The two men had dinner and had taken a walk through the gardens behind the castle. Once again, more time had passed than the Major would readily admit. He found that he didn't mind.

He also hadn't said anything when the thief had taken his arm during the walk. He lost himself in the man's pleasant chatter as the two pretended to take a casual walk and that they weren't simply enjoying each other's company. The Major didn't have the energy to either pretend or call attention to the situation, so he remained silent and contemplative.

He thought back on his relationship with Helene. There had been plenty of times he had made the effort to fill comfortable silences. Uncharacteristically, he had been the chatty one. And he had thought they had been enjoying each other's company every time they were together. But she had never taken his arm casually like this, which made his chest tighten to remember. It still hurt to think that Leni hadn't loved him back, but he realized his chest tightened because the thief was interested. Even after getting to know him. And he was certainly returning his feelings.

Unfortunately, the Major wasn't sure how to proceed with what he wanted. He wasn't sure what he wanted, period. He never wanted to part from the thief. He wanted to be close. He wanted to touch and do things he'd never in his life thought of before. It terrified him, especially thinking about going to bed with the man. But he soon realized he would likely put out his single sighted eye if it meant keeping the thief with him always.

But the Major wasn't a man of many words, nor could he ever bring himself to voice such sentiments. He prayed the thief knew, and would take the initiative.

He bit his tongue to keep a laugh from escaping. The thief always took initiative.

*****

>"...And you know, I was never more ashamed of James than I was right then.We had to flee the country on foot. I've never been back. I'm sure our faces are on the wall of every post office within the borders."< The Earl sighed and grimaced at the thought and the lost opportunity.  Then he looked out of the corner of his eye at the silent Major.

>"You have been awfully quiet this evening, Major. Perhaps you'd like a penny for your thoughts?"<

The Major remained silent, not even acknowledging the Earl's presence. The Earl allowed himself a moment for a private fantasy where he imagined the Major trying to make up his mind about ravishing him on the spot and making love in the morning glories.

He frowned. No, morning glories wouldn't do. He cast a quick glance at his surroundings.  Hydrangea, daffodils, rue shrubs, mint, marigold, lobelia, yellow tulips. Good God, this was the most unromantic garden he'd ever been in. 

The two walked into a clearing with a twisted and very ancient linden tree in the center. Well, the lime symbology would do quite nicely. He finished his thought, then turned to other topics.

>"Perhaps your mind is wandering back to your work at NATO? Have you recovered enough to rejoin your agents? Perhaps you have a gerichtslinde on your mind."<

The two paused under the tree. The Major reached into his pocket with his free hand and retrieved a cigarette, put it between his lips, then lit it with his lighter. He took a slow drag and let the smoke out before answering.

>"No, I have not yet gone back to work. I am scheduled to return on Monday. I... I am not sure how it will go for me there."< The Major finished, pausing uncharacteristically to finish the depressing thought.

The Earl's eyes flashed as he turned to face him. >"No, certainly you are not to blame for that mission! They can't possibly pin you for a setup run on NATO itself! It would have happened to any team they sent on that mission."< He put his hand to the Major's face and turned it to face his, so that the two were looking eye to eye. >"It is not your fault, you know."<

The Major forced his face away from the Earl's and continued. >"Yes. Well. NATO does not blame me. I am to receive a commendation, actually. A promotion. For performing admirably under torture. It's what they do when that happens."<

The Earl's jaw dropped. >"You've been a Major for... how long? And they are going to promote you now?"<

>"Yes. They reviewed my career. It's a large promotion. In view of my service to NATO, they are raising me several ranks. To major general."< The Major scowled and exhaled again. He hated it. He was sure he wasn't going to be able to sit still for this.

The Earl was quiet, turning the information over in his mind. >"From your tone, I would say this isn't happy news, though your tone rarely lets on to whether something is happy or sad. If they've reviewed your career in light of the incident and are awarding you for your achievements... well, it makes it sound like a cap to an impressive career."<

>"Yes. Even though there was no mental or physical failings on this last mission or on any mission I've ever done, NATO has been increasingly interested in putting me behind a desk or training. This is the prefect opportunity, especially because I'm..."< The Major's temper began to rise. >"No longer in control of my full faculties."<

As thoughts stormed through the Major's head, he was caught off guard when the thief put his hand to his face on his blind side and began running a finger over his eyebrow, just below where he'd gotten hit across the head.

