Outage
Rating: PG-13, for language
Contents: Some Dee + Ryo, a bit of Drake + JJ foreshadowing, and general UST
Disclaimer: I own not the yummy men of Fake. If I did, I certainly wouldn't be writing fanfics about them. I'd be at the beach with about seven lovely topless men. But alas Sanami Matoh owns them. So I'm writing fanfics.
Authors Notes: This take place earlier in the manga when Bikky is still a little ol' bratling and Dee and Ryo have yet to become a couple. Yes, I know this doesn't fit in with the current timeline, but deal with it.
***
"Fighting the good fight?" Dee asked Ryo as he noticed his partner's apparent difficulty in keeping his head off of his desk.
"Our shift is almost over. I can make it." Ryo, in his enthusiasm for work and life in general, had volunteered to take some extra shifts over the past few days. Dee, on his part, spent the time his partner was slaving over paperwork face-down and drooling on his living room couch. It was a good system, one in which Dee had placed all of his confidence in. Unfortunately the arrangement did have its drawbacks; gloomy desk-kissing Ryo being the most prominent of them.
Still, that problem was easily fixed.
Dee materialized a large cup of coffee seemingly out of thin air and placed it in front of his partner's drooping head. "Espresso?"
"Dee Laytner, you are my own personal savior."
"Sent by God," Dee teased as he sat at the edge of his desk and carelessly flipped through a file. Ryo yawned and glanced at the clock. It was some time around three. That meant he had half and hour left before he was out of here and in his nice over-sized bed. "You know a watch pot-"
"-never boils I know. Still, I can't wait to get out of here." Ryo allotted himself a quick break to stretch and take a swig of his coffee.
"Ah, look, we're already finishing each others sentence," Dee purred.
"And I'm already starting to act like you." Ryo replied in a less enthusiastic tone.
"So let's take off early. No one'll miss us if we leave just a smidge early," Dee said, accentuating smidge with his fingers.
"A half hour is a pretty big smidge." Ryo replied somberly before taking another sip of his coffee.
"C'mon!" Dee begged. "Before something happens and we get stuck doing overtime!"
Ryo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Or maybe he was just too tired to do so. "Be reasonable Dee. What could possibly happen in the next half hour? Now sit down and finish that case report"
Dee sniffed, dejected. "I was wrong. You act nothing like me."
This time Ryo actually managed to roll his eyes. "From what I can tell, that's a good thing. Now how 'bout you do some work, as opposed to arbitrarily flipping through papers to make it look like you're doing something."
Dee winced. "Damn. Caught." He hopped off of his desk and plopped down into a chair besides Ryo. "Fine then. But if I get some sort of anxiety attack from all this work, you're going to have to pamper me and make me feel all better."
"That is highly unlikely." Ryo scowled and set his coffee aside.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Dee asked, balking at Ryo's implied accusation of his apparent laziness.
"It means do your work." Ryo had apparently ceased to be humored.
"Fine," Dee pouted and for the first time that day began to actually read the paperwork in front of him.
***
Drake looked down at his watch as he hurriedly made his way down the hall towards the elevators. He had been getting flak from the chief for his tardiness as of late, and today looked like it wasn't going to be any different. When he looked up, he noticed the familiar build of his partner disappearing into an open elevator. Perfect! If JJ came in late too, the chief may not even notice his own transgression.
"Hey, JJ, hold up a sec," Drake called as he half-walked, half-jogged to the elevator.
"Hello sempai." JJ greeted warmly as he held the door open for his slightly out-of-breath partner.
Drake nodded to JJ as he stepped into the elevator. "Cutting it a little close today? You're usually so punctual."
"Pardon?" JJ asked, a confused look on his face. "Oh, no, I've been here for twenty minutes. I just needed to check with Janet on something."
"Damnit." Drake's disappointment wasn't exactly discreet.
*Great. That's what I get for relying on JJ to be unreliable.*
"Don't worry, I'll tell the chief that you came in with me," JJ assured his perplexed partner [alliteration, anyone?].
Drake let out a sigh of relief. "Have I told you how much I appreciate you lately?"
"Yes, but I never tire of it." JJ grinned as the elevator went into motion.
JJ hummed silently to himself as he mentally counted off the floors in his head. He had always liked elevators. That may or may not be a result of the squishy feeling they gave him in the inside. They were somewhere between the third and fourth floor when the numbers suddenly disappeared and the elevator came to a jerky stop. No wait. The numbers didn't disappear. The whole elevator disappeared.
"Sempai?" JJ asked the darkness nervously in an attempt to reassure himself that Drake had not disappeared with the rest of the elevator.
"Yeah," Drake began hesitantly. "Not to be the bearer of obvious news, but the elevator just stopped, didn't it."
"Mmm hmm."
"The power probably went out, then, right?"
"Yep." JJ agreed. "Let's just sit tight for a second and maybe the power will come back on?" he added helpfully.
"Sounds like a plan to me. It'll probably just be a sec."
