Kracken
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this.
Warning:Male/male sex, graphic, language, violence.
Fake
DeexRyo
"Absolutely not!" Ryo exclaimed. "I don't want Bicky to have any part of my job! It's too dangerous."
Rose steepled his fingers and looked at Ryo from over the rim of his glasses. "We would only be consulting him, showing him a few line ups and mug shots. His father's old drug ring is operational again and I need Bicky to show me anyone he suspects might be mixed up with them."
Ryo shook his head, jaw working. "I worked hard to take him out of that life, sir. I don't want him back in it again. It's been very difficult. He's run away, been mixed up with bad crowds, and he's been booked a few times on theft charges. I think I've finally turned him around, though."
"Are you suggesting that I ignore a potential source?" Rose demanded with an arch of a blonde eyebrow. "Would you if this were reversed? How would you feel if I told you 'off limits' to your best sources to crack a case?"
"It's not the same!" Ryo fumed. "He's a child!"
Rose snorted. "A child? Mclain, you need to open your eyes. That boy hasn't been a child in a very long time. The slum always makes sure of that."
"I want to give some of that back to him!" Ryo argued."I refuse to allow him to be used as a source for this case. " He stood and walked to the door, back straight and resolute.
"What will you do when they come looking for him?" Rose wanted to know.
Ryo turned sharply. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that these drug families are tight," Rose replied. "It's possible that they might try to contact a son of one of their members."
"That won't happen!" Ryo retorted. "I'll make certain of that."
"Will you?" Rose was skeptical. "Are you with him twenty four seven, detective? Money is hard to resist. Do you think he's going to be immune to the promise of easy money?"
"He knows where that leads," Ryo replied. "He understands that his father is dead because of drug money."
Rose shook his head. "They see their friends and family die, but it rarely matters. They think that it won't happen to them and that they can get out of the slum if they just sell enough drugs."
"Not Bicky!" Ryo was adamant.
"I need him, Detective," Rose insisted. "If I have to get a court order to bring him in, I will."
"I'll fight it," Ryo snarled.
"Perhaps we should ask Bicky?" Rose suggested.
"No!"
"What are you afraid of?" Rose demanded."That he'll agree?"
Ryo was breathing hard in anger. He knew that he had to leave before he said something that would cost him his job. "May I leave now, sir? I have work to do."
"Yes, you do," Rose agreed, "Work that you're choosing not to do properly, Detective Mclain. You are dismissed."
Ryo stormed back to his desk and sat down hard, glaring at nothing.
Dee looked up in concern, dark hair a messy tangle in his face. "What's wrong?"
"Rose!" Ryo snarled in reply.
Dee pushed his work aside and sipped on a mug of coffee. "Well, he makes me mad just by breathing, but I suppose you got more to be pissed about?"
Ryo nodded, hands clenched on his desk top in anger."He wants Bicky to come in and identify gang members. His father's old gang is reforming."
Dee nodded. "Okay, that sounds smart, so far, so... come on, Ryo, what's the rest? Does Rose want Bicky to wear a wire and go into a drug house? Does he want him to run drugs undercover?"
Ryo ducked his head. "No."
"To both?" Dee wondered.
Ryo nodded and it sounded ridiculous to himself when he said, "He wants Bicky to do some lineups and look through mug shots."
Dee blinked. "That's it?"
"Dee!" Ryo exploded. "I want him out of that kind of life completely! Do you remember what it was like for him when his father died? When they brought him into the station? I don't want that to happen again. This kind of life isn't his any longer."
Dee sighed.
Ryo glared. "What?"
Dee looked away. "I could tell you what I think, but I'll be sleeping on the couch if I do." He shrugged. "Not that Bicky would rat on people anyway. That's not what the streets taught him."
"Dee," Ryo told him seriously. "I will not be angry with you for telling me your opinion. I'm a professional and I'm reasonable."
"Really?" Dee asked suspiciously.
"Really,"Ryo affirmed.
Dee stared at him and then said carefully, "I don't see how it could hurt to ask Bicky, at least to make nice with the commissioner. Even if Bicky says yes, I don't see any problem with that. He's here and he's only looking at guys through two way glass and in photo books. That won't scar him for life."
"Why do you have to be so thick headed!" Ryo exploded. "Can't you show some sensitivity?"
Ryo went on with a heated diatribe and Dee mentally tuned it out, slumping on one fist and not looking forward to sleeping on the couch that night. Ryo would see sense, he knew, he just had to get past his over protective tendencies towards Bicky. He might be a father, but he was also a detective and he would, eventually, see the necessity of it.
