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Victor silently cursed himself. There was no Simon, this was Tristan. He knew that, so why had he just called him Simon? And why was the man with him looking at Tristan like he wanted to have a few words in private?

"Stay where you are." He raised his gun higher to keep Tristan from stepping closer. He wasn't letting him get within reach, that would be deadly.

"How did you find me?" The hint of Simon was gone now. There was no warmth in those eyes anymore, only cold, detached calculation.

Victor shifted his aim to the other man. "I said don't move."

He pointed to the door. "I figure you're not interested in any passerby poking their noses in this."

"Fine, but don't try anything funny."

He watched him close and lock the door then went back to aiming at the alien. "You're rather distinctive, Tristan. We get enough aliens that you don't stand out that much, but for someone keeping an eye out for you, there's no mistaking who you are."

The alien smiled, it was a cold a vicious thing. "You've been looking for me all these years?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I was never looking for you, and I gave up on him a long time ago. Do you have any idea what you did to me?"

"Vic, why don't you put the gun aw--"

"My name is Victor!" he was up and had taken a step forward, brandishing his gun at them. He forced himself to calm down. He couldn't let him get under his skin like that. He was a veteran of the Law, he knew how to handle this.

Yeah, he knew so well that he'd come here without backup, without telling anyone. If Tristan killed him, no one would know until, or if, his body was ever found. He should call this in, get others here to witness this arrest, his vindication.

Tristan raised his hands in a placating gesture Victor knew from the courses he'd taken on how to defuse tense situations. It was probably exact to what was taught.

Victor had dissected the months he'd spent with Simon, and how he'd always known exactly what to do, what to say to get Victor to go along with him. They'd gone on excursions, made love in places he'd had no business doing that, just because of the way Simon had smiled at him, or how his eyes had shone with a hint of mischief when he'd said please.

That was over. He wasn't letting this alien manipulate him. He didn't care how smooth he was, how smart. Victor was the one in charge. He was taking him in.

"Well? Do you? Did you even care that you destroyed my career? That your partner here undid in a few minutes what had taken me decades to repair?"

Tristan opened his mouth and Victor readied himself to resist the smooth words.

"Do you really think I give a damn what happened to you?"

The coldness in the voice hit him harder than he thought it could. There was not even an attempt at making him think it had been some sort of mistake.

"Why?" Victor's voice shook. "Why me? How could you do this to me? Make me fall in love with you and then betray me like that?" In his periphery he saw the man wince, but he wasn't important, this was about Tristan.

"Come on, Vic. How could I not use you? Do you remember how you were back then? So focused on your job at the expense of anything else. Did you tell yourself your loneliness was a worthy sacrifice for the greater good?"

Victor winced at the truth in those words. He'd seen himself as a hero then, in a quiet way, putting the law above his needs.

"How quickly did you abandon those high ideals the moment I gave you a taste of companionship? Did you have any idea how desperate you were for someone to touch you? To caress you? To make love to you?"

"Stop it." His voice was weak. He couldn't muster any authority.

"Do you have any idea how pathetic you were to fall in love with a guy outside your species? And you weren't like Alex, who was already interested in us before I showed up. You said yes to the first stranger who showed up, who said you were more important than all this law stuff."

Fingers took his chin and raised his head so he had to look into Tristan's brown eyes. When had he moved?

"You broke your code of ethics for me, Vic. That's how desperate you were. Alex never did that. You have no idea how much work it took to get him in bed with me. You? You said yes at the first hint of an invitation. You think I used you? Well look in the mirror, because you used me right back. The only difference was that I knew what you were doing and used that to get what I wanted."

"I loved you."

"Bullshit. That came later. That first time, barely hours after we met? No one falls in love that quickly. That wasn't love, that was 'want.' Just like now, you should have arrested me. Do you remember what I said that made you hesitate?"

Victor wanted to look away, but those fingers held his face in place. He couldn't even close his eyes to stop looking into those brown depth. He saw them become warm, he saw Tristan's face relax. He knew what was coming. He didn't want to hear it, but he was powerless to stop it.

Tristan's voice was smooth, tender, husky. "Do you have any idea how amazing your eyes are? They're like a cloudy sky, just as the sun's about the break through them. There so much potential for light in them."