>"Poor Major. I wondered if you could still see out of this eye. It's like a window being put out in a magnificent cathedral."<

The Major broke their grip and stormed several paces away, to the other side of the linden tree. >"No! I do not want pity! I do not need it! Nothing has changed! This is all meaningless, all of it, and should have never happened!"< The thoughts kept circling through his head. What was he going to do? He needed the activity provided on missions to keep himself sane. He couldn't do training since he knew he would wind up killing some stupid sod with his bare hands on the first day, and he wasn't cut out for deskwork. He wasn't too old, and it was criminal what they were doing to him.

The Earl let the Major’s temper run its course, then spoke carefully from where he still stood on the other side of the tree. >"No, it was wrong of me to say that to you. I should have known you would not respond well. Too frequently I say what I think, and it's a bad habit where you're concerned."<

The Major put his back to the tree and sat down, facing away from the Earl. He looked through the leaves and up at the sky, where clouds had blotted out the moon and stars, as he thought about what to say next. The Earl stayed where he was on the other side of the tree.

>"It's unlike you to be so tactless. It's making me sick to think about returning to NATO on Monday and have everyone that greets me look at my eye and apologize. To pity me. I could kill them all with my bare hands, and they pity me. I don't want to hear it."< 

The Earl said nothing as his mouth went dry with a memory. The Major had not shot with the intention of killing on his way out of the terrorist compound, presumably because he wanted to see every single one of the men brought to justice. But the guards outside the cell... He had dispatched one with the chair, but the other had grabbed the Earl on the way out. He had held a rifle to the Earl's face while using him as a shield. The Major waited about one second before smashing the terrorist in the face with the butt of a gun. The man had let go of the Earl, who had collapsed on the ground, but started reaching for him again. The Major smashed him in the face again, then the man retaliated by smashing the Major's gun arm hard enough to break it. The Major had simply used his other arm to grab the man's head and twist it the wrong way on his neck. Effortlessly. The official explanation was that the Major had been avoiding firing shots since he didn't know how accurate the rifles were and he didn't want to attract too much attention so early in their escape attempt. It had chilled the Earl to see it, but he could hardly argue with the measure in that situation.

While the Earl was lost in his thoughts, the Major continued.

>"It's why I decided to start meeting with you, you know. You sent those lilies when my father died without another word. I had to hear everyone else fumble through the niceties and read and respond to all those sympathy cards. You and the agents got it right. The agents sent G to answer for all of them, so I only had to tell them to stop once."<

The Earl's eyes widened. Was the Major really so opposed to common courtesy? Well... he knew better than the offer the Major sympathy. It was a boneheaded thing to do just now, but he hadn't been thinking. Does everyone else at NATO, working with the man for 30 years, not realize that he would rather ignore things than talk about them?

The Earl walked over silently and sat down next to the Major, careful to approach from his left side. As an afterthought, he put his arm around the man's shoulders and rested his head against him. >"Major, I am truly sorry. I spoke without thinking when I said that before. Such thoughts occur to me unbidden, but I've learned in the past two years that you seem to respond better when I keep them to myself. You'll allow me an occasional slip, I hope?"<

The Major grunted and finished his cigarette, stabbing it out on a tree root. The wind had picked up, and a gentle breeze was starting to cut through the oppressively hot July night.

>"Major..."< The Earl began, in a quieter voice. >"I... never properly thanked you for what you did for me. I know we are on the subject of things I shouldn't say, but I feel I ought to say this. I owe you my life. I know you blame yourself for that mission, regardless of what anyone else tells you. You think that it's your fault that it happened to me. I should remind you that I would have been kidnapped even without the past two years, because I have made it my mission for the past fourteen years to be closer to you than anyone else. I would have been kidnapped just fine on my own, even if you had not consented to what you have."< The Earl smiled and continued. >"And, you know, Major, had you not been captured by those terrorists, I probably would have died, along with those other two officer's wives. Nobody you would have been able to catch would likely have revealed the location of that base. I had still been captured, even if you had not been. I would have disappeared without a trace, and you never would have known what happened to me."<

At this, the Major chilled. The thief was right. It was not something that had occurred to him. The mission had gone badly even before he started on it. But he didn't share the Earl's views that he would have died in the cell. He would have made those terrorists talk. They wouldn't have been able to resist baiting him. And then they would have talked. Hostages always wound up talking to Iron Klaus. It was why he hadn't been allowed to interrogate in years. Damn lawyers.

