Bang!
Dee had managed to make it just in time, and fired his gun at Clay, causing him to delay his reaction. Clay, instead of firing his gun in Ryo's mouth, had hit him in the side. Clay fell to the side, still concious gripping his gun. "mmph" he groaned in pain as blood spilled onto the carpet.
"RYO!" Dee rushed to his partners side, wincing as he saw how badly Ryo had been shot. "Ryo.. Ryo.. can you hear me?" Dee shook the man in his arms gently.
"Ugh... Dee?" Ryo's dark eyes fluttered open as he looked up at his partner.
"yeah... I'm here..." Dee hugged Ryo gently. "dont ever do anything that stupid agai--"
Clay, had only been shot in the shoulder and not in the heart as Dee had though, and was, once agian aiming his gun at Ryo.
"NO!" Dee exclaimed as he tried to shield his partner from the line of fire.
Another bullet ripped through Ryo's body, this time implanting itself deep within ryo's calf.
"Ahh!" Ryo grimaced in pain as his blood stained the carpet, forming a small pool around his injurys.
"DAMNIT!" Dee aimed his gun at the man's head and fired once. Clay didnt make a sound or move at all.
"Shit! Ryo!" Dee looked at his partner, hating to see him this way and began to create make-shit bandages from his jacket.
Ryo, having lost so much blood, had passed out, his head hanging in Dee's arms, blood staining Dee's clothes.
Gently, Dee lifted Ryo's smaller frame in his arms, and called out for Bikky. No answer. "Damnit... if Bikky's here... he would have come.. Shit! i can't look for Bikky and help Ryo.. he's in critical condition.."
Dee gently rested Ryo agianst the wall and pulled out his cell phone, dialing 911.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
it was only a matter of minutes before the ambulance came with the backup, but it seemed like an eternity. Dee hadnt seen any sign of Bikky, but he was obviously tied to Clay, and with Clay dead, he was looking at a dead end. No leads. The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever. The ambulance had left with Ryo as soon as it arrived, but Dee had stayed behind to check around for Bikky, to no avail, before taking off after his partner.
"damnit" Dee sighed "if anything happens to Ryo..." Dee's head slammed onto his lap as he tried to calm his anxious nerves. He had been waiting for new of Ryo for over half an hour while the doctors removed the bullets and restored the blood Ryo had lost. Deep in thought, Dee didnt notice the nurse that was tapping him on the shoulder.
"Sir? Sir..? SIR!" the nurse exclaimed impatiently, tapping her foot.
"huh?" Dee looked up at the nurse in front of him. "Oh... sorry."
"Are you Mr.Dee Laytner?"
"Yes... is it about Ryo?! Is he okay?! What happened?!" Dee asked all at once.
"Calm down sir.." The nurse said to him, with a reassuring pat on the shoulder "your partner will make a full recovery, but we expect it will take several weeks before he's back to normal. He's still unconcious, but if you want to see him, i can take you to him."
"Yes, please. Thanks." Dee said with a sigh of relief as he snatched up his jacket and follow the nurse down the white corridors of the hospital. She let him to the intensive care unit. Dee's expression tightened after seeing the sign.
"Sir, please don't worry. He's going to be fine. We're just keeing him here until he wakes up... then he can go into a normal room. We expect he'll be out of the hospital by sunday."
"Thats good..." Dee said distractedly as they approached Ryo's room.
"Go on, there should be some chairs in there..." The nurse gestured to the curtain pulled around Ryo's bed. "He needs to rest, so i'll come get you in a bit." She smiled and walked out of the room.
Slowly, Dee pulled the curtain back, and drew his chair up next to the head of his partners bed. Dee smiled seeing Ryo's peaceful expression and took his hand in his own, caressing it gently.
The two stayed like this for what seemed like hours. Dee, fighting to stay awake, could no longer fight off how tired he was, and rested his head next to Ryo's hand. Soon, he slipped into peaceful sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dee awoke to feel a gently brush against his forehead. His eyes fluttered open and were met with none other than Ryo's smiling face.
"morning Dee." Ryo said in a hoarse voice, pulling his hand away from Dees head as he sat up.
"Ryo! Your awake... damn. guess i fell asleep. How do you feel? Are you okay? Do you need anything? " Dee questioned all at once with a concerned expression.
Ryo only smiled "I'm okay. It only hurts a bit now, don't worry. They said i'd be out by sunday, but i might not be able to go to work for a few weeks" ryo said glumly, obviously dissappointed that he wouldnt be with Dee, of course, he'd never admit that...
