Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

Porter, he’d been fighting thinking “He’s mine” about his partner, because the implications were just too big to get his head around.
    Not too many weeks ago, he’d stood next to Ty’s hospital bed and admitted to himself that he didn’t ever want to let Ty go. But he hadn’t yet found a way to reconcile that with the reality of their complicated lives. And now, because this crazy case completely warped their “reality,” he could be as possessive as he thought Corbin would be, and Ty — or Del — wouldn’t complain. Not in public, anyway.
    But what about when the case was over?
    Before dinner, he’d assumed Ty wouldn’t want him staking any sort of claim, physical or emotional, except as part of their cover, and then only grudgingly. Zane hadn’t heard anything to change that assumption, but he hadn’t exactly asked, either. He’d put it off, shying away from a topic that felt like a trip-wired land mine settling in the center of his chest.
    Zane turned in place where he stood outside a ritzy accessory store and watched Ty finger through a display of sunglasses. Ty turned to look at him, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses just like the ones he’d left at home, the tag sticking out sideways at his temple. Zane smiled despite his mixed feelings. “Don’t you have a pair like that already?” A legitimate question, Ty or Del.
    Ty took them off and looked at them, smirking. “You can never have too much awesome,” he claimed. He set them back down and slid his hands down his sides, where his pockets should have been. He grumbled about the soft linen pants and searched for something else to do with his hands as they continued to stroll. He was getting twitchy, and his mood had steadily declined since dinner.
    Whether the cause was the prospect of dealing with Norina Bianchi or the conversation they’d had regarding jealousy was anyone’s guess. Zane had started casting around for something shiny, sweet, or sticky to throw in Ty’s path as an emotional diversion.
    “If we want dessert later, there’s no lack of places for snacks,” Zane said as they passed by a bakery kiosk and a soda shoppe. It was just one floor of three on the impressive, very brightly decorated promenade, sort of a high-class carpeted mini-mall and food court with anything from an Orange Julius to a Godiva Chocolatier and a cheap T-shirt shop to a Tiffany & Co. store. All complete with a twenty-foot-tall glittering Christmas tree in the center of it.
    “I would kill you for some gummi bears right now,” Ty muttered. He reached out and laced his fingers into Zane’s, apparently deciding that it was the best thing to do with his otherwise idle hands.
    “You should have looked when we were in the store,” Zane said, moving them along the walkway. They’d found condoms in a remarkably discreet corner of a mini-grocery, but instead of risking exposure by purchasing them, Ty had palmed a box. When they’d stepped outside the store again, Zane had discovered the box safety tucked away inside his suit jacket. One day Zane was going to find out how Ty did that and how he always managed to nab his cigarettes without him knowing. Tonight, though, he was just grateful for his partner’s loose morals. “You want to go back and get some?”
    Ty sighed unhappily and turned his head from side to side, cracking his neck. “Let’s go back to the computers and see if there’s news from home. That shot I took of Armen has to have produced something.”
    “No,” Zane decided, reaching out to take Ty’s elbow and pull him closer. “We told them we’d check in every morning. We have to stay predictable. And before you suggest it, we’re not sitting in that cabin for days while we wait for some predetermined time to arrive. We need to be out and about, and there’s got to be stuff here to keep us amused.” He started pulling Ty along, though his “husband” was reluctant.
    “I hate you a little bit right now,” Ty claimed, though he was conceding to the logic by not fighting with him.
    “And that’s different than usual how? Stop pouting, doll,” Zane drawled as he squeezed Ty’s hand. He glanced at his partner. “Surely we can find something to make you smile.”
    Ty stepped closer, squeezing Zane’s hand back as he lowered his voice, losing the fake accent. “If you keep patronizing me I’m going to kick your ass when we’re alone. And you won’t have sex for two weeks, just remember that.”
    Annoyed,