Spirits In The Rain

by Blue Lone Wolf 2574

Dee and the kids meet a strange teen out in the rain, suffering from a possible stab wound, muted shock and running from something they've yet to discover. New York just got a whole new set of problems on their hands, and it's beyond normal. R:T 2 be safe

6. Chapter 6: The Broken Leash

Yet another chapter, another day of makin' some serious readin' material for all to read and hopefully review after thoroughly reading it all the way through. Such things are indeed produced by boredom or lacking concentration on other things in life. But that's beside the point isn't it? Yeah I know it is… I'm just rambling so ignore this paragraph if you must. Anyway! On with things since my rambling doesn't make things go any faster. I don't own FAKE in any shape or form but I'm sure by now everyone can tell what and what isn't my crap. Enjoy!

"Iii" speech

Iii thought

"Iii" telephone speech

Chapter 6: The Broken Leash: Chevy Gets Serious

Silver grey eyes narrowed as the living shadow attempted to get by him again, and again, and a few more times before coming straight at him instead. He'd managed to dodge the blow but had to twist in the air a bit so he could kick the living daylights out of the thing, sending it up and into the ceiling panels. It screeched in its pain and rage as it fell back to the tiled floors, plaster and ceiling dust fell with it. Chevy, thinking fast, reached into one of his pockets to pull out a knife, it's metallic silver blade shining in the dim light of the school hallways as the teen brought it down on the stunned thing lying on the floor.

The reaction was instantaneous, its screech of agony echoing off the walls like tires burning rubber in an empty tunnel. Pulling the blade back out and using an old rag to rid it of what one could say to be the creature's blood, Chevy straightened only to freeze again like he'd done before. Shit. He thought angrily as he vaguely heard at least several more of the things heading his way, their claws scraping against metal and tile almost like nails on a chalkboard.

A few in the air conditioning system while the rest are bouncing all over the place… wonderful. Yet another hectic workday where napping isn't an option and my work in question hates my living guts… yeah how much worse can this day get? Leaving such thoughts for later, he ran down the empty halls in the hopes of finding a much more convenient means of ridding the place of its new pest problem. Unfortunately, he didn't have all that many options on the matter. Cursing angrily under his breath, Chevy quickly skidded around a corner to take another hallway in another direction. He knew better than to fight in an enclosed space. As he ran, he hoped the things behind him would get the hint as he headed straight for the front doors.

--Meanwhile, At The Precinct—

Chief Smith had been sitting in his office for quite some time now, just sitting, enjoying the sweet aroma of well made coffee and mundanely dealing with the several folders worth of papers he was sure would take at least a few hours to finish. And all that Gayle had told them at least two days before wasn't helping his concentration in the slightest. He could still hear that one part of the conversation almost too well, Gayle's words seeming to come through the most as they rang almost ominously in his well-aged ears.

--Flashback—

"Since this is a police station and it's obviously filled with cops, I doubt they'll be pullin' anythin' off unless one of us goes outside where they can most likely get us for sure. My advice is to wait a couple of hours before goin' anywhere specific."

"And do what? Try and track them down?" Dee drawled lazily, giving the teen a bored look which vanished when Gayle upright and snapped at him.

The teen's gaze was filled with aggravation at the question as well as wonder at just how the man could really be so dull. "Are you really that stupid? Hell no! You act like nothin' happened that's what! If they think you're on to them, you won't be able to stand in line at the grocer's without gettin' jumped by the people around you! Much less the cashier but that depends on where you're standing. The last time a cop tried to find 'em like you suggested, they got mobbed by a bunch of neighbors from his own apartment building! Hell, even some old lady's cat did some real damage to his face if you ask me."

-- End Flashback—

The last part he had reason to doubt but something told he'd better not take his chances with such a thing. He was old but probably not old enough to fend off some pissed off cat. But he was kinda old to be dealing with a three-year-old dog with teeth sharper than a pen's point. Of course he didn't exactly see himself getting attacked by a nice old woman almost 40 years his senior just because he asked if his headache medicine was in stock or not. Though the mere thought of it did make him chuckle as he sipped his coffee, staring down at the well organized papers lying for all to see but only for him to read until later or something.

But upon looking up, he found something he hadn't thought he'd find there some minutes before. Jumping in shock and utter astonishment, Chief Warren Smith hadn't really expected to find an annoying looking Evan sitting in one of the visitor's chairs on the opposite side of his desk, looking at him with the most bored expresson the man had ever seen in his life. The only thing he hadn't truly expected at all was the fact that the teen spoke and when he did, it was in a cold, emotionless voice. "Well it seems that you're not as dumb as I thought. How quaint."

"W-what?" the man exclaimed, apparently confused and angered at the teen's words.

The pair of golden-flecked green eyes flashed dangerously, their coldness cutting like well-sharpened knives. "No need for alarm Mr. Smith. My presence is temporary compared to that of my comrades, as well as the issue that you're now facing on a fairly citywide scale."

"Citywide? What do you mean? Who are you?" the older man demanded, glaring at the strange teen by now.

