Title: Rooftop Refuge
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: Dee and Ryo have caught a really nasty case involving multiple shootings, so Dee makes for the precinct roof to cool off before questioning the shooter.
Word Count: 1285
Content Notes: Descriptions of violence.
Written For: Challenge 322: Roof.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.







Being a nicotine addict was no picnic, especially now that smoking in workplaces had been banned. When Dee needed a smoke he had to either traipse all the way downstairs and stand outside where everyone could see him and the non-smokers could heckle him for skiving off when her should be working, or sneak up onto the roof of the stationhouse. Unsurprisingly, he preferred the latter.

For one thing, it wasn’t so far to go, a single flight up instead of several down. That also meant he could be alone with his thoughts most of the time because smokers from the lower floors generally went downstairs. There were sheltered spots around the back of the building out if the prevailing wind, and a lot of the guys would gather to chat while they satisfied their nicotine cravings.

The roof was draughty, and lighting a cig could be tricky on windy days, but Dee could always light up in the stairwell before venturing out, or duck down behind the retaining wall. He knew a few tricks for lighting up in inclement weather. If it was raining he could stand just inside the stairwell housing, unless it was one of those days when he didn’t much care whether or not he got wet. Most of the time though, he preferred to lean on the retaining wall while he smoked, gazing out across the city and letting his thoughts wander.

The view was familiar by now, and comforting in a way, especially on days when the job was making him feel particularly stressed. A few hits of nicotine and that mostly unchanging panorama were usually enough to soothe him and help him regain his equilibrium, arming him to cope with the pressures that came with being part of the Serious Crimes Unit.

Today was no exception, and if he was honest, he needed the fresh, cold air even more than he needed the cigarette, is only to clear the stench of blood from his nose. Murder scenes were never a pretty sight, but this one… The offices had looked like a slaughterhouse, blood and bodies everywhere. Some nerdy junior clerk, still wet behind the ears, had flipped out, pulled a high-powered automatic pistol out of his backpack, and opened fire, apparently shooting at random. Miraculously, so far there was only one fatality, one of the senior clerks who, ironically, had only been grazed by a bullet but had subsequently suffered a massive heart attack brought on by fear. Eleven other people were injured though, seven badly enough to require surgery, and at least three of them would likely be headed for intensive care, although the last he’d heard it was touch and go whether or not they’d survive the surgery.

The shooter himself had tried to get away but had been apprehended by a couple of uniforms less than two blocks from the scene. Fortunately for them, by that time he’d been out of ammunition. Now he was downstairs, cuffed to the table in interrogation, cooling his heels until the investigating officers, Dee and Ryo in this case, were ready to question him.

Dee wasn’t; not yet. He was still too angry and knew he needed to calm down first, so as soon as he and Ryo had arrived back from viewing the crime scene and questioning witnesses and the least seriously injured of the victims, he’d come up here to the roof, hoping a cigarette and the cold, fresh air would serve to calm him down enough to do his job without giving in to an overwhelming urge to beat that snot-nosed kid into a pulp.

A voice spoke behind him.

“Hey. Thought I might find you up here. You okay?”

Dee glanced over his shoulder at his partner. “Are you?”

Walking over to join Dee, Ryo set the two mugs he was carrying on the parapet.

“As okay as anyone can be after that.”

“There’s your answer then.” Dee drew in a lungful of smoke and let it out slowly. “Kid can’t be more than nineteen, twenty; what’s he got to be so mad about that attemptin’ to slaughter everyone he works with seems like a viable course of action?”

“You’d have to ask him that.”

“Plannin’ on it, but I doubt we’ll get any kind of rational answer. He doesn’t just have a few screws loose, he’s a frickin’ psycho!”

“Yeah.” Ryo leaned beside Dee, picked up one of the mugs and took a sip.

“Coffee’s probably not the best idea if you’re feelin’ as stressed as I am,” Dee pointed out.

“I know; that’s why I made tea.”

“Oh. Good choice.” Taking a final drag on his cigarette, Dee stubbed it out and reached for the other mug. He far preferred coffee, but there were times when tea was exactly what he needed, and this definitely counted as one of those times. Cradling the mug between cold hands, he sipped slowly, elbows resting on the top of the wall as he stared out at the city, not really seeing anything.

“We’ll probably need a psych consult on this one so I put in a call to Doc Mackenna. He’s on his way; wants to observe the interrogation, so we’ve got maybe a half hour before he gets here.”

Dee nodded. “Should be long enough.” He felt silent for several minutes, then… “I really want this guy.”

“We already know he’s guilty, we’ve got security camera footage of the whole incident, and we can charge him with manslaughter over the guy who died.”

“Any news from the hospital on the others?”

“Nothing before I came up here. I talked to Ted at the hospital; the ones with minor injuries have been treated and are doing okay but the rest were still in surgery. He said he’d call as soon as he knew anything.”

“I wanna throw the book at the bastard, get him for premeditated murder, but at the same time I don’t want any of the injured to die. They don’t deserve that. Most of ‘em have families, people who love them, depend on them…” Dee trailed off, setting his empty mug down and running one hand through his hair. “I need another cig.”

“Times like this, I almost wish I smoked.” Ryo smiled wryly.

“You can have one of mine if ya want.” Dee frowned at the packet in his hand. “Or ya could if this wasn’t my last one.” With a sigh, he shoved the packet and its lone cigarette back in his pocket. “I smoke too much anyway; better save that one for after the interrogation, got a feelin’ I’ll need it then more than I do right now.” He drew a deep breath of the chilly air, letting it out slowly, did it again, then shook his head. “Nope, doesn’t help, it’s not the same; I still wanna rip that sonofabitch’s lungs out through his nose.”

Ryo smiled faintly. “I think that’s physically impossible.”

“I could give it a damned good try.”

“I guess, but the Chief might take a dim view of it if you did. He frowns on that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, good point, I don’t wanna wind up on report.” Dee huffed a sigh. “Too bad, might’ve been very therapeutic. For me at least.” Pushing himself upright, he picked up his empty mug and discarded cigarette butt. “Whelp, guess we should show willin’. I just gotta hit the head before we start with the interrogation; we might be in there quite a while.”

“Want me to make some more tea?”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

Walking side by side they left the roof, ready to do their jobs; they had a confession to get on tape.


The End