Disclaimer: I do not own the name Mr. Coffee. I love the coffee, tho. ^ ^
Oh, um... this chapter may get a little long so... please be patient! You'll be
rewarded at the end! Promise!!
The Consequences of Sin
Act Three: The World's Hatred
*Wednesday Morning*
Dee yawned sleepily and stared at the computer screen. He had nothing better to do that morning. In fact, he didn't get much sleep the night before, and what little sleep he got, he ended up waking up rather early this morning. *Might as well get some extra hours at work...* he had thought as he got ready.
Now it was catching up with him. "Dammit... I shoulda stayed home," he groaned. He had spent the good part of the morning looking up their "jogger friend" from the night before on a hunch. After pulling up the database, he soon realized how many goddamned people had the last name 'Smith'. "This fucking sucks..."
"I told you looking that guy up was a dumb idea..." Drake said and sat down at his desk beside Dee's.
"I got nuthin' better to do... What time is it anyway?" he asked through a yawn.
"Almost eleven..."
"Dammit... Ryo hasn't clocked in yet, has he?"
"I haven't seen him yet today. Him and Rose have odd shifts. Janet told me this morning that they were still working on possible M.O.s when she left last night."
"And she's here this morning too??"
"She's earning that honey moon vacation!" Drake laughed. "Looks like Caine will have a lot to gloat about when he gets back..."
"... You know I've always wondered about our dear, sweet Janet..." Dee smirked.
"Better not let Ryo hear you say that! Or Caine for that matter!" Drake laughed.
"Dude, chill! I've got eyes only for Ryo," he sighed.
"Blaaah, don't get all mushy on me. First Caine starts, then Ted won't shut up about his new girl... Geez..."
"Jo dumped you, huh?" Parker sighed.
"... Like the afternoon trash..." Drake shrugged. "Ah, well... I was gonna break it off anyway..."
"Hey! I'm goin' to th' break room. You guys want coffee?" Ted asked as he returned from the Chief's room. Dee and Drake gave him a look that made it seem he had a certain... appendage... growing from his forehead.
"What?!" the red head snapped.
"Uh... Nothing!" Drake defended. "You never want to bring anybody coffee!"
"Yeah man..." Dee agreed. He leaned on his hand and sighed. "Okay, Ted, what do you want?"
"NOTHING! Jesus! Chief wanted some coffee, then he told me break in the new coffee machine for him! It's got all sorts of cool stuff!"
"Like actually making coffee?" Drake smirked.
"We got a new coffee machine?" Dee asked.
"Yeah! It's got water gauge, and even that weird cappuccino frothy maker thingy! It's the latest from Mr. Coffee!" Dee frowned and turned to Drake as Ted headed to the break room.
"There's your damned raise, Parker..." he smirked.
"Figures... Man... I've turned in every report on time, filled in for anyone who needed it... Dammit! I haven't even called in sick or took off for holidays!!"
"Ah, don't sweat it... It's not even that much of a raise anyway," Dee sighed. He kept bringing up profiles and mug shots of every "John Smith" the database. He was on page thirty of one hundred pages. Drake peered over his shoulder. "Dude, man, I'm telling you, you're not gonna find this-"
"Well, well, well..." Dee smirked and enlarged the photo. "Here's Johnny!"
"Holy crap, you found him! Ugh... Looks like hell."
"This is from... two years ago. Arrested for... hmm, sexual assault on a female... thirteen. Interesting..." he smirked. "Wonder if he has an alibi for the night the victim was killed." Drake pulled out his notepad from last night.
"The address checks out..."
"Printing," Dee began. "... Print, print, PRINT, ah goddamn piece of crap!!" Dee snarled as the computer locked up. "Could it kill the Chief tell the department about the serious technological problem around here? Christ, no wonder we have to search mug shots by hand. That explains the low arrest record here. Son of a bitch!!" He rebooted the computer.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Rose greeted as he passed by Dee's desk. "Laytner, you're your usual colorful self this morning." Dee didn't look up as he stared at the hard drive on screen as it rebooted.
"No more than your fruity self, ya queer," he muttered to himself. Berkley raised an eyebrow.
"Care to repeat that, Laytner?"
"... No, sir," Dee sighed, tapping in his password lazily.
"You two find anything?" Berkeley asked. Drake glanced at the computer. Dee wasn't going to find the file anytime in the next thirty seconds. He opened his notepad again.
"Uh, last night around... when was it, Dee?"
"Sometime after midnight."
"Right, Anyway we spotted some midnight jogger-"
"'Midnight jogger'? In Central Park?? In this crime wave??" Berkeley asked in disbelief.
"Yep... 'John Smith lives on the corner of Cherry and Clinton."
"Oh, the building with the giant porn ad?" Berkeley interjected. Dee raised an eyebrow and laughed dryly.
"Well, we know what famous city landmarks you look for!"
"Funny. Watch it or I'll have you writing tickets all up and down Fifth and Main on Thanksgiving Day during the parade," Rose snapped. Dee growled under his breath and went back searching. "You were saying, Parker?"
"Um, yeah... It was kinda weird to see somebody out that late. He 'just happened' to stop by the crime scene to tie his shoe or pick up evidence. Who knows? He didn't 'see' the police tape. No ID on him, blonde, blue eyed, in his forties, works at some photographer's shop for kids..."
"Which one?" Drake suddenly paled.
"... Ah, dammit."
"Drake!!" Dee snapped. "I told you to get that address!!"
"Hey! I got his place and it checks out on the file!!"
"He's got a file? Interesting..."
"Well, we had a file," Dee grumbled. "Damn ancient piece of crap. You could find a thirty-year old dildo that gave you a better hard drive than this piece of shit..." Drake blinked. Berkeley massaged the bridge of his nose.
"What a lovely imagination you have, detective," he groaned.
"I can see where you could be jealous..." He smirked. "... Gimme a few minutes to look..." Berkeley swung his coat over his shoulder and strolled to his office.
"Good thing I'll be in my office all day," he said smugly. "Send Randy into my office when he gets here. Oh, and J.J. is returning this afternoon." Dee growled and restrained himself from throwing the computer at him.
"Soups up, boys!" Ted grinned.
"All right!" Drake cheered. Dee sighed and continued to look for the file.
"Just set it there..." Dee leaned on his elbow and clicked absently.
"Good morning, boys!" Ryo greeted, attempting to forget the events of yesterday. Dee perked up like a happy puppy.
"RYO!" Ryo blushed heavily as Dee practically pounced on him. Ryo backed away slightly. "G-good morning, D-dee."
"Hey, Ryo," Ted greeted. "I'm surprised that you're here this morning! Weren't you and Rose working until like midnight?"
"Y-yeah..." Ryo blushed with guilt when he saw Dee twitch. "They ID'd the victim and determined the cause of death. She was strangled with either the perp's hands or with some kind of rope. The girl was-"
"Randy?" Rose called. "I thought that was you. Would you step into my office for a moment?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Ryo, wait minute!" Dee snapped. "I wanna talk to you." Ryo looked back over at Berkley who waited patiently at his door. Ryo swallowed hard at the look he was giving him. It made him feel strangely uneasy and intrigued at the same time. He glanced back at Dee who was frowning at him. "Uh... L-later, Dee, this could be important."
"Yeah, well, what I have to say is important too!" he snapped.
"Dee! Not now!" Ryo snapped. "God, a little girl is dead! It can wait!" he snapped back and practically flounced off. He entered Rose's office with a smile. "'Morning, sir." Rose nodded and threw a triumphant smirk towards Dee. Dee pounded his desk and flopped into his chair. "Goddamned son of a bitch."
"Ah, cool it, Dee," Ted sighed. "Randy's not stupid enough to give into Rose." Dee went back to clicking aimlessly when he found the file again.
"Finally..." This time he saved the file and printed the rap sheet without a problem. He took the coffee and drank a sip. He made a face. "This tastes like shit!!" he exclaimed. "How old is this?!" Ted frowned.
"Gee thanks, Dee. Next time make yer own god damn coffee!" he snapped.
"Whoa-ho-ho! What's the matter? Didn't clock any ass yesterday evening??" Dee chuckled. Ted blushed.
"As a matter of fact, Dee, I've clocked more ass than you have in the past year," he smiled slyly. Dee frowned.
"Excuuuuse me? I doubt that-"
"Hey, unless you've been going behind Randy's back... the only action yer getting is from the five-knuckle-shuffle," Ted shot back and spun back around in his chair to get back to work.
"Ohhh, you got served, man!" Drake laughed. Dee twitched and shot an angry glare.
"Shut up... Jesus, what else could go wrong?" he muttered.
"Hellooo, helloooo!" Diana sang. Dee twitched.
"... Noooo."
"Well, hello there, handsome!" Diana beamed and pulled Dee's head to her ample chest, messing up his hair and squeezing him tightly. "Good to see you again!"
"Ack! Get off!" Dee squirmed and rolled away from her.
"Now is that nice?" she pouted, placing her hands on her hips and thrusting her chest outward. "I missed you boys!"
"'Mornin', Miss Spacey," Drake grinned. "Doing anything later?" Diana leaned down close to him and smiled. "As a matter of fact... yes... Sorry, Parker."
"Can't blame a man for trying," he smiled.
"What are you boys up to? Hard at work I see," she laughed. She picked up the last sheet of paper that the printer just finished. "What's this? Porn surfing at work now, Dee?" Dee snatched the paper back.
"No... A little girl got murdered. Possible perp."
"Oh, Berky told me something about that last night at dinner," she sighed. "Terrible..." Dee sighed.
"Yeah, to top everything off, Rose switched partners around again..." Ted looked up from his reports.
"Hey, I heard that he didn't just switch partners around to get to Randy, man..."
"Whaaat?"
"Yeah, I think he's some kind of personal vendetta. I think some guy murdered his kid sister when he was a kid. It's a different guy, but-"
"He's right. He told me about it last night," Diana said. "He had a baby sister who was four. She was taken right out from under him. It crushed the poor dear. He's been dedicating all his time on this case. He didn't exactly call me over for a romantic rendezvous last night at three in the morning," she sighed heavily. Dee paper clipped the stack.
"Yeah, well I think it's a little convenient for him... I'll be back. I gotta give 'Berky' this rap sheet."
"Oh! Dee! That reminds me!" Diana spoke up as she met him at the door to the office. He turned.
"What?"
"Um... How's about you and me go out for dinner tonight?" she asked softly and traced the hilt of his gun at his side. Dee smirked,
"Never give up do you?"
"Nope!" she smiled. "C'mon... Pleease?"
"I... I can't... I'm kinda in a bind right now," Dee replied nervously, remembering the talk he and Ryo had on Monday night. Diana sighed.
"Okaay..."
"Sorry, honey," he smiled. He knocked on the door and heard shuffling.
*"Berkeley! Come on! It's the middle of the day!" Ryo snapped.
"You just have no sense of adventure, Randy..." he heard Berkeley chuckle.
"S-sir!" *
Dee frowned and leaned his head against the door. He almost forgot what he had told Ryo. *Dammit...* He just hoped that Ryo wouldn't forget it either. "Are you suuure, Dee?" Diana offered again with a sigh. "Sounds like you could use someone to keep you company too. Oh! He makes me so mad when he pulls this shit!" she grumbled. Dee straightened.
"... Sure. I guess dinner couldn't hurt," he smiled softly. "I'm off at seven. Why don't I pick you up at... eight? There's this awesome restaurant around the corner of where I live."
"Don't be late, handsome. I'm staying a few blocks away from the station with a friend. I'll call you later for directions," she purred and yanked his tie down and stole a kiss. He heard Drake shouting in protest as she released him. He was blushing furiously, partly because of the fact that he fell victim to a technique he had mastered on Ryo; the rest was guilt. He smiled softly.
"Okay..."
"What?! Are you sure!?" Drake exclaimed. "Right. Right. Queens? Ah, shit... Okay. I'll tell the commissioner and Dee." He hung up the phone quickly. "Dee! Get Rose and Randy! There's been another murder in Queens!"
"What?! Dammit!" He pounded on the office door. "Lieutenant!!! Ryo!!! We gotta move! Bible boy struck again!"
"I'm going with you!" Diana said.
"What!? No!"
"Dammit, Laytner! This is no time for your juris-my-dick-tion bullshit!" she snapped. Dee sighed and stuffed the papers into his jacket.
*~*~*
"Caine!" Berkeley called from his police car as he and Ryo stepped out. They pushed past a small, yet quickly growing group of reporters. The tall dark haired man approached them. He saw Dee and Drake running up to meet them. Diana was close behind. "Sir!" Caine saluted him. "We got a call in about forty minutes ago... A young boy was found earlier this morning down in the subway," he explained. Rose turned to Drake.
