Title: REVELATIONS

Author: Candy Apple

Email: blair_lady@yahoo.com

Website: https://www.squidge.org/~candy_a

Direct to Nip/Tuck Page: https://www.squidge.org/~candy_a/NTPage.htm

Permission to archive: Yes

Fandom(s): Nip/Tuck

Genre: Pre-Slash

Pairing/Characters: Sean/Christian

Rating:

Summary: Another confrontation between Christian and Quentin brings about an unexpected revelation.

Warnings: Adult sexual dialogue. Language consistent with Nip/Tuck. Some violence.

Notes: This story only takes into account canon through the Granville Trapp episode. It is a sequel to "Territory."

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REVELATIONS

by

Candy Apple

"It was an old car, no air bags," the young man said, his speech hampered somewhat by the damage to his face. "I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. What really sucks is that I always do, but it was jammed, and I was gonna fix it when I got home."

Christian looked at the photos their patient had brought in with him. He'd been a handsome kid. Twenty years old, life just beginning. Dark hair and brown eyes, a good build, a ready smile that flashed straight white teeth. Now, some of those teeth were missing, his nose was pushed back into his face at a sickening angle that made his breathing difficult, his upper lip and jaw were badly damaged, and his skin marred by lacerations. Sean was examining his injuries closely as the patient sat on the end of an exam table.

"The fractures in your nose should have been surgically repaired as part of the care you received under your regular insurance. Your breathing is noticeably affected," Sean said, gently examining the ruined nose with a lighted scope.

"I don't have any insurance. All the hospital would do is patch me up and keep me alive. My mom's got a crummy HMO through her job, but it's just coverage for her. I'm at Biscayne Community College right now, and that eats up most of what I make. I can't afford insurance."

"You're putting yourself through school?" Christian asked.

"Yeah. I want to get a teaching degree, but for now, Biscayne Community is cheaper to get my first two years in. You guys taking my case is like some kind of miracle."

"What do you do, Adam?" Sean asked, examining the lacerations more closely now.

"I'm a waiter at the Shore Club. The tips are pretty good there, but I can't picture getting any 25% tips with this face."

"The good news is that most of what's broken, we can fix," Sean said, smiling. "The bad news is that it will take more than one surgery, and your recovery period is probably going to cause problems with your college schedule."

"My professors have been great to me. One of them even brought an exam to the hospital for me to take so I didn't get too far behind. They'll work with me. I just want my face back, Doc. I mean, my girlfriend can't even stand to look at me the way it is now."

"Maybe you should look up a new girlfriend," Christian said, and Adam looked at him stunned.

"I love her," he said, shaking his head, as if Christian's suggestion was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.

"When something happens to you that changes who you are, that makes you not so much fun to be around...that's when you find out who your friends are," Christian said.

"How do you fix something like this?" Adam asked, seeming a bit disconcerted by Christian's words, but not willing to acknowledge them.

"I know it sounds pretty repulsive, but with plates and screws - - mainly in this area," Sean said, gesturing to the forehead area just above the nose. "We'll do some bone grafting, especially to reconstruct your nose. We'll harvest bone from another spot on your body, possibly your hip, sculpt it to the proper shape, and use it right here," Sean said, gesturing to the length of his own nose. "The lacerations will be fairly simple to repair. You'll have minimal scarring when we're done, and your facial structure will be back to normal. It's only fair to tell you that you won't look exactly the same as you did. Even with all these procedures, the shape of your features will be slightly different, but I think you'll be happy with the results."

"I've got nowhere to go but up, so whatever you can do."

"How does next Wednesday at 7 sound?" Sean asked, looking through the schedule book.

"In the morning?" Adam asked, looking surprised.

"We get started early on a full day around here," Sean said, chuckling. "Besides, you'll be sleeping as soon after you get here, anyway."

"Sounds like a good deal to me," Adam said, shrugging. "What about my teeth? Can you fix those?"

"I've spoken to a friend of mine who's an oral surgeon, and he's consented to work on your teeth as soon as we've done the major repair work. Dental implants should do the trick after we fix the damage to your upper jaw."

"Oh, man...thank you. So what do you guys get out of something like this?"

"Oh, not much," Christian said, then added, with a smile, "Just a reminder of why we became doctors in the first place." He caught Sean's eye then, and felt a moment of professional connection with his partner he hadn't felt in a long time.

********

Christian was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Quentin entered the break room. It was early, too early to start sparring with Quentin when his morning coffee hadn't even kicked in yet. Still, he'd tolerated Costa successfully for a few days after their last confrontation, mainly by managing to avoid any one-on-one time with him, and he took solace in the fact the other doctor was spending a substantial amount of his time packing up his personal effects in preparation to vacate his office at McNamara/Troy.

