A/N: Based on the movie "Dick Tracy" (1990) and taking place many years after the events of that film.

Refrain

Dick Tracy sat at a table off to the side in the dinner club located in the riverfront Hotel Grand. If you wanted to be a stickler it was the Hotel Gran, as the 'd' on the sign hadn't worked in two years. The old hotel had lost some of it's luster and was more a haunt for older customers, but the city's best known police captain still came by occasionally for a quiet meal when his wife Tess was out of town.

He solemnly ate from his bowl of soup; there were uncountable conversations and noises his ears picked up from within the room, but these were discarded while his attention stayed on the corner of the room where a piano player was crooning while the dinner crowd enjoyed their meals.

Your skin as pure as that of pearls

Golden hair all ringlets and curls

Voice so sweet strong and fine

Makes sweet harmony with mine

That image stays in my dreams - so it appears

Even after these ten years

A lifetime since those ten years

The song concluded and the player switched off his microphone, but continued to play for some time, switching tunes with a gentle ease without a single harsh segue to break up the medley that now served as background music for the club. Tracy continued to listen, until he reached a decision and finished off the last spoonful of soup before standing and working his around the wall toward the player in the corner. His radio off, he wasn't going to be bothered tonight; at least not right now.

Sidling up behind, he slipped onto the bench beside the player. The performer didn't miss a beat as he scooted over slightly; his peripheral vision told him all he needed to know. When a man in a yellow trenchcoat and hat sits down beside you in this city, it could only be one person.

"Tracy" he acknowledged.

"How's the great 88 Keys tonight?"

"Staying clean." Tracy had arrested 88 Keys when he was a piano player for Big Boy Caprice; he had gotten a light sentence in return for sworn testimony about the real murderer of District Attorney John Fletcher, which had gotten Tracy out of the frame-up he had been placed. All the remaining major players in Caprice's gang were either dead or rounded up on that big night ten years ago.

"I know, Keys. You weren't really the criminal type; you just had a criminal for a boss."

"A couple of bosses; Mantis was no choir boy either before Caprice stole his club and killed him. All I wanted to do was play my songs. I tell you though; when I saw Caprice slap our singer I could have just...well, it doesn't matter." He continued to stroke the keys as though his hands didn't pay attention to what his head was doing. Tracy doubted the player was even looking at anything, his mind completely on somewhere and somewhen else.

"I noticed...ah...you changed the song. Ten years tonight" Tracy said ruefully.

"Ten years, going on a hundred. It seems like a long time ago but I'll always remember it; the Club Ritz was a great place. Great place, great performers."

"Like Breathless."

"Yeah. Like Breathless." Breathless Mahoney was a sultry singer at the club and personal moll of Lips Mantis. "I've never seen such a beautiful woman in all my life. I never will again."

"Is that why all your songs are sad?"

"Do you blame me? I wrap it up in maudlin for the crowd, dress it with a little nostalgia...but it all comes down to what you have and what you don't." To emphasis his point he transposed his song to a minor key.

"No, I don't blame you. She had something; I think she was sad underneath it all and didn't know what she wanted. Maybe most of us don't."

"Or it takes longer to find out. You still married to Tess?"

"Yeah, she's one in a million."

"It must be nice. Did you ever get involved with Breathless?"

"No."

"Did you want to?"

Tracy fidgeted on the bench. "I'd really rather not talk about it."

"She probably threw herself at you; after being involved with criminals she would have considered you a challenge since there wasn't a Scoutmaster nearby to seduce."

Tracy laughed without completely losing the tension. "She was...er...persistent."

"Did you ever kiss her?"

"Not really - it was more like she kissed me." Keys missed a note. "I couldn't cheat on Tess" Tracy explained.

"Good man; I never got the chance. I saw her in the dressing room backstage once while she was changing costumes; she stood there without a stitch on and just looked at me like I wasn't there. That was the nadir that told me it never would be."

"Look Keys, this may not mean much but she really looked up to you. You might have been the only one there who treated her with respect and kindness. I think that's why she picked you when she pretended to be No Face; she could trust you. Trust was important to her" Tracy added as he tried to console the pianist.

"Maybe, but it wasn't enough - at least not in the world she came from. Listen, it may sound like I'm running you off but I've got another vocal coming up; say high to Tess for me, will you? I only met her the once but she seemed nice. You two kinda fit together."

"I will" Tracy said as he rose. "I'll bring her by next time. Stay out of trouble, Keys."

"Hey, don't shoot me - I'm only the piano player" he called to Tracy before shifting back to the middle of the bench and switching his microphone on for the next number. Through the whole conversation his expression hadn't changed, a mask through which only his voice betrayed any emotion.

The End

A/N: I had forgotten about having watched this movie until I was viewing a top ten list on cinematic style. It had quite a unique look, and was an adaptation of what a live action comic book would look like. But it struck me that the unspoken and unrequited love of 88 Keys for Breathless was quite poignant and needed to be explored just a smidge.