Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Loves Company ❯ Bitter Taste ( Chapter 10 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Kita and Subu-chan 
In which Drake and JJ fight and make up again (mostly).
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.28.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 426 | Status: Work In Progress
In which Drake and JJ fight and make up again (mostly).
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.28.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 426 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter Ten-Bitter Taste
A/N- Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Catti- sorry we didn’t remember to wish you a Happy Mother’s Day, so here it is, nearly a month late. *ducks thrown plates* We’re sorry. Hana- the fluffy fic is still a work in progress. The angst was getting to me so I took a break to work on some Pet Shop of Horrors fics on LJ. Kita thumped me a good one when she realized how long it had been since our last update. *winces and rubs bruise* I forgot what a mean left hook she has. Thanks to Garita (Yo, Dog!) Kita, shut up! - for her lovely artwork of Drake and JJ. Check it out on Deviantart! Thanks Daxemon - reviews like yours are bread and wine for the starving fan-fic writer.
Special thanks go to YamiPenguin for the reviews and the ongoing discussion of the killer’s motives. And Yams-thank you for noticing the bit about Ted in ‘Misery.’ See, I came up with a reason for Drake and JJ avoiding him in “Like, Like, Love.” I always thought it had to be something.
Warnings for language and angst - Dee’s perversion and Drake’s confusion.
Drake was dressed and seated at one end of his sagging couch when JJ came out of the bathroom, dressed in dry clothes and carrying an armload of soaking wet towels and clothes. He dumped them into the hamper in the hall before looking at his partner. Drake’s stoic expression couldn’t hide the hurt in his gray eyes and JJ shivered.
“Drake?” One word, but it carried the weight of a thousand questions and emotions behind it.
“W-what do you want from me, JJ?” Drake gritted in a voice that held as much life as the grave. “You run so hot and cold that I don’t know what to think anymore.”
JJ sighed and sank down cross-legged on the floor, facing Drake. “Please don’t do this, Drake. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, you did a damned fine job of it, anyway.” Drake rose to his feet and prowled away from the slighter man seated on the floor. Every muscle in his body was tense and he let out a short, sharp bark of laughter that had no feel of humor. “God, I sound like a girl, don’t I? ‘I’m so hurt, wah-wah, how can you be so cold?’ Fuck this shit!” Drake lit a cigarette and inhaled sharply. “Screw the emoting! I am so sick - ”
JJ sprang to his feet and grabbed Drake by the ears before he could say something that he couldn’t or wouldn’t take back. Ignoring the bitter tang of tobacco, he pressed his lips to Drake’s in a kiss that was demanding as it was pleading. He pulled back and looked Drake straight in the eye before the other man could recover. “Did it occur to you that I’m scared too?” He asked quietly. “I’m scared of how much I feel when I’m around you, scared of losing you, scared that one day the blood that you’re covered in will be your own!”
JJ shivered and looked down at his hands. “When I saw you standing there, covered in blood, my heart just stopped. I’m not as strong as I pretend to be. And I nearly broke when I saw that.”
He dared to look up into Drake’s stormy eyes again, seeing with relief that the hurt had faded and been replaced by something that was scarier by far. Drake’s eyes shone with warmth and, there was no denying it, love.
“JJ…” Drake’s hand touched his cheek lightly.
“Drake…?” JJ heard his own voice waver and hated himself for it.
“I’m sorry I scared you.”
That was all, and for that moment, it was enough. No declarations of undying love, no need to say anything more. They were all right and together, and that was what mattered.
JJ pushed Drake back down on the couch and settled himself in the crux of Drake’s sweatpants-clad legs, turning his body just enough so he could cuddle into Drake’s chest. After a moment of hesitation, Drake wrapped his arms around JJ’s slighter form. JJ felt protected in Drake’s embrace, which struck him as odd, considering…
Drake settled back into the sagging couch, pulling JJ along with him. JJ listened to the too-rapid thud of Drake’s heart and relaxed into a more comfortable position against him. “You mind if I stay the night again?” He asked softly, almost timidly.
“No.” Drake’s deep voice rumbled in his ear. “Though why you want to stay here is beyond me…”
“Because you’re here.”
They lapsed into silence, content just to lie there. JJ wished he hadn’t hurt Drake so much, not when he was still stressed over the horrible scene. The proof was in the heartbeat that was still thumping far too fast in his ears. “Drake?”
“Yeah?” Drake stubbed out his cigarette, sighing out the last puff of smoke.
“Are you okay now?” JJ managed. “I mean, you were… Stephanie and… uhm… I’m gonna shut up now.”
