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FAKE First Year Together: A New Day (May)	By : BrittColumbia Category: +. to F > FAKE Views: 14597 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own FAKE, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Fake First Year Together:
A New Day (May)

By Brit Columbia

Chapter 41

Fandom: Fake

Pairing: Dee/ Ryo

Rating: Worksafe. Swearing. A little kiss. Sorry, pervs.

Spoilers: To Volume 7

Timing: Set in May, directly after book 7 ended

Summary: Ryo is coming to terms with his new
sexual identity, as well as the changes in his relationship with Dee. 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 Fake or any of the
characters created by Sanami Matoh. Lieutenants Abernathy and Fox are mine
however, along with Detective Greenspan and Dot, the waitress. I have not based
these characters on any living person.

Author's notes: I believe in a strong and equal Ryo and
Dee.

Thank you to Mtemplar ,
Moontatoo and LadyFeather

Fake First Year Together:
A New Day (May)

Chapter 41

Detectives
Laytner and MacLean sat across from Detective Greenspan in a booth at Marv's
Diner. Dee's sunglasses were covering his eyes, even though he and his
companions were indoors. He freely admitted to himself that he kept them on
mainly to make Detective Greenspan uncomfortable. She had actually tried to sit
down next to Ryo, but Dee had butted in front of her and taken that spot, with
no word of apology. Of course, the challenging glare he had given her had gone
completely unnoticed on account of the sunglasses. She had glanced at him a
little uncertainly, but had merely shrugged and taken the seat opposite them.

A
lively gray-haired waitress appeared with smiles and coffee for everyone.
"Will you be needing menus?" she inquired, her eyes drinking in the
sight of the two extremely good-looking men who had chosen to grace her
establishment with their presence.

"Not
today, thanks," said Ryo with a smile. He couldn't believe how normal his
voice sounded, even though he felt quite sick with apprehension.

"Well,
if you change your mind, I'll be right over there at the counter, doin' the
pastry order," she informed him. "Just give me a shout. My name's
Dot."

"Dot,"
said Detective Greenspan sweetly, "do you think you could find me some
low-cal creamer?"

Dot
reluctantly tore her eyes away from Dee and Ryo, and bent her attention to the
pretty woman who was accompanying them. "Sorry, honey, what did you
say?"

"Low-cal
creamer. Do you have any?" Detective Greenspan repeated patiently, pushing
the small jug of regular creamer a short distance away from herself with a
slight wrinkling of her nose.

Dot
looked blank for a moment before saying, "Ah! Low-cal creamer. Why, sure.
I'll be right back with some."

She
bustled off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving the three of them
temporarily alone. Detective Greenspan opened her briefcase again and slowly
drew out the manila envelope she had shown them earlier. She placed it on her
side of the table, and rested her hand on it almost possessively before raising
her eyes to gaze upon Ryo with a sympathetic look, that although perhaps
kindly-meant, made him want to grind his teeth.

"Detective
MacLean," she said gently, "I'm afraid you might find some of these
pictures a little upsetting, so I just want to warn you to brace yourself for
some possible...er, 'bad news' about your son's recent activities."

"I'm
braced, thank you," said Ryo calmly. "Now can I please see
them?" Under the table, Dee's thigh was pressing against his with a silent
message of support, and he appreciated it more than he could ever have said.

But
Detective Greenspan kept her hand on the envelope. "I think we should
wait," she said firmly. "You know, until the waitress has come and
gone."

Dee
regarded her from behind his sunglasses. She was enjoying this, the little
bitch. This was her moment of power. Fresh from rubbing shoulders and God knows
what else with the Commissioner of the NYPD, she was now secretly reveling in
her ability to withhold potentially damning information about a man's son from
him.

"Give
him the friggin' envelope, Tinkerbell."

An
angry flush leapt to her cheeks, and she unconsciously tugged the envelope a
little closer to herself. "Detective Laytner, I honestly think it would be
best if -" she stopped speaking and gasped as Dee's coffee cup slipped
from his hand and crashed onto the table, sending a small torrent of coffee
rushing towards her.

"Hey
Dot," called Dee cheerfully. "Clean up on aisle three!"

As
Detective Greenspan's dismayed eyes turned toward the kitchen, Dee reached
across the table and snatched up the envelope, which he immediately handed to
Ryo.

Dot
who had just been coming through the saloon doors of the kitchen with a small
white jug in her hand, scooped up a rag from the end of the counter as she
passed and proceeded toward their table at double her previous pace.

Detective
Greenspan was forced to stand up and snatch her open briefcase out of harm's
way, just before coffee began dripping onto the seat she had been occupying a
moment ago.

