Disclaimer for FAKE

Fandom: FAKE

Pairing: Dee/Ryo

Rating: This is work safe. Not even a bad word this time.

Spoilers: After Vol. 7

Timing: First year of being together. Just after the end of the last volume for sure. I think somewhere in the middle of May maybe since I want it to be spring. Probably just a couple of months after getting together.

Summary: This is the end. I've calmed all of it down now. I hope you like the ending.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of FAKE. They belong to Sanami Matoh. I'm just a poor fan fic writer.

A/N: There really isn't much to say about this chapter. It's the end. All that's left is to see how Ryo does and all that.

Beted by no one totally at the moment. Looked at by Vovo after it's up.

Trouble in Little New York Chapter 18

Previously in "Trouble in Little New York": Now Ryo is set free and Eric and Hideo are dead. Jerome got off from being arrested, and Kevin will now go to prison. Ryo is exhausted and passed out and Dee is all worried while he cleans up at the crime scene.

It's now long into the night after everyone returned from the crime scene.

It's now into the wee hours of the morning and Dee is still sitting at his desk putting the finishing touches to his paperwork from the case. This is one of those rare times when he actually does the paperwork and even turns it in in record time. He was somewhat happy with the outcome of the day. They got Ryo back, killed the big bad guy and stopped his rising organization along with putting a lot of his baddies away in prison, and they even let a good man, who was remorseful for what he had done, go. All that was left now was to wait for the hospital to call with news on how his love was doing.

The paperwork had taken the edge off of the waiting until it was done. Dee was still sitting in his shared office getting his belongings together to go home for the night. The only problem with this was that he was getting edgy again. He kept glancing at the phone ever several seconds to a minute and it was taking him longer than normal to pack his things. Just when he was about to leave the office to go home, the phone rings. He grabs for the phone and almost knocks his head silly by nearly slamming it to his ear.
"Hello?" he says breathlessly.

"Good evening," a woman's voice replies. "I'm sorry for calling so late, but I'm trying to reach a detective Laytner."

"This is detective Laytner," Dee quickly sits back down in his chair.

"Detective, I'm calling to inform you that your partner is now stable and that he can receive visitors first thing tomorrow."

"Thank you very much, miss. Have a good night." Dee hangs up the phone and just sits for a few minutes while replaying the message in his head. He finally gets up and grabs his bag and leaves the office for the night.

x x x

The next day, Dee and Bikky are in Dee's car driving to the hospital. Dee tells Bikky about what had happened the day before since the boy was asleep when he came home. Bikky was all excited with all of the details and he was even happy to know that Jerome was able to walk away. Dee does warn that Ryo will be covered in bruises and he's not sure what the talking situation is going to be like. He also warns Bikky to ask Ryo if it's okay to be touched in case it sends him into a relapse. Bikky says he understands and that he'll proceed with caution.

At the hospital, Dee glances around warily for a nurse in particular before going to the front desk. When he sees that nurse Emery is nowhere around, he goes to a pretty young lady behind the desk and asks where Randy McLean is staying.

"Room 212," she replies.

Dee and Bikky get onto the elevator and head to the proper floor. They make their way to Rm. 212 and just before they open the door, they're stopped by a nurse.

"You're here to visit the detective?" she asks politely.

"Yeah," Dee replies, "I'm his partner and this is his son," he places a protective hand on Bikky's head.

"Try to be quiet when you go inside. He's been placed under heavy sedatives since last night."

"Can you tell me why?" Dee gives a concerned look.

"When he woke up last night, he went into a very violent fit. He wouldn't let anyone touch for analysis him so we had to take precautions in order to take care of him. He fought hardest when any male figures came near him. He's going to need a psychiatrist for his fear once he's out."

"Thank you for the information," Dee says with worried voice. He guides Bikky towards the door, opens it and they both walk inside the dimly lit room. He glances around the room until he spies Ryo in a bed near the window. As he and Bikky walk towards the bed, his eyes begin to burn with unshed tears, but he holds them back because he didn't want the boy to see him cry.

Bikky stands at the side of the bed and looks down at Ryo's slumbering face and he sighs in relief that his foster father is alive and somewhat well. He notices the still slightly swollen jaw and clenches his teeth in anger. Deciding that it would be best to wait for Ryo to wake up, he finds a chair next to the wall and sits down, letting Dee get some time in.

Dee locates another chair and quietly brings it next to the bed and sits down in it, all the while looking down at his lover's peaceful face.

Ryo continues to sleep in peace, unaware of either person in the room with him. Not even the slight scrape of Dee moving the chair interrupted his slumber.

Dee watches the sleeping form that is Ryo and has to refrain from holding his hand. He doesn't want to scare him and send him into another fit. I'm such a fucked up bastard, he thinks to himself as he finally lets the tears stream down his face, This is entirely my fault. If only I had reacted sooner, this would have never happened. He puts his head into his hands and cries softly, trying not to disturb Ryo's sleep.

