Black belt, Ryo had reminded him.
Now he stood outside the apartment building where Barclay lived. It was a nice address, in a good part of town, and the rent was probably twice as high as what Ryo or Dee paid. There was a security officer on duty who wanted Ryo's name and the name of the person he wanted to see. He even called ahead and Ryo kept his fingers crossed that Barclay would want to see him. To his relief and surprise Barclay told the security guy to let him in.
The apartment was on the upper floors, high above the noise of New York City. The door opened when Ryo knocked and he was met by a Ross Barclay dressed in casual pants and a sweater, so unlike his usual dress suits that it stunned him a little bit. The glasses were off.
"Come in," Barclay offered and Ryo entered.
The apartment was spacious. The floors were wood-paneled, the windows gave a clear view all the way to Central Park, and the interior design was tastefully sparse. There was even a balcony, but it seemed like Barclay rarely used it. An old wicker chair stood next to a potted plant, both long past their due date.
"What can I do for you?" Barclay asked quietly.
Ryo studied the older man, looking for any kind of injury Dee's attack might have left. Bruises on his back, probably, but there were no scratches on his throat or marks on his face.
"I came to apologize, sir."
Sandy eyebrows shot up. "What for?"
"Everything. Dee… the attack… it was uncalled for and…"
"And you apologize for that temperamental partner of yours again, Detective?" Barclay asked, a fine note of sarcasm in his voice.
Ryo sighed. "It was partly my fault as well."
"In what way? Because you talked to me? Because you touched me?"
Ryo shook his head, then sighed deeply. "Maybe yes, maybe no. Dee… he had a lot happening to him lately and I think finding out about you being his brother… it was too much."
"Well, I wasn't thrilled either."
"Liar."
Now both eyebrows shot up and the blue eyes widened fractionally. Ryo met the stunned expression calmly.
"You're happy you finally found the brother you thought you had lost. You're happy you found the missing part of your family. It can't be helped that it's Dee, but despite that little fact, I think you want nothing more than to hold onto him."
Barclay smirked a little, hands in his pockets. His eyes strayed to the floor, then finally rose again. "Telepathic?"
"No. You don't have to be a mind-reader to know what this meant. Dee's confused, but so are you. You have what you were looking for all of your life. You've got your brother back. That your brother is someone who can't stand you hurts. It would hurt me, too, Commissioner. But Dee needs time. He can't rearrange his world within a matter of hours or days."
Barclay looked at him, a strange expression in his eyes, his expression softening a little. "And you are the mediator, right? You'll always be the catalyst for his temper, his shield in more ways than one, Ryo."
"If I have to be," was the straight-forward answer.
"I thought you were done apologizing for his rude behavior all the time?" came the mild taunt.
Ryo smiled wryly. "Well, I'll make an exception this time. I think you two deserve a chance, but you need to work at it. Both of you. Dee's in a free fall and having you push him won't work. Give him time. Please?"
A nod. "Of course."
"Thank you." Ryo hesitated, then gave the older man a smile. "I'm glad you're okay, sir. I should have stayed… I could have stopped him.. I left you at his mercy… but I couldn't take it any longer," he apologized again.
Barclay shook his head. "You had the right to be angry. And I doubt Dee would have done anything foolish. It was a spike of temper and it gave me an insight into just how powerful my brother really is. I'll be careful from now on."
"No. Don't pull away. It would make matters worse. I told Dee where I was going today and while he argued, he let me go. We're reaching an understanding here, and treating him like made of glass won't help." Ryo's expression hardened.
"Okay, you call the shots." Barclay quirked a little smile.
Ryo nodded, satisfied.
"Sir, can I ask you one very personal question?"
"I think a lot of what happened lately was very personal," was the soft reply.
Ryo hesitated, but Barclay just nodded at him to ask.
"Your mother was a shaman… you spent six years of your life with them… and still you knew so little about Shaman Pairs, or Dee's manifested abilities."
Barclay smiled ruefully. "Believe me, I asked myself the same question over the years. In a way I grew up in the paranormal world, surrounded by all the knowledge, but I was too preoccupied with finding my brother to learn what there was out there. I had the rudimentary knowledge, but after the death of my parents, there were no other shamans around. I never actively sought any of them out, I never wanted to know about their powers. I had to find Dee, nothing else mattered."