The Evan look-alike only nodded, still cooler than cool at the man's reaction to his words as his face had yet to change in any way at all. "Yes. Most of this city can be infected by their influence in a matter of seconds, sometimes hours but they choose not to so as to avoid getting caught. Allows them more freedom in their actions, more options. I think I'd be happier if we just found them all at once and end it like we should've done years ago. But as usual, one like myself is held back by many a law."

"Who are you? And how'd you get into my office?" chief Smith growled angrily now, having lost all patience with the teen before him on practically every level.

A ghostly smirk began to float its way onto the teen's lips, the eyes flashing again in a way that Smith found terrifying to him. "Honestly Mr. Smith. And to think you'd have recalled by now. Surely my good comrade Newman was kind enough to explain such a thing to you and your oddly intelligent subordinates."

Thinking this over, Smith felt his eyes widen in realization in as to just who was in his office with him, making him rise from his chair and stare at the cool looking teen in pure astonishment and horror. "Y-you! You're Evan's brother! Ozzy!"

"Congratulations. The last horse crosses the finish line and crowd has yet to leave the stands. What are the odds of that?" the teen drawled on, his expression unchanged even though his tone showed a bit of how annoyed he was.

"Why are you here? Is there something you want?" chief Smith demanded, hoping his tone was enough to show he wouldn't be scared by someone twenty years younger than him.

An eyebrow went up in question. "What? Can't a guy check on his younger twin? I don't particularly like watching others 'take care' of his health issues. Especially when they're liable to make any unnecessary changes that might only damage him later on and in the field."

Smith's eyes narrowed as he reclaimed his desk chair, giving the teen a suspicious look from where he sat. "You're worried we might do something. Is that right?"

The face before him became harder than steel, the eyes seeming to flash as if on fire with a far from natural flame. "Take my visit as a warning Mr. Smith. This is our game and you're just a new player to the board. You could say that I'm one of the knights, Gayle a rook, while Chevy's a bishop and you?" he paused, looking thoughtful before shrugging stoically. "You could be a pawn for all I care."

The chief could only grit his teeth in anger but knew the teen spoke the truth. He and his fellow officers were already up to their elbows and there was no way of knowing which way was the way out. So he said nothing as the green eyes, hinted with flecks of almost golden yellow stared unkindly back at him, the harsh voice going on.

"I'll be returning tomorrow for my comrades. Their tardiness is causing a bit of a stir if you ask me. But understand that if you step so much as a millimeter out of line, I'll be obliged by law to do whatever it takes to ensure you don't do it again." Ozzy growled, his voice filled with an aggressive snap.

"And if I don't?" the older man inquired, daring to go deeper into the subject as he watched the teen as well as his old eyes would allow.

The teen just shrugged, like he could care less. "Then fate will be favoring you. Of course, I don't make the rules. I just enforce them to their fullest extent. My role is sometime miniscule compared to the others at this point." The smirk returned from behind a pair of dangerous looking folded hands "Until we meet again, Mr. Smith."

And with the blink of an astonished eye, the teen was gone, having somehow left without even having to move from the chair at all. Chief Smith could only stare at the now empty spot where the teen had been, all the while wondering just what the hell it really was they'd all gotten themselves into. Realizing that his coffee was on edge of getting cold on his desk, the old cop picked up the mug and swigged at much as he could in one gulp before taking another. Seeing the cup empty, he set the thing down and mused over whether he needed another or if he should lay off for awhile.

--Meanwhile, At Ryo's Apartment—

It'd been almost two hours and Dee was just finally starting to feel better. Having gone into the living room to watch some TV and relax for a bit, he'd taken note that Evan had dutifully cleaned up after himself before claiming the couch as his nap spot. Of course, Dee didn't bother to argue with the teen. He looked almost as tired as him anyway and the fact that so much had happened in the past three to four days was enough to make anyone want to nap for a few hours or so. And so, the raven-haired cop sat on the floor, his back resting against the side of the couch as he randomly gazed at various channels in his boredom. But it wasn't until he looked at the time with this assistance of a clock on the wall did he notice that Ryo and Bikky were late in coming home from the high school. In his mind, this was most unusual.

Maybe they got held up. Eh. I'll give 'em a few more minutes before I call. He thought absently to himself, switching to another channel since the last one had gone to a commercial and he needed something to help him occupy his time with. Staring at the flashing screen, Dee would look at the clock now and again, counting the minutes to where he'd pick up the phone and call his partner/boyfriend. After nearly five minutes of switching from the clock face to the TV face, Dee finally had the brains to head towards the kitchen where the home phone was situated.

Picking up the receiver and putting it to his ear, Dee didn't take long to dial in Ryo's cell phone number. He waited patiently for the dial tone to end as he stood staring almost absently at the cupboards' doors before switching to the ceiling. What's taking him so long? Is the traffic really so annoying today? Or is it the rain messing with the signal? Whatever. I'll just wait until he actually picks up.

And so, with the patience of a three year old, the raven-haired cop waited for his blonde counterpart to pick up, completely unaware of what was really going on some mile or so away.

