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Chapter Text

CHAPTER 1 

In a spectacular turn of unfortunate events, right as Shaofei had been ready to take a week off for a very much anticipated staycation with Tang Yi, four year old Mei Kwan went missing. Every single available officer was recalled, and because Shaofei had been staying late to get all his cases shut before he left, he was simply pulled straight from a double shift into a triple.

Eyes blinking heavily, Shaofei stared at the picture of the happy little girl in the picture her distraught parents had provided displayed on the screen. The head investigator from the missing persons department was giving them all details, and Shaofei sincerely hoped that the information was written down somewhere, because the words all sounded foreign to his exhausted ears.

“Here.” A quiet sound broke through his haze, and Shaofei turned to see Zhao Zi standing at his side, holding out a steaming cup of coffee.

“You’re a lifesaver.” Shaofei whispered back gratefully.

“I put three shots of caffeine in it.” Zhao Zi murmured, once again proving that he was literally too precious for this world.

Shaofei nearly moaned aloud and gulped down half the cup in one go. He scalded his tongue, but couldn’t find the will to care. The faster the caffeine hit his system, the faster he could wake, the faster he could help solve the case, and the faster he would be able to go back home.

“You are literally my most favorite person in the whole world.” Shaofei said, feeling the caffeine hit his system.   

“I’m sure Tang Yi might find some issue with that.” Zhao Zi said, with an amused grin.  

Oh, right Tang Yi. Shaofei had to remember to-

“A lot of chatter back there from the members of Unit 3! Is there something you would like to share with the rest of us?” The head agent barked at them.

Shaofei and Zhao Zi quickly both stood at attention.

“No sir. Just discussing the details of the case.” Shaofei said, hoping his wide eyes were coming across as innocent and not maniac.

“I see. How diligent of you. However, as I am currently doing just that , if you could please join the rest of us, it would be much appreciated.”

Shaofei felt that the sarcasm in the head agent’s tone was unnecessary, however he could see his captain glaring daggers at them so he quickly nodded.

“Yes sir, right away sir.” He said, obediently. 

The debriefing continued and thanks to the concentrated caffeine sinking into his system, Shaofei was thankfully able to concentrate much better. He listened as search quadrants were sectioned off and waited to see where his unit would be assigned.

“Unit three and four will be assigned to canvas the neighboring town.” The head agent finally called, and Shaofei glanced at Zhao Zi, nodding at him to confirm that they had both received their instructions. Shaofei stood to go and gather his things when the head agent quickly caught his attention.

“Meng Shaofei, you will not join Unit 3 today. As there are some senior detectives that have volunteered their time to help out with this case, we are assigning you with them to ensure that the teams have enough people.” The head agent called. 

Shaofei blinked. Switching people out of their units for an emergency wasn’t unusual, but there were many other people available to join the senior detectives. Ones that had a slightly better relationship with them than Shaofei who, through his fairly successful and radical career, rubbed many of the older detectives wrong by refusing to keep his nose out of things he felt were wrong. And by dating a well-known ex-mob boss. That also didn’t help things around the office. But Shaofei wouldn’t trade the happiness he had found for anything in the world.  

“Ah, okay?” He said hesitantly, shooting a glance at his captain. His captain was also looking perplexed.

“Good. You and the senior volunteers will take the mountainous forest area behind the Kwan residence. There are already search teams combing through the woods there, so you will join them and assist in areas that they have not covered yet.”

It would be that on a day where he was sorely lacking sleep and energy, he would have to go on a mountainous trek with a team that barely tolerated him. Shaofei silently despaired. Maybe he had pissed off karma in some way recently.  

“Everyone that has received their orders, please act on them immediately.”

Shaofei immediately began to make his way out of the room, mind racing as he tried to remember what he would need to gather for a mountainous trek through the fog that had enveloped his brain.  

“Rookie. Meet us downstairs in five minutes.” One of the senior detectives ordered.

Shaofei raised a hand in acknowledgement. Five minutes. He had five minutes. He downed the rest of the coffee dregs that remained in his cup, wishing he had time to make another. But, there was simply no time, and he still had yet to call Tang-

“Shaofei! My office, now!”

Shaofei spun around to see the Captain walk into his office and dropped his phone on his desk. The Captain didn’t sound happy. That wasn’t to say that he did normally, but there was a tense undercurrent that had Shaofei obeying quicker than normal.

“Captain?”

“Close the door.”

Shaofei did so and stood at attention in front of his captain, who sat down heavily at his desk.

“Captain?” Shaofei asked again, hesitantly. His ticking time limit was nagging at the back of his mind, but he was also very concerned as to what was making the captain look so troubled.

“How are you feeling?” Captain Shi asked.

Shaofei blinked.

“I’m…alright?”

His captain snorted.

“Well you don’t look alright kid. And I know you haven’t slept in a bed for two days. I told you not to work overtime!” Captain Shi barked. 

Shaofei carefully didn’t point out that the captain had gruffly told him to get all of his work done before leaving for his vacation. Which was basically the same thing as ordering him to work overtime. It was tough enough for his poor captain to show that he cared.

“I’m really fine, Captain. I can do this.” Shaofei said earnestly.  

“Are you sure? Because that team is not going to coddle you. And your search radius will not be easy. I don’t want you falling and breaking a leg because you were yawning.”    

“Zhao Zi got me some coffee. I promise I'm wide awake as I can be right now.” Shaofei said, fighting back a smile.

“Fine.” Captain Shi said reluctantly. “But I want you to stay near the other volunteers. Don’t go off on your own and don’t fight with the other men. I don’t care what they say. Keep your head down, do your job, and come back.” The in one piece was silent, but Shaofei understood it anyway.

“Yes, Captain.” Shaofei said, nodding his head once to show he understood.

“What’s this ‘yes, captain’! When have you ever been so obedient! Get out of here before I have you committed to medical!” His Captain barked.

Shaofei grinned and ducked out of the captain’s office, bolstered by the conversation and the knowledge that he was cared for. A wall clock caught his eye and he suddenly panicked, realizing he was going to be running late if he took any longer. Sprinting to his desk, he gathered a few water bottles and shoved them inside his backpack, grabbing his cellphone off the desk last second. Then he ran.

He waved to Zhao Zi who was suiting up with the other members of his team as he passed him. Hopefully he would find a moment along to shoot Tang Yi a message. If anything, he knew Zhao Zi would eventually be in touch with Jack, who would tell Tang Yi.

The man would not be happy, but Shaofei had no say in the situation. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too irked that their staycation was delayed.

With that thought in mind, Shaofei ran to meet up with his assigned team.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 2

He wished he had called Tang Yi.

The thought kept circling Shaofei’s mind as he trudged uphill through the muddy woods. He had been half a minute late in his sprint to meet up with the other senior members and had gotten chewed out for not taking the disappearance of a little girl seriously.

He had kept his cool by the skin of his teeth, knowing that his captain would be sorely disappointed in him if he got kicked off the team within the first hour. He had apologized quietly and gotten in the car, forcing himself to think of Tang Yi. Ironically, the thought of his hot headed ex gangster always calmed him down.

Because the detectives were already glaring at him, Shaofei didn’t dare call Tang Yi from the car, knowing that they would be even more irked if he made it seem like he was flaunting his relationship in front of them. Once they had gotten to the base camp where there were more volunteers already gathered, they had been assigned a quadrant and quickly set off.

Since they had come a little later, the nearest quadrants had already been taken, and they had to trek for an hour before passing the areas where the other teams had already searched. Privately, Shaofei thought that it was impossible that the little girl could have made it this far alone, but he was employing his new strategy of keeping his mouth shut, which was keeping the worst of the attention off of him. Captain Shi would be proud of him.

Even with the terrible walking conditions, the iciness of his team, and his creeping exhaustion, Shaofei still felt that the worst thing was that this far up, there was no cell service on the mountain. Somewhere along the way, he had missed his window of opportunity to hear Tang Yi’s voice, and the disappointment was physically weighing his shoulders down. Hopefully Zhao Zi would think to at least tell Jack who would relay the information to Tang Yi. Hopefully.

“Meng Shaofei!”

Shaofei snapped out of his thoughts and looked around, searching for the person who called him.

“Yes?”

“Go search the left side. We have been here long enough. I will take the right and then head back to the car. You do the same once you have searched your area.”

Shaofei wanted to protest that they had been advised not to separate from the pairs that they had been assigned into, but he had a feeling his arguments would fall on deaf ears. Still, he was sure that if anything happened to the senior detective, they would all find some way to blame him, despite the separation not having been his idea in the first place.

“Ah, are you sure? I can accompany you on the left side and then we can do the right together before heading back?” Shaofei asked, trying to keep his voice level and somewhat meek. It would only take the slightest bit of provocation to rub any of the senior agent’s feathers the wrong way. Shaofei hoped he would never get to the point in his career where he thought he was more important than others. 

“Do as you are told. Do you want to be out here all night?” The agent barked at him, already turning to head to the right side of the path.

“Right.” Shaofei muttered under his breath. “Whatever you say. Jerk.” He watched, slightly uneasily as the agent turned and disappeared from sight and then focused back on his own trail.

The wet conditions, mingled with the slightest bit of anxiety, and darkening sky made him think back to the time Tang Yi and he had gotten stranded on the mountain. A part of him desperately wished Tang Yi were here now, but because he was a good cop, Shaofei shoved those feelings deep down and focused on the mission.

The light was rapidly dimming as the sun set, and Shaofei knew he needed to work quickly despite the fact that his body was protesting any and all movement. He quickly set off, calling for the little girl and straining his ears to hear any response. A part of him hoped that she would not be here as the shadows in the forest grew and the night creatures became bolder. This was no place for a helpless little girl.      

“Mei Kwan!” Shaofei shouted, pausing to hear if there was any response coming back. “Mei Kwan! I am a police officer, I can help if you are hurt. Please talk to me!”

Silence.

Shaofei reached the end of the trail that he had been instructed to search and stood uneasily at the end of it. Children often didn’t abide by trails, what were the chances that little Mei was really out here and was just a few more meters away? If Shaofei turned back now, it was possible that she could die of exposure.

He ran a mental check over himself. Hours of searching had left his supplies sorely depleted, entire body aching, and his vision slightly blurry as his body fought to rest. His conscious, however, was running full force and Shaofei knew that despite his exhaustion he was still good to search for half an hour before he would really have to turn back or risk needing a rescue team for himself.

He was fully looking forward to spending the night tucked in Tang Yi’s bed, drooling on the man’s ridiculously expensive pillow.

Shaofei pulled out his flashlight, as the sun’s rays no longer lit the area well enough for him to safely search without it. For a second, his heartbeat stuttered as the flashlight blinked, but a quick knock against his thigh had the beam coming through strong as ever. Shaofei quickly sent a prayer in thanks for small blessings.

He took a few steps, adjusting the beam of the light to half fall on the ground and half up, and then stepped off the trail. If he didn’t do this, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. And if Mei really was out here, she deserved to know that people weren’t giving up on her.

Shaofei trudged through the heavy undergrowth growth for about ten minutes, fighting back vines and thick leaves, thanking his lucky stars that his neck and arms were covered by his jacket. He studiously ignored the skittering around him, telling himself that baby animals were still baby animals in the dark and there was no reason to be afraid.   

“Come on kid, where are you?” Shaofei muttered, straining his eyes to see into the darkness.

He swung the beam of light around to canvas the area felt his blood freeze in his veins as he shone the light directly on a pair of angry yellow eyes looking straight back at him. Adrenaline and terror flooded his already overwrought system and Shaofei felt his heart stutter. The animal growled and leapt forward to Shaofei’s alarm.

Reeling back in shock, he let out a startled yell and then before he could register it, his left foot hit air instead of the muddy ground and he was suddenly pitching backwards into a free fall. His flashlight was torn from his hand as he hit the side of the ravine and kept rolling down the side of the mountain.

Halfway down, his head smashed into a protruding tree stump and he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Dark.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zhao Zi’s stomach growled, but for the first time, he ignored it. He stood anxiously at the entrance of the police station and watched with anxious eyes as the first wave of volunteers that had been out searching for the day, returned. The second wave had already headed out. Zhao Zi and his team had just returned half an hour ago and the majority of them had gone straight for food, showers, and sleep.

Something nagged at Zhao Zi. He had assured the rest of Unit three that he would wait for Shaofei and now he stood, trying not to fidget as the wave of people coming and going lessened with no sign of his senior. There was a feeling he couldn’t describe keeping his feet glued in place, and Zhao Zi knew it would go away once he caught sight of his senior alive and well. Now if only said senior would show his face, Zhao Zi could go get some food and relax.

Out of the corner of his eye, a car pulled up to the curb, and a few senior agents spilled out, complaints spilling from their lips. Zhao Zi almost turned his attention away before he suddenly realized that these were the same agents that Shaofei had been assigned to work with.

Hurrying over, Zhao Zi threw his arms out, stopping the agents from walking away. He quickly checked to make sure Shaofei wasn’t just dallying in getting out of the car and then turned his attention quickly to the annoyed men in front of him.

“What do you want kid?”  

“Sorry, have you seen Meng Shaofei? I thought he was sent out with your group earlier today?” Zhao Zi asked bravely.

One of the men in the back scoffed.

“We waited for him forever. He can just catch a ride with any of the other volunteers.”

“What?” Zhao Zi asked, alarmed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” The detective said, speaking slowly as if Zhao Zi was hard of hearing, “That everyone did their jobs within the time span allotted. Of course Shaofei would need more time. We couldn’t wait for him forever you know. It’s gracious of us already to volunteer our time and now this little punk makes us wait for him forever? No way. He can just catch a ride back with someone else.”

The detective huffed and pushed past a stunned Zhao Zi. The information that the detectives had essentially abandoned Shaofei on the mountain was sinking in and his bad feeling was growing worse.

“Kid.” One of the other detectives called. “Don’t overthink it. He probably caught a ride back with some other crew. Just go home and rest, it’s been a long day for all of us.”

Zhao Zi numbly nodded. He had no intention of listening to the words of detectives that held pointless grudges over Shaofei for something out of his control.

For the next few minutes, Zhao Zi anxiously looked through all the stragglers trickling in from the first shift, asking anyone who would listen about his missing senior. A few people who had also been assigned to the mountain said that they hadn’t seen Shaofei, or a man matching his description, but that there were still many people canvassing the area so it was very likely that Shaofei had simply joined another team and kept searching.

Normally, this excuse would have made perfect sense to Zhao Zi.

Except.

He had seen the way Shaofei had nearly fallen asleep during the debriefing. Shaofei was all for disregarding his safety on a normal day, but Zhao Zi knew that Shaofei would never gamble with the life of a child. He would go to the very end of his rope, but once he felt that he could not search anymore, he wouldn’t risk missing a clue due to exhaustion and would switch out with someone.

Zhao Zi kept waiting. A few people gave him the numbers of people organizing the search mountain and Zhao Zi had anxiously called them, only to find out that no one there had seen a police officer asking for a ride back.

The stream of people trickling back in from the grueling first shift ended and Zhao Zi stood there numbly. Shaofei hadn’t come back. No one had seen him. The terrible feeling threatened to eclipse Zhao Zi and he tried calling Shaofei’s cellphone one last time. No answer.

Right.

Zhao Zi refused to give into the black encroaching at the edges of his vision. He had a job to do. He refused to give into his racing heartbeat and collapse. This was no time to rest. He turned and sprinted back into the building.  He ran up the stairs, heading straight for the captain’s office. If no one else listened to him, he knew the captain would. The man acted gruff and stand offish, but Zhao Zi had personally seen the man react whenever they received news of Shaofei getting hurt.

Anyone that had seen that reaction couldn’t ever say that the Captain did not deeply care for Shaofei.

Zhao Zi ran past a few people and took the corner at a dead run, skidding into the wall. He caught himself and started forward, only to freeze at the sight of the darkened office. He desperately looked around the bullpen but didn’t catch sight of the captain.

“Hey! Do you know where the captain is?” Zhao Zi asked panting, to some officers walking by.

“He left to go lead a squad in a neighboring town. He should be back in five hours.” Said the officer wearily.

Zhao Zi numbly nodded in thanks. Now what?

As if the universe was providing him with the answer, the phone gripped tightly in his hand began to buzz. His heart leapt into his throat as he quickly brought it up to check if it was Shaofei returning anyone of his many missed calls.

It was Jack.

Zhao Zi slumped against the wall. He answered the phone.

“Jack.”

“ Short -…what’s wrong?” Jack’s voice changed as if a switch flipped when Zhao Zi’s distraught voice registered with him.

“I don’t know what to do.” Zhao Zi gasped, burying his face into his knees.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Jack ordered.

“I think Shaofei is missing.” Zhao Zi said, finally saying the dreaded thought he had been thinking aloud.