Drake chuckled mirthlessly and JJ looked up into his face. “Not really, but I’m making it. I guess I forgot just how close to home this job could hit sometimes. I’ve known Stephanie since she was a toddler. She was hell on wheels for Marty, every time her mother brought her to the station with her. That kid was an escape artist the likes of Houdini. She could get out of any stroller ever created.
“I was still in uniform when she toddled up to where I was working at the booking desk and decided she wanted to sit in my lap. She climbed up my leg and sat there in my lap, looking for all the world like she belonged there.” The first real hint of true humor surfaced in Drake’s gray eyes as he smiled fondly. “I think Marty’s got pictures of that somewhere. You should have seen the face of the kid I was booking.”
JJ smiled up at Drake. “You love that girl, don’t you?”
“Almost as if she were my own. She used to come around to the station as often as Bikky and Carol did. She’s the one who brought everyone in the CI division construction paper valentines the first year you transferred here.”
JJ chuckled. “Oh, I remember that. She gave me two so I could…” He cut himself off with a stricken gasp.
“…Give one to Dee.” Drake finished for him. “It’s okay, JJ. It doesn’t bother me. Not anymore.” His arms tightened around JJ’s shoulders.
His eyes gave lie to that statement, but JJ wasn’t about to call him on it. He glanced at the clock hanging haphazardly between two framed watercolors. “Crap.”
“JJ?”
“Berkley wants you down at the station to make your report at nine.”
Drake winced, but levered himself back to a sitting position, JJ still pressed against his chest. “Shit, I forgot. I wish I didn’t have to.” He glanced down at his worn sweats and snorted. “Well, Rose will have to take me as I am today.”
*--------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------*
Far too much paperwork later Drake was ready to go home and sleep the rest of the week away. That JJ would be there made him feel better about it. He sent the last copy off into the depths of cyberspace and sighed, leaning back in his chair. Rose had said nothing about his choice of attire and had offered him a rare smile that was full of compassion, when he had finished giving his verbal report.
He looked up at the soft rap on the office door. “Yeah?”
Ryo stuck his head in. His dark eyes were shadowed with weariness. “Can you spare a few more minutes before you go?”
Drake managed not to wince. “Yeah, I guess. What’s up?”
Ryo frowned, knuckling an eye. “Stephanie’s here. She’s still shook up and won’t say anything to anyone. Rose wants her statement before he calls Marty.” Ryo’s black scowl showed what he thought of that decree. “Dee thought maybe she’d relax if you came to see her.”
Drake rose to his feet, fingers clamping hard on the edge of his desk in an effort to control his temper. “I’ll come, but damned if I’m going to keep those two from seeing each other!”
Something lit in Ryo’s black eyes and Drake understood. Since he wasn’t officially on the clock, he was the only one who could avoid a reprimand from Rose. Oh, he’d still hear it, but it wouldn’t go on his record. “Dee came up with this, didn’t he?”
A smile curled the corner of Ryo’s mouth as he led the way downstairs. “With a little help. He would have gone in screaming at the commissioner if you hadn’t been giving him your report. I managed to calm him down and this is what he came up with instead.”
Drake chuckled dryly, fingers tightening on the cell phone tucked in his pocket. “He’s smarter than I gave him credit for. I always knew he was slick as shit, but he tends to go off half-cocked way too often.” Drake glanced at Ryo. “I attribute that to your influence.”
Ryo blushed. “Maybe.”
Drake snorted. “Don’t be so modest. Dee’s black marks have dropped down to less than half what they were before you got assigned here.” Drake scratched his head. “I always thought he was going to wind up being ousted from the force.”
Ryo chuckled, though his cheeks were still tinged red. “You’re probably right.”
Drake nodded and leaned against the wall of the elevator.
“Drake? How are you?” Ryo asked seriously as he punched the button for the second floor. “I don’t just mean finding Stephanie that way…”
Drake sighed and turned his eyes away. “Fucking confused, if you must know. This is just too much shit to deal with all at once.”
“Drake?” Alarm rose in Ryo’s voice, dragging Drake’s gaze back to his face.
Drake sighed and shrugged helplessly. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Ryo. Give me some credit, willya?”
Ryo said nothing, but Drake saw the doubt in his eyes. “If this case weren’t enough to rub my nerves raw and all, I just discovered I’m frigging bisexual and started… what should I call it - screwing my partner, who’s confusing the fuck out of me!” Drake glared at the elevator wall like it had personally offended him, ignoring the bitter taste the angry words had left in his throat. He only glanced at Ryo, but stopped, frozen by the look on the other man’s face. “What?”
