FAKE First Year Together: A New Day (May)
Pairing: Dee/Ryo
Rating: This chapter HAD (as in past tense) a whole lot of sex in it, which I TOOK OUT so as not to get banned from this wonderfully supportive site. I mean, I really toned it down a lot. But you still shouldn't read it at work or school because Dee and Ryo do end up in bed together at the end of this chapter.
Spoilers: To Volume 7
Timing: Set in May directly after Book 7 ended
Summary: Ryo is coming to terms with the changes in his relationship with Dee, as well as his new sexual identity. Meanwhile, Dee and Ryo are trying to find enough evidence to expose a crooked cop. This story explores homophobic attitudes but is primarily a love story between two men.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of Sanami Matoh. I am not making any money from this.
Author's notes: I believe in a strong and equal Ryo and Dee. I don't watch any police or crime shows. In fact I barely watch any TV at all. I don't even read books about crime because I'm not particularly interested in the genre. However, I have done a certain amount of research in the interest of realism for this story. I know that fingerprint matches and drug tests in the police lab take longer in real life, and I'm sure the CSI people wouldn't have whipped through their job so quickly, either. I am taking certain liberties with these things in the interests of writing a (hopefully!) entertaining story that I need to keep moving at a reasonable clip. So please forgive any inaccuracies you might find with regards to police procedure, or feel free to point them out to me and I will respond.
Please read and review. Chapter 17 is already up on my Livejournal page, which I can't give you the address to because FF (dot) net doesn't allow direct links to other sites. If you want it and if you are not a child, just email me directly and I will be happy to give you the address. Even though there's no sex in chapter 17, my LJ page contains the other sexy and unedited chapters.
Thank you to Blue Simplicity for all the praise, encouragement, searching questions and your unparalleled eye for detail.
A New Daychapter 16
"Grrr! Is that the best this stupid machine can do?" snarled Dee, giving the AFIS computer monitor a good shake.
"Dee! Stop that!" Ryo hissed, looking around nervously. "If Jeff sees you abusing his computer like that, he'll ban us both from the lab. It took me a long time to get him to trust me enough to let me use his workstation."
"But, dammit---"
"Simmer down. It's not the fault of the program if a print is smudged. It would have been nice to get some hard dirt on Abernathy this early in the game, but I never expected it to be easy." Ryo was regretting that Dee had decided to skip his cigarette because his irritable partner clearly needed one.
Dee muttered under his breath. He was disappointed that the fingerprint check had only produced one print that was a potential match for Abernathy's. It had been found on the small bag marked 'Yours', but it wasn't clear and it was only a partial print anyway.
Ryo tried to cheer him up. "Hey, at least we've got Shaver. He didn't touch the drugs, but his prints are all over the paper bag, along with Eddie's."
"Yeah, that's something, ain't it?" said Dee, cheering up a little. "It's worth paying that bastard another visit. You wanna go now? Let's give Andrea a call and find out if he's at his desk."
Ryo raised his eyebrows. "Is this really Dee Laytner suggesting we go out on a call when it's already ten minutes past quitting time?"
"Oh, I'd work a weekend without pay just to see the arrogant look wiped off that asshole's face," said Dee with a diabolical grin.
"No, I think he can keep 'til tomorrow. Remember the Chief asked us to work on the Lydgate case before we go home today."
"Yeah, and isn't it just like that damn walrus to give us another fucking deadline twenty minutes before the end of our shift?" Dee's bad mood was returning, and Ryo didn't like the way he was eyeing the AFIS computer.
"Come on, let's just put in an hour." Ryo hastily logged out and stood up.
"Okay, but I need a cigarette first. I'm going up to the roof, but I'll walk upstairs with you." Dee got out his cigarettes and put an unlit one in his mouth.
They exited the fingerprint room, and as they walked past the forensics lab, Dee asked, "Hey, what time did you get the drugs into the lab? Liz was waiting for 'em."
"Just before lunch," Ryo replied. "It took Jeff and me almost two hours to lift all the prints, so I couldn't get them to her earlier."
"I'd better go visit her later and make sure she doesn't forget about them."
A momentary look of irritation flashed across Ryo's face. "She's going to think you've got a crush on her with the amount of time you spend in there turning on the charm," he grumbled.
Dee was pleased. Was that a jealous note he heard in Ryo's voice? "No way, dude. She's a savvy city girl. She knows I'm a one-man man."
Ryo looked at him in alarm.
"No, I didn't tell her," Dee said quickly. "Get a grip, doofus. The whole damn building knows I've been chasing you for years. I can't stop now. That would produce suspicions for sure."
That reminded Ryo of what Drake had told him at lunch and all the pent-up resentment he had been holding inside him since then suddenly boiled up and over. Scowling at his partner, he snapped, "Well, apparently every precinct for miles around already believes I'm gay, and in fact did so long before I ever DID anything certifiably gay, and I have YOU to thank for that!"
