"I've got the feeling that your partner isn't getting us a table," Tanner said as they walked toward the entrance.
"I just hope he's not in there puking up more of his guts. He's about to run out of them," Danny joked. As they stepped into the brightly lit interior, Danny vowed to himself to go after Martin if the other man hadn't reappeared by the time the others arrived. And if he had been puking again, then Danny would take him back to the hotel and tuck him in bed himself if he had to. He didn't need a sick Martin on his hands for the flight back home.
A beautiful, Hispanic woman stood behind the bar, and she looked worried as she called over to them. "Vin! Tell me that they've found Chris."
"Wish I could, Inez, but the Feds are getting closer to finding him, at least that's what they tell us. And speaking of Feds, this here's Danny Taylor, from New York. His partner came in just before we did."
"Si. The one who looks as handsome as you." Inez smiled at Danny. "Welcome, Danny. Do you want something to drink now or would you like to wait for the rest of the guys?"
"Thanks, but I can wait," Danny replied with a smile.
"I see that our table is empty and waitin' on us," Tanner said, and Danny followed the other man to a table in the far corner. From there, if someone took the right seats, they could see everything going on in the room, including who came and went. Not really caring about the rest of the room, Danny took the seat that would give him the view of the small hallway that led to the restrooms.
Tanner took the seat across from him, against the wall and smiled his thanks as a pitcher of beer and a mug were set down moments later. The smell of the beer hit Danny hard, and he leaned back in his seat in an effort to avoid it. To be fair, it didn't bother him as much as it could have. Beer had never been his drink of choice, but there were times when he found that the smell of any alcohol would set off the ache of want and need, and this seemed to be one of those times. Since he couldn't leave to get away from the temptation, then Danny had to do the only other thing that would help, and that was to order something else to keep his hands and mouth busy.
Inez was still standing there, talking with Tanner, and Danny smiled up at her. "I think I will have that drink now. Whatever cola you have would be fine."
"I think I'll have one, too," Tanner said as he moved the pitcher of beer a bit farther down so that it was mostly in the middle of the table. "If I start drinking tonight, I just might not stop."
"Two Cokes coming up," Inez said and she headed back to the bar.
"How long have you guys been coming here?" Danny asked. It was obvious from their earlier comments that they were regulars, and having the bartender bring a pitcher of beer without being asked was a good sign that she knew her customers and their wants.
"Buck and Chris started comin' here back when they were on the force," Tanner said. "Then as Chris gathered the team together, everyone just found it easier to join them here. I'd say we come here about three times a week, sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. And we always come here after we've wrapped up a case."
Inez returned with their sodas, and Danny smiled as he thanked her. "So Vin tells me that you've been putting up with his team for quite a long time now."
Inez laughed. "Si, but they are not so bad. They help to keep the rest of the customers in line. Except for when they're the ones making the most noise."
Tanner grinned up at her. "You know you love us, Inez."
"Me, especially," Wilmington said as he came up behind her. "How 'bout you and me going out for a date next week, Inez? We can go to the movies, then a late dinner, and then you can show me your place…"
Inez laughed as she shook her head. "As I keep telling you, Buck, that will never happen."
"It's because you know that you'd never get enough of me, isn't it?" Buck said, his eyes twinkling. "It's okay to admit it, you know. Lots of women have that problem."
"The problem of needing urgent medical attention for their rashes?" Sanchez asked as he took a seat, a broad grin on his face.
"I'll have you know that the women I date do not have medical conditions," Wilmington said, not even noticing that Inez had gone back to the bar.
"That's quite true, Mr. Sanchez," Standish said as he took the seat next to Tanner. "They are all in quite excellent physical condition before they go out with you. It is their conditions afterwards that gives one cause to be concerned. Why, I heard that the lovely flight attendant from Austria had to get shots before she was allowed back in her own country. And that was just from one date. It boggles the mind to think of what would happen to some poor, unsuspecting woman who mistakenly agrees to two or more dates with Mr. Wilmington."
"Fuck you, Ezra."
"I believe that I'll take a pass on that, Mr. Wilmington," Standish replied with a smirk. "My derriere cannot handle the number of shots that would be required afterward."
As everyone laughed heartily at the two men, Inez returned with a tray of beer mugs. As the others settled into their chairs, Wilmington left an empty seat between himself and Danny, and Danny smiled his thanks to the man for that.
"Did you lose Martin?" Wilmington asked him.
"He was sick on the way here, and he wanted to wash up," Danny replied.
Wilmington nodded as he pushed his empty mug toward Dunne, who was busy pouring beers for those who wanted one. "We had a Hell of a day, and I'm pretty sure he was getting a whopper of a headache before we finished up at the precinct house. I had meant to get him some Tylenol once we were back, but I plumb forgot it."
"Who needs Tylenol?" Rain asked from the other end of the table. She had her purse up on the table and was looking in it.
"Martin. All of that reading gave him a headache," Wilmington told her.
"Ah. Here is it." She pulled out a small bottle of the pain killer, shook out two tablets and passed them down to Wilmington. "Those should do the trick."
Rain hanged her purse from the back of her chair and accepted the mug of beer that Jackson passed her. "Thanks, hon."
He grinned at her. "No problem. Are we ready to order? I’m starving."
Danny accepted the Tylenol from Wilmington and got to his feet. "Let me go check on Martin. I'll be right back."
As Danny headed for the men's room, the others had already started to discuss what they were going to order for appetizers, so he knew that he'd have plenty of time in which to question Martin more closely about how he was feeling.
As Danny pushed open the door, he expected to find Martin either at the sink still washing up or in one of the stalls, once more puking his guts up. What he hadn't expected to see was Martin sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. Martin's knees were pulled up and he was resting his head on them, with his arms wrapped around his legs.