"Dee!"
hissed Ryo under his breath. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

Dee
shoved his sunglasses up onto his head and said, "Dude, just open the
envelope already. The suspense is killing me. If we left things to her, we
wouldn't be getting a look at those pictures until she'd finished milking the
moment for all it was worth. Like, oh...the middle of the afternoon,
maybe?" He didn't bother lowering his voice, and in fact glanced over at
Detective Greenspan to make sure she was listening. "Sorry about that
Tina," he added loudly. "You didn't get any on your skirt, did
you?"

"Just
a drop or two," she replied in an acidic voice, submitting to having her
skirt dabbed at by the unfazed Dot.

"Go
put some cold water on it, honey," said the waitress sympathetically.
"It's such a pretty skirt, it would be a shame to get coffee stains on it.
I've got some little packets of Stain-Out that you're welcome to try. Come on
with me, now. Just leave your briefcase here."

Detective
Greenspan, casting a mistrustful look over her shoulder at Dee, followed Dot
with her briefcase firmly clasped in both hands.

Since
the table was still wet, the two detectives moved to an adjacent booth to open
the envelope. Despite his professed disapproval of Dee's action, Ryo was
actually deeply grateful to him for getting rid of Detective Greenspan, even
though the method had been a little lacking in finesse. He wanted to view the potentially
shocking contents of the envelope without her sharp eyes watching for his
reaction. She would probably be back in a few minutes, however, so he knew he'd
better be quick. He unwound the string that was holding the package closed and
dumped the contents onto the table.

A
vast number of eight by ten glossy photographs slid out, mostly of Bikky. In
almost every photograph, he could be seen talking to known drug dealers. Some
of the photos were paper-clipped together in sets, and when viewed one after the
other, they appeared to tell a story.
Ryo frowned at one series of photos that depicted Bikky approaching Wes
Samberg, a guy whom Ryo had personally busted two years back for possession and
assault. Wes and Bikky shook hands in one photo; in the next, Bikky was
explaining or asking something; in the next, Wes seemed to be protesting.
Another picture showed him apparently acquiescing and handing Bikky a small
packet of something in a furtive manner, while looking the other way. In the
final picture, Bikky could be seen equally furtively stuffing whatever the drug
dealer had given him into his pocket.

There
were many more like that. Ryo sifted through them silently, his heart beating
rapidly in his chest. How could he not have known? Bikky must have been further
into the drug trade than he could have possibly guessed. Some of the pictures
were taken in daylight, others when it was dark. Bikky was wearing different
clothes in different photos, which indicated that whatever he had been up to
was not a one-time thing. Ryo bowed his head in rage and sorrow, trying
desperately to compose himself before Detective Greenspan returned to the
table.

He
couldn't believe it when Dee started laughing. He jerked his head up, eyes
blazing. What the hell was his partner doing? Yes, Dee had a twisted sense of
humor at times, but how could he possibly find anything funny in this?

"Ryo,
dude, don't look at me like that," Dee said, shaking his head from side to
side. "You're gonna laugh, too, I promise you." Somehow he managed to
get the words out between snickers. "This is...f-fucking hysterical!"

"Would
you care to explain exactly what is so funny?" Ryo demanded in a low
voice. "Because I, personally, can't see anything humorous in this whole
situation."

"Neither
can I," said Detective Greenspan, stepping up to their new booth with a
wet spot right in the middle of her skirt. She took a seat opposite them once
more and gave Dee a disgusted look, that Ryo, for once, wholeheartedly approved
of. "In fact, I think the situation couldn't be more grave. Many of these
guys that Bikky had clandestine meetings with are people who make their money
selling drugs. As you know, Mr. Calvetti also made a significant portion of his
living doing the same thing." She swept a hand over the photos and added.
"You do realize, don't you, that this goes a long way toward establishing
motive? Mr. Calvetti was no doubt a source of competition to the others. Any
one of them might have wanted him out of the way, and it looks as though
someone might have used your son to set him up."

Ryo's
ire, which had been exclusively focused on Dee, immediately expanded to include
Detective Greenspan. "The last time we talked about this, you told me most
definitively that you did not
think that my son was involved in the murder," he reminded her, a
dangerous edge to his voice.

"Well,
it's possible he may not have been aware that he was helping to facilitate a
murder...or he might not have expected his associates to go so far as to commit
murder when they told him they wanted to find Mr. Calvetti." She looked at
him resolutely, although her manner was not without compassion. "This new
evidence is forcing me to rethink things. In any case, I'm going to have to
question him again. And Carol, too. You perhaps noticed that she's in one or
two of the photographs, obviously acting as a lookout."

