Disclaimer: Don't own them and don't make any money off of this.
Warnings: Male/male sex. Violent. Graphic. Very icky murder. If you are easily disturbed, do not read this!!! Lastly, mediocre grasp of Japanese. This is a fantasy, please fantasize really hard that my Japanese is good. ^_^
Thanks to everyone who sent me the nice birthday letters and gifties. ^_^
Support a starving artist, buy Kracken's book, the Storm, at Amazon.com, under Della Boynton. If you already have, I LOVE YOU! *SMOOCH*
"I can finish the questioning," Dee suggested cautiously. He was leaning up against the wall, coffee mug gripped in one hand and contents growing cold. Ryo was sitting before him in a plastic chair, hands hanging limply between his legs and head bowed. Those hands were shaking very slightly. Dee noted it with worry.
"I can do my job," Ryo replied quietly as he looked up at Dee. His tone was angry, but his black eyes were soft and sad, his beautiful face pale under his honey brown hair.
"Not if you're upset," Dee pointed out, knowing he couldn't give Ryo a break and hating the circumstances that were forcing him to be unsympathetic. "You need to be sharp and focused in there. If you can't put aside your personal reaction to the suspect, then I'm going to have to put you off the case."
"I can handle it," Ryo snapped.
Dee straightened and put his mug aside on a table. He bent and looked into Ryo's eyes. "Like you just did back there? I could see that you were ready to go ballistic when he said that he didn't care that those girls were dead, that their mothers were sluts and they were probably going to be sluts too."
Ryo dropped his face into his hands and let out a shuddering breath. "Dee... I'm sorry. You know and I know that he raped and cut up those little girls. You can see it in his eyes. I've seen it enough times to know."
"That isn't your call," Dee snarled back and gripped Ryo hard by the shoulders. "Your job is to gather evidence and to question witnesses and suspects. A court of law decides whether Mr. Jenson is guilty."
"The way he smiles...," Ryo shivered under Dee's touch. He slid his hands off of his face as if he were wiping off tears and looked at Dee intensely. "He knows we won't find anything."
"He thinks he knows," Dee corrected sourly. "He doesn't know what good detectives we are."
Ryo took a deep breath and stood up. "I can do this, Dee. It's my job."
"I trust you," Dee replied, but, deep down, he was thinking 'Please, don't disappoint me.' It became a mantra as they walked down the hallway and opened the door to the room where their suspected killer was being held for questioning.
He was lounging in his chair, hand wrapped around a Styrofoam cup of coffee as if it held something precious. He was staring down into the cup with a cruel, tight, expression. He looked up when Dee and Ryo entered and his face smoothed out into an engaging smile.
"Hey, boys, back so soon?" Jenson said good naturedly.
"Just a few more questions, Mr. Jenson, and then you can go,' Dee assured him automatically. He turned a wooden chair around and straddled it, arms resting on the back as he reached to turn on a recorder. Ryo settled in the chair beside him with a pen and a notebook. He had his legs crossed and his arms were drawn close against his body, his dark eyes riveted on Jenson.
"Whatever," Jenson sighed and lounged in his chair confidently. He was around forty, heavyset, balding, and heavy in the jowl. He had a seedy smell to him and his clothes were as nondescript as he was, plain tee shirt and a pair of tan pants.
He worked as a general laborer and he didn't have any priors. Because of that, holding him after questioning wasn't an option.
"I need to know your whereabouts at eight forty five, January the ninth," Dee asked in a level, non threatening tone.
"Home, watching television," Jenson answered simply.
"Any witnesses to that?" Dee pressed.
"No, but then, I don't need any," Jenson replied, smiling even wider.
Dee didn't frown to that, he just nodded as if Jenson were perfectly correct. "We have a neighbor that says he saw you speaking with one of the victims, Tanya Ruella, the night before the murder. He told us that Tanya had looked upset and that you had seemed to be restraining her when he approached."
Jenson shrugged. "She was making a lot of noise in the hallway," he replied. "Other people will tell you that. I was just telling her to be quiet."
"All right," Dee replied. He leaned to look at Ryo's notes. Ryo's fingers were tense on his pencil. He hadn't written much. Dee caught one word before he turned his attention back to Jenson. Liar. "I'm afraid, since you were seen with the victim, that we will have to search your apartment and your car. I would like your permission to do that."
"Sure, "Jenson agreed without hesitation. "Do what you want."
