A/N: Hello~ This is one of the few Chapter Fic's I'll upload that's chapters long. This was written as a conjoined effort between myself and my friend, Neferia. I hope it's acceptable! This will be the first time I've uploaded something that was written by two people, so I'm not sure how smoothly everything will flow... If you have any suggestions or catch something we missed in editing it, please let me know and I will do my best to fix it!

Disclaimer: Neither I nor my friend own anything FAKE related. FAKE is owned by Sanami Matoh.

Disclaimer #2: If any of you know the song 'Midnight at the Oasis', I want to make it PERFECTLY clear that this fic has NOTHING to do with it. We just happened to alter the title because it fit the plot line. Now don't get me wrong, I like old songs, but NOT that one. *Has PTSD related to that song* ... That's what I get for having a father who blasts whatever song he likes at the time across the house and in the car constantly for two weeks straight...

Now, without further adieu~

FULL SUMMARY:

Workaholic Ryo heads to the precinct to cool off after an argument with Dee, but he didn't expect Commissioner Rose to be working late that evening. After a few of their 'midnight meetings', Berkeley again propositions Ryo for dinner... Will he accept? And more importantly, what will happen when Dee finds out...? Alternate use for a scene in FAKE, book 3 at the end.

Rating for later chapters.

Pairings: BerkeleyxRyo, DeexRyo

Midnight at the Precinct

Chapter 1 - Work to Relax?

"Ugh…"

Ryo sat on his couch, holding his head in his hands and feeling overall terrible from what had just happened. The argument with Dee had been completely childish and now the blonde had no idea what to do. All he had said was that he thought Dee had been working late and so he had already eaten dinner by the time the brunette had stopped by.

Standing, Ryo surveyed the room. It had been about twenty minutes since Dee had stormed out of his apartment, and between then and now, the entire place had been cleaned spotless. His bed was made, he had vacuumed the carpet in the living room, pillows had been fluffed on the couch, the kitchen was literally sparkling…

And Ryo couldn't stop thinking about how aggravated he was.

With another irritated groan, the blonde pushed himself off the couch and grabbed his jacket. Bikky was at Carol's that evening, so there was nothing left to distract or calm him down. It was about ten-thirty at night and he had first shift the next morning… so since he was so wired with frustration, he decided going to the precinct and getting a head start on the day's work would be a nice change of scenery.

Of course, the word "workaholic" came to mind as he walked down the street, but he pushed it aside.

The walk to the office wasn't a long one, so by the time Ryo got there, he still hadn't calmed down. Behind the front desk, a middle-aged man looked up as the detective entered, a confused expression adorning his obviously sleepy face. "Ryo? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hey Kirk…" Ryo said, trying to force a smile, which wasn't too very hard for him. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come down and try to get a lead for tomorrow." He held his hand up as he passed the desk. "Let me know if you need a coffee or anything, okay?" he added, knowing Kirk was the only one here at night. Because their precinct wasn't one of the busier buildings, they didn't need to stay in full working order 24/7. As long as Kirk answered the phones and dialed the on-call team when something needed to be done, all was well.

"Okay, man. Don't work yourself into the ground though! You have first shift tomorrow, so try and go home sometime soon," Kirk called after him before settling back down in front of the computer screen where he watched his streaming television shows he missed during the day.

After Ryo was sure the door was firmly closed to their investigative unit, he let out a loud sigh and shrugged out of his jacket as he walked to his desk.

"Stupid Dee…" he muttered angrily, draping the jacket over one end of the desk and pretty much slamming himself down in his chair. A new folder had been placed on his desk, so Ryo threw open the manila envelope and glared down at the paperwork before him. After a few seconds of attempting to read the case, a second irritated groan escaped him as he leaned back in his chair, fingers raking through his already slightly disheveled hair.

