Coming Home to You

Shuffling slowly down the stairs the next morning in only my boxers, I know that I'm extremely late to start working. It's nine fifteen, and I was supposed to start working about three hours ago. I could care less, because the only thing I need right now is a large mug of strong coffee. Maybe with a bit of hard liquor mixed in. That'd be nice.

I find myself licking over my lips at the thought, turning the coffee maker on. I should've listened to my director. And never have taken this stupid assignment. She gave me all the reason in the world why I didn't have to. But I did. Now look at me. I'm a fucking mess.

My mind flickers to last night for just a second, as the coffee starts pouring into the pot. I begged. I fucking begged. I never beg. And it got me shit. I shake my head, not wanting to think of the shame any more. Matt was always a tough pill to swallow. He never seemed to want to go down. Not that way. Although, if it wasn't sex, I was always the one giving. I harrumph absentmindedly, remembering the one time he actually did go down on me. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't good.

Finally, the coffee maker sputters out the last of the liquid, and I take the pot, pouring it into my cup. I take a sip, shrugging. It's different than what I'm used to, but it's caffeine.

Suddenly, Jimmy comes bursting through the screen door, huffing and puffing, looking at me incredulously. I sigh. There goes my quiet morning.

"Dude, you gotta get ready," he gasps for air, calming himself down. "The society's here."

"The Humane Society?" I question, confused.

Jimmy nods. "Matt's showing them around now. I came to get you as soon as I saw them. Geez, there's this one, I don't like him at all. He's got this whole piercing stare going on, and he's always looking around, you know? But I guess that's what they do. But still, he looks like he's looking around for something real specific. I don't like him."

I chuckle. "You already said that. Alright, I'll be down in like, five."

Jimmy nods, jogging back outside. I trudge back upstairs to get ready, coffee in hand all the way. By the time I'm walking back down, in proper attire, I can hear voices in the kitchen. I put my lips to the cup again, eying Matt and the-

I gasp, inhaling most of the coffee down my lungs. I splutter, spitting it out as my eyes widen. Green eyes sweep towards me, taking in my presence. Piercing green eyes. Zack. His eyes widen as well, but he keeps it calm and unnoticeable. Unlike me.

I'm glad I chose to wear a black shirt today as Matt looks over, his eyes narrowing at the sight of me. But I can't keep my eyes off of Zack. How in the world did he manage to pull this off?

"Guys, this is Brian Haner," Matt introduces me shortly. "His family originally owned the place." Rub it in my face a little more why don't you?

"Ah yes," the more business-like man replies with a corporate fake smile, extending his hand. I take it, gripping it as strong as possible to show my dominance over him. And that I'm just better in general. I never liked corporate people. "Shawn Parker. This is James, my partner."

I smile, a bit more coyly than I would have liked in front of Matt and Shawn. Zack takes my hand, shaking it firmly as well. "Nice to meet you Brian," he smirks.

"You too, James, Shawn." I nod, before putting my now empty cup in the sink. It's not my turn for dish duty. Thankfully. "Should get going. Got lots of stuff to catch up on." I start doing dishes anyway. Matt gives me a strange look before nodding discreetly, remembering what we talked about in the field that day. He leads the man and Zack outside, and Zack thankfully tags along at the back so I can catch a glimpse of his gun shoved into the ass of his jeans. I sigh, swooping over and pulling his shirt over it, smacking his ass.

"Seriously?" I hiss.

"Hey, you never know," Zack whispers back, leaving to catch up with Matt and Shawn. I shake my head. What the hell is he up to this time?

The question plagues my mind for the rest of the day as I continue to work, and Matt continues to show the Humane Society representative, not Zack, around so he can check the place out.

When I finally get to visit Epona, she has this annoyed 'are you serious?' expression on her face. Johnny chuckles when I comment about it.

"She was anxious all this morning waiting for you."

"Aw come on girl," I beg as she snorts, not wanting to give me the time of day. "So I'm a little late. Don't be like Matt," I say I bit more quietly so Johnny doesn't hear.

Epona sighs. 'I'll think about it,' she looks at me.

I'm out by the pasture fence examining it and trying to find out how to fix it in the most effective way possible when Zack finally struts over to me.

"Surprised?"

"I didn't know you actually cared for animals."

"I don't," Zack snorts. "Only my dogs. Anyways, it looks like you've got a real load on your back around here."

I stand up, straightening myself out to face Zack. "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him to clarify.

