Title: To Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles II

Author: MJ Gage

Fandom: HBO' original series Oz

Pairing: Miguel Alvarez & Ryan O'Reily

Rating: NC-17

Status: Chapter 2 (1 of 2)

Archive: PEJA for the WWOMB and Shug for EmCity.

FEEDBACK: Please, I'll take anything. I just want to know if people are reading these things. Chaper I and a snippet are up at the Em City archives: http://sugaree.simplenet.com/poetscorner.html#mj

Disclaimers: Tom Fontana created and owns them. Not me. No profit to me.

Notes: I have a whole series of poems that go with this piece, I'll send them along if you want to see. I/m using the poems and quotes in the Arms series to set the mood in the same way Hill does for the show. I'm a poetry addict and don't feel confident writing Hill. They are all by other authors. The oridginal work comes out in Poet's voice.

Summary: After Miguel is released from the pyshic ward. Ryan must deal with the impact of his new friend on his life. Set in a mythical fifth season of Oz.

Warnings: Buffy: "This is not gonna' be pretty. We're talkin' violence, strong language, adult content."



To Take Arms Against a Sea of Troubles II
by MJ Gage

In the dungeon-crypts, idly did I stray,
Reckless of the lives wasting there away:
-Emily Bronte

The Officer had a clear view of the inmates gathering and being lined up for kitchen duty. He saw the young man leap onto to the back of his sleepy looking partner. The "no fucking in Em City" rule was lengthened and enumerated, and it now included a no horseplay clause just for these two. They couldn't help but push it, technically.

He shook his head and laughed, "I thought Keller and Beecher were going to win the least able to keep it private relationship award. These two make them look like monks."

Tim McManus walked over to join his childhood friend. He glanced out of the large window that covered one wall of his office and looked down at the prisoners. O'Reily was now comfortably giving Alvarez a piggy back ride. The young man was using his elevated position to direct traffic. "Maybe they like spending time in the hole."

"Tim, they just got out last night. They're young. Alvarez is cocky and O'Reily encourages it."

"Exactly why they need to be broken and taught some discretion. They each reinforce the other's bad habits and undermine our authority."

Murphy watched Alvarez dismount and settle down as soon as one of his fellow officers asked the Latino to stop. "What undermining? The only rule they consistently break is no fucking in Em City. It's an impossible rule to enforce anyway. If you were really serious about it we would have to transfer almost everyone to the hole."

"You're only saying that because one half of the pair is your favorite."

"I don't play favorites with the inmates."


**************
Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during a moment.
-Carl Sandburg

Meanwhile in the kitchen..........

O'Reily joined Beecher, Keller, and Alvarez at their table. Warily glancing around he cuffed Alvarez on the back of the head and stole an apple off of Beecher's tray.

"Yo O'Reily, what is it with you and my hair? Leave it alone, Dulce" Alvarez grins and cuffs O'Reily

"Hey!" The blond man swatted at the grinning Irishman, "Keep your filthy hands out of my food, O'Reily."

"They're not dirty...that's sick - nauseating." All eyes at the table turned to the direction of his nod. In time to see Claire Howell and Vern Schillinger emerging from one of the endless secluded corners the maximum security prison was ironically blessed with. The two were tousled, flushed, and obviously glowing after a round of creative athletics.

Keller eyed his former employer with clear sparkling amusement in his eyes, "What do you suppose they've been up to?" He drawled.

Without turning away from the afternoon's entertainment, "Conceiving the anti-Christ." Miguel Alvarez replied.

Toby looked across the table at him. "I'm having a hard time picturing Vern as the Holy Spirit."

"I was thinking of the Virgin Mother, myself," Alvarez replied, still looking at the sacrilegious duet.

"Unholy spirit," Keller interjected, "it would have to be an unholy spirit for the Anti- Christ."

"Unholy spirit." Beecher turned to the rest of the table's occupants, "I think Alvarez's right. Vern baby is going to be the one giving birth."

