Disclaimer: Don't own them. Don't make any money off of them.
Warnings: Yaoi, sexual violence, lemon, language, abuse, angst, guy/ guy love. I decided to make J.J. more than a two dimensional character, so be warned J.J. lovers. This is the way I'd like him to be.
"Dee?"
"Hm?"
"Dee!"
"What?!" Dee looked up, radio held in one hand and an earplug dangling from his ear. His wild, black hair was a fall over his intense green eyes and his handsome face was a mixture of expressions, excitement and irritation foremost. "I'm trying to hear the game, Ryo!"
Ryo frowned. "You're going to be late for your interview with Harry Carmichael. It took us weeks to pin him down! You're taping the game on the VCR at home. It can wait, Carmichael can't."
Dee nodded with a scowl, but he left the earplug in as he stood up from his desk and snatched up his car keys. Slinging his coat over one shoulder, he leaned down and gave Ryo a quick peck on the cheek. "Later, Love."
"Dee!" Ryo ducked away from the kiss and darted an anxious look around the room full of officers. If anyone had witnessed the kiss, they were pretending they hadn't.
Dee grinned at his shy partner. "They don't care, Ryo, and, if they did, screw 'em, okay? Nobody is going to stop me from showing you how much I love you."
Ryo blushed, but he smiled in return. "Love you too, Dee," he said very quietly. "Be careful."
"Always am!" Dee chuckled. "See you in an hour."
"Okay." Ryo watched his partner walk away, admiring his tall, lean frame and his beautiful rounded shoulders. Ryo sighed and felt a flush. He looked around again, self consciously, but everyone was still bent over their work, oblivious. Relieved, he checked his watch. Time for his meeting with Commissioner Rose.
Ryo threaded his way through the desks and entered the hallway leading to the Commissioner's office. He wasn't prepared when a large man came up from behind him, passed him, and then blocked Ryo's path by thrusting out a beefy arm. The man slammed the flat of his hand against the wall. Startled, Ryo turned and stared into an unfamiliar face.
"Uh, s-something wrong?" Ryo stammered.
"Detective Mark Tye," the man growled. He had a thatch of dark hair and a level, black brow over small black eyes. His nose was over large, flared at the end, and his lips were smiling, even though Ryo didn't sense any humor in the man's demeanor towards him.
"Ah." Ryo remembered Dee mentioning the man. "You transferred from the Twelfth. I'm Randy McLain."
"I know who you are," Tye snarled. "Best shot on the force, I've been told. Well, I want to test that out." He raked Ryo up and down with his eyes. "I have my own reputation to uphold."
"Uh, okay." Ryo backed up and edged around that big arm. "Get back with me and we'll set up a time at the shooting range."
"Bet on it." the man retorted as he lowered his arm and stalked away.
Ryo stared after him, confused and disturbed. He had felt threatened. It was obvious that the man didn't like him. "What's the matter with him?" Ryo muttered. "He doesn't even know me!"
Ryo was still thinking about the encounter as he entered Commissioner Rose's office. The man himself was leaning back in his chair and talking on his phone. Without pausing in his conversation, he motioned for Ryo to sit down in one of two chairs arranged in front of his desk.
The chair creaked as Ryo sat down gingerly. The man, nicknamed by the other officers, the Head, always made him nervous. He was a big blonde with piercing, blue eyes. He always looked feral, dangerous, and in command of any situation. He also had an aura of barely leashed sexuality that was very much like Dee's. That, more than anything else about the Head, made Ryo nervous, especially since he knew that Barkley Rose was in serious lust for him.
Rose pushed a file towards Ryo as he still continued to talk. Ryo took it, opened it up, and began to read, unaware that Rose was watching his reaction carefully. Ryo smoothed back a fall of honey brown hair and his very handsome face frowned in concentration as his dark, slightly almond shaped eyes scanned the contents.
Rose hung up the phone at last and sat up in his chair. "Well?" he wondered.
"Another murder," Ryo replied, troubled.
"Same M.O., " Rose informed him. "Same area, right in our station's back yard. I want to know how your investigation is coming along." He looked pointedly at the empty chair beside Ryo. "I also want to know why Latener thought this meeting wasn't important enough to attend."
Ryo looked up from the file, anxious. "We had a difficult witness. He finally agreed to an interview today. Dee's taking care of it."
"Acceptable," Rose growled as if he wished that Dee hadn't had such a good excuse. "You'll have to fill him in when he returns."
"Yes, sir."
Rose stood up, came around the desk, and perched on the edge very close to Ryo. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and gave Ryo a long, blue stare.
"Sir?" Ryo looked up at the man nervously.
"Your report?" Rose prompted.
"Uh, yes sir," Ryo took a breath. His nose filled with Rose's expensive cologne. It was very pleasant, very masculine, very... Ryo cleared his throat, shifted in his chair self consciously, and missed Roses' small smile. The man was enjoying making him nervous.
"Forensics hasn't been able to find any DNA traces, hair, clothing, or fingerprints on or near the victims. Who ever the murderer is, he isn't sloppy. As far as motive... we can't find any connection between the victims. They were of different races and sexes. They all had different backgrounds, financially and socially, and their ages varied from mid twenties to early thirties. The only common factor we've been able to discover is that they were all using the subway."
"Who doesn't?" Rose replied irritably. "That's not much to go on. What about this 'witness'?"
"He reported to a subway attendant that he saw a scuffle going on in a restroom. That was where victim number five was found," Ryo informed him. "We are hoping he can I.D. the murderer. He hasn't been very cooperative."
"Dee's forceful," Rose said absently. "Good choice sending him."
"Thank you, sir."
Rose blinked at Ryo and smiled. "I give compliments were compliments are due, even to men I don't like. I know Dee is a tough detective. I just don't like his attitude... or the way he challenges me."
"Dee respects you, sir," Ryo argued quickly.
"Does he?" Rose leaned close. Ryo's eyes went wide and... frightened. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but Rose intimidated him severely. "I think the truth is that he hates me," Rose continued. "He hates me because I'm his rival. He knows that I have more to offer you than he does."
"Sir?"
"I don't think I need to clarify myself do I?" Rose smiled as he stood up and returned to his chair behind his desk. Sitting down heavily, he picked up his phone and began punching numbers. "Take that file with you and crack the case, McLain. This isn't a one time murder where you can take your time, dot your I's and cross your T's. You have to find that bastard before he murders someone else!"
"Understood, sir." Ryo stood up with the file clutched in one hand, flushed and feeling slightly violated. The Head could always manage to make him feel that way, as if the man had put a hand down his pants when he least expected it.
As Ryo left Rose's office, he wondered, and not for the first time, why he endured it. At one time, he had punched the man for coming on too strong. Rose had treated it as a challenge, a sign of interest that Ryo was too shy to show. Women at least could file sexual harassment papers, but men... Ryo gave a little shiver, imagining the ridicule. Men were supposed to handle things like that on their own, not whine to superiors about it. At least Rose didn't let his interest go beyond obvious comments or effect how he handled his duties. That should have made it all right, his other conduct something to shrug off and forget about, but Ryo was too sensitive to do that. Dee came on strong too, but Ryo knew that his love would never take what Ryo wasn't willing to give. Ryo wasn't so sure about Rose.
