Author's note: Gomen! I'm really sorry that it took so long for me to write this chapter. But I have exams!! Really horrendous exams!! . But my exams are over now!! Oh, yeah!! v(^^) Thanks a bunch for reviewing! I love you guys!!! I hope you'll enjoy this fic. Don't forget to R & R!! ^^
Italic denotes thoughts
Chapter Five: Believe
Radiance of the heavenly celestial body shone vibrantly despite the darkness that engulfed the night. Paralleled to such endearing sight, at the brink of the window sill stood the man with sophistication, notwithstanding the pneumonia threat of the cold autumn wind. In those dark emerald green eyes, a glint unleashed the murderous ambiance that had longed been subdued, - sending chill up and down the spine of the chestnut-brown haired detective, as silence ticked by in his presence.
It was Dr. Hendrix who broke the uncanny silence, "It has been quite some time, hasn't it, - since we last meet? If my memory hasn't failed me, I believe that the last time we saw one another was at a private meeting before the Elders in Kazakhstan... ah... such fond memories of the place, don't you agree?" he recollected with simplicity as he stole a predatorily glance from the corner of his hazel-eyes, at the man who refused to yield to him.
Bearing the ever-so familiar voice, incorporated with harshness of speech, - the silhouette retorted sardonically, "Quit the crap, Raven! I'm not here to catch up on old times!!"
'Raven?' Ryo noted in silence as he hacked into his memory bank, -
"... I don't want to hear any of this! Hell with it, Raven!!..."
"Damnit, Raven!! Don't you dare drag Jacq into this... I'm warning you..."
"Look, Raven. For the last time, I'm not going back into the pits of darkness..."
"Damn it, Raven! It makes not different now or then!!..."
"But forewarning Raven, if our paths ever cross, I will not hesitate again..."
'The conversation... the other night... the first murder case...' Missing pieces of the puzzle began to fit into places of his memory, - that hardly made any sense at first, but gradually as Ryo learnt more about his partner's past, the clearer the pictures became.
'All this while, Dee knew... he knew it all along... the unusual reaction at the crime scenes... the bizarre behavior... Dee knew that Raven was behind all those killings... But why? Why didn't he tell me? Why the secrecy? Am I not his partner? Or am I not adequate enough to be trusted?... Dee, why...?' Train of thoughts crossed his mind, but he couldn't be bothered to stop any of them as tears welled in those compelling pitch black eyes of his.
Rejoining their conversation with mist of confusion clouding his mind, Ryo was totally at lost when Dee yelled at the top of his lungs, "Don't play games with me, Raven!! I'm sick and tired of being reminded of this I don't want to remember!! Get a hint, Raven! I'm not going back to DIEs, and that is final!"
'DIEs?' the words echoed in Ryo's mind repeatedly as he searched for similar abbreviation in his head, but none came into mind.
Standing from the sofa, the Englishman's eyes narrowed dangerously out the window, "Then, why? Why did you give up your job? Why did you give up your life now?..." diverting his attention towards Ryo, his index finger directed accusingly at the blond officer, "Why... did you give up on the love of your life... again?" Dr. Hendrix condemned, emphasizing on the last words clearly.
Silence was all Dee could give in reply. Wordless, he was unable to defend himself against the verbal assaults by the sinister doctor. In fact, a part of him felt a crushing pain in the heart when the questions were asked yet, answers could not be produced for he was in doubt of his true feelings. Cursing under his breath, the black-haired man was irritated by his own helplessness.
"... I ..." Dee stammered as he cracked his brains to at least come up with a cynic word to retort in return.
"Come on, Shadow. You can do better than that... or are you afraid to admit that a part of you still remembers DIEs even though how hard you tried to forget about it? You can deny but you cannot hide the obvious, - and that's, DIEs is a part of you as much as you are a part of DIEs...
Why don't I help you out in answering those questions? You quit being a cop because you know that no matter what you do, you cannot amend for the sins of your past. Saving the lives of others is only a self-indulgent idea that you can atone for the lives you took in those days with us. You left the life you had for the past five years because you know that your existence in that life is only an illusion. They are only figments of your imagination of how naïve life would be if the cruelty of truth had not existed. But I guess you knew it all along, for it is your philosophy that God only help those who help themselves. Am I not right?" the doctor added, pinpointing accurately on Dee's weak spot.
Long blond fringes concealed the jet black eyes with gravity as Ryo spoke in whispers, "...What about me?" but as he went on, his voice raised with anger, " What am I? Another delusion of your sick daydream?! Tell me, Dee or whoever you are... did you ever love me? Or was that also a part of your deception?!!"
"I love you! Don't you ever doubt that!!" reprimanded Dee's voice angrily as he stepped into the parlor through the window.