"Fuck." O'Reily glanced back and forth between the Latino and the lawyer, "I don't think insanity has done either of you any good." He pointed at the remaining quietly chuckling man, "And you're not helping matters by encouraging them."

Miguel twisted around to face the table. He looked at his lover for a few seconds and cocked his head. "I think it's been good, you know. Everything's a whole lot funnier now. Right Beech?"

Blue eyes met brown behind an evil cackle all of the Emerald City and most of Oz had learned to fear. "Vern's having a baby." He sang out.

O'Reily tried to hide his laughter under a quickly exhaled "Fuck."

"Listen up everybody. My man Poet here's got something to say."

Wangler reluctantly drew the attention of the group away from the making of an evil Trinity.

Poet ambled up to the small platform he used as the stage for his lyric editorials on life in Oz. He began without preamble:

You look, but you can't touch
Those Irish eyes ain't smiling now, are they
Yeah, I seen you watchin', lookin' lustin'
When you think you're alone

Man, get over it, you're a hack
We're always watchin' you
An' your pretty Irish eyes always watchin' him

Can't believe the Spic got there first
Well, you know what they say about
those Latin lovers
Ya ain't never gonna get it now, hack
Gotta go home to get your shamrock's off

Poet never completed his rap. The Lord of the Dance flew across three tables and was half way to Poet's throat when three CO's took him down, dragging him out of the mess hall screaming obscenities as creatively entwined as one of Poet's works.


*******************
....I swear,
it got so god damn dry
people stole tears
from one another's eyes.
-Jon Forest Glade

Meanwhile back at the unit managers office..................

"Really Sean? O'Reily's been your pet little project since the day you interviewed."

"The kid bonded with me cause we're both Irish. I don't show favoritism."

"Come on, Sean, I've known you since we were kids. You've been addicted to guys like O'Reily since Brian Quinn in first grade."

"He was a cute and a smartass. But there's a difference. He wasn't in prison. I wasn't a CO."

"He's due to arrive with our newest residents today."

"Really? Here? What cell block?"

Tim left his chair and started pacing the length of his office. "See, it's like a disease with you. You can't resist."

Chuckling, Sean caught up with his friend and gently halted his progress. "Tim, Tim, I'm joking. I'm older and wiser now. And in a stable relationship. With a man no one ever accused of being high risk."

"No, he's the exception that proves the rule." McManus turned around to face Sean, concern in his eyes. "I just want to make sure it stays that way."

"You never know. It might." Murphy wanted to keep the conversation light. It was heading toward doors he'd rather keep shut, for the time being. His reply was interrupted by the involuntary arrival of one-half of the pair inspiring his earlier laughter. He shot a frustrated look at his friend, "Your turn or mine?"

"Tag, you're it."

"Thanks, Tim you were always a good friend."

McManus only smiled as he abandoned his office to his friend. He left Sean to the unenviable task of trying to reach Ryan O'Reily.


********************
My darling, thou wilt never know
The grinding agony of woe
That we have born for thee.
-Charlotte Bronte

"O'Reily, what is it with you? Ever since Cyril left you've spent more time in the hole than out."

"I have to defend the Irish."

"No Ryan, nobody cares what Poet says about one hack. Irish or not. What's the real problem?"

O'Reily chewed his lip and stared at the floor. How was he going to get out of this one? Murphy was harder to fool than any of the other hacks. He was like Sister Pete, he saw too much. "I don't want people thinking they can get away with shit. I don't want anyone thinking they can pull anything on me."

"You're one of the toughest men in here. I don't see anybody thinking they can get away with making oblique threats. Hell O'Reily, you even got one of Oz's scariest inmates as your personal playmate. Keller's the only one who decided to hook up with someone scarier and you don't see anyone hassling them."

