Title: Loggerheads

Author/pseudonym: Angel and Rina

Fandom: Once A Thief

Pairing: Vic/Mac

Rating: NC-17

Status: New, complete

Archive: RatB, WWOMB and The Nesting Place, anyone else, just let us know ;)

Series/Sequel: Pretty Baby Interlude

Disclaimers: The names belong to Alliance but they did evil bad nasty stuff
to the boys (blowing them to smithereens no less!) so we decided it was our
turn!!!.

Notes: This is set about a year after Vic and Mac were recruited by the
Agency.

Summary: An answer to RatB's May challenge - Victor and Mac work an
eco-terrorism case, and end up in a bit of a fix.

Pretty Baby Interlude: Loggerheads
by Angel and Rina

Just how did we end up like this again?" Mac groused, switching his weight to his other leg and stretching his arm higher over his head in order to put a little slack to the short chain that bound his right wrist to Victor's left one. This was one time when the height he had put on was a definite advantage. If the pull on his shoulder was bad, Mac didn't even want to think of how it had to feel for Vic who was now a good three inches shorter then he was.

The ex-thief knew very well how they had ended up like this, cuffed together over a tree branch, standing on tiptoe. It was just that bitching about it gave him something to think about other then the lovely little bomb the wacko fringe eco-terrorists he and Vic had been investigating had planted at the logging company's headquarters. Unfortunately, that headquarters was near enough that if it went boom, so did they.

Jackie was out here somewhere—hopefully anyway. The pseudo valley girl agent had been undercover as a reporter covering the radical group's encounters with the loggers—though how she managed to pass herself off as anything other then a bubble-brained bombshell, Mac had no clue. If they had a shred of hope left, it was that her cover hadn't been blown.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for his and Vic's, which was what got them into this predicament in the first place. Apparently radical environmental terrorists and corporate scumbag fascists shouldn't be caught trying to remove each other's tonsils with their tongues if they wanted to remain secure in their chosen professions.

The Director was going to kill them when she heard this one—if they lived long enough for that to happen anyway.

Victor bit back a snapped retort, then a pained groan as his shoulders caught fire once more. He was such a goddamn, idiot—the Director was gonna have their balls for sure, he thought derisively. Brilliant Mansfield, letting your cock do the thinking. It was just that Mac had looked so darn cute in his plaid shirt, cargo shorts and Doc Martins. His own little Eco-warrior.

The two weeks apart had been long and tiring. Vic wasn't used to sleeping on his own anymore, he'd been surviving on four hours a night maximum for the length of the case, just not able to sleep without having his lover curled into him. One of the reasons the bitch probably suggested this—her 'boys' were too dependent on each other. Not that Vic minded, not in the least. He adored being dependent on Mac. Which was why he'd caved so easily when the younger man had called him earlier today.

"Yeah, well you're the one who thought we needed to meet face to face to exchange information, Captain Planet!" Vic snarked back as he tried desperately to figure out how they could get out of this predicament without the Director or Jackie, therefore the Director, finding out. The way Jackie always went running to the redhead made him wonder just what their sometime 'third corner' really had going on with their boss. Vic shuddered at the thought as it passed across his mind.

"We were already on the phone—but you thought the line wasn't secure. No—you just wanted to kiss me stupid is all. Damn good thing we both still had our pants up when they caught us—now that we couldn't bullshit our way out of with the boss." Vic's mind raced—how to get out of this. . .

"Screw you, Mansfield," Mac grumbled, though there was no heat behind his words. "Didn't see you arguing against the meeting too much and is it my fault that freakin' Edgar showed up? He was supposed to be off with everyone else chanting around that big old pine tree for the savage primeval gods to come and take their retribution on you soul-less land-raping bastards." The ex-thief looked toward the building, wondering just how much time they had before it blew, then up at the branch overhead. "He would have bought the whole 'taking some back for the woods' thing too if you hadn't laughed!"

Ignoring his partner's complaint, Victor set about setting his plan into motion. "Okay—so we've each got a hand free. You're lighter than me so..." Bracing his back against the tree trunk, Victor held out his right hand at about waist height. "Use my hand as a stepping board, see if you can swing yourself up and over—that way we'll be off this fucking branch if nothing else," the elder agent thought quickly. Off the branch and away from the bomb—this was a good thing. Then all they had to do was make it back to the cabin the Agency had commandeered as a temporary check in—where Vic's truck was parked. Just a twelve mile hike with the sun setting. Fuck.

