Title: Undercover Disaster
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, Drake.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo gets in some serious trouble while on an undercover assignment, leaving Dee frantic with worry.
Word Count: 1200
Content Notes: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 317: Relief.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.



Dee all but flew through the precinct doors, cursing under his breath; he’d known something like this would happen! Not for the first time, Ryo had been working undercover; he knew what he was doing and he was good at it, but a successful undercover gig relied on the bad guys never figuring out their new acquaintance was a cop, and the risk of that happening was generally reduced by using someone from another precinct, or even from out of town.

This time, however, they’d needed someone who could read and understand Japanese, but looked Caucasian, and there were precious few people who fit the bill. The hope was that the gang of drug smugglers he was infiltrating might be incautious enough to leave papers lying around or say something in their own language in his presence that might give some clue as to when and where the next shipment was arriving.

Everything had been going perfectly until Ryo had been recognised by a passer-by on the street who’d greeted him as Detective Maclean. According to chatter over the radio, his new buddies had not been pleased, throwing Ryo into the back of a car and driving off.

“Where is he?” Dee bellowed, bursting into the squad room.

“Locker room. He’s okay, Dee,” Drake assured his friend.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dee snapped, turning on his heel and making his way further down the corridor to the men’s locker room.

Shoving the door open, he was hit by a surge of relief so strong his knees went weak, but he pulled himself together; his lover was all that mattered right now.

“Hey, you okay?”

“I’ve had better days.”

Ryo was sitting on the counter top between the washbasins. He plucked another piece of grit from his palm with the tweezers he was gripping awkwardly in his other hand and dropped it in the bin beside him, wincing slightly as it came free of the raw abrasion marring the pale skin.

Dee winced too. “That’s looks nasty.”

“Could’ve been worse. I don’t recommend jumping out of a moving vehicle though, not unless it’s the best option available.” Twisting sideways, Ryo flushed the wound out under the cold tap, streamers of blood and dirt washing away down the drain.

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

As Ryo reached for the tweezers again, Dee could see his other hand looked just as bad. Not only that but one arm was bleeding from a scrape that ran from elbow to shoulder, and both knees of his jeans were in tatters and stained with blood.

“Here, let me.” Dee gently took the tweezers away, mindful of Ryo’s injuries. “Why didn’t ya go straight to the hospital?”

Ryo half shrugged, keeping his hand still as Dee probed for another sharp piece of grit.

“It’s just a few scrapes, and besides, I figured that would be the first place they’d look for me. I just jumped out the car, rolled clear of the traffic, and ran. They took a few pot-shots at me but their aim was lousy, and anyway, I know the neighbourhood better than they do; it wasn’t too difficult to duck into an alleyway and get out of sight. They tried to follow but they got their car wedged. Once I was sure I’d lost them I made my way back here.” Ryo’s breath caught on a hiss of pain as Dee had to dig deep to extract what looked like a piece of glass from the heel of his hand.

“Sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay.”

“Still think ya should get checked out at the hospital. Least they could give ya a local.” Dee went to work on the next fragment.

“I’m not going anywhere until the last few gang members have been rounded up. I heard the ones in the car are in custody, it was jammed in the alley like a cork in a bottle and they couldn’t get the doors open, but there are still four guys unaccounted for and by now they’re probably looking for me. Ow!”

“Sorry.”

“Stop apologising. Yes, digging the grit out hurts, but that’s not your fault. It hurt even more when I was trying to it myself.”

“I just hate hurtin’ ya.”

“You’re only doing what has to be done.”

“I know. Doesn’t make me feel any better.” Dee’s initial relief at seeing his lover alive and mostly in one piece had worn off, replaced by concern. How could anyone expect him not to worry?

“I appreciate your help.”

“You’d do the same for me.” That wasn’t in question. “And for the record, I’m not lettin’ ya outta my sight until the rest of the gang are rounded up. Inside a police precinct might be safer than the waitin’ room at the ER, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to get to ya here if they figure out where you’ve gone to ground. You know too much so they’ll be out to silence ya, and in case you haven’t noticed, you’re in no condition to defend yourself. Probably can’t even hold a gun never mind aim and fire.”

“I could if I had to.”

Dee glanced up at his partner’s face, saw the calm confidence in his eyes, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess ya could, but I’d rather ya didn’t have to. Would hurt like hell.” Despite what some people thought of the usually soft-spoken detective, Ryo was no wimp. Dee had seen him brush off worse injuries than this to get the job done.

“It wouldn’t be fun.”

Turning his attention to Ryo’s other hand, Dee kept his head down as he spoke. “Scared the hell outta me when I heard what happened. Couldn’t get back here fast enough.”

“I’m fine, Dee. A little scuffed around the edges, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I know that now, but… I was scared I was gonna lose you.”

“You haven’t; I’m right here.” Leaning forwards, Ryo pressed a kiss to the top of Dee’s head, that being all he could reach.

Sitting up straight, Dee tilted his head for a proper kiss; Ryo was happy to oblige, but they broke apart as the door opened, Dee reaching for his weapon, only to relax when he saw it was just Drake.

“Thought you two would want to know right away, the last of the gang are in custody.”

“Thank you, Drake; that’s good to know.” Ryo smiled at the other detective.

Dee’s knees had turned to water again, making him wish he was sitting down; the relief was so intense. “Guess that means I can take ya to the ER, get ya checked out properly.”

“There’s no rush, I’ll only end up sitting in the waiting room for hours so you might as well finish what you’re doing first, get the worst of the grit out so it won’t hurt as much. I don’t want to bleed all over your upholstery.”

Dee gave in. “Fine, but soon as you’re cleaned up a bit I’m draggin’ your ass to the hospital, got it?”

“Whatever you say. Love you, Dee.”

“Love you too, baby.”

Setting his worries aside, Dee picked up the tweezers again. He wasn’t losing his lover today.


The End