There was a sharp inhale, and a pause. Zhao Zi waited miserably, trying to think out what his next steps should be. He had half a mind to drive down to the mountain himself and start combing it for his missing senior.

“Well that explains why Tang Yi has been in a snit all day.” Jack said musingly, half to himself.

“What?” Zhao Zi’s head shot up.

“Tang Yi’s been trying to reach Shaofei all day, but he hasn’t answered any of the messages. When did you last see Shaofei?”

Pushing aside his relief at having someone unconditionally believe and support him, Zhao Zi got to his feet, heading towards the entrance.

“He was assigned to a different unit this morning to search for the missing girl. Their unit was assigned to the forest on the mountain behind the missing girl’s house. I saw the detectives on his team come back, but he was not with them. They said he was taking too long so they didn’t want to wait for him and just left him there.” A bit of outrage slipped into his voice at the end.  

“They left him there?” Jack asked surprised.

Before Zhao Zi could answer him, a tinny voice filtered through the line from Jack’s side.

“Who left who?”

Zhao Zi felt a shiver down his spine at Tang Yi’s voice. It grew when Jack recapped the situation and Zhao Zi could clearly hear Tang Yi’s outrage.

“You’re on speaker, shorty.” Jack said.

“Zhao Zi.” Tang Yi said, voice barely retaining its humanity. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

Zhao Zi gulped and quickly gave the report as if he were reporting to the general himself. There was something about Tang Yi which demanded instant submission, he had no idea how Shaofei could stand to be around the ex-mob boss constantly without wanting to cower.

“Right.” Tang Yi said when Zhao Zi was done. “Your shift is over?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jack is coming to get you. I’m assuming you have no arguments?”

“No, sir.”

A wave of relief washed over Zhao Zi. He suddenly had a direction to follow, and more people that were actively concerned that this one person missing case might have just became a two person missing case. And, if he was being entirely honest, there was no one better he could think of to find a missing person, than that missing person’s extremely capable, very volatile, and unbelievably powerful lover.  

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 3 

Shaofei groaned as consciousness filtered back into him. He cracked his eyes open to total darkness and forced himself to stay still until his eyes somewhat adjusted. Memories of the fall threatened to overwhelm him as he tried to recall what had happened. Right. He had foolishly jumped backwards in fright, straight down a ravine, at the sight of some animal. Tang Yi was going to kill him if his captain didn’t get to it first. 

A sharp pain at the side of his head had him wincing and reaching for the spot. His fingers came back wet and dark and Shaofei didn’t need to see the color to know what it was.

Compartmentalizing for a moment, Shaofei pushed down the panic of a possible head injury and took in the rest of his body. Fortunately, he was able to wiggle all of his toes and fingers, and despite the numerous scratches and bruises he could feel, nothing felt too terrible incapacitating. Someone up there must have been looking out for him.

Shaofei reached out with one hand and felt it bump against a smooth rock. He braced his palm against it and used it to push himself up. The rock under his hand shifted into the ground slightly, but Shaofei managed to pull himself up into a sitting position. The ground was somewhat level here that he didn’t feel in danger of falling again.

Sitting up, his eyesight finally began to adjust to the dark, and Shaofei could see some of his surroundings by the light of the moon which was just barely cutting through the overhead foliage. He strained his eyes but couldn’t catch sight of his flashlight unfortunately.

Despair threatened to overwhelm him, and that was when he remembered that he still had his phone on him. He pulled his backpack off his shoulders, from where it miraculously managed to stay on during the fall. Blindly rifling through it, his scratched up fingers bumped up against hard plastic and his heart soared.

He fumbled for a second, and then to his infinite relief, the phone switched on, bathing him in soft LED light. The no signal sign was still stubbornly present, but Shaofei found that at the moment, he didn’t even mind that. Just having a light source dissipated half his fears. He quickly activated the flashlight feature.  

Shaofei let his eyes adjust again before eagerly looking around. The first thing that caught his attention was a dripping gash on his arm. Huh. Okay, so some of the scratches were a bit deeper than he previously thought. Looking around, he could see that he had landed in some type of small clearing.

He cast the phone’s light all around, and couldn’t see any hint of a pathway through the trees.

A glance up and to the right showed the steep fall he had taken and Shaofei’s breath caught as he took in how far he had fallen. There was no way he was getting back up there in his condition. And taking the fall again was the last thing on his list.

Shaofei glanced around again before deciding to get to his feet. He couldn’t lay there forever waiting for someone to come rescue him. If they even knew he was missing.

Well. Tang Yi would know something was up. Hopefully. But if Zhao Zi had told him that Shaofei had been recruited by missing persons he might assume that Shaofei would not come back home for the night. He had to believe that he was on his own. If he kept hope alive that someone was coming for him, his decisions might not be the right ones.  

Mind made up, Shaofei reached down to brace himself on the smooth rock he had found earlier. He glanced down at it. And froze. His mind blanked out. 

The top of the rock was a dull white. It was a small and curved.

“Breath. Just breathe.” Shaofei said to himself faintly. His heartbeat kicked into a jog and he could hear it pounding in his ears. Some visceral part of him screamed to move and get the hell out. His cop instincts kicked in and Shaofei ruthlessly shoved down the flight reaction.

He forced himself still. With hesitant fingers, Shaofei reached for the white thing, fingers pausing for a moment just above it as he mentally begged himself not to look. He steeled himself and took a deep breath. Then he gently pulled it up out of the dirt and shined his light on it.

He was holding a small human skull.

A scream beat against the back of his gritted teeth and Shaofei kept his jaw clenched shut. His hand began to tremble without his permission.

“Focus. Focus, you are a police officer, focus! It’s just a crime scene.” Shaofei said aloud to himself softly. Gently, he placed the skull on the ground again, forcing himself not to drop it, even as goosebumps erupted all over his skin. Dread filled him and Shaofei had to force himself to move and cast the light in a circle around himself.

Now that he was looking for it, he could see little pieces of white all around him, half buried into the ground. A scream begged to tear free of his lips again as he realized that he had landed in someone’s graveyard. His skin crawled and goosebumps erupted all over him.

Not graveyard. Not graveyard. This was someone’s dump spot. Some serial killer’s sick pile of his deceased victims, Shaofei hysterically thought.

Injuries forgotten in a rush of adrenaline, Shaofei struggled to his feet and felt himself want to be sick as he felt small hard pieces of bones shift under him. He grabbed his backpack, slipped it on over his torn up shoulders and felt it settle against his back. Then, as quickly as he was able, he made the way to the edge of the clearing, turned around, and shined his light on where he had been.

His breath left him in a moment of disbelief.

Half buried bones. Discarded remains of clothes. There was an indication that the bones had once been in a shallow grave, but they had been dug up by wild animals and gnawed on. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him as he realized the majority of the visible skulls were much smaller than his. Children. 

Then there was a mound. Recently dug, about three feet from where he had landed. A fist gripped and squeezed the air out of his chest. It was a small mound. Shaofei couldn’t bring himself to take a single step in its direction. Hot tears threatened to well up in his eyes and obstruct his vision, and not for the first time, he wished desperately that he was somewhere else with Tang Yi. He wanted to curl up and hide under the man like a child and let him glare away the world. Shaofei forced himself to look away, crying silent apologies to the small body he knew was probably decomposing there.

Compartmentalize. The only way they all would get out of this place was if he compartmentalized and focused.

Trembling, Shaofei scanned the surroundings, committing the area to his memory, knowing he would have to lead an investigative team down here as soon as he got out. These children and their parents deserved peace.

“I’ll be back. I swear I’ll be back and get you all back to your families.” Shaofei swore to the bones. He knew he had to move. From the amount of bones in the pile, it was obvious that this was somewhere that the serial killer visited regularly. Shaofei didn’t want to be caught standing in his own grave.

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand, Shaofei turned the light into the thicket of trees. There was a path here somewhere. A sick person took it occasionally to leave bodies here. Shaofei was going to find it if it was the last thing he did.

He resolutely ignored the tinny hysterical voice in the back of his mind that was wondering if he was already being stalked by the killer.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tang Yi ground his teeth as he stared out of the floor to ceiling windows into the pitch darkness of the night.

He had sent men to the goddamn mountain that Shaofei had seemingly vanished into thin air on. They, along with Zhao Zi and Jack had questioned nearly everyone they saw on the whereabouts of their missing officer.

Tang Yi had wanted to go himself, but he was politely reminded that his presence might unfortunately have the opposite effect. In response to that, knowing that Jack and Zhao Zi were right, Tang Yi punched his fist through a drywall. The worst part was knowing that they were right; if other cops saw Tang Yi, they would be reminded of Shaofei’s association with him and ergo be less inclined to help.

The unfairness of it all burned Tang Yi to the core. His lover was missing and he wasn’t even allowed to go help.

His phone rang.

“Speak.” Tang Yi ordered, picking up before even the first ring ended.

“Boss.” Jack’s voice greeted him.

“Did you find him?” Tang Yi cut in.

“….No.”

Tang Yi clenched his fist.

“What, then.”

“An update. Zhao Zi and the men confirmed that Shaofei did not join any of the other teams on the search. The last time he had been seen was when the man working with him told us that Shaofei insisted they split up.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that didn’t sound right to me either. Probably just trying to save his own ass now that Shaofei is missing.”

 “What’s his name?” Tang Yi growled.

“Zhao Zi has it. You can pry it out of him if you want Shaofei to lecture you later.” Jack said lightly.

“He is the reason-!”

“I know. I know.” Jack placated, which was unusual for him. His usual MO was fanning the flames and standing back to watch the fireworks. Either Zhao Zi was rubbing off on him, or Tang Yi was really sounding as if he was teetering on the edge. “Let me finish. So we followed the trail Shaofei should have taken all the way to end and there is no sign of him.”

Tang Yi closed his eyes. Shaofei…where are you?

“Boss…”

“What is it?” 

“There might be some indication that he went past the end of the trail.”

As soon as Jack said it, Tang Yi knew in his heart that that was what happened.

“Children don’t abide by the trails!” Shaofei said laughing as he pulled Tang Yi out of the way of some small children on tricycles.

“Jack.” Tang Yi said, already moving. “Gather the men. Meet me at the base of the mountain. I’ll bring the supplies we need, we are going off trail.”

“Yes boss.”

I’m coming, Shaofei. Hold on baby.

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 Shaofei had found a trail. He was following it. He could hear all his past mentors screaming at him all at once as to how stupid he was being, but the circumstances didn’t allow him to step off. The darkness, mixed with thick foliage was making it practically impossible to see in front of him, even with the light emanating from his phone. He couldn’t risk another fall.

He had to follow where the trail led because he knew that’s where he would find little Mei Kwan.

There was no doubt in his mind what had happened to the little girl now. She hadn’t just gone missing; she had been personally targeted and kidnapped by the same person that had left all those other children in the clearing. He would have despaired but the small grave that he had seen was fresh. Mei had just gone missing this morning. He had to believe that she was still alive. The thought was what kept him going. Every second that he took was another second that she was in the hands of a murderous psychopath with a penchant for murdering children.

There was no time to try and find his way back to the other volunteers to try and get a group together to help him. First, he had no idea where they were, and second, Mei’s life could possibly be depending on his dogged steps bringing him closer to her every second. He couldn’t risk spending precious hours trying to get back to the basecamp. The difference could be between life and death and Shaofei would never forgive himself.

Shaofei was a cop. He wasn’t going to disappoint a civilian in need. So he kept going, disregarding the fact that if it came to a fight, he was severely disadvantaged.

Every step he took sounded like a gunshot to him despite how lightly he tried to step and Shaofei grimaced at the thought that if someone was following him, he was making it exceptionally easy for them. The pathway appeared to be littered with extremely breakable twigs and excessively crunchy leaves.         

After traversing for what felt like forever, but his phone told him was forty some odd minutes, Shaofei stopped at the sight of something large looming in the distance. He stared at the outline of a decrepit cabin for a moment before his training kicked in and he fumbled madly to turn off the light on his phone, which would certainly act as a beacon for anyone with murderous tendencies.

Casting himself into darkness, Shaofei felt his heartbeat kick up again and he strained himself to listen over it. Bugs chirped and the forest made other sounds, but Shaofei couldn’t hear anything that sounded out of place. Of course, if someone was just watching him, he wouldn’t be able to hear anything.

Every bone in his body begged Shaofei not to go into the cabin.

You won’t get out alive, a soft voice whispered in his mind.

A sudden wave of fear hit him like a tsunami, and Shaofei nearly bowed with the force of what he knew he had to do versus what he wanted to do. The fear was paralyzing, and being confronted with the thought that he had no backup, no one who knew where he was, and a child to save and protect from a serial killer who had killed multiples times, had Shaofei unable to move. Then a single thought broke through the haze.

Tang Yi.

It could have been a baby Tang Yi in there. Alone. Scared. Waiting for someone to come save him.

The fear melted away to the edges of his consciousness. There was no room for it when confronted with the determination that Shaofei had in regards to Tang Yi and his safety. Shaofei gripped the feeling and held on to it tightly. He narrowed his eyes and assessed the situation. He just had to treat this like he was rescuing Tang Yi.

And there was nothing he couldn’t do when it came to saving the person he loved. 

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 4

Keeping low to the ground, Shaofei made his way towards the eerie looking cabin. He let some fear guide his decisions, as he knew a little measure of it would keep him grounded and making smart choices. He also knew his injuries were hindering him from being as quiet and fluid as possible, but the adrenaline was muting the worst of the pain so he took careful steps without wincing too much. 

Shaofei cased the house twice. He froze at the sound of any movement and strained his eyes and ears to hear and see as much as humanly possible. It appeared that the cabin was abandoned, but he could see fresh tracks in the mud that indicated someone had walked through it. For all that the cabin looked like a place no human could safely inhibit, there were clear signs that someone was . 

On his second pass around the house, he stopped at a low window that he had found at the base of the house. It was obviously a window that let into the basement and Shaofei’s best chance of sneaking into the house undetected. 

The window was slightly cracked open, and the only way he knew that was because he could see the slightest sliver of light emanating from the crack. The majority of the window was blacked out with tape and smeared with black paint so it was impossible to get a good look in. Shaofei squatted down at the opening and listened for a few minutes. There was no sound.

Because the opening was too small he knew he wouldn't be able to take his backpack with him. He silently slipped his bag off his shoulders and left it against the side of the house. He had every intention of coming back to retrieve it, he told himself firmly. Then he, ever so slowly, slipped his fingers into the opening in the window. His heart felt as if it was thudding in his ears. He could feel it beat in his mouth and bang against his teeth. The part of him that wanted to run was threatening to overtake him again.

Shaofei eased the window open. It swung upwards, creaking at intervals and causing his heart to stop beating in his chest whenever it did. He felt as if every creak was a loud scream that would alert the people in the cabin that he was breaking in. He finally managed to pull it as high as it could go without threatening to break. Eyes adjusting to the sudden flood of soft light, Shaofei judged the opening, and tried to peer into the room to try and see if he was walking into a trap.

From what he could see, it looked like the room was empty, but then again, his line of vision wasn’t great. The most he could see was a dirty wall and the edge of a low table. He would have to go in mostly blind and, to make matters worse, since the window was rectangular Shaofei would have to shuffle through it, feet first.

Without allowing himself to think about the repercussions of what would happen if the person who owned the cabin caught him halfway through, Shaofei grit his teeth and shoved his feet through the opening. He could feel pieces of mud and rust catch at his clothing and exposed skin and forced himself to ignore it. He grit his teeth against a scream but couldn’t muffle the tortured moan when a rusty nail speared his exposed stomach where his shirt had ridden up. The pain was nearly blinding, and Shaofei felt his body threaten to go into shock as numbness began to overtake him. He reacted quickly. 

He yanked himself off the nail, and the resulting adrenaline rush from feeling the nail leave his stomach pulled him out of it. Shaofei felt himself slip into survival mode. Nothing mattered right now except for getting in, finding Mei, and getting out. Preferably without running into the owner of the cabin. He paused for a moment, breathing through the new pain, but when no one came running, he continued.

Shaofei shuffled through as much as he could, and let himself lightly drop the rest of the way. It was a longer fall than he had thought and he landed in a crouch, one agonized hand clamped against the new wound. He looked up and realized that the window had been very high up. Too high for a normal basement. He studied the wall and realized that someone had dug out the ground to make the room have a lower floor. 

Standing slowly, Shaofei scanned the room for any movement. He hadn’t made considerable noise, but anyone who was in the basement with him would definitely been alerted to his presence. It appeared that his luck had finally kicked in however, as no one came at him with a knife. The room was empty, Shaofei felt himself relax a fraction. 

He checked the newest wound in his collection to see that it was bleeding freely, but there was nothing he could do about it, as his backpack was some three feet above his head and outside the house. Hopefully it would clot by itself since the wound wasn’t too wide. A tiny voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Doctor Jiang nagged at him that he was losing too much blood between all his injuries and Shaofei shoved it aside. 

