Thorny Rose

Chapter Three: Time to Fight Back

By: Ree

Pairing: Ryo/Dee, Berkley/Ryo

Rating: R

Ages: Thank you to one of my reviewers! Now I can say that Ryo is around 27-28, Dee is 26-27, and Berkley is in his mid-30's. Thank you very much for that review, it's really helped.

Summary: Berkley Rose is used to getting what he wants. What he wants is Ryo and he's bound and determined to get him no matter what the cost. Taking advantage of Dee's leave of absence, he begins his carefully planned seduction of the naïve man. What will Dee think when he comes back?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fake. The series is Sanami Matoh's, so don't sue me because ya won't get anything.

Author's Notes: Thanks to some of my reviewers, I have decided to turn this story around. It's time for Ryo to fight back and show Rose exactly what he's made of. Still, I have a bit of a plan for what I want to happen eventually. Don't worry though; it does involve Dee hurting Rose, LOL.

Ryo managed to calm down in the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. When he began to study himself, the dark-eyed man wondered why he'd been acting the way he had. It wasn't as though he was defenseless or something. What am I doing? I'm a trained cop for Christ's sake, I can take care of myself, he realized and mentally slapped himself. I've been acting like a big baby...I'll show Rose that he can't mess with me. Making up his mind not to deal with Berkley feeling him up anymore, Ryo headed out of the bathroom and to his desk. Pulling up a seat, he began to chat with some of his co-workers. Laughing with Drake about how JJ had been acting like an even bigger baby than he had about Dee leaving, Ryo began to relax and enjoy himself. After a while, a young woman came up and handed him a file with a smile and a wink.

"Sorry to do this to you while your partner's away, Randy, but we need you to take this case. Think you can handle it all by yourself?" she teased and giggled.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can thanks."

Opening up the file, he began to examine the details. It turned out there had been a few murders where the victims were young boys, all around their early teens. Frowning, Ryo continued to read over the files. The only things the victims had in common was that they showed signs of rape and that they were all blonde. That's odd...we haven't had a case like this in a while. The only time I could think of something coming close to this was when all of those young girls were murdered and their wrists were cut off. Could it be a copy-cat, except with boys? Looking thoughtful, Ryo pulled out the address of the latest victim and got to his feet, throwing on his jacket. Picking up the file, he headed out.

"Ryo, where do you think you're going?" a smooth voice from behind him inquired.

"I've just been assigned a case, Commissioner Rose," he replied stiffly, looking the other straight in the eye.

"I see, perhaps I should accompany you?"

"No, I don't think I'll require your assistance, Commissioner. Thank you for your concern though."

Turning on his heel, he walked out of the precinct and headed for his car. Berkley raised an eyebrow in surprise and chuckled under his breath. Well, it seems as this won't be as easy as I thought. Still, it's the challenge that makes it more fun. In the middle of his thoughts, the phone rang. It took him a few seconds before he picked it up.

"Rose here."

"Berkley, how are you doing?"

"Oh, hello Dee Dee. How are things progressing on your end? Enjoying having Laytner as your guest?"

"It's been good so far, Dee's been relaxing a lot. Still, he keeps asking to call Ryo, and I'm running out of excuses. Are you sure that you can pull this off before he gets back home?"

"Trust me, Diana; there won't be any problems."

"Well all right."

The two of them continued to talk for a while before Berkley bid her farewell and hung up the phone. Meanwhile, Ryo was out trying to find the recent victim's house. When he finally managed to locate it, he was surprised at the neighborhood. It was the upper class neighborhood where the rich people lived. Why would someone possibly kidnap a child from a prosperous family when they're under constant supervision? Wouldn't it be easier to just take a kid out of the slums? Figuring he'd get his questions answered later, Ryo closed the door of his car and headed for the door. Ringing the bell and waiting, he was greeted by the butler.

"Yes, may I help you sir?"

"Hello, I'm Detective Randy McLean, I was wondering if I could speak to the parents of Garret Warner?"

"The Master is out right now, but I'm sure the Mistress would be willing to speak with you. Are you here investigating what happened to young Master Garret?" he asked, opening the door.

"Yes, I am."

"Please, follow me."

The butler led Ryo through the house until they reached the drawing room. Taking the seat indicated by the man, he sat down and waited. It didn't take long before a young woman around her mid-20's came into the room and sat down across from him, sniffling slightly.

"Hello, I am Mrs. Warner. Thank you so much for coming Detective. I'm sure you have questions for me."

"As a matter of fact, I do. Could you tell me when it was that you last saw your son and who he was with?"

"Well..."

