Author's note – 11 reviews for the last chapter! Thank you so much, everyone!! I'm glad Laura is causing such outrage. I guess it'll make it all the more sweet when she 'gets hers', if she gets hers, of course! Hehehe…. And so, onto the next chapter. Reviews as always are appreciated and look out for a Christmas one-shot I'm penning, especially if the angst is threatening to overwhelm you! -Swordy
Somewhere in Between
Chapter 16 – An Unexpected Ally
Twenty minutes and two cigarettes later, he was waiting in the parking lot, bag in hand, for Drake to arrive. The day was pleasantly warm and soon he dispensed of his jacket as he watched the comings and goings outside the busy hospital. He turned his attention to the parking lot just in time to see Drake's blue Celica creeping towards him over the succession of speed bumps, the driver raising his hand in a gesture of greeting when he spotted the man waiting at the kerb.
"Hey, buddy," Drake said, as he watched Dee throw his bag and jacket into the back before sliding into the seat beside him. Once settled, Dee turned to him and smiled.
"Hey, man, thanks for coming for me."
"No problem."
"Mind if I smoke?"
Drake shook his head as he guided the car out of the parking lot and into the early afternoon traffic. Silence prevailed for several long moments while Dee enjoyed his cigarette, blowing the smoke out of the open window and staring at the gradually blurring scenery as they began to pick up speed. Drake glanced across once or twice but Dee was lost in his own thoughts and it didn't feel right to intrude.
Eventually, the dark-haired man broke the silence. "Did you speak to Bicky?" He turned in time to see Drake nod. The other man didn't look happy and Dee knew it was because he had asked his friend to bypass Ryo and speak directly to the detective's adopted son. He didn't want to put Drake in the position where he felt like he had to take sides, so the less he told him the better.
"He said he'll bring Bright over later."
"Great."
Drake accelerated away from the traffic lights and indicated left into his street. He wanted to say something about Ryo but he lost his nerve and said instead: "So any idea when you'll be back in work?"
"Not sure. I have to attend the hospital for a few more sessions, but the shrink says I should be clear to resume normal duties soon." He said the last part while making quotation marks with his fingers. "I think that's shrink speak for 'you can have your gun back'." A wry smile crossed his lips as he stubbed his cigarette out in the car's ashtray.
Once parked, the two men made their way up to Drake's apartment, making brief conversation about how warm it had gotten lately, until they were inside the detective's dwelling. At Drake's invitation Dee settled on the couch while the other man went into the kitchen to fix them both a drink. Dee looked up and smiled as his friend handed him a can of Diet Pepsi on his return. The 'pssst' of cans cracking open broke the silence before the small talk started up afresh, Drake filling Dee in on the Knicks game he had missed while he'd been in hospital.
After in depth analysis of how their favourite team had performed, Dee explained how he had ended up missing the game because a fellow patient had insisted that the hiss of static from the radio was a sign of impending evil and they had turned the device off to prevent further upset. Drake knew Dee was making light of his incarceration for his benefit as he listened to the other man's stories about some of his fellow patients. At the end of Dee's tale there was a natural hiatus in the conversation and Drake felt the time was right to broach the subject of Ryo, and the relationship that seemed nonexistent at that moment. As far as he knew, Ryo wasn't even aware that Dee had been released, and Drake hated feeling like he was betraying the other man. If he could mediate between his two friends then he had to at least try.
He was about to ease them into the conversation when Dee deposited his now-empty can on the table, yawned and stretched. "Listen, man. You don't mind if I go and try to get a little shut-eye do you? I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night and I don't wanna be falling asleep when Bicky gets here with my little guy."
Drake's planned sentence stuck in his throat, allowing the words: "Sure, you go and have a lie down. I'll wake you when Bicky gets here," to emerge from his lips instead.
Dee nodded gratefully and left the room, sensing he'd had a lucky escape from a difficult conversation.
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Bicky arrived shortly after four, being towed along by an excited English Boxer dog. Whether or not the animal knew he was about to be reunited with his beloved master didn't seem to matter as he tore around the apartment once Bicky had let him off his leash.
"Someone's been at the rocket fuel again I see," Drake chuckled as he went into the kitchen to get the teen something to drink.
"Yeah, I think Tyler was glad to see the back of him," Bicky replied, thinking of the girl's stormy expression when the dog kept approaching her to throw his ball for him.
