AJ was pacing the room nervously. Brian had been gone for over an hour. In that time he had come up with every worst case scenario, most involving Brian’s dead body being dumped in the woods, lake, dumpster or some mass grave. AJ shook his head, he had watched way too many gangster movies. When he calmed down and really thought logically he remembered that these people were southerners. Brian was a southerner. Southerners liked to talk, a lot.

AJ smiled thinking about the first time he had met Brian. The boy had spoken a mile a minute and told his life story by the time the meeting was over. Not that Brian had needed to tell it because his equally southern cousin had told them everything the night before over dinner. And then when he’d met Brian’s parents he had learned even more about Brian and the extended Littrell family than he cared to know.  

Those memories distracted him just long enough for Brian, alive with all limbs attached, to come walking into the room. “About time. Jeeze, what were you doing?” 

Brian shrugged but would not look up, “We had a lot of things to talk about.”  

When Brian looked up AJ saw all he needed to see. Those blue held a look he had seen a million times. “Holy shit, you actually want to help them. Son of a bitch! How the fuck--” 

“C’mon Alex,” Brian said coming over to touch AJ‘s arm in reassurance. “There is more going on here than we thought. They need our help.” 

AJ pulled away harshly, “Oh come off it Brian. What bleeding heart story did they tell you? You were always a sucker for a sob story--” 

Brian’s eyes flashed. “Hey! That’s not fair. You don’t even know what’s happening here yet! You don’t even know these people.” 

“Neither do you!” AJ countered. “Jesus Brian, after so many years in the music industry I thought you’d learned to be a little more careful about who you trust.” 

Brian’s jaw set in anger, “I hadn’t realized it'd made you such a cynical bastard!” 

They looked at each other for a moment, both seething too much to say anything that would not hurt the other person further. 

It took Brian a few minutes and several deep breaths to calm himself before he spoke. “Look, there are a lot of people living here from all over Kentucky and Tennessee. There a lot of children and people over fifty and a lot of people with diabetes and heart and lung diseases. There is no medicine, not even antibiotics. Daryl told me the pharmaceutical companies took control of all medications and hospitals that weren’t destroyed or taken over by some militia or the military. They’re going to Memphis to try and break into the Methodist University Hospital and get what they need to survive.” 

As Brian spoke AJ was quickly losing his resolve. That did sound serious and AJ was by no means cold hearted. And it was not like with the last group that just wanted them to steal ammunition from a rival army.  

“AJ, I have to help them because I believe that if we are helping one another it is one step closer to reunifying this country. I’m trying to hold onto hope.”  

Well he had him there. How was AJ supposed to argue with that? 'By saying screw them they’re just trying to screw us!’ screamed his inner cynic. But looking into Brian’s pleading eyes, filled with a glimmer of hope that seemed to be lost on everyone else, AJ could not help but feel a sliver of hope himself.  

He walked over to his blonde haired angel and pulled him close. He knew it was risky, not knowing if they were being watched, but he leaned in and gently kissed Brian on the lips, it had always been his way of saying sorry, finding it so much more effective than words. Brian kissed back a little deeper; that was apology accepted.  

“I’m sorry I called you a cynical bastard,” Brian murmured.  

AJ pulled back with a smile, “ It’s ok. I kind of deserved it." With a sigh he added, "so, what do we need to do?”  

“I love you,” Brian responded with a smile and another quick peck on his love’s lips.  

“I know,” AJ said with a smirk.  

* * * 

They took one pick-up truck and one utility van packed with twenty people total. Brian sat in the truck cab with Daryl while AJ sat in the back with the rest of the group that seemed to consist of mostly teenage to twenty-something year old boys. He hoped AJ was warm enough back there. 

Brian watched the passing scenery, a dull mix of gray and blue tones of a bitter cold winter day. The dark clouds made the bare, twisted tree branches stand out in stark contrast. It seemed as though the earth had skipped over fall completely, as though it knew the times were too dark for such vibrant colors. It felt more like January than November.  

“Looks like it might snow tonight. Little early in the season but we’ll have to keep an eye on that,” Daryl commented, breaking the silence of the last hour. 

Brian was not sure how to respond to that. He glanced back to the truck bed to make sure AJ was getting along ok. Not that he needed to worry. AJ seemed to actually be laughing at something and it warmed Brian’s heart to see him smile. 

Daryl laughed suddenly. “What? You afraid those boys’ll hurt your little singing buddy there?” 

Brian’s head whipped back to look at the older man in shock. He knew who they were. 

Daryl laughed once again, “There’s a girl from Lexington living with us. Went to the same school as you. About flipped her lid when she saw you. Where are your other buddies?” 

Brian ignored that last question and went straight to what he saw as the most important information. “Did she say what happened in Lexington?” 