Murphy watched O'Reily, trying to figure out which remark hit home. He knew he scored when Ryan's eyes narrowed at the mention of Alvarez. Was he defending the kid or defensive about the affair?

"It's Alvarez, isn't it?" He noticed Ryan's whole body tensed, as if he was about to fight Murphy. "You worried about protecting him?"

O'Reily paced to the opposite side of the room. Clearly trying to get as much distance between himself and the conversation as possible. "I won't let them think he's just a cocksucking prag."

"O'Reily, Alvarez can more than take care of himself. He doesn't care what Poet or anyone else thinks about his sex life. He only cares about what you're thinking. Stop the homophobic bullshit. I get it enough in this podunk town when I go out with my boyfriend. Let alone from my own family. I don't have to take it at work. Certainly, not from someone else in a same sex relationship."

"Miguel and I aren't fags." O'Reily was so quick to defend his honor he almost missed the vital piece of information the CO let slip. "Wait Murphy, since when are you queer?"

"Since birth. Don't assume O'Reily."

"Fuck, does anyone else know?"

Murphy snorted. "O'Reily, I've been working in prisons since I was eighteen. Do you think I would hand you a free piece of blackmail material? O'Reily, I've already told you more than you need to know. Go back to the kitchen and get back to work. Try to stay out of trouble."


**************
He sharpens knives
When dark is dipped
In grey.
-Laura White Schuett

In his pod on his bed O'Reily examined the conversation with Murphy. Breaking it down and analyzing it from every angle. What did it tell him about the hack? What could he use to his advantage? What did he need to remember for future use? He learned a lot about the hack, but nothing he could use against him. Murphy was too smart. He'd played the game for too long. Murphy hadn't let anything slip that he was trying to keep secret from the rest of the staff. No blackmail material there.

O'Reily wondered about what Murphy said about Alvarez. How did he feel about his Gato? Miguel was part of his soul. His whole life he wanted someone he could share everything with. Someone who would also get his back and be in on everything. Adding to the plans, helping execute the schemes and always fighting right there at his side. He thought it would be Cyril until the accident. He fucked up big time there. Miguel was good. He was smart. Good at waiting for everything to come into place. Tough in a fight, good moves. The man moved like a cat, a big game cat.

Sometimes, O'Reily just wanted to tackle him and roll around, just to feel his body respond to Ryan's. He had to admit the reliable source of sex was addicting. His chest ached when he thought of life in Oz without Miguel. Yeah, the cat was a good investment, it always pays to pick up strays.

The kissing did O'Reily in. Sex with a man wasn't supposed to be like this. You were just supposed to get your rocks off and be done with it. Wham Bam, no thank you maam. Instead they kissed, slow and softer than anything Ryan had ever experienced with a woman. The kisses could go on forever and sometimes they did until one, usually both, of them came. The sweetness of it was killing him.

This was no longer about power or control. It wasn't about satisfying an otherwise impossible to satisfy need. It was about something else, something much more. Something that for all his talk about partnership and sharing he wasn't ready to name or acknowledge. This couldn't be happening to him. He was a real man. He wasn't a fag. He only wanted to drown in those warm wet kisses.

"Ryan, man, tell me about one of your travel brochures."

O'Reily blinked, "What?" He shook himself, why did the request sound so familiar?

"I can't sleep. I want a story."

Yeah, that was it. "Miguel, when did you turn into Cyril?" Why waste time with stories when both of them where awake and didn't have to do anything. It was getting to be a rare occurrence. He slid down off his bunk and crouched next to the younger man's bunk.

"Isn't there anything else that will make you sleepy?" He stroked and combed the too soft hair pecking out from under the blanket.

His gato leaned into the touch and circumspect brown eyes met his. "I didn't think you were interested."

He leaned in, smelling the intoxicating spice that always went straight to his groin. Miguel smelled like Cuba: sea salt, warmth, tropical spices, and underneath it all a bewitching musk. He lifted up the blankets and found warm moist lips that tempted him all day, every day. He had to taste them. "Interested in you, Gato? All the time." He inhaled and re- submerged for a longer taste.