Dee hadn't been ready for that quick of a response. It almost made him wonder if they had the right man. Jenson seemed too calm, too confident. A search threat should at least have made him nervous.
Jenson waved his cup at Dee. "Could you get me some more coffee please?"
Dee glanced at Ryo, who was staring hard at his notepad. "Sure," Dee said and took the cup. "I'll be right back."
"Thanks." Jenson said pleasantly, but, as soon as Dee left the room, he reached over and turned off the recorder. Ryo looked up with a frown. "Don't want to waste tape," Jenson said simply.
Ryo nodded noncommittally. Jenson stared at him and then leaned forward a little towards him. Ryo blinked at the sudden change in Jenson's face. The look was a lamb suddenly turning into a wolf.
"You don't like me, do you?" Jenson wondered, knowing the answer already. He went on, not waiting for the obvious denial. "You think I did it, don't you? You think I killed those sweet little girls? You think I pulled off their clothes, ran my hands over their smooth skin, kissed their luscious lips, and spread their-"
"Urusai! Shut up, you filthy...!" Ryo surged out of his chair. It toppled over as he reached across the table after Jenson. A body blocked him, coffee and Styrofoam falling and splattering everyone with hot liquid.
Dee glared into Ryo's eyes. "You are dismissed from the case, Detective McLain."
"Shit!" Jenson was cursing and wiping at his coffee splattered shirt. "I'm going to sue. I need a doctor! I'm burned!" He pointed a stiff finger at Ryo. "I want his badge! He's a nut case! He jumped me for no reason!"
Ryo's face twisted in anger. Dee felt him tense against his blocking arm.
"You are dismissed, Ryo!" he barked, hating to do it, knowing that Ryo probably had been given enough reason to try and beat Jenson, but also knowing that he should have been able to control himself too. There wasn't any excuse and he couldn't give one to Ryo now. "I'll finish the interview," he told Ryo, but Jenson was storming out of the door.
"This is finished!' Jenson shouted. "I'm not cooperating any more! Get a damned search warrant too! I'm not letting crazy people like you guys into my place."
Jenson was gone, still shouting, calling for another officer to complain. Dee dropped his arm and sank into his chair. Ryo started to say something, but Dee held up a hand.
"Don't say anything, Baby," Dee growled. "I don't want to hear it right now."
"Would you like to tell me what happened in there, McLain?" Rose said as he tossed the report to one side. He pushed his glasses up with one finger and then leaned back in his padded chair, staring at Ryo across his wide expanse of oak desk. The big, blonde commissioner knew what was coming, had been waiting for the day patiently. Now that it was here, he felt a sense of disappointment in the handsome man seated before him. He had always secretly hoped that Ryo would avoid burning out, yet it had been inevitable. The man simply cared too much.
Ryo didn't respond as the professional he was, instead he fiddled with his fingers in his lap, looking down at them instead of at Rose. He looked like a little, lost boy, Rose thought, someone who's gentle naivete had taken one blow too many.
"He purposefully provoked me," Ryo said at last, very tense and very quiet. "He said that I hated him, that I thought that he had committed those murders. He said sickening, disgusting things... he wanted me to get angry, lose control. He wanted to be able walk out of there with the police force in the wrong."
"And you allowed him to get away with that," Rose replied. "You threatened him with physical harm. I don't have any choice but to file this report of Dee's and, I might add, you fully deserve it. Because of your inability to control yourself, that man is walking free, the police force is trying to defend itself against a lawsuit, and any further investigation will only seem like harassment. I'm sure Jenson will make sure that the press hears all about this. They'll be his shield, making a stink whenever he wants to tell them that we're bothering him." He eyed Ryo over the top of his glasses. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"He would have gone free anyway," Ryo said and his hands fisted together.
"Sorry?" Rose started angrily.
Ryo looked up and his dark eyes seemed sunken and full of despair. "We didn't have any evidence. There wasn't going to be any. Jenson was walking out of here, no matter what I did. He'll be stealing another little girl out of her home, tonight, and he'll be 'playing' with her and burying her by morning. You know that and I know that. It happens too many times and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of seeing them laugh and go about their business, beasts in men's clothing."
Ryo wiped at his face and stood up.
"I'm tired of being the bad guy instead of them," Ryo continued as he dug into his pocket and brought out his ID wallet. He flipped it onto Rose's desk. "I won't be blamed for being human, for having feelings, for hating someone like him."