Dangerously glaring at him, Ryo felt as though the smoke-green eyes were drowning him in guilt for doubting where Dee's heart belonged. Advancing forward, distance drew closer as Dee strode irately in Ryo's direction, - till they were only inches apart. Tilting his head slightly to the right, Dee brushed past Ryo's delicate skin as he breathed down the back of the man's neck.
"... never... never ever question my love for you..." he whispered inaudibly as his warm, soft lips pressed against his flesh, planting fervent kisses all over the man's neck. Giving more access to the midnight-haired man, Ryo bent his head lower to his right as he savored the shower of kisses.
"Excuse me for being such a bother, but I do believe we have yet to settle this dispute..." Dr. Hendrix interrupted with a sly grin.
"No, Raven. We are through! I have nothing more to say to you and there is nothing for you to say that would change my mind," Dee replied with determination boring in his eyes.
"Oh, really?" the English doctor asked skeptically as he snapped his fingers. And with that, a splitting headache seized Dee with unbearable pain.
"Argh!!!" the raven-haired man cried in agony, falling down onto his knee as he clutched the throbbing pain of his head.
"Dee!" Ryo exclaimed in horror as he watched his lover howled in unimaginable pain.
"Glad to see that the mind-controlling device implanted on your nervous system still works like a charm," mocked the devious doctor, sneering at the sight of Dee suffering the excruciating pain of nerve-wrecking headache.
Snapping his fingers twice, Dr. Hendrix stopped all pain from rushing to Dee's head for the purpose of his presence at that very time was to convince Dee to return to them, and not kill him.
Fits of cough arrested the raven-haired as he gasped desperately for breath. Heavy perspiration drenched Dee's forehead as his body shivered in the echo of the pain. Slipping an arm around his neck, Ryo lifted his trembling lover to rest his head on his kneeled thigh. Never had he seen Dee in pain that made suicide seem bearable. Ryo shuddered reflecting the foreign man's capability to control others as he wished. It was something unbelievably frightening even if it was only a thought.
"Now, Shadow... Will you surrender peacefully or must I utilize the mind-controlling device to its utmost?" Dr. Hendrix threatened derisively.
"Snap thrice for all I care!" Dee provoked disdainfully in return with all the strength he could muster despite the endless throbbing in his head, "Do it or I'll blow your head off..." as he pulled out his revolver, aiming it at the Englishman.
Raising an eyebrow, "My... you can say that I am surprise that you had managed to endure that pain going through your head and have yet to lose consciousness. You had indeed improved, Shadow," the doctor mocked.
"Don't make me repeat myself, Raven. Either you kill me right now, or I'll kill you on the spot because I'm going nowhere,"
"Very resolved for a man who can barely stand on his own two feet but that is not the reason for me to be here today. Shadow, I don't want to kill you..."
"Funny!" Dee interrupted in the mid of the man's sentence, "That is exactly what I want to do."
"I doubt not your abilities, nor should you doubt mine. Of all people, I believe you should be aware of my authority in DIEs. Nothing slips past me. What I want is what I get. And if it is you I want, it is you I will get. It's just a matter of applying force or not. It wouldn't be longer before I lay my hands on you again, Shadow. Now, either give in to me, or I will take you by force. And you can bet your ass that I will do anything, even if it means harming the one you love, - just for you..."
"You're one sick man, Raven," Dee replied calmly as the sound of his pistol's safety hammer clicked release.
"I wouldn't if I were you..." warned Dr. Hendrix. Two red laser beams from distant snipe guns fell onto Ryo, - one aimed for his head, another aimed for his heart.
"Damn you, Raven!" he cursed under his breathe as he held up his gun, away from Dr. Hendrix's direction.
"Excellent!" laughed the Englishman with hints of mockery. Striding towards Dee who remained reclined on Ryo's lap, he kneeled and held the dark-haired man's chin firmly, "The more I look at you the more I want you. I can't wait till that day comes. But until then, Dee Laytner..." He was crudely cut off when Ryo slapped Hendrix's hand away.
"Don't you dare touch him!" hissed the blond officer offensively.
"Ryo..." Dee whispered under his breath, - half feeling grateful and touched, but the other half feared of what Raven might do to him.
Leaning closer to the young flaxen detective, the elderly man whispered hoarsely into Ryo's ears, "You have guts, Detective MacLean and for that, I acknowledge you. But if you should stand in my way of getting Shadow, I will not hesitate to kill you."
He stood up and treaded past the two men on the floor with the ambiance of arrogance and power. "Well, then detectives, I bid you all a good day," Dr. Hendrix said before stepping out the apartment.