***
It turned out to be more than just your average power outage, and it lasted considerably longer than a few seconds. At about the same time, power went out across a large area of the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. Terrorism was ruled out early on, but the authorities were still on high alert.
Chief Smith was in a pretty lousy mood. That would be a good contender for understatement of the year. Needless to say, no one was going home for quite a while, and Smith made that point pretty clear.
"But chief, me and Ryo are off in-" Dee pleaded, but his case was quickly interrupted by an outburst from the chief.
"Save it, Laytner! This is a state of emergency. We're going to need every man we've got to be down there making sure that dumbasses don't start rioting and looting shit."
"He doesn't place much confidence in the human race, huh?" Ted muttered quietly to no one in particular.
"So much for human decency." Marty agreed.
The chief's furry escalated. "And where the hell are Parker and Adams?!"
***
"Damnit," Drake muttered as his third attempt at prying open the elevator doors failed miserably.
"No go?" JJ asked from somewhere behind Drake. He had decided that the best course of action would be to sit back and wait for Drake to come up with a plan of escape, or for the more likely scenario of someone rescuing them. Not that JJ didn't have faith in Drake's elevator-escaping skills, he just hoped that he and Drake would be discovered before Drake did any real damage to the elevator equipment, and elevator car would be sent crashing to its fiery doom. JJ still wasn't quite sure where the fire would come from.
"I was sure I could do it. I've seen it done on TV a dozen times," Drake muttered, perplexed.
"Yeah, you're right. Hey, try the ceiling! Maybe there is some sort of ventilation grid or something," JJ encouraged, although he secretly doubted the existence of such a vent.
Drake stood on his toes and barely managed to claw a small vent above him. Even JJ didn't have a prayer of fitting through there. "You would have thought that the designers of the elevator would have had a little foresight or something. You know, maybe a little escape panel in the corner? Or friggin' doors that could be manually opened?"
"Yes, that was quite inconsiderate of them," JJ chimed in. He could tell that Drake, who had never been fond of small spaces, was becoming increasing agitated. The fact that the air conditioner was no longer functioning was an added bonus.
"Still, maybe we'd better just wait for someone to find us. For some reason I doubt the chief will be pleased if we tear apart the elevator in an attempt to escape." JJ nodded (not that Drake could tell), and Drake resumed his pacing. "Damn it's hot in here."
"It's because of all your pacing around. Sit down. A break won't kill you," JJ offered.
"Fine." Drake plopped down next to JJ against the back of the elevator. "Oh wait, it's still hot," Drake sneered sarcastically. It was pretty obvious that Drake was frustrated over his inability to pry open the doors, so JJ didn't take offense to his otherwise rude sarcastic remarks. Instead, JJ concentrated his efforts on cheering up his moody partner. It wasn't like he was capable of doing anything else at the moment.
"You can take off your shirt if you like." JJ offered in a suggestion that was anything but helpful or innocent. Mostly it was just a ploy to lighten the mood. Not that the idea of topless Drake didn't thrill him.
"As tempting as the offer sounds, I think I'll have to pass." Ah. Disappointment, thy friend be JJ.
"Oh," JJ pouted. "Rain-check, then?" he asked as he nudged against Drake playfully, but instead of resuming his upright position, he remained leaning against his now somewhat disturbed partner.
A passing thought ran through Drake's mind. Was JJ flirting with him? While it was no secret that JJ preferred the company of a man to that of a woman, the idea of JJ hitting on someone who was A, not Dee and B, not Dee was nearly incomprehensible.
*Nah, couldn't be*
Still, the status of Drake's internal security advisory system was elevated from code yellow to orange.
The silence of Drake's internal train of thought was interrupted by a soft laugh.
"What?" Drake asked hesitantly.
"Oh.nothing." JJ chuckled again.
"It's hard to laugh at nothingness. Now what's so damn funny?" Drake insisted.
"It's just that, well.we're trapped in an elevator."
"Yeeeeah, we've already established that," Drake pointed out. "So?"
"So this is one of the most clichéd settings of the modern era."
"What d'ya mean?" Drake tended to have problems following conversations when words with accents got thrown in the mix.
JJ paused for a moment and tried to think of the best way to explain this. "Well, you see, it's been done so many times. Soap operas, sitcoms, slashy fanworks." Drake couldn't see JJ, but he was positive that his partner was counting the different scenarios off with his fingers. "You yourself said you had seen it on TV a dozen times." True, he had. ".even adult films have started in a similar manner."
Drake's muscles tightened in a fight-or-flight response. Okay, this was definitely approaching code red: time to consider buying duct tape. "Just what are you getting at?" Drake began slowly in a cautious tone.
"I was just saying that.huh? Did you think.?" Much to Drake's displeasure, JJ's confusion gave way to a fit of laughter as the younger man recognized the source of his partner's sudden worry.
"Er? Wha..of course not!" Drake began defensively. JJ's laughter increased.
"You thought.you thought." JJ had apparently lost the ability to form an actual sentence.