"Get CSI and keep those reporters out of here, Parker."
"Y-yes sir!"
"Subway?! Where?" Ryo exclaimed and followed the rest of the group down the stairs to the underground.
"There was maintenance being done in on the seventh tunnel." He pointed to it as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Pinned to the granite wall was a young boy with blonde hair that had been hacked unevenly. His hands and feet were spiked to the wall in the same cross-like manner as the first victim. Berkeley jumped down to the tracks and stepped closer to the body. "Jesus..."
"The boy was found about an hour ago. It caused some panic between the service crew. I'm just glad no one else saw it. We've managed to get the tunnel closed off for a few more hours so we can get anything we can," Caine explained.
"Who would do something like this?" Diana gasped and turned away against Dee. He touched her arms delicately, holding her gently.
"Diana! What the hell are you doing here?!" Berkeley demanded. She turned and frowned.
"Well, that's a fine 'how do you do'! Does it matter?!" she snapped. Caine presented a bag to Rose.
"I found this pinned to the boy's back." Rose took it: another photograph of Ryo. Berkeley stiffened.
"Randy..." He showed him the photo. Ryo gasped. This time it showed a close shot of him and Dee asleep in his room on Monday night. Dee saw the photo and snarled.
"What the fuck's goin' on?!" he demanded. "Why would this guy be interested in Ryo?!" Rose saw a note on the back. It had been carefully disguised. There was no way of tracing it. "'Leviticus 18:22'?" Rose read, seemingly confused. Caine shrugged.
"I got no clue?" Berkeley frowned.
"Does anybody here know-"
"'... I am the LORD. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination'," Dee recited softly. He knew that passage all too well. "The asshole's preaching... What a hypocrite. You watch the coroner will find that this guy had sex with this kid too," he snapped. Rose stared at the photo silently as Dee punched the wall. He gave it back to Caine. "Who else has seen this?"
"Uh... No one else except me, sir. Some of the others couldn't hack it..." Caine blinked. "Why do you ask, sir?"
"Destroy this."
"What?! Sir I-"
"Do it!" Berkeley snapped. "If this goes to evidence and a jury sees this, they could lose their badges! Religious advocates and reporters would be down our throats and I don't want to have to deal with 'don't ask, don't tell' BS... Don't worry, Caine. I will take full responsibility for this."
"Sir, are you crazy?!" Ryo exclaimed. "You could lose your badge too!"
"And you and the detective have been the best two cops that I've got in this division. Better to lose one than two, eh?" he smirked. He removed the photo and pulled out his lighter.
"Berkeley no!" Diana hissed!
"Diana, don't make a scene. You know how I.A. is about things like this..." He lit the photo and it burned to ashes on the gravel. Dee stared at Rose. "I want someone staking out Detective MacLean's apartment at all hours," Berkeley continued.
*Damn... Guess he's not a total jerk off,* Dee thought.
"This did not happen," Rose said firmly. "Believe me, when this is all over, you'll be thanking me later..." Dee blinked in shock. He wasn't sure if Berkeley was actually covering his and Ryo's tracks or just his own.
"Hey, Rose!" Dee remembered the rap sheet he had. He gave it to him. "I found the guy that we ran into. I know it's not the time, but maybe-"
"Hey! This is Vincent!"
"'Vincent'?!" Dee exclaimed. Rose showed Ryo the photo. Rose smirked and raised his eyebrow.
"That's Vincent Wood! He was indicted with the rape and murder of seven children with the same age range as these two children."
"Are you shitting me?! Drake and me ran into this guy last night! He looks a hell of a lot different now, but it's the same dude!" Dee exclaimed.
"We can't arrest him for jogging though," Rose said.
"But we can for a fake ID and a stolen social security number. This doesn't match the one on Vincent's file."
"Let me see that!" Diana spoke up. "... I'll look into this 'Smith's' social in the database. I'll have Jones in L.A. fax the info to me." Dee smirked.
"I told you it was a good idea for you to come along!" he grinned. Diana beamed and snuggled against him. Dee smiled nervously. Ryo and Rose frowned.
*~*~*
*Wednesday Afternoon*
"Welcome back, J.J.!!!" the office cheered. J.J. blushed with pride when he saw the banner on the break room wall. Ted patted him on the back. "'Bout time you showed up!" he exclaimed.
"I missed a lot, huh? Where's Dee?" he asked.
"Ah, he's got a hot date," Drake sighed, "with Diana Spacey."
"DIANA???" J.J. squeaked.
"Yo! Hey! Smith is definitely not Vincent!" Janet announced happily as she entered the break room. Drake high-fived Ted.
"Sweetness! Didja get any on Smithy?" Ted asked.
"Says Smith was a drug lord in the Bronx ten years back. He disappeared after Vin's trial. No one would care about a missing drug lord so it was easy for him to hide. They found a body that could be Smith's in a burning car. No dental records were available, so who knows?" Janet continued. "Oh, J.J.!" She kissed his cheek. "Welcome back, cutie!" J.J. blushed again.
"What's going on???" he asked.
"You don't know?!" Drake exclaimed. "There's been this freak guy killing and raping kids, and preaching on their bodies with cryptic messages. They found one photo in the first victim's mouth that showed a picture of Ryo!"
"'Ryo'? I don't understand..."
"Join the club," Ted sighed. "He's in Rose's office. He and Rose are partners 'cause yer fill in had an emergency. They're partners until the case is solved or it goes cold..."
"Are you nuts?!" J.J. exclaimed. *This is crazy!!* "I'll be back. I'm going to go pay my respects to the boss."
J.J. knocked on the door of Rose's office and opened when he was invited. He saluted Rose. "Detective Jemmy J. reporting for duty, sir!" he grinned.
"Oh, J.J.! Welcome back!" Berkeley smiled. "Forgive me for not visiting you... This crime wave is insane, and I suppose you've heard about the recent turn of events..." J.J. nodded.
"I have."
"Welcome back, J.J.. How's your arm?" Ryo asked. J.J. lifted it.
"Still sore... It'll take a while before I'll be able to go on a sharp shoot mission though."
"Well, that's good. We need a hand more here anyway," Rose said. "Has Laytner left for the day? He was awfully happy about twenty minutes ago," he said and looked back down at the coroner's report on the body of the second victim.
"I... some of the boys said he had a date with Miss Spacey," he said softly. Ryo stiffened and looked at him in shock. Rose was equally shocked.
"Really?"
"Uh huh, I-I mean, yes sir!" Rose nodded slowly and shrugged it off.
"Well, good. Maybe she can get that large ego out of his ass..." he chuckled. Ryo stayed silent. "You're dismissed, detective. Go enjoy your homecoming."
"Yes, yes, sir!" J.J. saluted him. "Ryo?"
"Yes, J.J.?"
"May I speak with you for a moment. It won't be too long." Rose waved him away.
"Make it quick..." Ryo saluted him and followed J.J. into the office beside J.J.'s desk.
"Something wrong, J.J.?"
"I wanted to tell you about the night I was shot, remember?"
"Oh, man! I completely forgot about that! I'm sorry!"
"S'okay. You were occupied with these kids... An-anyway... On that night, I..." He stopped and looked at the floor. He knew what he would say would greatly affect his chances of ever getting with Dee. Ryo was growing concerned. "J.J.?"
"... Sometimes when you're not here at work, you know when Bikky or Carol is sick, Dee talks an awful lot... about you..."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Anyway, he... really cares about you... He made a comment that day before we went on that raid that if anything happened to you, he didn't know what he'd do..." Ryo fell silent and flushed. J.J. lowered his eyes. "He then said he got a bad feeling right before we went in... He pulled me aside and told me that if anything happened to him that... I... I should see that nothing'll happen to you... That's why... I jumped in front of you. I couldn't bear to see Dee if anything happened to you. He seemed really upset when he told me... Ryo... Dee loves you. He told me so. I don't know what Rose is up to with this switching around, but-"
"J.J... I... Dee told me all ready..."
"Then why is he going on a date with Miss Spacey?!" he demanded.
"Dee... is... taking a step back. J.J. I'm still uncomfortable with this new... lifestyle... He said I need to make up my own mind. The truth is... now that you've told me about that night I-"
"Guys! Manhattan! Two children were just nabbed by a guy matching Vincent's description! The mother said they were pulled from her own car!" Ted exclaimed. Berkeley burst out of his office. "Let's go, MacLean!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Ryo! Wait!"
"J.J.... thanks..."
*~*~*
*~*Valentino's Italian Restaurant*~*
"What's the matter, Dee?" Diana asked and smoothed her skirt. Dee blinked and smiled.
"Oh... it's nothing," he said.
"Thinking about Ryo, huh?" she smiled. Dee blushed and nodded slowly. Diana sighed.
"You know, he must be something really special if he's got two people crazy about him," she sighed.
"You sound disappointed," Dee said.
"... It's Berkeley... Him and his stupid ego."
"Psh, yeah..."
"What's going on with you and Ryo anyway? He's been awfully close to Berkeley lately." Dee looked over at a couple as a violinist was serenading them. He stood slowly and extended his hand," Let's dance," he smiled. Diana blushed as she took his hand. He pulled her close. "Dee?"
"... A... few nights ago... I... gave Ryo the option of deciding whether or not he was ready for this kind of... lifestyle... He admitted that he is a little attracted to Rose. So... I told him I was going to throttle back a bit and let his heart decide. I know he's got feelings for me too, but... he's gotta learn to act on them." Diana rested her head on his shoulder.
"... Aren't you worried about he and Berkeley making it together?" Dee pulled her tightly against him as they danced slowly.
"... I know Ryo... he's not in it for the lust. Berkeley is a sly fox and Ryo knows that. I... trust him whole heartedly," he whispered. Diana looked up at him.
"Dee, do you love him?" He nodded silently.
"I'm crazy about him, his passion for his job, Bikky... Carol... Plus, he's hot as hell, for a guy. You're damn sexy too," he grinned and dipped her. She laughed.
"You flatter me, Laytner!" she beamed. His face softened.
"I'm just worried about him and this serial nut job. When he starts preaching about the way man should be according to the book it scares me half to death that this guy may want to hurt him. When J.J. took that bullet for him because I couldn't... it made me realize that man is mortal. After hearing that passage today... I don't even know if he'll want me anymore. He'll be too scared or something. Dammit... I don't think I could live with that if he was too scared to let something as natural as love be thwarted just because he's not a woman or vise versa..." Diana leaned up to him and kissed him softly. He looked away after she pulled back.
"... So, the sex-god has a soft side..." She smiled. Dee chuckled.
"Sex-god? Who's flattering who here?" Diana reached up and brushed a lock of his hair from his deep, jade-colored eyes. His smiled softened.
"Dee... I don't think you have anything to worry about..."
"Huh?
"... You're so very sweet," she said softly, "and damn you for your current sexual preference," she added with a laugh. "You know if it wasn't for Ryo... I think you and I could really make ol' Berky mad..." Dee smiled.
"Don't tempt me," he chuckled.
"Dee?"
"Huh?"
"... I..." She stopped and bit her lip. "Can I... ask you a personal question?" Dee raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you think we're beyond asking permission?"
"... You're right... Never mind. It's not important..."
*~*~*
*~Manhattan~*
*Wednesday Night*
Rose picked up his hand held radio. "Anything?" he asked.
* "Teddy bear's got nada." *
* "I got nothin', Flower girl..." *
Ryo frowned as Rose spoke again. "No one move. We've got him cornered. No doubt he's done all the killings here. They're all within the distance easily. Flower girl out."
"Sir... Who came UP with these names?!" Rose sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Janet."
"Figures..." Ryo looked back out of the window. He saw a man leaving his apartment room and head across the street to an abandoned building through the alley. "Rose..." He pointed. "Let's go!"
"No! If he; sees us, we may never find those children... Just wait until he gets in the building."
"Sir, those kids are in danger!" Berkeley sighed and gave him a reluctant look. Ryo's stomach fluttered.
"Randy, those children are dead, ten to one," he replied softly. Ryo sat back in his seat. Deep down, he knew that he was right. They had known where Vincent might have gone, but getting there had been a nightmare. There had been a major fire earlier that day that took out four buildings. Evacuation and containing the flames caused traffic to be insane. Time was of the essence and Vincent had managed to slip away this time...
The man looked around before entering the warehouse. Rose picked up the radio again. "Flower girl on the move. Remain were you are." He shut it off. "Let's go."