This was hardly the time or place for this particular fight, however. He immediately repented his outburst because he certainly didn't want to talk about this issue here, and now Dee was going to demand an explanation. He subsequently lengthened his stride to put distance between himself and Dee, whose cigarette had just dropped out of his open mouth.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" called Dee, abandoning the attempt to keep up with him.
"Ask Drake," Ryo shot back over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.
Looking perplexed, Dee retraced his steps and picked up the fallen smoke. He dusted it off and blew on it a couple of times before tucking it back into his mouth and heading for the roof. He was going to smoke that sucker before the day got any crazier and then he was going to find Drake and torture him for information. And after he got it, he may or may not torture him some more.
&&&&&
From the thoughtful way that his foster-dad had been looking at him throughout dinner, not to mention the oh-so-casual topics of conversation he was choosing, Bikky had a pretty good idea of what was coming. Thomas had given him the heads-up last night before bed, when Ryo had been reading in his room. Bikky had let Dee believe his most recent fight had had something to do with Carol, but it seemed that Thomas had blabbed that it had really been about Ryo. Good thing he had asked Carol to come over tonight. He hoped she would get here soon. He did NOT want to hear the inevitable lecture from Ryo; he knew what he was going to say, and as much as he loved him and wanted to please him, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to agree to what Ryo would predictably demand.
Finally, Ryo put his fork down and pushed his plate away. "B," he said. "We need to--"
Just then the doorbell rang and Bikky sprang to his feet with alacrity. Thank God. "That's Carol. I'd better let her in."
"You didn't tell me Carol was coming over," Ryo said with a frown. "You're grounded. You're not supposed to be having visitors."
"Yeah, but this is a special case," Bikky called as he unlocked the door. "Hey Carol! Come on in. Did you bring your mealworm notes?"
"Huh?" She was momentarily confused, but saw the warning look on his face and caught on. "Yep, got 'em right here," she said cheerfully, patting her backpack. "Hi Ryo! I'm not interrupting dinner, am I?"
"No, no, we're all done."
"Oh that's good," she said. "I'm here to help Bikky study."
"Yeah, I got a big biology test on Friday," Bikky added, looking hopefully at Ryo. "I wanna get a good score." He was pretty sure Ryo wouldn't send Carol home now that she was here. And if she stayed, he would be safe from the inevitable interrogation for another couple of hours. If he was lucky, Ryo might even go to bed early.
But he had reckoned without Ryo's determination.
"Carol, would you excuse us for a little while? There's something I need to talk to Bikky about. We'll just go into his room, so you go ahead and help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge. There's milk and juice, or you can make yourself some tea if you prefer."
"Uh...okay." She looked uncertain. "Or, you know, I could go and come back later..." Her voice trailed away when she saw Bikky standing behind Ryo, waving his arms and shaking his head violently. "How about I just have some milk!" she said brightly, and headed for the fridge.
"Sure. We'll be back soon," said Ryo, who caught Bikky's eye and jerked his head toward the boy's room.
Once the door had closed behind them, Ryo moved a pile of books off Bikky's storage chest and sat down on it, resting his elbows on his knees. "Sit," he said, indicating the bed.
Bikky sat, and Ryo took a deep breath. "I had an interesting conversation with Thomas last night," he said.
"I know, and you're pissed about the fight all over again. But I'm already grounded for that, remember? You can't ground me twice for the same offense."
"I don't intend to. This time I want to talk about your reason for fighting."
Bikky waited. He wanted to find out where Ryo was going with this before he said anything.
"I understand you've been having some trouble at school and it's because of me."
Bikky shifted uncomfortably. Okay, it was what he had thought. "Ryo, I always had trouble at school. For lots of reasons."
"But now it's because your dad is...in a relationship with another man, right?"
"Yeah, but that's nothing new. That's been goin' on for years. And the shit I get for being a naturally blond 'jungle monkey'."
Ryo looked shocked. "They call you that?"
"Yeah, all the time. And other things too. I'm used to it."
"And do you fight them when they say those things?"
Bikky looked past Ryo at the door. "Sometimes," he said. "But I been trying to tone it down because you asked me to."
"Well why couldn't you tone it down the other night? Why couldn't you just ignore the guy who was using me to get a rise out of you?"
"Ryo...You know, if it's just me they're dissing, it's not so bad. I can handle it most of the time."
"I'm really sorry, Bikky. I'm sorry that you have to go through this because of me." Ryo bit his lip. "When you first came to live with me, you thought you were getting a straight foster-father, and now I've gone and pulled the rug out from under your feet. I don't know how to advise you, except of course to say that you don't have to fight for me. I'm an adult and I can fight for myself."
"Not in MY school, you can't. Get real, Ryo!" Nowadays Bikky often found himself dumbfounded at the things that came out of his foster-dad's mouth. Were they living on the same planet or what? Ryo must have had a sweet and innocent childhood like out of some old-time movie that had left him unable to imagine what life was like for kids today.
"Bikky, why can't you just let it go when the teasing starts and walk away? Is that really so hard?"