"And your sisters?"
"I think Lenore is quite a fountain of knowledge, like you, Ryo. Beth is an active ally, helping where she can. Gwynne stepped down in her active engagement of ally matters after her child was born. You know," Barclay added sadly, "when your parents are killed by the paranormal element you either dig in and try to find out all about it, or you turn away, trying to forget. I did both, in a way. I did what I had to to continue my search, but I refused to do more."
"I understand." Ryo's voice was quiet, thoughtful.
He had spent all his free time learning about whatever he could. He had devoured the knowledge like he had devoured what the Academy had taught him. He had had a promise to keep to his parents. He would become a good officer, and he would be their heir as an ally.
Both he and Barclay had had different coping methods with their pain, but they had also missed out on a lot. Now Ryo had Dee, and he hoped Barclay would find the relationship he wanted with his brother. He would help them, even if it took them. It would most definitely take time.
"Thank you," Ryo said, turning to leave.
When he was outside again, he looked into the blue sky above, wondering where this would take them now. Dee couldn't go back to what had been. Neither could Barclay. They were brothers and Dee had to accept it… and in a way he was accepting it. Step by step. Slowly.
Matters had calmed down slightly. Ryo was actually glad of it because
he had enough on his hands with his job and Bikky's school stuff, as well
as his private life to worry about Dee tearing Barclay apart. As it was,
Dee tried to be everywhere Barclay wasn't. Ryo thought it was childish,
but at least it didn't turn worse. The waves had evened out and while Ryo
wanted Dee to accept the facts, he couldn't force him to.
Barclay himself was a model of restraint and distance. No one in the
precinct would notice anything different than before. Meetings happened
as usual, orders were given, and bureaucracy ran smoothly thanks to the
complete reorganization the lieutenant had performed. Ever since he had
taken over the 27th precinct, the crime solving rate had gone up, the standard
of their equipment was much more modern, and operations were much smoother.
And sometimes, like today, Barclay went along on such an operation.
He had a bad feeling walking into the building. Not just because it
was a crack den, but because of something else. Something niggled at the
edge of his perception, trying to warn him of… of what?
Ryo shook off the feeling, trying to concentrate on the job ahead.
They were following up on information from one of Dee's contacts that the
man they were looking for was hiding in here. Since their current case
was politically sensitive, chasing a man who had killed and mutilated the
mayor's personal assistant, steps had been taken to assure that nothing
could go wrong
Ryo didn't know what to feel about their boss coming with them. Dee
had openly hated the idea, but he had to grudgingly accept the fact. Barclay
was their lieutenant and commissioner, and what he said was the rule.
The building as such was surrounded and no one could get out. Ryo walked
through the semi-lit halls, weapon at the ready, on high alert. Barclay
was following him, Dee bringing up the rear.
A large room opened up before them. Someone had broken down several
walls to expand the second floor into one, giant crack lab. There were
tables with lab equipment everywhere and sunlight filtered only sparsely
through the painted windows. The farthest corners were completely dark,
shadows hiding whoever might be lurking in there, waiting for them.
"Separate," Barclay said softly, gesturing at his two men to each take
a side while he proceeded straight ahead.
"Geez, what a dump," Ryo heard Dee whisper over the headset they wore.
And it was a dump. There wasn't a clean place on the floor or the tables.
The lab had been defunct for a while now, gathering dust and drawing all
kinds of varmint. With any luck, the varmint they were looking for was
somewhere around here.
There was a soft crackling noise and one of the TV screens came to
life. All men froze. Ryo was closest to the screen and he saw a small DVD
player hooked up to the set, apparently triggered through their presence.
Intriguing, he mused. Either their suspect was a tech freak or he knew
someone who liked such tricks.
"Welcome to my humble home," came a voice from hidden speakers while
the screen remained blank. "Enjoy your stay as long as you can."
A large ten appeared on the screen now, switching to a nine, then an
eight.
"Shit!" Ryo cursed. "Bomb!"
He turned on his heels and ran. He was dimly aware of someone at his
side and caught a flash of blond hair. Barclay.
Where was Dee?
A loud boom shattered the silence.