Ryo
hadn't noticed, but that piece of information gave him pause. Carol, too? But
she was so adamantly anti-drug. How could this possibly be? "No, I didn't
notice," he said. "Show me."

Detective
Greenspan sifted through several photos and handed him one. Dee wordlessly gave
him the other. Ryo looked at them in silence. Carol did seem to be acting as a
lookout. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted to actually speak to any of the
sellers. There was something wrong about this. He thought hard, trying to put
his finger on it.

"What
did the Commissioner think of the photos?" asked Dee abruptly.

"He
said they were most interesting, and that it would really be very unfortunate
if it turned out that Bikky is involved in the drug scene," she said
briskly, gathering up the photos into one neat pile. "He advised me that
you would probably want to see them ASAP, even though today's your day
off." She looked at Ryo expectantly, obviously waiting to be thanked.

He
knew it was ungracious of him, but he just couldn't bring himself to thank her.
Not only had she just given him one of the worst pieces of news that a parent
could imagine having to absorb, but he didn't like her new attitude at all. She
was behaving as though the power balance had shifted between them, and that she
suddenly had the upper hand and could afford to be benevolent and sympathetic,
at least to a point. He looked into her eyes and found that he trusted her less
than ever, despite the promise of their last conversation when she had called
him at the precinct on Wednesday. He hoped that the Commissioner hadn't truly
told her everything.

"Detective
Laytner, I'll be needing that one too." Detective Greenspan held out a
peremptory hand for the single picture that Dee had been gazing at for the last
few minutes.

"Huh?
No way. This is my favorite picture," he said, holding it close to
himself.

"It
IS a darn cute one," opined Dot, who had come up behind him with a
coffeepot in one hand. "More coffee for anyone?"

"Hell,
yeah," said Dee. "The lady and I will be needing new cups. And my
partner there was smart enough to bring his own cup with him when we moved to
this table, but I'd say he REALLY needs another cup of coffee right now."

Dot
told them she'd be right back, and as soon as she was gone, Detective Greenspan
turned once more to Ryo. "I'd like to question your son again tomorrow if
possible. And don't worry -" she laid a hand on his arm - "I won't
bring Detective Saunders this time. She smiled conspiratorially, as though what
had happened last time had been nothing more than a silly little
misunderstanding instead of the extremely stressful and ill-managed fiasco that
it had truly been.

"Tomorrow's
not convenient," said Dee before Ryo could answer. "Is it, Ryo?"

"No,"
Ryo confirmed. He needed more time, for one thing. And he was pretty sure that
Lindsay Masters, the high priced lawyer he had hired for Bikky, probably
charged double if he had to turn out on a weekend.

Detective
Greenspan suggested Sunday, and then Monday, but Ryo rejected both days.

She
seemed to be getting just a tiny bit impatient. "You know, Detective
MacLean," she said. "It I were you, I'd perhaps want to be a bit more
cooperative."

Ryo's
head came up sharply at that, but Dee just burst out laughing again, and Dot,
who had reappeared with a tray of fresh cups, two little jugs of creamer, and a
coffee pot, laughed with him.

"Oh,
I do like to see people happy," she said as she poured coffee into their
cups. "Honey, you must have told him a real funny joke to get him laughing
like that." She smiled benevolently from Dee to Detective Greenspan, and
then winked at Ryo, as if to say, 'aren't they cute?'

"Actually,"
said Dee, pointing at Detective Greenspan, "the joke's on her." His
eyes sparkled mischievously at Dot, who after a quick glance that took in
Detective Greenspan's set mouth and resentful eyes, beat a tactful retreat.

"Detective
Laytner, I fail to see the cause for all this foolishness," Detective
Greenspan said pointedly.           "Have you no compassion for your partner?"

Dee
grinned at her and gave the neat little pile of photos in front of her a
contemptuous flick with his thumb and forefinger. "You got nothin',
Tina."

"On
the contrary. I've got photo evidence of something rather serious. My
colleagues have already rounded up three of these men, and I'll be returning to
Queens presently to question them. What do you think they're going to say when
they see these photos and I ask them about Bikky?"

"They're
gonna say you got nothin'. I don't see any drugs in these pictures, and neither
will they."

"If
they're selling drugs, they'll likely have some in their possession, and
they'll probably be more than ready to cooperate to catch a break," she
said.

Ryo
wondered what game Dee was playing. He kept his mouth shut and waited.

"What
if I told you I was with the kid the night - " Dee shuffled through the
pictures with one hand until he found the one he wanted - "THIS one was
taken?" He tossed it down in front of her, his eyebrows raised.

