Introduction

An alternate ending to Act 6. What if Dee hadn't listened to Ryo's pleas? What if the bullet had hit Ryo, instead of the wall?

Torn apart by guilt, Dee can only watch as the trust he shared with Ryo crumbles away, leaving their growing relationship a broken and shattered one. And when Ryo announces that he's leaving, it looks like all of Dee's hopes for a future with the man he loves have become impossible to achieve.

With only himself to blame for the turn of events, Dee searches frantically for Ryo, only to find that his old partner seems to have disappeared for good. Is this the end of their crime busting team? Has Dee's mistake cost him his dream of being with Ryo?

As events unfold, two hearts are broken…

Chapter Four; Never Said Goodbye

"Ryo!" Dee called, waving an arm frantically above his head to catch the attention of the blonde man by the window. Looking down at his enthusiastic partner, Ryo smiled softly before gesturing for Dee to come up, moving back out of sight.

Grinning widely, Dee raced up the stairs that led to Ryo's apartment, tightly gripping the small bunch of sunflowers he'd bought for Ryo on his way over here. Finally reaching the right floor, he raised his hand to knock on the door only to have Ryo swing it open before he could make contact.

"You came…I was hoping that you would. Why don't you come in? Bikky's not here, so you don't have to worry about being kicked in the face…" Ryo suggested, placing a tentative hand on Dee's arm.

Dee laughed gently, but shook his head at the offer, shoving his one free hand into his pocket shyly and thrusting out the sunflowers for Ryo to take.

"I was thinking we could maybe go for a walk? Ted told me that the roses are blooming at the park right now…" Dee's voice trailed off, and he peeked out at Ryo hopefully from under his messy fringe.

"Are these for me? How did you know I liked sunflowers so much, Dee?" Ryo breathed, fingering the yellow petals carefully. Moving back into the sitting room, he quickly placed them in a glass vase before grabbing his coat, pushing past Dee and locking the door behind him.

"I guess since you brought me sunflowers, I have no choice….the park it is then." Ryo chuckled, shaking his head slightly. Dee grinned back, jokingly reaching for Ryo's hand like a lover would – but to his surprise, instead of flushing a bright red and pulling back, Ryo simply smiled, blushed slightly and responded, curling his fingers round Dee's loosely.

Not wanting to push things, Dee made no comment, and settled for leading Ryo out of the apartment building, filing away the action for another day's conversation. The pair walked in silence down to one of the few green areas left in New York, and Dee couldn't help feeling relieved at the way things were going. He'd been preparing himself for a screaming match with Ryo, but so far the Japanese-American hadn't said a word about the shooting incident – if anything, Ryo was being much more affectionate than usual, as opposed to the cold rage Dee had been expecting.

"Dee? We're here." Ryo's soft voice broke into his thoughts, and Dee looked up to see that they were already by the gates of the park – he'd been so caught up in his thinking, he hadn't even noticed.

"Are you ok, Dee? We don't have to do anything…I can just call Bikky and go if you want…" Ryo said worriedly, putting a cool hand against Dee's forehead to see if he had a temperature.

Dee shook his head violently, grabbing Ryo's hand so that the blonde couldn't have moved away if he'd tried.

"No! I'm fine! I want to do this…I want to have the chance to persuade you not to go…" He murmured, moving Ryo's hand down to his mouth and pressing his lips against the palm.

Ryo breathed in sharply, mouth falling open slightly at the sensation of having a tongue flick briefly across his skin. Finally turning that traffic light red he was known for, Ryo mumbled something under his breath and jerked his hand away, hiding it behind his back.

"Dee! What did you think you were doing!" He hissed, glaring at the unregretful brunette. Dee shrugged, lacing his hands behind his neck.

"Convincing you not to go…did it work?" He quipped. Ryo paused for a moment, lifting his hand to look at it uncertainly, before glancing at Dee and breaking into a hesitant smile.