"Just look," Dee growled as he put a stack of mug shot books in front of Bicky. "Don't talk."
"But that was Rodriguez!" Bicky complained as he plopped down into a chair and stared glumly at the books. "We go way back!"
"That's the problem," Dee retorted. "He's here at the station for armed robbery. You don't want to know him anymore."
Bicky glared. "You always have a problem about where I came from, but you came from there too. You wanna forget about it, but I'm not going to."
Dee replied sourly, "Bicky, I'm proud of where I came from, so don't be stupid. You know what I'm saying."
Bicky slouched in his chair, glowering. "I don't forget my friends because they're in trouble."
"I don't either! But there's a difference!" Dee retorted in exasperation and then raked a hand through his dark hair and sighed. "Look, let's let Ryo lecture you, he's better at it."
"He didn't want me to come here," Bicky pointed out as he started flipping pages in the first book
"Ryo wants to protect you and keep you away from the nasty in life," Dee replied, "but he has a job to do, too. It's a hard balance and he has to make hard choices. I helped remind him of that. Don't make me wrong by trying to reunite with the old gang, okay?"
"Some of them are 'family'," Bicky replied as he flipped another page. "You don't rat out family."
Dee glared and said, "Maybe Ryo wasn't being out of line. You really do still have both feet in the mean streets. Look through these mug shots faster. The sooner I get you out of here, the better."
"I won't rat on them," Bicky snarled, "so you can forget about all of this. I told you that at home."
"I know," Dee said as he snagged a chair, sat in it backwards, and watched Bicky."I wouldn't rat on my friends either, unless I knew they'd been killing people. That automatically takes them off of my friend's list."
Bicky looked uncertain.
Dee sighed and said, "Look, kid, you have to make up your mind what you want out of life. Either you go live with your 'friends' and try the crime lottery, or you walk the straight and narrow with us and live an honest life."
"Lottery?" Bicky echoed and leaned, chin on fist, on top of the books. His expression was both bored and irritated.
"Yeah," Dee replied thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin. "Punks like you think they can get rich on selling drugs, running prostitutes, etc., but it usually just gets you dead or put in jail. Some people are lucky, but odds are, you won't be one of those."
Bicky gave him the finger. "End of lecture. You promised me twenty bucks for this. I wanna get done and shoot some hoops."
Ryo appeared and put down a can of soda for Bicky. Bicky opened it one handed, as if it were a beer, and drank it without looking at his benefactor. Ryo looked at Dee with raised eyebrows, questioningly, but Dee shrugged and scowled, not offering an explanation.
"Any luck so far? " Ryo asked as he began to pull a chair closer to Bicky. Dee snagged the back of it and pulled it back towards his own chair.
"He's doing okay," Dee assured him.
Ryo eyed him. Dee grimaced.
"I know, I know. He's not going to tell us a damned thing," Dee said. "Waste of time."
"Rose's orders," Ryo growled. "He's the one wasting our time."
"So what's new?" Dee grunted.
Bicky rolled eyes at them. "You two don't have to watch me do this, you know? Go bust people, or something."
Ryo stiffened, but Dee grinned. "Good advice, Bicky. You heard him, Ryo. He's fine. Let's go."
"But..." Ryo began and then sighed. "You're right." His jaw firmed."When you're through, Bicky, please-"
"Don't start a drug empire, yeah, I know Ryo, now get lost and take stupid with you," Bicky grumbled, though he gave Ryo a quick look that took the sting out of his words.
Dee draped an arm across Ryo's shoulders and pulled him away. "Come on, Dad, time to be a detective again," Dee told him. "Maybe while Rose is barking up that wrong tree, we can figure out who the real gang members are?"
Dee was comfortable in the slum, but he watched his back and kept his eyes open.
When they left their car and walked towards a familiar haunt of Bicky's late
father, Dee knew every danger confronting them, every possibility, and how to
get away if it became necessary. Ryo, in contrast, was greeting everyone they
passed with a smile and a soft hello, his almost innocent good nature screaming
'easy mark' for anyone to see. Dee spent most of the walk flexing muscle and
glaring, letting those same people know that Ryo definitely wasn't alone.
It wasn't all bad, of course, and there were familiar faces. Old lady Picket was still trying to get some weedy flowers to grow under her window, Old man Graeling was still watching his fruit stand and daring any street thugs to steal from him. Lola Johnson and Mandy Reiling still sat on their steps and talked... and talked. There was community there, underneath the grit and grime, but few people bothered to look, just rolled up their windows and locked their doors as they drove through.
