Spider.
Spider turned down a random aisle. His goal was to find easy microwavable shit that they could heat up in the hotel room when they didn’t feel like going out. That was what he was searching for, but what he found was Rob Zepple standing behind a cart full of food.
He ate up the sight of the man. Sandy brown hair and eyes that Spider knew were hazel made memories of their youth together flash through his mind. Not that they actually had a youth together. No, Spider had been nothing but a shitty asshole to the guy when they were in grade school and while they struggled through junior and senior high school. Initially, he didn’t know why the small kid annoyed him so much.
By the time Rob started his freshman year and Spider was a junior, Spider knew exactly why the guy bothered him so much. Still, being attracted to Rob didn’t stop him from being a douche nozzle toward him.
The only thing his attraction did for Rob was make him intervene when bigger asshole’s than he tried to fuck with the guy. Rob Zepple never knew how many times he had intervened before a beat down that he was going to be on the receiving end of and that was okay as far as Spider was concerned. Back in the day, Spider knew Rob couldn’t defend himself against the others that were just as big an asshole as he, or even bigger.
The guy was so naïve when the shit hit the fan when his mother went down. Spider’s opinion of Rob changed from just some hot as hell naïve kid to a guy who was a fighter. Spider was already out of high school when the New York cartel that Rob’s mother was involved with was raided. He was home for spring break during his second year of college and already being recruited for a position with ATF.
Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of what was going on with the guy that he had become obsessed with. Spider witnessed what had happened to Rob from a distance before his life became consumed with his role in ATF.
The first time he was undercover and came face to face with Zep, he’d almost blown his cover. If it hadn’t been for the warning from his superiors that an INET agent would be joining him before the raid went down, he would have never known where Zep had ended up. The fact that Zep ended up working for INET was a surprise. Then again, it wasn’t.
That random meeting was uncomfortable for them both. Spider sensed the residual fear Zep had for him from high school even though the guy did a hell of a job hiding it.
At the time, Spider wanted to try and talk to Zep. However, not only would being alone for a conversation be suspicious for their roles, but even if Spider dared chance blowing their cover, the opportunity never presented itself.
It was the same scenario two years later when he came face-to-face with the guy he couldn’t seem to shake from his thoughts. It was almost as if the op was a copycat of the first where he had faced Zep. The only difference was that he expected Zep to appear at some point while he was undercover because this time his boss gave him the name of the INET agent who would be joining him.
Ever since he had first run into Zep on an op and learned he was an INET agent, Spider had kept tabs on the man as much as he could. In fact, when Slade had started sniffing around him a few years ago to get him to join INET, Spider suspected his tracking of Zep’s activities had been detected. It didn’t take him long to figure out that wasn’t the case. Still, as much as he would love to work for INET, and more importantly with Zep, he wouldn’t. Every time the man looked at him there was a shadow of fear in Zep’s eyes that broke Spider’s heart.
He couldn’t accept the position on the INET team that Zep was a part of knowing it would hurt the man. Knowing his presence would cause a glimmer of fear to shine from those beautiful hazel eyes as it was doing right now. However, the flash of fear in Zep’s eyes didn’t stop Spider from walking down the aisle because he was finally getting his chance to talk to the guy.
Zep stared at Spider and he held the man’s gaze. He fought his fear that climbed with every step Spider took down the aisle that brought him closer. Zep was still holding Spider’s gaze when Spider stopped against the other side of the cart. Zep’s hands tightened on the handle of the cart and he resisted the urge to turn and run. Leave the fucking cart and haul ass out of Winn-Dixie as if the place were on fire. Instead, he stamped down the urge.
He was a grown man and an accomplished agent with INET. He’d held his own while sparring with Slade and practically kicked Knight’s ass earlier. There wasn’t anything Spider could do that he couldn’t handle. That was what Zep told himself and forced himself to believe.