Ryo
leaned forward to look at it upside down. A ponytailed Bikky, clad in a light
colored hoodie and jeans stood under a street lamp talking to a redheaded
hooker in thigh-high boots.

"It's
been cropped, of course," Dee said. "If you had the whole scene, I'd
be standing right about here."
He moved one of the two creamer jugs into a position off to the right of
the photo.

"Dee?"
Ryo was peering at him looking shocked and confused. "What...?"

Dee
held his gaze, grinning, until something suddenly started dawning on Ryo.

"Three,
two, one...and he's figured it out!" Dee snapped his fingers just as Ryo's
face broke into a huge grin of relief.

Detective
Greenspan's eyes moved uncertainly from one man to the other. "Would
someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

"Sure
thing, hon. Let me tell you the story of a really expensive funeral and the
totally awesome kid who raised fifteen hundred bucks to help pay for
it..."

From
the counter, Dot returned to polishing the silverware with a happy nod. Now the
other young man was smiling, too. He had been so serious-looking when he first
came in, and she had thought to herself at the time that he would probably look
like an angel if he smiled. And he certainly did. Now it seemed that he had
been able to forget what was troubling him, and she was glad. She enjoyed
seeing people happy, especially when they were in her restaurant.

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

For
the second time, Lieutenant Abernathy explained the details of his
investigations of Officers Peyton and Henley of the 36th Precinct to the newly
promoted Lieutenant Fox. It really shouldn't be so difficult for the man to
understand.

"It
wasn't so much that they slapped around the hooker," he said. "The
main problem was that they tried to cover it up."

"But
it should also be a problem that they slapped around the hooker, shouldn't
it?" Lieutenant Fox asked. He had an irritating habit of pulling the ends
of his goatee into a point and then twisting it.

Lieutenant
Abernathy sighed. "Sonny," he said. "I'm making allowances for
you because I know you're new to the city and that when you were a patrol cop
back in Reno, you probably never found it necessary to slap around a hooker.
But things are a little different here..."

Lieutenant
Fox listened once more with that annoying little frown on his face that meant
he was busy thinking up more stupid questions to slow everybody down. Before he
could ask them, Lieutenant Abernathy handed him a stack of binders.
"You'll be needin' to study these case histories," he said. "Why
don't you take 'em back to your office, start reading and make a note of any
questions you'd like me to answer later? I've got an appointment to get
to." His eyes moved to the clock on the wall and then back to Lieutenant
Fox's face.

"Okay,
but...When will you be back? I'm sure I'll have quite a lot of questions after
I read these."

"I'll
be back when you least expect me, lad!" Lieutenant Abernathy replied
enigmatically, forcing himself to smile. He scooped up his suit jacket and made
for the door, the friendly expression falling instantly from his face the
minute his back was to the irritatingly obtuse Lieutenant Fox.

He
tried to be patient. Like all habitually impatient people, he was willing to
pay lip service to the notion that patience was a virtue. And in some cases, it
truly was, like with one's co-workers, for example. In others however, it just
got in the way. Some people had no choice but to be patient in all areas of
their lives, with the sloth, the ineptitude, the immorality, and the
carelessness of their fellow human beings.

Circumstances,
or more often, their own powerlessness compelled them to put up with it. But
not he. Not in all areas of his life. Perhaps the Lord had been placing people
with these disagreeable qualities in his path for a reason. Their number,
regrettably, included his son. What a disappointment that lad had turned out to
be. It was fit to break a parent's heart, it was. But, Mike thought to himself,
if the Lord was indeed sending the slothful, the inept, the immoral and the
careless to him on purpose, was it so that he could learn to engender patience
within himself, or was it more so that he could use the force of his
personality (and sometimes the force of his hand) to drive the foolishness and
the self-indulgence out of these poor unfortunates? He rather thought it was
the latter, although he would be the first to admit that he occasionally did go
too far.

He
felt a faint twinge of nervousness about how far overboard he had allowed
himself to go the other night with that lad from the bus. Should that one put
in a complaint, there could well be dire consequences. If Mr. Radley had any
such notions, it would be best to pay him a little visit before he actually
carried them out. Abernathy reached into his pocket and pulled out Alan Radley's
driver's license. Fort Greene in Brooklyn. That was a nicer neighborhood than
he would have thought. Ordinarily, he would have preferred to ask the Devils to
send a couple of men to chat with him, but the surviving members of the Dyre
Street Devils had other things on their minds since finding themselves plunged
into war by the events of Wednesday night.

It
looked as though he would have to take care of it himself. One for the road, as it were.

