Fake Fan Fiction ❯ FAKE in Love: Act I, Stalkers and Protectors ❯ Chapter 2

Warnings and Disclaimers: Don't own FAKE, not Sanami Matoh. I'm damn hot though, if you're interested. Much love to you all, reviews appreciated.

 

Dee yawned and leaned back in his chair as he finished reading the last of his messages. Diana looked up from Ryo's chair as the dark haired detective tossed the stack in the garbage can.

“Can't people handle anything on their own?”

“Glad to see you support vigilantism,” Diana said wryly.

“Absolutely,” Dee said as he stood up and glanced around his small office, carefully shutting the blinds on the door's window. “Take care of it yourself, by all means.”

“What are you doing?” Diana said lowly.

Dee grinned slightly at her and picked up the Finch case file. Agent Spacey's eyebrows arched as Dee slid the thick case into the back of his pants. He pulled his jacket on over it and turned so Diana could see.

“How's it look?”

“You can't tell it's there at all,” she said as she crossed her arms with a little annoyance. “You know better than that.”

Dee raised one finger to his lips and winked.

“Shhh, Ryo's going to want to see this,” Dee said. “And it's really not that big of a deal. He's still off the case, I'm just letting him peek in at our findings.”

“Yeah, fine, whatever. You'd do it no matter what I said anyway.”

“Damn straight.”

The door clicked open and Ryo smiled at them both as he came in.

“Hello again Diana,” he said, giving her a light peck on the cheek. “It's always nice to see you.”

“I wish your partner was as pleasant as you are, Ryo,” she said with a smile. “That lout spent most of the day grumbling about not being able to see you.”

Ryo's smile softened a little and Dee shrugged.

“You ready to go?” Dee said finally.

“Well, I guess, but I was hoping…”

“Great,” Dee said. “I'm starved. Diana lock the place up when you decide to stagger out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I'll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight Diana,” Ryo said, a little disappointment in his voice.

He followed Dee out of the station and into the parking lot, his hand resting on the handle as he waited for Dee to unlock the doors. Dee glanced warily around and then tugged the file out of his waistband and handed it to Ryo. Ryo grinned and then laughed out loud.

“I knew it! I knew you had something planned.”

“You know me too well.”

Ryo smiled again as he climbed into the car and lightly kissed Dee.

“I don't think that's possible.”

 

It was an unbreakable rule that dinner time was never work time. Instead they sat at the table and patiently ate, Bikky happily chattering about his day and baiting Dee into a few verbal sparring matches. They helped Ryo clear the table and clean up the dishes and then Bikky took off to grab his homework and take over the living room.

“You know he spends more time watching TV than actually working,” Dee said as he sat back down at the table.

“As long as he gets it done I don't mind,” Ryo answered as he flipped over the file and began to read. “What'd you think when you got to the scene?”

“That that rookie Henderson was going to puke.”

Ryo glanced up at him and Dee shrugged.

“It was the first thing I noticed, he looked really upset. You know, I saw the pictures this morning, I knew what I was walking in on, Diana did too, but it was still disturbing.”

He leaned back and lit a cigarette. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. As a cop, he knew he needed to separate his emotions from the cases he worked and be able to observe everything impartially. However, he worried about that day when he would walk into a crime scene and not feel that familiar pang of disgust, just clinical curiosity. He knew cops like that, and he knew that things didn't usually end well for them.

“Was Henderson the first on the scene?”

“Yup,” Dee answered and tapped some ash into the tray in front of him. “Told him I'd talk to him tomorrow. It looked pretty straight forward, and the guy was definitely long gone before anybody arrived, but I still want to know what he saw when he got there.”

Ryo nodded and frowned.

“He died from…”

“Massive blood loss,” Dee finished with him. “Yup. Coroner says that it would have taken hours, and judging from all the bloody bandages we found there, it might have taken a couple of days if the guy was really careful. What Mors walked in on, that decapitation, that was post mortem.”

Ryo's mouth thinned and he grunted a little. Dee knew what he was thinking, he had thought it earlier himself. He'd rather have his head cut off than slowly bleed to death under torture.

“So why's Diana here?”

Dee smiled a little.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask about that,” he took another long pull from the cigarette. “Guy's a serial, a fucking nutcase, but also smarter than hell. There are eight other crime scenes across the country that the FBI are sure belong to him, and about four others that Diana thinks could also be his. She got stuck on the case after another agent got a set of pictures.”