Zack shrugs. "By the looks of it, I think you can be doing a hell of a lot more work on the investigation around here. What the hell is with you man? We'd have been done and out of here by now."

"Oh, so this is what this is?" I scoff. "You posing as an animal rescuer just to check up on my and kick my ass into gear?"

"Um... yeah," Zack replies sarcastically. "Dude, I just don't understand it. What's going on with you?"

"Zack, look, there's nothing wrong," I shrug, shaking my head. "I'm doing the best I can." My eyes wander over to Matt, who's wandering over by the barn, talking to Shawn. My eyes must have been on him a split second too long, because when I look back over to Zack, the words are already tumbling out of his mouth.

"Him? Matthew Sanders? You're sticking around because of him? What's more important, Bri? Mattie, whatever you call him, or busting these criminal's asses? Hell, what if Matt's the lead guy here?"

"He's not," I hiss a little too quickly.

"You never sent me his name or file before. I didn't even know he existed until I came here. You know what I thought? I was like, what the hell was Brian thinking?"

"You did meet him, he was the one you talked to when you got me this job," I snap. "You could've looked him up then. Must've slipped your mind, didn't it?"

Zack's green eyes go cold as they narrow at me. "Your point?" He says in a dangerous tone.

"Okay, okay," I sigh. "So maybe I have been slacking off," I whisper. "But there are some things that I have to sort out before I go back to Cali. Which means stalling. Personal things."

"Why would you want to sort them out if you're just going to leave and never come back again?"

That's a loaded question. I never imagined what was going to happen after we busted the drug ops here. I haven't exactly thought about my life back in California since I came back out here.

"Zack, I-" Suddenly, Matt is right beside us, and I can feel the anger radiating in the form of heat waves off of him. He's pissed. Extremely pissed. Like, he might actually do something that forces Zack to pull his gun out.

"Yeah," he says. "The tour is over. Your partner is waiting for you back at the gate."

Zack nods. "I'll only be a few more moments. Then Brian can get back to work."

I can tell Matt wants to say something, but it comes out as a frustrated sigh. He leaves, and Zack sucks in a nice lungful of air.

"You're gonna be here for another year if he acts like that," he points out. I can tell he doesn't want to leave on a bad note. "I could smell the sexual tension radiating between both of you a mile away."

"That's because you have such a big nose," I joke. "You can smell anything from a a mile away."

Zack gives me a dirty look, smirking. "You're an ass. I'll see you. Sometime. Just remember, our superiors are expecting something soon. Not my choice."

"I know," I nod.

"Just remember," Zack calls out to me as he leaves. "You said it yourself, I'm the Garcia to your Morgan!"

I smirk, chuckling. "Fuck off!"

Zack waves the bird at me, heading to the gate and I walk back to the ranch house for dinner. It was cool seeing him today, though it was definitely unexpected. But I didn't expect the conversation to take such a negative turn. I run my hands through my hair. Hopefully this case won't damage our relationship, it's perfect just the way it is.

"So," Matt comments as I walk through the door. No one else is around. "I take it that that wasn't really the Humane Society on a surprise visit. Is it just the FBI's idea of a cruel joke?"

I shake my head. "Matt, I swear, I had nothing to do with it."

"You never have much to do with anything until it becomes blatantly apparent and you can't deny it any longer," Matt interrupts.

"Can you let me finish? That Shawn guy, he was really from the Humane Society. James-"

"Zack- your partner, not Shawn's."

"Yeah, Zack. I don't know how or why he did it. He just... did."

"Sure it wasn't just to see you?"

"I'm pretty damn positive."

Matt snorts.

"Stop mocking me. You know what, this is your problem, you never believe me anymore. If you'd just get that stick out of your ass maybe things would be okay. But no-o. Not Matthew Sanders. I'm too stubborn to give two fucks about what Brian thinks," I mock him back, too frustrated to be in the same room with him. As I'm walking away, his voice floats out from behind me.

"You know, Zack does look more like your type, the girly, submissive-"

"You don't even know what my type is! I'll give you a hint, look in the goddamn mirror!"

"I bet you two have some past together, not just in crime!"

"I'll give you a fucking past," I grumble, not bothering to answer Matt back on that one.

I'm at my wit's end here with Matt. It's going to come down to me handcuffing him to the bed and raping him if it has to.

My body hits the bed with a sigh. Since when did it come down to trying to revive the relationship as well? At first it was just trying to get him to acknowledge my presence nicely. I think back to what Zack told me as well. Is it even going to be worth it in the long run?