"as long as your okay..." Dee brushed back his hair.
"i am" Ryo said with a reassuring smile.
Glancing around, Dee noticed the room had grown a quite a few balloons and plants. "Ah... i see everyone's been by already."
"Yeah... I'm surprised you didnt wake up.." Ryo's eyes suddenly filled with sadness. "The chief came in..."
"Ryo..?..." Dee looked into his partners dark eyes.
"he said... he said they hadnt found anything on Bikky yet." ryo said quietly, looking away from Dee.
"Ryo.. we'll find him. I promise." Dee turned his partners head, and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips. "okay?"
"Dee... okay. Thanks." ryo smiled, feeling a bit better. He knew, that he could count on Dee.
"So..."
The two contiuned chatting, until the nurse came in, and told Ryo he'd be switching to another room where he could have a bit more privacy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was 5 day's after Ryo had been injured, and there were still no leads for who Clay had handed Bikky over to. It turned out that the Aunt, had forced Bikky to write the note under Clays commands and then been murdered brutally. Her body was found in a ditch near the apartment two days ago.
"I'm going chief. Gotta see if Ryo needs anything." Dee poked his head into the Chief's office and told him.
"Alright... tell him to hurry up. We need him back. Oh, and have you found anything on his .. er.. foster son?" The chief asked, unsure of how to refer to Bikky.
"Not yet... poor Ryo. He's been nothing but a bunch of nerves since he got home." Dee sighed rubbing his temple.
"Oh.. well... I'll see if i can come up with something."
"Thanks..." Dee replied earnestly before walking out the station.
"DEEEE!!!!!! WAIT UPPP!!" J.J. ran after Dee, hot on his heels.
"Huh?" Dee turned around sharply, to find J.J's face only millimeters from his.. "AGH!" His quick reflexes allowed him to shove J.J's unwanted face away from his own.
"What the hell do you want now? I have to go see ryo."
"Aww... I'm sure he's fine. Lets go see a movie!" J.J hugged Dee's arm and began dragging him in the opposite direction.
"Let me go, NOW! I'm not in the mood and i would never want to go see a movie with you if you were the last man on earth." Dee snapped.
"meanie..." J.J. sniffled loosining his grip on Dee's arm allowing Dee time to snatch it back.
"So.. how's he doing?" J.J. asked regaining his composure as he followed Dee to the parking lot.
"Alot better... " Dee said, with a small grin.
"Hmph..." here, J.J. muttered something, watching Dee unlock the car and climb in the drivers seat.
"move, or i'll run over you." Dee growled through gritted teeth, revving up his engine.
"Whoa!" J.J. jumped out of the way, as Dee's car sped off. "Damn... damn Ryo." J.J growled, sulking as he went back to the station
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dee opened the door to Ryo's apartment quietly, as not to disturb him. But saw the brown haired man resting on the couch watching some T.V. show.
"Hey, i brought dinner." Dee smiled, holding up a take-out bag with chinese characters on it. "It's your favorite! Orange chicken!" Dee exclaimed, carrying the bag to the kitchen, and pulling out dishes.
"Oh.. thanks..." ryo commented seeming dissinterested.
"Ryo" Dee poked his head around the fridge, peering at his partner. "Damn.. he's the same as yesterday... I hate seeing him so depressed." Dee thought to himself silently.
"Yeah?" Ryo perked up a bit, smiling at Dee with a fake smile.
"You okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Ryo flipped the TV off.
"Kay..." Dee replied, carrying a plate to Ryo and sliding onto the floor, holding his own plate in his hands.
"Wow... this is really good." Ryo commented.
"Yup... I knew you'd like it." Dee grinned at Ryo smiling up at him.
But Ryo didnt notice. He'd been like this since Bikky had dissappeared. He could be perfectly happy, normal Ryo one minute... and the next he had a zombie like stare on, as though distracted by something. Dee didnt like it, it wasnt Ryo. Bikky needed to be found... and soon, before Ryo got even more depressed.
"Uh.. Ryo?" Dee waved his hand in front of his friends face.
"Wha- Oh... sorry. Guess i'm kinda tired." Ryo shook his head, putting down his empty plate.
"Oh? Want any more?"
"Nah..." ryo yawned, stretching his arms.
"Kay.." Dee picked up Ryo's plate and took it to the kitchen, washing both of them and drying them off quickly before returning to his partners side.
