Harper rubbed the side of his face for the third time that night. He sighed in disappointment and ogled the incredible ass of the rather violent redhead marching away from him. The babes in this place didn’t seem to appreciate his cheeky brand of charm. He had just decided on his next target, a shy – looking brunette in the corner, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Well well well, if it isn’t my bossy sister’s skinny little sidekick."

Harper turned slowly, "Rafe. As if my day wasn’t bad enough." He looked Beka’s brother up and down. He was dressed in tight fitting leathers which were drawing admiring gazes from most of the female clientele and not a few of the men as well.

"So did Beka give you the boot or was it that High Guard stiff she’s hooked up with?" Rafe was grinning down at the slap mark on Harper’s face.

Harper self-consciously rubbed his face, "I haven’t been kicked off Andromeda: I’m here to pick up supplies."

Rafe looked around at the bar; "It didn’t look like it was supplies you were trying to pick up"

"Yeah, well I did that this morning. I deserve a little R&R. Dylan said I didn’t have to be back until Wednesday." A look crossed Rafe’s face that made Harper’s survival instinct start to scream ‘run’. Unfortunately his curiosity got the better of him. And anyway, Rafe was between him and the door.

"Did you come in the Maru?"

"Uh huh. I don’t think you should get any funny ideas about the Maru Rafe: after your last visit Beka did some really nasty modifications to the biosensors. Not to mention the fact that Tyr is staying on the ship."

Rafe laughed and clapped a hand on Harper’s shoulder, just a little too hard to be entirely friendly. "Don’t worry I don’t want the Maru, I just need someone to watch my back while I make a deal. My usual guy caught something and needs to take a rest."

"Forget about it Rafe. I’ve got a sweet deal going on Andromeda, I’m not going to screw it up by getting involved in one of your scams."

Rafe did the ‘shark smile’ again, "Two hundred thrones. For twenty minutes work. It’s not a scam: it’s just an ordinary business transaction with a regular customer. There’s no danger involved; if there was don’t you think I’d get bigger back up?"

Harper considered this, on one hand Rafe couldn’t be trusted: he had the morals of a Nightsider and a willingness to sacrifice friends that would do a Neitzschean proud. On the other hand: two hundred thrones would pay for a new surf board with enough left over for a couple of nights in the upper end of any red light district he wandered into. It was a tough decision but the fact that this sounded like a routine job was the clincher.

"OK. I want three hundred, I want it now and I want the right to say ‘screw you’ and walk with the money if anything looks even remotely out of whack."

"I won’t have the money until after the deal"

"Bye then" Harper made a move towards the door.

"I can give you a hundred now, the rest later."

Harper considered for a moment, "Fine, but if you stiff me I’ll find you and give you to your sister. After I tell her what happened to the Stirrin silk, why the Sirocco Drift cancelled her contract and what you did to and with her ex-fiancée."

"Rafe raised his eyebrows, "Y’know Harper, sometimes you almost impress me. I didn’t think anyone knew about that stuff."

Harper shrugged, "You never know when information will come in handy. I try to keep my ear to the ground. Now what do I have to do and where’s my money?"

<><><><><>

Two hours later Harper was standing in a recess of one of the filthiest cargo hold he’d ever seen. And he’d seen plenty. Rafe was finishing up his business deal and nothing had gone wrong, no pissed off customers, no crazy bounty hunters and no guns. Harper was just starting to move from relaxed to bored when he noticed the laser light bead moving up his chest.

He leapt out of the alcove just as something impacted with the wall behind where he’d been standing. "Rafe!" He yelled, "Someone is shooting at me." He rolled behind some oil tanks and looked over at Rafe: he was on the ground struggling with a high G worlder. The big man won simply by sitting on Rafe and pinning his arms down.

Mr Regular was cowered over in the corner.

"You might as well come out little man" came a voice from the doorway. "This whole room is cut off from the rest of the station. I could just seal it and pump out the air."

Harper ignored the voice and studied the interior of the bay. It was irregularly shaped and full of junk, the vents and duct panels were in bad shape and Harper guessed that getting into the walls wouldn’t be too hard. He kicked out a corroded grill and crawled through. Getting the safety seal to release took moments and, with relief, he crawled towards the next junction.

Harper had barely put his head around the corner when he felt a gun butt pressing against his neck.

"Hold it right there boy." Harper froze and let the man take his gun. There was a sudden pain behind his ear and everything went black.

<><><><><>

Harper drifted back to consciousness slowly. His first thought was that he couldn’t move. The second was that he really didn’t care because he was lying on something warm. It was the third and fourth thoughts that brought him fully awake: the something warm was Rafe and the reason he couldn’t move was because his wrists and ankles were tied.

