Chapter 1 - A Cop's Awakening

NOTE: Please read part 1 first.

The second Meekins stepped out of Gant's office, his entire world changed. Everything just seemed so...so...beautiful. Like a blind man who was finally able to see, Meekins never realized how lovely and alluring everyone else was. Gumshoe's rugged manliness, Lana's sad beauty, Angel's bitchy sex appeal, the list went on. It made him realize how lucky he was just to be around them.

"As if a dork like me could compete with any of them." Meekins sighed and then remembered what that bronzed god of a boss told him.

"Don’t want those pretty little hands of yours getting damaged any further."

"Pretty little hands." He muttered to himself, gazing at them as he kept walking. "I guess they are; now that I think about it." He ran his bandaged hand against the fingers of the other, marveling at length and shape. Just touching them brought a happy feeling that killed his attention span, causing him to run right into Jake.

Just like those silly harem animes, he took the role of the hapless protagonist that just had a strong, attractive, young body fall on top of him in a comical misunderstanding. Hopefully, Jake wouldn't go all tsundere on him and toss him into the sky with a single punch.

"Sorry, Jake." He immediately shouted into his megaphone.

"It's ok, Mike." Jake pushed himself up a bit, not feeling the least bit upset about his co-worker's clumsiness. Then again, Meekins was the reason he was walking near Gant's office for the last half hour. "Last time I saw you, you were more nervous than a polecat in a room full of rocking chairs."

"Gant, I mean the chief," Meekins wasn't sure if it would be proper to use Gant's name in front of the others. "just wanted to congratulate me, that's all."

"And you've always been a crappy liar." Jake gave him a concerned look as he helped him up. "Really?"

"Of course." He muttered, entranced by Jake's handsome face. What would it be like to touch it? To feel the stubble he could never grow under his fingers, to have those strong arms around him, to kiss those lips… "What am I thinking?" Meekins could feel his heart going into overdrive, ready to burst through his chest at any minute. As if he needed any more embarrassment to go along with the odd look on Jake's face.

"I'm just worried about you, that's all." He briefly gazed at Meekins' bandaged hand as the guilt pretty much smacked him in the back of the head.

"Uh, thanks." He couldn't help feeling a bit touched by his comment. "Anyway, I gotta get going." Just like that, he dashed off.

A familiar laugh began to fill Jake's ears as a strong, tanned hand placed itself in front of him as he slowly got up. "Need some help there, pardner?"

"No thanks." As much as Jake's disgust was filling up inside him, he swallowed his urge to slap Gant's hand away and shoot him the mother of all glares. Replacing it with a false neutrality, he helped himself up without really looking at his boss.
   
"It's about Lana, isn't it?" Time for Gant to pump in the sympathy. "You'd think after all these years we'd see it coming."
   
"It's not like the joy was sucked out of her for the last year or two."
   
"Believe me, Cowboy, I tried to talk to her." Gant began to play with his hair. "But she kept pushing me away." A regretful sigh then was thrown in for good measure. "I was tempted to fling her over my shoulder, plop her on the first cruise ship I could find and tell her that she couldn't come back until she had a good time." From the look on Jake's face, he wasn't going to budge. "If it makes you and Ema feel any better, I'm going to talk with the judge to see if I can get her to avoid the death penalty."

"I'm sure you'll be really successful." Jake's words sounded like he was almost spitting them out. "So whatever you have planned, leave Mike out of this."

"I was just congratulating him for being helpful." He innocently shrugged; happy that Phoenix had lost his case while trying to cross-examine Angel and preventing Gant from having to get Meekins tried for "murder".
   
"Bullshit."
   
"I know you've always seen him as the goofy little brother your mom failed to give you and Neil." The struck nerve brought a sense of joy to him. "But Meeky's a big boy and he can take care of himself." Before Jake could open his mouth, Gant seized his right arm and pulled him in. "I wouldn't be so high and mighty if I were you. I'm sure he would just love to know who was responsible for damaging that pretty little hand of his.
   
"Let go of me!" Even if Jake wasn't struggling, his boss' grip would still hurt like of son of a bitch.  
   
Pinning the grasped arm behind Jake's back, Gant pulled him to his chest, pushed Jake's hair away from his ear in a caressing motion and whispered into it. "I'm in a good mood, Cowboy. So I'll let you off with a warning to move on and not cause this department any more attention than its already gotten."

With that, he let Jake go and walked off, ignoring the possibility that the cop was cursing his name.