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

Detective
Greenspan was looking somewhat crestfallen, but doing quite a valiant job of
trying to hide it. "I see," she said. "Well, I hope you
understand that I've still got to check it out. My superiors know about these
photos, and they'll expect me to do my due diligence."

"Certainly,"
said Ryo politely.

"That's
likely to eat up the rest of the weekend," said Dee smugly.
"Lieutenant Abernathy sure handed you some 'busy-work' there. Don't let
your other cases suffer because of it."

"Thank
you, Detective Laytner, but I think I know how to manage my workload." She
drained the last of her coffee and set down the cup. "May I have that last
photo, please? I'll be more than happy to scan them all and email the images to
you, but I do need to have the originals."

"What
picture is that, Dee?" Ryo hadn't seen it yet because after Detective
Greenspan's first attempt to get it back, his partner had tucked it into his
clothes, and it was now nestled between his tank top and the loosely buttoned
shirt he was wearing over it. Ryo reached for it and Dee let him take it.

Ryo
felt a small stab of shock go through him when he saw the picture. This one
wasn't like the others. There was no sign of Bikky. Carol wasn't in the picture
either, nor were there any drug dealers or prostitutes. This picture was of Dee
and himself, and was rather compromising, to say the least. He willed himself
not to blush, but for the thousandth time, his body betrayed him.

It
was a scene from Eddie's funeral; he recognized that point right away. The
photo was a little fuzzy, as if it had been taken from a distance, and then
blown up and cropped, but it was clear enough. In the picture, he stood in the
circle of Dee's arm, with his head resting on his partner's shoulder. Dee's
head was turned and the camera had caught him clearly pressing a kiss to Ryo's
hair. Ryo looked up from his perusal of the photo to find Detective Greenspan's
eyes on him.

"I
thought you would be embarrassed
when you saw that one," she said, nodding knowingly. "I'll admit it
gave me quite a start, too. For a couple of hours there... I thought...Well, I
thought you might be gay or
something!" She emitted a little laugh, as if at her own folly. "But
when I showed it to the Commissioner, he told me you had been wearing that suit
and tie on the day of the funeral, and then, of course, everything made
sense."

"It
did?" asked Dee, genuinely interested to hear what she had to say next.
"What did the Commissioner think about the gay theory?" He hoped Ryo
wasn't quietly having an internal meltdown beside him.

"Oh
well, he didn't really say anything about that," she said, glancing off to
the right as she tried to recall his exact words. "He just pointed out
that it was a funeral picture and remarked that there had probably been quite a
bit of emotion in the air."

"There
was," Ryo said shortly, and changed the subject. "Did Lieutenant
Abernathy say where he got the photos?"

"All
he would say was that one of his sources had voluntarily brought it to him, in
the interests of seeing justice done. But he did have a thing or two to say
about this particular picture," she added, changing the subject right back
again.

"Was
what he had to say something that sounded like bitchy personal gossip, or was
it relevant to the case in some way?" Dee sprawled against the vinyl
cushions of the booth, chewing lazily on the corner of a package of sugar, and
watching her through half-lidded eyes.

"Well..."
she looked slightly embarrassed. "I would think that whatever he had to
say, we should examine it just in case it does have some relevance."

"How
much did the Commissioner tell you about Lieutenant Abernathy?" Ryo asked
shortly.

"How
much do you think he told me?" she shot back.

Ryo
and Dee glanced at each other sidelong for a moment before returning their eyes
to her defiant face. The Commissioner obviously hadn't told her much. In
fact, Dee thought, he probably
just poured her wine and asked her to tell him all about herself. And she
probably did, and enjoyed every minute of it.

"I
think he told you to ask us to
fill you in," said Ryo. "Am I correct?"

"Well...yes.
But he also told me that Lieutenant Abernathy was a 'person of interest' in one
of your cases."

"Yup,"
said Dee. "And that's all you're gonna get for now, sister. It's our day
off. Right, bud?"

"Right,"
said Ryo. "Detective Greenspan, I'm sure you're just as happy as I am to
learn that there's an innocent explanation for my son's activities in these
photos. Thank you very much for bringing them to my attention." He moved
as if to stand up.

"You're...most
welcome." She didn't look happy at all, but she stood up as well.
"I'll call you in a couple of days regarding another questioning session
for Bikky and Carol."

"I'd
prefer to run that by my lawyer first," Ryo said. "I'm sure you
understand."

"Yes,
of course," she said a trifle stiffly, tucking the manila envelope back
into her fashionable briefcase. She stepped out of the booth and looked over at
the door, her lip between her teeth.

Just
go, Dee thought.

