Work Text:
I Found My Heart at O'Briens
by BBB
Rick Simon sighed and wondered what had ever possessed him to come. Why had he accepted Jeff Daniels' invitation to join him and the guys for a few brews? He'd known even before he said yes he wouldn't enjoy it and here he was nursing only his second Dos Equis and wishing he was at home with his brother, A.J..
His brother A.J.
Okay, so that was the reason he was here in the first place, he could admit that now. A.J. His younger brother wasn't a cowboy, or a cop, or a burned-out soldier. He wasn't any of the things the guys he was with right now were. Maybe that was why Rick missed him. The older Simon had done a lot of thinking in the past few weeks about his sibling, about the things A.J. wasn't, and decided he should spend some time with the men he'd known before A.J. had once again become such a big part of his daily life to see if he himself had changed.
Dave, Bill, Bob, and Jeff were regular guys. They liked their beer cold, their women hot, and their lives uncomplicated by deep thoughts. And before straightening out his life, Rick Simon had thrown his lot in with them and spent many nights sitting where he was now, the corner booth of O'Brien's , shooting the bull. Dave and Jeff worked in the local police force's Vice Squad and was well known for his steamy stories about the kinks San Diego's citizens had. Bob and Bill, Rick had met while working at a ranch, and like himself both were Vietnam war veterans with the similar post war experiences. All five men had enjoyed O'Brien's traditional atmosphere; the dark, wooden booths, the country tunes on the jukebox, the bright neon lights and cold draft on tap. For several years it had been a weekly ritual to meet at the bar and swap verities laced with a good dose of balderdash.
A chance meeting with Jeff had prompted Rick to make it that Friday night. Since partnering with his brother and working a lot undercover cases in their detective agency, he'd only rarely met the others at the bar. To tell the truth he hadn't felt the need for his former friends' company. A.J. seemed to fill that department quite well. But Jeff had been insistent and, knowing he'd feel stupid telling Jeff he wanted to spend the evening watching his younger brother work on his stamp collection, Rick had agreed.
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More often than Rick would probably admit, he had found himself studying his younger sibling in whatever activity he was engaged in and reveling in their silent companionship. A.J. had grown up to be such a fair and graceful young man, not so unlike the beautiful young boy he was years ago. When they were boys his mother often tasked him with looking after his brother, forcing him to have A.J. around to witness all his youthful indiscretions and faithfully report it all in lascivious detail to his mother at day's end. This talent for remembering every detail and knowing how best to tell an exciting tale proved useful in their current pursuits all the time and would have been quite practical for trial work had he taken the Bar Exam but circumstance led him to detective work and back into his older brother's life.
A.J's resumed presence in Rick's life had shaken it to its foundations, knocking down walls and ordering it in a way he had not thought possible with anyone other than a woman, certainly not another man, not to mention a relative. A.J. refused to be intimidated, would stand nose to nose with bigger and tougher adversaries without asking for help and, when required, never failed to tell Rick exactly what was wrong with a plan for one of their undercover scenarios. Of course, Rick never listened to him the first time around, would badger his brother until he got his way and in the end if it went wrong, A. J. would always very politely tell him "I told you so."
They made a great team, Rick with his enlightened knowledge about people and A.J. with his knack for polite manipulation and getting people to tell him anything they wanted to know. Without A.J., Rick was still as good a detective as he'd always been but with his brother beside him, he had
someone to keep him pointed in the right direction on the more intricate cases. His brother's presence seemed equally to calm and excite Rick.
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"Man, what a pooch she is," Bob whispered to Bill. The object of their scrutiny was a plump woman in her mid thirties standing at the bar. Rick was not necessarily inclined to agree, even though she was a sort of plain woman with red hair and freckles. But he noticed she had friendly green eyes and an open smile. Rick offered the social smile of a fellow human being but kept the contact brief. He had to be honest, though, none of his four friends struck him as particularly great prizes. Dave had a gut like a pregnant cow while Bill sported a "stuck in the 70's look" with mutton-chop sideburns Elvis wouldn't have been caught dead in, if he'd been dead. Both Bob and Jeff were solidly built but Bob had less hair than Rick and Jeff had a scar which made the left side of his face look like a detailed map of downtown Tijuana. It occurred to Rick that none of them could have compared with his brother A.J. His sibling's honey blond tresses, well defined body, and wide blue eyes drew him stares of appreciation not horror.
