Welcome! Unfortunately, I do not own FAKE. That honor belongs to Sanami Matoh-sama. But I will shamelessly manipulate her characters for the time being.
-
Glad you made it here to chapter 5! (glad I made it too, to tell you the truth.) If you haven't read the first 4 chapters, get your ass back to chapter one! If you have, please continue, enjoy, and review with tips, insults, random thoughts, etc. etc. What does Tony have to tell Ryo about Dee's past? You've gotta keep reading. So here we go!
Ryo had taken a day off after the precinct party. He couldn't keep his head straight. Tony, the long lost friend who happened to know Dee and JJ very well, hadn't made things any easier on Ryo. He'd all but stated that Dee and JJ used to be an item. Was it the truth?
He hadn't had a chance to ask Dee about it. The younger detective hadn't called or stopped by in days, and Ryo wasn't going out of his way to see him either. Everything was just so screwed up.
But Ryo couldn't run from it forever, so he returned to work with the best attitude he could. He'd try really hard not to blow up at Dee or kill JJ, and he wanted to avoid Tony all together for the time being.
And when the day was half over, it seemed like he was going to be able to deal with the situation at work. They'd gotten a big case on a rash of murders that had happened in the past week, all with similar circumstances, suspected to have been done by the same person or group of people. So things had been busy, and he didn't have time to fight with Dee while they were out gathering information.
And even when he saw JJ back at the precinct, he was able to stay calm. For once, the clingy young officer stayed on the task he was doing instead of attaching himself to Dee.
So as Ryo settled himself into his desk to go over the information he'd gathered and begin to fill out paperwork, he wasn't feeling nearly as bad as he thought he would. Before he knew it, Dee was standing in front of his desk asking if he was ever going to leave.
Ryo looked up in surprise, then glanced at his watch. Time flew fast, that was for sure- he'd been buried in his work for five hours.
"Oh, sorry," He laughed. Dee shook his head and told him to get his coat.
"Do you have any plans tonight?" He asked, not looking straight at his partner. Ryo shook his head. "Well, do you want to come over? I think we need to-"
"DEE! Get your ass over here! What the hell is this!" The chief looked really pissed, and Dee didn't get a chance to finish what he'd been saying as he was dragged off to be lectured for his most recent screw up, whatever it was.
Ryo sighed and went into the break room to get his coat, moving very slowly. Yes, they did need to talk, but he wasn't sure he was ready to talk. It scared him to tell Dee what he'd been preoccupied about lately. How would he react? What if it was true?
"You okay Ryo?" Ryo jumped a foot and spun around. Tony was sitting at a table sipping coffee and watching him with a friendly smile. They were the only people in the room.
"You want a cup of coffee or something?" He stood and moved forward. "We haven't really got a chance to talk, you left in such a hurry the other day. I hope I didn't say something to-"
"Um, no, not at all." Ryo took an involuntary step back, then cringed inside as Tony furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Look, I think we may have started off on the wrong foot. I swear, I didn't mean anything by punching Dee. We used to be really good friends at the Academy, we were always roughing each other up. It was all in fun, for old times sake, you know?"
Ryo gave a small smile. "I know, it's fine. I'm not mad about it. It actually sounds like Dee to do things like that with friends." Tony looked a little relieved, but not entirely, and Ryo forced himself to seem more friendly.
"So have you and Dee been keeping in touch since you graduated?"
"Nah, not really. The other day was the first time I'd seen him or JJ in years, but as soon as we were together it was like we'd never been apart." Tony smiled and scratched his head. "I had no idea that both of them were here. We were like brothers back in the day. I guess it's my good luck."
Ryo nodded. Well, this conversation was safe enough so far. He didn't want it to get into dangerous waters, so he politely said that he had to be going and headed for the door. But Tony followed him.
"I need to be getting back to work too." He dropped his coffee, still half full, into the trashcan and exited beside Ryo.
They walked in silence for a few seconds, before Tony, looked over at him. "So you and Dee have been partners for..."
"Close to eighteen months." Ryo answered reluctantly. He sensed where this was going and didn't like it.
"You seem pretty close. Partners and friends, right?" Ryo didn't like the tone in Tony's voice, but he didn't say anything about it.
"Something like that, yeah." They rounded a corner and Ryo could see the doors- his salvation! But in front of them was a sight he did NOT want to see. Dee and JJ.
Tony laughed. "I know where you're coming from." Tony caught site of his old friends just then as well and laughed. It didn't sounds as friendly as his earlier laughs had. "Man, I never thought they'd have stayed together this long. They really have something." Ryo clenched his fists, telling himself that Tony didn't mean what it sounded like he meant.
"Hey Ryo, mind if I give you a warning? They've been together for as long as I've known them. If I ever knew two people who loved each other, it's them. And Dee will always choose JJ. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience." Tony laughed suddenly and patted Ryo on the shoulder. "So don't go getting too attached." He left without another word. It took all of Ryo's self control not to pull out his gun and fill Tony's head with bullets. It couldn't be true. Dee would have said something.
But would he have really?
Ryo walked out the door, passing his partner, who was attempting to fight off JJ's embrace, without a word.
"Hey Ryo!" Dee called after him. JJ whined about how mean Dee was, but he disentangled himself and followed Ryo. "What's up? I saw you talking to Tony. What do you think of him? Hey, are you okay?" Dee put a hand on Ryo's shoulder to stop him, and he violently turned and slapped Dee's hand away. He was shaking. Dee had rarely seen him this angry.
"I can't come over tonight, I have plans."
"But you said-" There was something seriously wrong with this situation.
"Look Dee, I have to go. You should get going too. I'm fine, don't worry. And don't call. I'll be busy." Ryo left him standing there, looking dumbfounded. He walked home quickly, closing the door behind him and locking it.
"You okay Ryo?" Bikky was sitting on the couch with Carol, playing some kind of card game. They were both looking up at him with concern. He hadn't meant to slam the door. But damn had it felt good.
"Yeah, fine. I'm just going to shower and take a nap- I'm beat." He went into his room, but came back a second later. "If Dee comes over, tell him I'm out. Don't let him in, please."
Bikky gave him a thumbs up, already wrapped up in their game again. Ryo smiled and watched them play for a few minutes as they laughed, childishly flirted, bickered. He returned to his room with his thoughts tangled and confusing.
He hoped Bikky and Carol lasted, even if Bikky did something stupid to piss Carol off, and even if Carol said something really hurtful that upset Bikky. Ryo could tell how happy they made each other.
He just didn't realize that he was slowly letting that same thing slip out of his own life.
Big hopeless sigh for all of the people who are hopelessly becoming caught up in my twisted storyline. And hurrah for the first appearance of Bikky and Carol! I figured I had to bring them in at some point, and since this was leading back to Ryo's place, it's as good a time as any. Something similar happened in the series, Ryo telling Bikky not to let Dee in.Check outchapter 6 to see what goes on this time.