Shaofei moved out of the dead end hallway that the window let him into. He took silent, careful steps and finally took in the details.

The room was lit up by a single bare bulb in the middle of the room. From where he was standing,he could see the whole room. There was a rotting staircase at the other end of the room, opposite to where he was, but it looked fairly normal for a basement. It was everything in between that had his blood freezing in his veins.   

In the center of the dingy basement, the stainless steel table looked very out of place. It gleamed dully in the dim lighting, and Shaofei could see that it had been recently wiped down by the dried water marks that indicated the person wiped it down in broad arching strokes. It also clearly had seen some use, as there were visible scratches and some minor dents. A large basin with industrial piping was situated along one wall, breaking up the line of counter that was at waist height around it. It reminded Shaofei of a kitchen sink, just more sinister in ways that kitchens usually never were. 

The other wall was lined with tools. Power tools, hand tools, saws with every manner of teeth. Serrated knives, drills, and flame torches. Some of the tools glinted red at their teeth.

The urge to empty his stomach nearly overtook Shaofei again. He felt his fear levels ratchet up to an all-time high. Before, it had been speculation and a pleading voice in his head begging him to be wrong. But now, there was no doubt in his mind how the bones had gotten to the clearing he had fallen into.

Shaofei turned his attention to the final object in the room. In the corner, along the same wall that the staircase was on, there was a large box like object covered with a musty cloth. Shaofei could see that the cloth was covered in dust and mothballs.

Shaofei moved towards it on autopilot. Something called him to investigate and he had to listen. He stopped right in front of it. This close he could see that it was definitely a box and it was about waist high on him.

Shaofei reached out with a minutely trembling hand and grabbed the dirty cloth in one fist. He took a deep breath and braced himself. He was a police officer. He could handle whatever this was. He could handle it. He pulled off the cloth. 

A pair of large teary eyes stared up at him through a cage.

Mei Kwan.

Relief immediately flooded his veins and it felt like a visceral, physical thing. 

Her little mouth had been duct taped shut, but when she saw Shaofei she immediately began to cry out. Reacting instantly, Shaofei knelt down to get on her level so he wasn’t imposingly hovering over her. He reached in through the bars to comfort her, but immediately froze when she cried out again in fear and threw herself backwards.

“It’s alright! It’s alright. Mei Kwan right? You are Mei Kwan?” Shaofei whispered, trying to keep his voice low so as to not attract attention, but at the same time loud enough that she would hear him over her terror.

A part of him hysterically screamed that the kidnapper must have heard the noise and was coming down with an axe to investigate. Shaofei shoved it down with an iron will and shot a nervous glance at the staircase. It remained blessedly dark. 

Mei stilled. Shaofei forced his expression into something soothing for her. 

“Mei, I’m a police officer. I’m here to help you. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” Shaofei said as calmly as he could. “I know your parents. I am going to take you to them. Do you want to go home?”

Mei nodded.

“Okay. Okay good. They have been looking for you all day, Mei. I swear, they are going to be so happy when we get out of here. My name is Shaofei, but you can call me Fei, alright? I promise I’m going to keep you safe.”

Mei took a hesitant step forward, and Shaofei’s heart soared. If she trusted him that would make everything a lot easier. Hopefully they could get out of here without traumatizing her any further. 

“Mei, is there a bad man upstairs?” Shaofei asked, carefully.

Mei nodded, her face scrunching in fear. Shaofei jumped to soothe her. 

“Okay. That’s okay. Thank you for telling me. I’m going to keep you safe from him, I promise. You just have to promise me not to yell out okay? We don’t want him to know we are here.” Shaofei said softly.

Another nod.

“Mei…would you like me to take off the tape on your mouth?” Shaofei asked. He knew that if Mei started crying earnestly, it would get very difficult for her to breathe, very quickly. And, as much as he needed her to stay quiet, he wasn’t going to force her like the monster upstairs.

Mei stepped forward, and Shaofei tried on his most encouraging smile. Apparently the little girl saw something in him she trusted, because she scurried the rest of the way to where he was kneeling.

“Thank you, Mei. This is going to hurt just a little bit okay? I promise to try and take it off as carefully as possible.” Shaofei said, looking at the duct tape firmly pressed against baby soft skin. “I’m sorry, okay? Please try to stay quiet if you can. It’s okay if you can’t, Mei.”

Mei pressed her little face as close to the bars as possible and Shaofei thumbed at an edge that was slightly wrinkled.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered again before firmly, but carefully, peeling off the duct tape. It dragged her delicate skin with it, and Shaofei winced internally, knowing how much it would have had to hurt. He was afraid to rip it off, which is what he would have done if it had been on himself, because her skin was fragile and soft and he was afraid the duct tape would rip it with itself. 

The tape left red indents from where it had been stuck, but to her credit, despite the tears that sprung to her eyes, Mei did not cry out. Shaofei’s heart soared for her fighting spirit. He pulled the last of the tape off and flung it away. He then reached down and untied her little arms where they had been loosely tied together in front of her. If she had been a little older, maybe she could have gotten loose, but for a four year old the knot must have appeared impossible.

Her tiny hand reached up to soothe the irritated skin around her face, and Shaofei gently ran a thumb over the area to make sure there weren’t any serious injuries.

“Hi.” Shaofei whispered, “Thank you for being so good, Mei. You’re so strong and brave. I’m going to tell your parents that. They are going to be so proud of you.” He said encouragingly.

Mei nodded.

“Are you alright, Mei? I’m going to go look for a key to get you out of there.” Shaofei said, softly. He moved back to look at the lock when a tiny hand shot out and grabbed his jacket. 

“Don’t go.” The words were tortured, and not in a tone that any four year old should be able to affect. Mei looked at him desperately, and Shaofei felt his protective instinct soar.

“I’m not going. I swear I won’t leave without you, Mei.” Shaofei instantly soothed. He ignored the ticking time clock in the back of his mind, screaming at him to move faster. Any moment now could be when the kidnapper came downstairs and caught them like sitting ducks. But this was important. Mei was already at the end of her rope. Shaofei wasn’t going to contribute to that just because he was also scared. He was the adult here, he had to act like it.

His own fear could wait. 

“Mei, I am just going to look for a key to get you out, okay? I promise to not leave without you.” Shaofei said. “In fact, do you think you could help me? Did you see where the bad man put the key to the lock?” Shaofei pointed at the lock at the top of the cage, and Mei looked up at it.

Her tiny face scrunched up in thought, and then to Shaofei’s surprise, her hand that was not still desperately clutching him pointed towards the stairs.

Shaofei followed her line of vision, and squinted at the staircase, trying to see past the shadows that had swathed the area.

“Did he hang it near the stairs?” Shaofei asked, hoping to god that was the case.

“Put it on his belt.” Mei said solemnly.

Shaofei’s heart sunk.

Careful not to let his face reflect any of his thoughts, Shaofei examined the lock closely. It was a padlock. It was only slightly rusty, and Shaofei was sure that he could smash it open, given the time. But he couldn’t risk attracting attention with the noise. He didn’t know who he was dealing with or if it was more than one person. 

He needed to do this as quietly as possible. 

He needed to get the key.

Shaofei looked at Mei’s little face. He thought of Tang Yi. He thought of never seeing Tang Yi again. He thought of the way Mei’s mother had cried this morning at the station and begged them to find her daughter while Mei’s father sat listlessly as if all his strings had been cut. He thought about what his lover would do. 

Shaofei looked straight into Mei’s eyes. 

“Mei, I need you to listen to me very carefully.” Shaofei said in his most serious voice. “I promise I’m not going to leave here without you. And I promise I’m going to get you home to your parents. Do you believe me?”

“Yes.” Mei nodded, one tiny hand coming up to rub at her teary eyes. 

“Okay. Okay, thank you. I need to look for the key to open the lock so we can get you out. But to do that, I need to go upstairs.” Shaofei said, bravely, as if this idea didn’t scare the life out of him. 

Mei’s mouth trembled and Shaofei reached through the bars and grasped one tiny shoulder comfortingly. He hated to do it, but it was necessary. 

“I promise I will come back as soon as possible, okay? I will not leave you here. We are both going to get out of here together.” Shaofei tried his very best to impress the words into the scared little girl. “I need you to be brave for me, okay? I promise I’ll come back.”

“Pinky promise?” The words were barely a whisper, but Shaofei was left breathless with the resilience of children.

He had a feeling that had it been him, he would have begged and pleaded with his savior not to leave him.

Shaofei solemnly stuck his pinky out. Mei wrapped her tiny one around his.

“Pinky promise.” Shaofei said, as if he were taking an oath in court. “One more thing. If the bad man comes down here, and I am not with him, I want you to scream, okay? Scream as loud as possible for me. I promise I will come. He won’t do anything to you okay?”

Mei nodded, and Shaofei was glad to see that though the mention of the man had scared her, she seemed to be holding firm and was responding to him.

Shaofei let go of the small shoulder with one last nod. He stood, stared into small wholly trusting eyes and walked with a straight back towards the stairs. This was no time to let fear crowd him.

He glanced back at the cage to see Mei watching him with wide eyes, and then took the first step on the staircase.

It creaked. Loudly.

Shaofei let out a full body flinch before he could help it. He stood frozen for a heartbeat, then two, then three. When no one came thundering down the stairs to investigate, he let out the breath that he had been holding in. He tested the second step, felt it creak lightly under his weight, and adjusted his foot until it fell towards the side of the step where the wood was less abused.

He walked like that, very carefully and very slowly, up the rest of the staircase. The journey felt like it took hours, and by the time he was standing an inch away from the closed door, Shaofei felt like all his nerves were on fire.

Reaching for the doorknob was the hardest thing he could ever remember doing.

Jumping in front of a bullet for Tang Yi? Laughably easy. Opening a door? He wanted to run screaming.

You are a police officer! Act like one! Shaofei silently scolded himself.

He grasped the doorknob in his hand. It was cool and heavy to touch. Shaofei twisted it slowly felt no lock catch against it, and sent a prayer of thanks to anyone who was listening. He shut his eyes, called up an image of the last time he had seen Tang Yi.

If this was the last thing he ever did, he wanted to die with Tang Yi on his mind. 

The man had been watching Shaofei get ready from their bed, amusedly watching him hop around to find all his clothes, and annoyed that Shaofei had dared to get out of bed for something as mundane as his job. There had been a lightness to his eyes that Shaofei was proud to say he put there.

He wondered if he would ever see it again.

He slowly opened the door, feeling trepidation claw at him. 

It swung open smoothly and Shaofei cased the room immediately.

It was a grimy kitchen;  small and dirty. There were unwashed dishes in the sink, an overflowing trash can in the corner, and the table was piled high with junk. Grime covered the cabinets and floor and Shaofei thought he could hear the skittering of small bugs, but it was entirely possible it was just his much hyped up sense of fear being very unhelpful.

He looked around for a door and a key rack, taking in as much as he could. The table was filled with old papers, wires, parts of old electronics, radios, and old food bags. There was no key rack on the wall next to the door and Shaofei forced himself to calm down. The key had to be around here somewhere, and even if it was clenched in the kidnapper’s hand, he would get it.

There was a little girl’s life depending on him.

Shaofei carefully stepped into the room. To the right, there was a hallway that dim yellow light was cutting in from, and Shaofei knew that was where he had to go. He had taken three steps to the hallway when he froze.

There was a loud groan and a rustle that felt like it came from right behind him. Shaofei desperately tried to quiet his heartbeat which felt like it was pounding in his ears.

More rustles. Shaofei didn’t even dare breathe, and then silence.

Moving on instinct, Shaofei took another two steps and carefully peeked into the open doorway. He knew that if the man stood up and came to the kitchen, there was no place for Shaofei to hide. He had to get out of there.

He peeked through the door, fully expecting to have the man standing right there, and was relieved to see that there was an empty hallway and then the entrance to what probably was a dilapidated sitting room right across the way. The yellow light was coming in through that room.

Shaofei steeled himself. He muted the voice begging him to turn around, and took one large soundless step. Then he was across the hall and at the doorway of the sitting room. He stood there, framed in the door and clearly visible, and stared. A part of him screamed at himself for not bringing a weapon, there were so many available downstairs, and he grit his teeth at his carelessness.

Facing away from him, a large man dozed on a threadbare armchair. At his side, a scratched up table was overflowing with empty beer cans, and Shaofei could see one dangling loosely from his hand. There was a holey couch along one wall, a bare bulb lamp weakly flickering, and piles of trash. The smell in the room was terrible. But Shaofei couldn’t focus on anything but the man. His vision tunneled on him and Shaofei had to drag himself out of the terror. 

The man appeared to be sleeping.

Shaofei took a silent breath. He looked again, carefully and noted that the man’s labored breath was slow and steady. If Shaofei moved quietly, it was possible he could get through this without waking the man up. He knew that he was in no shape to fight a man with that large of a stature. But he also knew that if it came down to it, he would be damned if he gave up without taking the man out with him. 

Mei was going to make it out of this alive if it was the last thing he did. 

Shaofei took a quiet step into the room. The man did not move.

Shaofei took more steps, barely daring to breathe, until he was right behind the man. Then he saw the keys. Like Mei had said, the man had attached them to his belt. Said belt was discarded by the man’s feet.

Shaofei closed his eyes and asked for bravery. He opened them and moved as carefully as possible around the man and his mess, until he was right in front of him. He studied the man’s face for a moment. Gaunt eyes were sunken into a fat face. Unkempt hair sprouted from all over his face and chest and there were stains on the ripped white shirt he wore. He was a tall man, and he had possibly seventy pounds on Shaofei.

He looked mean even in his sleep.

Trembling with adrenaline and fear, Shaofei alternated his stare between the belt and the man’s face, fully expecting the man to open his eyes and catch him in the act. He knelt down excruciatingly slowly and reached with shaking fingers for the keys, brushing them ever so gently and felt like they would start sounding off an alarm, loyal to their master.

Nothing happened. Shaofei gently unhooked the carabineer that the keys were ringed too and almost felt disbelief as he stood up with the keys in hand. The cabin was silent. The man continued to breathe his labored breaths. Shaofei took a step back.

And then another, and then another.

He pulled up level with the man, and turned to walk as quietly out the door as he could when it happened. His foot brushed against a beer bottle. It would have been fine, if the rest of the cans were not so precariously stacked. The can Shaofei knocked loose rolled against a small tower of cans, and caused them all to fall in a loud crash of aluminum.

To Shaofei it felt like a thousand guns being discharged right next to his head.

The man woke with a loud grunt, eyes flying open. He quickly swung his head to the side and made direct eye contact with Shaofei, where he was standing frozen.

Nothing moved for half a second, and then the man’s expression twisted into a snarl.

Reacting without thinking, Shaofei grabbed one of the glass beer bottles and smashed it against the man’s head. And then he ran for his life.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 5 

The man shouted behind him, and Shaofei didn’t dare turn back. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, as if reminding him how fragile it was, and urging him to run faster. Shaofei’s vision tunneled and he nearly felt numb even with the amount of adrenaline coursing through him. He had never felt this much terror before, and he kept a grip on it solely because he knew if he didn’t, death was surely imminent.

He sprinted to the basement door, fingers scrabbling against the rotten wood of it, and slammed it shut behind himself, knowing every second of delay counted. He wished there was some way to lock it from the inside, but the smooth knob taunted him. He thundered down the stairs, already hearing the man rolling to his feet above him and shouting obscenities.

Every one of the man’s furious heavy footsteps shook the entire cabin and Shaofei’s heart jack-rabbited in time to them. 

“Mei!” Shaofei shouted.

“Fei!” Came a screamed response.

Shaofei cleared the stairs at full speed, not allowing himself to slow down even as he clipped the edge of the table with his hip, and swung around, skidding to a stop in front of the cage. Mei desperately clutched at the bars above her head, her eyes wide and terrified.

“Come on sweetheart, we have to go.” He said as steadily as he could, trying to get his shaking fingers to fit the key into the lock. The hole seemed to shrink and move as Shaofei tried to slot the key and he nearly screamed in frustration, only keeping it in by the skin of his teeth to not alarm Mei.

The door at the top of the stairs opened at the same moment Shaofei managed to slide the key in and open the lock. Mei pushed the top of the cage open and practically flew into his arms, feeding off of his urgency. Shaofei grabbed her up and out, and then backed away as far as possible from the man slowly coming down the stairs. He kept the table in between them and felt his heart hammer in his chest.

He so deeply missed the reassuring weight of his gun, usually strapped to his hip. It was currently in a lockbox at his desk at the station and Shaofei wished there was a way to will it to himself. It would have been very useful in stopping the monster coming down the stairs in his tracks.

He looked around for another weapon desperately and saw the wall of tools too close to the stairs. There was no way he would be able to get to them in time. He couldn’t risk it with Mei in his arms. Shaofei swallowed hard. 