Bikky silently gets up from his chair and goes over to stand behind Dee. He gingerly places his hand on the dark haired man's shoulder in a comforting manner.

Dee jumps at the light touch and looks into the blue eyes of the twelve year old boy. He wipes the tears from his eyes as he smiles up at him. "We'll get through this together. The three of us." He says with a determination.

Bikky carefully sits on the edge of Ryo's bed and the two of them stay like that in silence for about half an hour. By this time, they hear a difference in Ryo's breathing and watch him stir. Bikky quickly gets off of the bed in case it would bother Ryo in any way. They look at each other in uncertainty and Bikky stands behind Dee's chair. They continue to watch as Ryo wakes from the sedatives.

Ryo slowly opens his eyes to a comforting dimness. He looks at the celling and he sees that there are no ugly stains on it and instead of a stale odor of the house; a clean and sterile smell greets him. His brain catches up and he finally remembers that he's no longer being held captive in the small dingy room, that he's safe and sound in a hospital room. He breaths a sigh of relief at the fact that his tormentor is finally dead and gone and that he's no longer able to hurt anyone ever again. He takes another deep breath and this time his sense of smell catches the very familiar scent of a kind of cologne that he loves so much. His dark eyes begin to burn with joy as he turns his head gingerly to look into a pair of very sad, worried and shiny green eyes. He smiles at those eyes and then looks behind them to see a pair of blue eyes in the same manner. In a very weak and hoarse voice, he finally speaks, "Hey guys."

Several things happen at the same time from those two words. First, three pairs of eyes shed held back tears. Next, Dee jumps up from his chair to go to Ryo but he's interrupted by a rushing boy who flings his small upper body onto Ryo's upper chest and clings to him in a great bear hug. Ryo winces from the pain of contact on his bruise but he endures the pain and grabs his son closer to him in a tight hug of his own. Because Bikky is still a child, he doesn't feel threatened by being touched by him (he just doesn't realize this yet.).

Dee looks down at the pair and smiles fondly at them. He sees Ryo wince again from Bikky shifting his weight on the bruises. "Be careful of his bruises, B."

Bikky gets up and looks down at Ryo, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" he begins.

Ryo holds up a hand to silence the boy, "It's okay, Bikky. I'm really glad for the hug." But his breathing did ease up when the blond boy got off of him. He looks up at Dee and gives a shaky grin as he wipes the tears from his eyes.

Dee also wipes his eyes and speaks to his lover, "How are you feeling, Ryo?" he doesn't move closer, remembering what the nurse had said.

"I'm sore all over, Dee. My head is still a little muddled from the sedatives but the pain killers are dulling the pain so, I'm tolerable." Ryo notices that Dee doesn't move closer to him and he feels that it's because of what he went through.

As Dee sits back down in the chair he looks over at Bikky, "Could you go and tell the nurse Ryo's awake so they can get him something to eat?"

"Sure man. Be right back." Bikky quickly leaves out of the room on his errand.

Dee watches Ryo for a few seconds before saying his next words. "The nurse says they want you to see a shrink because of all of this."

Remembering what happened with him and the hospital staff, Ryo nods his head in agreement but remains silent. After a moment, he finally asks, "How much longer am I going to be here?"

"The nurse didn't tell me," Dee replies and sees Ryo's brows furrow in frustration. "But I'll go and check right now."

"Thank you," Ryo says to Dee's retreating back.

Out in the hallway, Dee keeps the door open for Bikky who finally came back from finding someone to talk to. He goes to the desk that's just in front of the door and locates the nurse who spoke to him earlier. "Excuse me, miss," he calls out, "Can I ask you a question?"

The nurse walks around the desk and stands in front of Dee. "Sure detective. What can I do for you?"

"How much longer is my partner going to be here?"

The nurse goes to the wall and pulls down the folder. She peers into it and when she finds the information, she closes it back up and puts it back onto the wall. "The doctor has Mr. McLean scheduled to leave in two days. Mainly for observation."

"Thank you." Dee goes back into the room. Once there, he gives the information and watch as both Bikky and Ryo nod their heads in understanding.

Several hours later, Dee and Bikky leave to go home with Dee promising to come back before visiting hours were over. A nurse comes in and servers Ryo lunch. Just after he finishes it, Drake, JJ and Ted wander in for a quick hello. They say that they were going to a bar and wanted to drop by to see how he was holding up. They tell him to get well soon and take their leave. Five minutes later Chief Smith and Commissioner Rose enter the room. They wince at the swollen face but say nothing about it.

"Randy, I want you to take the next two weeks off to recuperate," Smith says when he gives his formalities. "We'll take care of everything for you. When you make a schedule for the psychiatrist, let me know what it is. We'll work around that as well."

"Yes, sir," Ryo says quietly. "Thank you very much, sir."

"Goodnight, Randy. Get well soon." Smith takes his leave.

