. “oh. uh. my place, please.”
“address?”
dennis rattled it off. now pope would know where he lived. it made him squirm, warm. he liked that.
“okay. it’ll arrive in three days. expect it on wednesday.”
“thank you,” dennis said.
“you’re welcome. i’ll see you around.”
“i look forward to it.”
a pause. “sleep well.”
“you too.”
the line clicked.
“why did i say that?” dennis asked the world. he and pope had hardly talked. pope had slept, or read, or done their dishes with his one arm as dennis cooked. but he liked pope. he did. he just did.
great. it would be easier if he didn’t like pope. if pope wasn’t sending him something kind. if pope wasn’t such a starer. dennis liked them autistic. he just did. and the fact that dennis had grown up with crushes on the hometown cops, and then learned the hard way how terrible cops were, and andrew pope cody just happened to be all muscled and dangerous and so damn intense and also he wasn’t a cop, was probably a felon. god it made dennis hot. he felt safer with pope in some ways than he did with jack.
***
a sticky note with dennis written on it, stuck to a green velvet box inside an unmarked cardboard box. the gift was an expensive looking pair of cuff links. really expensive.
trinity’s mouth dropped open when she saw. she leaned over the couch to get a better look. “holy shit. who the fuck sent you those?”
dennis looked at the package. there was no mailing label. had it been hand delivered?
“uh, a friend. i helped him with a medical
thing. i… didn’t know he was loaded.”
trinity whistled. “we need to go out. show them thangs off.”
dennis laughed, staring at the white mother of pearl cuff links. the pearls were carved to look like roses.
trinity’s mouth was still hanging open. “um. can you fuck this guy?”
“i’m not supposed to.”
“who the fuck is stopping you?”
dennis colored. god he really did want to fuck this guy.
he looked through the jewelry box to find a note. “Thank you for helping me. And for being nice to Lena. These have a great resale value. New? You could probably get eight hundred dollars. Don’t ask for less than five if you need cash.”
“what’s the note say?”
dennis stuffed it back in the box. “nothing!”
she laughed. “oh you like him, like him. are you topping or bottoming?”
dennis blushed. “shut up. come on let’s make dinner.”
***
dennis called pope the next day on the drive to work. he had made trinity vow to keep her mouth shut for the phone call. and to not say anything at work.
pope answered on the third ring. “hello?”
“hi. it’s dennis. thank you for the flowers.” he had debated saying flowers or cuff links all night. because it meant something, to call them one or the other. god.
pope didn’t respond.
“pope?” dennis asked.
there was an intake of breath. “you’re welcome.”
dennnis inhaled quietly.
trinity mouthed, “ask him out.”
dennis blushed.
in his high, husky voice, pope asked, “was it too much?”
“no! no. it was… very thoughtful.” he knew he had sounded a little wet saying ‘very thoughtful’. like, pussy wet. god. pope did make his pussy wet. “i really like them.”
“good.”
trinity again, this time louder, “ask him out.”
“how’s lena doing?”
“she misses you.”
there it was. fuck. “i’m free tomorrow. saturday. we could go to a park? or a library if that’s more her speed. i know a great one.”
“she’d like that.” pope was quiet. “i’d like that. she’s been wanting to see a museum.”
“yeah?”
“yeah.” a pause. “would you like to come with us this saturday?” the question had come out simply, but dennis heard the hesitation, the… need underlying pope’s voice anytime he got emotional. wet as fuuuck.
“yes. i’d like to- i’d like to spend time with you alone. and… without you being my patient.”
“as friends?” pope asked.
“um. for now.”
“for now?” the question was soft.
“i, um. jack told me not to do so this.”
“do what?”
“hang out with you.”
“when did he tell you that?”
“a week ago.”
“is that why you haven’t been by?”
“yeah.”
there was a silence. “are you afraid of me?”
“no.”
“are you sure?”
another silence.
dennis broke it. “should i be?”
“maybe.”