"If we can get out of the blast radius, in case Jacks doesn't make it to the bomb or is like distracted, or something," he bit out sarcastically, "we can find a spot to curl up for the night. We can head back to the base site in the morning —probably to find our 'glorious' leader waiting with her whip, but at least we'll be breathing—and in one piece."

"Are you sure about this..." Mac looked from his partner's hand to the branch overhead. Even with the boost it wasn't going to be an easy climb. Well, there really wasn't any other way out of this and every second that passed was one less on the timer. "Okay, shouldn't be too hard, up and over, just like the Wall on the course."

Twisting his right hand so that he could grab onto the rough bark once he was off the ground, Mac stepped back, offering an apologetic look when the move practically yanked Vic off the ground. "Sorry. Ready?" At the older man's nod, Mac placed his right foot in Vic's palm, stepping up as the ex-cop's boost.

It should have worked. In fact it would have worked if the pull of the handcuff on Mac's wrist hadn't caused his grip to slip. Knowing only that a fall might mean dislocated shoulders for both of them, Mac scrabbled for a hold and somehow managed to stop himself from slipping any further. Once he was able to catch his breath, Mac became aware of the warmth centered at his crotch and just what was causing it.

"Appreciate the thought, man, but don't you think we had better wait until we get out of here? I mean, coming with a bang is great and all, but I really don't think that the post-coital glow will be all that good when we're splattered all over the landscape."

"Mac, I love you more than life, but if you don't get your dick out of my face and over that branch I may be tempted to bite. You get me lover?" Vic growled around a face full of cargo clad Ramsey crotch. Rolling his eyes at the younger man's snicker, Vic ignored the slight discomfort and maneuvered so that he could raise both of Mac's legs to his shoulders.

Continuing to ignore the growing 'recognition' in his lover's pants, Vic gasped out, "Use my shoulders to stand and swing yourself over. We gotta get out of here Mac, the clock is ticking and we've gotta make some distance."

Hearing Mac's chuckle, Vic chose to ignore it and grunted softly as his shoulders were used as a stepping stool. In a matter of moments Mac was on the ground next to him, and the first thing Vic did was sag back down so his spine could realign from the tree-hugger's version of the rack. "If I ever get my hands on that Oswald or whatever his name is—he is gonna wish the Director got to him first," the ex cop moaned as he started to move away from the trees, dragging his chained lover behind him. "C'mon Cap, we still gotta get out of the blast radius."

"Edgar." Mac grimaced, rotating his shoulder and lengthening his stride to keep up with Vic's hurried steps. "And that's Captain Planet sir to you Silas Greedly." How much distance was enough? That was the question. The bomb the group had planted was small but powerful, never mind the fact that they were going to destroy part of the very forest they were trying to protect with it.

They moved deeper into the woods, and once they'd put a good distance between themselves and the building Mac paused, pulling Vic to a stop alongside him. "Looks like Jacks got to it in time. Want to try to hook up with her or keep going?" As the ex-thief spoke, he rummaged through his pockets one more time, hoping that Edgar had missed something that he could use to open the cuffs. The man may have been a freak, but he was a damn thorough one considering he had stripped both of them of anything remotely useful in that regard.

Mac continued bitching about that turn of events, then something Vic had said earlier registered and his head snapped up. "You mean we have to spend the night out here? Fuck!" As if the past two weeks hadn't been bad enough, but to have to be out here without even a freaking sleeping bag? Okay, the fact that Vic was here did count for a lot, but to sleep on the ground? Mac shuddered and went to rub his arms with his hands, aborting the movement when the handcuffs yanked at his arm.

Moving to stand behind his lover, Vic pulled Mac back against him, wrapping the younger man in a warm embrace. "Well, we're about half way between the check point and the logging camp, so either way we're sorta stuck out here for the night. I'd rather not take the chance of running into Edgar or any of his bunch, so on the off chance that some got away, I'd say head towards the checkpoint. I'm hoping that the Director, Dobie and the rest have gone home, that way we can grab my truck and hightail it."

Looking up at the sky, Vic did some calculations. They had about another hour of light, tops. Which meant they could probably add another half hour of walking, or less if they found a good spot to curl up in, and some firewood. Thank god Elmer, or whatever his name was, didn't take the matches out of his breast pocket. They'd have a fire at least.

