Stay With Me

- Too Close -

By: Lil' Amethyst Angel

Warnings: Slight swearing, shounen-ai, mentions of violence and drugs, and abuse.

JJ shrugged off his coat and placed it over the back of his chair.

"Hey, JJ. You're late. You're lucky the chief didn't notice." Ted said, slapping JJ on the arm in a friendly manner. As light at the hit was, JJ still winced. He happened to have a rather painful bruise on that arm.

"Um, ya. I overslept." JJ said, mustering a small smile.

After Ted left, JJ rubbed his arm lightly. It was soar from last night. Sean was frustrated with his publisher and JJ had dinner ready late. It resulted in the light blue mark displayed on JJ's pale flesh. JJ had moved in with Sean a few weeks ago. JJ was excited to be able to be closer to his beloved, but was rewarded with more bruises and insults than before. JJ didn't mind, though. He knew Sean loved him. JJ was interrupted from his musings by his partner calling his name.

"'Morning Drake-sempai." JJ said cheerfully. He noticed Drake picking up his uniform jacket. "We got a call?" JJ asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, finally. Two dead teens. Looks like a drug deal gone bad. C'mon, I'll drive." Drake informed.

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"Two bullets to the chest." Drake put the cover back down over the victim. JJ made a face as he looked over the other dead body.

"A bullet to the side. Died of blood loss, probably slowly. Ugh, let's hope for his sake he passed out from pain early on." JJ grimaced. "Looks like he was packing." JJ pointed to the gun, still hanging limply in his hand.

"Maybe our two boys here decided they needed a hit real bad, but couldn't afford it. Thought they could just take it." Drake shook his head in pity. "They should know better. If they're going to hit up a dealer they should make sure he isn't armed first...or at least doesn't have a good shot." Drake added, looking at the bleeding whole in the teenager's side.

"We got a witness. It should make this go a lot faster." JJ said, referring to the rather large woman standing with some other officers. "She identified him as Laurence Thompson. He deals to all the junkies in the area. He's our friendly neighborhood crackhead. He lives with his wife in an apartment a block from here."

"Well, then, I guess we better go pay a visit to the Mrs." Drake uttered.

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Knock! Knock!

Drake and JJ stood outside Mrs. Thompson's apartment. The door creaked open slightly. A tiny woman with nervous, beady eyes stood behind it, eyeing them cautiously.

"Mrs. Thompson?" JJ asked.

"Yes?" She squeaked.

"We're with the NYPD. We would like to ask you some questions about your husband." Drake spoke. The woman paled immediately.

"A-alright." She opened the door and led them in. The apartment was cramped and dirty. Mrs. Thompson was very on edge and shifty. Dark marks were visible going under the sleeves of her t-shirt. 'Great,' JJ thought, 'he's a wife beater too'.

"What do you need to know?" She asked.

JJ and Drake both knew that she had some information (that she probably wasn't willing to give). She hadn't asked if her husband was alright. She didn't seem surprised when they asked to question her.

"We were wondering if you knew where your husband, Laurence, is?" The woman wouldn't make eye contact with either of the men.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know where he is." She said unsteadily. She brought her finger and rubbed at her nose slightly. JJ sighed. That was an obvious sign when someone was lying.(1)

JJ gave Drake a look. Drake nodded in response.

"Mrs. Thompson, would you please come down to the station with us?" Drake demanded, rather than asked. The woman nodded weakly.

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Mrs. Thompson sat in the interrogation room, fiddling with her hands. Dee, Ryo, JJ, and Drake stood outside, watching her and discussing the case. Since things weren't very busy around the station right now Dee and Ryo were also assigned to the case.

"She knows where he is." Ryo stated.

"Obviously." Drake replied.

"She won't tell us. She's scared." JJ said.

"Of what?" Ryo asked.

"It pretty clear her husband beats her. She probably doesn't want to make him mad. Plus, she is, most likely, in love with him and doesn't want to give him away." JJ informed his colleges. Ryo was slightly shocked. Dee sighed, running a hand through his silky hair.

