Fake Fan Fiction ❯ FAKE In Love: Act XXI, Above And Below ❯ Chapter 7

Warnings and Disclaimers: I don't own FAKE. I make no money off of this. This is yaoi with adult situations included. Huzzah!

 

 

“Take the next left,” Jack whispered.

Ryo nodded. He could tell they were heading up by the slight angle in the floor and the sense that the air was fresher. Of course, that last part could be entirely psychological.

“Nnn, stop,” Dee groaned. “I'm going to throw up.”

They halted, Matches carefully setting Dee on his feet. The detective leaned back against the wall and then slowly slid down it. Ryo shined a flashlight over his face and shook his head. Dee was pale, and covered in sweat, and he really didn't look alright.

“My head hurts,” Dee muttered.

“You're lucky that's where you got hit,” Matches said.

“Whatever,” Dee answered and gingerly touched the back of his neck.

He winced and closed his eyes.

“Damn,” he breathed. “What hit me?”

“The killer,” Ryo answered.

“Oh,” Dee said. “Ryo?”

Ryo leaned in a little closer and Dee turned a narrowed glare on Matches and Jack before he spoke again.

“How long was I out?” Dee asked.

“A while,” Ryo said. “I haven't been watching the clock.”

“Sorry,” Dee said and tugged at Ryo's jacket until their foreheads lightly rested together.

“Are you feeling up to moving now?” Ryo asked.

“I definitely don't want to hang around here any longer,” Dee said.

“I knew it,” Matches muttered.

“Hey,” Dee said, one foot lightly kicking the big man's ankle. “I hate to break it to you, but Ryo figured me out a long time ago, so shut up.”

Something rattled in the darkness behind them and the entire group tensed.

“What was that?” Jack whispered.

“We lost them,” Matches said. “Five turns back we ditched them completely.”

Ryo stared hard into the darkness and then turned back to Dee. Neither said a word, but Dee's eyes hardened and he nodded.

“How much farther?” Ryo asked as he held the map out to Jack.

“One more left fifty feet up and we're on a straight shot to the surface,” the CSI answered.

Ryo nodded.

“Get moving,” he said. “Quietly. Shut the lights off.”

“What?” Jack said. “What are you--”

“Just do what he says,” Dee ordered and grabbed the flashlight from Jack's limp hand. “Let's go.”

Dee pushed himself to his feet, the darkness pooling in black and perfect. Ryo drew his gun, and then gasped softly as warm lips passed over his in a quick kiss.

“Be careful.”

Ryo nodded and smiled.

“You too.”

He listened as they moved further towards the exit, Dee leaning against Matches and making just enough noise that whoever was behind them in the dark would know they were moving. Ryo leaned back against the tunnel wall and forced himself to be perfectly still.

There was only one person who could have been following them.

 

The tunnel was too small. It had never bothered him before, but he'd never stayed down this long. It felt like he was breathing the same air over and over. He shuddered and hurried down through the darkness. He could barely hear them now. If he got lost, it was going to be trouble.

This had all been one giant fuck up. He shouldn't have wasted time with the kill. He'd waited around too long and gotten caught up with the cops and the filthy moles. They'd come out of nowhere and he ended up turned around and stranded. At first, it seemed like the cops were in the same boat, but after a while, they'd started moving with a purpose. So he'd followed and he was starting to recognize some of the tunnels they were passing through now.

He wanted to go a little faster, but it was a risk he couldn't take. He'd started out so silently, but a lot of his skill had been wasted under stupid panicking. He should have known it would work out fine. He wanted to laugh at himself and then at the cops for guiding him out.

“Freeze.”

The gun barrel was probably supposed to be pressed against his temple, but the cold bite against his neck was just as effective.

He didn't move.

 

Dee practically gulped down the night time air as they stumbled out of the tunnel. It smelled like the rest of the city, and Dee didn't think he'd breathed in anything so sweet in a long time. He closed his eyes and inhaled.

“Alright,” he said after a moment. “Help me get into place.”

He had Matches position him so he was facing the tunnel entrance, his vision still fogging up a little if he moved too fast. Dee winced as he thumped down onto cold concrete, the nearby trees seeming to stretch out to block out all the light from the city. Central Park really could be creepy as hell after dark.

Dee pulled his gun and carefully raised it, his eyes narrowed and set as he waited. He didn't know how long it was going to be, but whoever came out of that tunnel was going to find a gun on them.

“Call for back up,” Dee said to Jack, his eyes still set. “And Matches, if you take one more step, I'm going to turn this gun on you. You stay put.”

“I don't want to hang around for this,” Matches grumbled. “I helped you guys out and it's not going to go well for me if anyone finds out.”

Deep green eyes flicked to him.

“I might need you if something goes wrong.”

If something was wrong with Ryo.

Matches swallowed and then nodded.

“Alright.”

Dee wished he could hear something. There should be footsteps or talking or anything to let him know what was going on. His fingers tightened around his gun and he slumped back a little more against the barrier behind him.

“Hurry up, Ryo,” Dee murmured.

He always hated waiting for Ryo. The most nerve wracking moments of his life were spent waiting for his partner to come around. He hissed softly between his teeth and forced his eyes clear as something began to materialize out of the darkness.

“Holy shit,” Dee muttered.

Ryo emerged, the detective smeared in dirt and grime and leading Stan Hoyer in front of him.

 

“Well,” Jack said as he tossed the file on Dee's desk. “We've got him. Forensic evidence verifies that Stan Hoyer, former employee of the department of public works, was present at Lucy's killing and at the scene of the homeless man's death Detective MacLean found on our way out.”