***

If there was anything else that relieved Meekins more, it was the fact that his phantom attacker was merciful. With no major veins or nerves hit, combined with a shallow cut, it would take about ten days for his hand to fully heal. So in preparation, he bought the best name brand hand lotion he could find.
  
"I hope Gant was telling the truth." Meekins thought, later that night as he popped in Taylor Swift's "1989" album into his radio and went to check his email. Unlike the usual junk of Nigerian Princes (Gumshoe almost falling for that was a good enough lesson for him to delete those) and petition groups begging for signatures, there was an email from Gant.
  
"Dear Meeky," It read. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. But knowing you, you probably have some issues about what happened between us. If you want to talk about it, just use the phone number I've included this email. -Gant  PS: I got your address from Gumshoe in return for a bonus on his next paycheck."
  
Now that his boss brought it up, those feelings came back to Meekins big time. Sure everything seemed beautiful at first, but then he could hear the nagging voices of his childhood and teenage years chastising him. So much that he had to force the song, "Shake it Off", to repeatedly play in his head until it got stuck.  
  
Taking a calming breath, Meekins took out his phone and began dialing. "Oh, it's you Meeky," Gant replied when he answered the phone.
  
"Uh, hi, sir." His mind frantically searched for the right words to say. "I got your message and...thanks for thinking of me."
  
"Ho, ho, ho. It's no problem at all."
  
"To tell you the truth, you aren't wrong." His voice grew softer. "At first I felt great, there was just so much beauty around me that I couldn't believe that I was even allowed to be near it. After that...you ever have those voices that constantly scold you for doing things?"
  
"Go on." A tinge of amusement rang in Gant's voice

"It's like, 'I hope you're happy, Mike.' 'Do you want to get one of those nasty people diseases, Mike?'" His voice gradually returned to it's more familiar tone. "'You just ruined yourself, Mike.' 'That Erzsebet Korb painting isn't there for you to drool over, Mike.'"

"Oh, my poor, naive Meeky. Just because I sucked you off, doesn't mean you're not a virgin anymore."
   
"I know that, but my whole childhood would've said otherwise. One wrong move and you ruined yourself for your future spouse. That or getting diseases that disfigure you for life." Meekins shivered from the memory of a film he saw during sex ed class where they showed a caved-in face due to Syphilis. Within moments, he was going over every sexually repressive, prominent memories of his childhood and teenage years as if Gant was his therapist. The two that amused Gant the most were the reaction on his parents' faces when he asked if it was normal to be attracted to both sexes and how that leader of the school’s chastity club tricked him into putting his pants around his ankles to teach him a lesson on letting his hormones do the thinking for him. "I guess that push, as scary as it was at first, you gave me was what I needed."
   
"I'm glad to hear that, Meeky. So why don't you just show those memories who's boss by doing the one thing they told you to never do to yourself."
   
"What?!"
   
"That monkey on your back is just going to keep pounding on you unless you do something about it." Gant paused and then teased him a bit with the next line. "Don't tell me you don't know how."
   
"Yeah, you just put your hand on it and go up and down."
   
"That's just part of it if all you want is a quick release, but there’s more if you want it."
   
"Really?"
   
"I can guide you through it if you want. Just put me on speaker and we'll start."
   
Complying, Meekins obediently set the phone on speaker, got the hand lotion, shut the curtains and began removing his clothes; relieved this was over the phone and he wouldn't have to risk Gant laughing at his lanky figure. Granted his boss had to stifle a laugh when he heard Meekins trip over his own pants when he was trying to turn off his radio.

"R...ready when you are." Meekins tried to fight the butterflies in his stomach as he plopped down on his bed. Then laid on his back and placed the phone and lotion next to his head.
   
"Good boy. First of all, you need to relax. Just run your pretty little hands over your body without focusing on your dick."
   
"Ok, here's goes." Surprised that his hands weren't shaking, Meekins let them do what they needed and gently move all over his torso. Gradually shutting his eyes to enhance the sensations, he let his mind go and just enjoy himself. His breathing was getting heavier as the years of repression started breaking down to the pleasure he was feeling.

Gant amused himself with the pleasure-filled gasps. Sure, he'd have to alter his plans a bit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "You can go further if you want, Meeky." A tinge of excitement hit Meekins as he squirted the lotion on his unbandaged hand and place it on his dick. "Just go slowly, play around with the head a bit, and let your mind wander."
  
