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The guard took him through multiple corridors, a concourse, a lift, more corridors, and finally stopped by a door. Alex had been right, this was a city in space. They should open it up and have shuttle set up for fast transit.

"Please stand by the door," the guard motioned.

Tristan moved to the spot. He wasn't worried. If the guard tried anything he'd be dead before the thought went through his head. The guard tapped commands on the door panel with quick motions. Too fast for Tristan to follow. It was something he'd done countless times. The door opened.

"The door is set up to recognize only you now. Anyone else who wants to come in, you'll have to instruct the door to open."

"Unless they have the override, like you do."

"It's a safety measure, sir."

Tristan gave the guard a quirked smiled. "Sure it is."

"This also means that you'll have to let your partner in. This is a suite, three bedrooms, a lounge, food preparation and eating area. If you want your partner to have open access you'll have to contact us to set that up."

Tristan entered the room, and manually closed the door. He stood in the lounge. Two plush seats and one couch were around an elevated pit. He stepped closer to it and a fire came to life in the center of it. He found the controls on the edge and shot it off. Why would anyone want a fire on a ship?

The room was open on his right to the eating area with the counter for food preparation, or considering one of the devices he saw there, food fabrication.

Each wall had a frame on it, one showed space, another was a woodland scene with animals he didn't recognize running around in a manner he'd never seen animals do. The other two were stills of plant life. He checked the frames for obvious eavesdropping devices, and found he could change their sizes and content in the process.

The three bedrooms were identical. A bed large enough to fit three of him with a thick mattress and enough covers to smother anyone who dared go under them. He pressed a hand on one and found it was soft. It took him a moment to find its control and hardened it. The walls also had frames, these showing water flowing in creeks, and included sounds. He shut them off. The dresser and closets were empty.

He searched them for more spy devices and found none. In what he decided was Alex's room he also hardened the mattress.

He didn't mind being spied on. It wasn't like they could stop him even if they knew what he had planned. The search was to know what was where. He was certain there were some he hadn't seen. More than one company made micro equipment for the Law and the military. Not to mention that the comm system was under the ship's control.

He took out his datapad and sat in one of the seats, sinking in. He spent a few seconds trying to get comfortable in it and gave up. He sat at the table, the hard chairs more comfortable.

He brought up the list of new items that his contact had informed him were being developed. If he took this mission, it was the last one. It was time to head back to his workroom, make arrangements to get these items delivered for studies. After these last years of intensive training, Alex was now at a point where Tristan didn't have to worry about things like a reluctance to kill. Downtime at this point wouldn't hurt him.

He lost himself in his reading, going off them to launch search programs for extra information. Made requests for what to be sent where so he could collect them.

When the door opened to let Alex in Tristan had added three items to his list, gotten confirmation half of them would be delivered and had managed to get two of the almost finished research papers. It had been a productive time.

The human stood in front of the closed door, his head canted slightly, a gesture Tristan had learned to associate with him listening to computers. His mouth moved, speaking so quietly Tristan couldn't hear. Giving commands to systems in this room.

He watched him, with his face back on, as well as the scar. He looked like his weapon again, not like the young would-be bounty hunter he'd played. He hadn't liked that role, especially not the change of his face. Alex wasn't young. He was mature, dependable, deadly.

"I've overridden the comm system, it won't listen in." He headed for the counter. "It does mean you'll have to activate it manually if you want to call out. I'm not hearing any other computers, so no one is spying on us."

Tristan didn't doubt him. Alex was masterful with computers.

"Seems rather stupid of them not to listening in on us." The food fabricator came on as Alex leaned against the counter. "Or at least try to. You think they don't know who you are? Aren't taking you seriously?"

"They know." Tristan put down the datapad. "The client researched me thoroughly before contacting me."

"So what? She doesn't want to risk offending you?"

"She does want me to take on this other job."

The fabricator beeped and the door open. A plate with a sandwich slid out. Alex got two glasses of water, setting one in front of Tristan then sitting down with his food.

Tristan didn't approve of the indulgence. They weren't playing a part, there was no point in eating fancy food. Alex never complained about the nutrient bars he ate on the ship, but anytime there were off it, if Tristan didn't dictate what they'd eat, he would have something like this. He didn't say anything this time, but he was suspecting Alex did this as a small form of rebellion.