"Well, we better get in there. She can't hold out forever." Dee said, hoping to God that she couldn't. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

Mrs. Thompson looked up at the sound of the door opening. JJ and Dee walked in.

"Hello, Mrs. Thompson. We have some more questions for you." JJ greeted.

"Actually, we only have one." Dee said. "Where's your husband?"

"I told you, I don't know." The woman answered quietly.

"And we know your lying." Dee said.

"P-please, I really don't know." She said. Dee was growing more and more impatient and irritated.

"He just murdered two boys, it is very important that we find him." Dee shot back.

"Please, I don't-" Mrs. Thompson started only to be cut off by Dee.

"Bullshit! You know exactly where he is. He was seen in you area after the murder. I bet he went to see you, right? Maybe give you that bruise." Dee added in a low voice. JJ didn't like where this was going. "Why are you protecting him? It's obvious he hurts you! Only a masochist would stay with someone like that!"

With that, the woman broke out into tears. Before Dee could even react a fist knocked into his face, sending him stumbling back. Dee's eyes were wide as he looked back at the angry face of JJ. On the other side of the one-way mirror, Drake and Ryo were staring at the scene with mouths hanging open.

"JJ-" Dee started, still in a state of shock.

"Can I speak to you in the hall for a moment Dee?" JJ asked in a disturbingly calm voice. Mrs. Thompson's sniffs and whimpers echoed through the now silent room. JJ and Dee went into the hall and closed the door.

By the time they were settled back in the hall, Dee had recovered from his shock.

"What the hell was that, JJ?!" Dee practically shouted.

"Me?! What the hell was up with you? What gives you the right to say who others should love?" JJ spat. Dee growled, but before he could respond JJ continued, "You were being cruel, Dee." The lack of 'sempai' at the end of Dee's name was noticed by all three in the hall.

"She was an idiot to protect him!" Dee defended. JJ had had enough. That comment sparked something in him. This whole conversation was hitting too close to home. Even though JJ knew, or thought, his situation was very different from the woman's.

"Can't you see she fucking loves him?!" JJ screamed. The whole office suddenly went silent. Everyone looked at the four officers arguing outside the interrogation room. Not only was JJ yelling, but he was swearing, and at Dee. Something was definitely wrong. JJ breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. He felt every pair of eyes in the office on him and it was making him exceedingly uncomfortable.

"I'll handle the rest of the questioning." JJ mumbled as he reentered the room.

JJ took a seat across from Mrs. Thompson, who had stopped crying. The only evidence was her puffy, red eyes and tear tracks going down her cheeks. He offered her a small smile.

"I'm sorry about officer Laytner." JJ spoke gently, soothingly.

"Mrs. Thompson, I know that you love your husband, but we really need to know where he is. Think of those two young boys he killed and their families." He could see something flash in her eyes. She was starting to wear down. "I understand. I know that you want to protect him, but what if he kills someone else? Can you live with that guilt?"

Finally, she snapped back, "How can you possibly understand?!"

"I do understand. I'm sure that you love him and don't want him to suffer, but would suffer anything for him." JJ said, implying the bruise. Mrs. Thompson stared into JJ's eyes for a long while. A silent understanding passed between them.

"He didn't mean to kill them. They pulled a gun on him first. He went to his sister's. I could give you the directions."

On the other side of the one-way mirror, Ryo and Dee stood in shock at the scene. It took only a few moments for JJ to get the desired information out of her. How did he do it? Drake was more suspicious than shocked. How did JJ "understand" her situation? Drake's eyes narrowed. Had someone hurt JJ? Was someone still hurting JJ?

To Be Continued

1: My friend, whose father is a police officer, did a speech on how cops know when suspects are lying. Rubbing your noise with you finger (which is hard to describe ; but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) is one of those signs.

Author's Note: I hope I didn't make Dee seem too mean. ; Thanks so much to all my reviewers so far. You're all very encouraging, I appreciate it! I reposted it, hopefully corrected most of the errors. Sorry for all the spelling and grammar mistakes (that was pathetic, even for me).