Diagnosis Murder Ch. 01

"Jesse!" Steve shouted desperately.

"He's just fainted, Steve" Mark assured. "This wasn't intended to seriously hurt him."

"What...?" Steve muttered.

"Put your cop head on, Steve", Mark instructed softly. "There was no way that car should have missed hitting him full on. They intended to hit him, to hurt him, but no more."

"Retribution", Steve snarled. "By hurting Jesse, they're hurting you. Why doesn't the cowardly bastard come after me? Am I too big for him, that he attacks Jesse like this?"

Further discussion was halted as porters arrived and the unconscious Jesse was taken back into the hospital. Mark took no chances that Jesse could have suffered more serious head trauma than a simple bump and arranged CT scans along with x-rays for the young man's bruised body. It was soon established that Jesse had bruises and abrasions on his left side. He had a big bruise on his right shoulder where he impacted with the ground and a bigger one on his left hip where the car clipped him. Lastly, he needed a couple of stitches in the cut to his head and was suffering from a mild concussion. By the time Jesse's full prognosis was known, Steve had been informed the car was found. It had been stolen the day before and the big detective realized that the purpose of its theft was to use it as a weapon.

"I'm keeping Jesse in overnight," Mark advised Steve. Seeing the look of alarm, Mark immediately made calming gestures. "He's OK, Steve, really. But he's been hurt, shocked and has a mild concussion. He's had a heavy dose of painkillers and he's not going to be capable of looking after himself for a while. One part of me knows you and I could care for him at home. The other knows he's better left here. He'll be fine to go home in the morning."

"I want to stay with him, Dad. I don't want to leave him alone here. Both attacks have been here. Whoever did this knew where I was and where Jesse was. It has to be someone here. I've contacted the Department and in the morning we're going to start checking all new employees for the last six months."

"I'm going home to go through my notes on old cases of mine. I haven't lost a patient for a long time and I don't get the feeling this is related to medical practice anyway", Mark stated. "I warned the night staff that you would be staying. There's no problem. They won't bother you."

"Get me a list of names for cases you worked on and I'll run them through the computer. Maybe someone's been released that we don't know about", Steve mused.

"Hey there, Dr Sloan, Lieutenant Sloan. Bad business with Dr Travis. Heard he was in a car accident. He's a nice boy. He OK?"

Mark and Steve turned to see they were being addressed by a cleaner with his cart. The man had thin grey hair and flat grey eyes. Mark didn't recognize him, but was touched the man was concerned for Jesse.

"Yes, he was involved in an incident with a car", Mark hedged. He glanced unconsciously at the door of Jesse's room. "He's a bit banged about, but nothing serious. He'll be fine after a couple of days rest."

"Glad to hear it", the cleaner replied. "Looks like you two need some rest yourselves. Looking peaky to me. Be seeing you." The man pushed his cart away giving a careless wave over his shoulder. As he moved away, neither Sloan saw the cold smile on his face.

Following Mark's departure, Steve sat at Jesse's bedside. His hand shook as he reached to allow his fingers to trace where bruising was showing on Jesse's face below the bandaged cut. Holding Jesse's right hand in his left, Steve slid his right hand under the hospital blankets and the thin hospital gown Jesse wore. He lovingly stoked the warm skin of Jesse's abdomen. It was a relaxing gesture that his Mate appreciated, although Steve realized that in Jesse's current condition, the younger man would be unaware of the touch. However, it made the big detective feel better. Touching warm, living flesh reassured him Jesse was really fine. The ringing of the phone in the room had Steve realizing a couple of hours had lapsed already.

"Sloan", he barked into the receiver.

"Steve, it's me," Mark Sloan advised. I did some work in my office and have only just got home. I've had a visitor. There's another envelope here. I haven't touched anything."

"Give me twenty minutes," Steve replied through clenched teeth. "I'm not leaving Jesse unprotected. I'll get a team there and come over as well."

The uniformed officer settled himself in the chair outside Jesse's room. He nodded at Steve.

"No-one unless a doctor or nurse is allowed in. Check him when they leave. Accompany him if anyone wants to move him. That all?"

"Yeah ", Steve replied. "I don't think this assailant will attack again so soon. But I'm not taking chances. This attack has shown he's escalated what he's willing to do. I think I'm justified in believing Jesse's life is in danger. If this attack had gone wrong, Jesse could have been very seriously hurt."

"I'll watch out for him, Steve", the officer said reassuringly. "The faster you get out of here, the faster you can get back."

"Thanks, Dave", Steve smiled grimly.

