Title: Work Trip
Fandom: FAKE
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ryo, Dee, Chief Smith, OCs.
Rating: PG
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: The Chief needs volunteers for a job transporting a prisoner.
Word Count: 1273
Written For: Prompt 677: Volunteer at
slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“Alright, you losers, listen up!” the Chief bellowed, stalking into the squad room like a bantam rooster spoiling for a fight. “I need a couple of volunteers to escort a prisoner to New Orleans. Straightforward delivery run: he’s a wanted fugitive, so you fly him down there, hand him off to local law enforcement, and come back on the next available flight. Speak up now, or I’ll just assign a couple of you layabouts at random!”
Ryo met his partner’s eyes and raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes alight; Dee, sprawled untidily in his desk chair, nodded and lazily waved an arm. “Me and Ryo can do it.”
The Chief snorted. “You’re volunteering to work, Laytner? Wonders will never cease!”
Dee shrugged. “We just closed the Richmond case yesterday, don’t have much else goin’ on right now. Makes more sense for us to do it than draggin’ someone off an active investigation. All we got left are a couple of cold cases we’ve been lookin’ into whenever we’ve had the time.”
“Fine. Go home, grab whatever you might need for an overnighter, and report to central booking. They’ll have your prisoner ready and waiting for you.”
“Who’re we escorting?” Ryo asked as he got to his feet, reaching for his jacket.
“Lowlife by the name of Harrison Bertrand, wanted on suspicion of manslaughter. Got into a barfight eighteen months ago, resulting in two fatalities. He went on the run before local police could take him in for questioning. Got himself picked up last night after getting into another fight right here in New York, found out there’s a warrant out on him when his prints were taken.” There was an almost smug expression on the Chief’s face. “Louisiana PD loses ‘em, we find ‘em and send ‘em back. Keep your phones on; I’ll have someone call you with your flight details.” With that, Chief Smith stalked back to his office and slammed the door.
As they left the squad room, Dee nudged his shoulder against his partner’s. “Gonna tell me why ya wanted to volunteer for this gig?”
Ryo smiled. “Like you said, we don’t have any active cases right now, and I’ve never been to Louisiana. We get our flights and accommodations paid for, stay overnight, sample the local cuisine, and fly back tomorrow.”
“Like a mini vacation?” Dee returned his lover’s grin.
“You could look at it that way.” Ryo had his phone out and was checking a few things. “Flight time should be around three and a half hours, then once we hand Bertrand off to whoever’s waiting to take him into custody, we’ll be free to do whatever we want until it’s time for our flight home.”
“Now that’s my kinda work trip! What about the brat?”
“Bikky already has plans for a sleepover at Carol’s, he’s going straight there after school. I’ll let Carol’s aunt know where we’re going, but Bikky won’t even notice I’m gone.”
The flight to Louisiana went off without a hitch. Bertrand grumbled and groused until he fell asleep, but aside from that he didn’t cause them any problems and when their flight landed, two Louisiana State deputies were waiting to take charge of the fugitive.
“You boys headin’ straight back to the Big Apple?” one of the deputies asked as he checked Bertrand’s cuffs were secure.
“Nope.” Dee grinned lazily. “Our return flight’s not until tomorrow mornin’; figured we’d check out the sights and sounds, sample some genuine Louisiana gumbo while we’re here.”
“Any suggestions for a good place to eat would be welcome,” Ryo added.
“We can do you better ‘n that,” the second deputy said. “Ride with our escort, then soon as we get our boy here safely locked away, we’ll show you boys the best N’Orleans has to offer.”
The two deputies, Dwayne Boutin and Al Richard, were as good as their word, taking Dee and Ryo on a whirlwind tour of the Big Easy. They finished up at a small eatery, tucked away on a backstreet and frequented mostly by locals, where they sampled more dishes than they could remember.
“Man, I’m stuffed!” Dee slumped back in his seat and loosened his belt. That was amazin’!”
“I really need some of these recipes, so I can try them out at home,” Ryo added. “Although, it would definitely be worth flying all the way down here just for the shrimp etouffee.”
Dwayne laughed. “Folks around here don’t give up their family recipes easily; some have been handed down for generations, but I’ll see what I can do for you. Probably never get ‘em to taste completely authentic though, don’t guess crawfish and fresh-caught shrimp are that easy to come by in the Big Apple, never mind some of the spices, but I could be wrong.”
“I think I’ll have to come back for a vacation someday.” Ryo sipped his beer, feeling relaxed and mellow.
“Same here,” Dee agreed. “Wish I could eat like this every night.”
“You’d be so stuffed you’d fall asleep at your desk and never get any work done,” Ryo teased.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. When we get home though, I’m gonna be tellin’ everyone how great New Orleans cookin’ is.”
Finishing his beer, Ryo stretched. “Well, I hate to break this up but it’s getting late, and we’ve got to be at the airport by eight tomorrow morning, so we’d better head back to our hotel and try to get a couple hours’ sleep.”
Al stood up. “It’s been a great evenin’, we should do it again if you boys are ever back this way. C’mon, we’ll drop you back where you’re stayin’, send a car for ya in the mornin’ to get ya to the airport. Least we can do.”
“Thanks,” Ryo said. “That would be appreciated.”
“So,” Dee said, an hour or so later as he and Ryo collapsed into bed. “Our next vacation; are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Ryo smiled. “If you’re thinking of coming back here, I could be persuaded, as long as it’s not hurricane season.”
“Right, definitely wouldn’t be the best time to visit.” Dee settled comfortably against the pillows, still too stuffed to feel like doing anything other than sleep. Outside, music was playing, and people were still partying. He yawned and stretched, relaxed and content. “And folk say New York’s the city that never sleeps. Guess they’ve never been to New Orleans. It’s like party central around here.”
“Mm,” Ryo murmured. “We’ll be lucky if we get any sleep at all tonight.”
“Sleep’s overrated anyway. I just wanna lay here and listen to the music, soak up the atmosphere. We can always sleep on the plane now we don’t have a prisoner to keep an eye on.” He rolled onto his side to look at his lover. “Y’know, volunteerin’ for this gig was a great idea. We should do it more often.”
That drew a chuckle from Ryo. “With our luck, next time we’d probably find ourselves in Utah. Not exactly high on my list of places I want to visit.”
“Ah, good point; should always check the destination first to avoid any nasty surprises. We hit the jackpot with this one, though. The food’s awesome, and I think the music’s growin’ on me. We come here on vacation we should go dancin’. Whaddaya think?
There was no reply from Ryo and when Dee looked over at him in the dim light coming through the windows, he saw his lover was already asleep.
Dee smiled softly. “’Night, babe. Sweet dreams.” Closing his eyes, despite the music and laughter outside, it wasn’t long before he drifted off too.
The End