Ryo was a shrewd judge of character. He had been a profiler for a brief time and that skill was still well honed. Though he was overly trusting to a fault, he knew a suspect when he saw one or someone who could give them some information.
A child, maybe eight years old, dark and wary, was making his way down the sidewalk. A coat on even in the heat, he had one hand gripping something in one pocket nervously. Ryo was suddenly in his path. Dee would have passed him by, not wanting to involve a kid, but Ryo never let that deter him, especially when he could help that child in some way by interfering.
""Detective Ryo McLane," Ryo announced, flashing his badge and bending over to be at the boy's level. Ryo wasn't prepared for the boy to bolt, but Dee was. His quick grab left him with only a coat, though, as the boy slithered out of it and made a mad dash into an empty, overgrown lot.
"After him!" Ryo shouted.
"Duh!" Dee grunted as he took the lead into the lot, trying to avoid a trashed bicycle, a smashed crate, and a pile of old whiskey bottles.
There was a half fallen chain link fence. Dee sailed over it, coat flapping in one hand, and then he hit the pavement on the other side hard as he kept his eye on the boy and flew up the steps of a dilapidated house.
A big dog with the spiked collar came charging towards him as soon as Dee entered a hallway. Dee winced, not wanting to shoot it and knowing that he didn't have the authority to even be there. Ryo saved him from making that decision. The man darted past him and kicked out, knocking the big dog off balance and into an open room. Ryo shut the door on it with a bang.
"Go!" Ryo shouted at Dee and Dee began running again, hearing the front door slam open and knowing that the boy had left the house.
Dee caught the boy outside as he rounded a corner into an alley way. He grabbed a bony arm and avoided the small knife the boy aimed at him. Knocking it out of his hand, Dee grabbed both slim wrists and pinned the boy so that he couldn't move.
"Let go of me, you fucker!" the boy snarled and kicked frantically to get loose.
"Watch you mouth!" Dee panted. "We just want to ask you a few questions, okay?"
"And arrest me!" the boy wailed. "I didn't want to do it, they made me!"
"I know, I know," Dee replied knowingly. "It's all right. We want the guys who are making you do this, okay? You tell us and we get them off the street."
"That's right," Ryo said as he finally arrived, limping and blood coming from where the dog had bitten him in the leg. "We want to bust up a ring that we know is operating this side of the slum."
"I don't know nuthin'," the boy told them sullenly. "They jumped me and told me to do this for them. They didn't tell me no names."
Ryo took the bag of drugs from the boy's coat pocket gingerly, wary of destroying any fingerprints. "Do you know why they have boys like you deliver their drugs?" he asked as he carefully put the bag into his own pocket. "Because then they aren't involved if you get caught. You get arrested and they laugh and get another person to take the drugs."
"Let me give you a few names," Dee said to the boy. "Carl Runion. Paul Torios. Ring any bells?"
The boy looked blank. "No."
Dee frowned and looked at Ryo. Ryo sighed, but Dee persisted. "Don't you want to get back at those guys? Don't you want to see them get arrested instead of you?"
"Yeah, but I don't know their names. I never seen these guys before," the boy insisted.
Dee's frown deepened. "No?"
"No," the boy affirmed. "They're not from around here."
"Point them out and we'll arrest them," Ryo told him as they began walking back to the main street. "It's likely they'll have more drugs on them."
The boy was frightened, stiff in Dee's hands. "They'll kill me if I finger them."
Dee leaned close to the boy's ear as they continued to walk. "They would have killed you anyway, sooner or later, them or another gang. This way, you get them first, okay?"
The boy was very frightened now, but he nodded jerkily.
Ryo looked troubled. Dee knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling, but his partner didn't voice any of it.
"The leg?" Dee asked.
Ryo grimaced. "It'll be okay until we get this done."
He wouldn't leave it to anyone else, not even to Dee, to keep the boy safe.
_______________________________
"You have to talk to Jamal," Dee told Bicky, leaning over him and
a hand on each arm of his chair.
Arms crossed over his chest, Bicky glared from under his blonde hair. "Why? He's right. He talks. You send him back home. They kill him. I'm not helping you."
"We can crack this case without either of them," Ryo argued.
Sitting on the couch, across from Bicky and Dee's intense confrontation, Ryo didn't like how this was bringing back the past for Bicky. Ryo imagined a monstrous claw trying to snag Bicky and drag him back to a life of drug deals and gangs.