Rose's face was impassive. He took hold of Ryo's badge and turned it so that the light flashed across it. He gestured with it at Ryo. "This is a detective's badge, not a badge of jury, judge, and executioner. You don't have any evidence that Jenson is the killer. You said it yourself."
"You don't like me, do you?" Ryo repeated Jenson's words from memory, face tight and pale, "You think I did it, don't you? You think I killed those sweet little girls? You think I pulled off their clothes, ran my hands over their smooth skin, kissed their luscious lips, and spread their-" Ryo shivered, but he faced Rose squarely. "That's what he said to me, sir, verbatim."
Rose felt sick to his stomach. It took him a moment to rally his resolve, his resolve to make sure that things were done by the book and that the law was followed. "It wasn't an admission of guilt, Ryo," he replied as calmly as he could. "He didn't admit to anything. Even if he had, that still doesn't give you the right to assault him. This isn't going to change my mind about filing this report."
"I didn't expect it to," Ryo told him. "I meant it as a reason for my resignation from the force. I-I can't take this anymore. When I was just a citizen, I didn't know... I never heard about any of these kinds of cases. I didn't know that monsters like Jenson walked around in daylight and did what they wanted in sight of the law. I think-I think I want my ignorance back. "
"You are not making any sense," Rose sighed and sat back in his chair again. "You need a few weeks leave." He tossed Ryo back his badge. "Think about things and visit the staff psychologist. I won't take a resignation from you until you do." His voice softened. "Come on, Ryo, do as I say. You know it's the right thing to do."
"The right thing?" Ryo wondered. "When Jenson said those terrible things to me, at that moment, I thought the right thing was to cripple him. I thought it would be very hard for him to murder and rape little girls from a wheel chair. Is someone who thinks like that the kind of person that you want on your force?"
"Ryo McLain is the person I want on my force," Rose replied. "This person in front of me isn't him. I want you to take a few weeks and see if you can find him for me, because that man was a damned good detective."
Ryo took his badge back and shoved it into his pocket. He gave Rose a haunted look as he headed for the door. Before he went through it, Rose felt a chill as he said. "I may never find him, sir."
"He didn't read the newspaper?" Dee asked as he tightened his tie and looked down at the folded newspaper on the kitchen table.
"No, and he didn't watch the morning news either!" Bicky replied. The blonde, blue eyed, African-American boy looked anxiously towards the fire escape. Ryo was seated out there, back turned to them. "He made his tea, heated up a muffin, and sat his ass down out there. He's still in his bathrobe, man! That's not like him at all! It's weirding me out! Why isn't he going to work?"
"Why aren't you going to school?" Dee growled back as he picked up the newspaper and unfolded it. He scanned a headline and his jaw tightened. "Get going, Bicky. Ryo and me have to do some grown up talk."
Bicky glared at Dee and tightened his grip on his books as if he were seriously thinking of throwing them at Dee's head. "If you're the one who's messed him up..."
"Not this time," Dee snapped and made an impatient gesture. "Everything's fine, Bicky. Don't worry about Ryo. Get to school. Now!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Bicky snarled, but he was moving towards the front door. He paused with his hand on the knob and said without turning, "He didn't look good, Dee. He wasn't acting like himself at all. I want Ryo to be Ryo when I get home."
"Me too," Dee said, softening his tone and sighing. "Go on. Let me see what I can do."
Bicky nodded and reluctantly accepted that.
As the door closed behind Bicky, Dee turned and walked to the balcony with the newspaper still in one hand. Slipping through the window, the old fire escape made metallic noises under the heels of his shoes as he approached Ryo.
Ryo turned his head only slightly and said, "Ohayo, Dee." A small acknowledgement of Dee's presence. Ryo's real attention was on the street below and the busy people going about their morning business. He was very close to the rail, sitting on his wooden chair, tea and saucer in one hand and an uneaten muffin balanced on one knee.
"So," Dee said, struggling to find something to say to the disheveled, distracted man before him. "Going to just relax today?"
Ryo frowned. "I need to find a job. I'll make some calls today."
Dee crouched next to Ryo's chair. Ryo looked down at him, blinking and confused. "I think you need to talk to the staff psychologist, Ryo."
Ryo became suddenly angry. "Why? Because I decided to change jobs? People do that every day, Dee. It is not a sign of instability."
"Ryo, you know it's more than that. I think you have a bad case of shell shock." Dee put a hand on Ryo's knee and squeezed a little. "We had a string of bad cases. You're feeling like you're not making a difference, that people are getting away from justice."