“i don’t want to be.” a pause. “i… like you. you seem like a good dad. uncle. you seem really gentle. i-“ he exhaled, pinched the bridge of his nose- “i like you.”
more silence. had dennis said the wrong
thing? was he being too forward?
“can i pick you up on saturday?”
all the air left dennis’s chest. he inhaled. “10am?”
“sure.”
“see you,” dennis breathed.
“okay. i like you too, dennis.”
“yay,” dennis said.
he heard a soft huff of amusement and they both waited, listening to the silence before pope whispered another goodbye. dennis whispered it back.
trinity was grinning ear to ear when dennis finally looked over. he was thankfully her eyes were still on the road. “i’m telling everyone you have a date. i have fifteen sweet dollars to collect.”
dennis shook his head. “no. nope. you can’t.”
“yep.”
“trin.”
she looked at him.
“people can’t know.”
she really looked at him. “jack. you mentioned jack. like our night resident.”
dennis blushed. “yeah. so. please don’t tell anyone. he forbade this. and he’s… kinda in charge.”
trinity sighed. “missing your chance to make robby jealous.”
he laughed. “who cares. god, trinity. okay. imagine jack abbot, but years younger. like jack in his thirties.”
“why?”
“because pope is jack’s brother and they look identical, but pope is younger and more ripped.”
“and he’s a dad? uncle?”
“yeah. he’s a got a kid.”
trinity sucked in a breathe. “wow. amy’s never gonna see you again.”
“oh my fucking god.”
“i mean this is like amy but now she’s your type.”
dennis buried his face in his hands. he wished trinity would shut up. at least keep her mouth shut today. hopefully jack would be scarce when they got there.
***
pope was wearing an adorable lavender shirt, his arm dutifully in his blue sling. dennis barely paid attention to any of it as he climbed into the passenger seat. lena chatted their ears off and dennis was more than happy to twist around and explain anything medical she wanted to know. pope parked the truck, lead the way, paid for their tickets, and the two tailed lena happily. the gash on his head had lost it’s stitches. god he was handsome.
dennis noticed how pope frequently stared at him. pope always did a quick assessment of the area, checked lena’s position, then returned his focus to dennis. occasionally he would refocus on the interesting things around them. but he spent a good half the time staring dennis down.
this man is autistic as fuck, dennis thought. i hope he’s autistic in bed, too. fuck. he was being a dog. but god pope reminded him of a dog. it made him wet. he wanted that man to open him up with a spreader bar and have his way with him. he wanted to hold that tender staring face between his hands as he pope fucked into him.
for lunch they ate in the gardens. pope made sure lena ate healthy food before giving her $5 for an ice cream. it made dennis smile. “it’s nice to see a good dad,” dennis said quietly. “i know you’re her uncle. i know. but you really could be her dad the way you care.”
pope stared at nothing. “i… wanted to kill him. her real dad. i hated the way he talked to her. to me. i almost did kill him.”
dennis reached out, took pope’s hand.
pope looked up at him. his face was cold fire. and shock.
dennis scanned the man’s face, unsure if he should keep his hand on pope’s.
but then the man turned his palm up and took dennis’s hand, kissed dennis’s knuckles. “wouldn’t be here if i had committed a homicide in california.”
dennis grinned, blushed. he wanted to nuzzle into pope’s palm. instead he planted himself in his seat mentally, resisting the urge to retreat, to blush harder and freak out more. he wanted this. he wasn’t going to let his teenage self ruin this. he was a doctor in an ER. he held pope’s hand on the table. held it and cherished holding it. “i’m glad you’re here.” he rubbed his thumb over pope’s knuckles. rough knuckles. “free of homicide charges.”
pope looked at him curiously. “not a fan of delinquents?”
“are you kidding me?” dennis scoffed. “you know how much shit i’ve stolen? i’ve been detained. arrested. booked. and not even for stealing, just for being houseless most of the time.” he grinned at pope. “trust me. i prefer the company of delinquents.”
pope laughed, eyes twinkling. he was clearly about to ask more when lena reappeared, ice cream in hand.
they dropped hands. dennis blushed, but pope was quick to ask, “is that chocolate? i want a bite.”