"She doesn't like him?" Drake asked, his head poking around the kitchen door.
"Scared of dogs apparently," Bicky said with a frown, which Drake was quick to pick up on.
"You don't sound too sure."
The blond boy shrugged. "It's nothing. I just feel sorry for Bright when she's yelling at him. He doesn't understand that she's scared of him."
"Yeah," Drake agreed as he came back into the room and handed Bicky his drink. "It does seem a shame that she hates them now. Dee told me a story once about when he and Tyler were kids. He said she snuck a stray puppy she'd found into the orphanage, and managed to keep it hidden from the nuns for three weeks. They finally discovered it after it had chewed its way through a whole stack of prayer books. Even when they did find it she managed to persuade them to let her keep it. Dee said she was crazy about dogs and when she disappeared, the strangest thing was not that she'd just left, but that she'd left her dog Sam behind. Seems a shame that one bad experience can turn love to hate, huh?"
"Yeah," Bicky muttered by way of reply, finding it hard to believe that Tyler had ever liked dogs from the way she was around Bright, despite repeated assurances that he posed no danger to her.
"Something up, Bick?"
Like with the earlier frown, Drake had obviously sensed something was off in his reply. The genuine concern in the detective's eyes almost prompted Bicky to blurt out his suspicions about Tyler, until he remembered Cal's warning that, without proof, they should keep their doubts to themselves for now.
"Nothing, I just don't get it, that's all."
Drake grinned at the dog, now sniffing at Dee's coat, which he had discarded over the back of the chair before he'd gone for a nap. "Yeah, he's great, but fears aren't about being rational, Bick. Still, he's got you and Dee, right? Speaking of Dee, I'll go and tell him that you're here," he added, making for the guest bedroom. Bicky watched as the detective knocked gently, before listening for the sounds of movement from within.
"Dee? Bicky's here."
"Yeah, I'm coming," came the slightly sleep-grizzled reply.
Drake had returned to the couch when Dee appeared, flattening his hair as he gave Bicky a quick smile. His sleep-mussed appearance was quickly forgotten when Bright saw him, the dog bounding across the space that separated them as if it barely existed. His front paws were on his master's chest as he frantically tried to lick his face.
"Hey, boy," the dark-haired man said, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face at the sight of his over-excited canine companion. He scratched the dog's floppy ears, warming at the contented look on Bright's face. "Man, it's good to see you." He looked up, remembering his manners. "You too, Bicky."
"Yeah, you too, bozo," the blond teen replied, also smiling.
Dee found himself studying the boy, suddenly overwhelmed by a strong feeling of warmth towards him. He felt as if he was seeing him with new eyes. Gone was the bratty pre-pubescent pain in the ass, replaced by an occasionally annoying teen who was starting to blossom into a handsome young man. Bright clearly adored him too as the dog raced between the two of them, ecstatic to see his two favourite companions in the same room.
"Listen," Drake said, sensing man and boy would want to talk. "How about I go and pick up some dinner? Any preferences? Chinese? Pizza?"
He left shortly after pizza was unanimously decided on. Bright settled on Dee's lap as he lit a cigarette, and he scratched behind the dog's ears affectionately. "Has he been okay?" Dee asked, nodding towards the animal who was starting to fall asleep.
"Yeah, I've been walking him and playing with him everyday. He's missed you though."
"Thanks for coming over," Dee said, looking up and smiling at Bicky.
"No probs," the boy answered, his own expression remaining solemn. "But why haven't you come home, Dee?"
The detective's smile faded, accepting that the boy had the right to know what was going on. "You're not an idiot, Bick. You know things haven't been going too well with me and Ryo. I thought it was just a temporary hitch but, well, now I'm not too sure that it can be fixed."
"What? Why?"
"It's…" Before Dee could finish, Bicky had interrupted him by holding up his hand and rolling his eyes as he spoke.
"Wait, you're gonna tell me it's complicated, aren't you?"
Dee's response was a humourless smile. "You got me. I'm sorry, Bick. It's not that I don't think you're mature enough to know what's going on. I just don't want you having to take sides." Bicky didn't look pleased, but Dee was at a loss over how he could explain without making Ryo look like the bad guy. How could he tell Bicky that he had tried to make peace, but Ryo didn't want to take him back? He broke the silence eventually. "Did Ryo say anything about where you were taking Bright?"