"Aren't they?" Ryo replied in a pained voice, looking down at the street again. "How many murderers, rapists, and child molesters are walking free down there among those unsuspecting people? How many are criminals we couldn't catch, couldn't get enough evidence on, couldn't keep in jail because they were given slaps on the wrist and let go? How many, Dee?"
Dee looked down at the street as well, unable not to think about it. He shook himself and straightened. He unfolded the newspaper. "It's true that they get away sometimes, Ryo, but at least one is still on the street because you couldn't control yourself, because you didn't do your job right." He spread out the paper in front of Ryo's face. He knew what it said, knew that Ryo was reading it. CHILD FOUND MURDERED, SUSPECTED RAPE AND TORTURE MUTILATION. It hid Ryo's face from him. Dee had to take a deep breath before he lowered the paper again and looked to see how it was effecting his partner, his lover.
Ryo was white, stone faced, stunned. A shaking hand slowly raised to his mouth and covered it. Dee didn't relent, didn't pull his punches.
"If you had gone by the book. If you had followed the law," Dee said, "We would be searching Jenson's apartment right now, not waiting for a backlogged judge to sign a search warrant. He wouldn't be having his own sweet time to mop up the evidence, he wouldn't be packing his bags now and probably going into hiding. I'm sure, after I get my warrant and show up at his place, he'll be long gone. He wanted a reason to refuse the search without looking suspicious. You gave him that reason on a silver platter."
Ryo's shaking hand rose to cover his face now. He curled up in on himself and his tea and muffin clattered to the metal fire escape. The cup and saucer shattered and the muffin did a slow roll off the side and down to the street below.
"You want to run and hide from reality," Dee persisted, hating himself, hating what he had to say, but knowing that Ryo absolutely had to hear it. "You can't pretend people like that aren't out there, Ryo. You can't turn your back on those unsuspecting people down there and let killers like Jenson have an open feeding ground, because a few cases didn't go your way; because a few criminals didn't get what they deserved. The world isn't perfect. You're not perfect. I'm certainly not perfect, Ryo. There is no such thing as a hundred percent. We can only try to get as many as we can."
"I'm so tired, Dee!" Ryo shouted from behind his hand. He reached out with his other and clutched at Dee's coat, pulling him in close. Dee bent over him, wrapped arms around his shaking shoulders, and kissed the top of his golden-brown hair. "I know I screwed up," Ryo continued, voice muffled against Dee. "I know I can't say I'm sorry. I just... I just couldn't stand there and let him say those things... let Jenson go without doing- without doing something! If you had heard him ! If you had seen the look on his face! I'm so tired of it! I'm tired of looking killers in the eye and trying to tell myself that I'm winning against them. It's a lie most times... too many times. Too many times, Dee!"
Dee closed his eyes tight. He hadn't realized just how deep Ryo had fallen. It was too deep. He knew that he couldn't pull Ryo to safety by himself. Ryo needed help that he, Dee, couldn't give.
Dee pulled back and cupped Ryo's chin. He raised Ryo's face until they were looking into each other's eyes. Ryo's eyes were full of tears and pain and a bone deep hurt. "I'm going to make an appointment with the staff psychologist, Ryo, and you will go, do you understand? If you can't put the stack of cases you solved beside the stack of cases you didn't and see what a difference you are making, then this is very serious."
He almost thought that Ryo would refuse, that he would try to pretend, again, that nothing was wrong, that his decision to quit the force and hide from reality was sensible. Dee's blunt summation of the Jenson case, the new murder possibly linked to him, and Ryo's own guilt turned the tide. Ryo nodded stiffly.
Dee let him go. "I have to go to work now, Ryo. Take it easy today."
Ryo nodded again. As Dee turned to go, Ryo said tentatively. "It's my fault that girl died last night, isn't it? How can a few trips to a psychologist atone for that?"
Dee felt a stabbing pain in the vicinity of his heart. He didn't trust himself to turn back, he was afraid of losing control. Ryo needed him to be tough, to be strong, to bring him back to duty and sanity. Coddling him, lying to him, would only make him feel safe in his senseless decisions, but allowing him to wallow in depression and self incrimination wouldn't help him either.
"Someone murdered that girl, Ryo," Dee said as he began climbing back through the window. "That someone wasn't you."
