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!

AN: I am so sorry this chapter took so long to post. I feel just awful about it! Anyway, this chapter was inspired by coldsunshin's last review! So thanks for that! And I hope you all enjoy. We are nearing the end of this story so, bear with me!

Ryo looked at the folder that Dee had left, after storming out of the Infirmary not too long after Diana's remark. He was reading it, in fact this was his forth time reading the orders. He was still slightly dumbstruck at the words. He was on to his fifth pass when J.J. and Drake burst through the door, J.J. holding onto the crook of Drake's elbow. Ryo could tell from J.J. features that he knew about Dee. Ryo sighed he wasn't in the mood to listen to a giddy J.J. squealing about how happy he was that Dee was alive. Ryo turned his head toward J.J. ready to confirm Dee's existence and end the conversation.

Ryo wasn't fast enough for J.J. was already asking his question, " Is it true? The crew of the 'Stetson' is okay?"

Ryo blinked, J.J. was asking about the whole crew not just Dee. Ryo then turned his eyes to the hand that held Drake by the elbow. The action was comfortable and familiar and Ryo felt as though it spoke of something far more than friendship. Ryo smiled meeting J.J.'s eye's again, "Yes, they are all safe."

J.J. nodded and his form visibly relaxed. Drake moved from J.J. and sat on Ryo's bed then pointing at the folder asked, " What's that?"

" Order's for Dee," Ryo's answer was blunt and the expression told the two men that the orders were not pleasant ones. It also told the men not to pry.

Diana sighed loudly, " I'm turning on the tv," she didn't wait for a response before using her remote and immediately finding an all news station:

It has been confirmed today that Admiral Amelia Jenkins will indeed retire at the end of this year, leaving the slot for possible promotion open for a handful of officers. As of now the most popular candidate is none other than Senator Berkely Rose, a Captain who has retained his rank until his time as Senator is over. In an interview recorded earlier this year the Senator wasn't shy about stating his desire to hold the rank of Admiral.

Everyone in the room looked toward the tv as a clip from a past interview was now being played.

"Yes I feel as though I would be the most qualified person for the position. It is clear that there is a very real threat from the G'nar nation that no one seems to want to address. If we do indeed receive the contract from the Gorren Empire then the G'nar are surely going to attack. I am opposed to such action against us and I seem to be the only man who is willing to step forward and try to remedy this situation."

Rose's smirk was easily seen through the hazy ancient screen of the Sick Ward's television. Diana had picked up a magazine and was reading that as well as listening to the news. The three men near and on Ryo's bed, on the other hand, were angry.

Drake spoke first, " That son of a bitch sold us out so he could make Admiral!"

J.J. sighed, " At least we know now that we are on the right track."

Drake nodded, " I'm going back," he looked up at J.J. sternly, " We need to find the proof while we are still at Headquarters."

" I agree," J.J. and Drake stood and they were out the door before Ryo could ask what was happening.

It really didn't matter though, Rose had finally crossed the line. First his blatant disregard for Ryo's personal space and his advances, then his proposal to have Dee charged with Fraternization and now his obvious involvement with the fire on 'Glorious' and the removal of their blueprints. Ryo stood and walking into the nurses station asked for the doctor.

As soon as the doctor stepped through the door Ryo spoke, " I won't be coming back, I've got things to do."

He left before the doctor could speak.

Rose watched as Ryo walked away from the Sick Ward and taking long strides over to him asked, " What are you doing out of bed?"

" I was discharged," Ryo spoke without slowing down.

" Hmm," was Rose's reply, " Listen Randy-"

" Ensign Maclean."

Rose blinked, " Um, alright. Ensign Maclean, listen, I know you are upset with me, but rules are rules and they are there to be followed. You and I both know that Lieutenant Laytner broke many of them."

Ryo stopped then turning slowly looked at the Captain in disbelief, " How dare you..."

Rose sighed, " Come to my office and we will talk about it,"

Ryo narrowed his eyes slightly then turning on his heels made his way to the Captain's office.

" Okay, now that we are alone I want you to speak your mind," Rose was sitting behind his desk, elbow resting on the dark wood top with his fingers interlaced.

Ryo was standing on the other side forcing his arms to stay limp at his sides and not crossed over his chest, " The Lieutenant is a great officer, they need him during a time like this. He can't risk wasting time at court."

Rose shook his head, " He is not an officer, he is a man who held on long enough to get the rank of one."

" You are being unfair."

" He has went against rules and regulations," Rose sighed, " Pursuing a subordinate is forbidden."

Ryo chose to cross his arms then and with a smirk spoke coldly, " Why do I get the feeling that if I had chosen a relationship with you that this wouldn't even be an issue?"

Rose narrowed his eyes, " This is anything, but personal."

" Like hell it isn't!" Ryo walked over to the desk and slamming his palms onto it spoke through gritted teeth, " You are a bastard!"