"Ryo!"
Ryo turned and saw Jim waving to him with a smile, Detective Tye by his elbow. Tye was glaring at Ryo from behind Jim's back.
"Have you met the new guy?" Jim asked as he came up to Ryo. "This is Detective Mark Tye from the Twelfth. He's going to be working with me until he finds his feet. He supposed to be a good shot and he's cracked some pretty serious cases."
"We've already met," Ryo replied, trying to smile in return, wondering, again, why Detective Tye was taking such an instant dislike to him. If looks could kill...
"Tye wants to have a little shooting competition tomorrow afternoon," Jim was saying. "The Head thinks it's a great idea and he's reserved us some time in the shooting range. Well, actually, Rose thinks we're all a bunch of lazy asses and we need the practice."
"He's probably right," Ryo chuckled. So, Ryo thought in surprise, Tye had already asked Rose even before they had met in the hallway! "My last case was so involved I haven't been on the range in a month!"
"Making excuses already?" Tye finally spoke up.
Jim turned to the man, startled, but Tye had on his tight lipped smile and Jim mistook it for good natured rivalry. "Ryo's no sloucher when it comes to shooting, Mark. He's the best on the force. J.J.'s the second. They will definitely give you a run for your money."
"We'll see, won't we?" Tye replied and his voice dripped with barely concealed condescension.
"Yeah, I guess we will," Jim grinned, not noticing. "Come on, Mark, I'll introduce you to the low life's of the force. Dreig's their chief. See ya around, Ryo!"
"Sure, Jim." Ryo tried to remain pleasant, nodding to Tye and saying, "I look forward to working with you, Detective Tye. Welcome to our precinct."
Tye nodded in return, but, as he passed by Ryo, he said, very low, "I don't work with people I hate, fag."
Ryo flinched. He felt a hot and cold rush from the bottom of his toes to the top of his head. He shivered as he looked after Tye's wide retreating back.
"Ryo!"
Ryo turned slowly, still stunned, mouth slightly open, as J.J. came flying towards him. When the man grabbed Ryo hard by both elbows, and Ryo saw the anguish on J.J.'s face, it shook him out of his shock. "What's wrong?" Ryo demanded. His first thought was that something had happened to Dee. He wasn't wrong.
"Dee's had an accident! He fell down a flight of stairs!" J.J. cried. He tugged at Ryo. "Come on! He's at the hospital right now! I'll drive you there!"
Ryo felt frozen in place, shivering from this new shock. "I-I'll have to tell Rose."
"He already knows!" J.J. told him impatiently. "He told us to get down there and get a report! Your witness may have pushed Dee."
"What?!" Ryo snapped into action in an instant. "Come on! Do you have your car keys?"
"Yeah, I'm all set to go!"
"Why did Rose want you to come along?" Ryo asked as he paced the hospital elevator, impatient for it to get to the right floor.
Everything smelled sharply antiseptic. It made his nerves more frayed then they already were.
J.J. was looking at his feet as he leaned against the hand railing along one wall. His unruly bangs half hid his face, but Ryo could see that the young man was just as upset as he was. "The Head didn't want you to endanger yourself, or other people, with your awful driving and he didn't want you taking the subway. He knew you'd be upset."
Rose could be so kind sometimes, Ryo thought. It more than made up for is lapses in other departments, at least then and there it did. Ryo could only be grateful.
"The nurse said that Dee was okay, McLain," J.J. said as Ryo's hands turned into fists and he continued to pace. "You can calm down. "
"Are you calm?" Ryo shot back.
J.J. wasn't. "You know how I feel about, Dee. I didn't stop feeling that way just because you two... Well, I'm not that shallow."
Ryo looked at the slender young man in his designer three piece suit and his Italian shoes. His chestnut hair was a mess. He kept running a hand through it to push it back out of his face. Those fingers were stiff, almost clenched, as if he was barely keeping from pulling out that hair in anguish.
"I'm sorry, J.J.," Ryo said softly and J.J. looked up and gave him a limp smile.
"S' all right, Ryo. I guess I act like such an idiot sometimes..." J.J. straightened as the light above the elevator door tracked to the number of the floor they needed to get off on. "Forget it. Let's just worry about Dee. If we start talking about all that other stuff, I might remember how much I hate you for taking him away from me."
Hate you. Twice today, Ryo thought, people had told him that they hated him. That was more than in his entire life. Ryo couldn't help but flinch. J.J. saw it. He also saw how pale Ryo had suddenly become, his beautiful features reminding J.J. of a hurt puppy. He thought, I should apologize, but he didn't. He respected Ryo and liked him as a man and as an officer. Who couldn't like such a gentle, innocent, sweet, trusting, beautiful.... J.J. scowled. Those traits had stolen Dee away from him. The man hadn't been able to resist. J.J. himself couldn't resist liking Ryo, but... it was true, how he felt about losing Dee. He hated Ryo for that. He would always hate him for it. He wasn't about to lie and deny it, even to make Ryo feel better.
The elevator door opened and Ryo rushed out, their conversation forgotten in an instant as Dee's welfare took importance in Ryo's mind. He even forgot about J.J. as he quickly searched down the hall for the right room number.
Three hundred and six. That was it. Ryo shoved through the door and went straight to the hospital bed. Dee was stretched out under a white sheet, the hospital bed tilted up and his head turned slightly sideways on a white pillow. The man was sleeping, but he began to stir, groaning a little as Ryo clasped his hand tightly in both of his.
"Dee?" Ryo begged. "Koi, daijo bu desu ka!"
"Hm?" Dee rolled his eyes open and blinked in confusion. He had spattering of dark bruises and a lump near his jaw.
"English, Ryo!" J.J. broke in anxiously and came to Dee's bedside as well. "Hey, Dee? How are you? They told us you fell over your own big feet and fell down some stairs. Is that what happened?"
Dee frowned. He tightened his hand on Ryo, pulled him in close, and gave him a very deep kiss. His other hand, with an I.V. stuck into it, slid under Ryo's honey hair at the back of his neck and caressed him there gently. His green eyes drank in Ryo's dark eyes.
"Sorry I worried you," Dee said hoarsely after breaking the kiss reluctantly. He stared at Ryo as if he were an angel he had never though to see again. "Kakkoi," Dee said with a smile. "My Ryo is so good looking. Mo daijo bu, I'm fine. Did I say that right, Koi?"
"It's fine, Dee." Ryo wiped at his eyes and sniffled.
J.J. felt isolated, excluded, angry. "You should learn English before you learn Japanese, Dee."
Dee scowled. "And why are you here?"
"He drove me," Ryo replied, squeezing Dee's arm. A signal passed silently between them and Dee sighed, sinking back into his pillow.
"Sorry, J.J.," Dee said, still with a growl. "Thanks for bringing Ryo. He's such a menace behind the wheel, he would probably have ended up in a bed next to mine."
