Author's Note: Alright, I'm glad that you guys don't think this story sucks, so thanks to those who reviewed! This chapter wanders into the borders of the R-NC-17 territory mark, though it doesn't completely leave the R territory. If I decide to cross that border, then you'll be able to find the full chapters on or Thanks again for reviewing! -DM
Chapter Two
Dee yawned and blindly reached for another slice of pizza, doing his best to avoid getting sauce on the file. He and Ryo had gone over the gruesome photographs and the cryptic messages together, taking notes on consistencies in both sets of items. It had taken them almost two hours to get through all the evidence provided and they still hadn't examined the list of suspects.
Ryo echoed Dee's yawn and took a sip of his beer. He had been too engrossed in his file to notice that Dee had ordered a pizza; but, by the time he noticed it, he had been too hungry to care.
"That's it; I'm done," Dee groaned, tossing the file on the coffee table and stretching luxuriously. "I can't read anymore."
"I know what you mean," Ryo replied. "I think I've read the same paragraph four times now," Ryo replied, carefully tucking his notes into the file and set it on the table. He glanced over at Dee and was not at all surprised to see a decidedly evil look on his lover's face.
Three, two, one-
Ryo barely had time to finish his mental countdown before Dee pounced. Internally cursing himself for tensing as he felt Dee's body pressed against his own, the sandy-haired man let himself relax and return the kiss with equal fervour, battling his lover for dominance.
Dee let out a throaty chuckle and pulled back just far enough to speak, his breath ghosting across Ryo's lips with every syllable. "See? This is a much better way to spend the evening," he purred.
Ryo's hands began roaming over Dee's slender body of their own accord. "Yeah, but there's still the suspect list to go over," he breathed between kisses, cursing his wayward hands for acting without his permission. "Remember? Serial killer on the loose; likes photography, poetry, and dismemberment?"
Dee looked up from his assault on Ryo's jaw in surprise. "Was that a joke I just heard?"
"Actually I was going for sarcasm. Now shut up and go back to what you were doing."
"With pleasure," came the purred response.
Ryo closed his eyes and let pleasure take over, beating his loudly protesting hetero side into submission. Dee's lips trailed down the shorter man's now bare torso, leaving white hot trails of fire in their wake. A flick of a tongue against the swell of a hip, the sound of the metal teeth of the zipper to his jeans, and Ryo braced himself for... nothing?
A short whine of frustration escaped from Ryo as he opened his eyes. Dee was poised above him, staring with those shockingly green eyes as if he could see into Ryo's soul. "I was thinking," Dee began.
"You always tell me not to think too much during sex," Ryo accused. Bastard. He was breaking his own rule.
"This is an exception."
"There are exceptions?"
"Yes, shut up," Dee said, lightly smacking Ryo's thigh. "I was just thinking: what if the brat comes home early?"
Ryo blinked at him, his lust-addled brain not completely following where Dee was going.
"We're kinda exposed out here," Dee elaborated with a leer. "We could move this to the bedroom; more space, more supplies, more barriers..."
A mental image of the two of them having sex on the couch as Bikky walked through the door popped into Ryo's head. At least being behind a closed door could buy them some time if needed.
"Good point," Ryo agreed. He cast a flickering glance down where Dee's mouth had been moments before. "You gonna take care of that when we get in the bedroom?"
Dee grinned wolfishly. "'Course, babe," he drawled, then let out a rather undignified squeak as Ryo hoisted the taller man over his shoulder and marched stiffly into the bedroom.
"Someone's forceful tonight," Dee yelped as he was tossed onto the bed.
"I'm glad you approve. Now, where were we?"
Bikky Goldman cautiously opened the door to his foster-father's apartment and glared at the sight that greeted him. Sprawled out on the couch soundly asleep with his bare feet draped over the side was Dee Laytner.
Bikky scowled; he had hoped Perv-man wouldn't make an appearance that night.
