FAKE Fic: Teenage Drama
Title: Teenage Drama
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Bikky, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo has to go away for a few days, and Bikky isn’t at all happy about who’ll be keeping an eye on him while his foster father is gone.
Word Count: 1279
Written For: Theme Prompt: 177 - Nemesis at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“I’ll only be gone for a few days,” Ryo said as he carefully folded everything he would need into his single suitcase and a suit carrier. “I don’t have to be in D.C. throughout the whole trial, just long enough to testify. I’ll be home before you know it. You probably won’t even have time to miss me; you’ll be too busy with school, and basketball practice.”
Sitting on Ryo’s bed, idly swinging one foot, Bikky grumbled something under his breath.
Ryo paused his packing to give his foster son his full attention. “What was that?”
“Why do they need you anyway? Can’t the perv go instead?”
“The need me because I was part of the investigation. Dee wasn’t involved, he was on an undercover assignment here in New York. Just as well, really. I’ve asked him to stay here and keep an eye on you while I’m gone.”
“WHAT!” Bikky leapt to his feet, a horrified expression on his face. “NO! You can’t do that to me, Ryo! Please!”
“I can, and I have. You’re only fourteen, Biks, and the law says you have to be in the care of a responsible adult. It would be illegal for me to leave you home alone even for one night, never mind three or four days.” Ryo folded his arms over his chest, his own expression stern and uncompromising. Anyone who thought Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean was soft in any way didn’t know him at all.
Bikky groaned, visibly wilting. “Okay, fine, but why does it have to be him? Can’t I just stay with Melinda next door?”
“Melinda is away at the moment, visiting her sister in Duluth.”
“What about Carol and her aunt? I’m always welcome there.”
“They’re away too, visiting college campuses, remember? Carol’s going to be graduating high school next year.”
“This sucks!” Bikky threw himself back onto the bed, scowling. “Can’t you go to Washington next week instead, when everyone else is back?”
Sitting beside Bikky on the bed, Ryo chuckled. “That’s not how trials work, Biks. The date’s been set, prosecution testifies first, and so my presence is required; I don’t get a choice. If I’m not there to testify, a very evil man might get away with his crimes. D’you want that?”
“No, of course not! I just don’t want the perv lording it over me while you’re gone.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call Dee that. I’d hoped the two of you would be getting along better by now; I know Dee’s trying.”
“You can say that again.” Bikky thrust his lower lip out in a mutinous pout.
Ryo swallowed a laugh. “Why d’you hate him so much?”
Bikky turned to stare incredulously at his foster father. “He’s been pawing at you and trying to get in your pants since the day you guys met!”
“Yes, I had noticed that, and I’m not saying I didn’t appreciate you defending me back when Dee and I first started working together; I needed some time to sort my head out. But Dee’s not just my work partner now; he’s my boyfriend. I thought you were getting used to having him around.”
“Sort of had to, but that doesn’t mean I like it. He still keeps grabbing at you all the time, and he’s a Knicks fan!”
This time Ryo didn’t bother trying not to laugh. “Dee is just as entitled to support his favourite basketball team as you are, Biks.”
“But the Knicks suck!”
“That may be so, but they’re Dee’s team. No one’s saying you have to support them.”
“Like I ever would.” Bikky pulled a face. “I’m in Hell! You’re gonna be gone, and I’ll have to put up with my sworn nemesis pushing me around in my own home! It’s so unfair!”
“How can Dee be your nemesis?”
“He just is, okay? Some things don’t need a reason.”
Ryo shook his head. “As I recall, last time he kept an eye on you while I was away, he fed you junk food and let you stay up late every night, watching TV. Your teachers told me you kept falling asleep at your desk.”
“But I was just a kid then! Now I’m a teenager.”
“What a difference four years makes.” Ryo was still grinning.
“It’s not funny! Didn’t you ever have a nemesis?”
Ryo shook his head. “Not that I remember, or at least not when I was your age. There were kids I didn’t get along with, but I just tried to avoid them.” A thoughtful frown creased his forehead. “I suppose there was one person I could have described as my nemesis, but that was more recent.”
“Who?”
“The man who gave the order that resulted in my parents being murdered.”
“Oh.” Bikky was suddenly subdued. “I thought you said you didn’t know who killed them.”
