Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Men Tell No Tales ❯ The Call ( Chapter 3 )

Some Drake OOC-ness in this chapter, but I didn't really know how he would handle this situation, since he really wasn't in the books enough for his character to really develop….so if I butchered him, I'm sorry.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 3—The Call

 

Drake watched the sunrise from a hospital window that morning, sitting by JJ's hospital bed and clutching his lover's hand. Dee and Ryo had been forced out before they had been given any news, and Drake hadn't yet managed to force himself away from JJ long enough to call them. This problem was rectified, however, as Dee and Ryo came bursting into the hospital room the second visiting hours started. Neither of them looked as though they'd slept, but both of them looked better than Drake.

 

“Why haven't you called?” Dee demanded immediately. He had meant to say something encouraging, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth.

 

Drake just looked up at them with depressed, exhausted eyes, then turned back to JJ. It was that look that caught their attention. He just looked so….defeated.

 

“….What is it?” Ryo asked softly, unconsciously clutching Dee's arm in a death grip. “Is….he gonna be okay?”

 

“I, uh….I don't know. He's, uh….well, it doesn't look like he's gonna be coming out of this for awhile.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“He's got some bruises, some cuts….internal injuries….pretty serious burns, obviously. Surgery went well but….well, doctor said it was head trauma. He's….in a coma now. Doctor says he's lucky to be alive.” Up until that point, Drake had rattled it all off calmly, no emotion in his voice, like lines he'd memorized for some class. Now, however, he let out a short, bitter laugh, and rubbed the back of his free hand across his eyes, his hold on JJ tightening slightly for a moment. “I could have killed him when he said that.”

 

His eyes hadn't moved from JJ's face, but now he dropped his head onto the hard hospital mattress, blinking back the tears that he couldn't quite explain. NYPD cops didn't cry, right? He'd held it in all night as he sat by JJ's bedside, refusing to be removed no matter how many people insisted that he leave. Why should he break down now? Then he made the mistake of looking back up at JJ's face. The normally energetic man just looked so….peaceful. So perfect. Staring at that face, Drake's resolve crumbled, and he dropped his head back against his lover's hand as his shoulders started to shake.

 

Dee dropped into the nearest chair, a mixture of exhaustion, pain, and mind-numbing worry for his academy buddy driving the strength out of him. He was at a complete loss. He never knew what to do in these situations unless he was comforting his own lover.

 

Ryo, however, impatiently brushed back the tears that threatened his own eyes and stepped silently forward, placing his hands gently on Drake's shoulders. He didn't bother with the empty promises that everything would be all right, because he knew better than most people how completely pointless it was. He simply stood there, doing his best to keep some sort of connection with his fellow officer, whose world was being slowly and deliberately stripped away from him.

 

Drake Parker would have nothing left to live for if he lost his lover. Now that he finally knew the difference between true love and the testosterone-induced need for sex, he didn't know what he would do if he lost the one person who had never left him.

 

A moment later, Ryo felt a hand slip into his own, lift it off Drake's shoulder, and kiss it softly. Smiling, slightly, he gently squeezed Drake's shoulder with his other hand and leaned against Dee, forgetting temporarily about his lover's injuries and doing his best to offer what comfort he could.

 

Dee ignored the pain that flared in his ribs when Ryo's weight rested against him, and kissed the side of his lover's head in an effort to reassure both of them.

 

It was a long while before Drake finally managed to pull himself together, and he forced a sheepish smile at his friends, which quickly dissolved as he turned back to focus on his comatose lover.

 

No one really knew what to say now, so they all sat in silence and focused on the sleeping man on the bed. Every once in awhile, Ryo would reach out to brush a hand through JJ's hair or squeeze Drake's shoulder gently, his hand lingering for a moment before he returned it to his lap. His other hand clutched Dee's tightly, and Dee sat there and battled the urge to break down. No matter what tough old Dee Laytner said to the contrary, he really did care deeply about his hyperactive, infuriating little shadow.