Something was off about the unusually tame scene, but the boy couldn't put his finger on it. Suspicious, he made his way to Ryo's room.
Nothing seemed to be amiss in Ryo's bedroom either; Bikky's foster-father was fast asleep and snoring quietly. The only oddity Bikky could spot was that Ryo was shirtless, but the boy reasoned that it was due to the unusual heat wave that the northwest had been suffering from since early April. With a frustrated sigh, Bikky quietly closed the door and tiptoed down the hall to his room.
Something had happened; Bikky was sure of that. No doubt that queer pervert, Dee, had something to do with it. Abruptly, the boy stumbled, his feet tangling in an object lying in the hallway. It was Ryo's belt.
Bikky leaned down and picked up the belt, running his fingers across the supple leather. Ryo had worn the belt that day, so why was it now in the middle of the hallway? The boy's eyes narrowed and he turned his steely blue gaze on the sleeping Dee.
Creeping back to Ryo's room, Bikky poked his head in again, looking carefully this time. The detective's hair was tousled and damp, as if he had fallen asleep after he had showered. Bikky looked back into the hallway, noting that the belt lay near the bathroom door. Ryo must've dropped it on the way back from the shower.
Temporarily thwarted, Bikky crept back into his room, shooting Dee one last glare before shutting the door. He knew that something had happened while he was gone, but Dee had managed to outsmart him this time, leaving no evidence for the boy to go on. Next time, Dee wouldn't be so lucky, Bikky told himself as he climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.
The following morning found Dee cheerfully drying his damp hair as he sang quietly to himself. The previous night had gone far better than he had expected; he never would've guessed Ryo could be that aggressive. The raven-haired man grinned at the memory. Down, boy. Jumping your partner in front of the kid definitely won't go over too well.
Of course, there was always time during lunch break. Dee's grin broadened at the thought and he sang a little louder, his rough voice hitting every note. "I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah, two-hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit; I'm travelin' at the speed of-"
"I never pegged you for the type to listen to Queen," an amused tenor voice said from behind him.
Dee jumped and spun around, unaware that he'd had an audience. "Jesus Christ, Ryo!" he swore. "How long have you been standin' there?"
"Since 'and the world will turn it inside-out,'" Ryo replied with a faint smile. "I have to admit: you can do a pretty decent Freddie Mercury." The shorter man stepped forward and pulled Dee's head down for a kiss that, in Dee's mind, ended far too quickly.
"Breakfast is on the table," Ryo murmured, his fingers twining through the shorter hairs at the nape of Dee's neck.
"I just need to get dressed," Dee replied. He brushed his lips once more over Ryo's before reluctantly pulling back. "Make sure the little shit doesn't do anything to my food."
Ryo's chuckling could be heard all the way down the hall.
Dee sifted through the papers that he had taken from his and Ryo's mailbox and flopped down into his chair.
"Anything important?" Ryo asked, his sandy hair obscuring his features as he studied a report.
"Nah. Memo, memo, missed call, memo, reduction on suit days, about fuckin' time on that one..." Dee's voice trailed off as he came to a plain white envelope. His name was written on the front in an elaborate script. Intrigued, Dee opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper.
It was a photograph that had been printed off on regular computer paper. Dee recognised the orphanage where he'd grown up, though Mother Maria had moved to another building after someone had tried to blow up the old church. Enough was left of the former orphanage that Dee was able to easily identify it.
Dee was also able to recognise the figure lying on the steps as Tommy, one of the boys he had grown up with. Or, at least, it had been Tommy. The corpse had been draped strategically across the steps in order to display the single word carved into his chest.
"Dee? You okay?" Ryo's concerned voice reached Dee as if from a distance. "What does it say?"
Dee swallowed heavily, his eyes never leaving the gory picture. "'Soon.'"
Author's Note: If any of you are wondering, yes, Queen is my all-time favourite band. The song Dee is singing is "Don't Stop Me." I might throw in some "Bohemian Rhapsody" a bit later on…