Ryo looked up at him now and Dee licked his lips.

“Agent Marcus Finch.”

“Ahh,” Ryo said lowly.

They were silent a moment before they continued, Dee smoking almost continuously as he outlined the other murders and all the grisly little details Diana had given him. Ryo listened patiently, nodding occasionally or asking some question. Dee made notes as they talked, knowing that Ryo's insights often were a little keener than his own. Finally, Ryo set the file down and headed into the living to send Bikky off to bed, coming back a few minutes later with a heavy sigh.

Dee stood up as Ryo collected all the papers back into the file and handed it back to him. The other detective took it slowly and then sighed.

“So, how did things go with Rose today?”

Ryo frowned irritably and Dee felt a rush of anger pass through him.

“What did he do? I'm going to kill him!”

“Calm down,” Ryo said. “He didn't try anything. I just spent the day feeling like someone's personal piece of eye-candy.”

Dee's mouth dropped open with a cutting remark about Rose's disgusting personality, but instead he bit it back and slid his most charming smile into place.

“Well you are nice to look at.”

He pulled Ryo close and enjoyed the surprised/confused/startled look that dashed over his face. Dee leaned down and licked Ryo's neck slightly, a small shudder of pleasure running through Ryo's taunt body.

“Mmm,” Dee breathed into Ryo's neck. “Not only are you hot, but you taste good too.”

The blush darkened and Ryo lightly nipped at Dee's ear.

“Good,” he said quietly. “Here I was worried that we wouldn't get to finish what we started last night.”

Dee grinned and tossed the case file on the table as he lightly rested both hands on Ryo's waist.

“And where were we again?”

Ryo laughed and pulled at Dee's shirt, guiding him easily towards the bedroom. The door clicked softly shut, the lock sliding into place as Ryo tugged Dee's shirt off, running his hands over the bare skin.

“If I recall…” he murmured quietly and gently kissed one of Dee's nipples. “We were somewhere around here.”

Dee moaned and leaned down for a kiss, Ryo's mouth opening readily as they moved to the bed, bodies entangling as they collapsed upon it. Dee straddled Ryo, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, his hands moving lightly over every part of Ryo's exposed skin. The brown haired man moaned a little, his own hands resting lightly against Dee's hips, squeezing them a little as Dee leaned down and went to work with that expert mouth.

“Sexy little Ryo,” Dee whispered, enjoying the warm wave of pleasure that ran through his mouth as he said it.

Ryo's hands tangled in his hair as Dee began to work his way down the bare neck, his hands tracing over every muscle. Ryo moaned again and Dee came up for a kiss, Ryo's hands slipping free and sliding down, pulling at the button at Dee's waist. Dee let out a long sigh of expectation as he felt Ryo's hands dart inside his pants.

“Ryo?”

Ryo froze as Bikky's voice drifted into them.

“What is it Bikky?” Ryo said, immediately clamping a hand over Dee's mouth to keep him from yelling at the boy.

“Ryo…I threw up.”

Bikky sounded on the verge of tears and Ryo smiled as Dee slumped against him.

“Alright,” he called. “I'll be right there.”

“Damn kid,” Dee said lowly when Ryo finally released his mouth. “Hurry up and take care of him.”

“You know better,” Ryo said lightly kissing the top of Dee's head. “He wouldn't have come to get me unless he really threw up…everywhere. He can't sleep in his bed tonight, he'll want to stay in here with us.”

“No way,” Dee growled.

Ryo kissed him again and rolled away.

“Change into some pajamas and grab the bucket for me, will you?”

Dee grumbled loudly but got up to comply, silently cursing fate yet again. Ryo returned a few minutes later and changed into his own pajamas before going back for Bikky. The boy trailed after him dejectedly and climbed into the bed with a little pout.

“Here,” Ryo said, “We'll put you on the end. Now you're close to the bucket and the bathroom.”

Bikky nodded a little and blinked quickly. Ryo gently rested one hand against Bikky's forehead, his touch cool and soft against the heated skin.

“I'm sorry Ryo,” Bikky said quietly and then sobbed. “I'm sorry.”

“It's alright Bikky,” Ryo said, and ran a hand through the boy's hair. “It's alright.”

