Gentlemen, Place Your Bets!

Last chapter here! Hope you enjoy it!
Sorry it took so long! This month has been SO busy! But thanks for all the reviews that helped me get thru it! ^_-

Disclaimer: Still don\'t own fake.


Ted scowled at the cheerful faces of the other officers around him and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. What was with everyone today anyway? Dee and Ryo were glancing at each other like a couple of love-sick teens, and Drake and JJ looked a bit worn, but somehow quite satisfied. Although the latter couple looked much more ill-at-ease than the first. Still, there was no doubt, something had gone down last night and no one was giving any details.

Finally, too tired too guess any longer, Ted caught JJ by the sleeve and pulled him over to his desk.

\"So?\" he asked in a suspicious tone, \"what happened to all of you guys last night?\" the officer\'s eyes narrowed as JJ\'s face grew crimson under his scrutiny.

\"I- I don\'t know what you\'re talking about,\" the silver-haired officer squeaked unconvincingly, trying to slip passed.

Ted chuckled, \"Yeah, right,\" he said, \"That\'s why you\'re red as a lobster shell right now, huh?\" He was rewarded with an even deeper shade of scarlet as JJ nearly began to sweat. Behind them Drake grumbled over some typo in the paperwork and JJ\'s eyes inadvertently swung over to him. The redness left his cheeks and was replaced by a ghostly pale, he lowered his head and whispered, \"Please, can we just drop this?\"

Now Ted was worried. All these men were his good friends and he didn\'t want any misunderstandings going on between them. Without giving JJ a chance to react, Ted nudged him into the neighboring conference room, which was empty except for a few dusty, forgotten paper cups on the table.

\"What\'s going on? Tell me! This whole place is weird today and I want to know why!\" Ted demanded. He had to admit, he felt a little out of the loop. It seemed everyone was having an office romance but him and, on top of it, they were my gay gay relationships. It wasn\'t that he had anything against it, but he certainly couldn\'t relate either. He didn\'t want to drift apart from the other officers, so he was just going to have to do his best to be supportive. And right now he knew something was wrong.

\"W-what do you mean, \'this whole place\'?\" questioned efenefensively.

\"Like you haven\'t noticed, \" Ted scoffed. \"Dee and Ryo are makin\' moon-eyes at each other all morning and Drake and you look like you\'re doing the same, only trying to hide it from one another...\" The man finished and crossed his arms, waiting for JJ to explain.

But for a moment, the shorter man looked at a loss for words. (THAT was a first! thought Ted.) He hadn\'t been paying much attention to Dee and Ryo, but now that Ted mentioned it, there did seem to be a new, intimate undercurrent running between them. Which seemed odd... unless... Well, unless something had happened between the two of them last night as well? His brow furrowed. If it had, then their attentiveness toward each other certainly indicated that things had gone better for them than it had for Drake and himself.

Ted stood waiting for a reply, but JJ\'s eyes fell closed, his mind thinking back over that morning, when he had woken up in Drake\'s bed... alone. At first he assumed that his partner had regretted there tryst the night before and gone to work early just to avoid him, but it soon became apparent that he\'d actually gone out and fallen asleep on the couch some time during the night. When he stumbled into the bathroom to find JJ there washing up, he shook his head and asked him about the events the previous evening- Drake couldn\'t remember a thing!

At first, JJ had been relieved: if Drake didn\'t remember, then he couldn\'t regret and their friendship would stay in tack. However, he found his heart aching for acknowledgement all the same. He wasn\'t sure if he would ever be able to forget that night in his friend\'s embrace. And if he couldn\'t, their friendship might not survive anyway.

As the silver haired man contemplated these melancholy images, Ted grew impatient and finally told him, \"Fine, don\'t tell me! I\'ll just go ask Drake!\" He turned to leave, but JJ had grabbed him by his shirt, tugging him to a stop.

\"Please,\" he said in a faint voice, \"don\'t say anything to him.\"

\"Why?\"

The other man drew in a long breath before he answered in a choked voice, \"Because- because he doesn\'t remember anything that happened between us last night. He- we had been drinking... it was stupid to let it happen... It\'s better if he doesn\'t remember so, Please, Ted, \" he looked up now and his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. \"Please don\'t say anything,\" he begged.

\"JJ...\" Ted whispered. \"Are you sure?\" he asked. JJ nodded and the other officer gave a long sigh. \"All right, but I think it\'s a mistake; whatever happened, I think you should talk to him. I\'ll leave it to you, though,\" he said walking out and closing the door behind him to give his friend time to collect himself. As he stepped back toward his desk, Ted nearly rammed right into Drake, who seemed to have been waiting on the other side of the door. The man did not look happy.

\"Hey there, Drakkie boy!\" Ted said, trying to sound casual.

\"What was that all about?\" Drake asked, his tone curt.

\"Huh? Nothin\', come on, I got some other paperwork the chief wants you to take a look at,\" the other officer replied, steering his friend away from the conference room door.