"Congratulations," Quentin said, a sarcastic smile on his face. "I underestimated your power over your partner."

"It's got nothing to do with power, but he *is* my partner."

"Are you happy now that you've destroyed what could have been a successful, money-making partnership between the three of us?"

"Truthfully? Yes," Christian said, unrepentant. "You're not after building this practice, you're after my partner's ass, so don't get self-righteous with me."

"I think what really bothers you is that I might have been successful, and then where would that leave you?" Quentin took a sip of his coffee, smiling. "Sean's long overdue for someone to romance him a little - - that's obvious. When someone's as lonely as he seems to be, they can be a lot more open to new possibilities."

"That won't be your concern in a few days," Christian said, determined not to let Quentin get the best of him. It wasn't worth another scene. Sean had made his choice, and Quentin was on his way out.

Sean had made his *professional* choice, and he'd made his *friendship* choice. He'd favored Christian's feelings over Quentin's, and he'd reaffirmed the practice as McNamara/Troy. Period. But Quentin's words still got under his skin. Sean was definitely lonely, and he was more than overdue for someone to romance him and make him feel special. The thought that Quentin was slithering into position like a snake in the grass to take advantage of that made his blood boil. Sean's loneliness was acute right now, there was no denying that, and how far afield might he go in that frame of mind to find some love? To feel loved? Would there come a point when someone who was obviously in lust with him at the very least would become a more attractive option than more lonely nights, even if that someone was a man?

"I won't be leaving town right away. I've leased a condo here, and I may just decide to set up shop here in Miami. I've also been looking into other career options in the area. I like it here," he said, taking another drink of his coffee.

"What I said still stands. I don't care where you hang out your shingle."

"You might not get your way on this one, Christian. I'm interested in Sean, and I think it's mutual. Honestly, I believe dissolving this partnership was probably the best thing that could happen. Sean's never been fond of workplace romances. I guess that means my chances just got better than yours. We'll see who finishes first." He stood up, carrying his cup to the sink and rinsing it.

"He's made it clear he's not interested in you, asshole," Christian said, unable to hold to his resolution.

"Don't tell me that you never pursued a woman past the first half-hearted rejection," Quentin replied, smirking. "Sean's a great guy - - he's single, talented, good-looking. And don't let him fool you. Those quiet, in control types are always the ones who love to take it up the ass and scream like a cheerleader through the whole thing."

Christian turned on his heel and swung his fist, connecting with Quentin's jaw, sending him reeling, his back connecting with the wall just as Liz walked in.

"My God, Christian, what have you done?"

"I'm not finished yet," he replied, lunging at Costa, who ducked his punch and delivered one of his own that bloodied Christian's nose.

"Are you two insane?" Liz demanded. "Stop it!"

Christian couldn't focus on anything but anticipating Quentin's next move and countering it, taking a shot at his opponent's mid-section this time. He swung his fist to complete his victory with a right cross, but Quentin head-butted him back into the wall and rose to swing his own fist again, fast enough to nail Christian's jaw before he could defend himself.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sean's angry voice demanded, and both men resisted the opportunity to sucker punch the other in the momentary distraction. "What's going on here?"

"He needs to learn to watch his goddamn mouth!" Christian bellowed.

"I really shouldn't have let myself get drawn into this," Quentin said, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's obvious that Christian has a lot of aggression issues to work through, which is typical of male rape victims."

"Get out, before I hit you myself," Sean said, pointing at the door, his voice low and his face angry.

"Be careful, Sean," Quentin said, laying a hand on Sean's shoulder as he passed him, though it was pushed away by an angry swipe of Sean's hand. "That kind of aggression can be expressed in some very destructive ways."

"You have exactly two days left on your contract. Pack up your office and get out. If you have anything on the books beyond today, we'll cover it."

"And you'll pay me for it, or you'll hear from my lawyer. Or maybe from the cops with assault charges."

"You look pretty even to me," Sean said. "This conversation is over."

"We'll see about that," Quentin snapped back, storming out of the room past Liz.

"What were you thinking?" she asked Christian, who barely tore his gaze away from Sean long enough to acknowledge the question.

"He asked for it," Christian replied abruptly.

"Liz, could you give us a minute?" Sean asked, and Liz hesitated a moment, then nodded, leaving as Sean closed the door behind her. "What happened?" Sean asked, patting the back of one of the chairs before going to the sink. Christian sat in the chair, but didn't answer him. He didn't want to repeat what Quentin had said. Or admit why he'd lost his self control and given Quentin exactly the kind of display he'd been asking for. Sean sat down with some damp paper towel and guided Christian's chin until his face was at a convenient angle for Sean to wash the blood off his nose and mouth. "Nothing's broken," he said, checking Christian's nose. "Here, hold this on your jaw." He handed him a makeshift ice pack made of ice cubes from the freezer in a plastic sandwich bag.