Bikky buried his face against Ryo and cried loudly, clinging to him as Ryo calmly comforted him. It still happened sometimes, usually when Ryo was just too kind, just a little too much like a mother that Bikky had never known. He needed that comfort, that warm kindness that didn't ask for anything in return, but sometimes it was still too much. His sobs faded to a few hitching breaths, and then he grew still and quiet, his breathing telling Ryo that he had fallen asleep again.

“You gonna stay home with him tomorrow?” Dee asked quietly.

“If he wants me to, but he probably won't.”

“Of course not,” Dee chuckled. “You make him stay in bed and sleep instead of playing video games and watching daytime TV.”

He curled up closer to Ryo and gently kissed his shoulder, sighing a little as he lay down.

“What?” Ryo asked.

“I was just thinking how much I hate sharing you with anyone,” he sighed again. “But I guess I'm alright with sharing you with the brat.”

Ryo smiled in the darkness, and Dee sighed loudly again.

“Just don't pick up anymore strays.”

Dee felt Ryo get up with Bikky twice more in the night, the detective patiently rubbing Bikky's back as the boy knelt over the toilet, his body wracked with painful spasms. Dee listened through a sleep fuddled brain as Ryo comforted him with soft words and cleaned him up each time. Ryo is going to be tired tomorrow, he thought distantly, so it was a little surprising to be awakened by a fully dressed Ryo shaking him softly.

“What?” he muttered.

Ryo raised a finger to his lips and pointed over at Bikky.

“No alarm clock today,” Ryo said softly. “Get up.”

Dee nodded and set out for the bathroom, momentarily worrying that Bikky would come barreling in in the middle of his shower and he'd have to listen to the kid chuck his cookies everywhere. Dee sighed and grabbed his clothes, padding quietly out to the other bathroom as Ryo pulled a tray of muffins out of the oven.

“Ooo,” Dee said happily. “Muffins from my muffin.”

Ryo threw a potholder at him and Dee scampered off to shower. He headed back to the bedroom after breakfast to unlock the safe and retrieve their guns, a slight yawn on his face as he moved silently through the room. Bikky blinked thickly and then stared at him.

“What time is it?”

“Early,” Dee said and set the guns on the floor next to the bed. He rested one hand on his forehead and pressed the other against Bikky's. The dark haired man frowned a little and shook his head.

“You've still got a fever,” he said. “Do me a favor. When you start to feel sick, pause the game and go wait it out in the bathroom. I'm going to be pissed if I come home to find my X-Box in a puddle of your puke.”

“That's my X-Box,” Bikky growled.

“Who paid for it?” Dee shot back.

“You said it was a Christmas gift.”

“Maybe I lied,” Dee said. “Feel better.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Bikky?” Ryo poked his head in the room and smiled at the two of them. “I talked to Mrs. Thompson, she knows you're here today. If you need anything just go next door and get her,” Bikky frowned irritably and Ryo chuckled. “I told her you were going to be sleeping all day and didn't need to be checked in on, so calm down. I also called Carol, she's going to pick up your homework for you today, so you'll see her this afternoon.”

“Gee thanks Ryo,” Bikky said sarcastically. “Do you want me to go to work for you too?”

Ryo laughed again. “Call me if you need anything, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks Ryo.”

“Let's go. Bye Bikky.”

“Bye Ryo.”

“See ya Bikky.”

“Bye Dork.”

 

“You want to meet for lunch today?” Ryo said as they walked into the station.

“What's this? You're going to skip out on a stake-out to have lunch with me?”

Ryo snorted. “Of course not. There's a restaurant right in the hotel's lobby.”

“I see, so it's lunch with you and Rose.”

“Well I guess I could just have lunch with Berkeley,” Ryo said innocently.

“Don't even start.”

Ryo's hand darted for an instant to Dee's lower back, a welcome pressure that disappeared too quickly for Dee.

“Good luck today.”

 

Diana happily pecked Berkeley Rose's cheek as she sat down at the table next to him, a warm smile quickly flashed at Ryo. Dee brushed a hand across Ryo's neck and sat down, immediately scanning over the menu that waited for him. The waitress darted over and took their orders, returning surprisingly fast with the teas and sodas they had ordered.

“Good service here,” Ryo said.

“Well good god,” Diana said as she watched the waitress flash a look of appreciation back at their table. “The woman is trying to figure out how to jump the three of you during her next break.”

Ryo blushed darkly and Diana leaned forward with a predatory smile.

“What's this, Ryo? You seem a little flustered.”

“He's been propositioned three times today,” Rose said flatly and Diana turned to him suspiciously.

