(Probably some liberties taken with the timeline. I haven't seen all the episodes yet!)

Part I

        When Victor came back from the grocery store, there it was. A single white rose, resting on the pillow of their - his bed. He shoved the flower down the garbage disposal and ground it into smithereens.

        Damn that Mac. He threw the groceries onto the shelves, fuming. The flowers had appeared at irregular intervals ever since Mac had joined the Agency. Every once in awhile, he and Li Ann would come home and find a long-stemmed white rosebud on the bed. No note, no sign of forced entry. They both knew it was Mac. Once a thief, always a thief. The guy couldn't seem to resist breaking into Victor's apartment and trying to steal his girl.

        And he had succeeded. Or had he? Victor had assumed that despite Li Ann's denials, she had dumped him in favor of Mac. But if Mac was still leaving flowers for Li Ann here...he didn't know that she had moved out. Victor felt a malicious pleasure. He might not have Li Ann any more, but neither did Mac. It was tempered with a certain amount of resignation, though. Mac would have to find out eventually. Victor had hoped Li Ann would do the honors, but it looked like she was leaving it to him. Well, maybe he could set a trap, and stop the juvenile break-ins once and for all. If he caught Mac off- guard, the kid might even forget to smirk about Li Ann's breaking the engagement.

        Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday, which was perfect. Mac wouldn't be able to resist leaving Li Ann a rose on that day of days. Victor left for the grocery store as he usually did on Saturday mornings, parked his truck a few blocks away, and doubled back on foot. He went in the side door, taking the stairs up and avoiding the lobby. He slipped into his apartment unseen, and hid in the bedroom closet, leaving the door open the barest crack.

        Sure enough, someone came into his apartment before long. The footfalls were very soft, but Victor could hear the rustle of cellophane. The wrapping around the white rose, no doubt. The intruder came into the bedroom...yes, it was Mac. Victor recognized him even from the back. He threw the closet door open and jammed his gun into the small of his partner's back. "Freeze, punk."

        Mac froze. "Vic, it's me, don't shoot!"

        Victor feigned surprise. "Why, Mac...what are you doing here? You should know better than to break into people's apartments." He gave the other man a jab with his gun. "I might have fired before I realized it was you. In fact, I still might."

        "Hey, Vic, come on. If you shoot me, it'll make a hell of a mess. You'll never get your deposit back."

        Victor lowered the gun, which wasn't loaded anyway, and moved around to face Mac...who was carrying not just one white rose, but a whole bouquet of them. And what looked like a box of gourmet chocolates. Victor looked at the gifts with disgust. "You never quit, do you, Mac?"

        Mac grinned. "Nope."

        "Well, you can quit breaking into my apartment, because she doesn't live here any more." Victor glared at Mac, daring him to make something of it.

        "What?"

        "Li Ann doesn't live here any more," Victor said between gritted teeth.

        Mac blinked. "Now there's a late-breaking news bulletin. She moved out weeks ago."

        "You...you know that?" Obviously he did. "Then what's with all the damned roses?"

        "They weren't for Li Ann, they were for...oh, shit. You thought..." Mac suddenly threw the flowers and candy he still held at Victor and bolted. Victor took a second to recover, then gave chase. He caught Mac in the hallway, tackling him so they both went sprawling.

        Mac, supine beneath him, didn't struggle. "Please, Vic, not the face. If you're going to beat me up, not the face. I have to have a photo taken for a fake ID Monday morning. We don't want to have to explain to The Director how my face got rearranged, right?"

        Victor suddenly realized that Mac was hard, his erection pressing into Victor's thigh. He released the other man and jumped away as if burned. Damn it! Mac always managed to keep him off-balance, one way or another. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, tired and confused and wishing he'd just let Mac leave.

        "Vic...I'm sorry." Mac was sitting up, watching Victor cautiously. "When I heard about you and Li Ann...well, you can't blame a guy for trying, can you? I left you a white rose. And the next morning at work, you didn't punch me out, so I thought...I didn't know you thought...oh, never mind."

        Victor bowed his head, resting his forehead on his knees. Mac couldn't mean...

        "Vic? No hard feelings, okay?"

        Oh, but there were. Part of Victor was feeling very hard indeed. He sat there, wondering what had happened to him, that he was thinking of Mac that way. That Mac was thinking of him that way.

