DISCLAIMER: I am not the owner of nor wish to appear to be the owner of FAKE and all related merchandise thereof.

WARNINGS: Formal Diana. Calmer J.J. With sprinklings of Lime here and there. The chapter(s) with Lemon will be labeled. This warning applies to the entire story not just this chapter!

" I love you."

" I love you too."

The words hit Rose like a freight train. Knocking the air out of him and sending his mind into a tail spin. How could this have happened! How could such a wonderful man such as Ensign Maclean fall for a man like Laytner? The Captain was seething, gritting his teeth so hard it hurt. They were so casual together, Dee and Ryo, and it made Berkely's blood boil. He watched as the other two men parted and then listened as Dee told Ryo that he was going to see the Commander. Rose didn't think he could be any more angry, but he was wrong after seeing the look in Ryo's eyes as Dee turned to walk away. Unless you were looking for it you would miss it, but Rose noticed it and his ego took another blow. The look in Ryo's eyes was one of worry and fear; he was terrified that Dee wouldn't return to him. Laytner had practically rose from the grave and Ryo thought that if he took his eyes off of him it would turn out to be a cruel dream.

Dee saw the look too and sighing smiled, " How 'bout I see you after I go see the Commander?"

Berkely was quick to speak wanting to put an end to this now, " He must return to the Infirmary!" he didn't try to hide his distain for Laytner.

Dee looked over his shoulder casually, showing no sign of being intimidated by the Captain. In fact he was smirking, a triumphant show of protection and possession, " Oh I won't hurt him...but there are a few things that we need to discuss privately," then he gave a wink and Rose couldn't help but bare his teeth at that. Dee turned his attentions back to Ryo, " Later tonight, you better be there," and with one last devastating smile he turned and made his way off the Deck.

Ryo didn't dare look at the Captain as he rushed from the Bridge and walking briskly went into his quarters. Once there he locked the door and flopped down onto his comfy arm chair. Then running his hands over his face sighed heavily. He could only imagine what punishments Captain Rose had in mind. Showing affection in uniform was already forbidden, but doing so with another of higher rank and your Supervisor, no less, had to be the epitome of stupidity. Ryo moaned, this was going to be horrible and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't thinking professionally when he saw Dee, rather, he was thinking with his heart, something the blond rarely did and this was the perfect reason as to why. It got him into trouble. Ryo shook his head, trouble was the wrong word. Sure he would have to face the Captain's wrath later, but in hindsight, he would do it again. Following his heart allowed him to share a deep and passionate kiss with Dee, even if it was in front of everyone. Following his heart is what lead to his revelation and his subsequent confession.

After the night Ryo had fumbled on the phone and said "You too" to Dee, he had been thinking about why it was so easy for him to respond to such deep, compassionate words. Ryo was still mulling it around in his head when the attack happened in Gorren air space and he thought Dee had died. Now he was trying to figure out if he told Dee he loved him because he was so relieved that he was alive or if he really meant them from his heart. Ryo smiled, he was wasting his time, he already knew that those words were said with truth. Dee had captured his soul and it left him feeling wonderfully warm. Ryo's smile widened, aside from Dee's obvious good looks, he had a great personality too. He could make Ryo laugh and his cool demeanor never failed to make Ryo feel calm and secure in any situation. The best thing about Dee, however, was the fact that he didn't try to change Ryo. Dee didn't try to belittle him or change him into a more outgoing person. Dee seemed to like Ryo's collected level-headed personality, but he never made him feel like he was vulnerable and submissive because of it. Ryo hadn't been wrong when he told Dee he loved him. In fact, he probably should have said it sooner.

J.J. and Drake were still in the Headquarters building, sitting at Darius' desk. J.J. was petting Chance now that her seeing eye harness was off and Drake was typing frantically on the computer. Neither knew of 'Stetson's status and Dee's appearance on 'Glorious'.

J.J. spoke, " You sure Darius will be alright without Chance?"

" Yeah," Drake cursed under his breath when he came up against a fire wall, " he has his cane with him, but he knows this place like the back of his hand. He can maneuver around this place with his eyes closed."

Drake stopped typing and looked over at J.J. slowly, his friend was smirking at him, amused with Drake's slight slip of the tongue. Drake looked embarrassed, but J.J. thought the remark was sweet. It showed just how much Drake cared for and respected Darius, so much so that his blindness was so far from his mind that he would make a statement mostly associated with seeing men.

J.J. decided to break the tension, " Are you having any luck?" he leaned close to Drake, looking over his shoulder, " That all looks Greek to me..."

Drake chuckled, and leaning back rested his head on J.J.'s shoulder, " It's all crypted text. It is supposed to make it harder to read. Since I did this before though," Drake sat up straight and punching a few keys made the gibberish on screen disappear into the English language, " Presto Change-o!"

" How will this help us?" J.J. was frowning, " This looks...well, old."

" It is," Drake continued to type, " this is the back door I took to find the evidence against Rose all those years ago. These are all the false orders he gave out that were meant to look like they came from HQ. Wait a minute," Drake opened a few folders then pointing at the screen beamed, " See, there's mine!"

J.J. raised an eyebrow at that smiling sweetly, then shaking his head asked, " Again, how will this help us?"