"He wasn't in."
"Oh, okay." He paused before his next question, not sure whether he wanted to know. "How is he?"
Bicky shrugged. "Okay I guess. He's been working a lot so I haven't seen him all that much. He wouldn't tell me anything anyway."
It wasn't exactly what Dee wanted to hear, but since Ryo had ignored his make or break phone message, it wasn't surprising to hear that he was coping okay.
"And Tyler?"
Dee was surprised to see Bicky make a face at the mention of the girl's name. "Something wrong?"
Unruly blond locks flew around as Bicky shook his head. He had no further explanation as to why he felt suspicious of Dee's oldest friend, so it felt unwise to tell Dee what he did think.
"There's nothing wrong, I was just… well, I wish I had something good to tell you, that's all."
Dee looked up, a humourless smile forming as he withdrew the smouldering cigarette from between his lips and deposited it temporarily in the ashtray resting on the couch's arm. "I had a feeling she was pissed off with me, although I'm not entirely sure why. Has she said anything to you?"
"Not that I can think of," he replied truthfully after a moment's consideration. Like Ryo, she didn't seem to see him as a worthy confident, so he too was none the wiser as to Tyler's reluctance to support Dee.
"Hmmm, I'm sure she'll be in touch eventually," Dee responded. "So how's Cal?"
"She's good. She wanted to come but she's doing an art project with a friend so she's stayed back at school to work on it."
Dee smiled. "You've got a great girl there, you know?"
The boy nodded, despite looking a little embarrassed by the compliment. "She'll come by and see you. For some reason, she's missed your ugly mug."
"Hey!" Dee chastised the boy with a grin. "This ugly mug could have been a model if I hadn't had such a strong sense of public duty."
It was Bicky's turn to laugh. "To serve and protect, huh?"
"Sure, listen. I want you to make sure you show that girl just how special she is to you, okay?" His smile was now somewhat melancholy. Bicky nodded, watching as Dee stubbed out his cigarette and pushed Bright off his knee. The dog looked back at him sulkily as he dug in the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. Ignoring the picture of him and Ryo smiling up at him from the clear plastic sleeve within the leather wallet, he removed some dollar bills and held them out to the teenager.
"What's that for?" Bicky asked, not accepting the proffered money until he had received an explanation.
"To say thanks for looking after Bright and so you can take Cal out tonight. Go get something to eat, see a movie, just do romantic shit." Seeing Bicky's hesitation, he leaned forward and put the bills into the boy's hand. "Just take it, okay?"
"Okay… Thanks." Bicky put the money in his pocket before glancing at his watch. "I should go. I told Cal I'd meet her at school at five." He had only twenty minutes to reach his destination but still seemed reluctant to leave and Dee knew he was the reason.
"I'll be okay, really," the dark-haired man said quietly, wondering if he really believed it himself. His eyes landed on Bright, looking up at him unwaveringly. The young Boxer dog seemed to give him some strength and he found a smile for the boy who had for so long been the bane of his life while he'd been trying to win Ryo over. "Now make sure you have fun tonight. I want a full report from Cal about how you showed her a good time."
A quirked eyebrow from the teen made Dee chuckle despite himself. "Maybe I should rephrase that."
Bicky smirked. "No, it's okay. I know what you meant. Thanks for the money, Dee."
"My pleasure. Now, get out of here, you snot-nosed punk."
After giving Dee an affectionate punch in the arm for his parting insult, Bicky headed over to school to meet up with Cal. He hoped she'd finished whatever she was working on – being at school longer than necessary was something he didn't like to think about. He rode the subway, absentmindedly fingering the money in his pocket that Dee had given him. He would show Cal a good time in the way Dee had meant. He wasn't comfortable with the hearts and flowers romance that girls seemed to want, but he conceded that that he didn't tell her he loved her often enough. He would rectify that tonight, and just to prove it, he would take her to see that new chick flick that she had talked about. He'd just have to hope that he didn't see any of the guys from school…
"Hey, Bick," Cal said when she found him waiting outside the school gates for her.
"Hi. You get everything done?"
She nodded, entwining her fingers in his as they started to walk. "Yeah, thank God. I'm starving."