--With Ryo—

Regardless of what Dee was thinking, Ryo wasn't exactly dealing with traffic. Per se. More along the lines of strange lizard/dog things, black as night but ugly as hell, that seemed to be coming out of the ceiling and floors and were relentless in chasing them through the empty halls of the high school. Heaven forbid they started popping out of the walls. Not only that, they seemed to defy the laws of physics mainly since not only did they come out of the ceilings, they walked on them as if they were the floors and not the other way around. The hallways ahead were clear as they tried to head for one of the exits with Kiku in the lead, seeming to move as if she were some small animal. But their hopes of escape were cut short when one of the creatures busted through a classroom door, turning it to shambles as it fell clumsily to the floor.

"Get back!" Kiku exclaimed suddenly, surprising all. It wasn't until she seemed to go into a defensive stance that they decided it was best to listen to her command. The new creature in front of them had gotten to its feet and was starting to scramble towards them, the small girl standing her ground. It never stood a chance.

For at that moment, Kiku moved in a way that at first was puzzling. But after the movement, all was clear. The little girl had quickly brought her arms into a basic fold, one arm over her chest with her hand as if looking for her own pulse, the other in a fist at her stomach. With all the swiftness she could muster, Kiku brought her right arm around in a controlled swing while her left came up in a fist to cover her chin, hand stiff and fingers close together, as if she were trying to block a blow sent towards her face. In this case, the only thing that got hit was the creatures' face, oozing with a dark sludge that one could only guess to be blood by a force unseen by the human eye. It screeched in its fury and rage, trying to regain its composure enough to counter the girl's powerful blow at its face.

But she didn't stop there. Twisting her foot, Kiku sent her left fist forward in a fairly powerful back punch, making a large section of the things' chest to cave from the forceful impact. Still not stopping even as the thing gagged in surprise and pain, Kiku quickly twisted around to lay down a powerful back leg side kick, sending the thing right down the remainder of the hall and out the school exit doors. It fell to the ground with a loud thud and splash of rainwater.

"Let's go!" she called, not waiting for the other creatures to snap out of their horrified stupor as she made a break for the now demolished doors. They were immediately pelted by the autumn rain but as more of the things came running after them at full speed, they had all reason to not care if they were soaked or not.

"Which way is your car?" she demanded suddenly, looking back at Ryo in question.

"Around to the west side, in the parking lot." He said quickly, curious in as to why she'd ask such a thing.

She didn't give him a chance to think about it. "Get there! Fast! I'll do what I can here."

Ryo looked horrified, almost stopping to stare at the girl in disbelief. "W-what?! You're just a child! How can you--?"

"I held off the last one didn't I? Just go already!" she yelled over the roaring wind, skidding to a halt before zooming past them back towards where the creatures were still trying to catch up, their strange feet oddly unable to grip the wet cement.

Seeing no real choice in the matter, Ryo picked up his pace a little as he tried not to slip on the wet ground as he headed around a corner and towards the parking lot where his car was obviously among the few that were still there. Quite practically throwing themselves into the car, the four of them slammed their doors and gasped for air as the rain pounded the roof like someone were dropping rocks onto it.

Upon seeing another one of the creatures out of the corner of his eye as it came almost galloping across the empty lot and towards the parked car, Ryo didn't need any reminder that he was the one with the keys and that they needed to leave. Fast. Nearly forcing the key into the ignition, the blonde desperately turned it as quickly as he could, making the engine roar to life as he brought the large machine out of 'park'. The wheels screeched on the slick pavement as the car lurched into motion, Ryo doing his best to ensure they didn't crash as they headed for the streets.

Getting onto the road and merging with the rest of the traffic was surprisingly easy and uneventful, the strange creature having somehow vanished from sight as they waited almost impatiently for the light to turn green. Soon it changed and the late day traffic began to move, tires sloshing the puddles on the edges of the road to send the mucky water flying at the many standing a bit too close to the edge. Silent curses were drowned out by merciless rain and other sounds that raged too loudly as each one tried to overcome the other. Ryo didn't say anything as he kept his eyes on the road ahead and behind him, his sharp eyes and diligent mind focusing mainly on his task of getting them home and not what kind of foul thing could be leaping up from down the road where the school was. And that was something his thoughts could do without.

Nervous silence gripped the inside of the sedan as the blonde cop tried to keep his thoughts and attention in check, making sure to watch both the other cars and the lights overhead to ensure he didn't miss a red light or accidentally goose through a yellow. This would've lasted for a while longer if something in his pocket didn't suddenly start to make noise, nearly causing him to spin the wheel in a crazy direction as he jumped at the new ruckus. Somehow keeping one hand on the wheel and an eye on the road, Ryo searched his pocket for the cause: his cell phone. Making sure the small device was facing the right direction, the blonde pressed the green button and held it to his ear as he refocused his eyes on the road. "Hello?"

An all too familiar voice came over the line, making Ryo relax considerably. It was just Dee. "Hey Ryo! Where are you guys? You were supposed to be here over twenty minutes ago! What the hell?"

"Oh Dee I'm sorry! We got sidetracked and… it got complicated. But we're on our way right now." The blonde didn't know why he didn't just explain what'd happened at the school but something told him that it could wait until later.

