A Burning Zone story
by
Yuchtar

       Doctor Daniel Cassian watched as his niece Rebecca slept quietly. She'd just been through her first chemo-therapy session and it seemed to have gone well. With a grin, he gently squeezed his brother's shoulder and nodded to him before leaving the hospital.
       Once outside, he stood with his hands in his pockets and felt the cool breeze blow across his face. It was good to be alive, he thought. It was better yet to have everyone else alive as well. He'd been horrified when his colleague and lover, Doctor Edward Marcase, had voluntarily taken a potentially dangerous experimental drug to cause the appearance of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He wanted so much to somehow rescue Rebecca from a psychopathic cult leader and he had asked his team for advice, but he never wanted to endanger them in the process. He had been terrified of losing Marcase, but glad all the same that the other man had volunteered to help this way. He was now feeling somewhat guilty for his duplicitous behavior.
       Philip Paget had claimed to be able to heal people miraculously - and it appeared to be true, but the cure only lasted as long as one stayed within his cultist compound and submitted to whatever he asked. Otherwise, the illness would return. Rebecca Cassian, plagued with Leukemia, feared dying the way her mother had died of cancer. She had signed everything over to Paget and had looked forward to the cure.
       Marcase had taken the experimental drug in order to appear severely ill, so he could infiltrate Paget's compound. Doctor Kimberly Shiroma pretended to be Edward "Markham's" fiancé, while Michael Hailey claimed to be a close friend willing to put up a substantial amount of cash in order to cure his friend. Paget had accepted them.
       Things had gone sour, though, and the entire team came pretty close to dying - but Marcase came closest of all. Paget had been prepared to administer the "cure," and when Rebecca stopped him, he had decided to try kicking Marcase to death. Marcase, who'd had his hands bound, had taken quite a beating before Hailey and Shiroma showed up. Cassian had to do some heavy duty bluffing in order to get himself inside and Rebecca and the team out, but then, bull shitting was his forté, after all.
       Shaking his head at the absurdity of it all, Cassian walked to his car and drove away.

       Doctor Edward Marcase sat with his feet up, dressed in T-shirt and jeans. His eyes were closed while Isaac Hayes soulfully crooned from the stereo. His body ached all over. The drug he'd taken to imitate the symptoms of Hodgkin's had worn off, but it left him very weak and fatigued, and he'd been bruised and battered as well, so he was taking it easy for a while.
       He sighed as he went over the sequence of events in his mind. Cassian had wanted his help, he knew that. But the older man was disinclined to ask directly for it and seemed equally reluctant to express any gratitude at it's coming. Marcase probably should have felt put upon, but all he could do was grin inwardly at the thought of his tough as nails boss coming to the team - coming to him - for help. It made him feel needed.
       A knock at the door stirred him from his thoughts. "It's open!" he called out.
       Daniel Cassian walked in with a bottle of wine and a half dozen roses. "I come bearing gifts," he announced.
       Marcase turned his head toward the door and smiled. "To what do I owe the honor, kind sir?"
       "You almost died - it's my turn to provide the aid and comfort." Cassian casually slipped the wine bottle into the fridge and filled a water glass with water for the roses. Setting the glass down on the living room table, Cassian sat across from Marcase and asked, "How're you feeling?"
       "Pretty banged up, but I'll live."
       "I never expected you to endanger yourself that way for my niece, you know, but I'm glad we got her back."
       "She's a great kid - I was happy to help."
       "You know you're a stubborn bastard, don't you?"
       "I'm a stubborn bastard?"
       "That's what I said."
       "You're the one who -"
       Cassian deftly leapt over the table to sit next to Marcase on the couch. "What did I do?" he asked as he raised the other man's shirt to peer closely at the well developed chest beneath.
       "What're you doing?" Marcase wanted to know.
       "Just checking on your bruises - they're quite bad, you know." He pulled the T-shirt over the man's head and gently touched a finger to the worst bruise at Marcase's right side. When the young man winced, Cassian said "Sorry," and bent down to kiss the spot. He began kissing all the bruises - big and small - till he came to a pert nipple, which he tugged at gently with his teeth.
       Marcase moaned and leaned his head back. "You're taking advantage of my incapacitation," he said softly.
       "Sure I am - isn't that what this relationship is all about?"
       "At least it's now your turn to almost die," Marcase said as Cassian moved over to the other nipple. "Hmmmm," he groaned. "You know what this does to me, Dan …"
       "What does it do to you, Edward?"
       Marcase shifted his hips as Cassian reached down with one hand to unfasten the younger man's jeans. He wore no under shorts beneath. Brushing his fingers over the head of the erect cock made Marcase groan again. This time Cassian felt his own trousers becoming a tad too tight and groaned with him. He gripped the hard young cock and moved up to kiss Marcase on the mouth.
       As their tongues entwined, Marcase reached over and unbuttoned his boss' shirt so he could get his hands on the lean, taut body beneath. His hands traveled down to release the older man's throbbing cock and they both writhed in sensual pleasure on the couch for quite some time, until Marcase said breathlessly, "Take off your clothes."
       "What?"
       "Off ….."
       Cassian sat up and removed his disheveled clothing and then helped Marcase slip off the tight blue jeans.
       "Lay down," Marcase ordered.
       "Yes, sir," replied Cassian with a grin.
       Marcase got Cassian situated on his side, so he could lay down next to him and form a 69. Taking Cassian into his mouth, he sucked hard.
       "Oh, god, you have such a hot mouth," Cassian moaned as he took the younger man into his mouth as well.
       Marcase came first and Cassian drank down the warm fluid. As usual, Marcase released Cassian's cock before his boss came, letting the white substance spray over his chest.
       After resting a moment, Cassian rose and wiped Marcase off with the young man's T-shirt. "We're going to have to find a less messy way of doing this, you know."
       "I don't like the taste," Marcase replied. "But I hear it makes your skin soft."
       "And it gets sticky in this fur hide of yours."
       "You're just jealous."
       "You know I am, but I don't envy you the stickiness. Here - lie down on the floor. I'll go pour the wine and heat up some lavender oil - I'll give you a proper massage ."
       "Oh? Didn't know you were a trained masseuse too."
       "Had to pay my way through college somehow."
       Edward Marcase smiled as he watched the perfect and naked figure of his boss casually walk across the room. He marveled at the twists and turns of life that had brought them both to this place together, and wondered how long it would last.