"You put the scar back on."

Alex nodded as he finished chewing. "It's part of my face file, it was easier to have her do it unaltered."

Tristan nodded. The change of face had been Alex's idea, but the scar removal had been Tristan's. It was too distinctive and if any of the guards at the prison had recognized him as Crimson, who was known to associate with Tristan, it would have complicated matters.

"This is just some hunt, I figured it wouldn't matter if I have it."

As was often the case, Alex wasn't thinking far enough ahead. This hunt might take them places where a mask would be needed, but if that was the case, the scar could be removed. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. Alex didn't look right without it, he looked less dangerous.

"You think this thing about going after her brother's real? Seems to me it would be a lot easier for her to just have a bounty put on him. Cheaper too."

"It's real, but there's more to it than she said."

Alex raised an eyebrow as he ate.

"The old man. He plays a part in this, otherwise why bother rescuing him?"

"Her comment about the research? I thought she had us break him out just because he's her grandfather, and she didn't want him to rot in there."

"He was there for thirty-two years. Why wait this long? As soon as she was old enough to take control of her family's fortune, she could have had him broken out."

Alex shrugged.

"What that research is will have an impact on hunting her brother, otherwise there was no point in mentioning it."

"She could be lying."

Tristan considered it. He was an excellent judge of people, but he wasn't infallible. He went over her words, her behavior. "She isn't."

"She's hot for you." Alex wasn't looking at Tristan as he said that, he was taking a bite out of his sandwich. At least he wasn't obviously looking.

"I know."

Slight tension in the humans' body, just for an instant. He'd been looking for a reaction out of him, and instead had told Tristan what he might not even be admitting to himself. He'd seen the signs over the last two years. The glances, the smells, the way he reacted when Tristan used him for relief. He hadn't called the human out on it. That wasn't the game he was playing with him. He wouldn't humiliate him for how he felt. Those emotions were much more useful to him pure, untainted by resentment.

That had been the only reaction. Alex was back to eating, finishing his food. He disposed of the plate and glass and leaned against the counter, looking at Tristan.

"Do you think this is just to get you?"

Tristan tilted an ear.

"Maybe she wants you to stay, become her...." He trailed off.

This was interesting. Alex hadn't shown any jealousy before. He wondered how much of it he should fan, and decided now wasn't the time.

"She wants to bed me, nothing more. And I'm not interested in bedding her. She's rich, so she feels she needs to indulge in questionable behavior. I'm both alien and dangerous. She believes that to take me in her bed would demonstrate how fearless she is."

He watched Alex's reactions. They were subtle. Even before finding him Alex had learned to control himself, now he was better at it. He didn't like that Tristan had worked all of that out about her, and that he knew what she would get out of it, so could use it. He set him at ease.

"She isn't the job. I have nothing to gain by bedding her. If I need relief, I'll go with someone I trust."

The tension in his jaw went away, his shoulders relaxed. The human's nod was barely noticeable.

"I'm going to head to bed. The downside to good cryo is that time actually doesn't pass. I've been asleep for months and yet it feels like I haven't slept in two days."

"Subjectively, you haven't slept in twenty-eight hours. That's how long since you've slept. The two cryo periods--"

"Don't matter, which is what I said."

"Your bedroom is that one." Tristan pointed and Alex headed to it, passing by him. His hand was still raised and he let his fingers brush against the human's arm. Alex reacted to it not with tension, but by relaxing. He looked forward to the moments Tristan touched him. It was one of the easier ways to keep him under control, to keep stoking his emotions.

Tristan watched him, his back, his legs, his ass. His body reacted to the sight of the controlled power Alex exuded. His weapon did that to him more often now. Tristan didn't understand why. Physical relief wasn't something he'd needed before Alex. It wasn't as all-consuming as it had been that first time, and the few after that, but where the demand of that need had lessened in strength, it had increased in frequency. He'd gotten relief only a few hours ago, subjectively, and he was already reacting to him again.

He could go to him, take his relief, but he didn't want Alex to get used to it happening this often. If he did this too much with him, he would start expecting it, maybe even demanding it. He could wait a few days.

Tristan drained the glass of water in one go and picked up his datapad. Reading distracted him from thoughts of Alex until he decided he needed to sleep.