"I think…I think it did." He said in amazement, blushing and beginning to move towards Dee. Barely holding back a yell of triumph, Dee reached out to take the offered hand, already envisioning nights of passion, when…

A single shot rang out.

Suddenly, everything seemed to be in slow motion, every movement lasting for several seconds. Dee watched in horror as Ryo's eyes widened in pain, that sweet mouth opening in a silent scream of agony as a bloody flower suddenly blossomed through his shirt, jacket flying back to reveal the blood stained garment underneath.

Then abruptly, everything switched to normal again, and the remnants of Ryo's cry echoed round the park as he fell. Leaping forwards, Dee caught his injured partner and sank to the ground, breathing heavily in fear as he took in the already pale features of his crush and the open, lifeless eyes.

Letting out a primal roar of fury, Dee looked up to see who had dared to do such a thing…and froze as he saw the culprit.

It was him.

Dressed in one of his work suits, Dee stood in front of them, eyes flashing with murderous anger and arm outstretched, gun in his hand still smoking.

And Dee screamed.

"Noooooo!" Dee bolted upright, panting heavily and shaking all over as he tried to rid himself of the horrible dream he'd had, sheets tangled around his lower body from where he'd been tossing and turning in his sleep.

>That's right, it was just a dream…just a dream. Calm down, Dee.> He told himself sternly, attempting to get a grip on himself. Freeing his legs from the greedy clutch of the duvet, Dee slid out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, tugging viciously on the cord and wincing when the light blazed into existence.

Turning on the tap, Dee splashed cold water onto his face, rubbing hard as if he could wash away the nightmare. Coughing slightly as he accidentally got water in his mouth, Dee stared at his reflection in the cabinet mirror, scowling at the dark bags under his eyes.

>This isn't any good…I'll need to be at my best when I see Ryo off if I want to convince him to stay…only two days left until the end of the month after all…>

Sighing, Dee staggered back to bed, dropping carelessly onto the much abused mattress. Pulling the covers back over him, he stared up at the ceiling and grimaced, wondering what would happen if he didn't manage to get Ryo to stay.

>I'm not under house arrest any more…I'd drop by a day or two early, but he asked me not to…and I really can't afford to get him anymore angry at me than he is already.> He thought to himself, biting his lip unhappily. Rolling over onto his stomach, Dee shut his eyes and tried to relax, hoping to get rid of the bags around his eyes by getting some rest.

Sleep was a long time coming.

"Ryo? You wanted to see me?" Bikky asked, sticking his head into the apartment and frowning when he saw no one there. For some reason, Ryo had decided it would be better if Bikky moved in with Carol a few days before he left, saying that it would make it easier for him to pack. Although, Bikky didn't know why he'd had to move out a whole three days before Ryo was meant to be leaving.

"I'm in the bedroom, Bikky!" Ryo called. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Bikky sighed and made his way through the now empty apartment, wondering exactly why Ryo had already had the furniture from his sitting room taken away.

"Yo, Ryo! Why's the sitting room emp…ty…" Bikky's voice trailed away at the bare room in front of him, taking in the full suitcase that Ryo had open on the coverless bed and Ryo's determined expression.

"Ryo…? Why are you packing away your clothes! You're not going until the end of the month!" He blurted, panic suddenly welling up inside of him. Ryo paused, shoulders tense underneath the loose sweater he was wearing.

"No, Bikky. I'm leaving today. My taxi arrives in an hour." He said calmly, carefully zipping up his case and fastening the small padlock that hung off it.

"But you can't! I thought I still had two more days left with you…and, and…" He paused, blue eyes widening as he remembered something very important.

"You told Dee that you'd be leaving at the end of the month too! He's coming to see you off then!" He gasped. Ryo bit his lip, expression grim as he looked down at his hands.

"Exactly. This way I don't have to see him." He said, voice tinged with bitterness.

