for zalia
Turned out more than a ficlet. Hope it's all right.
Title: Wish to Hell
Author: Ruth
Fandom(s): FAKE/Friday the 13 - the series
Pairing: Dee and Ryo
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: occult matters, m/m
word count:1190
********
2001
Detective Dee Laytner ran his hand through his already mussed dark hair.
"Didn't expect anyone to be asking after that. . . that thing," he finally said.
The red-haired woman nodded. "There was a terrible mistake made back then," she said quietly. "It's taken us a long time to try and make things right." Both couldn't help but look out of the restaurant's window at the cloud of dust still hanging over Manhattan.
"Sometimes you can't make things right," Dee Laytner slumped down. He worried the handle of the coffee cup.
"I was a brand new detective in Nineteen Ninety-five. Guy's store burned and so did he. There was talk of arson, but the Arson Squad was baffled. Any way, a bunch of the stuff came up on the police auction and I bought the box. Dark wood, about so big," he made a measuring gesture with his hands roughly the size of most jewelry boxes, "had the leering face of a satyr on it. I thought it looked kinda cute; horny little bastard." He gave a weak laugh. "Top said "make a wish" with three roman numeral ones after it."
"So I brought it home. Couldn't open it, made some kooky wishes out loud, nothing happened and then. . ." he paused. "Then, I said it. I "I wish to hell I could find a guy to love me."
"You said "I wish to hell?" that's a disturbing expression," the red haired woman scribbled in a notebook. "And?"
"And the damn thing opened and closed with a snap!" Dee snapped his fingers. "Scared the hell out of me. The face suddenly didn't look cute. I grabbed it and stuck it into the closet." He suddenly smiled shyly. "And well. . . the next day it came true."
"Really?"
"His name's Ryo. He was, well, everything I wished for," Dee sighed. "But it wasn't easy. I thought he wanted me and he said he didn't. He was afraid, but he still came on. Took three years before we both could say ‘I love you' and mean it. Three years for a wish to come true."
"I'm not surprised," the red haired woman nodded. "You wished on a cursed object for something that was good for you and for your lover," she made a note. "It was working against itself."
"What if I hadn't wished for something good?" Dee asked.
"You don't want to know," the grim expression on her face made his eyes widen. "Where is the box now?"
"Bottom of the Hudson," Dee sat up, his green eyes suddenly filling with tears. "That thing! Ryo adopted a kid. I was jealous. Kid was a street punk like I used to be. No one wanted to adopt me when I was that age, but there's Ryo, bringing in this stray. God, that's what I loved about him. . ." Dee swallowed. "Bikky - real name was Victor, he couldn't pronounce a V when he was little and it stuck. Bikky took the police exam when he was seventeen. He was supposed to be seventeen and a half, but I kinda nudged things. . . When through the two years of Academy and came out a rookie cop just five months ago." Dee bit his lip. "He got assigned to the Eleventh, the one that's right over. . . there." He pointed at the hazy cloud. "Ryo was cleaning around the apartment and worrying about Bikky." Dee took a swallow of the now-cold coffee. "I wasn't thinking. I said ‘I wish to hell you didn't have to worry about that kid' I turned around. He was in the closet. He had the damn thing in his hands! It snapped and he dropped it. I. . . I felt it laugh. It sounds crazy but that thing was laughing."
"Next day. . . the next day," Dee put down the cup, sloshing coffee into the saucer. The red haired woman reached out and caught his shaking hand. "We were watching the news. God, who wasn't? We kept hugging each other. I went to take a shower, it must have been about two o'clock."