>"Well, that is partially true. I would have found you when I found out you were missing, though."<

The Earl was amused. >"Oh, would you have? How would you know I was even gone, Major?"<

>"Simple. You would have to be dead or held against your will to miss a Saturday evening with me."<

The Earl laughed very hard, then sobered up and leaned his head back against the Major's shoulder. >"True enough. But you would have never found me. Nobody has a motive to kidnap me. You would have never suspected one of your enemies."<

>"I may have."< The Major admitted. >" I would have taken a train to England that night. Your castle would have been empty, I think. Then I would have flown back to Bonn and had my agents look for you."<

>"Major! That's an abuse of NATO resources!"< The Earl announced scandalously. >"The Chief would never have stood for that."<

>"Even the Chief has a hard time telling me 'no' when there is something I need to do."< The Major continued, a touch of malice in his voice. >"I have proven often enough that I go to great lengths to save you, even when I have another mission in mind."<

>"Hmf."< The Earl huffed. >"I usually save myself."<

>"How many Russians have I assaulted over the years to save you from your meddling?"<

>"Not that many. Mostly just Mischa. And you like beating up Russians, so that doesn't count."<

The Major smiled, but continued in a flat voice, threatening the Earl. >"I seem to remember picking you up off the floor after you had been pulverized by that steamroller in Tyrol. And again in Vienna, running through that graveyard so you wouldn't get trounced by that idiot. And what about those photos I received with you in a bomb collar asking for help? I let an enemy agent escape so that you could live to pester me another day."<

>"I'm still shocked you had NATO bomb squad remove that collar. It would have been like you to activate it to terrify me when you were displeased."<

>"That was one of the times the Chief did tell me no when I wanted to do something."< The Major continued darkly as he lit another cigarette. >"Anyway. In the case of the recent kidnapping, the Colonel had been out looking for his wife using his agents. Had we discovered your absence before I went on my mission, that would have been enough to tip us off that something wasn't right."<

>"And then you would have gone on the mission anyway, leaving that Colonel to save me. Completely unromantic, Major."<

>"Romance is not something I'm interested in, thief."<

>"Oh, it isn’t?"< The Earl said mischievously, raising his head from his shoulder to look at the Major. He put his hand to the Major's cheek and turned his head towards his face, then planted a long, slow kiss on the Major's lips.

*****

Having been plied with the conversation about not noticing the Earl's absence, the Major allowed the kiss. Emotions warred inside of him. He sat, unresponsive, while the Earl's lips massaged him, and his tongue probed for access into his mouth.

He opened his mouth when he realized the part of his brain screaming for this not to happen was once again only angry that the Earl had won. Every other part of him wanted to stay with the Earl, to let him do as he wished, to never leave the man's side, to tell him everything.

He analyzed the kiss as he put his arms around the Earl and closed his eyes. Once again, he was slightly appalled at having another tongue in his mouth. What had he eaten? How good was his oral hygiene? The taste of the Earl's tongue was warm and mostly neutral, and he was enjoying the sensation of having the soft mass in his mouth. He bit down lightly and tightened his lips, and the Earl pulled his tongue back slowly, which the Major followed up by slipping his tongue in the Earl’s mouth and probing around.

The sensation of exploring someone else's mouth was... unusual. He probed the Earl's teeth, slipping his tongue between his cheek and gumline and sliding it around. The Earl groaned and positioned himself in front of the Major, pulling him tightly towards him and breaking the kiss.

>"Oh, I'm surprised to see you have experience, then. I was expecting you to be a blushing bride, but I had forgotten that Iron Klaus was King of the Hamburg Nights."<

The Major's brow creased, and a look of fury crossed his face. He bent in and bit the Earl's earlobe, which earned him a low moan. Then he whispered, in German, "No. You are the only one I have kissed. Stop talking or you will ruin it."

He bit down on the Earl's ear again. He was vaguely alarmed when he could feel the Earl's arousal beginning to stir through the cloth of his pants, and moved quickly back to his mouth. The two began kissing aggressively and vigorously as the Major heard the beginnings of rain pattering through the leaves of the linden tree.