Miguel reached out of his nest sighing, "Queirido," and pulled Ryan in.

By the time Ryan exhausted Miguel into sleep he was too tired to crawl back up to his bunk. Miguel was warm, comfortable, and wrapped around him tighter than a python. He closed his eyes and returned to his earlier thoughts.

The kisses were exquisite because Alvarez had to have something in his mouth. If you watched you could see it all the time, all those lollipops. O'Reily exhaled and clenched Alvarez reflectively. It was gratifying to touch and be touched sans violence. They both needed it. His Gato hummed and purred when he held Ryan in his mouth. The purrs sent Ryan over the edge. Not because they felt good, but because he looked down at Miguel and he appeared so Goddamn happy. Alvarez inevitably glanced up at his lover and smiled. When he was in Ryan and about to release, Miguel sucked in his lower lip. It was so fucking cute it made the Irishman laugh every time. It was extraordinarily satisfying to see his Gato delighted and know he was the cause. Miguel's happiness was becoming as important to O'Reily as his own survival.


**************
I would like to be
The air tha inhabits you
For a moment only.
I would like to be
That unnoticed
And that necessary.
-???????*

He tried to move and could not. He exhaled. A few minutes sleep couldn't hurt anything.

Murphy found them still tightly entwined the next morning when he came to inform O'Reily he was late for the breakfast shift.

"Congratulations boys, you've just earned yourselves another free visit to the principal's office."

O"Reily, the faster riser of the two, rolled out of bed. Landing with a thud on the concrete floor. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Alvarez yawned and stretched like a hungry cheetah. "Buenos dias, Officer Murphy," he teased. "Wouldn't it be easier, if we just slept in there? That way McManus could just lose it every morning, you know?" He laughed down at Ryan.

Murphy restrained himself from reaching over and ruffling Alvarez's hair. Tim was right, he did go for the cocky ones. "Or you could both make my life easier and get married."

"Beun. Whatever." Miguel retreated further into the blankets and rolled over. He really wasn't awake yet.

"Alvarez, O'Reily after your morning shifts, McManus' office. We'll be waiting." Murphy left them to get dressed and start their day.

O'Reily watched him go. He sat up. Looked at Alvarez. Decided life wasn't fair and you had to take what you could get. He pulled the blankets off his slumbering lover and proceeded to kiss him until the protests turned into a low humming rumble of pleasure.

When Ryan pulled back to breathe, Miguel blinked and asked, "Hermano, aren't we in enough trouble already, you know?"

Ryan smiled, "What's the point of getting in trouble if you're not having fun doing it?"

Miguel closed his eyes and murmured, "Buen." Mornings were hard for him.


*************
You are ice and fire,
The touch of you burns my hands like snow.
You are cold and flame.
-Amy Lowell

O'Reily was seething. He angrily paced across their tiny Pod. He refused to believe Alvarez was taking McManus's "Alternative route" seriously. The Unit Manger had apparently grown as tired of throwing them in the hole as they where of entering it. Ryan was scared about what a fourth trip to the hole in just over seven months would do to Miguel. Each time he got out he was silent and withdrawn for longer. Every trip to the hole seemed to pull him closer to the frightened and confused boy of the mattress room. Fuck it, that was no reason to work in the AIDS ward. McManus's brilliant scheme. "Shit Miguel why do you want to go work with those fags?"

Alvarez replied from his reclining position on the bed. "Most of the hombre's in the ward ain't jutos. They got it from drugs. Sides, you're the one that told me fags are just as human as everyone else, you know?" He smiled, that same cocky grin he wore when he thought he had just gotten away with something big.

O'Reily stopped and leaned back on one of the pod's plexiglass walls. "Right. But did you have to agree to the prevention lectures too? What's everyone going to think?"