"Because sometimes...walking away is the wrong thing to do." Bikky hesitated, just in case Ryo got mad and started scolding, but when his foster father just looked at him questioningly, he gathered his nerve and went on. "Look, I know I'm just a kid, but in a few years I'll be a man. I can't just stand by and let some scumbag talk disrespectfully about someone I care about. I gotta call 'em on it, or I can't look at myself in the mirror, and if that leads to a fight, so be it, even if I lose."
"Bikky--"
"Could you?"
"Could I what?"
"Could you stand by while someone dissed a person you care about?"
"Well, that would depend. It'd depend on whether or not the 'dissing' was warranted or not. It would depend on whether the 'disser' was holding a gun... It's not that simple."
"What if it wasn't warranted, and there was no way you could die?"
"Well," Ryo paused uncertainly, not sure how Bikky had managed to turn the tables on him like this. "Well, in that case, I guess I would have to say something, but I think I could manage it without getting into a fight."
"I heard you talking to Dee. About Thomas' dad. You kind of got into a fight with him, didn't you?"
"Yeah, kind of. But he wasn't dissing anyone in particular. He was just being a jerk."
"Well, Dee seemed to be worried that your career might need emergency surgery. The jerk guy you took on has more power than you, doesn't he?"
"Yeah."
"He thought you were going to take sh-- I mean crap from him, but you didn't, did you?"
"Bikky, really, 'crap' is just as bad as 'shit'."
"No it's not, they're totally different. 'Shit' is worse."
"Never mind, we've gone off subject here. The point I was trying to make is that I'm not some kind of weakling you have to fight for. I don't want you to fight for me. I can fight my own battles."
"You weren't there to fight your own battles. And what would you have done if you had been? Punched out Adam Brody? I don't think so. Anyway, it was not only all over school, but it was getting out of hand. I took care of it." Bikky looked at the door again. Carol was right behind it; he was sure of that now.
"Bikky, you should have talked to one of your teachers. Or told me. Or just ignored them." Ryo was wearing that stubborn expression that Bikky and Dee both knew so well.
"If I had, I couldn't live with myself."
At that point, the door opened and Carol stood there looking flushed but determined. "Ryo, I'm so sorry, but I've got to say something." The words tumbled out of her in a rush, as though she expected to be momentarily interrupted and sent away. "Firstly, most people are like sheep. They just follow whoever they think is a leader without really thinking about it. They all would have just joined in with Adam and his gang if Bikky had ignored them. And anyway, there were a couple of unexpected benefits as a result of that fight. Now, the gay students we have in our school, not that there's that many of them, are all breathing a little easier. By standing up for your right to be gay, Bikky advanced their cause a little. Second, you don't have to apologize for being gay. We love you for who you are, straight or gay. And please forgive me for interfering. I mean no disrespect." She bowed her head, aware that she had just taken a huge liberty with a man who had always been kind and generous to her.
Ryo blinked at her, not sure what to say. First of all, it made Bikky sound so noble for brawling, and secondly, Carol had just said he was gay. Am I gay? he asked himself. Is that my new label? And am I apologizing for it? With difficulty he forced his mind to return doggedly to his point, which was no more fighting, or at least, dramatically less fighting for Bikky.
"Carol, Bikky, this conversation is over. No more fighting, and I mean it this time." His voice had the ring of authority, but in his heart he knew he had lost that round. He needed to go away and think about what Bikky had said. He also needed to think through what he had learned from Drake earlier, so he could decide how to proceed. He stood up to gain the further advantage of his height over them, and added. "You may as well get busy studying for that...mealworm test, or whatever it is."
"Yeah, Bikky's mealworms died," said Carol innocently, "so he's not going to know how to answer the second half of the test questions. You want to know how they died? It's really funny." She ignored the way Bikky was glaring at her.
"No thanks," said Ryo. "I'm sure I'd be happier not knowing." He left the room and went to the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of wine. Congratulations, super-dad, he told himself dejectedly. You certainly handled THAT well. He had to think. There just hadn't been any time for reflection in the last few days. Everything was changing so fast around him and he needed to know how to function in this totally new life he had suddenly been plunked down in the middle of. If I'm really gay, I wish there was some kind of manual because I don't know how to be gay. And apparently I don't know how to be an effective parent either. He sat on the sofa, sipping his wine, and his thoughts went to his IA nemesis, Mike Abernathy. But I do know how to be a good cop, he thought grimly. And I don't care how long it takes me, but I'm going to nail your ass to the wall, Lieutenant.
The phone rang loudly, disturbing his dark thoughts.
"McLean?" It was the Chief's gravelly voice. "Better get your butt down to the Westington. We got a dead hooker here who seems to have OD'd snorting heroin through a rolled up business card -- yours."
"What the--? Black girl, young, yellow dress?"
"That's the one. CSI's going over the scene right now, but I think they'll be done soon. I'm putting you in charge because you seem to know something about it. Is that no-good partner of yours there with you?"
"No, sir," Ryo said, slightly defensively. "Why would he be? He doesn't live here, you know. "
"Well, give him a call and get him to meet you at the scene. You guys are going to be putting in some overtime tonight."