They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, with the rain beginning to drip down through the leaves and fall on them. The Earl's hands released their grip from the Major's back, and one ran through what was left of the Major's stubbly hair as the other began fumbling at the buttons of his shirt. The Major froze, and the Earl broke the kiss long enough to comment.

>"You really are an amateur. A man your age really ought to learn to do two things at once."<

The Major tightened his grip and began kissing him with renewed ardor, focusing on his task as the Earl unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off his shoulders, both men sodden with the pouring rain. He pushed away as he finished the job of undressing the Major, peeling the shirt from his arms. The Major helped him by removing his undershirt. The Earl looked at the Major's bare chest and began running his hands over the muscles and scars that decorated the man.

"You don't look a day over 30, Major. I have never seen a man as fit as you are. Never." The Earl had, for whatever reason, switched to English. The Major thought privately to himself that he had rattled the man out of his command of any other language.

The Earl began to place tender kisses on the Major’s chest as his hands caressed the Major’s muscular arms, wet with the water running all over the two. The Earl began massaging a nipple with his tongue. The Major watched, supporting himself with one arm on the ground while the other rubbed through the short curls on the Earl's head.

The Earl looked up and frowned. "You are a tough nut to crack. I thought you'd be a bit more responsive than this." He began fumbling with the Major's belt.

The Major, alarmed, put his hand out to stop him. The Earl looked up briefly, startled, then took his hands away. "No, I'm sorry, I... just thought that..."

The Major grew even more alarmed when he realized the thief might get up to leave. "No! I just can't do that. Right now." The Major spoke in German and put his head down so the Earl would not see his face, which he could not control at the moment. It was just too much. Too much to let someone see, to let someone touch him down there. Even him.

The Earl looked at him and put his hands on his shoulders and continued in English. "Of course, Major. We don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just... let me know what you want. As much as I've tried over the years, it is not my aim to make you uncomfortable after finally finding myself in this situation.”

The Major growled in German. "You make me uncomfortable no matter what you do."

He leaned in and thought about kissing the thief, then tried to think of something that would please him to make up for the denial. He sat forward and put both hands on the Earl's shirt, ripping it in two and buried his face in the man's neck.The Earl groaned aloud as the Major began furiously kissing the Earl all over his neck and chest, pausing to pay special attention to the nipples the same way the Earl had. He noted, slightly disappointed, that the Earl responded with a series of quiet gasps and moans to the stimulation. He himself didn't feel anything when the Earl had done likewise.

The Earl eventually pushed him away, gasping. "Please. Would you please do this for me?" The Earl took the Major's hand and guided it to the belt on his pants.

The Major pulled his hand away. He looked at the Earl's face, with rain running off his nose and chin. There wasn't anything wrong. He just... couldn't do it. Couldn't touch there on someone else, either. He hoped the Earl understood.

The Earl smiled at him and the Major grew relieved. "Of course. If you've never done this before, even with your age, it's not all that strange if you are a little bashful. I was never shy, but I was a curious lad, and have known what I liked even as a boy." The Earl bent in to kiss the Major again, slow and long, the rain still cascading through the leaves and drenching the pair. He broke the kiss and looked at the Major. "You don't mind if I take my pants off, though? It is a little painful. You've still got yours on, and we can't see much, after all.

The Major hesitated for a moment, then nodded once, wordlessly. The Earl smiled and sat back as he undid his belt and began peeling his pants and underwear off, revealing his large erection and lying himself, stark naked and wet, on top of the Major, who leaned back against the tree. 

The Major got an eyeful. The man was slim but well, muscled, with thin limbs that nonetheless had never failed at any one of the number of physically demanding tasks he'd seen the thief perform, be it jumping an impossible mountain on skis to avoid the KGB, swinging down on a chandelier to engage in a swordfight, climb a mountain, swim through a subzero-lake and pick the lock on a car at the bottom, or even run for his life through a field dressed as a woman. Though his long locks of golden curls were gone, he still had his intense blue eyes that shone even in the darkness, and his skilled fingers went to work running up and down the Major's bare chest.

He could feel the thief's erection through his pants, and was relieved when he felt his own stirrings. He began to focus again on the Earl's kisses, seeing what variations got the biggest responses.

*****