"Are you okay? You don't sound too cool. Did something happen?" the brunette inquired from over the line, sounding instantly suspicious.

This was the last thing Ryo needed as he tried to keep his cool. "What? No! No, nothing at all. Trust me."

Dee's response was hesitant but sincere. "Well… okay but hurry up. Me and Evan are gettin' kinda bored over here."

Ryo rolled his eyes even as he took a corner smoothly. "Okay now I know that's a lie. You're probably trying to win a poker game you found you can't win."

The blonde smiled in triumph upon hearing the man's indignant response. "Are you kidding me? The kid's out like a light on the couch! Unless he can play in his sleep I doubt that's gonna be my main problem. Just get home will ya?"

"Alright, alright! See you when we get there." Ryo said in mock defeat, only making the brunette on the other end bristle.

"Fine. Bye." He growled over the line, obviously not amused.

"Bye." Ryo said innocently as he pressed the red button and stuffed the small device back into one of his pockets.

Bikky, who'd been trying to listen in from the passenger's seat, gave Ryo a questioning look. "Did Dee do something?"

"Surprisingly no. But we'll have to fill him in on things later." The blonde man said calmly, his focus mainly on the road than much else by now.

"Yeah but… what about Lass?" the teen inquired, giving the older man one of those 'are you sure you remembered everything?' kind of looks.

This question was so random and to the point, Ryo almost let go of the wheel in his shock and realization. "W-what!?"

Bikky sweat dropped at the blonde man's reaction but just kept on talking anyway. "Don't tell me you forgot about her!"

"Y-yeah but--! Oh god. Carol! Do you still have that phone you had?" he inquired desperately, already feeling horrible for overlooking such a thing.

"Uh yeah. Why?" Carol inquired hesitantly, suddenly nervous about what Ryo was going on about.

"Can you call Chevy on it?" he inquired, nervously fingering the wheel as he tried to keep the car from swerving on him.

The girl blinked, his words suddenly clicking right into the 'makes sense' box in her head. "I don't know but I'll try."

Refocusing his attention on the road, Ryo didn't bother to watch Carol pull out the silver cell phone from one of her pockets, flip it open, and began to scroll through the lists posted on the tiny screen. (See chapter 4 for better references). Okay… 2 and… 2! Yes! Hoping to see the ever-familiar 'call' option, Carol froze when she saw something else instead. Oh crap.

Instead of getting a number or a 'please wait' message, what had come up had been 'so sorry! That officer is not available at this time. Would you like to chose a different candidate?'

"Oh dammit!" she yelled suddenly, quickly pressing buttons, hoping they would comply with her intentions.

A bit startled and worried, Ryo didn't take his eyes off the road as he called back towards the teenage girl. "What is it?"

"It says he's not available!" Carol exclaimed as she had the phone put up the main menu once again.

"What? That's impossible! Maybe he can't pick up!" Lai said almost afraid that something had happened to the other teen, though he admittedly didn't know the guy at all.

"It could be anything by now! I'll try again." The blonde girl said with a sigh as she continued to go through the proper menus and cursed when she still got the same response. As stubborn as she was, Carol went through the different menus at least three more times before, as if upon impulse, the small silver device began to ring. Sitting frozen in surprise at this as the screen politely said 'receiving call', the blonde girl pressed the green button before slowly putting it to her ear.

"Hello?" she inquired, nervous and uncertain as Lai and Bikky stared at her, trying to listen in as well as they could.

A familiar voice rang true over the slight static of rain and hard breathing. "It's me, Chevy. Have you been trying to call me?"

Her answer was hesitant, showing her confusion on how to answer. "Uh yeah sort of. But it kept saying you weren't available. Why was that?"

He seemed to shrug at this question from over the line, his voice calm as ever despite the fact that he sounded like he'd run ten miles nonstop. "Kinda hard to be called upon when one such as myself is in motion. Especially when the caller's on the move as well. Much less in a confined space, that may, or may not, be moving to your knowledge or otherwise. I guess Ozzy forgot to mention that part of how the damn thing works."

"Why wouldn't he tell us something like that? That's something you should tell someone right of the bat!" the blonde girl demanded, frustrated with this lack of trust in her and her friends competence.

"Knowing him as well as I do, he could give a rat's ass about what and what not to tell you as long as it's on a need-to-know basis. Obviously… he didn't think you needed to know that little bit. But now that you do, you can stop wondering why your request wasn't working like you thought it would." His voice seemed to echo the same thing about it, but something else about his tone told her that Chevy could care less about it in the first place.

Rolling her eyes, Carol decided to let it drop to ask. "Where are you? We could turn around and pick you up."

This seemed to catch him by surprise, his tone changing to sound almost uneasy about such a thing. "No! It's too dangerous for that. Just keep going until you reach home. I might be able to meet up with you there when I'm sure none of those things are following me. Besides, isn't Kiku with you?"

Hesitating again, Carol felt the regret and embarrassment grow from within her chest as she eventually answered him. "Uh… no, not exactly."