She
didn't. Instead she turned back towards them and took a deep breath.
"Detective MacLean," she said quickly. "I have to know. Is what
the lieutenant said true?"

Both
men stared at her, Ryo looking uncomfortable and Dee looking disgusted.
Finally, Ryo said, "Lieutenant Abernathy resents being a person of
interest in one of our cases. I think he would say almost anything about me if
he thought it would cause trouble for me."

"Well,
I didn't believe him, of course," she said. "In spite of
that...picture. I - I mean, look at you. You're just so normal! And... And you're a father!"

"Yup,
he's a real man, all right," said Dee with a smirk. "How about me? Do
I strike you as a real man? Am I normal?"

"I've
heard all about you," she
said with an unfriendly sniff. "And I have no problem believing it."
She looked him up and down with faint contempt. "However, you, Detective MacLean...It couldn't possibly be
true." And then she stood there, blinking at him, waiting for him to
either confirm or deny.

Ryo
was caught off guard. Somehow he hadn't expected that this would happen so soon
- that someone would point-blank try to nail him down about his sexual
orientation. He found he wasn't ready with an answer. He reached for something
neutral to say, but his mind went blank.

Dee
stepped into the breach. "My partner here has to practically fight off the
women with sticks. Why do you even care what gossip Abernathy is spreading
about his sexual orientation?"
he demanded. "I mean, what the hell business is it of yours? No
one's walking up to you to ask if you've ever had your face in a muff. We actually have more manners, believe
it or not."

She
flushed somewhat, but whether it was from Dee's extremely blunt language or
from the sting of truth in his complaint about her manners, the two men
couldn't be sure.

"Detective
MacLean, I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you." She inclined her head to him,
gravely. "I should never have questioned your manhood like that."

"Apology
accepted," said Ryo a trifle stiffly, feeling giddy with relief. Thank God
Dee had been there.

"I'll
call you soon," she said. "Bye, now." Her face still red, she
hastily exited the diner.

"Sit
down, bro," said Dee. "Let's give her a head start."

"Good
thinking," muttered Ryo, flopping back down onto the seat. He felt a knot
of contrasting feelings welling up inside him. He couldn't deny that Detective
Greenspan's insistent questioning had left him on edge.

Dot
wandered over with the coffee pot. "More coffee, boys?"

"No
thanks, just the tab, please," said Dee.

"It's
on the house if you'll do one little thing for me," she said.

"What's
that?"

Dot
dropped her voice a couple of degrees lower. "Kiss his hair again, like
you did in the photo, hon. That was so adorable. You guys make such a sweet
couple."

"I'd
love to," said Dee, "but only if he says it's okay."

"Dee!
Ma'am, I don't think so. There are other people in the diner..." Ryo
looked around nervously.

"Only
old Tom Franken having soup over there at the counter. He's got his nose buried
in the Times. The only other customers are in the booth by the door. They can't
see you from there. And it's not like you're by a window or anything...."

           Ryo
looked from Dot's kind face to Dee's carefully neutral one. While Dot looked
openly hopeful, Dee appeared to be totally nonchalant. However, Ryo thought
there was something in the way he was averting his eyes as he fiddled with the
sugar bowl that suggested otherwise. Ryo was conscious of a feeling of
gratitude toward his partner, mixed with affection. Dee's support today had
meant so much to him.

"What
the hell," he said, shaking his head and grinning slowly at both of them.
He felt suddenly reckless and he couldn't say why. Perhaps it was Detective
Greenspan's thinly veiled homophobia, followed by Dot's whole-hearted approval
of his relationship with Dee. Perhaps it was the knowledge that it was true
that no one was looking, and probably no one would care... "C'mere,
you," he murmured, taking a suddenly-wide-eyed Dee by the collar and
pulling him close.

Dee
felt Ryo's lips press against his and linger, trembling for a long
heart-thudding moment. Then with the merest flick of tongue, he withdrew. Dee
stared at Ryo in reverent amazement. "Baby," he whispered. He felt
his eyes actually getting moist. Ryo had just kissed him in public. That
was...That was huge.

Dot
clapped her hands once, and emitted a soft squeal. "Aw," she said.
"You two are so darling together." Fishing their bill out of the
front pocket of her apron, she tore it in half and dropped the pieces on the
table. "Make each other happy, okay? Work through the hard times
together."

"We
will," said Dee.

"We
do," said Ryo.

"Oh
my God," said Detective Greenspan's voice, unexpectedly. "He was right!"

She
had come up on the other side of the booth without any of them noticing her.

           Everyone's
eyes swung in her direction. Her face was flushed and her mouth hung open in
shock.