Hazel eyes slowly glanced up from the bright computer screen as he heard the sound of the door leading into his division closing. It was late, too late for any of the deadbeat employees to be returning to work, or returning for any reason at all for that matter. Berkeley Rose remained silent, turning his head toward his cracked office door. He listened for what might happen next, his long fingers resting on the butt of the gun that rested on his desk. Footsteps proceeded closer toward his office and the blond's fingers curled around the gun even tighter before he heard a man's voice, one that he thought sounded familiar, but…

Silently rising from his desk, Berkeley returned his revolver to the shoulder holster that he still wore and made his way to the door, squinting slightly into the dim work center. Nothing. Then he heard the irritated groan coming from the right side of the room and he soundlessly made his way in that direction. The commissioner paused as he spotted the culprit leaning back in his chair, hair unkempt and wearing a not-too-pleased expression on his face.

Randy "Ryo" Maclean.

Berkeley's jaw cocked to the side slightly, taking in the sight with tired yet curious eyes of the officer alone in his squad room. He just stood there, watching the younger blonde, almost as if waiting for him to do a trick. What could he be doing here so late at night, especially considering that even he knew that the detective had to be here early in the morning?

The reason for his late, or rather, early arrival intrigued the commissioner; so, just as silently as he came, off he was again, returning several minutes later with two mugs of coffee. "Putting in a couple extra hours, Maclean?" he asked drolly upon his reappearance, his right brow quirked in mild amusement of the fact that Ryo hadn't heard him yet.

Ryo's head shot up from where he had been reading over the new case file, his glasses becoming skewed on his face for an instant in the process. After a couple of surprised blinks, Ryo half-heartedly offered a smile to the commissioner and removed the glasses, folding them neatly and setting them atop the paper he had been examining.

"Commissioner," he started, thanking the man and taking the offered mug of coffee, thankful for the warmth that spread to his fingertips as he did so. "Sure, I guess we could say that," he replied, glancing down at the paperwork he should have been doing the next morning. "Truth is, I couldn't sleep," he lied as he took a sip.

Damnit Dee… I'm picking up your worst habits… he thought to himself as he felt the start of an upset stomach clench his innards. Before coming to work at this precinct, lying to a superior officer, regardless of how mundane, was against every moral he could ever have thought of. And now here he was, lying about something that didn't even matter that much. He looked down into the coffee mug, hoping that Berkeley didn't see the continued frustration swimming in his eyes, the jet black hues sending off waves of irritability towards his absent partner.

Unluckily for Ryo, Berkeley was impeccable at sensing others' moods and connecting them to their speech patterns, so of course, he knew something was wrong the instant he saw the blonde just moments ago. He didn't believe the excuse that Ryo gave him, or at least, not with the tone he spoke with.

He brought the mug to his lips, gazing over the rim for a second or two before taking a drink. The commissioner was usually fairly accurate in his assuming, being able to take a stab in the dark and still guess correctly. He was just good like that and prided himself on it. Then again, it didn't take his above average observation skills to presume what the problem here was.

"No thanks to a certain someone, perhaps?" he asked after pulling the mug from his lips, his probing hazel eyes back on the younger man next to him.

Bingo…

"How did you know?" Ryo asked, looking up with an honestly bewildered expression. Sometimes people wondered how the dark blond could be such an observant investigator with his obvious lack of self-observation skills.

Berkeley just stared at him- just stared at him-, the light fading in his eyes and the muscles in his neck seemingly deciding to take a break, causing his chin to fall ever so slightly. Then he blinked and blinked once more before slowly pulling the mug back to his lips, his eyes trailing off to the side as he took another sip of his coffee.

There were times when he admired the younger detective… and then there were times that he just wondered…

Ryo flushed lightly as he realized his brainless move and immediately looked back down at his drink. There were times he wondered about himself too, and this was definitely one of them. How obvious had he been for Berkeley to know that Dee was the cause of all his grief? He had probably walked through the door to their office space and been transparent the entire time.