        When he finally looked up, Mac was gone. Victor stood, half grateful, half disappointed. The bouquet of white roses lying on the floor caught his eye, and he picked them up. A dozen long-stemmed roses on Valentine's Day...must have cost Mac a pretty penny. Victor hesitated, then filled a jar with water and put the flowers in it. They hadn't done anything to deserve mistreatment, after all.

        And besides, that many roses would probably clog his garbage disposal.

        * * * * *

        Part II

        If Mac had any consolation, it was that Victor was likely too much of a gentleman to ever mention the Valentine's Day incident again. Geez. Mac had made such a fool of himself. He had to have been blinded by lust, to imagine he'd seen a spark of attraction in Victor's green, green eyes. All this time, Mac had been hoping...only to find that Victor was still obsessed with Li Ann.

        Mac wasn't sure exactly when he'd fallen for Victor. At first, he'd felt mainly rivalry and curiosity. Li Ann had had lovers before, but she'd never wanted to marry one. Victor Mansfield was the only time he'd felt that one of Li Ann's lovers was intruding on his relationship with her. Even Michael had never been this kind of a threat. And Victor was so...clueless. He'd never have survived the streets of Hong Kong where Mac and Li Ann had grown up. What on earth did she see in him? Was he that good in the sack? If so, Mac wanted to see for himself.

        But then, somewhere along the line, he'd come to understand what it was Li Ann saw in Victor Mansfield. The man wasn't particularly sheltered, or stupid. He'd seen a lot of the uglier side of life, just as Mac and Li Ann had. And yet...inside Victor was a sweetness and innocence that could not be corrupted, a tiny seed of all that was good in this wicked world. Mac liked to be around him, just to be reminded of that good.

        Not that he could ever tell Victor that. No, he continued to poke fun at the guy for his "lame values." And Victor never argued, seeming to think that said values were an embarrassing personal flaw he should try to overcome. He was utterly adorable, but the only way Mac could express his admiration was to break into Victor's apartment from time to time and leave roses for him. And man, had that ever backfired.

        But Monday morning it was business as usual. Both he and Victor pretended nothing had happened. Things were almost the same as they always had been. Almost. Mac detected a slight reticence on Victor's part that hadn't been there before. It made him sad, but he got used to it. Life went on uneventfully - well, as uneventfully as was possible at the Agency - until one Friday afternoon a couple of weeks later.

        Mac was getting ready to leave work, and as usual, stopped by his locker to drop some stuff off. When he opened the door, there was a single, long- stemmed rosebud inside. Red. Its powerful perfume washed over him in a wave, and Mac thought his heart would stop. Slowly he picked up the flower in trembling hands. Victor. It had to be Victor.

        He headed for Victor's apartment so fast he left skid marks.

        But Victor wasn't there. Maybe the Director had kept him after class. Mac hesitated for a moment, then sat on the couch to wait for him. And promptly fell asleep.

        It was getting dark when he awoke to the sound of a key in the lock. The lights came on, making him blink. Victor was standing in the doorway, staring at him in shock. Suddenly Mac was uncertain. Could someone else have left the rose in his locker? He stood up, and, as usual, covered his insecurity with bravado. He picked up the red rose and waved it around. "Look, someone left this in my locker this afternoon. Think it was Li Ann? Think she still has a thing for me?" Mac regretted the words the minute they left his mouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

        Victor's lips tightened, and he turned to leave. Mac grabbed his arm to stop him, and Victor looked at him. There was a faint scent of beer on his breath, and Mac suddenly realized that Victor must have been waiting for him at the bar. Nothing but misunderstandings between them, it seemed. "Don't leave, Vic," he said. He cleared his throat nervously. "I mean, this is your apartment. I'll go if you want me to."

        Victor didn't reply, but he shut the front door, which Mac read as an invitation to stay. They stood looking at each other uncomfortably. Victor still looked ready to bolt, his wide, wary eyes reminding Mac of a deer in the headlights. Then Vic took refuge in politeness. "Sit down, Mac. Can I get you anything? Something to drink?"

        Mac shook his head and sat on the couch, fondling the rose he still held. Vic took in the opposite chair. There was a long silence. Mac was still thinking about what to say, when Victor spoke. "Mac, I didn't mean to be...ungracious on Valentine's Day. You...surprised me, that's all."