"I'm okay, Danny," Martin said, and Danny had to smile at that because the man had never raised his head to see who'd walked in.
"So you say. But I think that you'll feel even better once you take these Tylenol and get some decent food in you." Danny walked toward Martin, stopping just a few feet away. He held out the pills, waiting for Martin to finally look up.
When Martin did look up, Danny had to fight back the urge to just grab the man up in his arms and take him back to the hotel right then. The pain that Martin was feeling from his headache was all too evident in his eyes, and he looked worn out. "We can always skip dinner and just go back to the hotel, let you get some sleep."
Martin slowly shook his head. "I'm okay."
Danny's eyebrows rose as he looked at Martin, feeling incredulous that the man would keep trying to use that phrase when it was so obvious that he was anything but okay.
Martin sighed. "All right, I'm not okay, but I will be." He reached up, the palm of his hand facing upward. "Thank you."
Danny dropped the pills into Martin's hand. "Don't thank me, thank Rain. I think she's got a pharmacy in her purse or something."
Martin's fingers closed over the pills, but he didn't move to get up. Instead he looked at the closed door. "Are they still laughing it up out there?"
Danny almost cringed from the bitterness in Martin's voice, and he wondered where that feeling was coming from. They'd been around a lot of families who had to fall back on normalcy in order to deal with the fact that someone they loved was missing and maybe dead. These men were no different. "Martin, you know how gallows humor works. It doesn't mean that they don't care about Larabee."
"The man might be dead, and they're laughing, Danny!" Martin's eyes were now angry, which while being a much better look on the man than pained, wasn't something Danny felt like dealing with right then. "The clock is still ticking and he's not been found."
"Jack has a strong lead with that Gaines woman," Danny said.
"Oh, whoopee! Jack just might have found the address for Chris's ex-girlfriend. Hell, it wasn't that many hours ago when you were sure that Chris was fucking her all day and night, and now you've got her kidnapping him…or worse!" Oh, yeah, Martin was pissed, Danny thought. And getting louder about it, too.
"You need to keep your voice down," Danny urged. "If you can hear them laughing in here, then they can hear you out there."
"What difference would it make?" Martin scrambled to his feet, but remained leaned up against the wall. "Buck Wilmington already knows that Chris likes to play rough when it comes to sex. Men, women, it hasn't made much difference to Chris in the past, and Ella Gaines was just as wild. And now you've gone and told Vin Tanner everything that happened last week, so what difference does it really make if everyone else knows?"
Something inside of him snapped, and the next thing Danny knew, he'd moved across the few feet separating them and had his hand pressed up against Martin's mouth and Martin pressed up against the wall. "I'm going to put down your lack of caution to the fact that you're tired and have a headache. Vin Tanner asked me straight out about whether or not Larabee was with a woman. Turns out that he's pretty much in love with the guy, and now, if we find Chris Larabee, he just might have a chance with him. I don't know how or why you ended up talking about this with Buck Wilmington, and I really don't care. I just need you to be quiet about it, got it?"
Martin's reply was an icy glare that made Danny think that keeping his hand over Martin's mouth was the best course of action for the moment.
"Fine. Glare at me all you want, it's not going to change anything, Martin. Now, you've got two choices. You can quiet down and calm down, take that Tylenol and go out there and have a decent meal, or you can take that Tylenol and go back to the hotel to take a nap. Your choice." Danny removed his hand, but he didn't step back from Martin as he waited for his answer.
"You're putting me in a time out?" Martin rolled his eyes, but the anger didn't seem to ease off any. "The way I see it, there's a third choice. I can take the Tylenol and stay right here. Why you think I should have to sit down to dinner with Tanner after all you've told him is beyond me. You might not think much of me right now, Danny, but fuck it, I deserve better than that!"
Danny's brow furrowed with confusion, and then he remembered Martin's comments back on the plane. The man was still struggling with his homophobia or some such shit. "You know, if you've got a problem with Tanner, then that's just what it is, *your* problem. I have better things to do than to stand here trying to figure you out." Danny abruptly turned and headed for the door. "You've got five minutes to decide about staying or going, Martin. After that, I'm ordering dinner and then your only choices will be about hiding in the men's room and sulking like a child, or coming out there and eating dinner like a grown man."
Danny knew that if he looked back at Martin, he'd risk tossing it all to the wind and rushing back to the man to gather him in his arms. It was obvious that Martin was struggling, and even if showing the guy how he felt might push Martin even further into whatever homophobe land he was living in, Danny just couldn't handle the thought of Martin suffering from anything. And so he walked on out of the room, eyes on the table where the majority of Team 7 were still having a good-natured argument about what to order first. Attempts at normalcy, even of the gallows humor variety, were far better than letting his emotions getting the best of him where Martin Fitzgerald was concerned.
Danny sat down, saying nothing as he listened to the others reach a decision about the appetizers.
"He okay?" Wilmington asked. "I thought we'd get some potato skins on this end of the table. That'll be easier on his stomach than the spicier food."
Danny nodded, touched that Wilmington was thinking of Martin's welfare. Then again, the two of them had spent the whole day together, and had, according to Martin, a talk about Chris Larabee's sexual exploits. Suddenly, the idea of the two them together just didn't sit well with Danny. If anyone was going to be talking sex with Martin, it should be him, and not some ATF agent who apparently felt he was God's gift to the world at large.
Forcing himself to smile, Danny nodded. "Thanks. He's not okay, but hopefully once he takes the Tylenol, he'll be feeling better." Danny figured that if they'd overheard Martin, then someone would have said something to him about it. So, either they didn't overhear him, or they were too polite to bring it up.
Part Ten