“I didn’t, not at the time. I found out about eighteen months ago. By then, one of the gunmen was already dead, and I was there when the other one was gunned down. A man named Leo Grant was the one who’d given the order though, and the worst part was, it was a mistake. My parents weren’t the targets; there was a mix-up at customs, and they picked up the wrong package. It got them killed.”
“That’s awful!” Bikky’s father had been gunned down too, but the boy knew it had been because Richard Goldman had been stealing from his boss. That didn’t make it okay, but still… it was the sort of thing criminals did to each other, as a warning to others who might think of betraying them. Ryo’s parents had been good people, though, not criminals at all, and they’d still gotten killed. Even ordinary people weren’t always safe.
“Yeah,” Ryo agreed with a sigh. “It was. Sometimes I wish I’d never found that out. For a while, I wanted to kill Grant myself. He even told me I was one of only two people who had the right to. I had my gun, and he was right there.” He shook his head.
“So why didn’t you do it?”
“It wouldn’t have brought my parents back, and if I’d shot him, I would’ve gone to jail for murdering an unarmed man.” Ryo shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Grant haunted me, waking and sleeping, for months, but he’s dead now.”
“What happened, how did he die?”
“Someone else killed him. I wasn’t the only one with a grudge against him; men like him, with ties to organised crime, have plenty of enemies.”
“Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He got what he deserved.”
“Yes, I suppose he did. I think he even wanted it in the end.” Getting to his feet, Ryo packed the last few items into his suitcase. “Dee will be here soon to drive me to the airport. You can come with us to see me off if you want.”
“Sure, okay. Might as well.”
Several hours later, having stuck around at the airport until Ryo’s flight boarded, Dee and Bikky headed back to Dee’s car.
“Welp,” Dee said, “Looks like it’s just you and me now.”
Bikky slouched along beside his sort of nemesis. “Yeah, sucks to be us, left behind.”
“Ryo’s got it worse though. Stuck in some dingy hotel room when he’s not sittin’ in court, waitin’ to be called to testify. Man, that’s a drag. Bet he would’a given anything to stay here with us.”
“I guess.”
“We should do somethin’ nice for him when he gets back, show him how much we appreciate him.”
Bikky glanced at the older me, frowning; he wouldn’t have thought of that himself. Maybe Dee wasn’t really so bad.
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Bikky, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo has to go away for a few days, and Bikky isn’t at all happy about who’ll be keeping an eye on him while his foster father is gone.
Word Count: 1279
Written For: Theme Prompt: 177 - Nemesis at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“I’ll only be gone for a few days,” Ryo said as he carefully folded everything he would need into his single suitcase and a suit carrier. “I don’t have to be in D.C. throughout the whole trial, just long enough to testify. I’ll be home before you know it. You probably won’t even have time to miss me; you’ll be too busy with school, and basketball practice.”
Sitting on Ryo’s bed, idly swinging one foot, Bikky grumbled something under his breath.
Ryo paused his packing to give his foster son his full attention. “What was that?”
“Why do they need you anyway? Can’t the perv go instead?”
“The need me because I was part of the investigation. Dee wasn’t involved, he was on an undercover assignment here in New York. Just as well, really. I’ve asked him to stay here and keep an eye on you while I’m gone.”
“WHAT!” Bikky leapt to his feet, a horrified expression on his face. “NO! You can’t do that to me, Ryo! Please!”
“I can, and I have. You’re only fourteen, Biks, and the law says you have to be in the care of a responsible adult. It would be illegal for me to leave you home alone even for one night, never mind three or four days.” Ryo folded his arms over his chest, his own expression stern and uncompromising. Anyone who thought Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean was soft in any way didn’t know him at all.
Bikky groaned, visibly wilting. “Okay, fine, but why does it have to be him? Can’t I just stay with Melinda next door?”
“Melinda is away at the moment, visiting her sister in Duluth.”
“What about Carol and her aunt? I’m always welcome there.”
“They’re away too, visiting college campuses, remember? Carol’s going to be graduating high school next year.”
“This sucks!” Bikky threw himself back onto the bed, scowling. “Can’t you go to Washington next week instead, when everyone else is back?”
Sitting beside Bikky on the bed, Ryo chuckled. “That’s not how trials work, Biks. The date’s been set, prosecution testifies first, and so my presence is required; I don’t get a choice. If I’m not there to testify, a very evil man might get away with his crimes. D’you want that?”
