Work Text:
Arthur blinked sleepily as the noises from the kitchen woke him. There was just a little light coming in from the open curtains. He reached out for Rory but felt only a warm spot on empty sheets. He rolled over with a groan. Why was the love of his life such an unrepentant morning person?
Rory came back into the bedroom, placing a fresh cup of coffee on the bedside table. He was fully dressed, Arthur noted with disappointment. “Come back to bed,” he pleaded anyway, already knowing the answer would be no.
“Aw, geez, I can’t, Ace. You know I promised Jade I’d scry the new shipment for the Magnolia. You need to start getting up earlier.” At least his voice was heavy with regret.
“Eight o’clock is early,” Arthur protested.
“Yeah, maybe for a banker. For the rest of us, that’s, like, half a day’s work missed. Anyways, I left toast in the kitchen and I’ll be back in time for lunch. Assuming you’re awake by then,” he teased.
Arthur threw a pillow at him. “Go on, get out. I’ll be ready to make you pay for that remark when you get back.” He stayed in bed until he finished his coffee then reluctantly got up and started his day. If he couldn’t have a leisurely morning with Rory he might as well catch up on his mail.
*****
Arthur was congratulating himself on a productive morning when he got to the last envelope. It was a large one, addressed to him, but with no return address. He opened it to find a stack of photos. They were all of him and Rory entering and leaving his apartment building together, taken over several days. Arthur flipped through them with a growing sense of dread. The last photo was a blurry image of a large naked man bending a much smaller naked man over a bed. Not just any bed, but clearly the one in his room. It was hard to make out features, but when placed alongside the other photos, the implication was obvious. At the bottom of the envelope was the expected letter demanding five thousand dollars with instructions on payment coming later in the week. It also warned that the sender had even more explicit photos on hand. Failure to pay would lead to copies of these pictures going to the newspapers, his father the congressman, and his brother the alderman.
Arthur just stared, too stunned to move. He thought they had been careful. How in the hell had someone gotten a picture of his bedroom? How had they taken so many pictures without any of them noticing? Was it better to pay or go to the police? Dear God, what was he going to say to Rory? He was already so vulnerable just because of his station in life, he certainly had no resources to defend himself from an indecency charge.
Arthur was still processing the information when he heard the outer door open. “Hey Ace, you awake yet? You would not believe the day I’ve had! Are all bootleggers a bunch of cheating jerks or does Jade just have bad luck?” Rory came into the room, took one look at Arthur, and was instantly at his side. “What’s wrong?” he demanded.
Arthur still couldn’t find any words. He gestured to the table covered in photos. Rory looked them over. “Guess Jade’s not the only one having a bad day,” he said.
“That’s an understatement,” Arthur replied, finding his voice at last. “I don’t think the Times will dare to run a story, but I can’t be certain. All it takes is for one reporter to decide to go to the police and we’ll both be in trouble. We’ll need a lot of cash fast. I need to contact the bank and see how many assets I can liquidate.”
“You need to stop talking bunk. No way are you gonna pay this guy. Blackmailers are like cockroaches, you gotta stomp them out first thing or they swarm all over you,” Rory said.
“Paying him off might be the safest thing for us,” Arthur replied. “But even if I don't pay him, we could also use cash in hand in case we need to post bail or leave the country.”
Rory settled himself onto Arthur’s lap and threw his arms around his neck. Arthur automatically pulled him close, so that their foreheads were touching. “You’re still talking bunk,” Rory told him. “I got no intention of running from this creep. What you need to do is calm down. I’ll get something started for lunch. You’ll feel better after you eat something. I think we got some pastrami left, I’ll make sandwiches.”
Arthur pulled back to look him in the eyes. “This is hardly the time to think about eating. You don’t seem to realize how devastating this could be-”
Rory cut him off with a kiss. “No, I get it. But I also got a plan. Blackmailers depend on secrecy. And there’s no one who can hide anything from me.” He reached over and touched a photograph, his eyes going momentarily blank. “I can see where this rat took the pictures and also the place where he developed them. Should be easy to track him down and make him pay, instead of you.”