"Ready for bed?" Dee questioned Ryo.
"Yeah..." said Ryo, attempting to stand.
"Gah! Ryo! You cant stand yet!" Dee exclaimed, catching the other man before he fell backwards and lifting him up into his arms.
"Whatever..." Ryo looked away from Dee. He hated feeling useless.
Dee carried Ryo into the bedroom, handing him his bed clothes and going back into the living room. Slowly, he slid onto the couch. "ryo.. i'll find Bikky. Just stop.. stop looking at me like that..." Everytime Dee saw Ryo with that lifeless stare, it tore at his heart. He never wanted to see his friend like that agian, ever. Feeling the tears sting his eyes, he quickly changed his course of thought. "I really have to find a lead... Ryo's counting on me." Dee groaned. "I'm going to go grey from all this stress..." For the past week, Dee had been poping pain killers on a regular basis due to all the stress induced headache's he had gotten.
"Dee!" Ryo called from the bedroom.
"Yeah?" Dee poked his head in.
"Uhm..." Ryo blushed. "Why did i call him in...?" He thought to himself.
"Whats wrong?" Dee sat down on the corner of Ryo's bed.
"Could you uh... uhm..." Ryo blushed even more.
"Yes..?" Dee's head moved closer to Ryo's before Ryo pulled back.
"Nevermind." Ryo looked away.
"..." Dee blinked. "Ryo.. you sure your okay? You've been... well you've seemed kinda detached for the past week." ryo said, concern in his voice as he stared into his partners deep dark eyes.
"Dee..." Ryo fought the tears hard. "Don't cry.. don't let him see you cry again." Ryo though, biting his lip, trying to supress the emotions that tore him up inside.
"Shh..." Dee sank down into the bed next to ryo and pulled the smaller mans head agianst his chest, hugging him gently. "It's going to be okay." Dee said with a reassuring pat on his back.
"Dee.." ryo's tears stained Dee's shirt as he clung to him.
Ryo stayed in Dee's arms, seeking comfort for the rest of the night, before he fell asleep, near midnight. But Dee's eyes never lef this partners. "I swear, im going to find him for you. I swear it." Dee gently kissed ryo's forehead before tucking him in and snuggling up next to him.
"Good night, Ryo..."
Dee had managed to make it just in time, and fired his gun at Clay, causing him to delay his reaction. Clay, instead of firing his gun in Ryo's mouth, had hit him in the side. Clay fell to the side, still concious gripping his gun. "mmph" he groaned in pain as blood spilled onto the carpet.
"RYO!" Dee rushed to his partners side, wincing as he saw how badly Ryo had been shot. "Ryo.. Ryo.. can you hear me?" Dee shook the man in his arms gently.
"Ugh... Dee?" Ryo's dark eyes fluttered open as he looked up at his partner.
"yeah... I'm here..." Dee hugged Ryo gently. "dont ever do anything that stupid agai--"
Clay, had only been shot in the shoulder and not in the heart as Dee had though, and was, once agian aiming his gun at Ryo.
"NO!" Dee exclaimed as he tried to shield his partner from the line of fire.
Another bullet ripped through Ryo's body, this time implanting itself deep within ryo's calf.
"Ahh!" Ryo grimaced in pain as his blood stained the carpet, forming a small pool around his injurys.
"DAMNIT!" Dee aimed his gun at the man's head and fired once. Clay didnt make a sound or move at all.
"Shit! Ryo!" Dee looked at his partner, hating to see him this way and began to create make-shit bandages from his jacket.
Ryo, having lost so much blood, had passed out, his head hanging in Dee's arms, blood staining Dee's clothes.
Gently, Dee lifted Ryo's smaller frame in his arms, and called out for Bikky. No answer. "Damnit... if Bikky's here... he would have come.. Shit! i can't look for Bikky and help Ryo.. he's in critical condition.."
Dee gently rested Ryo agianst the wall and pulled out his cell phone, dialing 911.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
it was only a matter of minutes before the ambulance came with the backup, but it seemed like an eternity. Dee hadnt seen any sign of Bikky, but he was obviously tied to Clay, and with Clay dead, he was looking at a dead end. No leads. The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever. The ambulance had left with Ryo as soon as it arrived, but Dee had stayed behind to check around for Bikky, to no avail, before taking off after his partner.