"Think you can handle another half hour of walking, babe? Figure it's about all we can do before we need to get comfy for the night. They didn't grab my matches so we can have a fire to get warm, and curl up for the night." Not that Vic was planning on sleeping—one of them needed to stay awake in case predators such as bears or lynx came along—not that he was going to tell the younger man of the possibility of that happening. Mac was definitely a city boy, that was for sure!

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Mac sighed, tilting his head back against Vic's shoulder and covering the other man's hands with his, twining their fingers together. This assignment may have been a total pain in the ass to begin with, and it may have deteriorated even further with each passing day, but now, seeing as they were alive and together again, things didn't look so bad.

God, I'm getting to be as much of a sappy romantic as Vic is, the younger man laughed to himself, not minding that fact in the least. Turning his head enough to kiss Vic's ear, Mac sighed again, then straightened up. "Lead on Davy Crockett. I know better then to try, the only thing I'd get us is lost or walking in a circle until we met up with my 'friends' again—and I do not want that!"

Letting go of the younger man with great reluctance, Vic began to take note of their position. He couldn't resist teasing the younger man though. "Oh but they luuve you, Mac," Victor sing-songed as he got his bearings and began to head in the right direction, fingers once more seeking out his lover's, wanting the comforting presence of Mac next to him. Grunting softly as a fist connected with his shoulder, Vic chuckled. Sometimes it was just so damn easy to bait the younger man.

"Hey think of it this way lover, there is no way in hell she could be watching tonight—unless there are cameras hidden on every tree in the forest. We may actually have an entire night of privacy—just to the two of us, fire blazing, under the stars, no Agency, no interference—nothing but a pair of handcuffs - which is kinda kinky—and some five alarm outdoor sex," Vic wolf grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

"Nah," Mac muttered, contemplating slugging his lover again, then waving the idea off. "You luuve me, they just wanted to get into my pants—free love and all that. I thought that shit went out with the hippies." He paused as they clambered over a fallen tree, managing the move without too much difficulty despite the fact that they were tethered together. "And I'm liking the sound of the last part more and more every second. Matter of fact, this looks like a good place to stop to me!" Without even glancing around, Mac planted his heels and stopped them both, sliding their joined hands behind Victor's back to give the older man's linen covered ass a squeeze. "I've missed you, Vic, two weeks is a long time apart—too long." Mac's tone may have been light and teasing, but the seriousness of his words was plainly visible in his eyes.

"Couldn't sleep without you next to me," the older man mumbled even as he leaned into the hard body pressing against him. "The Director may have been right about us learning to function without each other, but damned if I have to like it," the ex-cop groused even as he began to unbutton Mac's lumberjack shirt, trying to get to the warm, lush flesh beneath. "Missed waking up with you lying across me, trying to fight my way out from beneath you to get the morning coffee, even missed that noise you call music," Vic continued to mutter, working the shirt as far off has he could with the cuffs in the way.

"And if Edgar and his friends know what's good for them, they'll be long gone, don't like anyone making moves on my man," Vic growled, nipping at the exposed flesh on Mac's neck lightly. "I'm possessive that way," he continued, coloring slightly. "Don't like the thought of sharing you most times, but the thought of those tree-hugging dweebs actually trying to..." Vic shuddered. "They'd better be far, far away."

Groaning at the memories Vic's voice called up, Mac squirmed to help the older man pull off his shirt, then yelped as Vic closed his teeth of his neck. God this was what he needed, two nights was too much to be apart, let alone two weeks!

Grabbing at the hem of the golf shirt Vic was wearing (and mumbling curses at corporate lawyer leisure wear), Mac dragged it up and over the older man's head, shoving it down his arm until it hung tangled with the soft flannel of his own shirt. "Who cares if they tried," he growled, latching onto Vic's ear, grumbling because the ex-cop didn't have either of his earrings in because of his cover. "They didn't, that's what matters, and it isn't like I didn't see that slut of an administrative assistant trying to climb all over you when you were visiting the protest site!"

A harder nip accompanied the movement of Mac's hands to Vic's khakis, his fingers tangling with the other man's as he yanked at the multiple buttons, popping them open, then shoving his free hand down the back, beneath the soft cotton of Vic's boxer's. "Ahh fuck, needed to have my hands on you for so long." Mac's voice was raspy and his fingers clenched spastically, pulling Vic closer, grinding their cocks together.