Rory gave Arthur another kiss then moved off his lap and headed towards the kitchen. “Seriously, Ace, we’ve handled a lot worse than a two bit crook with a camera. If it makes you feel better give Jade a call. She and Zhang can meet us after lunch and we’ll knock this problem out before dinner.”
“Yes, sir,” Arthur muttered, but his heart was lighter already. He went to the phone to call the Magnolia.
*****
It didn’t take long for them to come up with a plan. Rory scried the envelope and had the location of the blackmailer and his darkroom by the time the others arrived. Based on that information Zhang was able to walk the astral plane and confirmed the photos were taken from an apartment across the street.
“He has a very sophisticated set up,” Zhang reported. “He has a small arsenal of camera equipment in a room across the street. One of the cameras looks more like a telescope. That’s how he was able to take so many pictures of you, including the, uh, blurry one. He’s over there now, dismantling the equipment. I also got a good look at his darkroom several blocks away. He appears to have several victims based on the photos hanging there.”
“If he’s here with his camera equipment then we have the perfect opportunity to clear out his collection of prints,” Jade said. “We need to raid his darkroom. How much time do you think we have?”
“I’d say a good hour. I’ll stay in Arthur’s apartment and keep an eye on our aspiring blackmailer. I’ll warn you when he’s leaving,” said Zhang.
“Me, Jade, and Ace will have his place cleared out in no time,” Rory said.
“I’d rather you stay here where it’s safe,” Arthur told him.
“And I’d rather you stopped trying to coddle me,” Rory snapped. “Looks like neither of us are getting what we want. You don’t really expect me to sit this one out, do you? Besides, this guy’s got it coming, you think I’m gonna miss helping my boyfriend give it to him?”
*****
They walked at a brisk pace to the building with the darkroom. Jade’s telekinesis got them through the locked door in short order. Arthur poured every chemical he could find down the sink while Rory and Jade gathered the photographs and negatives. In no time at all they had the place stripped of evidence. All that was left of the blackmail operation was a ruined darkroom and a pile of ash that used to be incriminating photographs.
They finished with time to spare and waited across the street to watch for the arrival of the would-be blackmailer. Zhang’s astral projection pointed him out to the two paranormals. He was a short stocky man struggling to remove a large trunk from a taxi.
Jade concentrated and the trunk slipped out of the man’s hands with a loud crash. It hit the sidewalk with enough force to split the sides. The man swore loudly as he sorted through the damaged remains of his camera equipment. “That should keep him out of business,” Jade said. “Let’s head back to Arthur’s place before he finds out what we did to his workshop.”
Zhang’s projection kept up a running commentary of the man’s actions as they walked back. “As soon as he entered the room he went from angry to terrified. Right now he’s packing his remaining belongings and cursing. I think that’s the last we’ll see of him.”
By this time the group returned to Arthur’s apartment building and Zhang met them outside. Jade gave him a kiss in greeting and said, “Well, that’s that. Jianwei, let’s head over to your place and let these two relax in peace.” With that the two of them sauntered off.
Arthur let out a sigh of relief. “Thank Christ that’s over. I’m going to have to ask Zhang to regularly sweep the area for hidden photographers.” He and Rory took the elevator to his apartment.
Rory had been oddly quiet during the walk back. Now he pulled something out of his pocket and fiddled with it as they exited the elevator. “Um, Ace, I have a confession to make.”
Arthur groaned and led them both into his rooms, shutting and locking the door. “I don’t think I can take any more excitement. What is it?”
“I kept one of the pictures,” Rory said. “It’s kinda inspirational.” He handed it over.
Arthur took a look and actually found himself blushing. The picture showed Arthur’s face clearly, his head thrown back in ecstasy as he was taken by Rory. Not that you could see his lover’s face, since Arthur’s muscular thighs were thrown over his slender shoulders, completely blocking his features from the camera. Arthur cleared his throat. “Inspirational, you say?”
“Yeah. I’m inspired to make you look like that again. What do you say?”
Arthur started removing his clothes. “All I have to say is close the curtains.”