 

“We should….get to work,” Ryo said quietly, after an hour had passed this way. “Are you gonna….?”

 

“No, I'll stay here,” Drake replied, turning his eyes briefly to Ryo before returning his gaze to JJ. “I'll see you guys later.”

 

---

 

Outside the hospital room, Ryo closed the door softly and leaned against the wall, feeling his strength give out. He felt one of Dee's arms come around him, and he leaned into the embrace. “I can't believe this is happening,” he said quietly.

 

Dee didn't have any reply to that. He just stood there for a moment, holding Ryo in his arms, and then straightened and spoke in a voice that Ryo had rarely heard him use. “Come on, we have to get to the precinct.” He looked his lover straight in the eye, and the half-Japanese man was a little frightened at what he saw in the straightforward, level, icy cold gaze. “I'm not playing games anymore, Ryo. I'm gonna get this guy.”

 

---

 

“What the hell? You've gotta be kidding me!”

 

“I assure you I'm not,” Rose replied calmly, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair to look up at the officers standing in front of his desk. “You're off the case, I'm handing it back over to the FBI.”

 

“Why?” Dee demanded, looking dangerously close to exploding. Having taken another painkiller just before returning to the precinct, he was fully capable of lunging across the table at the Commissioner, although he would surely pay for it later.

 

Rose didn't reply to Dee's furious question, instead averting his eyes to the papers that littered his desk—in an organized sort of chaos, of course.

 

“….Is it because of what happened to JJ?”

 

Rose sighed, and leaned forward to rest his head on his hands for a moment, before straightening again and meeting their eyes. “If you must know, yes.”

 

“Oh, that is just—”

 

“Laytner, what am I supposed to do? You're all way too involved with this whole mess. I don't know what they were thinking when they handed this case to us, but it was obviously a mistake.”

 

“But—”

 

“Everyone here is too deep in the mess to be able to think clearly. They all love Adams. There's no one in this entire precinct who wouldn't put one thing or another on the line to save that….” He faltered for a moment. “And if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone else.”

 

“But you knew—”

 

“Yes, we did, but we thought nothing would happen anytime soon. The threats—and that's all we thought they were, threats—they all described something happening, but….not now. Things are happening a lot faster than we expected, and….” Rose sighed. “Look, I made a mistake, all right?”

 

Dee and Ryo blinked. They had never heard Rose admit something of that nature before.

 

“I was the one who decided the 27th should handle this one on its own, and look where it's gotten us. Someone wants us to stop investigating, I wouldn't do it and now Adams is halfway dead.”

 

“Don't you dare—”

 

“He's hovering in the middle and don't pretend to have any delusions about the matter, Detective,” Rose snapped, the professional, businesslike tone back in his voice. “You're off the case, and that's the end of it.” Then, his glasses perched on his nose, the Commissioner leaned forward and began to go through his paperwork. “You're dismissed, Detectives.”

 

“Excuse me? You think you can just—”

 

“Dee.”

 

Dee blinked and turned to look at the blond man standing next to him. Ryo hadn't said anything since they had entered Rose's office, preferring to remain silent rather than get in the way of his lover's frustration, but now he spoke quietly, laying his hand on Dee's arm. His expression was blank, his mask of indifference so perfectly arranged that only Dee would notice that he was fuming quietly.

 

“Why don't you go wait in the hall? I'll be out in a minute.”

 

“But—”

 

“Go on.”

 

Dee sighed in exasperation, but left the room, grumbling under his breath. In the hallway, he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, cradling his wrist as he waited impatiently until Ryo came out.

 

“We're back on the case,” Ryo said tiredly.

 

“What? What did you say to him?” Dee demanded, following the blond as he set off down the hall toward their office.

 

“Nothing you ever need to know. It might give you ideas.” Then, with a sigh, Ryo said, “We'd better get over to this Jarvis guy's place….see if we can get anything out of him.”