“No, of course not! I just don’t want the perv lording it over me while you’re gone.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call Dee that. I’d hoped the two of you would be getting along better by now; I know Dee’s trying.”
“You can say that again.” Bikky thrust his lower lip out in a mutinous pout.
Ryo swallowed a laugh. “Why d’you hate him so much?”
Bikky turned to stare incredulously at his foster father. “He’s been pawing at you and trying to get in your pants since the day you guys met!”
“Yes, I had noticed that, and I’m not saying I didn’t appreciate you defending me back when Dee and I first started working together; I needed some time to sort my head out. But Dee’s not just my work partner now; he’s my boyfriend. I thought you were getting used to having him around.”
“Sort of had to, but that doesn’t mean I like it. He still keeps grabbing at you all the time, and he’s a Knicks fan!”
This time Ryo didn’t bother trying not to laugh. “Dee is just as entitled to support his favourite basketball team as you are, Biks.”
“But the Knicks suck!”
“That may be so, but they’re Dee’s team. No one’s saying you have to support them.”
“Like I ever would.” Bikky pulled a face. “I’m in Hell! You’re gonna be gone, and I’ll have to put up with my sworn nemesis pushing me around in my own home! It’s so unfair!”
“How can Dee be your nemesis?”
“He just is, okay? Some things don’t need a reason.”
Ryo shook his head. “As I recall, last time he kept an eye on you while I was away, he fed you junk food and let you stay up late every night, watching TV. Your teachers told me you kept falling asleep at your desk.”
“But I was just a kid then! Now I’m a teenager.”
“What a difference four years makes.” Ryo was still grinning.
“It’s not funny! Didn’t you ever have a nemesis?”
Ryo shook his head. “Not that I remember, or at least not when I was your age. There were kids I didn’t get along with, but I just tried to avoid them.” A thoughtful frown creased his forehead. “I suppose there was one person I could have described as my nemesis, but that was more recent.”
“Who?”
“The man who gave the order that resulted in my parents being murdered.”
“Oh.” Bikky was suddenly subdued. “I thought you said you didn’t know who killed them.”
“I didn’t, not at the time. I found out about eighteen months ago. By then, one of the gunmen was already dead, and I was there when the other one was gunned down. A man named Leo Grant was the one who’d given the order though, and the worst part was, it was a mistake. My parents weren’t the targets; there was a mix-up at customs, and they picked up the wrong package. It got them killed.”
“That’s awful!” Bikky’s father had been gunned down too, but the boy knew it had been because Richard Goldman had been stealing from his boss. That didn’t make it okay, but still… it was the sort of thing criminals did to each other, as a warning to others who might think of betraying them. Ryo’s parents had been good people, though, not criminals at all, and they’d still gotten killed. Even ordinary people weren’t always safe.
“Yeah,” Ryo agreed with a sigh. “It was. Sometimes I wish I’d never found that out. For a while, I wanted to kill Grant myself. He even told me I was one of only two people who had the right to. I had my gun, and he was right there.” He shook his head.
“So why didn’t you do it?”
“It wouldn’t have brought my parents back, and if I’d shot him, I would’ve gone to jail for murdering an unarmed man.” Ryo shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Grant haunted me, waking and sleeping, for months, but he’s dead now.”
“What happened, how did he die?”
“Someone else killed him. I wasn’t the only one with a grudge against him; men like him, with ties to organised crime, have plenty of enemies.”
“Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He got what he deserved.”
“Yes, I suppose he did. I think he even wanted it in the end.” Getting to his feet, Ryo packed the last few items into his suitcase. “Dee will be here soon to drive me to the airport. You can come with us to see me off if you want.”
“Sure, okay. Might as well.”
Several hours later, having stuck around at the airport until Ryo’s flight boarded, Dee and Bikky headed back to Dee’s car.
“Welp,” Dee said, “Looks like it’s just you and me now.”
Bikky slouched along beside his sort of nemesis. “Yeah, sucks to be us, left behind.”
“Ryo’s got it worse though. Stuck in some dingy hotel room when he’s not sittin’ in court, waitin’ to be called to testify. Man, that’s a drag. Bet he would’a given anything to stay here with us.”
“I guess.”
“We should do somethin’ nice for him when he gets back, show him how much we appreciate him.”
Bikky glanced at the older me, frowning; he wouldn’t have thought of that himself. Maybe Dee wasn’t really so bad.
The End