wl_fanfiction | Murder Fic Chapter 3/?

Shine on You Crazy Diamond
By: PD
Pairing: for this chapter – none
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t own, so don’t sue.
Summary: ‘What good is a Pulitzer article if you guy’s aren’t around to read it?’

Chapter 3: Cry Baby Cry

“Man talk about your cliché creepy janitors!” Brad said as they left, tugging on his jacket.

“Aw, be nice, he’s probably just shy,” Wayne said.

“Did you see how he was staring at me?” Brad demanded.

“Now who’s going gay?” Ryan smirked from behind them. Everyone laughed, going to their respective cars. They walked down the line, cast members splitting off and climbing in with a wave goodbye. Colin and Ryan walked along to Colin’s car.

“What do you think’s going to happen next?” Colin asked hesitantly, eyes darting about, checking any dark alleyways too deep to be touched by the sun.

Ryan shrugged next to him. “I dunno, but I think the police are going to catch this one before too long, what with all the info coming in from Scotland Yard. Plus this is LA and we’re celebrities,” he said mildly.

Colin looked at him sideways, knowing he knew full well that they weren’t top billing celebs or else there would be reporters swamping them right about now. They were, what Colin had playfully called them, lower case celebrities. “Well, this is me,” Colin said, as they drew even with his car.

Both of them looked down to the far corner of the building where Ryan’s car sat parked in the shade. What had first seemed welcoming from the heat now seemed to be a perfect lurking spot. “Dammit, why does it have to be so damn hot right now?” Colin demanded.

Ryan looked at him, eyebrow quirked. The man rarely cursed, and two ‘damns’ in one sentence was getting racy for Colin.

Colin scratched his head under his baseball cap. “Ry, wanna come have dinner over at my place?” he asked suddenly.

Ryan shrugged. “Why not, it’s a Saturday after all,” he grinned, twirling his keys in his hands. “I’ll meet you over there-”

“No, I mean in my car, together,” Colin said quietly. Ryan glanced at him, then at his car, then shrugged again.

“Okay, it’s in the shade. I’ll have a tow truck guy haul it to your place later tonight,” he said with a grin, clambering in the passenger side. It was a tight fit, even with the seats as far back as they could go.

Outside, Colin heaved a sigh of relief and climbed in, starting up the car and taking off. On the third story, the janitor hurried away from the window.

----

A car pulled into the driveway down the lane down from Colin’s house later in the evening, a figure getting out and slamming the door shut before hurrying into the house. Inside, the lights flew on and a loud clattering arose from the kitchen. Shortly the brick oven was chugging away, smoke drifting lazily out of the chimney.

Back down the lane, Colin looked into the fridge for something to eat. It was the third time in 5 minutes he’d done so. “Food doesn’t materialize once the door closes, Col,” Ryan said from the bar counter, sipping a bottle of beer idly.

“I know, I know, just wondering what I could put together. I wasn’t planning on company you know,” he reminded Ryan.

Ryan chuckled. “You know we could always order pizza or something.”

“Yuck, you know what they put in that stuff?” Colin looked scandalized.

“No I don’t. That’s why I keep eating it,” Ryan said smartly, glancing around the beautiful kitchen. Colin loved to cook, and it showed, but he’d fallen behind on stocking the huge thing, and that also showed. Ryan sniffed. “Smells like somebody is doing some good cooking though.”

Colin sniffed, too. “Yeah, smells great,” he admitted. He sighed.

“Hey, maybe we could go over after rolling in the dirt and beg for scraps,” Ryan said dryly. Colin gave him the eye, but for once Ryan was unrepentant.

“No, we do not use our status to beg for scraps-” His stomach grumbled at him loudly. Ryan grinned at him from around his beer bottle. Colin sighed. “We ask nicely. Come one, let’s go out for food,” he said, going into the hall. Ryan followed quickly but the door rang just as Colin reached for it. They traded glances and Colin opened the door.

Esabo smiled brightly up at him, then frowned. “Oh, are you guys going somewhere?” she asked.

“Well, actually we were just gonna go out to dinner,” Colin said.

“Well, what a coincidence. I was just gonna ask you guys if you wanted to come over for dinner.” She grinned.

Ryan eyed the small woman. “Col, who’s your friend?”

“Oh sorry, Ryan this is Esabo, Detective Glass’s sister, Esabo this is my friend Ryan,” Colin said with a small smile.

They shook hands. “Good heavens you are a tall drink of water,” she said, looking up at Ryan.

Ryan laughed. “English, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Really? Abe said you were from Tennessee,” Colin said, frowning.

She frowned. “Oh, well that schmuck can never keep his facts straight, though he has a lot on his mind right now, considering. Would you guys like to come over? I can tell you the whole story while the food’s finishing. I’m making pizza,” she offered. The men looked at each other.

“Making pizza?” Ryan asked, a smile curling on his lips. She nodded with a small smile.

“From scratch?” Colin asked.

She leaned in and looked around like she had a great big secret. “Fresh tomato sauce and everything,” she whispered. The men grinned at each other and nodded.

“We’d be delighted,” they said, following her down the drive.

----

“Okay, so what happened next?” Esabo (call me Izzy) demanded over her glass of wine.

Ryan chuckled and glanced at Colin, who was developing a blush on his cheeks that had nothing to do with embarrassment. “Well, believe it or not, the kids wouldn’t stop honking their damn horns right in their ears. So Brad is getting really pissed off, but Col, being he’s sweet little self, takes away the horn, picks the kid up, and gives him back to his mother. The audience cheered, and Brad goes, ‘if we ever see that child again I’m going to be one unhappy man.’” Ryan laughed. Izzy and Colin joined him. When their laughter died down a small ‘ding’ sounded.