&&&&&&
Detectives McLean and Laytner stood over the corpse of the girl whom they had talked to just that morning. She was covered in dried vomit and her once-beautiful brown skin was mottled with dark purplish-red patches from the effects of livor mortis.
"So it's an OD?" Dee asked the nearest CSI tech.
"Yeah," she replied, giving his lithe but powerful form an appreciative look. "See this?" She pointed to a little plastic bag partially under Tammy's body. It appeared to contain a coarse white granulated powder.
Ryo frowned as he took in the fact that the bag had a label on it. And he couldn't read the whole thing, but he could have sworn it said 'Yo--' something. Yours. It probably said 'Yours', like the bag he had dusted for prints earlier.
"Hey, can we take that? Are you guys done with the photography and all?"
"Yeah, pretty much. We've swept for fibers, dead skin cells and hair, and I think Gill has taken all the pictures he's going to. What was that, Gill?"
"I said the coroner's people are downstairs. They're coming up to take her away."
"Oh thanks," she replied, and turned back to Dee and Ryo. "Hear that? You can have the dope."
Ryo bent down and tugged it gently out from under Tamara with one gloved hand. He dropped it into a plastic zip-lock bag that Dee held open for him, and tucked it carefully into his pocket.
"Did she have any ID?" he asked the woman.
She shook her head. "Not even a library card. That'll make it hard to contact her family."
Dee was looking around. "He came back after we left," he said to Ryo. "Some of his stuff is gone. There was a tool kit here earlier."
"Yeah, and a couple of laptops, too." said Ryo.
They walked about carefully, their street shoes covered with protective booties.
"Was the door locked?" Dee asked the woman.
"Not according to the manager," she replied.
That meant Eddie had probably gone out the window a second time that day. But before or after this girl died? They'd need to find out if there were any witnesses around who would sell what they knew for the price of a pack of smokes. And they had to find Eddie, for a whole lot of reasons.
"What's your guess on the time of death?" Dee asked his partner.
"Ten to twelve hours, but let's ask the coroner's people when they get here."
"I think so too. I bet this happened right after we left." He turned to a cop in uniform who looked familiar. "Hey, buddy, this your beat?"
"Yeah. Officer Perlman. Call me Mac. I know you -- Detective Laytner, right?"
"Yeah, that's me. And this is my partner, Detective--"
"Randy McLean. I heard of you too."
As Ryo shook hands with him, he couldn't help but wonder how the man knew of them. He hoped it wasn't the effects of the 'gay' rumor surfacing again. Dammit, he was starting to get paranoid about this.
"Yeah, you guys got yourselves a rep for being quite the star detectives, huh?"
"We do?" Ryo hoped his extreme relief didn't show on his face.
"Hell, yeah. When you guys solved the Mueller case last year-- the one where that disabled kid had been missing for years -- it just blew me away. That was a dead file. The trail was cold enough to chill a beer on."
Dee and Ryo responded at precisely the same time, Dee saying, "It was all him, man," and Ryo saying, "Well, it was Dee who figured--" and Mac broke into a smile. It was clear why this partnership worked.
"You're going to want to know about witnesses, I take it," he said.
"Yeah. Have you got any?" asked Ryo.
"You bet. There are a couple guys downstairs who said they saw a junkie coming down the fire escape around noon. I told 'em not to go anywhere."
"How about the desk clerk?" asked Dee.
"Oh he didn't see nothin'. He's got it in for the police, that one."
"Yeah, I know the type. He'll change his tune, just you watch."
"Come on, guys, I'll take you down and point them out to you," Mac offered.
"Sure, Mac. Just give us a second, okay?" Ryo had spotted three staffers from the coroner's office outside the door, accompanied by a wheeled stretcher. The two detectives conferred with them briefly and established that the autopsy would probably take place Friday morning.
"You can call for the results a couple of days after that," one of the men said, handing Ryo a card. Dee made a mental note to start phoning and bugging them around noon on Friday.
"Let's get this into the lab right after we're done with the witnesses," Ryo said, referring to the small bag of heroin. Dee nodded in assent and they left the depressing little room for the second time that day. It had gone from being a shabby and unappealing bedroom to a chamber of death in the space of a few hours. He offered up a silent prayer for Tammy as they went down the stairs. Lord, please take care of her. Forgive her and love her because she sure didn't have an easy time of it down here. And then he added a prayer for himself, his eyes on the light brown hair and broad shoulders of the man walking before him. Lord, please help me find a way to keep him. Don't let him push me out of his life.
&&&&&&
When they got to the lab, they were surprised to find Liz still working.
"Hey, sweetheart, what's with the overtime?" chided Dee. "Can't a beautiful woman like you get a date on a Wednesday night?"
"I'm doing overtime for extra vacation days next month," she told him, obviously enjoying having been called beautiful. Liz was not exactly beautiful, but she did have an impressive pair of legs that she was not averse to showing off. "I'm going to the Bahamas with a couple of girlfriends. We'd offer to take you along if you promised to wait on us hand and foot."