Berkeley Rose stays behind and moves closer to the bed, keeping his hands to himself. He continues to look down at Ryo and his normally hard blue eyes soften behind his glasses while looking at the bruises that could be seen. When he finally speaks, there's some emotion in his voice, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm still sore, sir." Ryo found it pointless to lie.

Rose nods at the statement and asks another question, "Are you going to be okay?"

Ryo sighs and replies, "I'll be fine once I seek the proper help, sir." A sudden thought breaks its way to the front of his mind, "Sir, what happened to a Japanese man named Hideo?"

"He's dead," Rose states as a matter of fact.

Ryo's eyes blur with tears at the news and he drops his head a bit. "He was a good man," he says quietly. "He was there when I needed someone the most and he even helped to stop another would be rapist from causing any more harm and damage. I'm sorry he didn't make it." He looks up at Rose for a couple of long moments, "Thank you, sir."

Rose looks taken aback by this and asks, "For what? For telling you what happened to that man?"

Ryo smiles a little, only a shadow of his usual warm smile, "No, sir. For pulling me out of the house. If it wasn't for you, I would have gone back to Hideo and I might have never made it out myself."

Rose gives a warm smile from hearing this and finally says, "You're welcome, Randy." Another moment of silence between the two men and finally Rose shifts his weight to get ready to move. "It's time I left you to get some rest. I've already called an excellent psychiatrist for you. Get a hold of him when you're ready." He hands Ryo a card with a name and number. "Goodnight." And he leaves.

Dee comes back later and stays until Ryo falls asleep for the rest of the night. Then he goes back home to Bikky to get some rest.

x x x

A couple of days later, Dee is helping Ryo into the car to take his partner home for good. He signed the discharge papers while Ryo was getting ready. After buckling up, Dee takes one last look at the hospital's door and he gets a funny, strained expression on his face. There in the door is his #1 enemy, nurse Emery. He watches as the large woman's eyes meet his and her face falls into a very creepy grin. He reads her lips as she mouths "Next time." It was all he could do to keep from peeling rubber out of the hospital parking lot.

Finally in the comfort of his own home, Ryo slowly wanders around, taking his time to enjoy the familiar sights and smells of his own belongings. He reaches the couch and gingerly sits down and then gives out a grateful sigh.

Dee watches Ryo while sitting at the dining room table, giving the half Japanese man time to adjust to being home again. "Would you like something from the kitchen, Ryo?" he asks when he sees the other man sit on the couch.

"No thank you, Dee," Ryo replies. He looks over at the olive complexion man sitting so far from him. "Where's Bikky?"

"He's at school."

Ryo nods his head in satisfaction with the response. Even though this was his home and everything was as it should be; it was even clean while he was gone; it still felt alien to him. "I gave that psychiatrist that Rose suggested to me a call. My first appointment with him is in two days."

"I'll be here for you, Ryo. Don't worry about it." Dee says with sincerity in his voice. "I'll help with anything that you need help with. I'm not going to leave you alone here until I know that you're okay with it."

"Arigatou, Dee," Ryo says gratefully. He's slowly realizing that everything will be okay. He relapses into silence.

Both men stay silent for about an hour when the door opens and Bikky wanders in. "Hey, Dee. What's up?" he says with no sarcasm in his voice.

"Nothing much, Bikky," Dee replies. "Why don't you come further in and see what's going on?"

Bikky comes further into the apartment and sees Ryo sitting quietly on the couch. He drops his book bag on the floor and rushes to the couch where he sits next to Ryo and wraps his small arms around him in something like a death grip. "Welcome home," he says with an emotion in his voice. He burrows his head into the strong chest.

"Thank you, son," Ryo smiles down at the top of the blond head. He could feel the boy's body shaking a little in his arms and smiles. He looks up at Dee, whose still sitting at the dining room table watching them, with the smile still on his face. "You know, it is okay for you to come over here, Dee. I'm not going to thrash out at you. I promise." He waits for Dee to sit next to him on the other side and then lifts Bikky's head from his chest. "Look you two. I've been through a lot, we know this. I'm going to need help, I know this. You guys are what I need to get through this along with the psychiatrist that I've already called. With all of us working together, we can get through this."

"You're right, Ryo," Bikky says with serious blue eyes. He looks over at Dee.

Dee looks back into the blue eyes and then into the intense dark eyes of his love. "You know me. I never back down from a challenge," he gives his most dashing grin.

The three land into a group hug that they would remember forever.

~Owari~

More A/N: And that's it for my very first long FAKE story ever. It took a little over a year to do this. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I've had quite a few readers who enjoyed this to the very end and I want to thank you all for sticking it out with me. Even through the time when I had stopped writing due to a personal funk in my life. I really appreciate the patience you all did for me. I have another story in the making since I got a nice fan base. It's a Dynasty Warrior fanfic with Ling Tong and Gan Ning. But before I put that story out, I'm also doing two one-shots for FAKE for some very special people in my Live Journal community. I'll put them up when I'm done with them. Thank you all again and see you soon in another story.

~Stalli Anna