Ryo slipped in through the same way the man had gone while Rose took the fire escape. The boarded up windows blocked out all available light. Ryo removed his gun and flashlight scanning the first floor and down each room. Each was empty or had remains of a hang out for local homeless or crack addicts. He found a set of stairs and listened carefully for footsteps as he crept up the stairs, holding his .45 out. His heart pounded quickly in his chest. He hoped to God that he would find the children unharmed. He slipped down the hall and checked every room before traveling along the wall slowly. He heard the shuffling of feet from around the corner. *This is it...* He swung his arm around and found himself point blank to another gun.
Berkeley. Ryo nearly screamed and covered his mouth. He frowned at him for scaring him. Rose motioned up the stairs. There were two sets: one where they were and on at the other end of the hall. Ryo followed the hall cautiously while Berkeley headed up the other for a possible ambush.
Loud metal music met his ears softly the farther he moved up the stairs. Once reaching the top he saw light spilling out of a room on the right hand side of the stairs. He ducked into the shadows and looked inside. There he saw a close up of the man they followed. His gut churned when he saw that it was Vincent. The tattered room was cluttered with photos of children, newspaper clippings, and garbage. The smell was a little sour.
He saw Berkeley from the other side and nodded. Berkeley moved along the wall to the door.
A floorboard creaked underneath his foot. Vincent stiffened and darted out the window of the fire escape. Ryo rushed in. "Freeze! Police!" There was a flash of white as a sneaker darted out the window. Ryo rushed to it. Vincent jumped down three stories onto the over hang of the nearby building and turned the corner. Ryo was about to go after him when Rose stopped him. "Randy..." he gaped in awe at the room. Ryo removed himself from the window and saw what the lieutenant was looking at.
Hanging above them were strings of other children's photos from one end of the room to the other. Ryo moved over to a bookcase. The shelves were stacked with papers, newspaper clippings, magazines of pornography, and unmarked tapes. To the right of the shelf was a small Christian shrine, horribly decorated with locks of blonde hair and jars of ether containing body parts of children or other indescribable things. "Holy Mary Mother of God," Ryo gasped. Rose pulled down a picture of the first victim: Jennifer. "Well, at least we know that he didn't lie about the photography," he said. He turned and gasped. "Jesus!!" There was an entire wall of photos full of pictures of Ryo from the time he was a boy, until some that were very recent almost to the day. Ryo looked up and fell to his knees.
"What the hell is going on??" he quavered. Rose bent down and helped Ryo to his feet. "Let's get out of here..." Rose turned on his radio. "Boys. Target escaped. Put out an APB on Wood... Get the CSI unit up here. And get me the judge on the phone."
* "Sir, it's almost ten-" *
"I don't give a damn! I know what time it is! I want a search warrant for Wood's apartment in thirty minutes!!" Rose turned back to find Ryo vomiting violently. "God, Randy!" Ryo gasped and wiped his mouth after catching his breath. "S-sorry, Berkeley... I just..." He was shaking. Rose holstered his gun and pulled the younger man into his arms.
"Calm down, Randy..." Ryo closed his eyes, shutting out the fright of the room he was in. All he could think about was Bikky, Carol, and Dee and what might happen to them if Vincent were not caught.
Drake kicked down the door of the apartment and thrust his gun into the room before entering. Ted, Caine, and Rose rushed inside with Ryo following cautiously behind. The shaggy apartment appeared to be empty of anyone; Ted and Drake took out the back bedrooms while Rose entered the kitchen with Ryo staying behind to cover the door. "Clear!" Drake called. "This room too!" Ted said and returned. "The guy split in a hurry." He noticed Ryo holding his gun in his shaking hands as he was staring in sickly amazement into the left over room. "Randy? Dude, you- HOLY CHRIST! Commissioner!!!"
When Berkeley got there he nearly became sick at the site of the two almost infant children's bare and limp bodies on the hardwood floor. He holstered his weapon and knelt beside the small girl, feeling for a pulse with a small fraction of hope. It was shot to hell when he examined the other, the boy, with the same findings: dead. He turned his head to Ted. "... Call the coroner," he said softly. He stood and found the distraught detective sitting against the wall holding his head in his hands. He kept seeing Bikky's face on the two victims. Berkeley knelt beside him. "... Randy?"
"Why... why is he doing this???" he asked aloud not particularly to anyone. He grabbed his hair in a handful and moaned.
"Randy," Berkeley called again.
"What does this have to do with me?!" Berkeley grabbed Ryo by the collar and delivered a hard slap to his face.
"Randy! Calm down!" he exclaimed. Ryo gasped and looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. Berkeley's face softened. He sighed and turned his head to Drake. "Parker?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Take care of things the best you can. I'm escorting Randy home..." Drake nodded.
"Yes, sir."
*~*~*
Berkeley followed Ryo into the apartment building and into the elevator. Ryo hadn't said a word to Berkeley edgewise besides giving him directions as he drove the police car. Ryo was too upset to drive. The elevator door closed and Ryo kept his eyes on the ground. "... I know this isn't the best time to ask this, Randy, but..." Ryo lifted his head and found his ice blue eyes looking seriously and almost shyly into his.
"Y-yes?"
"... Have you lived in New York City before you were assigned to this precinct?" he finished. Ryo nodded softly.
"Yes... I was about... seven or eight. My dad was here for business... I don't remember much about it though," Ryo answered. He looked up at the elevator numbers itching for them to hurry up. The building was so old.
"Where was you mother most of the time?" Ryo gave him a confused look.
"... I think she was busy all day at the hospital. She was a nurse... What does this have to do with anything?"
"So you were usually left in the care of a nurse or babysitter?"
"No, my mother dropped me off at a day care for a good part of the day... Sir-"
"Forgive me for asking you such odd questions... I was just curious about you, that's all. I don't know that much about you," Berkeley replied softly. The elevator bell dinged softly as they reached Ryo's floor. He checked his watch. "It's not too late. Would you like to come in for a moment?" Ryo asked as he unlocked the door. Berkeley felt a rush of blood to his cheeks. To be honest, he wasn't even planning on forcing his way into Ryo's apartment. In fact, even the little tift he had with Diana on Monday night was far from his thoughts too. "I... I'd like that..."
"I don't think Bikky's here," Ryo said. "You've met him haven't you?"
"Wasn't he the miniature version of Laytner with you two in England?" Berkeley felt better when he saw Ryo smile and laughed.
"You think so too? Dee denies it every chance he gets when some one makes that comment," he laughed. Ryo went to the wine rack. "Would you like some wine?"
"Please..." Berkeley glanced around the apartment noting the very soft and cozy surroundings of the living room. Despite the old building, the room was very comforting. He made a note to find a way to get the force more money to pay the officers. He hadn't any idea that the pay wasn't great. He caught a glimpse of a picture frame on the coffee table. The small boy, Bikky, another girl, presumably the one called Carol, and the annoying detective grinned happily back at him like a happy family. *Maybe this wasn't a fantastic idea...* he thought.
"I hope red is okay," Ryo said and handed him a glass.
"It's fine..." He returned the picture frame. "Quite a home you have here, Randy. It's pleasant."
"Thank you," he smiled. "It suits Bikky and I just fine. Dee is even helping me figure out a way I can live a little closer to work. He says that there's a nice apartment for sale near his... Last month he told me that he's been saving up some money as a birthday surprise for me for the down payment."
"Really?" He sipped his wine slowly.
"Yeah..." Ryo lowered his eyes to his glass. He remembered what J.J. told him earlier. "It... really blew me away."
"Sounds like he really cares about you," Berkeley said softly. Ryo rubbed his neck nervously.
"Y-yeah... I'm not... used to being with a guy... I told him about it and... he's backing off for a while for me to... 'get used' to the idea..."
"Risky... Is it helping?" Ryo fingered the edge of his glass and smiled softly.
"Yeah... it is..."
"If you don't mind my asking... how far have you-"
"Not very," Ryo interrupted quickly. "I usually push away... or... we get interrupted... He's probably getting tired of me. No wonder he's out with Miss Spacey..." Ryo frowned and turned to Rose quickly. "Wait... I thought you and she were..." Berkeley chuckled.
"Well, we're having some problems... I do care about her a lot. She gets mad whenever I talk about you whether it's work involved or not..." Ryo smiled.
"I can tell she really cares about you. She hangs all over Dee I think to get a rise out of you. It works too!" he laughed. "You should see yourself sometimes!" Rose raised an eyebrow and found himself laughing too.
"What about yourself?"
"Yeah, I guess I do get jealous," Ryo sighed. He set his wine glass down next to Berkeley's. He felt his cheeks heat as Rose's stare fell upon him. He didn't look up. "Randy?" he began softly and moved closer. He rested his hand on the back of Ryo's head and touched the soft locks at the base.
"W-what?" he whispered and looked up at him.
"Do you love Dee?" he asked softly. Ryo swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak. He hesitated. Berkeley's cologne was having an effect on him that he found rather pleasing. "... Perhaps this will help you," Berkeley whispered and captured Ryo's lips with his own with hard confidence. He opened his mouth slightly and slid his tongue gently past Ryo's lips. Ryo met his shyly with a soft moan and clutched Berkeley's shirt helplessly. Ryo could taste the wine lingering on his tongue along with the flavor of tobacco and something else. Berkeley touched his face gently as he pulled away. The embarrassed blush on Ryo's cheeks was almost as satisfying as his kiss. Ryo straightened his body and sat up. "... I..."
"Hey! It's that guy!" Bikky exclaimed. Both gentlemen jumped up in shock.
"BIKKY!" Ryo squeaked. "How l-long were you standing there?!"
"Huh? I just walked in here. I heard voices. It's only nine-thirty. I thought you'd be working late." Ryo knelt beside him and clutched the boy tightly to his chest.
"I... wanted to come home early tonight," he whispered. He noticed the bag at his side. "Going to Carol's tonight?" he smiled.
"Yeah, there's no school tomorrow..." He glanced Berkeley and glared. "Then again... I think I might stay home..." Ryo blinked as he noticed him glaring at Rose.
"Oh! Bikky, you remember Berkeley Rose from our trip to England, don't you?" Rose's eyebrows piqued with interest as Bikky kept a heated lock with his eyes.
"Yeah." The phone rang in the kitchen.
"Oh, excuse me..." Ryo left Bikky and Rose with a feeling of uneasiness. If Bikky was truly anything like Dee, then sparks were going to fly.
"... Pleased to meet you... Bikky, was it? Interesting name," Rose smiled as he kneeled down in front of him. Bikky folded his arms.
"It works... Better than being named after some dorky flower." Rose frowned.
"Just like him," he muttered.
"I s'pose yer tryin' to get into Ryo's pants too, huh?" Berkeley twitched.
"Aren't you a little young to be asking those types of questions?"
"Well, when your dad and his partner are mackin' out on the couch you learn fast. Didn't expect to find him making out with you. Dee's gonna kill you," he grinned. Rose frowned.
"Bikky! Carol is on her way over here. Why don't you meet her halfway?" Ryo smiled as he re-entered. Bikky didn't look at him.
"You gonna be okay? I heard from Dee that this Bible guy's been takin' pictures of you..." Ryo knelt down beside him and hugged him.
"I'll be okay... You be careful. Don't pull any of your hijinxes. Carol's aunt is driving her over to pick you up."
"Kay..." Ryo was hesitant before kissing Bikky's forehead. "D-daaad!" Ryo held his face and whispered softly. Bikky froze. He hadn't seen him look so afraid before. "I love you, Bikky," he said. Bikky blushed and hugged him before heading out the door. "Have fun, Bikky."
"Kay! Bye Dad." He pointed his finger straight at Rose and frowned. "You better stay away from my Dad, you queer! Bad enough that I have to protect him from one homo!"
"BIKKY!" He was gone in a flash. Ryo blushed with embarrassment.
"Charming boy you have," Rose smirked. "Just like Laytner."
"I'm really sorry about that. He's very protective." Berkeley drew himself close again.
"You never answered my question, Randy..."
"Oh... I uh..." Berkeley's hand slides around Ryo's waist. There was a sharp knock on the doorframe.
"Pardon me, gentlemen," Dee snapped as he let himself in. "But the door was left open. I thought someone was prowling around here..." He saw the hand around Ryo's waist slid away. "Looks like I was right," he finished.
"Good evening, detective," Berkeley smirked. "My, my... Is your date over? A little early, isn't it?"
"Nah, her heart wasn't in it," Dee smirked and stepped out of the doorway, holding it open. Berkeley took the hint. He turned to Ryo.
"... Are you going to be all right?" he asked softly. The look of concern in his eyes was genuine. Ryo nodded softly.
"I-I'll be okay. Thank you, sir. Goodnight."
