More problems arising

"You won't believe what I'm going to tell you now."

Jill slumped down into her chair and swivelled to Leon, grinning contentedly. The blonde looked up and scrutinized her. "You hooked up with the chief?" he asked and avoided the Rubik's cube she threw at him, placing it again on his desk, grinning broadly.

"Of course not, you idiot! Just because you finally managed to hook up with the Count doesn't mean everyone else suddenly finds someone, too. No, I just got the results from the lab. The gun Gavin was shot with – it was the same gun that killed Laura Miller."

Leon sat up. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yep, I am."

She handed the report over and he scanned it. The probability that the gun was the same was about 80%, which meant, a sure call. Leon grinned. "That's great. Finally something's moving here. Now I only have to find out who shot Gavin and why."

Jill snorted. "Yeah, course, easy job there, since he claims he didn't see anything," she said sarcastically and Leon groaned.

"Just shut up, okay? I'll bet it was his real boyfriend who was sick of being hidden."

His superior sighed deeply. "Leon, I really don't know if you're not becoming obsessed with this theory here. Why are you so sure Gavin is homosexual? I mean, so far we haven't been able to find anyone who could tell us for sure."

The blonde shrugged. "Gut feeling, Jill. Besides, D thinks he's gay, too."

He flinched under the strange glance she gave him, but before she could say anything, the alarm started ringing. Both jumped up and rushed out, grabbing their safety vests and guns.

"What's the matter?" Jill asked hurriedly while they went down the stairs. Christian informed them.

"Robbery in a supermarket in downtown. Four masked guys, all armed, fled in the direction of Chinatown. Safety vests for everyone. I'm leader."

They hurried to the scene of crime as fast as they could and swarmed out in pairs. Leon and Jill took the buildings to the north and carefully worked their way through the labyrinth of narrow streets and little courtyards. The blonde felt his heart tighten. This here was Chinatown, where the pet shop was, and Dana and D. He fiercely hoped D wasn't on the streets with Dana now.

"So you're convinced that he's gay because D said so?" Jill whispered while carefully scooting forward. Leon glared at her.

"Hey, it's not only him who's saying that!" he gave back just as silently, keeping his gun ready.

"How does he know, anyway?" she inquired further. "I mean, did those two have something?"

"Jill!"

She chuckled at Leon's reaction. "Hey, just asking, kay? I mean, he's gotta know somehow."

"He met Gavin while his mother was buying a pet in D's shop," the younger detective informed her stiffly.

The woman's face got pensive. "Oh, right. Gavin's mother, the one who went away without leaving a trace."

"She went and joined that sect, Jill," Leon reminded his colleague. Jill didn't reply, but waved him forward. Leon went into the next courtyard, securing the terrain and signalled her to come too.

"Yeah, with the pet Count D sold her. I can still remember times when you'd be all in fits 'bout someone disappearing with one of his pets." There was something in her voice that told Leon this was not the usual why-do-you-always-suspect-the-Count-talk.

"I can learn too, okay?" he muttered, not daring to go further into the matter. Jill knew more about the night D had gone away than anyone else. And probably she hadn't fallen for Barf's explanation that D was a gynandry woman. She knew what he had explained to her when he got to know about Dana.

Jill perked around the corner into the courtyard while Leon shifted uncomfortably. D was afraid of anyone knowing. But this was Jill. She was more family than his blood relatives, save Chris of course. He hated lying to her.

"Listen, Jill, about D…" he began. The woman looked back at him and put a finger to her lips.

"D's someone special, not only where his gender is concerned, but also his family and life. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

The blonde was stunned for a moment. "How long?" he asked then. Jill proceeded into the yard, Leon following close.

"Dunno. Figured it out sometime between the affair with his father and you telling me you two've got a kid, I guess." She halted and fixed grey eyes on Leon. "Listen, Leon, I'm doing this because I'm your friend and I really like D. And I adore Dana. I'm not interested in what he really is. I just want you to make sure he's no danger to the people I have to protect."

Leon gulped and thought about the woman some days ago, leaving the shop with god-knows-what. "I'll try, Jill," he said weakly. "I'll try."

Trying meant that he would actually have to talk to D about his actions. And this time not as a detective investigating a murder, but as the father of D's child.