"Sorry, I guess I just…" he trailed off, swirling the coffee around in his mug a bit before continuing. "Dee just…" Ryo relinquished his hold on the cup. "He's such a child sometimes," he finally finished, flickering his eyes back to the other to see if the look of mild disapproval had been removed from his face. A look that was usually graced upon Dee being shown to him was more than a stab to the ego…

Berkeley waited a bit more patiently now, enjoying the sight of the barely visible blush that spread across the younger male's visage. He didn't quite care for the subject matter, or rather, the subject himself. The fact that Ryo was upset because of his partner was, well, a disadvantage for Laytner; but for him, it was quite the opposite.

He gave the other detective a small, kind, and even slightly teasing smile. It didn't surprise him in the least that Laytner was the cause of his Ryo's problems. The truth of the matter was, he was the cause for nearly the entire investigational unit's problems. Laytner was more than just a thorn in his side and had been from day one.

"You don't say?" replied the commissioner, trying not to sound mocking, which often happened when the topic of the rowdy detective came into discussion. He set his mug down on Ryo's desk, the dark liquid rippling lightly from the older blond's gentle movement. "Care to elaborate on that?"

Ryo couldn't look back at Berkeley in fear that look would still remain. Even though he knew that it wasn't something he should get upset over, being an overachiever by nature and already having his fair share of frustration for the night, he didn't want to chance any other stress inducers. Not that it would matter anyway, since he was already feeling the effects of being looked down upon in the pit of his stomach.

However, they were forgotten in favor of Dee's juvenile stunt from earlier.

"It's nothing major, Commissioner…" Ryo sighed, knowing full well that his own aggravation over the subject was immature. "He just… said something earlier, and then tried to convince me he had said something else," he explained.

No way was he going to look at Berkeley now that the older man knew why he was here. In the middle of the night. Doing work when he knew he would be here in the morning…

"I guess it just bothered me… how he could be so… so…" he trailed off, trying to think of the best word to describe Dee's foolish antics.

"Childish? Immature? Or perhaps juvenile?" Berkeley replied with a thin-lipped smile. He took great pleasure in saying derisive things about the crass detective, whether Laytner was present or not; however, discussing such things in front of Ryo of all people, especially considering he was thinking the exact same thing, was even more gratifying.

The idea that he and Ryo shared something else in common, with that being belittling the other detective's partner, pleased the older male. It meant that they had something they could talk about, which meant longer conversations and more time spent with one another, which ultimately, in Berkeley's eyes, meant that he had a better chance in pursuing the beguiling blonde.

"Find me a thesaurus and I can go on all night," he joked lightly, his smile growing even more as he cast a friendly expression at the younger detective. Berkeley leaned against Ryo's desk as he spoke, hazel eyes prodding the other blonde's temple, silently imploring him to look up so he could gaze into those peculiar pitch-black colored orbs.

Ryo couldn't help but smile and laugh a bit himself, even if they were describing his partner which, he wouldn't care to admit, he had grown quite fond of… But not right now. Oh no, not right now. Dee had his moments, but then there were times like tonight when he felt he could shoot the brunette in cold blood and still get a good night's sleep.

Of course, he would never do something like that… Pulling a gun on him, sure, but actually squeezing the trigger was something Ryo didn't think he could do. Ever. Not to anyone he knew, and certainly not to Dee.

The sound of the other blonde's laughing had a soothing effect on the commissioner. His expression relaxed, the tight smile on his face softening and the tired lines feeling as if they were becoming less strained. There was even this tingling sensation inside his stomach- most people would call it "butterflies", but Berkeley deemed the idea as adolescent and clichéd- that made his chest heave a relieved sigh.

Ryo was just so… No other male had ever made him feel this way and it was just so incredibly unbelievable that the younger detective had rejected him so far, or at least, so he believed.

"Alright, alright. I get the point," Ryo said, looking up at the other and meeting his eyes for a second, then holding it there for a breath before looking back down at his coffee. He had always thought Berkeley had a piercing gaze and tonight was no exception.