Fine, okay, enough already. Drake could take a hint. The last person he wanted laughing at him was JJ. Still, Drake could see the humor in it. The idea that anyone could be attracted to him did seem pretty amusing. Drake was becoming an expert in the fields of self-pitty and abashment "Alright, I get your freakin' point. Are you done yet?" Drake snapped.
JJ's laughter suddenly stopped. "Sempai? Are you okay? I didn't mean to- "
"Nah, I'm fine," Drake didn't even let the younger man finish. "I'm just a little stressed right now. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It's just that-"
"Hey, any babes down there need some rescuing?" That had to be the voice of God. Or Ted. Either would have been welcomed by Drake at this moment. Awkward feeling, be gone.
"Ted? Is that you?" Drake yelled up at the seemingly omnipotent voice from above.
"Drake? We were wondering where you had wondered off too. Damn, I just lost ten dollars to Dee. I'll be on my way, though. I'm looking more along the lines of a damsel in distress."
" Ted, shut the hell up and help us out," as thrilled as Drake was at being discovered, he really wasn't in the mood to listen to Ted's banter.
"Please sempai! It's really hot in here."
"JJ's with you? Oh, so it's just you two then, huh?" Ted asked rather suggestively.
"What the hell's it to you?" Drake snapped. He had to admit that he was being uncharacteristically bitchy. He could have sworn it must have been that time of the month or something. Given the current circumstances, he was sure he'd be forgiven later. Forgiveness was always just a couple of ice-cream sundaes away, or at least that's how it with these two.
"Kay, I guess I'll have to save you. Only 'cause I'm secretly in love with JJ, and I can't stand the thought of you taking advantage of him whilst trapped in an elevator." Ted had obviously exceeded his normal capacity of caffeine.
"Yay!" JJ giggled.
"Try to sound a little less excited next time." Drake growled as he stood up and waited for their self-proclaimed knight in shining armor.
***
Around eight o'clock various members of Dee's division of 27th precinct regrouped at the station to discuss the current situation, only now they were two members up. Fortunately for the ear drums of the officers, the Chief was currently yelling at some other group of "dead-beats," for now leaving them in the hands of Berkley Rose.
Dee and Ryo had spent the last four or so hours herding people towards their homes and aiding people out of subway cars. While the job was grueling, Ryo had downed a couple more cups of coffee and was still managing to stand on his feet, although the current task of listening to his assignment was proving to be a daunting one.
".and since Parker and Adams decided to take a little off of their vacation and visit us in the midst of a crisis." Rose droned on.
"Vacation? We were trapped in a fucking elevator!"
"Whatever." Berkley dismissively waved off Drake's outburst. "You two will be on free-loader patrol. Are we all clear?" Ryo tried to stifle a yawn, but his efforts were in vain and only served to catch Rose's attention. "Ryo, you've been on call for well over 24 hours. Go home."
Ryo blinked, somewhat bewildered. Berkley had never made a habit of telling Ryo to go away. "Um, sir, I'm fine right now. The current situati- "
"Go home" Berkley repeated. "Besides, I'd feel better if you're watching that little brat of yours. He's just as likely to cause problems as the rest of the troublemakers out there. In fact," Berkley suddenly shifted his attention to Dee, "Laytner take him home. I don't want Ryo walking the streets alone in a foggy haze, and I don't want you walking the streets alone at all." Dee made a face and was certainly going to express his distaste with a hand gesture, but Ryo stopped him.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Ryo asked cautiously. As much as he liked (and deserved) to be home right now, he still felt guilty leaving the others with so much work.
"Don't worry, me and JJ will cover for you." Drake reassured him.
"Are you sure you two aren't tired form your little elevator excursion?" Ted asked. Drake shot the outspoken officer a dirty look, but bit his tongue.
"There, it's settled. Everyone get the hell out of here." With those final encouraging words form Rose, the meeting began to disperse rapidly.
"Still, trapped in the panic room with JJ? The yarns you must have to weave." Ted lost no time in picking up where he left off with Drake as the two headed for the door.
"Eh," Drake shrugged. "It wasn't so bad."
*Except for that one incident* Drake added mentally.
"I'll be expecting to hear your survival stories some time in the near future. I'm sure it's all too traumatic for you to deal with now," Ted joked as he split off from Drake and joined up with Marty and Caine outside the meeting room. In a strange way, Ted was halfway right.
Ryo sighed as the others exited the room. "I'll be right back, Dee. I need to deliver some papers to the front desk before leaving." He turned and left, leaving Dee alone in the room with Berkley.
Shortly after Ryo had made his exit, Dee turned to Berkley. "Sending me off with him? That's a rather unexpected move." Dee eyed his rival and arch-nemesis (or so he would like to think) suspiciously. "Don't you realize you're giving me a perfect opening?"
"Is it too hard for you to comprehend that I have actual concern for the boy?" Rose snorted. "Grow up Laytner." With that, Berkley left Dee to sulk alone in the meeting room with a smug grin on his face. Rose so loved to backhand people with his moral superiority, even if it was contrived.
"I bet you think you're so smooth," Dee muttered after Berkley had left to room. "Sure, make me look like the inconsiderate bad guy. I see right through that act! And one day, Ryo will be able to, too."
