... They all mean a lot to me, Wenzhou. They're my clan members. [ he says, like that's all there is to it. badly, however, like he also doesn't quite believe the downplay himself. ]
I just. [ i think it's funny that the mods said it doesn't matter what perspective the memory is from so u get to pull shit like this. ] I didn't hear that last part when I left.
Not my lifestyle, but I respect it. You've got a lot of love in your heart.
[ it's teasing, but his hold on eiden has the undercurrent of getting it, too. that's his family - whatever that means for him, that's what they are. ]
... it's good, that you got to. Seems the kind of guy that doesn't say shit like that to your face.
Yeah, instead he makes me work out so hard I wanna die. I'm starting to think he's trying to say I'm getting a little soft around the middle or something.
[ he just laughs a little more, though, because wenzhou is right. his head thunks into his shoulder softly. ]
... I didn't mean to inherit a weird group of guys. I... keep calling the place home by accident. Think it's just gonna stick.
I should drag you and Fei Du into the gym. Bastard won't do it unless it's at 6 AM, and he knows I don't get up that early unless there's an emergency. Send you back to your boys with some actual biceps.
[ his weight shifts comfortably, letting him thunk against him. he lets go, if only so that he can slide his arm around his shoulder companionably, quiet. ]
... makes it home, though, doesn't it? Makes your weird group of guys home.
Noooooooo not you too! [ he shifts to just very weakly beat against wenzhou's double d's like how dare you... ] But yeah... I'm not going to the gym unless it's like 9am. Maybe 10 if I ever get laid.
[ he huffs. ]
They're all really weird, Wenzhou... like really weird.
[ headlocked, he struggles a little but finally pops free with a smile once he loosens up. ]
There are... a lot? I don't even know where I'd start... You know Yakumo already. [ fond ] He was the first clan member who agreed to work alongside me... but even before that, Huey's familiars were really the ones to...
[ he just bsods briefly trying to figure out the best way to phrase this ] welcome me in... very hospitably.
You're in Fei Du's SUV, reinforced into a street legal, civilian-owned tank after his accident months ago. It's supposed to be safe.
The two of you have started to unravel the conspiracy behind the Zhou Clan Conglomerate, from the top to the bottom - and it truly is the very bottom, as Fei Du reveals that they have a shareholder, one that owns the land where those little girls were found in July, August, September. He gives this little hint to your memory in exchange for a personal question, one you don't hesitate but three seconds on agreeing to do. He puts a rain check on it and draws your attention to an odd truck as you approach the hotel.
You follow his line of sight and see a freight truck with a huge logo for fresh produce delivery at your three o'clock, silently circling around the hotel, in the end driving into the hotel's underground parking lot.
Fei Du identifies it as a truck from a high-end cold chain transport is under the Zhou Clan's banner.
Your original train of thought had been: Zheng Kaifeng had taken a fancy to Yang Bo, a nothing of a downy-headed brat; there had to be some link between the two of them; through Yang Bo, they could pick up some traces. You hadn't expected to reap such a harvest!
You ask, "Wait, is it possible Zheng Kaifeng is in that truck?"
Fei Du shrugs lightly.
"Follow it."
Maintaining a certain distance, Fei Du very cautiously turns into the underground garage’s other side. The security guard on duty hurriedly comes out to block the way. "Sorry, this is the exit, you need to..."
You roll the window down, and hear Fei Du utter a soft shh as you show your badge to the guard.
The SUV creeps in, and you wait. There's a report from one of the undercover officers assigned to keep an eye on Yang Bo in his room, that he's about to run; you issue orders immediately, advise the officers in the hotel and listening in that someone's arranged to meet him in the underground garage, seal all exits and prepare for action. The security feed is sent to your phone, and you continue to wait, as Fei Du weaves his way in against the direction of traffic to block the ramp with the car.
You watch as two robust, agile, alert thugs dressed as deliverymen exit the truck, beginning to survey their surroundings and check nearby cars while they wait, too. You get the warning that Yang Bo is on the way from the gym, as if this diversion tactic would work after they were all recognized, and you decide - well, that's not surprising.
You cut off the feed, and turn to Fei Du. "Yang Bo is coming down. He's been regularly called into the City Bureau for questioning, my people have been following him for a week, and during that week, the numbskull didn't notice at all. But today he's suddenly acquired some IQ. I suspect someone's just leaked a list of the people assigned to tail him - if Zheng Kaifeng really is in that truck, why would he run the risk of coming to get Yang Bo? Zhou Huaijin said that Yang Bo privately went to find someone to run a paternity test for him and Zhou Junmao. That shows the joker may not know anything at all. Does Zheng Kaifeng really like him that much?"
Before you can finish, a figure appears in the surveillance footage. It's Yang Bo, wearing exercise clothes. Yang Bo stands there, looking in alarm at the men dressed up as delivery people. The container of the cold chain transport opens. The camera, of course, can't see what's inside the container, but Yang Bo's body language changes immediately. He very respectfully says something towards the container.
Fei Du says, "Zheng Kaifeng is inside."