“get your own,” she said, sticking her tongue out.
pope was shocked. quick as a horse bucking he was out of his chair, snatching her up with his good arm, hefting her into the air as she pedaled her legs and squealed. “get my own?” he teased. “give me a bite or i won’t put you down.”
“that’s cheating,” she laughed.
“you’re lucky i only have one arm or i’d be tickling you. this is the uncle tax. you have to pay the uncle tax.”
she laughed. “no!”
“uncle tax!”
“no way.”
he began to spin them and she squealed more.
when he finally stopped she was too out of breathe to laugh properly.
“pay up, little girl.”
she laughed and got a tiny itty bitty bite of chocolate on the spoon. she held it up for him. he harrumphed but took it, licked his lips. she laughed and took a huge bite for herself.
“mm,” pope said, turning with her still held in one arm. “should we get icecream, dennis? thinking this greedy little girl can’t be blackmailed into giving me anymore. i did my best.”
dennis grinned, standing. he wanted to kiss pope full on the mouth.
they shared a chocolate ice cream of their own and followed lena through the garden. it was nice seeing pope happy. he was, dennis realized, happy: out and about with lena, in the garden under the open sky. the man was relaxed. dennis wasn’t sure he had seen pope relaxed. “it’s nice seeing you like this,” dennis said softly. “happy.” he smiled at the man’s dear-caught-in-headlights look. he took pope’s pinky in his own. “well, it is nice.”
pope blushed, looked down. “yeah?”
“yeah.”
***
pope drove him back to his place, didn’t drive away till dennis was inside. apparently pope worked at a local gym, training people to weight lift and box. that’s why he was so fit. dennis didn’t want to sleep. he wanted pope to fuck him from behind till he couldn’t take it anymore.
trinity was at work, thank god. dennis made dinner for them, studied, did some chores.
he texted pope, because he had gotten the man’s mobile phone number. “i had a great time today. like, really great. can i take you out to dinner some night?”
a text back. “Sure. I’ll make Jack babysit some night.”
dennis grinned. that would be good for the tense old man, to have a kid in his life.
***
dennis dreamed there was a man at his window, a large horrible man with intense drowning eyes staring in at him. he did drown, drowned and drowned. he woke up, hot between his legs and half humping a pillow.
he opened his phone, looked to see if he had any messages from pope. nothing. he opened their messages. just the two texts. he wanted a thousand.
“fuck.”
***
the next time he saw pope it was to take the stitches out of his leg. jack was there, hovering. pope was sitting on the couch. pope’s pants were down. it was just his tight briefs, the outline of his cock.
normally, treating even an attractive patient had no effect on dennis, but with the intimate setting of the living room…
when jack turned away to grab something out of his bag dennis felt pope’s heavy hand land on his shoulder. it was a heavenly pressure, a possessive pressure. it made dennis’s mouth water, his pussy ached. he wanted to dip his head between the man’s muscled legs, to mouth at his outline till pope hardened under his tongue. dennis let out a shaky breath, stared up at pope through his lashes. pope released him and dennis returned to pulling the stitches out.
when they were done pope waited for dennis to move before standing and pulling his pants up. dennis was trying to be normal. he was feigning exhaustion. between the three of them he and jack would usually be chattering at least a little, but both of them were silent.
jack was standing near the kitchen table, arms crossed. “dennis, wait outside for me, will you?”
dennis glanced at jack, then back at pope as he moved toward the door.
pope’s face was unreadable. jack looked mad.
dennis opened the door and stood on the metal railed landing, listening. he couldn’t hear anything. he wanted to text pope.
he waited there, ended up leaning against the railing to face the door. it was odd architecture, to have an outdoor second floor access in pittsburgh. had pope chosen this place for this reason? he paced, checked his phone. he had a text from trinity about dinner and a work ping from robby and mel about a shared patient. he responded to both. paced more.
jack came out minutes later, face set like stone. he didn’t say anything, just stomped down to his truck. it frightened dennis a little, how controlled and intense jack could be, how alike he and pope were even though jack would surely disagree.
dennis stood on the landing a beat too long, earning a look from over jack’s shoulder. “come on,” he barked.
dennis hustled down, climbing in and bracing for impact.
impact came as soon as jack had pulled out of the driveway. “so. you ignored me.”
dennis said nothing. jack drove for a minute, breathing hard.