Miguel still wore his cocky grin and one hand snaked down to rub his stomach. "That I'm screwing the best looking guy in Oz." He rose from the bunk and slid over to O'Reily, stopping when he was pressed full length against the other man. "You know what, Dulce? They'd be right. The poor bastards."

The scent of his gato starting to cloud his mind, Ryan strove to maintain his anger. "Gato." He wrapped his arms around the undulating young man. "You..." he said as Miguel began to lick a path from his collar bone to his jaw. "Have to be..." He could barely remember what he wanted to say. "Careful. You don't want," he was having trouble remembering how to breathe. The cat bit his ear lobe. "Gato, you don't want to get them mad at you."

Instead of pulling back in anger Alvarez pressed them both back into the wall. "That's it isn't, hombre? You think I'm a little kid and can't make my own decisions? Take a good look, man, I ain't no Cyril, you know?" His fingers danced up the insides of Ryan's arms. He knew if he could keep the Irishman distracted he'd win the argument.

"Fuck Alvarez," O'Reily shivered as the familiar touch drew the undeniable responses it always did. "You know," he endeavored to halt the progress of the warm mouth down his torso, "that's not it." Miguel stopped playing fair years ago and was proceeding to invent newer and dirtier tricks to take Ryan's mind away from his argument. "Look," he drew a deep shuddering breath, closed his eyes and attempted to mentally pull away from the tropical dance his heart and veins were doing, "what happened when your father found out?"

"It's mi famiglia," Alvarez changed his growl to a purr and waltzed his fingers along the inside of Ryan's legs. "I can handle it, hermano." He carefully shifted. Giving O'Reily room to gasp, but maintaining full body contact. "You're the one always telling me not to worry about what everyone else thinks."

"Yeah," it was easier for Ryan to breath. He almost lost the ability to talk, let alone think, when Miguel dropped to his knees. "But this is different."

"Why? 'cause you have to take your own advice? It's good enough for the little Latino, but not the big tough Mick. Hey hermano?" Alvarez found the line just above the waist band of Ryan's pants. He lapped along the line. A cat drinking in the desert. His fingers echoed the path a little further down.

"What's the matter, O'Reily," Alvarez glanced up at his panting lover. Ryan's head thrown back, eyes half closed, was more because of what el gato was doing then whatever they were talking about. "Cat got your tongue?" He straighten up, stepped back and was gone.

Ryan couldn't stop him. The fucking cat had more than his tongue. Ryan was out of control. He lost control of the argument, of Alvarez, and worst of all - himself. The cat was controlling him. This was not going to continue. He would never allow the cat to manipulate him again. Miguel was his fucking prag.

Ryan sank down to the floor and labored to get his body back under control.


************
Today it's the wind reminds me
I'm raw, and easily flayed.
Another day it'll be the snow
Or the insatiable heat
Or a person who tells me I'm shit.
-David Romtvedt

"Murph, could I ask you something?"

"Sure kid, but I may not answer."

"When did you figure out you were gay? I mean how did you know, for sure?"

"Ryan there's a difference between being gay and bisexual. And an even bigger difference between being bi and fucking a guy because you got no choice."

"But you said you were in love with this guy. That you loved men."

"Yeah so?"

"How did you know you were gay? That it wasn't just the one guy."

"I never believed the, 'I'm not gay, the person I'm in love with just happens to be a guy theory. I don't know, I guess I always knew I was gay. I always knew I was going to grow up and marry a man. I just found out what that was called when I was in fifth grade."

"So your, friend, wasn't the first?"

"Partner, we were together a very long time and much more then friends. He wasn't my first boyfriend. He was the first person I fell in love with. Why?"

"Miguel and I just had a fight. A big fight."

"So why are you telling me? Why not Sister Pete?"

"You're easier to talk to and I don't want it in my psych file."