Rose stood at that remark, " Watch yourself Ensign."

" You said I could speak my mind now that we are alone," Ryo stood his ground, " Ironic how you are allowed to paw all over me, but if Dee does it it is grounds for a Court Marshal! Explain how this isn't personal!"

" You have no right-"

" I have no right!" Ryo's voice was steadily rising, " You are the one acting like a wounded lover. This isn't high school Rose! I don't want you! You are a grown ass man! Get over it!"

Rose moved around the desk and was now standing inches from Ryo, " You call me a bastard! Yet you are the one allowing this ape of a man to touch you! Don't you have any respect for yourself?"

" Ape?" Ryo was fuming and the two men were yelling now, " He is a much nobler man than you could ever be!"

Rose laughed and it was full of darkness, " Noble? You are taking a baby killer to your bed!"

Ryo's anger flared at that, " He was following orders! Which is it? You want him to follow orders or do what he wants!"

" I want him to do what is right!" Rose's eyes were clouding over and Ryo noticed that tears were the cause of it, " I want him to own up to his mistake! I want him to suffer! Yet he goes on with life and finds happiness! Never!" Rose's volume dropped dangerously as the tears finally fell, " I will spend the rest of my days destroying him."

Ryo stepped back touched and a bit frightened at the older man's confession. His voice was but a whisper as he spoke, " But, Sir, she is alive, she is okay. That girl, Carol, is alright."

" You knew?" Rose looked at Ryo with dark narrowed eyes. His voice was thick with hatred and pain, " You knew and you still chose to be with him?" Ryo opened his mouth to speak, but Rose continued, " You are wrong. She is not 'alright'. The fallout from the blast hit her ship and it crashed. She was pinned and she watched as her friends died around her. Ensign Maclean, when she was found she was nearly dead. They ended up amputating her legs and if that wasn't enough she lost the sight in her left eye," Rose ran his fingers through his hair, " I still keep in touch with her, even now, all these years later, she still has nightmares, hearing her friends crying out and asking for help in her sleep. Maclean, Lieutenant Laytner will pay for hurting my child. I want him to suffer, just like my little girl."

Ryo took a shuttering breath. Rose was referring to Carol as his child and though Ryo knew she wasn't his biological child, if Rose had adopted her in his mind as being his daughter then his anguish was understandable. Ryo nodded slowly then left the Captain's office quietly.

Darius waved at Drake and J.J. as they walked in, but continued to speak into his microphone. Drake waited until the man was finished and had put the device on mute before speaking.

" I need a huge favor from you Darius," Drake made sure his voice conveyed the importance of his statement, " I need to take your laptop with me back to 'Glorious'."

Darius frowned, " You gotta give me more than that."

" I need to spend as much time as I can looking for evidence and I can't spend all my time here. I know your laptop is linked to the HQ's computers and files. I can to the searching back on the ship," only after his sentence did Drake bite his lower lip.

" I see," Darius took his time thinking over the request, then, " On the top shelf of the black book case," he pointed behind him, " After you get it leave, I want to talk to J.J. alone."

Drake looked at Darius puzzled then sighed, " Fine," he took the case holding the laptop and walking toward the door shrugged at J.J. before leaving.

Darius waited to hear the click then turning in his swivel chair crossed his arms over his chest, " Drake is like a brother to me, J.J. I care for him a lot."

J.J. didn't answer, just stood with his arms at his sides, worrying his lip.

Darius continued, " Don't hurt him. I may not be able to see, but I can still kick your ass."

J.J. believed him and knew what he was talking about. Somehow Darius had picked up on J.J.'s budding feelings for his friend. J.J. himself hadn't even fully recognized them and he was afraid they were only there because he was trying so hard to get over Dee. He was afraid that his eyes had turned toward his friend because of their closeness.

J.J. sighed, " It isn't like that..."

Darius smiled, " Not yet. Trust me, I know Drake."

J.J. looked surprised, Darius was basing his conclusions on Drake's feelings not his! J.J. asked, " Then why are you threatening me?"

" Because I really can't see you resisting his advances," Darius chuckled, " and that is what good friends do. Threaten their best friend's lovers!"

J.J. shook his head smiling, then with a chuckle of his own said, " I'm leaving Darius..."

" Whatever," the man swung his chair back around, " Good luck you guys!"

J.J. turned quickly and looked at Drake who was sheepishly standing near the closed door. J.J.'s mouth dropped open and Drake shrugged, " I was nosy, sorry. How did you know?"

The question was directed at Darius, who in turn tapped his nose, " Cologne."

J.J. frowned and pushing past Drake left the room.

Drake had to run to keep up, " Don't be mad. Please!"

" I not mad," J.J. stopped and turned looked at his friend, " I'm furious! How dare you eavesdrop! That conversation was supposed to be private!"