"WHAT?!?" his voice practically echoed throughout the car, almost making Ryo swerve into the wrong lane, the loud angered yell obviously making him and everyone else jump in surprise. Carol's ear, one of the victims, began to ring even though Chevy's voice still came through loud and clear. "You left her behind?! Why'd the hell do that? Damn it woman! What the hell happened when you guys left?"

"It wasn't our fault okay? She told us to run for it as she fended one of those things off! Kinda didn't feel like arguing especially since she was kicking its ass!" she exclaimed, hoping she wasn't shouting even though she was defending herself and her friends on the subject.

"Kicking its ass and winning are two different things Carol!" he snapped over the line, making her wince. Of what little time she'd known the other teen, this made him sound very out of character. Carol hesitated, hoping the teen's anger would dissipate. It didn't.

"Where did you last see her?" Chevy demanded, sounding infuriated at her lack of response.

"In the parking lot next to the school. We just drove off after that. Or had to since one of those… things tried to chase that car down and smash it." She said in a almost regretful tone, absolutely hating the fact she had to be the one to tell the other teen something that could've gotten worse by now.

She heard a tired sigh being blown as silence filled her ear. After a moment or two of this, Chevy's voice sounded off clearly, his tone giving away his fatigue. "I'll try and call her once I hang up. You need to go to Ryo's place and stay there until I either call to say you guys can leave or I come over and say so. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah we can do that. Will you be okay?" the blonde girl inquired, sounding a bit worried for the teen rather than herself by this point.

Chevy just scoffed at this question, the noise made as if it'd amused him in some way. "I'm still alive, if my picking up your call was any indication. I'll call. If not, see you in twenty minutes."

"O-okay… bye."

"Bye." The line went dead, leaving a silent car gently rolling through water logged city streets to slow to a stop in front of Ryo's apartment complex. Carol could only stare at the phone before flipping it shut, looking up to find three males staring at her in question. Silent at first, Carol took the time to explain what'd just occurred.

When she finished, Bikky didn't say anything, Lai only nodded while Ryo just sighed in relief before rummaging around for his umbrella and exiting the car. Gathering their things from where they'd dropped to the floor, the three teens moved to do the same, making sure their rain coats shielded them from the the downpour. Making sure all the doors were locked, Ryo quickly went to the front doors to hold it open long enough for the other three to exit the heavy rain. Entering the elevator and pressing the proper button, the four of them began their ascent to the apartment.

--With Evan—

Having been lightly dozing off on the living room couch as his 'lunch' settled in his stomach, Evan was vaguely aware of Dee settling himself on the floor in front of the large piece of furniture as he lazily flicked through the TV channels. It'd been over twenty minutes since Ryo and Bikky were due back and they seemed to be taking their time arriving. Not that he was counting anyway. Something about the whole thing stunk like fish kept in the sun too long, a certain something that told him there was something going on beyond his being stabbed and chased more than once. It was certainly bigger than anything he could think of at the moment, and he knew that thinking about it wouldn't make things easier. Never did anyhow.

Leaving it at that, Evan was about to roll over away from the noise and lights the TV was creating for itself only to perk up at the front door opening of its own accord. It was obvious Ryo had never seen Ramsey's work in action before since he had an amazed look on his face. Smirking even as Dee got up from his spot to see who it was, Evan rolled over anyway and decisively fell asleep.

--With Ryo—

Upon reaching his front door and just when Ryo was about to grab the knob, it suddenly swung open with a sigh that sounded almost like a small breeze passing through the hallway. Not a normal sound for a door to make. Most certainly not in his book on normality written specifically on how truly normal things were supposed to be anyway. With 'normal' aside, the blonde highly doubted that anything was really all that normal anymore. Lass was still missing, Kiku was probably with her older brother Chevy by now after nearly getting killed by strange lizard things and on top of that, Evan, formally known as Kijika, was someone who had a past where normality had been tossed out the window a long time ago. Truly a life on the wild side compared to what he previously thought the boy to be most likely capable of.

Before he could think more of it, Dee's deadpan eyes came into view, dark green orbs of emotion meeting with light brown eyes that widened in surprise at the man's sudden appearance.

"DEE!" the blonde almost shrieked in his terror, nearly clutching his chest as if to either physically calm his heart or to shield himself from attack.

The brunette, on the other hand, was rightfully oblivious to what his partner had just been through and stood with a confused look on his face. "What?"

"Don't sneak up on me!" the sand blonde said snappishly, his anger threatening to boil at his lover's stupidity.

Still oblivious to the true going-ons, Dee could only lift an eyebrow at his partner's words. "Sneak? I didn't sneak up on you! You just didn't notice me walking up to you! What's gotten into you Ryo?"

Realizing what he'd done, the sand blonde man just sighed, rubbing his eyes with one of his hands in fatigue as he leaned against the nearest wall. It wasn't until then that he truly felt how tired he really was. He hadn't felt this tired since the day he found out that Leo was responsible for killing his parents by mistake. Bikky, Lai and Carol had gone to the living room to awaken a sleeping Evan, leaving the two men to themselves, Dee staring at the sand blonde man with concern painting his face.