At his father's house, Steve found Mark with a team of experts ready to examine the scene. They all watched as Steve pulled on thin gloves and carefully opened the large envelope. The envelope was simply marked with the single word 'Retribution'. As he revealed the contents, Mark heard his gasp of distress. The envelope contained three grainy photographs of Jesse from the vomiting incident.

"He was there watching", Mark breathed. "There were so many people moving around, checking if we needed anything. I couldn't possibly identify them all."

"But why?" Steve asked thrusting the offending items back in the envelope. With a wave he indicated that the team could begin dusting and checking the room.

"He's hurting us again. We'd moved on from this and he's brought it all back" Mark sighed. "Steve, go back to Jesse" the older man said gently, squeezing Steve's shoulder. "There's nothing you can do here. I'd feel better with you with him."

With a sigh, Steve nodded.

Officer Dave Simmons took in the appearance of the dark-haired doctor and the identity badge proclaiming 'John Smithson'. He nodded at the doctor who fixed him with a cold grey-eyed stare and gave him an insincere smile.

"Officer", the doctor muttered. "Just a quick check on our patient."

Inside the room the man's face contorted into a manic smile of satisfaction. He quickly took a picture of Jesse in the bed. Hurrying to the bedside he pulled down the covers. His smile went wider as he saw Jesse was just in a thin gown. Unfastening the ties, he uncovered Jesse's body. The pallor of Jesse's skin made the bruised and abraded areas stand out in stark contrast. He took another photograph of Jesse. His hand stroked the bruised flesh of Jesse's side, a look of cunning replacing the smile. He half-turned Jesse, displaying the young man's bruised hip and side as well as his nude body from the hips down. "I'm sure your big detective lover will like that one, boy", the phony doctor leered as he rapidly re-dressed the unconscious and helpless younger man. "Three's the charm, boy", he said as he walked to the door. He left the room, nodding curtly //Big dumb cop// he thought as he strolled away.

Dave looked in on Jesse. The young man was still sleeping soundly. There was evidence of the sheets being disturbed, but nothing else. He quietly shut the door to await the return of Steve Sloan.

"Ohhh!" the pained gasp had Steve Sloan awake and aware instantly.

"Jess, Love", he said trying to restrain the smaller man gently. "You were hit by a car. Take it easy, Sweetheart. Lie still for me."

Hurts," the younger man moaned softly. "Sorry, Steve", he said sadly.

"No need to be sorry, Jess," said Steve. "You were hurt trying to come to rescue me."

"Didn't think. Didn't see the car," Jesse's voice was barely above a whisper. "All I could think was that you were out there somewhere, hurt, needing me ..."

A kiss to Jesse's dry lips effectively silenced the agitated man before he could escalate into a full-blown panic attack.

"Shh, Love. It's OK. Dad's due to come and see you soon, then I can take you home."

"Just pack me some mega-painkillers and I'll be fine." The intuitive young man regarded his Mate carefully. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked bluntly. "Has something happened to Mark?"

"No, Babe," Steve replied quietly. He took a deep breath. "Whoever this sick bastard is, he managed to take photographs of you when he poisoned you. He left the pictures at Dad's beach house. Hey, Jess, don't cry, Sweetheart." A sob broke free from the hurting young man and despite the physical pain of moving he instinctively reached for the comfort of his lover's arms. Steve wrapped his arms around him gently, fighting back his own tears. Steve cradled Jesse, rocking the distressed man until the sobbing ceased. Jesse was a dead weight and Steve realized the smaller man had cried himself back to sleep. He lay Jesse back down, settling him comfortably. He roughly wiped at his own eyes. Their unknown assailant was effectively tearing his family apart.

"You alright, Steve?" Mark asked gently as he entered. He'd seen Steve cradling his young lover and hadn't wanted to intrude.

"I told Jess about the pictures. He's just cried himself to sleep in my arms." Steve looked hard at his father. "You look like you were awake all night. I feel like I was. Whoever this guy is he's destroying us, Dad."

"It was better to let Jesse know straight away", Mark assured the big detective. "If he thought we were trying to hide things he'd be really upset. And I promise you this, Steve, I won't let anyone drive my family apart."

"I want to kill the son of a bitch, Dad. He's hurting Jesse, you, me and like the coward he is, he's safely hiding."

"I've got a list of names from cases I've helped you with. I also remember serving on a Jury a few years ago. I'd like that followed up, too," Mark said passing the list to Steve. He then moved past to check on Jesse. Finishing his checks, he smiled at Steve. "He'll need painkillers, but he's good to go home."