"damnit" Dee sighed "if anything happens to Ryo..." Dee's head slammed onto his lap as he tried to calm his anxious nerves. He had been waiting for new of Ryo for over half an hour while the doctors removed the bullets and restored the blood Ryo had lost. Deep in thought, Dee didnt notice the nurse that was tapping him on the shoulder.
"Sir? Sir..? SIR!" the nurse exclaimed impatiently, tapping her foot.
"huh?" Dee looked up at the nurse in front of him. "Oh... sorry."
"Are you Mr.Dee Laytner?"
"Yes... is it about Ryo?! Is he okay?! What happened?!" Dee asked all at once.
"Calm down sir.." The nurse said to him, with a reassuring pat on the shoulder "your partner will make a full recovery, but we expect it will take several weeks before he's back to normal. He's still unconcious, but if you want to see him, i can take you to him."
"Yes, please. Thanks." Dee said with a sigh of relief as he snatched up his jacket and follow the nurse down the white corridors of the hospital. She let him to the intensive care unit. Dee's expression tightened after seeing the sign.
"Sir, please don't worry. He's going to be fine. We're just keeing him here until he wakes up... then he can go into a normal room. We expect he'll be out of the hospital by sunday."
"Thats good..." Dee said distractedly as they approached Ryo's room.
"Go on, there should be some chairs in there..." The nurse gestured to the curtain pulled around Ryo's bed. "He needs to rest, so i'll come get you in a bit." She smiled and walked out of the room.
Slowly, Dee pulled the curtain back, and drew his chair up next to the head of his partners bed. Dee smiled seeing Ryo's peaceful expression and took his hand in his own, caressing it gently.
The two stayed like this for what seemed like hours. Dee, fighting to stay awake, could no longer fight off how tired he was, and rested his head next to Ryo's hand. Soon, he slipped into peaceful sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dee awoke to feel a gently brush against his forehead. His eyes fluttered open and were met with none other than Ryo's smiling face.
"morning Dee." Ryo said in a hoarse voice, pulling his hand away from Dees head as he sat up.
"Ryo! Your awake... damn. guess i fell asleep. How do you feel? Are you okay? Do you need anything? " Dee questioned all at once with a concerned expression.
Ryo only smiled "I'm okay. It only hurts a bit now, don't worry. They said i'd be out by sunday, but i might not be able to go to work for a few weeks" ryo said glumly, obviously dissappointed that he wouldnt be with Dee, of course, he'd never admit that...
"as long as your okay..." Dee brushed back his hair.
"i am" Ryo said with a reassuring smile.
Glancing around, Dee noticed the room had grown a quite a few balloons and plants. "Ah... i see everyone's been by already."
"Yeah... I'm surprised you didnt wake up.." Ryo's eyes suddenly filled with sadness. "The chief came in..."
"Ryo..?..." Dee looked into his partners dark eyes.
"he said... he said they hadnt found anything on Bikky yet." ryo said quietly, looking away from Dee.
"Ryo.. we'll find him. I promise." Dee turned his partners head, and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips. "okay?"
"Dee... okay. Thanks." ryo smiled, feeling a bit better. He knew, that he could count on Dee.
"So..."
The two contiuned chatting, until the nurse came in, and told Ryo he'd be switching to another room where he could have a bit more privacy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was 5 day's after Ryo had been injured, and there were still no leads for who Clay had handed Bikky over to. It turned out that the Aunt, had forced Bikky to write the note under Clays commands and then been murdered brutally. Her body was found in a ditch near the apartment two days ago.
"I'm going chief. Gotta see if Ryo needs anything." Dee poked his head into the Chief's office and told him.
"Alright... tell him to hurry up. We need him back. Oh, and have you found anything on his .. er.. foster son?" The chief asked, unsure of how to refer to Bikky.
"Not yet... poor Ryo. He's been nothing but a bunch of nerves since he got home." Dee sighed rubbing his temple.
"Oh.. well... I'll see if i can come up with something."
"Thanks..." Dee replied earnestly before walking out the station.
"DEEEE!!!!!! WAIT UPPP!!" J.J. ran after Dee, hot on his heels.
"Huh?" Dee turned around sharply, to find J.J's face only millimeters from his.. "AGH!" His quick reflexes allowed him to shove J.J's unwanted face away from his own.
"What the hell do you want now? I have to go see ryo."
"Aww... I'm sure he's fine. Lets go see a movie!" J.J hugged Dee's arm and began dragging him in the opposite direction.
"Let me go, NOW! I'm not in the mood and i would never want to go see a movie with you if you were the last man on earth." Dee snapped.