He'd rather have his teeth pulled out than doing that. He'd rather do anything than ask D why he killed humans.

And yet, he still did it, that evening, sitting in the pet shop on the sofa, watching D and Dana play, at the same time relieved that nothing had happened to them and depressed because of what he'd tried to ignore for so long. That D wasn't human, not like Leon, didn't feel like Leon did, wasn't convinced of the same things Leon was, was just different…

"Why do you do it?"

The question popped out before he could stop it. For a moment Leon wanted to rue that, but done was done, and better to go straight ahead than cower and hide…

D's head snapped up and he stared at the detective in confusion. Leon was watching him from his place on the sofa, Pon-chan on his lap while D was building a tower for Dana with the girl's Lego bricks. Today she'd been more interested in him than in her human father, and D had silently rejoiced at that. He wasn't jealous of Leon. He was not. But it was nice to know his child still loved him, too.

"Why do I do what?" he asked. Leon gazed at him, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Kill us," he said calmly.

The young kami looked down at his daughter, returning the look with wide blue-golden eyes, and stood. "We are not going to talk about that with Dana being present," he said decidedly.

"Okay. Then let's go to your bedroom and talk," Leon gave in easily and D glared. Tetsu stretched his head out from under the sofa.

"Talk?" he echoed, grinning wickedly, and D's glare got even more murderous while Leon chuckled.

"Not this time, Tetsu," he whispered. "This time I mean real talk. Not the other "talk"."

D's heart started fluttering. "You have a bad influence over my children," he chided icily to mask his sudden yearning.

Leon glanced back at him. "Do I? Are you coming now or what? 'Cause I'm going to discuss this with Dana being present, too," he stated.

Being blackmailed into discussing, D preferred to stay out of hearing range of anyone. "Dana, your father and I are going to have a little talk. Stay here and play, please," he told his child in Chinese and then glared at Leon a last time before walking to the kitchen. "We can talk in here, Detective, if we have to talk at all."

Tetsu and Pon-chan both followed them with their eyes wide as saucers. But their master effectively shut them out by closing the door to the kitchen. Leon eyed it suspiciously. "What would you say if I said this kitchen's never had a door?" he asked, and D could tell it was simply rhetorical.

"I would reply that you just never noticed the door," he gave back and resisted the urge to clamp his hands together. "Detective, is this really necessary? We should not leave Dana alone for too long…"

Leon seemed to waver, but then he shook his head decidedly. "Gotta talk about it. The sooner the better. And I don't like it anymore than you do, just so you know," he added, seeing D's face. "C'mon, don't tell me you didn't expect me to say something about this whole kill-all-humans deal."

The young kami sighed softly. "No, indeed. I did not expect to be spared being questioned about my personal matters," he replied stiffly and sat down.

"This is not your personal matter, D. This is my business also, since I am a friggin' detective whose job it is to protect other humans. You think I can just stand by and watch you selling people pets that are going to kill them first chance they get?"

"They only turn against their masters if they are betrayed by them," D argued. "And I know you're a detective. If I may remind you, that was why we met in the first place."

"Yeah." Leon regarded him with a long, pensive glance. "And now you've at least got to admit that I've been right all along."

"I'm not to be held responsible for human stupidity," the kami snapped. "One should think it's not too hard for the most intelligent species on earth to adhere three simple rules."

"That still doesn't give you the right to kill them. Hell, if we'd go and kill everyone who's parking on the wrong side of the road, America would soon be a dead continent!"

For a long moment they stared at each other, both not willing to give in. At last D spoke up again.

"You kill. You have killed, too, several times."

Leon's face flushed, but at least he didn't use the old argument of his job "being different". Instead he tried a new tactic, stunning D into silence.

"Don't you ever question what you do?"

The kami blinked. "Question what I do? Why should I, Detective? I know why I am doing this. If you kindly would remember, my species nearly got extinct by humans. My father was killed by one. How can you ask then why I am doing this?"

Satisfied he caught the slight shadow crossing Leon's face and admitted to himself that this one had been quite mean. Leon was not likely to forget that he'd been forced to shoot his father. But D couldn't possibly admit that his heart was beating hard again, this time in fearful foreboding. To come out of this unscathed, he would have to play Leon like he'd done so many times before.

Only that Leon now actually knew he was being played, and also knew the truth about D.