" But I knew it involved me so why shouldn't I be involved!"

J.J. scowled, but instead of speaking his mind turned and started to walk again. He was more embarrassed than angry. He didn't want Drake to know he was think about him in that way. Even if Darius thought Drake was thinking that way also, there was no real proof.

Drake grabbed J.J.'s arm and forced him to stop, " Can we talk about this?"

" What?" J.J. spat out annoyed, jerking his arm from Drake's grasp, " About how wrong it is to listen in on others people business?"

" No," Drake looked down briefly then returned his gaze to J.J., " About this," he moved his hands between the two of them, " About us?"

J.J.'s features suddenly softened and the man ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, " Not now...one thing at a time...let's just concentrate on nailing Rose."

Drake nodded, somewhat disappointed, " Alright then. Listen Jemmy, I'm sorry."

J.J. leaned forward and quickly gave Drake a sweet peck on the lips, " So'k," then turning he made his way toward the exit, but not before looking back at his stunned friend with a gentle smile.

Drake was still typing frantically, J.J. had fallen asleep long ago, having stretched out on the floor. Drake looked over at the man, he had came to his room in a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. Drake smiled, it was like he was planning to sleep here. Drake walked over to his friend and shook him gently, when J.J. was awake enough to listen he whispered for him to get up and go lay on the bed. J.J. obeyed, swaying as he walked to the large bed and plopping down on it promptly started a soft snore.

Drake smiled again and went back to his desk. He typed someone, yawning, grateful that Darius let him borrow his laptop. It had taken all afternoon to get this deep into the HQ's files and after stopping to eat dinner, it had taken most of the night to get were he was now. Drake yawned again and decided to finish up and go to bed too, he would sleep in the wing back, not wanting to startle J.J. in the morning. Which, Drake looked at the computer's clock and frowned, was about four hours away. Just as he was about to sign off an idea came to him. He steeled himself, it was risky but he was going to try to find the vidphone files, a place where he couldn't cover his tracks, if he found something he would have to put it to disk tonight and pray that someone didn't decide to do an extensive security check. Drake typed and broke through fire walls and decoded crypted text. Once he was in he searched for Rose's calls, having deciphered his computer numeral code a while ago. Suddenly only the calls made by Rose were shown. There were many, but Drake was only interested in the ones made to an outside source through a protected line. The same number was called every time a protected line was used and once Drake got the number written down he inserted a disk and began to copy the call log.

Standing he made his way over to his own vid phone when he heard a loud yawn and watched as J.J. made his way to the bathroom. Yep, J.J. had intended all along to sleep here, Drake thought with a smile. After an abnormally long piss J.J. walked back into the room and leaning over Drake's shoulder asked what he was doing.

" I'm getting ready to call this number. It keeps coming up in Rose's phone log," Drake dialed the number, careful to place his own protection over the link. Then the two men waited.

Soon they could see a room on screen, a large bed and some kind of sculpture. Then a voice, " Dammit Rose! This better be important," the sound of footsteps and the a large hand grabbing the screen and turning it so it was facing him better.

The three men stared at each other stunned. However, it was the man on the other line that spoke first, " You are not Rose."

Drake hit the record button, " No and you are G'nar."

The man narrowed his eyes, " You are recording me I assume?"

Drake was going to lie, but J.J. spoke up, " Yes."

The man nodded, unfazed, " What is it you want to know?"

" Why are you cooperating?"

" Why not?" the man smiled, " Besides, you think I'm not going to tell Rose about his sneaky rats?"

J.J. gulped, but Drake asked a question anyway, " How is starting a war going to help Rose make Admiral?"

" It won't, but it is fun none the less," the G'nar smiled and it made Drake's stomach turn, " We had a deal with the Senator, but I rather have the Gorren ports, so the deal is off," the G'nar rolled his blue eyes, " Not that he knows that, he still thinks we are working for him. The fool, I can't do anything about securing that rank for him now!" he laughed and it was clear he was amused with the hole he had helped dig for Rose.

Drake frowned, " Did he give you the blueprints to 'Glorious'?"

The man shook his finger at the two humans, " Nuh un, I can't give you all the answers!" more amused laughter then he looked back at Drake and J.J., " I tired of your simple minds. Do not call me again."

Drake watched as the call was ended. He took out the mini disk and looking at J.J. spoke, " We need to go. Now!"

" Where to?" J.J. was already walking toward the door.

" Go to your room and get dressed, I will get you in five," Drake then removed the disk from the laptop of Rose's call log, " We are going to see Admiral Jenkins."

J.J. looked over at his friend concerned, " That's jumping chain."

Drake scowled, " I know that! Now go get dressed!"

AN: Thanks again to everyone who has reveiwed or who hasn't, but are still reading the story anyway! I will see you next chapter!