Into the Woods, Part I & II

Disclaimer: I don't own Fake.

The next couple of weeks went by and despite the initial tension of the first few days, Dee and Ryo found themselves falling into stride with each other. It wasn't always easy; Dee could be a real slacker sometimes, but Ryo started to remember how good it felt just to talk with the man. They seemed to move forward and get along with surprising ease. But they also avoided many touchy subjects, steering away from Ryo's impending nuptials and Dee's torrid romantic history to stick with broader and safer topics. Still, they had a chemistry and connection that couldn't be denied.

And it didn't take long for others to notice it either. Particularly JJ Adams, another recently transferred officer whose obsessive crush on Dee was known far and wide. His partner, Drake, was often looked on with some pity for having to reign in the hyperactive newbie, but Drake rather enjoyed the man's enthusiasm.

Most of the time.

Ever since Ryo had transferred, however, JJ'd been worse than usual. Even as the four men sat to eat lunch together at Dee's desk, JJ was watching him like a hawk. The four had been thrown together on a messy case and had to work through lunch to catch up on all the paperwork.

Drake had been sent out to grab burgers from the nearest fast-food joint and only recently returned. "Okay, who got what again?" he asked, looking through the bag.

JJ jumped up like an eager puppy and sifted through the contents impatiently. "Who got the fish?" he said with obvious distaste, wrinkling his nose.

"That's Ryo's," Dee said, speaking for his partner who was too intent on the file he was reading to pay attention. The dark-haired man grabbed the sandwich for him and nudged Ryo, handing it to him.

After handing out the rest of the burgers, JJ lifted out a rather smooshed bag of cheese fries. "Whose are these?" he said, his nose wrinkling again as the gooey orange cheese oozed out over his hand.

"Dee's," Ryo said, knowing the man's mouth was too full to answer, even without looking up from his papers.

"But," JJ stammered to Dee as he handed the man his food, "I thought you were lactose intolerant..."

"He just says that because he doesn't like to drink milk," Ryo volunteered, with a sidelong glance to his partner.

Dee grumbled as he ate, staring daggers at Ryo, but didn't say anything to correct him.

Putting his hands on his hips, JJ's eyes narrowed as he looked thoughtfully between the two men. Why did Ryo know things about Dee that he didn't? JJ had made studying Dee's every habit practically into an art form and he still felt that, somehow, Ryo knew the man better than he did.

The silver-haired man studied the two men carefully now, examining their interactions. Dee handed Ryo his extra ketchup before he had to ask. Ryo tossed his napkins over Dee's lap absentmindedly, just in time to catch the greasy cheese from his fries falling onto his jeans.

"Hanks," Dee said around a mouth full of fries.

Ryo just nodded.

All this JJ watched with growing frustration. When had they become so at ease with one another, he wondered. When the blonde man had first been partnered with Dee, there had seemed to be a strained air about them. JJ had assumed that Ryo would follow suit with all the other partners the overbearing dark-haired man had left in his wake. Hell, JJ had only been at the precinct a matter of months and seen Dee had change partners several times already. He had assumed that the pattern would continue- until the Chief finally listened to his pleas and allowed him to partner up with Dee.

But now it looked as if this partnering with Ryo just might work out. How was it that they had gotten along so quickly? Others might think nothing of the situation, but JJ had a keen eye for detail, a byproduct of his rather obsessive personality, which helped to make him a good cop. And right now, he knew something was up.

"How long have you two known each other?" he asked suddenly.

Ryo sent Dee a sharp warning look before burying his head in another folder.

"We've been partners for about 2 weeks. You know that," Dee said evasively.

JJ hadn't missed the look Ryo had given. Leaning across the desk towards Dee, he said sternly, "That's not what I asked."

Unconsciously, Dee shifted in his chair. He'd never anticipated this topic coming up, and neither he nor Ryo was prepared to talk about it. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell the truth, but he didn't know how much Ryo wanted him to lie...

Venturing a glance at his partner, Dee saw Ryo still intent on his reading, doing his best to ignore the entire situation. It gave him a brief urge to blurt out the truth and make Ryo face things for once, but he resisted it.

Dee shrugged, "We met once at camp... years ago... briefly." He squirmed again. His chair seemed exceptionally uncomfortable at the moment. It wasn't like he was a stickler for the truth, but he was always honest about himself and his life. It irked him to have to cover up for someone who couldn't face the reality of who he was. But he had to respect that everyone came to terms with this in their own time. Plus, well, how could he do anything to deliberately hurt this man? No matter how stupid Ryo could sometimes be, Dee thought to himself.

