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.
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After a LONG break, we return! On with the angst! And maybe a resolution is near...or maybe that's just what I want you to think...
The morning felt different than all the other ones he'd woken up to in the last few weeks. During the night, Ryo had tossed aside Dee's pillow, almost like he'd pushed away his lover when he showed up.
But it was more than that. He hadn't dreamed a single dream all night. No Dee, no JJ, no anything. And that wasn't bad, it was wonderful, but he felt...anticlimactic. Let down after such a heated confrontation. Even worse, he felt guilty. He had nothing to fell guilty about, but he did.
Bikky greeted him in pajamas with coffee and toast already on the table.
"You look good today, Ryo." He nodded approvingly as his guardian come in, straightening his tie and carrying a briefcase and jacket.
What an odd thing to say. But waking up and having Bikky already in the kitchen was odd. "Thanks." Was all he could think to reply. He sat down and surveyed the room, making sure nothing was broken or missing that would lead to this sudden strange behavior.
Bikky sat down across from his with a bowl of cereal. He hadn't even tried for pop and junk food today.
"So...how are you feeling?"
"How am I feeling?"
"Yeah, you know..." Bikky scratched his chin while thinking of how best to phrase it. "Are you, like, okay and everything? Do I need to stay out tonight? Or do you want me to keep that jerk away again?"
"You did a great job of that last night." Ryo grinned, bemused and touched by his young charge's obvious concern. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Great, in fact. Look at this wonderful breakfast." He sipped his coffee and smiled through a gag at how strong it was, but he still had to give Bikky credit for trying. "And I'm going to be home early tonight and cook. Why don't you invite Carol over? It can be just the three of us."
"Awesome." He grinned, satisfied that he'd cheered Ryo up enough to let him go for the day. With that, he dumped his cereal in the trash, grabbed a can of pop from the fridge, and ran out the door before he could be stopped.
Ryo shook his head, and as soon as he'd made a fresh pot of coffee and finished his toast, he followed suit.
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There's been a new break on the case that they were now sure was a serial killer acting alone. It wasn't a new body, but DNA evidence definitively linked the four victims from the last few weeks to the same guy. Now Ryo had the fun task of running matches through the database, which he guessed would yield no results, neither would a search for similar MOs, as he'd tried half a dozen times, and as they had nothing else to go on, it left him a fun day of playing catch up on the massive paperwork backup he'd somehow fallen in to (unless someone else's body was turned up, which even he didn't have the gall to hope for).
That wasn't even the best part. Dee hadn't shown up or phoned in. He wasn't worried. The detective was avoiding a very dangerous situation being stuck in an office with his unstable partner for eight hours. Ryo didn't blame him. And with no distraction, he managed to finish up with time to spare. He didn't need Dee. He was a hassle. Why did it take him so long to realize it?
He used his extra time as a responsible officer would and went to glean information from his coworkers who were covering the same case or might have heard something about it instead of kicking back and napping as his partner would have.
Nothing really came of this, but better safe than sorry, and he was safer with something distracting his attention.
The only person he didn't want to ask that may potentially have provided information was JJ, and for obvious reasons he steered clear of the younger officer.
However, JJ it seemed had been trying to approach Ryo all day with horrible timing. It wasn't until he'd ran out of people to talk to and dejectedly returned to his office that JJ cornered him.
"I heard you've been looking for information on your case." Nice, safe police conversation.
"Just seeing what I've missed." Ryo wouldn't look up at him. He didn't like him being so close while they were alone. He didn't trust himself.
"I thought you might want to hear what Dee and I-"
Ryo shoved his chair back from his desk, upsetting a pile of papers that scattered like frightened birds to blanket the floor between them. He actually made a very frightening impression when he was pissed. JJ took a step back.
"I don't care what you thought I might what to hear about you and Dee and whatever the hell it was you were doing last night. Just get out." He'd known the minute Dee picked up the phone and changed tones so abruptly that it had been JJ on the other line. And it made him sick. He didn't need him.
"But Ryo-"
"I said get out!"
"What the hell is your problem, anyway? You've been acting like a psycho lately. Even Dee doesn't know what's gotten into you. He's you're partner-"
"You're right. He'd my partner. And that's none of your business. And what goes on in my life outside of work is none of his business. Why don't you tell him that?"
JJ stared incredulously. "Why don't you tell him? And while you're at it, tell him what the fuck he did to piss you off so badly. Stop being such a royal bitch and let him know what's going up. Then maybe he wouldn't have to come complain to me while we're supposed to be-"
"Where the hell do you get off?" He whispered quietly. It was such a contrast to the shouting that had filled the room a moment earlier that JJ had to ask him to repeat it.
"Where the hell do you get off," Ryo gritted his teeth and spoke louder. "Telling me what to do about Dee? You're so concerned when we're fighting, aren't you? I'll bet you're just all torn up inside, comforting him when he shows up at your door." He honestly felt like he was going to punch the younger man.
And after that comment, JJ looked like he'd have a solid blow to throw back at him. He laughed, but not in a friendly manner. "You know, I never took you for the jealous type."
"Go figure." Ryo replied stonily.
"So what, now he can't so much as talk to another man without you getting your feathers ruffled?"
"He can talk as much as he wants to."
"Then where the hell is the problem?" Ryo chose not to reply. He wasn't having this conversation. There was no way he was going to talk about this at work.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. You have this amazing guy whose head over heels in love with you and all you want to do it throw a tantrum about petty little things like-"
"Like him fucking other men? Sorry for being so petty." He shocked himself saying it, and his reaction was nothing to JJ's. He laughed. Uproariously. He was really amused by it.
"Is that why you're so upset?" What the hell kind of question was that? "That's ridiculous. Who has be been fucking?" Ryo glared murderously at him and said nothing. After a minute, JJ seemed to get why he was the target of such malicious attention. His eyes went wide in what Ryo assumed to be guilt at being caught.
"Where did you hear that?" Half of his expression became clouded over in ecstasy. Ryo didn't even want to consider what he was imagining, or more likely remembering. Again he said nothing. The only source besides his dreams was Tony, and he was loathe to divulge that to JJ.
JJ's expression came down from euphoric when it seemed like Ryo wasn't at all amused. It had been worth a shot. He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "If that's all your problem is, you need to get over it now."
He couldn't believe he'd just said that! "And what am I supposed to-"
"Listen. Dee is in love with you. Totally and completely. He doesn't do anything but talk about you and think about you and it kills him that you aren't letting him in on this one. If you'd have asked him if he was sleeping around, you'd have broken his heart. Ryo, he wouldn't do that to you. For anyone."
There wasn't a reply he could make. He listened to the words critically, as if listening to a witness describe a crime but heard no insincerity. Could he believe it? God, did he want to. He just wanted Dee...
"I can't believe you were such an idiot. You need to talk to him. And if you screw this up again, I might not be standing here trying to fix things." He waved a hand and closed the door behind him. He wasn't even going to bother telling him about the information he'd run across on Ryo's case the night before. Dee would fill them in as long as Ryo got in contact with him. And for both their sakes, he'd better do it soon. They were a mess without each other, that was for sure.
Hm...turned out more interesting that I thought it would. Let me know what you think, and I finally planned out the rest of the story, so I'll try to finish this one up some time...I'd say soon, but we all know I'm not the more consistent updater. Oh well...