If he only knew. Better keep that from the kid. He was already tearing himself up over nothing. Breeders - when would they learn, life was more than who you slept with. "What's your point O'Reily, I'm not here to counsel you."

"I don't know, Murphy. He wants to go work in the AIDS ward. He says he doesn't care what people think. But, I don't know, I mean then everyone one won't just think he's a fag. They'll think I'm one too. And I'm wondering if they might be right."

"Why? You and Alvarez, it's just a prison thing, more of a business partnership than anything else. And you're quick to make sure everyone knows that. Besides O'Reily, the kid's got a point. Latinos are the fastest growing AIDS population."

"I think it's something more now. I mean, we do things. Things I never thought I'd do with another man. I let Alvarez do shit I didn't think I'd ever let anyone do to me. But it's different. I mean, it's not like, I'm just letting him fuck me. I want him to. I need him to."

"O'Reily, why did you start this thing in the first place?"

"I needed a partner."

"Alright, why Alvarez?"

"He's smart, he's good in a fight, and he's suicidally loyal."

At that point Adebisi danced by. Murphy noticed Alvarez discretely following him. The more bizarre Simon's behavior the closer Alvarez got. The kid was playing with fire.

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?" O'Reily was being uncharacteristically obtuse.

Murphy thought for a moment before asking his next question. Ryan obviously wasn't comfortable and he decided to let the younger man set the pace. "What brought him to your attention, in the first place?"

O'Reily looked down at the common area. Searching for his gato. Finding him with Beecher teasing Keller. His features noticeably softened. "The way he moves." Ryan mumbled, lost in the memory of Miguel's earlier performance.

"O'Reily, I'm not a mind reader and you're starting to mumble like Alvarez. Try full sentences and enunciating."

"Yeah," He turned back to the officer and blinked until his brain returned north. "Murphy, look, this is hard for me. I've never talked to anyone about it before."

"What is it? Are you ashamed? Or what?" Sean thought he might have pushed the kid too far. Or he might be on the verge of something. You never knew with O'Reily. The man calculated everything.

"Christ no, I own the cat."

"O'Reily, love's not about ownership and power. It sounds like you're talking about a typical prison arrangement. You got a new take on it, but it sounds like the same old thing. I mean, do you feel anything close to what you felt about your wife for Miguel?"

"Nah, I never loved Shannon, I just married her to make her feel better. But Gloria, it's kind of like that only more."

"What do you mean?"

"You know I was in love with Dr. Nathan?"

"I heard. That's how your brother ended up in here."

"Yeah, well this is different." Ryan held up his hand to stop Murphy. He knew what the officer was going to say and he was tired of the reminders. "Gloria was under my skin. I couldn't get her out. I couldn't stop thinking about her even when I tried. With Miguel, it's different."

"Ryan, how is this different? Love isn't about power and control. It's about caring so much for another person you put them before yourself. It's about wanting to give them everything you can instead of taking what ever you can. It's about you wanting to make him happy."

Ryan opened his eyes and turned to Murphy, to check if his audience was still with him. "I'm so proud of him. The way he's come back. I want all those fuckers to know how strong he is and leave him the fuck alone. I see him handle himself with them and it makes me feel good. He's so smart, he could get anything. I think about him and I feel it here." O'Reily pressed on his chest, directly above his heart. "I think about losing him and it hurts worse then getting shot, worse than cancer." Ryan shifted to face Murphy. "Everyone said with Gloria, I wasn't in love. They said it was obsession, I don't know, this feels different. I can't imagine loving anyone else as much as I love him."

Sean patted Ryan on the shoulder, "Maybe you should tell Alvarez."


***************
.......brown eyed:
I dream of you
In the cool, clear autumn night
That precedes our meeting.
Starlit steps that do not falter.
-Micheal McIrvin

O'Reily waited outside the infirmary for Alvarez to finish his shift. Dr. Nathan saw him lurking and was about to call a C.O. to have him removed when he walked in.

