So, how are we all feeling about this? Confused? Wonderful! Read on. I don't own anyone but Tony.


Ryo was still awake when the alarm went off, but Bikky and Carol slept soundly through it. He took a cold shower and skipped breakfast. He had a lot to get done. he was pretty wired by the time he let, since he'd spent the post few hours mentally preparing himself, all the while having his nerves build up until he was running like he had a pot of coffee in his system.

Mornings were still chilly, so his hands were deep in his pockets for the walk between his car and the 27th. He couldn't clock in for a few minutes, but it would give him time to pick up his office so he could actually get some work done today.

He opened the door. There was no evidence of his fit of rage the night before. A note was sitting on a pile of folders on his desk.

Ryo, hope I got all of these back in the right places. Try to be more careful next time, huh? Things have a way of working out, even when the papers stay on the desk. I'm gonna go get some sleep. Later, Drake

Now he had nothing to do, but he appreciated the gesture. So many people cared and were looking out for him. that gave him more confidence than a week's worth of pep talking himself would. All he had to do was wait for Dee to show up.

His careful planning about how he'd calmly confront Dee when he walked in was all in vain, though. He kept waiting until the second shift stragglers had come in, thinking that maybe Dee's schedule had been changed. Eventually, though, he had to give up.

Tony dropped by his office after lunch for long enough to be blown off coldly. The chief had sent word that another pair of detectives were taking over their case, for which he was grateful, and that meant they had no reason to be around each other. Ryo was determined to find out some things on his own.

When he left at 4:30, he still felt like he needed to get those answers. He pulled out his cell phone, let Bikky know he wasn't coming straight home, and turned his footsteps towards Dee's apartment. If he wasn't at work, Ryo couldn't think of where else he'd be.

He was ready to do this. That's what he told himself. he took a deep breath and knocked.

"Yeah, coming." Dee took a long time to get there, though. his voice sounded muffled behind the door. Had he been sleeping?

Dee's appearance when he opened the door confirmed that he had, in fact, been sleeping. He was shirtless, his hair disheveled, and behind him Ryo could see the blanket on the couch next to a stack of folders.

"Oh, hey." Dee didn't realize he was running his hand through his hair, trying to make it lay flatter. Ryo was the last person he'd expected to show up.

He stepped aside and told Ryo to close the door behind him while he got a shirt.

All the tenseness Ryo'd expected to be there was when Dee came back into the room. It even looked like he'd messed up his hair more to make up for trying to fix it earlier.

"Things okay at the precinct?" Dee didn't see why he'd bothered to show up. his body language was reading just like it had the last time they'd been together and he locked himself in the bathroom. He'd wanted his space and Dee had given it to him.

"Fine." If he didn't elaborate, it wasn't a lie. "How are things...here?" He'd just never stood around in Dee's apartment.

"Moving along." It looked like he'd brought half of a filing cabinet home and has been working out of his living room for the past few days. Ryo asked him about it.

"Personal favor for the chief. I've been cross referencing cold cases that have piled up in a few areas." He didn't need to mention that he'd been the one to suggest the job, and also to request that he do it from home.

"Oh." Ryo shifted from one foot to the other. Everything he'd wanted to say wouldn't come.

Dee plopped back down on the couch with a heavy sigh. "Look, Ryo-"

"Dee." Dee stopped and looked at him. but he couldn't think of anything else to say. "Dee." His heart rate shot up and his mouth went dry. "Dee-"

What was he doing?


Ryo's freak out repeating episode seemed really strange when I was writing it, but when your brain stalls (Ryo's, not mine), it seems pretty fitting to me. Whatever. Read on to the next chapter to see if he can spit something else out.