“And how many of those were from you?”

Dee snorted loudly, barely managing to keep his soda from shooting out of his nose. Rose stared flatly back at Diana and she smiled coyly at him, shrugging a little as she finally turned back to Ryo.

“So I take it you're having good luck on your stake out? I mean, after all, it's not even after noon and already, well, three times.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ryo said, the warm blush still in place.

“He's the best bait we've ever had,” Rose said as he scanned the restaurant. “Just sit him at the bar and they all but climb over each other to whisper in his ear.”

Dee's mouth thinned irritably at that and Ryo scratched nervously at the back of his head.

“Yeah, well…”

“You are a little cutie,” Diana said with a happy grin, Ryo smiled weakly back.

“So, how's your case going?” he said finally.

Rose sighed a little and drummed his fingers on the table.

“What?” Dee snapped irritably. “We politely listened about your work, now you can listen about ours.”

“Mmmhmm,” Rose said, his eyes glinting flatly at Dee. “Next time you decide to take a case folder without permission make sure it's one that I don't want to read.”

Dee didn't say anything to that and instead lit up a cigarette, purposely staring out the window away from Rose.

“I'm sorry sir,” Ryo said. “It's my fault. I wanted to know what they'd found out.”

Rose waved it away with his hand and leaned forward in his chair.

“I thought so. I actually would have been disappointed in you if you had just given up on this,” his eyes grew warm as he smiled a little at Ryo. “That wouldn't be like you at all Ryo.”

Grrrrrrrr, Dee felt the urge to leap over the table and smack Rose in the back of the head. He glanced at Diana, and judging by the annoyed look on her face, she was thinking much the same thing.

“Um, er, thank you sir,” Ryo said.

“Any time,” he said, the underlying meaning painfully clear.

Ryo blushed fiercely and Rose leaned back in his chair, a satisfied look on his face. Dee gripped the table angrily, his eyes flashing murder as Ryo coughed a little bit and then became very intent on his drink.

“So,” Diana said, her voice reflecting the tired annoyance on her face. “About the case…”

“Oh yes,” Rose said. “Please, do tell.”

“We talked to Detective Henderson,” Dee said as he pulled a small notebook from his jacket pocket. “He was the first officer on scene, and I wanted to get his first impressions. He said the first thing he noticed was the smell.”

“That's odd,” Rose said. “The body hadn't been there long.”

“Maybe he's never smelled a body before,” Ryo said with a shrug.

“That's what I thought at first too,” Dee said. “But he wasn't even talking about the body or the blood. He said that he smelled something else, something like cat litter.”

Ryo frowned and Diana sipped her drink before she started to speak.

“We went back to the crime scene to see if we could find anything, and Henderson was right, it did smell like cat litter.”

Dee closed his eyes as he tried to remember it exactly. It was dry, an acrid sting chasing on the end of it. Something heavily chemicaled that sucked up moisture and felt thick and heavy in the lungs.

“Was he using it to soak up the blood?” Ryo said.

“Very good Detective,” Diana said. “You're faster than either of us. We found a big stash of it in the entryway closet and a ton of the stuff had slipped under the floor boards. Our perp cleaned almost everything else up pretty well, but we're rolling in DNA evidence now. Mors busting in on him must have caused the guy to hurry a little bit, and leave most of the litter behind. We're hoping that maybe Agent Finch put up a fight and managed to make this guy bleed somewhere.”

“I'm a little disappointed our CSI's didn't turn this up,” Rose said with a frown.

“Diana kicked them out yesterday,” Dee said. “Told them it was an FBI matter and they would just have to wait until she released the scene to them before they started ripping things apart.”

“Diana…” Rose started.

“Don't Berkeley,” she shook her head. “I trusted them in Chicago and they tore the hell out of the place before I even got a chance to look around. I made your guys wait, but they're back in there now, and I'm pretty sure that I have all the photographs that I'll need to remember where everything was.”

“We have very competent officers,” Rose said darkly.

“I'm not doubting their competence,” she said flatly. “Just their enthusiasm. I wanted to get the chance to move around in the scene as it was, as untouched as possible. Now they can do whatever they want to it, spray all their chemicals and whip out any gadget they can think of.”

Rose's mouth thinned but he remained silent.

