A Burning Zone story
by
Yuchtar

       Doctor Edward Marcase sifted through memories of the last 38 hours as he lay alone in bed - dead tired, but still unable to sleep.
       *Unbelievable!* Marcase had screamed in his mind. *I finally get close to the guy and he up and gets infected with the deadliest virus known to man!* He had tried not to show too much of his emotional turmoil on his face as he listened to Cassian explain casually about his infection - about how he had been deliberately infected with the Mayan bacteria - discussing it as if they were speaking of a hang nail! The team had only some 38 hours to find a cure or Doctor Daniel Cassian would be dead.
       And what about that frantic delirious chase through the corridors that ended with Cassian's heart stopping? *Christ!* Marcase thought. *Mine almost stopped too!* The man had looked so very vulnerable as he lay dead on the floor - if they hadn't gotten to him when they had, it would have been over right there!
       Then the bold as brass bluff against Rydell - infecting his would-be killer with his own infected blood and then dangling a promise of a cure in order to get the rest of the available bacteria and destroy it. *Man! What guts! And calmly reading Agatha Cristie only 15 minutes before the virus would kill him as if nothing was wrong? I could never have handled it as well as that!* Although, he pretty much had handled his own imminent death that well when he was infected with Ebola. *But I was just a kid and didn't really understand,* he told himself.
       Being a member of an elite Biohazard Crisis Team, Marcase was used to knowing what to do and doing it. The complete feeling of helplessness that had come over him as he watched his friend dying was going to be very hard to forget. Shaking his head and turning over, he pushed all the thoughts away and fell into a fitful sleep.

       When he woke, Marcase showered, dressed and went for a walk at a nearby park. He wandered aimlessly for a while, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Daniel Cassian and Doctor Rachel Roberson sitting on a bench just a short distance away. Roberson and Cassian had first discovered the Mayan Bacteria together in the Yucatan jungle ten years ago. Cassian thought it had killed Rachel, but she had recovered. Hearing about his infection, she had returned to offer him the only cure available - a mixture of deadly herbs and an overpowering reason to live. They had been lovers ten years ago. Marcase thought he might feel a pang of jealousy seeing them together like this, but he didn't. Instead, he felt a great sadness because he knew Rachel Roberson would not be staying and his friend would be losing her again. He watched silently as she handed something to Cassian, gently kissed him and walked away.
       Hesitating only a moment, Marcase walked over and placed a hand gently on Cassian's shoulder. The older man didn't look away from the spot where Roberson had vanished over the hill. "I thought you might be lurking in the shadows, Edward," he said quietly.
       "I wasn't spying - at least not intentionally. Just worked out that way."
       "Life's a bitch, isn't it?"
       Marcase grinned and straddled the bench in front of his boss. "Sometimes."
       "What brings you out here anyway?"
       "Just trying to clear my head - shake off the .........."
       "The what?"
       "Well, if you must know - the damned fear."
       "Fear? What were you afraid of?"
       "Losing you, actually."
       There was a short awkward silence before Cassian burst out laughing.
       "What's so funny about that?" Marcase demanded.
       "Nothing really. It's just that I was a little scared too there for a while."
       "You sure as hell didn't show it."
       "Not even when I sprinted through the halls with a demon after me?"
       Marcase grinned. "Not even then."
       "I'm hungry - have you eaten yet?"
       "No. Shall we make it a second date?"
       Cassian glanced skeptically at the young man's mischievous grin. "You're just feeling attracted to my vulnerability since I just came off my death bed."
       "Of course I am! And we're both going to have to get over that if we're going to survive this relationship."
       Cassian grinned now too. "I'll work on it. Let's go."