        Mac said nothing, wondering with a sinking heart if that's all the rose meant...an apology for being rude. It would be just like Vic, the idiot.

        "I mean," Victor continued, "I - I thought you liked girls." His voice lowered until it was barely audible. "I thought I liked girls."

        Mac froze, afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Did he mean - ?

        "I needed some time to think."

        "And?" Mac asked, forcing the word past the tightness in his throat.

        "And...I'm still not sure it's a great idea. But...I want to take the chance. If I don't, I'll always wonder." He came over and stood in front of Mac. "It's the things you don't do that you regret the most, not the things you do."

        Well, that had always been Mac's philosophy, too. Suddenly, though, he had doubts. Victor was probably still on the rebound, after all. Part of him was screaming Fool! He's offering, just take it. With anyone else, he might have done just that. But this wasn't anyone else, it was Vic.

        Mac stood and put his hands on Victor's shoulders. "Look, Vic, you don't know how much I want you. But...if you've never been with a man before, maybe you should think it over some more. Make sure you're sure. If you aren't, you're going to end up really hating me."

        Victor just looked at him, a sulky set to his mouth, and Mac couldn't resist. He brushed his lips against the other man's in what he intended as a chaste kiss. But Victor surged against him, deepening the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around Mac. In about two seconds Mac's brain was short-circuited, and he couldn't remember any reason to hold off. He groaned and panted into Victor's mouth, grinding his erection against Victor's. White-hot with lust, Mac tried to strip off his partner's leather jacket, but Victor was too busy trying to strip Mac to cooperate. "Damn it!" They broke apart, gasping.

        "Bedroom," Victor said, and they both moved down the hall, tearing off their clothes as they went. They were both naked by the time they reached the bedroom.

        They gazed at each other, suddenly shy. Mac feasted his eyes on Victor's naked glory, thinking it should be against the law for him to wear clothes. Overcome with tenderness, he said, "Vic, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. We'll take this slow -"

        Mac broke off as Victor shoved him backward. He landed on the bed with a thump. "Hey!" Victor sprang onto the bed, too, kneeling over Mac on all fours, leaning down to kiss him. Man, Vic could kiss, Mac had to give him that. The sweetly-formed mouth brushed his, nibbling, licking, then pulling away just when he was getting into it. Frustrated, Mac reached up to stroke the smooth, hairless chest above his, rubbing the tight, tiny nipples, running his hand down over the stomach, down...

        Vic gasped as Mac's hand reached its objective. Mac began stroking the hot, hard flesh, and Vic fell heavily on top of him, his arms and legs suddenly too weak to support his weight. Must have been a long time, Mac thought with a grin. The overgrown Boy Scout probably hadn't so much as jerked off since Li Ann left him. Mac rolled Victor over, landing on top of him. Ah, much better. He kissed Vic deeply, reveling in the feel of the neat, lush lips, the warm wetness within, and kept stroking the other man's rigid cock. He was so deliciously responsive, almost helpless with arousal just from the touch of Mac's hand. What would he do if...?

        There was one way to find out. Mac pulled away from Victor's mouth and turned instead to his rigid penis, swallowing it to the root. This ripped a scream of startled bliss from Victor. Yes, the reaction was everything Mac had imagined, and more. Every muscle in Victor's body quivered as he clutched the sheets, trying to not to move. His head tossed against the pillows, his lips moving in a silent curse or prayer. Mac sucked harder, licked faster. The faint, salty musk of precum filled his mouth, and he suddenly wanted to taste the full flavor of Victor's essence. He redoubled his efforts, using every trick of lips and tongue and teeth to lure it forth.

        Vic moaned loudly. Oh, yes, he was close. Mac slipped a hand between Victor's legs, fondling the tight, heavy testicles, gently tickling beneath them. "Mac!" Victor cried. His voice was so low and husky and strained it was barely audible. A delicate caress inside the ear rather than a real sound. "Mac, stop, please. Stop! I'm going to-"

        Yes, you're going to, Mac agreed, and slid a finger deep into Victor's body. He felt the other man shudder and clench. Vic made an odd, strangled noise, then the thick cock in Mac's mouth spasmed, strong streams of semen pulsing from it. Mac swallowed as fast as he could, savoring his reward.