"I heard him scream. Ryo just screamed. I came out and there was a chaplain in the doorway. Ryo was sitting on the floor, rocking and screaming ‘no, no, no,' The chaplain said that three witnesses saw Bikky get out of the North Tower. He was carrying a woman. He got out of the North Tower /and then he went back in/." Dee abruptly put his face in his hands. "I forget what I said. I threw her out, the chaplain. I just held him and he just screamed and screamed. He finally took a sleeping pill. We're cops, every so often you need something to get you to sleep when you deal with the shit we do." Dee put his hands down, fumbling as if he didn't quite know what to do with them. She handed him a handkerchief and he wiped his eyes. "Thanks. I grabbed that thing. It was still laughing. I saw there was just one roman numeral left. One more wish. I took it and I just ran. I just ran until I was at the river. I screamed at it that I wished to hell it would stay at the bottom of the river until it rotted and then I threw it as far as I could."
"I see," the red haired woman reached across. She took both his hands and made him look into her eyes. "You did not kill Ryo's son. He went back in to /help/. That's what good policemen do. That's what good /men/ do. He was a good man because that's what you and Ryo taught him to be. Believe that, Detective."
"Thanks, Miss Foster," Dee wiped at his eyes again. "I have to go. I hate to leave Ryo alone long."
"You may not be able to make it right," said Micki Foster, "but if you really love each other, you'll recover." He nodded and left her.
*********
Days later, when she was finally able to get a flight back to Canada, she turned her notes over to occult expert and white wizard Jack Marshak. "Do you think it's over?" she asked.
"For Detective Laytner? Yes," the older man frowned and adjusted his bifocals. "For the wish box? I'm not so sure Micki. That's the trouble with cursed objects, they always seem to turn up in another story."
********
Notes: from 1987 - 1990 Friday the 13th - the series ran in syndication. It had nothing what so ever to do with the grotesque misogynist slasher movies of the same name.
Micki Foster (played by Louise Robey) with her cousin inherited an antique shop from a distant uncle. Unfortunately, after they liquidated the stock, Jack Marshak arrived to tell them the objects and antiques were all cursed and they had to stop the evil from spreading. Canceled after three seasons, the show enjoyed a late night run on the Sci-Fi channel until it was taken over by the Turner conglomeration. (And ruined, IMO.)
Title: Wish to Hell
Author: Ruth
Fandom(s): FAKE/Friday the 13 - the series
Pairing: Dee and Ryo
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: occult matters, m/m
word count:1190
********
2001
Detective Dee Laytner ran his hand through his already mussed dark hair.
"Didn't expect anyone to be asking after that. . . that thing," he finally said.
The red-haired woman nodded. "There was a terrible mistake made back then," she said quietly. "It's taken us a long time to try and make things right." Both couldn't help but look out of the restaurant's window at the cloud of dust still hanging over Manhattan.
"Sometimes you can't make things right," Dee Laytner slumped down. He worried the handle of the coffee cup.
"I was a brand new detective in Nineteen Ninety-five. Guy's store burned and so did he. There was talk of arson, but the Arson Squad was baffled. Any way, a bunch of the stuff came up on the police auction and I bought the box. Dark wood, about so big," he made a measuring gesture with his hands roughly the size of most jewelry boxes, "had the leering face of a satyr on it. I thought it looked kinda cute; horny little bastard." He gave a weak laugh. "Top said "make a wish" with three roman numeral ones after it."
"So I brought it home. Couldn't open it, made some kooky wishes out loud, nothing happened and then. . ." he paused. "Then, I said it. I "I wish to hell I could find a guy to love me."
"You said "I wish to hell?" that's a disturbing expression," the red haired woman scribbled in a notebook. "And?"
"And the damn thing opened and closed with a snap!" Dee snapped his fingers. "Scared the hell out of me. The face suddenly didn't look cute. I grabbed it and stuck it into the closet." He suddenly smiled shyly. "And well. . . the next day it came true."
"Really?"
"His name's Ryo. He was, well, everything I wished for," Dee sighed. "But it wasn't easy. I thought he wanted me and he said he didn't. He was afraid, but he still came on. Took three years before we both could say ‘I love you' and mean it. Three years for a wish to come true."