Dee looked over his shoulder at Ryo and then grunted as he pushed off from the chair. "Yeah, we can," he replied as he snatched up his beer and flopped onto the couch. Putting his feet on the coffee table, he popped the top of his beer and took a long drink. He swallowed and said, "We won't get as many, though, if we don't have someone to finger them."
Bicky stood up and zipped up his jacket. "I've been around you guys long enough to know that you need proof and a witness. That kid, Jamal, talks and you'll have to put him in court. Nobody cares what happens to him after that. They'll pat him on the head, tell him he did good, and then send him home to get killed. I'm not going to lie to him and tell him that's not gonna happen."
Dee scowled, but didn't reply. Ryo sighed and told him, "Be careful and be home before ten."
Bicky glared, "I'm not a baby, Ryo. Save it for Dee."
Dee growled, "I gave you money for the movie. I can take it back."
Bicky looked defensive and then disgusted. "I'll be back," he snapped, which was as much as he would ever concede.
The front door slammed after Bicky and then the silence was deafening.
"Smart assed kid," Dee grumbled. He looked sideways at a pensive Ryo as he took a last swig of beer. Crumpling his can, he tossed it towards a garbage can. It hit the rim, but went in anyway. "Two points!" Dee exclaimed and then grinned at Ryo. "So, what now? Nobody's talking and nobody's fingering."
Ryo frowned and stood up. Limping to a window, he leaned against it and stared out at their view, a brick wall. If he turned his head to the point of pain, he could just see the street and people passing by. Dee's hand gripped Ryo's shoulder and his comforting presence was at his back.
"I know, I know, leave the kids out of it," Dee sighed."It's hard, though, to ignore them when they both know so much that could help us."
Ryo hunched into himself. "They're in danger, whether we use them or not."
Dee understood. "They'll think Jamal spilled what he knows whether he did or not. Yeah, I know that. If we hadn't picked him up, though, he'd probably be dead now anyway."
That was cold reality and Ryo didn't argue the point. His expression turned darker, though.
Dee sighed and wrapped arms around him from behind. He rested his chin on Ryo's shoulder. "The only way we can help is to get the bad guys as fast as possible."
"And that comes back to Bicky and Jamal," Ryo said with a grimace.
"Yeah," Dee agreed. "Life sucks."
"No," Ryo said as he turned in Dee's arms, "Just some of it."
Dee kissed him and felt Ryo's muscles hard under his hands.
"You need to think about something else, partner," Dee admonished him and took his hand. "We'll be spending all tomorrow pounding the pavement and shaking down every informant we know. You need to be rested and ready."
"It's too early to sleep," Ryo protested. "I can still log into headquarters and try to-"
Dee shook his head and pulled Ryo towards the bedroom. "Nobody said anything about sleeping and looking over files, without any solid leads, is shooting in the dark, and you know it. Come on."
Ryo planted his feet to stop himself. "Dee, I'm really not in the mood. I'm just too wound up over this."
Dee turned and gave Ryo a sensual look from under his tangled black hair. "Really? Not in the mood? Not even a little?"
Ryo couldn't resist Dee's eyes. They drank him in and made everything else fade away. Dee smiled, pulled Ryo into his arms, and pressed his body hard against him. His lips burned a heated trail down Ryo's neck to his collar bone.
"Bicky is going to be gone for a long time," Dee urged. "Let's take advantage of it, okay?"
Ryo suddenly wanted the distraction, suddenly wanted not to see in his mind the sad eyes of a child who thought that his days were numbered. He grabbed Dee behind the neck and brought their lips together fiercely. Startled, Dee almost lost his balance. Ryo had a secure hold on him, though, and Dee's eyes went wide as Ryo reached down and unsnapped his jeans.
"Mphhmf!" Dee mumbled against the kiss when he felt his knees hit the couch. He sat abruptly and Ryo fell into his arms. Ryo's hand slid between Dee's briefs and his skin and found Dee's throbbing cock there.
Dee broke the kiss when Ryo stroked him. "Are..." he cleared his throat and tried again. "Are you trying to take advantage of me, Detective Ryo?"
Ryo slipped his free hand under Dee's shirt, pulled it up, and then ducked underneath. "Yes," he replied and then latched lips onto Dee's nipple.
Dee shuddered and groaned as Ryo suckled him and continued to stroke him.
Dee's conscience tapped him on the shoulder. He told it to buzz off in less
polite terms. It returned, telling him that Ryo was using him. Dee crushed that
thought under his own. Let Ryo use him.