"God, I've missed you," Vic managed to groan out, his free hand trying to map as much of Mac's flesh as he could before yanking the younger man's shorts down to tangle around his hiking boots. "Missed touching you, missed feeling you hot and sweaty under me, missed being in you, you being in me, your touch, your taste, the sound you make when you come, everything. Missed that damned piercing too," Vic chuckled painfully as he looked around for a soft spot for them to get naked. Which brought up another problem.

Lack of lubricant. One that caused Vic to smile wickedly as he realized his closest source of anything remotely similar. Dropping to his knees, he nuzzled against the younger man's bobbing erection, before running a tongue up the underside of Mac's cock from balls to tip. Smirking up at the younger man, he commented, "Wanna be so deep in you I get lost, but we need lubricant, baby. Think you can help me out here?" and with that warning, he engulfed his lover's cock in his mouth, working to make Mac come as soon as possible.

"Jesus!" The curse was ripped from Mac's throat as he felt Vic take in his erection, surrounding his enflamed flesh with liquid heat and licking, sucking motion. His free hand scrabbling for purchase in the former cop's short hair and the cuffed one latching onto Vic's wrist, Mac threw back his head and howled, locking his knees to keep from collapsing as his lover proceeded to prove that Hoover had nothing on him when it came to creating a vacuum.

Normally Mac would have held on as long as possible for the pleasure of enjoying Vic's talented mouth until he couldn't take it any more. Now, however, he gave himself over to the all-encompassing sensations, rocking his hips against the incessant rhythm as the older man drew him nearer and nearer to the edge. The light scrape of Vic's teeth against the underside of his cock coupled with the sudden pressure of one of the other man's fingers against his anus sent Mac over the edge and he came with a strangled shout, arresting the motion of his hips as much as possible to keep from ramming his cock down Vic's throat. Not that he would mind having to come up with more 'lubricant' if it was needed, but the next time Mac came, he wanted it to be with Vic buried hip deep in him.

The moment he could breathe again and Vic released his softening flesh, Mac dropped to the ground beside the older man. After a short, violent battle with his boots, shorts and boxers, the ex-thief was nude, posing provocatively before yanking his lover on top of him by the chain that bound them. "Just don't you swallow!" he ordered, trying not to laugh. That had to be the first time anyone's ever said that to someone with a mouth full of cum!

Vic swirled the bitter salt liquid around in his mouth, savoring the slightly acrid taste. Normally he would swallow and feel the slightly viscous fluid slide down his throat, relishing that he could do this to his lover. As it was he was desperately trying not to spray Mac as he struggled not to laugh.

Smiling around a full mouth, Vic edged his way downwards until he was once more hovering over Mac's groin. This time he slung the younger man's legs over his shoulders and allowed a dribble of warm cum to flow over the younger man's tiny portal. Working a finger inside he allowed more of the precious liquid to dribble out letting another finger find smooth entry, then another, and one more still. He was going to make this feel very, very good.

Surging up the younger man's body so that this time he straddled Mac's waist, he took the handcuffed hands, and emptied the remaining 'lubricant' into Mac's hand. "Get me wet, babe," he husked when finally able to speak again.

Whining loudly at the loss of the delicious stimulation within him, Mac grabbed the back of Vic's neck with his free hand, dragging Victor in for a tongue thrashing kiss. The younger man then set the links of chain between their wrist jangling with the speed at which he slicked up Vic's cock with the combination of his semen and Vic's saliva, thoroughly coating his lover's erection, then sliding his fingers down over Vic's balls to tickle his perineum.

"You know," he chucked, flashing a wicked grin up at the older man as Vic's hips drove down into his hand, "I thought that was what the girl was supposed to say."

"Tease," Victor growled, his eyes sparking with barely restrained mirth. "If I didn't have the need to plow your body into oblivion right now, I'd gladly get you 'wet'."

Placing a few strokes to his own needy cock in demonstration of his would be plans, Victor had to chuckle at the younger man's rather vicious rant in Chinese and the dire warning of 'don't you fucking well dare!'

Surging downwards, Vic had Mac's legs hooked over his shoulders and the tip of his cock slowly driving into his lover's anus in seconds. Tight heat engulfed him as two weeks of separation and no sex made their toll felt in a surprisingly delightful way.