Daryl shrugged. “Sounds like the same thing that’s happened everywhere. Military showed up, some people didn’t like that, they start fighting and suddenly the city is in ruins. Nobody’s there anymore that I know of. Lot of smaller cities like that were abandoned.” 

Brian felt a pain in his heart thinking about his family. He hoped they were ok but he knew deep down they were probably dead. His thoughts turned dark as he thought about his brothers he had already lost. “We lost two in Chicago. My cousin Kevin quit the group a while back. I called him before all the phones stopped working, said he was in LA,” Brian said, going back to Daryl’s previous question. 

“Wow. So what about all your belongings?”  

Brian gave a wary look to the man sitting next to him, not liking where his line of questioning was going. “If you’re trying to ask if we have anything valuable anymore we don’t. What the military didn’t take the last group like yours did. Our bank accounts probably don’t exist anymore, not that the currency is worth anything now and I‘m sure our homes have already been ransacked.”  

“Easy Tiger, just making conversation. It’s funny though, isn’t it? Take out the money, you take out the classes and boom! You’ve got equality like this country has always wanted.” 

“Equality? Please, just because the paper money and lines of credit are gone does not mean there’s no currency. You’re trying to get something from the guys who control the medicine, my friend and I are at the mercy of the guys with the biggest guns. So you’ll excuse me if I do not agree with your utopian outlook on the current state of things.” With that said Brian turned back to the passing scenery, watching it quickly get darker. It would be night by the time they reached downtown Memphis.  

Daryl seemed to catch on that Brian was no longer in a talking mood. Brian was thankful for that because he needed to think of another plan. Although Brian had been confident in his belief in the cause of these people he did not mention to AJ his suspicions about their leader. Years in the music industry had not made him a complete cynic like AJ could be, but it did make him cautious of management. There was definitely something he did not like about this guy and the closer they got to their mission the worse Brian felt about it.  

* * * 

They parked underneath the Union avenue overpass to gather their equipment and make sure everyone knew their role during the mission. One group would create a diversion, another would take care of security and surveillance, and the third team would be the one to go into the hospital in disguise and get "the goods".  

“This feels like some sort of redneck Mission Impossible,” AJ mumbled to his partner, which earned him an elbow to the side. He knew Brian was not too mad though because of the amused half-grin he held.  

“AJ be serious,” Brian said as they followed behind the group. “Besides it’s more like white trash Leverage.” Both men afforded themselves a small giggle as the group scrambled up the grassy knoll up to the main street.  

They hopped over a chain link fence and onto Union Avenue. AJ felt a little like he had just stumbled into a zombie movie. The streets were dark and quiet, the only light coming from a few buildings down the street and the hospital shining like a beacon through the misty rain that had started to fall. It gave him a chill that was not just from the cold, wet air. He had seen this very street filled with busy day time traffic. He remembered getting out of a show at the arena and partying hard on Beale Street, listening to the ghosts of music history flowing through the city with the wind. Now it seemed like all that was left in the city was its ghosts.  

“Creepy isn’t it?” Brian commented, also feeling the strangeness of being in a place so familiar and yet almost unrecognizable. “You think maybe they’d let us stop by Sun Studio on the way out and get some cool Elvis souvenirs? I wouldn‘t mind getting my hands on that studio mic,” He added to lighten the mood.  

“Please, do these look like the kind of guys who appreciate good music?”  

“Hey! Will you two backdoor boys shut it before I have to shut you up myself?” Daryl whispered harshly at them.  

Brian mouthed ‘sorry’ and made a motion of zipping his mouth closed. AJ looked at him in shock and mouthed ‘he knows who we are? How?’ 

‘Don’t ask,’ He mouthed back. 

Daryl motioned everyone over behind a warehouse. They stood in a circle awaiting their instructions. He had gone over a basic plan before they left and everyone had been given their roles, but now it was time to implement.  

“Okay, Diversion group go ahead and go on down to the main entrance of the hospital. Robbie, take this walkie-talkie with you and wait for my signal. Junior, Grant, Andy, Jake, Andrew, Riley, Martin, Pete, and Blake you are with Robbie. Do not do anything until I give the signal! I mean that, you stay across the street until we are all in place and then you cause your ruckus.” 

He threw a walkie-talkie at Robbie, the boy who had been earlier introduced as Daryl’s son. The group of ten took off into the night leaving behind another ten, which would be split into two groups. One was going to take care of security and the other was going to infiltrate the hospital and get the “goods”.  

“Alright, those of you who got security uniforms on our last mission will go to the Holiday Inn and the apartments on Pasadena place. Remember the people you are targeting have to be scheduled for the swing shift tonight and look decently like the five people who will be doing hospital infiltration.” While he said this Daryl removed his coat to reveal a security uniform with an ID badge attached to the shirt pocket. “The rest of you are going to stay here and wait for us to come back with room numbers and keys. And Daniel, make sure the newbies don’t wander off.” He gave Brian and AJ a hard look, like one a parent would give a kid who might be tempted to get into trouble.  