Classic, text book case, the psychiatrist had said. Happens a lot. Depression. Sense of helplessness. Feelings of inadequacy. Stress, pure and simple. Some therapy, and some time off to get back on track, was the prescription she had handed Ryo. Feeling, at that moment, as if the world had collapsed on top of his shoulders, Ryo was finding it hard to believe her.
Ryo made his way to Dee's desk, to say hello and to... Ryo wasn't sure what else he would try to do. He had lost Dee's respect, he was sure. Losing his love couldn't be far behind that and Ryo couldn't find it in his heart to blame Dee. He hated himself just then, hated that he had screwed up such an important case, hated himself for giving a killer a chance to kill again. That was something he would never forgive himself for, never get over. It was etched into his mind and soul, a wound that would never heal. Dee didn't need a lover like him, a lover that was slowly bleeding to death, a lover that had lost the taste for the good fight.
Dee's desk was abandoned. "Forensics," Dreig grunted from his desk without being asked where Dee was. He gave Ryo a level look from over the file he was holding. "You okay, Ryo?"
"No," Ryo replied quietly.
Dreig studied him with the trained eye of a good detective. His conclusion was right on the money. "We all get discouraged, Ryo. We all get mad as Hell." He searched for something to say and then said carefully, "We're like fingers in a dike, Ryo, plugging up the holes. If you take your finger out, we may not be able to hold back the water without you. You're that good, I'll admit it. I may not like who you chose to jump into bed with, but I'll still be proud to work by your side, and bring in the bad guys, with you."
Ryo flushed. "That was... Thanks, Dreig, I've never heard you speak like that before."
Dreig grunted and swiveled to go back to work. "Heard it in the movie I was watching last night. Seemed to fit the occasion. I meant every word, though. Now, get lost before we have a mushy moment or something. Get some rest and then get your ass back to work where it belongs."
Ryo caught himself smiling softly, but then he grimaced, realizing that it wasn't that easy. He almost turned to leave, to forget about confronting Dee and making a pathetic attempt at patching things up between them. That wasn't going to be easy either.
Dee wanted only one thing for his forgiveness and Ryo couldn't give it to him. He couldn't go back to work without any confidence, any belief that what he was doing was going to make any difference in the larger picture.... and that was exactly what was wrong, Ryo thought as he began walking towards the forensics department. He knew he could stop a criminal here and there, but there were still criminals out there breaking the law, committing heinous crimes freely and, like Jenson, hiding behind the law to do it.
The psychologist had been right. Ryo felt helpless. Always the perfectionist, it had never occurred to him until Jenson's taunts, that he would never reach one hundred percent. He was never going to see a day when someone didn't get murdered, when someone didn't get hurt on his watch. That realization had been too much for him. He couldn't accept it. He couldn't do his job any longer because of it.
Entering the forensics lab, Ryo was once again struck by its unique smell. It always made his stomach tighten and Ryo was glad that he hadn't eaten lunch. The bright lights, the sounds of saws, the knots of forensics experts going over evidence and corpses, never ceased to make Ryo uncomfortably aware of his own mortality, his own vulnerability to the crimes that had brought those victims to the basement of the station and the ministrations of those particular experts.
"Dee Latener," Ryo asked a passing man.
"Room 6B," the man replied, eyes never leaving his chart as he kept walking.
Ryo found the room. He paused in the open doorway. Dee was standing by a table, staring down at a corpse and speaking with one of the doctors. The man was referring to his chart and Dee was nodding, arms crossed tightly over his chest and jaw tight.
"Vaginal lacerations," the man said with a clinical tone. "Burns, rope marks... looks like he strung her up and opened up her neck vein in the end. Pocket knife. Not very sharp. Sloppy cut. Semen in mouth, anus, vagina. The lab is trying to run some DNA tests, but it looks like some sort of chemical was injected to try and erase that kind of evidence. It's probable that we won't get a clear read out, not good enough to use in court anyway. A few hours floating in a retention pond won't have left us much else to go on either." He held up a plaid shirt in a plastic bag. it was red. "Unless you can trace this to a guy who likes red plaid shirts, it's all you have to go on. It's an adult male's, size X-Large. It was the only thing she was wearing when she was found. At least the bastard didn't just dump her naked."
"Any hair samples, skin under the fingernails?" Dee groped, hoping against hope for something more.
"Nothing, Detective Latener. " The man looked irritated. "You don't have to second guess me. I am a professional."