“you went on a date with him.”
“jack-“
jack slammed an open palm down on the center consul. “you did! you went near him. i told you not to fucking do that.”
dennis felt hot tears in his eyes. he didn’t like being cornered in here by jack. “let me out,” dennis said quietly. “i’ll take the bus.”
“the fuck you are,” jack growled. he pulled the truck over and parked on an unlit section of the street, lights off. he pointedly kept the doors locked as he turned to glare at dennis.
dennis shrank away, curling into the black plastic of the door.
“i asked you to help because i thought you were into women, for one,” jack seethed. “bisexual, huh? fuck you. you don’t understand how dangerous he is. huh? do you know half the shit he’s done?”
dennis wisely kept his mouth shut. he wanted to tell jack he didn’t care. but he did care. he was curious. he was dubious.
jack’s eyes were pleading suddenly. he leaned over and grabbed dennis’s hand. held it in his own, tightly, searched dennis’s eyes. “he can hurt you,” jack said. “all it takes is one fuck up. one time he thinks you’re going to the police. i don’t want you to get hurt.” he was searching dennis’s face, looking for what? “dennis.”
dennis’s heart was thumping. jack had never talked like this, to anyone in dennis’s hearing, with so much intensity. jack was an intense man. and that regularity was nothing compared to the fervor he now had in his face and eyes and mouth.
“i-“ dennis swallowed. “jack, i like your brother. i like him a lot.”
jack was shaking his head.
“i do. i don’t think…” no. dennis wouldn’t start his sentence with ‘i don’t think’ because jack would tear him apart. “i think he deserves more credit.”
jack’s nostrils flared. his hand was increasingly, painfully tight. he leaned in, those eyes of his now like pope’s eyes. “i’d tell you to ask him why he needed stitched up, but the more you know the more danger you’ll be in.”
“jack,” dennis was trying to pull his hand away, was prying at jack’s fingers with his other hand. tears in his eyes. “jack this hurts. please let go.”
jack ignored his tugging, his look was violent. with a grunt he tugged dennis across the center consul.
dennis was thrown forward and jack’s other hand had the back of his neck, had dennis’s head crushed down into his lap. dennis sobbed, nose pressed to jack’s thigh. it turned him on and scared him, his head hurt from the force. jack didn’t release the painful grip on dennis’s hand, just moved the arm behind dennis’s head, grabbed his other arm even as dennis twisted to stay out of his grasp, grabbed the hand. dennis felt jack take both of his hands and hold them over his neck, heard a whir, felt jack’s seat moving backward. what the fuck was jack doing?
no. what the fuck was jack doing? “jack?”
when the seat stopped going back, jack twisted dennis’s head so he could see dennis’s face. dennis’s lower body laid limp over the center consul. jack looked down at him, shook him. “not even going to fight me? not even a little?”
there were snot and tears all over dennis’s face. he tried to shake his head. god he was so wet, and so scared. he half wanted jack to fuck his face, half wanted to bite jack’s dick off.
jack just watched him.
dennis shook his head.
“no fight in you?” jack hauled him further over the center consul, hauled him up by his waist into jack’s chest. jack put dennis’s head over his shoulder like he would a baby, used his knees to push dennis’s legs around till dennis was straddling him. slowly, controlled, jack pulled dennis’s arms down until he held dennis’s wrists behind his lower back. he controlled dennis’s head with one large hand, stroking his hair. it made dennis sob harder.