"You went to CAMP?!" JJ squealed, all thoughts of Ryo forgotten as he hugged this new information to himself about the man he adored. "I went to camp too!" he said, eyes sparkling.

Snickering, Drake said, "I can't see you as the boy-scout type, Dee!"

"Never said I was a boy scout! It was a program through the orphanage," Dee explained, choosing to ignore the other man's ribbing.

JJ frowned. "Why was Ryo there if it was just for kids through the orphanage?" he asked.

"Ryo was a volunteer counselor!" Dee quickly lied, with some agitation. "Does that answer all of your nosy little questions!?" he added.

Looking like a scolded puppy, JJ pouted. "Sorry."

Drake sighed as he looked around the table. Everyone now seemed tense or grumpy, so he thought he'd change the subject to what he felt would be happier, lighter matters.

"Hey, Ryo," he began, "Aren't you supposed to be going camping with your fiancée this weekend?" Drake asked making the man look up from his files.

"Fiancée?" JJ piped up, not even trying to hide the obvious satisfaction he felt at the idea that the man was taken and, therefore, not a threat to his pursuit of Dee.

"Uhh... maybe, we're not sure yet..." as he spoke he had to will himself not to look over at Dee. But it didn't matter. He didn't have to look at him. He could feel the man's body stiffen in reaction to this new topic.

"When are ya gonna bring her around anyway? I don't think anyone's met her yet," Drake said, oblivious to Dee's sudden coolness.

"Well, she should be stopping by sometime later this week. It's been so busy here I told her to hold off for a while..." the blonde-haired man replied rather quietly.

"Really, Ryo?" Dee said suddenly after a pause, "Why not bring her around right now? Huh? Aren't you proud to be getting married? Why hide it?" There was an edge to his voice that everyone could hear, and Ryo didn't appreciate it.

"I'm not hiding her, Dee; I just-"

"Whatever!" Dee interrupted, feeling stupid now at revealing how sensitive he was about Ryo's upcoming nuptials. Abruptly, he stood and walked from the table, heading to the bathroom as an excuse to leave and get some space.

Ryo simply watched him go, his face a mix of emotions. Drake and JJ exchanged glances and shrugged.


The rest of the week, Ryo spent trying in vain to get his stubborn partner to make eye contact with him. And even though Dee knew he was being childish about the whole thing, he just couldn't keep himself from feeling hurt. Which only made his mood worse because he became angry with himself for still being so affected by Ryo's future plans. He didn't want to feel this way, didn't want to be the kind of person to hold on to something that didn't belong to him. He wanted to be bigger than that, but it really wasn't much use when it came to the dark-eyed, fair-haired man.

One day, after a particularly long bout of silence between them, Ryo decided that he was tired of being punished, and that Dee needed to get used the idea he was getting married. So he stopped skirting the issue.

"Dee, I wanted to let you know that Lizzy, my fiancée, will be stopping by sometime today or tomorrow, and I'd appreciate it if you'd be pleasant to her," he said suddenly, rattling Dee out of his thoughts.

"Of course I'll be pleasant!!" Dee said in a tone that was anything but. Inwardly, he sighed. This anger wasn't going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to keep Ryo as his partner, and he did, he was going to have to get past this. "I mean," he began in a calmer voice, "I can be reasonable... sometimes!"

Ryo smiled now as he watched the dark-haired man try to sound ever so reasonable. But Dee still had a slight pout on his face, and Ryo thought that he probably looked now just as he had when he was a little boy and apologized to his 'mother' for doing something wrong.

When the blonde's features blossomed into that warm smile, Dee had to avert his attention back to his work- to anything but that beautiful face that wouldn't get out of his mind.

"So, camping this weekend, huh?" Dee said, reaching for anything that would move the conversation along.

"Y-yes," Ryo replied, a bit taken off-guard that his partner would bring this up. "I don't think my skills have improved much over the years, though. I'll probably end up with the tent collapsing...again." This last word was spoken softly, but Dee caught it, and it sent his mind racing back to that night they had spent together.

Silence filled the space between the two men once more, and Dee shifted in his chair.

"It was my fault," Dee said finally, grimacing, old guilt sending a pang through his gut.

"What? What do you mean?" Ryo asked.

"The tent collapsing... I deliberately left some of the support pegs in the ground really weak so you'd have to come to me for help," he explained, lowering his eyes.

"Oh, that!" Ryo said, surprising the man with a small laugh. "I realized the pegs were weak before I used the tent the first night!"

"What?!" Dee said, now staring at the blonde with surprise. "You mean I've been carrying this guilt around with me for years and it really wasn't my fault at all?!" he cried.