"Yes, sir!' He saluted with his bandaged hand. Within seconds, the pleasure gradually built up inside him, releasing itself into little moans with each stroke. "Uh, sir?" It seemed idiotic to ask, but he just had to. "Is this what a vagina feels like?"
  
Gant busted up laughing. "No, my boy. Sure, they can vary, but for the most part, there's a different kind of warmth and wetness to each one. It softly squeezes around every part of your dick as you move in and out." He then gave an amused chuckle. "Is there anyone, in particular, you're thinking about?"
  
"Actually, it keeps changing. First, it's Angel, then she changes to Mr. Gumshoe, then you, then you become Lana, then it's Taylor Swift, then Jake appears..." He gave a frustrated groan. "Ughhhhh. It's like I can't do anything since everything keeps flickering."
  
"Ok, Meeky, I want you to imagine me standing behind you. One of my big, strong arms wrapped around your torso, pulling you into my chest; how does this make you feel?"
  
"C-comforting." Meekins' frustration began to fade. "It's like you're trying to calm and protect me; like one of mother's hugs."
  
"Now let your mind wander; what do you see?"
  
"Lana for starters. She rips open her top and just as I am about to tell her to calm herself, her breasts pop out."
  
"Now I don't have to explain those to you, do I?"
  
"Of course not. They can't be any different than the leader of The Chastity Club's; all round and firm. Sure she was only showing them to get me to drop my pants, but no one believed me."
  
Oh, the temptation to explain Lana's tits to him mischievously whispered into Gant's ears. Instead, he opted to listen to Meekins describe what he thought they'd look like (which wasn't far off) as his fantasy version of her kissed him. So far, it was all pretty cute listening to how his

descriptions became a flowing stream of consciousness mixed with brief sounds of pleasure. Sure it was odd when fantasy-Lana started changing to something more masculine, but Gant paid it no mind, knowing Meekins was almost ready to cum.
  
"JAKE!" Meekins gave a loud, orgasmic scream as came.
  
"You just had to go and ruin the mood, didn't you Meeky?" Gant thought, not wanting to remember the man that he hoped he kept from being a thorn in his side.
  
Despite the mess he had made on his hand and torso, the positive emotions Meekins was feeling blocked that out. So with a weary smile, he turned to his cellphone. "Th...thank you, sir."

****

"You don't think I'm crazy, do you, Jake?" Ema asked as she was picking at her spaghetti, feeling too ashamed to look up at him.

"Can't be any more insane that I am." He gently lifted up her chin and smiled at her.

"So you think my sister's innocent, too?"

"I wouldn't be risking my career if I wasn't."

"Really? Oh, thank-you, Jake." She tried to reach out to hug him, but the small table between them blocked her attempt. Relieved that the other diners at his favorite "saloon" were too busy eating to notice her foolishness, Ema sat back down. "Oops, sorry."

"It's ok."

Ema began eating; not out of relief, but to handle her emotions. "Now I just got to figure out what to do with my life. I don't have any other relatives and I can't live by myself." She began rapidly nibbling on a meatball. "After that, I'll be bouncing around from job to job, trying to make ends meet now that my dream of being a forensic investigator is gone."

"Don't you dare say that, Ema!"

She jumped a bit from her seat from the surprising sternness coming from him. "With what happened to my sister, I get depressed even thinking about it."
  
"Well,  I want you to take whatever is telling you to stop, and stomp the life out of it." He then looked at her straight in the eyes. "You have a gift and I don't want you to throwing it away just because some snake-in-the-grass is screwing everyone over."
  
"Really?"
  
That's when an idea struck him. "How would you like to help me find out the truth? Old Man Gant already has his eyes on me so having a deputy could take the heat off."
  
"Are you sure?" She quickly ate a few noodles as if they would give her the courage to continue. "Even though I was there when your brother died."
  
"What happened to Neil wasn't your fault. Besides, I have my own little screw-up to answer to." Ema looked up at him as she continued eating. "You know Mike Meekins? That goofy, scrawny guy with the loudspeaker?" She nodded as Jake lowered his voice. "I was in the evidence room, dressed up as Bruce when he came in. Knowing him, I thought flashing my knife would make him turn yellow."
  
"And that's when you stabbed him?" She remembered seeing Meekins walking by with his bandaged hand when the bailiff dragged her out of the courthouse.
  
"Actually," Guilt rang in his voice. "He ran over, accidentally sliced his own hand and fainted."
  
"I guess we better keep an eye on him as well when I come to the station tomorrow to get my sister's stuff."

"Yeah, who knows what crap Gant has already filled in that head of his.