"Aw come on, Liz, don't tempt me like that. You know I can't leave my sweet, innocent partner alone with all the wolves in this building."
"Why don't you come too, Randy?" She smiled coyly up at him. "It'd be a blast."
"Nah, he'd have to bring his kid and that little twerp would spoil everything. Trust me," said Dee. He noticed that Ryo was wearing the blank expression that he always put on whenever he was irritated with a woman, so he quickly steered the conversation in a more professional direction. "I don't suppose you had time to check through that pack o' smack we brought you this morning?"
"As a matter of fact I did," she informed him. "It was actually rather interesting." She leafed through a pile of files on her desk until she found the one she was looking for and flipped it open. "You had seventeen bundles of B-grade heroin cut with the usual household products, but it was this little one that really caught my attention." She reached into the plastic tray that contained their work order and held up the small bag that had the 'Yours' label with a pair of slender tongs.
Both detectives looked at her avidly and it gave her great pleasure to be able to tell them something that they really wanted to hear. These were the moments she lived for in this frequently unrewarding job.
"There was enough fentanyl in this one to kill a horse," she said. "Good thing you got it off the streets."
Dee and Ryo stared at each other and then Ryo mutely pulled out the matching bag from his pocket.
"This one killed someone today. Could you possibly check it out for us?"
"But be real careful with the bag," said Dee. "We need to tape it for prints later."
"I'll do it right now, and you can take the bag," she said. "Now that I know what I'm testing for, this shouldn't take long at all."
&&&&&&
"What the hell? You expect ME to do your dirty work for you? This is un-friggin'-believable. And aren't I still grounded?" Bikky stood mutinously in the ratty sweat pants and oversized T-shirt he usually wore to bed. He had not had a particularly successful evening. The tight tank top Carol had been wearing had made it hard for him to concentrate on his homework, and even when Ryo had cleared out and left them alone together, she had rebuffed his, he now realized, clumsy attempt to kiss her. In addition to that, there was a party on Friday night for the basketball team and the cheerleaders to celebrate their win over Tremayne, and due to the fact that he was grounded, he would be the only person who wouldn't be there. And now here were Ryo and the perv, expecting him to run down Eddie for them at their friggin' convenience, like a good little hunting dog.
Ryo gritted his teeth. "Bikky, we just want to talk to him. I swear to you that I will not arrest him unless he commits a crime right in front of me."
"Well, I may not even be able to find him, you know. You guys have busted in on him twice now. You can bet he's gone to ground. Might take me a couple days..."
Dee was not in a particularly patient mood. "Cut the crap, punk. You could track him down in an hour. Two, tops. Now do you think he'd be happier if you find him for us, or if the whole of the goddamn NYPD starts looking out for him?"
"You're bluffing, loser! You don't have that kind of clout!"
"Just try me, scum-monkey. And when they haul him in for us, I'll be sure to tell him about how you could have helped but didn't give enough of a shit to spare him some aggravation."
"Dee, stop pressing his buttons," said Ryo. He turned to Bikky. "Look, we think Eddie might be involved in something that's gonna get him into some pretty bad trouble. We just want to talk to him and find out how deep he's into it, okay? No arresting, no trips to the station."
"What kind of trouble?" asked Bikky warily.
"I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you."
"Lemme think about it," muttered Bikky. "I'll let you know in a little while." He stalked off to his room and defiantly gave Dee the finger before shutting the door with a bang.
Ryo put a hand to his head. "I'm really not happy about involving Bikky," he said.
"Me neither," said Dee. "But it looks like someone's decided that Eddie has outlived his usefulness. What happened to that hooker was meant for him. It'd be in his and our best interests if we found him first and got him to cooperate." He stretched and his eyes ranged in the direction of the kitchen. "Got anything to eat around here?"
"Didn't you eat dinner?"
"Yeah, but it was only a couple of slices of really old leftover pizza."
"There's stew in the fridge, if you want it. And bring that bottle of Chianti that's on the kitchen counter." Ryo sat wearily down on the sofa and picked up the glass of wine he had abandoned a couple of hours before.
In the kitchen, Dee rooted around in the fridge until he found the stew. Things were looking up. He was back in Ryo's apartment on a night when he had expected not to be, he had been given permission to make himself at home in the kitchen, and his lover wanted to drink wine, which definitely opened up possibilities for later. Best of all, Ryo didn't seem to have enough energy to continue the fight he had started earlier.
Ryo drank wine while Dee polished off the stew, and they discussed the case. First thing the next morning, they had to go talk to the Chief and tell him about the fentanyl-laced heroin. What had initially appeared to be an overdose was now looking like murder. And if they didn't find Eddie soon, there was likely to be another death. Eddie was suddenly an important witness to a murder case, if not an accessory. And then there was Ned Shaver. They had to catch him early and scare him into talking. Liz had confirmed for them that the second 'Yours' bag contained the same deadly mixture as the first. Unfortunately, it had not yielded any useful prints, but they still had the partial print on the first bag that had a 28 probability factor of being Abernathy's. Inadmissible in more ways than one. They decided that if they could get Shaver to bring up Abernathy without being prompted, they would exaggerate that percentage in an upward direction.