           Ryo
knew his own face must look somewhat the same, as he felt the blood rush to the
surface of his skin. He hoped someone else would say something because his
tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of his mouth. Once again, he felt Dee's
thigh press hard against his, and he was reminded that he wasn't alone.

           "Aw
honey, didn't you know?" Dot was gazing at Detective Greenspan
sympathetically.

           The
younger woman's eyes flashed dislike at her, before settling back on Ryo.
"Apparently not," she said coldly.

           "Don't
worry dear. There are plenty more fish in the sea. I'm sure a pretty girl like
you won't have any trouble at all finding a man."

           Detective
Greenspan ignored her and continued to glare haughtily at Ryo. "You might
have told me," she said.

           "Like
I said earlier," Dee snapped, "what the hell business is it of
yours?"

           "Detective
MacLean knows that I have been practically throwing myself at him for the past
week," she said to Dee, her voice trembling. "He - you -" she
transferred her attention to Ryo - "allowed me to make a fool of myself,
all unknowing."

           Ryo
stared at her. She was angry with him because she had made a fool of herself?
He was suddenly the bad guy? Women were so hard to understand sometimes. He
realized he had to say something before Dee did. His partner was just opening
his mouth to speak, and if he said something sarcastic to her right then, Ryo
was afraid she might actually start crying. She was looking quite upset and she
seemed like the type who would. He tapped Dee's foot with his own, sending his
partner an unspoken message that he should keep quiet.

           "Detective,"
Ryo said gently, "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I tried my best
not to encourage you."

           "But you could have said something!" There was an unnaturally bright
sheen to Detective Greenspan's eyes. "I - I certainly wouldn't have
behaved that way if...well..." Her lip curled as an expression of disgust
crept over her lovely features.

"If
you had known I was taken? Or if you had known I was a fag?" Ryo asked sardonically, feeling a jolt of
surprise go through Dee beside him.

           "B-both,"
she said defiantly, "although I wouldn't have used that word, precisely.
I'm sorry. I'm just disappointed that's all. You...You seemed so normal, so...
nice."

           Ryo
maintained eye contact, although it was very difficult for him. "I'm still
nice," he said. "And I'm pretty sure I'm normal. But I'm not exactly
out of the closet." He couldn't believe these words were actually coming
out of his mouth. "I didn't feel that I wanted to talk to you about my
personal life, considering the extremely short nature of our acquaintance. I
apologize if I've hurt your feelings, but I don't believe I should have to
apologize for anything else."

           She
drew herself up. "Fine," she snapped. "You're right - Our
acquaintance has been short, so I'm not as 'hurt' as you seem to think. I just
find your evasive behavior...distasteful, that's all."

           "Was
there a reason why you came back?" queried Dee. "Some professional reason, for a change?"

           "Yes."
Lifting her chin defiantly, she surveyed them both with contempt. "I
wanted to get an email address to send the pictures to, that's all."

           "Oh,
well, let me give you my card," said Ryo, shifting to get his wallet out
of the inside pocket of his jacket. He handed her a card and noticed that she
took it almost reluctantly between her thumb and one finger as though it were
hot, hesitating a moment before stuffing it into her briefcase.

           "I'll
be in touch," she said shortly, and left without looking at them.

           "Whatever,"
called Dee after her.

           The
little bells on the door jingled as she left the diner for the second and
hopefully last time, and Ryo felt a small measure of the tension she had caused
leave him. He couldn't deny that her behavior was hurtful. No one had treated
him like he had cooties since he was in grade school, where he had encountered
a couple of kids who hadn't liked the fact that he was half Asian. The feeling
he had had then - a feeling of being looked down upon and reviled - was much
the same as the way that Detective Greenspan had just made him feel about his
sexual orientation, even though there was a world of difference between the shy
child he had been and the man he was now.

           But
I chose this life when I chose Dee,
he reminded himself, and this is part of the cost. He
turned toward his partner and met his anxious look with a brave smile. Dee was
worth it, a thousand times over.

"Well,
she was a rude one, wasn't she?" Dot exclaimed, indignant on behalf of the
nice gay couple in her restaurant. "I was feeling a little guilty about it
before, but now I'm glad I gave her the full-calorie creamer!"

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

"How
do you feel about Abernathy sending someone to follow Bikky with a
camera?" Dee asked Ryo as they threaded their way through the Kinney
parking lot.

"Well,
that's a message in itself, isn't it?" Ryo said. "It doesn't surprise
me at all. I've been waiting for him to pull something like this."

"As
long as he doesn't take it any further," said Dee grimly.

