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Sui Zhou couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had come to this staff dinner rather unwillingly, not wanting to listen to his boss congratulate himself on a promotion (which he only got because he took credit for the work Sui Zhou had done). But Sui Zhou wasn't in a place to ruffle any feathers. Looking around the restaurant and people watching other patrons was his only form of distraction from this.
Which is how he spotted them.
Two of the most wanted criminals, who always seemed to be able to slip away, were having dinner on the other side of the restaurant. Sui Zhou had been tracking them for over a year, and the fact he hadn't caught either was a convenient black spot on a record that his boss was intent on tarnishing. The fact they happened to be here, now, was nearly impossible. But he'd examined enough of the little available footage of them both to recognize their faces anywhere.
Tang Fan was a hacker of uniquely high skill. His crimes included such things as moving money from corporate accounts to pay for lawyers of the people they were in cases against. He had broken into government networks and changed where budgeted funding landed, boosting school funds by reducing what went to the police. He'd forged tax records so the government went after millionaires for money they didn't owe (though maybe they should).
Wang Zhi was a grifter who had originally appeared as a suspect in cases of politically motivated blackmail. Some really nasty ones that few agencies (including Sui Zhou's own) wanted to touch for fear of offending the wrong people. At some point, he and Tang Fan must have crossed paths, because now he was most likely to appear in person on crime scenes if hacking wasn't enough. It seemed he still did some political "work", though now he didn't have a clear side. From what Sui Zhou could tell from reviewing his file, the only politicians he (with no doubt the help of Tang Fan) went after now were corrupt ones.
There were many late nights that Sui Zhou was unsure if he shouldn't just shake their hands if he ever met them. Even if they were giving him such a headache. And now here they were, seeming to be fighting over the food on the table in front of them (there was a lot of food for two people).
Sui Zhou nudged Xue Ling, who was intently staring at the table to avoid any attention from their boss. Xue Ling looked up, eyebrows raised, and Sui Zhou gestured with a nod towards the table of wanted criminals. He got to watch his friend do a double-take before he turned back to Sui Zhou.
"What're you going to do?" Xue Ling whispered. Thankfully the rest of the table was rather distracted, and they were at the end, so no one gave them much attention.
Sui Zhou felt in his jacket, checking to make sure he had his badge on him. It was tucked away where it always was. "I'm not sure. Cover for me?"
Xue Ling nodded. "Good luck."
Sui Zhou stood and walked across the room. He really wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't like to go just on instinct but when would such a situation come up again? He pulled out one of the empty chairs at the table Tang Fan and Wang Zhi were sitting at, so his back faced his coworkers.
The two men had turned their attention to him in surprise. Sui Zhou took out his badge and slid it on the table.
Tang Fan snapped it up, looking at it, before passing it over to Wang Zhi as he said, "Oh! You're the one trying to track us." He had a fair brighter smile on his face than such a situation warranted.
"You're the government lackey then?" Wang Zhi has a look of slight disdain. "How did you find us?"
It was clear neither of them thought him a threat. Sui Zhou wasn't sure what he thought of that. They were both watching him intently now, Tang Fan having gone back to eating his noodles.
"Coincidence," he thought he might as well be honest. "There is a whole table of "government lackeys" behind me."
"We know," Tang Fan smiled. "Your boss is paying for our dinner." He flashed a credit card before pocketing it again.
"How did you get that?" Sui Zhou asked, trying to think back on if he missed anything. But he had arrived after most of the others.
"Pickpocketed him when he got out of his car," Wang Zhi shrugged.
"I didn't know you were a pickpocket," Sui Zhou said, mentally updating his file on the grifter.
"Such an old trick, but good to know them," Wang Zhi said with a wicked half-smile.
"Do you want to join us?" Tang Fan asked, finding a bowl and utensils to place in front of Sui Zhou. "Or do you want to arrest us?"
"I protest to both, by the way," Wang Zhi sighed.
"Protest noted and ignored!" Tang Fan turned his focus on Sui Zhou, still grinning brightly.
Sui Zhou had to look away. It was easy to busy his hands, first slipping his badge back away and then beginning to fill the bowl. They seemed to have ordered much more adventurously and there were several things Sui Zhou was excited to try.
"Wonderful!" Tang Fan said, before snagging a piece of meat Sui Zhou had been going to take. "I’ve been meaning to contact you since you were assigned. We were a little worried at first; you're much more competent than who we've usually had assigned."
"How do you know I was assigned?" Sui Zhou had to ask.
"Hacker wanted for, among many other things, infiltrating government databases, remember?" Tang Fan pointed to himself. "I keep track of everything related to our activities."
"Of course." Sui Zhou should have assumed that Tang Fan had an eye on everything he did with a digital footprint. He wondered what other things Tang Fan had found out about him. "Why aren't you worried anymore?"
"Because he thinks he can recruit you," Wang Zhi said, pouring a glass of wine for them each. "Don't fall for it. Once you do, you're stuck."
"I love working with you too," Tang Fan said in a teasing tone, before taking something directly from Wang Zhi's plate. His dark, warm eyes found Sui Zhou's again. "But he's right. You seem too decent a person to be doing the work you do."
Sui Zhou tensed. He had taken the career path he had because, "I want to help people."
"Wouldn't you like to really help people then?" Tang Fan leaned closer. "You could do so much more if you help us take people like your boss down a few pegs."
It was then that Sui Zhou realized this was a planned confrontation. He hadn't just gotten lucky and run into the suspects in his most major case.
He could tell they were both paying close attention to him and waiting for his response. Sui Zhou knew what he should say, what he should do. Instead, he ate in silence for a few minutes before finding the words, "I'd have to think about it."
"Great news!" Tang Fan said, seeming to believe he already knew Sui Zhou's answer. "We could use a hitter. Wang Zhi can handle himself, but I need protection."
Wang Zhi rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't if you just took some basic self-defense lessons."
"I can't risk hurting my hands! Where would we be without them?" Tang Fan protested and Sui Zhou got the feeling this was an argument they'd had many times.
Listening to their back and forth, eating the food that they were paying for with a stolen credit card, Sui Zhou felt himself relaxing more than he had when sitting with his peers. He didn't really like the fact, but when he thought of all the horrible things he had seen his boss do and knew all the unread reports Sui Zhou and others had submitted against him...
Maybe there was some honor to be found among thieves.