"Then again, the Chief might not want us to talk to him," Ryo said thoughtfully. "He might want him put under surveillance for a while. Abernathy too."
"Too risky. Someone would talk. Besides, they're cops. I'd know in five seconds flat if I was under surveillance. Wouldn't you? Nah, I think our best chance is to go full-frontal on Shaver and see if a murder one charge will be enough for him to sell out Abernathy."
They heard Bikky's door bang open, and he came back into the living room and stood regarding the two men with his arms folded across his chest.
"Okay, I thought about it. Here's the deal. I'll find him for you and I'll put him on the phone. If you can talk him into a meeting, then go for it. But at least you can say what you gotta say and maybe get a few of the answers you need. Is that good enough?"
Ryo nodded. "Thanks Bikky."
"And even though doofus here thinks I can find him in an hour, there's no way I can. I got school tomorrow and basketball practice at four. I'll head out after that, and I ain't making any promises. Got that?"
"What about dinner?" Ryo asked.
"Just gimme some money for a burger and I'll grab something on the way. Right now I gotta make some phone calls."
"Go for it, Bik." Dee handed him the phone, which Bikky snatched with a withering glare. He turned around and marched back to his room.
Ryo glanced at Dee. "At least he didn't slam the door this time," he remarked.
"More wine?" suggested Dee, picking up the bottle. Ryo was starting to look relaxed, which was a good sign. Plus, he was kind of excited about the new developments of today and the chance to turn the tables on Mike Abernathy. Dee hoped that was going to add up to some sweet moaning and pounding later. They hadn't had sex since Saturday night, and now it was Wednesday. In Dee's opinion, that was three days too long. Above all, he wanted the closeness, the intimacy. The last couple of days had been really tough. He wanted another opportunity to remind Ryo how good he could make him feel.
He was used to Ryo's mercurial moods. He accepted it as part of the territory, but today he felt that Ryo had gone through every mood in his repertoire. But the worst moment was when he'd flared up in resentment about an alleged rumor going around that he was gay, which he considered to be all Dee's fault. Dee had subsequently gotten the details from Drake. He scowled at the memory. That idiot Drake had to go making trouble by telling Ryo something that he probably never would have found out on his own, and Dee had told him off for it.
"What the hell did you have to go and do that for?" he had complained bitterly to Drake. "Are you trying to jam me up here?"
"Sorry, man. I just thought he had a right to know."
"Yeah, that just totally sucks!" Ted interjected. "Quit laughing, Marty. This is no joke. I haven't been laid for months and it's probably all your fault, Dee. And you, JJ! Quit fucking flaming all over the city! Or at least tell 'em you're still Bronx."
"I do NOT flame," protested JJ, offended. "And if you haven't been laid for months, it's probably due more to your own shortcomings than to a half-baked rumor which I think everyone's blowing out of proportion."
"Yeah, you can afford to think that because you're already gay," put in James, Eliza's partner. "But what about those of us who aren't, huh?" But he was laughing. "Oh well, at least now I have a good excuse when my mom asks me why I don't find a nice girl and settle down."
Dee admitted to himself that he was a little hurt that Ryo still seemed so horrified about being thought gay by other people. To him, it was so straightforward. He never had been a guy who could live life in the closet, always trembling lest his shameful secret be discovered. But he had known many people over the years who had made the choice to keep their sexual orientation personal, so it wasn't totally outside his thinking. Ryo had made no bones about the fact that he was not ready to be out, that it was too soon. He wanted time to get used to his new life first before he told the world about it. Dee accepted this. He was so happy to have Ryo's beautiful body surrendering to him in bed, and more than that, to have his love on an emotional and exclusive basis. He had been willing to accept Ryo on just about any terms he chose to set.
He wondered for the hundredth time if Ryo loved him enough to withstand the pressures of living a gay lifestyle in an often homophobic world.
Well, faint heart never won sexy man, he told himself and joined Ryo on the couch. Once there, he reached down and picked up Ryo's feet, gently pulling them up onto his lap.
"Whoah--what are you doing?" Ryo hastily set his wine glass down on the coffee table with a clink.
"Did I ever tell you about my foot fetish?" asked Dee, removing his partner's slippers and then his socks.
"No, but perhaps now would be a good time." The corner of Ryo's mouth was curved in a slight smile.
"Well, it's been a great embarrassment to me over the years." Dee held Ryo's right foot with one hand and began pressing slow but firm circles into his heel with the fingers of his other hand. "Whenever I see a beautiful set of feet on a man or a woman, I immediately get the urge to get them somewhere near my dick."
Ryo chuckled and thumped his other foot up and down on Dee's lap, dangerously close to his crotch. "Could be dangerous."
"Yes, but the danger is an important part of the allure." Dee smiled and continued to work Ryo's foot rhythmically. He was gratified to note that his partner's face was starting to assume an expression of bliss. "I don't know why the good lord saw fit to heap so many indecent perversions on one man, but heap he did, and here I am making love to your right foot."