“Drake, are you…?” Ryo’s voice was deadly serious.
“What?”
“Are you in love with him?”
Drake slid down the elevator wall, his legs no longer willing to hold him. He laughed harshly, a choked and desperate sound. “I don’t know. Not anymore. I think I might be, but what can I do? He confuses all the hell out of me. I almost admitted it earlier and he all but freaked. Told me not to say that.”
Ryo tugged Drake back to his feet as the elevator doors hissed open. “JJ said that?”
Drake laughed a little harshly. “Surprised the hell out of me too. He’s more the type to go caroling his love down the halls like some drugged-up teenager.”
Ryo stopped and looked back at Drake. Something in the other man’s weary eyes made him smile. “Drake?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you think that maybe he really does love you? For real, not the schoolboy crush he had on Dee?” Ryo smiled at his friend, certain now. There was a spark of hope lighting stormy gray eyes. “Maybe he doesn’t know what to do when it’s not an unrequited sort of thing.”
Drake sighed and the tension eased in his shoulders. “Maybe. Thanks, Ryo.”
“If you two are through emoting, would you get your cute little asses over here?”
Drake snorted and glared at Dee, leaning casually against the wall beside the door to one of the interrogation rooms. “So the truth comes out. I knew you were after my innocent flesh.”
Dee barked a laugh. “Yeah, yeah… not so innocent anymore, is it?” He pulled Ryo against him for a quick kiss, coming up sputtering when his partner blocked him with an arm and he got a mouthful of Ryo’s sleeve. “Dammit, Ryo.”
“Now is not the time for your hornball antics.” Ryo said primly.
Drake glanced at the closed door. “Couldn’t we have put her someplace more comfortable? It’s not like Stephanie is a suspect.”
“Blame the tight-ass. He wants her statement recorded and this is the only room with full recording equipment.” Dee scowled at the door. “She hugged me, but wouldn’t say anything except to ask for Marty.” His expression softened. “Poor kid really needs her daddy here.”
Drake glanced down at the cell phone clenched in his hand. “She’ll have him.” He promised. With a glance and a nod at Ryo and Dee, Drake went into the gray-walled room.
A/N - We unravel a little bit of the mystery of the murderer next chapter, so stay tuned.
Please review and I’ll keep Kita away from the chocolate. That’s a good thing, no matter what Catti thinks…
A/N- Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Catti- sorry we didn’t remember to wish you a Happy Mother’s Day, so here it is, nearly a month late. *ducks thrown plates* We’re sorry. Hana- the fluffy fic is still a work in progress. The angst was getting to me so I took a break to work on some Pet Shop of Horrors fics on LJ. Kita thumped me a good one when she realized how long it had been since our last update. *winces and rubs bruise* I forgot what a mean left hook she has. Thanks to Garita (Yo, Dog!) Kita, shut up! - for her lovely artwork of Drake and JJ. Check it out on Deviantart! Thanks Daxemon - reviews like yours are bread and wine for the starving fan-fic writer.
Special thanks go to YamiPenguin for the reviews and the ongoing discussion of the killer’s motives. And Yams-thank you for noticing the bit about Ted in ‘Misery.’ See, I came up with a reason for Drake and JJ avoiding him in “Like, Like, Love.” I always thought it had to be something.
Warnings for language and angst - Dee’s perversion and Drake’s confusion.
Drake was dressed and seated at one end of his sagging couch when JJ came out of the bathroom, dressed in dry clothes and carrying an armload of soaking wet towels and clothes. He dumped them into the hamper in the hall before looking at his partner. Drake’s stoic expression couldn’t hide the hurt in his gray eyes and JJ shivered.
“Drake?” One word, but it carried the weight of a thousand questions and emotions behind it.
“W-what do you want from me, JJ?” Drake gritted in a voice that held as much life as the grave. “You run so hot and cold that I don’t know what to think anymore.”
JJ sighed and sank down cross-legged on the floor, facing Drake. “Please don’t do this, Drake. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, you did a damned fine job of it, anyway.” Drake rose to his feet and prowled away from the slighter man seated on the floor. Every muscle in his body was tense and he let out a short, sharp bark of laughter that had no feel of humor. “God, I sound like a girl, don’t I? ‘I’m so hurt, wah-wah, how can you be so cold?’ Fuck this shit!” Drake lit a cigarette and inhaled sharply. “Screw the emoting! I am so sick - ”
JJ sprang to his feet and grabbed Drake by the ears before he could say something that he couldn’t or wouldn’t take back. Ignoring the bitter tang of tobacco, he pressed his lips to Drake’s in a kiss that was demanding as it was pleading. He pulled back and looked Drake straight in the eye before the other man could recover. “Did it occur to you that I’m scared too?” He asked quietly. “I’m scared of how much I feel when I’m around you, scared of losing you, scared that one day the blood that you’re covered in will be your own!”