"Hey!" Ryo retorted indignantly.
"Hey, yourself!" Dee replied. "Last time you drove, I personally had to write you a ticket!"
"Jo dan iwa naide!" Ryo retorted and crossed his arms over his chest, pulling away. "Do shite no!"
"Uhm...," J.J. cut into the Japanese tirade, hating how Ryo was getting red in the face and Dee was smiling as if his flustered, annoyed partner was the most beautiful... "Rose sent us here to fill out a report as well as see how you were, Dee. If you're up to it...?"
"Work comes first, whether I feel like it or not," Dee sighed and moved on the bed with a wince, trying to get comfortable and failing. "Ryo, get me some coffee from the nurse, okay? There's a station just down the hall."
Ryo was contrite in an instant. He gripped Dee's hand again in concern. "Gomen, Dee. Sorry. Watashi yaru yo." He left the room in a hurry.
J.J. looked Dee over slowly, trying to see how badly hurt the man he loved really was. "Do you really understand what he's saying?"
"No," Dee replied smugly as he pulled up the sheet a little higher self consciously.
"No?" J.J. raised eyebrows. "But, I thought-"
"Oh, I know a few phrases," Dee admitted, "But most of it goes right over my head." He grinned at J.J.. "He always gets angry or flustered in Japanese. It's nice not knowing how much he's insulting me. Instead, all I hear is a nice, musical language."
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"You really scared me," J.J. admitted suddenly.
Dee frowned and picked at his sheet. "Yeah, sorry. Uh, J.J.-"
"I know," J.J. retorted, forestalling him. "You don't need to spell it out for me again, Dee. Ryo's your little wife now. You live with him. Screw him. Love him. Hell, you even have kids with him."
Dee grimaced. "Ryo's not my wife, J.J, and don't say stuff like that again, okay, or I might have to punch you. I don't want to do that. I want us to stay friends."
J.J. took a deep breath and backtracked. He WOULDN'T lose the only thing he had left with Dee, their friendship. He kicked himself mentally. He HAD said some terrible things just then. "S-Sorry, Dee. Guess I'm just upset about the accident," and his inability to compete in any way with Mr. perfect, Randy 'Ryo' McLain, who was even now coming back into the room holding a hot cup of coffee gingerly.
Dee took the coffee and sipped cautiously.
"All right?" Ryo asked.
"Perfect," Dee sighed and he spoke the word clearly, the coffee relieving his dry throat.
Ryo perched on the edge of Dee's bed and leaned in close to the injured man. Dee wrapped an arm around Ryo's waist and pulled him in closer. J.J. was left to hook a chair from a corner with his toe, pull it in close, and sit down in it. He took out a notepad and a stubby pencil from the inside of his tailored jacket.
"Okay, Dee," J.J. said and slipped out of his jealous rival persona and into his well worn, professional, detective persona. "Let's get the details of your 'accident' down for the record, okay?"
"I'm not a klutz," Dee growled back. "It was a two story walk up and I walked up. I met Carmichael at his apartment door, leaving. He seemed real scared. He told me he had changed his mind about the interview. He didn't want to get involved. I pulled out all the stops, threatened him with court orders and dragging him down to the station on parking ticket violations, but he didn't buy it. I followed him to the top of the stairs and grabbed his elbow to stop him so I could argue some more. He flipped out and shoved me... down the stairs."
J.J. closed his notepad and glared. "He can say you tried to illegally restrain him. We can't prosecute him for defending himself, even if he did try to kill you."
Dee shook his head irritably. "He didn't try and kill me, he just shoved me off of him. I'm the one who-" he stopped and flushed.
"What?" J.J. prompted, concerned.
"You tripped over your big feet, didn't you?" Ryo asked softly.
Dee struggled for a better way of putting it and then sagged dejectedly. "Yeah."
"So, you are a klutz," Ryo ribbed good naturedly.
"Ryo!" J.J. objected, shocked. "He had an accident! It could have happened to anyone! Carmichael threw him off balance and-"
"J.J.!" Dee snarled and J.J. fell silent. "Number one; don't yell at Ryo. Number two; I can defend myself." He looked up at Ryo defiantly. "I am not a klutz."
"Gomen, Dee, sorry." Ryo touched a large bruise on Dee's face. "The nurse told us that you had a concussion, but that your doctor would know more about your condition."
"It's a little blurry, I mean, me coming here and all," Dee replied. "At least that jerk, Carmichael, called an ambulance." He shifted in his bed again. "I feel fine, except for the headache and all the bumps and bruises. I can get back on the case in the morning." He smiled at Ryo. "Tonight, take me home. I can't get comfortable in this stone slab they call a bed!"
Home. Their home. J.J. felt anger burn him inside and out as he watched Ryo's perfect face and smile looking down at Dee's rough and ready good looks. The thought of Dee's large hands on Ryo's pale body, doing the things he should have been doing with him, J.J., was more than J.J. could bear to think about. He stood up so quickly he knocked over his chair. Ryo and Dee both looked at him quizzically. J.J. could tell that Dee was ready to call him a 'dumbass', but Ryo, gentle, understanding Ryo, squeezed Dee's arm again and he only grunted and scowled.
"My car is still at Carmichael's apartment," Dee grumbled.
"I'll take Ryo to get it," J.J. offered stiffly, "but then I have to get back to work."
Dee hissed. "Ryo... driving my car.... Good thing I'm in a hospital, they can sedate me until you come back."
"Kisama!" Ryo exclaimed indignantly as he stood up. "Koi baka!" He slapped a hand on the arm he had been squeezing a moment before.
Dee made a sharp sound of pain and rubbed the spot. "All right, all right! I don't need anymore pain, Baby! You have a horrible bedside manner. Better take him, J.J. before his temper puts me in intensive care!"
J.J. frowned. He couldn't imagine Ryo getting really angry, angry enough to hurt anyone. His slap had been playful, something of a joke. Those slim hands, on HIS Dee, doing the things that he, J.J., had always wanted to do to Dee....
"Let's go! The sooner we go the sooner Dee can stop being terrified of you getting into an accident," J.J. said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Okay," Ryo replied in a small voice. He turned back to Dee and gave Dee a light kiss, his eyes drinking in Dee's eyes, saying everything without words. He broke the kiss reluctantly. "I'll talk to the doctor when I get back," he promised. "Just to make sure you aren't trying to be macho with me when you say nothing's wrong."
"Why would I lie?" Dee wondered softly. "I'd much rather exaggerate, get a few days off of work, and have you... uh, take care of me in your own special way, if you know what I mean?"
Ryo blushed and glanced at J.J. nervously. "Goodbye, Dee. We'll... We'll talk about that when I come back."
"Promise?"
"Come on!" J.J. snapped and didn't wait for Ryo as he stalked out of the room.
Ryo caught up quickly and they entered the elevator again. Ryo looked sideways at the pensive young man beside him as the elevator started down.
"Get the keys?" J.J. asked.
"Yes." Ryo fidgeted nervously and then said, "J.J., I'm sorry."