"Yeah... fuck you, too, Raven..." Dee replied inaudibly, pushing himself to an upright position.
"Dee..." Ryo called his lover's name softly, - almost seductively.
Exhaling sharply, "Now,... do you understand why I had to leave you?" he asked with sadness in his voice, turning his back against his lover.
But Ryo slipped his arms around the man, pulling him closer to his chest as he rested his chin on Dee's shoulders, "No... I don't. I have told you before, and I will tell you now, - I love you..."
"And I love you, too... with every heart and soul embedded in me, I love you, Ryo..."
"So, don't leave me..."
Dee shivered, restraining himself from pinning his lover down when Ryo planted a kiss on his neck. Breaking off his embrace, Dee stood up, "No, Ryo. Can't you see? If I don't leave you, Raven will come after you. I don't want to see you get killed by that maniac!!"
Totally ignoring him, Ryo slid around Dee to face him where he planted an overly-obsessing kiss on Dee's lips. But Dee pulled apart almost immediately with aversion.
"Get a hold of yourself, Ryo! I'm not kidding, here!!" Dee shouted with rage as he tried to get his 'ex'- partner off him.
"But I love you... love you...." Ryo chanted like a drunkard as he continued showering the other man's neck with kisses while the other hand reached to unbutton his shirt.
"Stop it, Ryo!!!" Dee hollered angrily, pushing the blond man to the floor and watched as his lover faded into oblivion.
"Ryo!" he cried out as he rushed to his side.
"Ryo!!" Dee called out repeatedly as lifted Ryo's upper body close to his chest, only to find distinct redness, the size of a small patch of allergy on the blond detective's neck. Diving closer for a thorough inspection, a fine puncture seemed apparent at the center of the patch.
"Morphine...Raven!..." he hissed through gritted teeth but all the anger contained miraculously fade away as Dee laid his eyes on the sleeping figure in his arms.
"God, Ryo... you have no idea how beautiful you are. I'd be lying to myself if I say that you didn't turn me on with those kisses... Yet, I know none of them were meant to be real...mere delusional effects of drugs. But somehow, my devilish other half would have melted away in those kisses if they were meant to be...real..." whispered the midnight-haired man by his other half's ear with hints of melancholy and dejection.
Gently, Dee slipped Ryo into his arms as he carried the blond man out of the apartment. Any place invaded by Raven was a dangerous place to be even for a cop. Suffering from the near loss of his beloved was once too many of an experience.
'Upon God's name I swear, I'll protect you till the very end...'
* * * * * * * * * * *
Awaking from his fidgety slumber, eyebrows twitched agonizingly as the man woke up to his third morning of nerve-splitting pain in the head. Rays of sun that peeped through the translucent curtains barely helped the man wake to a refreshing start, in fact, his pitch-black orbs had to narrow beneath his eyelids to shield the binding streaks of light from hurting his eyes. His sickly state only worsen with a head that felt like it had went through hell and the irritating buzzing sound in his ears that would not stop ringing. His body would have revolted if a pair of delicate hands had not held him up and stroke his back to sooth the nauseous feeling down his throat.
"Feeling any better? Do you need anything?" a soft voice asked tenderly.
"...water..." Ryo replied huskily at the dryness of his throat.
"Water? ..." looking troubled the lady of her early-twenties searched the room for another being but none came into sight, "Can you sit by yourself while I get you a glass of water?"
Nodding slightly, the blond man drew his knees close to his chest as he rested his throbbing head on them.
In a trice, the girl came rushing back with a glass of distilled water and a bottle of aspirins in her hands.
"Here, take these..."she offered, shoving two pills into his hands. Obediently, Ryo threw the pills to the back of his mouth and drank a mouthful of water to wash them down.
"Thanks..." he said softly as she helped him to recline back onto the four-poster bed.
"No sweat. After all, it is my duty to watch after you..." replied the girl gleefully.
"Your duty?" Ryo repeated.
"Yup," answered the young lady with a smug, "Master Dee entrusted you in my care."
"Dee!" recalling the incident at his apartment, it had suddenly struck him how strange he felt being in an unfamiliar room, sleeping on a bed not his. But fear overwhelmed the man when his lover was nowhere in sight.
"Where is Dee?" he demanded almost instantly, grabbing hold of the girl's shoulders firmly.
Giggling at his antics, the girl tried to suppress herself from laughing out loud, "You don't have to worry. Master Dee is at the range horseback riding. I'll take you there myself, if you are feeling up to it..."
"Dee? Horseback riding?" Ryo repeated skeptically.
"Yes, he rides. As a matter a fact, Master Dee's horsemanship is truly remarkable. You should see him in action,"
"Are we talking about the same Dee Laytner?"