Ryo's humorous smile was replaced with a reprimanding frown. "Well, you did TRY to collapse the tent. I wouldn't exonerate yourself of all guilt just yet!"

"But I never would've tried if I thought you might get stuck out in the rain like that! Come on, give me break!” Dee whined, as Ryo rose to replace a file he'd pulled from across the room. "Besides, you DID fix the peg, so it wasn't my fault!" Dee added with finality.

"Fine, fine," Ryo said with his back turned, hiding the blush that had crept over his cheeks. The truth was, even though Ryo had noticed the weakened supports, he actually hadn't fixed them. He'd gotten the exact same idea Dee had. By the time the storm had started to roll in, Ryo had forgotten all about the pegs and didn't think to adjust them. Or had decided not to, he couldn't really remember. Either way, he was actually the one to blame for the collapse.

"It was a terrible storm that night anyway," Ryo said, his own feelings of guilt now eating at him. "I don't think it was anyone's fault," he said as he sat back down.

Something in Ryo's tone caught Dee's attention. "Really?" he said, rising to lean over the desk and peer down at his partner.

"Y-yes..." Ryo said, squirming uncomfortably under Dee's gaze.

"Ryo, by any chance, did y-"

But he didn't get to finish, as the door swung open at that moment.

"Lizzy!" Ryo said with surprise as a slim, petite woman walked into the office.

"I'm not interrupting you, am I? You had said that today might be a good day to stop in and see where you work, so..." the woman said, looking tentatively between Ryo and his as-yet unintroduced partner.

"No, no! The timing's fine! Come in," Ryo said, motioning her inside. With a nervous hand about her waist, Ryo turned to Dee and said, "This is my fiancée, Elizabeth."

Standing up, Dee took the woman's proffered hand like a complete gentleman, saying, "It's nice to finally meet you, Elizabeth."

"Just call me Lizzy," she said with a warm, genuine smile.

Ryo let out a deep sigh of relief. Most of the time he could never tell what Dee was going to say or do. He'd been afraid that the man might do something rude, or at the least give a few vague, veiled innuendoes alluding to his night with Ryo so many years before. But he did nothing of the kind, simply stood and exchanged small talk with Ryo's future wife.

In a decidedly ironic twist, Dee's polite actions toward his rival stirred up feelings of immense gratitude and tenderness within Ryo, making him almost wish he could somehow be with this man so full of warmth and surprises. But in the next moment, he realized where his thoughts had lead him, and quickly averted his mind from such unrealistic ideas.

After a quick lunch together, Lizzy bade farewell to the two officers and Ryo was left alone with Dee once more.

"Than-"

"Don't," Dee said, cutting Ryo off.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't thank me," Dee said, his mood sullen, the total opposite of the facile, smiling face he had worn just a few moments before.

"But-" Ryo objected.

"Hey," interrupted Dee again, "I might be loudmouthed and arrogant and a lot of other things, but I'm not vindictive. I wouldn't deliberately hurt someone like Lizzy by telling her about our past out of spite."

Ryo simply nodded as he watched Dee cross the room.

"That's why I'm giving you time to tell her yourself," he said, with his back turned.

"But Dee!" Ryo protested.

" 'But' nothing! Do you want to start your marriage out by lying and hiding truths?" he asked with some heat. "Even if you can't be honest with yourself, you can at least try to be honest with her!" he added.

"I don't see the need to disclose every little detail of our past to each other," Ryo said crossing his arms defensively and ignoring the implications implicit in Dee's words.

"I don't think it’s a minor detail, Ryo," Dee said, his eyes narrowing.

"It was a small incident that happened one night, four years ago. It's not worth mentioning," Ryo said, feeling cornered by the other man's persistence. He immediately regretted his words as he saw the look of pain that briefly flitted over Dee's features.

For a moment the raven-haired man looked as if he was going to spit fire, but instead of yelling, he marched out of the office, slamming the door behind him in his wake.

"Way to go, MacLean," Ryo muttered, berating himself for his stupidity. That night they had spent together would never be just a one-night stand for him, but he'd chosen a different kind of life and he had to stick with it.

When Dee finally returned a half hour later, Ryo tried to apologize, but Dee silenced him with a look. He sat down and started working.

The rest of the day passed in a strained silence. Until, at the end of the day, Dee walked over to Ryo and rested a hand over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ryo," he said, again surprising the blonde man. "The past is in the past and Lizzy is the future you've chosen. I have to get used to the idea and respect your wishes."

"Dee..." Ryo said silently, and watched the man leave. He'd as good as given his consent, but Ryo didn't feel any better for it.

********
Sorry I had to break it to some of you that Ryo actually IS engaged! But don't lose hope yet! *wink*