"Ryo? Are you okay?" the question made him look up to find dark green eyes aching to know how to heal the unseen pain he was feeling.

Ryo only shook his head, letting his hand take hold of his face as he rubbed his forehead to fight back the headache that threatened to fell him to the floor. "No… no I'm not. I'm just… just tired is all."

Dee stayed silent for a while, but soon spoke in a soft and caring voice as he used gentle hands to pull Ryo away from the wall and towards him. "Alright… c'mon, let's get you to bed."

This caught the sand blonde by surprise, making him look up to protest. "But I-!"

His counterpart just shook his head, face stern but voice still calm. "Dinner can wait for you. You need rest. No arguments capice?"

Ryo could only stare at the other man before letting his shoulders droop as he sighed, nodding in defeat. Leaving the teens to themselves, Dee led his friend, partner and lover to their bedroom where Ryo nearly collapsed on the bed as Dee quietly shut the door and helped him out of his shoes. The sand blonde was barely aware of the raven taking both his jackets before moving on to his tie and belt. It was when Dee got to his belt that his brain seemed to give itself a shock, sleepy eyes giving the other man a suspicious look. Blinking at this reaction, Dee only held his hands up in surrender.

"I ain't gonna do nothin' you don't want. Do you want to change out?" he inquired, hoping to get a fairly conscious answer, even when the perverted part of him kept screaming 'just strip 'im naked anyway'. Something he dutifully ignored.

Vision becoming blurry, his mind going fuzzy again, Ryo just shook his head as he let it fall onto one of the pillows. "… Not really… I just want to sleep."

"All right then." Dee said, nodding in agreement as he gently lifted the other man's legs from hanging over the side to lie fully on the mattress. Without making another sound, the raven pulled the sheets up over the other man, smiling at the peaceful look on his face before tiptoeing out the door. It took a lot of effort to ensure the door shut without making the usual click, but Dee could only sigh in relief when he performed this task with successful results. Tiptoeing away, the raven haired man made his way towards the kitchen so he could make dinner as planned. Or at least he would have if not for the front door swinging open of it's own accord.

Purely astonished at this and instantly on edge, Dee truly wished he had his side arm with him. Strange thing was, the door hadn't been forced open, much less pushed in a way that would make it slam against the wall. No, it just swung open as if by a small breeze strong enough to move it, revealing an all-too-familiar figure standing next to a smaller one that came up to the newcomer's waist.

Chevy, by no circumstance, was very amused at this particular moment. No, he was downright angry that he'd been careless in thinking a group of teens and an adult would have the brains to take his troublesome little sister with them as they fled the school grounds some five or so streets over in the middle of cold winter rain. Cold, harsh winter rain that'd been falling almost nonstop for about a week or more, with hardly any signs of stopping. To add to his present frustrations, he was wet enough to be mistaken for a bedraggled dog in human clothes with the ability to stand on its hind legs. Something he truly had the right to be pissed off about. Much to his contentment, at least he didn't smell like one. Upon the door having opened itself, his spotting his former victim of annoyance was all too easy for him to spot and blink in surprise.

What he said then made Dee shiver with anger. "You live here too? Huh, small world don't you think?"

"What are you doing here? How'd you even find this place anyway?" he snapped angrily at the teen as he let himself in, shutting the door behind him and the little girl at his side. Said teenager looked exactly as he did that very morning, the only difference being he was practically soaked to the bone.

His hat, looking like something an Irish sheep herder would wear, was droopy and blackened by rain water while his spiky brown hair appeared to be makeshift dog fur compared to before. His mud colored jeans actually looked like really oily mud that no one would want to step in, and his windbreaker wasn't doing much to save his skinny frame from the chills of the weather. To top things off, over the drenched scarf that still hid his face from view, silvery grey eyes flashed with eerie intelligence.

"Carol and Bikky's new phone has a tracking system that allows me to locate them whenever they need to be found. That and your new door seems to be working nicely." He said coolly, looking back at the door as if it were something truly worth looking at for some reason or other.

Dee just looked skeptical at this, his brow furrowing in question. "What? How would you know?"

"If I was a foe, do you think it would've let me in?" the teen inquired even as he knelt down to assist the little girl with her rain-drenched jacket. Dee didn't miss the fact that while the teen wore dark, neutral colors, the little girl didn't. Her clothing was composed of bright, vivid colors, her hair long and unbraided. From what he could tell just by looking, something told him her own brown hair was a fairly lighter shade than the teen's happened to be, almost a sandy tan color if not for the fact that it looked almost like moist dirt. Her skin was sun kissed, showing she was used to being outside a lot rather than being indoors all day. If anything, it was her strangely colored eyes that caught his attention. Never had he seen such eye in his life.

This caught Dee off guard. Such a question was a bit strange to him since doors weren't supposed to open on their own unless it belonged to an elevator or was one of those sliding doors that stores and shopping malls had. Other than that, ordinary doors weren't supposed to do such things like open by themselves. Like they had minds of their own. That's just creepy.