"Look, I'm sorry. He just pushed me a little too far and I snapped."

"How did he find out about the rape?" Sean asked, his tone gentle.

"He didn't. He just assumed it, I guess - - probably like most everyone else probably assumes it. The only other person besides you that I told was Kit, and that was when I was trying to find something to convince the cops I was innocent."

"If he was needling you about the rape, that's sexual harassment."

"It was sexual harassment of a sort, but not so much about the rape. He's got his sights set on you, Sean. Just be careful. I don't know if he's all that stable."

"It's not that I don't appreciate the thought, Christian, but I'm not a damsel in distress here. I can fight my own battles, and if Quentin has some kind of sexual fixation where I'm concerned, I can clear that up for him again if he's still not getting the message." Sean snorted. "Somehow I doubt that he's obsessed with me. I think he's just obsessed with conquering someone who turns him down. Maybe he wants to score with a straight guy who refused him. Who knows? In any event, you don't have to rescue me. I can deal with that on my own."

"When he mentioned the rape, you were pretty close to taking a swing yourself. You took offense for me. It's no different for me. I take offense for you when some asshole is talking about...you in a sick, twisted way."

"It's all talk, Christian. Not worth getting into this kind of physical altercation. You threw the first punch. He could press charges."

"Let him. I'd love to tell a male judge what he said and see if he'd do anything but pat me on the back and throw Costa in jail."

"What did he say?"

"What he wants to do to you has nothing to do with love or even physical obsession. It's just brutality."

"Did he threaten me?"

"Not directly. I just don't like where his mind is, what he's thinking where you're concerned."

"It's completely possible that he's just jerking you around because he's mad about the Foster case, about his contract not being renewed. He chose something he knew would get to you, and it did. I had all the power when I told him there was no contract renewal coming, so maybe he gets off on picturing having control and power over me somehow. In any event, it's good you told me. If he's thinking that way, I'll watch my back, just in case."

"It's not your back he's after," Christian responded.

"Look, I appreciate you sticking up for me," Sean said, resting his hand on Christian's arm, "but this could have just escalated the situation rather than discouraged it."

"I know you're right. Bringing him here was a mistake, Sean. Getting him out is the best move we can make."

"I had no way of knowing he'd behave this way," Sean said. "He's a brilliant surgeon, one of the best face men in the country. I thought it would help us out. Looking back, I suppose I got what I deserved. I needed help, but I was also licking my wounds that you were shutting me out...that you weren't drawing your strength from our partnership." Sean hesitated, looking a little sheepish. "It's where I've gotten mine when there were things going on my life I didn't think I could stand."

"I'm not blaming you. You couldn't have known." Christian paused. "I know I held you at arm's length for a while after the attack. I didn't mean to. I just wasn't ready to deal with it." He was quiet a few seconds, then decided to shift the subject a little. "How's your arm?" he asked. He'd done a quick repair job on the cut on Sean's arm to prevent scarring a few days earlier, but since it was minor and located on his arm, Sean had chosen to do the follow up care on it himself.

"You did some nice work on it, partner." Sean stood and took off his lab coat, laying it over the other chair, then rolled up his sleeve. He peeled the bandage back to reveal a very fine line. "I doubt the scar will even be visible in a few months."

"It looks good," Christian said, using the excuse to take a hold of Sean's arm, ostensibly to examine the healing cut. Truthfully, it just felt good to touch Sean. Maybe he just needed to touch him gently to get the violent images out of his mind that Costa's remark had created. The thought of Sean suffering the way he had at the hands of the Carver made him nearly physically ill.

"Don't worry about the Quentin thing," Sean said, withdrawing his arm and pulling his sleeve back down, buttoning the cuff of his shirt. Christian felt eerily as if Sean had read his mind. "He's all hot air, and if he's not, I'm at least on my guard now."

"Would you have gone out with him?" Christian asked.

"I did once. That was enough. I didn't know what he had in mind then. I thought it was just a guys' night on the town kind of thing."

"I guess I was wondering if you ever thought about it."

"Going out with Quentin? No, I never do. You know that's not my thing. Why would you ask me that?"

"He's good-looking, you admire him professionally, you're single now, so there's no reason you can't experiment if you want. I was just curious if you were ever...curious."

"About making it with a guy? If I was into that, you'd know it by now." Sean frowned. "Where is all this coming from?"

