FAKE Fic: Rainy Day Blues
Title: Rainy Day Blues
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, OCs
Rating: G
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: It’s raining heavily in New York. Not the best weather for two cops to be out in.
Word Count: 771
Written For: My own prompt ‘FAKE, Dee/Ryo, Cops on duty don't get to carry umbrellas,’ at
fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
There’s a heavy New York rain falling, washing the streets free of garbage and freshening the air. The city needs it; there are still plants flowering, even this late in the year, and they’re starting to perk up now they’re getting some water after the recent dry spell.
The same can’t be said for the two detectives trudging along the rain-drenched street, canvassing for witnesses following a brutal homicide. They’ve been on scene for over an hour already; their coats are sodden and their pants legs are soaked up to their knees from the spray kicked up by passing cars. Collars turned up, they hunch their shoulders against the relentless downpour, their hair plastered to their heads and dripping cold trails down the backs of their necks.
Cops on duty don’t get to carry umbrellas, especially not around crime scenes; they need their hands free in case they have to use their guns or grapple with a suspect. In a crisis every second is crucial; they can’t afford to take the time to put down an umbrella first. Whatever the weather, they just have to brave the elements the same way they do with whatever the criminals they’re chasing choose to throw at them. Being a cop is definitely not a glamorous job.
“Tell me again why we’re doin’ this?”
Ryo glances sidelong at his partner, a wry smile lighting his face. “Because it’s our job. You look like a drowned rat.”
“So do you. Y’know, we could’ve got the uniforms to do this part.”
“They’ve been on scene even longer than we have, their shift’s over and anyway, Rodriguez already has a bad cold. She needs to get back to the precinct and dry off.”
That’s typical of Ryo, always putting everyone else first, but Dee has to admit, albeit reluctantly, that his partner’s right. Officer Rodriguez had looked pretty bad, coughing and sneezing like that. She should’ve been home in bed instead of standing out in the rain. Still, at least she had her uniform cap to keep the rain off her head so her hair stayed dry. That’s more than he and Ryo have.
Dee scrapes one hand over his head to remove some of the water from his hair as they approach the door to their next port of call, a corner convenience store. Ryo pushes the door open and Dee follows him in, dripping on the tiled floor. Ryo has stopped dead beneath a blast of warm air, eyes falling half-closed, the tension leaving his shoulders as he basks in the welcome and unexpected heat. Dee joins him and for a few precious minutes they just stand there, shoulder to shoulder, taking the opportunity to thaw out a bit. It feels so good Dee thinks he could almost fall asleep on his feet right there. It’s been an exhausting day.
“Can I help you?” A small man has appeared in front if them as if by magic.
Beside Dee, Ryo shakes himself, opening his eyes and casting a sheepish glance at his friend and lover. Looks like Dee wasn’t the only one close to dozing off.
Dee flashes his badge. “Detectives Laytner and Maclean, 27th precinct. There’s been a homicide across the street; we’d just like to ask you a few questions. Is there anything you can tell us?”
The owner of the small store is very helpful. His wife pours hot coffee for the detectives while he tells them what he saw and agrees to go with them to the station to look at mug shots. It’s the first break they’ve had. Even more amazingly, the store’s security cameras actually work. There’s a chance that at least part of the attack might have been captured on the videotape the owner’s wife fetches for them. They have some good leads for once.
They finish their coffee, warmed up now inside as well as out, and Dee offers to fetch their car for the trip back to the 27th. He considers himself hardier than his partner and he doesn’t want Ryo catching a cold.
Stepping out into the fading light of early evening, there’s more good news; it’s still raining, but nowhere near as heavily and there are breaks in the cloud cover overhead. Dee breaks into a jog back down the street to where he parked. The air smells cleaner and fresher than it did earlier, despite the undertone of wet dog and even wetter garbage, and he finds himself smiling.
New York after a rainstorm; there’s no place on earth quite like it. Despite the city’s many faults, Dee wouldn’t want to live anyplace else.
The End