“You look good, Zep,” Spider ventured and had to force his fingers not to grip the shit out of the metal weave of the cart.
Spider gave Zep a small smile. This was the first time since they were in high school that he was able to speak freely to the man. It made him feel shy and he held his breath while he waited for Zep to reply.
Zep blinked. His fear was tearing him apart so he wasn’t sure if his ears were hearing correctly. He wasn’t even sure what to make of the expression on Spider’s face, either.
“What?” Zep finally managed.
“You look good,” Spider repeated.
“I look good,” Zep echoed before the fear in his mind turned to anger. “Like I give a fuck how you think I look,” Zep hissed and ignored the slight flinch he thought he detected in Spider. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Zep glared at Spider and tried to ignore how the man looked. His dark brown hair looked windblown from riding his motorcycle and for some reason, Zep couldn’t help but notice his mocha colored eyes. He looked away from Spider’s face and instantly knew it was a mistake.
His eyes took in Spider’s broad shoulders and muscular chest that were draped in a biker vest. They traveled lower of their own volition. Even through the grating of the cart, Zep could see Spider’s narrow hips framed in the leather belt that was the waistband of the chaps he wore. Of course, those chaps framed everything Spider had to offer. The fact that Zep noticed how nice the chaps made Spider’s blue jeaned package look just pissed him off even if his dick did twitch.
“Shopping,” Spider replied quietly. He didn’t miss Zep looking him over from head to toe. He didn’t miss the fear he was accustomed seeing in Zep’s eyes shift momentarily to something else, either.
Spider’s benign reply prompted Zep’s eyes to shoot back up to the man’s face. The small smile he saw directed at him confused him all the more and left him speechless. He had no idea what the expression on Spider’s face meant, but even if it wasn’t one that made his fear spike uncontrollably, Zep didn’t feel comfortable under the steady dark gaze of the man had who terrorized him while growing up.
“There a problem, babe?”
Zep looked past Spider to see Knight standing at the end of the isle with a twelve pack of Bud Light dangling from his hand. Spider turned his head toward his teammate, but not before Zep caught Spider’s frown.
Knight had seen the big biker standing in front of Zep’s cart and immediately deduced that the man had to be the ATF agent; the same ATF agent that for reasons still unknown to Knight, scared the hell out of Zep. The decision to intervene wasn’t even a conscious one. The words that escaped his lips weren’t either.
Zep watched Knight pass Spider and couldn’t help but notice that Knight had a few inches in height on Spider. Spider was of course, way more muscular than Knight, but his teammate exuded the confidence of a man who didn’t give a shit about anything so trivial.
“Babe?” Spider fought an irrational jolt of anger that he knew was spawned from just as an irrational jolt of jealousy. Zep smiled at the man who now joined them and it only made both of his irrational feelings spike.
Knight stepped next to Zep where he still stood at the front of the cart and placed the beer in their cart. He purposely stepped closer to his teammate than he needed to and watched the ATF agent’s reaction to his ploy to ensure the man knew Zep was off-limits.
“Lita’s cruising donuts,” Knight said casually when he wrapped an arm around Zep’s waist. He
felt his smaller teammate lean into his embrace and wasn’t sure what to make of Zep’s reaction.
Spider glared at the man whose arm was now wrapped around Zep’s waist. He was a few inches taller than him and scrawny compared to Spider’s bulk. His dark hair and pretty light blue eyes made his face sexy, but the expression of death that was directed at Spider negated any thought Spider might have had about the man’s attractiveness. In fact, his irrational anger and jealousy even blinded him to how much the man looked just like Slade.
The mention of Lita told Spider that the man who was currently holding Zep against his side was an INET agent. Still, Spider had learned enough over the years of keeping tabs on INET to know that interoffice relationships weren’t discouraged. In fact, they were encouraged and the thought that the hot guy who now pulled Zep close was more than a work partner made Spider bristle.
