False Impressions 4...Candycane kisses!

Disclaimer: Danny, Josh and future villains are mine. The others are not. I only wish they were.

Comments in italics are thoughts.

-
And who can say if your love grows as your heart shows
Only time
Who can say why your heart sighs as your love flies
Only time
And who can say why your heart cries when your love lies
Only time

Enya, 'Only Time'

-

JJ sighed, staring at the folder in his hand. "...There has to be a pattern in here somewhere..."

He jumped as a someone, standing right beside him, suddenly spoke. "What's this? Actually doing work?"

"AHHH!" He almost fell out of his chair, then looked at the speaker. "Dee-sempai!!"

"What?"

"Don't scare me like that!"

Dee made a face. "It's not my fault you didn't notice me come in. I even knocked!"

"Sorry. I guess I got caught up in work."

Dee snatched the folder from him. "What's this?"

"The material on the model murders. I've been trying to look for some kind of pattern, but so far I've found nothing."

"Hmm? Different agencies, locations, age, looks...geez, looks like the only thing they have in common is that they're models."

"As far as I can tell, yes. We can't even tell how they met the murderer, since they all have different lifestyles. None of them eat at the same places regularly and none of them had the same personality type even."

"Tche. It's almost impossible. How many so far?"

"Nine."

"Nine?!" Dee blinked. "I did know it'd gotten that high..."

JJ took back his papers. "Yeah. One a week..."

"So...we got one yet this week?"

"No..."

"And you're worried it might be Danny?" Dee sounded amused.

"Of course! Aren't you?"

"Well..." He thought. "It's kinda hard to think of anything happening to her."

" Bad things have happened to her before..."

"Guess so. She is only human, after all."

"...Dee-sempai..."

"Yeah?"

"Did you want something?"

Dee grinned and poked him on the forehead. "Nope. Just checking. You looked serious, for once."

JJ blinked. He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. "I'm a serious person!"

"Hmm, maybe you really are." With that enigmatic statement, Dee left.

JJ watched him go, confused. "What was that all about?"

* * *

JJ glared at the door, then the packages in his hand. He nudged the door with a foot and made a face as it opened easily. "I thought I told you not to do that anymore!"

Danny's voice drifted out of her bedroom. "Well, your hands are full, aren't they? It hasn't been open long."

"That's not the point..." He set the food down on a nearby stand and took off his coat and shoes. "You need to be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." She walked out of her room, dropping her schedule book on the dining table. "What'd you get?"

"Lasagna."

"Ohh, sounds good."

He put the food on the table as she grabbed some plates. "Why're you checking your schedule, is something coming up?"

"Trying to work in some gym time. Been eating too many fatty things." She returned, carrying a couple of sodas and plates.

"And you asked me to get Italian?"

"I'm in the mood for it... Speaking of Italian, I talked to a delicious one at work this afternoon."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Apparently he's trying to arrange with Bill for a shoot."

"More work is always good."

"Yeah. Been busy lately..." She scooped some of the lasagna onto her plate. "Whoa, this stuff's messy."

"I got it from our usual place."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Then Danny, bored, started the conversation again. "Guess what Sean brought in today."

"Sean? Your makeup guy?"

"Makeup guy?" She made a face. "How...non-technical. But essentially true."

"What'd he bring?"

"Candy canes!'

"But it's October!"

"I know. Apparently his sister found some when she was out shopping and gave them to him as a joke. He gorged himself sick on them last year, so is getting rid of them this time."

"It's still odd."

"Sean's an odd type of guy. You'd probably like him though."

"Mmm..."

"How was everything at the office."

"Weird."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Dee-sempai was asking me about the case, but he left before I could really tell him anything."

Danny pondered that, tapping her bottom lip with her fork. "What'd he say?"

JJ struggled to remember the exact words. "He said I was looking all serious. I told him I was serious, and he said 'Hmmm' all thoughtfully 'maybe you really are.'"

"..." Danny frowned almost imperceptibly. "Maybe he's finally realizing that you're serious about him."

"You think so?" JJ blinked at her, then thought. He grinned. "Maybe he is!"

"I told you not glomping him was a good idea."

He frowned. "Why didn't he realize I was serious before?... Oh well..." He grinned. "Chance!"

Danny smiled. "This should make things...interesting...Anyway, why don't you take a few of the candy canes. I shouldn't be eating them..."

JJ nodded absently, barely paying attention. She quickly finished her food, then excused herself. Rinsing off her plate she shook her head. "Nothing good will come from this. Nothing at all." She stared out the window, eyes distant. "Someone's going to get hurt..."

* * *

"Dee-sempai!!" JJ burst into the office, looking around. "Eh? Where'd Ryo-sempai go?"

Dee growled. "He left me!" He gestured at the piles of papers on his desk. "He abandoned me to face all this work by myself!"

"How cruel." JJ sat down beside Dee. They were the only two in the room. "Why didn't you do this paperwork earlier?"

"Err...I was busy!"