The man stepped off the last step and into the room. Framed in the doorway, he looked unbelievably large and menacing. He looked at them with dead eyes and a snarl, appraising them for a moment. 

Shaofei knew the man wasn’t charging at them because he knew there was nowhere for them to go. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Every instinct he had screamed at him to flee, but there was nowhere to run to. 

Shaofei let Mei down and pushed her behind him, further into the small dead-end hallway where he had originally broken in through. He used his own body to shield her from the man’s sight as much as possible. He wished he had time to hoist her up and out of the window, so that at least she wouldn’t be stuck in this nightmare, but he simply didn’t. The man would be on them in seconds and Shaofei didn’t dare give his back to the man.

Mei’s tiny fingers gripped his pants leg with an iron grip and Shaofei could feel her terror mingle with his own. The only thought in his head was keeping her alive. He didn’t know how, but she would get out of here alive if it was the last thing he did. Shaofei strengthened his resolve.

“Whoosa you?” The man asked. Blood was streaming down a side of his head, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. “Dis is my house.”

“I am a police officer. You are breaking the law by holding this girl unwillingly. Let us go.” Shaofei said, voice strong with authority he didn’t actually feel. “Move aside and let us out of here.”

“Ain’t no one detainin, officer .” The man slurred, swaying closer. Shaofei kept Mei behind him and matched his steps so they were still equidistant apart. One of his hands was gripped on her shoulder and the other one was held out defensively in front of them both. “Yousa’ one that broke into mah house, an’ assaulted me. Ah should arrest youse .” He said it gleefully, as if the thought amused him. 

“Don’t come any closer to us.” Shaofei ordered. “Let us go in peace and we won’t bother you.”

The man paused. Looked at them curiously. Behind Shaofei, Mei whimpered. Shaofei wished he could comfort her, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off the man.

“Let youse go?” The man said, cocking his head. “Naw. I don’t think so. Mah old man always said ta never let go of a bunny thas’ willin’ly walked in ta yer trap.”

Shaofei’s blood ran cold at the statement and he forced himself out of it. He filed away the implications of the sentence and forced himself to focus on the threat in front of him. Right now, it was as much a mind game as it was a physical battle. And if he wavered for a second in either they were both dead.

The tension in the air grew and Shaofei instinctively knew what was about to happen. He grit his teeth and braced himself.

The man lunged.

Mei screamed in terror and Shaofei shoved her back into the vestibule and charged at the man head on, meeting him halfway. His only thought was to redirect the fight away from the very breakable, terrified little girl in the room. He met the man head on and felt like he hit a brick wall at full speed. His various injuries protested loudly and the breath in his chest seized.

He lost focus for a second and the man took advantage of it to deliver a punch straight to the center of his chest. It felt like getting hit by a car and Shaofei literally flew back, slamming against the wall. His rib cage felt as if it caught fire and he dropped breathless to the floor, nearly baffled by the waves of pain that were crashing over him.

The man laughed. Shaofei could vaguely hear Mei crying. The floor swam up as his head spun and Shaofei blinked dazedly, trying to figure out which way was up.

“Two bunnies. Ah like it. Never had two bunnies at once. An neve’ one as big as youse.” The man said over the din.

Mei pleadingly cried out for him as the man stepped closer and it spurred something visceral in Shaofei. Her voice resounded in his head as if it came from far away, but he used it to focus. 

He struggled to his feet, black spotting at the corners of his eyes. Visions of helpless little children desperately fighting to get away from this monster bombarded him and urged him to get upright and fight. He nearly blacked out at the pain that erupted from his chest, but his fight vs flight instincts warred against it. He had to get out of here. He had to get Mei out of here. He had to get the memories of all the children that had died out of here.

“You’re sick.” Shaofei gasped, trying to get the man’s attention away from Mei.

“Ah, youse gettin’ up? Well get up then.” The man said, stopping his lumbering walk towards Mei, with a bloody grin.

Shaofei forced himself up with a hand clutching at the wall for support. The man grinned at him mockingly and spread his arms wide in a universal come at me gesture. Shaofei lunged.

But not at the man, as he had anticipated. Shaofei went for the wall of tools. He grabbed the first item he saw, a handsaw, and spun back around, placing himself in between Mei and the man. This left the man less than an arm’s length away but Shaofei couldn’t leave Mei defenseless.

Having a weapon helped steady his courage.

“Thas’ mine.” The man said, no longer grinning.

“Let us go.” Shaofei panted. Behind him, Mei cried loudly, overwhelmed.

“Thas mine .” The man said, again. Then he charged.

Shaofei spun away and kicked out, feeling his foot solidly connect with the man and then without hesitating, sliced at the man’s back with the saw. It was only a flesh wound but bright red blood blossomed up underneath the dirty white. The man shouted and reeled, he swung out one heavy hand, missing Shaofei’s face by a hair's breadth.

Then they were full on brawling. Shaofei calculated every action to move the fight away from Mei as far as possible. The man nearly ripped his arm out of its socket and Shaofei stabbed at him with the saw to make him let go. It was all Shaofei could do to stay on his feet. While Shaofei was no slouch when it came to fighting, the fact was that the man simply had much more weight and height on him. It didn’t help that he was also wicked fast, and Shaofei was quickly waning due to the exhaustion that had lingered on him heavily all day.   

Out of the corner of his eye, Shaofei saw Mei scramble out of her hiding spot. He didn’t have the spare breath to plead with her to stay down. He lost track of her as the man fell to his knees from a kick Shaofei delivered and Shaofei took the chance to grab him up in a choke hold. He locked his hand around his wrist and pulled back, trying to contain the heaving angry man.

The cut on his arm from his earlier fall in the forest, so old now it felt like it happened years ago rather than hours, reopened and blood dripped down. The man’s neck was so thick that Shaofei could barely get his arm around it, but he didn’t dare let go.

The man roared and stood, trying to bat Shaofei off. One of his hands reached around and dug excruciatingly into Shaofei’s rib cage. One of his fingers speared into the wound created by the nail when Shaofei had crawled in through the window and Shaofei’s vision whited out. He screamed out in pain and felt his grip begin to loosen as his body tried to get away from the man as far as possible and his mind begged him to stay strong. He desperately tried to hold on, but the man threw him over his own head and sent Shaofei crashing against the wall lined with tools.

Some of them shuddered from the impact and fell down around him. Shaofei looked up just in time to throw himself sideways to lunge away from a boot that was coming straight for his face. It slammed into the cabinet behind him and left a dent.

“Youse not a nice bunny.” The man snarled as Shaofei desperately tried to crawl away backwards. He bumped against the bottom of the stairs. The man smirked. His teeth were bloody.

Shaofei felt horror cloud his system. The man had won and he knew it. Then an angel called out to him.

“Fei!”

A tiny hand appeared next to his face. The tiny hand held a hammer. Shaofei let his instincts take over.

With all the strength he could muster, he grabbed the hammer from Mei and lunged forward, smashing the hammer against the man’s knee. He put all his force behind the blow, every last increment of emotion and desperation.

The man crumpled to the ground, barely a foot away from Shaofei, and let out an inhumane scream.

“Go! Go!” Shaofei shouted at Mei, scrambling up. He was pretty sure he had broken the man’s kneecap, but he wasn’t going to stick around and check. He kicked one of the man’s arms away from where it grabbed against his feet desperately.  

Leaving the man groaning in pain on the floor, Shaofei hobbled up the stairs as fast as he could. Mei already had the door open and was waiting for him with an anxious look on her face.

Shaofei cleared the landing, pushed Mei in front of him and slammed the door shut. He locked the measly lock and then desperately looked around. He needed to block the door. If the man made it up, the lock would definitely not be enough to hold him.

His eyes fell on the laden table.

Using strength he didn’t have, Shaofei shoved the table against the floor until it screeched across to block the door. Mei helped him like the trooper she was, her small hands turning white with effort to help with a task she knew was so important.

Shaofei cast one glance at the table, and felt his heart leap. He grabbed a radio off the table, pushed it into Mei’s hands, and then hefted her up. The added weight to the front of his chest nearly made him throw up from the white hot pain that erupted. He pushed through it, adrenaline numbing the fire.  

“Hold on tight, Mei.” Shaofei said breathlessly.

Then he ran.

A scream that would haunt his nightmares for weeks to come, sounded the second he crossed over the threshold and out into the dark night again.

The scream didn’t sound like it had come from the basement.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 6

Shaofei ran as if his life depended on it. There was every chance that it did.

“Mei, press the button on top of the radio.” Shaofei panted as he sprinted blindly into the night. Every particle of his being screamed at him to slow down, but his terror didn’t let him. Every blind step he took was an opportunity to trip and fall, and yet somehow he didn’t. Maybe the universe was on their side. 

By some miracle of luck, Mei managed to turn on the old radio. Shaofei hefted her weight into one hand, slowing down for half a second, and grabbed the radio. Then he re-secured her against his chest again, her arms around his neck, and his arms crossing her back so the radio was near his mouth. The radio crackled to life when he blindly felt for the button to speak. 

“All units come in, this is Officer Meng Shaofei. I repeat, all units come in. I have found Mei Kwan. We need immediate assistance. We are possibly being pursued by a violent man. We need immediate assistance.”

Shaofei spoke as loud as he dared into the radio as he ran. Mei hung on tight and kept her head ducked against his chest. He knew he was already making a tremendous amount of noise, trampling in the underbrush of the forest, but he also knew his voice would be a dead giveaway for anyone looking for them.

There was no response except for static. Shaofei felt the desperation hit him like a wall. 

“All units please respond. I am about an hour south of the Deep Mountain trail I had been assigned to search for Mei Kwan. I have found her. We are in danger. Please respond.”

“All units…please we need help.” Shaofei tried to keep his voice from cracking.

Shaofei didn’t know how long he ran for. He kept asking for assistance, giving whatever landmarks he could see into the radio and hoped that the man wasn’t listening and following him.

He didn’t dare stop though his body was past the point of exhaustion. Now it was just moving based on instinctual fear. He knew when even that would not be enough, he would collapse. Already he could feel himself start to slow down. A corner of his mind was already preparing the argument to have Mei run on ahead without him. She was going to survive this night if it was the last thing he ever did.

He knew he wouldn’t survive another encounter with the man. There was no way he was going to let Mei become another one of his victims.

“All units-….”

“Base command responding. All clear officer, what is your position?”

“ Oh . Oh thank god.” Shaofei skidded to a stop against a large rock cliff, feeling the relief cut through him as if it were a visceral thing.

Mei trembled in his arms, from cold, terror, and exhaustion. Dried tear tracks ran down her cheeks and Shaofei marvaled that she wasn’t bawling in his ear. The resilience of children was astounding. 

“Base command, this is Officer Meng Shaofei. I was assigned to the mountains behind Mei Kwan’s house. I found her. We are possibly being pursued. We need immediate assistance.”

“Officer Meng, it’s a relief to hear from you. We have men enroute to your position, are you able to hold on? What condition are you and Mei Kwan in?” 

“We are possibly being pursued by the man that kidnapped Mei. We escaped out of his cabin, I don’t know if he is following us. Mei is alright. A little shaken up.” Shaofei panted. He could feel his vision begin to waver and shook himself out of it.

“Copy that, Officer. Please relay any landmarks you might see so we can pinpoint your location better. We have people heading in every direction. We will get to you, Officer. Just hold on.”

He quickly gave all the landmarks he could see, trying to determine his position by the moon.

“Copy that officer. Please hold. We have men nearing your position.”

“Thank you.” Shaofei said, closing his eyes for a moment in gargantuan relief. He let his finger fall off the communication button from where it had been clamped for some time now.

He leaned against the rock, and caught some of his breath back. It was almost over. They were almost out of this nightmare. He tilted his head down and looked at his passenger.

“Mei, are you alright?”

Mei’s eyes were wide and she was staring off over his shoulder. Shaofei immediately began to worry that she had somehow gotten hurt on his run or earlier and he had managed to miss it.

“Mei-…”

Mei screamed. High pitched and terrified.

Shaofei immediately spun away from the rock he had been leaning on, only to see the spot where his head had been resting explode into dust. He scrambled away backwards, terror mainlining its way back into his veins even as exhaustion warred within him. Mei screamed again.

“I found yous.” The man said, stepping out from behind the boulder.

In the moonlight, they could see the blood coating his face and body. He walked with a limp. In one hand he held a sledgehammer.

Shaofei stared in disbelief.

“ How… ”

“Youse gave me directions, little bunny.” The man grinned. “Youse wan’ed me ta come find youse.” He unhooked a radio at his belt and held it up, bringing to life Shaofei’s worst fear when he had been running blindly through the forest. It was a twin to the one Shaofei had been giving his landmark directions into.

He hadn’t had a choice .

“Mei…” Without taking his eyes off the man, Shaofei pried Mei’s clenched hands off of himself and put her down. He pushed the radio into her hands. “Take this and run.”

“Fei…”

“I’m going to kill the both of youse.” The man said, taking a step forward.

“Mei, go now!” Shaofei yelled.

Mei ran.

The man didn’t seem bothered to see her go which made Shaofei even more scared. He put his trembling arms up defensively. Even though there was no strength left in him, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. 

“Never had a bunny hurt me before.” The man said, hefting his sledgehammer. “Ya did it wrong anyway, stupid bunny. Lemme show ya how ta do it the right way.”

Shaofei barely dodged the first lunge. The sledgehammer whistled an inch away from his shoulder. He wanted so desperately to run, but he couldn’t risk the man going after Mei. He needed to give her time to run as far away as possible on her tiny legs. 

“Yer fast. But fer how long?” The man laughed. 

The answer to that, was not very long.

While Shaofei could dodge the sledgehammer on account of guessing where he had to duck away from, what he forgot to account for was the massive man’s other arm. It clipped Shaofei where he had desperately jumped sideways to avoid a death blow to the head and sent him crashing into the ground.

Shaofei lay there. He felt the life drain from his body as finally, finally his body refused to move. He begged his limbs but they had nothing left. The frantic messages from his brain just weren’t computing. 

The man stood over him. He was framed by the moon and Shaofei stared up at him, vision already going black as he began to pass out. The man grinned viciously down at Shaofei and hefted the sledgehammer.

“Stupid bunny. I always win.”

Shaofei closed his eyes. He willed a face to his mind. He wished with all his heart that they had more time together. He wished he had stopped everything that morning to just call Tang Yi and tell him-

“Get the hell away from my husband.” Tang Yi snarled.

Two shots echoed in the night.

Shaofei’s eyes shot open just in time to see the man fall backwards, the sledgehammer falling harmlessly to the side.

“Shaofei!”

An overwhelming wave of emotion crashed into him and Shaofei’s eyes slid closed and the darkness welcomed him.

Tang Yi.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 7

Tang Yi glowered at everyone and everything as he restlessly paced the bare-minimum distance away from the medical team that was working to revive Shaofei. His lover was utterly limp on the ground and Tang Yi felt himself shake uncontrollably. He felt his heart pound in his chest as if it was trying to burst through his ribs and rush to his lover’s side. He hated that there was nothing he could do to help. 

He had sprinted to Shaofei’s side, calling his name desperately when the despicable man had fallen all too close to his precious love. There had been a moment when he had thought he had been too late. Shaofei had been lying so still and Tang Yi thought he was too late. Then, he had gotten close and seen that his love was still breathing slightly, just past the point of exhaustion and utterly shut down. He had fallen to his knees in near hysterical relief. 

In Zhao Zi’s arms, the little girl that had begged them to follow her to save her friend started crying at the sight of Shaofei’s prone body on the ground. The small cop himself stood frozen at the sight, eyes wide. Tang Yi knew Shaofei had saved her life and would urge him to check on her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything but give his entire attention to the man who held his heart in his hand.  

Jack had skidded to a halt beside Shaofei and threw himself down across Tang Yi. He looked at Shaofei frantically, and placed two fingers at his neck to check his pulse. Tang Yi didn’t rip them away only because he knew it was a medical necessity. He wanted to pick Shaofei up and carry him off where no one would ever lay eyes on him ever again. But he didn’t know where to touch on his lover that wasn’t covered with blood or a darkening bruise. Tang Yi didn’t know how to touch him safely. It was a terrible realization that scared him to his core.

“He’s alive.” Jack called out, mainly for Zhao Zi’s benefit, but also letting the little girl and the rest of the men know. There was an audible sound of relief released into the air, and even though Tang Yi had seen that to be true with his own eyes, the words spoken aloud were a comfort he hadn’t realized he needed. 

Tang Yi’s gaze shifted to the side and he caught sight of the man that had been about to bash his lover’s head in. The man that was about to snuff out the brightest light in Tang Yi’s existence. Smoothly, without hesitating, he grabbed his gun and aimed it at the prone body. He wanted to empty the gun into the body that had dared to hurt what was his. He hoped the man was clinging to life just so he could feel Tang Yi’s rage. 

