Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Aftermath ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AFTERMATH

Disclaimer: Fake and all related characters are the property of Sanami Matoh and whoever owns the publishing rights. We all know this already. Honestly, do you imagine we’re making any profit off of this other than the pleasure of making Drake & JJ do the nasty?
Pairings: Drake x JJ.
Warnings: Very, very angsty. Man-sex. Really, a rather dark fic.
Rating: Mature
Timeline: A while after the epilogue. Drake and JJ have been together for quite a while.

A/N-- An angsty piece that Subu-originally wrote as a Death fic. I convinced Subu to make it a little happier. This one's for Hana.


The wind trilled along the rooftops, lost and lonely sounding as the cry of a bird-of-prey. JJ shivered as he crouched behind the cold steel of an air conditioner housing. The sun rising at his back did little to warm his blood. In spite of the cold that threatened to make his fingertips go numb, his hands were rock-steady as he assembled the sniper rifle. The metal was icy, but no colder than the frozen spot in his heart. He had wrapped the empty ache in a shroud of glacial ice, blunting the pain and freezing the tears he would not let fall. Not yet. He couldn’t break yet. Not until…

He lifted the telescopic sight from the bag and paused, caught by his own distorted reflection in the black metal. It brought to mind the last time he had seen Drake-only a week before his happiness was irrevocably shattered.


JJ towed Drake along with him, bound for the funhouse looming in the last rays of the late-autumn sunlight. Drake was still uncomfortable with being together in public-but JJ’s enthusiasm was contagious. Laughing, JJ pulled him into the funhouse, pausing just beyond the entrance for a stolen kiss that Drake returned just as passionately. In the Hall of Mirrors, JJ laughed uproariously as Drake pulled ‘muscle-man’ poses in front of the warped glass.

The chirp of Drake’s cell phone was an annoyance and JJ scowled as his lover shrugged apologetically and flipped the phone open.

“Parker.”

JJ saw all the humor fade out of Drake’s face and his knuckles go white as his grip on the phone tightened. “Yes.” Drake’s voice went flat and inflectionless. “Yes. No, I understand. When?” Drake’s voice hissed between his teeth. “Yes, I know. The sooner the better, right?”

Drake was uncharacteristically silent as he closed the phone. JJ noted with apprehension that worry lined his expressive face and eyes that were normally open and bright were shuttered and dark.

“Drake?”

Suddenly, his lover drew him close with a fiercely possessive hug. “Dammit!”

“What is it?” JJ was really worried now.

“My own personal nightmare coming back to haunt me.” Drake muttered into his hair, warm breath brushing against JJ’s ear. “A bust we made back when I was still a beat cop. It went to hell in a handbasket from the word go. They were waiting for us. Four of ‘em with semi-automatics. They opened fire in broad daylight on a residential street. A teenage girl was shot and I tried to pull her behind a car. One of the bastards was waiting for a move like that. He opened fire on us and I took a bullet in the leg. I saw him lining up for a kill shot when Deeks, my partner, got between us. He took a round in the face and was dead before I even knew what happened.” Drake made a choked sound deep in his throat and his hold on JJ tightened. “And the kicker is, the dumbfuck that killed him managed to get away clean.”

JJ drew away and met his eyes as Drake continued. “He was just arrested in Kentucky after a minor traffic violation in a stolen car. They ran his prints and found he was wanted here for the murder of two cops, one of which was my partner.” Drake sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. “They want my testimony. The Chief already booked me a flight at seven tomorrow morning. Whether or not I like it.”

“But…” JJ let his voice trail off. Drake didn’t look any happier, picking nervously at a loose string on his sleeve. JJ sighed. “No. It’s not like arguing with him will do any good. You don’t really have a choice.”

Drake shook his head. “Damn. I really don’t want to deal with this crap again. It took me years to get over that day. I don’t want to have to dredge it all up. Not again.”

JJ wrapped his arms tight around Drake, feeling the tension in his lover’s lean body. Drake heaved a world-weary sigh and relaxed against JJ’s slighter frame.

“Hush.” JJ murmured. “It’ll be okay, Drake. You can get through this.”