"Sorry," Dee muttered and turned away. "Send a copy of the report to my desk."
"We're still running tests," the doctor said, but he didn't sound as if he expected anything to be found.
"Yeah, keep me posted," Dee grumbled and started for the door. He stopped when he saw Ryo standing there. He frowned, struggled with his temper, and then snapped. "Have you come to pay your respects?"
Ryo went cold. "Is that... that's the new victim?"
"Yes."
Ryo clenched his hands. "Dee, I'm sorry-"
"Sorry?!" Dee shouted. He grabbed Ryo by the back of the neck and dragged him over to the corpse. He shoved Ryo's face close. "Why don't you say sorry to little Deanna? Why don't you tell her how sorry you are that you decided she wasn't worth protecting, that being the big man and trying to punch out Jenson was more important than getting him off the street, than saving her life! Why don't you tell her how you don't care any more, that you'd rather cry like a baby and hide in a closet, pretending everything's daisies and sunshine, than doing your job, than keeping people like poor Deanna safe from the monsters you know are out there in the darkness!"
"Yamete, onegaida, Dee! Yamete!" Ryo cried out, tears falling from his eyes and body shaking.
Dee released him with a jerk that sent Ryo hard into the side of the table. "Maybe she can understand you, Ryo, I can't!"
Dee spun on his heel and stalked out of the room. The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, if that's over with, can I get back to work?"
Ryo looked up at him, with tears running down his face, and then he did what he was beginning to be good at; he ran.
Ryo took the subway home, sitting in shock, eyes staring hard at nothing. Dee's words rang through his mind, rough, harsh, cruel, but true, every word. If Ryo had been in his shoes, staring down at the corpse of that little girl, he might have said the same things to Dee. No, he didn't blame Dee for his harshness, Ryo thought, not when he had deserved so much more for giving up, for failing that poor dead girl.
Ryo glanced up and down the subway car at the nondescript faces all around him. Any one of them could have been a killer, a rapist, a thief, or a drug dealer. Alone, or with their peers, they were dangerous. In a subway car with so many people, in the light of day, under the scrutiny of one lone police officer, they were held in check, kept from doing their worst. Whether they had escaped detection so far, or been let free with a legal technicality, they were all one in the same, made impotent by the strength of the people around them.
They would always be there, Ryo thought. No matter what he did, or how hard he worked, he would never catch them all. They would always hide in plain sight just like in the subway car, waiting for someone to walk alone or for a young detective to turn his back.
Ryo didn't get off at his stop. Instead, he left the subway near the area where the little girls had been murdered. He didn't have his gun. He had locked it up at home, thinking he would never need it again. He felt the lack of its comfort as he turned his steps into alleys that were dark even in the middle of the day.
Ryo visited each murder site, paced over them inch by inch, mentally taking notes, eyes and hands searching, looking for the smallest clue that would help him catch a killer, that would help him redeem himself; redeem his soul.
A pattern developed. Ryo thought that he understood it. Armed with only a theory, Ryo made his way to a certain apartment building. Once there, he found a place tucked away from sight and waited with the long patience of a veteran who had been only many stake outs.
Time ticked by and Ryo had a long time to think, to check the batteries on his cell phone, to find a pad and a pencil in his pocket and scribble notes. He rechecked his theory a dozen times for holes before he was proven right by the sudden appearance of a man in a red plaid shirt. It wasn't Jenson.
Odds ticked through Ryo's mind. All of his calculations came up one in a million to find a Caucasian male in a predominantly minority neighborhood, heavy set enough to wear X-Large clothing, dressed in a red plaid shirt, and, as Ryo watched, interested in the young girls hanging out together on the steps of an apartment building.
One of the girls, a dark haired, big eyed, baby faced pre- adolescent, in a too tight skirt and far too much makeup, made the largest mistake of her life. She waved goodbye to her friends and began to walk towards her death. The man dressed in plaid watched her pass him and then he casually fell into step several yards behind, a smirk on his cruel face.
Ryo quietly called into the station and whispered his situation as he began to follow them both. He wasn't going to screw up this time, Ryo thought. Gentle, caring, emotions on his sleeve, Ryo McLain didn't have any place there. That person couldn't do what had to be done. That person couldn't follow a murderer and wait for him to attempt a crime so that he could be stopped, booked, and put behind bars.