“shh,” jack cooed. “relax.”
dennis’s heart slowed with the full body contact, but he was still sniffing minutes later. “jack?”
jack pushed dennis’s head down into his meaty shoulder. “shh. this is for me. relax.”
this is for jack? what the hell does he need me like this for? dennis nodded into jack’s neck, sighing over and over again instead of crying. well, gasping softly.
“it’s my fault you’re entangled with pope,”
jack murmured. “i just wish i’d known you liked psychopaths.”
dennis’s brow furrowed against jack’s
shoulder.
jack laughed softly. “well?” dennis felt hot breath on his neck, felt jack twisting his head up and back, felt a warm tongue lick a stripe across his neck, felt teeth descend.
dennis cried out, bucked his hips on jack as the older man sunk his teeth in to the point of pain. dennis whimpered. he could feel himself fluttering on jack, prayed jack couldn’t feel it.
but of course. jack pulled his mouth off. the cold air on the wet skin made dennis tremble. jack asked, quietly and sweetly, “where’s your cock, pretty boy?”
dennis couldn’t move his head or his hands, could only twitch on jack’s lap. dennis whimpered, he could feel jack’s cock stiffening in his pants.
“answer me,” jack commanded.
dennis tried to shake his head no but jack moved dennis’s head, made him look at jack.
that insane cold light in the man’s eyes. “answer me. why don’t you have a cock? i’ve been fantasizing about you all wrong.”
dennis’s whimper was loud and pathetic in the empty car.
the hands holding dennis’s wrists switched so jack’s right hand was free, sliding down into dennis’s jeans.
dennis thrashed when jack’s fingerpads brushed over his clit.
“hold still, pup,” jack commanded. he bit dennis’s neck again, harder.
dennis whimpered. “jack.”
jack’s fingers were exploring his slick, slick folds. “wet because you saw my brother in his boxers tonight or wet because i have you over my lap?” it was so lewd.
dennis was panting, rolling his hips on jack. “your brother was fucking normal about this, abbot. he just asked me out like a fucking adul- aah!”
jack had slid a finger in, was thrumming it wetly against dennis’s g spot. “keep talking,” abbot commanded.
“you’re—ah—brother is so much more normal than-“ he gasped- “you, you fucker.”
jack bit his neck, licked it to soothe it. “you haven’t asked me to stop a single time. you’ve told me it hurts. you tell me to stop i will.”
dennis whined. he was ashamed at how he was bouncing on jack’s finger. ashamed at how he whimpered when jack added a second finger, ashamed when jack tugged him into his chest and finger fucked him hard and mean. it hurt. “it hurts, jack.”
“you want me to stop, baby?”
dennis keened. “be gentle.”
jack did slow, went back to caressing his insides. his thumb trailed down, began to rub circles into dennis’s chubbed up tdick. “see i can behave,” jack taunted. “yeah? you like it when i behave? no you don’t. you like when i’m fucking mean to you.”
dennis shook his head, unshed tears spilling into jack’s shirt. “you’re such a fucking cop.”
“you like it,” jack growled, his thumb working delicately even as his fingers curled hard.
dennis moaned and came, shaking on abbot’s fingers. “stop, stop.”
jack did stop. into dennis’s neck he breathed, “and i’m not a fucking cop. i’m there to make sure the people the cops are shooting at have the best chance of survival they can get.”
“you tell yourself that,” dennis gasped, still clenching on abbot’s fingers. “why couldn’t you just tell me you wanted to fuck me?”
jack inhaled against dennis’s neck. he pulled dennis closer, till they were flush and jack could run his free hand over more of dennis. dennis felt his own slick pooling grossly in his underwear. he whimpered.
jack kissed his jaw, then whispered, “i like you like this. i like you ashamed of wanting it. i like you crying a little. i like you fighting limply, knowing your gonna take whatever i give you. i like you cumming on my hand in my truck on a dark street and snotting on my shirt. i like you, dennis. i’m happy to learn you’re gay, even if it’s because of my stupid little brother. happy to learn you have a breeding hole so i can replan how you need it, how you’ll take it.”
dennis felt himself clenching on nothing. he wanted jack to bury himself inside him.
jack breathed against his ear. “yeah?”
dennis nodded.