“Gee, it’s like he doesn’t trust us or something,” AJ mumbled to Brian through the side of his mouth as the five “security guards” headed down the street.  

“Shoot AJ, if I didn’t know you I wouldn’t trust you either, you hoodlum,” Brian joked back. He did not know why, perhaps it was nervous energy, maybe the ADHD but he was feeling particularly silly and he could tell AJ was feeling the same. They often got like this before shows and during interviews, use to drive Kevin crazy.  

They continued to giggle and joke about stupid things while they waited for the next phase of the plan. Their three companions looked at them like they had lost their minds, breaking their conversations to roll their eyes anytime AJ and Brian got particularly loud. Like when AJ suddenly exclaimed, “Those guys better hurry up. I’m freezing my balls off!”  

It was about a half hour later when the security team returned. They tossed a room key and ID badge with an address to each boy. AJ and Brian’s people were located at the apartments on Pasadena place.  

“What did you do to the people were borrowing from?” Brian asked, concerned that they had been killed. 

“We sprayed them with a sleeping agent. They’ll be out for hours and if for some reason they wake up they are tied up in the closet, so don’t worry.”  

Brian nodded, not wishing to argue but AJ could tell he felt uncomfortable about what was going on. Hell, he felt just as uncomfortable.  

“Y’all have one hour and no more to get yourselves cleaned up and ready. I want you clean shaven and hair cut. If you need assistance let me know. And you,” Daryl added, pointing to AJ, “make sure you cover those tattoos.”  

AJ saluted the man in acknowledgement. Brian elbowed him in the side, again. Daryl scowled in dislike but left him alone. AJ knew he had pushed it but there was just something about authority figures that made him want to act out. His mother would be shaking her head at him. “Alexander, you never change.”  

He felt a pang in his heart thinking about his mom. He wondered if she was ok. If she was still alive. He missed her very much. He hoped that when they reached California they would find her. Last he had talked to her she and her husband were in LA and Kevin, Kristin and Mason were with them. He shook his head, he had to stay focused, he would worry about that when the time came.  

He and Brian walked the couple blocks to the apartment complex. They looked down at their apartment numbers and saw they were on opposite ends of the complex.  

“Hey, I’m gonna go get my uniform and whatever else I need and I’ll meet you at your place. Then we can help each other with our makeovers,” AJ said adding a lisp on at the end to be silly.  

“Oh my God! You can do my nails and I’ll do your hair, you are really in need of a rinse!” Brian added in a valley girl voice, running his fingers through AJ‘s longer than normal hair.  

“And you could definitely use some powder.” 

They laughed together once more. “Ok AJ, we have to get ready, we don’t have a lot of time. My apartment is 212B.” 

AJ winked in response. “It’s a date sugar.” 

Brian shook his head as he headed to the apartment. “You are such a dork.”  

* * * 

Brian had just started getting undressed when he heard the knock at his door from AJ, he assumed.  

He grabbed the fresh towel he had found in the linen closet before heading to the door. There had been a robe in the bathroom but Brian had felt odd using it. He was already going to be stealing this man’s clothes and using his apartment like it was his own, but for some reason wearing another man’s robe felt too intimate. He had caught a brief look at the man tied up in the closet when he had been looking for the uniform he was supposed to wear. It felt so strange to be doing this with the owner still here. He felt any moment those yes would snap open and stare accusingly at him while he tried to explain it was for a good cause. At least he hoped it was still a good cause. Somewhere along the way he started to get a strange feeling about the whole thing and knew he needed to keep his guard up.  

He looked out of the peep hole to verify it was indeed AJ and then opened the door.  

AJ saw his state of undress and leaned against the doorframe with a seductive smirk. He whistled a catcall as he admired the sculpted frame before him. Brian had always had a nice upper body, it was a bit thinner than normal now but that was to be expected and it did not take away from the attractiveness. “Hey there sexy. Fancy meeting you here.” 

Brian blushed and grabbed AJ by the shirt, pulling him into the room. “Get in here you freak.”  

Brian turned and walked to the bathroom. He heard AJ shut the door behind him but did not look back. “I’m going to shower first and then you can take yours while I shave.”  

Brian reached into the shower and turned on the faucet, then reached his hand under the spray to check the temperature. Suddenly he felt hands reach around his waist and light kisses upon his neck. He closed his eyes and moaned instantly at the familiar touch of love and desire he had missed these last few months. As those tattooed arms reached around and hands ran over his abdomen and up to his chest and down to his hips he fell back into the embrace, feeling the naked, aroused body behind him.  