For the first time, the little girl spoke up in a small voice through her chattering teeth as proof on how chilled to the bone she was. "Aniki? I'm cold. And I'm hungry. Can we eat soon?"

His response was immediate, his tone calm and soothing. "In a moment Kiku, in a moment. We have to get you dried off first."

"What about you?" even for a little girl of ten years, Kiku had the mind of a young adult just beginning to come of age.

The teen just shook his head, his kind but invisible smile discernable from his tone. "I can wait. But you can't. Mom and Dad'll kill me if they find out you were in the rain for too long. Can't have you getting sick now can we?"

Kiku blinked and shook her head, looking a bit despondent. "No."

"See? Now get these off while you can." he turned to Dee as he spoke again. "I'm sure the nice cop here can find you something dry to wear."

If what he said wasn't enough, the teen's hard stare was Dee's cue to turn around and stare searching for dry clothes small enough to fit the small girl. Like Ryo had done with Carol upon first meeting her, Dee had the sense to get a plain t-shirt of his own and a towel before returning to find that the older boy had gotten his little sister to strip down to just her own shirt and her underwear. Mainly since he was a guy, not a pedophile and knew that his little sister deserved some privacy and respect despite her age. With Dee's help, Chevy led Kiku down the hall to the bathroom where he said he'd wait outside if she needed any help.

With that, a raven-haired cop and a drenched teen stood out in the hall, quietly and patiently for the youngest person in the whole house to finish her business. It wasn't until then that Dee decided to talk to the teen.

"So… why are you here?"

The teen didn't even blink as he leaned against the wall, completely unaware that he was getting water on the clean wooden floors. "My assistance is required in a certain task that I'm thinking hasn't been disclosed to you yet. I'll leave that to Ryo-san. Where is he anyway?"

"Sleeping. He was pretty tired when he got here. What happened out there?" he inquired, hoping his suspicious glare would be enough to get the boy talking.

He didn't even flinch. Just shrugged almost casually instead. "Oh… some more of those things decided to play tag. One or two of 'em tried to tear me apart."

Astonished, the raven-haired cop nearly gaped before practically stammering out his words. "Really? What'd you do?"

"I beat the livin' shit out of 'em." He could hear the triumphant smirk in his tone, made even clearer by the glint in his eyes despite the calm and lazy air about him.

"Aniki! No using bad words!" Kiku scolded through the door, somehow having heard him through the wood and the sound of running water.

"Gomen!" he said in an amused tone, his eyes seeming to smile at the door even though such a thing was a bit pointless.

Trying to ignore the sibling moment, Dee kept going. "Never did get your name. Mind tellin' me?"

The smiling eyes turned away from the door and on him as the teen spoke, still sounding amused. "Name's Chevy. But some call me Dog Man. Either one works."

Raising an eyebrow, Dee felt inclined to ask. "Does it matter?"

"No." Was the nonchalant answer, eyes of silver grey giving him a questioning look in turn. "Should it matter?"

Dee only shrugged. "No idea."

"Exactly."

The cop only stared confused as the teen before him took to staring at the wall before shaking it off and heading towards the kitchen to prepare the meal he'd nearly forgotten.

--A Half Hour Later—

With dinner nearly ready and Ryo still asleep while the four teens plus Kiku, now dressed in one of Dee's shirts, relaxed in the living room, Dee couldn't help but wonder just what in all the fiery pit of hell was going on. Yeah sure, Chevy had said Ryo would explain everything to him when he was ready to do so but he wanted answers and he wanted them now. Asking Bikky, Carol or Lai seemed a bit drastic since Ryo had indeed promised him and he was sure the teens had been through enough as it was. He would've asked Chevy, but he was either hiding out in the bathroom getting cleaned up or the laundry room waiting for the dryer to buzz. The teen had refused to remove his own clothing to clean himself until he was sure that Kiku had a spot on the couch. Something of which Evan was polite enough to relinquish.

Evan had smiled happily when he spotted Kiku, silently laughing as she almost shouted his name and enfolded him in a sudden embrace. He didn't hesitate to give her the blanket he'd been using to sleep with for the past few or so days, making sure she was comfortable and warm before starting a game of go fish with them all. It took them a while to figure out how he was asking for cards, but the hand signals he gave each person in turn were pretty basic. Holding his cards in one hand, he used the other to put up a certain number of fingers to the person he was asking. Ace through five was easy enough, but going six and up seemed challenging. Thankfully, the older teen had the sense to flash the number of fingers again if the person he was asking hadn't been paying attention. He got a little frustrated from time to time, but other times, Evan was proving to be extremely patient.

A loud but muffled buzz of the dryer caught Dee's attention, making him turn and stare at the laundry room door, the light shining from under the door broken by a large shadow passing it by. Thus proving his theory in where he thought the teen was at that particular moment in time. His movements were silent, the clothes being the only thing creating noise, somehow covering up the soft pat of bare feet on wooden floors. A noise that the raven-haired cop was having some real trouble hearing. It wasn't until that moment that he noticed the pot he was supposed to be watching was threatening to bubble over.