"Gloria. I'm sorry. I hurt you."

She looked up at the inmate. O'Reily had apologized to her before, usually right before he tried to get something. For the first time, she thought she saw real remorse on his face. It wasn't enough and it was long past due. "O'Reily why are you here?"

The inmate looked at the floor. He tried, repeatedly. He would never please this woman. He was tired of trying. "I came to get Alvarez, after his shift."

She sighed and turned back to her paperwork. "He's almost done. The AIDS ward is through those doors." She waved to a set of double doors to her right. "O'Reily, don't go through the second set of doors. I don't want you infecting any of my patients." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

O'Reily walked up to the second set of doors and tapped on the glass. Alvarez saw him and greeted him with a warm grin. Ryan smiled and beckoned him over.

"Hey Dulce, what's up?" Alvarez looked at the worn expression on Ryan's face. "Is something wrong?"

Ryan watched as Alvarez removed the mandatory gloves and mask of the AIDS ward. He thought that even in the shapeless hospital scrubs his gato looked good. He captured Alvarez's newly released hands. "No, I just wanted to see you."

Alvarez puzzled over the atypical behavior. He knew nonviolent contact was essential to Ryan, but he'd never come to pick Miguel up after work before. Then he remembered the earlier fight. He squeezed his lover's hands. "I'm almost done. I just have to change and scrub up."

Ryan kissed Miguel on the cheek, "I'll be here."

Alvarez knew the argument affected Ryan. He never kissed Miguel in public without intending to make some sort of statement. O'Reily didn't even check to see who was watching. What if it wasn't the fight, what if something happened to Cyril? He rushed to get changed and back to Ryan.

He pulled his lover into the nearest secluded stairwell. "Cul es? Queirido, cul mal?" He cupped Ryan's face between his hands.

Ryan looked down into his gato's sparkling eyes. "About before. I'm sorry." He pulled Alvarez's hands off his face. "I love you Gato. I don't want to stop you from doing something important to you."

Alvarez laughed. "Is that all? I thought something bad happened to Cyril."

Ryan stepped away from Alvarez. "Is that all? I tell you I love you for the first time and you say is that all?"

He laughed and pulled Ryan into an embrace. "You say it every time we make love. You say it in your sleep." He pulled the taller man's face down until their eyes meet. "You say it with your eyes every time you look at me." He softly kissed his lover, pulling Ryan's lower lip between his own and sucking. Breaking only when he had to come up for air. He shifted until their bodies pressed together. "I knew you wouldn't stop me. Because you love me as much as I love you."

Ryan pressed his forehead against his gato's. "Miguel, I'm....."

"Hush. You've been letting this head," he brushed along the length of Ryan's zipper, "think for this head." Alvarez stroked O'Reily hair.


**************
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour
-William Blake

Later they're in commons as Alvarez reveals his long term plans for Adebisi. He explains the scheme he's been quietly working on for weeks.

"Ryan, you're thinking with the wrong head again man. Just cause Cyril's gone, that doesn't mean you can relax and lose control. We're still in Oz, you know?"

"You're right. What are you doing to Adebisi?"

"I'm spiking his tits."

"What? How?"

"A little bit of everything, that's why I wanted to work back in the hospital. Access, man."

O'Reily wrapped around Alvarez from behind. He might have lost control, but El Gato had it all along. He didn't need to worry about Alvarez, together they would rule Oz.

Miguel quietly laughed and leaned back into Ryan. "Adebisi's going back to the pysch ward. And he ain't coming out this time."

Murphy looked down from Tim's office. He saw the content grins the two exchanged and shuddered. He was happy O"Reily seemed to be coming to terms with his feeling toward Alvarez. The kid needed someone to focus on. He was also scared of what the two of them could accomplish working in tandem. What ever machination they were contemplating was sure to adversely effect his life.



END

?* Don't know the author, if you do, please let me know.

Hope you enjoyed,
MJ