With formality being replaced. Berkeley grabbed his coat and left. Dee slammed the door behind him. When he turned around he saw Ryo cleaning up the wine glasses. He hadn't even greeted him. "... Something happen?" Dee asked and met him in the kitchen.
"... We've found out that the real John Smith was a drug dealer in the Bronx. He was killed around the time of Vincent's trial. Since then he's been using his identity..." Ryo poured himself and Dee a glass of wine.
"Wow."
"Yeah..."
"There's something else..." Ryo sighed.
"While you were out, he struck again. Twins were taken from their mother's car. We had figured that he'd go to his place and stake him out. With the fire, there wasn't any way we could get to them in time... Rose and I almost had him in an abandoned building across the street. He escaped... but... the whole room was filled with..." Ryo leaned over the sink and tried to stop shaking. Dee held his shoulders. "Ryo?"
"... There were hundreds of pictures of... his victims... and me, from the time even when I was a child... We found the two children in his apartment... God, Dee... They... they couldn't have been more than three years old!" Dee turned Ryo and pulled him into his arms.
"Jesus Christ, man... You're trembling!"
"I... I don't know what's going on!" he cried. Dee grabbed his hand gently. Ryo nearly squeezed the life out of it as Dee lead him to his bedroom. "Come on..." he said. "You'll feel better once you lie down..." Ryo sat on his head and clutched his head in his hands. Dee went inside the bathroom. He returned with a washcloth and started unbuttoning his shirt. "D-dee! What are you-"
"Just lie down and close your eyes," he ordered and pulled off the shirt. "I'm not going to do anything to you... Just trust me, okay?" Ryo did that. Dee placed the damp cloth on his forehead. "Now just relax, okay?" Ryo felt him remove his shoes and heard them being tossed into the corner of the room. "Penguin used to do this for me when I would get scared or something. I was three at the time, but it worked," he said and slipped his lap underneath Ryo's head. There was a smile in his voice that calmed Ryo. His breathing was slowing and the hands through his hair had a calming effect. "... H-how did your date with Diana go?" Dee twitched.
"Heard about that, huh?" he said guiltily. Ryo removed the cloth and sat up. He smiled softly.
"Don't worry. I'm not upset... We're not exactly dating so..." Dee scratched his hair.
"It was nice... Been a while since I went out with a lady. We talked a lot about work, the case, Rose, and you..." Dee looked down when Ryo didn't say anything after a long pause. "I suppose you and Rose had a nice time while he was here..." Ryo shrugged. "... Did he kiss you?" Dee asked. Ryo sighed heavily. "It was just a question!"
Ryo nodded. "We mostly talked... then Bikky walked in."
"Bikky was HOME?!" Dee laughed.
"Yeah... He saw right through Rose. He doesn't like him at all." Dee jumped up.
"That's my boy!" he laughed. Ryo smirked. He went to the window and closed the sheer curtains, falling silent again. "Where is the little ingrate?"
"Carol's... Dee?"
"Hm?" Ryo turned around before practically jumping on Dee. He hid his face into his chest. "'Yo? This isn't like you at all!" he exclaimed. His arms folded around him gently. He didn't answer. "Do you want me to get you something to drink?" he asked.
"N-no... Dee... I talked to J.J.... H-he told me... everything." Dee felt his face get hot when Ryo looked up at him. "... Do you?" Ryo asked. Dee nodded.
"... Y-yeah. Di got mad when I told her I wouldn't kiss her goodnight cause of that," he chuckled. He rubbed his chin. "That girl has an awesome right hook..."
"She punched you?"
"... More like a really hard love tap," he chuckled. Dee buried his face into Ryo's soft hair and sighed. "God, I love you," Dee whispered and dragged his fingertips up and down his back slowly. Ryo shivered, a chill running down his back. He lifted his face and nudged him gently. Dee bent down slowly and closed his lips lightly over his. Ryo slid his hands up Dee's chest and slowly began to unbutton it. Dee pulled his lips away and stared down at him in shock.
"'Yo? What are you doing?" he whispered. He didn't answer as he finished removing the dark shirt from Dee's hardened body. He only gave him a very innocent and knowing look. Dee leaned down and kissed him again. He snaked his arms around Ryo's broad body and pressed him closer. He nudged his forehead. "... A-are you sure?" Dee whispered. Ryo nodded. "Tell me..."
"... I... I love you," Ryo whispered almost inaudibly. Tears peeked out over the edges of his dark eyes, eyes that were growing darker by the moment.
"Ryo, are you crying?" he asked softly as he kissed along Ryo's neck. He felt Ryo's back hitch and a soft cry leave his throat. "Oh, Ryo!" Dee chuckled. "Don't get all soft on me now!" Ryo smiled.
"S-sorry... I'm just-" Dee leaned down again and kissed him. When Ryo parted his lips, Dee slipped inside, taking his time to explore freely the taste of the mouth he had come to love so much. He could still taste the red wine lingering on the heated tongue as his bade his to play. The sweetness only seemed to intensify the pleasure as Dee felt himself all ready getting quite the hard on. Needing a breath, Dee pulled away, their chests rising and falling heavily. "- so happy," Ryo managed to finish.
And with that said, Dee lifted the man off his feet. "DEE! What the heck are you doing?!" Ryo laughed. Dee didn't answer. He only laid Ryo down on his bed and switched off the lamp. The light of the moon seeped through the curtains and spilled out over them. Dee looked down at Ryo before pulling himself over him. Dee traced his features with the back of his hand and dragged his fingertips down his body. Dee lowered his mouth onto Ryo's, plunging his tongue again into the heated cavern, taking and giving as much pleasure as he could. A moan hitched in the blonde throat as Dee's hand found its way to the bulge in his pants. Subconsciously, his hips rose up into his gentle touch, his lips parted slightly wanting another kiss. His eyes widened in realization of just a simple touch blew his mind. Again tears coursed down his cheeks. Dee removed his hand only to have it replace by his own denim cased hips. He ground himself gently, eliciting another moan from Ryo. He pinned his wrists onto the pillows beside his head before lapping the tears up slowly with his tongue. When more would come, he would do the same. "... Ryo?" he whispered against his mouth.
"... W-wha?"
"Are you absolutely sure you want this, baby?" he asked, trailing a path of hot kisses down his throat, continuing further down his torso. When he received no answer he lifted himself over him again. Ryo wrapped his arms around his neck in a passionate kiss. "Take me," he pleaded softly, tears running rivers down his skin and falling onto the earthen-tone of Dee's flesh. Dee gripped the hardened shoulders to him and lowered Ryo back down slowly. He pulled his mouth from his and ran his fire-like tongue down the torso slowly. Dee stopped at the narrow waist. He lowered his mouth onto the belt buckle and unbuckled it expertly with his teeth. Ryo watched with a heated gaze amazed. Dee pulled the belt free and tossed it haphazardly to the floor. He nuzzled the bridge of his nose against the bulge, making Ryo's his rise again. Dee smiled softly and pulled the zipper down with his teeth, then unbuttoning his slacks. He pulled them free slowly, the pants going the way of the belt. Ryo bit his lip as Dee ran his tongue along the edge of the waistband of his boxers before pulling them down with his teeth.
Ryo lay naked before Dee and all his glory. Dee smirked in satisfaction. Ryo was more man than he let on at times. Leaned up to Ryo's mouth again, kissing him innocently this time. "... Ready?"
A murmur was his answer before Dee slid down the hard body and covered the head of Ryo's erection with his mouth. A staggered moan floated from Ryo's lips. Dee kissed along the sides of his shaft before returning to the tip and sucked gently. Soon hands buried themselves into Dee's full head of hair, gripping and holding him gently, silently pleading for him for more. Dee wrapped his lips over the head and took more of Ryo into him. When he heard Ryo moan again and lifted his hips into him, Dee held him still and gently sucked.
"... K-kami... Dee..." Ryo gasped softly. Dee nearly forgot that Ryo was half Japanese. He heard Ryo use it before, but he never thought that it would sound so arousing. "... Dee... Kudasai..." he pleaded. Dee ran his hand up his torso and placed a palm on his belly calming him slightly. He wanted to drive him a little more over the edge. He created a tight vacuum and sucked more going up, then slowing down, repeating this several times before Ryo groaned. "Dee... please... n-now," he gasped. He braced Ryo down before completely swallowing his sex, using full advantage of his skilled tongue. "Kami!!" Ryo moaned loudly and bucked his hips sharply. Dee quickly and expertly swallowed the steady streams of white, making sure to create a seal just over his head so not to gag himself. It had been a while since he had done this. Too long in fact.
Dee raised himself over Ryo again and kissed him deeply. Ryo tasted the saltiness of himself still lingering on Dee's tongue. A delicate sheen of sweat glistened on Ryo's face in the moonlight as he looked fondly up at Dee. "... Dee..." he breathed with a smile. "I-"
"Shh..." He kissed him again. Somehow between the times Dee had gone down on him until that moment, he had managed to shed the rest of his clothing. Dee's breath was shallow and erratic. He leaned over him and grabbed something from the top of the nightstand. Kissing Ryo hard, he prepared himself, and then slid a hand down Ryo's thigh to the tight entrance that was all ready twitching for entry. Ryo felt Dee's now slick finger slid past him and hissed loudly. "Itai!" he whimpered.
"Hurts?" Dee breathed. Ryo bit his lip in pain. "... You know, you're going to have to teach me some of these catch phrases in Japanese. I can't understand you," he chuckled, hoping to make Ryo laugh enough to relax. It worked.
"D-dee!" Ryo leaned up for another kiss. "... Kudasai means... please..." He kissed him again. "Kami... God..." His breath was low and husky. Mere words had never had this affect on Dee before and he was loving every moment of it. "Really?" he smiled slyly and inserted another finger, pushing and pulling very gently. Ryo's eyes fluttered shut. "H-hai..."
"And what does... that mean?"
"'Y-yes'..." Dee chuckled deeply and consumed his lover's mouth as he removed his fingers and gently slipped his own length into the heated passage. Even with being prepped, Dee was amazed how tight Ryo was. Nobody he had ever been with was as tight, but damn if the warmth didn't feel good. Ryo's head thrashed to the side as he practically screamed in pain. Tears rushed down his cheeks again. Dee was crushed. "Sh, sh, sh... I'm sorry, baby. I know it hurts..." he whispered wiping the tears away gently. Ryo tried to will his body to relax. Dee stilled himself to keep from hurting him. He wouldn't do anything until Ryo was ready. "Kami..." he gasped.
"We'll take this slow... okay?" Dee whispered, feeling his own sorrow fall from his jade-colored eyes. Ryo was touched. He had never seen Dee look at him like that. Ryo nodded and bit his lip as he arched his back pushing Dee all the way into him. Ryo felt a little better and ignored the slight burning when he heard Dee's sigh of pleasure. Ryo clung to Dee's shoulders, and moved with his soon to bee dark-haired lover, slowly yet gently. Dee leaned down and kissed Ryo softly to try and distract him from the pain. Ryo's mouth parted willingly and met Dee's tongue confidently and hungrily. He moaned each time Dee ran over his sweet spot out of pain and pleasure. He knew that more pleasure would come in time, but that made Ryo's heart thump wildly in his chest. The thoughts of reliving possibly every night with this much love and passion was heaven to him and it showed as happiness rolled down his cheeks. "... Still hurts?" Dee managed to say through a moan. Ryo shook his head and closed his eyes. "... Iku, Dee... More," he breathed. He pushed upwards, wanting more. He was past the point of pain now. He was all ready hard again. Ryo gasped loudly as Dee quickened his thrusts with a low moan.
"... You feel so good, 'Yo," he gasped. Ryo arched his back and moaned loudly, "Oh, Dee!" Dee felt him stiffen again and then the warmth between their stomachs as Ryo climaxed. Ryo had tightened his muscles around Dee and that was all Dee needed for his own long awaited release. The hot streams of liquid sent another wave of pleasure through Ryo, causing him to moan against Dee's neck inside another blissful orgasm. "Dee..." he whispered. Dee planted several kisses all over his lover's face, holding onto the blond possessively as he trembled, muscles all over quaking with over use. Ryo clutched his new lover to him and returned the heartfelt kiss. He winced as he pulled out of him gently. "I love you, koibito," Ryo whispered, letting his tears fall again down his face. Dee buried his forehead into Ryo's collarbone. His back hitched, confusing the younger, half Japanese man until gentle warmth plipped onto his chest... Dee was crying. He gripped him tighter refusing to let go...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: *Sighs happily* Isn't that sweet? Sorry about the sap. What can I say? Hey, isn't the category for this fic "Angst/Drama"? Ha, ha! Trust me there is a method to my madness... Wednesday's done... Boy... and there are at least four more chapters to go... Don't worry people... I'm not gonna kill anybody... or will I??? ^ ^
rewarded at the end! Promise!!