Drake drew strength from his lover’s assurances and straightened, reaching for a pack of smokes that wasn’t there. He scowled at JJ, who had been the biggest advocate for him to quit. “I could really use a cigarette.”

A grin split JJ’s face and he took Drake’s hand, drawing the taller man after him. He unerringly led the way to a small alcove behind the warped mirrors. There was an exit door hidden in the small nook, it’s sign providing the only light, but that wasn’t JJ’s goal. He drew Drake into the darkness behind the mirrors and pressed his body tight against Drake’s, pinning the other man against the back of the alcove. He raised his lips to Drake’s for a passionate kiss, hands sliding under the soft cotton of his lover’s shirt.

Drake responded with fervor until JJ’s hand crept down to the buckle of his belt. He gasped against JJ’s lips and tried to push the slighter man away. “JJ, not here!” He panted. “Someone might see us!”

JJ responded by pressing closer, nimble fingers having freed the belt and working hard on the fly of Drake’s jeans. “Shush,” He murmured as the denim gave way. “Once the sun sets, everybody’s busy at the Midway rides. No one’s going to notice us.”

Drake groaned as a warm hand cupped him through his boxers. His knees buckled as those slender fingers pressed the sweet spot behind his balls. “O-oh, God, JJ! Yesss…”

His breath escaped in a hiss as JJ’s gentle exploration continued. He was holding onto his control with tooth and nail, JJ knew. But that small victory didn’t last long as JJ continued to stroke him through the thin fabric of his boxers.

“Dammit, JJ,” Drake growled against his lover’s throat. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to lose what little sanity I have left and screw you right here!”

JJ purred deep in his throat and licked Drake’s earlobe. He thrust his hips against Drake’s in a way that left no question about the state of his own arousal. “I’d so like to see you try.” He whispered throatily, dipping a hand into his jacket pocket to display the small tube of lube he had stashed there.

Drake acceded with a whispered curse. Hands, almost frantic in their haste, slid down the length of JJ’s body to unfasten his pants. The younger man squirmed to accommodate, shoving both briefs and pants down in a single motion.

JJ turned in his lover’s arms and braced himself against the wall he had formerly pinned Drake to. Drake kissed the nape of his neck as one hand searched out the lube in JJ’s pocket.

The coolness of the lube and the warmth of Drake’s work-roughened hands were in sharp contrast as Drake used two fingers to gently penetrate him. JJ mewled softly and pressed himself back as a third finger was added. “Oh, God, now, Drake! Now!!”

The fingers were withdrawn and JJ whimpered in protest until Drake filled him in one rapid thrust. The sliding friction was almost too much to bear as he began to meet Drake’s motions with backward thrusts of his own. JJ closed his eyes and cried out as Drake pounded into the sensitive spot deep within him.

JJ clung to the wall as Drake’s movements built the pleasure higher. Drake was silent except for the labored rasp of his breath, hot against JJ’s ear. JJ didn’t mind, knowing from experience that Drake wasn’t loud like he was in the throes of lovemaking. Despite the silence, he could feel how close his lover was to completion.

Drake’s frantic rhythm gave way to a last massive thrust and he groaned softly. Warmth filled JJ as Drake came deep inside him. In spite of his own overwhelming pleasure, Drake knew JJ hadn’t reached that pinnacle yet and reached around to help. JJ cried out sharply as he felt the warmth of Drake’s hand close around him. A couple of strokes and he was coming too, the strength of his orgasm leaving him weak in the knees and clinging desperately to the wall in a effort to stay upright.

They both rested there for a long moment, shaky, sweaty and disheveled. Finally, Drake disengaged and with a tenderness he rarely displayed, helped his lover clean up. When they were both something resembling presentable, Drake drew JJ into a tight embrace and simply held him as their breathing returned to normal.

“I wish I didn’t have to go.” He said softly into JJ’s silvery-hued hair. “Not that I don’t want to see the bastard get what’s coming to him, but I really don’t want to relive those memories.” He tilted JJ’s head up so their eyes met. “Most of all, I don’t want to leave you.”

