Disclaimer: Sanami Matoh owns FAKE.

The Locker Room

Ryo's POV

Something was bothering Dee. He seemed agitated but didn't want to talk to me about it, I guess. He kept scanning the office and checking his watch.

"Did something happen last night?" I asked, setting down the file I had just opened. "You wouldn't say a word to me when you got home."

"You were awake?" Dee stared at me incredulously, I returned the look.

"I was still looking over our new case." I frowned at him. "Which, by the way, is something we need to talk about. I've been looking over one of the witness' testimony. Judging from the people they associate with, I'm pretty sure they'd be able to give us some direction." I reread a few paragraphs. "We might even be able to get a suspect in today for an interrogation. I know how much you enjoy those." I looked up at Dee to see him staring hard at me. "What?"

"Is it really that noticeable?" He asked me severely.

"Is what so noticeable?"

"Have you seen JJ at all today?" JJ? "He and I had a pretty intense... chat. I'm just a little worried."

"Why, was he in trouble?" A pretty intense chat, indeed. It must have been to get Dee this worked up. "Do you think he'd be hurt?"

"No, well, I don't know." He confessed. "I blacked out when I was with him... He seemed alright at the time, but something could have... you know?" I didn't know so I shrugged.

"You could ask Drake if he's seen him." Dee was gone from our table like a shot.

Dee was probably over-stressed from being out so late and getting so drunk. He had probably just blown the conversation with JJ way out of proportion. Even if he had, it didn't mean I couldn't watch their interaction from my desk. Judging from his gestures I concluded that Drake had not seen JJ today, and Dee should ask Chief. When Dee rushed off to Chief's office I grinned to myself, proud of my perception skills.

I picked up the phone and dialed our witness.

JJ's POV

Last night had shaken me. It rattled me so bad I made sure to arrive late, avoid Drake, and take refuge in the locker rooms. None of my close co-workers ever came in here, only beat cops coming or going. It felt safe. I chose one of the corners no one ever claimed.

I had never been treated like that by anyone before, and I didn't know how to feel about it. And for Dee, who had never even given me a sideways glance before, to even consider...

I leaned against a locker door, the pressure on the welts on my back brought back a little of the pain, making me smile. I slid to the floor, letting the locks and ridges bring last night back to me, the memory was so intense I could practically taste Dee. I sat for a moment in a daze, jumping from scene to scene in my head. I closed my eyes and the memory of my front door slamming came back to me-

SLAM!

I jumped, my eyes flew open and I listened apprehensively to the clacking of approaching footsteps. Dee rounded the corner and hesitated. I struggled awkwardly to get to my feet. He came to me and helped me up. I winced at the burning in my wrists when he grabbed them.

"Are you okay?" Dee asked me, sincerely concerned. I was about to nod, until I remembered the terms we had parted on.

"I'm fine." I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my arm in a tight grip. Fear pumped through me and I tensed up.

"What did I do?" Dee asked me, his eyes pleaded with me.

"You were there." I mumbled, backing into the metal behind me, as far as I knew he was going to snap on me again.

"Look, JJ." He said, getting very close to me. "I'm going to level with you, alright?" I nodded. "I used to have this problem. Okay? I was an angry, angry child. And I developed a rage problem when I was a teen. I had just gotten over it when we met. If my anger gets bad enough, I black out."

I tried to process this. "So you don't remember last night?"

"I remember you. You-" he lowered his voice and kept it low, "You came. And I got angry. I started losing it, and I don't remember any more."

"You hurt me." I told him. "You threw me around, you broke a couple things trying to throw them at me, and then you left. After you told me I was a mistake. That I'm not good enough." I tried not to choke on my tears, I didn't even want him to know how he had made me feel. I didn't even want to know, after how alive he had made me feel before that.

"I'm so sorry." His eyes said the same and I attempted a smile. "That wont happen again, it wasn't you. I've had a lot on my mind lately, it was just the last straw, you know?"

"I get it." I assured him. He wiped a tear from my face and ruffled my hair.

"Did I at least give you a good time before I went berserk?" His soft eyes and puppy-dog expression once again won me over.

"Dee," I begged softly, "Please." I heard the nearly immediate change in his respiration. He grabbed the locks on either side of me, trapping me. He moved closer, eyes on mine. "Please, Dee..." My own breath changed as he forced his body on mine, triggering all the pains from the night before. "God, please-"

The door slammed open again and we both froze, breath caught in our throats. Beat cops on the other side of the locker room hustled in, laughing and chatting. They would have no reason to come over here. Dee met the challenge in my eyes and he rubbed himself against me, I bit my lip to keep from moaning, a small gasp escaped my throat. "Can I touch you?" I whispered.

"You may." he answered quietly. A couple showers flicked on in the distance, the chattering continued to drown us out. I slid my hands around his waist and up his back.

I continued indirectly begging Dee. He was starting to get antsy. After one of my soft pleas he shook his head violently and punched the locker next to me. Jarring me from the dreamlike state I had been lulled into by his sweet lustful eyes.

"Hey what's goin' on over there!" We heard one of the cops shout.

"What do you want?" Dee whispered hastily, I opened my mouth, but my reply didn't come out and he grabbed me by the the face like he had last night. "What do you want?" He screamed, twisting one of my arms hard up against my welts.

"Please let me kiss you- Let me, please Dee-" I could tell my face was contorted in pain, and my voice came out agonized.

"Hey, I said what the hell's going on over there!" Came the voice again, accompanied by approaching footsteps. Dee lunged at my lips, he twisted my arm harder until I was nearly crying while our mouths worked hard against each other. We broke our kiss and he backed a reasonable distance away from me just as one of the beat cops came around the corner. Dee quickly let go of my wrist and the cop gave us a funny look.

"We needed to talk privately, okay? JJ's having lady trouble." Dee announced. I blushed, trying not to give us away.

"Ah, well, good luck then." he left us.

"That was a little too close." Dee told me. "Next time let me know what you want and I will give it to you if and when I decide to." He pecked my cheek sweetly and wiped my tears. "We need another night like last night. Promise I wont get so mean. Come out whenever you feel up to it." With that, Dee left me there.

I didn't know if I could trust him not to get so mean. I tried to stretch my twisted arm, it felt so stiff. It took another couple of minutes to regain full use and my composure.

Dee had actually kissed me. He kissed me. I was somewhat stunned. There had been an unfortunate lack in kissing last night. I touched my swollen lips and swooned just a little, took a deep breath and made my way out to my desk.