Disclaimer: you know the drill.   

A/N: words in italics are thoughts.

Hanging by a moment: Chapter 1

The extinguished candle

*

Three years have passed since the incident.

He kept many objects around the house to remind himself of the past, no matter how far away it seemed. An odd picture from his previous apartment, the old furniture he never had the heart to dispose of. And the old shirt he had taken from his ex-lover when they parted ways.  

Time had come and healed some of the too many scars on his heart, but it had still left many unblemished and untouched. The dreams, the wishes that were once full of life and desire had faded when he started this life, his new life.

The bed sheets still distantly held the smell of his ex-lover, a mere lonely memory that was left in the back of his head. It was fading. Everything was fading; the old regrets and hopes were stilled and neutralized now, alongside the too many tears he had forgotten to cry. The fantasies of an impossible meeting with his past love left elapsed and buried under the many empty pizza boxes and cigarette stubs that littered his home. Lovers came went, each lasting no more than a week at the most. All the girls he had brought home, all those he had bailed and banged on were the same to him. Airheads. Bimbos. Nothing else, nothing compared to his Ryo. This life compared to the last one was not much different, except there was more pain, more broken hearts.

*

It was a mere coincidence that he was in New Orleans this week. Just weeks before his summer vacation, a friend of his had fallen ill, and by the looks of it the poor guy wasn't going anywhere too soon. He had come to help him get some things done, buy some groceries, and stuff like that. Tomorrow he was leaving for New York again. He turned a corner just as a speeding police rushed past, dodging cars around cars, with the siren wailing loudly. And that driver was…

He blinked; it had probably been his imagination. He had hoped too many times that every time he went to a new state, he'd meet Ryo again only to get disappointed again afterwards. When he looked again the car had gone.

Luckily for him the crime scene was only a few blocks away. He had arrived in good time; the investigation had come to an end, CSI vans were standing outside the bombed out building that appeared to be a café and police cars were starting to draw back. And standing in middle, a few feet behind the orange and yellow bands was…

Oh…God.

Ryo's light hair was shining brightly in the afternoon sun. He had his back turned but Dee was certain it was him, just judging by his voice. He hadn't changed much the last three years, a little thinner maybe but otherwise he was the same person. That body, those eyes; everything reminded him so much of past.

It was fate, he thought. Or maybe it was a joke some idiot decided to play on him. Either way he should have seen it coming.

Ducking under the band he sneaked across the concrete rubble, trying to go unnoticed.

"You're not allowed here, sir"

Damn it.

"Sorry?"

"I said you're not allowed in this territory. Please leave immediately."

"Anything wrong back here, Larry?"

 Ryo's voice made him freeze on the spot. He could have sworn he felt his heart stop dead right there and then. He turned away, for some reason he didn't want Ryo to see him right now.

"Not much, chief. I found this man trespassing the investigation grounds. And he won't leave."

Goddamned liar

"Leave this to me. Take the stuff we found back to the lab, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

He turned his attention back to Dee as Larry walked off. "According to our rules, you're not allowed to interfere with police investigation while were at it.," his voice was strict and firm, as if talking to a misbehaving child. "I'm only saying this once: please leave the grounds right now".

"We'll I'm not someone who usually follows rules" Dee replied, slowly turning around. "But you already knew that didn't you?"

There was a loud clatter of metal on stone as Ryo's gun dropped on the ground.

"Holy Christ" he breathed "Dee…?"

*

End chapter 1

TBC

A/N: AHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ahem. I was mean enough to end with a cliffie, but hey that's me. I hope I don't make Ryo or Dee too OOC in this, cos I'm trying really hard not to.

Next chapter: the glass box

Review replies:

Hanna: ha ha, thanks ^_^

Miss Kitty: heh heh, you'll see

XZanayu: *bow*

The random queen: yes I like that song too.