"Christ, you're as tight as you were our first time, baby," Vic groaned, pushing in slowly. "Just like the night we got home and 'christened' our new lives."

Mac's expression of annoyance at Vic's threat faded to one of complete satisfaction as the older man pressed inside him. "God, needed this," he gasped, grasping his legs to pull them nearer to his chest, letting Victor settled closer against him. "Can't wait to see if you feel the same way." As he said this, Mac arched up into his lover's body, beyond caring that there were sticks and pine needles poking him in the back and that soon it was going to be too dark in the forest to see, let alone gather wood to start a fire—you had to have priorities after all!

An attempt to wrap his arms around Vic's back was met with a yelp as he twisted Vic's arm backward, so Mac settled for twining the fingers of their bound hands together while he slid his other hand behind Vic's neck, pulling him in for another kiss as they began to move together.

Vic knew he wouldn't last long this time around, he'd been so desperate for Mac, and watching and tasting the younger man find release had strained his self control to the breaking point. Vic's hips moved wildly, too needy to find a steady pace, he just wanted and wanted now.

A series of short, powerful thrusts and the clamping of Mac's internal muscles driving him wild sent Victor careening out of control. Biting down on his lip to keep noise at a minimum and he was coming fast and furious. "Too fucking long," he managed to gasp, gently lowering himself onto Mac, then rolling to the side taking the younger man with him.

Peppering kisses across the younger man's face and chest, Vic pulled Mac closer with his free arm. "So you when do you want your turn, Captain Planet?" Vic sniggered softly.

The pressure of the thick branch under his ribs made Mac groan and he rooted around under himself with his free hand to find the offending treelimb and toss it into the woods. "I want my turn when we're in a soft, comfortable, clean, bed," the younger man grumped, having recovered enough to start thinking about bugs, snakes, poison ivy and all the other nasty things there were in the woods. And to top it off... "Hey Vic? You think you could get that fire going, it's getting really dark out here."

"Never again am I taking an assignment that takes me into the fucking woods!" Mac grumbled plaintively as he tried to walk, scratch his multitude of mosquito bites and ignore the fact that he was starving—all at once. "No way, no how, don't care what Lady D does to me."

If he ever saw Elmer, or Edgar, or whatever the fuck the guy's name was again, the man was toast. Okay, the fact that they had lost the matches Vic had scavenged was as much his fault as anyone's but that didn't mean Mac had to enjoy the fact that they had spent a night in the cold, dark, altogether too noisy for his peace of mind, woods. Thank god they were almost at the cabin. There had to be something there to get these cuffs off as well as a shower, or any kind of running water.

Glancing over at Victor who looked just as bedraggled, but infinitely more cheerful, Mac revised his last thought. Maybe the cuffs could come off after they had that shower... "How far do we have left?" he asked for about the hundredth time in as many minutes.

"How much further yet?" Vic teased. "God Mac, you sound like a five year old, and a spoiled brat at that." Ducking the swing the younger man aimed at him, Vic pointed between two trees. "And your cabin and my chariot await m'lord," he continued, pointing to his cherry red truck sitting parked in front.

"So, directly home or do we dare show our faces in the cabin?" Vic asked as they ambled up to the command post. Either choice promised that the Director would be calling on them, but Vic was all for delaying tactics. He figured it would take them a few hours to get home, a few more to get cleaned up and a few more to get dirty again.

"Either way, let's get the hell out of these cuffs. Next round I want hands free."

The sight of what passed as civilization out here cheered Mac immensely and he slid his hand into Victor's pants pocket, snagging the older man's keys almost before Vic noticed he had grabbed them. Twirling the ring around his finger, Mac pulled Vic toward the truck, then opened the door. "I dunno, Vice-man, I kinda like having you at my beck and call like this. Besides," he added with a wicked grin, "the way we're cuffed together means I get to drive and if you think I'm passing up that chance, you're loonier then Edgar!"

Ignoring his lover's look of stunned disbelief, Mac shooed Vic into the truck, then settled into the driver's seat. "So," he asked, managing to keep a totally straight face, "how do you shift this thing again?"

Vic's howl of terror scared the birds out of the treetops and sent the animals nearby scurrying for cover. "Nooooooooooooooo!"

END INTERLUDE