Hi, long time no see. I suck. I know. I'm sorry. I'm going to quit posting when I think I'll update again, it seems to have the opposite effect of it actually happening. Anyways, the boys go home.
Chapter 19: New York, New York
Long hot car ride and two airports later they were home, grumpy and rumpled, and largely fatigued. Dee crossed the doorway into Ryo's apartment and collapsed gratefully on the couch. He was so tired and he felt like a pretzel after being crushed into a seat with not enough leg room for a man of his height. Ryo wasn't fairing much better but was moving about the place with a nervous energy that he tended to exhibit when he was uncomfortable.
Dee had long since learned that trying to slow Ryo down and get him off his feet would end in an argument. Ryo's peace of mind hinged on everything being in its place so it was a rare thing for him to settle until all the pieces of his specific universe made sense to him again. So while Dee lounged Ryo bused about putting his clothes away from the trip, cleaning out his bag, storing away documents back where they belonged and generally doing things that could have been done after they had unwound for a bit.
Ryo surprised Dee by bringing him an open beer before trundling off to his next appointed task. Dee smiled happily up at Ryo and watched him fondly as he went by. It seemed Ryo was starting to understand how Dee operated as well and any sense of guilt or irritation he might have had vanished. At one time they would have been sniping at each other for what the other considered a flaw, Ryo at Dee's apparent laziness and Dee at Ryo's inability to let anything go for just five damn minutes. This was definite progress. Half a beer later Dee leveraged his self up off the couch and started to give Ryo a hand, opening up windows to air out the apartment, getting a pot of coffee on to brew, and dragging his own bags out of the way in the hall closet. He was totally inviting himself to spend the night at Ryo's while Bikky was still away and he was more than hopeful that this time he wouldn't have to manipulate Ryo into it.
Ryo called out from his bedroom that he was going to take a shower so Dee took the opportunity to place an order for sushi and onion soup. He rationalized they were both too tired to cook but after all the heavy food they'd eaten in Georgia and just crap food at the airport the idea of anything greasy like pizza just made him nauseous. Ryo's happy smile at the sight of the delivery bags was all the proof he needed he made the right call.
Laying in Ryo's bed an hour later Dee felt satisfied and content that things were good now. They still hadn't had full blown sex but there had been some mutual kissing that had quickly burned down to simply holding one another. Dee didn't have his usual drive to push Ryo's boundaries on this night. The worry that Ryo would slip away from him if he didn't get as many hooks into as possible wasn't picking at him the way it normally would. Night noises from city settled around Dee like a comforting blanket, he was back on his own turf, he had Ryo tucked up against him, their legs tangled together, the fragrance of his shampoo in his nose from where he had his faced buried in his hair and neck. Tomorrow would be a new day, a better day, and Dee would make plans anew.
And then Dee slept, soundly and peacefully, lulled into deep sleep. Neither he nor Ryo heard the door to the hall closet unlatch with a quiet click and swing open of its own accord. The next day as they hurried to work they both thought the other had opened the door and paid it no mind. Dee grabbed his bags through them hurriedly into the first cab he could get and pretty much chunked them through his front door before scurrying off to catch up to Ryo at the precinct.
Miles and miles away Lynn and Ellen picked through the blackened and sodden remains of what had once been the house. Very little was salvageable, what hadn't burned had been soaked by both the fire department and the ongoing rain. As her last act as the keeper of the house Ellen was tasked with making sure nothing valuable was left on the site, nothing much of value had been on the site in the first place so it was mostly just confirming that everything was pretty much destroyed, easy enough. So Lynn was somewhat surprised that Ellen seemed to be getting angrier the longer they were there and raised an eyebrow at her when she heard a muttered "Just fuck" from Ellen.
"What's wrong El?" she asked, stopping what she was doing and turning to face Ellen completely.
"It's not here, that's what's wrong." Lynn's other eyebrow raised up to join the first one.
"What isn't here?"
"The bible. Her bible. It's gone. It should be here somewhere or at least a burned husk of it should be but it's not." Ellen replied, still digging around with a stick in what used to be the master bedroom.
Lynn chewed her lip, bibles are notoriously hard to burn, not because they are holy but because the thin pages are compacted together and not enough air circulates for a closed book, any book to truly burn, usually they just char. The place had burnt from the top down as well meaning things lower to the ground while still ruined still had some form and shape to them. It should have been there somewhere in the mess.
"I don't suppose we can pretend it burnt up into nothing huh?" She asked. El had this gleam in her eye that suggested that was not an acceptable option. Lynn sighed to herself and wished they could be done with this place and its irritating ghost once and for all. "So what are you thinking happened to it El?"
"I think one of those delightful, pretty New York boys carried that stupid thing home with them in one of their bags and probably have no idea it is there; that's what I think happened to it." Ellen held up what she had in her hand so Lynn could see it better. Even blackened as it was there was enough silver peeping through for the sunlight to glint off of a necklace that didn't belong to either her or Ellen.
"What do you have there?" She asked. Ellen gave her a tight unhappy smile.
"I suspect what I have here is a religious necklace belonging to certain dark haired, green eyed, orphan who was raised in a Catholic orphanage. I also suspect he'll be very upset to find out it is missing from his bag. I further suspect it is missing from his bag because a certain bitch deliberately misplaced it because she doesn't think Catholics are real Christians. And if I had to go out on a limb I would also highly suspect that he's now in possession of one battered, highlighted green bible." She all but spat out.
Lynn looked from Ellen back to the necklace and groaned. It was Dee's. The night they had crashed at her place after the fire they had all sat up talking for a while about the Alcott's and all of them relating bits and pieces from their childhood. Dee's life as an orphan and his beloved Penguin and Ryo's staggering loss of both his parents to a senseless murder and a careless mistake and how they were both helping to raise a boy that had lost his parents as well. "So you think she'll go after Dee?" She asked even though she likely already knew the answer.
"Oh yeah I think she'll go after him. He's got a much bigger target painted on his back than Ryo. Ryo's been shook up by all that happened and he's had some big shocks to his own personal belief system or rather the lack of one, but he's highly pragmatic. It'll be harder for her to find a way in between his disconnect from faith and the paranormal and the way his nature is. If he had the bible he would find it almost immediately and get rid of it. He'll have cleaned out his bags as soon as possible and anything related to this house he'll get rid of as soon as he crosses it and he will put it from his mind just as quickly as he can.
Dee though, Dee knows Lynn, he knows that things are out there and he's frightened of them. And as far as Alcott's concerned he's trash. He's not fully white, he's not a proper middle or upper class citizen, he's not straight and makes no attempt to appear so, and Alcott was raised to believe Catholics are virtually pagans. And Dee does not have Ryo's almost OCD like behavior about cleanliness. Odds are he dropped his travel bag on the floor as soon as he got home and it'll stay where ever he dropped it until he needs to use it again or wants something out of it. And if that's the case, if that bible is where I think it is, she'll have plenty of time to ooze out into his surroundings and take hold."
"So, we're going to New York?"
"Hell yeah were going to New York."
"You don't want to just call?"
"Yeah I'm going to call, to tell them we're on our way." Lynn sighed again, Ellen glared, Lynn caved.
"Yeah, sure, let me go make arrangements and pack. I'll drive." And Ellen smiled and came over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Lynn snorted to herself. She was such a push over where that crazy woman was concerned.