He had barely put pressure against the trigger when the police showed up.

It took all of Zhao Zi’s persuasion, and Jack’s muscles for Tang Yi to be persuaded to move just far away enough so that the medical team could work on Shaofei. Zhao Zi’s and the little girl’s testimony kept Tang Yi from being arrested on the spot. And finally, Captain Shi’s arrival allowed for Tang Yi to stay close, though the Captain clearly was not pleased.

Zhao Zi had quickly given him a rundown of what had happened and he had barked so angrily at the officers that had been trying to get Tang Yi to wait elsewhere, that one of them had burst into tears.

Captain Shi and Tang Yi shared a nod. Captain Shi silently thanked Tang Yi for saving Shaofei’s life and Tang Yi made it clear that he would do anything to protect his lover. It was an agenda that the captain could get behind. 

“We need to get him to the hospital!” One of the medics called. 

There was a shuffle of urgent activity that he processed through numb eyes and Jack stepped closer to him. Tang Yi watched with gritted teeth as Shaofei was limply bundled onto a life board. One of his arms fell limply to the side, but before Tang Yi could move to reach for it, a medic folded it against Shaofei’s chest and belted it there with care. 

“Airlift will be here in 2 minutes! The general hospital is waiting for the patient!”

“No!” Tang Yi immediately interjected. “Take him to my personal hospital. He can be treated there.” There was no way in hell he was going to allow just anybody to take care of his most precious person. 

“The helicopter can’t change its flight path like that without delay.” The medic responded, quaking slightly in the face of Tang Yi’s anger.

“Tang Yi. We cannot risk a delay.” Zhao Zi urged, looking at him worriedly. “Just let them take him to the general hospital.”

Tang Yi grit his teeth. 

“Boss.” Jack pulled something from his side and held it out to Tang Yi. It was a universal satellite phone. “Just bring the hospital to him.”

Right. It was in moments like this that Tang Yi appreciated having a right hand man. He could still see clearly in those rare moments when Tang Yi’s vision was clouded by his emotions. Tang Yi sent a silent thanks heavenwards for the man. 

Tang Yi dialed a number that he had recently become a lot more familiar with after an accident prone cop moved in. 

“Do you know what time it is?!” 

“Jiang. Get out of bed. I need you to get to General Hospital. Bring a team, be prepared to operate.” Tang Yi said tersely.

“Aw shit, your officer again?” Rustling sounds could be heard in the background. 

 “He’s hurt bad this time, Jiang.” Tang Yi said, forcing composure in this voice. Still, there must have been something that slipped through because Jiang cut his usual protest off with a sharp inhale. 

“….I’m coming.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tang Yi didn’t know how long it had been, but the sun was shining in through the windows, and the hospital was steadily coming alive all around them. Parts of him felt stiff and cold, as if he had been sitting still for a long time and the blood flow had become sluggish under his skin. 

They all sat in a line.

Tang Yi, Jack, Zhao Zi, Captain Shi, the rest of Shaofei’s unit, and then Tang Yi’s men. Hong Ye was on a plane back from Japan the second Tang Yi had remembered to call her. He was unsure of exactly what he had said to her, but he could remember her voice getting shriller and shriller until he simply passed the phone over to Zhao Zi, letting the small cop fumble his way through dealing with his sister’s sharp questioning. He was pretty sure that Jack had rescued Zhao Zi from her by taking the phone, but didn’t have enough energy leftover to focus on anything but the double doors at the end of the hall. 

All of them were still in the same clothes, smeared with sweat, dried mud, and dirt, but none of them made a single move to leave. They just sat, staring off into different directions with heavy thoughts and waited.

Zhao Zi slept on and off between Jack and Captain Shi, his head on Jack’s shoulder. Occasionally, the captain would break himself out of his worried pensive stare at the wall opposite, to turn his head to glare Jack, as if he remembered that there was more than one person on his team that needed constant supervision. Jack would grin back, wondering if this was what it felt like to meet the parents of your lover.

Tang Yi sat straight up, staring blankly ahead. His mind was filled with juxtaposing images of his life with and without Shaofei. The idea that he might have to return to the ‘without’ state of just living because he was alive was making him feel sick and hollow. His features were grim and tense and he couldn’t bring himself to unclench his jaw and address any of the questions directed his way. Fortunately, Jack and his little cop friend fielded any inquiries.  

Finally, after what seemed like countless lifetimes, the door at the end of the hall opened. All heads snapped to the right, and when they saw Doctor Jiang walk through the door, everyone stood up simultaneously. He wore blue scrubs, slightly stained dark red in places and he walked as if exhausted, one hand rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

When he noticed them, all half a second away from shouting questions at him, he immediately held his hands up.

“He’s alive.” The weary doctor said hoarsely.  

The room broke out in cheers and sighs of relief. Tang Yi closed his eyes in silent overwhelming relief and sent a quick thank you heavenward. Alive. Shaofei was alive and Tang Yi hadn’t been sure if he would be for endless hours. The feeling that came over him erased any doubt that he had about being in love. Now he just needed Shaofei in his arms so he could never let go and all would be well. 

Tang Yi refocused.

“Details.” He said, hoarsely, voice rough from being unused for so long.

“So.” Doctor Jiang said heavily. “You’ll notice I said he’s alive . I want to make it very clear that he is not well .” 

Tang Yi felt his blood pressure ratchet up and took a deep breath. The cheers in the room died out. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Zhao Zi asked, eyes furrowed with worry.

“What’s not wrong with him would be the better question.” Jiang sighed, leaning on the chair Tang Yi had abandoned.     

“Jiang, please.” Tang Yi said, beginning to feel faint. He grasped the fact that Jiang said Shaofei was alive and held onto it desperately as if it was a lifeline. In so many ways, it was. 

“Right, right. It’s actually good that all of you are here, you all need to hear this. To put it plain and simple, Shaofei should, by all rights, be dead.” The doctor’s voice was stern and strict. “I have no idea how he managed to pull off this miracle, maybe he’s eaten a magic bean or something that keeps him alive, who knows. He needs rest .” The words were barked at them, and cops and gangsters alike both felt an immediate need to drop their gaze like chastised school children in front of the irate doctor.

“Disregarding that he was so utterly exhausted I could have operated on him without anesthetics and he wouldn’t have woken up, there were two deep infected cuts on his body. He was halfway to septic shock by the time he got here. The cut on his stomach was so deep, two centimeters more and it would have pierced his kidney. I don’t think I need to explain how disastrous that would have been.

“The cut on his arm needed ten stitches. His other arm is severely fractured and will be out of commission for at least three weeks. More if I have it my way. He has a cut on his head that needed five stitches and a mild concussion that he really should be prodded awake for intermittently, but due to the other injuries and sedation we can only monitor his brain waves and hope nothing goes wrong. The rest of my team spent over an hour locating and disinfecting various cuts and bruises on his body. There are grapes out there that are less purple than that man right now.”

“You needed to operate?” Tang Yi asked, muscle in his jaw ticking at the list of injuries on his lover. 

“In two separate areas. Normally we wouldn’t have to operate on a fracture, but the arm was very badly damaged in many places. And then there are his ribs. Two broken and three sprained. His entire chest looks like he got hit by a battering ram. It’s a miracle none of his broken ribs perforated his lungs or we would be having a very different conversation right now.” Jiang said, a muscle in his face jumping as if visually showing how upset the thought made him. 

There was utter silence in the room.

“He needs rest.” Doctor Jiang said again, this time tiredly. “He’s not going to be strong enough to get out of bed for at least two weeks, but then after that someone needs to put him in bed and keep him there for at least a few more weeks. His body is not going to keep bouncing back like this and if he is sent out on a case before fully healed, or out getting in between gang fights, he will get hurt and this time maybe he won’t be able to walk it off.

“Shaofei appears to be infallible. And maybe the fact that he so easily seems to shrug off bullet wounds have encouraged you all to think that way, but let me enlighten you. We nearly lost him two times on that operating table tonight. So get your heads out of your asses. Keep him in bed until I goddamn say so . And provide him with proper backup when sending him out into the field. Am I clear?”     

The men in the room all muttered affirmatives. Tang Yi stood as if stricken by the barrage of information. 

“Good. Now that that’s out of the way, all of you go home.” Jiang ordered.

Tang Yi’s head shot up. The haze that was enveloping his mind cleared and he panicked at the thought of not being near Shaofei. Jiang was insane if he thought Tang Yi was going to leave without even seeing Shaofei. He needed to make sure. He needed to see with his own eyes. He wouldn't be able to rest if he didn't. 

“What? No! Let me see him, Jiang.” 

“Over my dead body.” Doctor Jiang said, unimpressed, looking at Tang Yi. “Were you listening to anything I said? He almost died of septic shock . His immune system is practically nonexistent right now. You are so covered in dirt and blood right now that he’ll probably catch a virus from you just walking in there.”

The irate doctor cast a glance at the rest of them.

“In fact, all of you need to get out, go home and shower. This is a hospital for god’s sake. Why are you tracking dirt and mud in here?”

The men shifted and murmured amongst themselves.

“Boss, we will go home, clean up, and return.” Tang Yi’s men said.

Tang Yi nodded at them distantly, still reeling from the fact that he had been denied. He needed to see Shaofei. He needed to. He could hear Jack directing the men and didn’t bother to listen to the details. How could anything be more important than seeing Shaofei right now?

“Captain, we will do the same.” Shaofei’s unit said, with the exception of Zhao Zi.

“I will come with you.” Captain Shi said heavily. They all knew he would clean up and then throw himself into work. It was what he did anytime Shaofei was at the hospital and they had to wait for him to wake up. The man couldn’t stand to be idle. “Doctor. Please give us a call when he is awake and it is safe to visit.”

“Will do.” Jiang said, nodding at the Captain. 

Then it was just Jiang, Tang Yi, Jack, and Zhao Zi. Jiang looked at them unimpressed with crossed arms. 

“Are you waiting for an invitation to leave?” Doctor Jiang asked, with forced politeness.   

“Jiang…. please .” Tang Yi begged.

If he wasn’t already leaning against the wall, Jiang would have reeled backwards in shock. Tang Yi never begged. He was softer with those that he loved, more indulgent and agreeable, but his voice always held an undercurrent of command. He was not a man that ever had to resort to pleading with others to get what he wanted, so the fact that he was now was stunning. 

“Jiang. I need to see him. I need to make sure…” A part of him felt like it would burst. Jiang had told them that he was alive. But some animal part of Tang Yi’s brain needed to see for himself. He felt as if his skin was crawling with anxiety.

Jiang looked conflicted. He glanced at the other two men waiting at Tang Yi’s side. The cop and the mercenary. And then back at his longtime friend, who was looking so utterly tortured over a man that Jiang had literally dragged back to life twice. His longtime friend who, just last year, wouldn’t have felt this much emotion for another outside of his family, ever. 

“Tang Yi….” Jiang sighed. “He’s fine. I swear….fuck. This isn’t even my hospital, do you know how much trouble I could get in….Fine. Just you. The other two have to stay there.” He relented. 

Tang Yi glanced at Zhao Zi and Jack. Zhao Zi looked conflicted, as if he wanted to ask to come along, but then at a touch from Jack, he backed down and nodded. His eyes shined with unshed tears and looked like pools of black, but he gave Tang Yi a nod. Tang Yi gave a short nod back. He would look after Shaofei for both of them. 

“We’ll wait here.” Jack said, pulling Zhao Zi into his body slightly. Zhao Zi went easily and Jack curled a strong arm around him. 

“Right. Okay. Come on.” Jiang said, waving at Tang Yi to follow him. “You are going to need to wear scrubs and a face mask. And if you think I’m going to let you within five feet of him, you must be insane. And you have exactly one minute.”

“Thank you, Jiang.” Tang Yi said, gratefully.

He just needed to see.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 8 

“Tang Yi!”

Tang Yi snapped his head over to his protesting lover and scanned the scene, his hand shot under his desk and his fingers brushed against the gun he had strapped there. When no apparent threat became immediately visible to him, he let his defenses fall. A breath of relief left him silently. 

“Yes, dear?”

“Jack’s being mean to me!” Shaofei said pitifully, blinking at Tang Yi with wide, indignant eyes.

“What are you doing, Jack?” Tang Yi asked, already turning back to his paperwork, this time with an amused quirk to his eyebrow.

“Just making sure that Boss Wife gets the appropriate amount of rest.” Jack said innocently, standing over Shaofei with the man’s phone in his hand. Shaofei had one arm stretched up to reach for it, but due to his very injured body and broken ribs, the arm didn’t quite stretch out as high as it used to. Jack was taking full advantage of that, holding the phone teasingly an inch above Shaofei’s range. “According to Doctor Jiang’s schedule it’s time for Shaofei’s nap.”

It was said in a teasing voice, but with a glance at his watch, Tang Yi realized that Jack was actually helpfully reminding Tang Yi of the strict recuperation schedule that Jiang had created for Shaofei. A schedule which Tang Yi was abiding to the letter. Whether Shaofei liked it or not.

“If you think I’m taking a nap you have another-….” Shaofei began indignantly.

“Let’s get you into bed.” Tang Yi cut in, standing. Sometimes it was better to head off Shaofei before he got too passionate. Not that he didn’t love his lover’s passion, just not when his safety was involved. 

“What? No!” Shaofei protested, clutching at the back of the couch that he had been nestled on, as if he thought he could hold on to it hard enough to dissuade Tang Yi. As he currently had the strength of a weak kitten, it was a laughable thought. “Tang Yi!”

Tang Yi looked down at his protesting lover, comparing the lovely flush to his cheeks, signifying life , to the way he had been a few weeks ago when Jiang had relented and let him see him at the hospital. A visceral part of him growled in approval at the notable progress Shaofei had made under his care.

When Jiang had finally been convinced that Tang Yi was covered in enough protective gear to not inadvertently cause Shaofei any harm, he had opened the door and indicated how far Tang Yi was allowed to walk to. He had tried to gently prepare Tang Yi for how Shaofei looked, but nothing he said had prepared Tang Yi in the slightest for the first glimpse of his lover.

Tang Yi had thought that Jiang was showing him a corpse.

Shaofei had been pallid, grey, and just small. His eyes had been lined with gauze and firmly taped shut. His hands were also taped up with gauze and curled into loose fists. The only movements to his body were the artificial ones where the machines he was hooked too were helping him breath, necessary after the emergency surgery.

He looked defenseless. Helpless. Exposed and vulnerable.

His upper body was uncovered, and Jiang, steadfastly standing at his side, quietly explained that they needed to leave him that way so the oxygen could circulate around his wounds and promote healing. That his eyes were taped shut so as to avoid irritating the concussion. That his hands were wrapped in gauze to avoid him scratching himself with any subconscious movements.

To Tang Yi, all it meant was that he could see everything. Ugly stitches holding together inflamed red torn skin, mottled purple bruises so dark they were black in areas melted into hues of sickly green and yellow. The surgical cuts from the surgery, juxtaposed with the ragged cuts from where he must have taken a bad fall and scratched himself open. The arm wrapped in gauze and plaster. Numerous IVs stabbed deep into his body.

“He…He’s…” Tang Yi had stuttered.

“He’s alive. I swear.” Jiang had comforted.

Tang Yi, who had longed to scoop Shaofei up and run away with him the moment he saw him, didn’t dare take a single step closer to the body on the bed. This Shaofei terrified him. His lover was a vibrant, strong, relentless, life filled, enigma. The body on the bed was breakable and human and hurting. Tang Yi didn’t know how to protect him. Fix him. Keep him safe.

“It’s going to be alright.” Jiang had said. “He’s going to recover from this and you will be there every step of the way. And once he’s well, you can be there to stop this from ever happening again.”   

And it was in that moment that Tang Yi felt the world right itself. The answer to how to take care of the small breakable body in front of him was right there. He would simply not allow this to happen to his lover again.

He would always be there from now on.

And he was.

From the moment that Shaofei had woken two days later, finally permitted out of the induced coma that Jiang had insisted was necessary, Tang Yi kept a hawk-like gaze pinned on him. He saw the slow furrow appear between Shaofei’s eyes when he finally began to climb back to awareness.

He saw the tears spring to Shaofei’s half lidded eyes when he registered the sheer amount of hurt , and demanded that his painkillers be immediately adjusted. He was there in his ridiculous blue gown that Jiang insisted he wear over his suit to keep the environment sterile, looking down and cradling Shaofei’s face in his next blink, assuring him that he was there and everything would be fine.

He was there to see Shaofei blink slowly at him and saw the way his mouth trembled into a smile.

He was there to feed Shaofei his first actual meal, holding steady through Shaofei’s realization of exactly how helpless he currently was. He was there through the frustrated tears, the whining, the pain, and for the exhausted sleep his lover floated in and out of.