"Yeah, doesn't help much," J.J. bit back and sank hands into his pockets. "We don't need to talk about it. It's something I have to deal with." That sounded good, J.J. thought, even though 'dealing' with it was something he didn't think he was ever going to be able to do. Thankfully, Ryo didn't say anything else.
"There it is," J.J. said and pointed to where Dee's car was parked along the sidewalk near a fire hydrant. "Ticket on the windshield. Lucky for you guys it wasn't towed."
Ryo looked annoyed. "And Dee complains about me... You can let me out here."
J.J. pulled his car to a stop and peered past Ryo at the apartment building. Ryo was looking too. "You're going to try and talk to Carmichael, aren't you?" J.J. asked.
Ryo's expression became grim and determined. "Yes. It's my job."
"Then I'm not dropping you off," J.J. replied as he pulled the car up behind Dee's, blocking an access lane in the process. "You need back up with a guy like that."
Ryo smiled. "Thanks, J.J."
J.J. didn't smile back. "It's MY job, Ryo."
Ryo's smile fell and he nodded, once, as he opened the door of the car and slid out. J.J. followed and they went up the stairs of the apartment building cautiously.
"Door's open," Ryo observed and his hand went to the butt of his gun in its holster under his arm. He signaled to J.J. that he would cover him. J.J. nodded agreement and drew his gun as he slowly pushed the door of the apartment wide. He waited a moment for some reaction from inside. When nothing happened, J.J. cautiously went inside with Ryo at his shoulder, his gun out and ready now, barrel pointed up.
"Christ!" J.J. swore and put a shocked hand to his mouth.
Ryo shuddered, but he didn't let down his guard as he sidled by the sprawled body of Carmichael. The man's eyes were wide and staring, blood all over him and spread thickly around his head. It was obvious that his throat had been slit.
Together, J.J. and Ryo searched the small apartment. They didn't find anyone. Whoever the murderer was, he had made his escape already. Gathering back at that body, J.J. noted, "Didn't happen too long ago. Blood hasn't had time to congeal."
Ryo flipped out his cell phone and began punching numbers. "I guess he was right to be afraid about being a witness," Ryo sighed as he waited for an answer.
J.J. looked up at the cool and collected Ryo. When he was doing his job, Ryo was the most confident, brave, resourceful, and excellent detective that J.J. knew. As a detective, J.J. admired the man, looked up to him, and even hoped to emulate him. It was hard, at that moment, to remind himself that he hated the man, especially when he, J.J., only felt like throwing up and Ryo was calmly giving orders and directions to whoever had answered the phone.
An emotion bloomed in J.J. and he didn't like it. It was envy. Green envy. Ryo had the one thing he wanted in all the world, Dee, and he was a great guy and a terrific detective on top of it. Ryo's life seemed perfect to J.J. It made him hate Ryo even more and it was all he could do not to punch that gentle, competent look from Ryo's face. Oblivious, the man, flicked honey colored hair from his beautiful, dark eyes, reached out, and gave J.J. something he needed badly, a comforting squeeze on the shoulder and an 'I understand and it's okay that this violence upsets you,' look.
'I hate you!' J.J. thought and wondered that Ryo couldn't hear it or at least sense it in him . 'I really, really hate you!'
"What's wrong?"
Ryo was fiddling with a tray of medication and bandages. He lowered it onto the side table by the wide bed. He was wearing only pajama bottoms, his milky white torso glowing in the lamplight. His pink nipples were enticing. Dee caught himself licking his lips appreciatively, but he reined himself in sharply and forced himself to wait for Ryo's answer.
Ryo was frowning, not looking at Dee where he lay against large pillows, but looking instead at a spot suspended in space. "Have you ever had someone hate you?" Ryo asked at last.
"Hate me?" Dee chuckled, only half amused. His voice had a tinge of bitterness in it as he replied, "Yeah, I've had people hate me, Ryo. Sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. Why?"
"What reason?" Ryo asked, startled and looking at Dee now with raised eyebrows.
Dee patted the place beside him on the bed. "Crawl in. I want to cuddle."
"Cuddle?" Ryo looked skeptical, but he did as he was told. Dee pulled him against his chest and Ryo pillowed his head against his shoulder. "Okay? Doesn't hurt?"
"No, doesn't hurt," Dee sighed contentedly and stroked Ryo's soft hair along his exquisite ear with his calloused fingers. "I got it mostly in the head, remember? A few days being a lazy ass, and I'll be back on the case."
"What reason?" Ryo persisted, refusing to be sidetracked.
Dee shrugged and winced as a bruise twinged. "Well, we're cops. Criminals don't exactly love us for catching them. Hell, some civilians don't like us. I guess I can admit that I rub people the wrong way sometimes, too. That's not real hate, maybe intense dislike, but it can be borderline depending on how much I piss someone off, like Rose for example. He was probably praying that I splattered at the bottom of those stairs."
"Don't say that!" Ryo protested.
Dee looked down at the top of Ryo's head. His hand left Ryo's hair and smoothed along his cheek. "Well, Baby, you know he wants you. He wants you bad."
"Like J.J. wants you," Ryo said in a small voice.
Dee sighed blackly. "Is J.J. the one you're talking about? Did he say he hated you? You have to ignore him, Baby, like I do. Don't let him get under your skin."
"I feel so sorry for him," Ryo admitted.
"So do I, but mostly he just annoys the shit out of me," Dee growled.
"Dee!"
Dee looked down into Ryo's shocked, upturned face. "Sorry," Dee apologized. "He just wears me thin, is all. I don't want him doing that to you too. It isn't your fault he's unhappy. Don't ever start thinking it is. He's the one making himself miserable. He won't move on. He won't find someone else. There's nothing you or I can do about it. He has to figure it out for himself."
Dee let his hand trail from Ryo's cheek down to another cheek entirely. He gently squeezed, kneaded, and then slid his fingers inbetween to softly scratch Ryo's tender bud. Ryo flushed. Dee felt him go warm as Ryo lowered his face and hid it against Dee's chest timidly. Dee kept scratching very, very lightly and then running a calloused fingertip along the tender rim. Ryo squirmed and made a small noise of pleasure, it was half choked as if he were ashamed of himself for liking what Dee was doing to him. He probably was, Dee thought with a smirk.
Ryo suddenly pushed the hand away and Dee grumbled. "I want to talk," Ryo insisted.
"That's not what your body is saying." Dee growled, feeling Ryo's hardness against his leg through Ryo's pajama bottoms. He relented when Ryo's arms tightened around him. Something was really bothering the man, Dee thought in surprise. "Okay, let's talk," Dee sighed and crossed his arms over Ryo comfortingly.
"Daijo bu," Ryo breathed.
"So I can understand," Dee growled.
"All right," Ryo amended. "That new man at the station, the one from the Twelfth, Mark Tye.... remember?"
"Remember?" Dee snorted. "I just had my brains scrambled on some stair treads, Ryo, but.... yeah, I think I remember him. Big guy, dark hair, personality like a Mafia hit man?"
"Yes, that's him," Ryo frowned. "He didn't like you either?"
