Ryo sank onto the large bed and sighed in relief. His leg throbbed and he felt lightheaded. He had swallowed another painkiller and he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep. Dee looked just as exhausted and he had only put up a token protest once.
His lover came into the bedroom and gave him a tired smile, then crawled onto the mattress. They fell together, mindful of the injured leg, and Ryo was out like a light only a few minutes later.
Ryo rose from the depths of sleep to the feeling of a sore leg, a sore body, and a headache. He groaned a little and rolled around, regretting the idea of moving right away. His head started to pound and his leg muscles showed signs of wanting to cramp. A strong hand touched his shoulders and massaged them gently.
"Take one of these," Dee's soothing voice instructed and he blindly reached for the offered glass.
A pill was pressed into his palm and he swallowed the painkiller with the water. Ryo sank back into the mattress, trying to relax, give his body the necessary time, but the leg was bothering him more now.
"Cramp?" Dee asked.
"Yes," he whispered.
Knowing fingers dug into the muscles and he cried out in pain, but the moment Dee counteracted the shivering muscles, they started to relax. Ryo moaned softly, relieved, and when it as finally over, the adrenaline rush had reached past the peak.
"Ryo?"
He opened his eyes, breathing deeply. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. You think a hot shower would help?"
"Probably."
"Need help?"
Ryo smiled ruefully. "I feel like roadkill. I think I do."
They made it into the shower and despite the erotic touch of two naked men under the shower, Ryo's mind was farthest from anything connected to sex. He was too tired, too beaten, too hurting, to react with more than a half-hearted hard on. Dee didn't try to encourage him and except for a few kisses pressed to his neck and shoulder, there were no sexual overtures either. They toweled off and Ryo found his body felt a lot better now, the muscles more loose, and the pain was manageable.
Breakfast, which was more like a late lunch anyway, was eaten on the daybed. Ryo elevated his leg, took a second pain-killer as instructed, and sank back, feeling warm and sated and much better. Dee perched himself over him, one hand resting on the mattress, the other stroking over one of Ryo's arms.
"Better?" he inquired.
"A lot."
He leaned down and tenderly brought their mouths together, kissing Ryo with such emotion, the other man couldn't but reply with deepening the contact. He carded a hand into the black strands, his thumb massaging Dee's temple.
"You?" he wanted to know.
"Could be better. Still scared."
Ryo was amazed by the openness and he smiled a little. "Me too. Did you call the hospital?"
A nod. "Before you woke. No change. He's getting better, but he's not out of it yet."
"We could swing by later."
"I'd like to, yes."
Ryo pulled him down again, wanting the contact, and Dee relaxed a little against him, sighing contentedly.
"Nearly lost you," he murmured after a while.
"I'm still here. Don't go into the past."
Dee slipped hand under the loose shirt, resting the palm against Ryo's ribcage.
"Love you, Ryo. Need you. Can't lose you."
He pressed a kiss onto the dark head. "I love you," he murmured. "Love you."
It was how they stayed for a long, long time.
The mood at the precinct was downcast and that was the most positive word there was for it. Everyone's face showed the shock they felt after receiving the news of what had happened at their own work place. Everyone was asking about the commissioner, Dee and Ryo. There were rumors that ranged from Barclay had been shot at to Barclay was dead, Dee was in critical condition or Ryo's leg was in danger of being amputated. Officers and civilian aides in one were trying to get a look at the crime scene, which had been cut off and was currently under the supervision of a team of crime scene analysts, and by the hour the rumors became wilder.
Jamie Jay Adams had listened to them all and finally decided to make his own mind by swinging by Ryo's and Dee's places. He found no one home at Ryo's, not even Bikky, so he drove over to Dee's. The door was opened by a tired looking, but very much whole Ryo McLane. He was a bit on the pale side and seemed to be suffering from pain, but no limbs were missing, which was a big plus.
"JJ," he said in ways of a greeting.
"Hey. Uh, is it a bad time?"
Ryo smiled a little. "No, come in. It's been a short night and we had little sleep."
JJ walked into the apartment.
"Coffee?" Ryo offered.
"Yeah, sure."