Dee's speculations were interrupted when Ryo re-entered the room. "Are you alright?" he asked when he noticed the frown etched upon Dee's face.
"Yeah," Dee shrugged dismissively, and replaced his scowl with a smile. "So let's get you home and tucked in bed."
***
Dee flipped the switch of Ryo's apartment on and off for what must have been the tenth time in the past hour.
"Could you stop that already?" Ryo said from the couch, his former light- hearted mood giving way to increasing agitation. He continued to shuffle through the stack of papers on his coffee table, aided only by a small flashlight, despite Dee's continued nagging about "rest" and "sleep." Ryo had too much on his mind now to even contemplate sleep. The current situation was rapidly changing from one of amusement to that of annoyance.
"OW!" Ryo's displeasure increased as Dee's sharp outburst caused him to drop the papers he was holding.
"Watch where you're going, moron!" Bikky sneered tauntingly.
"You stomped on my foot you fuckin' rat!" Dee screeched, outraged.
"It's your own damn fault for stumblin' around like a buffoon," Bikky sang in a sing-song manner as he egged Dee on.
"Can you two please be quite?" Ryo requested through clenched teeth. As if that ever worked.
"How long does this power outage plan on lasting? Ryo, check the news or something." Dee whined and he crouched over to rub his foot while glaring at Bikky.
"Dee you fucktard! The TV doesn't work if the electricity is out! Everyone knows that..."
"Bikky!" Ryo yelled in both admonishment and warning. Dee's silhouette could be seen lunging at the dark corner Bikky was currently residing in. Bikky easily sidestepped Dee's offensive, causing the older man to collide with one of Ryo's armchairs.
".Everyone except fucktards like you, that is." Bikky laughed, but quickly retreated as Dee prepared to launch another attack.
"Alright! That's it!" Ryo flung down the papers on the paper and stood up in an abrupt manner. "You two can stay here and continue to act like immature brats. I'm going for a walk." Ryo stormed out of his apartment, leaving his two counterparts in shock and disbelief.
"Did Ryo just decide to go for a stroll in the middle of a blackout?" Bikky asked incredulously.
"Uh huh."
"Are you just going to let Ryo go out there alone? I mean, a guy like that would probably help some shady people load televisions into the back of a truck if they asked him politely," Bikky said, clearly demonstrating his concern for the only person in his life that resembled a parental figure.
"You should give him a little credit. But still, you're not wrong." Dee stood up and made his way for the door. "You stay here, all right? Ryo has had enough to deal with without having to worry about you.
Bikky rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut lest he and Dee get into another fight.
***
"Ryo!" Dee called out for his partner, but he was already well on his way out of the apartment complex. "Damnit," Dee cursed as he ran after his currently over-sensitive and sleep deprived partner. He didn't have to go far. Ryo was waiting for him outside the building.
"Look, maybe it's just the exhaustion talking, but I'm tired of dealing with the same old crap." Ryo began in what looked to be a long tired rant. "I know you and Bikky aren't fond of each other, but I don't think that wanting you two to act in a civil and human manner is too much to ask."
"Woah!"
And if you think that for one second." Ryo's threat trailed off as he noticed Dee's sudden inattention. "What is it?" he asked, clearly irritated.
"Look." Dee said, motioning upward.
"What do you mean.woah." Ryo echoed Dee's initial response. Both Dee and Ryo were being treated to a rarity in NYC; a glimpse of the actual honest- to-God night sky.
"I was starting to forget about their existence," Dee said he gazed up at the stars, taking a few steps forward so as to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ryo.
"It's so beautiful," Ryo commented in a trancelike state. In his oblivion, Ryo shifted his weight to lean against an unsuspecting yet un-offended Dee.
So ended their little spat, and Dee was thankful for it. He never liked to spend his time with Ryo fighting, especially when they could be doing *other* things. A quick gasp escaped from Dee's lips as a shooting star streaked across the sky. Ryo also sighed, but it was one of the exhausted variety that could almost pass as a yawn, not a gasp of awe.
"Hey, you should get some sleep, you know?" Dee said, breaking the relative silence to express his concern in his partner's condition.
"I guess I was a bit sleepier than I thought. Maybe we should go inside," Ryo noted reluctantly.
Yeah, you're right," Dee said has he finally turned his complete attention away from the stars to his partner. "Here." Dee held out his elbow to Ryo.
"Oh?" Ryo stood blinking momentary complying with Dee's offer and walking arm and arm back towards his apartment. He was far too exhausted to put up a fight anyways. He didn't even notice that Dee had shifted his arm to Ryo's waste, nor did he recall his partner gently laying him down on the bed and covering him with blankets. All Ryo could remember was darkness.
***
Power was returned to nearly all of NYC around 8:00 pm Friday. About 850 people were arrested in a 24 hour time period, a surprising figure once considering that on the average summer night there are usually an average of 950 arrests. Only three deaths have been connected to the outage. See? Real life can have a relatively happy ending.
Or maybe I just have low standards.