"I'm not surprised," the red haired woman nodded. "You wished on a cursed object for something that was good for you and for your lover," she made a note. "It was working against itself."
"What if I hadn't wished for something good?" Dee asked.
"You don't want to know," the grim expression on her face made his eyes widen. "Where is the box now?"
"Bottom of the Hudson," Dee sat up, his green eyes suddenly filling with tears. "That thing! Ryo adopted a kid. I was jealous. Kid was a street punk like I used to be. No one wanted to adopt me when I was that age, but there's Ryo, bringing in this stray. God, that's what I loved about him. . ." Dee swallowed. "Bikky - real name was Victor, he couldn't pronounce a V when he was little and it stuck. Bikky took the police exam when he was seventeen. He was supposed to be seventeen and a half, but I kinda nudged things. . . When through the two years of Academy and came out a rookie cop just five months ago." Dee bit his lip. "He got assigned to the Eleventh, the one that's right over. . . there." He pointed at the hazy cloud. "Ryo was cleaning around the apartment and worrying about Bikky." Dee took a swallow of the now-cold coffee. "I wasn't thinking. I said ‘I wish to hell you didn't have to worry about that kid' I turned around. He was in the closet. He had the damn thing in his hands! It snapped and he dropped it. I. . . I felt it laugh. It sounds crazy but that thing was laughing."
"Next day. . . the next day," Dee put down the cup, sloshing coffee into the saucer. The red haired woman reached out and caught his shaking hand. "We were watching the news. God, who wasn't? We kept hugging each other. I went to take a shower, it must have been about two o'clock."
"I heard him scream. Ryo just screamed. I came out and there was a chaplain in the doorway. Ryo was sitting on the floor, rocking and screaming ‘no, no, no,' The chaplain said that three witnesses saw Bikky get out of the North Tower. He was carrying a woman. He got out of the North Tower /and then he went back in/." Dee abruptly put his face in his hands. "I forget what I said. I threw her out, the chaplain. I just held him and he just screamed and screamed. He finally took a sleeping pill. We're cops, every so often you need something to get you to sleep when you deal with the shit we do." Dee put his hands down, fumbling as if he didn't quite know what to do with them. She handed him a handkerchief and he wiped his eyes. "Thanks. I grabbed that thing. It was still laughing. I saw there was just one roman numeral left. One more wish. I took it and I just ran. I just ran until I was at the river. I screamed at it that I wished to hell it would stay at the bottom of the river until it rotted and then I threw it as far as I could."
"I see," the red haired woman reached across. She took both his hands and made him look into her eyes. "You did not kill Ryo's son. He went back in to /help/. That's what good policemen do. That's what good /men/ do. He was a good man because that's what you and Ryo taught him to be. Believe that, Detective."
"Thanks, Miss Foster," Dee wiped at his eyes again. "I have to go. I hate to leave Ryo alone long."
"You may not be able to make it right," said Micki Foster, "but if you really love each other, you'll recover." He nodded and left her.
*********
Days later, when she was finally able to get a flight back to Canada, she turned her notes over to occult expert and white wizard Jack Marshak. "Do you think it's over?" she asked.
"For Detective Laytner? Yes," the older man frowned and adjusted his bifocals. "For the wish box? I'm not so sure Micki. That's the trouble with cursed objects, they always seem to turn up in another story."
********
Notes: from 1987 - 1990 Friday the 13th - the series ran in syndication. It had nothing what so ever to do with the grotesque misogynist slasher movies of the same name.
Micki Foster (played by Louise Robey) with her cousin inherited an antique shop from a distant uncle. Unfortunately, after they liquidated the stock, Jack Marshak arrived to tell them the objects and antiques were all cursed and they had to stop the evil from spreading. Canceled after three seasons, the show enjoyed a late night run on the Sci-Fi channel until it was taken over by the Turner conglomeration. (And ruined, IMO.)