Anyone who didn't know him well would have thought Doctor Daniel Cassian hadn't a care in the world. Dressed in a finely tailored grey suit with a smart blue tie that set off the clear ice colour of his eyes, he ran slender fingers through his light brown hair, which fell back into place perfectly. Looking closer, one might have noticed the slight furrow of his brow, the small lines of worry around his eyes and the firm tension around his sensual lips. Someone who knew him very well and who looked very closely might just realise the man was worried as hell.
       As Director of the very secret, but highly effective Biohazard Crisis Team, he often had quite a lot to worry about. A calm, cool and collected individual by nature, Cassian seldom showed any signs of stress. Given the nature of their business, the loss of a team member was always a possibility and he accepted that risk. This time, however, a member of his team lay on the brink of death for no other reason than that they - his team - hadn't trusted him. They hadn't trusted him! And the fact that the team member in question was Marcase made it all the more painful!
       Doctor Edward Marcase - defiant, stubborn, brilliant, young, beautiful - was simply the most talented and most frustrating virologist Cassian had ever encountered. He and Doctor Kimberly Shiroma made an excellent team; her practical straightforward scientific approach served to balance out his often outrageous instinctual flashes of insight. This time, he'd given them a simple order, but the two of them hadn't trusted his motives and they had defied him. What had he ever done to deserve suspicion? He was furious, but not at his people. He was pissed with himself for not being able to engender the trust necessary to operate a team like this. His jaw tensed ever so slightly at the thought.
       He sensed a stirring nearby and glanced down into two deep brown eyes, which filled with an inexplicable sense of peace as they focused on Cassian. His heart skipped a beat. "It's about goddamned time, Marcase!" he admonished, but anyone who knew Cassian might have caught the fleeting sense of relief that washed over his eyes and the slight grin that threatened to tug at the corners of his lips.
       Marcase knew Cassian very well indeed. "Nice to see you too, sir," he grinned.
       "Do you remember what happened?"
       "Sure. I died." He smiled broadly.
       "I take it you enjoyed the experience?"
       "In a way, yeah. I mean, it was fascinating as hell! Actually, it was the entrance to hell, but it wasn't my time and they couldn't take me."
       Shaking his head, Cassian let slip an actual grin and sat back in his seat by the hospital bed. Satisfied the man was going to be fine, he got straight to the point. "What the hell did you think you were doing? Was there something you didn't understand about 'don't go outside until I get there'?"
       "We suspected you wanted to kill him - get rid of the evidence."
       Cassian sighed. "Why? Why would you think that? Is there something I've done to lead you to believe I'm a lying, ruthless bastard?"
       Marcase stared at his boss for a moment, sensing a sort of vulnerability he'd never noticed before. There was a genuine look of distress behind those icy eyes.
       Uncomfortable with the silence, Cassian continued, "Okay - that was a poor choice of wording - I am a ruthless bastard, but I don't lie!"
       "No, you just tell selective truths."
       Cassian sighed again. "I'm not a monster, you know."
       "I know. Now."
       Cassian looked the other way for a moment, wondering how he could convince his team to trust him.
       "Can I go home now?" Marcase asked.
       "I don't know - you feeling okay all ready? You were dead, after all"
       "I feel great. Whattayasay?"
       Cassian gaped at the other man's huge grin for a moment before getting a hold of the attending physician and getting the release forms filled out.

       "Shall I call you a taxi? Or are you comfortable enough with me to let me drive you home?"
       "You are really bothered by the fact that I didn't trust you, aren't you?"
       "Yes! Losing a team member to a virulent strain is an occupational hazard, but losing someone to a lack of trust is unforgivable!"
       Marcase looked at his boss with a sense of respect he had never felt for the man before. Perhaps he was too hard on him in the past. Cassian now seemed genuinely concerned. "Take me home, skipper," he said.

       Marcase was still a little unsteady on his feet, so Cassian helped him up the steps into his apartment.
       "Will you be all right?" Cassian asked.
       "Stay and have a drink."
       "What? Okay." Cassian went to the little corner bar and poured himself a scotch. "You want scotch too?"