Rating: PG-13, for language
Contents: Some Dee + Ryo, a bit of Drake + JJ foreshadowing, and general UST
Disclaimer: I own not the yummy men of Fake. If I did, I certainly wouldn't be writing fanfics about them. I'd be at the beach with about seven lovely topless men. But alas Sanami Matoh owns them. So I'm writing fanfics.
Authors Notes: This take place earlier in the manga when Bikky is still a little ol' bratling and Dee and Ryo have yet to become a couple. Yes, I know this doesn't fit in with the current timeline, but deal with it.
***
"Fighting the good fight?" Dee asked Ryo as he noticed his partner's apparent difficulty in keeping his head off of his desk.
"Our shift is almost over. I can make it." Ryo, in his enthusiasm for work and life in general, had volunteered to take some extra shifts over the past few days. Dee, on his part, spent the time his partner was slaving over paperwork face-down and drooling on his living room couch. It was a good system, one in which Dee had placed all of his confidence in. Unfortunately the arrangement did have its drawbacks; gloomy desk-kissing Ryo being the most prominent of them.
Still, that problem was easily fixed.
Dee materialized a large cup of coffee seemingly out of thin air and placed it in front of his partner's drooping head. "Espresso?"
"Dee Laytner, you are my own personal savior."
"Sent by God," Dee teased as he sat at the edge of his desk and carelessly flipped through a file. Ryo yawned and glanced at the clock. It was some time around three. That meant he had half and hour left before he was out of here and in his nice over-sized bed. "You know a watch pot-"
"-never boils I know. Still, I can't wait to get out of here." Ryo allotted himself a quick break to stretch and take a swig of his coffee.
"Ah, look, we're already finishing each others sentence," Dee purred.
"And I'm already starting to act like you." Ryo replied in a less enthusiastic tone.
"So let's take off early. No one'll miss us if we leave just a smidge early," Dee said, accentuating smidge with his fingers.
"A half hour is a pretty big smidge." Ryo replied somberly before taking another sip of his coffee.
"C'mon!" Dee begged. "Before something happens and we get stuck doing overtime!"
Ryo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Or maybe he was just too tired to do so. "Be reasonable Dee. What could possibly happen in the next half hour? Now sit down and finish that case report"
Dee sniffed, dejected. "I was wrong. You act nothing like me."
This time Ryo actually managed to roll his eyes. "From what I can tell, that's a good thing. Now how 'bout you do some work, as opposed to arbitrarily flipping through papers to make it look like you're doing something."
Dee winced. "Damn. Caught." He hopped off of his desk and plopped down into a chair besides Ryo. "Fine then. But if I get some sort of anxiety attack from all this work, you're going to have to pamper me and make me feel all better."
"That is highly unlikely." Ryo scowled and set his coffee aside.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Dee asked, balking at Ryo's implied accusation of his apparent laziness.
"It means do your work." Ryo had apparently ceased to be humored.
"Fine," Dee pouted and for the first time that day began to actually read the paperwork in front of him.
***
Drake looked down at his watch as he hurriedly made his way down the hall towards the elevators. He had been getting flak from the chief for his tardiness as of late, and today looked like it wasn't going to be any different. When he looked up, he noticed the familiar build of his partner disappearing into an open elevator. Perfect! If JJ came in late too, the chief may not even notice his own transgression.
"Hey, JJ, hold up a sec," Drake called as he half-walked, half-jogged to the elevator.
"Hello sempai." JJ greeted warmly as he held the door open for his slightly out-of-breath partner.
Drake nodded to JJ as he stepped into the elevator. "Cutting it a little close today? You're usually so punctual."
"Pardon?" JJ asked, a confused look on his face. "Oh, no, I've been here for twenty minutes. I just needed to check with Janet on something."
"Damnit." Drake's disappointment wasn't exactly discreet.
*Great. That's what I get for relying on JJ to be unreliable.*
"Don't worry, I'll tell the chief that you came in with me," JJ assured his perplexed partner [alliteration, anyone?].
Drake let out a sigh of relief. "Have I told you how much I appreciate you lately?"
"Yes, but I never tire of it." JJ grinned as the elevator went into motion.
JJ hummed silently to himself as he mentally counted off the floors in his head. He had always liked elevators. That may or may not be a result of the squishy feeling they gave him in the inside. They were somewhere between the third and fourth floor when the numbers suddenly disappeared and the elevator came to a jerky stop. No wait. The numbers didn't disappear. The whole elevator disappeared.
"Sempai?" JJ asked the darkness nervously in an attempt to reassure himself that Drake had not disappeared with the rest of the elevator.
"Yeah," Drake began hesitantly. "Not to be the bearer of obvious news, but the elevator just stopped, didn't it."
"Mmm hmm."
"The power probably went out, then, right?"
"Yep." JJ agreed. "Let's just sit tight for a second and maybe the power will come back on?" he added helpfully.
"Sounds like a plan to me. It'll probably just be a sec."