"...and that one," Jeff said, nudging Rick's ribs with a sharp elbow, "I wouldn't go home with her unless she came with a protective bag!" The rude commentary was beginning to wear on Rick's nerves. He had just at that moment made up his mind to go home when he heard,
"Well, well, well," Dave chuckled. "Look at this, will ya, huh?" All eyes, but Rick's, followed the cop's pointing finger. "Is he even old enough to be in here?" Dave continued. His question brought peals of laughter from the other men at the table but Rick did not even trouble himself to look up at whoever they are talking about.
These people had been his friends? What the hell had he been thinking? They were a bunch of arrogant assholes with nothing to offer anyone but attitude.
"However old he is," Bob offered with an evil leer, "he sure is pretty, ain't he? Probably thinks is that new yuppie version of a cowboy club down the road You know the one with the $10 cover charge and the $4.00 beer?" That comment gave Rick pause and it occurred to him that he thought he knew who had just entered the bar. His heart started beating a little faster and he could tell by instinct that he was probably quite correct in his guess as to who it was.
The elder Simon slowly raised his head to find that it was indeed his comely young brother A.J. who had taken a seat at the bar. He ordered a beer and after paying the barkeep, his took a nice long swallow exposing the long line of his throat, pale and inviting, in the soft pink-tinted light as he swallowed. The sudden desire to place his fingers against that warm flesh and stroke softly swept Rick to his feet.
"Where you going, Rick?" Bill asked. Rick tore his eyes from A.J. and gazed down at the men staring up at him expectantly. The man he'd once been would have sat there and listened to all this bullshit and might have even joined in, but the man he was now wouldn't. He had nothing in common with these guys anymore, and had no desire to try and pretend. What Rick needed
and wanted stood only yards away, drawn to this noisy place by some instinct to be with Rick this evening, this time not compelled by their mother. The older Simon shot a glance in his brother's direction and saw A.J. moving his way. Those boyishly blond tresses and the brightly colored shades on his striped shirt made him look a lot younger than his thirty-five years and Rick couldn't help but smile. The answering smile on A.J.'s face warmed his heart and made him reach out a hand as his beautiful sibling and soulmate stopped beside him.
"Hey, Bro," he greeted, "I was just coming to find you." Rick's hands slipped up A.J.'s arms and wound around his shoulders, pulling him into a loose armed embrace. He felt the younger man mirror his movement and snuggle just a bit closer before giving him a questioning look. Rick, with an impish thought, figured that if he had a captured audience in his drinking buddies, he might as well have a little fun at their expense and a little pleasure for himself. Rick took his right hand from off of A.J.'s left shoulder and gently put it behind his neck. Moving towards him slowly, their lips met in a short but no less electrifying kiss. A.J. pulled away slightly from Rick and looked up into
his twinkling eyes. "I could make some very bad Mae West type joke here, but I am not because I can tell that you really are glad to see me."
"What made you decide to come here now?" Rick said.
"Got bored at home without you there staring at me and thought I'd come here and try to persuade you to come back with me." A.J. looked at the group of men Rick had been sitting with. Four curious faces with jaws agape were appraising the detective and his beautiful brother, but Rick didn't seem to notice. "I don't think I recognize any of your friends here. Am I keeping you from doing anything special?"
"I wasn't doing a thing, not a damned thing" Rick told him, "Let's go home." Rick didn't even spare a backwards glance as he steered A.J. out of the bar. He realized finally that those guys were his past and a man who no longer existed had known them. He was different now, he had a partner who love for him was unconditional and eternal. He had his brother beside him and that made his life complete, he needed nothing more.
End