Except tonight…

He glanced back up, instead noticing the kind, or somewhat kind, smile on his face and the soft, well somewhat soft, features he was showing.

Berkeley stared into those alluring ebony eyes for as long as Ryo would let him- his coy demeanor was just one the many aspects about him that appealed to Berkeley-, but the mere glimpses did nothing to satisfy his hunger. To swallow those dark orbs, now that would be a truly marvelous feat that he knew he was capable of doing, if only he could capture them for long enough…

"Anyway… I just wanted to get away from my apartment tonight, and since Bikky was at Carol's, I decided to come here and get some work done." Ryo finally explained, breaking the spell their gaze seemed to cast.

"Well," the commissioner began, shifting slightly in his position as he remained leaning against the other's desk. "As much as I welcome your efforts and company, you're aware of the time, not to mention that you're on second watch in the morning. I'll be finishing my work in the next hour or so and I would like to see you packed up and out the door before then, understand?"

Of course, as much as he would like the handsome male to stick around until he left as well, he knew that they both had priorities. He also had a better sense of respect for the blonde than he believed Dee to have for him and he wanted to prove that to Ryo.

Ryo had wound up looking away from Berkeley a few seconds after the unnatural daze had fallen. His piercing gaze still forced a sliver of chills into his chest, and not being a masochist, Ryo would always turn. He didn't really know what it was though. To be honest, the commissioner had the same stare as Dee: a sharp, intelligent gaze that seemed to stare not at you, but through you. It made him feel exposed and vulnerable... a combination of feelings the young blonde did not enjoy.

Ryo glanced at the wall clock, the minute hand just sweeping into position at 11:48 as he did.

"I know…" was his half-hearted response.

Regardless of the coffee and frustrated adrenaline, heavy eyelids threatened to close and a yawn teetered in his throat. He held it back, which brought a sheen of tears to glaze over his eyes with the effort.

"I just want to go over the file," he explained, gesturing to the open case on his desk. "Don't worry, sir. I'll be here for my shift." Ryo was never late for work and tomorrow would be no different; however, he couldn't say the same for Dee.

Berkeley gave the younger male an interrogative stare, the kind that made you question your beliefs and motives in life, though, in actuality, he was only teasing the other blonde. He had very little doubt that Ryo wouldn't be back at the precinct, on time and on task, at the scheduled hour in the morning. Granted, he wouldn't be there to witness it, but he liked to make sure his subordinates were on their toes. Of course, the commissioner was aware that this subordinate needed very little reminding.

Still, he was Ryo's boss, after all.

Straightening, Berkeley removed his mug from Ryo's desk. There was really nothing else to be said. The coffee's effects were beginning to wear off and needed to get back to his own work before he grew too tired to complete it. Spending more time with Ryo was a nice idea, but quite frankly, it wasn't optional at the moment.

Before returning to his office, Berkeley gave the detective an affectionate pat on the shoulder, his gaze lingering on Ryo for a moment longer, before turning to leave with a hint of a smile on his face, content that the fact that he was now no longer working alone at the precinct.

Dark eyes flittered to and from the older male, still uncomfortable holding his gaze. Especially this one… However, it wasn't for long that Ryo was under the spotlight, and after a few more seconds of awkward silence, Berkeley returned to his office, surrendering Ryo to his work. A few moments after that, Ryo allowed a weighted sigh to relieve the pressure in his upper back. He truly hadn't expected anyone to be at the precinct at this late hour, and he certainly hadn't been prepared for Berkeley's appearance.

Regardless, the intimidating male had retreated into the depths of the shadowy building, and with him, some of Ryo's stress.

He didn't know what it was about the man that made him feel like this. It was very different than with Dee… With his partner, Ryo felt like he could unwind, relax- until the brunette did something stupid anyway-, and think about something other than work. When the older detective was around, however… He didn't know how to explain it. It was as if he wanted to prove himself a worthy investigator, but he couldn't for the life of him understand why.