Knight studiously watched the ATF agent after he originally spoke. The guy’s body language screamed jealousy, but Knight doubted either man realized the emotion that was staring Knight in the face. However, it wasn’t his place to call Spider out or point out Spider’s behavior to Zep. No, right now, Knight’s only objective was to get them the hell out of the store.
When he accidentally ran into Lita in the bakery department, he had been shocked. That shock didn’t last long before he inquired about Slade. Lita informed him that Slade was at the hotel and he and Spider were just grabbing a few things.
It was Lita’s mention of Spider that had Knight scrambling to seek out Zep. Now, he stood with his arm possessively around Zep and stared into the gaze that reflected jealousy while watching for the man to make the next move. There was a shift in the ATF agent’s eyes and behavior before he finally spoke. Professionalism draped over him like a protective cloak.
“Did you give Lita contact info?”
Knight smirked as if the guy was an idiot. “Of course I did.” Even though he didn’t. “But I’ll give it to you as well.”
Knight rattled off the address of their rental house and continued to grin at the ATF agent who stared at them. He didn’t loosen his hold around Zep’s waist either while he watched the man.
Silence stretched between the three men that stood around the shopping cart. Finally, Spider let go of the cart and stepped back. He didn’t say anything before he turned and walked away down the aisle.
Knight waited until the undercover ATF agent who was portraying a hot as hell biker turned the corner of the aisle before he stepped away from his teammate.
Zep didn’t say anything when Knight stepped away after Spider was out of sight. He knew he should say something. Probably a ‘thank you’ at the very least, but he was too absorbed with trying to decipher Spider’s behavior. The man had never acted like he just had around Zep. He didn’t know what Spider’s strange behavior toward him meant; if it meant anything at all.
“You ready to check out?”
Knight’s voice broke Zep out of his thoughts of Spider’s odd behavior. “Yeah,” Zep replied, but did not meet Knight’s eyes.
“Good,” Knight smirked and Zep caught his teammate’s expression from the corner of his eye. “Cause, based on the shit in the cart, I can’t wait to taste what you’re gonna cook.”
Zep chuckled at Knight’s obvious excitement over a home-cooked meal, but before he could comment, Knight continued.
“Maybe we should add an apron.” Knight snickered.
“Fuck you,” Zep replied without any heat.
Knight laughed. “If that’s what it takes to get you to make some yummy-ness out of all that shit,” Knight indicated the cart. “Then I’ll think about it.”
Knight’s laughter followed them to the register. They pulled items out of the cart and placed them on the conveyor belt. Zep knew what Knight was doing by fucking with him.
He was slightly surprised his teammate was taking this particular approach to distract him from Spider especially since Knight was so quick to anger. If anything, Zep expected Knight’s anger to make an appearance if his teammate chose to intervene between him and Spider. This lighter side of Knight was not only unexpected, but nice. Zep was beginning to realize the different facets of his new teammate caught him off guard, and were scary.
Zep still expected Knight to bring up Spider before they loaded the bags into the rental car. He didn’t breathe a sigh of relief once the car was loaded or even when they were on the road back to their rental house. He knew, just knew Knight was going to address what had happened with Spider in the pasta aisle of Winn-Dixie. He wasn’t wrong.
“I got your back,” Knights words filled the silence in the car.
Zep was expecting any number of comments Knight could’ve made, but he never expected the words that escaped his new teammate’s lips to fill the space between them. He was still reeling from his surprise over the realization of what Knight was really saying when Knight continued.
“I don’t need to know your history with Spider,” Knight paused, but not long enough for Zep to say anything. “But, I have your back and whatever he did to hurt you…” Zep felt Knight look at him, but knew his teammate didn’t expect him to answer. “It won’t happen again if I can help it,” Knight finished his promise.
All Zep could do was nod to acknowledge Knights vow. The only other person to make a promise he actually believed, was Slade. But somehow he knew, he felt, Knight meant exactly what he said when it came to Spider hurting him again. The silence between them resumed and continued until they pulled in the driveway of the rental house.