"The one and only,"
Picking himself up, the blond man was having a hard time imagining Dee riding gracefully on a horse. Somehow, picturing Dee making a fool of himself on a horse was a much easier task.
Smiling at his own contemplation, the girl couldn't help but to be curious at the detective's behavior, "What is so funny?"
"I'm sorry, but it's hard for me to imagine Dee riding on a horse,"
"What is so hard? Why don't you take a look for yourself?" The girl gestured for Ryo to look out the balcony as she extended her hand to help him on his feet. Accepting her invitation, the blond man strode over to the balcony where the sun shone brightly above his head and scent of fresh green grass swept along with the cooling wind.
"Here he comes!" cried the girl excitedly, pointing in the direction of vast ocean of green grass afar.
Ryo squinted his eyes to see what the girl saw. He could hardly catch his breath if not more, when he caught sight of the man riding on the black stallion. Stunningly clad with a black vest over a white long-sleeve shirt and matching sleek black pants, Dee looked so different from his usual self. His raven-hair weaved to the current of the wind as he rode at the speed of a racing horse. The visibility of his greyish-green eyes spawned an irresistible attraction that drew the detective towards the other man like a magnet.
But a tide of sadness came over the man. Never taking his eyes off the man he called his lover, he asked softly, "Who is that man?"
"What are you talking about? That is Master Dee Laytner! Your partner and lover!!" exclaimed the girl angrily.
"Then, why do I feel so distant from that man? Why do I feel as though I no longer know this man? ... Who is he? He may look like Dee but he's not the Dee I knew..."
Sighing softly, the girl knew that she couldn't blame him for feeling that way. If she were in his position, she would too, feel the distance in between. After all, the complexity of her master's past wasn't something anyone could accept so easily. Even her relationship with her master had kicked off with a rocky start. It was hatred that led her to him, but in the end, she loved and adored the man for who he was, - forgetting entirely of her grudge toward the man.
"Master Dee is a man with much complication due to his past. It isn't my place to tell you about his past, - only Master can. But what I can tell you is that he is a good man, and he loves you very much. For the sake of your love, for the sake of his love, - believe in him. Everything he does may not seem right, but if you look within, you'll find the reason to believe that what he does is right..." replied the girl. And for the first time, Ryo took a good look at her. Mentally kicking himself, he couldn't believe he actually overlooked such ravishing beauty. Lengthy dark-brown hair danced to the rhythm of the wind as those complementary brown orbs looked over her master with admiration.
"Why do you call Dee your master?"
Taken aback by the suddenness of his query, she looked away blushing in soft shades of pink, but sorrow filled her eyes, "I was only fifteen when my parents were murdered before my very eyes. I saw the killer and he saw me as well. But instead of killing me along with my parents, he looked me in the eye and told me to run before his accomplice saw me. It was in those eyes I saw sincerity and remorse, the compassionate feelings that an assassin should never have, but he did. I never forgot those eyes or the face of my parent's murderer. It took me two years to track the man down to this place and it didn't take me long to get access into this manor.
I was in this very room, this very balcony when I attempted to kill the man who killed my only family. But do you know what he told me in the mid of my ambush? Without turning his back, he told me to stab through his heart and anywhere else I like, and promised not to fight back. However, under the full moon that shone above us, my hands trembled for I could not kill him. Unconsciously, I have grown attached to the man. It wasn't love but adoration with respect for him. The knife fell from my hand and I fell onto my knees crying for his forgiveness. But instead, he held me close to his chest, asking for my forgiveness in return.
Ever since then, I have been by his side, serving him in every way possible. He, who killed my parents, who earned my respect and recognition is none other than your partner, your lover, - Dee Laytner..."
Swallowing hard, Ryo was having the hardest time of his life digesting the information poured into him all at once. One minute he's a killer, the next minute he's her master. Could something this illogical get anymore bizarre?
A light rap on the mahogany door attracted the girl's attention almost immediately, "Come in," she invited.
"Rikei, Master wishes for your presence in his studies," informed a girl younger than the one standing next to him.
"Tell, Master that I will be there shortly," she replied proficiently with a warm smile.
"You're part oriental?" Ryo asked.
"Can't you tell by looking at me?"
"Not really..."
"I have the Asian dark brown hair and the color of my eyes rivals yours..."
"Japanese?"
"Close, but no. Don't be fooled by my name. I'm a 100% Chinese, born and breed in Shanghai. But for the past six year, I have spent my life here in Shadow Manor, home to Dee Laytner a.k.a. Shadow, - Division of International Espionage's highest ranking assassin..."
Author's note²: If you want to know more about DIEs and Dee's past, read the next chapter!!