 

“You stay here and finish filing this damn paperwork. Meet me down there as soon as you're finished with it.”

 

---

 

Robert Jarvis was a small, round, watery-eyed man in his early forties whose living habits disgusted even Dee. Dee, for his part, had gone into the apartment feeling very tense and half-hoping Jarvis would refuse to cooperate, thus giving Dee an excuse to use a little physical pressure. (Hence his request for Ryo to stay behind for a bit.) He wasn't disappointed.

 

Jarvis had sold out countless people before, but he had never had to do so to his own family. He wouldn't even admit he had a brother until Dee had gotten a few decent hits in. (Somewhere in the part of his mind that wasn't consumed with anger over what had happened to JJ, Dee found it rather amusing that he really could take this man with only one hand and minimal movement.) Even after that, he wouldn't reveal anything that his brother might have done and kept asking why the cops would even be after him in the first place. Dee was beginning to lose what little self-control he had left when Ryo let himself into the apartment.

 

“Dee, I've been knocking for ages, what've you—” He paused, taking in the scene before him and Robert Jarvis's disheveled features. “What're you doing?

 

When the blond entered, Jarvis froze. His face was swollen and there was a cut above his right eye, and the man looked quite shaken. Seemed the line between protocol and police brutality had once again become blurred.

 

“Dee….” Ryo sighed, looking slightly exasperated.

 

“He wasn't cooperating,” Dee muttered, trying to look apologetic when really all he wanted to do was continue to hit things.

 

Ryo shook his head and turned his attention to Jarvis, then froze. The man was staring at him and shaking violently, his eyes wide. “Um….sir? Are you all right?”

 

“Mary, mother of God….it can't be….”

 

Dee shot his lover a quizzical look.

 

“You….no….it can't….you aren't….you're him….”

 

“What the hell are you muttering about?” Dee asked, confused.

 

“I…. Oh, God….” Still muttering under his breath, the man walked over to a desk in the corner of the room and began to shuffle through the papers that littered it until he came up with a small card. “Here….” He handed the card to Dee. “That's all I can give you….my brother used to run that bar….don't know if he still does….haven't had any contact with him since….” Then Jarvis cast another frightened look at Ryo. “I'm….going to have to ask you to leave….I've told you all I know, and unless you're going to charge me with something, I really can't…. Just go, all right?”

 

Jarvis watched the officers leave, waited for their footsteps to fade, and then quickly picked up the phone and dialed with shaking hands.

 

“Russell? I know….I'm sorry, man, I just….you know I couldn't get in touch with you. Right. The point. You're not going to believe this…. That guy….the half-Jap one….you told me you wasted him…. He's back, man. You….what? No, he was….he looked alive….he's not? You knew he was here? Why didn't you call me? Well what are you doing about it? You're what? Man, I know you're freaked out to see him but is that any reason to off an entire precinct? Okay….uh-huh…. Yeah, man, whatever. Fine. Just don't get me involved. Later.”

 

---

 

“Well….he was quite a character….” Ryo observed idly, after they had been shoved rudely out the door and into the apartment hallway.

 

“Yeah….” Dee agreed, as they began to walk down the stairs. “So what do we do next?”

 

“I guess we go over to this bar.”

 

“Right.”

 

“So I wonder what was with him….” Ryo wondered aloud as they headed out the doors and onto the street. “He looked sort of freaked when I came in….”

 

Dee shrugged. “Who knows?”

 

Despite their feigned indifference, though, both their detective senses were tingling.

 

---

 

That day was a long and frustrating one for both of them. They met dead ends everywhere they turned, it seemed, and had not even managed to find out if Russell Jarvis had done anything to warrant a stern warning, let alone an arrest.

 

“No one seems to know where he is….” Ryo muttered as they returned to their office at around midnight. “He's left us nothing to follow.”

 

“I know,” Dee replied. “Suspicious, isn't it?”

 

---

 

They never would have gotten any leads at all if the calls hadn't started coming for Ryo.