JJ shivered. This conversation was wandering into dangerous territory. He could see it in Drake’s gentle gray eyes. “What? Afraid Ted and I will run away together?” JJ asked impishly, not wanting to hear Drake say those words. Those longed-for, and yet all the same, dreaded words. What they had was enough. He didn’t want to ruin it by putting a label on it: a name to the emotions. He’d had enough of that. He knew from experience that once you stamped a name on it, it was as good as gone.

Startled, Drake snorted. “Not likely. You two would kill each other inside of a week without me to keep you in line.”

JJ laughed. “You’re probably right.” He kissed Drake again, languorously. “Just keep that in mind,” JJ roguishly told his lover with a gentle caress. “All the more incentive to wrap it up quickly and come home.”

Drake chuckled. “You know it.”

JJ twined his fingers in Drake’s and they slipped out the door and into the chill autumn evening.


It had been four days since JJ had bid Drake farewell. He was feeling a little alone, but the phone call from Drake last night had helped. He said that he hoped to have things wrapped up before too much longer. It had been a short conversation, but JJ felt much better as he entered the lounge at the precinct. The small room was unusually crowded. Dee, Ryo and Marty were all huddled around the small black-and-white TV on the counter. Ted was at the coffeepot, freezing in the act of pouring himself a cup as JJ walked in.

“JJ…” Ted’s voice trailed off and the others turned to look at him. JJ took in the shocked, frozen faces and felt the bottom fall out of his stomach.

“W-what is it? What’s going on?” To his horror, his voice was very small, like a timid child’s.

Ted set his coffee down with exaggerated care. He came over and rested both hands on JJ’s shoulders. His hair and suit were more rumpled than usual and JJ couldn’t help but notice his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. JJ watched in horror as a tear escaped and ran down Ted’s face. “Oh, god, JJ, I’m s-sorry.”

The hands on his shoulders were trembling.

Dee joined them and drew JJ into a sudden hug. JJ shivered. It was so out of character that for a long moment his throat refused to work. “Dee-sempai?”

Ryo joined them and gently steered the group back to the TV corner. At a nod from him, Ted retrieved a cup of coffee and pressed it into JJ’s hands. JJ noticed that his hands were still shaking and Ted hurriedly turned his face away, but not before JJ could see that there were more tears gathered in his eyes.

Marty turned the TV up. “-peating from the top of the hour. A suspect wanted for the murder of two police officers in New York has escaped police custody. He is believed to have overpowered the driver of a police transport van. According to several eyewitnesses, two accompanying police cars that attempted to stop him were forced off the road and into a ravine. Both cars exploded on impact and it is believed that all occupants were killed. One was an out-of-state detective here to testify at the suspect’s trial. No furth-” The pretty blond reporter hesitated, lifting a hand to her earpiece. “I’m sorry, I’m just receiving an update. The suspect has been recaptured attempting to run a police roadblock. He has been taken into custody and will be transported to New York to await trial. No further word on the occupants of the two cars forced off the road. The local fire department is struggling to contain the blaze started by the explosion.”

The cup slid from JJ’s numb fingers, spattering them all with lukewarm coffee. He stared blankly at the screen, unable and unwilling to believe what he had just heard. “Drake?” His voice was a choked whisper. “H-he can’t be!”

“Oh, JJ….”

JJ flung himself into the nearest set of arms, (Ted’s, some still sane part of his mind noted absently) sobbing hysterically. “He can’t b-be d-d-dead!” He gulped between racking sobs. “I-I just talked to him l-last n-night!”

They all gathered around him to offer what little comfort they could, but JJ just felt his heart breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

Someone brought Chief Smith down and explained the news while a shaking JJ huddled into himself. The chief’s lined face expressed a sympathy that was surprising. “Dammit,” He said in an undertone. “MacLean, you and Spencer take Adams home. Make sure he stays there.” He paused and looked down at JJ’s trembling form. “I don’t think a sleeping pill would be a bad idea either. I’ll put him on leave for a few days.”

“Sir?” Ryo spoke up. “He can stay with me for awhile. I don’t want to leave him alone just yet. He really, really shouldn’t be alone.”

Dee’s face was grim as he nodded at his partner/lover. “I have to agree.”

The chief nodded and motioned Dee to join him outside the lounge. Dee hesitated but obeyed.

The chief was leaning against the wall as Dee closed the door behind him. “What’s up?”