Another sigh shook him, followed closely by a hearty yawn.

The case file glared up at him, pages of words teasing his headache into a hot throbbing behind his retinas. He closed them, summoning a second yawn that bubbled tears over his already watery eyes.

"Maybe I should just leave it for tomorrow…" he muttered to himself, glancing back at the clock. He had been sitting there mindlessly, numbly convincing himself that he should go back to his apartment and face the wrath of whoever was there. With a defeated groan, he set his head on the desk in front of him.

Stupid Dee…

Because of him, the blonde would be tired tomorrow morning. Well… unless he went to bed now. Then he could at least get some sleep... Unfortunately, this was oddly comfortable… Maybe if he just sat here for a minute, he would be able to get back to his apartment without passing out…

~.~.~.~.~

One hour and seventeen minutes after stepping back into his office, Berkeley Rose had finally finished with his work. With a heavy sigh, he pulled his glasses from his face and rubbed at his weary eyes. This is what you get for waking up at four in the morning, he told himself bitterly, slowly opening his hazel eyes and gazing blearily at nothing in particular. At least he wouldn't have to be back until after noon- not that it mattered much, of course. He would still get the five or six hours of sleep that his body had grown accustomed to, unless by some slim chance he actually managed seven or eight instead; of course, if he did that, he would be dragging around his home for an hour like the living dead before forcing himself to get ready for the day's work.

Leaning back in his chair, his thoughts fluctuated back to the half-Japanese detective. He had yet to hear Ryo leave, but then again, Berkeley doubted that, as tired as he was, he would have noticed the blonde's departure. A flicker of curiosity sparked within him as he wondered whether or not Ryo would have interrupted his work to tell him 'goodnight'. It was a nice thought and although Ryo was a nice fellow, Berkeley still wondered…

He shook his head. No reason in pondering over silly ideas this late in the evening, Berkeley told himself with a sigh. It would only lead to another night of resignation to an empty apartment and an empty bed. With that thought in mind, the commissioner picked up his things, hoisted his overcoat in the crook of his arm, and left the confines of his workspace. As he stood in the squad room, he listened for the signs of documents being jostled or a pen scribbling across paper or just something to let him know that Ryo was still there, but he heard nothing.

Taking a step toward the exit, the commissioner was going to leave without checking to make sure that the other blonde had left, but he paused. Curiosity scratched at his insides, keeping him firmly in place for a moment before shoving him in the direction of Ryo's desk. He was greeted with the sight of the blonde slumped over his workspace, his head resting on his arms as he slept. The sight was enough to bring a gentle smile to the older man's face and he took several steps toward the detective to get a closer look. As much as he wanted to, Berkeley wasn't able to get a good view of Ryo's face due to it being hidden by his arms and his slightly disheveled mop of dark golden locks.

Stop being adorable, Berkeley thought as he continued to gaze down at the slumbering blonde. There were so many little things that Ryo did that held an endearing affect on the older male and this was another of them.

He debated waking Ryo and coercing him to go home, but something inside the commissioner couldn't bring himself to do so. No, he'd let him sleep, but not like this, he thought as he spotted the other's jacket still hanging from his desk. Jostling the items he was carrying, Berkeley reached down and grabbed Ryo's jacket, gently draping it over the detective's back and shoulders. His fingertips brushed against the hair on the other's neck, lingering there for a moment.

Let him sleep.

Berkeley sighed before pulling his fingers away and stepping from Ryo's workstation.

One of these days, he told himself with a resigned sigh. One of these days…

~.~.~.~.~

"IS RYO HERE?" Dee bellowed as he burst into the squad room, green eyes wide with something that resembled worry and probably wasn't too far from it. Several officers gawked at him, not because of his boisterous entrance- they were already used to that-, but at how early he had arrived. Dee getting to work fifteen minutes earlier than the beginning of his scheduled shift was unheard of and these guys better damn well make note of it.

Then again, it wasn't the other officers or detectives that he cared about.