JJ emerged a few minutes later and Ted had to marvel at how collected he looked. Although he was still worried, he decided he had his own work to do and had to let the men work out the issue for themselves.

\"JJ...\"Drake started when his partner returned. The silver-haired man looked over at him questioningly. \"Nothing, never mind,\" he said and handed him a stack of paperwork instead. He didn\'t see the hurt look flitter across JJ\'s features as he turned away. So much the better, thought JJ, really can\'t have this affecting our work.

However, another couple on the other side of the room didn\'t seem quite as concerned with appearances. JJ glanced over to see Dee examining a form in Ryo\'s hands as he leaned over the man. One hand rested over Ryo\'s lower ribs, and it was slowly descending.

\"Dee!\" Ryo chided softly, hoping no one else would hear. \"Stop it!\" he insisted, but there was a playful grin lighting up his features and he didn\'t look in the least bit angry.

Hmmm... THAT was interesting, JJ mused. Ted must have guessed right, something was definitely up with those two. Turning back to the work at hand, JJ saw Drake eying him, though he couldn\'t quite tell what expression his eyes held. It almost looked like jealousy, but that couldn\'t be right, could it?

\"Looks like you two are getting along pretty well today.\" JJ said neutrally as Ryo walked by them. Drake grunted. Ryo blushed, but smiled.

\"Y-yes, we are,\" he replied happily. After denying himself for so long of his true feelings, Ryo wasn\'t going to try and hide any longer. Last night\'s events had made up his mind for him. No more running away. He WAS happy with Dee, and he didn\'t care who knew it. In fact, was actually quite a liberating experience to admit it.

And JJ could see the genuine warmth in Ryo\'s eyes, he knew the truth in his words and he could say that he was genuinely happy for him, but it didn\'t ease his own feelings of rejection.

\"Gotta say,\" Drake said after a moment, \"I\'m surprised you\'re not pissed over the whole \'bet\' thing...\" Although he\'d said the words under his breath, both JJ and Ryo still caught them.

\"Huh? What bet?\" Ryo asked.

\"Oh, nothing,\" Drake said, waving him off.

The blond man looked confused and unconvinced. Spinning around to face his partner, Ryo asked, \"Dee, what \'bet\' is Drake talking about?\" When Dee fained deafness and simply continued to gaze down at the paperwork, Ryo walked over to lean over the desk and ask again, more forcefully, \"What BET, Dee?\"

JJ thought he could almost hear the dark-haired man\'s teeth grinding together as he starred daggers at Drake\'s turned back. It would all have been pretty amusing, except for one thing... How had Drake remembered anything about the bet? Hadn\'t he told him he didn\'t recall anything the night before? JJ tried to think back to when he had told him... maybe it had been early in the evening...

\'Why didn\'t you ever look MY way?\' JJ heard Drake\'s voice in his mind as he searched his brain.

\'Drake- It\'s not what you think!\' he recalled saying. \'It was a bet!\'

However, at that point his partner was already on top of him. If Drake remembered that, he\'d HAVE to remember what happened between them...

JJ looked over at Drake, who seemed to realize what he\'d just said. His hands had stopped in mid-motion from flipping through the files and he was staring ahead with a guilty look on his face.

Shit! Drake thought, as he saw JJ suddenly turn and bolt for the stairs to the roof. Why had he said that?! Immediately he followed his partner and found the man leaning heavily on the outer wall, his body slack as he looked out over the city.

\"JJ, I-\" he began, but he wasn\'t sure what to say, or how to explain himself.

\"It\'s all right, Drake,\" he heard JJ say in a soft, shaky voice. \"It\'s ok, you don\'t have to explain anything to me.\" Try as he might, JJ couldn\'t keep his voice from wavering, and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut to ward off the tears that fought to spill over his cheeks. He wasn\'t facing Drake, but he still didn\'t want to give in to the tears- his shoulders might shake, it might give him away. And he would NOT let his partner see how upset he was. He wouldn\'t make things more complicated than they already were. If Drake chose to ignore their night together, he wouldn\'t force him to face it.

\"Please, I just needed some air. I\'m fine,\" he said, silently pleading that the object of his affection would leave him to his solitary misery.

\"JJ...\" Drake murmured. It was obvious how much pain the man was in, Drake just wished he knew why. He had thought it would be best for the both of them if he pretended the night before had never happened. Of course, he hadn\'t forgotten a single moment of it, but it was the clarity of his memory that haunted him so painfully. The vision of JJ beneath him, pleading for him to stop, and the way he had pushed aside all his protests to indulge in his own selfish desires. It wasn\'t bad enough that he\'d been so oblivious to his own feelings before that evening, and then he had to go and force them on JJ when he was already in emotional distress. Drake had been sure that JJ would hate him for it.

So, why hadn\'t JJ seemed more relieved when he told him he didn\'t remember? And why did he seem so hurt now that it had all come out into the open again? Anger Drake would\'ve understood, but this?