***
It turned out to be more than just your average power outage, and it lasted considerably longer than a few seconds. At about the same time, power went out across a large area of the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. Terrorism was ruled out early on, but the authorities were still on high alert.
Chief Smith was in a pretty lousy mood. That would be a good contender for understatement of the year. Needless to say, no one was going home for quite a while, and Smith made that point pretty clear.
"But chief, me and Ryo are off in-" Dee pleaded, but his case was quickly interrupted by an outburst from the chief.
"Save it, Laytner! This is a state of emergency. We're going to need every man we've got to be down there making sure that dumbasses don't start rioting and looting shit."
"He doesn't place much confidence in the human race, huh?" Ted muttered quietly to no one in particular.
"So much for human decency." Marty agreed.
The chief's furry escalated. "And where the hell are Parker and Adams?!"
***
"Damnit," Drake muttered as his third attempt at prying open the elevator doors failed miserably.
"No go?" JJ asked from somewhere behind Drake. He had decided that the best course of action would be to sit back and wait for Drake to come up with a plan of escape, or for the more likely scenario of someone rescuing them. Not that JJ didn't have faith in Drake's elevator-escaping skills, he just hoped that he and Drake would be discovered before Drake did any real damage to the elevator equipment, and elevator car would be sent crashing to its fiery doom. JJ still wasn't quite sure where the fire would come from.
"I was sure I could do it. I've seen it done on TV a dozen times," Drake muttered, perplexed.
"Yeah, you're right. Hey, try the ceiling! Maybe there is some sort of ventilation grid or something," JJ encouraged, although he secretly doubted the existence of such a vent.
Drake stood on his toes and barely managed to claw a small vent above him. Even JJ didn't have a prayer of fitting through there. "You would have thought that the designers of the elevator would have had a little foresight or something. You know, maybe a little escape panel in the corner? Or friggin' doors that could be manually opened?"
"Yes, that was quite inconsiderate of them," JJ chimed in. He could tell that Drake, who had never been fond of small spaces, was becoming increasing agitated. The fact that the air conditioner was no longer functioning was an added bonus.
"Still, maybe we'd better just wait for someone to find us. For some reason I doubt the chief will be pleased if we tear apart the elevator in an attempt to escape." JJ nodded (not that Drake could tell), and Drake resumed his pacing. "Damn it's hot in here."
"It's because of all your pacing around. Sit down. A break won't kill you," JJ offered.
"Fine." Drake plopped down next to JJ against the back of the elevator. "Oh wait, it's still hot," Drake sneered sarcastically. It was pretty obvious that Drake was frustrated over his inability to pry open the doors, so JJ didn't take offense to his otherwise rude sarcastic remarks. Instead, JJ concentrated his efforts on cheering up his moody partner. It wasn't like he was capable of doing anything else at the moment.
"You can take off your shirt if you like." JJ offered in a suggestion that was anything but helpful or innocent. Mostly it was just a ploy to lighten the mood. Not that the idea of topless Drake didn't thrill him.
"As tempting as the offer sounds, I think I'll have to pass." Ah. Disappointment, thy friend be JJ.
"Oh," JJ pouted. "Rain-check, then?" he asked as he nudged against Drake playfully, but instead of resuming his upright position, he remained leaning against his now somewhat disturbed partner.
A passing thought ran through Drake's mind. Was JJ flirting with him? While it was no secret that JJ preferred the company of a man to that of a woman, the idea of JJ hitting on someone who was A, not Dee and B, not Dee was nearly incomprehensible.
*Nah, couldn't be*
Still, the status of Drake's internal security advisory system was elevated from code yellow to orange.
The silence of Drake's internal train of thought was interrupted by a soft laugh.
"What?" Drake asked hesitantly.
"Oh.nothing." JJ chuckled again.
"It's hard to laugh at nothingness. Now what's so damn funny?" Drake insisted.
"It's just that, well.we're trapped in an elevator."
"Yeeeeah, we've already established that," Drake pointed out. "So?"
"So this is one of the most clichéd settings of the modern era."
"What d'ya mean?" Drake tended to have problems following conversations when words with accents got thrown in the mix.
JJ paused for a moment and tried to think of the best way to explain this. "Well, you see, it's been done so many times. Soap operas, sitcoms, slashy fanworks." Drake couldn't see JJ, but he was positive that his partner was counting the different scenarios off with his fingers. "You yourself said you had seen it on TV a dozen times." True, he had. ".even adult films have started in a similar manner."
Drake's muscles tightened in a fight-or-flight response. Okay, this was definitely approaching code red: time to consider buying duct tape. "Just what are you getting at?" Drake began slowly in a cautious tone.
"I was just saying that.huh? Did you think.?" Much to Drake's displeasure, JJ's confusion gave way to a fit of laughter as the younger man recognized the source of his partner's sudden worry.
"Er? Wha..of course not!" Drake began defensively. JJ's laughter increased.
"You thought.you thought." JJ had apparently lost the ability to form an actual sentence.