"Mmm. Anyway, Danny wanted me to invite you, Ryo-sempai and the kids over for dinner sometime this week."

Dee made a face. "You'll have to ask him tomorrow." He glared at the papers, trying to make them finish themselves with the force of his glare.

JJ sighed. Dee-sempai was obviously not in the mood to talk. He stood. "Well..."

"Are you going to abandon me too?" Dee wailed.

JJ sweatdropped. If he put it like that... "Of course not!" He replied quickly.

"JJ..."

"Yeah?"

"...Why do you have a candy cane? It's not even Halloween yet."

"Well, Danny got some yesterday and told me to eat them." He took a quick lick from the half-finished candy. "They're really good, actually."

"Really?"

"Mm." JJ smiled. "I'll bring you one tomorrow."

"Hmm..." Dee stood, walked over and hauled him out of his chair, kissing him.

JJ's rational mind went into shock. It went through a whole list of possibilities, including hallucination as one of the top choices, to explain why, as far as senses could register, JJ was now getting an extremely pointed example of how skilled Dee-sempai was at French kissing.

Luckily for JJ, his rational side wasn't in charge at that moment.

So, even as JJ's mind reeled and his eyes got impossibly huge, he responded to the kiss. He wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, the part of his mind that was still thinking was beginning to worry about asphyxiation when Dee finally released him...Literally, dropping him back into his chair. Dee grinned, licking his lips. "You're right, it does taste good."

Something inside JJ snapped. In his head he heard a voice, sounding suspiciously like Danny, that yelled for him not to do anything, but he lunged at Dee, kissing him as fiercely as he'd just been kissed. He vaguely heard Dee's growl, as the other fought back, trying to dominate the kiss. After a few minutes Dee broke the kiss, grabbing JJ by the shirt and pulling him back. They stared at each other for a long moment, hungrily, breathing heavily. JJ's arms were locked around Dee's waist, Dee's fingers tangled in JJ's shirt. Dee leaned forward, and then...

"Dee!"

Dee jumped, head turning impossibly fast towards the door. "Ryo?"

JJ released Dee, stepping back. He searched the room, but no one else was visible. Then the door opened, and Ryo poked his head in the room. "There you are, Dee. Still working?"

Dee shrugged. "I guess."

Ryo blinked. Dee sounded strangely subdued. He walked in, putting a hand up to Dee's forehead. "Are you feeling all right?"

Dee grabbed his hand, and looked about ready to go for more, then stopped. Ryo stared, trying to figure out the emotion in Dee's eyes. Dee dropped his hand, walking quickly towards the door. "...I need something to drink."

Ryo simply stood for a moment, utterly confused. Then he looked at JJ, who stared back, face blank. He frowned, his brain trying to tell him something... Then... "Dee! You'd better get back here and finish this paperwork! The chief's already mad at you!"

"He's always mad over something!"

Ryo frowned. How irresponsible... Ignoring the feeling at the back of his mind that something was wrong, he walked out the door after Dee. "Eventually you're going to push him too far. Just finish the paperwork, or he'll make you stay after tomorrow again."

"Again? No way! One night a week is bad enough."

JJ listened to their banter as they walked off. He calmly gathered his coat and exited the station. When he reached the road he started running.

* * *

Danny hummed happily, taste testing the sauce and checking the noodles. There was something relaxing about cooking, about the way the ingredients all came together to make something that, hopefully, tasted good. "About six minutes, I'd say."

She glanced up as she heard the door slam open. "Welcome back, Jamie. How was work today?"

She was unprepared for the sudden rush as JJ ran into the kitchen practically pouncing her. She quickly set the lid back on the noodle pot and grabbed his hand away from the burners. "What's wrong?"

"Dee-sempai kissed me!

"Oh, that's ...what?"

"Dee-sempai kissed me! Twice! Although, technically I kissed him the second time, but..."

"..." She frowned. "Wait a minute, explain this from the beginning."

"I went in to see what he was doing, he stayed late because of some paperwork. He wanted me to stay, so I did. He asked me why I had that candy cane, and I told him, and then he kissed me!"

She blinked. "...Just like that?"

"Just like that!"

She sighed. "That's far too easy..."

"I take it this is JJ?" A male voice drawled. JJ blinked, then looked to the side. He sweatdropped as he spotted a man leaning against the fridge, beer in hand. He hadn't even noticed him when he'd come in...

Danny nodded. "Yeah...So then what?"

"Well...Then he let go of me, he'd pulled me out of my chair, and I jumped up and kissed him."

She made a face. "Jamie!"

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nevermind..."

"Well...then Ryo-sempai walked in."

She groaned. "Oh god, I can just imagine."

"Well, actually, he didn't really walk in. He gave us a bit of warning..."

"During which you and Dee hastily pretended nothing had happened?"

JJ nodded, frowning. "..."

"And after that?"

"Well, Dee-sempai was acting kind of funny, so Ryo-sempai thought he was sick. But Dee-sempai just brushed him aside and went to get something to drink. Last I saw Ryo-sempai was trying to get Dee-sempai to do his paperwork..."