And so the investigation officially began. Ryo learned that the victim had been with his father when he disappeared. Mr. Scott Warner claimed to have been knocked unconscious by someone and when he came to, his son was gone. The other victims, it was revealed, were Garret's friends. Making sure to take notes so he wouldn't forget anything, Ryo continued asking questions until he figured he had enough information. He got the names and addresses of the rest of Garret's male friends who had blonde hair and were around his age before rising. Shaking hands with Mrs. Warner, he thanked her for answering his questions and pocketed his notebook before leaving. Mrs. Stacey Warner closed the door behind him before turning to her butler, a serious look in her blue eyes.

"You'd better be more careful next time, Hubert. Otherwise, we'll have to find someone else to do your job."

"Yes, Mistress."

He bowed at the waist and returned to his duties. Ryo sat in his car and pondered over what he had learned. She was informative, but I'm not sure if she was telling the complete truth. Starting his car, he thought he should warn the other families to keep a close watch on their children until the perp was caught. Pulling out of the drive and heading back to the office, Ryo began making a mental list of who he should do background checks on, starting with Stacey Warner and then her husband, Scott, before continuing further. Arriving back at the precinct, Ryo sat down at his desk and began to do background checks on not only Garret's parents, but some of the parents of the other victims.

"Hmmm, that's strange..." he muttered as he came across something. "It seems as though Mr. Warner has a mental condition, but was pronounced healthy and released from that institution."

Writing down the address, he made a note to go and visit the mental hospital where Scott had been placed in the next day. Turning back to the screen, he rubbed absently at his eyes before turning to the clock. Wow, I've been here for a few hours now. It's almost time for shift change. Making sure to print out everything he had found on the case, Ryo also figured he'd go and speak with some of the other parents the next day as well as check out the institution. As he was gathering up his things, Berkley came out of his office and spotted Ryo. Hmm, all by himself...

"How is the case coming, Ryo?" he asked, going over to the other officer and examining his research.

"Things are going as well as can be expected, Commissioner," Ryo replied as he gathered up his things.

"Find anything out?"

"Yes, I discovered that the father of one of the victims was institutionalized a while back and has currently been released, proclaimed healthy. This doesn't seem to fit, so I'm going to check on the place tomorrow."

Berkley nodded before reaching over and taking Ryo's wrist in his hand. Frowning, Ryo twisted his wrist and removed it from Berkley's grip. Raising an eyebrow, the blonde cop wasn't giving up as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder and attempted to make eye contact with him. Ryo grit his teeth and scowled slightly over at the other man before brushing the hand off. A slow smile spread over the elder's lips and he chuckled lowly.

"Why Ryo, why are you being so unfriendly tonight?"

"Because I'm with Dee, Commissioner, and I don't think that you understand that concept."

"Of course I understand that concept Ryo. I understand it, but I won't accept it. You deserve so much better than that bumbling idiot...and I'm sure that I could show you a few things he couldn't."

Slamming his desk drawer shut, Ryo turned to face the Commissioner. "I don't think you could show me anything, Commissioner. Besides, I'm not one to cheat on my boyfriend, and I won't cheat on Dee."

"Who said I was giving you a choice in the matter?"

He moved in closer and before he could get too close, Ryo hit him hard across the face, glaring a promising death to the other man. Not only did he leave the other stunned, but Ryo also felt a sense of accomplishment. Hm, seems as though I can take care of things, Ryo thought proudly. Rubbing his stinging cheek, Berkley merely smiled. So, he's finally toughening up and fighting back. Good, that makes it more fun for me.

"Do you honestly think that I would cheat on Dee? Especially with someone the likes of you?"

"Well Ryo, I think you'll soon see who the better man is. Unless you're going to call your partner and beg him to come home early because you can't fight your own battles without him."

"We'll see about that. Now if you'll excuse me."

And with that, Ryo brushed past Berkley without a backward glance. His heart was hammering in his chest, but it wasn't out of nerves. He had proven to himself that he could handle things on his own. While having Dee around was nice, sometimes Ryo just had to do something alone. Sighing slightly and heading back to his apartment, the chestnut-haired man began to wonder about the case. I've got more important things to worry about right now than Rose. And if he comes onto me again...he stopped at that thought. What will I do if he comes onto me again? Hitting him probably isn't going to get through to him.

"I guess I'll just have to figure this one out on my own," Ryo muttered and brushed his hair out of his eyes tiredly. "This is one thing that no one, not even Dee, can help me with."

So, with new resolve in his heart, Ryo headed home. As soon as he got there, he went into his room with a cup of tea and leafed through the information he had gathered. Not only was the case on his mind, but also what he was eventually going to do about Berkley Rose.

Ok, I know I did a complete 180 with Ryo, but from what I've seen of him, he can tend to be a little moody and go from one extreme to the next. But thank you all for the great reviews and I hope that you like this chapter better than the others. I still have some ideas of my own, but I think I'll save those for another chapter. Right now, Ryo's got enough to worry about. R&R because I am a review addict and love getting and reading them!

Ree