Title: TERRITORY

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: FRT-13

Summary: Christian reclaims his territory at McNamara/Troy.

Warnings: None I can think of.

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

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TERRITORY

by

Candy Apple

Christian couldn't remember waking up so uncomfortable in a long time. His back was stiff, he had a kink in his neck, and there was a heavy weight pressing against his shoulder and side. Not sure he wanted to see where he was and what was going on, he finally opened his eyes, and everything started to make sense.

He'd dozed off on Sean's couch while they were watching some boring old war movie. Sean had obviously gone to sleep, too, and had no problem using Christian's shoulder for a pillow. He was still sleeping so soundly that he was snoring softly. He looked peaceful there, more relaxed and content than Christian had seen him look in months...maybe years. Despite his stiff neck and back, he hated to disturb Sean. As if reading his mind, though, Sean stirred a little and moved his head, reaching up to rub his neck as he straightened up on the seat.

"What time is it?"

"A little after eight. We're still okay for time."

"You want coffee?" Sean asked, getting up and heading for the kitchen.

"Coffee and a chiropractor, " Christian quipped. Sean was strangely silent as he went about making the coffee. Christian joined him in the kitchen, setting two mugs near the coffee maker as it began brewing. "Are you okay?" he asked Sean, who was still staring at the coffee pot.

"I'm fine. Well, except that my neck's killing me," he said with a faint smile. "The last time I went to a chiropractor, it was Meghan," he added.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I was just joking–"

"No need to apologize. I like to remember her. And at the same time, I can't stand to think about it too much. Sometimes I remember what her hands felt like on me...it was like she could just massage out everything that was bad and make it all right again." Sean shook his head. "Guess that means she was a good chiropractor."

"Sit down," Christian gestured at the table and chairs in the kitchen.

"What for?"

"I'm not a chiropractor, but I give good neck rubs." Christian flexed his fingers.

"I'll be okay, Christian. The coffee's almost ready."

"Humor me." Christian pulled out a chair, and with a hint of exasperation in his expression, Sean finally sat down. "Try to relax. I've felt concrete more flexible than these muscles," Christian said as he began the massage.

"Oh, yeah, right there," Sean said, a little of the tautness leaving his muscles as Christian found the exact spot that hurt and gently worked it with his thumbs. "I've wanted to ask you something, but..." Christian could feel the muscles tightening again.

"Just ask me," he said, keeping up the massage.

"I was worried about you having to spend time in jail, after what happened. Nothing else happened while you were in there, did it?"

"I was alone in a cell, and there weren't that many other prisoners nearby. Nothing happened." He felt Sean's sigh and a little of the tension leave.

"I feel like such an asshole for ever thinking–"

"I've done a lot of thinking myself," Christian said, done with Sean's neck and extending his work to the shoulders. "And I asked myself which was better–someone with utter blind faith in my innocence that never faltered...or someone who had a moment of doubt, but would have stood by me even if I turned out to be a monster. Which one took more love? Standing by an innocent man is a lot easier than standing by a guilty one. When I walked out of that interrogation room and left you there, I never doubted you'd be back." Christian finally stopped his massage. "Better?"

"Much. Thanks. I could return the favor," Sean offered.

"The coffee'll do what I need," Christian responded, filling the two mugs and bringing them to the table. To some extent, his muscles were loosening up on their own. The real reason he didn't take Sean up on his offer was that he wanted to so badly. Somehow, the thought of Sean's hands on his neck and back and shoulders was stirring something more profound in him than the thought of Kimber giving him a blow job.

"You'll have to thank Kimber for loaning you out to me for the evening. I had a good time last night."

"Kimber's my girlfriend, not my jailer," Christian responded. "It's not her decision."

"Whoa, take it easy," Sean said, smiling at the defensive tone his initial remark had drawn. "I was just kidding. I thought you guys were pretty exclusive."

"Just because I'm not screwing anyone else doesn't mean I have to start getting her permission for where I go and what I do."

"Okay, I get it. But if you're heading for marriage with Kimber, you might as well start getting used to answering for where you go and what you do," Sean added, taking another drink of his coffee. Christian didn't know why the whole conversation about marriage was making him bristle. Maybe it was the thought that he'd owe greater accountability to Kimber than he did to Sean.

Who held the number one position in his life suddenly came into clear focus, even though it had been a little blurred in the background recently. Putting Kimber before Sean had never even occurred to him. The two had coexisted up to this point without requiring him to make any choices. Even now, he wasn't really being forced to choose. It was the thought of not being completely free to interact with Sean when and how he wished that suddenly bothered him. That someone else would be intimately woven into the fabric of his life enough to possibly come between them. Or to put off limits something he'd never even thought of where his best friend was concerned. Never thought of until now when the word "exclusive" was suddenly applied to his relationship with Kimber.

Exclusive. Committed. No longer free to...do what, exactly?

"Christian?" Sean's tone indicated he'd been trying to get Christian's attention without success. "Is everything okay between you two?"

"Fine. I'm not ready to fasten on a ball and chain just yet, I guess."