The man needed to blow off steam.
Ryo went for Dee's other nipple and Dee had to rally his mind to get his hands to reach for Ryo's pants. He pulled them down with motions made awkward by Ryo's weight on top of him. His lover's cock sprang free, more than eager. Dee made a tight sheathe of his hand and Ryo groaned under his shirt as Dee stroked him hard.
Dee made sure it lasted, wanting to exhaust Ryo. He was a man who liked to get in and ride fast, and Ryo understood when he didn't, when he caressed, sucked, and gave Ryo as much slow pleasure as possible. When he saw Ryo's tender smile and his languid eyes, Dee knew that it was finally time.
Dee made a quick trip to the bathroom and came back with a small tube of lube. Holding it between his teeth, he hooked arms around Ryo's legs and then pulled the man flat on his back underneath him. He gave his lover a wolfish grin and Ryo grinned back, lifting his legs higher as Dee pressed himself between them.
Ryo's smile faltered and he darted a look towards the door. "What if Bicky comes back?"
"Live dangerously," Dee replied as he uncapped the lube and coated his cock, "because I'm not stopping now."
Ryo forgot his fear as Dee pressed the head of his cock into him. He groaned and shivered as Dee slowly filled him completely, lifting his hips to meet him as Dee's pelvis came to rest against him. Legs wide, Ryo grabbed two fistfuls of Dee's hair and pulled the man down for an open mouthed kiss.
Being half dressed, and ravished completely by his lover, always gave Ryo a sense of the forbidden, as if they were doing something elicit. Once or twice, he had even fantasized that they were at work, sprawled on their desks, but he had never shared those fantasies with Dee. Now he wanted to think of anything but work. As Dee began to thrust in and out of him, supported on the couch by his strong arms, Ryo took off his shirt and tossed it aside. His hands found Dee's pants, slid them down, and then cupped and squeezed Dee's humping ass.
"So good fucking you, baby!" Dee groaned against his lips. "Tell me you want it bad."
"Harder," Ryo sobbed between panting breaths. "Faster. Dee...." His hands helped Dee find a more brutal, faster rhythm. He wanted the edge of pain, the deep, hard, satisfaction of being thoroughly screwed into the couch.
Dee suddenly flipped Ryo over and dragged his hips up. Ryo scrambled to keep his balance on the couch and then hissed as Dee thrust deep into him again. Tight against his back, erection slamming hard in and out of him in a frantic rhythm, Dee rode him like a madman. It was enough just to feel, to be a receptacle for that hard cock invading him. The feeling was submissive, as if he were enduring it, bowing to Dee's strength, yet he could feel Dee's kisses, hear his panted words of love in his ear, and the small bite of teeth as Dee took hold of his shoulder. When Dee's hand slipped underneath him and found his own erection, Ryo was suddenly no longer enduring, but once again becoming part of their mutual climb towards ecstasy. Dee milked him and Ryo rode that hand as Dee rode him.
Dee came first with a long drawn out sound and a tightening of his body around Ryo as he spurted hot release inside of him. Face pressed into the couch cushion, Ryo saw lights behind his eyes as he came in Dee's hand, his ass spasming around Dee's twitching cock as his own seed spurted over Dee's hand and across his belly.
They held that position, both of them breathing hard, and then Dee was pulling out with a dribble of come that ran down Ryo's legs. He pulled Ryo up and then leaned back with Ryo in his arms. He kissed the top of Ryo's head and Ryo let out a long breath.
"Thank you," Ryo whispered.
"That's what partners are for," Dee chuckled wearily as he snagged an afghan and spread it over them both. He picked up a remote and turned on a football game. He sighed happily. "Beer, sex, and football. Can an evening get any better?"
Ryo grimaced and then smiled. "No, not any better than this," he agreed and leaned his head back against Dee's heart.
"He's running drugs for them again," Dee sighed.
"Has to," Bicky said from the back seat. "He has to prove he's one of them again or he's dead meat.
Ryo rubbed a hand over his face. "We have to pick him up."
"Yeah," Dee replied, "After he takes us back to their hang out."
"Hang out?" Bicky sneered. "What are you, a billion years old?"
"Shut up," Dee grumbled. "We're dropping you off here, so get out, take five steps to the left, and get on the bus for home. Got that?"
"You brought me along to finger people and you think that wasn't dangerous?" Bicky asked sarcastically. "All they have to do is pull out their guns and blow us away."
