Blair couldn't keep still. Even the seatbelt couldn't hold him. Jim could glare at him all he wanted to...nothing was going to stop him from bouncing. Anyway, Jim was smiling, too, so he couldn't be mad.
"Turn right, turn right, turn right!"
"Gotcha, Chief. How much further?"
"Just a couple of blocks...see that marquee?"
"Can't miss it. Purple and pink?" Jim looked at him strangely.
"Yeah...well, it's..."
"I know this part of town. I got very familiar with it once upon a time." For some reason, Jim rubbed his left earlobe, the pierced one. Right...Jim used to work vice.
"This is okay by you, Jim?"
Jim shrugged. "Why wouldn't it be?"
They found a parking place and strolled to the club together. Blair took the opportunity to observe the natives in their colorful garb, engaging in their mating rituals. And there was much to observe, and many of them observing him.
Or were they observing Jim? He could believe all eyes would be on his partner. For a moment, he worried about Jim's reaction to this, but one quick glance told him Jim didn't mind. Another glance told him that Jim was...fitting in. Oh, God, he was actually flirting with that guy in the green wig!
"Jim? What is going on here?"
He gave the green-haired guy a little wave. A *little* wave? "Nothing, Chief. Just...making myself at home."
"What are you talking about?" Jim just smiled.
"Here we are. Let's get a table."
The bouncer looked like he was going to ask for Blair's ID, but then he saw Jim.
And nodded. Jim nodded back, put his hand on the small of Blair's back and walked to a table only inches from the stage.
A pretty person of indeterminate gender walked up to them. "What can I get you two?"
"A couple of beers, sweetheart."
Blair narrowed his eyes and stared at his partner. There was something different about him...something about the way he was sitting, the way he was holding his features. Blair shook his head. Jim was having fun. That was it...he was just exercising that strange sense of humor of his.
"Sure thing, gorgeous. Be right back. Enjoy the show."
Minutes after the waitron handed them bottles and glasses, the lights dimmed and a slender man took the stage.
"Good evening, ladies! I *know* we're all here to have fun. And to help us have some fun, I have someone really, really special, and really, really available, here with us tonight at Club Purple. Let's show Mitch Jason that Cascade knows how to applaud!"
"That's him, Jim. I saw him on TV a couple of nights ago, and he's a riot."
"Mitch Jason?" Jim looked thoughtful as he sipped his beer.
Mitch was a normal looking guy in a jacket and khakis. He stood by the microphone and flipped non-existent hair back off his shoulders. "Well, *hello, Cascade.*" The crowd clapped and cheered.
"My, my, my. You certainly make a girl feel *welcome*. You know, the last place I was in..." Mitch told the story of his reception in some small town somewhere to hilarious effect.
"On the other hand, Sheriff Bob did give me a *big* wink on the way out."
"How does he do it?"
"Do what, Chief?" Jim looked distracted.
"If he walked into the bullpen, no one would give him a suspicious look, yet just the way he acts..."
Jim shrugged. "Talent. Some people can do it...and it works both ways." Jim gave him a wink.
Blair blinked and emptied his glass.
"And I see that you still grow them big and butch out here." Oh, God. Mitch Jason was staring right at them. "Look at this hunk of redwood, would you? Hey, sweetie, I'm available."
Jokes and teases were one thing. How would Jim handle this?
Jim grinned. "What makes you think *I* am, sugar?"
"Available?"
"Butch." Blair was in shock. Jim had laced his fingers into a platform and rested his chin on them.
And then...Jim was batting his eyes.
"Darlin', your girlfriend there is having fits."
"He's just jealous." The entire club was roaring with laughter. "Anyway, I thought you were talking to me."
Blair felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Jim smiled at him, and then turned his attention back to the comic.
"Oh, I am, sweetcheeks, I am. Hey, anyone want to see big and not so butch on stage?"
The crowd roared. Jim winced, but climbed up. They got louder. Blair took a look at what Jim was wearing...*tight* jeans, and a tight gray T-shirt that just made his eyes bluer. He could almost go for that...who was he kidding? His own pants were tight now.
"Oh, my, my, my, my, MY. Yes, indeed. I'll take you, butch or *not."