Jesse was warned he'd be off work for a couple of days until he regained full movement. Steve made a priority to check out all the names on the list provided by his father to check for any convicted felons that had been released. He also left instructions for his father's jury service to be checked out. At the end of the second day that Jesse had been released home, Steve was concerned to be met by his father and not his lover. Mark smiled assuring Steve that Jesse had not long retired, saying he felt a little tired. Mark waved his farewell to return home, leaving Steve to hunt Jesse out in their bedroom. He tapped on the door as he opened it, calling out Jesse's name. The smell of vanilla and ginger permeated the air.

"Come in, Lover", Jesse purred.

"Wow, Jess", Steve gasped. The room was lit by candles alone and his young lover was lying naked on their bed, his arousal evident. Steve growled low in his throat, his own penis hardening. As he went to step closer, he stopped and hissed angrily at the sight of the bruises that still marred his lover's beautiful body.

"It's just bruising, Steve", Jess said sadly, misinterpreting Steve's reaction as one of disgust. "Please love me, Steve. It's been so long, I need you to love me", he begged softly. Jesse dropped his head, not wanting Steve to see the tears beginning to fill his eyes as the young man prepared for Steve to reject him.

"Jess, Sweetheart", Steve closed the gap between them, sweeping Jesse's naked body into his embrace. "I want you, too. It was just seeing the bruises and remembering how hurt you were. I'll love you, Jess. I wish I could take the pain away."

"Make me yours again, Steve," Jesse pleaded.

"You're always mine, Angel", Steve affirmed. He then kissed Jesse tenderly, pressing the slender man back down on the bed. He deepened the kiss before needing to break away for air. As Jesse lay panting softly, Steve ran his tongue down Jesse's cheek and jaw and nibbled gently down the column of Jesse's throat, Steve paused when he reached Jesse's nipples. Suckling and gently biting first one then the other, Steve sensually assaulted the tiny nubs until both were equally hard and aching and Jesse was writhing erotically beneath him. Realizing Jesse's attempts to touch him were thwarted by Steve's clothes, the big detective rapidly stripped. Spreading Jesse's thighs wide, Steve knelt between the smaller man's legs and swallowed Jesse's erection to the root in one swoop. Jesse screamed and bucked, but his bigger Mate's strong arm across his hips prevented Jesse moving too much. Jesse's climax hit hard and fast. As Steve finished swallowing Jesse's sexual surrender, he sat up smiling. "So beautiful, Angel", he said. Noting the oil on the warming pad, Steve coated his hands and began a leisurely massage of Jesse's body from neck to feet. Once he had covered Jesse's front, Steve rolled the younger man carefully and repeated the massage on Jesse's back.

Finally, the insistent throb between his legs would no longer be ignored and Steve began to prepare Jesse to accept his solid shaft. He positioned a pillow under Jesse's hips and began to massage the luscious globes. He felt a further jolt to his already inflamed groin each time he displayed Jesse's tiny pucker. Finally he held Jesse open and stared hungrily at Jesse's most private place. The tiny opening to Jesse's body that only he had ever tasted, touched and possessed. It had been Steve's intention to rim Jesse, but he knew he wouldn't be able to last and he desperately wanted to come inside his Mate. He coated a finger was oil and pressed inside the relaxed body beneath him. Spurred on by Jesse's mewls of pleasure and need, Steve quickly added a second, then a third, rotating and scissoring them inside the smaller man. As he pumped three fingers in and out of Jesse's body, he felt the young man pushing back. With a mixture of reverence and desperation, Steve positioned the head of his engorged penis at the stretched opening to Jesse's body. "Gonna love you, Baby", he crooned. "Gonna love you so good. Gonna make you come with me deep inside you, Lover. Love you, Jess. Ah...Jesse!" Steve groaned as his shaft was enveloped in slick, tight heat. Jesse's channel clung to him as he tried to move, driving his arousal even higher.

"Love me, Steve", his Mate begged. "Fill me, come in me."

"Gonna fill you up, Jess", Steve promised. "My seed, deep in your body. You're mine, Jesse, now and always." Steve's thrusts were slow and measured and a slight shift of his hips ensured Jesse's sweet spot began to be repeatedly rubbed. Jesse's whimpers of need became a continual keening as Steve drove into him repeatedly. Reaching under Jesse's hips, Steve was gratified to find Jesse's resurgent erection and began to stroke the hard flesh in counterpoint to his thrusts. Jesse tried to push back, but was virtually immobile with 200lbs of detective pressing him into the bed.