“Oops that’s me!” Izzy said, rising and walking over to the brick stove. She pulled some gloves on and reached out to the stove with a huge wooden paddle, “This was the only thing I wanted when we bought this house and not that other one further down. Had to have a real brick stove!” she said delightedly as a delicious smell pervaded the room. Ryan and Colin sniffed happily and sighed, jumping when a door slammed shut in the far room.

“Izzy?” a voice called.

“We’re in here!” she shouted back, putting the huge pizza on a large wooden platter and hanging up the paddle.

“We?” a voice asked as it approached. Colin and Ryan rose when Abe entered.

“Detective,” they said, shaking his hand.

“Ah, this ‘we’,” he grinned. “Knew she’d drag you fellows over sometime soon. Please call me Abe, I’m off duty. Sit, sit!” he ushered them back to their chairs. He went over and pecked Izzy’s cheek.

“Why did they keep you so late?” Izzy asked mildly.

“Well, some things had to be delivered to another office, and some thing’s still haven’t turned up…” he said quietly, warning her with his eyes. Ryan and Colin picked up on the tension.

“Are you talking about Chip’s murder?” Ryan asked. Abe and Izzy turned to look at him and he was struck by exactly how identical they looked.

“Yes,” Abe said guardedly.

“Come on, why don’t you tell them?” Izzy demanded, smacking him with the oven mitt.

“It’s an ongoing police investigation!” Abe growled.

“They deserve to know what might become their future…I trust them,” she said defiantly.

Abe looked at her, eyes wide and calculating. He blew out through his nose and came over to sit down heavily. “This could get me fired,” he said, eyes angry.

“I know,” she said quietly.

He looked at her, and they held each other’s gaze for a long time before he sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Fine, but if either of you repeat anything I’m about to tell you outside of this room, I’ll have you both hanging from the ceiling by your balls,” he said, pointing a finger at them. They both blanched and nodded. “You either.” he said, turning to Izzy. She nodded, lips pressed firmly together. “And before we begin, the bathroom is down the hall to your left,” he said heavily. Colin and Ryan suddenly didn’t want to hear a thing.

----

Colin lay on the floor of the bathroom, resting his sweaty cheek on the cold tile. It was heaven-sent, that sweetly cold tile. He’d heard all that Abe had had to say, and had risen calmly, walking around the corner and out of sight before he broke into a run. Ryan had followed quickly at his heels. He opened his eyes blearily, looking up without moving to see Ryan. He was resting his head against the bathtub, face drawn and pale. Colin was glad they’d hadn’t had the dinner yet. It would have been a shame to vomit that good smelling pizza back up.

Colin’s stomach churned at the thought. No food, not now. He sat up slowly, gingerly, paying particular attention to not moving his throbbing head. Ryan opened his eyes and put a hand on his friend’s back, but Colin was still a little weak and trembled violently. Ryan pulled gently on his shoulders, and Colin allowed his friend to pull him into his arms, cradled against Ryan’s body. They sat there for a moment, both waiting for their heads to stop hurting.

“No wonder a lot of people think we’re gay,” Colin said mildly, out of the blue. Ryan shook his head, then chuckled, until the bathroom was alive with their laughter. Colin’s ended in a sob. “God Almighty…” he whispered. “Those poor, poor bastards…” Ryan held him tighter, trying to chase away the visions dancing through both their minds. Visions of friends and people he knew, butchered for no reason.

Except there was a reason, they were all tied together by a show. A stupid…fucking…show. He hugged Colin tighter, chasing away tears by burying his nose in Colin’s neck, just where the hair started. Colin hugged him back, not at all minding the bruising grip on his ribs. He needed to be held, and Ryan was the only person he’d allow himself to be held by. A soft click made them look up.

It was Abe and Izzy. Colin felt Ryan begin to pull away, not wanting to be seen like this, but the twins held up their hands. “Don’t. Information like this can make anybody need to be held, there’s nothing wrong with it at all,” Abe said, and he sat down in front of them. The bathroom was large enough for all of them, even with Ryan and Colin’s height, and still have room.

“We’re sorry,” Izzy said, eyes a little saddened. She handed them both glasses of water, which they accepted gratefully. Colin shook his head, spitting into the toilet before settling down next to Ryan. He kept a line from shoulder to thigh touching. Ryan pressed himself more firmly against him.

“It’s…it’s fine. We needed to know…what we’re dealing with,” he said shakily.

Abe regarded them both before his face split into a kind-looking smile. “I wish I had someone like you two have each other.” he said. Ryan and Colin looked at each other, but Abe held up a hand to stem anything they might have said. “I know you aren’t like that, but your relationship nonetheless speaks of love. No matter how platonic,” he said. Izzy curled her body around his back and hugged him. He smirked and let her settle there. “Now, I want to let you know that I put in a requisition for police protection, and I made sure that you gentlemen and your coworkers are at the top of the list for consideration,” he said.

“Thank you, but we know how to protect ourselves,” Ryan said. “Why protect us when there are young mothers being hunted by boyfriends and such?”

“Because as much as I’d want to help them too, they haven’t asked for it,” Abe said levelly. “Now, I can have police escorts on some of you, but not all, so maybe you guys could go out of town for awhile while we catch this prick.”

“No,” Colin said firmly. “We aren’t running, at least I’m not,” he said.

Ryan regarded Colin and bumped his shoulder with his own. “Me neither.”

Abe rubbed his eyes and Izzy slid off his back. “You know that’s pretty much suicide, right?” she asked, sitting in front of them. They both nodded. She sighed. “Great. I meet awesome people and they always do stupid crap,” she said, rubbing her head.

“You’ll write a good article though, right? Just for us that’ll be longer than anything you’ve ever written?” Colin asked.

She regarded them. “What good is a Pulitzer article if you guys aren’t around to read it?”