"Oh crap!" Harper groaned

"You alive?" Rafe asked. Harper opened his eyes to pitch darkness and the realisation that they were in something suspiciously like a large luggage locker.

"What the hell happened?" Asked Harper groggily.

"Turns out my customer double – crossed someone and we got caught in the cross fire. The slimy bastard blamed me for the trouble. They dumped us here in case they need to torture the location of something out of us. God only knows what it is. I think they’re working over that son of a bitch right now. Pray he takes a long time to break because as soon as they find out we know nothing we become expendable." Rafe was talking with a manic good humour. "I can’t believe it: I’ve pissed off hundreds of people and now I’m going to be killed by someone who I’ve never so much as cheated out of a cracked throne."

Harper groaned, "I knew I should have started running as soon as I saw you."

"Hey! This wasn’t my fault."

"Yeah well, that doesn’t make a hell of a lot of difference from where I’m lying. I met you and a couple of hours later someone is trying to kill me. You’re bad luck in tight pants." Harper shifted slightly and Rafe inhaled sharply. Harper was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed Rafe’s hard cock pressing against his stomach. Oh boy! I guess Rafe is into the bondage thing. A malicious grin spread across his face, unseen in the dark. Harper shifted again and said as he heard Rafe gasp, "If we roll over maybe we can untie these ropes."

"Won’t work," said Rafe, "They aren’t ropes: it’s nylon packing cord, they melted it together. It’ll have to be cut."

"Crap. I don’t suppose you have a knife or something hidden in your boot or up your sleeve."

"No." They were both silent for a moment before Rafe said hesitantly, "The zipper on my pants is quite abrasive. It might saw through."

"Jesus Rafe! That is the weakest come on for a hand job I’ve heard in my life."

"Hey, don’t flatter yourself. Besides it might work. Roll over and try it at least."

Harper giggled, "The last time someone said that to me I was walking funny for a week."

"Harper would you shut the fuck up?"

Harper grinned and rolled over. It wasn’t easy and Rafe probably enjoyed it way too much but eventually he managed to position his bindings on the zipper of Rafe’s pants. Surprisingly it worked quite well. Five minutes were all it took to free Harper’s hands. Harper noticed with satisfaction that Rafe was on the edge of coming just as the last fibre split.

"OK. My hands are free, now what?" Asked Harper.

"Harper when we get out of here you are so going to find out."

"If we get out of here. Now roll over so I can do you."

Rafe hesitated, "Was that a euphemism?"

"Oh for God’s sake Rafe! I am not going to fuck you in the middle of a life and death escape attempt. Now stop being a galactic dickhead and roll over." Rafe rolled over and swore when the bindings at his wrists parted immediately. Harper giggled again, "I always keep a five millimetre blade imbedded in the side of my boot sole. Just for emergencies. I’d have used it before but you seemed to be having a lot of fun. Harper swiftly cut the bindings at their ankles and awkwardly turned around to the door.

Two minutes of listening to Rafe’s promises of retribution while he prised at the casing for the door controls got Harper a handful of wires. An electric shock and some interesting mental images later and the door popped open.

Harper crawled out and blinked in the sudden light. He was just getting his bearings when Rafe grabbed him and pressed him up against the bank of lockers.

Harper yelped, "Don’t you think we should get a little further away? Y’know, just in case they decide to come back and kill us."

"No way Harper: you got me into this state and you are going to finish it. If you persuade me to run now you’ll sneak off." Rafe brought his mouth down hard on Harper’s and the smaller man gave a mental shrug and kissed back.

Before he knew what he was doing he was on his knees in front of Rafe. Normally he’d take his time but in this case he was willing to forgo the slow build up and go straight for the big finale. Rafe had tugged his pants away from his cock and Harper gripped it firmly and licked from the base to the head before sucking the pre-cum from the tip. Then, with one smooth movement he sucked in the mouthful of hot flesh.

Rafe gripped Harper’s hair and thrust into his mouth. The blonde swallowed him and worked his tongue and lips around the shaft. A few quick pumps and the feeling of being swallowed whole made Rafe cum with a low groan.

"OK, now we can go" he said hoarsely and staggered towards the door.

"You were wrong you know?" said Harper following him.

"About what?"

"About me running off when we got out of there: you haven’t paid me yet. I think I deserve hazard pay for being knocked unconscious and stuffed in a locker."

"Forget it kid, I didn’t get my money so you don’t get yours."

Harper licked his lips and said, "I’ll take it out in trade."

Rafe turned to Harper and grinned.

The End

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