        God, Victor was beautiful. He lay against the sheets, chest heaving, glistening with sweat. The unbelievable eyelashes fluttered against his flushed cheeks. Mac moved up to claim the pink, swollen mouth, kissing it thoroughly. He was so turned on he could hardly stand it, and furiously thrust his engorged penis against Victor's thigh. Oh, yes, it felt wonderful, a profound relief that soon turned into yet more urgency.

        Then Victor opened his eyes. The green gaze was oddly stricken. "Mac, I'm sorry," he said.

        "What?" Mac panted, confused.

        "I'm sorry," Victor repeated. "I didn't mean to...I tried to warn you, but..."

        Mac laughed in surprise. "Vic, are you for real? Are you trying to apologize for coming in my mouth?"

        Vic nodded sheepishly.

        "You dweeb," Mac said. "That was the whole point of the exercise."

        "But...it's not safe."

        No, Mac, decided, Victor could not be real. With jobs like theirs, he was worried about a disease that might kill them ten years from now? But he didn't want to argue now, he wanted to get his rocks off. "Okay, next time we'll use condoms if you want. Just shut up and kiss me."

        Victor did, then pulled away. "Mac, do you need me to....do anything for you?"

        "No," Mac groaned, burying his face against Victor's neck, grinding himself with renewed fervor against the other man. He could feel his orgasm building to a delicious peak, that much stronger for having been deferred so long. He needed to come, right now. Absolutely no more delays would be tolerated.

        "Okay," Victor whispered. He began nipping and licking at Mac's ear. Mac whimpered. That always turned him on, big-time. How did Victor know? He thrust harder and faster, grunting with the effort. He was almost there, trembling at the edge, sobbing with pleasure. Victor hugged him tightly, then ran his hands down Mac's back to cup his ass. He pulled him close, his fingertips brushing the sensitive crevice. Mac bucked violently, out of control. His whole body shook, and he came so hard he nearly blacked out.

        For long moments, he lay over Victor's warm, strong body, luxuriating in the sweet, sweaty satisfaction and the feel of the flesh he'd fantasized about for so long, hardly able to believe that this time it was real, that Victor really wanted him. Until -

        "Li Ann!" Victor exclaimed.

        "What?!" Mac bridled, hurt to the core.

        Victor rolled his eyes. "Mac, we're supposed to meet Li Ann at the Great Wall for dinner at nine o'clock. What time is it?"

        Oh. Damn it. He'd forgotten all about that. Li Ann wanted to try a new Chinese restaurant tonight. No wonder Vic had gone to the bar to wait for him, instead of home. "It's 8:30. We can make it if we hurry."

        * * * * *

        Epilogue

        For once, Li Ann had to wait for them rather than the other way around. If she noticed that they arrived together, looking suspiciously fresh-scrubbed and still slightly damp, she didn't comment. Vic fiddled with his chopsticks, wondering why he had agreed to try yet another "authentic" Chinese restaurant. He knew, of course: because bear gall bladder soup with Mac and Li Ann was better than McDonald's by himself.

        The appetizer arrived, a huge heap of white and brown stuff in the center of the plate, surrounded by slices of something ivory and amber. "What is it?" Victor asked.

        "Jellyfish," Li Ann replied, to Vic's dismay. She pointed to the ivory and amber slices. "And those are hundred-year eggs."

        "It's just an expression. They aren't really a hundred years old," Mac offered.

        "No, but I'd have to starve for about a hundred years before I'd consider eating them," Vic replied.

        Mac picked up a long, glistening strand of jellyfish in his chopsticks and jiggled it in front of Victor. "Have a tentacle, Vic," he said.

        Victor made a face.

        "It's not a tentacle," Li Ann said, looking sternly at Mac. "The jellyfish is cut in strips, that's all."

        "It's slimy!" Victor protested.

        "No, it isn't," said Li Ann. "That's just the sesame oil and rice wine vinegar dressing."

        Mac popped the strip in his mouth, chewing with obvious gusto. "It's delicious. You don't know what you're missing."

        "You'll eat anything," Victor said...then blushed, to the roots of his hair.

        "It's all right, Victor," Mac said, obviously greatly amused. "You don't have to eat any. We won't think less of you."

        That did it. If there was one thing he couldn't resist, it was a challenge. Victor held out his plate. "Give it here."

        To his surprise, it was utterly delicious.