I’m not as blind as I pretend to be, Laytner. That’s a rather extreme reaction, even for a spaz like Adams. He and Parker, hmm?”

Dee sighed and nodded. “Yeah, for a while now. Didn’t know he’d gone quite that far over the deep end for him though. He’s shocky.”

“Suicidal?”

“I don’t think so.” Dee answered, scratching the back of his head. “But you never know. JJ’s prone to be a little irrational sometimes. Especially when it comes to the people he loves.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know. You and MacLean keep a close eye on him. I don’t need to lose two detectives.” There was brief flash of pain in his eyes as he spoke, quickly hidden as he turned away. “That’s all, Laytner.”



JJ didn’t struggle or protest as Ted and Ryo carefully put him in the car and took him to Dee and Ryo’s shared apartment. He was so wrapped in a numbing shroud of grief that their gentle concern was barely noted at all.

They deposited him in the guest room and Ted helped him into bed as Ryo set off in search of sleeping pills. “Ted?” the voice was a ravaged whisper, but for the first time since that awful moment in the lounge, JJ was focused, if none too steadily, on him. “Please, tell me this is a nightmare,” JJ pled with him, seeking desperately for the reassurances he just couldn’t give. “Please tell me I’m going to wake up safe at home with Drake!”

A horrible pang of sorrow darkened Ted’s expressive eyes and JJ knew with bone-chilling certainty that he would never wake from this particular hell. “He’s dead.” JJ whispered, wrapping his arms around his knees and hunching into a smaller and smaller ball. “He’s gone and I’ll never see him again.”

Ted sought desperately for something to say. “JJ, man, c’mon. Don’t give up on us now! He-he might have made it! Maybe he wasn’t even in one of those cars. Maybe…” He let his own choked voice trail off as he looked at the desolate figure on the bed. JJ had begun to cry again, silent, wracking sobs that made his whole body shake with misery. Ted had no idea what to do. His own grief at the loss of his friend seemed a small, insignificant thing next to JJ’s overwhelming sorrow. Fortunately, Ryo returned with a glass of water and a pair of small blue tablets. He put them on the bedside table and sat next to JJ on the bed, drawing the smaller man against him in a comforting embrace. His eyes met Ted’s over JJ’s hair and he jerked his chin toward the other side of the bed. Ted obeyed, sitting and putting an awkward arm around JJ as well. After several long, agonizing moments, JJ relaxed into their hold, shaking as tears spilled from reddened eyes. Ted and Ryo grieved with him, quietly, and somehow that eased the pain enough to stop the spasms of involuntary sobs.

Ryo gave him the sleeping pills and steadied his hands on the glass with all the care of a father nursing a sick child. JJ would have refused the pills even though his body cried desperately for rest, but Ryo was adamant.

“It won’t take away the pain,” he said, pressing the pills into JJ’s hand. “Nothing can do that. But they can let you forget for a few hours and sleep. And, right now, sleep is what you need.”

“H-he’s dead, Ryo-sempai,” JJ said in a broken whisper. “How can I ever forget that?”

“Oh, JJ-” Now there was a suspicious catch in the other man’s voice. He drew JJ against him and rested his chin on the top of his head. “I’m not asking you to forget him forever. Only for a little while, to sleep.” He coaxed JJ to swallow the pills. Only when his head was drooping and his eyes refusing to stay open did Ryo and Ted leave the room.

Ted bid goodbye with a worried look back in JJ’s direction. Ryo was just closing the door behind him when the phone shrilled.

“MacLean.”

“Ryo. JJ all tucked in?”

“Dee.” Ryo found himself immensely glad to hear his lover’s voice. “Yes. Ted and I just got him settled. He’s really shook up.” He shook his head, even knowing that Dee couldn’t see him. “Dammit! Any news?”

“Nothing good. They took the other occupants of the police van to the hospital. No word on their condition. The fire’s still raging. No sign of Drake or the others. The chief’s been trying to get through on the phone since you and Ted took JJ, but so far… But-let’s be honest here-even if he survived the crash, there’s no way he can still be alive in that sort of inferno.”

“Shit,” Ryo cursed softly but with real feeling. “That’s not good. JJ’s barely hanging on now. He’s already on the breaking point. I’m a little afraid of what he might do.”

