“Hey, Ron.”

Dustin was leaning against the cubicle near interview room two, sipping his mug of coffee as he drew his lunch break out.

They’d been in there for twenty minutes, and he’d started to worry they wouldn’t come out before his break was over. He didn’t care who saw him waiting outside the meeting room in the meantime.

But Ron was emerging, looking self-satisfied until he met Dustin’s gaze.

He almost jumped out of his skin, and then gave a quick nod. If there were a way for a grown man to scuttle to his office, that was exactly what he did.

Dustin wasn’t surprised to see Glen emerge next, looking flustered. “Ah. Hi, Dustin.”

There he was—Leo followed hot on Glen’s heels, looking around to find Dustin as he came out. Then he smiled, relaxing at Dustin for just long enough to make Dustin think that maybe…

No. That wasn’t good news.

Glen was escorting Leo to his desk.

Dustin nearly dropped his mug. Oh, fuck.

He didn’t care who had technically fired whom, or who had quit. Unless he was missing some major details, as far as he was concerned, Leo had just been driven out of the department.

“No way,” Dustin hissed, falling into step behind Leo.

Glen glanced back at him, then said, “I’ll be back in a couple minutes to collect your pass.”

Dustin appreciated the moment of privacy, at least. As they reached Leo’s desk, he leaned against the cubicle entrance. “No way,” he said again. “How did it go down?”

I just got my new boyfriend fired. Somehow. Fuck. How could I have played that differently?

But Leo was smiling. He stepped up to him and rested his hand on Dustin’s cheek. “I can do this in the middle of the office now,” he murmured.

Dustin blinked at the close contact. Leo was cupping his cheek, gazing just at him, like he was the only thing that mattered. Even though he’d just gotten him fired.

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked, his voice quiet.

Dustin shook his head numbly. “You got fired because of me. Or,” he raised his hands for air quotes, “quit.”

“Fuck, no,” Leo shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

If only Dustin could believe that. “I said the wrong thing to Victor, or to Ron… And I dated you. I should have known the rules better than you.”

“No,” Leo said again, stronger. “This isn’t me getting fired. I’m leaving voluntarily, because it became clear near the end of my probationary period that the work environment here doesn’t fit me. And yeah, I could have dug in my heels and made them find another reason to fire me, but who needs that shit? I don’t.” He let go of Dustin and swept the few things on the desk that were his together—the photo frame, a reference book, some snack bars.

Dustin flinched. “Still.”

“You didn’t make me gay, or make me date you,” Leo added, and then winked. “But for the record, it’s worth going bi for you.”

Dustin tried for a little smile in return. Leo was the one being shunted out; he ought to be supporting him.

Leo turned to him again and took his hands. “Dustin, hon. It’s the fault of assholes who selectively enforce rules, and of snitches. It’s not Victor’s, he says, but he seems to know something. I haven’t figured out what yet. I would do it all over again for a chance at this.” He leaned in to press their lips together.

Dustin kissed Leo back as he slowly started to thaw from the shock. The warm body pressed against him and the hands squeezing his helped. “But what are you gonna do?”

“Joke’s on them. I’m gonna be the best damn photographer in the state. I’m gonna give gay couples discounts on their fabulous gay weddings. I’m gonna take photos of trans people to give their families to replace the old family pictures they don’t want them to have up around the house. I’m gonna take gay adoption baby photos. All of it,” Leo said, his grip almost painfully tight on Dustin’s.

Dustin took a deep breath and let it out, then nodded. Leo was a fighter. He would make it through. “I’ll… I’ll be there with you, of course. But how am I supposed to…?” His voice trailed off as he looked around the office. They were attracting stares from all corners, but he didn’t even care right now.

I must be pretty badly shaken if I don’t care that I’m the center of attention. Dustin managed a weak smile at the thought.

“There’s that beautiful smile,” Leo murmured and chuckled. “You’re gonna keep doing what you’re best at.”

Glen was walking up to them. “Guys,” he said, his tone suddenly serious. “Hate to break the mood, but a call came in. I’ve called Paul already. Dustin, you’re gonna have your work cut out for you.”

“What is it?” Work mode turned on in Dustin’s brain.

“Shots fired. We’ve already got a smoking gun. Looks like domestic violence shit.” Glen cursed under his breath. “Lowest of the low. We’re hauling the guy in now.” He glanced at Leo and shook his head. “I wish we could get you on this, too, man. I’m sorry about how all that went down.”

“No, I get it. It was coming from Ron. I could tell,” Leo answered, dropping Dustin’s hands. “They decided to enforce rules that you didn’t care about.”

“Yep,” Glen said with a dark glare in the direction of HR. “I’m going to be loud about this.”

“It’s okay,” Leo said, shaking his head. “I wanted to get out of here eventually anyway. This just… propelled me.”

“Nothing like a swift kick out the door when you’ve been a good employee,” Glen sighed. He looked back at Dustin. “And I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, everyone worth his salt in here,” another dark glare across the office, “is happy to see you happy.”

Dustin managed a slight smile. He didn’t really care if people here were happy for him or not after everything that had happened, but Glen’s heads-up had stirred something else within him.

“This is how,” he said quietly to himself.

Both other men looked at him in confusion.

Dustin cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead, getting his focus back.

It wasn’t about the coworkers here, or proving shit to his family, or even to himself. It was the victims… finding justice for them. Even in the midst of an unjust situation, he could make sure others got treated fairly. Hell, his work meant the difference between a perp like this guy walking away scot-free or getting a few years cooling their heels behind bars while the victim recovered. If she’d lived.

If not… anger flooded Dustin, but he shut it off.

“I’ve got work to do.” He nodded once to Leo.

“You go be my hero,” Leo said softly as he plucked the swipe card from his belt loop and handed it to Glen. “I’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re done.”

While he had him there, a tiny, spiteful, and madly-in-love part of Dustin had an idea. He hauled Leo in for one more abrupt kiss, making damn sure that everyone spying on them had a good chance to see.

They’d see that this wasn’t going to break them; it had already done exactly the opposite.