Hunter stepped outside and the three men unloaded the groceries without a word. They didn’t say anything to one another until everything was put away and then it was Hunt who broke the silence.
“So, what’s for dinner?”
##~~##
Ten
Slade glanced toward the motel parking lot when he heard the steady rumble of Lita and Spider’s bikes pull up out front. He got up from the small shitty table and opened the door. He leaned against the door jamb and watched them pull a few shopping bags out of their saddlebags. They purposely hadn’t parked their bikes in the spot directly in front of their room. In fact, even though the bikes were parked across the lot, they still parked them down a few spaces over from the direct line of sight from their actual room.
Lita was smirking and Spider looked pissed off. Slade could only imagine what Lita had done to make Spider mad as hell. As much as Slade wanted to enjoy Spider’s mood, he couldn’t. They needed to be able to work together, so whatever Lita did to put Spider into a foul mood, had to be fixed.
Slade turned away from both men when Lita started walking across the lot toward their door. He didn’t bother sitting back down at the table. Slade watched Spider follow Lita in the door. He kicked the motel room door, since his hands were full, and it slammed shut with a bang.
“What the hell did you do Lita?” Slade raised a questioning brow at his teammate, but his tone wasn’t overly accusatory.
Lita chuckled. “I didn’t do shit.” Lita grinned back at Slade.
“So what crawled up your ass then, Spider?” Slade ignored the scowl Spider shot his way when he walked by and into the bathroom. The shower started soon after Spider slammed the thin bathroom door.
“Okay, what the hell happened?”
“I ran into Knight at the store. He said he was there shopping with Zep.” Lita smirked and Slade scrubbed his face with a hand. “Apparently, Spider has his panties in a wad about Zep’s new boyfriend.”
“His what?” Slade blinked at Lita. “Zep’s not seeing anyone and even if he was, he wouldn’t see them while we’re on an op.”
Lita laughed. “I know that and you know that, but apparently Spider has the impression that’s not the case.” Lita chuckled again while he got comfortable leaning back against the headboard of one of the beds. He crossed his shit kickers at his ankles before he continued.
“Not sure what Knight did, if anything, but whatever he did or didn’t do gave Spider
the impression he and Zep had something going on beyond just being teammates.”
Slade couldn’t help but laugh. His lover was smart enough to had noticed Zep’s reaction to Spider’s name when they were briefed in Fish’s office. He had no doubt Knight would’ve gotten at least something out of Zep in regards to Spider.
The fact that Knight more than likely gave Spider the impression he and Zep were a couple, was proof enough that he knew at least something about Zep’s past. However, Slade couldn’t help but wonder exactly how much Knight actually knew especially where Spider was concerned.
Zep didn’t talk about his history with Spider and all Slade had been able to get Zep to confirm was that he knew the man when they were kids. Whatever happened between them, Slade still didn’t know, and he doubted if Zep wouldn’t tell him then he sure as hell wouldn’t tell Knight.
“Shit.” Slade grew serious again.
“This is going to cause a problem for us isn’t it?” Lita’s mirth over Spider’s assumption about Zep and Knight disappeared.
“Aside from Spider’s attitude being shit, which we are already used to, it shouldn’t.” Slade sat at the table and opened a bag of chips. He ate a few before he finished his thought aloud. “We won’t be working directly with them, so it should be fine.”
“Good, because Spider is an asshole on a good day and I don’t want to deal with his petty bullshit surrounding Zep even if we don’t really know what the deal is between them.”
“He’s not an asshole,” Slade defended the ATF agent he had been trying to recruit to his team for years. Lita raised a doubtful brow. Slade munched on another chip and grinned. “He just plays one on TV.”
Lita laughed and clicked on the TV. He channel surfed and Slade put a dent in the chips while they waited for Spider to finish his shower.
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