Victor wanted to scream for him to stop, but he was completely in his power. Then he did scream as he fell backward, stopping only when the seat caught him, trying to understand what had happened.

Tristan had his gun. With a few deft movements he took the power core out of it and placed the pack on the dresser. "You really should get yourself something other than this. The law issued Similic isn't worth anything. You need to get yourself a Dolfic. I'm thinking their Milgran hand cannon would suit you. Don't let the name fool you. It's no bigger than this, but it will bring down your quarry in one shot, I guarantee it. You'll need tools to take it apart when you want to clean and inspect it, but at least I wouldn't be able to do that to it." He indicated the multiple pieces the gun had somehow turned into.

"He caught you?" the other man said. Tristan had said his name. Victor was getting enough control over his mind to think again. Alex was his name. He'd add that to the file. He finally had his real name. He was confident Tristan hadn't invented that one.

"I needed to make contact with him. Unlike you he didn't hang out in any bars, alien or not. He was a detective, still full of his own superiority after five years. I knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from a theft in progress when he walked by it. After that, well, it was easy. At least you made me work for it."

"We've never talked about that time."

Victor saw a mix of emotions in Alex's eyes, yearning, fear, excitement. He was nowhere near as good as Tristan was at hiding them.

"Do you really want to rehash what I put you through? Remember how you were when you found me? How painful that was?"

Victor swore that there was something in Tristan's voice he hadn't heard before, a barely perceptible tremor.

Alex shook his head. The emotions in his eyes had settled. Not being pushed under control, he'd interrogated enough criminal to recognize the difference. No, Alex had worked through how he felt and put each emotion where it belonged. Out of the current situation.

Tristan looked at Victor and he straightened in the seat. He no longer felt out of sorts, but he no longer had all the power he'd had moments ago. His only play now was to activate the distress signal every officer was equipped with. He'd catch hell for having come here alone, but at least Tristan would be caught. He inched his hand toward it, but froze when Tristan locked eyes with him. It wasn't fear that kept him still. It was yearning.

"You want to know why out of all the officers I picked you? Why out of all the ways I could have broken into the precinct's database I chose to seduce you, use you?"

Victor wanted to shake his head. He'd had enough of revelations today. He nodded.

Tristan leaned in, rested his hands on the arms and stopped only when his face was inches from Victor's.

He spoke softly. "You wanted me to, Vic. You were desperate for someone to break this bubble you'd build around you. A bubble of rules and regulation. You wanted to see the other side. You wanted to let loose, to throw away those restrictions, if only for a little while. And I gave you that."

Victor swallowed. He knew the words were true, like looking in a mirror after a facial alteration shows you a stranger but you still knew it was you. "But you took--"

Tristan shook his head. "You gave that to me. Do you remember when you showed me how to access the precinct's database form your home? When you gave me the passwords? The needed IDs. Do you remember why you did that?"

"You told me--"

"The truth Vic. It's just us here. You don't need to lie."

He did look away. "I wanted to break a rule. A big one. One that could cost me my position. I wanted to impress you." He fixed his gaze back on those brown eyes. "But you manipulated me into doing that. You played off my fears and insecurities, my desire to keep you with me."

"I did, but never once did I say what you needed to do to keep me close. You chose that as your show of devotion."

"You knew that's what I'd do."

Tristan's smile was all the confirmation Victor needed. He could feel himself starting to truly hate this person.

"Tell me, Vic. What did you learn from your time with me? Did you learn that you should ease up on the job, meet people, make friends, find a lover who would be a better match for you than I was?"

Those eyes peered into his and Victor could swear Tristan was looking into his being, seeing exactly who he was.

"No, you're still this lonely man who only goes out to get laid. I don't think you even get a lot of enjoyment out of that. You do it because it's a need you can't deny anymore."

Victor couldn't even swallow. He couldn't throw blame or excuses.

"But that isn't all is it? Your precious Law doesn't mean as much to you anymore, does it? I don't think you break it in big ways, not yet, but you have broken it. You've learned that sometimes it gets in the way of what needs to be done. You want to be the predator you thought you were before you met me. The one who kept the little ones safe from the monsters out there, from me. But you're still letting the law get in the way."