Whatever the person in the container says, Yang Bo's expression changes. He looks all around with extreme caution, then the two hefty fellows in delivery uniforms pick him up, one on each side, and lift him into the truck -
"Get them, move!"
As soon as you speak, sudden police sirens rise like the tide, swelling through the whole underground parking lot.
It's a flurry of movement and chaos in a very short period, after that; the truck tries to bolt, as police cars and officers flood the scene, but it doesn't anticipate the civilian SUV that charges forward at an order. The side window of the truck shatters, the body of it buckling, sending thugs and Yang Bo tumbling out like a broken dam, spilling out into the garage.
You follow suit, moving away from where Fei Du feebly climbs out - uninjured, but coughing from the seatbelt - and rapping on the warped container with a pair of handcuffs as you stare down the ancient Zheng Kaifeng sitting aloft in a goddamn leather chair like the truck is actually a lounge. "President Zheng, please alight."
But you don't notice what Fei Du does. You don't realize what's happening until it's too late, as he grabs at your waist, pulling, pushing, making you lose your footing as you tumble backwards into the SUV again, back screaming in protest from still-healing wounds. You can't even grab onto anything before there's a resounding, sudden, enormous sound in your ears.
Your head hits the steering wheel, and the world is screaming as much as it's ringing. You realize it's because an explosion has gone off in the underground garage, and every single car with you is wailing as a fire roars. The truck is nothing but pieces, now.
Something sticky is on your hands, and a weight is in your arms - they don't feel like yours. They feel like a feeble marionette, as you move, trying to understand, taking in the smell of smoke and - and blood, and it's a dawning horror as you see that it's blood on your hands.
It's Fei Du's blood.
The last thing you remember, before the hospital, is screaming his name, your heart a panicked bird in your chest, trapped in the cage of your ribs, wild, ready to burst out at any moment.
You're already a terrible patient. You can't stand staying still in a hospital when there's better things to be doing, especially when it comes to work. There's so much shit to clean up, now, that even on a good day you wouldn't be inclined to stay - even with a concussion, a broken leg, reopened wounds. You wouldn't care.
But they rushed Fei Du away. You have to know. You have to be there.
So you grab a crutch, ignoring the brace you've been put in, the bandages around you, the leg cast. You rip out the IV drip before it's finished, and you hobble down the hall, to where you see Tao Ran's familiar back as he speaks to a nurse.
"That... Fei Du, was it? The one who was just brought in - are his relatives here?"
Tao Ran hangs up his phone directly. "I-I-I'm here..."
The nurse asks, "You're a relative?"
This gives Tao Ran pause, but as he spirals in his own mind it lets you get closer faster without being noticed. The nurse continues, seeing you behind him.
"For unknown reasons, the patient's breathing and heart rate suddenly stopped just now. We're attempting resuscitation. You two should prepare yourselves." The nurse delivers her news, then retreats again, as Tao Ran tries to understand the words.
He realizes you're there not long after. Fussing, he gets you to sit down, worrying - you tell him it's not going to kill you, even as he tells you to not hang out and make trouble.
You shake your head. "When other people get brought in there, they have someone waiting outside. If he doesn't have anyone, I'm afraid he'll be broken-hearted and won't be willing to come back."
"If he could still know who was or wasn't waiting for him, he wouldn't have been brought in there. Go on, isn't it enough if I wait here? Aren't I someone?"
You so quietly say, "It's not the same."
Luckily, a phone call distracts Tao Ran, and lets you sink into the seat as you shoo him off, burying your face in your hands and taking a heaving, shuddering breath that you keep to yourself. This can't be happening, it can't - not after everything, not after prying back the layers of masks that you have, not after getting somewhere -
You want to kiss him again. You want to crack him open to find the soft core that's being kept inside.
You can't lose him, and it's a fucking sinking realization that you could.
You don't move until a shadow blocks the light in front of you, a familiar cough to clear a throat - and you look up at your father, standing tall and looking down at you expectantly.
Well-trained, you reach for your discarded crutch and don't even think about giving the man your seat, pretending that he hadn't seen the vulnerability, your red eyes. Neither of you say anything, at first.
"Pick up a ragged bag and you can go panhandle on the subway," your dad says first, appraising you. You say nothing, and he continues, "And you've been crying? Isn't it just a suspension and writing a self-examination? That bad?"
You look to Tao Ran, who tries to flee after excusing himself to your mother - you shout for him to wait, issuing your final orders until you're on suspension, telling him to start the investigation for the mole in their midst, to find where the leak has been coming from that has given all of their perps the way to evade them. If you're under review, despite all of the good deeds that you and your team have done, then all of the bureau should be, right?
Just then, the ICU's door opens again. Your crutch slips somehow, and you waver, nearly toppling over along with the crutch. You simply stuck the hindrance under your arm and are about to hop over on one leg. Tao Ran hurriedly reaches out to hold you back, then goes forward on his own. "Nurse!"
The nurse pulls off her mask and looks down at the sheet in her hands. "We needed a 'notice' for the patient who just came in and printed it out, but now his condition has stabilized a little. Look here. If you don't want to sign, it's all right."
Tao Ran hurriedly asks, "So how is he now?"