The rest of the evening went on calmly, the teens coming to sit as Evan gave Kiku a piggy back ride to the table. It was a pretty good meal, and a well enjoyed one. Even though Kiku chose then to say something that'd slipped the cop's mind. "Aniki said I should have soup."

It didn't take long for him to make the little ten year old some chicken noodle soup from a can he'd tracked down from one of the cabinets, silently thanking the heavens that it hadn't reached its expiration date just yet. Otherwise he was sure both Ryo and Chevy would have his head. Getting beat up by a lover and beat up by a strangely robust teen twice in the same day didn't seem all that appealing to him. Probably never would either.

After giving the little girl her soup and eating his own meal, Dee set some aside for Ryo and Chevy to be microwaved if need be. Lai had called his limousine driver a few minutes before, telling the man to pick him up as well as Carol so that she wouldn't have to walk in the rain. Bikky saw them to the door, all three saying their goodbyes before the blonde boy decided it was his turn for a shower. Evan had gone in search of extra blankets and pillows for him and Chevy, having willingly given his previous bed gear to Kiku. That and he'd surrendered the couch, meaning that both Chevy and himself would be sleeping on the floor. Dee and Bikky instantly protested but Evan, despite being temporarily mute, wouldn't hear a word of it. Instead of trying to convince the teen out of changing his mind, Bikky consented to his taking up the boy's floor so that Chevy could be in the same room as his little sister. Smiling kindly at the blonde, it was obvious that Evan agreed with this logic, politely waiting in the hall for Bikky to finish his shower and get dressed in privacy before setting himself up for the night.

Dee just went in to sleep with Ryo, who turned out to be out cold. Having taken his own shower by now and dressed in just sleep pants, the raven haired cop calmly settled down next to his partner in more than one way and let sleep conquer.

It wasn't the first time he'd come into a pitch-black room, not that he minded. He was used to it. Avoiding the coffee table by mere centimeters, Chevy found a bunch of blankets and a pillow awaiting him on the floor. Taking all of this in stride, the teen rolled them out with practiced ease and lay down, pulling them up to his face as he let out a contented sigh. Before he could drift off, a familiar voice called out to him from somewhere in the dark.

"Aniki?" Kiku quietly called from the couch, hesitant but curious.

Chevy, alert to his sister's voice, turned his head in her direction. "Hm?"

At first, she said nothing, letting the quiet take over, drowned out only by rainfall. But after a moment of silence, she spoke in hushed tones. "Are you mad at me?"

This question left the teen honestly confused. "What? Why would I?"

Kiku's hesitation persisted, her voice threatening to show how upset she was. "I didn't go with them like I should have. I figured you'd be mad."

A bit alarmed at his sister's distress, Chevy's sleepy mind awakened itself further so he could answer her on a truly conscious level. "No… I'm not mad. I got mad at them but not at you. You were just going by protocol. No reason for me to get angry with you over that." Pausing, he smirked in amusement when he spoke again. Why? Do you want me to be angry at you?"

Her reaction made him snicker. "No! It's just… I know how you are when I don't listen to you."

Chevy just shrugged, but remembered that the room was dark and she couldn't see him. "I'm not mad. Go to sleep now. We'll be leaving for the police station with Ryo and Dee tomorrow."

Unfortunately, Kiku didn't fall silent like he thought she would. "We're going to see the cops? Why?"

"Those who know need to be briefed of the changes. You know that Kiku. Evan can stay here with you if you don't want to go." He said as he resettled amidst his sheets on the floor.

Chevy could only smile at the tone of voice she used next. "I wanna go. I've never been in a police station before."

He could only chuckle at her determination, not helping but admire her means of showing courage in the face of something unfamiliar. "I figured as much. Alright, we'll all go. Now go to sleep Kiku. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

The room fell silent, rain and wind being the only thing to make noise. Lightning flashed, rumbling thunder coming close to making anything loose to shake and rattle from the force of the sound. As sleep slowed his mind, the drum of rain acting as white noise while the occasional thunder clap and lightning flash, something in far reaches of his mind told him that the next day… was definitely going to be a long one.

Finally finished! And, to truly mess with you guys, with a cliffhanger to bring it all to a close. For now of course. I'd never finish a fic like this so soon! I can be mean but I'm not that cruel! I'm serious if any of you laugh at such a statement. Thankfully, no notes today. One less thing for me to worry over. But if you guys do have questions, go ahead and ask in a review or a message. Email me. I don't really care which. I'll respond either way. ANYway! I best move on to the preview/teaser! So here it is:

Next chapter:

Chapter 7: The Search Begins Anew: Ozzy Appears Again

Lass is missing, Evan still can't talk, Dee's tryin' to piece things together and from the chief's point of view, both he and Ozzy aren't exactly having good days. We all should know they've seen better. Can things get any worse? Or can the cops of the 27th Precinct get things in order before much else happens to the people they care for? To top things off, will Ozzy truly make another appearance? And does Diana know anything about our mysterious friends that no one else does? Find out in the next installation of 'Spirits In The Rain':

Chapter 7: The Search Begins Anew: Ozzy Appears Again!!