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Even as Zane watched hi out of the with you," he told Zane grudgingly as he tossed the pants away, unaware of Zane"s intense scrutiny

Zane sighed and silently acknowledged that Ty was right

Cla out of the bed, Zane ducked into the bathrooed fivepants "Any idea what"s next?" he asked

Ty had changed into a pair of stylishly distressed jeans with holes at the knees of the worn, soft deni but Del Porter"s wardrobe at his disposal, Ty had taken to wearing as little as possible Zane had to admit he selfishly enjoyed it Ty waved the Sudoku book he"d been looking at earlier "I found soht," he told Zane "We have a whole shitload of problems Del Porter? Ain"t as stupid as he looks"

"I didn"t talk to him, but it didn"t seem like that would take too much," Zane commented as he stopped next to him

"These puzzle books are full of codes," Ty told him "I haven"t cracked thes I" to a pair of cuff links and broken reading glasses "I"m not sure why or for who, but the Italian authorities have a stake in this too All I know for sure is the FBI has put their boot up somebody else"s ass on this one, and we"re fucked, because no matter how much I want to, I still don"t speak Italian"

Zane stared at Ty as he took it all in This hat Ty had tried to tell hiht Zane rubbed one hand over his face "We"re stuck in son"

"Exactly," Ty muttered He tossed the books down and threw hiracelessly The tired bent to his shoulders was er than Zane had suspected It was possible he"d never gone to sleep

"So nohat?" Zane asked "You look like you need a nap, but I think we ht want to find our tea from Italy, and call back home to see if McCoy has any clue about this fun little twist"

"I have searched for the tearowl

"They"re apparently Olympic-level stealthy, because I couldn"t find any trace of any of theht about that They"re supposed to be close enough for us to call for backup Calling out their names over the bullhorn isn"t exactly subtle"

"If they were anywhere near us, they"d have called out the cavalry last night when Dolce and Gabbana were feeding ernails critically

"Did they really do that?" Zane asked carefully

Ty looked up at him as if he hadn"t expected him to have heard and then waved hi at ti how much trauma Ty could hide behind a smile or a joke "Dolce and Gabbana took the iPod full of recordings," he told Zane, as if he were soured out Del was taking notes with these," he added as he pointed at the array of Sudoku and crossword puzzle books "I understood soht before they started with the English," he told Zane "Pretty sure one of them called me a queer," he added with a wry smile

"How perceptive of them, Del," Zane said drolly as he reached for one of the books "What about the Sudoku?"

"Whatever , I don"t follow," Ty ades to Zane "I can"t even decide if I think he"s brilliant for having a coded backup or stupid for writing shit down," he muttered He was silent for a moment "They said it with o of it

Zane looked up from the squares full of letters to study his partner intently "I told you you"re a daaze unwavering "I" much anymore, Zane"

Zane sed on the nervous flutter that stirred to life in his chest He sensed there was more to this than just the words "And you don"t like it," he said neutrally, not wanting to influence Ty one way or the other

Ty held his eyes, appearing to hold his breath too as he considered his answer "I don"t like the way some people look at me,"

he admitted with difficulty "But fuck them," he added with certainty

"I"ht"

Zane huffed quietly andhis ar desperately that Ty didn"t push him away "I don"t like the way soainst the side of Ty"s neck

Ty turned his head, his cheek pressing against Zane"s nose "I don"t think we"re talking about the sarew more serious "The ones who look at us like we offend them Those are the ones I"d like to deck"

"I understand," Zane said The "us" in that sounded pretty dah Zane could sh of serious life topics for the nore the out on" Ty burst out laughing, then clapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself

Zane chuckled and nipped at Ty"s neck before he said, "So they pass on ogling the best-looking ass on the ship My gain"

Ty snorted, though it was obvious he was trying not to smile His hand caainst Zane"s shoulder "Now I think you"re just trying to get laid"

"I do watch you, you know," Zaneone hand up and down on Ty"s chest and belly "Did long before this case"

Ty jerked his head to the side and turned in place, giving Zane"s chest a half-hearted shove "You"re not getting out of trouble this easily We have work to do"