"I don't think you need to rush into anything. Kimber's stuck by you a long time, so I doubt she's going anywhere. I think I'll go grab a shower and some fresh clothes. I can offer you a shower, but not the clothes."

"Why don't you get a move on, and we'll stop at my place on the way so I can change?"

"Okay. Be right back." Sean headed for the bathroom, leaving Christian alone with his coffee and his unsettling thoughts.

********

Near four that afternoon, Christian made his way to the break room. He was hungry, but he was mainly hoping to catch up with Sean for a few minutes. Why that mattered as much as it did today, he wasn't sure. They operated together that morning, but their schedules hadn't crossed after that. Sean had done a consult by himself for one of the girls Naomi Gaines had referred, and Christian had handled a routine rhinoplasty on his own.

Sean was scheduled to do a consult late that afternoon with Quentin on a pro bono facial reconstruction for the victim of a car crash who had no health insurance. It was bound to be a prolonged and intricate process involving multiple surgeries. It was logical for the two top facial surgeons in the practice to work on it together, but Christian found himself suddenly, inexplicably jealous of the whole situation. He'd been unhappy with Quentin meddling in his territory since the beginning, but he'd told himself it was the practice he didn't want Quentin moving in on. After all, was it even healthy to be that possessive of your male best friend and partner?

He paused just outside the door to the break room. The conversation going on inside was something he wanted too much to hear to do the honorable thing and make his presence known.

"I just feel like it's unfinished business between us, and we should talk about it," Quentin said. There was a brief silence.

"There's nothing to talk about. I misread your invitation and you misread my acceptance of it." Sean sounded uneasy, as if he wanted the conversation over. Quentin persisted.

"I moved way too fast. I was out of line."

"It doesn't matter how fast or slow you moved. You were moving in a direction I don't go."

"Really? I find that hard to believe."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sean challenged.

"All these years, you and Christian have never...you know...experimented a little?" Quentin asked, a smile in his voice.

"That's none of your goddamn business," Sean shot back. Christian found it interesting he didn't outright deny it, but at the same time, it wasn't any of Quentin's goddamn business.

"Apparently I hit a nerve. Sorry." Quentin paused. "Let me at least buy you dinner to apologize. We have a great professional relationship, and I really admire you as a surgeon. I would hate to have a personal misunderstanding interfering with that."

"I don't think that would be a good idea. I need to review the patient file before our consult. I was in surgery most of the morning." Christian heard movement that sounded as if Sean had pushed his chair back and stood.

"Does it really make you that uncomfortable, Sean? My being bisexual?" Quentin asked, apparently standing himself now, judging by the sound of a second chair moving. "I was hoping that my clumsiness and...crudeness wouldn't completely ruin my chances to do this the right way."

Christian savored the moment, choosing just the instant he wanted to enter to confound Quentin.

"Do what the right way?" Christian asked, walking in. Quentin was standing close to Sean, a hand on in shoulder. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing," Sean stated emphatically. "I have work to do," he added, leaving the room. Christian hated that Sean looked more uncomfortable with his presence than Quentin did. It was obvious that very little ruffled Costa's feathers when he was in pursuit of what he wanted, but Sean was embarrassed by the come-on and apparently more embarrassed by Christian overhearing it.

"Stay away from Sean," Christian said, stunned at himself that the words came out audibly. It was what he wanted to say, what he felt in his heart was the right thing to say, but what few inhibitions he had were screaming at him to keep the thought to himself.

"Excuse me?" Quentin asked, laughing slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"You heard me, Costa. I may have to put up with you working with us for the next couple of months until your contract is up, but I don't have to put up with you hitting on my partner. He's told you he's not interested, and now I'm telling you. Mess with him again, and I'll show you just how intimate my knowledge of bones in the human face really is."

"Sean's a big boy, Christian. I'm sure he can speak for himself, and I don't appreciate threats."

"Really? So your mention of the six million dollar lawsuit after making cheap, ill-advised moves on both of us was just idle conversation? As for Sean, he did speak for himself. You just have trouble listening."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"I'm part owner of this place. I don't have to make excuses for where I go and what I do in this office suite. If you weren't doing something inappropriate, you wouldn't have to worry about who overheard it, would you?"

"That's actually funny coming from you," Quentin said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your office antics are the stuff of legend around here, Christian. You scolding me for asking Sean to have dinner with me in the same room where you've screwed other staff members is actually kind of funny."

"You're way out of line, Quentin. You're an employee here whose time is very limited. I'll be taking that consult with Sean this afternoon. You won't be here long enough to perform all the surgeries that will be required to complete that case, so there's little point in you getting started on it." Christian turned to leave the room.

"Sean might not agree with you about that–or anything else we've discussed. Maybe you better ask him before you start playing Tarzan to his Jane."

"Maybe you better find another hunting ground. This is a medical practice, not a singles joint." Christian didn't wait for a reply, but Quentin followed him out the door.

"You're not taking my place on that pro bono case."

"Watch me."