Dee scanned the street nervously as Ryo replied, "We didn't bring you to finger people. We brought you along to identify anyone who might have been dealing with your father. Any investigation after that would have relied solidly on facts gathered by us."
"Same difference," Bicky sneered as he scanned the street himself and then cautiously slid out of the car. He held out a hand. "Twenty bucks."
"Why?" Dee demanded with a hot glare from under his tangled bangs.
"I risked my life and now you have to pay me for it," Bicky insisted. "It also guarantees that I do go straight home."
"You weren't in any danger!" Dee retorted.
"But he does need to go straight home." Ryo pulled out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to Bicky. "Ten, and that's all. Don't stay too long at the arcade and make sure it's the one closest to home."
Bicky leaned on the window and looked in at Ryo. "Ryo, I'm safer than you are and you know it. I'm not a baby, so stop treating me like one. I've been dodging drug dealers and crazy people since I was born."
"I know that," Ryo replied irritably, "but you get overconfident, Bicky. You think you can handle anyone and any situation."
Bicky frowned. "No, I don't, but I do think my chances are pretty good."
"They are," Dee agreed and was given a glare by Ryo. Dee insisted, "He knows the score." He eyed Bicky. "Get going and do what Ryo says."
Bicky exclaimed, "But you're on my side!"
"Yeah, but Ryo's right, too," Dee replied. "You are a cocky little bastard."
Bicky raised a middle finger and stalked away towards the bus stop.
"He's not going home," Ryo said worriedly.
"Nope," Dee agreed. "Now he has to be pissy and prove we're idiots. We probably won't see his degenerate face until around midnight."
Dee nodded towards the street. "Jamal's customer just showed. Time to forget about Bicky and get to work."
Ryo checked his gun. "There he goes. Drive."
Dee pulled out into the street and hid in traffic, inching along after Jamal, who was walking down the sidewalk at a nervous pace. When he turned down a side road, Dee parked and they followed on foot, hanging far back and using the shadows from the buildings on either side to hide them.
"This is familiar," Dee said softly.
"Very," Ryo replied. "Santiago's gang. They're on the watch list too. Kirkmier has been trying to bring them in for a long while, but they've been too good keeping things under wraps."
"Wouldn't that be something," Dee grinned. "Two gangs in one blow. I see commendations for the both of us."
"Or body bags if we don't watch it," Ryo shot back.
Bicky leaned against the building and watched his two guardians shadowing the boy. "Idiots," he whispered. He'd followed their car, keeping up easily. Finding them walking into that particular territory confirmed his suspicions and his worst fears. He'd seen it before. Mess with a bad gang and they made sure that you didn't mess with them again.
"They're walking right into it," Bicky swore, "and they wouldn't believe me if I told them. Guess I better get ready to save their asses." He fished out his cell phone and hurried to catch up.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dee wondered under his breath.
"Not usually," Ryo replied as he crouched and looked down the alley way from behind a dumpster, "but this time... I think so. It's too much like a set up."
Crouched behind him Dee growled, "Everything's too quiet... nobody keeping watch... nobody walking around. Everyone knows something's up."
"Backup?" Ryo wondered.
"Better tell them what's going on," Dee replied, "but don't have them come in yet. We need to make a clean bust."
Ryo made the call and then they moved forward again. Almost at the end of an alley, a back door to a shop opened.
"Far enough," a man warned and came out from behind the half open door aiming a semi automatic rifle at them. Six others followed him into the alley, two of them young and wearing gang colors, but the others looking late to middle aged and all business.
"I'm sure they've called in their position," the first man told his companions. "Get them tied up and into the van. We have to leave immediately."
Dee snorted as both he and Ryo raised their guns. "I don't think we want to take a ride with you guys."
"I don't think I gave you a choice." The man reached behind the door and pulled out Jamal, hands tied and looking terrified. "Unless you want me to redecorate this alley with his brains, you better do exactly as I say."
Ryo's gun didn't waver. "If we do, you'll kill all of us." He and Ryo tried to cover the other men, who weren't making any motions yet to draw their weapons. They seemed that confident that they would cooperate.
The man smiled grimly. "Maybe not the boy. It's hard to find a good delivery boy. He'll be scared shitless enough to keep his mouth shut, and do whatever I say, once he sees me take out two cops. As for you, cops have to learn that, if they stick their nose in my operations, they get them cut off. When I lose money, somebody has to pay."
"I think that's gonna be you," Dee shot back. "Twenty to life, probably."