"Glad to hear it." His comment earned him a curious look, so he explained. "I went to see Dee. He's at Drake's and he wanted me to take Bright over. He gave me some money to say thanks, on the condition that I take you out somewhere." He paused, blushing when he finally continued. "He wanted me to show you how special you are to me."
Cal stopped, using her grip on his hand to pull him around to face her. She smiled and kissed him soundly, her own cheeks flushed pink.
"Well then, what did you have in mind?"
Bicky paused as he momentarily forgot himself. "How does dinner and a movie sound?"
"Pretty good."
"I'll even watch that chick flick you wanted to see."
"Ooh, even better! You've got yourself a deal, Bicky McLain."
The two teens set off, chatting and walking hand in hand as they headed for the movie theatre. The streets were busy with people making their way home from work as the traffic inched by alongside them. Cal was talking about the project she had been working on when she realised Bicky was no longer listening. He was continuing to walk only because she had hold of his hand and when she stopped, he barely noticed, his mind was so far away.
"Bicky? Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
"Uh yeah," he replied, never looking at her. "Stay here a sec."
Before she could demand an explanation, he had dashed across the road between the snail-pace traffic and disappeared into the reception area of an office block. She didn't recognise the company name emblazoned in gold lettering across the building's fascia, which made her even more confused as to why Bicky had suddenly rushed inside. She had no choice but to follow. When the traffic signals up ahead changed to red, bringing the cars to a standstill, she weaved across the road, determined to find out what was going on.
The company that occupied the office block was clearly keen to present a sophisticated image with its cool marble reception area set behind gold framed revolving doors. Cal pushed on inside, the coolness of the interior bringing goose bumps to her once-warm skin. Bicky wasn't hard to find – he was at the reception desk in what appeared to be a heated discussion with the attractive blond girl behind the counter. A man standing not far from Cal also seemed to be watching the exchange. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before someone called security. She approached the desk cautiously, catching the tail-end of Bicky's demand.
"Try to remember. It's important."
"What's going on?" Cal asked, her attention shifting from Bicky to the startled-looking receptionist and back again. "Bicky?"
"That day," Bicky snapped, finally turning to look at her. "That day Dee and Ryo were fighting and you, me and Tyler went to the movies to get out of their way. She spoke to Tyler," he said, pointing at the girl behind the desk.
"Look, for the hundredth time, I don't know anyone called Tyler…"
"But you didn't call her that – that's why I remembered you!" Bicky argued, looking to Cal for backup. His girlfriend seemed to be searching her memory until her eyes widened, indicating that she had located the event Bicky was referring to so insistently.
"Wait… yeah. I remember now…" she started to say before the girl behind the desk interrupted her.
"Look, if you don't go, I'm gonna call security."
Cal could see they weren't going to get anywhere while Bicky looked about to explode. Before he could respond, she turned to him quickly, grabbing his hand, eager to show him that she would fight his corner. "Bick, please. Go and wait over there. Let me talk to her."
Reluctantly the boy agreed. Cal waited until he was near the door, looking back at her sulkily, before she turned to the desk and the wary-looking girl. "Sorry about him," she said apologetically, furnishing the pretty blond with a warm smile in the hope that she would lay off her threat to have them both thrown out. "I'd be really grateful if I could just talk to you for a minute. Please?"
To her immense relief the blond girl nodded. "You've got one minute, okay?"
Bicky had almost boiled over with frustration when Cal came over to him. "Well?" he asked impatiently, his eyes darting back to the girl on reception, who was now on the phone and not paying them any attention.
"Come on," she replied, catching his hand and pulling him out through the revolving doors. She could feel Bicky's protest in the way she literally had to drag him out of the building.
"Cal, stop! What gives?"
She met his frustration with a smile, knowing his frown would instantly disappear once he knew the outcome of her conversation with Kelly Capland, the girl on the desk. "She's agreed to meet us when her shift is over at seven. Guess the movie's out of the window, huh?" She laughed as Bicky threw his arms around her.
"I promise I'll make it up to you, babe," he grinned, taking her face in his hands and planting a kiss on her forehead.
Cal nodded, knowing he would. "Let's just hope it's worth it."
Her teenage boyfriend also gestured in the affirmative, his expression growing serious again. "Yeah. I wonder what she can tell us about Tyler. Maybe she knows why she's suddenly being so weird." He looked at Cal, hope lighting his brilliant blue eyes. "Maybe we can finally get some answers."
TBC…