"meanie..." J.J. sniffled loosining his grip on Dee's arm allowing Dee time to snatch it back.
"So.. how's he doing?" J.J. asked regaining his composure as he followed Dee to the parking lot.
"Alot better... " Dee said, with a small grin.
"Hmph..." here, J.J. muttered something, watching Dee unlock the car and climb in the drivers seat.
"move, or i'll run over you." Dee growled through gritted teeth, revving up his engine.
"Whoa!" J.J. jumped out of the way, as Dee's car sped off. "Damn... damn Ryo." J.J growled, sulking as he went back to the station
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dee opened the door to Ryo's apartment quietly, as not to disturb him. But saw the brown haired man resting on the couch watching some T.V. show.
"Hey, i brought dinner." Dee smiled, holding up a take-out bag with chinese characters on it. "It's your favorite! Orange chicken!" Dee exclaimed, carrying the bag to the kitchen, and pulling out dishes.
"Oh.. thanks..." ryo commented seeming dissinterested.
"Ryo" Dee poked his head around the fridge, peering at his partner. "Damn.. he's the same as yesterday... I hate seeing him so depressed." Dee thought to himself silently.
"Yeah?" Ryo perked up a bit, smiling at Dee with a fake smile.
"You okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Ryo flipped the TV off.
"Kay..." Dee replied, carrying a plate to Ryo and sliding onto the floor, holding his own plate in his hands.
"Wow... this is really good." Ryo commented.
"Yup... I knew you'd like it." Dee grinned at Ryo smiling up at him.
But Ryo didnt notice. He'd been like this since Bikky had dissappeared. He could be perfectly happy, normal Ryo one minute... and the next he had a zombie like stare on, as though distracted by something. Dee didnt like it, it wasnt Ryo. Bikky needed to be found... and soon, before Ryo got even more depressed.
"Uh.. Ryo?" Dee waved his hand in front of his friends face.
"Wha- Oh... sorry. Guess i'm kinda tired." Ryo shook his head, putting down his empty plate.
"Oh? Want any more?"
"Nah..." ryo yawned, stretching his arms.
"Kay.." Dee picked up Ryo's plate and took it to the kitchen, washing both of them and drying them off quickly before returning to his partners side.
"Ready for bed?" Dee questioned Ryo.
"Yeah..." said Ryo, attempting to stand.
"Gah! Ryo! You cant stand yet!" Dee exclaimed, catching the other man before he fell backwards and lifting him up into his arms.
"Whatever..." Ryo looked away from Dee. He hated feeling useless.
Dee carried Ryo into the bedroom, handing him his bed clothes and going back into the living room. Slowly, he slid onto the couch. "ryo.. i'll find Bikky. Just stop.. stop looking at me like that..." Everytime Dee saw Ryo with that lifeless stare, it tore at his heart. He never wanted to see his friend like that agian, ever. Feeling the tears sting his eyes, he quickly changed his course of thought. "I really have to find a lead... Ryo's counting on me." Dee groaned. "I'm going to go grey from all this stress..." For the past week, Dee had been poping pain killers on a regular basis due to all the stress induced headache's he had gotten.
"Dee!" Ryo called from the bedroom.
"Yeah?" Dee poked his head in.
"Uhm..." Ryo blushed. "Why did i call him in...?" He thought to himself.
"Whats wrong?" Dee sat down on the corner of Ryo's bed.
"Could you uh... uhm..." Ryo blushed even more.
"Yes..?" Dee's head moved closer to Ryo's before Ryo pulled back.
"Nevermind." Ryo looked away.
"..." Dee blinked. "Ryo.. you sure your okay? You've been... well you've seemed kinda detached for the past week." ryo said, concern in his voice as he stared into his partners deep dark eyes.
"Dee..." Ryo fought the tears hard. "Don't cry.. don't let him see you cry again." Ryo though, biting his lip, trying to supress the emotions that tore him up inside.
"Shh..." Dee sank down into the bed next to ryo and pulled the smaller mans head agianst his chest, hugging him gently. "It's going to be okay." Dee said with a reassuring pat on his back.
"Dee.." ryo's tears stained Dee's shirt as he clung to him.
Ryo stayed in Dee's arms, seeking comfort for the rest of the night, before he fell asleep, near midnight. But Dee's eyes never lef this partners. "I swear, im going to find him for you. I swear it." Dee gently kissed ryo's forehead before tucking him in and snuggling up next to him.
"Good night, Ryo..."