"I
don't think he will unless he's scared," Ryo said. "This was just a
little message to let me know that he can find Bikky any time he wants. So far
he hasn't done anything really serious, but if we start to make any real
headway on this case, I'll have to make a decision about whether to send Bikky
somewhere safe."

"Bikky
would hate that."

"I
know. So would I. But it's a gamble, keeping him here."

"And
would he be safe, even in another state? Abernathy seems like a resourceful
kind of asshole, not to mention ruthless."

"Well,
there is another option." Ryo
looked at Dee as they walked, his expression unreadable.

"What's
that?"

"We
could drop the case." The words fell like a stone between them.

"That
would suck."

"Yeah.
I truly don't want to, but ever since Abernathy first approached Detective
Greenspan about Bikky, I've been considering the possibility that it might come
to that." Ryo glanced at Dee again, wishing he could see his eyes, but
they remained hidden behind dark sunglasses. "How...how would you feel
about that?"

Dee's
head turned at the note of hesitance in Ryo's voice, and he looked full at him.
"I'll tell you how I feel," he said. "Bikky's health, safety and
happiness are more important than any career glory or personal satisfaction we
could get from nailing Abernathy. Someone else can take over the case, someone
without kids, if it comes to that."

"Thanks,
Dee," Ryo said softly. "For now, we'll just continue the way we have
been. I'm quite sure that if Abernathy gets nervous enough to constitute a real
threat to Bikky, he'll give me some kind of verbal warning first."

"Yeah,
he would," Dee agreed. "He's a talker, that guy. Of course," he
added, "he might come after us, too."

"I
know," said Ryo. "That was the message behind that last picture, the
one of you and me."

"Tina
sure wasn't happy about that one, but she didn't have to be such a pushy bitch
about it. What a twat."

"Do
you think she'll talk about us?" Ryo asked Dee.

"Probably.
But at least she won't be able to flash the picture around." Dee pulled it
out of the back of his jeans and waved it softly at Ryo, a grin on his face.

Ryo
smiled back. "I know it's totally out of character for me to say this, but
thank you for stealing it. I just
hope she didn't scan the photos before she came here."

"I
don't think so, because she offered to scan them for us, remember?" This
time, Dee put the photo inside his black tank top, close to his heart.

"I
hope you're right. But I think she'll still want to complain to her co-workers
about how ungrateful, uncooperative and downright gay we are."

"Well,
I think we may as well add the 99th to the list of precincts that think we're
all gay down at the 27th," Dee remarked pragmatically. "Let's not
tell Drake or Ted, though." They had reached the car, and he glanced at
his partner's profile, searching for a clue as to what his feelings were about
Tina and her snarky little melodramatic scene in the diner. "Listen, about
what she said back there...Don't take it to heart, or anything. There's always
gonna be people like her, and unfortunately, we sometimes have to work with
them. She's one of the 'civilized' homophobes. In a way, they're almost worse
than the ones who wanna beat us up."

"No,
I think the ones with guns are worse," said Ryo with a quick smile and a
glance at Dee. Then he looked away as he opened the passenger side door and got
into the car.

There
had been a hint of sadness in his eyes, and it made Dee want to find Tina, pick
her up by the scruff of her neck, and toss her into the East River. And her
stupid briefcase after her.

"Well,
maybe they are," he retorted, as he started the engine, "but at least
you can fucking shoot them."

"Dee,
I wouldn't want to shoot Detective Greenspan. She's not all bad. Just lonely, I
think."

"She's
more than just lonely," muttered Dee around the cigarette clamped between
his lips as he started navigating their way out of the parking lot. "She's
her own worst enemy. But at least she's got hotness goin' for her."

"Oh?"
said Ryo, folding his arms and turning piercing eyes on Dee.

"C'mon,
don't tell me you haven't noticed," said Dee, with an amused glance at
Ryo. "The Commissioner obviously has. He'll be buying her lingerie before
the weekend is out. As long as she doesn't find out that he likes to suck dick,
they'll keep each other busy for a while."

"That
reminds me. We have to talk to him. I want her cleared from Helen's list before
I trust her with a damned thing. And I want to know exactly what he told her
about our investigation of Abernathy."

"Fair
enough," said Dee. "But not today, okay?"

To
Dee's surprise and delight, Ryo reached over and ran his hand up Dee's thigh
from knee to groin. "Not today, he agreed. "Today is for us."

Dee
stepped on the gas.

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

~end of Chapter 41~

Additional
author's notes: Good news: Chapter 42 contains a big fat lemon. More good
news: It's on my LJ RIGHT NOW! To
find it, go here: http://brit-columbia.livejournal.com/

Thank
you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
- 40
- 41
- 42
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