The sounds of the office started beeping to life a little before eight am. The ringing of a phone somewhere in another room, the 'veen' of a fax as it relayed documents to another precinct…

"RYOOO!"

…and the scream that vibrated the whole place.

Ryo was torn from his dreams, standing up abruptly as he heard the summons of his name. At first, he thought that it was Chief, having found him asleep on the desk and assumed he had taken one of Dee's famous self-appointed breaks. There was no impending doom, however, and the tension in Ryo's shoulders relaxed as he pulled his chair back and slumped into it.

Except something was already there.

His brows furrowing, he stood again and glanced down at the culprit who had stolen his seat within the past few seconds of confusion.

It was his jacket.

Perplexed, Ryo removed the garment and resumed sitting, placing it back at the corner of his desk where he always put it. Why would it be in his chair? He stared at it, contemplating what had happened… and how he fell asleep.

Blinking, snippets of the previous evening fluttered to the forefront of his memory: the argument with Dee… coming into the office late at night to get a head start on the next day's case files… and the commissioner.

That's right… Commissioner Rose was there, even at that late of an hour. His brow crinkled again. Kirk and Berkeley were the only ones there, and- glancing around for reinforcement of his logic- there was no one else in the room yet. It appeared that even Chief had bypassed their wing and had gone straight to his office this morning.

His jacket stared back at him, its mystifying gaze sowing a seed of uncertainty in his stomach. Kirk didn't come into the back-reaches of the building. He just watched his videos at the front desk. So it had to have been Berkeley who had moved his jacket…

An uneasy feeling settled in his abdomen. The commissioner had been trying for him recently, almost exactly like Dee- except without the tackling part. But unlike his partner, Berkeley was…

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Huh?" He didn't have time to think about it as Dee rounded the corner and hollered at him. Ryo blinked away the remnants of sleep and pushed the puzzling thoughts from earlier to the back reaches of his mind. "Oh, hey Dee," he said nonchalantly, having forgotten about their childish argument from the previous night in favor of his earlier train of thought.

"Don't 'oh, hey Dee' me!" the younger detective replied, suddenly not as upset as he was moments before. He was still pretty damn angry though, there was no denying that. He was just relieved that Ryo hadn't gone and done something stupid just because he yelled at him. Then he would be even more pissed, but this time it would be at himself.

"Where were you last night?" he continued, his face flushed slightly from the rush of emotion. "I went back to your place to apologize and you were gone. And I know you were gone too, because one of your neighbors yelled at me after I banged on your door for, like, ten minutes when you didn't answer."

Must have been Rob...Ryo thought, picturing the middle-aged man sticking his head out his door and shaking an angry fist or bottle of juice at the brunette. Rob was a recovering alcoholic, so juice was what he had been told to drink. Now, whenever Ryo spoke to him, he had either a large drinking cup full of apple cider or an entire container of cranberry juice glued to his side. He offered Dee a sheepish smile, the scene breaking as he yawned instead.

"Sorry. I just... I wanted to do something to relax, and so I came here to look over our case file for the day. I guess I fell asleep..." The sheepish smile returned, this time accompanied by a gentle closing of his eyes.

Relax...? Ryo mentally kicked himself. Who came to their workplace to relax? His eyes found the coffee mug from last night out of the corner of his vision. But... to be honest, it was relaxing. After hours, the commissioner wasn't as intimidating as he usually was... but then again, it may have just been his sleepiness playing tricks on his memory...

"You come to work to relax," Dee repeated with a look one normally used for staring at the body of a half-rotted murder victim. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. His frown deepened for a split second before his expression deflated to one of disbelief. "I swear, Ryo, you are one sick puppy."

His anger continued to dissipate, replacing itself with a sour feeling in his gut. The precinct was somewhere that Dee would have never thought to look for his partner so late at night. He would have to keep that in mind in case he ever pissed Ryo off and couldn't find out where the blonde had gone afterward.