For the first few days, Shaofei simply fell back asleep in the middle of sentences when his body had enough. Tang Yi had promptly freaked out the first time it happened. Jiang was immediately called and fortunately he had been prepared enough to assure them that this was likely to happen as a result of Shaofei’s exhaustion, mingled with the various effects of the numerous drugs they had him taking. Apparently his body was like a battery for the first few days; he had a limited amount of energy, and when it was out of it, he simply shut down to recharge. The thought terrified Tang Yi and he was happy to see Shaofei grow stronger by the day.    

He was there throughout the police visit, in which Shaofei recounted what had happened that night. His nails had cut into the palm of his hands as Shaofei tried not to tremble through the report, and later, Jiang silently bandaged him up while giving him a suffering yet supportive look. He was there for the subsequent nightmares.

He was there when the found girl’s parents coming to thank Shaofei, and his lover’s soft eyes at seeing the girl he had saved happy and alive. She had been clingy with both her parents and Shaofei, and Tang Yi completely understood. He had looked at her and realized she probably attributed greatly to why Shaofei was alive. Shaofei might have had the worst self preservation skills on this side of the world, but when it came to protecting another person’s life, he suddenly became unstoppable. Tang Yi quietly made arrangements for a private donation. It felt like the least he could do. 

He was there for Shaofei’s first trembling step out of bed. He felt like a wolf stalking a newborn fawn, but he wouldn’t leave his lover alone for anything. He stood closer than the nurses and the orderlies and kept Shaofei within the circle of his arms. If Shaofei began to fall, he wouldn’t even go half an inch before Tang Yi caught him.

He was there to watch the bandages be taken off. Cuts examined. Bruises fade from black to purple to red to green. Stitches taken out. Shaofei’s smile at each check up, when he was informed he was recovering well. 

He was there carrying Shaofei into his house victoriously as Shaofei laughed lightly and slung his arm over Tang Yi’s neck, telling him it reminded him of the first time Tang Yi had carried him over the threshold.

And he was here now.

“Tang Yi!”

Tang Yi blinked out of his thoughts and looked down at an indignant Shaofei. Shaofei looked up at him from the nest of blankets on the new couch that Hong Ye had ordered for his home office. She had read through the list of Shaofei’s injuries, Doctor Jiang’s recommended actions, and proceeded to implement changes all along the house without consulting anyone. Tang Yi quietly grunted his approval of this proactiveness in regards to Shaofei’s comfort and safety and let Hong Ye bully his staff into doing whatever she wanted.  

Currently Shaofei was ensconced in a few blankets on the extremely comfortable couch that Tang Yi had carried him to after lunch. He had managed to break free from the blanket burrito that Tang Yi had half-jokingly, half seriously, rolled him into to discourage movement, and was fidgeting in the way that suggested he was either ready to go for a run, or overtired.

“Tang Yi.” Shaofei whined, mouth tilting down into an exaggerated frown. He widened his eyes a bit more so they securely slipped into the puppy dog category.

Tang Yi smiled. His little love hadn’t realized it yet, but while his cute little tricks might have worked in the past, there was no way in hell Tang Yi was compromising his healing or safety for anything now. He had gotten a taste of what happened when he dropped the ball and it had left him overcautious and ready. 

“Your choices are to sleep here or on the bed.” Tang Yi said generously, ignoring the muffled snort from Jack in the background.

“I’m not sleepy.” Shaofei protested. Tang Yi looked into his eyes, caught the slight droop of his eyelids. His hair had grown out a bit from where he normally kept it closely shorn to his head, and Tang Yi loved the way it framed his face and softened it. He also loved running his fingers through it, feeling the soft locks slip through his fingers again and again as he slowly encouraged Shaofei into sleep.

“Bed it is.” He said cheerfully, leaning forward and sliding his hands under Shaofei. His lover’s body was still ridiculously easy to lift. 

“No!” Shaofei protested, “I want to stay here with you! Tang Yi, come on!” Despite his protests, his good arm had instinctively come up and around Tang Yi’s neck. The broken one remained firmly strapped against his chest.

Tang Yi paused as if he was considering. Shaofei looked up at him with wide pleading eyes; he had lost this argument many times before.

“Will you sleep if I let you stay here?” Tang Yi asked seriously.

“I will!” Shaofei promised, hope sparking in his eyes. The sudden leniency made him entirely forget that he was fighting against a nap in the first place.

“Then lie down.” Tang Yi ordered gently.

“Stay with me?” Shaofei asked, already allowing Tang Yi to gently guide him to lie down against the massively plush pillow Hong Ye had insisted on buying. It had apparently been a good buy, because Shaofei dragged it everywhere with him around the house, claiming that no other pillow supported his head or ribs so perfectly. Tang Yi had glanced at the price tag discreetly crumpled in a triumphant Hong Ye’s fist and shared an amused glance with her. They both watched in silence, mutually agreeing to wait until Shaofei was better to tell him how much the pillow cost.

He would buy a thousand expensive pillows if Shaofei said they helped him feel comfortable.

Tang Yi glanced at the paperwork on his desk. Disregarded it immediately.

“Jack. Tell the men to not disturb us for a few hours.” He ordered, slipping onto the couch. Shaofei immediately curled into him as much as possible.

“You got it, boss.” Jack said, happily seeing himself out the door, mostly likely on his way to find his own cop.

“Go to sleep, baby. I’m here.” Tang Yi said, settling in with the warm weight of his lover against his side.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 9

Shaofei slowly floated back into consciousness. He cracked his eyes open slightly, saw that he was firmly nestled into the curve of Tang Yi’s body and let his eyes fall shut again. Tang Yi was so firm and warm beside him, and his deep breaths were rocking Shaofei ever so slightly. It was such a content moment, that Shaofei sighed and let himself sink deeper into the hold, utterly relaxed and ready to slip back into sleep.

“ Ahm comin’ fer you, bunny.”

Mei’s terrified scream pierced through the room. 

Shaofei jackknifed up. A scream strangled itself in his throat and fought to get out. Next to him, Tang Yi lunged up at the sudden movement, one hand abortively reaching for the unmarked gun in his bedside table that Shaofei wasn’t supposed to know about.

“What-!”

“ No! - He… he …” Shaofei gasped, looking around the darkened bedroom frantically.

Tang Yi reached over to his bedside table, and a moment later, bright light flooded the room. Shaofei grimaced as his pupils adjusted, but he didn’t dare close his eyes, and instead frantically looked around the room.

“Tang Yi, he’s here. I heard him.” Shaofei choked out, beginning to tremble, he began to jerkily try and slip out of bed.

“He’s not here.” Tang Yi said firmly, pulling Shaofei securely within the circle of his arms, ignoring the resistance. “Think baby, how could he be here? He’s dead. And even if he wasn’t, you think he could get past my security? It’s impossible. He’s gone.”

From his position, held tight within Tang Yi’s embrace, Shaofei stared out into the room, eyes still darting around, as if the large murderer was going to step out from behind a decorative plant or something. His heart thundered in his chest, convinced that there was imminent danger. 

“Shaofei. Calm down, it’s okay.” Tang Yi soothed. “It was just a dream. I’m here. And if I’m here that means…?”

“If you’re here, it means I’m safe.” Shaofei automatically replied, repeating the words Tang Yi had been saying to him since he woke up in the hospital bed, thinking he was still in the middle of the forest about to get killed by the man. A part of him immediately calmed. It might have been a Pavlovian response. He couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“Good.”

Tang Yi reclined against the headboard, keeping Shaofei in his arms. He could tell Shaofei wanted to get out of bed and investigate, but no way in hell was he about to allow his fragile lover to walk around in his half panicked condition. Using one gentle, but firm hand, Tang Yi pulled Shaofei’s head down to lie on his chest. He shoved a pillow behind Shaofei, bracketing him in securely, and pulled the blanket back up to cover him.

Shaofei trembled minutely against his chest, burrowing in but also hyper aware of his surroundings. Tang Yi dimmed the lights, but didn’t turn them off when he felt Shaofei stiffen at the action. They lay in silence for a few minutes, until Shaofei finally let out a breath and completely relaxed against him. 

Tang Yi didn’t think he would ever be able to describe the feeling of having someone trust you so implicitly, that they went pliant in your grasp. The words didn’t exist for this feeling, so he simply quietly marveled in it. 

“Sorry for waking you.” Shaofei murmured, nuzzling his face against Tang Yi’s chest in apology.

Tang Yi sighed contently and tightened his grip slightly, ever conscious of the time he had hugged Shaofei using his normal strength. Jiang spent the entirety of half an hour loudly explaining, at the top of his lungs, why a person with broken ribs shouldn’t be squeezed against another’s chest. Shaofei had spent that time trying to breathe through his simultaneous uptick in pain and laughter at Tang Yi’s situation.

“I’d rather be awake with you forever than ever have a content night's sleep ever again.” Tang Yi said easily.

Shaofei closed his eyes, reveling in the words of the man that loved him. He gripped Tang Yi’s shirt tighter with his hand. He didn’t know how he could have done this without him. He had gotten injured before, but never to such a drastic level. The amount of time it was taking his body to heal was grating at him. Tang Yi held him through every nightmare. Persuaded him to eat when all he wanted to do was curl up and cry. Smoothed over his anxiety about never getting over his injuries which oftentimes seemed like they would never get better. Helped with his physical therapy, and was there to catch his every stumble. Melted away his fears by daring them to get to Shaofei with Tang Yi standing in the way.

Shaofei was very aware that he had not been out of Tang Yi’s sight since he had woken up. Tang Yi was subtle about it, and the manor was big enough that Shaofei never felt stifled, but Shaofei was trained to notice these things. And he had definitely noticed.  There had been nothing that Shaofei was exposed to since he had woken up that wasn’t approved by Tang Yi first.

Shaofei knew that it was an issue.

He just didn’t know if he wanted it to stop.

He had thought he was going to die in the forest. He had never imagined that he would get lucky twice and make it out alive. All of his choices had felt frantic and ungrounded and he had been so entirely alone that it had felt terrifying. He had been alone before, but being specifically stalked through the forest with a helpless child depending on him was a new one. And it got to him like none of his past experiences had. The fear seemed to have burrowed into his skin and refused to let its claws ungrip him.      

Tang Yi tethered him. He kept Shaofei close, kept his decision making to a bare minimum, and didn’t force him to do anything that didn’t immediately have to do with his recovery. He kept the reporters that flocked to the manor away entirely. He had blocked them at the gates, far away enough that Shaofei wouldn’t have even known about them if Hong Ye hadn’t ranted about how annoying they had become.

He kept the list of people allowed to visit very short. Shaofei knew that the only people he had had regular contact with were only allowed because Tang Yi was incredibly intelligent and knew that Shaofei needed mental stimulation other than himself. His lover had provided him with just enough company that he wouldn’t feel as if he were being sequestered.

The compound was already a difficult place to get into, what with its guarded gates and security roaming everywhere. Now, with his vulnerable lover healing slowly inside the main house, Tang Yi had turned the already secure compound into a completely impenetrable fortress.

Shaofei would be alarmed at this show of power, except once again; he wasn’t sure he ever wanted it to stop. The comfort and safety was new to him and a part of him wanted to spend the rest of his life letting Tang Yi make the decisions while he hid from the real world. 

But.

He was a police officer. He was supposed to be the one in charge. All his life, he had been making the sacrifice play, the hard decisions, and the first step towards danger. He felt as if the forest had taken the part of him that felt that he could leap into fire and come out unscathed. He wanted it back, but he didn’t know how.

The logical first step would be to get some of his autonomy back. As if knowing what he was thinking, Tang Yi’s arm tightened around him in his sleep. Shaofei reflexively stroked along the powerful limb, soothing it back down.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would start taking the first steps to go back to being the man his lover had fallen in love with. Tonight he would let himself exist in the bubble Tang Yi had created for him. 

Just for one more night.

........

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 10 

“Why are you doing this?” Tang Yi asked, eyes hard as he stared Shaofei down, literally, from his position standing over him.

Shaofei was once again on the couch in Tang Yi’s office, but this time instead of games and novels to occupy his attention with, he held official file folders that he had first asked, then pleaded, and finally ordered Zhao Zi to deliver.

Said deliverer was standing by the wall, backed up against it as much as possible and slightly behind an amused Jack, who was all too used to Tang Yi’s anger to feel bothered by the proceedings. Zhao Zi still somewhat feared the menacing gang leader, despite knowing that Tang Yi would never hurt him. It was just an instinctual response, a smart one, he consoled himself.

“It has to get done.” Shaofei said gently, but not backing down in the slightest. “Despite everything, this is still my case, I need to see it through to close it out, Tang Yi.”

“You are still on mandatory leave . How can they expect you to work? You can barely move , what makes you think I’m going to let you go to the station?” Tang Yi angrily questioned, stepping forward.

Shaofei reflexively tightened his grip on the files. He didn’t think Tang Yi would rip them out of his grip, but he had seen the maniac look in his lover’s eyes when it concerned anything to do with his slowly improving health. This was the first thing that Shaofei had challenged him on in weeks, he had known it was going to be a fight. As much as he hated fighting with his lover, especially after Tang Yi had been nothing short of a lifesaver in his healing process, he knew it had to be done. 

“I’m not going into the office. Or anywhere, really. I can do this all from right here. I just need to review the statements and pictures to make sure nothing was missed.” Shaofei hoped that bringing attention to the fact that Tang Yi could literally watch him work would bring down his anxiety.

“Get someone else to do it.” Tang Yi ordered.

“Tang Yi.” Shaofei softened his voice, his eyes were heavy. “No one else was there.”

Tang Yi grit his teeth.

“Tang Yi…I have to do this. There are families out there that want this case closed so they can finally begin to heal. I can’t leave them hanging while I wait to recover. I've recovered enough to do this much for them. I won’t stand in the way of their peace.” 

“What about your peace?” Tang Yi spat. “You are going to look at those pictures and relive everything a hundred times. How do you not understand what this is going to do to you? You think your nightmares won’t get worse?”

“Tang Yi!”

“ Am I wrong ?”

“Yes! It does not matter what this does to me! These are parents that have been waiting for months and years to hear what has happened to their children . My nightmares have no ground in the face of that! If it bothers you so much, let me sleep in the guest room.” Shaofei cried, voice becoming hoarse from raised emotion.      

“ That’s -…No.” Tang Yi seemed to freeze for a moment, utterly thrown by Shaofei’s proclamation. “No. You sleep with me. That’s not a discussion.”

He seemed to struggle for a moment, and then set his jaw.

“Do what you want.” Then he strode out of the room.

“Tang Yi!” Shaofei cried after him.

“Keep him on the couch.” Tang Yi snarled at Jack as he stormed out the door. Jack shot him a quick lazy salute, utterly unbothered by anything happening around him. Most of his focus was on being delighted at the feel of Zhao Zi’s tiny fist holding onto the back of his shirt.  

“Tang Yi!” Shaofei cried again, wondering if he had managed to push his lover too far.  One leg slipped off the couch and in the next moment both Zhao Zi and Jack were there, hands pushing him back onto it.

“You heard the boss.” Jack chided.

“Shaofei, I’m pretty sure the scary doctor said you aren’t allowed to run around yet.” Zhao Zi said, worriedly.

“ Are we just running from fights now? ” Shaofei yelled towards the door, trying to bat away the hands that were firmly pressing him against the couch. Maybe he could provoke Tang Yi into coming back. 

The door did not respond.

“Boss Wife, why rekindle a fight you already won?” Jack asked, an amused light in his eyes.

“He-!” Shaofei cut himself off. “I need-….I need to do this. I can’t push it off forever.”

“Of course.” Jack agreed, “You know that. I know that. Shorty knows that. Boss knows that. The canary outside knows that. But, as all the aforementioned also know, Boss needs a certain amount of time to get used to loosening leashes. Especially yours. So let him go vent, yell, order some men around, kick at something, and he’ll be right back here in no time. Come on, you should already be familiar with this process. I should get paid overtime for couples counseling.”

Shaofei blinked. He did know that. He knew all of it. It was just…the way that they used to dispel their aggression in the past wasn’t exactly physically possible, at least on Shaofei’s side. So Shaofei was a little worried as to what Tang Yi had just stormed out to do. 

"Can you please go make sure he's not doing anything drastic at least?" Shaofei pleaded with Jack. 

"Just to be entirely clear, you want me to go find Boss, knowing full well that he is spitting mad right now, and put myself in his warpath?" Jack asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“If you let me off this couch, I’ll go do it myself.”

“I don’t have a death wish, Boss wife.”

"Please Jack." 

"I’ll go, but I'll need something in return." Jack said, seriously. One of his hands shot out and pointed at Zhao Zi. The smaller man startled and stumbled backwards as Jack’s finger landed an inch away from his nose. "He needs to have dinner everyday with me next week!" 

"Done." Shaofei said immediately. 

"Hey!" Zhao Zi protested, swinging his head between them both. "How is that fair! What does any of this have to do with me?!" 