       "No - just a club soda - no telling what kind of drugs I have floating around in my body right now."
       "Good thinking. Personally, after what you put me through, I can use a good stiff drink." He handed Marcase the soda and sat down next to him on the couch.
       "So what would you have done if I had died?" Marcase asked.
       "Resigned my position."
       "What?"
       "Sure. I'd have no business commanding if I couldn't hold my team together in a crisis. We are a Crisis Management Team, after all."
       Marcase shook his head. "I guess I've figured you wrong, Cassian." Something caught his attention and drew his gaze toward Cassian's crotch, where a considerable bulge was growing. "I figured you all wrong, didn't I?"
       Cassian followed his gaze toward his own crotch and his face colored slightly. "I'd better be going." He rose hastily and drank down the rest of his scotch.
       Marcase rose with him and gently took hold of his arm. "Don't go. I think we should do something about that, don't you?"
       Cassian lost himself for a moment in the depths of the root beer colored eyes fixed upon him. Running his tongue over suddenly parched lips, he muttered, "I ….."
       "Come on - my bed room is over here."
       "Are you insane?" Cassian pulled his arm free. "I'm your boss, for crying out loud! How can you even consider such a thing?"
       "Because you're considering it."
       Cassian pondered a moment, came to a decision and started pulling off his jacket as he headed for the bed room. "This way, you say?"
       Marcase grinned broadly and followed behind. Pushing Cassian through the bedroom and into the bathroom, he said, "Keep going. We need a shower."
       "Do we?"
       "Well, I don't know about you, but I've just been to the gates of Hell."
       Cassian watched appreciatively as Marcase slowly disrobed. The young man was certainly something to look at. How often had he seen him without a shirt on and wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through that chest hair?
       Marcase climbed into the shower and simply stood under the stream of warm water for a moment. "Coming in?" he asked.
       Cassian was jolted out of his absent gazing at the other man's ass with the realisation that he had actually been invited to go touch. He quickly stripped and joined Marcase in the stall.
       The young doctor was still fatigued and supported himself with his hands against the wall as he let the water flow down his neck and back. Cassian took the soap and began to lather him up.
       When Marcase sighed heavily, Cassian asked, "Good?"
       "Hmmmmmm - great. Been a while since I've been massaged like that." Cassian began planting small kisses all over the other man's body and Marcase added, "Oooh, and it's been a while since I've been body-smooched too."
       Cassian smiled. "Body-smooched? I take it that's a technical term?"
       "Of course. Here - try this." He reached over to a small shelf and produced a tube of lubricant.
       "You're not wasting any time, are you?"
       "Oh, and this." He handed over a foil wrapped condom.
       "Better safe than sorry, eh?"
       "Just be gentle with me, sir," Marcase said with a grin, as he leaned his head back to kiss Cassian on the lips.
       "I can't believe you suggested this, Marcase."
       "You can call me Edward while we're naked - but never Eddy."
       Cassian grinned. "Not that I'm complaining, Eddy."
       Marcase turned his head quickly and nipped Cassian on the shoulder.
       "OW! Sorry, Edward," he said as he worked the lubricant into Marcase's ass.
       "That's better," Marcase squirmed. "Much better." He leaned back a little against Cassian's smooth chest. "Make sure you squeeze the little tip so no air gets trapped in - "
       "I know how to put on a condom!" Cassian exclaimed.
       "Just making sure," Marcase replied. "You're a very attractive man, you know - even considering your age."
       "My age?" He wrapped his arms around the shorter man and caressed his chest as he slowly entered him. "I'm only seven years older than you!"
       Marcase moaned deeply as Cassian got himself all the way inside him. "Hmmmmm, really?" he said. "You seem so much older."
       Cassian grasped the other man's cock and began stroking it tightly as he quickly pumped his ass. "How much older do I seem?"
       "Oh, man!" Marcase's breath became ragged and uneven. "Not much at all! I meant mature, of course."
       Cassian thrust deeper as his body tensed with orgasmic force. By now, Marcase was leaning back against Cassian and the older man still gripped the stiff cock in his hands. He remained inside him and stroked his cock until Marcase came as well.