"I just wondered if..." Christian took a deep breath, his eyes back on the table top now. "If in all the years we've known each other, you ever thought about...me that way."

"You're my best friend, my partner...I...I suppose it crossed my mind when I had to spend so many nights in college listening to you screw co-eds. Kind of hard not to think of someone in sexual terms when you're listening to them having sex all the time."

"When it crossed your mind, what did you think of it?"

Sean sat down again, his expression worried.

"If you feel uncomfortable with me because of some obsession of Quentin's, don't. It was all on his part."

"I don't feel uncomfortable with you at all, Sean." Christian finally braved it and looked into Sean's worried face. "I'm just thinking that Quentin's in my territory in more than a professional sense. I wanted to take his head off when he asked you out to dinner."

"He made a pretty bold move on you, and with what happened to you, it's understandable you'd see him as a more threatening figure - -"

"I'm not talking about him trying to stick his finger up my ass. I'm talking about him wanting to take you out on a date. I didn't like it."

"Because you know that's not my thing and you were being protective, even though I already told you I can fight my own battles."

"No, that's not exactly it," Christian said, taking in a deep breath. "I wanted to be the one to take you out on a date if any man was going to."

"You mean if you thought I wanted that, you'd rather I got it from a friend?"

"Quit telling me what I mean," Christian snapped, and Sean looked as if he were about to respond, but shut his mouth, just staring at Christian. "If I asked you out and it wasn't a boys' night out, would you go?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Sean asked, though to his credit, he wasn't making a joke of it. Christian was enormously grateful for that, even if Sean was laughing uncontrollably on the inside.

"I guess I am," Christian said, steeling himself for a panorama of potential responses- - everything from "get out of my life" to "you're joking" to an outburst of laughter, complete with pointing. He wasn't exactly prepared for stunned silence. After several seconds had passed, he blurted, "Say something, damn you!"

"So this is the legendary Christian Troy technique, huh?" Sean asked, smiling slightly at Christian's angry outburst. "Look, I never went out on a date with a guy - - intentionally, anyway - - and we've known each other for twenty years and this has never come up in conversation. Give me a minute."

"You either want to or you don't."

"I guess you're right. Maybe that's why I'm sitting here staring at you instead of answering. I want to, and that bothers the hell out of me."

"Why?" Christian asked.

"I'm not gay, for starters!"

"Neither am I. I have a lot of witnesses."

"I think we're both going through some difficult times, and this situation with Quentin has brought up some kind of...weirdness between us."

"Is that what it is, weirdness?" Christian prodded, not pleased with the way this was going, but not surprised, either.

"I had a great time when we went out the other night."

"So did I - - so why not try it again?"

"Come on, Christian. You want to switch to candlelight and a chick flick, and grope my thigh under the table?"

"Don't make fun of me, Sean. I'm not joking. You can say no, but don't turn this into a joke."

"Fooling around with this could destroy our friendship. This isn't a little drunken experimentation between a couple of college kids."

"With you, it would never be a little drunken experimentation for me, anyway," Christian said, boldly risking reaching out and taking Sean's hand where it was resting on the table. "Go out with me. For real," he said, putting as much feeling into the request as he could.

"What about Kimber?"

"This isn't about Kimber. Or Julia. Or Quentin. It's about us. Yes or no?"

"Just to going out?"

"I don't expect to get any on the first date. I never thought you were easy, Sean," Christian added, glad that the humor seemed to be the right move, and Sean chuckled, and returned the pressure on his hand.

"Okay. Yes. Let's go out, see what it feels like."

"I get to pick where we go, because I don't want this to turn into a couple beers and a movie."

"I'm at your mercy," Sean quipped, squeezing Christian's hand a little before withdrawing his and tidying up the makeshift first aid supplies.

"Tomorrow night, seven o'clock?"

"Why tomorrow?" Sean asked.

"Unless you just can't wait, I thought it would give me a little time to plan things."

"Tomorrow's good," Sean said, nodding. "Maybe I'll call Julia and see if I can take Annie out for dinner tonight. We need to start getting reconnected again."

"But tomorrow, you're keeping open. I'll pick you up at seven."

"You're picking me up?"

"It's a date, Sean. I'm not going to meet you somewhere."

"Why don't *I* pick *you* up?"

"Look, if we go dancing, you can lead, but I'm doing the driving because I'm planning the evening."

"Okay, it's a deal. But I'm not much of a dancer."

"You just need a little incentive," Christian retorted, intentionally brushing very close to Sean on the way past him to leave the room.

Sean looked at the ice bag in his hand and, expelling a long breath, held it against his own forehead while he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened. And tried to explain to himself why the thought of going out with Christian was a little too enticing to be comfortable.

********

THE END...for now