"Don't forget the left foot," murmured Ryo sleepily. "That's the jealous one."
"Well, I just might have to suck the toes of the left one, in that case."
"Don't you dare. No toe-sucking."
"We'll see," whispered Dee, switching his attentions to the other foot. Ryo let out a soft groan of appreciation and let his head fall back on the sofa cushions. This was not the first time Dee had used a foot massage to get close to Ryo. He had learned about 6 months ago that Ryo couldn't resist having his feet rubbed after a long day. He didn't always give in to temptation in those days, but there was nothing to stop him now.
Dee didn't move off Ryo's feet and on to more interesting body parts, because he was betting on one more visit from the monkey-brat before the night was through, even though it was pushing ten o'clock, which was close to bedtime. The whole household rose early whenever Ryo was on second shift because although he started work earlier than Bikky started school, he didn't trust Bikky to get himself up and out to school on time. This had been a point of contention between them for as long as Dee could remember.
Almost as though Dee's thoughts had summoned him, Bikky padded back into the living room with the phone. He took one look at the tableau on the sofa and rolled his eyes. "I brought the phone back," he announced loudly, and Ryo opened his sleepy eyes and instinctively began to jerk his feet off Dee's lap. Dee held on to them firmly, and Ryo's impulse subsided.
"Thanks, Bikky," he said. "Going to bed now?"
"Right after I check my email," muttered Bikky, with a resentful look at Dee. "I got some info on Eddie. I think he's in Queens. I got a couple of neighborhoods where I can ask about him from one of the guys."
"Call my cell if you need a ride," said Dee.
"Uh, thanks. Maybe for the way home if it's late. Now quit talking to me. I gotta concentrate."
"Oh certainly, Your Majesty." Dee turned his attention toward Ryo, who was blinking sleepily. "Can I stay?" he whispered.
Ryo nodded. "You might as well," he murmured. "But just for sleeping. I'm beat."
"I can hear you," Bikky said from his place at the computer, and gave them a quick glare over his shoulder.
Dee cursed him inwardly, and resolved to do his utmost to change Ryo's mind once they got into the bedroom. In order to have a shot at that, there was no way he could let Ryo take a shower first. If Ryo showered first, he'd be fast asleep by the time Dee had had his turn, and Ryo could be incredibly grumpy if anyone woke him up from a deep sleep.
"Hey Ryo, mind if I have a shower?"
"Go ahead. Help yourself to a towel from the linen closet."
"You'd better not be in the shower tomorrow morning when I'm trying to get ready for school, doofus," grumbled Bikky warningly.
"YOU'D better not be in the shower when I'M trying to get ready for work, brat," retorted Dee.
"Just cut it out, you two," said Ryo. "It's too late for this."
When Dee disappeared off to the bathroom, Ryo straightened up the sofa cushions and looked a little wistfully at Bikky's back as the boy tapped away on the computer keyboard. He remembered the days when Bikky always used to come to him for a hug and a kiss goodnight. As a lonely, orphaned ten-year-old, Bikky had been starved for affection when he first came to live with Ryo. They used to touch a lot more in those days than they did now. There had been many an evening spent sitting close together on the sofa while watching TV, or presenting a united front as partners against Dee and whichever one of Bikky's friends was there during board or card games. Bikky had recently had a birthday at the end of April and at thirteen was now officially one of those surly teenagers Ryo had heard so much about. But even when he was still only twelve, he had already started pulling away and demanding more autonomy. Ryo wondered if he would ever get a hug goodnight from his foster-son again, or if those days were over for good. Change was inevitable of course, but for a creature of habit like Ryo, it was sometimes hard to accept.
He got up and cleared away Dee's empty stew bowl and took his wine glass and the remaining Chianti back to the kitchen. He was just jamming the cork back into the bottle when Dee stepped out of the bathroom and called out, "It's all yours, bro."
Ryo took one last look at Bikky who was deep in concentration at the computer, and gave up on having any more contact with him that evening.
Bikky felt Ryo's gaze on his back but did not turn around. Damn Ryo for bringing the perv-man back here tonight. No sooner was Tom out the door than Dee was right back in like a dirty shirt. It was so friggin' hard being grounded and stuck in this prison of an apartment with those two. He fantasized about the day when he'd have his own place and there wouldn't be any damn homework or chores, and he could have parties whenever he felt like and stay out as late as he wanted with no one to tell him what to do and make him get up early.
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In the shower, Ryo soaped himself down efficiently, and felt nothing at all when his slippery hands passed over his flaccid sex. He just wanted to retreat into his former non-sexual persona until he had had a chance to process recent events. Life had been simpler back when he had kept a tighter lid on his sexuality. Tonight, because there was no time to think and his body and mind were weary, what he wanted most was to lose himself in sleep.