“I was thinking we could take that shower together,” AJ’s low, rasping voice whispered in his ear before continuing to kiss the back of his neck and shoulders, causing a full body shiver and his erection to spring to life. It had been way too long.  

The reasoning side of Brian’s brain tried to fight back, caution him this was a bad idea. “We don’t have time,” he mumbled between gasping breaths, his body betraying his brain, his own hands reaching behind, his right running over the scruffy face beside his and the left over the sculpted ass he found absolutely adorable despite what others said about its size.  

Suddenly AJ broke contact and flipped Brian around. The look in those chocolate eyes was lustful and predatory, pupils wide and dark. “Baby, we always have time,” were the last words he heard before lips crashed against lips and he was pushed into the walk in shower, back pressed against the wall, water cascading down his body and the one pressed tightly to him. All other logical thoughts were lost to Brian after that.  

All was feeling. They both knew this could not last long, not that it mattered, as long as it had been since they were last allowed to be together this way, they would reach their climax quickly. Their kisses were almost violent, sucking lips, penetrating tongues, almost fusing their mouths together. Their hands franticly ran over one another, feeling everything like it might be the last time they would touch those spots again.  

AJ’s kisses dipped lower, going to Brian’s neck and then to his chest, licking over the scar that ran down its center. Brian’s head fell back against the wall and his eyes slid shut at the pleasure. God, it had been way too fucking long. Then AJ’s lips were on his stomach, continuing lower until they rested on his penis that was now throbbing and purple and nearing release. Brian nearly screamed, when he felt that expert mouth lick and suck and pull his full length to the back of his throat. He started to gasp loudly and heavily as though on the verge of hyperventilation until suddenly he reached his peak, releasing into AJ’s mouth.  

AJ stood back up as Brian slumped to the shower floor, waiting for his senses to return to him. AJ smiled at his success. Good, he needed to relax a little. He only wished they could do so much more as he pumped himself towards his own climax. But then his hands were pushed away. He looked down to see those bright, sparkling blues looking up at him, a smile playing on his lips. “You didn’t think you could do that and not have me return the favor did you?” 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it, we need to start getting ready,” AJ argued.  

Brian’s grin grew wider. “But baby, there’s always time,” repeating AJ’s words back to him before taking him into his mouth. And like Brian had earlier AJ lost all other thought. 

* * * 

After their fun in the shower they had only a few minutes to finish getting ready before they would get a knock on the door from Robbie telling them it was time to head to the hospital. They had shaved and cut their hair and were now putting on their hospital uniforms.  

They looked like completely different people from the two who had walked in an hour earlier. Because of all their running around they had not had a lot of time for grooming. They showered when they could and had shaved maybe once. AJ had been sporting a full beard and Brian had been close, his facial hair finer and not as quick to grow, he had more chin hair than normal and a bit of a mustache. They kept a pair of scissors on hand to keep their hair from getting too out of control but it was definitely longer than usual.  

AJ’s hair was now very short, almost buzzed and his face clean shaven. He wore a button up collared shirt that was buttoned all the way to the top to hide his neck tattoos. He had on dress pants, a long white doctor’s coat, and a thin black tie to finish out the ensemble. Apparently his alias was some sort of big shot doctor. AJ felt strange in such business attire. It had been a long time since he had dressed this way, and never by choice. Even when he wore a suit for the group he had added his own sort of flare, whether it be a hat or some strange tie or no tie with the collar of his shirt wide open. His face felt extremely naked as well and he could not help but stare at his unfamiliar visage in the mirror.  

“Will you stop looking at yourself like that? You look fine,” Brian commented. Oh like he was one to talk, he looked like, well like Brian should look. He had cut off the curls that had started to get more pronounced on his neck and forehead and he was also shaved his face clean. Brian also wore a suit and tie with a lab coat but did not look nearly as restricted in it. He looked like an average Joe, a good All American boy. Though he looked a little more like a med student than a full fledged doctor. 

Brian sensed that his partner was not reassured by his compliment and decided to change the subject. “This is all starting to feel very strange to me. They seem really well organized for a bunch of hillbillies.” 

AJ raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend in the mirror. “Oh so now you’re suspicious? Now?”  

“Stop being dramatic AJ. I believe their reasons for doing this, it just seems like there’s more to it and I don’t really trust Daryl,” Brian defended. “Besides, we have a better chance of getting away from them here than we did at the lodge. And we may be able to get a few supplies for ourselves. We could use it, you being so accident prone and all.”  

AJ sighed in defeat. Damn Brian and his crazy ability to talk him out of being mad. “Fine, fine, I’m sorry. This is just stressing me out. The sooner this is done and over the better I’ll feel.”  

Brian wrapped his arms around AJ from behind and kissed his shoulder softly. “Me too, believe me.”  

They jumped when they heard the loud knock on their door. “Well, I guess that’s our cue,” AJ said. “Show time.”