The Consequences of Sin
Act Three: The World's Hatred
*Wednesday Morning*
Dee yawned sleepily and stared at the computer screen. He had nothing better to do that morning. In fact, he didn't get much sleep the night before, and what little sleep he got, he ended up waking up rather early this morning. *Might as well get some extra hours at work...* he had thought as he got ready.
Now it was catching up with him. "Dammit... I shoulda stayed home," he groaned. He had spent the good part of the morning looking up their "jogger friend" from the night before on a hunch. After pulling up the database, he soon realized how many goddamned people had the last name 'Smith'. "This fucking sucks..."
"I told you looking that guy up was a dumb idea..." Drake said and sat down at his desk beside Dee's.
"I got nuthin' better to do... What time is it anyway?" he asked through a yawn.
"Almost eleven..."
"Dammit... Ryo hasn't clocked in yet, has he?"
"I haven't seen him yet today. Him and Rose have odd shifts. Janet told me this morning that they were still working on possible M.O.s when she left last night."
"And she's here this morning too??"
"She's earning that honey moon vacation!" Drake laughed. "Looks like Caine will have a lot to gloat about when he gets back..."
"... You know I've always wondered about our dear, sweet Janet..." Dee smirked.
"Better not let Ryo hear you say that! Or Caine for that matter!" Drake laughed.
"Dude, chill! I've got eyes only for Ryo," he sighed.
"Blaaah, don't get all mushy on me. First Caine starts, then Ted won't shut up about his new girl... Geez..."
"Jo dumped you, huh?" Parker sighed.
"... Like the afternoon trash..." Drake shrugged. "Ah, well... I was gonna break it off anyway..."
"Hey! I'm goin' to th' break room. You guys want coffee?" Ted asked as he returned from the Chief's room. Dee and Drake gave him a look that made it seem he had a certain... appendage... growing from his forehead.
"What?!" the red head snapped.
"Uh... Nothing!" Drake defended. "You never want to bring anybody coffee!"
"Yeah man..." Dee agreed. He leaned on his hand and sighed. "Okay, Ted, what do you want?"
"NOTHING! Jesus! Chief wanted some coffee, then he told me break in the new coffee machine for him! It's got all sorts of cool stuff!"
"Like actually making coffee?" Drake smirked.
"We got a new coffee machine?" Dee asked.
"Yeah! It's got water gauge, and even that weird cappuccino frothy maker thingy! It's the latest from Mr. Coffee!" Dee frowned and turned to Drake as Ted headed to the break room.
"There's your damned raise, Parker..." he smirked.
"Figures... Man... I've turned in every report on time, filled in for anyone who needed it... Dammit! I haven't even called in sick or took off for holidays!!"
"Ah, don't sweat it... It's not even that much of a raise anyway," Dee sighed. He kept bringing up profiles and mug shots of every "John Smith" the database. He was on page thirty of one hundred pages. Drake peered over his shoulder. "Dude, man, I'm telling you, you're not gonna find this-"
"Well, well, well..." Dee smirked and enlarged the photo. "Here's Johnny!"
"Holy crap, you found him! Ugh... Looks like hell."
"This is from... two years ago. Arrested for... hmm, sexual assault on a female... thirteen. Interesting..." he smirked. "Wonder if he has an alibi for the night the victim was killed." Drake pulled out his notepad from last night.
"The address checks out..."
"Printing," Dee began. "... Print, print, PRINT, ah goddamn piece of crap!!" Dee snarled as the computer locked up. "Could it kill the Chief tell the department about the serious technological problem around here? Christ, no wonder we have to search mug shots by hand. That explains the low arrest record here. Son of a bitch!!" He rebooted the computer.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Rose greeted as he passed by Dee's desk. "Laytner, you're your usual colorful self this morning." Dee didn't look up as he stared at the hard drive on screen as it rebooted.
"No more than your fruity self, ya queer," he muttered to himself. Berkley raised an eyebrow.
"Care to repeat that, Laytner?"
"... No, sir," Dee sighed, tapping in his password lazily.
"You two find anything?" Berkeley asked. Drake glanced at the computer. Dee wasn't going to find the file anytime in the next thirty seconds. He opened his notepad again.
"Uh, last night around... when was it, Dee?"
"Sometime after midnight."
"Right, Anyway we spotted some midnight jogger-"
"'Midnight jogger'? In Central Park?? In this crime wave??" Berkeley asked in disbelief.
"Yep... 'John Smith lives on the corner of Cherry and Clinton."
"Oh, the building with the giant porn ad?" Berkeley interjected. Dee raised an eyebrow and laughed dryly.
"Well, we know what famous city landmarks you look for!"
"Funny. Watch it or I'll have you writing tickets all up and down Fifth and Main on Thanksgiving Day during the parade," Rose snapped. Dee growled under his breath and went back searching. "You were saying, Parker?"
"Um, yeah... It was kinda weird to see somebody out that late. He 'just happened' to stop by the crime scene to tie his shoe or pick up evidence. Who knows? He didn't 'see' the police tape. No ID on him, blonde, blue eyed, in his forties, works at some photographer's shop for kids..."
"Which one?" Drake suddenly paled.
"... Ah, dammit."
"Drake!!" Dee snapped. "I told you to get that address!!"
"Hey! I got his place and it checks out on the file!!"
"He's got a file? Interesting..."
"Well, we had a file," Dee grumbled. "Damn ancient piece of crap. You could find a thirty-year old dildo that gave you a better hard drive than this piece of shit..." Drake blinked. Berkeley massaged the bridge of his nose.
"What a lovely imagination you have, detective," he groaned.
"I can see where you could be jealous..." He smirked. "... Gimme a few minutes to look..." Berkeley swung his coat over his shoulder and strolled to his office.
"Good thing I'll be in my office all day," he said smugly. "Send Randy into my office when he gets here. Oh, and J.J. is returning this afternoon." Dee growled and restrained himself from throwing the computer at him.
"Soups up, boys!" Ted grinned.
"All right!" Drake cheered. Dee sighed and continued to look for the file.
"Just set it there..." Dee leaned on his elbow and clicked absently.
"Good morning, boys!" Ryo greeted, attempting to forget the events of yesterday. Dee perked up like a happy puppy.
"RYO!" Ryo blushed heavily as Dee practically pounced on him. Ryo backed away slightly. "G-good morning, D-dee."
"Hey, Ryo," Ted greeted. "I'm surprised that you're here this morning! Weren't you and Rose working until like midnight?"
"Y-yeah..." Ryo blushed with guilt when he saw Dee twitch. "They ID'd the victim and determined the cause of death. She was strangled with either the perp's hands or with some kind of rope. The girl was-"
"Randy?" Rose called. "I thought that was you. Would you step into my office for a moment?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Ryo, wait minute!" Dee snapped. "I wanna talk to you." Ryo looked back over at Berkley who waited patiently at his door. Ryo swallowed hard at the look he was giving him. It made him feel strangely uneasy and intrigued at the same time. He glanced back at Dee who was frowning at him. "Uh... L-later, Dee, this could be important."
"Yeah, well, what I have to say is important too!" he snapped.
"Dee! Not now!" Ryo snapped. "God, a little girl is dead! It can wait!" he snapped back and practically flounced off. He entered Rose's office with a smile. "'Morning, sir." Rose nodded and threw a triumphant smirk towards Dee. Dee pounded his desk and flopped into his chair. "Goddamned son of a bitch."
"Ah, cool it, Dee," Ted sighed. "Randy's not stupid enough to give into Rose." Dee went back to clicking aimlessly when he found the file again.
"Finally..." This time he saved the file and printed the rap sheet without a problem. He took the coffee and drank a sip. He made a face. "This tastes like shit!!" he exclaimed. "How old is this?!" Ted frowned.
"Gee thanks, Dee. Next time make yer own god damn coffee!" he snapped.
"Whoa-ho-ho! What's the matter? Didn't clock any ass yesterday evening??" Dee chuckled. Ted blushed.
"As a matter of fact, Dee, I've clocked more ass than you have in the past year," he smiled slyly. Dee frowned.
"Excuuuuse me? I doubt that-"
"Hey, unless you've been going behind Randy's back... the only action yer getting is from the five-knuckle-shuffle," Ted shot back and spun back around in his chair to get back to work.
"Ohhh, you got served, man!" Drake laughed. Dee twitched and shot an angry glare.
"Shut up... Jesus, what else could go wrong?" he muttered.
"Hellooo, helloooo!" Diana sang. Dee twitched.
"... Noooo."
"Well, hello there, handsome!" Diana beamed and pulled Dee's head to her ample chest, messing up his hair and squeezing him tightly. "Good to see you again!"
"Ack! Get off!" Dee squirmed and rolled away from her.
"Now is that nice?" she pouted, placing her hands on her hips and thrusting her chest outward. "I missed you boys!"
"'Mornin', Miss Spacey," Drake grinned. "Doing anything later?" Diana leaned down close to him and smiled. "As a matter of fact... yes... Sorry, Parker."
"Can't blame a man for trying," he smiled.
"What are you boys up to? Hard at work I see," she laughed. She picked up the last sheet of paper that the printer just finished. "What's this? Porn surfing at work now, Dee?" Dee snatched the paper back.
"No... A little girl got murdered. Possible perp."
"Oh, Berky told me something about that last night at dinner," she sighed. "Terrible..." Dee sighed.
"Yeah, to top everything off, Rose switched partners around again..." Ted looked up from his reports.
"Hey, I heard that he didn't just switch partners around to get to Randy, man..."
"Whaaat?"
"Yeah, I think he's some kind of personal vendetta. I think some guy murdered his kid sister when he was a kid. It's a different guy, but-"
"He's right. He told me about it last night," Diana said. "He had a baby sister who was four. She was taken right out from under him. It crushed the poor dear. He's been dedicating all his time on this case. He didn't exactly call me over for a romantic rendezvous last night at three in the morning," she sighed heavily. Dee paper clipped the stack.
"Yeah, well I think it's a little convenient for him... I'll be back. I gotta give 'Berky' this rap sheet."
"Oh! Dee! That reminds me!" Diana spoke up as she met him at the door to the office. He turned.
"What?"
"Um... How's about you and me go out for dinner tonight?" she asked softly and traced the hilt of his gun at his side. Dee smirked,
"Never give up do you?"
"Nope!" she smiled. "C'mon... Pleease?"
"I... I can't... I'm kinda in a bind right now," Dee replied nervously, remembering the talk he and Ryo had on Monday night. Diana sighed.
"Okaay..."
"Sorry, honey," he smiled. He knocked on the door and heard shuffling.
*"Berkeley! Come on! It's the middle of the day!" Ryo snapped.
"You just have no sense of adventure, Randy..." he heard Berkeley chuckle.
"S-sir!" *
Dee frowned and leaned his head against the door. He almost forgot what he had told Ryo. *Dammit...* He just hoped that Ryo wouldn't forget it either. "Are you suuure, Dee?" Diana offered again with a sigh. "Sounds like you could use someone to keep you company too. Oh! He makes me so mad when he pulls this shit!" she grumbled. Dee straightened.
"... Sure. I guess dinner couldn't hurt," he smiled softly. "I'm off at seven. Why don't I pick you up at... eight? There's this awesome restaurant around the corner of where I live."
"Don't be late, handsome. I'm staying a few blocks away from the station with a friend. I'll call you later for directions," she purred and yanked his tie down and stole a kiss. He heard Drake shouting in protest as she released him. He was blushing furiously, partly because of the fact that he fell victim to a technique he had mastered on Ryo; the rest was guilt. He smiled softly.
"Okay..."
"What?! Are you sure!?" Drake exclaimed. "Right. Right. Queens? Ah, shit... Okay. I'll tell the commissioner and Dee." He hung up the phone quickly. "Dee! Get Rose and Randy! There's been another murder in Queens!"
"What?! Dammit!" He pounded on the office door. "Lieutenant!!! Ryo!!! We gotta move! Bible boy struck again!"
"I'm going with you!" Diana said.
"What!? No!"
"Dammit, Laytner! This is no time for your juris-my-dick-tion bullshit!" she snapped. Dee sighed and stuffed the papers into his jacket.
*~*~*
"Caine!" Berkeley called from his police car as he and Ryo stepped out. They pushed past a small, yet quickly growing group of reporters. The tall dark haired man approached them. He saw Dee and Drake running up to meet them. Diana was close behind. "Sir!" Caine saluted him. "We got a call in about forty minutes ago... A young boy was found earlier this morning down in the subway," he explained. Rose turned to Drake.
