Chapter Text
“Let me see it,” Xiao Zhan says almost as soon as the door to the little safehouse closes behind them.
Yibo cradles his arm to his chest. “It’s fine,” he lies. “Just a scratch.”
“Yibo,” Xiao Zhan snaps, and then rubs a hand over his face. “Sorry. I just–nothing about this night has gone the way I expected, but this I can do something about, so just. Let me do something about it.”
Well. “If it makes you feel better. I guess.” Yibo allows Xiao Zhan to take his wrist, to gently peel back his sleeve. The cloth sticks and Yibo can’t help the noise he makes when it comes free; Xiao Zhan glances up at Yibo’s face and then back down, and his mouth flattens into an unhappy line.
“This should probably have stitches,” he says, and Yibo immediately shakes his head.
“Unless you have a secret degree in field medicine, that’s not happening,” he says. “Look, it’s already stopped bleeding.” He prods the wound and immediately regrets it; Xiao Zhan’s mouth pulls down further, but he’s not hauling Yibo to the ER, so that’s a good sign.
“I’ll get the first aid kit,” Xiao Zhan says, and Yibo counts that as a victory until he follows up with, “and while I’m cleaning you up you can tell me what you saw in the room where the diamond was supposed to be.”
He releases Yibo’s arm and Yibo immediately pulls it back against his chest. Xiao Zhan opens his mouth like he’s going to say something else, and then shakes his head and turns to head down the hall, presumably toward the first aid kit. The moment after he disappears around a corner stretches long and fragile; Yibo could turn around and leave, slip out the door while Xiao Zhan is occupied and never have to explain a thing. The job went south. Jobs sometimes do. And this one is over.
Yibo breathes out, flexing his hand to feel the pull against the laceration on his arm.
Then he follows Xiao Zhan down the hall.
He finds Xiao Zhan in the kitchenette, rifling through a surprisingly large medical kit. Xiao Zhan points to the tiny table and Yibo pulls out a chair. His legs start to shake and he drops into it a little harder than he might have otherwise; fortunately Xiao Zhan seems not to notice, coming over with a handful of supplies. Yibo forces himself to breathe evenly as Xiao Zhan lays his arm out on a clean towel, to not flinch back as Xiao Zhan uncaps the disinfectant.
“Hold still,” Xiao Zhan advises, glancing up. “This is going to sting.”
Even with the forewarning Yibo hisses through his teeth as Xiao Zhan sluices antiseptic over his forearm. Yibo’s hand flexes and Xiao Zhan presses down on his wrist, pinning him in place as he makes sure the cut is clean, as he smears antibiotic gel down the length of the laceration. Yibo blows out a breath as Xiao Zhan tears open a butterfly bandage, and before he knows he’s going to he says, “Han-ge...Wang Han has a distinctive flourish to his characters. That’s what I saw.”
Xiao Zhan glances up again but his fingers are gentle as he applies the bandage. “Your old crew?” he murmurs, and Yibo nods, throat tightening.
“You had it mostly right. They were talking about ‘one last job,’ one that would set them up for retirement, marriage, whatever.” Yibo can hear the tightness creeping into his voice and he tries to smooth it out. “I didn’t think they were serious. I thought it was over.”
Xiao Zhan continues to methodically place bandages. “And you left.”
Yibo shrugs as well as he can without jostling his arm. “Goodbyes are easier when you’re leaving than being left.” Yibo pauses, then forges ahead. “I know how this looks, but. I didn’t know.”
Warm eyes flick up to his. “I never thought you did.”
“You didn’t?” Something starts to uncurl in his chest and Yibo breathes carefully around it.
“You were just as surprised as I was. If anything,” Xiao Zhan says, “I should be apologizing to you.”
Yibo laughs, short and breathy. “For what?”
“For bringing you in on a bad job. For this. It might scar,” Xiao Zhan says apologetically, his fingers smoothing the final bandage. His fingers pause, then he lifts his hands away and busies himself with cleaning up the discarded packaging.
Yibo traces fingers down the line of bandages. “I guess it’ll be something to remember you by,” he says lightly, to cover the way his stomach is starting to clench.
Xiao Zhan raises his eyebrows as he puts the first aid kit away. “Are we saying goodbye?” he asks.
Yibo blinks. “Aren’t we? We came away empty-handed.”
“We didn’t get our hands on the diamond, no.” Xiao Zhan shuts the cupboard door gently, hand resting on it for a moment. “But I don’t think we came away with nothing.”
“We make a good team,” he continues, turning and leaning against the counter. “You knew exactly what I was thinking with the rock and the window. You didn’t panic when things went sideways. I’m still thinking about the way you got through those lasers,” he says, shaking his head, and Yibo preens a little.
“Those are all about me,” Yibo points out, but the weight in his stomach starts to lift. “What do you bring to the table?”
Xiao Zhan tips his head back and laughs. “Connections. Opportunities. And a half-decent field-dressing, when needed,” he says, nodding toward Yibo’s arm, and then his face softens into a tired half-smile. “I told you earlier tonight that we were partners. Diamond or not, I don’t see that that has to change.”
Yibo pauses, considering, although the leftover adrenaline or the oncoming exhaustion makes him want to blurt out yes, yes, whatever you want. He’s too wired, or too on edge, or too something to make rational decisions right now. Coming down off of a job–even a failed one–is not when he should be making this kind of commitment.
Xiao Zhan’s smile dims fractionally, and Yibo blows out a breath. He’s never been very good at should.
“Partners,” he says, feeling a grin spread across his own face. “I like the sound of that, Zhan-ge.”
Xiao Zhan’s smile widens to blinding proportions, and maybe there’s something to what he’d said: there’s no diamond in his hand, but Yibo still feels the thrill in his veins like he’s gotten away with something, like he’s acquired something precious, something dear, something priceless.