“you like it when i’m a sick freak?”
dennis nodded. “s’why i like your brother.”
jack laughed bitterly, squeezed dennis’s wrists. “yeah?”
“i like how he stares at me. i think he’d be sweet to me.”
“i think so, too,” jack said before licking into dennis’s ear.
“aah!”
jack hummed against his earlobe, rocking his face up and down dennis’s neck and head, inhaling dennis. “you can have sex with him. make love to him. but then you come back to me, okay, baby? i’ll fuck you how you need it.”
dennis shook his head. “you’re crazy. you’re crazier than him.”
“i guess you’ll find out who’s crazier,” jack breathed. he thrust lightly up against dennis. “think i could bend you over the bed of my truck?”
dennis blushed, face red. “take me to yours, you sick fuck.”
jack spanked him and dennis arched up into him with a pained yelp. jack was already massaging the hurt. he released dennis’s hands and pulled dennis’s pants back up. jack reached up and cupped dennis’s face—one hand still tacky with dennis’s slick—and kissed dennis full on the mouth.
dennis moaned into it, hips stuttering on jack’s lap. he kissed back, desperately.
jack pulled away. “get off me.”
dennis, humiliated, crawled off of jack. his legs were shaking. he didn’t say anything as they drove and jack didn’t put on music. as they pulled into jack’s driveway dennis checked his phone. there was a text from pope. it was just a single question mark. it was sweet.
he texted pope, “you okay? jack is being weird.”
he got a text back almost immediately. “Are you okay?”
“yeah. are you?”
“Yeah. Later?”
“yeah.”
jack snorted as he shifted into park. “texting my brother when you’re at my place, soaking wet for me?” he glared at dennis. “you should– wait. no. you should call him and make him listen to it while i fuck you.”
“you’re insane,” dennis breathed. he was slowly realizing that jack was much crazier than pope. and that he was into it.
“yeah. i am. get out of the truck.”
and he did. he did everything jack told him to do. his stomach was flip flopping. he was grinning. he was pouting. jack made him undress, made him get ass up so jack could stick a small anal plug in. the anal plug began to vibrate and jack commanded dennis to keep presenting for him.
dennis listened to the sounds of jack undressing, gripping the sheets. he was throbbing, aching. his hips jerked backward involuntarily, seeking jack. at the second needy twitch of his hips dennis yelped and jerked forward as jack spanked him. hands on his hips, hauling him back up.
“you don’t move a muscle, pet. you take it. yeah?” jack was massaging his ass cheeks, his thumbs stretching the flesh near dennis’s holes. “you move? i spank.”
dennis breathed slowly through his mouth, willing his hips to be still.
a sharp slap. dennis jerked forward, whining. “i didn’t move!”
“no-“ jack was massaging his ass again- “that spank was for me.” dennis felt jack lean over his back, felt jack’s cock press to his dripping cunt. he heard jack say, “i’ve had a vasectomy. i’d like to hit it raw. are you clean?”
dennis said, “yes, sir.”
“good boy.”
he felt the tip of jack’s cock being dragged through his folds. “spread yourself.”
dennis reached between his legs and pushed his fingers in and then outward around his cunt. dennis did move, grinding onto his own palm, and the slap was sharp. “please, sir,” he begged. “please.”
the head of jack’s cock returned. he inched his way inside. it was slow and painful. half way in jack thrust in and dennis cried out.
“too big?”
“jesus,” dennis moaned. “jack!”
because jack was already sliding out, back in.
“lube,” dennis begged. “jack i need lube.”
the cock disappeared for a moment, then reappeared; the friction was more pleasurable and dennis sank back onto jack’s cock, chasing it.