Fine, okay, enough already. Drake could take a hint. The last person he wanted laughing at him was JJ. Still, Drake could see the humor in it. The idea that anyone could be attracted to him did seem pretty amusing. Drake was becoming an expert in the fields of self-pitty and abashment "Alright, I get your freakin' point. Are you done yet?" Drake snapped.
JJ's laughter suddenly stopped. "Sempai? Are you okay? I didn't mean to- "
"Nah, I'm fine," Drake didn't even let the younger man finish. "I'm just a little stressed right now. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It's just that-"
"Hey, any babes down there need some rescuing?" That had to be the voice of God. Or Ted. Either would have been welcomed by Drake at this moment. Awkward feeling, be gone.
"Ted? Is that you?" Drake yelled up at the seemingly omnipotent voice from above.
"Drake? We were wondering where you had wondered off too. Damn, I just lost ten dollars to Dee. I'll be on my way, though. I'm looking more along the lines of a damsel in distress."
" Ted, shut the hell up and help us out," as thrilled as Drake was at being discovered, he really wasn't in the mood to listen to Ted's banter.
"Please sempai! It's really hot in here."
"JJ's with you? Oh, so it's just you two then, huh?" Ted asked rather suggestively.
"What the hell's it to you?" Drake snapped. He had to admit that he was being uncharacteristically bitchy. He could have sworn it must have been that time of the month or something. Given the current circumstances, he was sure he'd be forgiven later. Forgiveness was always just a couple of ice-cream sundaes away, or at least that's how it with these two.
"Kay, I guess I'll have to save you. Only 'cause I'm secretly in love with JJ, and I can't stand the thought of you taking advantage of him whilst trapped in an elevator." Ted had obviously exceeded his normal capacity of caffeine.
"Yay!" JJ giggled.
"Try to sound a little less excited next time." Drake growled as he stood up and waited for their self-proclaimed knight in shining armor.
***
Around eight o'clock various members of Dee's division of 27th precinct regrouped at the station to discuss the current situation, only now they were two members up. Fortunately for the ear drums of the officers, the Chief was currently yelling at some other group of "dead-beats," for now leaving them in the hands of Berkley Rose.
Dee and Ryo had spent the last four or so hours herding people towards their homes and aiding people out of subway cars. While the job was grueling, Ryo had downed a couple more cups of coffee and was still managing to stand on his feet, although the current task of listening to his assignment was proving to be a daunting one.
".and since Parker and Adams decided to take a little off of their vacation and visit us in the midst of a crisis." Rose droned on.
"Vacation? We were trapped in a fucking elevator!"
"Whatever." Berkley dismissively waved off Drake's outburst. "You two will be on free-loader patrol. Are we all clear?" Ryo tried to stifle a yawn, but his efforts were in vain and only served to catch Rose's attention. "Ryo, you've been on call for well over 24 hours. Go home."
Ryo blinked, somewhat bewildered. Berkley had never made a habit of telling Ryo to go away. "Um, sir, I'm fine right now. The current situati- "
"Go home" Berkley repeated. "Besides, I'd feel better if you're watching that little brat of yours. He's just as likely to cause problems as the rest of the troublemakers out there. In fact," Berkley suddenly shifted his attention to Dee, "Laytner take him home. I don't want Ryo walking the streets alone in a foggy haze, and I don't want you walking the streets alone at all." Dee made a face and was certainly going to express his distaste with a hand gesture, but Ryo stopped him.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Ryo asked cautiously. As much as he liked (and deserved) to be home right now, he still felt guilty leaving the others with so much work.
"Don't worry, me and JJ will cover for you." Drake reassured him.
"Are you sure you two aren't tired form your little elevator excursion?" Ted asked. Drake shot the outspoken officer a dirty look, but bit his tongue.
"There, it's settled. Everyone get the hell out of here." With those final encouraging words form Rose, the meeting began to disperse rapidly.
"Still, trapped in the panic room with JJ? The yarns you must have to weave." Ted lost no time in picking up where he left off with Drake as the two headed for the door.
"Eh," Drake shrugged. "It wasn't so bad."
*Except for that one incident* Drake added mentally.
"I'll be expecting to hear your survival stories some time in the near future. I'm sure it's all too traumatic for you to deal with now," Ted joked as he split off from Drake and joined up with Marty and Caine outside the meeting room. In a strange way, Ted was halfway right.
Ryo sighed as the others exited the room. "I'll be right back, Dee. I need to deliver some papers to the front desk before leaving." He turned and left, leaving Dee alone in the room with Berkley.
Shortly after Ryo had made his exit, Dee turned to Berkley. "Sending me off with him? That's a rather unexpected move." Dee eyed his rival and arch-nemesis (or so he would like to think) suspiciously. "Don't you realize you're giving me a perfect opening?"
"Is it too hard for you to comprehend that I have actual concern for the boy?" Rose snorted. "Grow up Laytner." With that, Berkley left Dee to sulk alone in the meeting room with a smug grin on his face. Rose so loved to backhand people with his moral superiority, even if it was contrived.
"I bet you think you're so smooth," Dee muttered after Berkley had left to room. "Sure, make me look like the inconsiderate bad guy. I see right through that act! And one day, Ryo will be able to, too."