       After grabbing a bite to eat, the two men ended up back at Marcase's apartment. Cassian settled himself on the couch and asked, "So what now? A quiet evening at home watching Casablanca on video?"
       Marcase sat down next to Cassian, suddenly looking serious. "You know, the way you handled all this - it was really amazing. I mean, nothing ever seems to phase you."
       Cassian grinned. "I'm just a good actor."
       "You're a hell of a good man, too."
       "I bet you say that to all your lovers." Cassian leaned over and punctuated his remark with a slow kiss.
       Marcase responded in kind and they sat kissing and caressing for a while before the younger man fumbled with Cassian's belt buckle and opened his trousers. Pulling the cotton briefs down enough to free the stiffening cock, Marcase whispered, "By the way, Happy Birthday," before kneeling to take the other man's growing member into his mouth.
       "Ahhh - didn't realise you knew," Cassian said with an appreciative groan as he entwined his fingers through the younger man's thick dark hair.
       Marcase chuckled softly to himself as his boss leaned his head back and sighed heavily. He enjoyed making the older man squirm - Hell, imminent death didn't make the man squirm, but Edward Marcase could manage it with a little judicious use of his teeth! When he felt the man was just about to come, he slipped the thick cock out of his mouth and gripped it tightly in his left hand, as he crawled up to kiss the man again.
       After a long and passionate kiss, Cassian pleaded, "C'Mon, Edward, have a heart - let me come before I explode!"
       "Can I call you Daniel, Doctor Cassian?"
       "Yes, dammit - you can even call me Dan! Just - OH!"
       Marcase eased his grip and Cassian came with a relieved groan.
       "You're a hard man, Edward Marcase," Cassian said with a sigh.
       "Yes - I am."
       "Oh, I guess I need to do something about that, don't I?" Cassian pulled up his own trousers in order to be able to move properly, but did not refasten them. He then unbuttoned the young man's sticky damp shirt and pulled it off as he shoved him down on his back on the couch and climbed on top of him. He ran one hand over the richly furred and well muscled chest as he quickly unfastened Marcase's blue jeans with his other hand. "I love your chest, Edward," he said.
       "Oh, I feel so used," Marcase said with a mock swoon.
       "Not yet, you don't." Cassian freed the stunning young cock and kissed it gently. He planted tiny kisses all the way down the shaft and tentatively licked at the scrotum.
       Marcase sighed and pushed himself deeper into the cushions, as Cassian took the entire erect cock into his mouth and sucked hard, massaging the young man's scrotum with one hand while running the long slender fingers of his other hand through that lovely chest hair.
       When he thought Marcase was close to orgasm, Cassian released his cock and, with an evil glint in his eyes, sat back on the couch relaxed.
       "What the hell?" Marcase complained. "You're not going to leave me like this, are you?"
       "Yup!" Cassian answered with a grin.
       Flabbergasted, Marcase said, "You can call me Eddy ......."
       "I don't want to call you Eddy. I think I need to take a leak," Cassian added as he rose and headed toward the bedroom and the bath room beyond.
       With a roar, Marcase kicked off his shoes and jeans and dove for Cassian, tackling the older man just inside the bed room. "I don't think so," he said as he pinned his boss to the floor. "We have some unfinished business."
       "If you say so," Cassian said, sliding himself down to take Marcase's aching cock into his mouth once more. "Eddy," he mumbled as Marcase came. Cassian drank down the warm juices and then smiled up at the brilliant young doctor straddling him. "Happy now?" he asked.
       "Very," Marcase replied as he collapsed on the floor next to the other man. "Dan," he added with a wink.
       They laughed together for a moment and then Cassian said, "So, I believe it's your turn to die next - how do you think it'll happen this time?"
       "I think we should wean ourselves off this back-from-the-dead aspect and shoot for an easier relationship."
       "I agree, but it might not be so easy."
       "One step at a time, right?"
       Cassian propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at the younger man with a grin. "So, next time, you just get shot or something, but don't die, right? And then I provide aid and comfort ..."
       "Until you get shot or something - couldn't we just skip that part and go straight to the aid and comfort?"
       "Maybe." Cassian leaned low and kissed Marcase softly.
       "Maybe?" Marcase whispered before wrapping his arms around the other man and pulling him down into a proper kiss.