He ran a comb through his damp hair and loosely buttoned up his pajamas and thought that if he could manage to fall asleep in the next 15 minutes, he just might get close to seven hours' sleep. But when he opened the door of the bedroom and heard soft jazz music playing and saw Dee waiting for him in bed with an expression on his face that was both expectant and seductive, all at once he knew that despite his discouraging words in the living room and despite his fatigue, his body wanted that man in his bed. He didn't know why or how, especially when he was so tired, because he didn't understand himself at all. It was just that suddenly it didn't matter whether he was straight, gay, bi, or asexual: just looking at the planes of Dee's face, his eyes, his lips, the silky skin on his naked hairless chest, was making him hard.
Their eyes met and Dee understood. A slow grin broke over his face, and he stripped back the blankets to reveal that he was already naked. Ryo walked toward the bed as though drawn by a magic spell, unbuttoning his pajama top and casting it aside as he went. He put one knee on the bed and reached out a bold hand to Dee's chest, and the next thing he knew, Dee had grabbed him and hauled Ryo astride him. Ryo rested his hands on his knees and Dee's hands slid up and gripped his elbows. They looked at each other in total silence for a few moments, eyes ranging over each other's faces and bodies in mutual admiration and desire.
"Dee," Ryo whispered. "I don't want to think anymore tonight. Take my stress away, please."
Dee just nodded and pulled him down into a hungry kiss, to which Ryo responded with instant passion. It was hard and clean and an honest expression of how much they just plain wanted each other. It wasn't long before Dee had rolled Ryo onto his back and divested him of his pajama bottoms. He didn't waste much time on foreplay. That wasn't what Ryo wanted. He needed a good, hard fucking and he was making that perfectly clear. Dee went straight for the gold, wrapping his hand around Ryo's erection and jacking it skillfully while kissing Ryo briefly again. When he dragged his lips off Ryo's and buried his face against the side of his neck, the scent of his lover in that wonderfully sensitive place nearly drove him insane. He gasped and bit, giving one quick suck, before suddenly remembering how pissed off Ryo had been the day after a make-out session a few months back when Dee had left a love bite on him that peeked above his shirt collar. He moved lower and bit him again and was incredibly turned on when a low growl rumbled out of Ryo. He was going to be noisy, Bikky or no, Dee just knew it. He would try and fail to be quiet. The bedsprings were going to creak mightily and the headboard was going to thump against the wall when Dee got down to business, which was pretty damn imminent by the feel of things. Without slackening the rhythm of his pumping hand, he moved lower on Ryo and used his teeth and tongue to arouse him further, loving the way the other man was panting and thrusting upward into his hand. When Ryo's hands pushed down against Dee's head and shoulder, he obeyed the command instantly; it had been his destination anyway, and his mouth was ready and wet, so wet with the wanting of Ryo.
Dee drew upon all his experience and skill to give his lover what he needed, and Ryo, in his passionate and vocal response, exceeded all of Dee's expectations. Their lovemaking was much more fiery than usual, and it left Dee feeling amazed and enthralled because this was a totally new side of Ryo that he had not yet experienced until tonight. Dee had gone all the way with Ryo less than a dozen times since the sexual part of their relationship had begun, and though it had been apparent that Ryo loved it from his very first time, Dee had not expected this level of aggression to surface for several more months. He did his best to satisfy the suddenly wanton creature under him, and he knew he had met with success when Ryo suddenly clung tightly to him and begged him, in urgent tones, not to stop. "That's my baby," Dee soothed. "Come on, just let it go." The moment had arrived and all Ryo could do was to turn his face into Dee's neck and muffle his final cry of release there. Dee had gained his own release a minute or two before, and he held Ryo close to him until the quaking had subsided.
Finally, Ryo rolled sleepily away from him, saying "Owww..." and squeezing his thighs and buttocks together.
"Does it hurt?" Dee asked, concerned.
"Yeah, but not enough that I can't sleep. Make sure the alarm clock's on, okay?" His voice was starting to thicken as his body relaxed.
"Hey how come you're on my side of the bed?"
"Big wet spot... on mine..." and Ryo was gone.
Oh, Ryo...Dee thought ruefully. You're gonna be sore and embarrassed when we meet Bikky at the breakfast table tomorrow. He chuckled to himself. Bet that brat had to scramble for his earphones tonight. Oh well. No doubt it was an education for him.
He lifted one cold, sticky hand and looked down at the sheets in the soft lamplight. Ryo was right. That was one honkin' big wet spot. He got up, stretched, and went to get a couple of spare towels from the closet. He used one of them to wipe the sticky mess off his own stomach, and then used the same one to gently clean between Ryo's thighs and buttocks. Ryo responded by grumbling incoherently and swatting him away. Dee then picked up the second towel, which he spread over the clammy wet area of the bed. He pressed the 'on' button for the alarm clock, turned off the lamp and then lay down and snuggled up to the unconscious man beside him. What an awesome ending to an up and down day. He sighed in contentment, his nose buried against Ryo's hair.
As long as he could go to bed every night next to his beloved Ryo, he wouldn't mind sleeping on the wet spot for the rest of his life.
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end of chapter 16