Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Men Tell No Tales ❯ Realization ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7—Realization

 

“So what were you talking about last night? What'd you find?”

 

Dee smiled as Ryo set a mug of coffee in front of him and took his own seat across from his lover. “Thanks. You're sick, though, you shouldn't be waiting on me hand and foot.”

 

“I'm not, but I would like to keep you from breaking or cracking anything else. I need you to help me see this thing through.”

 

Laughing, Dee replied, “I'm fine, Ryo. Really.”

 

“Then why was your bottle of painkillers completely empty this morning?”

 

“….I'm choosing not to answer that. Now do you want to hear what I have to say or not?”

 

Ryo sighed. “Don't think you can make me forget this conversation—we're continuing it later. But….yes, tell me.”

 

“Well, could be nothing, but….I did some digging last night, and you'll never guess who Russell's attending doctor is.”

 

“Oh? Who?” Ryo asked, stirring his peppermint tea idly.

 

“His older brother.”

 

Ryo blinked. “What?”

 

Dee nodded. “Richard Jarvis. And from what I read, he went to a hell of a lot of trouble to get Russell committed to that particular hospital.”

 

“….Well, maybe he was just trying to make sure that his brother got the right kind of care.”

 

“Yeah, maybe. But in this business, it doesn't pay to take chances.”

 

Ryo chuckled. “I'll agree with you there.” He paused, looking down at his tea. “Should we head on over there to talk to him?”

 

Dee stood. “I'll go. You stay, and I'll call you later, okay?” He leaned over to give Ryo a quick kiss. “I love you. Get some rest, and lock the door behind me, all right?”

 

“Yes, Daddy,” Ryo teased, smiling and pulling Dee into another quick kiss.

 

---

 

Half an hour later, Dee stood outside the door to Russell's room at the psychiatric hospital, his arm poised to knock. He frowned and dropped it quickly, though, when the broken sounds of a conversation coming from inside caught his attention.

 

“….too obvious….we're risking getting caught….”

 

“No, we're not.”

 

“Rich….I need my meds.”

 

Silence.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“No problem, kiddo, but you have to listen to me….these guys aren't going to stop coming….and they're too good at what they do. You have to get rid of them.”

 

“I can't….”

 

“You can, you have to. Otherwise we're both going to get caught, and you won't get off on an insanity plea this time.”

 

“But—”

 

“Russ, listen to me. Have I ever steered you wrong?”

 

Silence, during which Dee assumed Russell was shaking his head.

 

“No, I haven't. So trust me when I tell you that these guys have got to go. You can do it.”

 

“No, I….” Russell's voice was weakening now—as was his resolve, apparently. Dee could almost see the reluctant nod, and then Russell's voice said, so quietly that Dee had to press his ear firmly against the door to catch the words, “….All right….all right….”

 

Then, a moment later, footsteps approached the door, and Dee quickly left the hallway and headed back down to the lobby, his mind swirling with thoughts of what he had just heard.

 

---

 

“So, what do we do now?”

 

Drake sighed, and shrugged. He had gotten more sleep lately than he had before JJ had woken up, but he still spent every possible moment at JJ's side. “Hey, dude, I'm not even on the case anymore, so….”

 

“Yeah, but you guys are a hell of a lot better than Rose…. I just want to know what you think the best move would be.”

 

“Why don't you just talk to Ryo?”

 

“I don't want to bother him if I don't have to. I don't even think he should be on this case….”

 

Drake blinked. “What? Why?”

 

“….Never mind. Just….look, I've got to get this guy before he gets Ryo. I mean….look what he did to JJ, and JJ's not even the one he was after. Who knows what the hell he'd do to Ryo if he had half the chance.”

 

“….He's had plenty of chances, though,” JJ commented. He was propped up slightly in bed and looked a bit more lively, and he looked quite eager to be included in the investigation. “And he hasn't taken any of them.”

 

“Yeah, why do you think that is?” Drake added.

 

Dee blinked—he'd never considered that before. Ryo had spent a lot of time alone at the apartment lately….admittedly with the door bolted and the windows rather too high to access, but still…. Something tickled the back of Dee's mind, some sort of important information, but it kept eluding him. “I don't really know….” He paused. “I guess I should go back and talk to Richard….see if I can get anything useful.” Then he shoved all thoughts of the case from his mind momentarily. “What about you, JJ? How are you doing?”

“They're actually saying I might be able to leave soon. Drake convinced them that I would do just as well at his house as I am here. I mean, all they're giving me is painkillers and crap, anyway…..they're not really doing anything else for me. I don't have a temperature or any brain damage, I'm perfectly coherent and….almost totally sane….”

 

Drake chuckled. “Very nearly.”

 

Dee grinned. “That's good to hear.”