"This is classic. You don't have the balls to make Sean choose you sexually, so you're going to make him choose you over me for this case instead."

"Keep your voice down," Christian said. "If I make it known I want to work this case with him, there won't be a contest. That's how things are with Sean and me–we're partners. You can think whatever it turns you on to think about anything else."

********

Sean looked startled when Christian walked into his office and slammed the door behind him. With the contents of the patient file spread on his desk, Sean had been deep in thought, closely examining the photos of the injuries.

"I want to work on the Foster case with you."

"Can I ask why, all of a sudden? You thought I was nuts to get tangled up in a prolonged, complex pro bono when our practice isn't doing as much business as it did before the arrest story broke."

"I want to be the one to work with you on this case. Not Quentin."

"So this is between you and Quentin, not about you wanting to help this young man get his face back? Personal issues aside, Quentin's one of the top facial surgeons in the country–"

"You're just as good as he is, probably better. You know we could do this together." Christian paused, knowing he had to say the right thing to sway Sean over to his way of thinking. "I'd like to work with you on a case that has some meaning to you. I know how interested you were in taking this case, and I'd like us to do something together that means something." Then he added, "Unless the patient doesn't want a doctor accused of being the Carver to work on him."

"You know better than that. I wouldn't take a case for a patient who expressed that attitude. If you really mean you want to be involved in this, of course, I'll tell Quentin we're working the case together. He could still–"

"No, he can't. You and me. Just the two of us. I'm sick of everything in my life being a fucking three-way. I didn't like it with Kit, and I don't like it with Quentin."

"This doesn't sound like a professional concern." Sean paused. "Look, if you're doing this because of what you overheard a few minutes ago, don't bother. I can take care of myself with Quentin. Bottom line, his contract doesn't get renewed if I don't sign it. I think he's pretty clear that *you're* not going to sign it."

"We haven't really worked on a big project together in a long time, Sean. I miss that. I miss McNamara/Troy. I'm sick of McNamara, Costa, and Troy."

"His name's not on the door yet, Christian, and if it were, it sure as hell wouldn't come before yours–you know that. He was only here to fill in. I'll tell Quentin that you and I are going to work the Foster case together. After all, the number of surgeries will probably outlast his contract, anyway," Sean added, a slight upturn to the corners of his mouth. "Take a look at this stuff while I go straighten this out," Sean said, tapping the file materials with his finger before leaving his office to break the news to Quentin. Christian began reviewing the file as suggested, a grin spreading across his features.

********

Sean tapped on the door frame of Quentin's office. Quentin looked up with a smile at Sean's presence.

"Is our consult here early?"

"No, not yet." Sean walked in and closed the door, then sat in one of the visitor chairs across from Quentin's desk. "Christian and I are going to work the Foster case together. He's expressed an interest in it, and being it's a long-term project, it makes more sense that way."

"Hold on a minute. I studied that patient file, and I've been planning on working that case with you. Don't tell me that you're bumping me off this case just because your partner got jealous?"

"You're six weeks from the end of a six-month contract. This case is going to drag on for considerably longer, which would require you to commute for a substantial portion of it. Christian is here permanently, and it makes more sense for us to handle the case together."

"So you're not only dumping me from the case, you're giving me my notice at the same time? All because I asked you out to dinner? I had no idea my sexuality would make you this uncomfortable."

"You need to stop waving your sexuality in my face like a flag every time we have a difference of opinion. I don't care who you sleep with on your own time. You have a temporary contract here that it's my option to renew or not. The only reason I took on a third surgeon was to pick up the slack until Christian came back. He's been back for a while now, and business is slow, so McNamara/Troy doesn't have the need or the financial resources to renew the contract."

"We've worked well together, Sean. It wasn't until Christian eavesdropped on our conversation that you did this about-face and turned on me."

"I appreciate all your good work during your time here," Sean said, rising. "You're an excellent surgeon and I'm sure our patients have appreciated your skills as well. This isn't personal, and it has much less to do with Christian than it does with facing the reality that we just don't have the volume right now to support three surgeons. I believe you still have another six weeks–"

"Six weeks from this Thursday, to be precise."

"Fine. Be sure not to schedule any surgeries or begin work with any patients that will extend beyond that date."

"I'm sorry if I intruded on something between you and Christian. I honestly had no idea you had an...understanding between you."

"Christian and I have twenty years' worth of 'understandings' between us. What they are is just that–between us. You didn't intrude on anything, but you do have a problem with the word 'no.' "

Sean left the office, not waiting for a response. McNamara/Troy really didn't have enough to divvy up three ways at the moment, but the bottom line was, Quentin was getting too much on Christian's nerves, and he had too much of a tendency to put himself between them. No one had managed to do that successfully, including Julia. Quentin was certainly not going to fare any better.

Still, Sean couldn't shake the warm feeling inside at the thought that Christian was just plain jealous, and guarded his position in Sean's life that passionately. He worked at suppressing the little grin that thought put on his face, reminding himself they had a serious consult coming up, and Christian didn't need to know just how glad Sean was to work on it with him.

********

THE END...for this round