"So you lied to him…? Ryo, I know he hurt you, but that's not fair! I hate him, but even I know that!" Bikky pleaded.

"No! I don't want to see him! Never again!" Ryo snapped, dark eyes blazing furiously against his pale skin.

Bikky stared at him silently, before nodding reluctantly, showing that he had no choice but to accept his former carer's wishes.

"Fine…but I don't like it." He snapped, storming out of the room and into the bathroom, locking the door and collapsing down on the toilet.

Casting furtive glances at the door, Bikky silently drew a mobile out of his pocket and keyed in Dee's number, praying that the dark haired cop would pick up. >You owe me one, dork.>

"What is it! Damnit, you better have a good reason for calling me in the middle of the night!" Dee snarled into the phone angrily.

/In case you haven't noticed, it's nearly lunchtime, creep!/

Dee paused, brow furrowed in confusion.

"It is?" He asked, glancing to the left and doing a double take as he saw the time. "Hang on….Bikky! Why the hell are you calling me?" He growled suspiciously.

/Look, just shut up for once! Ryo lied to you, Dee! He's leaving today – his taxi's going to be here in just under an hour!/

Dee froze, every muscle in his body stiffening in disbelief.

"Wha…no way…he wouldn't…I…damnit!"

/Get your butt down here before you lose him, Dee! Oh crap, he's coming…I have to go! Get moving!/

As Bikky hung up, Dee stayed staring at his mobile for a moment, before suddenly jumping into action, leaping out of bed and beginning to wrestle himself into his trousers. >Oh Hell…>

Dee pelted down the sidewalk, feet slapping at the ground as he ran desperately towards Ryo's apartment, breath coming in short gasps as his tired lungs strived for air. Checking his watch, he cursed, increasing his speed further as he raced through New York.

At this rate he wasn't going to make it.

Everything had been going fine up until the point he'd spilt coffee all over himself, forcing him to run back into the apartment again to change, afraid that showing up less than perfect would further damage his chances with Ryo. Realising that he was running short on time, he'd then called a taxi, sliding gratefully into the back seat and beginning to mentally prepare himself for the conversation ahead.

It was then that Dee had realised that the taxi wasn't moving very far. Sticking his head out of the window, he had sworn angrily at the sight of the long traffic jam, wrenching the door open so that he could make a run for it. The driver had begun to protest hotly, claiming that even though he was getting out of the cab, Dee still owed him 15 dollars for the journey of all of 2 blocks.

Dee had glared at him before carelessly throwing the money through the cab driver's window, too worried about missing Ryo to make any angry response. And then he had begun running, desperately trying to reach Ryo before it was too late. Before Ryo left.

Which brought him up to now.

Letting out a gasp of relief, Dee rounded the corner of Ryo's block, legs nearly giving out on him as they reached the end of his limits. But the mere sight before him was enough to force them to keep moving, to block out any cries of pain his cramping muscles were giving.

Up ahead, Ryo was embracing Bikky tightly, a bright yellow New York taxi waiting for him at the edge of the road. Letting out a hoarse cry of alarm, Dee called out Ryo's name, watching in grief as the Japanese-American's dark eyes visibly hardened, ripples of tension suddenly appearing throughout his body.

"Ryo!" Dee yelled again, stretching out an arm in desperation, somehow knowing that he wasn't going to make the twenty metres left to the taxi. True to his fears, Ryo quickly swung himself into the taxi and leaned forward to tell the driver something, the taxi beginning to drive away barely seconds afterwards.

"Ryo! Please!" Dee screamed, falling to his knees in despair as the taxi picked up speed and vanished round the corner, taking his long time crush away from him.

And the last thing he saw of Ryo was a flash of honey coloured hair as the blonde twisted slightly to stare brokenly at him through the cab window.

Author's Note

Sorry guys, this had to be a short one due to large amounts of coursework. No time to reply to all your lovely reviews this time, but I will next time - I promise!

Read and review!