"What makes you think you can?" Jim sounded positively *arch.*
"What's your name, and what do you do?"
"I'm Jimmy, and I'm a cop."
"Yeah!" A voice in the crowd shouted. "But he's *our* cop! Queen of the cops!"
Blair was beyond shock.
"Hey, Jimmy! We miss you here!"
That guy, now, was just too pretty.
"You work this neighborhood?"
"OH, yeah." Jim grinned at everyone. "Used to be my beat, but they kicked me to Major Crimes."
"How *do* you manage?"
Jim winked, and straightened out. Literally. There, on that stage, was the Jim Blair thought he knew. "I can go beyond butch."
Then he was that other way again. "But *this* is so much more fun. Right, girls?"
The crowd cheered again. Blair was struck dumb.
"You got it, cutie. Now, stop stealing my show!" Mitch was grinning from ear to ear. Jim smiled himself, and pulled him into a kiss, which just made the crowd cheer louder, and Blair want to sink lower.
Then he jumped off the stage and sauntered back to their table, where the person of indeterminate sex brought them both new beers...on the house.
"Uh...Jim, I think we need to talk."
"Yeah, we do. Sweetie." And Jim's face blossomed into a smile of surpassing beauty.
Then he reached across the table and took Blair's hand.
Blair, not knowing what else to do, held it tightly. The rest of the act went on, but he didn't hear it.
He didn't even know it was over until the club applauded again, and the master of ceremonies came over to their table.
"I want to thank you for being a big sport, Jimmy. And welcome back to the neighborhood. The guys they got now just don't understand."
"Thanks, Rich. Rich, this is my partner, Blair. This was his idea."
"Nice to meet you, Blair. Thanks for bringing him back here."
"He brought me further than he knows." There was that smile again. And his hands...his surprisingly delicate hands...were warm.
"Mitch wants to see both of you back stage. You guys up for that?"
"Sure thing."
"Okay." Blair wasn't sure.
Jim didn't let go of his hand once. He also seemed to relax further with every step.
The dressing room door opened, and there was Mitch Jason, in a robe.
"Jimmy Ellison!"
"When I saw you on that stage, Bennington, I nearly died!"
"Well, I was about shocked when I saw you, sweetcheeks. I thought you were going to live the straight life. I *know* I saw your wedding announcement."
"But you didn't know her girlfriend was maid of honor, now, did you?"
Blair let go of Jim's hand and collapsed in a chair. "You two know each other?"
"I've known Mitch here since he had a last name to go with his two first names. We met in basic."
"Yeah. Jimmy had his straight act perfect even then...but we all knew."
"Yeah...and he was the best when he was here." Rich grinned. "You can't know how great it was to have one of the family work vice. God, the man would buy condoms with his own money, and he could almost sniff out any drugs that came by. And no one hassled us so long as we kept the kids out of the clubs. We really do miss you, Jimmy."
"What was that crack about 'queen of the cops?'"
"You mean you didn't see that? Sweetcheeks, when you made cop of the year, we almost declared a holiday here. Let me see..." Rich disappeared for a moment and returned carrying a Cascade Rainbow. "There you on, on page ten. It would have been page 1, but we knew better."
"This is fabulous!" There was Jim, holding his award, and, sure enough, under his name was Jimmy Ellison, Queen of the Cops. And there was Jim saying it was fabulous.
"Who are you and what did you do with my Jim?"
The other two men laughed, but Jim didn't.
"I'm sorry, Chief. I...couldn't find a way to tell you. 'Great dinner, Sandburg. BTW, I'm really gay.' I was so far in the closet, I swear I could see the lamppost."
"You were dating women, Jim. You were sleeping with them."
"There's a little bi in all of us. You told me that yourself when you dated that guy Marc. Doesn't matter. I wanted you."
"Why didn't you say? You know all about me."
"Because he's an idiot, darling. He always has been, and I guess he thought he had to be Mr. Straight at the office."
"And at home. For God's sake, Jim, we live together."
Rich stared at Jim. "You live with this adorable kid and never let him...you are an idiot, darling."
"What can I say? I lived the role. It's *so* good to be me again."
"Jim Ellison, we are going to talk when we get home. And then we are going to more than talk."
"Looking forward to it...sweetcheeks."
<The End>
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