Drake typed some more, hiding his presence, but allowing a way for him to come back later, " I can use this back door to continue my search. If I have a way of getting in then I won't have to go through the entire business of hacking every time I want to look for something. Granted I will have to do a little work to get back in, but not nearly the amount I did today," Drake logged out and leaning back against his friend sighed.

J.J. allowed Drake to lean on him as he continued to scratch Chance behind her ears. Drake turned slightly looking at his friend. He and J.J. had hit it off the moment they met and Drake was grateful that he had a friend on the ship that he could speak with and that he felt comfortable around. Though he missed Darius and other friends he had a Headquarters he couldn't help but think that the trade was worth it.

Drake sighed loudly to get J.J. attention, then turning their chairs he made sure they were facing one another. Looking concerned Drake posed a question to J.J., " Are you alright, about the Lieutenant and Maclean?"

J.J. blinked, the question seemed random to him. He answered his friend, none the less, "I am okay with it," Drake raised a brow in disbelief, " No really. It took a while, but I am okay now. I had always known that being a Lieutenant he couldn't respond to me anyway. I guess what really hurts though isn't the fact that he couldn't it's that he wouldn't. Not for me. Rank, apparently, doesn't mean all that much to him and that realization is the hardest to get past," J.J. looked down bitting his lip, " I have moved on long ago. I will always have the 'what if' factor, but I'm a grown man," He looked up suddenly, his eyes boring into Drake's, " I won't pine after him. Besides, I think I want to set my eyes elsewhere."

Drake's eyes widened slightly in reaction to J.J.'s conviction. The man was indeed over Lieutenant Laytner and for some reason this made Drake almost giddy. He knew had to look like a fool, staring at J.J. with a crooked smile and he was fairly certain that he was beginning to blush. He didn't feel too bad about that though, given the fact that J.J. had a cute pink flush on his cheeks as well. Suddenly, an idea came to Drake's mind, could the person J.J. wanted to set his sights on be...him?

Drake whispered softly, his mind a little confused and to his surprise a bit hopeful, "J.J.?"

A smooth smile covered the nervousness, " Drake?"

Drake's eyes grew wide, the tension wasn't his imagination. And the blush across J.J.'s handsome face was definitely for a reason. Drake made to speak again but was cut off by Chance's bark. The two men looked at the door in time to see it swing open as Darius walked in.

" Hello guys," Darius locked the door and J.J. relinquished his seat to him, " I hope I gave you two enough time..."

" Yeah," Drake stood with a stretch, " I just did the preliminaries. I will have to come back another day though to finish it."

" Take your time," Darius pulled out a pack of bubble gum and sliding the blue stick between his teeth began to chew, " Rumor has it Rose is pissed. Some said they saw him in the building cursing about how he refuses to leave the dock," he leaned back and teetering on two legs put his feet up on the desk, " People say he is out to take some guy named Laytner down, say he's having a torrid affair with a crew member," Darius shrugged, " I don't know really though. Like I said it is a rumor."

J.J. and Drake were looking at each other with wide eyes and Drake mouthed 'He's alive' to his shocked friend. Then J.J. turned his attentions to Darius, " Thanks for everything, but we have to go!" Grabbing his friend's arm J.J. jerked Drake from the room, ignoring Darius' confused expression.

" Rose is gonna have your hide for this," Diana was glaring at her former crew mate.

Dee merely shrugged, " Yeah, I don't care though."

" You wouldn't" Diana scowled, " What about Maclean though? Will he care? His career could be completely ruined after this Dee!" Diana sighed loudly and rolling her eyes mumbled, "You irresponsible prick."

" Hey now!" Dee was clearly annoyed, " Ryo's a grown ass man! He could have pushed me away or told me no!"

Diana frowned, " And you know none of that would have gotten you to stop."

Dee's eyes widened in disbelief, " Who's the prick now?"

Diana smirked, " Smart ass," she shook her head indicating that she was through talking about this particular subject, " Anyway, how is everyone on the 'Stetson'?"

" Good, we're good..." Dee looked up when he heard the door open and saw Ryo step into the room.

Dee gave Ryo a look and Ryo raised his hands then after telling him that the nurses hunted him down sat on the edge of his bed. Dee stood and completely forgetting his conversation with Diana walked over to Ryo's side and bending began to give him another passionate kiss. Suddenly the sweet moment was broken by a hard palm to Dee's chest and a powerful push. He stubbled back and straightening looked up confused, but the feeling passed once he saw it wasn't Ryo who had pushed him away. The moment Dee realized it was Rose he was having a manilla folder thrust into his chest and the Captain stepped up so close that they were inches apart. Fire could be seen behind the wire rimmed glasses as a smile formed on Berekly's lips. Dee was trembling in his rage and though he was furious he remained quiet waiting for Rose to explain his obvious ire.

" In two days you will be up for Court Marshall. Insubordination and Fraternization," Rose snarled and Dee quirked his eyebrows at it, " Please don't be late," then he had turned and left the room just as quietly as he had came in.

Dee cocked his head before dropping it to look at the folder. It was orders to appear in Dress Uniform at the Headquarters Judicial Hall at 0800. Dee scoffed at it and threw it onto Ryo's side table. Ryo looked up worried, but Dee shook his head with a slight smile.

Diana chuckled, " Told you so."

Dee dropped his smile and looking over his shoulder graced Diana with a glare that made her regret her little stabbing remark.