"I don't think he likes anyone," Dee replied and then frowned. "Did he say something to make you upset, Ryo? Did you get some sort of double whammy today or something, from this guy and J.J.? I know you've always been mister popularity everywhere you've gone, but...."
"J.J. hates me for a reason," Ryo said slowly, painfully, "but Tye... he said..."
"Yeah?" Dee prompted.
"He said he didn't work with fags," Ryo finished with a little tremor in his voice.
"Oh, Baby!" Dee hugged Ryo tight, ignoring his bruises, knowing what Ryo was feeling all too well. "He's just a jerk! You can't let that stuff get to you! You have to learn, right here and now, that what that man hates has nothing to do with you! I grew up knowing what I was and not caring who knew about it. You develop a thick skin after awhile and you realize that they don't know you, Ryo and that people like that don't want to know you. They just want to hate. You're a convenient target."
"So ne," Ryo breathed. "I know it. I do. It just... hurts." He kissed Dee's chest, nuzzled. "I love you, koi. I don't want anyone to think that's dirty or wrong. I don't want to be hated for it. It's... kirei... beautiful."
"Kirei," Dee murmured. "Beautiful, like you, Baby." His hand slipped down Ryo's back again as Ryo began nibbling down Dee's chest with slow, burning hot lips. Dee played with Ryo's bud again, lightly scratching, lightly fingering around the rim until Ryo began to sigh and moan and loosen, then, Dee paused. "Better get something, Baby, or you'll be sore in the morning."
Ryo slipped a small tube of lube into Dee's hand without raising his head. Dee grinned. "You little-" Dee flipped off the cap and squeezed some onto his fingers. "Some day I'm going to know when you're 'in the mood' without signal flares being sent up."
"Don't you like to be surprised?" Ryo asked breathlessly as his hand slipped under the blanket and found Dee's rock hard erection.
Dee half closed his eyes and groaned. "Oh, yeah, I guess I do!"
Dee slipped his lubed fingers between Ryo's round ass cheeks and found the bud again. He teased it, loving the way Ryo shivered. The bud bloomed, opening wide. Waiting for just that moment, Dee, without warning, shoved two thick fingers up to the first joint into Ryo and pushed hard. Ryo rocked with the force and let out a startled yelp, moan.
"Like that surprise, Baby?"
It was a moment before Ryo realized that it had stung for only a second and then it had felt.... "Oh," was all he could say to encompass that feeling of being 'owned' by Dee's two fingers and the intense pleasure they were giving him.
Dee smiled wider and jammed his fingers in and out several times, making a slapping noise against Ryo's ass and causing the man too rock with each thrust. Ryo flinched each time, but not from pain. Dee's fingers were too well lubed for that. Instead, Ryo was feeling an intense, shy, embarrassment commingled with the pleasure. His manhood couldn't help feeling outraged at this possession, but the more submissive side of Ryo was reveling in the control Dee was demonstrating. When Dee pushed down the blanket and showed Ryo the thick, hard erection his hand was wrapped around, Ryo didn't hesitate to swallow it eagerly.
Dee slammed his fingers in and out of Ryo as hard and as deep as he could and then added another level of possession. His free hand took hold of Ryo's balls, gentle, yet firm, as if to keep Ryo from escaping. Ryo sucked and tongue lashed Dee's large erection with abandon, nearly weeping with the embarrassing joy of having Dee take him that way, control him, possess him with love and tenderness and give him the pleasure he would have been too shy to accept any other way. When he felt Dee's mouth on his balls, carefully taking them into warm wetness, Ryo cried out and shuddered. When Dee's tongue began stroking the sensitive flesh, Ryo couldn't take it any longer. He hadn't ever imagined sex like this. It was too much for his timidness. He began trying to extricate himself, not knowing how without hurting himself or Dee.
Dee released Ryo from his mouth with a sigh of regret and pulled his fingers out. "Too fast for you, Baby? S'okay. Don't worry. I shouldn't have given you a taste of sex college when we're still in sex elementary."
Ryo went red to his ears as he rolled away from Dee and gave the man his back, angry suddenly at himself and his own damned inhibitions. It had felt so good! Why couldn't he have enjoyed it instead of acting like some virginal girl? It was a moment before he realized that Dee still had a hand on his balls, holding him there lightly, and that Dee's hard cock, slick with lube, was now against his ass.
Ryo found his libido again and relaxed with a smile. This part he knew. This part he enjoyed. This part even his severe timidness couldn't make him give up. It was the part where he became one with Dee; with the man he loved more than anything in the entire world.
Dee licked Ryo's ear, made a fiery, wet trail inside, and slowly turned Ryo onto his stomach. Hitching Ryo up almost onto his knees, Dee put Ryo's ass into the right position. He paused there, hot body covering Ryo's back, hand leaving Ryo's balls to lock around Ryo's hard on.
Dee was thicker than two fingers. The head of his cock pushed into Ryo's loosened bud. Dee went slow, knowing it, unlike his fingers, could cause real pain if he wasn't careful. Ryo moaned and lifted his hips submissively, taking the full length one inch at a time, until Dee had it buried to the hilt.
"Kirei," Ryo breathed and put his handsome face into the pillow, clenching his hands into the sheets, and readying himself to be gloriously fucked by Dee. "Do it, Dee. Please."
Ryo was tight, despite the lube and the foreplay. Dee's cock was in seventh heaven, drooling, begging, pleading for a good hump in the ass it was buried in. Ryo's long, slender back, pale as moonlight, and his rounded, perfect butt cheeks were eye candy to the extreme. Everything was ready, everything was wanting, Both Dee and Ryo were on fire....
Dee didn't move.
Ryo glanced back at Dee's pale face, embarrassed, needy, his bud flexing around the length buried in him. "Dee?" Ryo choked, stammered, "D-Do you w-want me to... to do it for you?" He gave a shy, experimentally push back with his ass.
Dee lost his balance and sat back, pulling Ryo back with him until Ryo was sitting in his lap, still connected by that eager, swollen flesh... only it was beginning to soften and retreat.
"I feel dizzy," Dee complained and put a hand to his head. "Like I'm gonna-"
Dee passed out.
Dee came to again stretched out in bed with the blankets pulled up to his chin. Ryo was fussing nearby, rattling things on a tray. He was wearing a robe now and his beautiful features were scowling in annoyance.
"Sorry, Baby," Dee whispered.
Ryo started. He sat on the edge of the bed and touched Dee's face while he looked into Dee's green eyes. "Sorry?"
"You didn't finish," Dee clarified. He tried to sit up, but the room spun and he relaxed into the pillow again.
"Dee! You have a concussion! You passed out cold! I'm not even thinking about that anymore!" Ryo exclaimed indignantly. "I called the hospital, but they said you'd be fine and to stress to you the importance of rest." Ryo looked guilty. "I knew better. I'm the one who's supposed to be in control of himself."
"Stop!" Dee groaned. "No guilt trips right now, okay? I wanted to do it just as much as you." He rubbed at his eyes. "Guess I'll have to give you a rain check. Damn! And I thought having a few days off was going to be fun!"