It ended as had so many of their fights, Leon stomping off cursing D to hell and the kami just barely keeping from throwing things at his head. They ignored both the pets rushing to them anxiously and Dana whining shrilly in her corner while Honlon tried to soothe her little sister and glared daggers at their fathers. The blonde didn't stay to bring Dana to bed, and he didn't turn up the next morning either, angering D even more who'd spent the whole night trying to get the girl to sleep.

When he did show up in the evening, they had another fight about fatherly duties, even worse than that the day before and ended up nearly killing each other. The only thing that stopped them from doing exactly that was Dana getting in between them, turning a tear-streaked face and pleading blue eyes up at her fathers. So Leon took her, brought her to bed and left the shop. D stayed back and continued to diminish his collection of valuable teacups by throwing them at the wall, pretending it was Leon instead.

Neither of them had considered that now there was a third person involved in their fights, and that this person was not likely to let them continue like this.

The phone rang, loud in the quiet flat. Leon jerked up in his bed, entangled in his sheets and swore when he couldn't get them off quickly enough. But whoever was calling was either very persistent or he really needed to talk to him.

At last the blonde managed to get to the phone, eyes still half-closed. "Yeah?" he grunted into the receiver.

"Detective, I am sorry to wake you up," D's sweet voice floated into his ear, instantly waking Leon up completely.

"What's the matter?!" he sputtered. "Is Dana alright?"

D's voice seemed uncertain. "I think so. But she had another nightmare, and she won't stop crying. She's calling for you. Perhaps you could come here?"

In the background a child's sobs could be heard. Alarmed Leon snatched his jeans and trapped the receiver between shoulder and ear. "What was the dream about?"

A loud wail made Leon pull on his jeans even more quickly. He nearly stumbled, overstrained by the task of listening to D, dressing and holding the telephone at once and swore. "Listen, D, I'm coming over right now. Tell her I'll be there in a minute, kay?" he quickly said into the phone and hung up, eyes already searching the car keys. Within another minute he'd put on an old t-shirt and was running from his flat.

As soon as D heard the click, he dropped the receiver and hurried over to his daughter again, standing in her bed and cradling to her cat. "Dana, lovely, come here," he murmured, but she fought off his hands, cried even louder and clung to her pet. D's worry instantly increased trice. Whatever could be the matter with her? Leon might be her favourite parent at the moment, but she'd never fought D so far.

T-chan climbed into her bed and snuggled against her. The fact that she didn't fight at least him calmed D a bit again, but his head was still spinning. What in the world could have caused the girl to have such a bad nightmare?

He wavered between going to the kitchen to prepare tea, for there was nothing he could do at the moment and staying. His worry for his child won and he sat down on his bed, watching the baby cry helplessly. Finally, he started to sing, hoping the known melodies would perhaps calm her. The effect was negligible.

So D was very relieved when he heard Leon clamber down the stairs. Quickly he shot up, but Pon-chan had already let the blonde in, and he came running into the bedroom. Dana reached for him. "Daddy not leave!" she sobbed desperately.

Leon scooped her up and stroked her back. "Ssh, sweetie. I won't leave you, ever," he murmured and started to walk through the room. D glided out.

Leon had not said hello.

It took nearly an hour until the girl was asleep again. D idled around in the front room, trying to take his mind off his child and Leon, but found he couldn't. At last he got himself some cake from the kitchen. The sugar calmed his nerves, but he still jumped when Leon silently entered.

"She's asleep again," he said calmly.

"Thank you for coming over, Detective," the kami whispered and looked at him from behind his black hair. The blonde seemed tired and nervous.

"Would you like to stay?" he offered, suddenly concerned something might happen to him on his way home. But Leon declined.

"No thanks, I'm going back to my apartment," he said stiffly. "Call me if she wakes again."

"Are you sure? You could sleep on the sofa," D desperately tried to convince him, but he knew it was futile. Leon had not yet forgiven him. As long as he was still angry with D, he would stay distant and cold, that much the kami had learned by now.

He saw Leon open his mouth to decline his offer again, but his mobile phone ringing cut him off. He cursed and fumbled it out of his jeans. "Yeah?"