“Great,” Dee said.

“His underground times line up with everything too,” Jack continued. “He'd break something down in the tunnels and then when he was down there to fix it, he'd kill someone.”

“Good planning,” Dee muttered and pressed a towel over his eyes to try and keep the light from throbbing over them.

They'd been moving non-stop since the night before when they'd hauled Hoyer in. Dee had a quick check in with a doctor and a pronouncement he was well enough to work, and after that he'd been back at the office. His head was starting to complain about it, and he knew it wasn't going to be too much longer before he would need to go home.

Go home and wrap around Ryo. Yes, that sounded good.

“There's only one problem,” Jack said.

Dee peeked from under the towel and Jack sighed. He tossed a few color photos on Dee's desk, one set marked Alex Cage, the other just `Lucy'. They were close ups of the killing blow, each one patterned out and marked for depth and force.

“We did some testing,” Jack said. “We originally thought Cage was killed by a single blow to the base of the neck, but there's some evidence that suggests that there might have been multiple strikes.”

Dee frowned and pulled the pictures closer. They looked identical to him.

“The angle is also different as well as the hit patterns.”

“What's this supposed to mean to me?” Dee asked.

“Hoyer didn't touch Cage.”

 

The small interrogation room was clean and carefully lit. It felt quiet now, the small girl sitting across from Ryo looking even smaller without her mass of blankets and shadows.

“How are you feeling, Corsica?” Ryo asked.

“Fine,” she answered. “If you're askin' how they're treating me, it's fine. Lots of food, lots of quiet.”

“That's good,” Ryo said.

He pulled a picture free and carefully slid it across the table, the image of Alex Cage's dead face staring up at her now. Corsica stared absently back, her hands fidgeting inside her sleeves as Ryo paused.

She looked younger than he had originally guessed. Her hair was a tangled mass of blond frizz that poofed out protectively around her. She was skinny and pale and looked like even with a warm bed under her she didn't sleep much.

“What can you tell me about Alex Cage?” Ryo asked quietly.

Corsica shrugged and nervous fingers pulled out of her sleeve to lightly trace the curve of the image's face.

“I don't know,” she answered distantly.

“We know that he died in the tunnels,” Ryo said. “But we also know the man we had in custody for the other murders, didn't kill Cage. He wasn't in the tunnels that night, we have video evidence that he was working with a road crew north of the city.”

Corsica shrugged and continued to caress each feature.

“Do you know how he died?”

She chewed at her lip for a moment and then looked up at Ryo.

“The same as all the others,” She said, her accent curling and smoothing around the words. “I told you before, nobody cared when it was just us dyin' down there.”

Her eyes dropped back to the picture.

“We needed somebody else, someone who mattered.”

“Did you kill him?”

“I saw him leave his party,” she said. “We watch them sometimes, make fun of them while they make fun of us. He left alone. They don't usually do that. It was like something just clicked. It was like I just knew.”

She brushed her fingers back up through his hair and down his cheek.

“I followed him. I was shaking so bad, I knew I was making too much noise, but he never looked back. Not even once. I had a piece of pipe that I carried around, in case things got bad, and I snuck up on him. I kept waiting for him to turn around, `cause if he did that, I knew I wouldn't be able to hit him.”

She sighed.

“But he didn't, so I did. He went down hard. I thought it was enough, but he was still breathing, kind of this wet gurgling sound. I couldn't just leave him like that, so I hit him again.”

Her mouth shut with another sigh and she carefully turned the picture over.

“You tell his family, he did something good,” Corsica said quietly. “You tell them he saved more people by dying than he ever could have in his life. You tell them his death meant something.”

Ryo looked away from her.

“I'm going to need your real name,” Ryo said.

“Yeah,” she murmured.

 

Dee rolled over as Ryo climbed into bed, his arm hooking around his partner's waist and pulling him close. Ryo sighed and leaned his head against Dee's as his lover pressed light kisses against his shoulder.

“So,” Dee said quietly. “Case closed.”

“Yeah,” Ryo answered and nuzzled down into Dee's hair.

His hand moved up and down Dee's back, and Ryo slowly closed his eyes. He was tired, and he needed more than sleep. Dee's arm tightened.

“I'm tired, Ryo.”

Ryo blinked and suddenly he was laughing. That was Dee, always reading his mind. Dee stared down at him with a confused smile and Ryo slowly quieted, his hand petting back through Dee's hair.

“Me too,” Ryo said.

Dee's smile softened.

“It just seems like it's the same now,” Dee said. “Everyday the same thing.”

“I know,” Ryo said.

He tugged Dee down and slowly brushed his lips over Dee's.

“Let's go somewhere,” Ryo said. “Let's get out for a while.”

Dee laughed.

“And when we come back?”

“We'll worry about that then,” Ryo said.

Dee felt himself smiling again. He stretched out next to Ryo, comfortably holding the other man close as he nodded. It was suddenly like all the tension had disappeared from his body. He felt drowsy and protected and perfectly safe with Ryo.

“Yeah,” he said and kissed Ryo's neck. “Let's do that.”

Ryo smiled and brushed his fingers lightly through Dee's hair.

“Okay.”

Dee sighed and nuzzled sleepily into his partner.

“I'm falling asleep, Ryo,” Dee murmured.

Ryo kissed the top of his head gently.

“That's fine.”

Dee closed his eyes.

“I love you, Ryo.”

“I love you, Dee.”

 

You and only you.

Forever.