"Not very," Ryo stood up again and paced. "I still have a case to crack and now my only witness is dead. Rose wants results soon."
"And you can't disappoint him, right?" Dee retorted sarcastically.
"He is our boss," Ryo replied. "Stop being jealous. You're insulting me by thinking that he has any kind of chance with-"
"Oh, Baby!' Dee groaned in anguish. "You just don't know about some guys! I know I can trust you. I know you don't want him. It's only that some guys get what they want regardless."
Ryo looked down at Dee lovingly. "I know," he said softly and smiled. "I know that very well." He leaned down and claimed a kiss.
J.J. pushed his safety glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, raised his rifle, and aimed carefully. The squeezing of the trigger was an almost Zen like experience, a gathering of mind and body; the control of every movement and breath. The headphones muffled the sound of the rifle report. J.J.'s arm jerked and then he was lowering his rifle as someone pushed the button to bring the target close to them. Almost dead center, but not quite. J.J. sighed an backed up as his fellow detectives clapped him on the back sympathetically. He was a good shot, but this wasn't his day.
Barkley grinned at him. "That's okay, J.J. It's the rest of these lunkheads that need the practice to be even a tenth as good as you!"
J.J. smiled back as he gave up his place to Mark Tye. Everyone gathered close in the confined shooting range, wanting to see how well the new man did. Tye had already done some boasting. He sneered at J.J. and said, "I'll show you how a man does it, pretty boy."
Barkley narrowed his eyes. He had been leaning against a wall, big arms crossed over his wide chest, but now he was standing and looking out over his glasses at Tye. Anyone who knew the Head, recognized that stance. Tye was in for it.
Oblivious, Tye raised his weapon, an evil looking black rifle that barely looked legal. A dozen pair of eyes appraised it suspiciously, but nobody could find fault with it as Tye took careful aim. He fired. The target was brought forward. His bullet had nipped the center. Closer than J.J.'s. The man was pleased as he backed up to let Ryo in. "Let's see you beat that, little fag!"
J.J. gaped as did a few others. One or two smirked, maybe feeling the same way about 'perfect' Ryo as Tye did. It was Ryo's expression that startled J.J. the most. The man suddenly looked as if he were five years old and had been unexpectedly slapped. Ryo's eyes grew round and dark. His face went pale and then flushed beat red.
Tye looked like a complete brute, hands clenched on his gun as if he fully intended to bash Ryo over the head with it. J.J. felt an overwhelming emotion, an urge to protect Ryo. He had always hated when Dee had done that, forever smoothing the way for his Japanese American beauty and defending him against everything and everyone. J.J. had considered it coddling Ryo, spoiling him, acting as if the man were some sort of girl who couldn't handle a fight on his own. Now, J.J. understood. Ryo might be a competent detective when it came down to it, but deep down, he was a child; a gentle, innocent child!
Tye's remark had hit Ryo unexpectedly, shredding his self confidence all in an instant. It was clear that Ryo didn't know what to do or say in response. He continued to stand in confusion, dwarfed by Tye as the brute thoroughly enjoyed his fright and anguish.
"Consider yourself on report, Detective Tye," Barkley said, his firm words dropping into the silence like rocks.
"Go ahead and shoot, Ryo," J.J. urged, eager to break that embarrassing dead lock any way he could. "Show him what you can do."
Ryo's dark eyes dragged away from Tye and fell on J.J. He swallowed hard as he tightened his grip on his rifle. J.J. gave him a shaky smile and Ryo seemed to take strength from that. The color faded from his cheeks and his lips thinned. He gave one, short, nod of determination, the man, Ryo coming back with a vengeance.
Everyone fell silent expectantly as Ryo lifted his rifle to his shoulder and took aim. J.J. held his breath, watching the man fall almost into a trance as he sighted his target and carefully relaxed. Very slowly, Ryo fired, not one shot, but three in succession.
"Trying to cover up your poor shot?" Tye barked in satisfied amusement. Ryo looked over his shoulder and glared as he punched the button that brought the target in close. J.J. leaned out and then whistled in amazement. There was only one hole in the target. All three bullets had passed neatly through dead center.
Ryo flipped the safety back on his rifle and walked through the men, quiet, yet dignified as he passed Tye. He didn't say anything, that wasn't Ryo's style. It was obvious that he had won the match. Instead, he went to a counter and began methodically cleaning his rifle in preparation to put it back in its case.
"Guess he showed you!" Dreig guffawed and slapped Tye on a big shoulder in a friendly fashion, trying to show that he was trying to be funny rather than mean. "You'll have to practice with the rest of us grunts to get as good as that!"
J.J. saw the expression on Tye's face when everyone else was turning away to pack up their gear and return to work. It wasn't just ugly, it was almost evil. J.J. felt a shiver run down his spine. There was something.... wrong about Tye, something very wrong.
"Oh, hello, Dee."
J.J. pricked up his ears. He was in the men's dressing room, standing among the lockers as he toweled himself off from his workout in the station gym. The trickle and gurgle of a shower being turned off punctuated a sigh from Ryo. J.J. eavesdropped on the one side of the conversation he could hear.
"How did you know I would be in the men's shower?"
"Ha, ha, because I most certainly wouldn't have been in the women's!"
J.J. bit down on a grin. Dee could be so funny. That's part of why he loved the man.
"Am I that predictable? I didn't realize that I took a shower the same time every day."
"Yes, leave it up to you to notice, Dee."
"What am I doing?"
"I'm wet and shivering with a cell phone in my hand!"
"Soap up and make noises? Do shite no, Dee! I will not!"
"You had better be in bed, Dee!"
"You don't sound like you are. What's that noise in the background? It sounds like traffic. The television? Is Bicky there? Oh, out
with Cal? That boy hardly comes home anymore. Yeah, I know, he thinks the street's his home. You have to be nicer to him, convince him otherwise."
"What? I will not! Naze da? You can't see me. Kowaku nai ya, Dee! I am not afraid, it's just ridiculous! What if someone..... ahh, koi. Aishite iru. I will always love you... even though you are a monstrous pervert!"
J.J. suddenly wondered what his rival looked like all over. Ryo was shy. He always showered later than everyone else on the same shift. J.J. had never had the chance... He finished tying his shoelace and slowly began moving to the end of the row of lockers. It was then that a big hand locked on his shoulder and stopped him.
Ryo was finding a similarly large hand on his own shoulder. Before he could react, Tye was kicking Ryo in the gut and forcing him down to the wet tile floor of the shower stall. Ryo sprawled hard, the air knocked out of him. He gasped, feeling numb, as Tye handcuffed his wrists to his ankles with two sets of handcuffs.
The cell phone was tumbled into a corner, forgotten; the power light glowing red.
"Think you're better than me, don't you?" Tye was saying loudly. Ryo looked up blearily at the man, saw him clenching and unclenching large fists. Something very ugly was about to happen, Ryo felt, and it was going to happen to him.