“Tell me about it.” There was genuine sorrow in Dee’s voice and Ryo knew it was tearing him up too-though not as bad as JJ. He and Drake had been friends a long time.

“Dee, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you and me both.” Dee said grimly. “But be more sorry for JJ. He fell hard for Drake.”

“I know.” Ryo glanced back at the silent bedroom. “Believe me, I know.”



In the guest bedroom, JJ stopped fighting to stay awake, tears filling his eyes. He had garnered enough from Ryo’s side of the conversation to know Drake really was gone. He wrapped himself in the sheets, at the same time wrapping his heart in a shroud of ice-cold anger. The anger blunted the pain, numbing the broken edges deep in his chest. Drake…

A chilling smile spread across cracked lips. Don’t worry, Drake. I’ll finish it for you. You won’t have to be alone long, I promise.

That comforting thought carried him down into the dark embrace of sleep.


JJ shook himself out of the haze of memories and snapped the sight into place. Drake…

His heart ached as he eased into place, sighting on the courthouse steps where in less than an hour the man who had killed his lover would appear. Drake’s image hung in his mind as he braced the sniper rifle into position on the edge of the roof. His tousled hair and sated smile as he kissed JJ goodbye.

He remembered his last conversation with Drake the fateful night before he had heard the awful news as he glanced at the milling crowd below.

“JJ….” Drake’s voice was quiet. The long-distance connection buzzed and clicked in the background.

“What is it?”

“Have you ever-” Drake cleared his throat. “Have you ever hated someone so much that you wanted them dead? Wanted it so much that it sickened you?”

“Drake?”

“I do. I-I want this bastard dead. When I close my eyes, I see Deeks with his face blown to hell and I want him dead so bad it hurts. And that scares me…”

JJ angrily shook the memories away. I’ll get him for you, Drake. I’ll finish what you couldn’t. If it’s the last thing I do…

“-so much it sickened you?”

JJ tried to drive Drake’s voice away with another shake of his head. His hands shook and he looked down at them in mute shock. He needed them to be steady. They had to be steady!

“-and that scares me…”

Drake… JJ closed his eyes and willed himself to stop shaking. A few deep breaths later he was able to grasp the rifle with steady hands. He checked his watch and mentally cursed himself for having spent so much time in introspection.

He moved into position, sighting down the barrel, a finger steady on the trigger. Any second now… Any second now, he would end the life of the man who had cost his lover his life. Die, you son of a-

“JJ!” The shout startled him and he spun, heart pounding in his chest.

Ted stood by the door for the emergency stairs, panting hard. “Don’t do it, JJ!”

JJ’s hands convulsed around the gun. “Ted. H-how-?”

“Ryo figured it out when you snuck out. He checked and found you had signed out a sniper rifle. From there the pieces were easy to put together. Did you really think you could get away with it?”

“I don’t care! I want him dead, Ted! He killed Drake!” JJ’s voice had risen to a shout, shaking with emotion. His hands stayed steady on the rifle, though. “Don’t try to stop me!”

“JJ, no.” Ted’s tone was gentle. “Please don’t do this.”

“I have to.” It was a wail of denial this time.

“I’d have to stop you.”

JJ glared at him through a haze of angry tears, knuckles white on the stock of the gun. “Don’t even try it.”

“I’d have to. Do you think I want a friend up on a murder rap? If you were thinking clearly, you’d stop yourself. No matter how bad he hated someone, Drake never would have wanted this, JJ.” Ted stared hard at him, eyes suspiciously moist. “Do you think he would have wanted the man he loved in jail for murder?”

The gun clattered to the rooftop, slipping from suddenly numb fingers. “Drake…” JJ followed the gun down, sobs tearing at his chest. He wrapped his arms around himself, crying helplessly.

“Ted, do you have him?” Ryo’s voice crackled from the radio on Ted’s belt.

Ted picked up the now-forgotten rifle. “Yeah. It’s good. JJ won’t be any trouble.”

“No trouble, huh?” There was something strange in Ryo’s voice as he came back. “Bring him down here with you.”

“Copy.”