"The most dangerous period hasn't passed yet, I can't say," the nurse says. "Things seem to be moving in the right direction now. He's young, after all. We'll wait on the notice... Ah, you with the crutch, what's going on? Are you also staying in the hospital here? Why aren't you in your room this late?"
Tao Ran says, "Going, we're just going. He was worried, that patient in there is..."
You don't even hesitate to say, "He's my lover."
The nurse doesn't say anything.
"So can I stay here a while longer?"
The nurse may have been stupefied, or she may have been very worldly. She offers an "Oh," doesn't say anything else, turns, and leaves.
Tao Ran, your mom, and your dad - all three simultaneously turn six eyes like six searchlights onto you.
You pay no attention to these irrelevant individuals' gazes and don't explain anything at all, nothing about how this was more a declaration of intent, of claiming Fei Du for the future, of a decision that you'd made then and there.
Instead, you totter to the corner garbage can, bend over, and throw up.
Later, at least, the nurses will take pity on you and let you into Fei Du's room when they aren't checking on him, when they aren't needed.
And you stay there more than you will in your hospital room.
[ oh what the ever-loving hell, he really hates the timing of these pigs. especially because what they bring with them usually isn't good. he watches it, a literal car crash of events that send him shadowing wenzhou through his anxiety and his pain and his grief. it takes him a moment as he then just
boots the pig with his heel and stomps over (not that they were far apart) and just
throws his arms around his neck and jerks him down to hug him while he's standing on tip toe. it's a tight enough hug to kind of shake a little through his arms with the effort. but like... after seeing all of that? that final sensation he's left with— ]
[ something in him suddenly feels like it's jittering again. when fei du saw this - because of course the bastard did - there was a tease in his voice, to hide the honey warmth, but it was a tease nonetheless.
other people seeing this means there's not really any escaping it.
wenzhou swallows a little, a rough, quiet laugh squeezed out as if he can laugh it off. but it cuts off when eiden grabs at him, dragging him down to hug him, his body tense with surprise until it loosens, slowly, and he moves.
at least it isn't wooden and awkward. he just - hugs him, squeezing him tight. ]
[ he knows that fei du was alright in the end, he has no reason to not believe wenzhou on that front, but he's still hugging him, a hand coming up to gently stroke the back of his hair anyways. he is squeezed and squeezes back more, even if he ends up unable to breathe, he doesn't really care.
eventually he will pull back, just a little though. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
... They all mean a lot to me, Wenzhou. They're my clan members. [ he says, like that's all there is to it. badly, however, like he also doesn't quite believe the downplay himself. ]
I just. [ i think it's funny that the mods said it doesn't matter what perspective the memory is from so u get to pull shit like this. ] I didn't hear that last part when I left.
no subject
[ it's teasing, but his hold on eiden has the undercurrent of getting it, too. that's his family - whatever that means for him, that's what they are. ]
... it's good, that you got to. Seems the kind of guy that doesn't say shit like that to your face.
no subject
[ he just laughs a little more, though, because wenzhou is right. his head thunks into his shoulder softly. ]
... I didn't mean to inherit a weird group of guys. I... keep calling the place home by accident. Think it's just gonna stick.
no subject
[ his weight shifts comfortably, letting him thunk against him. he lets go, if only so that he can slide his arm around his shoulder companionably, quiet. ]
... makes it home, though, doesn't it? Makes your weird group of guys home.
no subject
[ he huffs. ]
They're all really weird, Wenzhou... like really weird.
no subject
[ by also getting laid. but he puts eiden into a headlock while he beats on his tits, before loosening his hold again. ]
Alright, tell me about 'em.
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[ headlocked, he struggles a little but finally pops free with a smile once he loosens up. ]
There are... a lot? I don't even know where I'd start... You know Yakumo already. [ fond ] He was the first clan member who agreed to work alongside me... but even before that, Huey's familiars were really the ones to...
[ he just bsods briefly trying to figure out the best way to phrase this ] welcome me in... very hospitably.
no subject
he opens his mouth to tease him, for his bsod. but instead of words, there's an interrupting OINK nearby. talk about a mood ruiner. ]
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no subject
boots the pig with his heel and stomps over (not that they were far apart) and just
throws his arms around his neck and jerks him down to hug him while he's standing on tip toe. it's a tight enough hug to kind of shake a little through his arms with the effort. but like... after seeing all of that? that final sensation he's left with— ]
Wenzhou...
no subject
other people seeing this means there's not really any escaping it.
wenzhou swallows a little, a rough, quiet laugh squeezed out as if he can laugh it off. but it cuts off when eiden grabs at him, dragging him down to hug him, his body tense with surprise until it loosens, slowly, and he moves.
at least it isn't wooden and awkward. he just - hugs him, squeezing him tight. ]
I'm okay. He was alright.
no subject
You weren't alright.
[ he knows that fei du was alright in the end, he has no reason to not believe wenzhou on that front, but he's still hugging him, a hand coming up to gently stroke the back of his hair anyways. he is squeezed and squeezes back more, even if he ends up unable to breathe, he doesn't really care.
eventually he will pull back, just a little though. ]
You were pretty scared.