"Get CSI and keep those reporters out of here, Parker."
"Y-yes sir!"
"Subway?! Where?" Ryo exclaimed and followed the rest of the group down the stairs to the underground.
"There was maintenance being done in on the seventh tunnel." He pointed to it as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Pinned to the granite wall was a young boy with blonde hair that had been hacked unevenly. His hands and feet were spiked to the wall in the same cross-like manner as the first victim. Berkeley jumped down to the tracks and stepped closer to the body. "Jesus..."
"The boy was found about an hour ago. It caused some panic between the service crew. I'm just glad no one else saw it. We've managed to get the tunnel closed off for a few more hours so we can get anything we can," Caine explained.
"Who would do something like this?" Diana gasped and turned away against Dee. He touched her arms delicately, holding her gently.
"Diana! What the hell are you doing here?!" Berkeley demanded. She turned and frowned.
"Well, that's a fine 'how do you do'! Does it matter?!" she snapped. Caine presented a bag to Rose.
"I found this pinned to the boy's back." Rose took it: another photograph of Ryo. Berkeley stiffened.
"Randy..." He showed him the photo. Ryo gasped. This time it showed a close shot of him and Dee asleep in his room on Monday night. Dee saw the photo and snarled.
"What the fuck's goin' on?!" he demanded. "Why would this guy be interested in Ryo?!" Rose saw a note on the back. It had been carefully disguised. There was no way of tracing it. "'Leviticus 18:22'?" Rose read, seemingly confused. Caine shrugged.
"I got no clue?" Berkeley frowned.
"Does anybody here know-"
"'... I am the LORD. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination'," Dee recited softly. He knew that passage all too well. "The asshole's preaching... What a hypocrite. You watch the coroner will find that this guy had sex with this kid too," he snapped. Rose stared at the photo silently as Dee punched the wall. He gave it back to Caine. "Who else has seen this?"
"Uh... No one else except me, sir. Some of the others couldn't hack it..." Caine blinked. "Why do you ask, sir?"
"Destroy this."
"What?! Sir I-"
"Do it!" Berkeley snapped. "If this goes to evidence and a jury sees this, they could lose their badges! Religious advocates and reporters would be down our throats and I don't want to have to deal with 'don't ask, don't tell' BS... Don't worry, Caine. I will take full responsibility for this."
"Sir, are you crazy?!" Ryo exclaimed. "You could lose your badge too!"
"And you and the detective have been the best two cops that I've got in this division. Better to lose one than two, eh?" he smirked. He removed the photo and pulled out his lighter.
"Berkeley no!" Diana hissed!
"Diana, don't make a scene. You know how I.A. is about things like this..." He lit the photo and it burned to ashes on the gravel. Dee stared at Rose. "I want someone staking out Detective MacLean's apartment at all hours," Berkeley continued.
*Damn... Guess he's not a total jerk off,* Dee thought.
"This did not happen," Rose said firmly. "Believe me, when this is all over, you'll be thanking me later..." Dee blinked in shock. He wasn't sure if Berkeley was actually covering his and Ryo's tracks or just his own.
"Hey, Rose!" Dee remembered the rap sheet he had. He gave it to him. "I found the guy that we ran into. I know it's not the time, but maybe-"
"Hey! This is Vincent!"
"'Vincent'?!" Dee exclaimed. Rose showed Ryo the photo. Rose smirked and raised his eyebrow.
"That's Vincent Wood! He was indicted with the rape and murder of seven children with the same age range as these two children."
"Are you shitting me?! Drake and me ran into this guy last night! He looks a hell of a lot different now, but it's the same dude!" Dee exclaimed.
"We can't arrest him for jogging though," Rose said.
"But we can for a fake ID and a stolen social security number. This doesn't match the one on Vincent's file."
"Let me see that!" Diana spoke up. "... I'll look into this 'Smith's' social in the database. I'll have Jones in L.A. fax the info to me." Dee smirked.
"I told you it was a good idea for you to come along!" he grinned. Diana beamed and snuggled against him. Dee smiled nervously. Ryo and Rose frowned.
*~*~*
*Wednesday Afternoon*
"Welcome back, J.J.!!!" the office cheered. J.J. blushed with pride when he saw the banner on the break room wall. Ted patted him on the back. "'Bout time you showed up!" he exclaimed.
"I missed a lot, huh? Where's Dee?" he asked.
"Ah, he's got a hot date," Drake sighed, "with Diana Spacey."
"DIANA???" J.J. squeaked.
"Yo! Hey! Smith is definitely not Vincent!" Janet announced happily as she entered the break room. Drake high-fived Ted.
"Sweetness! Didja get any on Smithy?" Ted asked.
"Says Smith was a drug lord in the Bronx ten years back. He disappeared after Vin's trial. No one would care about a missing drug lord so it was easy for him to hide. They found a body that could be Smith's in a burning car. No dental records were available, so who knows?" Janet continued. "Oh, J.J.!" She kissed his cheek. "Welcome back, cutie!" J.J. blushed again.
"What's going on???" he asked.
"You don't know?!" Drake exclaimed. "There's been this freak guy killing and raping kids, and preaching on their bodies with cryptic messages. They found one photo in the first victim's mouth that showed a picture of Ryo!"
"'Ryo'? I don't understand..."
"Join the club," Ted sighed. "He's in Rose's office. He and Rose are partners 'cause yer fill in had an emergency. They're partners until the case is solved or it goes cold..."
"Are you nuts?!" J.J. exclaimed. *This is crazy!!* "I'll be back. I'm going to go pay my respects to the boss."
J.J. knocked on the door of Rose's office and opened when he was invited. He saluted Rose. "Detective Jemmy J. reporting for duty, sir!" he grinned.
"Oh, J.J.! Welcome back!" Berkeley smiled. "Forgive me for not visiting you... This crime wave is insane, and I suppose you've heard about the recent turn of events..." J.J. nodded.
"I have."
"Welcome back, J.J.. How's your arm?" Ryo asked. J.J. lifted it.
"Still sore... It'll take a while before I'll be able to go on a sharp shoot mission though."
"Well, that's good. We need a hand more here anyway," Rose said. "Has Laytner left for the day? He was awfully happy about twenty minutes ago," he said and looked back down at the coroner's report on the body of the second victim.
"I... some of the boys said he had a date with Miss Spacey," he said softly. Ryo stiffened and looked at him in shock. Rose was equally shocked.
"Really?"
"Uh huh, I-I mean, yes sir!" Rose nodded slowly and shrugged it off.
"Well, good. Maybe she can get that large ego out of his ass..." he chuckled. Ryo stayed silent. "You're dismissed, detective. Go enjoy your homecoming."
"Yes, yes, sir!" J.J. saluted him. "Ryo?"
"Yes, J.J.?"
"May I speak with you for a moment. It won't be too long." Rose waved him away.
"Make it quick..." Ryo saluted him and followed J.J. into the office beside J.J.'s desk.
"Something wrong, J.J.?"
"I wanted to tell you about the night I was shot, remember?"
"Oh, man! I completely forgot about that! I'm sorry!"
"S'okay. You were occupied with these kids... An-anyway... On that night, I..." He stopped and looked at the floor. He knew what he would say would greatly affect his chances of ever getting with Dee. Ryo was growing concerned. "J.J.?"
"... Sometimes when you're not here at work, you know when Bikky or Carol is sick, Dee talks an awful lot... about you..."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Anyway, he... really cares about you... He made a comment that day before we went on that raid that if anything happened to you, he didn't know what he'd do..." Ryo fell silent and flushed. J.J. lowered his eyes. "He then said he got a bad feeling right before we went in... He pulled me aside and told me that if anything happened to him that... I... I should see that nothing'll happen to you... That's why... I jumped in front of you. I couldn't bear to see Dee if anything happened to you. He seemed really upset when he told me... Ryo... Dee loves you. He told me so. I don't know what Rose is up to with this switching around, but-"
"J.J... I... Dee told me all ready..."
"Then why is he going on a date with Miss Spacey?!" he demanded.
"Dee... is... taking a step back. J.J. I'm still uncomfortable with this new... lifestyle... He said I need to make up my own mind. The truth is... now that you've told me about that night I-"
"Guys! Manhattan! Two children were just nabbed by a guy matching Vincent's description! The mother said they were pulled from her own car!" Ted exclaimed. Berkeley burst out of his office. "Let's go, MacLean!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Ryo! Wait!"
"J.J.... thanks..."
*~*~*
*~*Valentino's Italian Restaurant*~*
"What's the matter, Dee?" Diana asked and smoothed her skirt. Dee blinked and smiled.
"Oh... it's nothing," he said.
"Thinking about Ryo, huh?" she smiled. Dee blushed and nodded slowly. Diana sighed.
"You know, he must be something really special if he's got two people crazy about him," she sighed.
"You sound disappointed," Dee said.
"... It's Berkeley... Him and his stupid ego."
"Psh, yeah..."
"What's going on with you and Ryo anyway? He's been awfully close to Berkeley lately." Dee looked over at a couple as a violinist was serenading them. He stood slowly and extended his hand," Let's dance," he smiled. Diana blushed as she took his hand. He pulled her close. "Dee?"
"... A... few nights ago... I... gave Ryo the option of deciding whether or not he was ready for this kind of... lifestyle... He admitted that he is a little attracted to Rose. So... I told him I was going to throttle back a bit and let his heart decide. I know he's got feelings for me too, but... he's gotta learn to act on them." Diana rested her head on his shoulder.
"... Aren't you worried about he and Berkeley making it together?" Dee pulled her tightly against him as they danced slowly.
"... I know Ryo... he's not in it for the lust. Berkeley is a sly fox and Ryo knows that. I... trust him whole heartedly," he whispered. Diana looked up at him.
"Dee, do you love him?" He nodded silently.
"I'm crazy about him, his passion for his job, Bikky... Carol... Plus, he's hot as hell, for a guy. You're damn sexy too," he grinned and dipped her. She laughed.
"You flatter me, Laytner!" she beamed. His face softened.
"I'm just worried about him and this serial nut job. When he starts preaching about the way man should be according to the book it scares me half to death that this guy may want to hurt him. When J.J. took that bullet for him because I couldn't... it made me realize that man is mortal. After hearing that passage today... I don't even know if he'll want me anymore. He'll be too scared or something. Dammit... I don't think I could live with that if he was too scared to let something as natural as love be thwarted just because he's not a woman or vise versa..." Diana leaned up to him and kissed him softly. He looked away after she pulled back.
"... So, the sex-god has a soft side..." She smiled. Dee chuckled.
"Sex-god? Who's flattering who here?" Diana reached up and brushed a lock of his hair from his deep, jade-colored eyes. His smiled softened.
"Dee... I don't think you have anything to worry about..."
"Huh?
"... You're so very sweet," she said softly, "and damn you for your current sexual preference," she added with a laugh. "You know if it wasn't for Ryo... I think you and I could really make ol' Berky mad..." Dee smiled.
"Don't tempt me," he chuckled.
"Dee?"
"Huh?"
"... I..." She stopped and bit her lip. "Can I... ask you a personal question?" Dee raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you think we're beyond asking permission?"
"... You're right... Never mind. It's not important..."
*~*~*
*~Manhattan~*
*Wednesday Night*
Rose picked up his hand held radio. "Anything?" he asked.
* "Teddy bear's got nada." *
* "I got nothin', Flower girl..." *
Ryo frowned as Rose spoke again. "No one move. We've got him cornered. No doubt he's done all the killings here. They're all within the distance easily. Flower girl out."
"Sir... Who came UP with these names?!" Rose sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Janet."
"Figures..." Ryo looked back out of the window. He saw a man leaving his apartment room and head across the street to an abandoned building through the alley. "Rose..." He pointed. "Let's go!"
"No! If he; sees us, we may never find those children... Just wait until he gets in the building."
"Sir, those kids are in danger!" Berkeley sighed and gave him a reluctant look. Ryo's stomach fluttered.
"Randy, those children are dead, ten to one," he replied softly. Ryo sat back in his seat. Deep down, he knew that he was right. They had known where Vincent might have gone, but getting there had been a nightmare. There had been a major fire earlier that day that took out four buildings. Evacuation and containing the flames caused traffic to be insane. Time was of the essence and Vincent had managed to slip away this time...
The man looked around before entering the warehouse. Rose picked up the radio again. "Flower girl on the move. Remain were you are." He shut it off. "Let's go."