       "Wow, that was a hell of a lot better than I'd imagined," Marcase said.
       "Just how the hell old did you think I was?"
       Marcase laughed and pulled himself off the other man's cock so he could turn around and kiss him properly. "I was only kidding, you know," he said as he carefully removed the condom and tossed it into the trash. "And can I call you Daniel then?"
       "No," Cassian said. "You can bloody well call me Doctor Cassian!"
       Marcase laughed again. "All right, Doctor Cassian, move closer to the hose."
       "What?"
       "The hose - let's clean you out a little before we resume our romp."
       "Oh - Ooooh! That feels weird. What about you?"
       "They took care of that at the hospital. Doctor Ryan is evidently of the school of thought that thinks an enema will cure anything - even death."
       Cassian laughed. "Yeah, he did strike me as such!"

       Finished in the shower, Cassian carried Marcase over to the bed.
       "Such service," Marcase said.
       "Hey, I take care of my people."
       Before Marcase could respond to that, Cassian had covered his mouth with his own and climbed over him on the bed. He kissed him long and hard and then sat up, straddling Marcase between his knees. He combed his fingers through the damp dark hair on his chest. "I've always wanted to do this, you know."
       "What? Fuck me?"
       "Oh, well, yeah, but I never dreamed you'd go for that. No, I've always wanted to run my hands through your chest hair."
       "Help yourself."
       "I've always wanted chest hair like this."
       "Really?" Marcase brought his hands up to the other man's chest. "I like you just the way you are. You'd look silly with thick dark chest hair."
       "You don't think I'm too skinny?"
       "I believe the term is lithe," he said as he studied the other man's long and lean body. "And no, you're just right." Marcase pushed him over and rolled over onto his side, hooking an arm under Cassian's leg. "Ut-oh," he said with a frown.
       "Uh-uh," Cassian grinned as he handed him the lubricant and another foil wrapped condom. "What were you thinking when you forgot these in the bathroom?"
       "Honestly?" he asked as he slipped on the condom. "I was wondering if you'd ever let me do this if I weren't just off my death bed." He applied a generous amount of the gel and eased his erection into Cassian's ass. Marcase's thrusts were agonizingly slow, and he leaned over to kiss and caress the other man at the same time.
       Cassian moaned softly, wishing the young man would get rougher, but at the same time, not wanting this to ever end.
       Marcase tensed for a moment, then came with a muffled groan and collapsed across Cassian's chest.
       "That was incredible," Cassian said. "I don't think I've ever been fucked so thoroughly in my life. You okay?"
       "Yeah. Just need to catch my breath." He pulled his now limp cock out of the other man's ass and carefully removed and tossed the condom before slowly sliding down Cassian's body.
       "What are you - ? Oh." Cassian shut his eyes and moaned as Marcase took the tip of his penis into his mouth.
       Marcase enjoyed the way his boss squirmed beneath him and he tried everything he could think of to make him squirm more. He ran his tongue along the tip of his cock, gently scraped his teeth along the shaft, sucked on one testis and then the other. Sensing the other man was on the brink, he asked, "You don't mind if I don't swallow, do you?"
       Trying hard not to come, Cassian replied, "No - not at all." And then his restraint gave way and he came all over the bed. "Sorry about the mess."
       "No problem." Marcase gathered up the sticky sheet and threw it off the bed. "I don't know about you, but this wore me out and I have somewhere to go tomorrow. You staying the night? I don't mind, you know."
       "Why not? It's not like I have anything to go home to. Where do you have to go tomorrow?"
       Marcase spooned up against his boss. "I need to go see Doctor Shiroma about some kites."
       "About some what?" Cassian asked, but the younger man was already asleep. He pulled the blanket up over them, wrapped his arms around the smaller man and sighed contentedly as he pondered whether or not he could get away with building trust with the rest of the team the same way. He fell asleep contemplating what Michael Hailey would be like in a shower and wouldn't Doctor Shiroma look cute in a bubble bath?