As he watched JJ\'s shoulders start to tremble, he couldn\'t stop himself from coming over to him. He leaned his forehead between the man\'s shoulder blades and felt the tremors wracking the smaller man\'s body. It tore him up inside to know he was the cause of his partner turmoil and he would\'ve done anything to stop it.

\"I\'m so sorry,\" JJ thought he heard Drake whisper behind him. He felt the pressure of the other man\'s body behind him and wanted to do nothing else but turn and fall into his arms. But he couldn\'t. Just because Drake felt pity for him, it didn\'t mean he reciprocated his feelings.

Trying once more to regain his composure, JJ turned around to face his partner and repeated, \"Drake, it\'s all right, you don\'t have to explain yourself to me.\" Gently, he pushed against Drake\'s shoulders so he could walk back downstairs, but the man before him didn\'t budge.

Instead, Drake\'s hands came to press on the wall beside JJ\'s arms, his head falling to rest on the man\'s chest as well. JJ was a bit bewildered at his partner\'s behaviors, but he didn\'t try to move just yet.

\"No, I do,\" insisted Drake. \"I \'m sorry JJ, I never should have forced myself on you. Please, please, can you forgive me?\" he pleaded softly, unable to meet the eyes of the silver-haired man staring down at the top of his head.

\"Drake?\" JJ said, his voice questioning, \"What are you talking about?\"

\"You told me to STOP! And I didn\'t listen!\" he cried. \"This morning, you looked so peaceful, but then I remembered how you had begged me to stop and I just couldn\'t face you when you woke up...\" his words drifted off.

JJ was dumbfounded. \"That\'s why you said you couldn\'t remember anything? Because you thought you had forced me?\" he asked.

Below him, Drake nodded his head, which still rested against JJ\'s heart. Slowly, and to Drake\'s considerable surprise, JJ wrapped his arms about his partner and nuzzled into his hair, whispering, \"You didn\'t force me Drake.\"

\"But,\" the other man began in protest, standing up now to look down into his lover\'s face.

\"I told you to stop because I thought you\'d wake up and regret what you did,\" JJ explained. \"Which, I guess you did, but not for the reasons I thought,\" he added with a smile.

\"But... why else would I regret it?\"

\"Well, because...\" JJ replied quietly, \"It\'s not always easy to love another man.\" Now JJ\'s eyes fell away, the memory of past rejections passing through his mind.

Looking into JJ\'s worried face, Drake slipped his fingers under the man\'s chin to force him to meet his eyes. \"Well, I don\'t regret my love for you, JJ,\" he said and, to solidify his words, he leaned down and gently captured the man\'ss wis with his own.

The soft kiss swiftly developed into a more heated embrace and Drake had to force himself to pull away. \"Any more of this and I won\'t be fit to go back to work,\" he said, glancing down between the two of them at his already stiffening member.

JJ\'s look of surprise changed into a coy smile. \"We\'ll take care of that later!\" he replied then with a devilish grin as he slipped from Drake\'s arms and made his way to the staircase.

Drake watched him as he winked over his shoulder and descended. There was no doubt the man was going to be a handful, but he was looking forward to every minute of it.


Prologue

After lunch, Ted sat back down at his desk and was about to delve into some case files when he heard Dee\'s whinny voice drift through the room. \"Come on, Ryo! Give me a break! I didn\'t mean for you to find out!\"

Ted watched as Ryo narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired man hovering above him as he sat by his own desk. \"I mean- That\'s not what I meant! I mean I didn\'t want you to find out from someone else, I was going to explain it myself!\" This time the blond simply ignored him, flipping through his papers and muttering, \"We\'ve got a lot of work to catch up on, we can talk about that later. Now sit down.\" Dee complied, but with much pouting and huffing. He missed the side-long glance Ryo gave him as he sat down. Nope, Ryo wouldn\'t be able to stay angry with him for long.

Ted just watched with amusement. Hmph, didn\'t take long for them to start fighting, did it?

At that moment Drake and JJ walked through the door leading to the staircase and Ted could\'ve sworn the two of them were glowing. He shook his head. It seemed the two sets of partners had traded places since earlier that morning. Just when one was getting along, the other ran into trouble.

\"I give up,\" Ted said to himself and concentrated on his work as the two sets of new lovers buzzed about him.

Noticing Ted\'s consternation, JJ realized that he was now the only single man in their room. He hated the thought of someone feeling left out, but what could he do? Thinking back at the events of the passed week and what had triggered the couples to get together, a thought stuck him.

\"Ted,\" the officer heard someone call his name and looked up to see JJ walking toward him.

\"How would you like to make a bet...?\"

OWARI


**********OK, hope this ending wasn\'t weak! I left a few things unsaid, but enough to let you know it all turned out well! Hope you liked it! Reviews are always welcome!

I MIGHT write another fakefic soon- if I have the time... something involving amnesia...