The man smiled and patted the boy on the head. "Too bad this isn't like the movies, kid. Real cops don't put their lives on the line for little kids anymore." Jamal started to cry, shaking all over as the man pressed his rifle barrel against his head.
"Someone will hear the shot," Ryo warned. He was pale, but his gun was steady.
The man laughed. "They hear shots in this place all day long. One more won't matter to anyone. Say goodbye now."
The man's finger tensed on the trigger.
"Wait!" Dee shouted. He exchanged a look with Ryo. Ryo sighed and nodded, shoulders slumping.
"We'll put our weapons down and go with you, but the kid goes free," Dee bargained.
The man snorted. "After you give me your weapons. You'll have to trust my promise."
"I'll trust that he's no good to you dead," Dee snarled back.
The man smirked and waved some of his men forward to take their weapons.
"This is a switch," Dee grumbled to Ryo as his gun was taken. "Aren't you the one who does anything to save kids?"
Ryo replied with anguish, "It's a no win situation. They can kill us now, or later. We've only made it easier for them."
"Much easier," the man chuckled. "Put them all in the van."
Neither Dee nor Ryo looked surprised.
"Not angry?" the man wondered with an arched eyebrow.
"Too predictable," Dee replied with a shrug.
The man laughed outright.
"Devon Auster, "Ryo said suddenly. "I remember you... You were in a Boston jail, though, for drug trafficking and murder."
The man frowned sharply. "Good memory. The last time that the cops had me was five years ago. They couldn't make the charges stick, though. Too bad for you. Can't have people around who can finger me."
Dee, Ryo, and the boy were hustled towards a van.
"Hurry before their backup wonders why they haven't called in," Auster snarled.
"It's okay," Ryo told the sobbing boy as they climbed into the van. He held Jamal close, glaring at the men who were pushing them in roughly.
"No, it's not!" The boy wailed. "We're gonna die!"
"Yeah," Dee sighed and was given a glare from Ryo.
"But we're going to make sure that you escape," Ryo assured him. "When I say run, don't look back, all right?"
The boy looked at Ryo with round eyes and Dee made an exasperated sound. "Something tells me that this is going to be painful."
"Probably," Ryo replied.
"All part of the job," Dee grumbled.
"Shut up!" a man snarled as they began getting into the back of the van as well.
Ryo threw himself suddenly into them. "Run!"
There was a brief opening as Dee tackled a man and took him to the pavement outside of the van. The boy was frozen in shock, but then survival instinct kicked in and he was a brown blur as he hit the ground running.
"Let him go!" Auster shouted. "We know where he lives." He pointed his rifle at Dee's head.
"Don't!" Ryo shouted in panic and stopped fighting.
Dee was holding one arm and groaning, but he was glaring at Auster as well. Auster growled, "You're a brave man. Too bad that it doesn't matter. Brave men die just as quickly as cowards."
Dee was thrown back into the van and Ryo tried to cushion his fall. "Dee?"
"I don't think it's broken, but it hurts like hell," Dee bit out as Ryo held him from behind and the van doors closed.
"Look, ain't that sweet?" one of the men said derisively. "They're hugging."
Ryo blushed and Dee looked angry, but Ryo didn't let go of him.
"Think they're queers?" Another man wondered uncomfortably.
"Looks like it," a third growled. "Every damn cop in this freakin' town is queer, if you ask me."
The first man looked suddenly evil as he said to Ryo, "What'll you do to save sweetie there, cop? Huh? What'll you do for me? Kiss my shoes? Crawl?" He drew a gun and pointed it at Dee. Ryo tensed. "Look at your face. You don't want me to hurt him. Crawl over here, pretty boy. Beg me not to blow his face off."
The others laughed.
Dee cradled his arm against his chest and ground out, "Save your breath. The only people who'll be crawling are you guys."
"How you figure that?" the second man wondered with a laugh as he prodded Dee's bad arm with his boot.
Dee grimaced, but Ryo replied, "Because I'm going to make you pay."
"Within the law, of course," Dee snickered.
Ryo smiled tightly. "Of course."
The men exchanged looks and then the first one said, "You do know that we're taking you to the dump? By the time they find you, full of holes, we'll be raking in the cash somewhere else."
"Nothin' to stop us from messing with you before that," the second one said with a grin. "I hate smart assed cops."
"If your asses were smarter...," Dee sighed and then rolled eyes at Ryo. "Should I tell them?"
Ryo glared. "No."
"Tell us what?" the first man snarled and aimed his gun at Dee's head.