Ted stuffed the sniper rifle back in the gym bag JJ had used to transport it and helped a confused JJ to his feet, shoving him toward the stairwell door.

JJ looked at him uncomprehendingly, knuckling tears from his eyes. “Y-You’re not going to cuff me?”

Ted offered him a flash of a smile. “Not if we get that gun back before the Chief finds out it’s gone AWOL.”

JJ blinked, feeling like his thoughts were swimming through sludge. “I tried to kill a man. Shouldn’t I be under arrest or something?” Somehow, the query came out sounding indignant.

Ted gave him another playful shove to get him moving. “I didn’t see you try to kill anyone. No one’s dead and no shots were fired-so as far as I’m concerned, end of story.”

“That’s not the way it works.”

Ted ignored his protest with cheerful aplomb and herded him down the stairs. JJ shivered as they exited onto the street, somehow surprised to find he was cold. He hadn’t been aware of the cold since the news of Drake’s death. In silence, he and Ted crossed to where Ryo was waiting on the courthouse steps. His expression was grim as he confronted JJ. “You’re lucky Dee and I are your friends. Dee’s making the paperwork on this gun vanish as we speak. It just has to be back in lockup before anyone does an actual physical inventory. Officially, there’s no record of one JJ Adams ever signing out a sniper kit.”

JJ looked up in surprise, seeing the compassion in Ryo’s black eyes. He never even saw the accompanying right hook that knocked him flat on his ass.

Ryo crouched in front of him as he rubbed his jaw, anger making the other detective’s pleasant face hard. “And that’s for this whole damned thing, you idiot.”

“Ryo… don’t damage the merchandise.”

JJ’s head whipped around so fast his neck cracked painfully. He knew that voice! It couldn’t be…

“D-Drake?”

His nonchalant smile unchanged, the fever dream of his dead lover hobbled over to them on a pair of crutches. His head was bandaged, giving him a raffish look. More bandages peeped from the neck of his polo shirt-the blue one JJ had given him last Christmas, some part of his brain noted absently. His mind had even dressed the hallucination in Drake’s favorite battered leather trenchcoat.

“Are you going to sit there on your ass all day or say hello?”

“You’re dead!” JJ blurted. “You died in a car wreck and I’ve gone crazy and started talking to hallucinations!”

“I can’t be dead.” Drake said cheekily. “I hurt too damned much to be dead.”

“H-how?”

“I was riding in the transport van with the perp. He managed to snatch the guard’s gun and cold-cocked both of us with it.” Drake reached up to rub his unbandaged temple ruefully. “I’ll have a matching set of scars now.” He bemoaned, fingering the thin white scar where Max Fork had pistol-whipped him several years ago. “I was just coming to when he tried to dodge the roadblock and wound up rolling the van. That where I got the rest of these bumps.”

“The news said you were in one of the cars he forced into a ravine. They s-said you were dead!”

“Believe me, when I woke up in the hospital, I was wishing I was dead. It would have hurt less.” Drake sighed. “I was supposed to be in one of the escort cars, but at the last minute I decided to ride in the van with the perp. S’pose that’s where the news got that bit. Nobody knew I’d switched rides.” He looked down. “Remember what we talked about? I wanted to know why he killed Deeks. Why he felt the need to off two cops! So I decided to ride in the transport van, to ask him-Whoa!”

JJ flung himself at Drake, wrapping his arms around him. Drake would have gone over backwards had Ted not been nearby to brace them both. Ted, ears shading to red, looked away fast as JJ kissed Drake passionately.

“I thought you were dead.” JJ wept against his lover’s mouth. “I was ready to die too.” Shaking, he drew away and met Drake’s eyes. “Don’t ever leave me like that again. I love you, Drake.”

Drake kissed him again hard. “Idiot. Took you long enough to admit it.” He murmured gruffly. “I’ve known that for a while now.”

“Show’s over, folks.” Ted said loudly while Ryo laughed himself sick. “Nothing more to see here. Move it along.”


A/N-Wasn’t that evil of us? The way it was heading was seriously Deathfic but we decided against it. Happy endings are so much better. They lead to sequels. Reviews welcome. Review and the rabid review monster will stay safely medicated. That’s a very good thing. Trust us on that.