Ryo slipped in through the same way the man had gone while Rose took the fire escape. The boarded up windows blocked out all available light. Ryo removed his gun and flashlight scanning the first floor and down each room. Each was empty or had remains of a hang out for local homeless or crack addicts. He found a set of stairs and listened carefully for footsteps as he crept up the stairs, holding his .45 out. His heart pounded quickly in his chest. He hoped to God that he would find the children unharmed. He slipped down the hall and checked every room before traveling along the wall slowly. He heard the shuffling of feet from around the corner. *This is it...* He swung his arm around and found himself point blank to another gun.
Berkeley. Ryo nearly screamed and covered his mouth. He frowned at him for scaring him. Rose motioned up the stairs. There were two sets: one where they were and on at the other end of the hall. Ryo followed the hall cautiously while Berkeley headed up the other for a possible ambush.
Loud metal music met his ears softly the farther he moved up the stairs. Once reaching the top he saw light spilling out of a room on the right hand side of the stairs. He ducked into the shadows and looked inside. There he saw a close up of the man they followed. His gut churned when he saw that it was Vincent. The tattered room was cluttered with photos of children, newspaper clippings, and garbage. The smell was a little sour.
He saw Berkeley from the other side and nodded. Berkeley moved along the wall to the door.
A floorboard creaked underneath his foot. Vincent stiffened and darted out the window of the fire escape. Ryo rushed in. "Freeze! Police!" There was a flash of white as a sneaker darted out the window. Ryo rushed to it. Vincent jumped down three stories onto the over hang of the nearby building and turned the corner. Ryo was about to go after him when Rose stopped him. "Randy..." he gaped in awe at the room. Ryo removed himself from the window and saw what the lieutenant was looking at.
Hanging above them were strings of other children's photos from one end of the room to the other. Ryo moved over to a bookcase. The shelves were stacked with papers, newspaper clippings, magazines of pornography, and unmarked tapes. To the right of the shelf was a small Christian shrine, horribly decorated with locks of blonde hair and jars of ether containing body parts of children or other indescribable things. "Holy Mary Mother of God," Ryo gasped. Rose pulled down a picture of the first victim: Jennifer. "Well, at least we know that he didn't lie about the photography," he said. He turned and gasped. "Jesus!!" There was an entire wall of photos full of pictures of Ryo from the time he was a boy, until some that were very recent almost to the day. Ryo looked up and fell to his knees.
"What the hell is going on??" he quavered. Rose bent down and helped Ryo to his feet. "Let's get out of here..." Rose turned on his radio. "Boys. Target escaped. Put out an APB on Wood... Get the CSI unit up here. And get me the judge on the phone."
* "Sir, it's almost ten-" *
"I don't give a damn! I know what time it is! I want a search warrant for Wood's apartment in thirty minutes!!" Rose turned back to find Ryo vomiting violently. "God, Randy!" Ryo gasped and wiped his mouth after catching his breath. "S-sorry, Berkeley... I just..." He was shaking. Rose holstered his gun and pulled the younger man into his arms.
"Calm down, Randy..." Ryo closed his eyes, shutting out the fright of the room he was in. All he could think about was Bikky, Carol, and Dee and what might happen to them if Vincent were not caught.
Drake kicked down the door of the apartment and thrust his gun into the room before entering. Ted, Caine, and Rose rushed inside with Ryo following cautiously behind. The shaggy apartment appeared to be empty of anyone; Ted and Drake took out the back bedrooms while Rose entered the kitchen with Ryo staying behind to cover the door. "Clear!" Drake called. "This room too!" Ted said and returned. "The guy split in a hurry." He noticed Ryo holding his gun in his shaking hands as he was staring in sickly amazement into the left over room. "Randy? Dude, you- HOLY CHRIST! Commissioner!!!"
When Berkeley got there he nearly became sick at the site of the two almost infant children's bare and limp bodies on the hardwood floor. He holstered his weapon and knelt beside the small girl, feeling for a pulse with a small fraction of hope. It was shot to hell when he examined the other, the boy, with the same findings: dead. He turned his head to Ted. "... Call the coroner," he said softly. He stood and found the distraught detective sitting against the wall holding his head in his hands. He kept seeing Bikky's face on the two victims. Berkeley knelt beside him. "... Randy?"
"Why... why is he doing this???" he asked aloud not particularly to anyone. He grabbed his hair in a handful and moaned.
"Randy," Berkeley called again.
"What does this have to do with me?!" Berkeley grabbed Ryo by the collar and delivered a hard slap to his face.
"Randy! Calm down!" he exclaimed. Ryo gasped and looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. Berkeley's face softened. He sighed and turned his head to Drake. "Parker?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Take care of things the best you can. I'm escorting Randy home..." Drake nodded.
"Yes, sir."
*~*~*
Berkeley followed Ryo into the apartment building and into the elevator. Ryo hadn't said a word to Berkeley edgewise besides giving him directions as he drove the police car. Ryo was too upset to drive. The elevator door closed and Ryo kept his eyes on the ground. "... I know this isn't the best time to ask this, Randy, but..." Ryo lifted his head and found his ice blue eyes looking seriously and almost shyly into his.
"Y-yes?"
"... Have you lived in New York City before you were assigned to this precinct?" he finished. Ryo nodded softly.
"Yes... I was about... seven or eight. My dad was here for business... I don't remember much about it though," Ryo answered. He looked up at the elevator numbers itching for them to hurry up. The building was so old.
"Where was you mother most of the time?" Ryo gave him a confused look.
"... I think she was busy all day at the hospital. She was a nurse... What does this have to do with anything?"
"So you were usually left in the care of a nurse or babysitter?"
"No, my mother dropped me off at a day care for a good part of the day... Sir-"
"Forgive me for asking you such odd questions... I was just curious about you, that's all. I don't know that much about you," Berkeley replied softly. The elevator bell dinged softly as they reached Ryo's floor. He checked his watch. "It's not too late. Would you like to come in for a moment?" Ryo asked as he unlocked the door. Berkeley felt a rush of blood to his cheeks. To be honest, he wasn't even planning on forcing his way into Ryo's apartment. In fact, even the little tift he had with Diana on Monday night was far from his thoughts too. "I... I'd like that..."
"I don't think Bikky's here," Ryo said. "You've met him haven't you?"
"Wasn't he the miniature version of Laytner with you two in England?" Berkeley felt better when he saw Ryo smile and laughed.
"You think so too? Dee denies it every chance he gets when some one makes that comment," he laughed. Ryo went to the wine rack. "Would you like some wine?"
"Please..." Berkeley glanced around the apartment noting the very soft and cozy surroundings of the living room. Despite the old building, the room was very comforting. He made a note to find a way to get the force more money to pay the officers. He hadn't any idea that the pay wasn't great. He caught a glimpse of a picture frame on the coffee table. The small boy, Bikky, another girl, presumably the one called Carol, and the annoying detective grinned happily back at him like a happy family. *Maybe this wasn't a fantastic idea...* he thought.
"I hope red is okay," Ryo said and handed him a glass.
"It's fine..." He returned the picture frame. "Quite a home you have here, Randy. It's pleasant."
"Thank you," he smiled. "It suits Bikky and I just fine. Dee is even helping me figure out a way I can live a little closer to work. He says that there's a nice apartment for sale near his... Last month he told me that he's been saving up some money as a birthday surprise for me for the down payment."
"Really?" He sipped his wine slowly.
"Yeah..." Ryo lowered his eyes to his glass. He remembered what J.J. told him earlier. "It... really blew me away."
"Sounds like he really cares about you," Berkeley said softly. Ryo rubbed his neck nervously.
"Y-yeah... I'm not... used to being with a guy... I told him about it and... he's backing off for a while for me to... 'get used' to the idea..."
"Risky... Is it helping?" Ryo fingered the edge of his glass and smiled softly.
"Yeah... it is..."
"If you don't mind my asking... how far have you-"
"Not very," Ryo interrupted quickly. "I usually push away... or... we get interrupted... He's probably getting tired of me. No wonder he's out with Miss Spacey..." Ryo frowned and turned to Rose quickly. "Wait... I thought you and she were..." Berkeley chuckled.
"Well, we're having some problems... I do care about her a lot. She gets mad whenever I talk about you whether it's work involved or not..." Ryo smiled.
"I can tell she really cares about you. She hangs all over Dee I think to get a rise out of you. It works too!" he laughed. "You should see yourself sometimes!" Rose raised an eyebrow and found himself laughing too.
"What about yourself?"
"Yeah, I guess I do get jealous," Ryo sighed. He set his wine glass down next to Berkeley's. He felt his cheeks heat as Rose's stare fell upon him. He didn't look up. "Randy?" he began softly and moved closer. He rested his hand on the back of Ryo's head and touched the soft locks at the base.
"W-what?" he whispered and looked up at him.
"Do you love Dee?" he asked softly. Ryo swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak. He hesitated. Berkeley's cologne was having an effect on him that he found rather pleasing. "... Perhaps this will help you," Berkeley whispered and captured Ryo's lips with his own with hard confidence. He opened his mouth slightly and slid his tongue gently past Ryo's lips. Ryo met his shyly with a soft moan and clutched Berkeley's shirt helplessly. Ryo could taste the wine lingering on his tongue along with the flavor of tobacco and something else. Berkeley touched his face gently as he pulled away. The embarrassed blush on Ryo's cheeks was almost as satisfying as his kiss. Ryo straightened his body and sat up. "... I..."
"Hey! It's that guy!" Bikky exclaimed. Both gentlemen jumped up in shock.
"BIKKY!" Ryo squeaked. "How l-long were you standing there?!"
"Huh? I just walked in here. I heard voices. It's only nine-thirty. I thought you'd be working late." Ryo knelt beside him and clutched the boy tightly to his chest.
"I... wanted to come home early tonight," he whispered. He noticed the bag at his side. "Going to Carol's tonight?" he smiled.
"Yeah, there's no school tomorrow..." He glanced Berkeley and glared. "Then again... I think I might stay home..." Ryo blinked as he noticed him glaring at Rose.
"Oh! Bikky, you remember Berkeley Rose from our trip to England, don't you?" Rose's eyebrows piqued with interest as Bikky kept a heated lock with his eyes.
"Yeah." The phone rang in the kitchen.
"Oh, excuse me..." Ryo left Bikky and Rose with a feeling of uneasiness. If Bikky was truly anything like Dee, then sparks were going to fly.
"... Pleased to meet you... Bikky, was it? Interesting name," Rose smiled as he kneeled down in front of him. Bikky folded his arms.
"It works... Better than being named after some dorky flower." Rose frowned.
"Just like him," he muttered.
"I s'pose yer tryin' to get into Ryo's pants too, huh?" Berkeley twitched.
"Aren't you a little young to be asking those types of questions?"
"Well, when your dad and his partner are mackin' out on the couch you learn fast. Didn't expect to find him making out with you. Dee's gonna kill you," he grinned. Rose frowned.
"Bikky! Carol is on her way over here. Why don't you meet her halfway?" Ryo smiled as he re-entered. Bikky didn't look at him.
"You gonna be okay? I heard from Dee that this Bible guy's been takin' pictures of you..." Ryo knelt down beside him and hugged him.
"I'll be okay... You be careful. Don't pull any of your hijinxes. Carol's aunt is driving her over to pick you up."
"Kay..." Ryo was hesitant before kissing Bikky's forehead. "D-daaad!" Ryo held his face and whispered softly. Bikky froze. He hadn't seen him look so afraid before. "I love you, Bikky," he said. Bikky blushed and hugged him before heading out the door. "Have fun, Bikky."
"Kay! Bye Dad." He pointed his finger straight at Rose and frowned. "You better stay away from my Dad, you queer! Bad enough that I have to protect him from one homo!"
"BIKKY!" He was gone in a flash. Ryo blushed with embarrassment.
"Charming boy you have," Rose smirked. "Just like Laytner."
"I'm really sorry about that. He's very protective." Berkeley drew himself close again.
"You never answered my question, Randy..."
"Oh... I uh..." Berkeley's hand slides around Ryo's waist. There was a sharp knock on the doorframe.
"Pardon me, gentlemen," Dee snapped as he let himself in. "But the door was left open. I thought someone was prowling around here..." He saw the hand around Ryo's waist slid away. "Looks like I was right," he finished.
"Good evening, detective," Berkeley smirked. "My, my... Is your date over? A little early, isn't it?"
"Nah, her heart wasn't in it," Dee smirked and stepped out of the doorway, holding it open. Berkeley took the hint. He turned to Ryo.
"... Are you going to be all right?" he asked softly. The look of concern in his eyes was genuine. Ryo nodded softly.
"I-I'll be okay. Thank you, sir. Goodnight."
With formality being replaced. Berkeley grabbed his coat and left. Dee slammed the door behind him. When he turned around he saw Ryo cleaning up the wine glasses. He hadn't even greeted him. "... Something happen?" Dee asked and met him in the kitchen.