Dee dug into a pocket and brought out his cell phone. "GPS.... and, oh, look, it's been on this entire time and connected to headquarters."
The first man snatched it out of Dee's hand, looked at it in disbelief, and then crushed it under his boot heel. He pounded on the wall of the van and shouted for them to stop. The van halted abruptly and the man shoved the double doors open. As he and his men poured out of the van in a panic, he scanned the busy street and then shouted to the driver, "We're being tracked! Get the hell outta here!"
"Too late," Ryo told him and they could hear sirens.
"Yeah, for you two," Auster snarled as he appeared in the door of the van. He pointed his rifle at them and raised it to shoot.
A sneaker suddenly appeared and kicked the man in the head. Hands grabbed the rifle at the same time as Bicky came sailing from nowhere and knocked the man to the ground. He began firing wildly, without aiming, and the men ran.
"Bicky!" Ryo shouted in shock. Bicky stopped firing, looking as frightened as Ryo, and they realized he had fired by accident. Bicky carefully handed the rifle to Dee as Dee slid forward, and didn't argue as Ryo shoved him behind him and crouched by Auster. The man was unconscious, the mark of Bicky's shoe on one side of his head.
Police cars pulled up. Some went in pursuit of the fleeing men while other officers cautiously climbed out of their vehicles, guns drawn. Dee lowered the rifle and shouted, "Detectives Latener and McLain!
Ryo handcuffed Auster and then motioned men to come and take him away. He straightened then and put a hand on Dee to steady him as he turned to Bicky in confusion. "How did you get here?"
"Yeah, you little bastard!" Dee snarled. "You were supposed to go the hell home! Those guys could have drilled you full of holes."
"You too!" Bicky snarled back. "Someone had to save your stupid asses!"
"But, how?" Ryo demanded.
"Taxi," Bicky replied as he scraped a handful of lanky pale hair out of his face and leaned against the door of the van. "When I saw the van stop at a light, I jumped on the roof. Traffic's slow this time of day. I figured I'd be okay."
"We had it under control!" Dee shouted at him. "We had headquarters tracking us."
"Yeah?" Bicky replied sarcastically as he jerked a thumb at the cars. "They came real quick, didn't they? Was Ryo gonna crawl and do tricks before they decided to move in?"
"You heard that?" Ryo wondered sadly. He reached out and pulled Bicky against him in a hug. Bicky looked uncomfortable. "I wasn't about to do anything of the kind," Ryo assured him.
Bicky snorted. "I knew that! Him, though," he nodded at Dee. "He would have shined their shoes with his tongue."
"Why you little...!" Dee began and then controlled himself with an effort.
Bicky glared and they faced off. "You could just thank me."
Dee didn't say anything for a long moment and then, as if it was painful, he said, "Thank you."
Bicky grinned. "Asshole."
"Everyone's in jail," Dee said irritably, "So stop looking like someone's trying to feed you poison."
Ryo sighed as he put a last folder away and leaned against the file cabinet. "He's still in danger."
"Jamal?" Dee sighed and ran fingers through his unruly black hair as he leaned next to Ryo. "Yeah, but he's been in danger since he was born. It's a tough place to live."
"Rose says he can't do anything except issue paperwork," Ryo continued. "He has parents. He has a home. Services blames the kid for delivering drugs, not the parents."
"And you know that's how it is," Dee replied and pulled Ryo away from the filing cabinet. He held his lover tightly and said, "We can only do so much and then everyone has to do the rest, Ryo."
Ryo nodded, but his eyes were down and thoughtful. "Despite everything, Bicky was still there, still in danger too. I feel, sometimes, like that place will never let kids like him go, that he can never have a better life."
Dee scowled and gave Ryo a shake. Ryo looked up into his eyes, startled. "You think his life isn't better? He saved our lives. The little bastard could have run, could have let us die... hell, he could have joined them and asked for some cash. He didn't do any of those things. He did the right thing... okay, a crazy, stupid thing, but still... he saved us."
Ryo found a smile.
"Maybe the other kid will figure it out, too, because we tried to help him," Dee suggested. "You gotta know, in the end, it's all up to them, right?''
"Yes," Ryo replied and then leaned into Dee's embrace.
"Then let's go home and face the music," Dee told him. When Ryo looked confused, Dee sighed, "You don't think Bicky isn't going to take full advantage of this?. It's going to cost us big."
Ryo chuckled as they walked out of the records room, arm in arm, "Just this once, I don't think that I'm going to mind paying."
The End