Ryo couldn't save the world, he thought grimly, but he could save that little girl, and the other little girls in her neighborhood, from the monster ahead of him that had the shape of a man. Ryo determined to put his finger back in the dike, using Dreig's metaphor. Other leaks might spring up, but he couldn't patch them all. He had to accept that he could only do his best and that his best was going to stop the flood and make all the difference at least in that moment, in that place, to that little girl walking up head, oblivious to the wolf at her heels.
Ryo shook his head and bit his lip in consternation as the girl made yet another fatal mistake. She decided to cut through an ally to get to her destination. With a feral grin, the man in red plaid made the turn too and hurried to catch up.
Ryo put on a burst of speed, hit the redial and called for backup. When he reached the ally, he slowed his steps and let his eyes adjust to the light. He heard voices up ahead, one young and frightened and the other chuckling, deep, and dangerous.
"What the hell do you want?" the girl demanded in a not -so -young voice.
"Such language from such a pretty, pouty mouth," the man replied and made a tisking noise. "I think I'll have to punish you, wash your mouth out, and make you clean again before we play."
"Play?" the girl was very frightened now. She was backing away, Ryo saw, but the man had a tight hold on her arm, effortlessly holding her close to him.
"I'm going to teach you some new games," the man told her, "but if you're bad and you don't play well, I'll have to punish you."
"Let go of me!" The girl tried to twist away and kick. The man laughed at her. He pushed her against the wall.
"You're being bad again! Maybe you aren't taking me seriously? Maybe you don't know how much fun my games can be?" He looked angry, growing rougher as he held her pinned to the hard brick of the building behind her. "I'll teach you the most fun one first. Maybe you'll like it so much you'll stop being bad and we can play other games?" His frown smoothed out as he grew hopeful. "If you're real good, I'll keep you with my other favorites in my special place by the old cemetery. I never forget a favorite."
"That's good," Ryo said as he came up behind the man, "Because I'll be asking you who they are."
The man started and whipped around. He glared at Ryo. "Who are you? I don't share! Get your own fuck."
The girl sobbed and tried to squirm away. The man continued to hold her in place, relying on his size and temper to scare Ryo off. "I'm Detective McLain," Ryo told the man. "I order you to release her."
"A cop?!" The man did let her go then. The girl fell to her knees and cringed against the wall, too frightened to run. The man grinned and held out his hands, palms open wide. "See, I wasn't doing anything. I was just playing around. You got nothing to take me in for."
"I think attempted rape and murder is good enough reasons for an arrest," Ryo replied with icy control.
The man laughed. "Yeah? Prove it!"
"I already have," Ryo said and held up the cell phone that was still on and connected to the station. "They record every call."
The man started to run. Ryo caught him in three steps and took him down with a flying kick. The man fell heavily to the cement ground, moaning and clutching at his limbs.
"I got money!" The man said in sudden desperation. "I'll pay you whatever you want. You want a chance at the girl? I'll give her to you, unspoiled." He grinned in a sick fashion. "You're a guy! You want to stick a sweet thing like that as much as I do. Here's your chance! Take the money in my wallet. Take the girl. Let me get the hell out of here. I'll leave town. You'll never hear from me again, I swear!"
Ryo felt his blood boil. He saw red. He wanted to beat the man lying at his feet to a pulp. He didn't want to trust a judge and jury to put him behind bars. He didn't want to take the chance that filth like that might have a chance to walk the street again. At that moment, Ryo wanted his hundred percent. He wanted to make sure that the man before him got what he deserved, that the little girl sobbing by the wall wouldn't have to be afraid of him ever again.
Ryo took a very deep breath. He dragged the man back to where he had dropped the cell phone, picked it up, and began to speak very slowly and very deliberately, "You have the right to remain silent..."
Back at the station, a hand took hold of Ryo's elbow. Ryo turned and saw Dee standing beside him, face uncertain, eyes worried. "Come with me," Dee said softly and pulled Ryo away from the desk where he had been filling out his paperwork on his prisoner. Dee led him into a broom closet, pulled on the light cord, and closed the door. Standing amid mops, cleaners, and brooms, Dee faced Ryo and held him lightly by the waist.
"J.J. told me what had happened," Dee began. "I-"
Ryo sighed and ran a distracted hand through his honey brown hair. "Dee, if you're going to shout at me about commandeering your case-"
"Ryo!" Dee cut him off in turn. "We're partners! You went out alone, without a word to anyone, and put yourself in danger! If you're going to keep pulling these kind of hot headed, hot dogging stunts, I'm either going to have to ask for another partner or we're going to have to change names, because I'm the one who usually gets into trouble for that sort of thing!"