"Don't do this," Ryo begged. He didn't struggle against the cuffs. There wasn't any point. "You're in a building full of police officers. You won't get away with this. Someone's bound to come in-"
"Oh, I locked the door," Tye told Ryo with a dark grin. "No one's going to bother us and no one's going to know it was me. No one ever figures out it's me. I'm too smart. I'm better than they are." His eyes glazed and his mouth trembled with a mad palsy. "Yeah, they always think they're better than me... better car, better girlfriend, better clothes.... better shot." He gave Ryo a kick in the side. Ryo grunted. "You think you're better than me too, don't you, fag? Hell, you let guys do you and you still think you're better than me! I see that Commissioner Rose panting after your butt and that bean pole Latener, he LIVES with you and does you all the time, doesn't he? Do you get together with Rose and let them both do you, fag?"
Ryo heard Tye walking away. He strained to look up from his awkward, bound position, hoping that the man had just wanted to frighten him and now was going away, game over. He cringed when he saw Tye walking back carrying a broom. With one swift motion, the man broke the broom in half and threw one half away with a clatter. Tye grinned as he held the smooth end and pointed the ragged broken end at Ryo's face.
"Rivalry between boy fuckers can lead to the prize getting messed up, even killed sometimes. They're going to think it was Rose, Latener, or even that little queer J.J. who did this to you," Tye said in a weird tone that was both vicious and chuckling at the same time. "You like things up your ass. Let's try this for size."
"You killed Carmichael, didn't you?" Ryo asked suddenly. His voice was demanding of an answer, but his eyes were riveted on that broom handle, his blood ice and his body cringing and wanting a place to crawl and hide. "You killed those other people as well, the ones we found near the station. That's why you transferred here. You wanted a fresh killing ground. Your old one was probably getting too cluttered with bodies. You were afraid of being discovered."
Tye had paused, his face frowning as he looked down at Ryo. "You're good, little fag. You figured all that out."
"It's true then?"
"Yeah, it's true." Tye touched the sharp end of the broom handle and his eyes glittered. "Carmichael was going to rat on me and the others... they deserved it. They though they were better than me. I had to teach them different."
"You killed those people. In cold blood," Ryo persisted as if he needed to get it straight in his head before he met his own gruesome end. "Grunden, Cherien, Falsy, Huvenke, Lomar, Irenbe, and Carmichael."
"Yesss," Tye hissed. "In cold blood, too, but you forgot Yardley and Peterson. Can't forget them. They were the worst. They especially had to pay. They were my first paybacks. Rich, beautiful women... Neither of them would go on a date with me. They said I was too ugly and poor. Bitches!" Tye calmed himself with an effort as he brought his attention back to Ryo. "Randy, Randy, Randy," he crooned. "What a good name for a pretty thing like you. Try not to squeal to much, pretty Randy, or I'll have to beat you unconscious."
J.J. had waited long enough. He jerked his arm out of Barkley's hold and began running from the cover of the lockers. He stopped short. Someone else had arrived before him. Dee Latener was standing next to Tye, one hand wrapped around the stick in Tye's hands and his other holding a gun to Tye's forehead. Tye's eyes were rolled sideways, his mouth open in surprise and fear.
Dee's wild, black hair was in his eyes and those eyes were green fire. His face was a mixture of hate, anger, and anguish, his lean body tensed and poised for violence. "KEY!" He shouted at Tye and his voice echoed off the tile walls. Tye fumbled in his clothes and pulled out a very small key. Without turning, Dee tossed the key to J.J. "Free him!"
J.J. kneeled by Ryo. A small part of his mind noted that Ryo WAS beautiful all over as he unlocked the handcuffs. The larger part of his mind was clenched with concern for the gentle detective, expecting to be met with trauma and shock. He was surprised when Ryo sat up on the wet floor and rubbed at his wrists, looking levelly at Dee without much betraying his stress except for a pale face and a tight mouth.
"Dee," Ryo said.
Dee didn't look at his partner. "Did he hurt you, Baby?"
"No." Ryo tried again. "Dee."
"He's going to pay!" Dee snarled and his finger tensed on the trigger of his gun.
Everyone was frozen, except for Barkley. Barkley drew his own gun and pointed it at Dee. "Latener. You know I'll do it," he said.
"Ryo was never in any danger. We set Tye up."
J.J.'s mouth fell open. "Y-You set this up?"
"The Twelfth suspected Detective Tye of murder," Ryo explained. He was huddled to protect his modesty, but his face was grim, his dark eyes still riveted on Dee, hoping for sanity from his lover. "They couldn't prove it. He was too good. When he transferred here, the Twelfth asked Commissioner Rose to tag him. When Tye showed such a dislike for me at the shooting match, Rose took me aside and asked me to be the bait." Ryo colored and wrapped his arms around his knees, shivering a little. "I didn't think I was in danger in the shower though, in the middle of a police station. I thought he would wait until I left for the day. That was his M.O. He tailed his victims as they headed for the subway and killed them at the nearest isolated spot inbetween."
Dee suddenly jerked the stick out of Tye's hands and threw it away from them. It slammed and clattered against a wall. "You must really have hated Ryo to do this," Dee snarled. "Killing's too good for you. I want you to rot in jail for a long, long time! Handcuff him and get him out of here. J.J., before I change my mind!"
J.J. paused and looked at Ryo, the man he had thought he hated. Naked, shivering, vulnerable, his professional demeanor was beginning to slip. Tye had frightened him and he was trying very hard not to show it so that Dee would calm down.
J.J. suddenly went to a stack of towels and brought one to Ryo. He draped it about the shivering man. Ryo looked up with the eyes of a child, hurt and needing... needing Dee; Dee's strength, Dee's reassurance, and Dee's love. J.J. loved Dee, but he didn't need Dee like that. It was pure love, that look on Ryo's face and... when J.J. took a set of handcuffs from the floor and approached Dee and Tye, J.J. saw the same look on Dee's face when the man glanced over at his partner.
Ryo needed Dee's strength and Dee needed to give it. Two halves of the same coin. Yin and Yang. True love? J.J. wanted to deny it. He had fought too long to have Dee for himself, but, at that moment, he couldn't remember to feel that way.
"Ryo needs you," J.J. whispered to Dee as he handcuffed Tye and began taking him away. Dee looked at J.J. in surprise, but he didn't question him as he holstered his gun and went to crouch by Ryo.
Tye seemed stunned that things had fallen apart so badly. He straightened all at once and spat out. "Damn fags! I'll get out an get you in the end! You won't be able to make this stick! Who's going to believe any of you? I'll just tell them you were jealous of me for being better than you and you made everything up to discredit me."
"Shut up!" J.J. growled.
Barkley smiled and it was satisfied; a job well done. He held up a small device in his hand. "Digital camera and mic. As soon as I knew what was going on I patched you to the police monitoring station. Everything is on tape, Mark Tye."
Tye was furious. He struggled, but J.J. had a hold on him and he forced the man to walk out of the door of the dressing room and down the hallway. The man shouted obscenities the entire way and they echoed back to them as Barkley came to stand by Dee and Ryo.