He followed the other man into the kitchen. Ryo was wearing sweats and a baggy shirt, limping pronouncedly.
"I can guess why you're here," Ryo said softly, leaning against the kitchen counter as he raised his own mug to his lips to take a sip.
"Rumors are chasing each other at the precinct." JJ shrugged, adding sugar to his coffee. "I thought I'd see what the truth is."
Ryo nodded. "Dee and I won't be coming in today, but we plan to be there tomorrow. Our statements were taken at the hospital already and we got some time off."
"Hey, JJ," a new voice interrupted and JJ was greeted by the sight of Dee Latener coming into the kitchen, bare chested, a towel around his neck, wearing similar sweat pants to Ryo's.
A while ago the sight would have made him salivate and squeal in delight. Well, a lot had changed since then, Adams mused. He still appreciated the sight who wouldn't? but there was a clear 'look, don't touch' now. Dee was off limits and his hyper libido was finally in sync with his head.
"Hey," he replied.
No injuries on Dee as far as he could see.
"What happened, guys?" he wanted to know.
Dee gestured at them to take it outside and settle on the couch, which they did. There, Ryo launched into a recapitulation of the night's events.
JJ listened to the details, shocked as he heard about the crazed magic-user going for Ryo, about Barclay intervening, their run through the basement. He glanced at Ryo's injured leg when the other man mentioned the projectile grazing him, but McLane waved it off.
"Just a scratch. I'm fine. It'll heal."
According to Dee's expression it was more than that, but JJ let it slide.
The moment Ryo started his description of what had happened to Barclay, Dee suddenly rose and walked into the kitchen, his mug in one hand. JJ shot Ryo a questioning look. It wasn't hard to notice that the dark-haired detective had been incredibly and uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole tale.
Ryo shook his head. Not now, his expression said.
But later, JJ answered just as silently. Something was going on and it had to do with Barclay-- and Dee for that matter-- and he felt he had a right to know.
Ryo finished the explanation, describing how Harding had been taken into custody and JJ glanced at the kitchen door, pondering the man hiding in there. Dee had used his paranormal powers, something he had never seen him do, something he had secretly wondered about but never dared to ask. Latener was a shaman, part of the Shaman Pair made up by him and Ryo, and he was damn powerful. JJ had never given it much thought because the paranormal still disturbed him.
Too much had happened to him, too much was still happening, and he had his own decisions to make. Decisions he was putting off. It was getting harder and harder every day.
Forcefully reminding himself that his own private troubles were currently unimportant, he transferred his gaze back to Ryo.
"How's the commissioner?"
"Still not out of the woods, but when I called an hour ago they were rather positive. He's in intensive care at the moment. His spleen had to be removed, he lost a lot of blood, and one rib was shattered."
"Oh. Uh... will you guys be coming in tomorrow?"
Ryo nodded. "We'll swing by the hospital later today and see if something's changed. I'll call you, JJ."
"Thanks. How much of this... I mean, except for the paranormal part, is for everyone?"
Ryo shrugged. "You can tell the guys. It stops the rumors."
"'Kay."
Dee walked back into the living room, looking at bit more disturbed than before, but JJ wisely held back, not inquiring. This, whatever it was, was too fresh, like an open wound.
He left an hour later, thoughtful, a little wiser as to what had happened, and wondering what had happened between the lines.
Dizziness assailed him from every direction. He didn't know whether he was up or down, or sideways. He was simply there, spinning about uncontrollably.
He had to do something.
There was someone he had to take care of, keep safe...
Who? Why?
Nothing seemed to work, least of all his brain.
Random jolts spiraled through his awareness, bringing a faint wave of pain each time and he cringed away from it. Pain would soon become agony.
More dizziness and pings of pain.
He tried to move away, but it was impossible.
Ryo...?
The thought hit him unprepared and he wondered where it had come from.
Again, he felt the urgency that he should be doing something, saying something, taking care of something, but it was all beyond him right now.
Ryo... Protect Ryo... Yes, the shield. Had he protected the shield?
Awareness dimmed again and he slid back into the grayness that seemed to dominate his mind.
Ryo?
And then there was nothingness.
tbc...