FAKE Fic: Suspicious Behaviour

[badly_knitted]

 

Title: Suspicious Behaviour
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo, OMC.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7
Summary: Ryo and Dee have to chase down a suspect before they can take him in for questioning.
Word Count: 1112
Written For: Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge 184 - Gain, Goal, Good, Gradual, Grin.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
 


 
“Oh great, another runner,” Dee grumbled. The suspect he and Ryo had come to bring in for questioning had taken one look at them and bolted. “Why d’they always run?”

 
“Probably because they don’t want to be arrested. Shouldn’t we go after him? He’s getting away.” Ryo was itching to give chase; he was only hesitating because his partner was showing no sign of moving. They were a team; they were supposed to work together, be each other’s backup.
 

“I guess. Damn, wish I was wearin’ sneakers instead of new boots. They’re gonna get ruined!” Nevertheless, Dee took off from a standing start, only to find himself lagging behind, Ryo having not bothered to wait until Dee finished speaking. “Hey! No fair!” He thought he heard Ryo snicker, but his partner was already too far ahead for him to be sure.

 
Chasing suspects was part of the job, and both detectives were in good physical shape, but that didn’t automatically mean they’d capture the fleeing man; there were too many variables to be certain of anything. A lot depended on which direction the suspect went, how many people got in the way, whether he dashed across the street while they got blocked by traffic… He might even duck around a corner and disappear. If they didn’t see which building he went into they could spend the rest of the day searching each one and questioning people while their quarry made good his escape. Then they’d be back at square one with no idea where to look for him. Couldn’t have that, not when they’d been so close to nabbing him.

 
Dee dialled it up another notch, gaining a stride or two on Ryo, who was gradually cutting the distance between himself and the guy they were chasing. One thing in their favor was that they were in much better shape than their suspect, who was already struggling to maintain the pace. That brought an almost savage grin to Dee’s face; barring unforeseen circumstances, there was every chance they’d win this footrace.
 

Ahead, the suspect stumbled as he swung around the next corner, narrowly missing someone coming the other way. Ryo, now only trailing by a dozen or so yards, went wide to avoid running smack into the same person, somehow managing to take several strides along the very edge of the sidewalk without ending up in the road. It was an impressive feat. Dee ducked around the irate pedestrian’s other side, almost cannoning into the corner of the building in the process, feeling the rough brick just scrape the sleeve of his jacket, and then he was weaving between the milling pedestrians again, wondering why they didn’t have the sense to get out of the way. Couldn’t they see what was going on?

 
By now, Ryo was only maybe three or four strides ahead of Dee, but he’d lost some ground on their quarry thanks to his unavoidable detour. Only a couple of yards, but in a chase like this, even that could make a big difference between victory and defeat. As for the suspect, Dee could almost hear the guy wheezing for breath. How much longer did he think he could keep this up? Did he really think he could get away from two younger, fitter guys?

 
Then Dee spotted the sign indicating the entrance to a subway station not much more than half a block ahead; that must be the would-be fugitive’s goal. If he made it down there, mingling with the crowds, he could lose himself, maybe even hop on a train if he had a pass, get away and go to ground in some other part of the city. They might never track him down then.
 

Up to now, the two detectives had avoided pushing themselves to their limits, keeping the man ahead of them in sight, slowly gaining on him while letting him wear himself out. That way he’d be less likely to put up a fight when they eventually caught up to him. They no longer had that luxury.
 

Ryo had obviously seen the same thing Dee had, and knew if they were going to catch this guy, they needed to do it before he could reach the sanctuary afforded by the subway system. His stride lengthened, and Dee pitied anyone who got in his partner’s way now, because chances were, Ryo would simply run right over them. Dee was perfectly willing to do the same if anyone was dumb enough to get under his feet, but perhaps the other people on the street were finally getting clued-in to what was going on because the sidewalk ahead was suddenly clear as everybody seemed to decide at once to be elsewhere, even if it meant stepping into traffic. A few horns blared, but the nearest drivers had slowed down, craning their necks, trying to see the cause of the commotion.
 

Dee spared them no more than a passing glance, all his attention focused on the suspect. Two more strides brought him almost level with Ryo and the pair of them matched strides as they bore down on their quarry, predators closing in on their prey.
 

He might have reached his goal, maybe, just possibly, if he hadn’t glanced back over his shoulder to check how close his pursuers were, but his desperate, pounding feet faltered as he did so, and one leg started to give way. He never got the chance to fall as two strong hands grabbed him at the same time, one on each shoulder.
 

“You do know this counts as resistin’ arrest, right?” Dee asked. “We can charge ya with that, on top of anything else ya might wanna confess to. Way you were runnin’, sure looked like you got a guilty conscience.”
 

Sagging with exhaustion, the suspect didn’t say a word, too busy trying to catch his breath.

 
Ryo slapped the cuffs on him, reading him his rights. “All we wanted was to ask you a few questions. Now we’ve got to arrest you and take you in.”
 

Hustling their demoralised captive ahead of them, they set off on the long walk back to their parked car.
 

Dee was grumbling again. “Hadn’t even gotten a chance to break these boots in! Now I’m gonna have blisters. We should’a just shot this idiot when he ran. Would’a saved time and effort.”
 

Glancing sidelong at his partner, Ryo grinned. “Not very sporting though, and besides, there were too many people in the way. We might have hit an innocent bystander. Taking pot-shots on a busy street is never a good idea.”
 

“Yeah.” Dee sighed. “Don’t ya sometimes wish police work was more like the movies?”
 
 

The End