"Gomen nasai," Ryo replied in a small voice and hung his head.
"Your problem," Dee continued, "is that you thought you were some sort of super hero, that you could single handedly clean off the streets and make everyone safe. You had an expectation for yourself that was unrealistic."
Ryo winced. "You talked to the psychologist?"
"Yeah, I talked to her, and she made a lot of sense." Dee's grip tightened on him. "I'm sorry I blew up at you earlier, baby, but sometimes I have to resort to tough love to make you see what you are doing to yourself, what you're doing to other people. You're too pig headed a lot of times. You think that you can handle everything and that you have the right answers all of the time."
"I didn't have any answer, though," Ryo replied in a small voice. "You gave me the answer. You screwed my head back on straight, Dee. Don't apologize for it. The psychologist wanted to coddle me, give me time to figure out things. You gave me a verbal right cross. You know, and I know, that we don't have time for me to wallow in self pity and denial. People are breaking the law out there, committing murder, committing heinous acts of violence. If you hadn't reminded me of that, if you hadn't made me see that people need me, even if I can't save them all, that 'man' that I just had locked up would have killed again. I wouldn't have tried to do my job. I wouldn't have gone down to his killing ground and figured out that he was moving from one apartment building to the next in a straight line towards a cemetery."
"You're not a super hero," Dee said quietly, "but you are a hero, Ryo. Don't forget that again, okay? Next time you feel that down, and that depressed about things, tell me about it. I'll knock some sense back into your head again. I'll remind you what a good detective you are, and I'll personally stack all of your solved cases in front of you and hit you over the head with them until you get the point that you are making a difference."
Ryo trembled a little, hopeful, but afraid to ask. "I thought that you hated me, that I had ruined what we had. I wouldn't blame you if you- If you washed your hands of me. I was out of control... I wanted to stick my head in the sand and hide. It was my fault that Deanna-"
"Stop!" Dee snapped and took Ryo's face in his strong hands. He tilted Ryo's chin until Ryo was staring into his intense, green eyes. "I was wrong to say some of those things to you, Ryo. I was upset. I didn't have any clues, any leads. When I saw what that bastard had done to her... I had to have a punching bag. I'm sorry that punching bag was you. If I had half a brain, I would have seen that you were in trouble in the first place, hell, I think I did, but you always handle yourself. I never thought that you'd lose it like that."
"Neither did I," Ryo whispered and leaned into Dee's lean body. "I never want to disappoint you like that again. It hurt so bad, Dee! I wanted to shrivel up and blow away. I was so ashamed. I hated myself."
Dee was quiet for a moment and then his arms came around Ryo, holding him tight. Ryo felt a kiss on his hair and he closed his eyes and felt tension leave him. "I hated that person you tried to turn yourself into," Dee admitted, "but he's gone now, right?"
"Yes," Ryo replied. "He's not coming back either."
"Good," Dee said with relief. "This city doesn't need a guy who doesn't care, that turns his back on people who need his help. I don't need him either. He's not the kind of guy I want hanging around me."
Ryo nodded understanding against Dee's chest. Dee smiled down at him. "You know I love you, Baby?"
"Do you?" Ryo asked hopefully.
Dee nodded and leaned to kiss Ryo deeply on the lips. It was like being welcomed home after being in exile. Ryo fell into the kiss and they clung together, reassuring themselves, mending the wounds that had been dealt their love, yet hadn't come near to destroying it.
Dee broke the kiss and said, " A wise old detective once told me, 'The world has a lot of criminals and a lot of victims in it. Sometimes, you'll save the day, and sometimes, you won't, but, at the end of the day, some people will be going to bed safe because you did your job."
"You helped me figure that out today," Ryo said. He stepped back from Dee and looked around the broom closet as he straightened his coat. "I think I'm done hiding, Dee. Why don't we both get back to work?"
Dee smiled and opened the door. He gave Ryo a last caress and whispered in his ear, "Maybe we can't be super heroes, Ryo, but you come pretty close sometimes."
Ryo smiled back warmly, "So do you," he replied, and they both went back to work, hoping to save the day for someone, somewhere and to put the monsters in the darkness on notice that they weren't going to go unchallenged.
Owari
Hah! And you were scared that there wouldn't be a happy ending! The honey is still dripping off of my fingers! ^_^