"..." Danny groaned, burying her face in his shoulder. "God, that is SO unromantic."

"Well...what do you think it means?"

"I think it means he's interested." The man offered. "If you want my opinion."

"...Who are you?"

"..."

"Josh, JJ, Jamie, Josh."

"Oh, the cute Italian guy."

"Yep."

Josh sweatdropped. "I don't think I'm prepared for you two...Say, is the food done yet?"

"AHH! My noodles. Jamie, if my food burns because of this..." Danny pushed JJ away, turning back to the stove, pulling the pots off the burners and turning things off. Draining the noodles she sighed in relief. "Just made it...Hungry, Jamie?"

JJ shook his head. "Not really."

"OK..." She started pulling out plates. "Well, I think that this is definite progress. I mean, just a few days ago you scared him just by entering the room."

"You really think so?"

"...But he isn't going to get over Ryo that easily. You've got a long way to go."

"But he kissed me first!"

"And he's kissed Ryo how many times?"

"..."

She patted him on the cheek. "Don't worry. You'll get there...unless, of course, Ryo gets his act together."

"..."

Josh walked up to them, thinking. "I may not know much about this but, I think that, if you really like him, you need to show him that."

"But-!"

"No, not by kissing him or whatever. Anyone can kiss someone else. I mean, something that shows him that you really care. That it isn't just lust, or whatever."

"..." JJ thought that over.

Danny nodded. "I still think you should just get over him but, since you're going to insist, Josh's right. You've been chasing him this whole time, so he knows on some level that you really do care, but you're going to have to show him for yourself."

"...You two are scary." JJ pointed. "Far too alike."

They both blinked innocently at him. "Who? Us?"

"Like I just said!"

They laughed.

"Stop that!"

"But, Jaime..."

"Ahh! Stop! That's creeping me out!"

* * *

Danny poked her head into JJ's room. "You should get to sleep."

"Mm...Josh go home already?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"...JJ..."

"...Yeah..."

"You did tell them about coming over for dinner, right?"

"...Oops."

"Jaime!!!"

* * *

Ryo sighed as he entered the station. He hoped Dee was feeling better today... "Hello, everyone."

"Hi, Ryo-sempai!"

Ryo blinked, and looked around. "Dee isn't here yet?"

"Not yet."

"...I see..."

"Ryo-sempai..."

"Yes?"

"Danny wanted me to be sure to tell you that she wants to invite you all over to dinner. Since you had us over."

Ryo smiled. "Sounds like fun."

"Yeah..."

"Are you getting sick too, JJ? You sound tired."

JJ blinked at him, then smiled. "No. I'm fine. Just stayed up too late last night."

"Ah."

The door opened and Dee walked in. He froze, seeing them together. "A-ahhhhh..."

Ryo smiled. "Hello, Dee. Feeling better."

Dee nodded slowly.

JJ's smile widened. "Good morning, Dee-sempai." He chirped.

Dee almost said something, having obviously come to the conclusion that JJ and Ryo had been talking about things he'd rather they weren't, when Ryo spoke up again. "You're late, you know."

"Yeah...well..."

"First you don't want to finish the work, and now you're late. Are you trying to get fired?"

"No..." Dee slowly sat down. He couldn't believe it! He'd kissed JJ, that in itself was surprising enough, but now JJ wasn't even gloating about it!...This was unreal. He pinched himself. Something was up. Ryo sat at his own desk, pulling out some work of his own. "You should stop slacking then."

Dee eyed JJ suspiciously as the other man walked up beside him. JJ merely smiled, and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. Then he moved on. Dee watched him go, biting his lip. JJ hadn't said anything! He wasn't mad, or gloating, or nothing! He squirmed. Could it be JJ really was being serious about all this?

Ryo looked over at Dee. "I said, what do you think... about..."

Dee was staring at the door, biting his lip, face troubled. Ryo slowly blinked, looking between Dee and the door. He frowned. Dee and JJ had been standing awfully close last night. "Dee..."

"What is it, Ryo?"

"You..."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No. Tell me."

"It's just..."

Dee stood and slowly walked over, bending over to kiss him. It wasn't one of his usual forceful kisses, somehow sweeter and gentler. Ryo stared as Dee pulled back before he could respond. "Dee?"

"..." Dee smiled. "You taste better than candy canes." He kissed him again.

Ryo sweatdropped. What'd that have to do with...His eyes widened as he remembered that JJ had been eating a candy cane the night before, he'd commented on the strangeness of that himself before he'd left. So Dee had...but... He said...

Ryo frowned mentally, turning it all over in his mind, wrapping his arms around Dee's neck and kissing him back as he did so. He tasted better then a candy cane? What'd that mean?

It means, stupid, that he likes you best.

That's nice...

But, by saying he likes you best, he admits that he likes JJ too.

Somehow, Ryo didn't find that thought nearly as appealing.