“So far the scene looks almost exactly like all the others,” Diana said after their food had arrived. “Lots of blood, but limited to one area, the bed. The rest of the place was thoroughly cleaned, and seemed to be basically untouched. We found…well, he always leaves a box behind…”

“He gave us the finger,” Dee said flatly. “And not much else. The place was stripped.”

Ryo picked quietly at his food and Diana stared at him. She could remember when the pictures had shown up at Finch's door. He had called the bureau immediately and Diana had been dispatched to keep an eye on him. Finch had given her all the case information and brought her in on the last murder scene, the bloody end of a banker from some small town in Illinois. That was the problem here, there was no pattern, no commonality between the victims. Sure, Finch had been an FBI agent and Ryo was a cop, but besides the banker the guy had nailed a school teacher, a dolphin trainer, and a telemarketer among other things. They were all men, but that was it as far as similarities went. It seemed random, almost too random.

Finch had started to look more and more haggard, his face shrinking in upon itself, dark circles forming under his eyes. He stopped sleeping and started jumping at shadows. The man had never said anything, but Diana had the impression that the pictures weren't the only little present he had received. Eventually, he had just disappeared. They had searched his apartment, but there were no signs of foul play, it looked like he had just decided to run one day. Though apparently he hadn't gotten any farther than New York City before the psychopath caught up with him.

“How are you doing, Ryo?” she said softly.

Ryo frowned and poked at his food.

“My fish is dry.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know, I'm fine.”

He smiled back at her and Diana felt a little pull at her heart. She didn't know Detective Randy `Ryo' MacLean all that well, but there was such warmth there. He really was a wonderful man, and she felt a little disgust at what was now looming in his future.

“Bikky kept him up all night,” Dee said as he set his burger down. “Brat's got the flu.”

“Oh no,” Diana said. “Poor Bikky.”

“He'll be fine,” Ryo said with a laugh. “He was already fighting with Dee again this morning. That's a pretty strong sign of health.”

“You were fighting with a sick child?” Diana said with shock.

“He loves it,” Dee said and glanced at his watch. “We better get going if we're going to make that meeting with Jim.”

“Alright,” Diana said with a sigh. “Your lab technician is very efficient, but also very picky. He all but kicked us out when he started to run his tests.”

“That's Jim,” Ryo said and chuckled. “Tell him I said hi.”

“Will do,” Dee brushed past Ryo again on his way out, happily leaving the check to Rose as he and Diana made their way back out into the hustling city.

 

“Sorry,” Jim said as he handed them the test results.

Dee scanned them and cursed lowly.

“All samples are a match to Finch,” Dee said irritably and handed the sheet to Diana.

“Damn,” she said and sighed. “Well thanks anyway.”

“Hey, don't give up yet,” Jim said as he leaned against the table behind him. “CSI just started looking, and we really do have some talented guys.”

Diana frowned. “Yes, I know.”

Jim grinned back at her. “By the way, the coroner wants to see you both.”

“Why?” Dee said as he peered into some of the weird jars that surrounded Jim.

“How should I know?” he pushed Dee back. “He just stopped by here looking for you, I'm not your personal message pad. Just be grateful I told you anything.”

“Thanks,” Dee said. “Oh yeah, Ryo says hi.”

“Hi to Ryo,” Jim said and turned back to his microscope.

“Bye Jim.”

Jim muttered something back, and Diana and Dee set out to hunt down the very busy city coroner.

 

Dee all but slammed the office door shut as he and Diana entered, irritably glancing around for Ryo. They had chased the coroner all over the station, and then gave up and headed down to records. He had hunted them down about an hour later, huffily informing them that it wasn't his job to chase them. Not that he had had any really useful information, he just started to explain some of the wounds more in-depthly, and to give them some paperwork that he had forgotten the day before.

“That was useless,” Dee said. “I thought Ryo would be here waiting for me.”

He glanced at the clock. It was a little after six, they were both off now, and Ryo should have been back from the hotel a while ago. There was a light rap on the door and then it opened, Drake glancing in and nodding to Dee.

“Ryo said to tell you that J.J. was giving him a ride home and he'll see you later.”

“What?” Dee frowned darkly. “Well this day keeps getting better and better.”

“Sorry man, Rose's orders.”

Dee's face froze at that and he looked more intently at Drake.

“What do you mean?”

“Uh, well, they found another picture of Ryo,” Drake said. “But the guy, well he painted blood all over it. Rose wants to see you in his office before you go.”

“Shit,” Dee said lowly, but the curse wasn't meant for Berkeley Rose this time.