"Zhao Zi, please." Shaofei pleaded. "I can't heal if I'm worried about Tang Yi."

"If it makes you feel better I was going to kidnap you every day next week for dinner anyway." Jack said cheerfully, already walking out the door. 

"Why would that make me feel better?!" Zhao Zi shouted after him. “ Shaofei -!”

Zhao Zi cut himself off when he swung back to beseechingly plead at Shaofei, and found that the lead detective had lapsed into a pensive stare at the top folder he still had clenched in his hands.

“Shaofei…are you alright? You didn’t hurt yourself trying to get up or anything right?” Zhao Zi asked, worry overtaking his indignation.

“What? No, no, I’m fine thanks.” Shaofei said, breaking out of his thoughts. “I just…It’s a difficult situation. And I feel like I’m too tired to deal with it. But a part of me is saying that if I sleep now, I’ll put down these files and never pick them up.”

“Shaofei…you know you don’t have to do this now.” Zhao Zi said earnestly. “No one is expecting the reports from you this soon. Tang Yi was right, you know? You are still on leave. This can wait.”

Shaofei gave a sad laugh. There was no humor in it.

“ I expect me to do it now.”

Zhao Zi stared down at Shaofei, troubled. His senior had made leaps and bounds in his recovery, but right now a silent desperate plea enveloped his eyes. His recovery had left his appetite nonexistent between the difficulty that came with eating with broken ribs and the side effects of the medications. Tang Yi did his best, but the lack of exercise and diminished appetite had left the bones in Shaofei’s body starkly protruding. Shaofei had always been slim, but well-muscled, now he just looked breakable. His words said one thing, and his body and eyes begged for the exact opposite.

Zhao Zi could see why Tang Yi was so angry. He would be upset too, if someone he loved insisted on sacrificing themselves for the greater good.

“I don’t want to look at it now either. I don’t want to see…that place again. But if I don’t do it now, it’ll drag on, and the families of those children don’t deserve to wait any longer. And I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to make myself look later.” Shaofei said quietly, as if he were admitting a terrible secret.

Right. And he could see why Shaofei was so insistent. They were police officers first . They were supposed to leap at sacrifice like it was a ten course meal prepared by Jack. Shaofei was the living embodiment of this virtue.

“Well, that’s one thing I can assure you of. You will. You are the strongest person I know, Shaofei.” Zhao Zi said, seriously. “But…if I can’t persuade you to put it off, would you like me to stay with you? We can go through it together, and you can stop for breaks whenever you want.”

Shaofei looked up in surprise.

“Really?”

“Why the surprise? I’m your junior officer, I’m always here to support you.” Zhao Zi said.

“Zhao Zi….thank you.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zhao Zi felt faint, but not as badly as Shaofei. He felt as if he had watched a scary movie, but Shaofei had lived it.

His mind was swimming with images of the burial ground. They had dug out the most recent grave to get to the body underneath. It had been a little boy. Shaofei had thrown up and cried. He let Zhao Zi hold him through the pain, the smaller man also feeling his throat get tight and his eyes begin to water. At one point, when Shaofei seemed to be breathing abnormally, Zhao Zi tried to persuade him to call Dr. Jiang, but he was met with immediate refusal. The distraught lead detective insisted they keep going and told Zhao Zi that he didn’t have to be there for it. His eyes begged for Zhao Zi to stay.

Zhao Zi never wavered from his side.

All in all, the CSI team had found remains of 23 children in the burial ground. Some were missing bones. Some were from years ago. Some still were in the stages of decomposition. Some of their belongings, such as shirts and small toys were buried with them. One of the pictures showed a tiny skeletal hand still gripped around a dirt smeared plastic doll.

They had marked out where Shaofei had fallen from and the height had left Zhao Zi stunned. It hadn’t been a straight fall either; jagged tree stumps pierced up through the ground, where the trees themselves were not steadfastly standing. Rocks littered the face of the cliff.

The investigative team marked out Shaofei’s blood half way up the cliff where he had hit his head against a tree stump, and then all along the route he had continued to fall down, unconscious. Someone had taken a picture of the indent in the center of the burial ground where he had landed. Something small, dull, and white was marked off nearby.

Shaofei had pushed the pictures away and trembled for a good five minutes before hoarsely asking Zhao Zi to give them back.

The next few pictures were of the trail that Shaofei had taken to get to the cabin. The next one was of the backpack that Shaofei had left against the basement window, a bright yellow cone marker still next to it, marking it as evidence. The next one was of the long jagged nail that was covered in dark dried blood from where it had stabbed Shaofei through the stomach when he had been climbing through the low window.

The empty cage. The wall lined with tools. The sink. The floor where the fight had taken place, covered in fallen tools and blood. Indents in the wall where the fight had taken place. A discarded hammer. Then the dark stairs.

Another break. Another five minutes of squeezing his eyes shut and trembling and Zhao Zi holding back words to beg Shaofei to stop. He knew they were too far to stop now. 

A snapshot of the table pushed back at an angle from the door. The sitting room with discarded beer bottles, one broken with blood smeared along the side.

The doorway left wide open. A picture of a shattered boulder. A sledgehammer lying discarded in the dust. A figure under a sheet, two circles of blood emanating from center mass. Shaofei had stared at that last picture for a long time with wide, unblinking empty eyes and Zhao Zi had been helpless to pull him out of his head.

Shaofei went through the rest of the reports numbly as the sun tracked its path along the sky. His hand shook as he signed his name underneath every statement he could validate. Some pages had small circular water droplets on them and Zhao Zi looked up to see Shaofei silently crying through the reports, but refusing to stop. Shaofei brushed them away, Zhao Zi quietly handed him a tissue and they continued.

At the end of it, Shaofei closed all the files and pushed them in the folder and asked Zhao Zi to take it. Zhao Zi took the files and stuffed them in his bag before carrying them over to the opposite side of the room, as if the distance from the paper would somehow help Shaofei feel better.

“How are you feeling?” Zhao Zi asked Shaofei, who was completely slumped on the couch. His head rested against the back of the couch and he stared up at the ceiling with wide unblinking eyes.

“…I’m tired .” Shaofei said slowly. Frank and honest in the way that he just was .

“Do you want to sleep?” Zhao Zi asked, looking at his friend worriedly.

“Can’t.” Shaofei breathed, exhaustedly. He looked to be telling the truth. His entire body was limp against the couch, but his eyes were wide open. Zhao Zi knew he was seeing the images on a loop inside his mind. 

“What can I do?” Zhao Zi asked right out. Sometimes when dealing with Shaofei it was just best to meet him on his level of full disclosure.

“Just…don’t turn off the lights.” Shaofei said. And then, quietly; “…Tang Yi was right. But I was right too. I had to do it.”

Zhao Zi hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was leave Shaofei alone, but he also felt that Shaofei needed something he couldn’t give him. He was scared that there was nothing anyone could do right now that would pull Shaofei out of the dark place he had gone to inside his head. But. There was one person who could guarantee the most amount of success. And fortunately Zhao Zi knew where to find him.

“Shaofei. I’ll be right back okay? Please stay here.”

Shaofei lolled his head around to look at him, through tired uncomprehending eyes, and didn’t respond.

“I’ll be right back.” Zhao Zi said again. Then he ran around the room and turned on every single light. The room lit up like there was a party going on, and Zhao Zi nodded to himself.

Even if he was drowning in the darkness inside his own head, at least Zhao Zi could provide him with some light in this way.

Zhao Zi ran out the door and nearly crashed headlong into Tang Yi, who stood in the hallway right outside his office. Zhao Zi pulled up short, skidding to a stop a few inches away from him. A part of him wondered how long Tang Yi had been there, and then he refocused, steeling his willpower.   

“He needs you.” Zhao Zi said firmly to Tang Yi.

Tang Yi looked away from the open door and down at Zhao Zi. His face was unreadable.

“He’s not okay, and you should have been there with him.” Zhao Zi said, refusing to cower in the face of the very intimidating ex-mob boss. Jack stood, leaning against the wall behind Tang Yi, and his presence gave Zhao Zi courage.

“I told him not -…” Tang Yi said through gritted teeth. But his tone wasn’t angry. If anything, Zhao Zi would describe him as unbearably worried.

“Yeah, well this is Shaofei . Of course he did it anyway.” Zhao Zi said, “He needs you now. And he needs you to not be a douchebag about it right now.”

Tang Yi’s eyebrows shot up and behind him, Jack let out a startled laugh.  

“Go.” Zhao Zi ordered, moving to the side. “And Tang Yi…please. Just be careful with him.”

Tang Yi took a step forward. Nodded without looking back, and then strode into the room.

Jack cocked his head and looked at Zhao Zi, appraising him carefully. Zhao Zi felt the weight of the day crash down upon him. He was not built for the self-sacrificial exhausting actions that Shaofei so willingly threw himself into, damning the personal consequences. Still, he wouldn’t have left his senior to suffer alone for anything.  

“Alright, Shorty?”

“Can you make me dinner?” Zhao Zi asked Jack, voice finally wavering as he finally let his guard down. For once, he wasn’t hungry in the least.

Jack immediately lifted up his arm and pulled Zhao Zi underneath it comfortably. The message was clear. Anything trying to get to Zhao Zi would have to get through Jack first.

“Let’s get your things. Say goodnight to the Boss and Boss Wife. Then I’ll take you home and make you whatever you want. Sound good?” Jack asked.

“Sounds good.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tang Yi walked into his office. All his work had been delayed for hours, but he knew that if he had walked into the office when Shaofei was suffering through the files, there was nothing that would be able to stop him from setting the confidential documents on fire with Boss Tang’s lighter.

And he knew that if he stopped him halfway through, Shaofei would have to re-live everything twice. Sometimes he hated his lover’s unshakable sense of duty.

Shaofei lay collapsed on the couch. Tang Yi almost lurched forward in panic, but then realized that his lover’s eyes were still wide open. He was just exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. The lecture that Tang Yi had been preparing all day as he stomped around the compound flew out of his head.

“Oh, Fei .”

Shaofei tilted his head the slightest bit and looked at him through heartbroken red rimmed eyes. Tang Yi strode forward without any hesitation. There was a time for lectures, and then there was a time for love. Learning that lesson was vital in learning to love Shaofei.  

Tang Yi gathered his limp lover into his arms, and cradled Shaofei’s head against his shoulder. A trail of hot tears slipped into his shirt and down his shoulder. Shaofei let out a shuddering breath and settled against him.

“It’s alright. It’s going to be alright. I’m here.” Tang Yi soothed. He felt Shaofei melt boneless into his hold and held him tighter. A silent sigh escaped him and he wondered if there was a place that he could take Shaofei and hide him from the cruelties of the world. He had thought that he had been doing a good job of hiding him here, but it looked like Shaofei wasn’t meant to be hidden away. It was hard to hide someone that burned as bright as the sun.

Jack poked his head into the office, and looked at Tang Yi. He pointed at Zhao Zi’s bag, lying discarded on the floor. Tang Yi nodded immediately. He wanted the hateful papers out of his house as quickly as possible.

Jack silently walked into the office, steps making no noise, and Zhao Zi lingered at the door. His eyes were troubled and resting heavily on Shaofei. Tang Yi caught his gaze and gave a firm nod. Zhao Zi nodded back hesitantly.

He would take care of Shaofei. Zhao Zi had his promise.

Jack stopped in front of him. Zhao Zi’s bag was slung over his shoulder. He cocked an eyebrow and flicked his eyes to Shaofei.

Call Jiang, then go, Tang Yi mouthed.

Jack gave a thumbs up and left, taking Zhao Zi with him.

“You want to talk to me?” Tang Yi asked quietly.

“Tired.” Came the quiet muffled response.

Tang Yi tilted his head down as much as possible and caught a glimpse of Shaofei’s face. His eyes were wide open.

“Close your eyes and sleep then, baby.” He said, already pulling the heavy blanket off the back of the couch with one hand and draping it over Shaofei. There was silence for a bit and Tang Yi thought Shaofei had taken his advice, then;

“Every time I close my eyes, I feel like I’m back there.” Shaofei whispered, voice wrecked.  

This is why -

I told you not-

Why don’t you listen -

“You are not with him. You are with me. And if I’m here, that means you are safe.” Tang Yi said firmly. “He’s dead. I killed him and he will never hurt you again.”   

And if he came back as a zombie, well, Shaofei made Tang Yi watch enough terrible movies for Tang Yi to know to go straight for the head. The swords on his walls were not only for decoration.

“Don’t turn off the lights, Tang Yi.” Shaofei begged, exhaustion ringing through his voice.

“I won’t, I won’t. Just rest. I’m here.” Tang Yi soothed, glancing at the screen on his phone lighting up to show a text from Jiang saying he would be there soon. “It’s going to be okay.”

He kept whispering sweet nothings to his lover. He knew Shaofei was deep in his head right now. And he knew that there was no way to get to him. Tang Yi had been in that place many times before he had let Shaofei into his life. Shaofei’s natural optimism and luck had kept him from falling into the pit for practically all his life.

But now everything was hitting him all at once. Tang Yi knew he must be feeling a conglomerate of intense feelings that were keeping him pressed down. But damn him if he wasn’t going to be the one that extended his arm down to pick his lover back up. Or refuse to let him suffer alone.

He held Shaofei patiently as the minutes ticked by. Soothed him as his body tried to slip into oblivion and his mind dragged him out of it. He rubbed his hands up and down his officer’s back soothingly as Shaofei let out a dry sob every so often. Shaofei shook his head weakly every time Tang Yi softly asked whether he wanted to talk about it, and Tang Yi didn’t press the issue.

“You were so brave. You are so brave. You are the bravest man I know.” Tang Yi said, when Shaofei jolted awake in his arms again for the nth time. He was running on fumes but too wired to give in to sleep. Tang Yi ran soothing hands down the slim trembling back.

“I’m sorry I left. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to stay and watch you suffer.” Tang Yi said, apologizing softly, “I’m sorry you had to do it alone. I’m sorry that you were alone in that situation.”

Shaofei trembled harder. Tang Yi hushed him and rocked gently.

“It’s going to be okay, baby. You are going to be just fine. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Tang Yi kept up a litany of soothing assurances, rocking lightly every time Shaofei’s tremors threatened to shake him out of Tang Yi’s arms, to calm him.

There was a quiet knock against the door, breaking the lull that they had created between the two of them. Shaofei went rigid in his arms, eyes popping open fully and breath quickening. Tang Yi tightened his arms around him and looked up to see Jiang at the door. He gave him a short nod, and motioned him in.

“I heard someone needed a house call?” Jiang said, hefting up his doctor’s bag and walking in. Tang Yi nodded at him, and turned his attention to his immediate problem.

“It’s just Jiang, baby.” Tang Yi whispered into Shaofei’s hair, trying to get him to calm down. The reactions were beginning to scare him, but he stood firm in the face of Shaofei’s fear. It had no place here. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Jiang asked immediately, eyes narrowing at the way Shaofei was involuntarily shivering in Tang Yi’s arms. “What did you do?”

“Why do you always assume I’ve done something?” Tang Yi asked, half put out.

“Should I go down the list or should I leave that pleasure to your incredibly accident prone lover?” Jiang said, obviously trying to provoke a response out of Shaofei. His expression grew the slightest bit concerned when there wasn't one. “You pet demon’s pet cop told me that our esteemed cop threw up earlier today. Meng Shaofei, did I not give you explicit instructions to call me if that ever happened?” Jiang asked, crossing his arms. 

Tang Yi shot a warning glare over at Jiang, nonverbally telling him to get his tone softer. But, the doctor’s ploy of authority seemed to have worked.

“Sorry.” Shaofei whispered, speaking his first word in a while. 

Jiang shot a triumphant look over at Tang Yi. Tang Yi was too relieved at the communication to roll his eyes at the doctor.

“Sorry is not going to heal those ribs. Get over here. And let me take a look at you. Again.” Jiang ordered, with none of the usual bite in his tone. 

Shaofei shifted in Tang Yi’s arms as if he were going to obey, but then closed his eyes and let himself fall limply into Tang Yi’s embrace again as if all his energy fled in that instant. He appeared to wilt, and Tang Yi immediately drew him close again. Jiang studied his frame with troubled and shrewd eyes. 

“I’m fine. You don’t need to.” Shaofei muttered. His expression grew anxious behind his closed eyes, and he cracked them open tiredly. 

“That’s not how this works. Am I the doctor here, or are you?” Jiang asked, but his tone was infinitely softer. 

“Jiang.” Tang Yi called softly, “Can you do it from here?” 

“From your lap?!” 

“Please.” It was an order. 

“The things I do for you.” Jiang grumbled. 

Shaofei murmured something incomprehensible and buried his face in Tang Yi’s neck as Jiang came closer, still unapologetically openly affectionate despite his mental turmoil. Tang Yi smiled at the show of his lover’s personality peeking through. 