 

Silence fell, and then JJ said, “Oh, for God's sake, Dee, get back to the case, I can tell you're dying to.”

Another grin, and after a quick goodbye, Dee was out the door.

 

---

 

Dee finally returned to the apartment well after eleven to find Ryo sleeping peacefully on the couch, a box of tissues on the coffee table besides him and a cold mug of tea next to it. Smiling fondly at the blond, Dee quietly went over and, after observing the scene, stroked Ryo's hair lightly. “Ryo?”

 

Ryo stirred, then opened his eyes slightly before letting them fall closed again. “Hmm?”

 

“Think you can wake up enough to get back to bed?”

 

“….No….”

 

Chuckling, Dee shook his head and reached over to pull Ryo up. “C'mon, Ryo, you're too heavy to carry…..you just have to walk a little bit and then you can go back to sleep.”

 

Grumbling, Ryo stumbled to his and Dee's room, fell into the bed, curled up under the covers, and was asleep almost immediately.

 

Frowning in concern, Dee felt Ryo's forehead. The blonde's temperature did not seem to have gone down at all—in fact, it may have risen a bit in Dee's absence. His brow furrowed, Dee changed quickly into his pajamas, crawled under the covers, and took his lover's shivering form protectively into his arms.

 

Thoughts of losing Ryo began to race through his head, becoming more unsettling—no, downright terrifying—as the night wore on. His questioning of Richard had yielded few results. He had left the meeting with a feeling that the doctor was hiding something, but in a business like Dee's, there had to be more than guesses and suspicions to go on. It was beginning to look like he was going to lose Ryo before the case was solved….

 

No, Dee told the voice in his head firmly. He would not let that happen. Not ever. Ryo would outlive him. He would make certain of it.

 

He had to make certain of it….

 

He had to, because losing Ryo would be the one and only thing that would thoroughly break his spirit, his sense of self, his reason for going on. Ryo was all of those things. There was no one else.

 

It was Ryo. It had always been Ryo. And if Dee had to sacrifice everything else he had, he would do it, if it meant that it always would be Ryo.

 

Dee smiled slightly as Ryo moved closer to him and whispered his name. The smile grew wider, and Dee pressed a light kiss to his lover's forehead. “I love you, Ryo.”

 

---

 

The next morning, Ryo felt much better, but he was still running a slight fever and looked rather unwell, so Dee insisted that he stay home and rest some more.

 

“Well….what are you going to do?” the blond asked, knowing that it was best not to argue with Dee when the raven-haired detective was intent on preserving his lover's well-being.

 

“I'm going to go to Rockwell and do some sniffing around. See if I can't get something more out of Richard than I did yesterday. Oh, and I gotta pick up some more of your meds, too….” He leaned over and pulled Ryo into a long, slow kiss. “Get some rest, baby, and get your fever down. I miss you at work.”

 

“Well, I could be working right now, only you won't let me,” Ryo replied teasingly, pulling Dee back down for another kiss. “Find out as much as you can, but hurry back, okay? It gets lonely around here with Bikky at school and you out working….”

 

“I'll hurry back, I promise.” One more kiss, and then Dee reluctantly started towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned his head. “I love you, Ryo.” And for some reason, the words held even more meaning today than they usually did.

 

Ryo smiled. “I love you, too.”

 

---

 

“What do you mean? Why the hell would he leave?”

 

“Calm down, Mr. Laytner….”

 

“No, you don't understand….I have to talk to him. And he was pretty damn set on never leaving this place last time I talked to him. What changed?”

 

“I really don't know, dear. All I know is that he was cleared to leave and he did.”

 

“Do you know where he is now?”

“No, but his brother might.”

 

“Where can I find him, then?”

 

“I really have no idea, dear.”

 

Dee swore quietly, and looked around the room idly, his mind racing with ideas of what to do next. He got himself under control after a moment, thanked the receptionist, and left.

 

Outside in the bright sunlight, where it almost seemed as though nothing bad could possibly be happening, Dee reevaluated his priorities and, after a minute, decided it would be best to just go home to Ryo and talk to him about what to do next.

 

Having decided this, Dee drove to the drugstore to grab Ryo various medicines—some to alleviate his headache, some for his stomach, and some for his coughing and sneezing. Then, at the checkout, he cursed as he took out his wallet and found it empty. “Will you take a check?” he asked the smiling girl behind the counter, his voice filled with exasperation and impatience. He just wanted to get home to Ryo….why did the universe have to make that so damn hard?

 

“Sure will,” the girl replied, that annoying, perky, ever-present smile still on her face.

 

It was only while he was writing the date on the check that the piece of information that had been eluding him earlier clicked into place in his head. The pen dropped from his suddenly limp hand, causing a dark blue mark to appear across the check, and Dee whispered, “Oh my God….”