Silence. D waited anxiously. The thought that Leon might be called to some crime scene now was even more despicable than him returning to his apartment. But his hopes that it was just something normal were shattered by the sudden pained look on Leon's face.

"Yeah, I'm on my way. See you there, Jill." He closed the cellphone and put it back into his pocket. "Seems as if I won't be able to come when she wakes again," he said curtly. "Bye."

"Leon…"

The cry was so soft the human could not have heard it. D drew back his hand which had reached for the blonde of its own accord and scolded himself. Why should he give in? Leon just had to accept what he was. He couldn't just become something else, and certainly not for a human, not even for the human he loved.

Dana did not wake again, but D didn't sleep either. The nocturnal animals were quite delighted that their master joined them for the first time since his child had started to sleep the nights through, but D's mind was not in tending to them, though he appreciated their efforts to make him laugh. His mind was with Leon and he desperately hoped whatever crime scene he'd been called to wouldn't be too cruel on his human.

So when the door opened around eight o'clock, the young kami startled in the kitchen, but hurried out to find his suspicion confirmed. Leon strode in, looking exhausted and pale. "Dana?" he asked with a rough voice.

"She's still asleep," D answered softly. "She did not wake again, but I think she's going to wake up soon. Do you want to stay for breakfast?"

The blonde hesitated, but then he slumped down onto the sofa, burying his head in his hands. "Yeah." Pon-chan climbed onto his lap and he cuddled her, a strange gesture for him. Usually he would pet her, play with her, but this time, he was seeking comfort in the pet. The raccoon, however, was glad to provide it. And D felt another painful pang.

"Do you want something special for breakfast?" he inquired and was glad his voice didn't betray his emotions. But Leon merely shook his head.

"No thanks. I don't think I'm going to eat at all," he murmured. "Just need some coffee."

He sighed deeply. Pon-chan snuggled even closer, and he leaned back onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open. D busied himself with the tea cart, glancing at him every now and then and praying that the child would wake soon. Dana would be able to cheer her father up again, and the blonde really looked like he needed the child's innocent love now.

"What did you sell John William Carter?"

Leon's voice startled the young kami. He turned and found himself subjected to a tired, piercing blue gaze. He blinked in surprise. "A wolf," he answered. "But why are you asking? He didn't break his contract…"

D's voice trailed off as he realised what the detective was really asking him and he sat down the teapot with force. "I am not responsible for his death, Detective," he hissed. "I didn't even know he's dead before you just told me!"

"You're never responsible for anyone's death." Leon's laugh was dark and bitter. It cut right through D's heart.

"John William Carter bought a wolf in this pet shop more than six years ago," the kami stated, trembling with both fury and pain. "He conceded to the terms of the contract, and as far as I can tell, he's never broken any of them. In fact, he is one of the few humans whom I believed capable of adhering the rules. If he is dead now, you have to blame someone else, but not me. I would know if he'd have broken the contract."

Leon regarded him for a long while. "And then where is this wolf if you didn't take him back?"

"Her," D corrected without thinking, and then froze. "What do you mean? Was she not in his house?"

The corners of Leon's mouth twitched without amusement. "Else I wouldn't ask now, would I? He was dead in the living room, looking like some animal decided to munch on him. And the number of your pet shop was right beside the phone."

D allowed himself to wonder at the fact that Leon actually was able to identify the telephone number of the pet shop though he'd only called him two or three times. Then he pressed his lips together in dismay. "And so you concluded that I left my child alone while she was having a nightmare to kill another human and reclaim my pet, yes?" he inquired coolly.

For a moment Leon's blue eyes flickered. Then he sighed deeply. "No. No, of course I didn't."

"Then I would be very grateful if you'd think before speaking, Detective," D snapped.

He turned back to his tea cart. For some moments, the shop was silent behind him. Then the sofa creaked, Pon-chan protested silently and Leon's steps echoed through the parlour. He closed the door so quietly D might not even have heard it had he not been listening intently, hoping the blonde would stay against all odds.

A/N: Oh dear, oh dear... *sighs* We're in for another round of screaming and fighting...

Please do not kill me. I can get why you would want to, but - well, I already explained several times that their relationship is everything but simple. And thanks for the reviews, everybody :-) Yes, I'm much better now, bc, thanks for your concern. Hope you all had a nice Christmas and got many presents ^^ So long, Ena

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