"You're wrong." He'd finally found his voice. "The law is what keeps everyone safe."

"Even you?"

"Yes."

Tristan smiled. "Then how come you never told the rest of the precinct that file disappeared?"

He felt his mouth form the words, but nothing came out. How?

"Come on Vic, who do you think took it? I wasn't going to let you keep it, not after I learned Alex had used it to find me. I will say that it wasn't easy. Your system's probably the toughest I had to get in."

"How do you know I never told anyone."

The smile broadened. "You still have a job. You knew your law wouldn't protect you. It would mark you as an accomplice. So you did the only reasonable thing, you covered it up."

"When I bring you in, all that will be forgiven. I'll be the guy who caught the infamous Tristan. Doing that is even going to bring the prison down a peg or two, considering the Sayatoga still says they have you. Maybe there'll be an investigation into them that'll explain how it is criminals keep going in and out of them."

Tristan nodded, straightened and leaned back against the dresser. "And how is that going to help you?"

"It's going to make me--"

"Is it going to take the loneliness away? You think bringing me in will make everyone else forget what they suffered because of what you let happen? What you helped make happen?" Tristan stepped back before him. "And if they do, what will happen then? You'll bury yourself back in your work. Isolate yourself from the outside because you'll think that it will vindicate this mask you've built of yourself as the tireless pursuer of justice."

"Fine!" Victor stood and shoved Tristan away. "So I'm nobody. I'm a failure" he shoved the alien again. "My career is in the gutter but I'm too spineless to leave it for something else." He pounded on Tristan's chest. "Is that what you wanted to hear? That I'm useless now? That I'll never do anything worthwhile anymore?"

Arms wrapped around him. Strong arms that held him against the chest he'd been beating on. He could hear the strong heartbeat underneath. Hear the deep breath the alien took, and he hated himself for finding comfort in them.

He felt the forehead rest on top of his head. "You're not useless Vic. You never were. I wouldn't have picked you if you were."

"Right, I was so damned good I couldn't see what you were doing to me."

"I exploited your weaknesses. It doesn't invalidate your strengths. You lasted this long in a job that seems determined to destroy you. That says a lot about you. About how tough you are."

He pulled away a little. Not enough for Tristan to let him go; he didn't want to lose the comfort he provided, the strength to say what he needed to say. He just wanted to look him in the eyes.

"Or that I'm too stupid to know when it's over for me. Why didn't you kill me? Why didn't you end my life while I was still happy? It would have been so much b--"

He had to stop speaking when Tristan's lips pressed against his. His tongue pried Victor's lips apart with little effort. The instant he'd gotten over the surprise, he'd been eager for the kiss.

He wrapped his arms around Tristan's neck and hung onto him while Tristan's tongue moved against his. It had a slight roughness to it he'd forgotten about. Tristan's arms tightened around him and as he pressed closer he could feel his excitement. The erection brought back memories that made him blush.

He was panting when Tristan pulled away. He was hard and he was sweating. When he opened his eyes it wasn't Simon that looked back at him. The face wasn't cold, but it didn't have the constant smile Simon's had had. The constant mischief, this need to have fun. This face was serious.

"Why?" Victor breathed.

"A reminder of what you had once. What you could have again if you stopped letting your fears get in your way."

How was this a cold-blooded killer?

"I don't know how? I've lived this way for so long, how could I get out of it?"

Tristan ran a finger along Victor's cheek. He didn't lean into it like he'd done with Simon. It was missing the hint of a claw in the touch. Simon had worn the danger he represented on the surface, it was one of the things Victor had found so appealing about him.

"You're what? Sixty? Seventy? Vic, you're not even middle age, and if you get stem treatment? You'll have centuries ahead of you."

Victor shrugged. Maybe it was easy for him to make changes, the way he wore different personalities like he did, but Victor wasn't like that. He'd hung all his hopes on Simon and when he'd left, abandoned him all he'd wanted was to get him back. When he'd finally wizened up and given up on that. He'd gone back to the only thing he knew.

"Look," Tristan said. "If what you're looking for is something to show that you can be better than this, how about you help me save the universe?"