"How did you get the door unlocked?" Barkley wanted to know.
Dee had his hands around Ryo now and Ryo was shivering against him. "Hm? Oh, uh, I always keep lock picks on me; product of a misspent youth."
"Ah," Barkley scowled, beginning to see the same thing that J.J. had and not liking it one bit. "I want you to know that Ryo was never in any danger. J.J. almost blew my cover, and, I admit, I had a time keeping him quiet, but I was always alert to the situation between Tye and Ryo."
"You can't ask me to like the fact that my partner was trussed with handcuffs, naked, on a shower floor," Dee snarled back. His green eyes lifted to skewer Rose. "and threatened with a broom handle!"
"I didn't ask you to like it," Rose snarled back. "Danger comes with the job. Ryo agreed-"
"He didn't agree to that!"
"Urasai!" Ryo shouted suddenly and they both looked down at him. "Shut up, the both of you! Dee, why are you here in the first place? You were supposed to be in bed!"
Dee leaned sideways and picked Ryo's cell phone out of a puddle of water. He showed it to Ryo and turned the power off . "I was feeling good. I was on my way here to surprise you and have dinner with you. I didn't expect to get a show first. My phone is back in the hallway. I threw it against the wall... I couldn't listen any more after he started saying... saying those things to you, Ryo."
"It's all right, Dee," Ryo assured him and hugged him close for a moment, then, he gathered himself and said. "Can I, uh, get dressed now? It's freezing in here!"
"Do that," Rose said. "I'll need you to stay and write a report so we can book Tye as quickly as possible."
"Hey!" Dee exclaimed, straightening and confronting Rose. "He's just been through a lot!"
"He's a detective!" Rose snarled, fists clenched. "He knows his job. Do you?"
"Urasai!" Ryo shouted again. They separated, jaws clenching. "I DO know my job and I WILL be staying to write a report, Dee. I'm upset, I won't lie, but I'll be less upset with Tye in the lock up and my report filed."
Ryo stood up. His knees were shaky. He swallowed hard and firmed them as he faced the two men, rivals in every sense of the word. "I've had enough of hate for one day... maybe a lifetime," Ryo told them. "I'm going to dress. If you guys want to continue... take it outside."
Ryo wrapped the towel around himself and pushed past the two men to go to his locker. The two men glared at each other. Rose was the first to speak.
"Partners get close, sometimes too close," Rose said. "Maybe I should have separated you two when you became lovers. It's affecting your judgment, Latener."
"You take too many chances," Dee replied. "Even if Ryo were someone else, even J.J., I would be upset. You should have put a stop to it as soon as Tye decided to handcuff Ryo nude. ANYTHING could have happened. You didn't even have backup. You didn't call anyone, did you? It was just an accident that J.J. and me showed up. What would you have done if you had gone to help Ryo and Tye had pulled this on you?" Dee lifted a gun, with an attached silencer, he had been concealing in his coat. "What would you have done, commissioner, with a bullet in your head? Tye really hated Ryo. He was wasn't going to let anyone stop him from killing him." Dee handed the gun to a stunned Rose. "He went for this as soon as he knew I was there. If I hadn't been ready for trouble, maybe we'd all be dead now."
Rose looked down at the gun and popped out the full clip.
Dee said knowingly. "You wanted to get close to Ryo by working this case together. You probably thought you'd rescue him when things got sticky, didn't you, and that he'd fall for you, big strong, blonde Barkley Rose, in gratitude. I think Ryo is the one affecting your judgment Rose, not mine."
Rose glared. "Get your report filed too, Latener," he replied sharply. "and don't leave out the moment where you almost blew away our suspect."
Dee stared back, mouth clenching together into a thin line as he kept choice words behind his lips. Finally, he said simply. "I didn't though, did I?"
Rose made a low growling noise and stalked out of the dressing room.
Dee relaxed almost at once. "Hah! Last word, Dee Latener!"
Coming around the lockers, Dee found Ryo sitting on a bench in front of his open locker. He was dressed all but for one shoe. That was poised in one hand, his foot lifted and resting over one knee in preparation. He was frozen like that, honey hair a soft fall over his bowed head, eyes narrowed and serious.
Dee sat beside Ryo and put a careful arm around his shoulders. He pulled Ryo tight against him and kissed the top of his head lovingly. "What's wrong, Baby?" Stupid thing to ask, he thought, but it was a start.
"I don't think J.J. hates me anymore," Ryo replied softly.
Dee frowned. "He never really did, Ryo. He's just... frustrated that he can't have what he wants."
"Yes, I think you're right." Ryo finished putting on his shoe and lowered his foot to the floor. "It really hurt me when Tye called me... you know, a-a fag and said that he hated me. You said, 'he doesn't know you. It's not you he hates.' That didn't sink in until now. Tye hated our love for one another. He hated my skill. He hated so much, he wanted to blame and kill me for it, yet he didn't even know who I was. He didn't bother. It didn't matter to him. I was just an easy target."
Dee was hurting for Ryo, wanting to smooth his lover's troubled face and banish the entire, terrible incident. "It doesn't stop here, you know," Dee said with a sigh. "There are probably going to be more jerks like Tye, not happy with two guys loving each other. It comes with the territory. You, my love, have to learn to have a thicker skin, to know how to respond to creeps like that, and to understand that it's not your fault; that kind of hate." He gave Ryo a hard eye. "And you have to learn to say no to Commissioner Rose when he orders you to do stunts like this one."
"I agreed to it," Ryo argued.
"Did you?" Dee scowled. "I thought you had more common sense. I think it's more likely that you were raw from Tye messing with you and Rose played on that like a banjo. Come on, Ryo," Dee said as he pulled Ryo to his feet and headed for the door. "Repeat after me.... No, Commissioner Rose, I will not join in your hair brained scheme."
"Dee!" Ryo complained.
"I'll order take out from that pizza place next door, okay?" Dee suggested. Ryo nodded shakily at the change of subject, but then Dee was back to it. "I want to hear you say it, Ryo, loud and clear. No, Mr. Commissioner Rose, I will not let you stick your tongue down my throat."
"Dee! Do shite no! Jo dan iwa naide!"
"Can't understand you!" Dee said with a firm hand on Ryo's elbow as he led him down the hallway. "The only thing I will understand right now is you saying, "No, Commissioner Rose, I do not want to make love to you, get your hand off my crotch."
"Dee!" Ryo puffed up, went red in the face, and then laughed as he began to repeat Dee's last phrase.
Barkley Rose, talking to an officer in a side office, heard Ryo as they walked by. He scowled at first and then he smiled, hearing Ryo's sweet, timid voice say that outrageous phrase. Until that moment, Rose had been afraid that he HAD gone too far. That lost, wide eyed, frightened look he had seen on Ryo's face, as he had sat naked on the shower floor, had wrenched Rose's heart. To hear him laugh, to know that the man was going to all right, relieved Rose completely. Go ahead and laugh, he thought, still grinning, and you too, Dee Latener. Make one mistake with that beautiful man, and I'll be the one by his side making him laugh. Count on it!
***Owari***