JJ shivered and looked down at his hands. “When I saw you standing there, covered in blood, my heart just stopped. I’m not as strong as I pretend to be. And I nearly broke when I saw that.”
He dared to look up into Drake’s stormy eyes again, seeing with relief that the hurt had faded and been replaced by something that was scarier by far. Drake’s eyes shone with warmth and, there was no denying it, love.
“JJ…” Drake’s hand touched his cheek lightly.
“Drake…?” JJ heard his own voice waver and hated himself for it.
“I’m sorry I scared you.”
That was all, and for that moment, it was enough. No declarations of undying love, no need to say anything more. They were all right and together, and that was what mattered.
JJ pushed Drake back down on the couch and settled himself in the crux of Drake’s sweatpants-clad legs, turning his body just enough so he could cuddle into Drake’s chest. After a moment of hesitation, Drake wrapped his arms around JJ’s slighter form. JJ felt protected in Drake’s embrace, which struck him as odd, considering…
Drake settled back into the sagging couch, pulling JJ along with him. JJ listened to the too-rapid thud of Drake’s heart and relaxed into a more comfortable position against him. “You mind if I stay the night again?” He asked softly, almost timidly.
“No.” Drake’s deep voice rumbled in his ear. “Though why you want to stay here is beyond me…”
“Because you’re here.”
They lapsed into silence, content just to lie there. JJ wished he hadn’t hurt Drake so much, not when he was still stressed over the horrible scene. The proof was in the heartbeat that was still thumping far too fast in his ears. “Drake?”
“Yeah?” Drake stubbed out his cigarette, sighing out the last puff of smoke.
“Are you okay now?” JJ managed. “I mean, you were… Stephanie and… uhm… I’m gonna shut up now.”
Drake chuckled mirthlessly and JJ looked up into his face. “Not really, but I’m making it. I guess I forgot just how close to home this job could hit sometimes. I’ve known Stephanie since she was a toddler. She was hell on wheels for Marty, every time her mother brought her to the station with her. That kid was an escape artist the likes of Houdini. She could get out of any stroller ever created.
“I was still in uniform when she toddled up to where I was working at the booking desk and decided she wanted to sit in my lap. She climbed up my leg and sat there in my lap, looking for all the world like she belonged there.” The first real hint of true humor surfaced in Drake’s gray eyes as he smiled fondly. “I think Marty’s got pictures of that somewhere. You should have seen the face of the kid I was booking.”
JJ smiled up at Drake. “You love that girl, don’t you?”
“Almost as if she were my own. She used to come around to the station as often as Bikky and Carol did. She’s the one who brought everyone in the CI division construction paper valentines the first year you transferred here.”
JJ chuckled. “Oh, I remember that. She gave me two so I could…” He cut himself off with a stricken gasp.
“…Give one to Dee.” Drake finished for him. “It’s okay, JJ. It doesn’t bother me. Not anymore.” His arms tightened around JJ’s shoulders.
His eyes gave lie to that statement, but JJ wasn’t about to call him on it. He glanced at the clock hanging haphazardly between two framed watercolors. “Crap.”
“JJ?”
“Berkley wants you down at the station to make your report at nine.”
Drake winced, but levered himself back to a sitting position, JJ still pressed against his chest. “Shit, I forgot. I wish I didn’t have to.” He glanced down at his worn sweats and snorted. “Well, Rose will have to take me as I am today.”
*--------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------*
Far too much paperwork later Drake was ready to go home and sleep the rest of the week away. That JJ would be there made him feel better about it. He sent the last copy off into the depths of cyberspace and sighed, leaning back in his chair. Rose had said nothing about his choice of attire and had offered him a rare smile that was full of compassion, when he had finished giving his verbal report.
He looked up at the soft rap on the office door. “Yeah?”
Ryo stuck his head in. His dark eyes were shadowed with weariness. “Can you spare a few more minutes before you go?”
Drake managed not to wince. “Yeah, I guess. What’s up?”
Ryo frowned, knuckling an eye. “Stephanie’s here. She’s still shook up and won’t say anything to anyone. Rose wants her statement before he calls Marty.” Ryo’s black scowl showed what he thought of that decree. “Dee thought maybe she’d relax if you came to see her.”