The first one came a few days after they had begun the search for Russell Jarvis. There had been no change in JJ's condition and Drake rarely left the hospital. He went home to shower every night and immediately returned to his lover's hospital room, otherwise not leaving except to use the bathroom or to eat in the hospital cafeteria. Dee and Ryo stopped by every day after work, but devoted most of their time to their case. Even Dee threw himself into it, though he preferred to let Ryo handle the practical stuff while he took care of the action whenever possible. On several occasions, he was able to use force to get his information, provided he was able to keep that fact a secret from Ryo and the Commissioner. He had a feeling that Ryo already knew, but the blond was kind enough not to mention it. He, better than most, understood the pressure that Dee was under and the tension that was building up inside him. If Dee wanted to take out that stress on whatever scumbag came along to help them with their case, then that was his business and no one else's.

 

Dee was out of the office when the call came, having been forced by Ryo to get out and clear his head. The poor guy wasn't used to working so hard and not getting anywhere. Hell, he just wasn't used to working so hard, period. He had a new respect for Ryo now, realizing how hard it must be to constantly be the one staying behind trying to figure out the practical angles.

 

They had gathered several more facts from the FBI, and it seemed no one had given them the rest of the picture. According to Rose, he had had a hell of a time convincing them to even hand the case over to the 27th, and while the Commissioner packed a lot of influence, apparently he didn't have enough. He ended up having to throw a lot of his weight around and eventually had to call in several favors to get the information that had been carefully left out. Dee had spent a great deal of time complaining about that very fact. It seemed that though the FBI had handed the case to the 27th, they were still working on it on their own time and had, in fact, only pretended to give it up to get Rose off their backs. The Commissioner apparently had more sway than he was letting on….

 

Apparently, someone was following the movements of the FBI and the NYPD very closely, because said someone knew exactly who was working on this particular case and was picking them all off one by one, then carefully burying the evidence. The man had obviously done this before, and knew exactly what he was doing. Two of the FBI officers who had been working on the case had been killed, one in a bombing, the other by poison. Two others were in the hospital after similar occurrences, and now JJ had become a victim. The only thing all these officers had in common was that they were all trying to find the man who was threatening the 27th.

 

Ryo had the how, but he was still missing the who and the why. There had to be a reason this person was targeting the 27th precinct, right? But what could it possibly be? What could possibly motivate a person to kill an entire team of police officers?

 

After thoroughly reading and re-reading everything he had been given, Ryo had set about putting together a profile for their man, carefully figuring out how the person's brain worked and making an excellent educated guess at his mental state and what had led him to where he was. It had not been fun getting in the man's mind. It had taken him two days, twenty-two cups of substandard precinct coffee, and enough disturbing mental images to last him a lifetime, but he was finally finishing up when the phone rang. Sighing, not taking his eyes off the page he was re-reading, he reached over and picked it up. “Randy MacLean.”

 

Silence.

 

“Hello?”

 

“I've been watching you.”

 

“….Um….Excuse me?”

 

“Why have you come back?”

 

“….Sir, if you have an emergency….”

 

“I think you know who I am.”

 

Ryo blinked.

 

“I think you know, but you don't want to admit it.”

 

“….Why are you calling me?”

 

“My brother called me. You were in his apartment, weren't you? Why did appear to him and not to me?”

 

“I….uh….”

 

“What did you do to my brother, Mr. MacLean?”

 

“I….nothing, I….”

 

“Leave my brother out of this. I'm begging you. He did nothing to you, sir. Your fight is with me. I'm the one who killed you. He did nothing. Leave him out of it….please.”

 

Click.

 

Ryo blinked again and stared down at the phone in his hand, then hung it up slowly and hit the print button on the computer.

 

Looked like things were going to get more interesting, after all.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

 

Less action, more random stuff in this chapter. It was mostly just a filler chapter to post while I tried to figure out where I'm going with this story. I'm going to actually have something happen in the next chapter, so please be patient with me. And in the meantime, review, please!