"Oh, Steve", Jesse cried out. "Gonna, gonna...oh, oh, STEVE!"

"MINE!" Steve bellowed as Jesse's climax triggered his. He pushed himself as deep inside his Mate as possible reveling in the way Jesse's clenching channel milked his orgasm from him. Wanting to prolong the intimate connection, but not crush his tiny Mate, Steve gently rolled them both sideways and spooned tightly around Jesse as the two men simply shared moments of total, undisturbed intimacy. Steve tightened his arms around Jesse as the younger man whimpered the loss of Steve's softened penis. He then took the opportunity to move, not wanting Jesse to try and put weight on his bruised left side. For long minutes, the two men simply lay together, whispering declarations of love and enjoying intimate loving caresses. Steve then began to croon softly in Jesse's ear whilst gently petting the young man. Within a couple of minutes, Jesse had given in to post-coital sleep. Steve smiled and then moved rapidly.

Steve checked the beach house carefully; pleased to note that Jesse and his father had ensured the house was secure. He checked the locks on the front door and added the final bolts. Moving swiftly into the kitchen, Steve pulled out two thermos flasks. He made soup for one and hot chocolate for the other. He put a pizza in the microwave as he carried the flasks into the bedroom. He covered the pizza with foil and took that through. Finally he carried a bottle of orange juice and a packet of their most indulgent cookies. His last trip was to the lounge to collect a couple of their favourites DVDs. He switched on the small TV; there was now no need to leave their tiny sanctuary till the following morning. He turned to see a half-awake Jesse was searching for him. Moving swiftly to the bed, Steve nestled Jesse into his chest.

"I'm here, Love", he soothed. "Everything we need is in this room. We're gonna veg out here and enjoy being alone and intimate and undisturbed.

"I like your thinking", Jesse whispered and reached up to kiss his beloved Mate.

The next evening, Steve and Jesse were joining Mark and Amanda for dinner. As a precaution, Amanda had sent her two children away for a few days at Mark's insistence. Although Jesse had been the focus of the unknown assailant, the older doctor didn't want to take unnecessary chances. As the four entered Mark's house, their eyes immediately alighted on the large envelope. It was Steve who opened the envelope, after donning plastic gloves. There hadn't been prints on the previous messages, but he couldn't take any chances.

"Oh God", Steve gasped. The four of them stared at the photographs. The third had Steve uttering a cry of pain and distress, turning away from the others to stare out of the beach house patio window as he tried to control his fury. Mark and Amanda stared as the 'posed' picture of Jesse in the hospital bed. Jesse backed away from the pictures as if they were a living entity, capable of striking out at the young doctor if he stayed near them. Amanda glanced up, taking in the way the three men were all standing alone and separate from each other and for a moment she thought their adversary had finally succeeded in driving the Sloan family apart. Jesse's tremulous voice had all three turning their attention to the shaking, silently crying young man.

"I'm sorry, Steve, Mark. I'm s...sorry. P...please don't h...hate m...me. P...please d...don't..."

"Never, Jess', Steve cried out hoarsely as he ran to kneel at Jesse's feet. He enfolded the fragile young man into his arms. "Never. You're the victim here."

"H...he t...touched m...me", Jesse stuttered. His shaking increased as his shock set in and his sobbing increased. Steve suddenly found that both he and Jesse were being held tight by Mark.

"You were drugged and unconscious, Jess", Mark said quietly. "I love you, so does Amanda and you know Steve adores you. These photographs don't change that. This psycho thinks he can weaken us and drive us apart. He can't, Jess."

"Dad's right, Sweetheart", Steve assured as he leant Jesse back, feeling the sobs stopping. He gently brushed away the young man's tears. "I love you. Nothing will change that. Certainly not those photographs." He tilted Jesse's head up and claimed Jesse's lips.

Mark strode to the table and removed the third picture. Steve, Jesse and Amanda stared as Mark burned it.

"I'm quite sure you have enough evidence without that one, Steve", Mark said. "I see no reason why anyone outside of this room needs to see it."

"There's only one time those photographs could have been taken", Steve snapped as the stood up. "That's when Dave was with Jesse. He stayed outside Jesse's room, I was always inside. Dave has a photographic memory. He'll be able to provide us with a good description of the doctor who supposedly checked on Jesse." As he spoke, Steve was dialing a number. With a snort he replaced the receiver. "Dave's out. I'll speak to him first thing in the morning. I'll bring the composite to the hospital tomorrow. If I have to see every person who works there, I'll find them."