Dee's speculations were interrupted when Ryo re-entered the room. "Are you alright?" he asked when he noticed the frown etched upon Dee's face.
"Yeah," Dee shrugged dismissively, and replaced his scowl with a smile. "So let's get you home and tucked in bed."
***
Dee flipped the switch of Ryo's apartment on and off for what must have been the tenth time in the past hour.
"Could you stop that already?" Ryo said from the couch, his former light- hearted mood giving way to increasing agitation. He continued to shuffle through the stack of papers on his coffee table, aided only by a small flashlight, despite Dee's continued nagging about "rest" and "sleep." Ryo had too much on his mind now to even contemplate sleep. The current situation was rapidly changing from one of amusement to that of annoyance.
"OW!" Ryo's displeasure increased as Dee's sharp outburst caused him to drop the papers he was holding.
"Watch where you're going, moron!" Bikky sneered tauntingly.
"You stomped on my foot you fuckin' rat!" Dee screeched, outraged.
"It's your own damn fault for stumblin' around like a buffoon," Bikky sang in a sing-song manner as he egged Dee on.
"Can you two please be quite?" Ryo requested through clenched teeth. As if that ever worked.
"How long does this power outage plan on lasting? Ryo, check the news or something." Dee whined and he crouched over to rub his foot while glaring at Bikky.
"Dee you fucktard! The TV doesn't work if the electricity is out! Everyone knows that..."
"Bikky!" Ryo yelled in both admonishment and warning. Dee's silhouette could be seen lunging at the dark corner Bikky was currently residing in. Bikky easily sidestepped Dee's offensive, causing the older man to collide with one of Ryo's armchairs.
".Everyone except fucktards like you, that is." Bikky laughed, but quickly retreated as Dee prepared to launch another attack.
"Alright! That's it!" Ryo flung down the papers on the paper and stood up in an abrupt manner. "You two can stay here and continue to act like immature brats. I'm going for a walk." Ryo stormed out of his apartment, leaving his two counterparts in shock and disbelief.
"Did Ryo just decide to go for a stroll in the middle of a blackout?" Bikky asked incredulously.
"Uh huh."
"Are you just going to let Ryo go out there alone? I mean, a guy like that would probably help some shady people load televisions into the back of a truck if they asked him politely," Bikky said, clearly demonstrating his concern for the only person in his life that resembled a parental figure.
"You should give him a little credit. But still, you're not wrong." Dee stood up and made his way for the door. "You stay here, all right? Ryo has had enough to deal with without having to worry about you.
Bikky rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut lest he and Dee get into another fight.
***
"Ryo!" Dee called out for his partner, but he was already well on his way out of the apartment complex. "Damnit," Dee cursed as he ran after his currently over-sensitive and sleep deprived partner. He didn't have to go far. Ryo was waiting for him outside the building.
"Look, maybe it's just the exhaustion talking, but I'm tired of dealing with the same old crap." Ryo began in what looked to be a long tired rant. "I know you and Bikky aren't fond of each other, but I don't think that wanting you two to act in a civil and human manner is too much to ask."
"Woah!"
And if you think that for one second." Ryo's threat trailed off as he noticed Dee's sudden inattention. "What is it?" he asked, clearly irritated.
"Look." Dee said, motioning upward.
"What do you mean.woah." Ryo echoed Dee's initial response. Both Dee and Ryo were being treated to a rarity in NYC; a glimpse of the actual honest- to-God night sky.
"I was starting to forget about their existence," Dee said he gazed up at the stars, taking a few steps forward so as to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ryo.
"It's so beautiful," Ryo commented in a trancelike state. In his oblivion, Ryo shifted his weight to lean against an unsuspecting yet un-offended Dee.
So ended their little spat, and Dee was thankful for it. He never liked to spend his time with Ryo fighting, especially when they could be doing *other* things. A quick gasp escaped from Dee's lips as a shooting star streaked across the sky. Ryo also sighed, but it was one of the exhausted variety that could almost pass as a yawn, not a gasp of awe.
"Hey, you should get some sleep, you know?" Dee said, breaking the relative silence to express his concern in his partner's condition.
"I guess I was a bit sleepier than I thought. Maybe we should go inside," Ryo noted reluctantly.
Yeah, you're right," Dee said has he finally turned his complete attention away from the stars to his partner. "Here." Dee held out his elbow to Ryo.
"Oh?" Ryo stood blinking momentary complying with Dee's offer and walking arm and arm back towards his apartment. He was far too exhausted to put up a fight anyways. He didn't even notice that Dee had shifted his arm to Ryo's waste, nor did he recall his partner gently laying him down on the bed and covering him with blankets. All Ryo could remember was darkness.
***
Power was returned to nearly all of NYC around 8:00 pm Friday. About 850 people were arrested in a 24 hour time period, a surprising figure once considering that on the average summer night there are usually an average of 950 arrests. Only three deaths have been connected to the outage. See? Real life can have a relatively happy ending.
Or maybe I just have low standards.