“All right, all right, your highness. The least you can do is sit up.” Jiang sniped, but even as he said it, he carefully helped Tang Yi move Shaofei’s body so they held him up between the two of them. Slight tremors wracked Shaofei’s body, and he looked up at Jiang through unfocused eyes. His mind was clearly elsewhere. Tang Yi held him firmly at the waist and Jiang carefully supported his shoulders. 

“I’m fine .” Shaofei stressed with a bit more energy, when Jiang firmly, but carefully, held his head still to shine a light into his eyes. Carefully, because firstly he was a doctor and swore never to harm his patients despite how much they aggravated him, and secondly because you don’t fuck with a trigger happy, powerful man’s injured lover when said man was less than a foot away. That was just basic common sense. 

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Jiang said, ignoring Shaofei’s soft protests and overpowering his weakened attempts to shift away. He pressed one of Shaofei’s hands, which was getting in his way, into Tang Yi’s palm and said, “Hold this.”

Between Tang Yi and himself, they maneuvered Shaofei’s body, pressing and holding him up when need be so Jiang could run his checks. Shaofei did his part by curling back up into Tang Yi whenever possible. Jiang would have scolded him, but it didn’t feel right. There was something clearly off about the cop who usually met him head on in a verbal spar. Jiang noted that Shaofei winced when he pressed along a few spots, but nothing that was a cause for alarm. Still, he would prescribe extra caution, if only to annoy Shaofei and appease Tang Yi.

Tang Yi pulled up Shaofei’s shirt, hushing him when he protested, and Jiang carefully checked the healing stitches. Tiny little goosebumps broke out over Shaofei’s skin at the cold, and Tang Yi rubbed his hand over him comfortingly. His hand appeared massive against the skinny chest. Jiang frowned disapprovingly at the sharp indents of Shaofei’s clearly visible ribs. Shaofei flinched when he touched them.

“Alright, alright, we’re done.” Jiang said, finally satisfied that he hadn’t missed anything. With a patient like this, anything was possible. “You can stop acting like my touch burns now.”

Jiang motioned for Tang Yi to shift, and helped him lower Shaofei back onto the couch. Tang Yi handed him a massive pillow, and Shaofei immediately curled into it. Tang Yi sat next to him and placed a hand on his back.

“Prognosis?” 

“Your lover is a lucky fool and someone needs to figure out how to transfer that luck to themselves and then immediately play the lottery.” Jiang said, stripping off his gloves. 

“Jiang.” 

“He’s fine.” 

“I told you.” Mumbled Shaofei. 

“Shut up.” 

“ Jiang .” 

“Fine, fine, so tell me, Meng Shaofei, what exactly were you doing that brought you into this state?” Jiang asked, sitting down on the low table in front of Shaofei. He looked quizzically between Tang Yi and Shaofei.

Shaofei buried his head into his pillow, hiding his face from them. Jiang blinked at the uncharacteristic behavior. Meng Shaofei hiding from confrontation? The world must be ending. 

“A little louder please.” He said sarcastically when it became clear that Shaofei was not going to break the silence.

Shaofei didn’t respond. Or look up. Jiang looked at Tang Yi, perplexed, only to see the man hovering protectively over his lover, jaw locked.

“Jiang.” Tang Yi said, right as Jiang was about to open his mouth and demand answers. “Do me a favor and let this go. Shaofei just overexerted himself today. Is there any physical issue we should be worried about?”

Every part of Jiang wanted to argue and figure out what the hell had happened today that left Meng Shaofei, the normally bubbly and endlessly optimistic officer, looking like someone had just told him rainbows were banned. But. There was something intimate about the scene in front of him that told him not to press too hard, which had him sighing and backing away. So instead, he did what he always did with this troublesome couple, and lectured.

“Fine. But this is a one-time thing. Meng Shaofei you are hereby banned from doing whatever you had been doing today. Doctor’s orders. It clearly is not good for your mental health, and mental health is very important to physical recovery. And your physical recovery is very important to me, as these days it appears to have a direct connection to my amount of free time. Tang Yi, I assume you can help me ensure this.”

“Yes, Jiang.” Tang Yi said. Shaofei declined to respond.

“Good. Physically you did not do much damage, but there is some strain on your ribs that was not there previously, so I am prescribing limited movement for at least three days. I will know if you do not listen.” He spoke firmly to the top of Shaofei’s head.

“I’ll keep him in bed.” Tang Yi promised. Jiang turned his glare to the ex-mob leader.

“You’ll keep him in bed to sleep .” The or else , was heavily implied. “And the other thing; you are looking very malnourished. Shaofei, if you do not eat, I will have to prescribe more vitamins and possibly an IV drip. If you do not want it to get to that I suggest you start eating all your meals properly.”

“He will.” Tang Yi said. Jiang could already see him adding nag Shaofei to eat more , to his mental checklist.

“Lastly, do you need a sleep aid?” Jiang asked, seriously. Of course he hadn’t missed the way exhaustion was seeping from Shaofei but the man refused to give in.

“Ye-…” Tang Yi began, answering for Shaofei as he had been, when Shaofei shot up.

“No!”

Tang Yi and Jiang looked at him startled. Shaofei stared back at them through exhausted, terrified eyes.

“No.” He repeated, beginning to look anxious.

“You don’t have to take anything you don’t want to.” Jiang immediately assured, trying to keep the cop from panicking.

“Shaofei, it might help-…” Tang Yi said, voice low and soothing.

“No. No, I don’t want it. Tang Yi, please.” Shaofei said, turning wide eyes to Tang Yi. He was beginning to tremble again.

“Okay. Okay baby, calm down. No one is going to make you, okay?” Tang Yi said, looking deep into Shaofei’s eyes to make sure that he understood. It was a laughable thought that Tang Yi would allow anything Shaofei wasn’t comfortable with.

Shaofei gave one jerky nod, and then let himself deflate into the pillow again, his faith in Tang Yi’s word absolute.  

Tang Yi and Jiang shot each other a glance.

“Alright. That’s all I have for you. If anything, I’m sure you both will call me immediately. Meng Shaofei, I will see you for your regularly scheduled appointment in a few days. Tang Yi, walk me out.”

Tang Yi nodded and leaned down to give his unresponsive lover a kiss before getting up.

“I’ll be right back, Shaofei.” He said.

Shaofei nodded dazedly, already slipping back into his fugue state. He watched as Tang Yi left the room with Jiang and instantly felt himself slip back into his mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shaofei couldn’t shake himself out of the hole his memories had pulled him into.

Mei’s terrified scream was resounding through his head. Except it wasn’t only hers. There were 23 other phantom screams that Shaofei was feeling inexplicably responsible for.

Logically, he knew it wasn’t his fault. It was misplaced survivor's guilt; some of the bones were so old that he wasn’t even a cop when they had been buried. But somehow he felt responsible. They had been children and Shaofei had been in the room that they had all died in and managed to escape.

He knew exactly how they felt, in their very last moments. He closed his eyes and instantly was transported to the moment he had been utterly sure he was about to die. He had been oddly detached. Horror and terror had hit him in waves and was crashing upon him, but through his haze he hadn’t been able to feel anything. He had accepted that he was about to die.

And then he hadn’t.  

All of those children had probably begged for someone to save them and none of their cries had been heeded.

The thing that scared him the most was, if he hadn’t fallen in the grave, hadn’t picked up the tiny skull, he would have never known either. And the murderer would have kept getting away with it. And Mei’s body would have been added to the pile.

He closed his burning eyes and the image of the skeletons lying in a row on the ground flashed through his mind. Shaofei wearily dragged his eyelids open again.

His eyes slid shut.

The image of the skeletons lying on the ground flashed again. He opened his eyes.

They slid shut again, and he saw a neat row of 23 tiny skeletons, and himself. Dazedly, he watched himself lie on the ground, face ashen blue and body stiff.

The 23 skeletons sat up. Shaofei was frozen in terror as he watched them stand, bits of rotting flesh fall off their bones. Then they converged on him, reaching with their skeletal hands to tear and pull at him. They screamed that they wanted to go home. 

Shaofei screamed and threw himself back, and was instantly transported back into Tang Yi’s office. He looked around wildly for an attacker and found that the office was still empty. He must have fallen asleep for a minute.

Feeling his skin begin to crawl, Shaofei shakily got to his feet. He didn’t know where he was going, but he felt that the walls were closing in on him. He needed to get out.

He knew what was happening. This was the same panic that he had felt when he had woken up in the hospital room. He had shoved the memories deep down, let Tang Yi cradle him in a fiercely protective grip and stubbornly fought against anyone that tried to talk to him about what happened.

But now, the patchwork dam in his mind had broken, and Shaofei was confronted with everything he had shoved deep down. And it was terrifyingly overpowering.

Tang Yi had been right. He hadn’t been ready to deal with it.

But he knew he did the right thing.

Shaofei wandered the halls of the quiet manor, walking unsteadily.

Doing the right thing sucked .  

The man’s cruel victorious smile flashed through Shaofei’s mind, and Shaofei flinched away from a door and headed for the stairs instead. He debated up or down for a moment, and decided down was easier. Plus he hadn’t actually been outside in ages.

Maybe some fresh air that hadn’t filtered in through a window would help.

Shaofei went slowly. Jiang’s warnings to take it easy warred with the voices screaming at him to run faster and Shaofei wished everything would just be silent. He stumbled out a side door from the kitchen, hearing it shut behind him.

He could feel his breathing quicken as he stared out into the dark of the night. The trees lining Tang Yi’s property swayed lightly in the night wind. The moon above them was waning.

Mei’s scream echoed across the empty grounds and Shaofei jerked around, heartbeat spiking and feet readying themselves to sprint to save them both-

“Officer Meng?”

Shaofei spun around and threw his hands up in defensive fists. There were two men in suits a few feet behind him.

“Officer Meng.” The one on the right repeated, stepping forward slowly. He looked a bit older than the other guard. He placed himself right underneath a light so Shaofei could see him clearly, and raised his hands up harmlessly. The other man copied his action, and with a start, Shaofei realized that he knew both of the men.

They were Tang Yi’s men. Part of the guard that patrolled the house and were stationed inside when visitors came.

“Officer Meng, are you alright?” The man asked, slowly.

“I…I…” Shaofei said, trying to find the words through the noise in his head. He took a step back to stand more steadily and the other man made a movement towards him, but was halted by the older man, who had thrown an arm across his chest.

“It's okay, Officer Meng. We just wanted to ensure you are alright. If you wish to take a walk, could I suggest you first put some shoes on? The grass is slippery at this time of night.”

Shaofei blinked and looked down at his feet. He distantly noted that he was standing barefoot on Tang Yi’s lawn, wearing joggers and a soft pullover.

“I think I’m going crazy.” Shaofei laughed.

“Officer Meng?” The younger guard asked, alarmed.

“Did you hear anyone else out here?” Shaofei asked, knowing the scream had been in his mind, but needing to make sure.

“No, Officer Meng. We are the only ones out here.” The older guard said assuredly. Shaofei believed him.

He didn’t know why. But he did. Maybe it was because of the weathered look on his face. If there was danger, he wouldn’t let Shaofei just stand out there in the open.

“Oh. Okay. I’m fine. Sorry, yes I’ll come in.” Shaofei said, trying to quell the hysterical laughter bubbling up in his chest. He felt oddly relieved. Somewhat off balance, but not as bad as before. The voices in his head were quieting. The shadows stopped grabbing at him.

Before he could take a single step, both of the guard’s earpieces crackled simultaneously. Shaofei waited politely.

“Northeast corner, Boss, by the kitchens. Just needed some fresh air.” The older guard said calmly into the earpiece.  

“Tang Yi?” Shaofei asked, hopefully.

“Boss is heading this way, Officer Meng. Would you like to go in and wait for him there?” The older guard asked.

Well. If Tang Yi was already coming, might as well stay out here.

Shaofei could feel the last grips of the panic attack leave him.

“I’ll wait here.” Shaofei said, distantly.

The man was dead. There was no one out here. No boogeyman waiting to leap in through the windows. It was just a night. A regular night. Nothing lurked in the trees and-

And Tang Yi was sprinting towards him.

And if Tang Yi was here, that meant he was safe.

“Shaofei!” Tang Yi called, looking utterly distraught. Shaofei wanted to sooth the crinkles between his eyes with a finger.

Shaofei held a hand out to him and Tang Yi was so thrown by it that he came to a full stop an arm’s length away.

“Shaofei?” Tang Yi asked again, this time perplexed.

“There is nothing hiding in the woods. And if you’re here, I’m safe.” Shaofei said simply. He could feel the last of the silent screams die away.  

“Yes.” Tang Yi said, eyes blazing.

“Can we take a walk before going in?” Shaofei asked.

Tang Yi stepped forward.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He promised.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

In the end, it took a few months, endless arguments with Jiang over therapy, a few more visits to a delighted Mei, and a lot of tears before Shaofei felt that he finally felt right. That night was never fully forgotten, but he learned how to deal with it. Learned how to let it not affect him. Learned how to not see the deranged man’s face on every stranger.  

Tang Yi, as he promised, was with him every step of the way. Forcing Shaofei to his therapy, guarding his sleep, keeping him safe from the world on the days that Shaofei woke up with bloodshot eyes. Tang Yi loved like he did everything else; with overwhelming competence and force, and every time Shaofei thought he had pushed Tang Yi past his limits, Tang Yi simply stretched to accommodate him.

Shaofei fell in love every day.   

Jiang became a staple of the household, even after Shaofei’s physical injuries had healed. He stormed in and out like he owned the place on his off time and lectured Shaofei about how to better take care of himself- all so he could stop imposing Jiang’s free time, of course. The first time Shaofei went back to work after his imposed time off, Jiang spent the day pacing in Tang Yi’s office and ranting about how the Police Academy entrance exam was severely flawed. His doctor’s bag was stuffed to the brim and resting next to Shaofei’s temporarily abandoned pillow. Shaofei came home that night and was treated to a full body checkup before he was even allowed to greet Tang Yi, who was only slightly less on edge because he had had Jack tail Shaofei all day.  

Shaofei handled it with the grace that naturally came from being a loving person.

Jack and Zhao Zi did their part by treating Shaofei the exact same way that they had always treated him. Shaofei found that he appreciated the normalcy in ways he couldn’t even describe. Sometimes the appointments, pills, sympathetic glances all got to be too much and Shaofei needed an escape to something that didn’t remind him that he survived against all odds. Zhao Zi was always down to go for a simple meal and just talk inanely about his day.

Hong Ye strode in and out of the manor, her sharp eyes clocking everything and her sharp mouth disguising her kind actions and care. She simultaneously lectured Tang Yi about making Shaofei work too much, and Shaofei about lazing about too much. Dao Yi trailed behind her as always, softening her words with a kind smile and soft spoken words. On one memorable occasion, well past when Shaofei was fully recovered and back on his feet, Hong Ye revealed the price of the pillow that Shaofei had dragged with him everywhere during his recovery. Currently it sat soaking up the sun on the bench in the kitchen nook. 

Shaofei had shot it a comically betrayed look, and then turned his utterly scandalized look on Tang Yi and Hong Ye, and began to lecture them on careful spending. Tang Yi forced his face into an appropriately contrite expression and grabbed Hong Ye’s arm to keep her from leaving. This was her fault; if he had to suffer through it, it was laughable to think that he wouldn’t also make her do the same.

“Actions have consequences.” Tang Yi whispered out the side of his mouth.

“And another thing-!” Shaofei exclaimed, pacing around in front of them, gesturing wildly.

“Goddamnit.” Said Hong Ye, trying to force her face to also appear contrite, in hopes that it would make Shaofei stop lecturing them. “Can you get him to shut up?”

Tang Yi shot her a truly evil smile.

“Shaofei…I would buy you a hundred more pillows of even more value if you even looked at them like you wanted them.” Tang Yi said angelically.

Shaofei turned purple.

Hong Ye shot Tang Yi the most betrayed, outraged look she could manage.

The lecture continued until Shaofei literally ran out of steam, and grabbed his pillow to go put in in a safe place. Never mind that it had been dragged across the floor and throw across the room numerous times before. Tang Yi and Hong Ye sat in their chairs, feeling slightly chastised and mostly amused. Hong Ye pulled out her phone.

“I’m replacing all his clothes with top brand things.” She said.

Tang Yi huffed in laughter and went to go make it up to his husband in more physical ways.

All was well.

A few weeks later:

“Tang Yi…does this shirt feel different to you?” Shaofei asked, pulling up his shirt and stretching it out towards Tang Yi.

Tang Yi immediately slipped one hand under the shirt and curved it around Shaofei’s side, and took the offered cloth with the other. He glanced at the shirt. Ah. The shirt was currently available at his boutique. It was retailing for about $750.

“No? Maybe the maids are using different detergent.” Tang Yi said, innocently.

“Oh, okay.” Said his brilliant detective.

fin.