Drake rose to his feet, fingers clamping hard on the edge of his desk in an effort to control his temper. “I’ll come, but damned if I’m going to keep those two from seeing each other!”
Something lit in Ryo’s black eyes and Drake understood. Since he wasn’t officially on the clock, he was the only one who could avoid a reprimand from Rose. Oh, he’d still hear it, but it wouldn’t go on his record. “Dee came up with this, didn’t he?”
A smile curled the corner of Ryo’s mouth as he led the way downstairs. “With a little help. He would have gone in screaming at the commissioner if you hadn’t been giving him your report. I managed to calm him down and this is what he came up with instead.”
Drake chuckled dryly, fingers tightening on the cell phone tucked in his pocket. “He’s smarter than I gave him credit for. I always knew he was slick as shit, but he tends to go off half-cocked way too often.” Drake glanced at Ryo. “I attribute that to your influence.”
Ryo blushed. “Maybe.”
Drake snorted. “Don’t be so modest. Dee’s black marks have dropped down to less than half what they were before you got assigned here.” Drake scratched his head. “I always thought he was going to wind up being ousted from the force.”
Ryo chuckled, though his cheeks were still tinged red. “You’re probably right.”
Drake nodded and leaned against the wall of the elevator.
“Drake? How are you?” Ryo asked seriously as he punched the button for the second floor. “I don’t just mean finding Stephanie that way…”
Drake sighed and turned his eyes away. “Fucking confused, if you must know. This is just too much shit to deal with all at once.”
“Drake?” Alarm rose in Ryo’s voice, dragging Drake’s gaze back to his face.
Drake sighed and shrugged helplessly. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Ryo. Give me some credit, willya?”
Ryo said nothing, but Drake saw the doubt in his eyes. “If this case weren’t enough to rub my nerves raw and all, I just discovered I’m frigging bisexual and started… what should I call it - screwing my partner, who’s confusing the fuck out of me!” Drake glared at the elevator wall like it had personally offended him, ignoring the bitter taste the angry words had left in his throat. He only glanced at Ryo, but stopped, frozen by the look on the other man’s face. “What?”
“Drake, are you…?” Ryo’s voice was deadly serious.
“What?”
“Are you in love with him?”
Drake slid down the elevator wall, his legs no longer willing to hold him. He laughed harshly, a choked and desperate sound. “I don’t know. Not anymore. I think I might be, but what can I do? He confuses all the hell out of me. I almost admitted it earlier and he all but freaked. Told me not to say that.”
Ryo tugged Drake back to his feet as the elevator doors hissed open. “JJ said that?”
Drake laughed a little harshly. “Surprised the hell out of me too. He’s more the type to go caroling his love down the halls like some drugged-up teenager.”
Ryo stopped and looked back at Drake. Something in the other man’s weary eyes made him smile. “Drake?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you think that maybe he really does love you? For real, not the schoolboy crush he had on Dee?” Ryo smiled at his friend, certain now. There was a spark of hope lighting stormy gray eyes. “Maybe he doesn’t know what to do when it’s not an unrequited sort of thing.”
Drake sighed and the tension eased in his shoulders. “Maybe. Thanks, Ryo.”
“If you two are through emoting, would you get your cute little asses over here?”
Drake snorted and glared at Dee, leaning casually against the wall beside the door to one of the interrogation rooms. “So the truth comes out. I knew you were after my innocent flesh.”
Dee barked a laugh. “Yeah, yeah… not so innocent anymore, is it?” He pulled Ryo against him for a quick kiss, coming up sputtering when his partner blocked him with an arm and he got a mouthful of Ryo’s sleeve. “Dammit, Ryo.”
“Now is not the time for your hornball antics.” Ryo said primly.
Drake glanced at the closed door. “Couldn’t we have put her someplace more comfortable? It’s not like Stephanie is a suspect.”
“Blame the tight-ass. He wants her statement recorded and this is the only room with full recording equipment.” Dee scowled at the door. “She hugged me, but wouldn’t say anything except to ask for Marty.” His expression softened. “Poor kid really needs her daddy here.”
Drake glanced down at the cell phone clenched in his hand. “She’ll have him.” He promised. With a glance and a nod at Ryo and Dee, Drake went into the gray-walled room.
A/N - We unravel a little bit of the mystery of the murderer next chapter, so stay tuned.
Please review and I’ll keep Kita away from the chocolate. That’s a good thing, no matter what Catti thinks…