“good boy,” jack hummed even though he slapped his ass hard. “god, you feel good, sweetheart.”
dennis was panting, pushing himself onto it, off of it, onto it. jack slapped his ass every time and dennis was crying, burying his face in the sheets as jack rode him.
jack pulled out and dennis whined.
hands on his ankles, twisting him till he rolled over. jack crawled between his legs, sank down on top of him, chest to chest. without asking permission dennis wrapped himself around jack. and then jack was in him again, deeper. god damn. dennis shook underneath him. jack grunted in his ear, fucked him into the mattress.
“jack,” dennis gasped. “jack.”
“you still thinking about my brother?”
“no, sir.”
“good.”
dennis could feel the head of jack’s cock burying inside him, waking his insides up. it was starting to feel so good, so hot, so necessary. dennis let his head fall back, let jack bite him and pant through his nose into dennis’s ear.
dennis was only vaguely aware of the way he was clawing at jack, nails digging in, slipping through the sweat on the older man’s muscled back before finding purchase again. inside the cage that jack made around him he felt so safe. “get me pregnant, you fucker,” dennis whined. “jack.”
jack grunted a laugh. “want my babies, huh?” he kissed dennis hard and sloppy on the mouth. “you’ll have to get them from my fucked up little brother, huh? you better use a fucking condom with him, you hear?” jack was panting, grunting. “you hear? no one comes in your breeding hole but me.”
that sent dennis over the edge, clutching at jack with everything he had, shaking under him.
jack bit his ear savagely, made him bleed, and dennis yelped and struggled to pull away; but jack pinned his face down, fucked him deeper. jack was grunting and huffing and the slapping was getting louder. jack folded dennis’s legs up into a mating press and rammed back in a few times before gasping and surging painfully into dennis. “fuck you take it good, baby. like the taste of your blood. made you bleed all over tonight.”
and indeed there was blood between whitacker’s legs, blood on jack’s mouth. dennis whined as jack sank back down onto him, still inside him. jack crushed dennis into the mattress, his huge sweaty chest and shoulders knocking the air out of dennis.
dennis whimpered, pulsing around the cock still hard inside him.
“gonna get you a collar, puppy,” jack said absentmindedly. “way you make me go crazy i need you on a leash.” he kissed along dennis’s jawline. “need you under the table keeping me warm.”
dennis pulsed around him, whimpering.
“yeah. a puppy would like that. fuckin pretty little mutt.” jack was kissing up to his ear, licking at the bite. “and your blood tastes good. pretty on the outside and the inside. why us fucking psychos are sweet on you.”
dennis couldn’t say anything as long as jack was inside him, anchoring his body so his mind could float.
***
dennis woke up in the morning to coffee and food and an apology from jack in bed.
“i’m sorry,” jack said. “i was so jealous, and so worried about you, and you seemed into it.”
dennis shrugged. “i was so into it.”
“yeah?” jack didn’t quite look hopeful, he looked bewildered.
“yeah. i want you to fuck me crazy style like that again sometime.” he winced. “not anytime soon, though. i’m going to be sore for a week, at least.”
jack blushed, looked away. the man was gorgeous, silver curls, tight mouth.
“i’m glad you didn’t ask me like a regular person.”
jack looked over, raised a brow.
“kinda wanna play cat and mouse with you and pope.” dennis grinned. “you up for that?”
jack shook his head, wary. “he really is crazy. i can fucking stop myself. he needs a fucking handler. i’m not kidding.”
dennis licked his fingers clean of the juices of the breakfast burrito. he didn’t care. if jack was gonna be a fucking pyscho dennis could be a psycho, too. he shrugged. “then don’t come near me again, jack.”
jack’s jaw tightened. tightened more. “you’re greedy.”
“i am greedy,” dennis agreed, standing up from jack’s bed naked with the tray in his hands. “and i don’t care. follow me to the kitchen i want to suck your fingers and give you head before i go to work.”
***
p2