"... We've found out that the real John Smith was a drug dealer in the Bronx. He was killed around the time of Vincent's trial. Since then he's been using his identity..." Ryo poured himself and Dee a glass of wine.
"Wow."
"Yeah..."
"There's something else..." Ryo sighed.
"While you were out, he struck again. Twins were taken from their mother's car. We had figured that he'd go to his place and stake him out. With the fire, there wasn't any way we could get to them in time... Rose and I almost had him in an abandoned building across the street. He escaped... but... the whole room was filled with..." Ryo leaned over the sink and tried to stop shaking. Dee held his shoulders. "Ryo?"
"... There were hundreds of pictures of... his victims... and me, from the time even when I was a child... We found the two children in his apartment... God, Dee... They... they couldn't have been more than three years old!" Dee turned Ryo and pulled him into his arms.
"Jesus Christ, man... You're trembling!"
"I... I don't know what's going on!" he cried. Dee grabbed his hand gently. Ryo nearly squeezed the life out of it as Dee lead him to his bedroom. "Come on..." he said. "You'll feel better once you lie down..." Ryo sat on his head and clutched his head in his hands. Dee went inside the bathroom. He returned with a washcloth and started unbuttoning his shirt. "D-dee! What are you-"
"Just lie down and close your eyes," he ordered and pulled off the shirt. "I'm not going to do anything to you... Just trust me, okay?" Ryo did that. Dee placed the damp cloth on his forehead. "Now just relax, okay?" Ryo felt him remove his shoes and heard them being tossed into the corner of the room. "Penguin used to do this for me when I would get scared or something. I was three at the time, but it worked," he said and slipped his lap underneath Ryo's head. There was a smile in his voice that calmed Ryo. His breathing was slowing and the hands through his hair had a calming effect. "... H-how did your date with Diana go?" Dee twitched.
"Heard about that, huh?" he said guiltily. Ryo removed the cloth and sat up. He smiled softly.
"Don't worry. I'm not upset... We're not exactly dating so..." Dee scratched his hair.
"It was nice... Been a while since I went out with a lady. We talked a lot about work, the case, Rose, and you..." Dee looked down when Ryo didn't say anything after a long pause. "I suppose you and Rose had a nice time while he was here..." Ryo shrugged. "... Did he kiss you?" Dee asked. Ryo sighed heavily. "It was just a question!"
Ryo nodded. "We mostly talked... then Bikky walked in."
"Bikky was HOME?!" Dee laughed.
"Yeah... He saw right through Rose. He doesn't like him at all." Dee jumped up.
"That's my boy!" he laughed. Ryo smirked. He went to the window and closed the sheer curtains, falling silent again. "Where is the little ingrate?"
"Carol's... Dee?"
"Hm?" Ryo turned around before practically jumping on Dee. He hid his face into his chest. "'Yo? This isn't like you at all!" he exclaimed. His arms folded around him gently. He didn't answer. "Do you want me to get you something to drink?" he asked.
"N-no... Dee... I talked to J.J.... H-he told me... everything." Dee felt his face get hot when Ryo looked up at him. "... Do you?" Ryo asked. Dee nodded.
"... Y-yeah. Di got mad when I told her I wouldn't kiss her goodnight cause of that," he chuckled. He rubbed his chin. "That girl has an awesome right hook..."
"She punched you?"
"... More like a really hard love tap," he chuckled. Dee buried his face into Ryo's soft hair and sighed. "God, I love you," Dee whispered and dragged his fingertips up and down his back slowly. Ryo shivered, a chill running down his back. He lifted his face and nudged him gently. Dee bent down slowly and closed his lips lightly over his. Ryo slid his hands up Dee's chest and slowly began to unbutton it. Dee pulled his lips away and stared down at him in shock.
"'Yo? What are you doing?" he whispered. He didn't answer as he finished removing the dark shirt from Dee's hardened body. He only gave him a very innocent and knowing look. Dee leaned down and kissed him again. He snaked his arms around Ryo's broad body and pressed him closer. He nudged his forehead. "... A-are you sure?" Dee whispered. Ryo nodded. "Tell me..."
"... I... I love you," Ryo whispered almost inaudibly. Tears peeked out over the edges of his dark eyes, eyes that were growing darker by the moment.
"Ryo, are you crying?" he asked softly as he kissed along Ryo's neck. He felt Ryo's back hitch and a soft cry leave his throat. "Oh, Ryo!" Dee chuckled. "Don't get all soft on me now!" Ryo smiled.
"S-sorry... I'm just-" Dee leaned down again and kissed him. When Ryo parted his lips, Dee slipped inside, taking his time to explore freely the taste of the mouth he had come to love so much. He could still taste the red wine lingering on the heated tongue as his bade his to play. The sweetness only seemed to intensify the pleasure as Dee felt himself all ready getting quite the hard on. Needing a breath, Dee pulled away, their chests rising and falling heavily. "- so happy," Ryo managed to finish.
And with that said, Dee lifted the man off his feet. "DEE! What the heck are you doing?!" Ryo laughed. Dee didn't answer. He only laid Ryo down on his bed and switched off the lamp. The light of the moon seeped through the curtains and spilled out over them. Dee looked down at Ryo before pulling himself over him. Dee traced his features with the back of his hand and dragged his fingertips down his body. Dee lowered his mouth onto Ryo's, plunging his tongue again into the heated cavern, taking and giving as much pleasure as he could. A moan hitched in the blonde throat as Dee's hand found its way to the bulge in his pants. Subconsciously, his hips rose up into his gentle touch, his lips parted slightly wanting another kiss. His eyes widened in realization of just a simple touch blew his mind. Again tears coursed down his cheeks. Dee removed his hand only to have it replace by his own denim cased hips. He ground himself gently, eliciting another moan from Ryo. He pinned his wrists onto the pillows beside his head before lapping the tears up slowly with his tongue. When more would come, he would do the same. "... Ryo?" he whispered against his mouth.
"... W-wha?"
"Are you absolutely sure you want this, baby?" he asked, trailing a path of hot kisses down his throat, continuing further down his torso. When he received no answer he lifted himself over him again. Ryo wrapped his arms around his neck in a passionate kiss. "Take me," he pleaded softly, tears running rivers down his skin and falling onto the earthen-tone of Dee's flesh. Dee gripped the hardened shoulders to him and lowered Ryo back down slowly. He pulled his mouth from his and ran his fire-like tongue down the torso slowly. Dee stopped at the narrow waist. He lowered his mouth onto the belt buckle and unbuckled it expertly with his teeth. Ryo watched with a heated gaze amazed. Dee pulled the belt free and tossed it haphazardly to the floor. He nuzzled the bridge of his nose against the bulge, making Ryo's his rise again. Dee smiled softly and pulled the zipper down with his teeth, then unbuttoning his slacks. He pulled them free slowly, the pants going the way of the belt. Ryo bit his lip as Dee ran his tongue along the edge of the waistband of his boxers before pulling them down with his teeth.
Ryo lay naked before Dee and all his glory. Dee smirked in satisfaction. Ryo was more man than he let on at times. Leaned up to Ryo's mouth again, kissing him innocently this time. "... Ready?"
A murmur was his answer before Dee slid down the hard body and covered the head of Ryo's erection with his mouth. A staggered moan floated from Ryo's lips. Dee kissed along the sides of his shaft before returning to the tip and sucked gently. Soon hands buried themselves into Dee's full head of hair, gripping and holding him gently, silently pleading for him for more. Dee wrapped his lips over the head and took more of Ryo into him. When he heard Ryo moan again and lifted his hips into him, Dee held him still and gently sucked.
"... K-kami... Dee..." Ryo gasped softly. Dee nearly forgot that Ryo was half Japanese. He heard Ryo use it before, but he never thought that it would sound so arousing. "... Dee... Kudasai..." he pleaded. Dee ran his hand up his torso and placed a palm on his belly calming him slightly. He wanted to drive him a little more over the edge. He created a tight vacuum and sucked more going up, then slowing down, repeating this several times before Ryo groaned. "Dee... please... n-now," he gasped. He braced Ryo down before completely swallowing his sex, using full advantage of his skilled tongue. "Kami!!" Ryo moaned loudly and bucked his hips sharply. Dee quickly and expertly swallowed the steady streams of white, making sure to create a seal just over his head so not to gag himself. It had been a while since he had done this. Too long in fact.
Dee raised himself over Ryo again and kissed him deeply. Ryo tasted the saltiness of himself still lingering on Dee's tongue. A delicate sheen of sweat glistened on Ryo's face in the moonlight as he looked fondly up at Dee. "... Dee..." he breathed with a smile. "I-"
"Shh..." He kissed him again. Somehow between the times Dee had gone down on him until that moment, he had managed to shed the rest of his clothing. Dee's breath was shallow and erratic. He leaned over him and grabbed something from the top of the nightstand. Kissing Ryo hard, he prepared himself, and then slid a hand down Ryo's thigh to the tight entrance that was all ready twitching for entry. Ryo felt Dee's now slick finger slid past him and hissed loudly. "Itai!" he whimpered.
"Hurts?" Dee breathed. Ryo bit his lip in pain. "... You know, you're going to have to teach me some of these catch phrases in Japanese. I can't understand you," he chuckled, hoping to make Ryo laugh enough to relax. It worked.
"D-dee!" Ryo leaned up for another kiss. "... Kudasai means... please..." He kissed him again. "Kami... God..." His breath was low and husky. Mere words had never had this affect on Dee before and he was loving every moment of it. "Really?" he smiled slyly and inserted another finger, pushing and pulling very gently. Ryo's eyes fluttered shut. "H-hai..."
"And what does... that mean?"
"'Y-yes'..." Dee chuckled deeply and consumed his lover's mouth as he removed his fingers and gently slipped his own length into the heated passage. Even with being prepped, Dee was amazed how tight Ryo was. Nobody he had ever been with was as tight, but damn if the warmth didn't feel good. Ryo's head thrashed to the side as he practically screamed in pain. Tears rushed down his cheeks again. Dee was crushed. "Sh, sh, sh... I'm sorry, baby. I know it hurts..." he whispered wiping the tears away gently. Ryo tried to will his body to relax. Dee stilled himself to keep from hurting him. He wouldn't do anything until Ryo was ready. "Kami..." he gasped.
"We'll take this slow... okay?" Dee whispered, feeling his own sorrow fall from his jade-colored eyes. Ryo was touched. He had never seen Dee look at him like that. Ryo nodded and bit his lip as he arched his back pushing Dee all the way into him. Ryo felt a little better and ignored the slight burning when he heard Dee's sigh of pleasure. Ryo clung to Dee's shoulders, and moved with his soon to bee dark-haired lover, slowly yet gently. Dee leaned down and kissed Ryo softly to try and distract him from the pain. Ryo's mouth parted willingly and met Dee's tongue confidently and hungrily. He moaned each time Dee ran over his sweet spot out of pain and pleasure. He knew that more pleasure would come in time, but that made Ryo's heart thump wildly in his chest. The thoughts of reliving possibly every night with this much love and passion was heaven to him and it showed as happiness rolled down his cheeks. "... Still hurts?" Dee managed to say through a moan. Ryo shook his head and closed his eyes. "... Iku, Dee... More," he breathed. He pushed upwards, wanting more. He was past the point of pain now. He was all ready hard again. Ryo gasped loudly as Dee quickened his thrusts with a low moan.
"... You feel so good, 'Yo," he gasped. Ryo arched his back and moaned loudly, "Oh, Dee!" Dee felt him stiffen again and then the warmth between their stomachs as Ryo climaxed. Ryo had tightened his muscles around Dee and that was all Dee needed for his own long awaited release. The hot streams of liquid sent another wave of pleasure through Ryo, causing him to moan against Dee's neck inside another blissful orgasm. "Dee..." he whispered. Dee planted several kisses all over his lover's face, holding onto the blond possessively as he trembled, muscles all over quaking with over use. Ryo clutched his new lover to him and returned the heartfelt kiss. He winced as he pulled out of him gently. "I love you, koibito," Ryo whispered, letting his tears fall again down his face. Dee buried his forehead into Ryo's collarbone. His back hitched, confusing the younger, half Japanese man until gentle warmth plipped onto his chest... Dee was crying. He gripped him tighter refusing to let go...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: *Sighs happily* Isn't that sweet? Sorry about the sap. What can I say? Hey, isn't the category for this fic "Angst/Drama"? Ha, ha! Trust me there is a method to my madness... Wednesday's done... Boy... and there are at least four more chapters to go... Don't worry people... I'm not gonna kill anybody... or will I??? ^ ^